Saturday, December 10, 2005

TV Week's TV Land Article; ABC Family Channel Announces Marathons for January

TV Week had an excellent article on TV Land earlier this week. I saved it to show you all today. They mention that the recent acquisitions of Good Times and What's Happening!! has brought TV Land high ratings and also even higher ratings among African Americans. TV Land has aired black sitcoms in the past such as The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son (which is still a staple today), but now they have a nice little African American sitcom block with Sanford & Son, Good Times and What's Happening!!. No, TV Land is NOT trying to become the home of African American sitcoms, it just happens to be that those two new acquisitions have done very well. TV Land has also added Night Court this year, which showcases two supporting black stars (Charles Robinson and Marsha Warfield), but they also have added a pure white show in the drama Little House on the Prairie. Both have done well, especially Little House. All have done well because of how broad their popularity is, especially Good Times. Good Times is clearly becoming the new staple for TV Land, which The Andy Griffith Show was for TV Land for many years. Andy still does well, but the Good Times marathon broke a lot of records for TV Land and brought TV Land to its highest ratings ever. Andy remains the only pre '70s show in primetime, the rest of the pre '70s shows can still be found in the mornings.
More African American-led fare is on its way. TV Land will produce a three-hour Black History Month special to run in February. Recently TV Land announced it has ordered a reality show pilot starring Mr. T, and more acquisitions of African American-led shows are being considered, such as Benson in June. They will also add Miami Vice and The A-Team to weekends in January. Both '80s dramas had a black star in the cast.
Lucy, Munsters, and the rest of your favorite '50s and '60s shows are being cut down to morning slots because the broad popularity and ratings for the '70s sitcoms have done very well for TV Land. TV Land's focus is viewers 25-54, and they want to cut their median age of 52 way down, so '70s laughers are the right start. In fact, the '70s sitcoms don't just mean black sitcoms, because Three's Company and All in the Family have also done very well for them. Now if TV Land can bring us The Jeffersons, Alice, One Day at a Time, and Maude we can all party like it's 1977!

You can read the full text of the article here. You can also post your thoughts there as well.

ABC Family Channel won't be making any changes to its regular line-up in January but they have a lot of marathons in the works! Start off the New Year with some home improvement during the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Marathon. Seven self-contained episodes of award winning series will be aired back-to-back with each episode featuring a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to rebuild an entire house for one deserving family. Airs Sunday, January 1 from 12 noon to 7 p.m.
Spend a whole day with Kris, Junior, Dani and Matt in this all day Wildfire marathon. Relive all the drama, secrets and seductions from season one from the beginning, where Kris finds her way to Raintree, to the very end – with Kris in a neck-and-neck race during the Sandpiper Classic on Wildfire. Stay tuned for the second season premiere of Wildfire following the all-day marathon. The marathons Airs Monday, January 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET/PT. Followed by the second season premiere at 8 p.m.: ABC Family's highest rated adult-targeted primetime drama, returns for an exciting new season. The episode opens at last year’s cliff hanger with Kris riding Wildfire in the Sandpiper Classic. In a nose-to-nose race, Wildfire and Kris are distracted by rival jockey Tina Sharp and end up losing the race to Avatar. Despite the loss, Kris becomes a local celebrity as a jockey, and well-known sports agent, Kerry O'Connell tries to convince her to become his client.
Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families for two weeks on the reality show Wife Swap. In the first week of the swap, the wives move in with their new family and adopt their very different lifestyle. They agree to follow a manual written by the departing wife that sets out the rules of their new household. But then, in the second week, everything changes. The new wives take charge and introduce their own set of rules and run the new household their way. At the end of the show, the two couples meet for the first time. In a highly-charged exchange of views, both couples make a frank assessment of each other and talk about what they've learned from the experience. Catch the Wife Swap marathon on Sunday, January 15 from 12 noon to 7 p.m. ET/PT.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, April 24

The Conners - "Manifesting, Marriage Testing and Cheeseballs" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Conners relish national cheeseball day as a family. Meanwhile, Harris falls behind in her work duties at the Lunch Box, and Darlene and Ben must figure out how to spend time together despite their two separate schedules.

Not Dead Yet - "Not the End Yet" / "Not a Ghost Yet" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Nell finds out that Duncan is selling the SoCal Independent, so she takes matters into her own hands to save her job when Lexi seems unwilling to help. Then, Nell navigates an unexpected incident that leaves the sale of the newspaper on hold.

Animal Control - "Skunks and Swans" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Shred take on an aggressive swan; Shred has a meet-cute with a mysterious woman; Emily makes a mistake that results in Victoria having very little time to prepare for her big exam; Patel gets his father to help Victoria cram for the test.

Family Guy - "A Stache From the Past" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Peter loses the Griffins' home in a reverse mortgage, he and Mayor West travel to confront the man advertising the scheme, Tom Selleck; Stewie and Brian open a booth at the flea market, leading to a rivalry with Bruce.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 22)

Wednesday, April 24

  • Carol Burnett (Palm Royale/Mad About You/Mama's Family) - Watch Carol on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Nicole Richie (Great News) - Nicole is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits in with The 8G Band on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) and Michaela Watkins (Dinner with the Parents/Search Party/The Unicorn/Casual/Trophy Wife) - Lisa and Michaela are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • John Early (Search Party) - John appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10:15pm on Bravo.
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse is a guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10:15pm on Bravo.
  • Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - E! News has an interview with Tiffany at 11pm on E!.
  • Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny guest co-hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Drew will be on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
  • Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld) - Jerry talks about Unfrosted on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am and on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Mayan Lopez (Lopez vs Lopez) - Mayan talks about NBC's Lopez vs Lopez on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Carrie Preston (Crowded/Happyish/Emeril) - Carrie, a fan-favorite on The Good Wife, tells Sherri about her new show Elsbeth on Sheri, so check your local listings.
  • Harry Hamlin (Movie Stars) - Harry has a cooking demo on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.


New on DVD/Blu-ray

Father Knows Best - The Complete Series Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series Check It Out! - The Complete Series

12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)

The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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04/02 - Adult Swim's Smiling Friends Returns May 12; Stallone Drama Returning for Season 2
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03/28 - Netflix's Good Times Animated Comedy Trailer; Too Close for Comfort and Check It Out! Complete Series on DVD
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