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

Monday, October 6

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Pomp and Circumstance" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tina and Gemma plan a joint graduation party for Malcolm and Grover.

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Venice" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Butlers and Johnsons help Malcolm start a new chapter in a new city that, while just across town, is worlds away from the neighborhood.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 6)

Monday, October 6

Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) and Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Watch Seth and Aziz on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Keri Russell (Running Wilde/Daddy's Girls) - Keri is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - Tony stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Adam Ferrara (The Job) and Harland Williams (The Geena Davis Show/Simon) - Adam is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS. Harland appears on a repeat at 1:07am.
Eli Manning (Executive Producer of Chad Powers) and Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Eli talks about Chad Powers on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Linsey Davis is joined by executive producer Eli Manning and actor Glen Powell for a deep dive on their new Hulu series Chad Powers on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Jennifer Lopez (South Central) - Jennifer talks about Kiss of the Spider Woman on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Loot) - Michaela chats about Loot on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel talks about Flip Side on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - NBC's Today catches up with Rose in the 9am hour.
William H. Macy (Sports Night) - William talks about Soul on Fire on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Phoebe Robinson (Everything's Trash) - Phoebe talks about I Don’t Want to Work Anymore on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Melissa Peterman (Happy's Place/Young Sheldon/Baby Daddy/Working Class/Reba) - Melissa tells Sherri about the new season of Finding Mr. Christmas on the Hallmark Channel on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is sharing fast and frugal meals that anyone can make at home on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Max Minghella (The Mindy Project) - Max talks about his film Shell on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.