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

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!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, December 11

The Conners - "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Becky helps Harris keep a secret from Darlene, it opens up a can of worms that causes a rift between the two sisters. Jackie supports Peter with his Nordic history project, and Dan reunites with an old friend.

The Kids Are Alright - "Christmas 1972" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Peggy’s successful brother, Tom, drops in for Christmas, Mike immediately oozes with jealousy. Thus begins Mike’s one-sided competition with Tom, using his kids as pawns to help. After Tom gives the Clearys an extravagant Christmas gift, pride prevents Mike from taking it – putting him at odds with the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Timmy mistakenly receives $100 from his great-aunt for Christmas and contemplates whether he should do “the right thing” or keep it. Elsewhere, Eddie forgets to get Wendi a Christmas present and panic sets in.

black-ish - "Christmas in Theater Eight" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The Johnsons have a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas and they can never agree on what to see. Dre wants to see an important film about Rosa Parks, but they all want to see the latest action-packed superhero blockbuster. Meanwhile, Junior becomes embarrassed about taking a gap year after he runs into his ex-girlfriend Megan at the theater.

Splitting Up Together - "Messy" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After Lena and Vlad’s unexpected kiss, things get more complicated as they begin their new work partnership while working with a new client. Elsewhere, Martin goes to Paige’s house for more privacy and gets a glimpse into what a more typical divorced home life is, causing him to become uneasy. Back at home, Mason and Mae go head-to-head after Mae finds out that Mason has a crush on a pretentious girl at school.

The Guest Book - "Everybody Loves Clark" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Tommy surprises Nikki with a spontaneous wedding ceremony; both are blithely oblivious to the fact that Vivian is kidnapping their child; some familiar faces from Mt. Trace return to sort things out.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 10)

Tuesday, December 11

Ron Livingston (Loudermilk/Search Party) - Catch Ron on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi visits The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Adam Pally (Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Vanessa Hudgens (Powerless) - Vanessa stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen/The Ellen Show) - Ellen drops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Maura Tierney (NewsRadio) - Maura is a guest on E!'s Busy Tonight at 10pm.
Kathy Bates (Disjointed) - Kathy chats on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That 70s Show) - Ashton guest co-hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) and Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek) - Eugene and Catherine are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/In the House/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso and his wife Angela discuss holiday hacks on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah talks about Second Act on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) - Jameela talks about The Good Place on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Dan Bucatinsky (Marry Me/Web Therapy/The Comeback) - Dan talks about Second Act on People Now at 12pm.
Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Marlo discusses the season of giving thanks and the amazing efforts of St. Jude on the BUILD Series at 2pm.