Monday, February 18, 2008
BET Adds Diff'rent Strokes, Malcolm and Eddie, Sanford, Thea; Remembering David Groh
Also joining BET's weekday line-up tomorrow is the '90s sitcom Malcolm & Eddie. Don't miss the hilarious adventures of Malcolm McGee and his roommate Eddie Sherman...starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Eddie Griffin. The show will air right after Diff'rent Strokes in the mornings at 10:00am and 10:30am. It will also air at 4:00pm and 4:30pm, with an encore of the morning airings at 11:00pm and 11:30pm. As with Diff'rent Strokes, you can catch this show in order starting from the very first episode.
So what will happen to BET's other sitcoms because of this? You can catch The Jamie Foxx Show weeknight at midnight-1am and The Wayans Bros. from 3-4am weeknights. While In Living Color will air on weekends in a weekend block with two other new additions (see below). Girlfriends and The Parkers can still be seen in marathons and special blocks. Upcoming marathons for them include: The Parkers will get a President's Day marathon today from 10am-7pm, as BET promises to keep you laughing 9 hours straight with The Parkers BET marathon. Tune in for laughs from funny lady, Mo'Nique. Girlfriends will get a 12-hour marathon this Saturday (February 23) from 9am-9pm.
I mentioned earlier that the sketch comedy In Living Color will move to weekends only now. This change will happen the weekend of March 1. I believe one episode will air with an encore each weekend. Kicking off the weekend block is the BET return of the short-lived 1980 sitcom, Sanford. BET aired reruns of this short-lived sitcom in the past and now it makes its return! Redd Foxx brought back the irascible Watts junkman, Fred Sanford three years after leaving Sanford and Son. With Lamont away in Alaska, Fred was still trading barbs with Aunt Esther, along with a new cast of characters, including his roly-poly business partner Cal and a wealthy widow named Evelyn. 26 episodes were created. You can catch Sanford on BET late nights on Saturdays at 2:30am starting March 1 with an encore on Sunday mornings at 11:30am. Following Sanford, it is another short-lived sitcom and another show from BET's past, Thea! The short-lived 1993 ABC sitcom makes its return on BET with its 22 episodes. The show is about a widow that keeps her four kids in line with discipline and lots of love while holding down two jobs. It was the first series for Brandy Norwood and stars Thea Vidale. Thea will air Saturday nights at 3:00am and Sunday afternoons at 12 noon.
Following Sanford and Thea on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons is the aforementioned In Living Color at 3:30am on Saturday nights and 12:30pm Sunday afternoons.
BET is certainly getting better and we will keep an eye on them. All of its newest acquisitions (Diff'rent Strokes, Malcolm & Eddie, Sanford, Thea) are from Sony Pictures Television, which is a sign maybe they have some sort of deal with them. Let's hope more sitcoms join. If we have any updates, we will bring them to you, but for now discuss this great news HERE!
We leave you today with some sad news. David Groh best known for his role on the 1970's TV sitcom Rhoda as Rhoda's husband, died of kidney cancer last Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Groh became an instant celebrity in 1974 when he starred as the easygoing Joe Gerard opposite Valerie Harper's neurotic Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show spin-off. But by the third season of Rhoda the couple divorced and he was off the show. He has also guest starred on other series (mainly dramas) such as Police Story, Fantasy Island, Trapper John MD, Buck Rogers, Hotel, Simon & Simon, Kate & Allie, Hunter, LA Law, Spenser: Fore Hire, Room for Two, Sisters, Jake and the Fatman, Melrose Place, Baywatch, Law & Order, VIP, Walker Texas Ranger, and was a regular on Black Scorpion. On daytime TV he played D.L. Brock on General Hospital in the 80s. Groh appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon's Chapter Two and in Twilight of the Golds in 1993. He also had film roles in Two-Minute Warning (1976) and A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich (1978), among others. One of his last roles was a guest appearance on the sitcom Girlfriends.
David will certainly be missed by fans of Rhoda and other programs he appeared in. Mr. Groh was only 68.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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