SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

We have the ABC Family September 2012 schedule. We are not calling it a fall schedule just yet because there might be some changes in October, but we're not sure if that is the case. Their new addition of course is the popular sitcom Reba, which joined in August and a story we broke. ABC Family launched the sitcom on Monday, August 6 with a marathon event from 11am-6pm and then it started airing regularly on ABC Family weekdays from 4-6pm. In September, the daytime line-up will remain intact. That means a block of Boy Meets World from 7-9:30am, leading into The 700 Club programming from 9:30-11am. Gilmore Girls remains at 11am, followed by an hour of Still Standing at 12 noon and back-to-back 8 Simple Rules at 1pm. All that will still lead into That '70s Show from 2-4pm. As mentioned, Reba is from 4-6pm, followed by either movies or original encores taking over starting at 6pm. In late night, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will remain airing in the 12 midnight hour each weeknight.

ABC Family is light on the original series in September. The final ten episodes of the first season of Switched at Birth will start airing on Monday, Sept. 3 at 8pm. The drama will finish its 32-episode first season in early November. A marathon will lead-in that day from 7am-8pm. The next night, ABC Family will have the season finale of its reality series Beverly Hills Nannies at 9pm, following a marathon of all the episodes from 1-9pm. There will also be a Reunion Special at 10pm that night (Sept. 4). The current series airing right now will have their summer finales later this month, which includes Melissa & Joey, Baby Daddy, and Pretty Little Liars. Movie wise, ABC Family has some movie premieres in September: Pocahontas, Yours, Mine and Ours (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (1951). Movies will be airing in primetime every night in September since there will be just one original series airing all month.
Will there be changes coming in October on the regular daytime schedule for ABC Family? We will let you know, so stay with us!

Actor Ron Palillo, best known for his role as high school student Arnold Dingfelder Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter, has died. He died on August 14 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Mr. Palillo was 63.

Palillo's first television role was as Arnold Horshack, the class clown of the Sweathogs, on Welcome Back, Kotter. The popular sitcom ran for 4 seasons and 95 episodes on ABC from 1975-1979. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1976 after its first season. Palillo also appeared as Arnold Horshack on the pilot episode of the short-lived Mr. T and Tina, which starred Pat Morita, in 1976. Some of his other television guest appearances included The Love Boat, Alice, The A-Team, CHiPs, Matt Houston, Murder, She Wrote, Trapper John, M.D., and Cagney & Lacey. Palillo provided his voice in several animated series, including Laverne & Shirley in the Army in 1981, the Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour in 1982, and Rubik, the Amazing Cube in 1983. He played the role of Gary Warren on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live for one year in 1994. In 1996, he appeared as himself in three episodes of Ellen, where he was the love interest of Ellen's friend Audrey. He reprised his Horshack role in a 1997 episode of the NBC sitcom Mr. Rhodes that also featured Robert Hegyes and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Other Welcome Back, Kotter related appearances included Family Feud, the MTV Movie Awards, Ames Department Store commercials, the E! True Hollywood Story, ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration, and the TV Land Awards. Palillo was unable to attend the 35th Anniversary Welcome Back, Kotter reunion at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards in 2011 due to emergency surgery.

Palillo had lectured in colleges and high schools in recent years. Since 2009, he worked as a teacher at G-Star School of the Arts for Motion Pictures and Broadcasting in Palm Beach, Florida. His survivors include his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm, as well as two brothers, Richard and Robert, and a sister, Ann. Palillo is the second Sweathog to die this year. Robert Hegyes died on January 26 after suffering a heart attack. It's sad we have lost both of them at relatively young ages. Horshack was such a funny and iconic character. Ooh-ooh-ooooh! Mister Kotter-r-r! He will be greatly missed.

No Welcome Back, Kotter tribute marathons are planned as no TV networks has rights to the sitcom. We contacted Antenna TV and MeTV Network and they cannot air it. Hopefully Warner Bros. gives us a tribute in some way, on TV or any other platform, as the character of Arnold Horshack was memorable.

What are your favorite Arnold Horshack memories? Discuss them on our Welcome, Back Kotter message board. View photos in our Welcome Back, Kotter photo gallery.