TV Week's TV Land Article; ABC Family Channel Announces Marathons for January

Saturday, December 10, 2005

TV Week's TV Land Article; ABC Family Channel Announces Marathons for January

TV Week had an excellent article on TV Land earlier this week. I saved it to show you all today. They mention that the recent acquisitions of Good Times and What's Happening!! has brought TV Land high ratings and also even higher ratings among African Americans. TV Land has aired black sitcoms in the past such as The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son (which is still a staple today), but now they have a nice little African American sitcom block with Sanford & Son, Good Times and What's Happening!!. No, TV Land is NOT trying to become the home of African American sitcoms, it just happens to be that those two new acquisitions have done very well. TV Land has also added Night Court this year, which showcases two supporting black stars (Charles Robinson and Marsha Warfield), but they also have added a pure white show in the drama Little House on the Prairie. Both have done well, especially Little House. All have done well because of how broad their popularity is, especially Good Times. Good Times is clearly becoming the new staple for TV Land, which The Andy Griffith Show was for TV Land for many years. Andy still does well, but the Good Times marathon broke a lot of records for TV Land and brought TV Land to its highest ratings ever. Andy remains the only pre '70s show in primetime, the rest of the pre '70s shows can still be found in the mornings.
More African American-led fare is on its way. TV Land will produce a three-hour Black History Month special to run in February. Recently TV Land announced it has ordered a reality show pilot starring Mr. T, and more acquisitions of African American-led shows are being considered, such as Benson in June. They will also add Miami Vice and The A-Team to weekends in January. Both '80s dramas had a black star in the cast.
Lucy, Munsters, and the rest of your favorite '50s and '60s shows are being cut down to morning slots because the broad popularity and ratings for the '70s sitcoms have done very well for TV Land. TV Land's focus is viewers 25-54, and they want to cut their median age of 52 way down, so '70s laughers are the right start. In fact, the '70s sitcoms don't just mean black sitcoms, because Three's Company and All in the Family have also done very well for them. Now if TV Land can bring us The Jeffersons, Alice, One Day at a Time, and Maude we can all party like it's 1977!
You can read the full text of the article here. You can also post your thoughts there as well.

ABC Family Channel won't be making any changes to its regular line-up in January but they have a lot of marathons in the works! Start off the New Year with some home improvement during the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Marathon. Seven self-contained episodes of award winning series will be aired back-to-back with each episode featuring a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to rebuild an entire house for one deserving family. Airs Sunday, January 1 from 12 noon to 7 p.m.
Spend a whole day with Kris, Junior, Dani and Matt in this all day Wildfire marathon. Relive all the drama, secrets and seductions from season one from the beginning, where Kris finds her way to Raintree, to the very end – with Kris in a neck-and-neck race during the Sandpiper Classic on Wildfire. Stay tuned for the second season premiere of Wildfire following the all-day marathon. The marathons Airs Monday, January 2 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET/PT. Followed by the second season premiere at 8 p.m.: ABC Family's highest rated adult-targeted primetime drama, returns for an exciting new season. The episode opens at last year’s cliff hanger with Kris riding Wildfire in the Sandpiper Classic. In a nose-to-nose race, Wildfire and Kris are distracted by rival jockey Tina Sharp and end up losing the race to Avatar. Despite the loss, Kris becomes a local celebrity as a jockey, and well-known sports agent, Kerry O'Connell tries to convince her to become his client.
Have you ever wondered whether the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? Two wives discover that it often isn't when they hand over the keys to their homes and literally switch families for two weeks on the reality show Wife Swap. In the first week of the swap, the wives move in with their new family and adopt their very different lifestyle. They agree to follow a manual written by the departing wife that sets out the rules of their new household. But then, in the second week, everything changes. The new wives take charge and introduce their own set of rules and run the new household their way. At the end of the show, the two couples meet for the first time. In a highly-charged exchange of views, both couples make a frank assessment of each other and talk about what they've learned from the experience. Catch the Wife Swap marathon on Sunday, January 15 from 12 noon to 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.