CW Sunday to Cease in the Fall; Spike/Comedy Central Acquires Entourage Reruns; Remembering Dom DeLuise

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

CW Sunday to Cease in the Fall; Spike/Comedy Central Acquires Entourage Reruns; Remembering Dom DeLuise

The CW network is reducing its programing to five nights a week starting this fall. It will return Sunday nights to its affiliated local stations to program as they choose, just like they do on Saturdays. The CW programmed Sundays from 5pm-10pm, and now they will go back to local affiliates to program starting this fall.
The CW will now focus on Monday through Fridays. The CW has not had any success on Sundays since its inception. This past fall, The CW attempted another solution, allowing Media Rights Capital (MRC) to provide Sunday's primetime lineup and help with ad sales, but the programming, which included Easy Money and Valentine, flopped. Currently, Sunday nights have been filled with reruns of CBS' canceled series Jericho and theatrical movies.

Spike TV has acquired all 78 produced episodes, the upcoming sixth season as well as rights to future seasons of the show for about $600,000 an episode. The Hollywood-centered comedy about young actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his posse will launch on Spike in January, after the show's sixth season wraps on HBO. Spike also has the right to carve a window for a second network, which likely will be sister cabler Comedy Central. This is Spike's second acquisition of an HBO program in the past month. The basic cable channel also picked up HBO's Emmy-winning miniseries Band of Brothers for a premiere in the third quarter.

Prolific actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author Dom DeLuise died peacefully surrounded by his wife and three sons on Monday evening at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. He was 75. The cause of death was not released by the family. He had been hospitalized and was suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems following a long battle with cancer.

Deluise appeared in many movies and TV shows, Broadway plays and provided his voice to characters for numerous animated features in a career that spanned over 45 years. Mel Brooks cast him in many of his movies, including The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Spaceballs as the voice of Pizza the Hutt. In the 1970s and 1980s, he frequently co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He lent his voice to animated features such as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven and Oliver & Company. He was a frequent guest on game shows and hosted Candid Camera from 1991-1992.

His early sitcom appearances included The Munsters, Please Don't Eat the Daisies and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. In 1973, he starred in the short-lived Lotsa Luck as bachelor Stanley Belmont who was the custodian of a New York City bus company's lost-and-found department. The cast included Kathleen Freeman, Wynn Irwin, Beverly Sanders and Jack Knight. In 1987-1988, he starred in the first-run syndication sitcom The Dom DeLuise Show with George Wallace, Maureen Murphy, Angela Aames and Michael Chambers. He appeared with his sons--Peter, Michael and David DeLuise--in a 1997 episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. They had previously appeared together in a 1994 episode of seaQuest DSV.

In later years he began a second career as a popular chef and cookbook author. He always had a love of food and authored 1988's Eat This — It Will Make You Feel Better! and 1997's Eat This Too! It'll Also Make You Feel Good. He also wrote seven books for children, including 1993's Charlie the Caterpillar. In recent years he was a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics.

DeLuise is survived by his wife and actress Carol Arthur, actor sons Peter, Michael and David, his sister, Anne, and grandchildren Riley, Dylan and Jake. Donations can be made to his favorite charities: The Elixir Fund, The Lily Sanctuary, The Hydrocephalus Foundation, Inc. and The Pearl S. Buck Foundation. You can read more information on his official site. We will miss his warm smile and always remember the times he has made us laugh. Mr. DeLuise was 75. You can post your memories here.