'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, November 22

Happy's Place - "Happy's House" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Bobbie agrees to take Isabella to Happy's house in search of a connection to their late father, leading Bobbie to worry about what they may find; Gabby hopes to strike it rich by searching through Happy's penny collection looking for a rarity.

Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Orlando" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Rosie's spoiled nephew Orlando visits, Mayan sets out to expose Rosie's cultural gender bias; George wants to teach Chance the value of hard work, but, instead, helps him create a toxic work environment.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Whacking the Mole" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Abishola has a romantic dream about Bob, she tries to suppress her feelings for him and pays the price.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Ralph Lauren and Fish" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob and Abishola finally go on a proper date, which is interrupted by Dottie's medical emergency.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Tough Like a Laundromat Washing Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob hires Abishola to take care of Dottie in his home while she recovers; Dottie has a hard time dealing with her limitations and takes it out on Abishola.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Useless Potheads" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Abishola only helping part-time, Bob, Douglas and Christina struggle to take care of Dottie.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - "Wiz-Taken Identity" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Billie struggles with a spell, Roman says he could do it if he was a wizard: to prove him wrong, Billie uses a Power Glass to transfer her powers to Roman.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - " Ain't Gnome Party Like a Wizard Party" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Justin embraces mortality to live with his family; his new challenge arises when Alex introduces Billie, a wizard-in-training, seeking Justin's mentorship.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Friday, November 22

Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ariana Grande (Sam & Cat/Victorious) - Ariana appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Lopez vs Lopez/Search Party/Corporate) - Andy, Thomas and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her new book Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Drew is joined by the hilarious Andrew to celebrate all things Thanksgiving on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie tells Sherri about her new Apple TV+ psychological thriller Before on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Candace Cameron Bure (Fuller House/Full House) - Candace will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.