GCB

There's a lot of wheeling and dealing going on in Hollywood this week, as all of the major TV networks have been cutting the fat and rolling out their new shows for Fall. ABC has made a lot of moves in particular; in addition to renewing the likes of Revenge, Happy Endings, and more, it's also bringing back freshman series Scandal, Last Man Standing, and Don't Trust the B---- in Apt 23. Of course, this means that the network must make room for fresh meat by making some cancellations, and ABC is axing GCB, Pan Am, The Missing, and The River. Stay tuned for more updates about the shows we can expect from ABC come Fall!

Photos copyright 2012 ABC, Inc.

ABC is bringing some sauciness to the midseason lineup with new comedy GCB, starring Leslie Bibb. Bibb plays Amanda, a recently-widowed woman who has to move back to her hometown for a fresh start. Unfortunately for her, the girls she knew in high school have grown into vindictive women who haven't forgotten how nasty Amanda was back then. If you're interested in this hourlong comedy, check out my pilot review to see if it sounds like something you'll want to add to your DVR.

• What it's about: After Amanda's philandering husband accidentally drives off a cliff, she moves herself and her kids to Dallas and into the home of her mother (Annie Potts). As she tries to settle in, she faces off with Carlene (Kristin Chenoweth) and her band of religious but catty minions who want to see Amanda brought down.
• Where it works: The casting is great, particularly Bibb as the lead character (anyone who loved Popular back in the day will delight in seeing her) and Chenoweth as a hypocritical bible quoter. But no one is as spot-on as Potts as Amanda's dignified but feisty mom.
• Where it doesn't: The pilot is a little too campy for its own good; the larger-than-life characters seem like they could be fun, but they also seem a bit too two-dimensional.
• When it's on: Sundays at 10 p.m. on ABC, starting March 4
• You might like this show if: You're a fan of any of the Real Housewives installments.

To see some photos and watch a preview of GCB, just keep reading.

New ABC series GCB stars Leslie Bibb as a woman who returns to her hometown of Dallas, TX, after her husband dies amid a scandal. Once she arrives, the women of her community, headed up by Kristin Chenoweth, don't exactly welcome her with open arms. These women are affectionately known as "good Christian b*tches," which was the original title of the show before it was changed to the current abbreviation. The show's creator Robert Harling came to the Winter TCA with the stars to address the title change as well as how much the female characters will be portrayed as good, Christian, or b*tches.

• Harling addressed the title changes the series has already been through. Based on a book, the original title was Good Christian B*tches, which briefly became Good Christian Belles. Harling, who is from Texas, said that "belles" wasn't really appropriate for Texas, which is different than other parts of the South. When the idea of the abbreviation came up, Harling said that it fit in with the current usage of terms like LOL and FYI. He seemed happy with the current title, saying that "GCB stuck and we all thought it was cool."
• Bibb, whose character Amanda was a mean girl in high school, talked about who's the meanest of the female characters now. Though Amanda seems to have left her bad-girl past behind, Chenoweth's Carlene is still intent on bringing Amanda down. Bibb says that they "all sort of set each other off in the show," and "everyone has a beautiful, great moment of being b*tchy."
• Harling says that despite the implications on the title, these women are "motivated by a real sense of goodness." As for the Christian factor, Harling says that the show "will never, ever be disrespectful" to the religion.
• Old-school TV fans will remember star Annie Potts from '80s TV show Designing Women, which Potts referenced in a very sweet way during the panel. Potts plays Bibb's mother Gigi on the show as a church-attending, gun-toting grandma who takes no guff from anyone. Potts was asked if she based her character on anyone she knew, and she said that Gigi is an amalgam of people, but there's "a lot of my beloved Dixie Carter in her."