"i" Network Now Acquires Sony Owned TV Shows; Stiller to Produce CBS Sitcom, McClanahan on Here! Network

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

"i" Network Now Acquires Sony Owned TV Shows; Stiller to Produce CBS Sitcom, McClanahan on Here! Network

Fresh off their announcement last Thursday of acquiring classic TV shows and movies from Warner Bros. Television, the "i" network has now announced a similar deal with Sony Pictures Television! Today they announced a programming agreement that provides ION Media (i network) with the rights to broadcast dozens of classic television series and a large selection of award-winning feature films from the Sony library on the i television network, reaching over 90 million homes.
Under the terms of the agreement, "i" will have access to many of SPT’s most popular TV series from the last three decades, including Charlie’s Angels, Starsky & Hutch, The Partridge Family, The Monkees and Silver Spoons, among others.
They will begin scheduling the Sony movies on the i network this month, with plans to launch the television series in August. So, both Warner and Sony TV shows will both be scheduled starting this August. It is unclear right now how many shows from Sony they have acquired, but I'll try to find out. And we will bring you their launch schedule very shortly--it will include both Warner and Sony TV shows.
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Ben Stiller is back on television. Well...sort of. He will executive produce and direct a sitcom project for CBS that will star his wife Christine Taylor. The project has been likened to a Curb Your Enthusiasm-type show featuring Taylor’s life in Hollywood and her career as an actress. The project, from CBS Paramount will be executive produced by Stiller and Ajay Sahgal.
Rue McClanahan has signed on for a sitcom pilot for the Here! network, B&C reports. Here! is a gay TV channel. The show, which it targeted for a 2007 launch, will feature McClanahan as the "crazy and wise" grandmother of a gay teenager "coming of age and coming out." The network describes the veteran actress (The Golden Girls, Maude) as having a strong fan base in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. The six-episode series is based on a short film from writer Nick Wauters, who will also pen the series.