Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cheers Airing on ReelzChannel TV; ABC Family Picks-Up Another Original Series
"As one of the most acclaimed television shows ever, Cheers has a tremendous fan base who will appreciate being able to watch the series every day of the week on ReelzChannel and both seasoned and new viewers will have the opportunity to watch the series from the beginning," said Mike Smith SVP of ReelzChannel Programming.
Cheers is a top-rated, 28-time Emmy-winning half-hour comedy series centering on the colorful characters who frequent a Boston bar owned by former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson). It joins a line-up with other sitcoms as well including Ted Danson's other sitcom Becker, NewsRadio and 3rd Rock from the Sun. With the addition of the sitcom, some of the timings changed on Jan. 31, so we'll recap the series schedule for you. The weekday series line-up has Carson's Comedy Classics still at 8am ET, followed still by Becker at 9am ET, with Cheers now at 10am ET, and NewsRadio rounds out the morning schedule at 11am ET. Jumping to 2pm ET, an encore of NewsRadio airs, followed by back-to-back hours of comedic law series Ally McBeal at 3pm and 4pm ET. In the evening line-up, an encore of Becker airs in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. A primetime movie airs at 8pm ET leading into family drama Brothers & Sisters at 10pm ET. Then another movie airs at 11pm ET leading into the Cheers encore at 1am ET. On Saturdays, Becker is still at 9am ET and is Cheers at 10am ET, with an encore of Becker in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. All of that is the same as weekdays. The Sunday line-up for series has Becker at 9am ET and Cheers at 10am ET again. There is also back-to-back episodes of family drama Brothers & Sisters at 12 noon ET and 1pm ET. And Becker encore is once again in the 6pm ET hour.
Cheers on the ReelzChannel schedule is a nice addition and we hope some more sitcoms join the line-up soon as well. Cheers can also still be seen weekday afternoons on WGN America, weekday mornings on HDnet and late nights every week night on the Hallmark Channel. ReelzChannel TV is carried via satellite on DIRECTV (Channel 238) and DISH Network (Channel 299). Local cable channel information is available on the website's home page through a zip code look-up. The network is the exclusive home for the upcoming eight-part mini-series The Kennedys (starring Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Tom Wilkinson), with the world premiere on Sunday, April 3, 2011.
In addition to the two drama and sitcom pick-ups a few weeks ago, ABC Family has picked-up one more drama. ABC Family has picked up The Lying Game. The series follows Emma, a kind-hearted foster kid who learns she has an identical twin sister, Sutton. Sutton, unlike Emma, was adopted by wealthy parents and is seemingly living an ideal life. After their initial meeting, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues a lead on the mysterious identity of their birth mother. After Sutton inexplicably fails to return to the girls' designated meeting place, Emma must decide whether to come clean about her identity and risk her own safety in the hope of uncovering her twin sister's whereabouts, along with the truth about why they were separated in the first place.
The Lying Game stars Alexandra Chando (As The World Turns) as Emma/Sutton; Andy Buckley (The Office) as Ted; Helen Slater as Kristin; Blair Redford (90210) as Garrett; Sharon Pierre-Louis (Lincoln Heights) as Nisha; Kirsten Prout (Kyle XY) as Char; Alice Greczyn (Lincoln Heights) as Mads; and Allie Gonino (10 Things I Hate About You) as Laurel.
Charles Pratt, Jr. (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) serves as executive producer and writer; Leslie Morgenstein (Pretty Little Liars, The Nine Lives of Chloe King) and Gina Girolamo will serve as executive producers. Produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television, the series is based on the novel by author Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars).
The drama joins a roster of other new series, including the one-hour dramas The Nine Lives of Chloe King and Switched at Birth, and the half-hour multi-cam comedy series, The Great State of Georgia. This drama would work well paired-up with ABC Family's hit series Pretty Little Liars, which is also based on a novel by Sara Shepard. It is unclear how many episodes have been ordered and when the series will premiere this year. Pretty Little Liars is returning with its second season in the summer (likely June), as its first season wraps up on March 21.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Friday, December 8
CBS announced the new entertainment special Norman Lear: A Life on Television, to air tonight - Friday, Dec. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs). Presented by Entertainment Tonight, this one-hour special features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created, including Jimmie Walker from Good Times and Mackenzie Phillips from One Day at a Time, in addition to never-before-seen interviews from the ET vault. Also included with this new footage and interviews is an in-depth sit-down interview with Lear that ET host Kevin Frazier conducted when Lear celebrated his 100th birthday, in which he reflected on his lengthy, groundbreaking career.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 4)
Friday, December 8
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- John Caponera (The Good Life) - John is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Robert Smigel (Let's Be Real) - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog aka Robert Smigel chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Noah Galvin (The Real O'Neals) and Molly Gordon (Ramy) - Noah and Molly talk about Theater Camp on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Eric Stonestreet (The Santa Clauses/Modern Family) - Eric talks about The Santa Clauses on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan sits down with Sherri to talk about his new book, When I Was Your Age, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
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
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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