ABC Pulls Knights and The Nine; TV Legend Merv Griffin Passes Away

Sunday, August 12, 2007

ABC Pulls Knights and The Nine; TV Legend Merv Griffin Passes Away

Effective this Wednesday, ABC has pulled the burn-off episodes of the sitcom The Knights of Prosperity and drama The Nine. Knights returned last Wednesday with two all-new episodes. Two all-new episodes still remain in the vault. As for The Nine, it aired an episode each the last two Wednesdays, and four still remain in the can. ABC will replace The Knights with an extra repeat of According to Jim at 8:30, while The Nine essentially will get replaced by Primetime: Outsiders at 9pm, moving the new upcoming Primetime series NASCAR in Primetime from 9pm to 10pm, where The Nine was airing.
As for those remaining episodes of The Knights and The Nine, we can expect the remaining episodes to appear on abc.com. We are not sure how they will roll-out, but it will probably be every Wednesday until they finish, similar to what ABC did with Six Degrees and Day Break. We'll let you know...but it is too bad about The Knights, that was one good funny sitcom. It almost came back for a second season, but Ray Romano didn't sign on unfortunately.

We have some breaking news just in to SitcomsOnline, TV legend Merv Griffin just passed away this morning. Griffin died of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his the family that was released by Marcia Newberger, spokeswoman for The Griffin Group/Merv Griffin Entertainment. Griffin was recently hospitalized for a recurrence of the disease, which had been treated successfully more than 10 years ago.
Merv of course is known for his talk show The Merv Griffin Show that ran from 1962-1986 and for creating the hit game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Let's watch both of those shows tomorrow and see if they do a little tribute...both shows are on summer hiatus though, and will return with new episodes in September. Merv has appeared as himself on several sitcoms like Sanford & Son, Golden Girls, Hope & Gloria, and Newhart. Merv also produced the new Lifetime series Lisa Williams: Life Among the Dead. He was recently seen on TV Land Moguls as the host, appeared on TV Land's ALF's Hit Talk Show, and appeared on Fat Actress.
He will be deeply missed and you can catch his newly produced series Merv Griffin's Crosswords in first-run syndication this fall. Hopefully that will still be coming on air as a tribute to him. Mr. Griffin was 82.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, December 11

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Bitin’, Spankin’ and a Load of Yankee Psychobabble" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy get upset when Audrey disciplines CeeCee without their permission.

Ghosts - "The Life and Times of Esther Greene" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Now a successful podcaster, Todd Pearlman returns to profile Sam and Isaac’s book, but becomes obsessed with Jay. Meanwhile, Pete tries to get to the bottom of why Alberta changed her name, forcing her to admit a hidden truth.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 8)

Thursday, December 11

Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Catch Jamie Lee on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Rachel Sennott (I Love LA/Call Your Mother) - Rachel appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Elon Gold (Stacked/In-Laws) - Elon is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Andy Cohen interviews Zooey on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo. She also talks about Merv on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings) and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris) - Lucien talks about Emily in Paris on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother/Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kyra and Kevin talk about The Best You Can with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Loretta Devine (Family Reunion/The Carmichael Show) and Lela Rochon (The Wayans Bros.) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon, original cast of Waiting to Exhale, on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea talks about Broadway's Chess on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am. She also performs in the 10am hour.
Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters - NBC's Today catches up with Daryl in the 9am hour.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Mila tells Drew about her role in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) - Emily tells Drew about what to expect in season five of Emily in Paris on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey McIntyre (Return of the Mac/The McCarthys) - Joey talks about Roku's Jingle Bell Wedding on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.