NBC Pulls Welcome to Sweden; Watch ABC Family's New Comedy Before Premiere

Thursday, July 30, 2015

NBC Pulls Welcome to Sweden; Watch ABC Family's New Comedy Before Premiere

NBC has pulled second season summer comedy Welcome to Sweden off the air after two weeks. NBC was airing the series back-to-back on Sunday nights from 8-9pm, but all four airings struggled really mightily in the ratings. Repeats of Hollywood Game Night will now take over on Sundays at 8pm. In the series, Bruce Evans (Greg Poehler) and Emma Wiik (Josephine Bornebusch) seem to be the perfect couple....when she makes the life-changing decision to move back to her native Stockholm to accept a prestigious banking job after a year together, she is surprised and thrilled that he agrees to move with her to begin a new life together. Moving halfway around the world with a new love is a huge step and Bruce, with no job, friends or real clue about what he is getting himself into, is quick to face the many unique challenges and culture clashes that living in a foreign land presents. Against the backdrop of a cold, dark and icy Swedish winter, season two follows Bruce and Emma's engagement as they navigate unexpected career transitions, unfamiliar customs and meddlesome relatives. No word on if and when NBC will burn-off the remaining episodes, but it seems highly unlikely they will. Perhaps NBC.com? We'll let you know when NBC announces anything.

Kevin From Work

As part of the network's ongoing summer sampling campaign for its new original series, ABC Family will showcase the network's newest original comedy, Kevin From Work, prior to its on-air premiere on Facebook. As of yesterday, July 29, fans can watch the entire first episode of Kevin From Work exclusively on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KevinFromWorkTV. The show will premiere on ABC Family on Wednesday, August 12 at 8:00 PM ET/PT with two back-to-back episodes. In "Pilot," airing at 8:00 PM ET/PT, after secretly pining after her for years, Kevin declares his love for his coworker Audrey in a letter, believing he'll never see her again after he accepts a job overseas. But Kevin is horrified when that job falls through, and tries to get the letter back before Audrey can see it. Meanwhile, Kevin's irresponsible sister Roxie arrives in town and ends up as Kevin's roommate.

The summer sampling strategy launched earlier this summer with Stitchers and Becoming Us and is a multi-tiered approach that coincides with the series premiere dates. The sampling tactics continue with exclusive digital premieres on Facebook (Kevin From Work) and Tumblr (Job or No Job, Next Step Realty, Monica The Medium and Startup U), screening events with magazines and websites - such as Hearst Magazines' TrendingNY, OK! Magazine, and digital media company Refinery29; free preview of full episodes on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, iTunes, Amazon video and Google Play; previews of full episodes on the WATCH ABC Family app, MVPDs and set-top box VODs; as well as on a special ABC Family website www.ABCFbestsummertvever.com where fans can not only watch the premiere episodes but also post reviews and share across their social platforms.

Kevin From Work is written, created and executive-produced by Barbara Adler. Aaron Kaplan at Kapital Entertainment and McG and Mary Viola at Wonderland Sound & Vision serve as Executive Producers. The series stars Noah Reid (Backpackers) as Kevin, Paige Spara as Audrey, Matt Murray as Brian, Jordan Hinson as Roxie, Punam Patel as Patti, with recurring guest star Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) as Julia.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Friday, December 14

Fresh Off the Boat - "Cousin Eddie" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The battle begins between mother and son when Eddie informs Jessica that he wants to spend Christmas with friend Nicole in New York. But Jessica insists that tradition prevails and he needs to spend the holiday with the family, so he does everything within his power to try and get her to crack and allow him to go. Meanwhile, Louis and Evan do their best to try and help an overwhelmed Emery decide on which one of his numerous friends to invite to the family’s Christmas Eve dinner.

Speechless - "J-I-- JINGLE T-H-- THON" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
A Christmas tree fire leads Maya to tell a small lie with big consequences. Meanwhile, Ray struggles to live in Pepper’s shadow as Dylan twists the knife, and JJ encourages Kenneth to stand up to his sisters (guest stars Niecy Nash and Lisa Leslie).

I Love Lucy - "I Love Lucy Christmas Special" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL features “The Christmas Episode” and the newly colorized “Pioneer Women.” Both were colorized with a nod to the 1950s period in which they were filmed. The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes.

“The Christmas Episode” finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky’s Christmas tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of the Ricardos’ son, Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux). Flashbacks recall the night Lucy tells Ricky she is pregnant, the time Lucy shows up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet, and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse taking Lucy to the maternity ward.

“The Christmas Episode” was first broadcast on CBS on Christmas Eve, 1956. The episode was not included in the series’ long history of rebroadcasts, first on CBS Daytime and later in syndication. Long thought to be lost, the program was rediscovered by CBS in 1989.

In “Pioneer Women,” Lucy and Ethel’s hopes of joining the posh Society Matrons’ League leads to a bet with their husbands over which sex – the men or the women – had it harder living in a bygone era. They select the turn of the last century, and as Lucy and Ethel start to bake their own bread and churn their own butter, the men become acquainted with straight-blade shaving and riding home from work on horseback. They all have some “‘splainin’” to do when two ladies from the Society Matrons’ League stop by for an unexpected visit.

“Pioneer Women” was originally broadcast on March 31, 1952, and became an immediate viewer favorite.

The Dick Van Dyke Show - "The Dick Van Dyke Show -- Now in Living Color!" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The special features the season one episode “Where Did I Come From,” written by Carl Reiner, and the season four episode “Never Bathe on Saturday,” also written by Reiner. The main titles and end credits of the two episodes are seamlessly combined into one set – at the beginning and end of the hour – with no interruption between the episodes.

The Emmy Award-winning series starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as television comedy writer Rob and his wife, Laura Petrie; Larry Matthews as their son, Ritchie; Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie as Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, co-writers on the fictional “The Alan Brady Show”; Carl Reiner as Alan Brady; Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley; Jerry Paris as Dr. Jerry Helper; and Ann Morgan Guilbert as Millie Krumbermacher Helper.

In “Where Did I Come From,” 6-year-old Ritchie asks his parents the inevitable “where did I come from?” question, and they recall the days before his birth. The episode was first presented on Jan. 3, 1961 during the series’ first season.

In “Never Bathe on Saturday,” the Petries’ romantic second honeymoon becomes a disaster when Laura’s toe gets caught in a bath spout. The episode was first presented on March 31, 1965, during season four.

Last Man Standing - "The Gift of the Mike Guy" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Vanessa helps the family realize the importance of its long-standing holiday family traditions.

The Cool Kids - "Margaret Dates the Zodiac Killer" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Margaret begins dating Karl, a fellow resident who may or may not be the "Zodiac Killer."

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 10)

Friday, December 14

Karen Gillan (Selfie) - Watch Karen on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She talks about The Party's Just Beginning on the BUILD Series at 2pm.
Tony Shalhoub (Wings/We Are Men) - Watch Tony on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Laura Linney (The Big C) and Nick Kroll (The League/Cavemen) - Bryan, Laura and Nick make special guest appearances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Bill is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Busy Philipps (Vice Principals/Cougar Town) - Busy appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Romany Malco (Weeds/Blunt Talk) - Romany is a guest on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
Kathryn Hahn (I Love Dick/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn talks about the film Private Life on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Office) - Ellie appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Minnie Driver (Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah visits The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine/The Hotwives of Orlando) - Angela and her husband Joshua Snyder serve up monkey bread and chocolate peppermint cupcakes on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Vanessa Hudgens (Powerless) - Vanessa talks about Second Act on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Chris Elliott (Schitt's Creek/Get a Life) - Chris talks about Clara's Ghost on Couch Surfing at 8am.
Tia Mowry (Instant Mom/The Game/Sister, Sister) - Tia talks about Hallmark Channel's A Gingerbread Romance on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
Christine Lakin (Hollywood Darlings/Step by Step) - Christine is a guest on Steve, so check your local listings.