ABC’s Paley Preview Party

This weekend, as part of the annual Paley Preview Parties, held at The Paley Center for Media, ABC had its chance to be the focus of attention, primarily with a panel saluting the upcoming new comedy Dr. Ken that stars doctor turned comedian/actor Ken Jeung.

The cast of Dr. Ken, which included Kate Simses (Mixology), Jonathan Slavin (Better Off Ted), Tisha Campbell-Martin (Martin and My Wife and Kids), Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall and NewsRadio), Suzy Nakamura (Horrible Bosses 2), Krista Marie Yu (Agent Carter and Hand of God) and Albert Tsai (Trophy Wife), participated in a moderated panel after the screening of the pilot episode of the new series, which is the first Korean-American sitcom on television in 20 years.

Dr. Ken is about a brilliant physician with no bedside manner, who is always trying to be a good doctor, a good husband and dad to his two kids. Luckily, his therapist wife Allison is just the right partner to keep things sane. But then there is the staff at the Wellness Clinic where Dr. Ken treats his patients to make things just a little more crazy.

The new sitcom will debut on Friday, October 2 at 8:30 PM and will feature Margaret Cho in a future episode as Dr. Ken’s sister.

When the moderated panel came to a close, the pilot episodes of the new dramas Blood & Oil and Quantico were screened.

Blood & Oil focuses on Billy and Cody Lefever (Chace Crawford from Gossip Girl and Rebecca Rittenhouse from Red Band Society respectively) dream of a new life and move to “The Bakken” in North Dakota, booming after the biggest oil discovery in American history. They’re soon pitted against Hap Briggs (Don Johnson from Miami Vice and Nash Bridges), a ruthless tycoon who forces them to put everything on the line, including their marriage.

Sadly, this new drama is a predictable mess that is, in my opinion, trying desperately to be a new version of Dallas (intentional or not). It may boast an intriguing cast – that includes Amber Valletta (Revenge and Legends), Scott Michael Foster (Chasing Life and Greek), Delroy Lindo (Believe and The Chicago Code), India de Beaufort (One Tree Hill and Jane By Design) and Adan Canto (The Following and X-Men: Days of Future Past) – but it’s lackluster at best and will, most likely, be gone before the end of the new TV season.

Quantico takes a look at a diverse group of recruits arriving at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.

This series may ruffle some feathers – despite it being 14 years since that fateful day in 2001 – there are moments of intrigue, a few surprises that I didn’t even see coming (and I’ve watched a LOT of television over the past 30 plus years) and a lot of fresh faces that will intrigue viewers.

The cast includes former beauty queen and Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, Josh Hopkins (Cougar Town) [who takes over the role from Dougray Scott, who appeared in the original pilot that was screened that afternoon], Jake McLaughlin (Believe and Crash), Yasmine Al Massri (Crossbones), Aunjanue Ellis (The Mentalist and NCIS: Los Angeles), Johanna Brady (UnReal and Greek), Tate Ellington (The Mindy Project and Straight Outta Compton), Anabelle Acosta (Ballers) and Graham Rogers (Revolution).

Blood & Oil and Quantico will both debut on Sunday, September 27 on ABC at 9 and 10 PM respectively.