ABC Family November Highlights, Two New Sitcom Pilots Picked-Up; TBS Orders Third Season of My Boys

Friday, October 10, 2008

ABC Family November Highlights, Two New Sitcom Pilots Picked-Up; TBS Orders Third Season of My Boys

This November on ABC Family, there will not be any regular schedule changes, so 8 Simple Rules will not return as of now. There is still a lot happening on the cable network in November, though! Sitcom My Wife & Kids will get a lot of special airings: Tuesday, November 4 (following an all-new Lincoln Heights) from 9-10pm, a few 1-2pm airings (Friday, November 14, Friday, November 21, and Wednesday, November 26), and a special Saturday night stunt on Saturday, November 22 from 12am-1:30am.
Lincoln Heights will have an all-day marathon on Tuesday, November 11 from 12-8pm leading into an all-new two-hour finale from 8-10pm. After the finale, original encores airing weeknights at 12 midnight will be off and Whose Line is it Anyway? will air regularly on Mon-Thurs 12-1am.
Movie premieres include Garfield, Curious George, Dr. Dolittle 2, Dr. Dolittle 4: Tail to the Chief, The Bodyguard, and Aladdin. Holiday movie premieres include A Carol Christmas, Unlikely Angel, Snow Dogs, Mrs. Santa Claus, The Family Man and A Dennis the Menace Christmas.
Finally, ABC Family will get a jump start to "25 Days of Christmas" on Sunday, November 16 with a "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas." The countdown airs Nov. 16-30. Movies like Holiday in Handcuffs, Christmas Caper, Home Alone 3, Home Alone 4, and more. View the full "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" schedule.
We will return in the coming weeks with the actual "25 Days of Christmas" schedule for Dec. 1-25....stay tuned! I can't believe we are nearing the holiday season already.

Meanwhile, ABC Family has greenlit two sitcom pilots: Ruby and The Rockits and 10 Things I Hate About You.
10 Things I Hate About You, a half-hour, single-cam series is directed by Gil Junger (who directed the movie as well) and executive produced by Carter Covington, who also penned the pilot script. Based on the hit movie 10 Things I Hate About You, the Stratford sisters are two very different people and that is evident as they start at their new high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly whose only concern is that she is popular, by any cost. As they both start the year out bumpy at Padua High, can each girl get what she wants in the end as they navigate the popular crowd, boys and their over-protective Dad? The series is produced by Prodco, Inc.
Ruby and The Rockits, is an ABC Studios' half-hour multi-cam comedy series executive produced by Shaun Cassidy (Invasion) and Marsh McCall (Carpoolers), and directed by Ted Wass. The series follows Patrick Callahan, a former teen idol who has chosen to lead a quiet life with his wife and two sons. But when his former Rockits band mate and brother, David, shows up unexpectedly with his new-found teenage daughter in tow, the Callahan family's life becomes anything but normal. David, who refuses to give up his past glory days, comes to Patrick for help raising Ruby while he continues to tour. Patrick must now put the past with David behind them in order to help raise Ruby and keep order within the rest of the Callahan clan. Ruby and The Rockits was written by former teen idol Shaun Cassidy and Ed Yeager, with teleplay by Ed Yeager. Alexa Vega, Austin Butler, Patrick Cassidy and former Partridge Family teen idol David Cassidy star
New ABC Family original series previously announced are the comedy half-hour series Roommates (multi-cam) and Sophie (sine-camera), both scheduled to debut in early 2009. If these two new pilots make it on air, they will join Roommates and Sophie.

TBS's single camera comedy My Boys is stepping up to the plate again as the network orders a third season of the critically acclaimed original sitcom. TBS has ordered nine episodes of the series, which is set to return first quarter 2009.
The series stars Jordana Spiro as PJ Franklin, a 20-something sportswriter looking for love in Chicago. Surrounding PJ is her mostly male group of friends, played by Kyle Howard, Reid Scott, Michael Bunin, Jamie Kaler, with Jim Gaffigan and Kellee Stewart co-stars as essentially the only female influence in PJ's life.
My Boys premiered to critical praise on TBS in November 2006. When the show returned to complete its first season in summer 2007, it scored 22% growth among adults 18-34. The series' second season grew its audience to more than 1.5 million viewers, a 14% increase over the first season.
While that is true, it was losing a lot of its Bill Engvall Show lead-in numbers, so I'm a bit surprised it was renewed for a third year.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.