ABC Picks Up 'Other People's Kids' Pilot, Mulls Return to 'TGIF' Comedy Block

As pilot season continues apace, ABC has announced that it's greenlighted another pilot for a multi-camera family comedy: 'Other People's Kids.'

According to Deadline, the comedy centers on a 32-year-old guy with no responsibilities, who suddenly finds himself with an instant family when he falls in love with an older woman with two kids, an ex-husband and ex-in-laws.

New ABC programming chief Paul Lee is a fan of the multi-camera sitcom format, and he's said to be mulling over a return to the ABC Friday night 'TGIF' comedy block. To this end, the pilots ordered by ABC so far this season have skewed heavily towards multi-camera comedies, including 'The Last Day of Man,' 'Work It' and 'Smothered.'

Quite what this will mean for ABC's single-camera flagship comedy series, 'Modern Family,' 'The Middle' and 'Cougar Town,' is unclear, but they're safe for now, all having been renewed for next season already.

Family-friendly comedies have been a staple of ABC's programming since the 1950s, and it's Friday night comedy block, 'Thank Goodness It's Funny,' ran throughout the 1990s. 'TGIF' was the home of 'Full House,' 'Growing Pains,' 'Who's the Boss?' and 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.'

However, by the late 1990s Friday night ratings were falling, and eventually led ABC to discontinue the TGIF block in 2000. Although it was briefly revived in 2003, Friday nights on ABC have now for years been the home of reality shows like 'Supernanny' and occasional reruns of primetime dramas.

ABC's possible move toward reviving 'TGIF' comes after a fall season that saw new dramas like 'Blue Bloods' debut strongly on Friday nights. Recently, other networks have rearranged their Friday-night schedules, with executives saying that it's no longer the dreaded programming "death slot."