Thursday, May 31, 2012
Network Notes Includes Fox Thursday Sitcom Repeats in August; Remembering Television Producer Lee Rich
It's time for another round of network notes! First on CBS, after canceled sitcom How To Be A Gentleman concludes its burn-off, CBS will air burn-off episodes of canceled drama NYC 22 on Saturday nights starting July 7. CBS only aired four episodes of the drama on Sunday nights at 10pm, and will now the remaining nine episodes will air this summer on Saturdays at 8pm and 9pm most weeks through August 18. CBS planned on airing these episodes this summer in the Sunday at 10pm slot, but now will likely go with repeats of dramas instead, as CSI: Miami repeats have already been scheduled for last Sunday (May 27) and June 3. See the schedule for NYC 22.
On ABC, the schedule update is for two summer series from ABC News. First, the previously announced Final Witness for Tuesdays at 10 starting July 10, is being moved to Wednesdays at 10 starting June 27 for 7 episodes. ABC had not announced anything in that time period after the initial Apartment 23 and Modern Family repeats and then two special Duets airings (June 13 and 20). Airing now in the Tuesday at 10 slot where Final Witness was going to air will now be the reality medical series NY Med. This series follows the doctors of NY Presbyterian Hospital, similar to Boston Med in summer 2010. NY Med will air Tuesdays at 10 starting July 10 for likely 8 episodes. See the full information on both of these schedule changes.
Moving on to NBC, America's Got Talent will air its last Monday episode on July 2. The reality staple will move to Wednesdays at 9pm starting July 11 and Tuesdays will expand to two-hours to 8-10pm. In addition, a special three-night event will air Monday, June 25 8-9pm; Tuesday, June 26 9-10pm and Wednesday, June 27 9-11pm. And finally on Fox, they will have Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef on Mondays and Tuesday from 8-10pm starting next week, but the two shows will be cut to one night by end of July. Hell's Kitchen will air back-to-back on Monday nights starting July 30 and MasterChef will air back-to-back on Tuesday nights starting July 31. For both shows, it will be an encore leading into a new episode. And finally, after the Thursday reality series (which premiere next week) conclude, Fox will go with comedy encores of Raising Hope and New Girl in the 8pm hour starting August 2, as Take Me Out concludes July 26. Glee repeats will air at 9pm beginning July 19, as The Choice will conclude July 12.
Television and film producer Lee Rich, co-founder of Lorimar Productions who produced series including The Waltons, Eight is Enough and Dallas, has died. He died on May 24 of lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles. Mr. Rich was 93.
Rich's career began in advertising for Benton & Bowles as ad agency middleman between product company sponsors and television producers. He was involved with The Andy Griffith Show, Make Room for Daddy, The Edge of Night, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and The Dick Van Dyke Show. In 1965, he formed his own production company, Mirisch-Rich Productions. They produced The Rat Patrol and the short-lived sitcom Hey, Landlord. In 1969, he co-founded Lormiar Productions with Merv Adelson and Irwin Molasky. Rich served as an executive producer for The Waltons, Eight is Enough, Dallas and Flamingo Road. During his time at Lorimar, he received five Emmy nominations and won the 1973 Outstanding Drama Series for The Waltons. He also brought us TV movies including The Homecoming, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (which served as the pilot for The Waltons), Sybil and Helter Skelter. After leaving Lorimar in 1986, Rich joined MGM/UA Communications as Chairman/CEO for two years. He later helped produce films including Passenger 57, Just Cause, Gloria and The Score.
The Archive of American Television has an extensive interview with him from 1999. Rich is survived by his longtime partner, actress Pippa Scott; five children, Michael Henes, Jessica Rich, Miranda Rich Tollman, Blair Rich and Anthony Rich; and seven grandchildren. We thank him for bringing us many quality hours of television. He will be missed.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, November 21
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "The 6:10 to Lubbock" (CBS, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie and Mandy get fed up staying with her parents and reconsider their living situation after a fight with Mandy’s mom, Audrey.
Ghosts - "Man of Your Dreams" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam learns that one of the ghosts’ powers is to enter the dreams of the livings and influence their decisions. Also, two of the ghosts think they’ve learned the secret to moving on.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)
Thursday, November 21
- Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/The Ellen Show/Welcome to New York) - Catch Jim on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Justine Lupe (Nobody Wants This/Cristela), Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) and Timothy Simons (HouseBroken/Veep) - Justine, Jackie and Timothy are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Maura Tierney (NewsRadio/The Van Dyke Show) - Maura is in the studio to discuss the neww season of Law and Order on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Paul Reiser (Mad About You/Red Oaks/Married/My Two Dads) - Paul is telling Drew about his huge return to comedy after thirty years with his standup special, Life, Death and Rice Pudding, and his new movie The Gutter on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- John O'Hurley (Seinfeld/Over the Top/The Mullets) - John will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts