SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

It's that time of year again where stations buy new programs being offered for syndication next fall (or beyond even). The National Association of Television Program Executive (NATPE) conference is held every year in January and as always we will cover it! NATPE is going on this week from Jan. 24-26 in Miami and is celebrating its 40th year. We will give you a list of what is being offered for Fall 2011 in the coming days, which includes off-network sitcoms.
TV Guide Network is offering plenty of stuff for stations to buy. A range of programming from TV Guide Network is being offered by Lionsgate at NATPE, including the original docu-soap Nail Files. Alongside its own returning flagship series such as Mad Men and Weeds, Lionsgate is debuting Are We There Yet?, a sitcom based on the movie of the same name starring Ice Cube (original episodes air on TBS).
Camelot Entertainment Group, Inc. announced today that Camelot Distribution Group President, Jamie Thompson, will head up the Camelot Distribution sales team at NATPE. Camelot, which is currently attending the Sundance Film Festival, will be exhibiting both new distribution titles and its extensive library that includes television programming such as the 1960's series Daniel Boone and Peter Gunn.
In clearance news, Debmar-Mercury has been signed to distribute the program America Now, a joint venture program between Raycom Media and ITV Studios America, as a daily syndicated strip for fall 2011, reports B&C. Hosted by Bill Rancic and produced by ITV Studios America, America Now is a lifestyle-newsmagazine program featuring content from the various Raycom stations, including WOIO Cleveland and WBTV Charlotte, across the country. Airing weekends on 43 stations in 36 markets, it debuted in October 2010.
Among the first-run series that are a firm go are the Anderson Cooper talk show, The Bill Cunnigham Show, Jeremy Kyle Show and game show Excused. More info will come on these and if any other first-run series are cleared to air.
And finally, ValCom, Inc. announced today that its My Family TV subsidiary has signed affiliation agreements that will place the network in strategic markets across the country. In recent weeks the network signed agreements that will place the network in Detroit, Houston, Fresno, Miami, Key West, Hilton Head, South Carolina, St. George, Utah and Melbourne, Florida to reach over 5 million additional homes. Networks are valued at .25 cents to $3 per home. The addition of these markets helps with our strategic plan and increases shareholder value.
Come on back tomorrow for day 2 at NATPE!

As of last week, The Hallmark Channel has scheduled a 24-hour marathon for classic '50s sitcom I Love Lucy for Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. The marathon begins at 6am on Saturday and lasts all day and night through 6am the very next day. The marathon will be a "true" marathon with no episodes repeating.
This is in addition to the already scheduled 24-hour marathon for '70s drama Little House on the Prairie on the very next day (Sunday, Jan. 30) starting at 6am.
I Love Lucy regularly airs on Hallmark weekday mornings from 6am-8am and on late nights on Sunday nights from 2-4am, while Little House on the Prairie airs weekdays 3pm-6pm and in primetime at 8pm.