ABC

The Oscars will return with a host, three years after it last had one. The announcement came from Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals & ABC Entertainment, during his TCA executive session. The exec didn’t give any more details in terms of who will host the annual movie bash but joked that it might be him.

ABC has renewed Station 19 for a sixth season, with Krista Vernoff remaining as showrunner. Through the first eight episodes of Season 5, the firefighter drama is averaging 6.3 million total viewers and a 1.0 demo rating (with Live+7 DVR playback), ranking third and second among all ABC dramas.

The network has ordered four additional episodes of the family comedy series, bringing its season nine total to a full 22. The news, announced by Wendi McLendon-Covey, has nothing to do with the previously announced departure of fellow original star Jeff Garlin.

ABC has handed out an early season 19 renewal for the Shonda Rhimes-created medical drama after reaching a new deal with leading lady Ellen Pompeo to return. Pompeo joins fellow original stars Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. in coming back for season 19.

ABC’s The View is without one of its co-hosts this week, after Whoopi Goldberg tested positive for COVID-19. Joy Behar disclosed the news on the program Monday. “Whoopi unfortunately tested positive over the break, but she will hopefully be back next week,” Behar said. “Since she is vaxxed and boosted, her symptoms have been very, very mild, but we are being super cautious.”

With your broadcast-TV favorites now on holiday break, TVLine is looking at how each network’s shows are stacking up thus far in the 2021-22 TV season. Having previously eyed NBC and CBS, next up is ABC.

“Our plans are on track as we continue to look for the right person to join our panel of smart, dynamic women,” a spokesperson for the talk show said. “We look forward to welcoming guest co-hosts for return appearances and introducing new names into the mix in the new year.”

Grey’s Anatomy‘s record-breaking run may continue. Renewal talks are underway for a potential 19th season of ABC’s flagship scripted series though sources caution that conversations are in early stages. Series star and co-executive producer Ellen Pompeo also has been approached about continuing on the show for another season.

Seacrest has signed a multi-year extension of his deal to continue as host and executive producer of the annual ABC special, which is produced by MRC Live & Alternative. The extension will take Seacrest past the 20-year mark as host; this year’s broadcast, which is also the 50th anniversary of the first New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, will be his 17th.

Abbott Elementary, American Auto and Grand Crew will all debut in December, then wait several weeks before settling into their regular homes.

Mayim Bialik will begin her job as host of Jeopardy primetime specials in the new year with the premiere of Jeopardy National College Championship on ABC, the broadcast network said Thursday. The event will kick off Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 8/7c on ABC. Jeopardy National College Championship is a “multiconsecutive-night event that features 36 students from 36 colleges and universities from across the country, battling head-to-head for nine days of intense competition,” per its official description.

Gabrielle Union and Allison Tolman will also star in the installment of ABC’s Live in Front of a Studio Audience from producer/hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear.

All rise! Judge Steve Harvey is in session at ABC beginning Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. a new promo for the unscripted legal series reveals. In each one-hour episode, Harvey will take on a variety of conflicts and characters in his courtroom — from small claims to big disputes and everything in between.

Longtime General Hospital cast member Steve Burton is leaving the ABC show due to his refusal to comply with the production’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate. Burton announced his departure on Instagram today.

Norman Lear is heading back to the Sony lot. The television veteran and Jimmy Kimmel will revive their Emmy-winning Live In Front of a Studio Audience series on Dec. 7 with live episodic reenactments of the classic sitcom Diff’rent Strokes and its spinoff The Facts of Life.

Ingo Rademacher also shared an anti-transgender meme on social media Sunday, prompting backlash from some castmates.

Comedy Abbott Elementary and drama Promised Land will also premiere in early 2022.

In the wake of a court order that permanently shut down Locast, the erstwhile provider of free streams of local broadcast TV feeds is now on the hook to pay $32 million in statutory damages after agreeing to settle a copyright lawsuit brought by ABC, CBS, Fox and NBCUniversal.

Michelle Obama will appear on an episode of the ABC comedy in its eighth and last season, the show announced on social media Thursday. Details of the former first lady’s appearance are being kept under wraps for now.

The two Wednesday comedies will extend their runs by nine episodes apiece.

The former ViacomCBS executive will oversee development of new projects and day-to-day operations for dramas at the broadcast network.

The Walt Disney Co. and the National Football League reached a five-year deal that will put a new Monday night wild card playoff game on ESPN and ABC, starting at the end of this year’s regular season. The Disney networks plan to use the game as part of a megacast that will include a simulcast on ESPN and ABC, with Peyton and Eli Manning hosting their popular alternative telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN Plus.

The Bachelor has found Chris Harrison’s replacement … and he’s already a member of Bachelor Nation. Jesse Palmer, who starred in Season 5 of The Bachelor back in 2004, will host the upcoming season of ABC’s reality romance hit, the network announced on Tuesday. The new season is slated to air early next year.

It depends on how you look at it.

Two hosts of ABC’s “The View” were pulled from set during the show’s live broadcast Friday after learning that they tested positive for COVID-19. The panelists were moments away from introducing Vice President Kamala Harris to the show for an in-person interview in their New York City studio. Harris’s interview will now take place remotely from another room inside the building.

Harris will visit “The View” studio on Friday for her sixth appearance on the daytime chat show — but her first as vice president. She’ll answer questions about the pandemic, Afghanistan and other topics.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine series finale rose in its final episode, earning a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.17 million viewers, per fast affiliates. But it came in second to Big Brother on CBS, which ruled Thursday in all fields. The latest episode (0.9, 3.77M)  of the reality series was the highest-rated and most-watched title of the evening.