The Ellen Show Sitcom on WealthTV; Remembering Caroline McWilliams of Benson

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Ellen Show Sitcom on WealthTV; Remembering Caroline McWilliams of Benson

WealthTV, the premier luxury lifestyle and entertainment network in digital and high definition, has announced that it will be airing several never been seen before episodes of Ellen DeGeneres' short-lived comedy series The Ellen Show. WealthTV concluded an agreement with Sony Pictures Television to air all eighteen episodes of The Ellen Show throughout 2010, including five final episodes that have never been aired on television. Beginning Tuesday, February 23, WealthTV will air the first unseen episode. WealthTV airs The Ellen Show on Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 9:00 pm ET, in brilliantly clear high definition. Among the unaired episodes has a guest appearance by the late John Ritter in the episode "Gathering Moss."
The final episode, entitled "One for the Roadshow," has Ellen pondering her riches as she takes an old, unopened and mint condition Monopoly game to the Collectibles Roadshow. Ellen is offered $10,000 for the unopened game. Yet later that evening, Ellen is stunned when she finds that her mom has a Monopoly board all set up for them to play! The episode will be making its television premiere on WealthTV Wednesday, March 3.
Don't remember this show? Don't be confused with Ellen's hit sitcom Ellen which aired on ABC and her current daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. This show aired on CBS in 2001-2002 before getting canceled to low ratings. Before her daytime talk show made her the darling of critics and the public alike, Emmy Award winner Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen) starred in The Ellen Show, as Ellen Richmond, a dot-com exec who trades the stresses of big-city life for the slower pace of her old hometown. Yet it remains to be seen whether returning to the fishbowl of Clark is really such a good idea, especially for someone who's grown accustomed to the pace of big-city life. Warmly welcomed by her eccentric mother, Dot (Oscar winner Cloris Leachman, The Last Picture Show), and her scatterbrained sister, Catherine (Emily Rutherfurd), Ellen is persuaded by her high school teacher (Martin Mull) to take a job as the school's guidance counselor. In trading her dreams of being a successful entrepreneur for a return to her roots, she faces starting over at home in a quintessential American small town.
Check out the WealthTV website to see if your area has this network.

Caroline McWilliams, accomplished actress and director best known for her role on the ABC '80s sitcom Benson, passed away peacefully at her home in LA last Thursday (February 11, 2010).
Her career included numerous feature television roles, starting with her breakthrough role as Janet Mason on Guiding Light and followed by regular roles on Benson, Nearly Departed, and Beverly Hills 90210. On Benson she played Marcy Hill, the Governor's sectary, during the series' first few seasons (1979-81). She also recurred on Benson's parent show SOAP but as a different character - as Sally - the secretary for Richard Mulligan's character Burt. Her other TV credits include guest stints on Another World, Barney Miller, Kojak, Quincy ME, The Incredible Hulk, Hill Street Blues, Night Court, St. Elsewhere, Cagney & Lacey, The Cavanaughs, Sisters, Home Improvement, Suddenly Susan, Lois & Clark, Murphy Brown, and Judging Amy (her last role). During her time on Benson, she appeared on the primetime version of Family Feud with the cast of Benson going up against the cast of One Day at a Time and she also appeared on The Battle of the Network Stars in 1980 on the ABC Team.
She will be deeply missed, especially by fans of Guiding Light in the '70s, Benson and SOAP. Caroline was only 64 years old.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 17

Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.

Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.

Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.

Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.

Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.

grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.

Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)

Wednesday, August 17

Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.