Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Hallmark Dumps The Good Wife; Remembering Ben Starr Co-Creator of The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons

The Good Wife

The Hallmark Channel has pulled The Good Wife completely from its line-up effective today (Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014). The series started a few weeks ago by airing weekdays from 6-10pm but after just a week it was reduced to 8-10pm and now it is gone completely. The Waltons will now air in primetime from 8-10pm, so its 2-4pm airings will be replaced by Home Improvement. Hallmark will replace the 6-8pm Home Improvement block with the return of Little House on the Prairie. Classic '70s and '80s family dramas from 6-10pm trump over The Good Wife in the ratings for Hallmark it seems. Hallmark has a quick axe usually on shows that do not deliver in ratings, but for a big acquisition like this, it might have been too quick to pull. We'll let you know if and when it returns to the line-up. The rest of the Hallmark Channel weekday schedule will remain as is, with I Love Lucy from 5-8am, The Golden Girls from 8-10am, a new and encore of Home & Family from 10am-2pm, the aforementioned Home Improvement from 2-4pm, The Brady Bunch from 4-6pm into the classic dramas from 6-10pm (Little House & The Waltons). Comedies will rule in late night still with Frasier from 10pm-12am, The Golden Girls from 12-2am, Cheers from 2-3am, and more Frasier from 3-5am.


Ben Starr

Television writer and producer Ben Starr, who helped create The Facts of Life and Silver Spoons, has died. He died on January 19 at his home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. Mr. Starr was 92.

Starr's early sitcom writing credits included Duffy's Tavern, My Hero, I Married Joan, The Ray Milland, December Bride, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Bachelor Father. He wrote 40 episodes of Mister Ed from 1961-1963. Other sitcoms he wrote multiple episodes of included My Favorite Martian, Petticoat Junction, The Brady Bunch, Chico and the Man and All in the Family.

He worked as a writer and producer for Diff'rent Strokes from 1978-1982. He was instrumental in inadvertently coining the famous "Whatchu talking 'bout Willis?" catchphrase by Gary Coleman. The line was originally written as "What are you talking about, Willis?" before Coleman gave his classic delivery. He was interviewed in the E! True Hollywood Story specials on Diff'rent Strokes and Dana Plato in 1998 and 1999. In 1979, he helped develop the spin-off series The Facts of Life with Howard Leeds and Jerry Mayer. The popular series aired on NBC for 9 seasons and 209 episodes. Starr later helped create Silver Spoons with Leeds and Martin Cohan in 1982. The series, starring Ricky Schroder, Joel Higgins and Erin Gray, aired for five seasons (four on NBC and one in first-run syndication).

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on November 9, 2009. Survivors include three children and three grandchildren and nephew Andy Kaplan, who heads international channels for Sony Pictures TV. We thank him for bringing us the classic 1980s sitcoms The Facts of Life and Silver Spoons. He will be greatly missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight (Monday, March 10)

How I Met Your Mother - "Daisy" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Marshall enlists Ted and Barney to help him figure out where Lily went when she left in the middle of their fight.

2 Broke Girls - "And the Soft Opening" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Business booms for Max and Caroline’s new cupcake walk-up window when word spreads about a shocking incident involving a rock star.

Mike & Molly - "Rich Man, Poor Girl" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Victoria brings home a new boyfriend and the entire family wonders if he’s finally “the one.”

Mom - "Belgian Waffles and Bathroom Privileges" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Christy has trouble accepting how much easier life is with Bonnie in the house. Meanwhile, Baxter sets up camp in the driveway.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 10) (All times Eastern unless noted)

Monday, March 10

  • Steve Harvey (The Steve Harvey Show) - Watch Steve on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC. He will also be on NBC's Today between 7-9am. Finally, he chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
  • Andy Samberg (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) - Andy appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Busy Philipps (Cougar Town) - Busy visits Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Minnie Driver (About a Boy) - Minnie is part of the guest panel on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
  • Kevin Nealon (Weeds/Hiller and Diller/Weeds) - Kevin drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • Nia Long (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Zulay Henao (Love Thy Neighbor), Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs) - The cast of The Single Moms Club are guests on The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
  • Paul Scheer (The League) - Paul appears on The Pete Holmes Show at midnight on TBS.
  • Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Ray appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
  • Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Krysten talks about her new movie Veronica Mars on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
  • Jennie Garth (What I Like About You) - Jennie joins Clinton Kelly and prepares a savory layered dish with mushrooms and polenta and discusses her new book (Deep Thoughts from a Hollywood Blonde) on ABC's The Chew at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
  • Marcia Gay Harden (Trophy Wife) - Marcia chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Wendi McLendon-Covey and Troy Gentile (The Goldbergs) - Wendi and Troy will be on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings. Wendi will also be on The Better Show, so check your local listings.
  • Chris Lowell (Enlisted) - Chris talks about the new Veronica Mars movie on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET. He will also be on WPIX Morning News at 8:45AM in New York and on HuffPost Live.
  • Jenna Elfman (Growing Up Fisher/1600 Penn/Dharma & Greg) - Jenna is a guest on The Queen Latifah Show, so check your local listings.
  • The Cast of Mixology - The cast of Mixology will be guests on Pop Sugar on TV Guide Network at 6pm and on the next day on their website at noon.
  • Jason Ritter (The Class) - Jason appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
  • Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/Silver Spoons) - Jason visits NBC's Today between 7-9am.
  • Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer is a guest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Busy Philipps (Cougar Town) - Busy appears on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.