Alphabet Net Bets on Sextet

The success of the mid-season shows These Friends of Mine, Thunder Alley, and Sister, Sister meant two things: (1) ABC wouldn't have much room for new series on the fall schedule, and (2) most of the new shows it chose would resemble these johnny-come-lately hits-i.e., family sitcoms and vehicles for stand-ups. ABC ordered only six new programs and had to cancel only three current shows (Phenom, The Byrds of Paradise, and The New America's Funniest People) to make room. These Friends of Mine will be renamed Ellen (after its star Ellen DeGeneres) and air after Roseanne on Tuesdays, bumping Coach to Mondays at 8 p.m. Matlock and Sister, Sister will return mid-season. The new series are:

Blue Skies (Mondays, 8:30-9 p.m.) Best pals (Flying Blind's Corey Parker and The Antagonists' Matt Roth) run an L.L. Bean-like mail-order-clothing company and drool over their new business partner (Kirsten Nelson).
Me and the Boys (Tuesdays, 8:30-9 p.m.) African-American comic Steve Harvey stars as a widower raising three kids with his mother-in-law.
All American Girl (Wednesdays, 8:30-9 p.m.) Korean-American comic Margaret Cho plays a recent college graduate working at a department store and living at home with her straightlaced relatives.
My So-Called Life (Thursdays, 8-9 p.m.) An angst- ridden high schooler (Claire Danes) comes of age in this late-summer series from the thirtysomething team of Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
McKenna (Thursdays, 9-10 p.m.) Medical Center's Chad Everett checks back into series TV as a rancher and father who leads tours of the Pacific Northwest.
On Our Own(Sundays, 7:30-8 p.m.) The oldest of seven orphans (Ralph Harris) pulls a Mrs. Doubtfire, posing as the clan's aunt to keep them together. The other six kids are played by real-life sibs JoJo, Jazz, Jussie, Jurnee, Jake, and Jacqui Smollett. Jeez!