TV Land Picks-Up Season 2 of Happily Divorced; ABC Family's State of Georgia Gets 2 Multiple Episode Airings In August

Thursday, July 21, 2011

TV Land Picks-Up Season 2 of Happily Divorced; ABC Family's State of Georgia Gets 2 Multiple Episode Airings In August

TV Land announced that it has picked up its original sitcom Happily Divorced, starring and co-written by Fran Drescher, for a second season with 12 new episodes tentatively scheduled to premiere in Spring 2012. Drescher shared the news with the Fran Fans on TV Land's Happily Divorced Facebook page. Happily Divorced, inspired by Drescher's own life, also stars acclaimed actors John Michael Higgins (Best in Show), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Rita Moreno (OZ), Robert Walden (All The President's Men) and Valente Rodriguez (George Lopez). According to Nielsen, Happily Divorced is averaging over 2.2 million total viewers, a 1.0 among A25-54 and a 1.3 among W25-54 season-to-date, posting triple digit gains over the network's primetime average.
Drescher, twice nominated for both Golden Globe® and Emmy® Awards and also a New York Times best-selling author of Enter Whining and Cancer Schmancer, will co-write the show alongside her real life ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson. Jacobson previously worked with Drescher as co-creator and writer on The Nanny.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience, Happily Divorced airs on Wednesday nights at 10:30pm ET/PT immediately following new episodes of Hot in Cleveland.

ABC Family's freshman sitcom State of Georgia starring Raven Symone premiered on Wednesday, June 29 at 8:30pm and thus far has aired four episodes of its twelve-episode order (upped from the originally reported ten). Episode 5 will air next Wednesday (July 27) at 8:30pm, but then ABC Family will be airing FOUR all-new episodes (episodes 6-9) during a special 9-11pm block on this night. Melissa & Joey will air two all-new episodes for the full hour at 8pm on this date leading-in. The following week (Aug. 10) is back to normal for a week with an all-new Melissa & Joey at 8 and an all-new State of Georgia at 8:30 (episode 10), but then on Wednesday, August 17, State of Georgia for its season finale will air two all-new episodes (episodes 11 and 12) from 9-10pm following an hour of all-new Melissa & Joey at 8pm. Melissa & Joey will air for a full hour every week hereafter starting Aug. 17, and will be all-new for the full hour. They have 18 episodes to air this summer and that series has aired four so far this summer (thru July 20). If two all-new episodes air from Aug. 17 and on, the season finale would air on Sept. 14 (which is convenient because ABC returns its Wednesday comedy line-up on Sept. 21), but this is just my guess for now. Melissa & Joey was already renewed for a second season, as we reported.
It's hard to tell what ABC Family is doing with State of Georgia, but the ratings for episode three weren't very good last week (July 13, a 0.2 18-49 rating). Perhaps the multiple-episode stunts will help on Aug. 3 and Aug. 17? It's still early, so hopefully ABC Family is not giving up already because the first four episodes have been pretty funny and is a nice throwback to comedies of the early '90s. We'll certainly keep an eye on State of Georgia and hope they stick with it and renew it.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, November 20

The Goldbergs - "Angst-Giving" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Even though Beverly’s patience with Pop Pop is put to the test due to his endless Thanksgiving demands, she is able to put aside her own feelings to help heal the longstanding rift between Murray and Pop Pop. Meanwhile, Barry and Erica are ready to return home for the holiday, but Uncle Marvin accidentally drives them to Pittsburgh. Marvin attempts to make it right not knowing if they will make it to Jenkintown in time to celebrate the holiday. Judd Hirsch and Dan Fogler return to guest star as Pop Pop and Uncle Marvin.

Schooled - "Friendsgiving" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
CB celebrates Thanksgiving by having all of William Penn rally around him after a cooking incident at his house, while the alumni faculty football game brings out the competitive sides of Wilma and Coach Mellor.

Modern Family - "The Last Thanksgiving" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Cameron and Mitchell’s friends mistakenly assume they have split up and have definitely chosen a side; and Haley attempts to cook Thanksgiving dinner as a thank you for Claire and Phil’s support with the twins. Meanwhile, Jay invites Phil and Dylan out to fly his model plane, and Phil thinks this is his chance to reclaim his dignity after their first outing 10 years ago went so wrong.

Single Parents - "Every Thursday Should Be Like This" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Will gets busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner at Douglas’ home, he asks Angie to hang out with Tracy Freeze (guest star Jama Williamson). Angie reluctantly does so, only to realize that Tracy is actually wonderful, except for a secret she’s keeping from Will. Meanwhile, Miggy shows up to Thanksgiving dinner with the kids’ teacher, Ms. Pronstroller (Sarah Yarkin), as his date, and he enlists Douglas’ assistance in helping them form an in-person connection, given all of their previous communication has been via texts, DMs and memes.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "A Woman's Right to Chop" / "Waiting for Big Mo" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Trapped inside Paddy's with a suicidal jumper on the roof, the gang wonders if it should bother intervening; Dennis ponders the reasons of playing laser tag and if the pursuit of a victory is worth the effort.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Wednesday, November 20

Adam Driver (Girls) - Watch Adam on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Julie Andrews (Julie) - Julie stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. She will also be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Michael Rapaport (Awkward/The War at Home) and Tony Rock (Living Biblically/All of Us) - Michael and Tony are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Dax visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Craig Ferguson (The Drew Carey Show) - Craig appears on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory/Roseanne) - Johnny is a guest on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena is a guest on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Ed Quinn (One Day at a Time/2 Broke Girls) - Ed visits The Real, do check your local listings.
Tisha Campbell (Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) - Tisha guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings.
Maura Tierney (NewsRadio) - Maura talks about The Report on People Now at 12pm.
Robin Givens (Head of the Class) - Robin talks about OWN's Ambition on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Jamie Lee Curtis (Scream Queens/Anything But Love) - Jamie Lee talks about Knives Out on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Ashley Williams (The Jim Gaffigan Show/Good Morning, Miami) - Ashley talks about Holiday Hearts on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.