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

Friday, December 26

Happy's Place - "Promises, Promises" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett continues his nightly check-ins with Bobbie to ensure her safety, Isabella pays the price as she's kept up by their loud late-night chats, prompting her to tell Bobbie to advance their relationship or at least take it out of the house.

Stumble - "Media Day" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Courteney decides to use media day as a way to recruit new cheerleaders and to push her team to get right back on that mat; DiMarcus proves that not all Buttons are meant to be pushed.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 22)

Friday, December 26

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Zooey appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Kaler (My Boys) - Jamie is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick discusses his new book with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti cooks on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Loist in Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Mo'Nique (The Parkers) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Mo'Nique about her weight-loss journey and the launch of her new fitness brand, Mo'Niques Movement, as well as the emotional moment with her husband that changed it all, so check your local listings.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - NBC's Today has Cocktails and Mocktails with Neil and David Burtka on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario tells Sherri about his new holiday film The Christmas Spark on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers), Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) - The Now You See Me: Now You Don't cast including Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher Jesse Eisenberg, Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa join Drew to dish all about the third installment of the hit franchise on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.