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

Thursday, March 30, 2006

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.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, May 21

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Funky Chili and Friends Who Take Their Clothes Off" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy and Jim butt heads when they take over the store for a sick Georgie and Ruben. Meanwhile, Audrey panics when Connor rekindles an old flame.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A New Beau and Someone Else's Mom’s House" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy take matters into their own hands when Mary starts warming up to Fagenbacher (Matthew Letscher). Also, Audrey struggles to cope with Connor’s absence.

Ghosts - "Up the Creek" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When Woodstone’s future is put in jeopardy, Sam and Jay join forces with the ghosts to protect the mansion by securing its place in history.

Ghosts - "Across the Pond" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A trip abroad could determine Woodstone’s fate. Meanwhile, a major career opportunity takes Sam out of town, leaving others to step in and help with the ghosts.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 18)

Thursday, May 21

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Watch the series finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Andrew is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Forever/Up All Night) - Maya appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) and Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Andy Cohen interviews Keke and Brooke on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta) - LaKeith chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Laurie Metcalf (Big Mistakes/The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/The Norm Show) - Laure discusses Death of a Salesman on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Niecy Nash (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Niecy is Sherri's special guest on the final Sherri show, so check your local listings.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle stops by for a very special Sherri's Laugh Lounge on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - The Drew Barrymore Show has a little bit extra from Drew-crewers Ross Mathews, Sunny Anderson and Valerie sharing their tips in the kitchen with knife skills 101, so check your local listings.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) and Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Paul and Nick can be heard on the Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about AMC+'s The Terror: Devil in Silver on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts) - Utkarsh talks about Ghosts on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.