ABC Adds New Sitcom 'Underbelly' to Wednesdays in April, Wednesday Summer Plans; NBC Makes 'The Office' Look New Even in Repeats

Monday, March 12, 2007

ABC Adds New Sitcom 'Underbelly' to Wednesdays in April, Wednesday Summer Plans; NBC Makes 'The Office' Look New Even in Repeats

A new comedy series from director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld and producers Kim and Eric Tannenbaum (Two and a Half Men), Notes from the Underbelly, will premiere on Wednesday, April 11 at 9:30 p.m. ET on the ABC Television Network. The series brings a comedic take on life's greatest adventure – parenthood, and proves that surviving the politics of pregnancy and maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be just as demanding as raising a child.
The series stars Jennifer Westfeldt as Lauren, Peter Cambor as Andrew, Michael Weaver as Danny, Rachael Harris as Cooper, Melanie Paxson as Julie and Sunkrish Bala as Eric.
Look for our pilot review closer to airdate. The show will air for six weeks and it looks like In Case of Emergency will have a few unaired episodes, unless ABC will move it to another slot. ABC has now scheduled encores of According to Jim for the next two Wednesdays at 8:30, instead of George Lopez encores. George will still air for the next two weeks at 8pm, with all-new episodes. Jim encores will lead in to a new Jim at 9.
Meanwhile, ABC has announced changes to its Wednesday line-up once the season is over, for the summer. Two reality shows and a new drama will air Wednesdays starting May 30. ABC announces its new Wednesday night summer line-up: new alternative series The Next Best Thing: Who is The Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?, returning series American Inventor, and new drama Traveler. A special two-hour premiere The Next Best Thing: Who is The Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?, will air Wednesday, May 30 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET (the series will normally air from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), followed by the new drama, Traveler, from 10:00-11:00 p.m., ET. American Inventor, from Simon Cowell, returns for a second season the following week on Wednesday, June 6 from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET.

NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy The Office will offer fans extra overtime of laughs by treating them to never-before-seen footage from the hit series in a newly edited hour of encore episodes on Thursday, March 15 (8-9 p.m. ET).
The "newpeats" on Thursday, March 15 (8-9 pm ET) will tie together edited encore episodes "Traveling Salesman" and "Oscar's Return" combined with new, never-before-seen moments throughout the hour. An original episode of Scrubs, (9:00 pm ET) along with the premieres of Andy Barker P.I. (9:30 pm ET) and Raines (10:00 pm ET) will follow.
Additionally, on Thursday, March 29 (8-9:30 & 10-11 p.m. ET), "Toby Flenderson" (co-executive producer/writer/ actor Paul Lieberstein) who plays the Director of Human Resources, will host "A Night at the Office" marathon. Five "human resource nightmare" episodes on March 29 will air surrounding an all-new episode of Andy Barker P.I. at 9:30 p.m. ET. The encore episodes include "Diversity Day" (8:00 p.m. ET), "Healthcare" (8:30 pm), "Sexual Harassment" (9:00 p.m. ET), "The Injury" (10:00 p.m. ET) and "Gay Witch Hunt" (10:30 ET).

March 15 is shaping up to be a big night. Premiere of three new shows...NBC's Andy Barker & Raines and ABC's October Road. Can any of these capture the March 15 success of Three's Company 30 years ago in 1977? We shall see...
The night will also see the "newpeats" of The Office, all-new Ugly Betty & Grey's Anatomy and the first night of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament--March Madness indeed!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 15

St. Denis Medical - "A Waste of Time and Marble" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
With the threat of a nurse walkout, Alex is caught between her colleagues and Joyce; Ron and Bruce go above and beyond to help an unexpected patient.

The Paper - "Churnalism" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Ned takes over Esmeralda's advertorials and assigns the staff to test products themselves, but Esmeralda retaliates and covers one of Ned's stories and finds a scandal; Ken turns Adam into a lab rat; Oscar and Adelola compare pain tolerances.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 15)

Monday, December 15

Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Watch Simu on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about The Copenhagen Test on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Andy Cohen interviews Kerry on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
Odessa A'zion (I Love LA/Fam) - Odessa talks about Marty Supreme on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti treats us to an EXCLUSIVE festive performance of It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) - Kate talks about Song Sung Blue on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank and The EZ Street Band stop by for a chat and performance on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/People of Earth/Lady Dynamite/Suburgatory) - NBC's Today catches up with Ana in the 10am hour.
Connie Britton (SMILF/Lost at Home/The Fighting Fitzgeralds/Spin City) - Connie tells Sherri about starring in The Family McMullen, the sequel to The Brothers McMullen, on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris/Only Murders in the Building/Girls5eva/Nightcap) - Ashley talks about the highly-anticipated fifth season of Emily in Paris on Netflix on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Glen talks about The Running Man on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
William H. Macy (Sports Night) - William talks about Netflix's Train Dreams on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Andy talks about ABC's Dancing with the Stars on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.