Wednesday, March 07, 2012
ABC Family Acquires The Middle For Fall 2013, Also In Local Syndication; TV One's March Sitcom Madness
Warner Bros. Television has sold the ABC hit family sitcom The Middle into broadcast syndication and cable for Fall 2013! In broadcast syndication, Tribune Broadcasting stations will air it in 11 markets, including WPIX-CW New York, KTLA-CW Los Angeles and WGN-CW Chicago. Also, Sinclair Broadcast Group has picked up the sitcom in 19 markets, including Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Middle has been cleared on stations reaching 92% of TV homes so far, having also been sold to stations owned by CBS, Communications Corp., Raycom, Newport, Belo, Cox, Local TV, New Age Media, Titan, Grant, News Press & Gazette, Barrington, Mission, Venture, LIN, Pappas, Weigel, Acme, and others. A full list of stations will be available closer to fall 2013. More clearances will come.
As for cable, The Middle has been acquired by ABC Family for also fall 2013. This marks the first major current sitcom acquisition by the network, as the other comedies they previously acquired were of canceled sitcoms like My Wife & Kids and 8 Simple Rules or older comedies like That '70s Show and Full House. The hit family sitcom will likely air in the early evenings, probably sometime between 6-8pm during family time. We'll have more on that as we get closer to fall 2013, as we are still a while away!
The series premiered in fall 2009 on ABC (Wednesdays at 8PM) and is currently in its third season. By the time the series hits syndication, it will have four full seasons of episodes to air five-days-a-week. Two-time Emmy winner Patricia Heaton stars in this warm and witty single-camera comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations. Middle-aged, middle class and living in the middle of the country in Orson, Indiana, Frankie Heck is a harried wife and working mother of three who uses her wry wit and sense of humor in an attempt to get her family through each day intact. The Middle stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob. It is created and is executive produced by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.
It's March and sports fans know that March means it's time for March Madness (the college basketball tournament). TV One will have its own March Madness with Sitcom Madness! TV One will air sitcom marathons every weekday all-month long from 11am-5pm. The stunt started this week on Monday (March 5) and will continue through Friday, March 30, so you have plenty of time to join the Sitcom Madness! On Mondays, TV One will air six hours of Martin in March. On Tuesdays, spend the day with twelve helpings of The Jeffersons from 11am-5pm. The sitcoms continue mid-week with Good Times on Wednesdays. On Thursday, it's not a half marathon but we get a Half & Half marathon. And close the week out on Fridays with Eve. That's five different sitcoms, so what show do you think is the best show from these five if TV One were doing a bracket style elimination? Luckily they're not, so you can watch all five series if you like them!
Everything else on TV One in March will remain as it is, as the 11am-5pm portion is preempted this month for these marathons. No other stunts are planned, so it's all about the Sitcom Madness in March!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, August 5
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 4)
Tuesday, August 5
- 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.
- Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Bill Hader (Barry) - Bill stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Brittany Snow (Ben and Kate) - Brittany appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kat Sadler (Such Brave Girls) and Lizzie Davidson (Such Brave Girls) - Kat and Lizzie are guests on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Pete Holmes (How We Roll/Crashing), Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) and Kurt Braunohler (Bob's Burgers) - Pete, Gillian and Kurt are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Alison Brie (Community/GLOW) and Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) - Alison and Dave are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
- Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Sketch on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Anna Chlumsky (Veep) - Anna stops by Live with Kelly and Mark to chat about Smoke, so check your local listings.
- Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Bowen talks about the Las Culturistas Culture Awards sometime between 7-9am and will also be on in the 9am hour on NBC's Today.
- Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Chris talks about The Terminal List: Dark Wolf on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- 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.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts