New Charlie Sheen Sitcom Coming Soon; Friday Night Lights Comes To ESPN Classic On Thursday Nights

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

New Charlie Sheen Sitcom Coming Soon; Friday Night Lights Comes To ESPN Classic On Thursday Nights

Former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen is planning his return to series television in Anger Management, a new sitcom loosely based on Revolution Studios' 2003 hit comedy feature of the same name. Lionsgate-owned Debmar-Mercury, headed by Co-Presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein, will distribute the series that will be produced by Lionsgate Television.
Sheen will retain a significant ownership stake in the series inspired by the film, in which a mild-mannered, non-confrontational man is ordered to attend group anger management sessions led by a therapist who could probably use some anger management himself.
"I chose Anger Management because, while it might be a big stretch for me to play a guy with serious anger management issues, I think it is a great concept," Sheen said. "It also provides me with real ownership in the series, a certain amount of creative control and the chance to be back in business with one of my favorite movie producers of all time, Joe Roth."
Roth and Sheen have worked together on five features, including Major League, Young Guns and Three Musketeers. Roth is also currently working with Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury and Ice Cube's Cube Vision on the TBS hit Are We There Yet? It is one of three hugely successful sitcoms (along with Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet The Browns) that are the result of a unique sitcom business model created by Marcus and Bernstein. All three sitcoms air on TBS, but as of now, Anger Management does not have a network home. As soon as we find out, we will let you know, but as with other Lionsgate series, it will be given a 10-episode order and if they like it, they will produce a whole bunch more very quickly (likely 90 more episodes).

Fans of Friday Night Lights will once again be able to recapture the excitement of the Dillon Panthers as ESPN will air the entire series. The series started on ESPN last Tuesday (July 12, 2011) as they celebrated the kick-off of the football-themed drama with episodes one and two from season one and aired it back-to-back in primetime on ESPN at 8pm and 9pm ET.
And then for those who are new to the series, a crash course in Friday Night Lights was offered via a "Season 1 FNL Marathon" on ESPN Classic last Thursday and Friday (July 14 and 15).
Now, beginning Thursday, July 21, ESPN Classic will become the new cable home for Friday Night Lights, airing each season in sequential order beginning with season one/episode one, with "new" episodes each Thursday night at 9pm and 10pm ET. Longhorn Network, the ESPN owned and operated 24-hour network dedicated to Texas athletics in partnership with UT and IMG College, will also air the entire five seasons of Friday Night Lights upon its August launch.