Thursday, January 24, 2013
Fox Cancels Ben & Kate, Pulls It From Schedule; MeTV Coming to Washington D.C.
Fox is about pull Ben & Kate from the Tuesday night schedule effective immediately. They have announced revisions to its Tuesday night lineup, which will include the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen on Tuesday, March 12 at 8:00PM ET/PT. But before we get to that, on Tuesdays, Jan. 29, Feb. 5 and Feb. 26 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT, Fox will air all-new one-hour episodes of Raising Hope, so they'll double up on the comedy in lieu of the cancelation of Ben & Kate. Feb. 12 will have encores at 8 because of the State of the Union at 9pm ET, Feb. 19 will have an encore of New Girl at 8:30 following a new Raising Hope at 8 and on March 5 from 8-10pm, Fox will air American Idol on a special night. The Tuesday 9pm hour of New Girl and The Mindy Project will remain in their regularly scheduled time periods.
Then as mentioned, Tuesday nights heat up earlier than expected this spring when Chef Gordon Ramsay returns for the Season 11 premiere of Hell's Kitchen on Tuesday, March 12 at 8:00PM ET/PT, and it will be continued to be followed by all-new episodes of New Girl and The Mindy Project. Back to Raising Hope, it will have a one-hour season finale on a special night Thursday, March 28 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, following American Idol at 8. Yes, that's a full month after its last Tuesday airing on Feb. 26. Fox also says Ben & Kate will return with all-new episodes at a later date. The series will have six episodes left from its 19-episode order, but the creator and stars have said on Twitter that the series has been officially canceled. So if and when the series does return to the schedule, it will just be to burn-off the six remaining episodes. We were surprised the series was quickly picked-up for a full season very on in the season despite low ratings but the ratings didn't improve and got worse, so Fox was forced to pull the series now. Stay with us for continued updates.
The MeTV Network, the definitive classic television network, is heading to the nation's capital on WJLA (ABC7) in Washington D.C. This is the newest affiliate to join The MeTV Network, that now has clearance in each of the top ten television markets in the country, with the addition of the nation's eighth largest market of Washington D.C. The station will launch MeTV on March 1, 2013 and will be seen over-the-air on WJLA's digital subchannel on channel 7.2, replacing WeatherNow. WJLA is owned by Allbritton Communications Company and is the second station from this media group to become a MeTV affiliate. The MeTV Network now serves 141 affiliates and clears 87% of the country. In addition to being available in all top ten television markets, the network can be found in 28 of the top 30 markets in the U.S.
MeTV features a wide range of programming which audiences and advertisers find comfortable and engaging. MeTV's library includes almost 100 series from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, CBS Television Distribution, NBCUniversal Television as well as many independent series owners and producers. MeTV's line-up as you know, includes some of the most beloved television programs ever produced, including: M*A*S*H, The Brady Bunch, The Beverly Hillbillies, Perry Mason, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, and the classic Hawaii Five-O series.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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