A Whole Bunch of News Notes

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Today we have a whole bunch of little news notes for you. Wilmer Valderrama, one of the stars of the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, has signed on to play the role of Ponch on the big screen adaptation of CHiPs. CHiPs will be of course be based on the TV series from the '70s starring Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox. Estrada played the role of Ponch. Warner Bros. Pictures will be developing the movie being written by the writer from the ABC sitcom George Lopez. This now brings the question--will the original series be in the works for a DVD release the time the movie comes? I believe MGM distributed the show, so maybe they have the rights to release it? CHiPs is no longer on cable here in the U.S., but for many years it was on the Turner owned stations (TBS, TNT).
The Hogan Family and Family Ties were classic '80s sitcoms. Both had a Bateman family member in the cast. Jason Bateman in The Hogan Family and Justine Bateman in Family Ties. Now the siblings will get together on Jason Bateman's show Arrested Development. Justine Bateman will guest star on the January 9 episode of the acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development. It'll be the last episode to air for a while as Fox has not decided when to air the remaining episodes after January 9. The acclaimed sitcom is not likely to return to Fox after this season due to poor ratings.
Don't expect former Friends star David Schwimmer to appear on Joey anytime soon (if the show even comes back after December), as Schwimmer will be making his Broadway debut May 7, with previews beginning in April. The show is a revival of Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

ABC has announced the latest batch of stars for Dancing with the Stars. Unfortunately we don't have a former sitcom star in the bunch but they do have George Hamilton and Lisa Rinna who are in the television business. Other stars include Academy Award winning actress Tatum O'Neal (who has guest starred on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules before), former NFL star Jerry Rice, rapper Romeo, and ESPN broadcaster Kenny Mayne. Stars premieres Thursday, January 5 with a two-hour premiere on ABC.
CBS has announced that it will move the premiere of its mid-season drama Love Monkey from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17 to avoid the second hour of the American Idol season premiere. Monkey will air at 9 p.m. in the following weeks to come.

Finally, you have asked, now I will answer--TV Land January and Nick@Nite January line-ups will be coming out soon. We should be releasing February by now, but TV Land has been delaying lately in schedules.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, May 28

The Conners - "Possums, Pregnancy and Patriarchy" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris makes a big announcement. Meanwhile, Ben is overwhelmed with family responsibilities.

The Conners - "Hiding In and Moving Out" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Harris takes her anger out on Darlene. Elsewhere, Dan and Louise spend an entire day in bed together.

The Conners - "The Contra Hearings and the Midnight Gambler" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark fights for a spot in the Lanford High chamber orchestra. Elsewhere, Jackie puts a lottery machine in the Lunch Box.

The Conners - "Road Trip and Guilt Trip" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan and Jackie take a road trip to a hardware wholesaler in Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Darlene heads out of town and leaves behind a plethora of to-do notes for Becky and Ben.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 22)

Friday, May 26

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.
Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Chris appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sebastian Maniscalco (How to Be a Bookie) - Sebastian talks about his new film About My Father on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy) and BD Wong (All-American Girl) - Ming-Na and BD talk about Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) - Hailee and actor Shameik Moore sit down together to talk about their new film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, in theaters on June 2 on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Leslie Odom Jr. (Love in the Time of Corona/Big Dady) and Nicolette Robinson (Love in the Time of Corona/Perfect Couples) - Leslie and Nicolette chat with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese) - Daniel talks about American Born Chinese on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim) - Kimberly is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.