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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

ABC Adds 5 Shows For Fall, Brings Back 'Roseanne' For 2018

ABC Television
The entire original "Roseanne" cast returns for ABC's reboot in 2018.

Move over "Will & Grace," here comes "Roseanne."

ABC announced Tuesday that it will premiere four dramas and one comedy this fall – but the sitcom many ABC viewers could want to see will be the "Roseanne" reunion in 2018.

Roseanne Barr (Roseanne), John Goodman (Dan), Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Laurie Metcalf (Jackie), Michael Fishman (D.J.) and Lecy Goranson (Becky) will return for eight episodes in 2018, says Channing Dungey, ABC Entertainment president. Sarah Chalke ("Scrubs"), who played Becky in later seasons, will also appear in another role on the reboot, she says.

NBC announced this week that the stars of "Will & Grace" will return for 12 episodes this fall.

Credit ABC Television
Kara Sedgwick stars in ABC's "Ten Days In The Valley."

ABC also officially announced the return of "American Idol" for winter of 2018, but said that the "host and judges will be announced at a later time." Some entertainment websites have reported that Katy Perry will be a judge, and Ryan Seacrest will return to host, as he did on "Idol" on Fox  (2002-16).

ABC also released plans for a new Shonda Rhimes drama ("For The People"); a live two-hour version of "The Little Mermaid" on Oct. 3; a special on the 50th anniversary of "Rolling Stone" magazine; and the "Bachelor Winter Games," a "Battle of the Network Stars" style competition for past contestants to air in February before the Winter Olympics.

GONERS:  Not mentioned in the ABC announcement and likely canceled are Jenna Elfman's "Imaginary Mary" created by Green Township native Patrick Osborne; Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" after six years; "American Crime," "Time After Time," "Dr. Ken," "Secrets and Lies," "The Real O'Neals," "The Catch," "Conviction" and "Notorious."

MORE DRAMA: Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") stars as a TV producer and single mother who looks for her missing daughter with a friend (Malcolm Jamal Warner) on "Ten Days in the Valley" (10 p.m. Sunday); Shaun Murphy ("Bates Motel") plays "The Good Doctor" (10 p.m. Monday), a brilliant surgeon with autism and savant syndrome; Jason Ritter (“Parenthood,” "Drunk History") plays a man inspired by a "celestial being named Yvette… to save the world" in "The Gospel of Kevin" (10 p.m. Tuesday); and "Marvel's Inhumans" (9 p.m. Friday) will debut for two weeks in IMAX theaters starting Sept. 1, before ABC viewers see the adventures of Black Bolt and the Royal Family of Inhumans .

Credit ABC Television
Brandon Michael Hall is "The Mayor" on ABC this fall.

COMEDY: "Hamilton" Tony-winner Daveed Diggs produces "The Mayor," about a rapper (Brandon Michael Hall, "Search Party") who runs for mayor as a publicity stunt -- and gets elected (9:30 p.m., Tuesday). Lea Michele ("Glee") co-stars as his best friend.

RENEWED: Still in production to air later in the season are "The Bachelor/Bachelorette," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "Quantico," "Celebrity Family Feud," "Match Game" and "The $100,000 Pyramid."

MIDSEASON: Comedies in the pipeline include Zach Braff ("Scrubs") in "Alex, Inc." about a father who quits his job for a start-up venture; and Jenna Fischer ("The Office") and Oliver Hudson ("Nashville," "Rules of Engagement") as a couple whose marriage is re-ignited by their divorce in "Splitting Up Together," which producer Ellen DeGeneres has adapted from a Danish series.

THE LINEUP (new programs in bold)

SUNDAY: 7, America's Funniest Home Videos; 8, To Tell The Truth; 9, Shark Tank; 10, Ten Days In The Valley.

MONDAY: 8, Dancing with the Stars; 10, The Good Doctor.

TUESDAY: 8, The Middle; 8:30, Fresh Off The Boat; 9, Black-ish; 9:30 The Mayor; 10, The Gospel of Kevin.

WEDNESDAY: 8, The Goldbergs; 8:30, Speechless; 9, Modern Family; 9:30 American Housewife; 10, Designated Survivor.

THURSDAY: 8, Grey's Anatomy; 9, Scandal; 10, Designated Survivor.

FRIDAY: 8, Once Upon A Time; 9, Marvel's Inhumans; 10, 20/20.

SATURDAY: 8, college football.

The five new fall shows are more than the three each that Foxand NBC announced this week.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.