Monday, January 10, 2011

TCA Winter 2011 Press Tour: ABC; First Ever Comedy Awards on Comedy Central

Today at the TCA Winter 2011 Press Tour the broadcast networks begin. Up today will be ABC. The schedule started after breakfast with an executive session with Ben Sherwood of ABC News, followed by an executive sessions with Paul Lee of ABC Entertainment. ABC News will produce more documentaries year-round for primetime, similar to series like Boston Med. On the entertainment side, we learned that ABC has given early pick-ups for the 2011-12 season for Castle, Cougar Town, Grey's Anatomy, The Middle, Modern Family and Private Practice. All of those are no-doubters for us. Desperate Housewives is not on this list yet due to contract negotiations going on for the cast, but it will come back we think, as it is one of the top shows still in 18-49. Brothers & Sisters is also likely for some sort of pick-up, but it depends on the rest of 2011 performance. Lee has "ambitions" on picking it up Decisions on freshman shows, like Detroit 1-8-7, won't be announced for another 2-3 months or at upfront. V only has 10 episodes this season because of "quality control" and it has paid off. Lee would also like to have two nights of comedy next season. He didn't specify if the second night would be an hour or a two-hour block. Pilot pick-ups so far are an untitled Shonda Rhimes crisis management project and comedies Man Up and Smothered. Casting and more still to come on these pilots. ABC is also working on an Incredible Hulk revival from Marvel in the next year or so.
After the executive session, there was a cocoa klatch with Winter Wipeout. Host John Henson, co-host Jill Wagner, showrunner Matt Kunitz and even Ballsy were on hand for casual conversation and a tasty, hot beverage. Winter Wipeout airs Thursdays at 8pm on ABC and is off to a fantastic start in the ratings. After that, there was an executive session with new ABC Family President Michael Riley. We learned that ABC Family has given new season orders to two of the network's hit series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager" which has been renewed for a fourth season, and Pretty Little Liars, which was picked-up for a second season. Both new seasons are slated to start airing sometime in summer 2011. Both series still have to finish their second halves of the current season, with Liars airing Mondays through March 21, then Secret Life returns March 28 for its last batch of episodes this season.
Following that, there were panels for ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars (airs Mondays at 8pm) and ABC's new tropical medical drama Off the Map, which premieres Wednesday at 10pm. Then it was off to lunch with Disney Junior with Gary Marsh (President, Disney Channels Worldwide) and Nancy Kanter (SVP, Disney Junior Worldwide) for casual conversation and a special performance by The Never Land Pirate Band.
Following the lunch break, there was an actual session with Gary Marsh of Disney Channels Worldwide. The new network Disney Junior launches on Monday, Feb. 14. That was followed by a panel with the cast and producers of the upcoming Disney Channel original movie Lemonade Mouth starring Bridgit Mendler, Adam Hicks, Hayley Kiyoko, Naomi Scott, Blake Michael, Nick Roux and Tisha
Campbell-Martin. The event concludes tonight with an Off the Map Mid-season Mixer where we are joined by the stars and showrunners of many of ABC's mid-season series for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres themed to Off the Map. The reason why there weren't any panels for upcoming sitcoms Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings, drama Body of Proof, and reality series Secret Millionaire, was because they all had panels already at the TCA Summer 2010 press tour. Stay tuned tomorrow for an update from the Fox's day at the TCA press tour.

Comedy Central and MTV Networks, both divisions of Viacom, have tapped New York City to host The Comedy Awards, the first-ever multi-network, multi-platform, annual event dedicated to honoring and celebrating the world of comedy. A night for comedy of all kinds, The Comedy Awards will be taped at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, March 26 and will premiere on Sunday, April 10, 2011, simultaneously across MTV Networks' Comedy Central, Spike TV, TV Land, VH1 and Nick at Nite. All of these networks feature some sort of comedy.
Comedy elite including James Burrows, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Whoopi Goldberg, Brad Grey, Seth MacFarlane, Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, Jay Roach, Ray Romano, Rory Rosegarten, Phil Rosenthal and many more are among the first to join "The Comedy Awards" Board of Directors which will be responsible for selecting the nominees. The winners will be chosen by an invitation-only voting body comprised of 500-1000 members from the comedy community -- including writers, producers, performers and directors. The event will also feature several special awards that will include the voice of the fans through online voting at the event site thecomedyawards.com.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, May 30

Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.

Happy's Place - "Fish Fry Monday" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett sees Bobbie drowning in work, he devises a clever ruse to give her a much-needed day off fishing, all under the guise of reviving the tavern's Fish Fry Mondays; Isabella dives into the world of bartending with Gabby.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 26)

Friday, May 30

  • Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal/The Curse) - Watch Nathan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Paula Poundstone (Home Movies) - Paula performs stand-up comedy on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Ralph swings by for a chat about Karate Kid: Legends on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) - Justina chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about Broadway's Real Women Have Curves: The Musical on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is telling Drew about the new venture she's taking on, where she's currently at with dating and more on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Don Darryl Rivera (Only Murders in the Building) - Don talks about Broadway's Aladdin on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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