ABC's Midseason: Party Like It's 1998

ABC announced some as-long-as-there's-please-God-no-SAG-strike midseason premiere dates yesterday. Among the highlights: The remake of Rob Thomas' Cupid, which was a highly praised flameout with Jeremy Piven in the 1998-99 season; Castle, in which Nathan Fillion is a mystery novelist who solves crimes (imagined scene at pitch meeting: "Get me a young male Angela Lansbury!"); and The Unusuals, billed as a dark-humored cop show, with Peter Tolan (of Rescue Me and dark-humored ABC cop show The Job) behind the scenes as a consultant. No date yet for Mike Judge's The Goode Family, naturally, since it's the ABC midseason show I'm most curious about. Excerpts from the release after the jump:

ABC ANNOUNCES PREMIERE DATES FOR NEW DRAMAS

"CASTLE," "CUPID" AND "THE UNUSUALS"

ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" Returns Tuesday, January 6 at 10:00 p.m.

Three new dramas will be joining the ABC lineup: "Castle" on Monday, March 9 at 10:00 p.m.; "Cupid" on Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 p.m.; and "The Unusuals" on Wednesday, April 8 at 10:00 p.m. In addition, ABC News' "Primetime: What Would You Do?" will return on Tuesday, January 6 at 10:00 p.m. (all times ET).

"Castle"

Wildly famous mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion, "Desperate Housewives"), who is bored with his own success, learns that a real-world copycat killer has started staging murder scenes depicted in his novels. Rick is soon questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, "The Spirit"), a very bright, aggressive detective who keeps her investigations under tight rein. Rick and Kate's styles instantly clash, yet sparks begin to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle steps in to help find the killer. And once that case is solved, he and Beckett build upon their new relationship as they look to solve strange homicides in New York – as much fun as one can have with death & murder. Castle is kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother, Martha Rodgers (Susan Sullivan, "Dharma and Greg") and quick-witted teenage daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story").

Also starring in the series are Ruben Santiago-Hudson ("Law & Order") as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones ("Daddy Day Camp") as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas ("Generation Kill") as NYPD Detective Tony Esposito and Seamus Dever ("Army Wives") as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

"Castle" is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe serves as executive producer/creator along with executive producers Armyan Bernstein, Barry Schindel, Rob Bowman and Laurie Zaks.

"Cupid"

"Cupid" is a romantic dramedy about Trevor Pierce (Bobby Cannavale, "Will & Grace"), a larger than life character who may or may not be the Roman god of love, Cupid, sent to earth to bring 100 couples together before he is allowed to return to Mt. Olympus. As fate would have it, Trevor is under the care of psychiatrist and self-help author Dr. Claire McCrae (Sarah Paulson, "The Spirit," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"), who is also dedicated to helping lonely hearts find their soul mates. When it comes to true love, Claire believes it's all about friendship and compatibility, but for Trevor, heat and passion conquer all. Only time will tell who will win the battle for love.

"Cupid" stars Bobby Cannavale as Trevor, Sarah Paulson as Claire, Rick Gomez as Felix and Camille Guaty as Lita.

"Cupid" is produced by ABC Studios. Rob Thomas serves as executive producer/creator along with executive producers Jennifer Gwartz, Danielle Stokdyk, Dan Etheridge and Diane Ruggerio.

"The Unusuals"

In "The Unusuals," it helps if a cop has a twisted sense of humor, because every moment could be your last. Just ask Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"), who started her day as an NYPD vice detective before unexpectedly being transferred to the homicide division. She quickly realizes that, not only does everyone in her new department have a distinct sense of humor, but also their own dirty little secrets.

The series stars Amber Tamblyn as Detective Casey Shraeger, Jeremy Renner as Detective Jason Walsh, Harold Perrineau as Detective Leo Banks, Josh Close as Detective Henry Cole, Monique Gabriela Curnen as Detective Allison Beaumont, Kai Lennox as Detective Eddie Alvarez, with Terry Kinney as Sergeant Harvey Brown and Adam Goldberg as Detective Eric Delahoy.

Created by Noah Hawley, "The Unusuals" is executive-produced by Hawley, Robert DeLaurentis and Peter O'Fallon, with Peter Tolan as an executive consultant on the series, which is produced by 26 Keys, Inc. in association with Sony Pictures Television for ABC.

"Primetime: What Would You Do?"

Suppose you witnessed a stranger slip a suspicious powder into his date's drink – would you tell his date? What if you saw a deli cashier exhibit racial discrimination to a customer trying to place an order – how would you respond? Using hidden cameras, "Primetime: What Would You Do?" sets up everyday scenarios and then captures people's reactions. Whether they're compelled to act or mind their own business, John Quiñones reports on their split-second – and often surprising – decision-making process.

Often people speculate on how they might act in a difficult situation, but this series looks at how they actually do in the face of everyday dilemmas that test their character and values. According to a 2008 Columbia Journalism Review essay, "Primetime: What Would You Do?" is "the flip side of reality TV… rather than show how people act in manufactured situations when they know they're being watched, they show us how people act when they don't."