Wednesday, March 07, 2012

ABC Family Acquires The Middle For Fall 2013, Also In Local Syndication; TV One's March Sitcom Madness


The Middle

Warner Bros. Television has sold the ABC hit family sitcom The Middle into broadcast syndication and cable for Fall 2013! In broadcast syndication, Tribune Broadcasting stations will air it in 11 markets, including WPIX-CW New York, KTLA-CW Los Angeles and WGN-CW Chicago. Also, Sinclair Broadcast Group has picked up the sitcom in 19 markets, including Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Middle has been cleared on stations reaching 92% of TV homes so far, having also been sold to stations owned by CBS, Communications Corp., Raycom, Newport, Belo, Cox, Local TV, New Age Media, Titan, Grant, News Press & Gazette, Barrington, Mission, Venture, LIN, Pappas, Weigel, Acme, and others. A full list of stations will be available closer to fall 2013. More clearances will come.
As for cable, The Middle has been acquired by ABC Family for also fall 2013. This marks the first major current sitcom acquisition by the network, as the other comedies they previously acquired were of canceled sitcoms like My Wife & Kids and 8 Simple Rules or older comedies like That '70s Show and Full House. The hit family sitcom will likely air in the early evenings, probably sometime between 6-8pm during family time. We'll have more on that as we get closer to fall 2013, as we are still a while away!
The series premiered in fall 2009 on ABC (Wednesdays at 8PM) and is currently in its third season. By the time the series hits syndication, it will have four full seasons of episodes to air five-days-a-week. Two-time Emmy winner Patricia Heaton stars in this warm and witty single-camera comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations. Middle-aged, middle class and living in the middle of the country in Orson, Indiana, Frankie Heck is a harried wife and working mother of three who uses her wry wit and sense of humor in an attempt to get her family through each day intact. The Middle stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob. It is created and is executive produced by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.


It's March and sports fans know that March means it's time for March Madness (the college basketball tournament). TV One will have its own March Madness with Sitcom Madness! TV One will air sitcom marathons every weekday all-month long from 11am-5pm. The stunt started this week on Monday (March 5) and will continue through Friday, March 30, so you have plenty of time to join the Sitcom Madness! On Mondays, TV One will air six hours of Martin in March. On Tuesdays, spend the day with twelve helpings of The Jeffersons from 11am-5pm. The sitcoms continue mid-week with Good Times on Wednesdays. On Thursday, it's not a half marathon but we get a Half & Half marathon. And close the week out on Fridays with Eve. That's five different sitcoms, so what show do you think is the best show from these five if TV One were doing a bracket style elimination? Luckily they're not, so you can watch all five series if you like them!
Everything else on TV One in March will remain as it is, as the 11am-5pm portion is preempted this month for these marathons. No other stunts are planned, so it's all about the Sitcom Madness in March!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, November 8

Animal Control - "Baked Chickens and Rat Dogs" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Emily and Shred host their first party as a couple.

The Simpsons - "The Kosmic Kruiser" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Bart and Lisa break into Krustyland's most notorious failed attraction, only to discover that it hasn't been completely abandoned.

Universal Basic Guys - "Princess Tammy" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The Hoagies take a trip to Story World; Mark engineers a way to pay for the trip.

Grimsburg - "Flutey Friday" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Flute and Stan switch bodies for a day.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 2)

Friday, November 6

  • Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Watch Sarah on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere/Nightcap) - Jeff appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Maz Jobrani (Superior Donuts/The Knights of Prosperity/Better Off Ted) - Maz is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Natasha Leggero (Broke/Dice/Another Period/Free Agents) and Tommy Davidson (The Varnell Hill Show/The Proud Family/Malcolm & Eddie/Between Brothers) - Natasha and Tommy will be on Funny You Should Ask at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Mindy Kaling (Running Point/The Mindy Project/The Office) - ABC's Good Morning America has Deals & Steals with actress Mindy and ABC e-commerce editor Tory Johnson sometime between 7-9am.
  • Bill Hader (Barry) - Bill talks about The Cat in the Hat with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry discusses how therapy has changed his life, the two words he lives by and his new children's book, Detective Duck: The Mystery of the Flash Flood, on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings. He also drops by to surprise Drew and talk about the fourth installment of his children's book series, Detective Duck: The Mystery of the Flash Flood, on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Hailee Steinfeld (Dickinson) - Hailee talks about Disney's Hexed on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Rob Riggle (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/Golan the Insatiable/Gary Unmarried) - NBC's Today catches up with Rob in the 9am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Nora Singley is joining Pilar Valdes and Valerie for some cooking with Drew and Ross at the tasting table on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Andy can be heard on the Morning Mashup on SiriusXM.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Happy's Place - Season Two (Blu-ray) Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete Second Season (DVD) Superstore - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/29/26 - Happy's Place - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/20/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)
10/20/26 - The Brady Bunch - The Complete Original Series (2026 Release) (DVD)
10/20/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/20/26 - Shrinking - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD)
10/20/26 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Seventh and Twenty-Eighth Seasons (DVD)
11/03/26 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete Second Season (DVD)
11/03/26 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Ninth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/03/26 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Sixteenth Season (DVD)
11/03/26 - Superstore - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/24/26 - The Yogi Bear Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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