TV One July Highlights; Nick at Nite, The N Changes; Honda Sponsors Sony Minisodes

Friday, June 15, 2007

TV One July Highlights; Nick at Nite, The N Changes; Honda Sponsors Sony Minisodes

There are not many highlights related to actual TV series for TV One in July, but we do have some. Here are some:
On Sunday, July 8 at 8pm, TV One premieres the legendary mini-series Roots: The Next Generations, the 14-hour, 7-part sequel to the original Roots miniseries that made television history. The story picks up in 1882 just after the original left off where Tom Harvey, the great grandson of Kunta Kinte has established a marginal existence as a blacksmith in Henning, Tennessee. The series continues the story of author Alex Haley’s family line from the Post American Civil War era to Alex’s search for his genealogical roots which led him to Africa. The mini-series stars Georg Stanford Brown, Lynne Moody, Debbi Morgan, Henry Fonda, Stan Shaw, Irene Cara, Marlon Brando, Paul Winfield, Ruby Dee, and James Earl Jones as Alex Haley. The first six parts air at 8pm all week through Friday, with encore showings at 10pm and in the weekday noon movie slots. They will also re-air on Saturday, July 14 from 12 noon to midnight. The final part will air Sunday night, July 15 also at 8pm and 10pm – and will be repeated on Monday, July 16 at 9pm.
Beginning Sunday, July 29 from 2am-6am, In the House replaces Amen in TV One’s Sunday weekly overnight comedy mini-marathons.

Nick at Nite has made a minor change for Saturday, June 23. From 10pm-2am, they have scheduled a mini-marathon for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. What else is new, though?
The week of June 18, The N will air overnight marathons of the teen drama Summerland from 12-3am, but Monday it will be 12-6am.

Next week Sony will officially announce the full details for the Sony minisodes we mentioned a few weeks back. Today, Sony said Honda will be the sole sponsor for the short episodes. It is scheduled to begin next week. Visitors to the MySpace Web site will be able to watch episodes of 15 (initially...more will come soon) vintage Sony series like Charlie's Angels, Police Woman, The Partridge Family, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, What's Happening!!, Fantasy Island and Who's the Boss?, edited from their original lengths of approx. 30 or 60 minutes each to an Internet-friendly 4 to 6 minutes.
Honda and its longtime agency, RPA, have agreed to run only eight seconds of commercials with each episode, appearing before the shortened show starts. First, there will be an on-screen billboard lasting three seconds, declaring, "The Minisode Network, brought to you by Honda." The billboard will be followed by a five-second commercial for the Honda Fit, the mini-car that American Honda introduced last year, and its website.
The minisodes will appear exclusively on MySpace through the end of August. Initially, there will be three episodes of each series, with new episodes to be added each week. Sony Pictures Television announced the idea in April, describing it as a way to re-purpose for the new media programming that was originally produced for the traditional media.
The minisodes are not intended as pastiches or excerpts; they are edited carefully so the plots can be followed from beginning to end. (It helps that many of the series are formulaic sitcoms or police dramas.)
After the exclusivity with MySpace ends the goal is for the minisodes to come to other websites while remaining on MySpace. Sony Pictures Television is looking at sites like AOL.com, Yahoo! and YouTube, as well as posting them on a micro-site, a special site of their own.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, December 2

Young Sheldon - "The Grand Chancellor and a Den of Sin" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Sheldon battles President Hagemeyer’s (Wendie Malick) mysterious boss over the university’s science requirements. Also, Mary discovers that Georgie is working at Meemaw’s illegal gambling room.

United States of Al - "Wisdom / Hikmat" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
While Al is heavily medicated following surgery on his wisdom teeth, he mistakenly insults Art, forcing Riley to choose sides. Also, Lizzie tries to broker a peace among Art, Riley and Al.

Ghosts - "Alberta's Fan" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Alberta is thrilled when a super-fan of her music visits the mansion to learn more about her. Also, Thor convinces Hetty to go on a walk with him in hopes that it will spark a special memory.

B Positive - "A Camper, A Compass and a Cannoli" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Gina brings her dog Cannoli to the retirement home where he bonds with the seniors. Also, Drew prepares for his new life driving cross country in a camper van.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 29)

Thursday, December 2

Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Catch Nicole on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/Lady Dynamite/Suburgatory) and Rachel Dratch (30 Rock) - Ana and Rachel are guests on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. They also talk about A Clüsterfünke Christmas on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Paul Rudd (Living with Yourself/Friends/Wild Oats) - Paul appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Bill is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Glenn Howerton (It's Always Suny in Philadelphia/A.P. Bio/The Mindy Project) - Glenn appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Kathy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) - Skylar is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Love, Inc.) - Holly will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Michael Keaton (Report to Murphy/Working Stiffs/All's Fair) - Michael appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah guest co-hosts The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Maya Erskine (PEN15/Casual/Betas) and Anna Konkle (PEN15) - Maya and Anna are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Son of Zorn/Suburgatory) - Cheryl will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kal Penn (Sunnyside/Deadbeat/We Are Men) - Kal appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Michel Urie (Younger/Partners) - Michael is a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Vanessa Lachey (Truth Be Told/Dads) - Vanessa talks about her book Life from Scratch on Access Daily, so check your local listings.