Comedy is king, at least at ABC, as the network has renewed three of its freshmen comedies, giving them the much-coveted second season pickup. The announcement came Tuesday and was given by ABC’s Steve McPherson who said he had given early second-season orders to Wednesday night comedies Modern Family, Cougar Town and The Middle. The network also gave the green light to another comedy pilot called Mr. Sunshine, starring Friends alum Matthew Perry.

ABC also announced the pickup of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, which follows the celeb U.K. chef as he travels to Huntington, W.Va., in order to launch a new healthy cooking initiative. The show, from Ryan Seacrest Prods. and Fresh One Prods., will air Fridays at 9 p.m. starting March 26.

And McPherson confirmed the network is at work on a spinoff for The Bachelor. The new show, Bachelor Pad, will run in late summer as a bridge between The Bachelorette and the fall schedule. The show, hosted by Chris Harrison, features former Bachelor contestants keeping it sexy in a house. ABC’s other big reality franchise, Dancing With the Stars, is back Monday, March 22. McPherson said the show would include fewer contestants this season.

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The last few years of television have shown us that the ratings darlings were either reality/competition shows, vast plots and casts where a suspension of belief were necessary, or the use of a microscope was employed… every week. Don’t call it a comeback, but times are a-changin’.

According to Variety, ABC has given full-season orders to Modern Family and Cougar Town, both sitcoms – “situation comedies” in case you’ve forgotten – revolving around normal, every-day characters and families dipped in abnormal circumstances. Even The Middle has scored enough viewership to convince the network to re-up and fortify its Wednesday comedy block, which has so far outperformed the same time slot from last year when the now-canceled Pushing Daisies and relocated Private Practice used to reside.

Is this a sign that sitcoms will once again return to prominence and dominate the airwaves? Possibly, however a case can be made for established television stars going back to the well and finding success with a new vehicle. Both Cougar Town and The Middle have comedic veterans as their centerpiece – Courteney Cox Arquette and Patricia Heaton, respectively – while Modern Family provides a good mixture of new talent with familiar faces that has been agreeable with viewers. As with anything television-related, stay tuned.