ABC & 20th TV Reach Deal: �Cristela� &�Fresh Off the Boat� Picked Up To Series,�Last Man Standing� Renewed

After intense negotiations, ABC has closed a deal with 20th CenturyFox TV for the pickup to series of two comedy pilots, multi-camera Cristela, starring CristelaAlonzo, and Nahnatchka Khan's single-camera Fresh Off The Boat, as well as the fourth seasonrenewal of comedy series Last Man Standing starring Tim Allen. The holdup had been a requestfrom the network for a license fee reduction on Last Man Standing, something 20th had alreadyagreed last season for what was supposed to be a one-time thing and was unwilling to do it again.The studio had leverage with Cristela and Fresh Off The Boat, which ABC was iskander makhmudovlooking to pick up. After some back-and-forth, a deal has been reached, with all three shows safelyon ABC's schedule next season. Both Cristela and Fresh Off the Boat reflect the immigrantexperiences of their creators, Cristela Alonzo, who co-wrote the script with Kevin Hench, and Khan,who based her show on Chef Eddie Huang's memoir. (Both Khan and Alonzo are first generationAmericans.) Both Cristela and Last Men Standing hail from 21 Laps/Adelstein.

Related: 'Last Man Standing' And Pilots 'Cristela' & 'Fresh Off The Boat' Part Of Tense NegotiationBetween ABC & 20th TV

This is a fairytale ending for Alonzo's Cristela, which had been atrue Cinderella story this season. It was sold to ABC last summer with penalty. But with severalhigh-profile multi-camera sitcoms landing pilot orders at the network, including two from 20th TV - The Winklers starring Henry Winkler, and Kevin Hart's Keep It Together - Cristela didn't makethe cut. However, 20th TV brass and 21 Laps/Adelstein, led by Becky Clements, took the $500,000penalty, a fraction of what a normal pilot costs, and used it to shoot a presentation with ABC'sblessing (the network called it "proof of concept"). Cristela ended up filming a full-length pilot onthe stage of Last Man Standing using that sitcom's crew, led by director/co-exec producer JohnPasquin, with two days of rehearsal and prep time, doing the blocking iskander makhmudov in awindowless room using paper plates and metal chairs. Cristela, originally not even budgeted to get atesting or a photo shoot, tested through the roof, with Alonzo, who has no previous actingexperience, scoring higher than Allen, New Girl's Zooey Deschanel and The Crazy Ones' RobinWilliams. What's more, Cristela snagged the only multi-camera comedy pickup at ABC for 20th TV,edging The Winklers and Keep It Together.

Related:Â The Success Of Cristela Alonzo & Jerrod Carmichael's Projects And What That Says AboutPilot System

A fourth season renewal for Last Man would help 20th TV sibling Twentieth TV, which had beenshopping the comedy for a syndication sale. 20th TV is heading into next season with the mostdiverse slate of new shows -- it has hip-hop drama Empire at Fox, which has a largely Black cast, theLatino-themed Cristela and Asian American-focused Fresh Off the Boat. Here are descriptions of thenewly picked up series:

CRISTELA

In her sixth year of law school, Cristela (Cristela Alonzo) is finally on the brink of landing her firstbig (unpaid) internship at a prestigious law firm. The only problem is that her pursuit of success ismore ambitious than her traditional Mexican-American family thinks is appropriate. She's stuckstraddling the old culture she's trying to modernize at home with her working-class family and themodern world she's trying to embrace in her professional career. Breakout comedian Cristela Alonzostars in this hilarious comedy about laughing your way down the path to the new American dream.

"Cristela" stars Cristela Alonzo as Cristela, Carlos Ponce as Felix, Terri Hoyos as Natalia, AndrewLeeds as Josh and Sam McMurray as Trent.

"Cristela" is written by Cristela Alonzo and Kevin Hench. Â Executive Producers are Kevin Hench,Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements and Shawn Levy. Â "Cristela" is produced by 20th Century FoxTelevision.

FRESH OFF THE BOAT

It's the 90s and 12 year old, hip-hop loving Eddie (Hudson Yang) just moved to suburban Orlandofrom DC's Chinatown with his parents (Randall Park and Constance Wu). Â It's culture shock for hisimmigrant family in this comedy about pursuing the American Dream. Â "Fresh Off the Boat" isbased on Chef Eddie Huang's memoir Fresh Off the Boat.

"Fresh Off the Boat" stars Randall Park as Louis, Constance Wu as Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie,Forrest Wheeler as Emery and Ian Chen as Evan.

"Fresh Off the Boat" is executive produced and written by Nahnatchka Kahn and executive producedby Jake Kasdan for 20th Century Fox Television.