Mistresses

In case you feel like you don't have enough drama in your life, ABC is seeking to fill that void with Mistresses, an adaptation of the popular British series. The stateside cast includes Alyssa Milano and Lost's Yunjin Kim as part of a group of girlfriends whose love lives are active and sexy, but very complicated. I gave the pilot a watch to bring you my verdict on Mistresses and whether you should set your DVR to record this soapy new series.

• What it's about: Savannah (Milano), April (Rochelle Aytes), Josslyn (Jes Macallan), and Karen (Kim) are a tight-knit group of friends, and they're each in a different transition in their love lives. Married Savannah is trying to get pregnant, widowed April is trying to date again, therapist Karen is getting over the death of her lover, and Jes is single and loving it — and she intends to stay that way. Each woman's situation is far from smooth sailing, though, and the pilot introduces you to a series of dilemmas, most of them related to infidelity, as you could guess from the title.
• Where it works: Mistresses is addictive from the very first episode. It's packed full of juicy story lines and sexy situations, like Savannah's temptation to cheat on her husband with a sexy colleague, or a shocking revelation about April's past, and I found myself dying to see what happens next.
• Where it doesn't: The cast still needs to find their chemistry. Aside from Savannah and Josslyn, who are sisters, it's not clear why these women are friends and spend time together. It's melodramatic to the extreme (though if you're into that, dive right in).
• You might like this show if: You miss shows like Lipstick Jungle and Desperate Housewives.
• When it's on: May on ABC.

See some pictures and a preview of Mistresses after the jump.

ABC is adding soapy new drama Mistresses to its roster, which is an Americanized version of the BBC America show. It stars Alyssa Milano and Yunjin Kim as part of a quartet of female friends who each have scandalous love lives. (As the title implies, they're either cheating on someone or being cheated on.) Milano, Kim, their costars, and showrunners came to the TCA to talk about the new series and how it's more about friendship than illicit affairs.

• The cast was asked about how much skin they've had to show for the sexy series, and Milano reported that so far, she hasn't had to reveal much: "For my scenes, the guys were [more] naked, so it was a little easier for me." She added that when they were filming the pilot, she was still breastfeeding between takes, and gave a shoutout to her costars. "Bless these men who put up with it, because I wasn't feeling so sexy." Her cute costar Jason George (who you might know from Grey's Anatomy) chimed in: "You were looking sexy!"
• Fans of Lost will recognize Yunjin Kim, who plays therapist Karen. Obviously, her old and new shows are light years apart, and Kim noted that it's "amazing" for her to work on a show about women and friends, because she can relate to and sympathize with the characters. Kim noted another obvious contrast: "wardrobe, makeup-wise . . . this show's more fun."
• The show is based on the BBC America series, but it won't be a carbon copy. Executive producer K.J. Steinberg said the show deviates from the format, starting with giving it a faster pace. Steinberg says they "took what they had and front-loaded" it on the American version, but also "ran in a whole different direction." So has all the cast seen the original show? Kim said she marathoned the first season after she was cast, but stars Jes Macallan and George deliberately didn't watch it to avoid having preconceived notions of their characters.
• So how far will the show push the steamy angle? Steinberg acknowledged that "at first blush, it sounds salacious, but if you scratch the surface, it's so much more." The show is more about the friendship of the women: "The sisterhood is really at the core of it all," Macallan said. Milano added that it's important because the characters make some poor decisions with their love lives, and the women need each other: "If [friends] can't be the most honest with you, who can?"

Upfronts are in full swing, and it's time to get acquainted with the new series that'll be hitting the small screen in Fall 2012. ABC has revealed the shows it's ordered after announcing which shows it's canceling, and we've got the info on the pilots right here.

COMEDIES

• Malibu Country: Reba McEntire plays a woman who moves with her kids from Nashville to Malibu to live with her mother (Lily Tomlin) after her husband cheats on her.
• How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life: Sarah Chalke stars as a recently divorced woman who has to move in with her eccentric parents, played by Brad Garrett and Elizabeth Perkins.
• Family Tools: A man (Kyle Bornheimer) puts his life on hold to take over the family handyman business from his father, played by J.K. Simmons.
• Neighbors: A family, which includes Jami Gertz, moves into a gated community and discovers that it's full of aliens disguised as humans.

DRAMAS

• 666 Park Ave.: Dave Annable and Rachael Taylor play a couple who notice supernatural occurrences in the New York City apartment building they've been hired to manage.
• Last Resort: The crew of a nuclear submarine (played by the likes of Scott Speedman and Andre Braugher) has to escape to a NATO outpost after they ignore an order to fire nuclear missiles.
• Zero Hour: Anthony Edwards stars as a longtime editor of a magazine that disproves conspiracies when he's pulled into one.
• Red Widow: The widow (Radha Mitchell) of a murdered criminal has to take over his place to save her family.
• Nashville: This family soap follows two country stars, played by Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, one who's at the top of her career and another whose star is just rising.
• Mistresses: Alyssa Milano stars in this drama about the love lives of four women, which also costars Lost's Yunjin Kim.