ABC: 'Muppets' to be mockumentary

The Muppets and Don Johnson will both be back on TV this fall, but ABC entertainment chief Paul Lee doesn't want millennials to be scared.

"This is not kind of your grandmother's Muppets. Not the old Muppets," Lee told reporters in a conference call Tuesday in which he referenced millennials several times while discussing  the network's 2015-16 schedule. Later Tuesday, he was to present the schedule to advertisers in New York.

"The Muppets," which will air at 8 p.m. Tuesdays, will be a mockumentary-style comedy from Bill Prady ("The Big Bang Theory") that, according to ABC press materials, "will explore the Muppets' personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, breakups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires."

Somehow I think your grandmother would recognize it. So will your kids.

Some may also recognize Johnson, whose latest comeback, "Oil," has him playing a "ruthless tycoon" causing problems for a young couple (Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse) who've moved to North Dakota for the oil rush.

ABC, which kept four of its seven nights' schedules intact, added three other new comedies and five new dramas for next season, though not all will be on the fall schedule.

And, as it did this year, it will air some shows in the gaps between season halves, with "Galavant" returning in the "Once Upon a Time" time slot and "Marvel's Agent Carter" filling the time between airings of "Marvel's Agent Shield.

Besides "Oil," new dramas include: "Quantico," a series about FBI recruits, with a conspiracy angle, starring Priyanka Chopra, Dougray Scott and others; "Of Kings and Prophets," a Biblical saga about King Saul and David that, yes, Lee says is not your grandmother's Sunday-school story; "Wicked City," an '80s-set story about a  serial killer, which Lee said was the network's highest-testing pilot among millennials; "The Catch," from Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers ("Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal"), starring Mireille Enos ("The Killing") as a fraud investigator who gets snookered; and "The Family," a thriller involving the return of a politician's son who'd long been presumed dead that stars Joan Allen and Zach Gilford.

Besides "The Muppets," new comedies include: "Dr. Ken," starring Ken Jeong ("Community," "The Hangover"), who, as Lee noted, really is a doctor, as "a brilliant physician with no bedside manner"; "The Real O'Neals," about a "seemingly perfect Catholic family" changed by the revelation that a teenage son is gay; and "Uncle Buck," which is based on the movie and stars Mike Epps as the unlikely baby sitter.

Returning shows include: "American Crime," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Black-ish," "Castle," "Dancing With the Stars," "Extreme Weight Loss," "Fresh Off the Boat," "Galavant," "The Goldbergs," "Grey's Anatomy," "How to Get Away With Murder," "Last Man Standing," "Marvel's Agent Carter," "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD," "The Middle," "Modern Family," "Nashville," "Once Upon a Time," "Scandal," "Secrets and Lies" and "Shark Tank."

Outta here: "Cristela," "Forever," "Resurrection."

ABC's 2015 fall schedule

MONDAY

8 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars"
10 p.m. "Castle"

TUESDAY

8 p.m. "The Muppets" (new)
8:30 p.m. "Fresh Off the Boat"
9 p.m. "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD."
10 p.m. "Quantico" (new)

WEDNESDAY

8 p.m. "The Middle"
8:30 p.m. "The Goldbergs"
9 p.m. "Modern Family"
9:30 p.m. "black-ish"
10 p.m. "Nashville"

THURSDAY

8 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy"
9 p.m. "Scandal
10 p.m. "How to Get Away with Murder"

FRIDAY

8 p.m. "Last Man Standing"
8:30 p.m. "Dr. Ken" (new)
9 p.m. "Shark Tank"
10 p.m. "20/20"

SATURDAY

8 p.m. "Saturday Night Football"

SUNDAY

7 p.m. "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8 p.m. "Once Upon a Time"
9 p.m. "Oil" (new)
10 p.m. "Of Kings and Prophets" (new)