TCA Winter Press Tour: Fox; CW to End 'Reba'; Remembering Barney Miller's Ron Carey

Saturday, January 20, 2007

TCA Winter Press Tour: Fox; CW to End 'Reba'; Remembering Barney Miller's Ron Carey

The final day of the TCA Winter Press Tour brings Fox up to the plate. They have announced their spring schedule and have a lot of new times and new shows. So, let's get it started right away...
Freshman sitcom 'Til Death is making a move to Wednesdays at 9:30, following American Idol. After special post-Idol airings on Tuesday, Feb. 27 and Wednesday, Feb. 28 (both at 9:30 PM), the time period premiere is Wednesday, March 14.
Sitcom The War at Home is moving back to Sundays, but this time at 7:30. The show premieres in its new time period Sunday, March 4 (7:30-8:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. New sitcom The Winner, from creator Seth MacFarlane, debuts with two episodes on Sunday, March 4 at 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM and it will air for three consecutive Sundays at 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM, finishing its 6-episode order in just three weeks. King of the Hill will return to 8:30 PM on March 25 after three weeks off, as will American Dad at 9:30 PM.
Fox will debut a mid-season drama from David E. Kelley called The Wedding Bells on Friday, March 9 at 9 PM, but first it will give it a sneak preview Wednesday, March 7, After American Idol at 9 PM.
Freshman drama Standoff will move to a new night and time on Friday, March 30 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).
Finally, the new action drama Drive, created by Tim Minear and Ben Queen, takes viewers for a wild ride when a diverse group of people, all with different motives and secrets, participate in an underground cross-country road race. Drive revs up the schedule with a two-hour series premiere Sunday, April 15 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) and time period premiere Monday, April 16 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Prison Break's season would have ended a week before. Fox has confirmed at the tour that that show will return next season for a third season.
This is not all Fox will air in mid-season. Thursdays is still TBD, but rumor has it that Hell's Kitchen is coming to Thursdays at 9 PM, but Fox didn't announce that today. Also, on Fox's mid-season docket, but not announced yet are returning sitcom The Loop, new reality/game show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, reality show On the Lot (that could be moved to summer now), and reality show Woman Rule the World. Nanny 911 and Trading Spouses looks like will end early, with Nanny probably ending after its March 23 airing and Spouses ending after its March 2 airing, with the new Fox Friday by March 30 of Standoff & The Wedding Bells.
One final note, Fox will have two episodes of 24 on Monday, Feb. 12. Day Six: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM and Day Six: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM airing Monday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), the nation continues to reel from the terrorist attacks and Agent Bauer battles unthinkable circumstances.

The CW confirmed late yesterday that long running sitcom Reba will end with a two-part series finale this season. So, it looks like a wrap for that sitcom, unless it pulls a 7th Heaven and comes back.

We leave you today with some sad news, actor Ron Carey passed away this past Tuesday. Ron Carey, the short and puckish comedic actor is best known for his role as Officer Carl Levitt on the hit sitcom Barney Miller. He was also a member of Mel Brooks' troupe in films such as High Anxiety and Silent Movie. Carey died of a stroke Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The 5-foot-7 Carey became a semi-regular on ABC's Barney Miller in 1976, the second year of the sitcom that starred Hal Linden, and remained with the show until it ended in 1982. The Newark, NJ native also co-starred in the series Lucky Luke in 1993. He also had a role in the short-lived ABC sitcom produced by John Ritter called Have Faith in 1989. He also was on two short lived sitcoms in the '70s--The Montefuscos (1975) for NBC and The Corner Bar (1972-73) for ABC. He has guest starred on sitcoms such as Benson, Alice, New Love American Style.
Carey, probably not known by many by his name, certainly will be remembered by his role on Barney Miller by sitcom fans. He will be missed. He was 71.

We will have our Saturday mini-DVD review tomorrow on a special Sunday edition. We might not have our regular Sunday ratings blog tomorrow because we don't have access to final numbers for this week yet. So, I might not do it, or I'll just fast nationals. We'll see...but certainly come by tomorrow for the mini-review.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, January 20

Young Sheldon - "A Pink Cadillac and a Glorious Tribal Dance" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Sheldon attends his first comic book convention. Also, Mary tries selling make-up.

United States of Al - "Poker / Pokar" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Art grows concerned when Al gets hooked on playing poker, misses a class and is late for work. Also, Lizzie and Brett’s relationship grows stronger, but she struggles with dating again for the first time in a few years.

Ghosts - "The Vault" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Just as Sam and Jay are set to host a friend’s wedding that could get their B&B business off the ground, the ghost of Hetty’s husband, Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh), tries to ruin it.

B Positive - "Louisville, Bubbaroo and Sully" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Gina hires Peter’s son to be her lawyer, but things get complicated when he asks her out. Also, Drew and Harry’s van breaks down during their road trip.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me a Sporty Giant" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While staying in Kat's apartment, Randi starts to feel overwhelmed by Kat's quirks; Max and Carter try to teach Phil how to ride a bike.

Pivoting - "The Giving Tree" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Sarah drags Amy and Jodie out on a night of hijinks; Amy struggles to balance a work crisis and her new dedication to motherhood; Jodie's anxiety takes over after sending a flirty text to Matt and doesn't get a response.

Single Drunk Female - "Pilot" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
A public flameout forces 20-something alcoholic Sam to move back home with her overbearing mother, Carol; surrounded by all the triggers that made her drink, Sam tries to move past her worst self and figure out her best self.

Single Drunk Female - "One Day at a Time" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
An awkward run-in with her former best friend and her ex inspires Sam to own up for her past mistakes, both emotionally and financially; as she resets her relationship with her mother, Sam is horrified to learn Carol is dating.

Warped! - "Pilot" (Nickelodeon, 7:30PM ET/PT)
Milo, the beloved head geek at a comic book shop, finds his world disrupted after his boss hires the quirky and excitable Ruby.

Warped! - "Challenged!" (Nickelodeon, 8:00PM ET/PT)
After Milo's nemesis Carl beats his world record, Ruby helps him try to reclaim it.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 17)

Thursday, January 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Catch Jason on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - Will appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - Jennifer is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
David Cross (Arrested Development/Running Wilde/Oliver Beene) - David appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Laura Linney (The Big C) and Kristin Davis (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Laura and Kristin are guests on Watch What Happens: Live at 10:30pm on Bravo. NBC's Today catches up with Laura in the 9am hour.
Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Sharon Gless (House Calls/Turnabout) - Sharon chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones/Vice Principals/Partners) - Edi will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) and Randall Park Fresh Off the Boat/Veep) - Ed and Randall talk about Peacock's True Story with Ed and Randall on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT and on PEOPLE in 10 at 8am.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) and Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Kym and Finesse guest host The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Wendy Raquel Robinson (The Game/Here We Go Again/The Steve Harvey Show/Minor Adjustments) - Wendy talks about Paramount+'s The Game on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie talks about her new book Enough Already on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Chris Kattan (The Middle) - Chris is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kyle Mooney (Arrested Development) - Kyle appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
John Early (Search Party) - John talks about the final season of Search Party on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen talks about The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Bridget Everett (Somebody Somewhere/Camping/Lady Dynamite>) - Bridget talks about Somebody Somewhere on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Sofia Black-D’Elia (Single Drunk Female/The Mick) and Ally Sheedy (Single Drunk Female - Sofia and Ally talk about Freeform's Single Drunk Female on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Marsai Martin (black-ish) - Marsai talks about Remix My Space on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.