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The second season of 鈥淎merican Crime,鈥� ABC鈥檚 acclaimed series, returns on Jan. 6.聽

The first season of the program debuted this past March and centered on the suspects in the murder of a veteran living in California. The episodes starred Felicity Huffman, Regina King, Timothy Hutton, and Richard Cabral and the show was created by John Ridley, who wrote the screenplay for the 2013 Oscar winner 鈥�12 Years a Slave.鈥�

The first season was well-received by reviewers and the show is now a prized part of ABC's lineup. It has received three 2016 Golden Globe nominations: the series itself for the best limited series or TV movie, Huffman for best actress in a limited series or TV movie, and King for best supporting actress in a limited series or TV movie.

Now the new episodes will focus on alleged sexual violence at a high school. Actors including Huffman, King, and Hutton return.

In our age of popular cable and streaming shows, the format of 鈥淐rime鈥� shows that ABC is looking to these other successful formats when creating the show. While broadcast dramas often run for more than 20 episodes 鈥� ABC鈥檚 own 鈥淪candal鈥� ran for 22 episodes in its 2014-2015 season 鈥� 鈥淐rime鈥� is set to run for 11 episodes this season.聽

This number of episodes is closer to the run of a cable or streaming show than the normal network fare. HBO's "Game of Thrones," for example, usually runs for 10 episods.

Putting the same cast in a new story also echoes the casting technique used by the FX cable hit 鈥淎merican Horror Story.鈥� The program, which is currently airing its fifth season, often relies on a similar cast, with actors including Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Denis O鈥橦are, and Sarah Paulson playing different characters each season.

The anthology format used by 鈥淐rime鈥� also echoes the storytelling techniques of 鈥淗orror鈥� and other successful cable shows. Anthology TV shows are currently experiencing a boom, with 鈥淗orror,鈥� FX鈥檚 鈥淔argo,鈥� and HBO鈥檚 鈥淭rue Detective鈥� all following the format. Some have done so more successfully than others 鈥� the second season of 鈥淒etective鈥� was not well-received by reviewers when it aired last summer 鈥� but 鈥淔argo鈥� and 鈥淗orror鈥� have both become big enough hits that the TV world has no doubt been taking note.

How will broadcast audiences respond to 鈥淐rime鈥�? The first season of the show didn鈥檛 do very well in the ratings, but the good reception from critics no doubt gave it a boost at ABC. Reviews for the second season have been very good, too, so we鈥檒l see if 鈥淐rime鈥� can succeed with the help of a few tricks borrowed from cable.