Tuesday, October 19, 2010

TV Legend Ed Asner Joins CMT Original Sitcom; NBC and ABC Notes, Includes Full Season Of Outsourced and Return of V

A couple of months ago we told you about CMT ordering their first original sitcom titled Working Class starring Melissa Peterman, now they have announced that TV legend Ed Asner is joining the cast!
CMT's first scripted sitcom, Working Class, is set to begin taping in Los Angeles today (October 19) starring TV veteran Melissa Peterman (Reba/Singing Bee). Peterman will be joined by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Ed Asner, who is making his return to series television, his first since his role on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006. The new 12 episode multi-camera series will premiere in January 2011 on CMT. We don't have a night and time yet, so stay with us for that.
Working Class focuses on Carli (Melissa Peterman), a single mom from a rough and tumble background, trying to give her kids a better life by moving them to an upscale suburb. She quickly finds that making the transition to "the good life" is harder than she thought. Not only do her three kids seem to want the same luxuries as their friends, her only career prospect is a glorified deli job at the local grocery store, and the man she falls for already has a girlfriend and is also her boss (Patrick Fabian) To make matters worse, Carli finds herself unwittingly befriended by her cranky, misanthropic neighbor, Hank, (Ed Asner) who is also the butcher at the grocery where she works. With her ladies-man brother, Nick, (Steve Kazee) to help her out, Carli faces the challenges of parenting, dating, and making friends in her new community by doing more with less, staying true to herself, and approaching each day with a touch of working class. The kids are Lachlan Buchahan as Scott, Courtney Merritt as Pam, and Cameron Castaneda as Will.
Working Class is executive produced by Jill Cargerman (Spin City/Gary Unmarried) and Bryan Johnson of The Film Syndicate.

ABC has announced a new spin-off of Dancing with the Stars, along the return of V and a premiere date for Winter Wipeout, which we told you about last week.
You've seen what happens when celebrities take on the ballroom, now see what happens when they hit the ice on blades of steel in Skating with the Stars. The new series from BBC Worldwide Productions pairs a celebrity with a world class ice skater as they prepare to compete in front of a live audience in a televised ice skating competition. The skating pairs will be critiqued by a panel of expert judges and will receive a set of scores based on artistry and technique and by viewers at home, with one couple being eliminated each week. Skating with the Stars will kick off its six-episode run with a live premiere episode on Monday, November 22 from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ET following the final performance show of season eleven of Dancing with the Stars. The Skating with the Stars all-star cast will be revealed on-air Tuesday, November 2 during the live Dancing with the Stars Results show. The series will air for two-hours on Monday, Nov. 22, then will air for 90-minutes on Mondays, Nov. 26 & Dec. 6 from 8pm-9:30pm, then for an hour each on Mondays, Dec. 13 and 20 in the 8pm hour (leading into classic Castle encores from 9-11) , with its season finale on Tuesday, Dec. 21 from 8-9pm.
V, the thrilling drama series about the world's first alien encounter that captivated viewers last season, will make its highly-anticipated season premiere on Tuesday, January 4 at 9:00 p.m., ET on ABC. The series will have a 10-episode order. Simultaneously appearing over every major city in the world, the Visitors (or V's) arrived offering us the wonders of their technology and promoting peace. While the world quickly embraced the V's as saviors, an FBI Counter Terrorist Agent, and others making up the resistance group called The Fifth Column, quickly discovered that the Visitors are not who they said they were. Will humanity stop being fooled and realize the Visitors true intentions before it becomes too late and they take over Earth? Season 2 will feature more character and lizard reveals, more details about the V's mythology, while along the way featuring even more action and more plot twists. Viewers can expect a roller coaster ride week-to-week.
In other ABC schedule updates, ABC's family superhero drama No Ordinary Family will move to the 9pm hour on Tuesdays starting Nov. 30 for three weeks following classic holiday specials. The Powell family will have even more strength in a later hour and airing after compatible holiday specials. As of now, the series will move back to the 8pm hour on Tuesday, Jan. 4 when V launches, but this could still change...so stay tuned. Also, I expect the move to 9pm to happen even before Nov. 30, so stay tuned if that happens also. And ABC has announced that Winter Wipeout will air Thursdays at 8pm starting Jan. 6 for all of January and February. Goodnight and big "snow" balls! Finally, ABC has announced a big holiday specials slate, which we will detail in our annual network holiday specials next month. But you can get a preview before hand, by viewing our list of ABC Holidays Specials/Winter Programming. Keep checking back with us, as we still have some timeslots to figure out for ABC (such as Wed at 10, if The Whole Truth is pulled soon).

NBC has given full-season pickups to three of its new Fall 2010-11 series, dramas The Event and Law & Order: Los Angeles and sitcom Outsourced, despite all three series struggling in the ratings. The Event and Law & Order: Los Angeles both had a good showing from their premiere episodes, but have gone down steadily since then. Sitcom Outsourced also started decently and has dropped from the premiere, but not as sharply.
The Event airs Mondays at 9, Law & Order: Los Angeles airs Wednesdays at 10, and Outsourced airs Thursdays at 9:30. NBC's two other scripted series whose fate have yet to be revealed are Undercovers and Chase, which both also have underperformed. Both could see some additional episodes though, as NBC doesn't have many options in mid-season in the drama department. NBC's Outlaw is already canceled and new reality series School of Pride premiered to low ratings last Friday.
EDIT: As of 3pm ET, NBC just picked-up Chase for a full season as well, despite low ratings. In addition, NBC picked-up 11 more episodes of low rated veteran, but consistent, Chuck. It will have 24 episodes this season. With these freshman series, NBC has ordered a full season of low rated shows (see Trauma and Mercy) in the past, so it might be one season and done for some of these shows, especially Chase and Outsourced. Still nothing official on Undercovers, but more scripts have been reportedly ordered.

And also we will have a tribute to the late Tom Bosley tomorrow on the blog...so please come back for that. He will be deeply missed. Visit our Happy Days website.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, March 30

Young Sheldon - "A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Missy steals her dad’s truck and hits the road with her friend Paige (Mckenna Grace).

Ghosts - "Alberta's Descendant" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Alberta is thrilled when a living relative, Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley), visits Woodstone to learn more about her, but things take a turn when she hits it off with Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez Stoll), Sam’s podcast co-host. Also, Nigel uses his knowledge of Trevor and Hetty’s secret tryst to try to blackmail Hetty.

Animal Control - "Peacocks and Pumas" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria stake out a squawking peacock; Emily and Patel attend to Shred.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Not Okurrr" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
In the heat of the moment, Zoey kisses Kat at karaoke night; when Randi discovers a secret hideaway in the condo, she hides it from Carter and makes it a place for her to unwind.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)

Thursday, March 30

  • Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) - Catch Brett on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits-in with the 8G Band​ on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra and Kevin Bacon are guests on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. Kyra will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan (check your local listings) and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Animal Practice/Better with You/Reba) and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - JoAnna and Morris guest co-host The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
  • Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Julie is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Larenz Tate (South Central/The Royal Family) - Larenz appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Ghosts - Season One Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Ten Growing Pains - The Complete Series

11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

03/29 - Adult Swim Orders Season 2 of Royal Crackers; Game Show Network 2023 Upfront
03/28 - Platonic Gets Premiere Date on Apple TV+; SNL April Guest Hosts and Music Guests
03/27 - ABC Summer 2023 Schedule, Includes Return of The Wonder Years; HBO Max's Clone High Details
03/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 27, 2023)
03/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Arrested Development Staying on Netflix (and Leaving Hulu); Grey's Anatomy Gets Season 20 Renewal
03/24 - Rewind TV Celebrates Mork & Mindy's 45th Anniversary on Earth Day; Disney's 6th Season of Raven's Home on April 9
03/23 - Antenna TV's Earth Day My Favorite Martian Marathon; Neil Patrick Harris Returns on How I Met Your Father
03/22 - Game Show Network Orders Tom Cavanagh Hosted Game Show; A Black Lady Sketch Show Returns for Season 4
03/21 - All That Stars to Reunite for Good Burger 2; Jim Belushi Returns For Another Season of Growing Belushi
03/20 - 2023 90s Con Recap in Hartford; Bel-Air Gets Season 3 on Peacock
03/19 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 20, 2023)
03/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: New Sitcoms for Terry Crews and Wendi McLendon-Covey; Zachary Levi Holding Out Hope for Chuck Movie
03/17 - AXS TV Acquires The Monkees for Retro Night Block; HBO Max's The Other Two Returns in May
03/16 - Monk Returns with One Final Case on Peacock; John Mulaney Gets 3rd Netflix Comedy Special
03/15 - Apple TV+ Orders Comedy with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey; CBS 2023 Season Finale Dates
03/14 - Disney+ Comedy American Born Chinese Premieres May 24; Tim Robinson Comedy to Return May 30 on Netflix
03/13 - New Girl Coming to Hulu and Peacock; Apple TV+ Renews Shrinking for Season 2
03/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 13, 2023)
03/11 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Beavis and Butt-Head Gets Second Season Renewal; Roles Cast in Bedrock Series
03/10 - Act Your Age Opens as Biggest Launch in Bounce History; Starz Comedy Blindspotting Returns April 14
03/09 - Mary Tyler Moore Film Premieres This May on HBO; Mike Judge's Beavis and Butt-Head Returns for Season 2
03/08 - HBO's Barry Returns April 16; Schmigadoon! Trailer for Season 2
03/07 - American Dad! Season 18 Premieres March 27; Hulu's Tiny Beautiful Things Launches April 7
03/06 - Antenna TV Spring 2023 Schedule; Rewind TV Spring 2023 Schedule
03/05 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 6, 2023)
03/04 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Rachael Ray to End After 17 Seasons; Fox Renews Krapopolis for Third Season
03/03 - The Thundermans Return; TMZ's New Game Show
03/02 - Fox Renews Krapopolis for Season 3; Disney Channel's New Comedy Saturdays
03/01 - HBO Max Chuck Lorre Comedy Sets Production; New Shonda Rhimes White House Series