ABC bringing back 'Modern Family,' 'Cougar Town'

By Nellie Andreeva and James Hibberd

ABC has handed out early renewals to its three promising freshman comedy series, "Modern Family," "Cougar Town" and "The Middle."

The network made the announcement during its portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour Tuesday morning.

The pickups follow Monday's early renewal by Fox of its breakout freshman dramedy "Glee."

In the fall, ABC made a risky move by launching a two-hour comedy block with all-new series on Wednesdays. All but canceled "Hank" have performed solidly.

The overachiever is "Modern Family," from Steve Levitan, Christopher Lloyd and 20th TV, which has been widely praised by critics and has been the strongest performer for the network on the night.

"Cougar Town" and "Middle" both boast A-list female leads: Courteney Cox in "Cougar," from ABC Studios and Bill Lawrence, and Patricia Heaton in "Middle," from Warner Bros. TV, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.

There is no decision yet on the fate of ABC's struggling comedies "Scrubs" and "Better Off Ted."

"We've obviously been disappointed," the network's entertainment president Stephen McPherson said at TCA. "Whenever we put comedy other than Wednesday is a bit of an island."