The Game Returns Jan. 10 On BET With Season 5; Home Improvement Is Back On TV Land Schedule And In Primetime

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The Game Returns Jan. 10 On BET With Season 5; Home Improvement Is Back On TV Land Schedule And In Primetime

The stakes are raised on BET, as Grammy Award-Winning R&B star Brandy Norwood is added to the cast of The Game and acclaimed actress Kyla Pratt joins sophomore multi-camera comedy Let's Stay Together. After record-breaking premieres last season, garnering a combined 12.1 million viewers, BET's top-rated scripted series The Game and Let's Stay Together are set to return with 22 half-hour episodes, beginning Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10 p.m. Boasting all-star casts, both shows up the ante with more laughs and more drama.

As the #1 sitcom debut in the history of all cable TV, season four of The Game left viewers on the edge of their seats. The seduction continues as infidelity, ambition, secrets and betrayal collide to make season five the most compelling yet. Picking up where it left off, Melanie (Tia Mowry Hardrict) contends with Derwin's (Pooch Hall) abortion accusation; Malik (Hosea Chanchez) and Tasha (Wendy Raquel Robinson) struggle to wrangle an intoxicated Jenna (Tika Sumpter); and Kelly (Brittany Daniel) is still off in the world trying to find herself, leaving Jason (Coby Bell) forced to come to terms with his feelings towards Black women. The new season also ushers in a new love interest for Jason, who is sure to shake things up!
In addition to music star Brandy joining the cast, and long-time favorites Melanie, Derwin, Tasha, Malik, and Jason, season five also welcomes the return of the prodigal sports manager Irv Smiff (PJ Byrne); the mother of Derwin's son, Janay (Gabrielle Dennis); Malik's former girlfriend, Jenna; as well as Malik's former assistant turned entrepreneur, Tee Tee and his famous Wing Truck (Barry T. Floyd). The momentum continues with a number of exciting new guest appearances, including Shawn Marion, Estelle, Selita Ebanks, DeRay Davis, Nene Leakes, Rockmond Dunbar, and the Emmy-award winning Loretta Devine among others.

The sexy combination of Tuesday night football followed by a little romance continues as the second season of Let's Stay Together premieres immediately after The Game. The first episode will answer the big question of what happened at Stacy (Nadine Ellis) and Charles' (Bert Belasco) wedding from the cliffhanger in last season's finale, and why he left her standing at the altar. Additionally, Tasha (Joyful Drake) and Jamal (RonReaco Lee) will have their marriage tested by former relationships and other temptations while Charles and Stacy continue to explore the ups and downs of making coupledom work.
In season two, life becomes even more complex when Kita (Erica Hubbard) is inspired to go on a reality show a la Survivor and asks her cousin Crystal (Kyla Pratt) to house sit in her absence. Let's Stay Together will explore what it means to be married, date, start and grow a business, establish a new career, and even go to college in modern day Atlanta.

For video sneak peeks and first looks of the new season of both comedies, visit their official pages respectively at BET.com/TheGame and BET.com/Letsstaytogether. Viewers can also find series updates on Facebook by liking the fan pages at http://www.facebook.com/thegameBET and http://www.facebook.com/LetsStayTogether. Also, join the conversation about the shows on Twitter by using hashtags: #thegameBET and #letsstay2gether; follow the shows for all updates & special surprises @thegameBET & @letsstay2gether. For more information about these series visit www.BET.com.
And if you haven't seen it already, read our DVD review of The Game Season 4, which is out on DVD today! Order it!

As of yesterday, TV Land made a last minute schedule change and added Home Improvement back to its line-up. The sitcom will air two episodes every weeknight from approx. 8-9pm ET/PT (fine, 7:56pm-9pm). The Taylor family will replace an hour of Roseanne, but that sitcom will still air in the late night every weeknight and also on weekends. No other schedule change was made, but we will be giving you TV Land's January 2012 schedule very soon and they have acquired a new series to air. We will reveal that to you soon, so stay with us!

Tune in tomorrow night for ABC Holiday Laugh On Wednesday!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 17

Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.

Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.

Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.

Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.

Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.

grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.

Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)

Wednesday, August 17

Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.