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

Thursday, April 10

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Baby Fight" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy worry they’re not on the same page when they disagree about having another kid, and Mary, Jim and Audrey struggle to stay out of it. Young Sheldon star Zoe Perry returns as Mary, and Matt Hobby returns as Pastor Jeff.

Ghosts - "Smooching and Smushing" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Jay, Sam and the ghosts attempt to fix the ghost trap in hopes of getting Sasappis across the ghost boundary to visit his longtime crush, Shiki.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Thursday, April 10

Mark Duplass (Big Mouth/Togetherness/The Mindy Project/The League) - Catch Mark on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jon Hamm (Grimsburg/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Jon stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Your Friends and Neigbors on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Esther Povitsky (Dollface/Alone Together) and Arden Myrin (Working/Still the King) - Esther and Arden are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Bowen talks about The Wedding Banquet on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony stops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10:15pm on Bravo.
Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Nick and Adrienne Warren perform on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Andrew guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Jake Paul (Bizaardvark) - Jake and Logan Paul sit down with ABC News correspondent Will Reeve on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) and Delroy Lindo (UNPrisoned - Michael, Delroy and the cast of Sinners are guests onSherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Scott Clark is joining Drew and Valerie in the kitchen and showing them how to cook with funghi on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.