TCA Winter Cable Press Tour Day 2; Bush Speech Messes Primetime Schedule Tonight

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

TCA Winter Cable Press Tour Day 2; Bush Speech Messes Primetime Schedule Tonight

We are now in day two of the TCA winter Cable Press Tour. Up today: Discovery Networks (Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel), Oxygen, TV One, National Geographic Channel, BBC America, Disney Channel/ABC Family. Of note so far...
New programming coming up in March on Oxygen ranges from the deathly serious (Who Cares About Girls?) to the frivolous (a reality series about Tori Spelling and her new husband, Dean McDermott. Tori & Dean: Inn Love will follow the couple as they invest Spelling's inheritance from her late father, producer Aaron Spelling, by buying an eight-acre bed-and-breakfast in Temecula, Calif.
TV One said it is going into production on a new theatrical competition series, David E. Talbert's Blackstage, with playwright Talbert and Edmonds Entertainment. Eight contestants and two alternates will compete for the chance to be understudies in Talbert's latest play, a touring production of Love in the Nick of Tyme, which stars Morris Chestnut and R&B singer Avant.
Disney Channel announced updates for its various series such as Kim Possible and Handy Mandy. High School Musical fans can go online starting Friday to determine elements of High School Musical 2, which begins filming in Utah in the spring for an August premiere. At the Web site, they can answer 10 poll questions that will determine such elements as the type of dessert that Zeke bakes for Sharpay and the clever sayings on Chad's T-shirts.
Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez have been tapped to star in the ABC Family original movie Holidays in Handcuffs. Production is underway and is scheduled to air in December 2007 as part of ABC Family's annual "25 Days of Christmas" programming event. ABC Family also touted its new series Lincoln Heights, which airs Mondays at 7 p.m.

And yesterday Hallmark Channel and FX were up late. We have updates on both. Hallmark mentioned it will be doing more romance films in February before converting to a scheduling scheme in March that will see each weeknight devoted to genres. The February lineup will include original fare such as Love Is a Four-Letter Word, starring Teri Polo and Robert Mailhouse as cynical divorce attorneys who find love with each other; and acquisitions such as Green Card with Gerard Depardieu and The In-Laws with Albert Brooks and Michael Douglas.
Originals scheduled later in the year include Sacrifices of the Heart, the Davis-penned drama, starring Melissa Gilbert and Ken Howard; Pandemic, depicting a jetliner bearing a toxic virus headed for Los Angeles; and Marco Polo with Ian Somerhalder.
As for FX, Glenn Close is coming back to the network to star in her own legal thriller. Denis Leary's Rescue Me and comedy series It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia will return this summer for fourth and third seasons, respectively on FX.

Up tomorrow: E! Networks (E!, style, G4), ESPN, Lifetime, Starz!, MTV Networks (MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, Spike, Nickelodeon/Nick@Nite, TV Land).

Tonight President Bush has scheduled a speech on sending more troops in Iraq at 9 p.m.--which effects the sitcom world in a way. In the east, central and mountain time zones, ABC's The Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency and an abbreviated Primetime Medical Mysteries will air on a half-hour delay. Knights at 9:30 p.m. ET, Emergency at 10:00 p.m. ET and an abbreviated Medical at 10:30 p.m. ET. In the pacific time zone, you'll get the shows in their regular slots of 9-11 p.m. PT. So, don't miss Knights episode two...I've seen it and it is hilarious. Louis the intern will shine in this episode. And episode two of Emergency is funnier than the pilot. Tune in!
Elsewhere, NBC will join Deal or No Deal in progress at 9:30 p.m. ET, but it will be an encore broadcast now (in the pacific time zone, you'll see the full hour encore). CBS will air repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY now instead of all-new episodes, both on a half-hour delay from 9:30-11:30 p.m ET (in the pacific time zone, you'll see the encores in the regular 9-11pm PT slots). And Fox will pre-empt an encore of Bones scheduled 9-10 p.m. ET for an encore of 'Til Death at 9:30 p.m. Not sure what the pacific time zone will air at 9 p.m. PT--I'd image another 'Til Death. See what the President has caused? Anyway go with the ABC comedies...they will be all-new!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, February 24

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Getting Lucky" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin and Dave join Lamar (Kevin Pollack) on a road trip to the casino. Also, Tina and Gemma babysit Daphne while Marty desperately tries to spend time with Courtney alone. Series star Tichina Arnold directs this episode.

Poppa's House - "Slumber Party" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Poppa dodges an invitation to a family slumber party, Junior attempts to change his mind by making him jealous of everyone attending. Charo guest stars as herself. Wendy Raquel Robinson returns as Catherine. Geoffrey Owens returns as J.J.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)

Monday, February 24

Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Chris on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) - Drew appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Wendell Pierce (The Odd Couple/The Michael J. Fox Show/The Weber/The Brian Benben Show/The Gregory Hines Show) - Wendell appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. He talks about the latest season of Raising Kanan on Starz on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Sam Waterston (Grace and Frankie) - Sam makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Christian is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) and Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Tichina and Essence are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS. Tichina appers on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Jon Hamm (Grimsburg/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Jon appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) - E! News has an interview with Kate at 11pm on E!.
Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) - NBC's Today catches up with Eric in the 9am hour.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons and Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - CBS Mornings has CBS deals with Anthony and Cedric sometime between 7-9am.
Clifton Davis (Amen/That's My Mama) - Nancy Giles goes behind the scenes of CBS' new series Beyond the Gates with actors Clifton Davis, Tamara Tunie, Daphnée Duplaix and Karla Mosley on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank chats with the hosts and performs with the EZ Street Band on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso) - Phil talks about the new season of Ted Lasso on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle is hitting the headlines with Drew and Ross and opening up about finding love again on 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.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.