SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

ABC has pulled freshman sitcom Man Up! after eight weeks. The sitcom was airing Tuesdays at 8:30pm since Oct. 18 but has struggled in the ratings. Effective immediately, reruns of Last Man Standing will air in its place for the next three weeks - Dec. 13, 20 and 27. Then starting Jan. 3, new mid-season sitcom Work It will premiere in the time period for 13 episodes. Only 11 of the 13 Man Up! episodes were originally scheduled, but with it ending three weeks earlier than planned, five episodes will be left in the can. No word on if and when ABC will burn them off, but it doesn't look like they will until the summer, if at all. Stay with us for further details.
In other ABC programming updates, the highest rated new drama of the season is ABC's Once Upon a Time and ABC will air a six episode marathon of the series on New Year's Day - Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012. The episodes will air at 4pm ET (2pm PT), 5pm ET (3pm PT), and in primetime from 7-11pm ET/PT. There is an all-new episode this Sunday (Dec. 11) at 8pm and that will be its seventh episodes to date, so when the marathon airs on Jan. 1, one episode won't be included. We don't know what episodes are airing yet, but if you missed any episode or want to try the series out, here is your chance. Trust me it is a good show and you won't want to miss it!





Veteran and Emmy-winning character actor Harry Morgan, best known to television audiences as M*A*S*H's Col. Sherman T. Potter, has died. He died at his home in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Wednesday morning (December 7). His daughter-in-law Beth Morgan said that he had recently been treated for pneumonia. Mr. Morgan was 96.

Morgan's career in film and TV spanned from 1942 to 1999. He appeared in mostly supporting roles in more than 100 films. In 1942, he made his screen debut (as Henry Morgan) in To the Shores of Tripoli. Other early films included The Ox-Bow Incident, Wing and a Prayer, Dragonwyck, The Big Clock, High Noon, Bend of the River, Thunder Bay, The Glenn Miller Story, The Far Country and Strategic Air Command. Some of his later film roles from the 1960s and 1970s included Inherit the Wind, How the West Was Won, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home, Frankie and Johnny, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Support Your Local Sheriff!, Support Your Local Gunfighter!, Snowball Express, The Shootist and The Wild Wild West Revisited. In 1987, he reprised his Bill Gannon character in a supporting role in Dragnet.

His television career began in the early 1950s with guest appearances on several series, including The Doctor and The Lone Wolf. His first regular televison role was as Pete Porter on December Bride, which aired on CBS from 1954-1959. He would later play the same character in the spinoff series Pete and Gladys from 1960-1962. Morgan would be a regular as various characters on The Richard Boone Show in 1963-64. In 1964-65, he co-starred with Dennis Weaver on the NBC series Kentucky Jones. His next well-known role was as Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet from 1967-70. He would work again for his Dragnet co-star Jack Webb on The D.A. in 1971-72 and on the western Hec Remsey in 1972-74.

In 1974, he guest starred on M*A*S*H as spaced-out Major General Bartford Hamilton Steele in the episode "The General Flipped at Dawn." He received an Emmy nomination for his performance. When McLean Stevenson left the show at the end of the third season, Morgan was brought in to replace him as Colonel Sherman T. Potter. In 1980, he received an Emmy award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He also directed 8 episodes of the series. Morgan would reprise his role in the short-lived 1983-84 spinoff series, AfterMASH. In 1986, he co-starred with Hal Linden on Blacke's Magic on NBC. He later starred in the short-lived You Can't Take It with You in 1987. Some other sitcom guest appearances for him included The Partridge Family, The Love Boat, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, The Simpsons, Grace Under Fire and 3rd Rock From the Sun. His final sitcom role was a guest appearance on Love & Money in 1999.

You can view an interview with him from April 14, 2004 at the Archive of American Television. Mr. Morgan is survived by his wife, Barbara Bushman, whom he married on December 17, 1986; three sons from his first marriage to Eileen Detchon - Charles, Paul and Christopher (a fourth son, Daniel, died in 1989); eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. It's pretty amazing that he was seen in prime time for a span of an estimated 35 straight years. He lived a long and productive life and will be deeply missed. Please share your memories of Mr. Morgan here.

Beginning today, in celebration of Morgan's life and his portrayal of one of the most iconic characters in TV history, the MeTV Network will air M*A*S*H episodes featuring the best of Harry Morgan. The tribute begins with his first appearance which began it all for him on M*A*S*H, not as Colonel Potter, but as the crazy General Steele. For the next eight days, MeTV will air the best episodes with him in M*A*S*H's regular Sun-Fri at 7pm & 7:30pm ET time slots. The best of stunt will end on Friday, December 16, 2011. Here are the list of episodes airing: "The General Flipped at Dawn," "Change of Command," "Dear Mildred," "Mail Call, Again," "The Price of Tomato Juice," "The Interview," "Hawkeye Get Your Gun," "Potter's Retirement," "Lil," "The Price," "Old Soldiers," "April Fools," "The Red/White Blues," "'Twas The Day After Christmas," "Pressure Points," and "Friends and Enemies."