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

Sunday, December 28

Animal Control - "Bear Cubs and Broncos" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Tensions erupt when the two rival animal control precincts are forced to merge due to budget cuts; Frank and Templeton clash during a bear cub rescue as they fight for control; Emily and Shred try to hide their romance from the team.

The Simpsons - "¡The Fall Guy-Yi-Yi!" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Homer revitalizes Bumblebee Man's career when he becomes his secret stuntman.

Krapopolis - "Monster Week" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Tyrannis offends his father; Stupendous and Hippocampus do security; Deliria builds a dog.

Bob's Burgers - "Heist Things Are Heist" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After winning a prestigious award, Bob faces a setback at the ceremony; the kids team up with possible former jewel thief Vincent to put things right.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 22)

Friday, December 26

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Zooey appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Kaler (My Boys) - Jamie is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick discusses his new book with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti cooks on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Loist in Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Mo'Nique (The Parkers) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Mo'Nique about her weight-loss journey and the launch of her new fitness brand, Mo'Niques Movement, as well as the emotional moment with her husband that changed it all, so check your local listings.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - NBC's Today has Cocktails and Mocktails with Neil and David Burtka on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario tells Sherri about his new holiday film The Christmas Spark on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers), Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) - The Now You See Me: Now You Don't cast including Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher Jesse Eisenberg, Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa join Drew to dish all about the third installment of the hit franchise on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.