ABC Family Makes Schedule Changes, 8 Simple Rules Now Weekdays; John Ritter Book Coming in September Written by Amy Yasbeck

Friday, February 05, 2010

ABC Family Makes Schedule Changes, 8 Simple Rules Now Weekdays; John Ritter Book Coming in September Written by Amy Yasbeck

ABC Family has made some last minute schedule changes to start this coming Monday (Feb. 8, 2010). The changes happening to the weekday schedule will have one show return to weekdays, one show leaving weekdays, one show leaving totally for now, and one show expanding. Wow! First up, we get another hour of Full House weekdays in the 12pm hour, replacing What I Like About You. But not to worry fans of What I Like About You, ABC Family likes you fans and will move the show to the better weekday 4pm hour replacing Grounded for Life, which is now totally off the schedule for now. Then in the 6pm hour, 8 Simple Rules returns to weekdays replacing an hour of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which will remain airing late nights on some weekends. That's not a big deal since the series already airs on TBS and Disney XD anyway. Good news for 8 Simple Rules, as that series will get to air weekdays again instead of weekend mornings. The final weekday change is an expansion. Whose Line Is It Anyway will now air five days a week in the 12 midnight hour (rather than just once a week) replacing various original series encores and other series.
There will be changes to weekends, too. Starting Saturday, Feb. 13 on Saturdays from 7am-10am will now be That '70s Show replacing two hours of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and an hour of Full House. 8 Simple Rules will remain in the 10am hour on Saturday, Feb. 13, but starting Saturday, Feb. 20, That '70s Show takes this hour as well, expanding to 7am-11am on most Saturdays depending on movie start times. Movies take over the mornings now on most Sundays, but there could be a That '70s Show sighting on Sundays in the 7am hour leading into movies. That '70s Show airs weeknights in the 7pm hour, but most of the time it is preempted due to originals, movies, or various programming, so the weekend morning airings are better. It will continue to air on TeenNick every night as well.

We mentioned a while back that Amy Yasbeck (actress and the widow of John Ritter) is working on a book on the life of her late husband, but now we have more details! With Love and Laughter, John Ritter will be published by Simon & Schuster in September, on the seventh anniversary of Ritter's death from an undiagnosed aortic dissection. I still cannot believe it will be 7 years already next September. That was a horrific day.
"It's about John's take on everything, and what it was like to live with him," says Yasbeck, who met Ritter shooting Problem Child in 1989. "People have seen him as the celebrity, but this will be about the friend, the dad and the husband."
Shortly after his death in 2003, Yasbeck started the John Ritter Foundation to promote awareness about aortic aneurysm and dissection (Johnritterfoundation.org).
Amy continues to raise awareness of aortic dissection, as she recently spoke to ABC13 (KTRK) in Houston on this issue. She is doing a great job and is working with Dr. Milewicz and her UT-Houston team to find the genes that lead to Ritter's death. In these freezers are samples from 10,000 people which have helped them isolate four of the genes that are related to aortic aneurysm. Amy is certainly making a difference in the world by doing this. She will save many lives and needs to be honored for her fine work. The name John Ritter continues to spread a positive message, just as it did when he was alive.
View the video of ABC13's story. Everyone should take a look at this.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, April 2

The Conners - "Fame, Flying Fists and Cold Feet" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Conners get a taste of fame when their family restaurant is featured in a reality TV show, which inspires Becky to become an influencer. Meanwhile, Jackie and Dan meet with a lawyer, and Darlene connects with someone at The Lobo Lounge.

Abbott Elementary - "Ava Fest: Tokyo Drift" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The Abbott teachers turn their open house into a carwash to help raise money for the school.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Wednesday, April 2

Adam DeVine (The Righteous Gemstones/Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin/Workaholics/Modern Family) - Watch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Sinners on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rob Delaney (Bad Monkey/Catastrophe) - Rob appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Sasheer and Greta are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda appears on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
Jennifer Lopez (South Central) and Jamie Foxx (Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Jamie Foxx Show) - E! News has interviews with Jennifer and Jamie at 11pm on E!.
Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) - Chris talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Judy Greer (Kidding/Married/Mad Love/Miss Guided/Arrested Development) - NBC's Today catches up with Judy in the 9am hour.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Glen Powell (Scream Queens) and Kristin Davis (And Just Like That.../Bad Teacher/Sex and the City) - NBC's Today catches up with Glen and Kristin in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) - Tasha, who stars in Netflix's Surival of the Thickest, joins Tamron Hall to discuss how she found her freedom by sharing her story on her own terms and learning to embrace self-love, so check your local listings.
Gabourey Sidibe (Difficult People/The Big C) - Gabourey talks about starring in the new Lifetime movie Give Me Back My Daughter on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Seth is joining Drew to tell her all about his new show The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.