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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 23

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Vote" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dave gathers everyone for a lengthy ballot-palooza party to discuss the merits of every candidate and prop on each of their election ballots. Also, Gemma is determined to run a tight ship as their local precinct captain when polls open at Walcott Academy.

Poppa's House - "Sleepover" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dr. Ivy Reed joins Poppa’s family for dinner, she begins scrutinizing Nina and Junior’s relationship for potential catastrophe. Junior spends the night at his dad’s house while Nina and Ivy devise a plan over a bottle of wine.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Black Ice" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
On Valentine's Day, when it comes to showing affection, Bob and Abishola have to find a way to meet each other in the middle.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Where's Your Other Wives, Tunde?" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dottie, Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde must find a way to reconcile when they're forced to eat dinner together; Bob and Abishola have differing opinions on the progress of their relationship.

The Conners - "Rage Against the Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dan gets injured while covering D.J.'s vending machine route, the decision to sue the company could cost D.J. his job; Jackie is appalled when Becky seeks life coaching from her nemesis.

The Conners - "Smoking Penguins and Santa on Santa Action" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan is disappointed when everyone but Becky forgets about his birthday; Darlene faces another issue; Dan excludes Jackie from the family Christmas Santa photo for mistreating Louise.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 23)

Monday, December 23

John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Watch John on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Linda Cardellini (No Good Deed/Dead to Me/Guys Like Us) - Linda is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Sabrina appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Brandon Kyle Goodman (Human Resources) - Brandon is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana appears on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Megan Hilty (Sean Saves the World) - Megan appears on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - James chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today has The 70 Club with Tony in the 9am hour.
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Shaky Ground) - Jennifer talks about Lifetime's The Holiday Junkie on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Alexa PenaVega (Ruby & the Rockits) - Alexa talks about Great American Family's Love at the Kettle on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.