Monday, September 28, 2009

BET Jazz Renames to Centric; The CW and TBS Cancelations

We all know about the name change Viacom is doing for The N turning into TeenNick starting today, but did you know Viacom's BET Jazz is turning into Centric today? BET is rebranding its nearly 32 million subscriber "BET J" network under the Centric title, which will target African-American viewers with music and lifestyle programming. The network for the short-term will rely on acquired reality and music programming fare from its sister networks, including such shows as MTV's Run's House and VH1's The Salt-N-Pepa Show and I Want To Work for Diddy. Centric will also feature new shows originally slated to premiere this fall on BET J, including Leading Men, Lyrical Café and Urban Living. The network will also air classic episodes from the long-running Soul Train syndicated music/dance series, including singer Michael Jackson's first appearance on the show as a member of The Jackson Five. The network will pay homage to the "King of Pop," who died this past June, with a Jackson-themed primetime programming block tonight at 9pm (and encoring Friday at 11am). Also, the network will air the original Fame series to launch the network today from 9am-9pm with an encore on Sunday from 6am-6pm. Episode titles from the 1982 series airing in the block are "The Strike," "A Musical Bridge," "Passing Grade," "Tomorrow's Farewell," "The Crazies," "Teachers," "Class Act," "Feelings," "Star Quality," "Solo Song," "Ending on a High Note," and "Not in Kansas Anymore." I believe this is in honor of the new Fame movie that opened this past weekend. As of now, Centric is not airing this series as a regular.
While the network is officially on the air today, BET and MTV are not planning any major marketing campaigns for Centric until 2010. For the immediate future, Centric will run cross-promotional spots through such MTV Networks properties as VH1, MTV and BET. Hopefully we see some sitcoms on Centric, but it doesn't seem like we will see any...I guess sitcom will be just for BET itself.

The CW has canceled new Wednesday drama The Beautiful Life: TBL after just two airings. TBL was the fall's first cancelation, after draw just over 1 million viewers for its second episode not holding much of anything of the America's Next Top Model lead-in. Starting this Wednesday at 9pm, repeats of Melrose Place, which is not doing much better, will take over the slot. Melrose Place airs original episodes Tuesdays at 9pm.
And finally TBS has canceled multi-camera sitcom The Bill Engvall Show after three seasons. The series moved to Saturdays for its third season and didn't generate much numbers. TBS opted to go with a fourth season of single camera sitcom My Boys instead I guess.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, March 27

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 24)

Thursday, March 27

  • Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Catch Chelsea on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Jon Gries (Dream Corp LLC/Martin) - Jon is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Matt stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Parker Posey (Search Party/The Return of Jezebel James) - Parker appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) and Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Nathan and Matt talk about Mid-Century Modern on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Seth talks about The Studio on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour.
  • Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike talks about The Studio on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
  • Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building/Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena and Benny Blanco are joining Drew chat about their new album together I Said I Love You First on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

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)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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

03/26 - Hulu Spring 2025 Slate; The Making of The Americas Special Narrated by Tom Hanks on NBC
03/25 - Deli Boys Now Streaming All Episodes on Hulu; Heartland Season 18 on UP Faith & Family
03/24 - Peacock April Highlights Include Three's Company; Antenna TV's 50 Years on the Beat Barney Miller Anniversary Marathon
03/23 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 24, 2025)
03/22 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* Coming to DVD; American Dad! Moving Back to Fox
03/21 - Big Mouth Final Season; The Four Seasons Premieres in May on Netflix
03/20 - HBO's Brett Goldstein Comedy Special; Disney+ Adds The Simpsons 24/7 Stream
03/19 - Solar Opposites Final Season This Fall; NBC to Move Grosse Pointe Garden Society to Fridays
03/18 - Game Show Network New Shows Launch April 14; NBC Picks Up 3rd Comedy Pilot, While Bobby Moynihan Joins Tracy Morgan Pilot
03/17 - It's True! Ted Lasso Renewed for Season 4; Jane Goodall Returns for Jane Season 3
03/16 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 17, 2025)
03/15 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Neighborhood Renewed for Eighth and Final Season; NBC Picks Up New Cheerleading Comedy
03/14 - NBC Comedy Pilots Wheeling & Dealing; Hulu's Got to Get Out
03/13 - Prime Video Comedy Series Overcompensating Premiere Date; Eric Stonestreet Joins Dexter: Resurrection
03/12 - Hacks Season 4 Premieres April 10; Nickelodeon Orders Wylde Pak
03/11 - The Neighborhood Renewed for Final Season; Max's The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast
03/10 - Netflix Renews Running Point for Season 2; Apple TV+ Trailer for The Studio
03/09 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 10, 2025)
03/08 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Tracy Morgan to Star in NBC Pilot from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock; Nobody Wants This Returning for Second Season
03/07 - Trailer for Apple TV+ Comedy Government Cheese; Remembering Saved by the Bell and TV Producer Peter Engel
03/06 - The CW Spring Premiere Dates; Henry Winkler Heads to HISTORY Channel
03/05 - Hacks Brings Out the Stars in Season 4; NBC Orders Pilot with Tracy Morgan
03/04 - Apple TV+ Side Quest Launches March 26; Krysten Ritter Joins Dexter: Resurrection
03/03 - HBO's The Rehearsal Returns April 20; Sharon Horgan Signs Deal for HBO Comedy Series
03/02 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 3, 2025)
03/01 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Premiere Date for Mid-Century Modern Set; Roseanne Remastered in High Definition
02/28 - Remembering John Lawlor, Michelle Trachtenberg, Lynne Marie Stewart, Alice Hirson, Isaac Ruiz Jr., and Others We Lost in February
02/27 - Fox Orders Season 2 of Doc; Law & Order: Organized Crime Moves to Peacock in April
02/26 - Peacock's Poker Face Season 2 Premieres This Spring; Bert Kreischer Returns with His Fourth Netflix Special