Leave it to Beaver Leaves TV Land in December; ABC Family Pilot Phys Ed Begins Production

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Leave it to Beaver Leaves TV Land in December; ABC Family Pilot Phys Ed Begins Production

TV Land will be losing the rights to the sitcom Leave it to Beaver after its November 30 airing. The classic sitcom airs weekday mornings from 9-10am on TV Land but starting Dec. 3, the sitcom's contract is not renewed and it will be off the schedule. The series will be replaced by The Dick Van Dyke Show in the hour, as it moves from 10-11am. I Love Lucy also moves up, going from 11am-12pm to 10am-11am. The series that gains in this schedule change is The Andy Griffith Show, as the series now gets a two-hour block from 11am-1pm instead of just airing 12-1pm. As for Leave it to Beaver, not to worry as it will still be on television on Antenna TV.

Elsewhere on TV Land, they will have movie premieres for Mission Impossible (Sunday, Dec. 2 at 6pm) and Starsky & Hutch (Monday, Dec. 17 at 10:30am) in December, and we mentioned last week about their annual Thanksgiving Laugh More-a-thon (Nov. 22-25), which includes Leave it to Beaver. Also, season four of Hot in Cleveland will premiere on TV Land on Wednesday, November 28 at 10:00pm and the second half of season two of Happily Divorced will begin at 10:30pm on the same night. Stay with us in the coming weeks for the TV Land Merry-thon schedule airing on Christmas Day that will consist of classics like The Andy Griffith Show, M*A*S*H, The Cosby Show, Roseanne, Gunsmoke, Bonanza and modern classics like Everybody Loves Raymond and The King of Queens.

ABC Family begins production this week in Los Angeles on the multi-camera comedy series pilot Phys Ed, starring Ryan Sypek (Wildfire), Kate Lang Johnson (Persons Unknown), Sunkrish Bala (I Just Want My Pants Back, Notes from the Underbelly), Samm Levine (Freaks and Geeks), and Chelsea Harris (Just Jordan). We mentioned the casting news last month, but now production has begun on the pilot.
Phys Ed is a half-hour multi-camera comedy about a high school's star jock, Ed (Sypek), who returns to teach at his former alma mater only to find that, even though he's changed, nothing else really has. Ed's new colleagues include Janie (Johnson), a Government/Civics teacher at the school who was ignored by Ed in high school and now finds herself cautiously drawn to his affections; nerdy and needy chemistry teacher Matt (Levine), who quickly befriends Ed and provides him with the latest faculty gossip; popular English teacher Alan (Bala), who likes being the alpha male at school and feels an overpowering need to put Ed in his place, just as if they were still both in high school; and Wendy (Harris), a hot history teacher and cheerleading coach who is rumored to be having an affair with Alan.

The pilot is written and executive-produced by David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2) and directed by Ted Wass (Melissa & Joey). It is produced by Prodco, Inc. Ryan Sypek is an ABC Family alum, having starred in the network's first original scripted series Wildfire. As we mentioned before, should Phys Ed get picked-up to series, we will let you know...but for now this is just a pilot order.

Thanksgiving comes a week early on ABC Comedy Wednesday! A four-course meal of Thanksgiving comedy starts tonight beginning at 8/7c!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, October 6

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Pomp and Circumstance" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tina and Gemma plan a joint graduation party for Malcolm and Grover.

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Venice" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Butlers and Johnsons help Malcolm start a new chapter in a new city that, while just across town, is worlds away from the neighborhood.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 6)

Monday, October 6

Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) and Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Watch Seth and Aziz on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Keri Russell (Running Wilde/Daddy's Girls) - Keri is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - Tony stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Adam Ferrara (The Job) and Harland Williams (The Geena Davis Show/Simon) - Adam is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS. Harland appears on a repeat at 1:07am.
Eli Manning (Executive Producer of Chad Powers) and Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Eli talks about Chad Powers on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Linsey Davis is joined by executive producer Eli Manning and actor Glen Powell for a deep dive on their new Hulu series Chad Powers on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Jennifer Lopez (South Central) - Jennifer talks about Kiss of the Spider Woman on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Loot) - Michaela chats about Loot on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel talks about Flip Side on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - NBC's Today catches up with Rose in the 9am hour.
William H. Macy (Sports Night) - William talks about Soul on Fire on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Phoebe Robinson (Everything's Trash) - Phoebe talks about I Don’t Want to Work Anymore on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Melissa Peterman (Happy's Place/Young Sheldon/Baby Daddy/Working Class/Reba) - Melissa tells Sherri about the new season of Finding Mr. Christmas on the Hallmark Channel on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is sharing fast and frugal meals that anyone can make at home on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Max Minghella (The Mindy Project) - Max talks about his film Shell on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.