Tuesday, December 07, 2010

ABC Family January 2011 Schedule; ABC Schedules Mid-Season Comedies Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, Plus More Sitcom News

ABC Family is currently airings its annual 25 Days of Christmas, but once the annual festival is over, there will be some changes to the regular schedule in January 2011 starting Monday, Dec. 27. Weekdays at 11am & 11:30am will now be back-to-back Full House replacing the morning airing of Gilmore Girls. Weekdays at 2pm & 2:30pm will have My Wife & Kids, replacing Full House, which moves to 11am-12pm. Then we get a second hour of Still Standing airing weekdays at 6pm & 6:30pm, replacing My Wife & Kids which is moving to 2-3pm. Still Standing remains in its 12 noon & 12:30pm slots as well. There will be times when an ABC Family movie starts at 7:30pm, so if that is the case Still Standing will air in the 7pm half-hour, but when that happens it won't air in the 12:30pm half-hour that day, and instead we get a third airing of 8 Simple Rules (which airs 1-2pm). The final change to weekdays is the return of Whose Line Is It Anyway? airing at 12 midnight & 12:30am, replacing the second hour of My Wife & Kids.
As for ABC Family January 2011 stunts and highlights, Pretty Little Liars returns for its second half of the first season on Monday, Jan. 3 at 7:58pm for 12 weeks (season finale is slated for March 21, bitches). A marathon will air from 11am-7:58pm leading into the premiere on Jan. 3. Then at 9pm, Greek has its fourth season premiere with 10 all-new episodes (through March 7). A few days prior, on Saturday, Jan. 1, ABC Family will have a New Year's Day marathon of America's Funniest Home Videos from 7am-1am. What I Like About You will be preempted for two weeks, the week of Jan 17 and 24, for special 700 Club programming from 9am-11am. The sitcom airs in the 9am half-hour. There will also be a marathon of The 700 Club on Sunday, Jan. 30 from 12 noon to 12 midnight.
Movie wise, ABC Family will premiere the original movie Mean Girls 2 on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 8pm (encores at 10pm). The original feature film from 2004 will air right before at 6pm. This sequel stars Meaghan Martin (10 Things I Hate About You), Maiara Walsh (Desperate Housewives), Jennifer Stone, Nicole Gale Anderson, Claire Holt and Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars) in a classic high school story about good versus plastic. When new girl Jo (Martin) arrives at North Shore High School, her main goal is to skate under the radar to survive her senior year and definitely not get involved in any of the typical high school trappings. But her plan goes awry quickly when she meets Abby (Stone), a girl stuck at the low end of the high school food chain and favorite target of "The Plastics" (Walsh, Holt and Anderson). After defending Abby against the queen bee of the school and lead Plastic, Mandi (Walsh), Jo is dragged into the very same girl drama she was hoping to avoid. Tim Meadows returns as the school's principal, Mr. Duvall. ABC Family will also premiere the big screen movies Enchanted, Bruce Almighty, and The Game Plan for the first time, while encores of movies include Mean Girls, The Notebook, Evan Almighty, The Flintstones, Dennis the Menace, Cheaper by the Dozen, Liar Liar, Along Came Polly, Aladdin, and Freaky Friday.

And we will have a special ABC Family contest giveaway starting tomorrow at 12am ET (early Thursday) on our Facebook page. So stay tuned for information on how three very lucky winners will win an ABC Family gift bag filled with goodies just in time for the holidays! Also, if you haven't entered already, enter our Boy Meets World Season 4 DVD Contest, because the giveaway ends at 11:59:59pm ET tomorrow (Wednesday). Who will be the lucky two winners?

ABC has announced premiere dates for new comedies Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings, representing the final mid-season scripted dates for ABC. Matthew Perry returns to series television in Mr. Sunshine, also starring four-time Emmy winner Allison Janney (The West Wing), on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 p.m., ET, and Happy Endings, an all-new ensemble comedy including Elisha Cuthbert (24), will premiere Wednesday, April 13 in the new 10:00 p.m. ET comedy half-hour. ABC's upcoming medical drama Off the Map, will finish its 13 episode run on Wednesday, April. 6.
With the addition of Mr. Sunshine on Feb. 9, ABC's critically acclaimed comedy Cougar Town will take a two-month break and return to the schedule in its regular time slot of 9:30 p.m, ET following Modern Family on Wednesday, April 13 leading into the premiere of Happy Endings at 10. And the Emmy-winning Modern Family will air "Fan Favorites" episodes beginning that same evening at 10:30 p.m. out of Happy Endings, to try a new comedy hour in the 10 p.m. hour for the final 7 weeks of the season.
As of now, ABC has scheduled 9 episodes of Mr. Sunshine to air for 9 consecutive weeks from February 9 to April 6. The series will still have four episodes left in its 13 episode order after these nine weeks, but no word as of this writing on if and when they will air those this season (or next season). ABC has scheduled Happy Endings to air for the final 7 weeks of the season (April 13 to May 25). This series also has 13 episode order, so ABC will have seven still left to air. Perhaps for a week or two ABC could double-up on both Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings to cut down repeats of other ABC Wednesday comedies. We'll let you know if that is the case. ABC's The Middle and Modern Family will each have 24 episodes each this season, with Better With You and Cougar Town having 22 episodes each. By taking Feb. 9 to April 6 off, Cougar Town is avoiding American Idol (except the two-hour premiere on Jan. 19), where it had a bit trouble last winter/spring. Mr. Sunshine will be facing Idol every week except its first week (Feb. 9, season finale of Human Target is airing) and its last week (April 6, series premiere of Breaking In is airing).
Yes, ABC is trying comedies in the 10 p.m. hour starting April 13, which is still months away, but ABC will try comedy repeats in the hour starting this week through the end of the month! ABC has pulled the burn-off episodes of canceled legal drama The Whole Truth effective immediately. So, now comedy repeats will air. This Wednesday (Dec. 8), following new episodes from 8-10pm, ABC will air a repeat each of Modern Family and Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. Next week (Dec. 15), ABC will air a Modern Family repeat at 9:30pm, followed by two repeats of Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. Wednesday, Dec. 22 will see an encore of CMA Country Christmas from 9:30-11pm, but on Wednesday, Dec. 29 we once again see a Modern Family repeat at 9:30pm, followed by two repeats of Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. ABC's comedies are all-new tonight and after that won't be new until Wednesday, Jan. 5...so enjoy the holiday episodes tonight!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, September 24

Krapopolis - "All Hail the Goddess of Likeability" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Asskill threatens to attack Krapopolis, Tyrannis tries to use diplomacy to stop him; Deliria decides to build a temple to herself.

Krapopolis - "The Stuperbowl" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Stupendous and Hippocampus give a trojan horse to the Asskillians.

The Villains of Valley View - "The Promposal" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When teenage supervillain Havoc stands up to the head of the League of Villains, her family members are forced to change their identities and relocate to a sleepy Texas suburb.

Bunk'd: Learning the Ropes - "Me, Myself, and A.I." (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Lou, Parker, Noah and Destiny head to Dusty Tush, Wyo., to open up a new camp at a dude ranch that they purchased from The Marshall.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 18)

Friday, September 22

  • Kathryn Newton (Gary Unmarried) - Watch Kathryn on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ralph Harris (On Our Own) and Jimmie "JJ" Walker (Good Times/At Ease/Bustin' Loose) - Ralph and Jimmie are guests on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
  • Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
  • Sam Jay (Bust Down) - Sam appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 8:50am.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (June-October)

Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series Family Matters - The Complete Series Step by Step - The Complete Series ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition)

06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
07/18 - South Park - Seasons 21-25 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/25 - The Neighborhood - Season Five
07/25 - Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin - Season One
07/25 - Superstore - The Complete Series
08/22 - Back to Life - Season 1 / Season 2
08/29 - Smiling Friends - Season 1 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

09/23 - SitcomsOnline Digest: An End on the Horizon for WGA Strike?; Hallmark Ready for Christmas
09/22 - The Santa Clauses Season 2 Launches November 8; CBS Alters Fall Schedule
09/21 - Penn & Teller: Fool Us Gets New Return Date; Netflix's Unicorn Academy Premieres November 2
09/20 - Paramount+ Announces Colin from Accounts; The Really Loud House Gets Halloween Movie
09/19 - The Simpsons Season 34 Streams October 11 on Disney+; Good Burger 2 Set for Holiday Season
09/18 - Hulu's Huluween and Disney+'s Hallowstream Line-Up; Shining Vale Returns October 13 on STARZ
09/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 18, 2023)
09/16 - SitcomsOnline Digest: ABC Cancels Wonder Years Reboot; Byron Allen Makes $10 Billion Offer to Buy ABC
09/15 - Antenna TV's Bewitched Halloween Marathon; Rewind TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch-O-Ween Marathon
09/14 - Dancing with the Stars Season 32 Cast; BUZZR Celebrates 40 Years of Press Your Luck
09/13 - TBS Acquires Modern Family; The Frasier Awards on COZI TV
09/12 - Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen Gets CBS Late Night Run; Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy Special
09/11 - Matt Rife Gets Netflix Special; Star Trek Day and Kid Cudi Join Forces
09/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 11, 2023)
09/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Warner Bros. Television Suspends Deals with Top Creators; Fran Drescher Re-Elected President of SAG-AFTRA
09/08 - CBS Announces Hosts of Game Show; New Goosebumps Premieres Friday the 13th This October on Disney+ and Hulu
09/07 - MeTV Presents Svengoolie's Halloween BOOnanza!; The CW Moving Fall Comedies to Thursdays
09/06 - CBS to Air NCIS: Sydney This Fall; Fox Makes Fall Change
09/05 - TBS and TNT September Stunts Include Big Bang Theory Batman Day Marathon; Netflix UK Produced Series Updates
09/04 - TV Marathons on Labor Day 2023 Include Three's Company
09/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 4, 2023)
09/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: No Third Season for How I Met Your Father; Spectrum Dispute with Disney Could Spell End of Cable
09/01 - September Is Anniversary Month on Hulu; Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween Returns for Its 25th Anniversary
08/31 - Max's Original Comedy Series Starstruck Season 3 and Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Premiere Dates; AXS TV Announces Fall Programming Lineup
08/30 - The Partridge Family Coming to AXS TV Starting Oct. 2; CBS to Air A Tribute to Bob Barker Special Aug. 31, Marathon of Match Game Episodes to Air Sept. 2 on Game Show Network
08/29 - Once Upon a Time Coming to Hulu; Young Love Launches on Max in September
08/28 - Remembering TV Legend Bob Barker; Wolf Like Me Returns in October on Peacock
08/27 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 28, 2023)
08/26 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Frasier Reboot Date Set, With CBS Also Airing First Two Episodes; Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. Cancelled
08/25 - Rick and Morty Returns October 15; Switch New Season Begins September 18 on Game Show Network
08/24 - Hulu Fall 2023 Slate; Apple TV+ Series Still Up Debuts Trailer
08/23 - Frasier Returns October 12 on Paramount+; And Just Like That... Renewed for Season 3