"Here's the story
Of two lovely ladies ..."
Doesn't take long before ABC Family's The Fosters dispels one of its two moms' worries that if they keep adding kids to their already crowded household, "It's going to be like The Brady Bunch around here." Well, maybe if Carol had married Alice and Alice was an African-American private-school vice principal and Carol was a cop and the kids were a blended multi-racial rainbow of diversity. Earnest but rarely saccharine, this promising new family drama (Monday, 9/8c) — to be paired in future weeks with the channel's best series, Switched at Birth — establishes its edgier tone by introducing its main character, the abused but prideful Callie (Maia Mitchell), as she gets roughed up on her way out of juvy and into the welcoming custody of Lena (Sherri Saum), who hasn't yet told her partner-the-cop Stef (Teri Polo) about the new addition.
read moreWhat's love got to do with it? Everything! Lesbian couple Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) head a multiethnic family of foster and biological kids on the new ABC Family drama The Fosters (premiering Monday, June 3 at 9/8c). Executive producer Jennifer Lopez made it all happen — and tells us why.
TV Guide Magazine: You're already everywhere. Why add this gig to your crazy-busy life?
Jennifer Lopez: It's irresponsible not to do TV like this if you get the chance. Like a lot of people, I was raised on idyllic shows like The Brady Bunch and Eight Is Enough. We need to put out the message that a family doesn't need to have one mom, one dad, one dog and a picket fence. A family is about love and acceptance.
read moreABC Family's new drama The Fosters will introduce TV viewers to a new kind of modern family.
Executive-produced by Jennifer Lopez, the drama tells the story of Lena (Sherri Saum) and Stef (Teri Polo), a bi-racial lesbian couple that takes in Callie (Maia Mitchell), a troubled teen with an abusive past. The transition for Callie is anything but easy, especially as she tries to fit in with Stef's biological son Brandon (David Lambert) and the couple's adopted twins Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) and Jesus (Jake T. Austin).
Summer TV: Must-watch new shows
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