Tuesday, November 21, 2017
CBS Gives 9JKL More Episodes; Remembering Della Reese of Touched by an Angel, Chico and the Man
CBS has given a full season order to new drama series S.W.A.T. (20 episodes) and has picked up three additional episodes of new comedy 9JKL for the 2017-2018 broadcast season. S.W.A.T. is averaging 10.36 million viewers, 1.9 in adults 18-49 and 2.8 in adults 25-54 (all Live+7). The Monday freshman comedy 9JKL is averaging 7.40 million viewers in Live+7. S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore, Stephanie Sigman, Alex Russell, Jay Harrington, Lina Esco, Kenny Johnson, Peter Onorati and David Lim. Aaron Thomas, Shawn Ryan, Justin Lin, Neal Moritz, Marney Hochman, Danielle Woodrow and Pavun Shetty are executive producers for Sony Pictures Television in association with CBS Television Studios. S.W.A.T. airs Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
9JKL stars Mark Feuerstein, David Walton, Elliott Gould, Linda Lavin, Liza Lapira, Matt Murray and Albert Tsai. Dana Klein, Mark Feuerstein, Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling, Dana Honor and Pamela Fryman are executive producers for CBS Television Studios. 9JKL airs Mondays (9:30-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Actress and singer Della Reese, who starred as Tess in Touched by an Angel and as Della Rogers in Chico and the Man, has died. She died peacefully at her Los Angeles home on November 19. Ms. Reese was 86.
Reese hosted her own talk show early in her career called Della. It aired for 197 episodes from June 9, 1969 to March 13, 1970. She became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1970.
Some of her early television appearances included The Mod Squad, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Police Woman, McCloud, Petrocelli, The Rookies and Sanford and Son.
She joined the cast of Chico and the Man in the fall of 1976. She played Della Rogers, the owner of the diner across from Ed's Garage and Ed's landlady. The ABC sitcom ran for four seasons and 88 episodes from 1974-1978. It starred Jack Albertson, Freddie Prinze (1974-1977), Scatman Crothers, Bonnie Boland (1974-1975), Isaac Ruiz (1974-1977), Ronny Graham (1975-1976), Gabriel Melgar (1977-1978) and Charo (1977-1978). Reese first guest starred as The Judge in the 1975 episode "The Juror."
Reese appeared as Judge Caroline Phillips in six episodes of the 1982-1983 ABC sitcom It Takes Two. The series starred Richard Crenna, Patty Duke Astin, Helen Hunt, Anthony Edwards, Billie Bird, Richard McKenzie and Randy Dreyfuss.
She joined the cast of Charlie & Co. for four episodes in early 1986 as Charlie's (Flip Wilson) sister-in-law, Aunt Rachel. The 1985-1986 CBS sitcom also starred Gladys Knight, Fran Robinson, Kristoff St. John, Jaleel White, Ray Girardin, Richard Karron, Kip King, Terry McGovern and Eddie Velez.
Reese starred with Redd Foxx in the 1991-1992 CBS sitcom The Royal Family. Al Royal and his wife Victoria were an Atlanta couple looking forward to retirement until his daughter and her family move back home. The series also starred Mariann Aaida, Sylver Gregory, Larenz Tate, Naya Rivera, Jackée Harry and Barry Shabaka Henley.
Her best known role was as the supervisor Tess in the religious supernatural drama Touched by an Angel, which aired on CBS from 1994-2003. It ran for nine seasons and 212 episodes. It also starred Roma Downey, John Dye and Valerie Bertinelli (2001-2003). Reese performed the show's theme song titled "Walk with You." She received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1997 and 1998 and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television in 1998. She also appeared in six episodes of the spin-off series Promised Land in 1996-1998.
Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Welcome Back, Kotter, The Love Boat, 227, Night Court, Married People, Dream On, Designing Women and That's So Raven.
She played the mother of B. A. Baracus (Mr. T) in a 1985 episode of The A-Team. Some of other drama guest appearances included Medical Center, Insight, Crazy Like a Fox, The Young Riders, MacGyver, L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Detroit 1-8-7 and Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
Her film credits included Psychic Killer, Harlem Nights (with Redd Foxx), A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Beauty Shop, If I Had Known I Was a Genius and Expecting Mary.
The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive itnerview with her on June 13, 2008.
Survivors include her husband, Franklin Lett, and her three children, James, Franklin and Dominique Reese.
Ms. Reese was a gifted actress and singer. She was wonderful as the wise angel Tess in Touched by An Angel. We thank her for the many hours of entertainment she brought us over her long career. She will be deeply missed.
Share your memories on our Touched by an Angel or Chico and the Man message boards. View photos in our galleries.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Sunday, December 22
Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.
Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.
The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.
Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.
The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.
Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.
Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)
Friday, December 20
- Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
- Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
- Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
- Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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