Tribune Stations Land Entourage, Curb for Fall 2010 Local Syndication; ABC Picks-Up Modern Family, More Updates

Friday, May 08, 2009

Tribune Stations Land Entourage, Curb for Fall 2010 Local Syndication; ABC Picks-Up Modern Family, More Updates

HBO and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution have licensed the broadcast television syndication rights to the critically acclaimed and award-winning comedy series Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm to Tribune Broadcasting's stations in a three-year agreement for a fall 2010 airing.
Under terms of the three-year pact, Tribune has licensed all seven seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm and all six seasons so far of Entourage for broadcast on all of Tribune's owned-and-operated stations in 17 markets, including New York (WPIX-TV), Los Angeles (KTLA-TV) and Chicago (WGN-TV), among others. Both series will be presented in strip form on the Tribune Broadcasting stations, with episodes airing Monday-Friday, along with one weekend telecast, beginning in fall 2010.
As mentioned earlier this week, Spike TV has bought the cable rerun rights for Entourage starting in January 2010, so it will have a nine-month head start on cable. Curb Your Enthusiasm is also being shopped around for cable repeats.

ABC has made its first pickup for the fall season, a sitcom. Modern Family, the single camera mocumentary about about three suburban couples -- a traditional one, a gay one and a multi-ethnic one. ABC has ordered 13 episodes from 20th Television and the show stars Ed O'Neill (Married with Children), Sofia Vergara (Knights of Prosperity), Julie Bowen (Lost) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The Class). The show has tested very well in focus groups and screenings. ABC also has unofficially picked-up drama Flash Forward, as teasers have aired during Lost the last two weeks to generate some buzz.
In other ABC updates, Surviving Suburbia will be preempted for a second week in a row for a two-hour Dancing with the Stars this coming Monday (May 11). That was scheduled to be its last Monday airing anyway, as the show will move to Wednesdays at 9:30pm starting May 27.
Meanwhile, the final episodes of According to Jim will run into the summer thanks to all the preemptions by President Obama. On Tuesday, May 26 and Tuesday, June 2, According to Jim will air its final four episodes (8-9pm both weeks), including the finale on June 2 at 8:30pm with a parade of guest stars. But before that there are two new episodes airing this Tuesday (May 12).

Stay tuned all next week for our predictions of the fall schedules for NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and The CW. First up will be NBC, which we will cover likely on Sunday and the rest will follow in that order every other day. And the following week of course is upfront week and we will get the actual schedules and you can compare to see what we got right and wrong! Big and fun time of year!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, January 17

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Knockout" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
As Dave nears his 40th birthday, Calvin offers to coach his friend for an amateur boxing tournament. Also, sparks fly when Marty meets a new woman at the gym.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Cats in a Bathtub" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Bob accidentally reveals Morenike is gay, Abishola and Kemi are forced to defend her against their church, and even their own families. Also, Douglas comes clean to Olivia about not being poor.

Kenan - "Hustle and Flow" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Kenan and Aubrey clash when he refuses to see that she's growing up; while Gary pursues a controversial revenue stream on social media, Mika, Tami and Pam are inspired to show him the downside.

Kenan - "Dating App" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Gary's help, Kenan signs up for a dating app that he might not be ready for while Rick has an interesting date of his own; Mika and Pam strategize to help Tami when she is caught in an unflattering situation by a tabloid photographer.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 17)

Monday, January 17

Daveed Diggs (Central Park/black-ish) - Watch Daveed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Snowpiercer on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
John Early (The Afterparty/Search Party) - John is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jenifer Lewis (black-ish/The PJs) - Jenifer will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky talks about the third season of After Party on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) and Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Kym and Finesse guest host The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl talks about Abbott Elementary on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Fortune Feimster (Kenan/Bless the Harts/Sunnyside/Champions) - Fortune is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael talks about his trip into space on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) and Randall Park Fresh Off the Boat/Veep) - Ed and Randall talk about Peacock's True Story with Ed and Randall on NBC's Today in the 9am hour and on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Hilary Duff (How I Met Your Father/Younger/Lizzie McGuire) - Hilary talks about How I Met Your Father on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa talks about Netflix's Brazen on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.