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This Jenkintown boy's life and other new shows on ABC's fall schedule

Adam F. Goldberg is bringing his wonder years to ABC this fall.

Adam F. Goldberg, the writer behind ABC's "The Goldbergs."
Adam F. Goldberg, the writer behind ABC's "The Goldbergs."Read more

JENKINTOWN'S Adam F. Goldberg ("Breaking In," "Fanboys") is bringing his wonder years to ABC this fall.

His autobiographical new sitcom, "The Goldbergs," was one of a dozen new scripted series that ABC presented to advertisers in New York yesterday afternoon, and it's the one that ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee singled out more than once in a conference call with reporters.

"I really adore this show," Lee said, and he's planning to promote it, along with its fanboy-friendly lead-in, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," from Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Avengers"). The two shows kick off a night of entirely new series.

"The Goldbergs," which shares not just its Penn Charter grad creator's name but that of one of television's earliest comedies, is set in the '80s and was pitched using footage Goldberg shot of his own family (some of which was shown to advertisers yesterday).

Sean Giambrone plays 11-year-old Adam, who chronicles his family's life with a video camera. Wendi McClendon-Covey plays Adam's mother, Jeff Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") his father and George Segal his grandfather.

In an interview last year, Goldberg described the pitch to me: "I was a giant nerd, and I recorded every moment of my childhood, and my family's very loud, and we argued all the time, and so I made a three-minute trailer of my family arguing - my actual family - Thanksgiving meltdowns, people storming from the table, my mom yelling at me to get the f--- in the house, my dad calling me an idiot, it's all in a little trailer, like a movie trailer. And they just watched it and they said, 'We want to put this on the air.' Done."

Other highlights of ABC's schedule:

*  "Dancing with the Stars" will become a single two-hour block on Mondays that will include results.

* Canceled shows include "666 Park Avenue," "Body of Proof," "Don't Trust the B- in Apartment 23," "Family Tools," "Happy Endings," "How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life," "Last Resort," "Malibu Country," "Red Widow" and "Zero Hour" as well as "Private Practice," which ended its six-season run in January.

* Lee said that he'd be happy if "Body of Proof," which ABC produces, were to find another home on a cable network.

* Eight new shows are on the fall schedule. Besides "S.H.I.E.L.D." - in which Clark Gregg reprises his role as Agent Phil Coulson from several Marvel projects, including "The Avengers" - and "The Goldbergs," they include:

"Trophy Wife," a comedy about a "reformed party girl" named Kate (Malin Akerman) who becomes the third wife of Pete (Bradley Whitford); "Lucky 7," a drama about seven gas-station employees in Queens whose lottery pool hits big; "Back in the Game," a comedy about a former softball star and single mother (Maggie Lawson) who moves in with her estranged father (James Caan) and decides to coach her athletically challenged son's baseball team; "Super Fun Night," a show about three girlfriends (Rebel Wilson, Liza Lapira and Lauren Ash) who have had a standing date every Friday for 13 years and now face a change in routine; "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland," a "Once Upon a Time" spin-off featuring Sophie Lowe as Alice; and "Betrayal," about lovers (Hannah Ware and Stuart Townsend) who find themselves on opposing sides in a murder case.

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