'Two & a Half Men' Sold To Locals For Reruns in 2007; 'Futurama' Back For New Episodes; Remembering Richard Stahl

Friday, June 23, 2006

'Two & a Half Men' Sold To Locals For Reruns in 2007; 'Futurama' Back For New Episodes; Remembering Richard Stahl

Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution has taken the first step toward harvesting a smashing $3 million per episode from Two & a Half Men by selling rerun rights to the Tribune Broadcasting TV stations. The Tribune stations, led by WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles and WGN (local) Chicago, will be able to start running the half-hour episodes of "Men" in the fall of 2007, as many as 12 times a week (during the first three years of the contract).
As we mentioned before, Warner will let each Tribune station stream five episodes of the sitcom on its Web site each week as a freebie to Internet surfers. The revenues from any advertising time within these Internet runs will be split between Warner and Tribune, and other material will be added to the episodes, like outtakes and bloopers. The Tribune locals are losing rights to Everybody Loves Raymond in March 2008 to the Fox-owned channels, so this is a major acquisition for Tribune.
The Tribune local stations will have exclusive streaming-video rights to Men for three years, and then they'll have to share the run with whichever cable network buys the rights. We think TBS is the likely buyer because it has cable rights to most of the major sitcoms (Raymond, Friends, Seinfeld, Family Guy). The cable deal would start in fall 2010, sharing it with TV stations in syndication. We'll keep you up to date on the cable buying for this popular sitcom.

As we reported back in October 2005, Comedy Central has bought reruns of the animated comedy Futurama starting in January 2008 for a 5-year deal. All 72 episodes were bought. But guess what? That is NOT all. Katey Sagal, one of the stars from the show, was on Craig Ferguson on Tuesday night and confirmed that new episodes will be made and will air in 2008 on Comedy Central! She was saying 13 or 16 episodes will be made. Variety reported last night that this is indeed true. They confirm it is a 13 episode deal and will start in 2008. Click here for details.

Richard Stahl, an actor whose more than 40-year career stretched from New York theater to film and television comedies such as Laverne & Shirley, has died. Stahl died Sunday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's health center in Woodland Hills after a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease, his wife, actress Kathryn Ish, said Wednesday. Stahl guest starred on many sitcoms such as Empty Nest, Living Single, Married...with Children, Hudson Street, The Golden Girls, Good Grief, Night Court, Newhart, Who's the Boss?, Family Ties, The Facts of Life, Barney Miller, Love Sidney, Benson, What's Happening!!, House Calls, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Happy Days, On the Rocks, Maude, That's My Mama, Good Times, Archie Bunker's Place, The Tom Show, The Partridge Family, Harry and the Hendersons, All in the Family, That Girl, Love American Style and Soap. Was that enough for you? He also was a series regular on the '80s sitcom It's a Living and short lived sitcoms Turnabout starring Sharon Gless and Struck by Lightning. And had recurring roles on The Odd Couple and Laverne & Shirley. Mr. Stahl will certainly be missed as his face has been seen on various TV shows over the past 40 years. Mr. Stahl was 74.

Stay tuned tomorrow for DVD news regarding The Stockard Channing Show and Gimme a Break!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, December 26

Happy's Place - "Promises, Promises" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett continues his nightly check-ins with Bobbie to ensure her safety, Isabella pays the price as she's kept up by their loud late-night chats, prompting her to tell Bobbie to advance their relationship or at least take it out of the house.

Stumble - "Media Day" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Courteney decides to use media day as a way to recruit new cheerleaders and to push her team to get right back on that mat; DiMarcus proves that not all Buttons are meant to be pushed.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 22)

Friday, December 26

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Zooey appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Kaler (My Boys) - Jamie is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick discusses his new book with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti cooks on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Loist in Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Mo'Nique (The Parkers) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Mo'Nique about her weight-loss journey and the launch of her new fitness brand, Mo'Niques Movement, as well as the emotional moment with her husband that changed it all, so check your local listings.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - NBC's Today has Cocktails and Mocktails with Neil and David Burtka on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario tells Sherri about his new holiday film The Christmas Spark on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers), Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) - The Now You See Me: Now You Don't cast including Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher Jesse Eisenberg, Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa join Drew to dish all about the third installment of the hit franchise on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.