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

Tuesday, October 8

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Hut-Hut Psyche" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin wants Calvin Jr. to play football, but Ella thinks football is too dangerous and pushes him to play tennis instead.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Roll Model" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Vinny's weed smoking is making him a bad role model for Philip, so he attempts to rehab his image by volunteering at Cora's church; Cora lands a date with a promising gentleman.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)

Tuesday, October 8

Harrison Ford (Shrinking) - Catch Harrison on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) and Mary Holland (The Big Door Prize/Robbie/Blunt Talk) - Skylar and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) - E! News has an interview with Drake at 11pm on E!.
Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl), Ella Hunt (Dickinson) and Kim Matula (LA to Vegas) - Lamorne, Ella and Kim talk about Saturday Night on NBC's Today some time between 7-9am.
Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Jim talks about Our Town on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Patricia Clarkson (Davis Rules) - Patricia talks about Lilly on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta talks about the new season of Abbott Elementary on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Terry Crews (Everybody Still Hates Chris/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry tells Sherri about the animated new series Everybody Still Hates Chris on Comedy Central on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali talks about Ali Wong: Single Lady on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) and Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary/Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Quinta and Tyler talk about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke is sharing the secrets behind her shiny and bouncy hair and why she decided to create he own haircare line in her 50s on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa disusses Abbott Elementary on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) - Sasheer talks about Agatha All Along on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.