Wednesday, March 07, 2012
ABC Family Acquires The Middle For Fall 2013, Also In Local Syndication; TV One's March Sitcom Madness
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
Monday, November 9
St. Denis Medical - "Is That a Dinosaur?" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron refuses to be babied on his first day back; Alex faces off with Val over some I.O.U.'s; Bruce deepens his relationship with Dr. Emerson.
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins - "The Spaghetti Loop" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Tobin and Rusty both attempt to become financially independent of the Dinkins family, but Reggie has other ideas.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 9)
Monday, November 9
- Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Watch Andy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Pete Davidson (Bupkis) - Pete is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Watching Ellie/Seinfeld/Day by Day) - Julia appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) - Caroline will be on Funny You Should Ask at 12:37am on CBS.
- Rachel Dratch (Grimsburg/Imaginary Mary/30 Rock), Sara Foster and Erin Foster (Producers of Nobody Wants This) - Andy Cohen interviews Rachel, Sara and Erin on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Danielle Fishel (Girl Meets World/Boy Meets World), Rider Strong (Girl Meets World/Boy Meets World/Julie) and Will Friedle (Boy Meets World) - Danielle, Rider and Will are guests on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose talks about The Good Daughter on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Bobby Moynihan (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins/Mr. Mayor/Me, Myself & I) - NBC's Today catches up with Bobby in the 9am hour.
- Julianne Moore (Sirens) - NBC's Today catches up with Julianne in the 10am hour.
- Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) and Stephanie Hsu (Laid) - Ali and Stephanie talk about Steps on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Niecy Nash-Betts (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Niecy tells Drew all about the upcoming season of All's Fair on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
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