NBC To Burn-Off Friends With Benefits; TNT Acquires Castle Reruns for 2012

Thursday, June 09, 2011

NBC To Burn-Off Friends With Benefits; TNT Acquires Castle Reruns for 2012

NBC has finally scheduled its comedy Friends with Benefits. But it is only a burn-off, as they didn't air it during the 2010-11 season, thus it has a 100% chance of not returning, like last summer's 100 Questions. Even more so, it will be airing Saturdays at 8:00pm & 8:30pm starting June 25 and will run though July 30. NBC has 13 episodes in the can, but as of right now 12 will air. If it remains on the schedule, that is. Anyway, there is a sitcom to watch on Saturdays this summer, even though it is a burn-off and will not return beyond these episodes.
From Brian Grazer, Friends With Benefits is a half-hour, single-camera comedy revolving around a group of twenty-something singles as they navigate the difficult, and often confusing, world of dating. Ben Weymouth (Ryan Hansen) is on the hunt for the perfect woman who meets his unique set of standards, while his best friend, Sara Maxwell (Danneel Harris), is just looking for a man to settle down with and raise a family. Ben and Sara have fallen into the habit of turning to each other for moral and physical support as they wait for Mr. and Ms. Right to arrive. Their friend Aaron (Fran Kranz), a romantic at heart, doesn't approve of Ben and Sara's complicated friendship, but he, along with womanizer Hoon (Ian Reed) and straight shooter Riley (Jessica Lucas), are all distracted with their own dating trials and tribulations.

In its latest high-profile acquisition, TNT has secured the exclusive off-network cable rights to the hit series, Castle, from Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Castle, which just completed its third highly rated season on ABC, is a crime drama starring Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Desperate Housewives) and Stana Katic (Quantum of Solace, TNT's The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice).
Castle (seasons 1 & 2) will begin airing on TNT in summer 2012. As part of TNT's TV Everywhere rollout, Castle will also be available for online viewing through mobile phones, tablets, computers and other devices.
TNT's deal for Castle follows on the heels of the network's recent acquisition of Hawaii Five-0, which will join the TNT lineup in 2014. TNT has also landed the popular series The Mentalist, which recently enjoyed a strong opening in its Wednesday 7-9 p.m. timeslot. It is unclear when Castle seasons 3 and beyond will air on TNT. I would assume that would start in Fall 2013.
Look for Castle to land a weekend local syndication deal soon as well and that should start in Fall 2012 or 2013 (and that would be all seasons to date rather than just the first two seasons). Stay tuned

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, March 23

Family Guy - "Dog Is My Co-Pilot" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Brian and Quagmire go on a press tour after successfully landing a plane; Chris and Stewie open a boutique pizza place.

Grimsburg - "CrimeCon" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Flute learns that criminals at CrimeCon are celebrated, not the detectives, he decides to prove that celebrity criminal Damien Flesher is not the reformed cannibal he claims to be; Pentos meets the Pentos-tonix.

The Great North - "Can't Hardly Debate Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Aunt Dirt takes a new job at Lone Moose School; Wolf tries to impress Beef.

Krapopolis - "" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
An animated comedy set in mythical ancient Greece, centering on a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters as they try to run one of the world's first cities without killing each other.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 17)

Friday, March 21

John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Watch John on on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dana Carvey (One of the Boys) - Dana is a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher at 10pm on HBO.
The Jonas Brothers (Jonas) - Good Morning America catches up with the Jonas Brothers sometime between 7-9am.
John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Tatyana Ali (Second Generation Wayans/Love That Girl!/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Tatyana discusses her off-camera work of helping women have safer births and how she is creating community with her quilt company on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building/Wizards of Waverly Place) - NBC's Today catches up with Selena sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - NBC's Today catches up with Michael in the 9am hour.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
The Cast of Harlem - Meagan Good, Grace Byers, Jerrie Johnson, Shoniqua Shandai & Tyler Lepley talk about Harlem on Prime Video on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Sarah appears on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Tommy Davidson (The Proud Family/Malcolm & Eddie/Between Brothers) and Mark Curry (One Love/See Dad Run/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper) - Tommy and Mark are guests on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:00am.