ABC will have a multi-camera comedy on the air next season after all.

The network has given a late pickup to its long-running comedy "According to Jim," after initially leaving it off the 2007-08 schedule. The show will produce 18 episodes next season, with a premiere date and timeslot yet to be determined.

"For six years, it's been a joy being part of the ABC and Touchstone families and part of each and every family who have been loyal viewers of our show every week," star and executive producer Jim Belushi says. "This season will top all the rest. I'm thrilled to continue this seventh season with these extended families."

Though long dismissed by critics, "Jim" -- which also stars Courtney Thorne-Smith, Larry Joe Campbell and Kimberly Williams-Paisley -- has been a fairly reliable performer for ABC over the years. Last season, when it often faced FOX's "American Idol," it drew a little over 6 million viewers per week and a 2.3 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic.

ABC will begin next season with three comedies on the schedule, all of them newcomers and all of them single-camera: "Samantha Who?" (formerly "Sam I Am" and briefly "Samantha Be Good"), "Cavemen" and "Carpoolers." The returning "Notes from the Underbelly" is scheduled for a late-fall premiere, and another single-camera show, "Miss/Guided," is on tap for midseason.

Next season will be the seventh for "According to Jim," which premiered in October 2001. It's one of the longest-running live-action comedies currently on TV, tied with NBC's "Scrubs" -- which also begins season seven in the fall -- and trailing only The CW's "Girlfriends," which is entering its eighth year.