ABC Spring Line-Up; Spears to Guest Star on NBC's 'Will & Grace'

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

ABC Spring Line-Up; Spears to Guest Star on NBC's 'Will & Grace'

Late last week ABC announced that mid-season sitcom Sons & Daughters will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. for six weeks starting March 7. In addition to that, ABC announced some more changes for this spring. First up among the new shows is the unscripted series The Miracle Workers, which debuts at 10 p.m. ET Monday, March 6, a week after The Bachelor: Paris concludes its season. The series follows a team of doctors and nurses who will help people overcome overwhelming medical issues. 4 episodes will air, then starting Monday, April 3, a new drama from J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) titled What About Brian will take over that 10 p.m. slot. What About Brian will get a special preview premiere following an all-new Desperate Housewives on Sunday, April 2 at 10 p.m. Brian stars Barry Watson as a single guy in his 30s whose friends are all married or about to be. Complicating matters, he has a massive crush on his best friend's (Matthew Davis) fiancee (Sarah Lancaster). Sticking to Mondays, ABC announced that Supernanny will return from hiatus and air Mondays at 9 p.m. starting Monday, March 6 (the same night as the premiere of The Miracle Workers).
Moving on to Thursdays, Dancing with the Stars 2 concludes its season on Thursdays on February 23. ABC has not yet announced what will air on Thursday, March 2 and Thursday, March 9, but on March 16 they will premiere another show--the two-hour debut of American Inventor, a series executive produced by American Idol's Simon Cowell. The show will give would-be Edisons a chance to show off their ideas to viewers and a panel of judges, with the winner getting a chance to bring his or her invention to consumers. The show will then move to its regular time period of 9 p.m. starting March 23. So what will air at 8 p.m. then on Thursdays? Well, for four weeks I know what will air there. ABC has made 4 very special episodes of blockbuster hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The series of specials featuring the show's team helping disaster victims of Hurricane Katrina will debut in the 8 p.m. hour.
ABC's final midseason entry is The Evidence, a crime procedural from ER executive producer John Wells that debuts at 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 22 (Invasion will go on hiatus and return in late April to finish its season). The show follows two San Francisco detectives (Orlando Jones and Rob Estes) who reconstruct crimes based on the evidence collected at the scene.
Finally, ABC confirmed that Commander in Chief will return on Tuesday, April 18 after a six week hiatus. There are reports that only 18 episodes were made this season due to production issues. So about three episodes or so will air after it returns from hiatus.

So after all this, still there are some questions that need to be answered. The biggest one is Alias. I think we will see it either on Fridays or maybe Thursdays at 8 p.m. after the series of specials of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition finishes. Fridays is a big question mark right now. The high rated Dancing with the Stars: The Results will conclude in late February. Maybe after that they will have Hope & Faith and Less Than Perfect return, followed by Alias at 9 p.m. I am not sure how many episodes of In Justice would have aired by then, but it should be close to the end. Thursday's highest rated sitcom Crumbs is also missing, but I think they will finish the season by Thursday, March 16. After February, eight episodes would have aired. And on Thursday, March 2 and March 9 ABC has not announced what will air, but they can double up on Crumbs those two weeks at 9 p.m. and have like 12 episodes aired. A lot of questions and possibilities. I think Regis Philbin's This Is Your Life series of specials will probably be for May sweeps. And it doesn't look like Jake in Progress will return for the season. Maybe in the summer.

Pop star Britney Spears will join the long list of high-profile guest stars on NBC's Will & Grace this April. Spears will play a new, conservative Christian sidekick on Jack's (Sean Hayes) talk show in an episode scheduled for April. Spears and the cast are set to tape the episode later this month. This marks Britney's second sitcom guest appearance. She appeared as herself in 1999 on an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

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.