Friday, June 23, 2006
'Two & a Half Men' Sold To Locals For Reruns in 2007; 'Futurama' Back For New Episodes; Remembering Richard Stahl
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
Wednesday, August 13
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Gets Ready for Prime Time" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Upon learning that Frank's making a "Hometown Visit" with his Golden Bachelor partners, the Gang rehearses their family dinner to appeal to America.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 11)
Wednesday, August 13
- Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Watch Terry on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - Ben appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Meghann Fahy (Sirens) - Meghann stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Luis) - NBC's Today catches up with Charlie in the 9am hour.
- Regina King (The Boondocks/Leap of Faith/227) - Regina talks about Caught Stealing on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Harry Hamlin (Home Movies) - Harry shares his new pasta recipe on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Bill chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle is hitting the headlines with Drew and Ross and opening up about finding love again on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, Halle is opening up about her experience with menopause and the new platform Respin she made to help women through it.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan discusses his film Under Fire on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
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