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
Thursday, November 5
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Snotty Attitude and a Party on a School Night" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy reach their breaking points when Missy moves in with the McAllisters. Meanwhile, Mary struggles to make things right with Missy.
Eternally Yours - "Steve's Dream" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Max invites Steve the Blood Guy over for game night, a kind gesture that inadvertently leads Steve to decide to leave Seattle – and sends the coven on a desperate hunt for a new blood supply. Also, Liz and Phyllis wrestle for control of the house’s interior design.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 2)
Thursday, November 5
- Adam Driver (Girls) - Catch Adam on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Awkwafina (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Awkwafina appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also joins Drew to chat about her new series The Unlikely Cook on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- 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.
- Cynthia Nixon (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Andy Cohen interviews Cynthia on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:45pm on Bravo.
- Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True on ABC's Good Morning America sometiem between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA3 at 1pm.
- Niecy Nash-Betts (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Niecy, Kim Kardashian and Naomi Watts talk about All's Fair with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Carlos PenaVega (Big Time Rush) and Alexa PenaVega (Ruby & the Rockits) - Carlos and Alexa talk about Joy Isn’t Cancelled on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie joins the news desk for some animal headlines in an all-new Drew's news on The Drew Barrymore ShoW, so check your local listings.
- Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Andy is a guest on New York Living at 10am on WPIX in New York.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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)
10/20/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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