Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Lifetime Picks-Up Original Sitcom; Three Original Bill Cosby Sweaters Up for Auction; Remembering Bill Dial

Marking a significant expansion of original programming, Lifetime Television has ordered 13 episodes of the half-hour comedy, Rita Rocks, from Media Rights Capital (MRC). Premiering this fall, the series stars all comedy veterans Nicole Sullivan (The King of Queens, MADtv), Richard Ruccolo (Joey, Two Guys and a Girl) and Tisha Campbell-Martin (My Wife and Kids, Martin).
In the series, Sullivan stars as Rita Clements, unfulfilled by her harried life as a married working mom, regains her identity by recreating her glory days as a musician in a garage band. The series will premiere this fall as part of a one-hour comedy block with the top-rated Reba repeats. Rita Rocks is Lifetime's first original sitcom in a decade.
Rita Rocks joins an array of original programming airing on Lifetime this fall, broadening its leadership in all genres, including Original Movies, Original Series and Reality Series. Lifetime Original Movies are the #1 rated among women. Beginning in September, the star-studded slate of original movies includes: Sex & Lies in Sin City starring Mena Suvari and Matthew Modine; Coco Chanel"starring Shirley MacLaine, Barbara Bobulova and Malcolm McDowell; Living Proof executive produced by Neil Meron, Craig Zadan and Renee Zellweger, and starring Harry Connick, Jr.; Killing Mr. Kissel starring John Stamos and Flirting with 40 starring Heather Locklear.
Lifetime's most-watched series in its history (which is airing originals currently), Army Wives, will return with more original episodes in November, including a special two-hour season finale. And premiering this November, the hit reality competition series Project Runway with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn moves to Lifetime.

You have a chance to own three popular sweaters Bill Cosby wore on The Cosby Show as Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable! Mr. Cosby is auctioning them on eBay for a good cause. These three sweaters were worn on The Cosby Show by Bill Cosby between seasons 3-8. It will come with a dated and hand signed letter from Mr. Cosby himself authenticating this. It will also come with a separate letter from the sweater designer, Koos Van Den Akker, indicating that he made this sweater for Bill Cosby for The Cosby Show.
Bill Cosby's sweaters have never before been made available to the public. The sweaters were custom made by Koos Van Den Akker, and only his designer label appears with no size marking indicated. They are approximately size large. The one-of-a-kind sweaters were specifically designed for Bill Cosby and are collages primarily composed of woolens and cottons.
All proceeds from the sale of these legendary Heathcliff Huxtable sweaters will benefit the Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation. The non-profit educational organization was established in 1997 by the Cosby family to continue the legacy and life's work of Ennis Cosby, who was about to begin his doctoral studies in education at the time of his death.
Jimmy Kimmel is promoting the sweaters by wearing each of the three sweaters on three nights, last night, tonight and tomorrow night on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, late nights on ABC. He wore sweater #2 from the auction last night. Check Jimmy modeling them out, as he wears them for the entire show! To bid on these items, head on over to eBay:
Sweater #1
Sweater #2
Sweater #3
This is your chance to own a piece of Cosby Show history and help out a good cause at the same time! The Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation is dedicated to fulfilling the goals and dreams of Ennis Cosby. The Foundation equips teachers, parents and students with the practical information and educational tools needed to understand and address the needs of all learners before they experience the corrosive effects of frustration and failure. The Foundation was established in 1997 by Bill and Camille Cosby as a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Finally we leave you today with news that Bill Dial has passed away. He died of a heart attack on Monday, June 2 in South Carolina, where he moved to after retiring from the business in 2001. Bill was most known as a writer, producer, and actor on the hit sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. He wrote five episodes for this series during its first season (1978-79), the most famous of which was his first, entitled "Turkeys Away." He guest starred on the series even for a few episodes playing the station's beer-drinking engineer, Bucky Dornster.
After WKRP, he wrote and/or produced series such as Harper Valley P.T.A., Legmen, Simon & Simon, E.A.R.T.H. Force, Evening Shade, and some TV movies. In 1991, Dial returned to his claim to fame as an executive producer and writer on The New WKRP in Cincinnati, a follow-up series to the 1970s sitcom. The New WKRP aired in first-run syndication for two seasons. His later credits included writing and producing Time Trax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Team Knight Rider, Sliders, Legend, and Spike TV's 18 Wheels of Justice. He will be missed, especially by WKRP fans. WKRP in Cincinnati can be seen nationally on cable Sunday evenings on WGN America and Monday nights on AmericanLife TV. Mr. Dial was 66.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, July 12

Mind Your Business - "Love Child" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Alfonso and Aaliyah's world is flipped upside down when their mother's secret love child comes into town, while Mia tries to figure out who is sending her gifts every hour on the hour.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Friday, July 11

  • Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Fairview/Corporate) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Aparna and Whitney are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Malachi Barton (Stuck in the Middle) and Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) - Malachi and Meg discuss Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and perform on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. They will also be on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton talks about Black Coffee and Ice Water on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) and Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - CBS News contributor Lisa Ling talks with Margaret and Joel on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE sitdown with actress/director/author Krysten Ritter who recently released her new thriller/mystery novel Retreat, so check your local listings.
  • Maggie Q (Pivoting) - Maggie Q talks about Prime's Ballard on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Tisha Campbell (Act Your Age/Uncoupled/Outmatched/Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) and Wendy Raquel Robinson (Poppa's House/The Game/Here We Go Again/The Steve Harvey Show/Minor Adjustments) - Tisha and Wendy chat about their film Operation: Aunties on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings. They will also be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.
  • David Zayas (The Bear/Saint George) - David appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

07/11 - The Office Spinoff The Paper Premieres September 4; Upload Season 4 Returns August 25
07/10 - The Big Bang Theory's Stuart Spinoff Ordered by HBO Max; Long Story Short Premieres August 22 on Netflix
07/09 - New Girl Summer on Hulu; Vir Das Gets Brand New Netflix Special
07/08 - Tubi Comedy Series Demascus Premieres in August; LEGO Masters Jr. Lines Up Celebs for 4-Week Event
07/07 - Digman! Season Premiere Moved to July 23; Hulu's Reasonable Doubt Returns September 18
07/06 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of July 7, 2025)
07/05 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Comedy Central Delays South Park and Digman! Season Premieres; Jackée to Appear in Guest Role in Netflix Series
07/04 - Happy 4th of July; Antenna TV's McHale's Navy Red, White and Navy Independence Day Marathon
07/03 - The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Season 3 Premieres August 6; South Park New Season Moves by Two Weeks
07/02 - FETV Acquires The Rookies; Hulu Renews The Bear for Season 5
07/01 - Bert Kreischer Gets Netflix Sitcom; NBC Gets Into Survival Mode This Summer
06/30 - The Comeback Makes Another...Comeback; First Look at Black Rabbit at Netflix
06/29 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 30, 2025)
06/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Comeback Returning for a Third and Final Season; South Park to Remain on HBO Max
06/27 - The White Lotus Star Teams Up with Netflix; Remembering Bobby Sherman, Lynn Hamilton, and Rick Hurst
06/26 - The CW's Fall Movie of the Week; First Look at New York Comic Con 2025
06/25 - Netflix Renews Ransom Canyon for Season 2; My Life with the Walter Boys First Look for Season 2
06/24 - Marc Maron Gets Second HBO Comedy Special; Outlander Prequel Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere
06/23 - MeTV Summer Changes, Adds Adventures of Superman; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Summer Guest Hosts
06/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 23, 2025)
06/21 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Night Court Officially Dead After Not Finding New Home; Weigel Announces New WEST Network
06/20 - Great American Media Announces New Danica McKellar Movie; Jennifer Love Hewitt ID True Crime Series
06/19 - Bad Thoughts Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix; Zarna Garg Gets Hulu Special This July
06/18 - Weigel Broadcasting Announces WEST Network with Classic TV Westerns; Hulu's Season 2 of Such Brave Girls
06/17 - Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife on A&E Series; Digman! Returns July 9 on Comedy Central
06/16 - Hulu's Chad Powers Teaser; Prime Video's Jesse Williams Series
06/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 16, 2025)
06/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Mulls Airing The Paper on Primetime Lineup; Fox Revives Baywatch Reboot Talk
06/13 - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Renewed for 2 More Seasons; Hanna-Barbera Developing Adult Animated Series
06/12 - Comedy Superstar Jack Black Is the King of Comedy at Nickelodeon; Doc Adds Felicity Huffman
06/11 - Celebrities for Celebrity Family Feud Season 11; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Starts Production