Fox To Air Married...with Children Pilot; Hallmark Pulls Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart On Weekends

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Fox To Air Married...with Children Pilot; Hallmark Pulls Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart On Weekends

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Fox is giving viewers a chance to look back at a show that defined the network and created one of television's most iconic characters: Al Bundy. On Sunday, April 22, the premiere episode of Married... With Children will air at 7:00 PM ET/PT followed by an encore of The Simpsons' 500th episode at 7:30 PM ET/PT, kicking off an historic evening on Fox. Married... With Children premiered Sunday, April 5, 1987 on Fox, with three half-hour broadcasts (7:00 PM, 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM) of the show's "Pilot" episode. In the pilot, Al Bundy (Ed O'Neill) gets front row seats to a basketball game, but Peggy (Katey Sagal) makes him stay home and meet their new neighbors, Marcy (Amanda Bearse) and Steve Rhoades (David Garrison). The Simpsons officially launched as a full-fledged series on January 14, 1990, but Springfield's most famous family had appeared on Fox for several years in a number of animated "shorts" as part of The Tracey Ullman Show. So, to celebrate The Simpsons' continuing impact on popular culture, Fox will encore the series' 500th episode, "At Long Last Leave," in which the Simpsons are evicted from Springfield and join an off-the-grid community outside of town.
Of course immediately following these rebroadcasts, Fox's 25th Anniversary Special will air from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT (as we have mentioned many times) and will take an entertaining look back at the groundbreaking and irreverent shows that have come to define the network. The star-studded special will pay tribute to Fox's most memorable moments with appearances by Fox talent, highlights from iconic series and specials and reunions with cast members from some of the network's fan-favorite series, including Married... With Children, In Living Color and That '70s Show, among other surprises.

The Hallmark Channel has made a last minute minor schedule change. It's not that big of a deal, but we still want to make a note of it for you classic TV fans out there. Starting this weekend, the Saturday and Sunday 2-6am block of The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show will be removed. Two hours each of Frasier and I Love Lucy will air instead on weekend mornings. Not to fret fans of The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, because both classic sitcoms will remain in this block on weekdays from 2-6am. It's just that they won't be seven days a week anymore. No reason for this weekend change, but perhaps ratings had a lot to do with it. Usually that is the culprit for a quick leash, especially on Hallmark.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show premiered 12 days ago on April 1 on Hallmark with a marathon that did OK in the ratings, while The Bob Newhart Show has been airing on the cable network since January, but it has moved timeslots already--going from 8-10am to 2-4am. With Mary Tyler Moore starting at 4-6am, there is no other place to go for a bad timeslot, other than out of the line-up completely. So let's hope it does well in this early morning block, so at the very least it can remain there. We're gonna make it after all!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, April 30

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A New Scoreboard and a Horse’s You Know What" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Fagenbacher (Matt Letscher) go head to head when Fagenbacher tries to sabotage Georgie’s attempt to honor his dad. Additional guest stars include Zoe Perry as Mary, Lance Barber as George Sr. and Raegan Revord as Missy.

Ghosts - "Under New Management" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When new pressures threaten Sam and Jay’s control over Woodstone, they’re forced to navigate unexpected challenges to protect its future. Meanwhile, a long-absent ghost returns, reopening emotional connections that complicate new relationships.

Animal Control - "Lost Dogs and Bar Flies" / "French Bulldogs and White Broncos" (Fox, 9:02PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Roman Park takes Frank's beloved dog away from him; in an effort to get his dog back, Frank and Shred find themselves on a late-night rescue mission; Frank scrambles to find a date for a romantic sunset horse ride; Patel hosts a "sip 'n snip."

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 27)

Thursday, April 30

Desi Lydic (Awkward) - Catch Desi on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark) - Olivia appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Adam is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Hokum on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour and on the Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Juliette Lewis (Camping/I Married Dora) - Juliette drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
B.J. Novak (The Office) - B.J. talks about The Devil Wears Prada 2 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Co-host Gayle King talks with the cast of The Devil Wears Prada 2 on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer tells Sherri about his role on NCIS on CBS on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Justin Theroux (Running Point) - Kate joins Drew to chat about season two of Running Point with co-star Justin Theroux on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie and Drew chat with Wolfgang Van Halen and his wife Andraia about his new music, plus a performance from his band on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
John Goodman (The Conners/The Righteous Gemstones/Roseanne/Center of the Universe/Normal, Ohio) - NBC's Today catches up with John in the 9am hour.
Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack talks about HGTV's Zillow Gone Wild on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Jess Hilarious (Rel) - Jess is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.