Thursday, July 23, 2009
TV Guide Channel Acquires Ugly Betty Reruns; TBS Orders More House of Payne; Network Notes
The deal includes access to existing and future episodes of Ugly Betty which will begin airing as a weekly strip on TV Guide Network in fall 2010. As part of the agreement, TVGuide.com will have rights to stream up to five Ugly Betty episodes at a time online. In addition, the deal includes repurpose rights for the upcoming fourth season of Ugly Betty premiering in October 2009 on ABC. The repeat telecast of the new episodes will air on TV Guide Network within two weeks of their premiere on ABC.
TBS is expanding the network's groundbreaking partnership with Tyler Perry and Debmar-Mercury by ordering an additional 20 episodes of the powerhouse comedy Tyler Perry's House of Payne. The order will bring the number of episodes in the series to 172, a remarkable total for any sitcom. House of Payne, along with Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, continue to rank as the top sitcoms on cable.
House of Payne and Meet the Browns rank as ad-supported cable's top two original sitcoms of all-time among adults 18-49, viewers and households. So far in 2009, the shows are television's top two series in delivery of African-American adults 18-34. Meet the Browns also ranks as television's #1 program among African-American viewers and adults 18-49. This year, new episodes of Meet the Browns have averaged 3.2 million viewers, while new episodes of House of Payne have averaged 3 million viewers.
House of Payne is owned by Perry, distributed by Debmar-Mercury and licensed by TBS - debuted in 2006 with a test run of 10 episodes. After early results showed promise, TBS ordered a then-unprecedented 100 episodes. TBS later ordered an additional 26 episodes, followed by a deal for 26 more and the 20-episode order being announced today. The series is set in Atlanta and features LaVan Davis as fireman Curtis "Pops" Payne, a man who believes his house should be his castle, he the king and his wife, Ella (Cassi Davis), the queen. Unfortunately, their castle has turned into Grand Central Terminal, thanks to the constant comings and goings of immediate and extended family members. Lance Gross, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Allen Payne, Demetria McKinney, Larramie "Doc" Shaw and China McCain co-star.
ABC has announced premiere dates for Eastwick and Brothers & Sisters for the 2009-10 season. Eastwick will premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 10pm ET/PT, while Brothers & Sisters will launch its fourth season on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 10pm ET/PT. These two were the last of the fall premiere dates yet to be announced by ABC. Private Practice launches its third season on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 10pm ET/PT.
Recap yourself with the full ABC fall 2009 premiere dates.
Meanwhile, Wipeout, ABC's outrageously popular reality series, has been picked up for a third season. Twenty-four thrill-seekers will compete in the world's largest extreme obstacle course designed to provide the most spills, face plants and wipeouts ever seen on television. Moving nights, from Tuesday last summer to Wednesday this year, against tougher competition from Fox's time-period veteran So You Think You Can Dance, ABC's Wipeout is No. 1 during the 8 o'clock hour in Total Viewers and across each of the key Men demographics (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). In Adults 18-49, Wipeout is a strong and very close second to Fox's Dance. Since its debut, Wipeout stands as Wednesday's No. 1 TV program in each of the Men demos (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54). It's the No. 5 TV series of Summer 2009 with Adults 18-49 and No. 1 with Men 18-49. On average to date, Wipeout is drawing ABC's largest summer audience in the Wednesday 8 o'clock hour in 13 years and highest Adults 18-49 rating during the summer frame in 10 years since 1996 and 1999, respectively.
In other summer news, ABC will launch Crash Course on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 airing Wednesdays at 9pm through and including Wednesday, Sept. 16. As of now, only four episodes are scheduled to air. The series, hosted by Orlando Jones and Dan Cortese, is a comedic auto-obstacle course series. It will air after Wipeout and will replace I Survived a Japanese Game Show, which would conclude its run the previous week.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, December 13
Happy's Place - "Dear Jack" (NBC, 9:15PM ET/PT)
When Bobbie catches Isabella doing a slow-fade breakup with her long-distance boyfriend, she convinces her to send a Dear John letter; Steve brings in a review praising Chef Emmett's cooking and acknowledging the tavern's bartender, "Abby."
Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Dateline" (NBC, 9:45PM ET/PT)
When George's controversial new appliance turns up dead, he mounts a true-crime investigation; Chance tests the bounds of honesty with his family.
Bob Hearts Abishola - "Splitting the Hairs" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob, Douglas and Christina try to get Dottie to make a will; Abishola and Kemi's friendship is tested after Abishola catches Kemi in a lie.
Bob Hearts Abishola - "There's My Nigerians" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While Bob and Abishola struggle to pull Dottie out of her depression, Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde come over to lift her spirits.
Children Ruin Everything - "Bedtime" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When James finds an old game console, he and Astrid attempt to find free time to play; but a bedtime routine threatens to eat up all the time between when the kids are supposed to be in bed and when Astrid and James have to go to bed themselves.
Children Ruin Everything - "Drama" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Astrid and James struggle to hold onto their identities while raising their two young children in the city.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 9)
Friday, December 13
- Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy appears on repeats of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC and on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Milana Vayntrub (Other Space), Jessica Lowe (Wrecked) and Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) - Milana, Jessica and Jason are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Spin City/Mad About You) and Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - NBC's Today catches up with Richard and Fred in the 9am hour.
- Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia talks about Laid on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Christian Slater (Breaking In) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Christian and Sarah are sitting down with Drew to talk all about working together on Dexter: Original Sin on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Lisa Kudrow (No Good Deed/HouseBroken/Web Therapy/The Comeback/Friends/Mad About You) - Lisa talks about chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Tom Selleck (The Closer) and Donnie Wahlberg (Return of the Mac) - Tom and Donnie discuss the series finale of Blue Bloods on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Nancy McKeon (The Facts of Life/Can't Hurry Love) - Nancy will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (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)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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