TV Land and AFI Honor Morgan Freeman; The CW Renews Five Series for 2011-12

Thursday, April 28, 2011

TV Land and AFI Honor Morgan Freeman; The CW Renews Five Series for 2011-12

American film's finest have confirmed their participation on the American Film Institute (AFI) Gala Benefit Committee honoring 39th Life Achievement Award recipient, Morgan Freeman. Members of this year's benefit committee are Ben Affleck, Jim Carrey, Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Ashley Judd, Helen Mirren, Mike Nichols, Jack Nicholson, Brad Pitt, Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Hilary Swank, Denzel Washington and Alfre Woodard. AFI will present the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award – America's highest honor for a career in film – to Freeman on Thursday, June 9. TV Land Presents: The AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Morgan Freeman will air on TV Land on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
The black-tie event will take place on historic Stage 15 at Sony Pictures Studios, where The Wizard of Oz, Grand Hotel, Spiderman and other classic movies were filmed. The stage will be transformed into an elegant ballroom to honor the storied career of Morgan Freeman. Proceeds from the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala directly support the Institute's national educational programs and the preservation of American film history.
We will have more on this special on the TV Land June 2011 highlights very soon, so come on back!

The CW Network has given early pickups to five of its established series for next season, including an All-Star Cycle of America's Next Top Model and the network's top-rated drama The Vampire Diaries. Dramas Gossip Girl, 90210 and Supernatural will also return next season. All five shows will return in Fall 2011.
America's Next Top Model has been ordered for both cycles next season, as The CW's signature reality series will kick-off the Fall with its first-ever All-Star Edition, featuring the models who became breakout characters and who had the most memorable stories from past cycles. The CW's bloodily addictive hit The Vampire Diaries was also given an early renewal, and in its sophomore season, remains the network's most-watched show and the network's number-one show among its target audience of women 18-34.
Also given early pickups for next season are The CW's scandalous guilty pleasures Gossip Girl, which is the network's second most popular series with women 18-34, and 90210, which posts some of TV's largest percent increases from DVR playback, more than doubling its women 18-34 live ratings once live+7 data is included. The network also renewed fan favorite Supernatural, which enters its seventh season next year. In moving to Fridays last September, the series immediately helped make The CW more competitive on the night and dramatically contributed to year-to-year gains on Friday in adults 18-34 and total viewers.
So we have half of the series set to air on The CW next season. What will be the other five hours? We'll see on Thursday, May 19 when The CW announces its fall 2011 schedule at its annual upfront presentation. Will One Tree Hill, Hellcats and Nikita return? Veteran drama Smallville will end its run next month with a proper send-off.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, March 3

The Goldbergs - "Mr. Ships Ahoy" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
As William Penn’s new Quaker Warden, Beverly is thrilled to have co-workers for the first time and sets out to make them all love her. To her dismay, it’s more difficult to win them over than she anticipated, as her reputation of being a difficult school parent precedes her. Meanwhile, Geoff competes in the “Mr. Ships Ahoy” beauty pageant to prove to Erica that he can be seen as desirable by other women.

American Housewife - "The Guardian" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Katie and Greg secretly put Kathryn (Wendie Malick) through a series of tests to see if she would make a good guardian for Anna-Kat in the unlikely event something should happen to them. Meanwhile, after tracking down J.D.’s (Jake Choi) potential egg donors, Tami (Holly Robinson Peete) and Katie scheme to learn more about them.

The Conners - "A Stomach Ache, a Heartbreak and a Grave Mistake" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mark is stressed out and feeling sick, convinced he has COVID-19. Meanwhile, Becky and Harris team up to confront Josh who has been “ghosting” Harris; and when Jackie visits Roseanne’s grave, she finds an appalling headstone right next to it and sets out to make it right.

Call Your Mother - "Feelings" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Jean and Danny’s relationship grows complicated emotionally and physically as they try to resist their feelings for one another until his divorce is final. As Celia is moving into Freddie’s apartment, Freddie is disappointed to learn that Celia plans to keep her place as a backup plan, causing some hard conversations between the two.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 1)

Wednesday, March 3

Ben Schwartz (Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - Watch Ben on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. He will also be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 3:30am on Bravo.
Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Arsenio Hall (Arsenio) - Arsenio talks about Coming 2 America on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) and Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Kristen and Dax are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Jermaine Fowler (Superior Donuts) - Jermaine will be on The Real, so check your local listings.
Awkwafina (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Awkwafina appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Hillary Duff (Younger/Lizzie McGuire) - Hillary talks about My Brave Little Girl on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.