'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

Monday, January 17

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Knockout" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
As Dave nears his 40th birthday, Calvin offers to coach his friend for an amateur boxing tournament. Also, sparks fly when Marty meets a new woman at the gym.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Cats in a Bathtub" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Bob accidentally reveals Morenike is gay, Abishola and Kemi are forced to defend her against their church, and even their own families. Also, Douglas comes clean to Olivia about not being poor.

Kenan - "Hustle and Flow" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Kenan and Aubrey clash when he refuses to see that she's growing up; while Gary pursues a controversial revenue stream on social media, Mika, Tami and Pam are inspired to show him the downside.

Kenan - "Dating App" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Gary's help, Kenan signs up for a dating app that he might not be ready for while Rick has an interesting date of his own; Mika and Pam strategize to help Tami when she is caught in an unflattering situation by a tabloid photographer.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 17)

Monday, January 17

Daveed Diggs (Central Park/black-ish) - Watch Daveed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Snowpiercer on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
John Early (The Afterparty/Search Party) - John is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jenifer Lewis (black-ish/The PJs) - Jenifer will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky talks about the third season of After Party on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) and Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Kym and Finesse guest host The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl talks about Abbott Elementary on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Fortune Feimster (Kenan/Bless the Harts/Sunnyside/Champions) - Fortune is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael talks about his trip into space on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) and Randall Park Fresh Off the Boat/Veep) - Ed and Randall talk about Peacock's True Story with Ed and Randall on NBC's Today in the 9am hour and on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Hilary Duff (How I Met Your Father/Younger/Lizzie McGuire) - Hilary talks about How I Met Your Father on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa talks about Netflix's Brazen on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.