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

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Staci Robinson is suing The CW, its owners and some producers for $40 million for allegedly stealing the concept of her unpublished novel to create the sitcom The Game, according to The Hollywood Reporter.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...

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, August 16

The Simpsons - "Aunt Mishavin'" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Patty and Bart team up for the ultimate prank -- getting Homer declared legally dead; to their chagrin, Homer loves being officially dead -- which leads to Patty and Selma having a huge fight and Patty moving away to "Palm Springfield."

Animal Control - "Donkeys and Weasels" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Frank's dad temporarily moves into Frank's house following a heart attack; Victoria and Patel try to find ways to replace pet food that was destroyed in a fire.

Universal Basic Guys - "Good Marks" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark goes back to high school to prove he is smart; Hank tries to pass Advanced Woodshop.

Grimsburg - "CrimeCon" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Flute learns that criminals at CrimeCon are celebrated, not the detectives, he decides to prove that celebrity criminal Damien Flesher is not the reformed cannibal he claims to be; Pentos meets the Pentos-tonix.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 10)

Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16

Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea and Sheryl Underwood get the last laugh at the Kevin Hart roast on a repeat of The Weekend View on ABC News Live at 7:30am.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany manifests the Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover on a repeat of The Weekend View on ABC News Live at 7:30am.

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