The Hub Fall 2011 Schedule; Remembering Don Taffner of DLT Entertainment

Thursday, September 08, 2011

The Hub Fall 2011 Schedule; Remembering Don Taffner of DLT Entertainment

The Hub will be making some changes to the fall 2011 schedule, with some changes already in effect as of Tuesday (Sept. 6). Before we turn our focus to the sitcom line-up, we want to mention that they added the animated '90s series Batman: The Animated Series, airing weekdays at 5pm, followed by the wildly popular series Goosebumps at 5:30pm. Batman: The Animated Series is also airing weekdays at 7pm and 1am, while Goosebumps will also air on Saturdays at 12 noon starting this Saturday. And as we already announced, The Hub has acquired the cable rights to the popular game show, Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? and will launch it on Monday, Sept. 19, airing it Mon-Thurs at 8:00pm & 8:30pm with an encore at 2:00am & 2:30am. This means the sitcom line-up will change a bit. Family Ties will move from 8-9pm to the 9:30pm half-hour. The Keaton family will also encore at 3:30am. The Wonder Years will remain at 9pm, as will the encore at 3am, but Doogie Howser M.D. will go from 9:30pm to 11pm, with an encore at 5am. From 10-11pm, instead of back-to-back Happy Days, we now get an episode each of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, since Doogie is moving to 11pm (Laverne & Shirley's old timeslot). The duo will encore in the 4am hour Mon-Thurs nights. And remaining at 11:30pm with an encore at 5:30am is classic Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Holy Consistency Batman!
As of now, the sitcom line-up on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights will remain intact, but this is not official yet. We will let you know if it isn't. So in addition to Mon-Thurs weeknights, you can still enjoy the comedies on Friday nights from 2-6am, Saturday nights from 1am-4am and Sunday nights from 12am-4am that are currently airing. Other notable non-sitcom stuff on weekdays has classic Transformers Sun-Fri at 7am and Mon-Thurs at 12am; G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Mon-Thurs at 12:30am and Sundays at 6:30am; Jem Sun-Fri at 7:30am and weekdays at 2pm & 6pm; Fraggle Rock weekdays at 9am; and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show weekdays at 10am.
Discuss The Hub Fall 2011 schedule. As I mentioned, keep it with us for continued updates, but none of the sitcoms are leaving the schedule as of now this fall even with the addition of 5th Grader! Stay with us.

Donald Taffner Sr., a 40-year veteran of the television industry and an inventive executive who helped bring Three's Company, Too Close for Comfort and The Benny Hill Show to the American public, died on September 6 after a brief illness. His daughter, Karen Butler, spoke to the St. John's University newspaper The Torch and said that the doctors believe the cause of death was a "cataclysmic heart event, like an aneurysm or clot.” Mr. Taffner was 80.

Taffner and his wife, Eleanor, founded D.L. Taffner Ltd. in 1963. The couple later changed the name to Taffner Enterprises before it became known as DLT Entertainment. The company was originally formed to help international broadcasters looking for American television shows for their schedules, but they later started to sell overseas shows to the U.S. networks. They helped bring the ABC sitcoms Three's Company, its spinoff Three's a Crowd and Too Close for Comfort to American audiences. DLT Entertainment also brought us the 1985-88 Canadian sitcom Check It Out! which starred Don Adams; the BBC sitcoms My Family and As Time Goes By; and various cartoons that featured the Beatles, Crazy Cat, Barney Google and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. In 1986, he received the International Emmy Founders Award "for setting new levels of creativity in the worldwide exchange of television programs."

You can read more about his career and view a video interview at the Archive of American Television. Mr. Taffner's wife, Eleanor, passed away from natural causes on September 15, 2010 in New York. He is survived by a son, producer Donald L. Taffner Jr.; two daughters, Karen Butler and Rhonda Taffner Cantor; and three grandchildren, John, Henry and Tom Butler. We thank him for bringing us Three's Company and Too Close for Comfort. He will be missed.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 16

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Mac and Dennis Become EMTs" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
After witnessing EMTs resuscitate a Paddy's patron, Mac and Dennis set out to become the pinnacle of masculinity.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 14)

Wednesday, July 16

Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Watch Ronny on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Owen Wilson (Stick) - Owen takes "The Colbert Questionert" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet) - Timothy appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Emily Ratajkowski (Too Much) - Emily is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about Too Much on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Kristen Schaal (What We Do in the Shadows/The Last Man on Earth/Bob's Burgers/Flight of the Conchords) and Flula Borg (Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin) - Kristen and Flula are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley discusses her new documentary Something Beautiful ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Freddie) - Freddie talks about I Know What You Did Last Summer on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew and Valerie are highlighting some extra special adoptable dogs with a local humane society on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Emily Osment (Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage/Young Sheldon/Young & Hungry/Hannah Montana) and Montana Jordan (Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage/Young Sheldon) - Emily and Montana are telling Drew about their hilarious Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Blossom/Brotherly Love/Run of the House/Melissa & Joey), Matthew Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Drexell's Class/Walter & Emily/Brotherly Love/Boy Meets World) and Andy Lawrence (Tom/Brotherly Love/Oliver Beene) - The Lawrence brothers talk about their Brotherly Love Podcast Live event in Las Vegas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Malin Akerman (Dollface/Sin City Saints/Trophy Wife/Childrens Hospital) - Malin is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.