SitcomsOnline.com Upfront Preview: Fox; TBS Renews 'Saved by the Bell', But Not 'Mama's Family'

Thursday, May 11, 2006

SitcomsOnline.com Upfront Preview: Fox; TBS Renews 'Saved by the Bell', But Not 'Mama's Family'

Fox has the strongest show in television right now and a hot drama called House. With that they will always be in the mix at the top for adults 18-49, especially after January. The question is can they find some new hits for the fall and try to build on that when that little show American Idol returns in January? Will Futurama be brought back from the dead like Family Guy? Will Fox actually pick up a decent sitcom? An no not Free Ride, Life on a Stick, Stacked and some of the other garbage they have aired over the last few years.

Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2006-07 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: American Crime (drama), Primary (drama), Til Death (sitcom) and Vanished (drama)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Southern Comfort (drama) and The Winner (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Damages (drama) and Union Jackass (sitcom)

OUR FALL 2006 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun
7:30PM King of the Hill
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM Futurama (RETURN)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad

Mondays
8:00PM Prison Break
9:00PM Vanished (NEW)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Primary (NEW)
9:00PM House

Wednesdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM American Crime (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Til Death (NEW)
8:30PM The War at Home
9:00PM Bernie Mac
9:30PM The Winner (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM The O.C.
9:00PM Southern Comfort (NEW)

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
8:30PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Comments: Fox is tough to figure out. They have like two different line-ups for the fall and January. Of course 24 and American Idol will come back in January. Question is if American Idol will be Tuesday and Thursday next season instead of Tuesday/Wednesday? Bernie Mac will have to be back I think because they need something for the fall with Malcolm and That '70s Show ending, and it should be gone for good in January. The War at Home will probably be back, too, on another night. I think House will move to Wednesdays in January so American Idol can give another show a boost on Tuesdays. As for the results show, maybe Thursdays at 8:00PM followed by Til Death? Like I said, Fox is a tough one to figure out. And so many series are goners: Arrested Development, Kitchen Confidential, That '70s Show, Stacked, Head Cases, Reunion, Free Ride, The Loop, Malcolm in the Middle and Killer Instinct. I might have missed something. I think Nanny 911, Unan1mous and Trading Spouses will return at some point. Like when anything fails fast. Hopefully The O.C. fails. Futurama looks like it will return. If it does, then I say Bernie Mac is safe because a sitcom will be needed for another night. I can't comment anymore on this, because Fox is just weird. As long as American Idol is pulling big numbers, Fox will always be a contender in the second half and for the season in A18-49.

Remember, next Thursday (May 18) is the actual date when we will findout Fox's plans for the 2006-07 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on The CW's upfront.

TBS has renewed its longest running show on the network yet again. Saved by the Bell reruns, which started in 1992 on the network, has been renewed yet again! It was set to expire after this August, but TBS has picked it up for another few more years. The show has done very well for them in the mornings in recent years. It even popped-up for two weeks on sister network Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block! Meanwhile, the news is not as good for another TBS favorite. Reruns of Mama's Family are also expiring after August, but TBS has decided they will not renew this one. Mama's Family has been on the network since 1997. It has been recently airing from 6-7am ET for a while. It will be replaced by Cosby Show at 6 a.m. and Drew Carey at 6:30 a.m. in September. Hopefully another cable network (TV Land???) will pick-up the series fast or better yet, Warner Home Video should release it on DVD. We don't have the full list of changes yet for TBS's September line-up, but we do know that reruns of The King of Queens will join the station in October. Cosby Show and Dawson's Creek will still be around this fall, too. I said before that they probably were expiring, but they're actually not. I think 2007 is the year when they expire. Dawson's Creek will ALSO be coming to The N in September. I guess another shared deal.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 8

Universal Basic Guys - "Sheet Shock" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
After feeling slighted by a Navy recruiter, Mark sets out to join an elite unit of the Marines, only to be thwarted by his inability to properly make a bed; David teams up with a veteran, who reveals stories that are stranger than fiction.

The Simpsons - "Convenience Airways" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The Simpsons are trapped on a flight with the most unruly passengers in America.

Bob's Burgers - "They Slug Horses, Don't They?" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Tina and Louise get into an argument.

Krapopolis - "Shlub$" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Shlub is sick -- well, one part of Shlub is sick -- so the family uses Hippocampus' new invention to extract and replace the ailing part, but might just need to operate on themselves in order to save him.

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Name Drop" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Marty and Courtney’s baby name gets spread around because nobody can keep a secret. Meanwhile, Dave is assigned the ever-complicated task of assembling the diaper changing table.

The Conners - "Smoking Penguins and Santa on Santa Action" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan is disappointed when everyone but Becky forgets about his birthday; Darlene faces another issue; Dan excludes Jackie from the family Christmas Santa photo for mistreating Louise.

The Conners - "Yard Sale, Phone Fail, and a College Betrayal" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Louise starts to move into the Conners' home; Dan decides to sell the furniture set he bought for Roseanne when they were first married; Dan soon finds parting with the furniture harder than he thought it would be.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 2)

Friday, December 6

Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Watch Ralph on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Emily Osment (Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage/Young Sheldon/Young & Hungry/Hannah Montana), Tien Tran (How I Met Your Father) and Vinny Thomas (Platonic) - Emily, Tien and Vinny are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Hilary Swank (Camp Wilder) - NBC's Today catches up with Hilary in the 10am hour.
The Cast of Sex Lives of College Girls - The Sex Lives of College Girls creator Mindy Kaling is joining Drew on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, the case of the show, Pauline Chalamet, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, Mia Rodgers and Gracie Lawrence are all chatting about the latest season of the hit show.
Ryan Destiny (grown-ish) and Brian Tyree Henry (HouseBroken/Atlanta) - Ryan and Brian talk about their new film The Fire Inside on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Steve Howey (Reba) - Steve talks about NBC's Happy Place on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Krysten discusses her film Sonic 3 on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Melissa Joan Hart (Baby Daddy/Sabrina the Teenage Witch/Clarissa Explains It All) - Melissa is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.