Freeform Renews ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Okay’ & ‘Motherland: Fort Salem’ As ‘Grown-ish’, ‘Good Trouble’ & ‘Cruel Summer’ Move To 2021

Peter White
·5 min read

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Freeform has plotted out its original programming plans for the next 12 months with second-season renewals for Everything’s Gonna Be Okay and Motherland: Fort Salem and the move of grown-ish, Good Trouble and Cruel Summer to next year.

The news, released ahead next week’s Disney Advertising Sales Virtual Roadshow presentation, comes as the network looks to get out in front of the COVID-19 production shutdown, which impacted a number of its originals, including the three series pushed to next year. In a video message to fans (watch it below the story), Good Trouble stars Maia Mitchell and Cierra Ramirez explain how production on Season 3 of The Fosters spinoff was suspended over the pandemic and it won’t be ready for a summer 2020 launch as originally planned.

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With Good Trouble, new drama series Cruel Summer and Part 2 of grown-ish‘s third season all postponed until next year, Freeform’s summer 2020 lineup will feature new episodes of The Bold Type, whose fourth season returns June 11, as well as the recently announced and remotely produced limited scripted series Love in the Time of Corona.

On the heels of ABC’s successful Disney Family Singalong specials, Freeform is adding Summer Singalong in 2021, featuring movies great music, including the network premiere of Disney’s live-action film Aladdin, alongside existing blocks such as 31 Nights of Halloween, 25 Days of Christmas, and the return of Valentine’s Day stunt Love However the FF You Want.

“We have a strong slate ahead, and with our young adult audience coming of age in a time that will forever impact their lives, we owe it to them to tell bold, authentic stories that reflect who they are and where they are going,” said Lauren Corrao, Freeform’s EVP, Original Programming and Development.

Created, exec produced by and starring Australian comedian Josh Thomas, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, which also stars Kayla Cromer, Adam Faison and Maeve Press, follows Nicholas, a neurotic twenty-something-year-old who is forced to raise his two teenage half-sisters, one of whom is on the autism spectrum, after the death of their father. Produced by Breeders producer Avalon Television, it is exec produced by Thomas, Stephanie Swedlove and Kevin Whyte, David Martin, Jon Thoday and Richard Allen-Turner and co-EP-ed by Thomas Ward. It will return in 2021.

“This is great news, not just because it means I have a group of writers that have to hang out on my screen with me all day and I don’t have to be alone anymore getting weird,” said Thomas. Here is the video announcement of the pickup:

Thriller Motherland: Fort Salem, meanwhile returns with more chaos in an alternate, present-day America where witches ended their persecution over 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country with supernatural tactics and weapons. It stars Taylor Hickson, Jessica Sutton, Ashley Nicole Williams, Amalia Holm, Demetria McKinney and Lyne Renee, was created and written by Eliot Laurence, who exec produces with Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Kevin Messick Steven Adelson, Erin Maher, Kay Reindl and Bryan Q Miller.

Elsewhere, grown-ish, which had its midseason finale in March, will return with its remaining season three episodes in 2021. The black-ish spin-off, which looks at the issues that students face in the world of higher education, stars Yara Shahidi, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, Emily Arlook, Jordan Buhat, Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey, Luka Sabbat and Diggy Simmons. Produced by ABC Signature Studios and executive produced by Kenya Barris, Julie Bean, Jenifer Rice-Genzuk Henry, Craig Doyle, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and E. Brian Dobbins, it was renewed for season four in January.

The third season of Good Trouble will also air next year. The Fosters spin-off, which had its season finale in March, follows residents of The Coterie as they deal with the consequences of their personal and professional decisions and realize that sometimes standing up for what you believe in comes at a price. Maia Mitchell, Cierra Ramirez, Sherry Cola, Tommy Martinez, Zuri Adele, Emma Hunton, Beau Mirchoff and Josh Pence star. Co-created by Joanna Johnson, Peter Paige and Bradley Bredeweg, the trio exec produce alongside Gregory Gugliotta, Christine Sacani, Maia Mitchell, Cierra Ramirez, Jennifer Lopez, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Benny Medina also serve as executive producers.

New original Cruel Summer, which comes from Bert V. Royal, Jessica Biel and eOne, will also air in 2021. This comes after Deadline revealed that Olivia Holt, star of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger, will play one of the lead roles. The unconventional drama takes place over three summers in the 90s when a beautiful and popular teen goes missing, and a seemingly unrelated girl transforms from a sweet and awkward outlier to the most popular girl in town, eventually becoming the most despised person in America. Chiara Aurelia, Michael Landes, Froy Gutierrez, Harley Quinn Smith, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee and Brooklyn Sudano also star.

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