During a fall when many new comedies have been having plenty of trouble nabbing large viewing audiences, a few have stood out from the pack. One of these has been ABC’s Black-ish, a sitcom that was picked up for a full season order back in October. ABC’s luck with comedies doesn’t end with its Wednesday night addition. This week, the network announced that Cristela has been picked up for a full 22-episode order, as well.
Cristela has been a bit of a Cinderella story over at ABC. The show was filmed on a low-end budget, but eventually won ABC over, at least enough to earn a 13-episode order from the channel, which slotted it into a tough timeslot on Friday nights. Even though it faced several obstacles as it has moved forward, THR reports that the series has averaged 5.5 million total viewers. That’s better than the numbers ABC’s now-canceled comedy Manhattan Love Story was doing early in its run, which is even more impressive if you consider Cristela has the added challenge of airing on Fridays. Those numbers are apparently good enough to earn a full season order.
Cristela may not be every viewer’s cup of tea. The series is a comfortable network comedy, laugh-track driven and filled with humor that really doesn’t push boundaries, as you can see from this recent episode clip.
However, it’s also a really good show to pair with ABC’s other Friday night comedy, Last Man Standing, which is also based around a family unit and easy laughs. ABC has been trying to find a viable comedy in the lineup for quite some time and has tried out a few different sitcoms, including Reba McEntire’s Malibu Country and The Neighbors. Neither show was able to make it over the long haul in the timeslot.
So far Cristela seems to be a pretty good timeslot fit. However, a full season order hardly means the show will be returning next fall. Ratings often decline more in the spring than in the fall when viewers are excited about new TV shows, and we’ll have to wait and see how Cristela fares in the coming months. In the meantime, you can catch ABC’s new comedy on Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET.
