Thursday, March 21, 2013

BET/Centric Acquire Fresh Prince, Martin, Plus Renewals; ABC Season Finale Dates for 2012-13 Season



BET Networks announced that it has licensed an extensive package of iconic, successful off-net programming from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. And the off-network programming are '90s sitcoms! The series, which features such world-recognized and award-winning actors such as Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence, includes The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Matters, Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show and The Wayans Bros. to air on BET and Centric. In addition, Viacom sibling Nick at Nite has retained the rights to continue airing Full House, while another sibling, MTV2, has acquired the rights to air Living Single. As for the current schedule, Family Matters already started airing on BET earlier this month, as we previously mentioned. The sitcom was borrowed from sister network Nick at Nite and has made the move to BET. In regards to the other sitcoms we mentioned, Martin currently is on sibling MTV2 (shared with TV One), while The Jamie Foxx Show and The Wayans Bros. have already been airing on BET/Centric for sometime now, so these are more renewals than anything. The Wayans Bros. sometimes even pops-up on sister net MTV2. Martin will start on BET/Centric soon and it will be exclusive to BET Networks in the next few years (by Fall 2015), Barbara Zaneri (Executive Vice President, Program Strategy, Scheduling and Acquisitions, BET Networks) tells us. Stay tuned for updates on that.



The real new deal for BET/Centric is for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Currently, it is not airing on any Viacom-owned network, as it is airing on TBS and ABC Family. Barbara Zaneri has told us exclusively that The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be exclusive to BET Networks and Viacom Media Networks and will begin airing in Fall 2014. MTV2 also has a brand new deal. It has acquired Living Single, which like Fresh Prince, is currently not on a Viacom-owned network. Living Single currently airs on TV One and we'll have news on its launch date on MTV2 shortly. Barbara says it won't pop-up on BET/Centric for now, but she loves the show, so you never know. Like Martin, Fresh Prince, Barbara tells us the series will be exclusive to BET/Viacom Networks. And finally, Full House is a renewal for Nick at Nite (it's being shared with ABC Family), so you'll continue to see that in primetime on Nick at Nite. We're not sure if this renewal will be now exclusive to Viacom, but we'll find out soon. Stay with us as we will bring you premiere dates and the schedule for these shows (especially Fresh Prince and Living Single, since they are brand new deals) on BET, Centric, and MTV2. There could be more shows in this deal, but these are a lot of shows and deals. We mentioned Roc to Barbara, since that would go well with The Jamie Foxx Show, since Jamie had a recurring role on that series. Special thanks to Barbara Zaneri for all key exclusive and launch information!


ABC has announced its season finale dates for 2012-13 series. The finales begin this Friday (Friday, March 22) with the season finales for sitcoms Last Man Standing and Malibu Country beginning at 8pm. Look for our reviews of both tomorrow before they air! Happy Endings will then move into the hour with back-to-back episodes for at least the next three weeks (March 29, April 5, and April 12). The Neighbors wraps up its freshman season next Wednesday (March 27) at 8:30pm, as we knew. Then the remaining finale dates are new news. Suburgatory, which moves back to 8:30pm on April 3, will conclude its second season on Wednesday, April 17 with a 2-episode finale starting at a special time of 8pm. The remaining season finales will air in the May sweep primarily, with Wife Swap (which has its season premiere tonight) on Thursday, May 2 at 8 (summer series Wipeout premieres May 9). The other ABC Thursday finales will be on Thursday, May 16 with Grey's Anatomy at 9 and Scandal at 10. On to Sunday, new drama Red Widow will conclude on Sunday, May 5 at 10 (if it doesn't get pulled due to low ratings). The big Sunday guns of Once Upon a Time and Revenge will end their seasons the following week on May 12 from 8-11pm, with Revenge having a two-episode finale from 9-11pm. America's Funniest Home Videos will conclude its season on the final Sunday of the season on Sunday, May 19 at 7pm (leading into the Billboard Music Awards).

New celebrity competition series Splash, which premiered to good ratings this week, will end its first season on Tuesday, May 7 at 8pm. Dancing with the Stars will end its season with a two-night finale event, with The Finals airing Monday, May 20 from 8-9pm and The Finale on Tuesday, May 21 from 8-10pm. No word what will air May 14 at 8 or May 21 at 10 (the latter could be regularly scheduled Body of Proof as usual, but I don't think it will be). Speaking of Body of Proof, it will have its season finale the following Tuesday on May 28 at 10, which is the first Tuesday of the summer. Back to Monday, Castle will have its season finale on Monday, May 13 at 10, since The Bachelorette will premiere May 20 from 9-11pm, as previously announced. On Friday, May 17, Shark Tank will end its series high 26-episode season at 9pm. Happy Endings is scheduled for Fridays at 8, but that is just for three weeks, as of now. ABC could opt to air it Wednesdays at 8:30pm for May sweep to finish off its remaining four episodes, however ABC had previously announced new sitcom Family Tools for that slot, though we haven't heard anything more on it since. They could air that series in the summer instead. Back to the finales, ABC ends the season with the Wednesday finales on Wednesday, May 22: The Middle at 8, Modern Family at 9, and freshman drama Nashville at 10. ABC will premiere How To Live with Your Parents on April 3, but no finale date has been announced yet, but it will likely be on May 22, too. That would mean that only 8 episodes will air out of its 13 episode order, but ABC could hold on to the remaining five for next season, should it do well in the ratings. View the ABC 2012-13 season finale dates. That's it, stay with us for further information as always!

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM
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New on DVD/Blu-ray (September)

The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Ninth Season Newhart - The Complete Sixth Season 2 Broke Girls - The Complete Fifth Season Family Matters - The Complete Eighth Season Modern Family - The Complete Season 7

09/06 - Coach - Season One (Mill Creek) / Season Two / Seasons One and Two
09/06 - South Park - The Complete Ninteenth Season (Blu-ray)
09/13 - The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Ninth Season (Blu-ray)
09/13 - Newhart - The Complete Sixth Season
09/20 - 2 Broke Girls - The Complete Fifth Season
09/20 - Family Matters - The Complete Eighth Season
09/20 - Modern Family - The Complete Season 7
09/20 - Veep - Season 5
09/27 - The Wonder Years - Season Six
More TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, September 25

Family Guy - "A Lot Going on Upstairs" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Stewie refuses to sleep in his own bed because of nightmares, Peter can’t stand it, so he goes to sleep in the attic. Peter turns the attic into a man cave and all of the guys begin hanging out there, which makes Lois incredibly angry. Meanwhile, Brian helps Stewie overcome his fears by building a device to go into his nightmares and defeat his demons.

Bob's Burgers - "Flu-oise" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT)
When the youngest Belcher comes down with an epic case of the flu, Linda has a mishap as she tries to deliver Louise’s favorite toy to her daughter’s bedside. After Louise vows that she will never forgive her family for their mistake, she falls into a wild fever dream filled with familiar faces, zany musical numbers and a crazy adventure.

The Simpsons - "Monty Burns' Fleeing Circus" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Springfield is burned to the ground, the Simpsons beg Mr. Burns to fund its rebuilding. Burns agrees – with one condition: he gets to put on a variety show at the Springfield Bowl.

Son of Zorn - "Defender of Teen Love" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
After embarrassing Alan in front of his crush, Nancy, Zorn uses the Stone of Sight to spy on the girl for his son. Meanwhile, Edie is determined to move on and forces Zorn to finally move his old boxes out of her garage and into his own apartment.

Family Guy - "The Boy in the Band" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Stewie and Brian form a children’s band that quickly rises to fame until they let a girl get between them and drive the band apart. Meanwhile, Peter and Lois insist that Chris gets a job so he takes a job managing Quagmire’s sex life as his personal assistant.

The Last Man on Earth - "General Breast Theme with Cobras" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
The safety of Tandy and the group is in jeopardy as armed intruders storm the Malibu beach near their home, and no one can agree on what to do. While Melissa takes drastic action, Tandy gets a new lesson in fashion.

K.C. Undercover - "In Too Deep 2" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Volunteens give K.C. an assignment that pits her against Craig and his job of protecting the ambassador.

Bizaardvark - "Pretty-Con" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The annual beauty convention Pretty-Con comes to Vuuugle and Amelia obsesses with beating out a beauty guru for the Golden Powder Puff Award; Paige and Frankie agree to help so they can meet the host and debut their music video.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 26)

Sunday, September 25

  • Mark Consuelos (Hope & Faith) - Catch Mark on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Monday, September 26
  • Zach Galifianakis (Baskets) - Watch Zach on on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Rob Lowe (The Grinder/Parks and Recreation) - Rob appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. He also talks about Code Black on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am and on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings. He will be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET.
  • Kal Penn (We Are Men/How I Met Your Mother) - Kal is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth) - Will visits Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
  • Norm Macdonald (Norm) - Norm stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) - Margaret appears on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
  • Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
  • Patton Oswalt (The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi drops by Harry, so check your local listings.
  • Kristin Chenoweth (Kristin) - Kristin performs live on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am. She also talks about her new album on the AOL Build Show at 3pm.
  • Sutton Foster (Younger) - Sutton talks about Younger on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • The Cast of Younger) - Sutton Foster, Debi Mazar, Hilary Duff, Nico Tortorella, Peter Hermann, Miriam Shor and Molly Bernard are guests on the AOL Build Show at 2:15pm.