SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

TV Networks Plan April Fools Stunts Tomorrow

It's April Fool's Day Comedy Style on TV One. Catch TV One's April Fool's Marathon with your favorite TV One characters on Saturday, April 1 beginning at noon through 10 p.m. and again from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.
This April Fool's, set yourself up for some laughter and comedy that is sure to last all day--tune in to TV One's "Fool's Day" comedy marathon. Beginning at noon, check out unforgettable foolish performances from your favorite TV One sitcom characters: J.J. (Good Times), Sandra (227), Deacon Frye (Amen), and Martin Payne (Martin). From Deacon Frye's infamous snake encounter to Martin's "Homeo and Juliette" performance, see your favorite sitcom characters at their best in this day-long marathon.
12:00pm/12:00am Good Times Episode 108, Junior and Senior
12:30pm /12:30am 227 Episode 208, Wheel of Misfortune
1:00pm/1:00am Amen Episode 8602, Frye For The Defense
1:30pm/1:30am Martin Episode 107, The Parents Are Coming
2:00pm/2:00am Good Times Episode 216, The Nude
2:30pm/2:30am 227 Episode 220, Far from the Tree
3:00pm/3:00am Amen Episode 8713, Snakes Alive!
3:30pm/3:30am Martin Episode 203, Do You Remember the Time?
4:00pm Good Times Episode 221, My Girl Henrietta
4:30pm/4:30am 227 Episode 306, Men's Club
5:00pm/5:00am Amen Episode 8805, Get 'Em Up, Scout
5:30pm/5:30am Martin Episode 216, No Justice, No Peace
6:00pm/4:00am Good Times Episode 321, JJ in Trouble
6:30pm 227 Episode 302, The Talk Show
7:00pm Amen Episode 8903, Where There's A Will...
7:30pm Martin Episode 303, I've Got Work to Do
8:00pm Good Times Episode 508, Wheels
8:30pm 227 Episode 405, Double Your Pleasure
9:00pm Amen Episode 8923, The Roast
9:30pm Martin Episode 421, Homeo & Juliet

Boomerang, the network that airs classic animated series (and the sister network of Cartoon Network), will have a 15-hour stunt this April Fool's Day trying to determine who can beat Mr. T! The stunt titled "Taking on Mr. T" pairs the animated Mr. T vs. other classic cartoons. Here it is in their own words:
Boomerang is proud to present the most anticipated showdown in television history with the staging of the blockbuster, battle event "Taking on Mr. T." From sunrise to sunset, there will be a no-holds-barred, “winner takes all” contest as the animated Mr. T (famous tough guy from The A-Team of the 1980s) is pitted against a line-up of famous cartoon all-stars on Saturday, April 1, 6 a.m.-9 p.m. (ET). Each hour Mr. T will take on a new opponent. Running commentary and on-air updates will appear between episodes to allow fans to keep tally of the matches. "Taking on Mr. T" is an event with amazingly high stakes: the loser will be banished from the network forever! As an added bonus, 24-hour commercial-free Boomerang will also premiere four half-hour episodes of Mr. T (1983-86) that have never before played on Boomerang - "Mystery of the Mind-Thieves," "The Hundred Year Old Mystery," "Mystery on the Rocky Mountain Express" and "The Ninja Mystery" - perhaps the last time audiences will be able to see Mr. T in an uninterrupted format.
"Taking on Mr. T" will launch at 6 a.m. with 30 minutes of the spinach-fueled Popeye, followed by a favorite Mr. T episode. At 7 a.m., super-sleuth Scooby-Doo tag-teams for a half hour, again followed by a Mr. T mystery. Heavy-weight Magilla Gorilla next appears at 8 a.m., only to be answered by yet another Mr. T showing. The pattern continues for another 12 hours and will feature appearances by Papa Smurf, Yogi Bear, Pink Panther, Bugs Bunny, Duck Dodgers, Dee Dee, The Shmoo, Hong Kong Phooey, Dick Dastardly, Secret Squirrel, Dexter and Tom and Jerry. So who will be banished from the network? Will it be Scooby-Doo? Popeye? The Smurfs? Or even Mr. T himself? Find out tomorrow!

Mr. T is not done making a fool out of you! Sleuth TV will run an April Fool's Day marathon titled, "I Pity the April Fool" from 1 pm. to 9 p.m. ET. Following is the line-up that includes Mr. T in The A-Team:
1:00 PM/5:00 PM I PITY THE APRIL FOOL: The A-Team: CURTAIN CALL
2:00 PM/6:00 PM I PITY THE APRIL FOOL: Knight Rider: CIRCUS KNIGHTS
3:00 PM/7:00 PM I PITY THE APRIL FOOL: Karen Sisco: DUMB BUNNIES
4:00 PM/8:00 PM I PITY THE APRIL FOOL: Miami Vice: BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY

And then after all the fooling you did and watched, don't forget to put your clocks one hour ahead before you go to bed, as Daylight Savings Time returns--no fooling!

CBS Sitcoms 'Out of Practice' 'Courting Alex' Head to Hiatus-land; 'Arrested Development' Done, For Now

CBS has dropped sitcoms Out of Practice and Courting Alex after just two weeks in their new Wednesday 8-9 p.m. time-slot. Both sitcoms struggled quite a bit, especially in the 18-49 demo, where competing ABC sitcoms crushed them. CBS will give The Amazing Race that time period and will move it there for the rest of the season. CBS will now air repeats of crime dramas (CSI, CSI Miami, etc) and specials in Race's old time slot of Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
CBS did say: "...comedies Out of Practice and Courting Alex will return to the schedule at a later date." While that is good, I don't think the chances of both returning next fall are good. If they do return this season it will probably be only to burn-off the remaining episodes. Did CBS on purpose try to kill these sitcoms? I always felt it made no sense putting two rookies back-to-back to start off a night.

20th Century Fox made it official that low-rated but critically acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development is "done...for now, anyway." They released this statement: "While there are no plans to resume production at this time, we know all too well from our experience with Family Guy-- another brilliant comedy which didn't find its audience in its first network run -- that anything is possible," the statement read. "We'll always be a little hopeful that this is not quite the end for this amazing show." Ron Howard's Imagine TV, who produces the sitcom, had this to say: "If it is really over, and I'm not quite sure that it is, the show's been an incredible source of pride for Ron [Howard] and Brian [Grazer] and I," says David Nevins, head of Imagine TV noting there were "a few avenues left to explore" -- "I wouldn't write the obit."
Meanwhile, creator of the sitcom Mitch Hurwitz is leaving the show.

'Less Than Perfect' Returns to ABC Tuesdays, 'Chief' Moves to Thursdays, Other ABC Changes; 'So noTORIous' on VH-1

We are pleased to be the first one to announce that ABC has made some schedule changes. Instead of having Commander in Chief return Tuesday, April 18 at 9 p.m., ABC has decided to move the show to Thursdays at 10 p.m. starting Thursday, April 13! As a result, there will be some other shows moving because of this. Primetime Live will be moving to Fridays at 9 p.m. starting April 14, as a lead-in to 20/20. In Justice has its last episode of the season (probably ever) this Friday in that slot and ABC has slated an AFV rerun next Friday in that slot. So what will air Tuesdays in Chief's old slot? ABC will air sitcom Hope & Faith at 9:00 p.m. followed by the return of the sitcom Less Than Perfect at 9:30 p.m. The comedy duo will start airing Tuesday, April 18. It is unclear if ABC will air two Hope & Faith episodes every Tuesday, because currently it is airing at 8:30 p.m. Less Than Perfect will be making its long anticipated season premiere. ABC's Sons & Daughters, which currently airs in the 9 to 10 p.m. slot, will finish its season by April 4 and ABC has part two of The Ten Commandments mini-series on April 11. Keep an eye on all the changes as we track them here.

Tori Spelling (Beverly Hills 90210) stars as a fictionalized version of herself in VH1's first scripted comedy so noTORIous. This single camera show is inspired by real events and people in Tori's life (but this is "so" not a reality show). Also starring is Loni Anderson (WKRP) as her on-screen mother, "Kiki." The series will premiere on Sunday, April 2 with episode one premiering at 10PM et/pt and episode two at 10:30PM et/pt. The full premiere episode will sneak peek on VSPOT, VH1's broadband channel (http://vspot.vh1.com) beginning Tuesday, March 28.
Forget everything you've ever heard about Tori Spelling. OK, maybe not everything. It's true, her dad is the most successful TV producer of all time and she did spend a decade playing the virginal Donna Martin on his hit show Beverly Hills 90210. But now that Tori has left that zip code and her parents' mansion behind, she wants the same things we all do: friendship, respect, and love. Used to tabloid scrutiny, Tori navigates life with a self-deprecating sense of humor and the support of a loyal crew of friends she's known since high school. She has a devoted manager who rabidly disputes assumptions that Tori isn't capable of taking on a serious role--and keeps the TV movie offers coming in the meantime. Her beloved nanny, who raised her, is still always available whenever Tori needs a reality check. Whatever her critics say, though, the most intense scrutiny still comes from Tori's own mother, Kiki. The ultimate Beverly Hills housewife, Kiki demands perfection, a standard Tori tries and usually fails to meet. New episodes will air every Sunday at 10PM.
In addition to Loni Anderson who plays Tori's mother "Kiki," the show also features Cleo King as "Margaret," the nanny who raised Tori from a baby and is still always there for her, and Jeanetta Arnette as her frenetic and doting manager "Ruthie Rose." Tori is surrounded by an eclectic group of friends: "Pete," her self-involved roommate played by James Carpinello, "Janey," an ambitious, acerbic real estate agent played by Brennan Hesser and "Sasan," a haughty, gay Persian American played by Zachary Quinto. The only other regular cast member playing herself is Mimi La Rue, Tori's dog, the most fashionable (and indolent) pug west of the Mississippi.

'Soap' Coming to Comcast On Demand's Tube Time; TVThemesOnline.com Back?

The classic '70s ABC sitcom Soap is set to be available on Comcast's On Demand Service starting Wednesday, April 5, 2006. The service goes by the name of Tube Time. Comcast's Tube Time currently offers Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, One Day at a Time, Carson's Comedy Classics and The Three Stooges on the free service to Digital subscribers in their TV Entertainment/Tubetime section. They generally rotate the episodes every 4-6 weeks or so. Currently, they have Season 4 of Diff'rent Strokes, Season 3 of The Facts of Life, and Season 2 of One Day at a Time. You can search for shows here. They've previously offered shows like Barney Miller, The Partridge Family, Maude, and S.W.A.T. This is a great service offered by Comcast as most of the episodes are completely unedited. I'm not sure if it varies from cable system to system, but the On Demand service is available on Channel 1 is most areas. You can watch the episodes whenever you want. You can even fast forward, rewind, and pause them. The shows they offer are all from Sony. So hopefully we see more Sony sitcoms added in the future. Hopefully The Jeffersons, What's Happening Now!!, Silver Spoons would be nice to see. Let's hope the latter two head to DVD, too. Soap is already finished on DVD so it will be interesting if the DVD versions match these Tube Time versions.

If any of you were around some years back when Dan Smith of TVThemesOnline.com ran probably the most popular TV video opening/closing credits site. Well, now he is back! He is back with a brand new URL and some of his themes, too. He is working on bringing all the videos he had before. So start browsing and saving the videos, today! The website is now http://www.tvtalkforums.ca.

Premiering tonight at 9:30 p.m. is the new NBC sitcom Teachers. Unfortunately, we couldn't obtain the pilot in time for a review. The reviews for this series elsewhere has been mixed--so it will be up to you to determine if it is good or not. It is in a tough slot up against the second half of House and The Unit. The premiere should do better in the ratings against Sons & Daughters, but maybe next week it will be closer if the series doesn't draw that much of a crowd tonight, with maybe Sons & Daughters prevailing next week.

Chicago's ME-TV Spring Line-Up; 'Mad About You' on Oxygen and Nick@Nite

Attention viewers in Chicago! ME-TV (WWME) has announced its spring line-up, which starts April 3. There are some some series leaving. The Facts of Life, Who's the Boss?, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy are among the sitcoms leaving. That is too bad for Facts of Life fans because now the show will be airing no where again (except for Comcast On Demand's Tube Time channel)--thank heavens for the DVD in May. The schedule has I Dream of Jeannie moving to weekdays too and The Brady Bunch just Sundays. View their lineup here.

As I have mentioned many times, Mad About You joins the Nick@Nite line-up in April, airing every night at 11 p.m. But I forgot to remind everyone that it is a shared cable deal and Oxygen is also airing it. They started airing the series on March 11. A very long time ago when the deal was made I told everyone that it was a shared deal, so I didn't completely miss out. We just haven't had ties with Oxygen in recent months, but now we will hopefully. You can catch it weekdays at 10 & 10:30am and again 5 & 5:30pm. They also have weekend sitcom marathons now. Saturdays 5-8pm and again Sundays 10am-1pm. For April it is: Grace Under Fire (4/1 & 4/2), Living Single (4/8 & 4/9), Mad About You (4/15 & 4/16), Roseanne (4/22 & 4/23) and A Different World (4/23 & 4/30).
So, come July, Oxygen and Nick@Nite will be sharing three shows -- Roseanne, Mad About You and A Different World. A Different World joins the Nick@Nite line-up in July.

Week 27 First Four Day Ratings; How The Sitcoms Did

Week 27 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: FOX: 9.9/15.0; CBS 8.2/12.9; NBC: 6.7/10.4; ABC: 6.2/9.6; UPN: 1.9/2.9; The WB 1.8/2.7.
Total Viewers: FOX: 16.76 million; CBS: 12.68 million; NBC: 10.37 million; ABC: 9.52 million; UPN: 2.85 million; The WB: 2.55 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 6.9/17.2; CBS: 4.0/10.3; NBC: 3.9/9.8; ABC: 3.6/9.2; UPN: 1.2/3.1; The WB: 1.1/2.7.

Analysis: NCAA pre-empted CBS's Thursday night line-up again, so Fox again leads big through the first four days of the week. Monday saw CBS prevail big with its comedies and an impressive second week for new sitcom The Adventures of Old Christine and the highest rated show of the night was once again CSI: Miami. Christine scored 15.13 million, UP from the timeslot premiere last week, which delivered 15.09 million viewers. It is safe to say that this show will return next season, which means slim chance of renewal for both Out of Practice and Courting Alex because they bombed in their new nights (more on that soon). Other Monday noteables include Fox, which did well with an episode of 24 and NBC started off strong with the no brains needed game show Deal or No Deal. ABC's new reality line-up did decent, as Supernanny continues to beat NBC's The Apprentice, but Miracle Workers at 10 p.m. on ABC was down from last week. Fox brought back Prison Break at 8 p.m. and did decent with 10.27 million viewers. Tuesday it was all Fox with a two-hour American Idol scoring very big with 33.36 million viewers. CBS competed with Fox at 9 p.m. with week two of its new drama The Unit continuing to do well with 15.55 million, though down from last week's 18.07 million, mainly because NCIS was a repeat at 8 p.m. ABC's critically acclaimed and hilarious new sitcom Sons & Daughters was up against the last hour of AI again this week and thus suffered big time again. Hopefully when it is not up against that Fox powerhouse, it will do better. Hope & Faith returned to ABC and did decent with 6 million viewers. Wednesday had CBS bring back comedies Out of Practice and Courting Alex--this time without the benefit of Two and a Half Men as their lead-in. So what happened? They both bombed. Both were beat by ABC's comedies in total viewers and badly in A18-49, as they only scored a 2.0 rating and a 1.7 rating. Fox's Bones did well to start off Fox with at 11.14 million--people must have been waiting for American Idol, the half hour AI on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. scored 27.68 million. Following that Fox aired a new half hour reality series titled Unan1mous and did better than any of those comedies that they tried the last few weeks after AI--the reality show scored 16.04 million. ABC's Lost was all-new (and will be the next few weeks!) and scored 16.06 million against AI. The battle of the new 10 p.m. dramas was won by ABC as The Evidence scored 9.1 million (3.4 A18-49 rating) while Heist did 8.75 million (3.0 A18-49 rating)--both didn't do as well as they should have. Thursday ABC did well with the first of four specials titled Extreme Makeover Home Edition: After the Storm and the new series American Inventor. CBS's usual line-up was pre-empted due to NCAA Basketball coverage, it was up against last week as viewers saw Duke fall to LSU. NBC did much better at 8:30 p.m. with a My Name is Earl repeat airing instead of a new Four Kings episode.
Not counted in our ratings are Friday and Saturday. Friday had CBS have coverage of the NCAA games while NBC was second place. Saturday again CBS did well with the NCAA and ABC was second with the Mel Gibson movie Signs. ABC's will win tonight as Desperate Housewives is all-new, Grey's Anatomy is a repeat but that won't matter, it will still win. For the week, Fox will probably hang on again to total viewers and adults 18-49 but it will a battle for second place among adults 18-49 with CBS and ABC after what will happen tonight.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 10.75 million tuned in, down from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.8 million tuned in--Christine did much better here last week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 16.72 million tuned in to the highest rated sitcom.
  
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - Impressive! 5.1 A18-49 rating, only down .3 from the lead-in's 5.4 rating and BUILT on last week's viewers, as this week the show did 15.13 million. Get used to Christine for next season.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - Repeats, repeated better than last week, ranging from 2.6-3.5 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - 6.29 million tuned in for an all-new episode, up from last week.
  
• Hope & Faith (ABC) - 6 million tuned in for the return of this sitcom.
  
• Sons & Daughters (ABC) 2 episodes - Up against AI didn't help again. Only 4.52 million and 4.05 million for another new episode, down from last week. It is too bad, because this is a VERY good show.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - A new episode did 5.84 million at 9. Followed by an encore at 5.77 million.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Freddie came by to punch George, and viewers came too. 7.24 million--highest in slot since January.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - George came to Freddie this time and did 7.7 million, highest in slot since December.
  
• Out of Practice (CBS) - 6.94 million is not bad, but the A18-49 rating of a 2.0 is concerning. Henry Winkler and Marion Ross reunited, but I guess more people were interested in the George/Freddie crossover.
  
• Courting Alex (CBS) - Elfman should be more concerned than Henry Winkler, 6.28 million and a terrible 1.7 A18-49 rating (tying Sons & Daughters, and that was up against AI, Alex was not).

Thursday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - All-new episode scored a decent 4.37 million.
  
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Freefall after Chris, from 2.4 to 2.2 million.
  
• Will & Grace (NBC) - 8.82 million tuned in, slightly down from last week.
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC) 2 episodes - Repeat at 8:30 helped NBC a lot with 8.66 million; new episode at 9 did well with 11.31 million.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 8.58 million tuned in--I think it should be more like 9.5-10 million.
• That '70s Show (Fox) -5.49 million is decent for Fox.
  
• The Loop (Fox) - Only 4.45 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday had series finales (they both are gonners) What I Like About You and Living with Fran in dead last place in the 8 p.m. hour. The 9 p.m. hour was slightly better with a new Reba and Modern Men but still dead last.

Summing it up. The King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office, Will & Grace) or just plain old terrible (such as Sons & Daughters, The Loop, WB Friday).

An Independent Sitcom For You to View; Calling All Fans for a TV Show

Tired of the lousy sitcoms these days? Fear not, we have an exclusive look on a sitcom that has been floating around--and it has NOT aired on television! An indepenent sitcom pilot has been produced about workers at an office running an online dating service. The pilot titled, The LEK, is an office-based comedy about the an online dating service trying to bring a new spin to mating in the age of technology. The LEK pilot was independently produced by David Kurtz and Chandler Evans. It stars Colleen Fitzpatrick (a.k.a. popstar Vitamin C), David Earl Waterman (whose credits include Drew Carey, Mr. Show and Pilot Season) and the World Air Guitar Champion, David S. Jung.
The bizarre sense of humor found amongst tech workers certainly lends itself to a sitcom...and that's what they tried to capture. Considering that independent television is all but dead, their only hope was to spread The LEK around and hope for the best.
I have viewed the pilot and it is well written with smart lines and a great bunch of characters that you will love. If you like The Office on NBC, you certainly will love this pilot. It has the smartness of My Name is Earl, Sons & Daughters and Arrested Development. Let's hope someone from television sees this pilot and brings it to television because it certainly can work on TV.
So how can YOU watch it? Easy! You have two ways. You can download it using BitTorrent (you can download the BitTorrent program at BitTorrent.com) or watch it online on YouTube.

Our thanks to David Kurtz, Non Sibi Productions, and everyone else involved for bringing this to our attention and more importantly for making this HILARIOUS pilot. All the best to them and please watch it--it is worth it. After you watch it, post your thoughts on our message board.

Jules Casting is on a Search for the show FANatical for the “Biggest Fan.” Do you have action figures, posters, t-shirts or any paraphernalia from your favorite TV program? Whether it be Star Trek, Golden Girls, Baywatch or the WWE they want to know about your dedication to your favorite program. Please email them and tell them about your FANatic ways at fanaticaltv@hotmail.com.

SitcomsOnline.com's 4th Annual ABC Pilots Info: 2006-07 Edition

Yes, it is that time of the year again! Pilot development time. All the pilots are set and are about to start taping/filming. Some have already started, but most usually do it in early April. If you are new to SitcomsOnline.com, then you probably don't know that we cover ABC's pilots in vast detail. This will be our fourth consecutive year covering ABC's sitcom pilots (by popular demand we added dramas too and this will be our third year covering the dramas). It is hard to tell just from the description and show stars if the show is good or not. We really have to see the pilots to make that decision. But just by reading the plot and stars, try to figure out what you want to see added in the fall or what you hope to see. ABC has 18 sitcom pilots in development. I think roughly 2-4 will be added for fall 2006, with maybe a few for mid-season 2007. ABC also has 16 wonderful drama pilots for next season, and again I expect 2-4 to be added in the fall.
Here is our sitcoms section for ABC's 2006-07 pilots. We will be keeping it up to date, with casting updates and even cast photos. The cast photos are great because most of these pilots will not make it, so it will be nice to have a photo of a cast of a show that never aired. ABC seems to have a lot of sitcoms with women leads. Some of the big name stars for the sitcom pilots include: Sofia Vergara, Danny Comden, Marla Sokoloff, Wendie Mallick, Kurt Fuller, Bumper Robinson, Patricia Heaton, Justine Bateman, Mo Collins, Ted Danson, Kim Cattrall, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Miller, Joe Mantegna, Lauren Tom, David Arquette, Greg Germann, Kelly Hu, Lori Loughlin, Jonathan Silverman, Kevin Weisman, Alicia Silverstone, Kiele Sanchez, Heather Locklear, and Peri Giplin.
I hope you have read the sitcom pilot section by now, if you have - read my thoughts:
3/23/06 It seems to me that ABC has gone with a lot of "women" stars (Heather Locklear, Patricia Heaton, Bonnie Hunt, Alicia Silverstone, Kim Cattrall etc.). It makes me wonder if they will try and start a women-themed night capped off by Grey's Anatomy. I can actually see them do Hope & Faith, and then three new comedies, followed by Grey's Anatomy on Tuesdays, but I don't think it'll happen.
It is too early to tell which will make it, because they have not been even taped/filmed yet. I am still uncertain on which are traditional and which are one-camera--that makes a big difference for sitcoms I think. I know for a fact that Bonnie Hunt's sitcom will be one-camera, so it makes me wonder if that will make it because one-camera sitcoms seem to never really do well ratings wise--but that cast is probably the most all-star cast of the bunch. I think Locklear and Heaton's sitcoms will make it because they are traditional style (four-camera). Cattrall's sitcom is from Sir Elton John, so that might be a plus for it to make it. Others that look good so far: Ted Danson's sitcom, Danny Comden's sitcom, and In Case of Emergency...
But I'm not yet going to make predictions on which I would schedule. But for the dramas, I will! Read about that next...

Moving on to the dramas, ABC again looks to have a good bunch of dramas in development. ABC has been the best network in brining quality dramas the last few seasons and I think we could see another hit or two among this new batch.
Here is our dramas section for ABC's 2006-07 pilots. Just like the sitcom section we will be keeping it up to date, with casting updates and even cast photos. The drama pilots have big names also: Calista Flockhart, Ron Rifkin, Taye Diggs, Chazz Palminteri, Jason O'Mara, Dylan McDermott, Anne Heche, John Amos, Tom Berenger, Angie Harmon, John Terry, Denise Richards, Kelli Williams, Regina King, David James Elliot, Tim Daly, Chi McBride, Scott Wolf, Aaron Stanford, Steven Culp, Jessie Bradford, and Vanessa Williams to name a few.
I hope you have read the drama pilot section by now, if you have - read my thoughts:
ABC will have to find new dramas to air after Desperate Housewives and Lost. Grey's Anatomy is probably on the move to another night, so DH needs a new show to air after it. The perfect show is Secrets of a Small Town. That looks so DH compatable--Angie Harmon and Denise Richards, wow! After Lost, I think the best bet is Six Degrees--and it is from J.J. Abrams, too--perfect match for Lost. Traveler also looks good after Lost, but maybe for mid-season? Now, I'd have Grey's Anatomy at 10pm on Monday or Tues, but if it airs 9pm Mon, it also will need a good show after it. I'd so with Sisters in Law or Brothers & Sisters. Another drama I think ABC will add, possibly Thursdays at 10, is David James Elliott's Sixty Minute Man. Or maybe Steve Bochco's Hollis & Rae. I hope ABC gets Twenty Questions, maybe that could be mid-season?

We will try to do sections on CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW, too, so check back with us. Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview of an internet sitcom that you could watch for free and download.

Alan Thicke Goes from Sitcom Dad to Cooking Host?; Live Action 'Simpsons' Opening; Name Your Baby After a 'Scrub'

NBC's Celebrity Cooking Showdown, from Reveille and Sean "Diddy" Combs, has revealed its celebrity participants in the week-long cooking competition series premiering April 17-21 (8-9 p.m. ET each night) and has announced the series will be hosted by television favorite Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) and celebrity cook/author Sandra Lee (Food Network's Semi Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee).
Celebrity participants facing off in the kitchen include: supermodel Naomi Campbell, Allison Sweeney (NBC's Days of our Lives), Big Kenny (country music's superstar duo, Big and Rich), comedic actor Tom Arnold, football star Tony Gonzales (Kansas City Chiefs), rapper/actor Ja Rule (Assault on Precinct 13), professional volleyball player/model Gabrielle Reese, musician/reality star Ashley Parker Angel (MTV's There and Back) and the reigning Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley. The format of each night's show will evolve as the week progresses. On Monday-Wednesday (April 17-19), three different celebrities will compete each night. On Thursday, April 20, the three winners from each night will advance to don aprons for the final cook-off. Viewers will then have the chance to vote via phone and online based solely on presentation. Meanwhile, the in-studio judges (event planner Colin Cowie (Everyday Elegance) and New York magazine restaurant critic Gael Greene) will be responsible for matters of taste. On the week's final episode on Friday, April 21, the results will be in, the winner declared and the audience will get to see the professional chefs in action. Then the tables will be turned in the "Chef's Challenge," while choice unseen moments from the week's competition are revealed. Wow, I hope NBC thinks this is actually going to work because the celeb participants are so C rated. It might be a surprise hit maybe like Deal or No Deal, but we shall see.

Have you ever wondered what Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie would look like in real life? Find out when a live-action main title sequence is unveiled on The Simpsons Sunday, March 26 (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET/PT) on FOX.
The live-action show opening is an homage to television's longest-running sitcom. From the Simpsons parting through the clouds to the infamous Bart writing on the chalkboard, Homer pulling the nuclear rod out of his shirt, Maggie scanned at the supermarket and the always-anticipated "couch gag" conclusion, the live-action opening mirrors each element of the animated sequence. The greatest attention to detail was paid in this recreation by a British team, as conceived and commissioned by the UK network Sky One. From wardrobe to location settings to character mannerisms, it's all translated with uncanny accuracy via real, flesh-and-blood actors. The centerpiece of Sky One's new Simpsons campaign in the UK, the short will make its American debut in the all-new episode, "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife," guest-starring yet another British import, Ricky Gervais. In the episode, Homer's obsession with Lenny's new plasma TV causes Marge to enter the family in a sweepstakes, where they win a prize to the Fox studio lot. Against Marge's judgment, Homer signs the family up for a Wife Swap/Trading Spouses-type show and is forced to take in a controlling wife, while Marge moves in with a beaten-down husband, Charlie (guest star Gervais), and his perfect son. Charlie quickly develops a crush on Marge, while she's just trying to give him the strength to stand up to his own wife.
[NOTE: The live-action opening will not air on Canadian broadcasts of the episode.]

To celebrate Turk (Donald Faison) and Carla’s (Judy Reyes) long-awaited discovery that she has conceived in a hilarious all-new episode, NBC.com will launch a special contest on the official Scrubs area of the site asking viewers to choose the name and sex of Turk and Carla’s baby for the show’s producers, on Tuesday, March 28. The off-kilter comedy Scrubs airs Tuesdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET.
Viewers will be able to submit their suggested baby name online until the series’ May finale. Then, one winner will be randomly chosen to have a Scrubs character named after him or her. Plus, 10 randomly selected runners-up will receive surprise Scrubs items from the show. The winner and 10 runners-up, along with the baby’s name and sex, will be announced at a later date.
This special episode will air as follows (all times are ET/PT):

Tuesday, March 28
9:00-9:30 p.m. – “My Bright Idea” (all-new episode) -- Turk (Donald Faison) accidentally learns that Carla (Judy Reyes) is pregnant before she does, so J.D. (Zach Braff) convinces Turk to tell the entire hospital staff so they can all surprise Carla with the joyous news. But when Carla confides to Turk that she can’t wait for the day when she can personally share her baby news with the world, Turk and J.D. have to quickly figure out how to contain hospital gossip until Carla can make the discovery on her own. Meanwhile, J.D. tricks the Janitor (Neil Flynn) into swallowing a tiny GPS tacking device. Later, when Elliott (Sarah Chalke) puts Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) into an embarrassing situation, he decides to get even with Elliott through Keith (Travis Schuldt) and Carla.

Video Chat with Bebe Neuwirth; 'Four Kings' Axed?; Big Night Tonight

Tonight at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT you can chat LIVE with Cheers actress Bebe Neuwirth on TVLand.com. You can chat in real time with Bebe tonight after the TV Land Awards on the east coast at 11 p.m. and before the awards at 8 p.m. on the west coast. Raised in Princeton, New Jersey, Bebe Neuwirth has established herself as a versatile actress on stage, in film, and in television. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Lilith Sternin in the television series Cheers, for which she won two Emmy awards. Her other television appearances include her Emmy nominated portrayal of Dorothy Parker in Dash & Lilly and guest work on Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as Law & Order: Trial by Jury. Ms. Neuwirth most recently starred as Velma in the Broadway production of Chicago, for which she won a Tony award, a Drama Desk award, and an Astaire award. She also received a Tony award for her role as Nickie in Sweet Charity. Her film roles include Liberty Heights, Summer of Sam, Celebrity, Pinocchio, Jumanji, Malice, Say Anything, Green Card, The Faculty, The Associate, The Paint Job, Bugsy, and Tadpole.
Bebe will be interviewed by Celebrity Interviewer, Scott Nevins. To join the chat tonight, head on over to TVLand.com's Video Chat page by clicking here.

NBC has removed Thursday night sitcom Four Kings off the schedule effective this Thursday. Four Kings had been really struggling in the Thursday 8:30 p.m. time-slot. NBC will air repeats of My Name is Earl in the slot for the next few weeks before it decides what to do in that slot. It is not expected that Four Kings will return. If it does, it will probably be after May sweeps ends so it can burn-off the remaining episodes. A new season is for sure not likely.
NBC has a new sitcom coming next week called Teachers, airing Tuesdays after Scrubs. We should have a review of it very soon. NBC also has new sitcom Thick & Thin on the bench but they seem like they have no plans for that show at all right now.

Tonight is a BIG night in the world of television. First, we have the return of Out of Practice on CBS, with special guest star Marion Ross from Happy Days joining her former co-star Henry Winkler (The Fonz!). CBS will follow that with the new night and time for Jenna Elfman's Courting Alex. ABC last night brought back Hope & Faith after a few months off. Tonight, ABC will make TV history with the classic sitcom cross-over, with George Lopez and Freddie. Both half hours will feature the cast of each show guest starring on the other show--it is a two-part episode, too. Should be fun to watch!
TV Land will have the TV Land Awards from 9 to 11 p.m. followed by the premiere of Living in TV Land. William Shatner will be featured. Not to mention ABC's Lost is all-new tonight and they will premiere the new drama The Evidence right after it. NBC will debut new drama Heist tonight, too, at 10 p.m. So get those TiVo/VCR's working because it might be double duty each hour, unless you plan to watch the encore of the TV Land Awards at 12 midnight. What a night!

'Who's the Boss?' Remake in Colombia; ABC Announces Season/Series Finale Dates

Classic TV is being made all over again internationally. Sony Pictures Television Intl.'s Who's the Boss? is being remade at Colombia's Caracol TV. Shooting has begun of the vintage sitcom offshoot, with an early May debut slated. Boss is toplined by Cuban actor Alberto Yoel Garcia (Habana Blues) who plays a servant opposite Colombian actress Margarita Ortega, his ad exec employer. Boss is the second SPTI sitcom Caracol has reversioned, following Married...With Children which ran last year. Married... was the first sitcom made in Colombia and scored an average 42 share. Andres Marroquin, who directed Married..., will also direct the Colombian version of Boss.
"Because of a sitcom's high budget, we reduce costs by shooting at a quicker pace," Marroquin said. "We can shoot four to five episodes a week in contrast to the U.S., where they shoot an episode a week." Caracol is planning on stripping Who's the Boss? daily in primetime, another reason it needs to shoot fast. "It's a sub-version of the (sitcom) genre, but audiences are used to it because that's how telenovelas are aired," he said. Telefe has already made its own version of Who's the Boss? for Argentina, where it was a ratings hit.
SPTI properties, led by The Nanny, have been remade in Germany, Chile, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Spain and Argentina, among other territories.

Meanwhile ABC detailed its season and series finale dates for most of their series. The soon to premiere What About Brian will end its season on Monday, May 8. ABC will air a two-part three-hour Grey's Anatomy finale--an hour episode in its regular slot on Sunday, May 14 followed by a two-hour episode the next day on Monday, May 15 from 9 to 11 p.m. Critically acclaimed Boston Legal will get a two hour season finale as well on Tuesday, May 16 from 9 to 11 p.m.--which raises the question if Commander in Chief will return at all. The best new drama of the season, Invasion, will end its first season on Wednesday, May 17 in its normal slot. Veteran ABC series America's Funniest Home Videos will get a two-hour season finale on a special night and time--Friday, May 19 from 8 to 10 p.m. Sunday, May 21 will see two ABC powerhouses with two two-hour season finales--Extreme Makeover: Home Edition from 7 to 9 p.m. and the high rated Desperate Housewives from 9 to 11 p.m. Then the next day, Monday, May 22, ABC will send off the spy drama Alias for good with a nice two-hour series finale from 9 to 11 p.m. Two days later, May 24, ABC will end the second season of Lost with an explosive season finale from 9 to 11 p.m.
ABC has yet to announce the season finale dates for Wife Swap, Supernanny, According to Jim, Hope & Faith and Commander in Chief. Chief is slated to return April 18 for the final seven episodes of the season, but with Boston Legal taking its slot on May 16 for its season finale, I think that plan for Chief might be not happening. Previously announced season (or series for some?) finales are In Justice on March 31, Miracle Workers on April 3, Sons & Daughters on April 4, George Lopez & Freddie on April 12, and American Inventor on May 4. Though, the latter could be May 11 even with its success. ABC will air a special new movie Stephen King's Desperation on Thursday, May 18.
And what about the unaired episodes of sitcoms Crumbs, Less than Perfect, Rodney, and Jake in Progress (you can forget about seeing Emily's Reasons Why Not again)? I hope to see most or all of those air in the summer.
ABC will have 8 more episodes of drama What About Brian left to air when it ends its 5 episode trial-run on May 8. ABC will have 2 more episodes of drama The Evidence after it ends it 4 episode trial-run on April 12. ABC is going to air 10 episodes of Sons & Daughters, so some episodes will be left-over. I've heard they made 11 episodes and some places say 13 episodes, so who knows. The series is flat out hilarious--so get people to watch! And I think Miracle Workers will only air 5 of the 6 episodes so far. So maybe ABC can do like Grey's Anatomy and Boston Legal last year and save all these episodes for next season, if any of these make it back on the schedule next fall, that is.

The 4th Annual TV Land Awards Airs Wednesday; Fox Animated Sitcom News; Remembering a NYC TV Legend

The 4th Annual TV Land Awards airs this Wednesday from 9 to 11 p.m. ET/PT on TV Land and Nick@Nite, but they were taped last night at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. It was an unforgettable evening as celebrities from television, music and film bestowed special tribute awards tonight to some of television's most beloved series and stars at the fourth annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV. The honored shows included Cheers (Legend Award presented by Mary Tyler Moore), Dallas (Pop Culture Award presented by John Schneider and Tom Wopat), Good Times (Impact Award presented by Quentin Tarantino), Batman (40th Anniversary presented by William Shatner) and Grey's Anatomy (Future Classic Award presented by Jeremy Piven). The TV Land Awards was taped at The Barker Hangar on Sunday, March 19 and will air on TV Land (and simulcast on Nick@Nite) Wednesday, March 22 from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT.
This star-studded extravaganza featured some unforgettable moments such as when actor and comedian Billy Crystal presented TV icon Sid Caesar with The Pioneer Award.
Grammy award-winning superstar Diana Ross performing a medley of her famous hits including "Touch Me in the Morning," "The Boss," "Do You Know," and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Acclaimed actor Robert Downey Jr. presented two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank with the Big Screen/Little Star award.
Emmy-Award winner and previous TV Land Awards Legend Winner Mary Tyler Moore presented the cast of Cheers - Ted Danson, Shelly Long, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman and John Ratzenberger with this year's Legend Award.
Grey's Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes accepted this year's Future Classic Award along with the cast including Justin Chambers, Patrick Dempsey, T.R. Knight, James Pickens Jr., Kate Walsh and Chandra Wilson.
A TV show theme song medley showcasing the memorable theme songs from shows such as Cheers, Happy Days, Family Ties, The Muppet Show, Dallas, Donny and Marie and others featured live performances by several beloved musical stars including Johnny Mathis, Deniece Williams, James Ingram, Gary Portnoy, Donny and Marie Osmond and others.
TV's most beloved classic TV stars spoofed one of television's most popular dramas, Grey's Anatomy in a parody starring several classic TV stars -- several of whom appeared in popular medical dramas -- including Bernie Kopell, Chad Everett, Diahann Carroll, Ed Begley, Jr., Loretta Swit, Richard Chamberlain, Jane Seymour as well as Larry Hagman, Maureen McCormick and Jimmy "JJ" Walker.
Famed writer, director and actor Quentin Tarantino presenting the Impact Award to the cast of Good Times. And host Megan Mullally performing a commercial jingle medley.
The evening featured a roster of some of the most recognized talent in the history of television. Monty Hall, Wink Martindale and Peter Marshall presented the Viewer's Choice Award for "Character Most in Need of a Time Out," which resulted in a tie between What's Happening!!'s Danielle Spencer and Alison Arngrim of Little House on the Prairie. John Schneider and Tom Wopat of The Dukes of Hazzard were reunited to present Dallas with the Pop Culture Award. Other stars in attendance included William Shatner (Boston Legal, Star Trek), Don Most and Anson Williams (Happy Days), Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch) and The Muppet Show stars Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. Among tonight's other winners included: TV'S GREATEST MUSIC MOMENT -- Diana Ross - Concert in Central Park; LITTLE SCREEN/BIG STAR -- Hilary Swank; FAVORITE SINGING SIBLINGS -- Donny and Marie; FAVORITE TV FOOD -- Pork chops and applesauce, Peter Brady, The Brady Bunch.
Don't miss the fun this Wednesday night!

Animated sitcoms The Simpsons and King of the Hill both will be back next season on Fox. The Simpsons has been renewed for two more seasons, meaning seasons 18 and 19 will at least be made. It will be cool to see if the show makes 20 or more seasons. King of the Hill has been renewed for another season, its 11th, starting in January 2007. King of the Hill is now tied with Married...with Children with 11 seasons for second on the all-time Fox list behind The Simpsons. The Simpsons will celebrate its 400th episode in May 2008. There is word that canceled animated sitcom Futurama could be revived next season. It is unclear which network would bring it back, though, but Fox and Comedy Central are probably the frontrunners.

Finally, we leave you tonight with a little tribute to a New York City TV news legend. Yes, he was not a sitcom star, but I just have to pay tribute to him because he has been a household name for me and for many other households. Longtime WABC-7 news anchor Bill Beutel passed away Saturday at the age of 75. Beutel joined the station in 1962. In 1968, he became London bureau chief for ABC News, but he returned to the station in 1970 to co-anchor a then-new format called Eyewitness News. In 1975 he did double duty, working with WABC-7 and ABC. He co-hosted ABC's new morning show A.M. America, the forerunner to Good Morning America. Beutel retired from the Eyewitness news desk in January 2001 but remained with the station doing great special reports. He retired for good in January 2003. His successor, Bill Ritter, remembers his mentor and good friend in a nice piece. You can see and read reactions from many people including the mayor and more here from reporter Jeff Rossen; reporter NJ Burkett did a story today here.
Watch a very well done video tribute to Bill Beutel from WABC narrated by Bill Ritter. And as Bill Beutel would sign-off, "Good luck and be well. Goodnight."

Week 26 First Four Day Ratings; How The Sitcoms Did

Week 26 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: FOX: 9.5/14.7; CBS 8.5/13.5; NBC: 6.3/9.9; ABC: 5.8/9.2; UPN: 1.8/2.8; The WB 1.6/2.5.
Total Viewers: FOX: 16.21 million; CBS: 13.3 million; NBC: 9.43 million; ABC: 8.92 million; UPN: 2.62 million; The WB: 2.37 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 6.7/17.1; CBS: 4.3/11.2; NBC: 3.5/9.1; ABC: 3.3/8.5; UPN: 1.2/3.0; The WB: 1.0/2.5.

Analysis: This week saw Fox cut back a bit on its biggest show but still lead through the first four days, while CBS started its NCAA coverage instead of its normal powerhouse lineup on Thursday. Monday saw CBS prevail big with its comedies and a nice debut for The Adventures of Old Christine and the highest rated show of the nght was once again CSI: Miami. Christine scored 12.36 million viewers in its special 8:30 slot, much better than what How I Met Your Mother usually does and the time period premiere was also better than what CBS has done in that slot this season with 15.09 million viewers. Will the Seinfeld curse actually be over? We shall find out in the coming weeks! Other Monday noteables include Fox, which did well with an episode of 24 and NBC started off strong with Deal or No Deal. ABC's reality line-up did decent, but nothing spectacular. Fox aired a repeat of Prison Break at 8 p.m., but didn't do much. Let's see if the show will do well when it comes back tomorrow. Tuesday it was all Fox with a two-hour American Idol scoring very big with 32.77 million viewers. CBS competed with Fox at 9 p.m. with week two of its new drama The Unit continuing to do well with 18.07 million, almost on par with the premiere last week and built on NCIS's strong 17.55 million. ABC's critically acclaimed and hilarious new sitcom Sons & Daughters was up against the last hour of AI this week and thus suffered big time and was down big from last week. Wednesday had CBS airing a special Survivor on a special night and time due to the NCAA coverage on Thursday and won the 8 p.m. hour barely with 12.68 million. Fox's Bones did well to start off with at 12.07 million--I think many people thought American Idol was coming because now Fox will air it for a half hour on Wednesdays at 9 p.m.--28.09 million tuned in to that half hour. Following that Fox aired a special preview episode of The Loop and scored 13.7 million, losing half of the lead-in's audience. ABC's Lost was a repeat. Thursday ABC was back in business as it surprised many with the two-hour debut of Simon Cowell's American Inventor. Inventor built each half hour in both total viewers and adults 18-49, peaking at 9:30 p.m. The two-hour premiere averaged 14.15 million. ABC has yet another Thursday hit! CBS's usual line-up was pre-empted due to NCAA Basketball coverage scoring less than 10 million in primetime but 10.39 million if you count the coverage all the way until 12:24am. Fox's new sitcom hour of That '70s Show & The Loop did little at 8 p.m. Someone cancel The O.C. already! Friday had CBS have coverage of the NCAA games while NBC was second place. Saturday again CBS did well with the NCAA and NBC tried to revive wrestling on network TV and failed badly. ABC's will win tonight I'm sure, as Grey's Anatomy is still all-new while DH is a repeat but a DH repeat could even win its hour. For the week, Fox will probably hang on to total viewers and adults 18-49 but it will a battle for second place among adults 18-49 with CBS and ABC after what will happen tonight.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 11.3 million, up from the previous two weeks--I guess people tuned in more since they were waiting for Christine at 8:30.
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) 2 episodes - The premiere at 8:30 p.m. built on the lead-in in both A18-49 and total viewers; the timeslot premiere episode held on to much of the Two and a Half Men lead-in! We'll see what happens next week before I call this a big hit.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 17.37 million tuned in, making it by far the highest rated sitcom.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - Repeats were slightly below normal with 2.3-2.7 million average.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - Repeat at 8 p.m. against Idol suffered, only 5.42 million...the 8:30 p.m. all-new episode was ABC's highest rated sitcom of the night with 5.62 million
• Sons & Daughters (ABC) 2 episodes - Up against AI didn't help. Only 5.38 million and 4.91 million for another new episode.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - A new episode did 5.8 million at 9. Followed by an encore at 5.49 million.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - We can finally breathe as AI was not up against the comedies tonight--6.71 million.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 6.27 million, finally a good sampling after taking weeks of beatings from AI.
• The Loop (Fox) - Special preview episode at 9:30 p.m. following you know who only retained about 50% of the audience but did 13.7 million--making it the third most watch sitcom of the week, that is kind of pathetic with a lead-in that large.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - Repeat scored 3.11 million.
  
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Repeats all under 2 million.
• Will & Grace (NBC) - 9.09 million tuned in; not too bad!
• Four Kings (NBC) - Tick tock, tick tock--lost a ton from the lead-in, only 6.83 million.
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - No longer the sitcom to beat in A18-49, but a 4.5 rating is still good.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Held on to a chunk of the lead-in in A18-49 with a 4.2 rating.
• That '70s Show (Fox) -5.63 million is decent for Fox.
  
• The Loop (Fox) - Only 4.75 million after 13.7 million tuned in last night.
  

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday had an all-new What I Like About You and Living with Fran in dead last place in the 8 p.m. hour. The 9 p.m. hour was slightly better with a new Reba and Modern Men's premiere but still dead last. Modern Men did a 2.1/3 rating--ouch.

Summing it up. The King of Queens, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office, The Loop preview) or just plain old terrible (such as Sons & Daughters 9:30, The Loop Thursday, WB Friday).

Rare 1970's PBS Sitcom "¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?" Available on DVD

¿Qué Pasa, USA? was America's first bilingual situation comedy. The program explored the trials and tribulations faced by the Peña family of Miami as they struggled to cope with a new country and a new language. The series focused on the identity crisis of the members of the family as they were pulled in one direction by their elders - who wanted to maintain Cuban values and traditions - and pulled in other directions by the pressures of living in a predominantly Anglo society.

The series was bilingual, reflecting the mix of language often heard in Cuban-American neighborhoods - from Spanish in the home and English at the supermarket to the inevitable combining of both into "Spanglish."

¿Qué Pasa, USA? aired on PBS nationwide from approximately 1977-1981. A total of 39 episodes were produced over 3 seasons. The show was produced and taped live before a studio audience at PBS affiliate WPBT in Miami, Florida. In recent years, the series has been shown on Galavisión.

The cast included Manolo Villaverde as Pepe, Ana Margarita Martin-Casado as Juana, Luis Oquendo as Antonio, Velia Martinez as Adela, Rocky Echevarria (now known as Steven Bauer) as Joe, and Ana Margarita Menéndez as Carmen.

¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.? La Completa Collection is available to purchase on the official site via their store. The 5-Disc Collector's Edition includes all 39 episodios of the ground-breaking comedy series. It will set you back mucho dinero: $99.95 plus $6 shipping and handling. This seems like an internet-only offer. You won't be able to order it on Amazon.com or buy it in stores.

The site, owned and operated by WPBT Channel 2, includes a number of other goodies including a photo album, desktop wallpapers, video clips, and an addicting Qué Pasa Concentration Game.

Related Links:

¿Qué Pasa, USA? Official Site

TV.com Episode Guide

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Jump The Shark

Posted by Todd -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:03 AM

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Recapping In2TV's Launch Party and a Preview of Some Shows to Come; 'The Flintstones' St. Patrick's Day Event on Boomerang!

As we all know, Wednesday was the launch of In2TV. Warner Bros./AOL had a launch party on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Many celebrities from the shows on In2TV were on hand. Gabe Kaplan of Welcome Back, Kotter was the host of the event. George Lopez presented the In2TV Influencer Award to Freddie Prinze, Jr., who is the son of the late Freddie Prinze of Chico and the Man. Kathy Prinze, Freddie Prinze's wife (and Prinze Jr.'s mom) was on hand as well. Other stars on hand were: Mark Linn-Baker (Perfect Strangers); Alan Thicke, Kirk Cameron, Tracey Gold, Jeremy Miller (Growing Pains); David Carradine (Kung Fu); Jose Feliciano (Chico and the Man); joining Gabe Kaplan from Welcome Back, Kotter were Marcia Strassman, Robert Hegyes, Ron Pallilo; Tracy Scoggins, Marc Singer (Lois & Clark, Babylon 5); Michael DeLorenzo (Head of the Class); Lyle Waggoner (Wonder Woman); Jeff Conaway, Douglas Netter, J. Michael Starczynski (Babylon 5); Adam West (New Adventures of Batman), Robert Foxworth (Falcon Crest), Robert England (Freddy's Nightmares) and stars of now Kiele Sanchez (Related), Lizzy Caplan (Related) Callum Blue (Related), Masiela Lusha (George Lopez), Chloe Suazo (Freddie), Dean Collins (The War at Home) and the wife of Freddie Prinze, Jr. - superstar Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Currently, there are thirty classic series on In2TV. There will be hundreds more very soon. Some of the shows we can for sure expect sometime this year are: My Sister Sam, The Hogan Family, The Jamie Foxx Show (LOL TV); Bret Maverick, Freedom, Guns of Paradise, High Performance, Hunter, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, O'Hara, Pointman, Profiles from the Front Line, Pros & Cons, The Flash, Young Maverick (Rush TV); Flamingo Road, Our House, The Yellow Rose (Dramarama TV); Animaniacs, Taz-Mania, The Zeta Project (Toontopia TV); Crusade, Night Visions, Prey, Superboy, Time Trax, Wizards & Warriors (Heroes & Horrors TV). All of these will not join all at once of course, they will be brought in slowly, but all these are expected at some point during this year.
We will be tracking In2TV regularly and will bring you the best news and updates. We will try to let you all know what new episodes for the sitcoms are every month and what new shows will be added. So, also make us your home for In2TV news!

Boomerang Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with Stone-Age Salute to The Great Gazoo--Two-Feet Tall, All-Green Futuristic Character from The Flintstones, To be Showcased with Five Best Episodes Today (Friday, March 17).
Helping classic cartoon fans enjoy a “Bit of the Blarney,” Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s 24-hour commercial-free sister network, will celebrate today, St. Patrick’s Day (Friday, March 17), with five favorite episodes of The Flintstones featuring the gloriously all-green character from outer-space, The Great Gazoo. Playing three times throughout the Friday holiday: 9-11 a.m., 4-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. (ET).
THE GREAT GAZOO MARATHON pays homage to the beloved feature character so wittily portrayed by comedian Harvey Korman with a distinctively snooty voice. Episodes airing are: "The Great Gazoo,""Seeing Doubles," "How to Pick a Fight With Your Wife Without Really Trying," "Curtain Call at Bedrock," and "Boss for a Day."

In other news, SOAPnet has picked up rights to the CBS soap The Young and the Restless starting April 24 and airing same day episodes. It will air Mon-Fri at 7 p.m. with encores of the week on Saturday nights. SOAPnet also has rights to historic episodes for stunts and specials. USA Network has picked up the cable rights to off-net series NCIS, distributed by Paramount Domestic Television, according to Variety. The five year deal covers 88 episodes, and will go to USA in 2008. Paramount may well also sell the show to broadcast stations, and has also retained the VOD rights. NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Modern Men Premieres on The WB on March 17th

Modern Men - The WB, Fridays at 9:30PM ET/PT

From Emmy Award Winning Producer Jerry Bruckheimer comes "Modern Men," starring Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman"). "Modern Men" is a comedy about three lifelong friends and single guys hire a life coach to help them with romance and women. The series premieres Friday, March 17th, at 9:30 PM/ET on the WB television network.

Modern Men is produced by Warner Brothers Television and Jerry Bruckheimer Productions. Jerry Bruckheimer is executive producer and the series is co-produced by Jonathan Littman.

Modern Men stars Eric Lively ("The L Word") as Doug Reynolds, Josh Braaten ("Less Than Perfect") as Tim Clark, Max Greenfield as Kyle Brewster, Marla Sokoloff ("The Practice") as Molly Clark, George Wendt ("Cheers) as Tug Clark and Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") as Dr. Victoria Stangel.

Read our review of the pilot and fourth episode here.

Discuss the show after you watch it on Friday on our message board.

Related Links:

TheWB.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

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Nick@Nite and TV Land May Highlights; Ice Cube Producing 'Welcome Back, Kotter' Big Screen Movie

Nick@Nite and TV Land announced their May programming to us and we will break it down for you as best as we could! They will continue to air the 90-second sitcom At the Poocharelli's Tuesdays at 9:57 p.m. in May. The series debuts on April 11. Search for the Funniest Mom in America 2 also continues in May, with the season finale on May 9. There will be a marathon prior to that day from 9 to 11 p.m. Also, on Mother's Day they will re-air the finale and showcase classic moms Roseanne and Clair Huxtable in Roseanne and The Cosby Show. And finally, Nick@Nite will have a four day marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, showcasing famous famous. For all that and more, click here.
TV Land in May will have the season finale of Living in TV Land, with the episode on Davy Jones. They will also re-air the special that inspired the series, Living in TV Land: Dick Van Patten. TV Land will ask classic moms, "mother, may I?" during the week of May 8. A five night marathon featuring June Cleaver, Carol Brady, Florida Evans, Mrs. C, and Lily Munster/Morticia Addams. TV Land will also countdown the Top 10 Moms during that week and it will re-air on Mother's Day right after a special marathon of Nick@Nite's Search for the Funniest Mom in America 2. TV Land will reair the Top 10 TV Cars special followed by classic episodes of Miami Vice and Knight Rider. And an all-new special, TV Land Top 10 Dynamic Duos will air May 31 followed by an episode each of Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy. It'ss a full boat for TV Land in May, and you can follow all that in details here. TV Land will welcome Benson on June 3-4 with a 48-hour marathon before settling into its every night at 11 p.m. slot starting June 6.

Welcome Back, Kotter might be coming to the big screen very soon. Ice Cube is set to star and produce the movie which is a revival of the classic '70s sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as Mr. Kotter. Kotter also starred John Travolta as one of the students. Kotter reruns can be seen currently on AmericanLife TV every Saturday night and anytime on In2TV online. As for the remake, Dimension Films has completed a deal to turn the classic ABC series into a feature film, with Ice Cube producing and playing the title character. Tom Brady (The Hot Chick) is finalizing a deal to write the script and direct. The movie will be produced by Cube, his Cube Vision partner Matt Alvarez and Andrew Lazar. The hope is to shoot in the fall.
Cube, a product of the inner city, sparked to a project that allowed him a return to the 'hood. "There was no bigger fan of the original show than me, and I'm very excited to be able to put a new twist on it," Cube said.
Dimension head of production Richard Saperstein will shepherd Kotter with senior veep Matthew Stein and director of development Alex Franklin. The film will be played for laughs, with a tone comparable to School of Rock.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our pilot review of The WB sitcom Modern Men, which debuts this Friday at 9:30 p.m.

SitcomsOnline.com Reviews In2TV; Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman Reunited This Week

AOL's In2TV service is launching TOMORROW and we at SitcomsOnline.com had a special look at the system and have reviewed it for you before it launches! We review it all now--TV DVDs, TV pilots and now an online system--what other site can top that?!
skees53, one of our reviewers here at Sitcoms Online, has thoroughly reviewed the system in great detail for everyone. It is a must read! Here is what to expect in the review:

In2TV puts a new twist on something that has become the new way of delivering media (even if it hasn't FULLY caught on yet) over the past couple of years--the whole concept of video-on-demand. The "new twist" with In2TV is that, rather than presenting you something like that episode of Survivor that you missed last night and just HAVE to see now, In2TV provides episodes of some of the great television programs of our past. These aren't just programs that you can turn on the television right now and watch. These are programs that, for whatever reason, are not currently shown on television (with some minor exceptions). You don't need to live in a certain geographical area (unless you live outside of the United States) and hope that your cable company adds the service, because In2TV is available online, not through any cable service. And the best part about In2TV? Everything is (minimally) supported by advertising, and thus is free!

Our extensive review covers:

• Programs and Episodes on In2TV
• Bonus Items on In2TV
• How to Use In2TV
• Technical Requirements for In2TV
• Video, Audio, and Service Quality
  

Read the excellent review here and don't forget to try In2TV tomorrow-- you won't be disappointed, especially if you have high-speed access.

The I Dream of Jeannie 1st Season DVD is out today--and Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman are going all out to promote it! The '60s are back with Jeannie and Major Nelson. They were on ABC's Good Morning America this morning at 8:20 a.m. ET talking to Robin Roberts and later Charlie Gibson appeared from no where--Jeannie style! Later today you can catch them on CNN Showbiz Tonight at 7 p.m. (and encores at 11 p.m.) on CNN Headline News. Tomorrow they will be on ABC's The View talking with the ladies at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT/PT. On Tuesday, March 14, they will also be doing the following radio interviews: Westwood One Radio Tour and Leonard Lopate Show on WYNC. Additionally, they will be doing a DVD signing at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers located at 675 6th Ave., (at 6th and 22nd) in New York City on March 15 at 4:00 p.m. For more information about the DVD signing, please call (212) 727-1227.
The set is available in original black & white and colorized. If you are a fan of the show, I'm sure you'll buy both! Click on the links to buy yourself a copy of either black & white or color or both!

Yet More on Nick@Nite's 'At the Poocharelli's'; Preview for Some Items This Coming Week

We probably are giving the most press for Nick@Nite's 90 second sitcom At the Poocharelli's. This has got to be the third or fourth time we have talked about it. This time Nick@Nite officially announced it today to the press and public. Here it is in their own words:
Nick@Nite, Procter & Gamble (P&G) and MediaVest USA, today announced an alliance to produce At The Poocharelli's, a series of eight 90-second interstitials about a family of canines that will integrate Febreze - the popular fabric freshener and odor remover, directly into many of the show's story lines. The mini-sitcom is the first of its kind and will premiere on Nick@Nite -- the home to modern classic sitcoms -- on Tuesday, April 11. It will be presented in weekly installments every Tuesday evening at 9:57 p.m. ET/PT.
At The Poocharelli's is the first interstitial of its kind, as it moves far beyond the classic vignette format and into a new realm. This is the first time that a media services company, television network and a major brand - like Febreze - have worked together to make unique, short-form programming. Together, the three companies collaborated on programming, creative production, scripts, set design, graphics packaging and promotional elements.
Click here to read the full details.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our DETAILED review on the In2TV system. If you don't know what In2TV is by now, you must be living under a rock. We have talked about it more than At the Poocharelli's even! Seriously if you don't, please read my blog item from Monday, March 6.
We will cover everything tomorrow--the good and the bad--of the system. It is mostly good and classic TV fans will be delighted to use the system.
Also, stay tuned later in the week for our review of The WB's upcoming new sitcom Modern Men, airing Friday at 9:30 p.m. There is a Norm (actor George Wendt from Cheers) sighting!

Week 25 First Four Day Ratings; How The Sitcoms Did

Week 25 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: FOX: 11.1/16.9; CBS 10.0/15.5; NBC: 5.5/8.5; ABC: 5.3/8.3; UPN: 2.0/3.0; The WB 1.8/2.7.
Total Viewers: FOX: 18.91 million; CBS: 15.71 million; NBC: 8.25 million; ABC: 7.85 million; UPN: 2.95 million; The WB: 2.72 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 7.8/19.4; CBS: 4.9/12.6; NBC: 3.1/7.9; ABC: 2.9/7.3; UPN: 1.3/3.2; The WB: 1.2/2.9.

Analysis: It was a mix week, as the networks were filled with either some new programming with repeats. CBS and FOX were all-new this week, thus their numbers show. Monday saw CBS prevail with its comedies and CSI: Miami. Fox did well with its two-hour 24 episode and NBC started off strong with Deal or No Deal, and The Apprentice again was disappointing and it has even made Medium go way down. In other Monday news, ABC's all-reality Monday line-up started off pretty well, with Supernanny battling with The Apprentice and Miracle Workers premering with decent numbers, but nothing spectacular. Tuesday it was all Fox with American Idol with 28.56 million viewers. House followed with HUGE numbers, 20.56 million. CBS competed with Fox at 9 p.m. with the premiere of its new drama The Unit surprising many with 18.5 million. ABC's critically acclaimed and hilarious new sitcom Sons & Daughters opened with a nice start with 8.41 million, followed by another episode with 7.5 million--the erosion at 9:30 is concerning. It is a tough hour now because The Unit did better than expected with House already in that slot. NBC's sitcoms suffered a lot, especially the return of Joey--only 4.09 million for an all-new episode and just 3.76 for a repeat, Scrubs followed with a fourth place finish with 5.71 million for both episodes. Joey will be benched again (hopefully for good) after that terrible performance. Wednesday again the story was American Idol with 30.38 million, but Bones didn't do as well holding the audience at 9 p.m. with 11.82 million, good for second place behind CBS's Criminal Minds' 15.27 million. ABC's Lost was a repeat. Thursday it was all CBS, though Fox still had American Idol at 8 p.m. tonight and scored 26.62 million beating CBS's Survivor which did 15.2 million. NBC's comedies were all repeats and didn't perform well, especially Will & Grace. The O.C. needs to be canceled because it lost almost 20 million viewers from its lead-in. That is pathetic. I don't care if CSI is up against it; it needs to have a better retention than that! Friday had a battle of CBS and NBC--CBS won each hour. Deal or No Deal was NBC's highest rated program at 8 p.m., but it was no match against The Ghost Whisperer. Las Vegas was down from last week and couldn't beat CBS's Close to Home. NUMB3RS won the 10 p.m. hour and the best ratings for the night. NBC's Conviction was last place in the hour, down from last week's premiere. Saturday was pathetic--all the networks were under a 5 rating. ABC's will win the tonight thanks to their big Sunday line-up: an expanded two-hour EM: Home Edition, an all-new Desperate Housewives, and an all-new Grey's Anatomy! For the week, Fox will probably hang on to total viewers and adults 18-49 but it will a battle for second place among adults 18-49 with CBS and ABC after what will happen tonight.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - Down slightly from last week's 10.81 million to 10.48 million this week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Up from last week's 9.82 million to 10.15 million.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 17.06 million tuned in.
• Courting Alex (CBS) - 13.77 million tuned in to Jenna Elfman.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - Repeats did better than normal. 2.6-3.2 million on average.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - Two all-new episodes tonight! 8 p.m. against Idol suffered, only 5.84 million...the 8:30 p.m. all-new episode down slightly to 5.83 million
• Sons & Daughters (ABC) 2 episodes - The premiere did decent with 8.41 million, the second episode didn't do too well with 7.5 million.
  
• Joey (ABC) 2 episodes - And the show is gone again after returning this week to ANEMIC ratings. Univision partied when it beat NBC in this hour. 4.09 million for a new episode and 3.76 million for a repeat.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - A new episode did 5.71 million at 9. So what did the repeat do at 9:30? The exact same!
• Chris/Girlfriends (UPN) - Special repeats at 9 and 9:30 did 1.87 and 1.65 million, up from the lead-in at least.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - A repeat scored 6.01 million, up from last week's new episode.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 5.3 million for an all-new episode.
• Still Standing (CBS) - Two all-new episodes beat ABC's comedies, 6.88 million and 7.36 million.

Thursday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - Repeat scored 2.73 million.
  
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Repeats all under 2 million.
• Will & Grace (NBC) 2 episodes -Two repeats did 5.24 and 5.4 million.
  
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 8.62 million for a repeat is nothing to be ashamed of.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Repeat scored 6.84 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday had an all-new What I Like About You and encore of Living with Fran in dead last place in the 8 p.m. hour. The 9 p.m. hour was slightly better with two Reba repeats, but still dead last.

Summing it up. The King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Courting Alex were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Sons & Daughters 9pm, My Name is Earl repeat) or just plain old terrible (such as Joey, WB Friday).