Thursday, September 21, 2006

ABC Schedule Notes; New Sitcom 'The Game' Gets Lawsuit?

ABC has made some changes for its line-up next week. They will remove the encore of last season's Lost finale on Monday from 9-11pm with another Wife Swap and a Men in Trees encore. That was probably a better choice. Also, they will now air a special 20/20 next Wednesday at 10 p.m. replacing an encore of Men in Trees. The 20/20 Special will be with Barbara Walters as she interviews the widow of the late Steve Irwin.
ABC also will repurpose the pilot for the highly anticipated new series Ugly Betty on ABC Family and SOAPnet. Ugly Betty premieres next Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC, and will encore next Friday at 7 p.m. on ABC Family and next Saturday at 12 noon and 11:59pm on SOAPnet. Betty has a chance of being the highest rated new shows this season.
ABC also announced that SOAPnet will encore the first season of What About Brian on Sundays from 12-2pm for the next three weeks, leading up to the second season premiere Mon. Oct. 9 at 10 p.m. on ABC.

Author Staci Robinson is suing The CW, its owners and some producers for $40 million for allegedly stealing the concept of her unpublished novel to create the sitcom The Game, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The writer claims that in 2001, she had interviewed for a job as a writers assistant at Kelsey Grammer's Gramnet Prods. when she gave a manuscript of her novel to The Game executive producer Mara Brock Akil. The suit, filed Sept. 14, alleges that the series copies her premise and the characters in the book. She names the CW and its owners, CBS and Warner Bros., Akil and Gramnet as defendants. Besides the hefty monetary damages, Robinson is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the network from premiering the show on Sunday, Oct. 1. Yikes...
Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:00 PM

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, August 20

Bless This Mess - "The Return of Short Shorts" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mike attempts to fit in with the Coffee Boys in order to get rid of his old nickname, “Short Shorts,” by trying to prove to them that he’s a “true farmer.” Meanwhile, Rio finally gets Constance to open up to her, and she discovers that Constance has a liking for Rudy.

black-ish - "Purple Rain" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family is shocked to learn that Jack and Diane are not familiar with the iconic music of Prince. One by one, each member of the family works to explain Prince’s tremendous impact on their lives through his music.

The Detour - "The Groom" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Nate finally gets married to save his family.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 19)

Tuesday, August 20

  • Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/Welcome to New York) - Catch Jim on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) - Jameela appears on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
  • Joey King (Bent) - Joey is a guest on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
  • Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Do Not Disturb/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry appears on a repeat of Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
  • Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) and Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie/Malibu Country) - Jane and Lily are guests on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie stops by LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
  • Marlon Wayans (Marlon/The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon talks about Netflix's Sextuplets on Access Live, so check your local listings.
  • Melissa Peterman (Reba/Working Class/Baby Daddy) - Melissa guest co-hosts Access Live, so check your local listings.
  • Anna Faris (Mom) - Anna will be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.

New on DVD/Blu-ray (June/July/August)

The Brady Bunch - 50th Anniversary The Brady-est TV & Movie Collection Will & Grace (The Revival) - Season Two The Good Place - The Complete Third Season Life in Pieces - The Complete Fourth Season Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Six

06/04 - The Brady Bunch - 50th Anniversary The Brady-est Brady Bunch TV & Movie Collection
06/18 - Will & Grace (The Revival) - Season Two (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Man with a Plan - Season Two
07/09 - Broad City - Season 5
07/09 - Broad City - The Complete Series
07/09 - Life in Pieces - The Complete Fourth Season
07/09 - Speechless - The Complete Third Season
07/16 - Eight Is Enough - The Complete First Season
07/17 - The Practice (1976) - The Complete Series (WBShop.com)
07/23 - Brockmire - The Complete First Season
07/23 - What I Like About You - The Complete First Season
07/30 - The Good Place - The Complete Third Season
08/06 - Caroline in the City - The Third Season
08/06 - Caroline in the City - The Fourth Season
08/13 - I Love Lucy - Colorized Collection
08/13 - Leave it to Beaver - Seasons One and Two
08/20 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Six
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