Network Notes Includes Fox Thursday Sitcom Repeats in August; Remembering Television Producer Lee Rich

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

Friday, October 18

American Housewife - "Lasagna" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Greg hosts a meeting for the Westport Historical Guild to welcome back Stan (Timothy Omundson), and Katie’s homemade lasagna is a huge hit with the guys. After Stan makes several trips back for seconds and begins spending an inordinate amount of time at the Otto house, Chloe Brown Mueller (Jessica St. Clair) becomes convinced that Katie and Stan must be having an extra-marital affair. Meanwhile, Angela and Doris step in to help Oliver with his Teen Help Line.

Fresh Off the Boat - "S'Mothered" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
While Eddie faces his fears and finally introduces his girlfriend Tina to his mom, Louis is in search of his next passion.

Raven's Home - "Girls Just Wanna Have Phones" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Nia and Tess square off in a competition with Raven and Chelsea to see who can go without technology the longest; Booker tries to impress a new girl in the building.

Just Roll With It - "The Tutor" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Owen volunteers to tutor the school's star basketball player, Big Jim, so that he can pass an upcoming test and be eligible to play in the game.

Gabby Duran & the Unsittables - "Wesley and the Fischman" (Disney Channel, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Gabby has to choose between keeping her new secret alien-babysitting gig a secret or risking it all by confiding in her extraterrestrial-obsessed best friend, Wesley.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 14)

Friday, October 18

Chris O'Dowd (Family Tree/The IT Crowd) - Watch Chris on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kal Penn (Sunnyside/Deadbeat/We Are Men) - Kal appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
America Ferrera (Superstore) - America is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Regina King (227) - Regina visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Julie Andrews (Julie) - Julie speaks about her book Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - Sean guest hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Pam Grier (Bless This Mess) - Pam drops by The Real, so check your local listings.
Sara Gilbert (The Conners/Roseanne/Living Biblically/Bad Teacher) - Sara appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine) and Jenna Fischer (Splitting Up Together/The Office) - Angela and Jenna talk about the Office Ladies Podcast on ABC's GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke at 1pm.
Kal Penn (Sunnyside/Deadbeat/We Are Men) - Kal visits Access Live, so check your local listings.
Marcus Scribner (black-ish) - Marcus appears on Access Live, so check your local listings.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William can be heard on The Morning Mashup on SiriusXM.
Billy Bob Thornton (Hearts Afire) - Billy Bob talks about Goliath on Couch Surfing at 8am.