The Nest

The Nest is a comedy-drama television series that airs on ABC. The Nest follows a family who have five (later six) adopted children. After the series' seventh season, ABC decided not to renew it for Season 8, and the series ended in 2023. However, the series was picked up by Netflix in 2026, and a 10-episode Season 8 was released that year. Netflix released two mores seasons of 10 episodes each, before ending the series again after Season 10. Season 11 was momentarily in production at Netflix, but was cancelled two days after filming began.

Characters

 * Macie Adders as Piper Byrd (Season 1-7): The mother of the family, Andrea is an atheist who is a chemist. She is infertile.
 * Maxwell Newman as Landon Byrd (Season 1-7): The father of the family, Ryan is from a Catholic background. He works as a childrens' book author.
 * Alexis Finnegan as Olive Byrd (Season 1-7): The first adopted child of the Byrd family, Olive is 13 in Season 1. She is of Japanese descent. In Season 5, she leaves for an out-of-state college. She returns in Season 6, and attends a nearby community college. In Season 7, Olive becomes pregnant.
 * Taylor Andrews as Journey Byrd (Season 1-7): The second adopted child of the Byrd family, Nova is extremely ambitious, determined, and confident. Stella is of African descent, and is 12 in Season 1.
 * Daniel McGuire as Asa Byrd (Season 1-7): The third adopted child of the Byrd family, Asa is 11 in Season 1. Jupiter is of German descent. He is extremely shy and barely talks at all, until he starts opening up in Season 3 and 4.
 * Maya Gomez as Summer Byrd (Season 1-7): The fourth adopted child of the Byrd family, Summer is 8 in Season 1. Summer is of Mexican descent.
 * Harley St. German as Forrest Byrd (Season 1-7): The fifth adopted child of the Byrd family, Forrest is 3 in Season 1. Forrest was born in Indiana to a teenage mother.
 * Blaire Cho as Pandora Byrd (Season 3-7): The sixth adopted child of the Byrd family, Pandora is of Japanese descent, and she is Sophia's biological sister. Pandora turns one year old in Season 5, after she is adopted in Season 4.
 * Nathan Wells as Lincoln Byrd (Season 5-7): The seventh child of the Byrd family, and the only biological child of Andrea and Ryan Byrd. Andrea learns that she is pregnant, in Season 4, after thinking that she is barren. Lincoln is born in Season 5.
 * Izzie Parker as Natalie Dixon (recurring Season 1-5; series regular Season 5-7): Asa's best friend who eventually develops a crush on him.
 * Winter (episode 112-607): The Byrd family's first dog. When Summer discovered that she had a deceased biological twin in Season 1, episode 12, Piper and Landon decide to get Summer a dog to pretend to be her "twin". Summer names the dog Winter, which was the name she believed her biological twin had. In Season 4, the family learns that Winter is pregnant after Summer brings Winter over to a male pug's house. Winter gives birth to four puppies in Season 4, episode 23. All four puppies are sold the next episode. In Season 6, episode 7, Winter is ran over by a truck when she gets lose. In that episode, "Winter the Pug", the Byrd family holds a candlelight vigil for the dead dog.
 * Nat (episode 101-718): The Byrd's pet cat. Nat is named after a cat in Landon's first childrens' book. Nat gets lost in Season 3, but is found later that season.
 * Autumn (episode 610-718): The Byrd family's second dog, and Winter's daughter. After Winter dies in episode 607, the family wants another dog to fill Winter's absence. Landon remembers the puppies sold in Season 4, and he buys back on of the puppies they sold. Summer names the new dog Autumn.

Pre-production (2015-16)
Cecily Adders pitched the series to ABC in 2015, then titled The Byrd's Nest. ABC picked up the series in August 2015, with Cecily Adders as executive producer and head writer. During pre-production, the series received considerable attention due to its premise.

In August 2015, ABC ordered a 13-episode first season. Later, in February 2016, the order was increased to 24 episodes.

It was announced on March 5, 2016, that Macie Adders (Cecily Adders' sister) and Maxwell Newman had be cast as Piper and Landon Byrd, respectively. Later that month, it was announced that Alexis Finnegan, Taylor Andrews, Daniel McGuire, Maya Gomez, and Harley St. German were cast as Piper and Landon's five adopted children.

In May 2016, Cecily Adders announced that the series had been renamed to The Nest.

Season 1 (2016-17)
Season 1 premiered on September 22, 2016. The pilot episode, "Byrd's Nest", broke ABC's premiere record, and was the highest rated premiere of the night.

Season 1 includes these story lines:
 * Olive gets her first boyfriend, Luke, and hides him from her parents.
 * Summer learns that her biological family died in a flood in Mexico, and that she had a twin sister who died in the flood. This leads the Byrds to buy a dog to be Summer's "twin".
 * Journey joins the middle school track team and breaks her leg.
 * Asa, who was home schooled for elementary school, goes to public middle school and his shyness and anxiety is tested. He makes friends with Natalie Dixon.

The twenty-fourth and final episode of Season 1 aired on March 2, 2017. The episode, "Saint Piper", focuses on Piper's first visit to Landon's Catholic church after denying religion and refusing to attend throughout the season. The episode ends in a cliffhanger, the Byrd family returning home from church to find that their home had been destroyed in a house fire. Luckily, Winter was at the vet, and Nat was unharmed in the fire.

The average ratings for Season 1 was 8.08.

Season 2 (2017-18)
ABC renewed The Nest for a second season on April 20, 2017. ABC ordered 24 episodes for Season 2.

Season 2 deals with the aftermath of the Byrd family home burning down in the Season 1 finale. Piper, Landon, and their five kids go to live with Landon's mother, who lives near. Marcella Byrd (Landon's mother), played by Winnie Strong, was previously a recurring character in Season 1, and is promoted to series regular for Season 2.

Season 2 includes these story lines:
 * Asa's anxiety problems get worse, and Piper wants him to attend therapy, but Landon does not.
 * Asa and Natalie continue to be best friends, but Natalie has romantic interests that Asa is oblivious to.
 * Highly religious Marcella and atheist Piper constantly clashing.
 * Landon beginning a new childrens' book inspired by the fire.
 * The Byrd family home being rebuilt.
 * Olive moving into high school.
 * Piper and Landon learning about Olive's boyfriend, Luke.
 * Journey meets her biological parents (Mark and Shelby Tanner), who want to have more of a relationship with Journey.
 * Summer skipping 5th Grade.

The Byrd family moves back into their rebuilt home in Season 2, episode 16. Marcella continues to make regular appearances despite not living with the family anymore.

The series finale, "Open and Closed", aired on February 22, 2018. In this episode, the Byrds compromise with Journey's birth family, and it is decided that they will have an open adoption. Journey is torn, as she is starting to get to know her birth parents better, but Piper is highly uncomfortable with Mark and Shelby being with Journey, as she thinks that Journey will chose her birth parents over she and Landon. Natalia, Asa's best friend, confessed that she has a big crush on Asa. Asa does not know how to react, and avoids Natalie. At the end of "Open and Closed", Piper, Journey, and Forrest are in a catastrophic car accident.

The average ratings for Season 2 was 9.59, a boost up from Season 1.

Season 3 (2018-19)
ABC renewed The Nest for a third season on December 19, 2017, ordering 24 episodes.

Season 3 deals with the aftermath of Piper, Journey, and Forrest's car accident from Season 2, episode 24. In Season 3, episode 1, Piper is shown with minimal injuries. Journey needed several stitches and broke her arm. Forrest, however, suffered severe injuries to his chest, and has to undergo several surgeries.

Season 3 includes these story lines:
 * Journey visiting her birth family more often, making Piper worries and jealous.
 * In Season 3, episode 15, Piper and Shelby Tanner get into a huge fist fight after Piper makes remarks about Shelby and Mark's advancements on Journey.
 * Piper's parents, Roy and Faye Smith, come visit the Byrd family after the accident. Marcella, who had a feud with Faye and has not seen her since the wedding, stirs up drama. Roy and Faye arrive in Season 3, episode 1, and leave in Season 3, episode 7.
 * Asa and Natalie reconcile, and Natalie agrees that the pair can just be friends.
 * Landon publishes his new picture book, which becomes highly successful.
 * Piper and Landon want to adopt another child.

In Season 3, episode 19, Piper and Landon tell the kids that they want to adopt another baby. Olive is the only child is upset by their decision, especially when they announce that they are adopting from Japan. Olive is angry because she thinks the new baby is meant to replace her. The whole Byrd family travels to Japan in Season 3, episode 20, and get the new baby in Season 3, episode 22. It is learned that the baby was found in a box near the adoption center, which causes Summer to name the baby "Pandora" after Pandora's Box. Olive finds the baby somehow familiar. In the season finale, "Addition and Subtraction", Journey learns that Mark Tanner (her biological father) was killed in an accident at work. Piper, despite fighting Shelby earlier in the season, comforts Shelby after Mark's death. Also in the season finale, Olive finally checks the adoption files. On the file, she sees that Pandora's birth parents are the same two people as Olive's birth parents. Olive realizes that she is Pandora's biological older sister. Olive is infuriated that her parents did not tell her they were adopting her sister, and believes that Pandora is meant to replace her. That night, Olive runs away, taking a bus to an unknown destination. "Addition and Subtraction" ends with Piper waking up, acting like it is a normal day.

The average ratings for Season 3 was 8.76.

Season 4 (2019-20)
ABC renewed The Nest for a fourth season of 24 episodes on April 9, 2019.

Season 4 deals with the strain between Olive and her parents after making an attempt to run away to Japan. It also features Shawna Dayton (who plays Shelby Tanner) being upgraded to