TCA Summer 2012 Press Tour: ABC Day 1; Fox Presents The Short-Com Comedy Hour; Style Acquires Gossip Girl

Thursday, July 26, 2012

TCA Summer 2012 Press Tour: ABC Day 1; Fox Presents The Short-Com Comedy Hour; Style Acquires Gossip Girl

Today at the TCA Summer 2012 Press Tour ABC is up for its first of two days. However, the actual ABC primetime series panels and executive session will be tomorrow, so more coverage will be on that day. Today they will be showcasing ABC News (Good Morning America will be featured), the upcoming syndicated talk show Katie with Katie Couric and General Hospital, which will be moving to a new time period during ABC Daytime. Then after lunch, the TCA members will head on to the set of TV's hottest show, Revenge! That's an entire afternoon visit, followed by cocktails with the cast of hip comedies Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23. Join the cast and executive producers of two of ABC's edgier hit comedies for delicious truck nosh and thirst-quenching cocktails (Whore's Bath, anyone?) inside and outside of the Beverly Hilton's Bar210.
Come on back in this spot if there is anything that is announced today. We expect ABC Fall premiere dates either today or tomorrow for sure, so stay tuned for that! Tomorrow will be the day for the cast announcement for the All-Star season of Dancing with the Stars, so check back with us tomorrow for that!

Stay tuned tomorrow for TCA Summer 2012 Press Tour: ABC Day 2!

Fox will launch The Short-Com Comedy Hour in Summer 2013, building on television's rich past to reinvent comedy for the future. Both a contemporary spin on multi-camera comedy and an alternative development platform, The Short-Com Comedy Hour will feature four unique short-form sitcoms - or "short-coms" - in a fast-paced hour-long broadcast. Each short-com will feature both established and up-and-coming actors and comedians in one-act scenes, creating a comedy showcase brimming with today's best, brightest and freshest voices.
The short-com development process will be as distinct as the end result, featuring hand-picked talent from the world of stand-up comedy. In an effort to open up the traditional development process, Fox will facilitate a creatively open environment for comedy talent to hone their voices and material within the context of their self-produced short-coms. In addition to airing them as part of The Short-Com Comedy Hour, Fox will commission the most fully realized of these scripted vignettes to series, helping to seed the future of the Fox multi-camera brand. Additional details to be announced, stay tuned. If you recall, Fox announced something similar on the animated comedy side for a Saturday late night block. The late-night programming block will air Saturdays from 11:00 PM-12:30 AM ET/PT on Fox and will feature four new animated series per season starting in January 2013.

Gossip Girl

And finally, Style Media has acquired the off-network rights to the hit young drama series Gossip Girl from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The one-hour drama about the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite, executive produced by Josh Schwartz (Chuck, The O.C., Hart of Dixie) and Stephanie Savage (The O.C., Hart of Dixie) will begin airing Wednesday, August 15 at 8pm ET/PT on Style. Viewers can get caught up from the beginning every Wednesday night from 8-11pm ET/PT; additionally Style will air an all-day marathon on Labor Day, Monday, September 3.
This is their second off-network acquisition in recent weeks, as they also now air '90s sitcom Sister, Sister every weekday morning, as we announced.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 17

Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.

Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.

Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.

Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.

Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.

grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.

Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)

Wednesday, August 17

Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.