TV Land Picks-Up Season 2 of Happily Divorced; ABC Family's State of Georgia Gets 2 Multiple Episode Airings In August

Thursday, July 21, 2011

TV Land Picks-Up Season 2 of Happily Divorced; ABC Family's State of Georgia Gets 2 Multiple Episode Airings In August

TV Land announced that it has picked up its original sitcom Happily Divorced, starring and co-written by Fran Drescher, for a second season with 12 new episodes tentatively scheduled to premiere in Spring 2012. Drescher shared the news with the Fran Fans on TV Land's Happily Divorced Facebook page. Happily Divorced, inspired by Drescher's own life, also stars acclaimed actors John Michael Higgins (Best in Show), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Rita Moreno (OZ), Robert Walden (All The President's Men) and Valente Rodriguez (George Lopez). According to Nielsen, Happily Divorced is averaging over 2.2 million total viewers, a 1.0 among A25-54 and a 1.3 among W25-54 season-to-date, posting triple digit gains over the network's primetime average.
Drescher, twice nominated for both Golden Globe® and Emmy® Awards and also a New York Times best-selling author of Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer, will co-write the show alongside her real life ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson. Jacobson previously worked with Drescher as co-creator and writer on The Nanny.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience, Happily Divorced airs on Wednesday nights at 10:30pm ET/PT immediately following new episodes of Hot in Cleveland.

ABC Family's freshman sitcom State of Georgia starring Raven Symone premiered on Wednesday, June 29 at 8:30pm and thus far has aired four episodes of its twelve-episode order (upped from the originally reported ten). Episode 5 will air next Wednesday (July 27) at 8:30pm, but then ABC Family will be airing FOUR all-new episodes (episodes 6-9) during a special 9-11pm block on this night. Melissa & Joey will air two all-new episodes for the full hour at 8pm on this date leading-in. The following week (Aug. 10) is back to normal for a week with an all-new Melissa & Joey at 8 and an all-new State of Georgia at 8:30 (episode 10), but then on Wednesday, August 17, State of Georgia for its season finale will air two all-new episodes (episodes 11 and 12) from 9-10pm following an hour of all-new Melissa & Joey at 8pm. Melissa & Joey will air for a full hour every week hereafter starting Aug. 17, and will be all-new for the full hour. They have 18 episodes to air this summer and that series has aired four so far this summer (thru July 20). If two all-new episodes air from Aug. 17 and on, the season finale would air on Sept. 14 (which is convenient because ABC returns its Wednesday comedy line-up on Sept. 21), but this is just my guess for now. Melissa & Joey was already renewed for a second season, as we reported.
It's hard to tell what ABC Family is doing with State of Georgia, but the ratings for episode three weren't very good last week (July 13, a 0.2 18-49 rating). Perhaps the multiple-episode stunts will help on Aug. 3 and Aug. 17? It's still early, so hopefully ABC Family is not giving up already because the first four episodes have been pretty funny and is a nice throwback to comedies of the early '90s. We'll certainly keep an eye on State of Georgia and hope they stick with it and renew it.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, August 8

Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.

Happy's Place - "Dear Jack" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Bobbie catches Isabella doing a slow-fade breakup with her long-distance boyfriend, she convinces her to send a Dear John letter; Steve brings in a review praising Chef Emmett's cooking and acknowledging the tavern's bartender, "Abby."

Electric Bloom - "How It All Came Out in the Wash" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jade and Posey experience opposite feelings about their first crushes. Meanwhile, Tulip discovers an exciting new talent.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 4)

Friday, August 8

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Renée Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Renée appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) and Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) - Gillian and Paul are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Steve Buscemi (Miracle Workers) - Steve talks about Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - Kelsey talks about his book Karen: A Brother Remembers on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
The Jonas Brothers (Jonas/Jonas LA) - The Jonas Brothers perform in the Citi Concert Series on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Christopher Lloyd (Taxi/Stacked) - NBC's Today catches up with Christopher in the 9am hour.
Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Sketch on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - Oliver is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack talks about HGTV's Zillow Gone Wild on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.