Cheers Comes To USA Network, As Wings & Becker Leave; FX Midseason Has New Animated Comedy, Plus New Season of Archer

Thursday, December 01, 2011

Cheers Comes To USA Network, As Wings & Becker Leave; FX Midseason Has New Animated Comedy, Plus New Season of Archer

USA Network has acquired an off-network sitcom! The popular sitcom Cheers will be joining the USA Network line-up this January replacing Becker and Wings. The sitcom will air regularly Saturdays at 3am & 3:30am, but as with Wings & Becker, it will fill some half-hour during early morning slots on any given day as dictated by movie lengths. Cheers' first actual airing will be Wednesday, January 4 at 6am. Hopefully Cheers gets a more of a regular slot soon, or at least on another Universal-owned network like Universal HD. Cheers will continue airing on cable on Hallmark Channel, WGN America and ReelzChannel TV as well. As for Becker, since it will be leaving USA Network, the only place to catch it will be on ReelzChannel TV. Also as of January, Universal HD will remove Becker (maybe Universal networks are losing rights?), as well as Hogan's Heroes, so you might want to watch both of these sitcoms on Universal HD in December before they leave in January. And with it leaving USA Network, Wings will not be seen anywhere now.
In other Universal-owned cable network news, Cloo (formerly known as Sleuth) will have some cool Old School Saturday marathons in 2012 that they usually do once a month. We'll reveal to you what some are soon, so stay tuned for that. And yes, Universal HD is removing Becker and Hogan's Heroes in January, but they will continue to air Charlie's Angels and TJ Hooker, so don't worry classic TV fans. Unfortunately, the Friday night Universal Rediscovered TV block (the short lived series block from 9-11pm) will also be removed in January for a classic series block featuring an episode each of Charlie's Angels and TJ Hooker.

FX has announced release dates for two of its returning hits, as well as a brand new animated comedy series. FX opens the new year with the return of the Emmy Award®-winning hit drama Justified on January 17, and will continue to run Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Starring Timothy Olyphant. FX's acclaimed animated comedy series Archer returns for its third season starting January 19 and will air Thursdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Archer is an animated, half-hour comedy that revolves around the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Archer's three part series "Heart of Archness," which aired this past September, gained 26% in P18-49 (1.37 vs. 1.08 million), 34% in M18-49 (1.04 million vs. 775,000) and 12% in Total Viewers (1.72 vs. 1.53 million) over its second season. And finally, FX will premiere its newest series with the animated comedy Unsupervised, which will premiere on January 19 at 10:30 ET/PT and will air immediately following Archer. This series is a comedy about optimistic best friends "Gary" and "Joel" navigating the harsh landscape of teenage life and trying to do what's right without any parental guidance whatsoever. The series was created by and is executive produced by Rob Rosell, Scott Marder and David Hornsby, all who currently serve as writer/producers on FX's hit comedy series It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It features an outstanding voice cast including Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Fred Armisen, Romany Malco, Kaitlin Olson and Alexa Vega, along with Rosell and Hornsby.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 5

United We Fall - "My Favorite Marta" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jo steps in as a role model for her teenage niece, Marta, much to her strict father Chuy’s dismay. Bill plays matchmaker for Sandy who, under the influence of post-colonoscopy drugs, inadvertently professes her love for her first husband, Dave.

The Goldbergs - "Schmoopie's Big Adventure" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mother and son have a bonding experience when Beverly buys a bicycle for Adam just like the one from “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” while Barry and Erica turn Murray’s furniture store into an after-hours lounge for college students.

The Conners - "Live From Lanford" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark is watching the results of the primary for a school report with Harris who is apathetic to the electoral process and believes money’s influence in politics means real change is impossible. The rest of the Conners share their differing takes on why they all think everyone should vote, including their working-class perspective that you may have to vote for a candidate you don’t love but one that will “screw you the least.” All of this happens against the backdrop of romance when Louise (guest star Katey Sagal) gets an opportunity that might send her away from Lanford, prompting the family to interfere in Dan’s (John Goodman) complicated relationship with her by throwing Louise a surprise going-away party, creating major new tensions between Dan and his daughters.

American Housewife - "Senior Prank" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Against Greg’s better judgment, Katie pushes Taylor to lighten up and participate in her school’s senior prank. Meanwhile, Anna-Kat asks Oliver to give Franklin (Evan O’Toole) a makeover so he won’t embarrass himself at a classmate’s party.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 3)

Wednesday, August 5

Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Watch Jamie on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tig Notaro (One Mississippi) - Tig appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Seth Rogen (Undeclared) - Seth is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) - Gillian appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
David Tennant (Final Space) - David is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Karen Gillan (Selfie) - Karen appears on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Carpoolers) - Jerry is a guest on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo. He also talks about The Secret: Dare to Dream on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Steven Weber (Indebted/Cursed/Wings) - Steven appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Rob Riggle (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/Golan the Insatiable) - Rob is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Lecy Goranson (The Conners/Roseanne) - Lecy talks about the season finale of The Conners on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Cedric Yarbrough (Carol's Second Act/Speechless/Reno 911!) - Cedric talks about the return of Reno 911! on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.