Courtesy of ABC
ABC Family is doubling down on 'Baby Daddy'.
The Disney-owned cable network, which is rebranding as Freeform next year, has handed out a 10-episode pickup for comedy Baby Daddy.
The renewal brings season five's total count to 20, on par with its previous runs. The pickup brings the series closer to the 100-episode marker needed for syndication.
Baby Daddy's fifth season returned in June and ranked as the No. 2 cable TV comedy of the summer among women 18-34 (384,000 viewers and a 1.1 rating) and was the top cable TV series on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. among adults 18-34 (527,000/0.8 rating), 12-34 (685,000/0.7 rating) and all target female demos.
The series, starring Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Tahj Mowry, Chelsea Kane, Melissa Peterman and Derek Theler, ranks as the cabler's longest-running comedy and second-longest-running series behind flagship drama Pretty Little Liars.
ABC Family, which is undergoing a rebranding that will kick off in January when it is renamed Freeform, plans to double its original programming in the next four years under president Tom Ascheim. The network's rebranding focuses on what it calls "Becomers" — adults 18-34 who are experiencing "firsts" like love, jobs and more. Baby Daddy fits squarely in that mandate.
Baby Daddy is part of a roster of originals including a comedy picked up straight to series based on the life of Nicki Minaj as well as The Fosters, Switched at Birth, Young & Hungry, Stitchers, Pretty Little Liars, Recovery Road, Kevin From Work and Shadowhunters.
