ABC Mid-Season Change Has Happy Endings Moving to Fridays; I Dream of Jeannie President's Day Marathon in New York

Thursday, February 14, 2013

ABC Mid-Season Change Has Happy Endings Moving to Fridays; I Dream of Jeannie President's Day Marathon in New York

ABC has announced midseason scheduling moves, with Celebrity Wife Swap, the reality series that shines a light on how controversial celebrities really live their lives, returning on Tuesday, February 26 at 8:00pm ET with all-new episodes, and competitive cooking show The Taste moving back an hour to 9:00pm, starting that same night. And beginning Friday, March 29, critically acclaimed comedy Happy Endings will move to a new night and time on Friday nights, airing back-to-back original episodes at 8:00pm & 8:30pm, ET. The Friday night comedy block of Last Man Standing and Malibu Country will have aired their season finales the week prior to Happy Endings taking over that timeslot on March 22, after both wrap up their 18 episode orders. The comedy will be the lead-in to Friday's #1 show Shark Tank at 9pm. ABC had planned to launch Primetime Nightline in April at 9pm, but that might be pushed back to May or early summer.

Happy Endings is scheduled to air for five straight Fridays to fulfill the ten episodes that are left to air this season, so the season finale will likely be on April 26. The sitcom last aired on Tuesday, Jan. 29 from 9-10pm, as it was preempted last week (Feb. 5) for a special The Bachelor and this week for the State of the Union Address. On Feb. 19 The Bachelor: Sean Tells All special will air before Celebrity Wife Swap takes over on Feb. 26. ABC has only scheduled three Celebrity Wife Swap episodes for now (Feb. 26-March 12). The first episode features the unlikeliest of moms swapping lives -- Splash contestant and Playmate Kendra Wilkinson and reality super mom Kate Gosselin of Kate Plus Eight fame (and both former Dancing with the Stars contestants). The 3 episodes will keep the timeslot warm for Splash when it premieres on March 19, while The Taste will wrap up on March 12 at 9pm. No word on what ABC will air at 9pm on Tuesday, March 19 yet, but they could expand the Splash premiere to two-hours, as Dancing with the Stars: The Results will not launch until the following week on March 26. Stay tuned for the casting announcement for Dancing on Feb. 26 during Good Morning America. And among the stars on Splash, we have former sitcom stars Nicole Eggert and Keshia Knight Pulliam, along with TV stars Drake Bell and Louie Anderson, and Chuy Bravo, Ndamukong Suh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rory Bushfield, Katherine Webb and Kendra Wilkinson rounding out the cast.

Moving on, if you had one wish, what would it be? This President's Day, anything can happen – with a little help from a certain genie. WLNY-TV 10/55 in New York is rounding up another classic TV show for a holiday. This time the holiday is President's Day and WLNY-TV 10-55 is making all your wishes come true with an I Dream Of Jeannie marathon. I Dream of Jeannie, starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, will air for a full-day marathon event on Monday, February 18, 2013 from 9am-9pm. Episode information is still not available. WLNY has aired marathons of Taxi, The Odd Couple, The Munsters, Andy Griffith Show, and I Love Lucy on holidays already since last July.

Rescued from a bottle (and a deserted island) by a U.S. astronaut, a scantily clad genie named Jeannie becomes his slave and eventually falls in love with him. But unlike most genie stories, there are no three wishes rule - so Jeannie uses her magic all the time, often without talking to her rescuer about it first.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Friday, March 31

Lopez vs. Lopez - "Lopez vs Dog Quinces" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A once-estranged father and daughter navigate dysfunction, reconnection and all the headaches and joy in between as they make up for lost time like only they can -- with the rest of their unique, offbeat family by their side.

Grand Crew - "Wine & Children" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Nicky and Noah find out their dad has a new boo; Anthony and Fay look after Wyatt's plants while he's away; Sherm dates a mommy, and there's wine.

Saturdays - "Too Many Cooks" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Paris asks if Simone and Ari can work at her parents' baking business, but before long, Paris is working overtime to clean up her friends' messes.

Saturdays - "Why Are You So Meme?" (Disney Channel, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Paris and Sonia Little of 2-Cute-4-U show up at Saturdays with the same hairdo, touching off a "Who-Wore-It-Best" meme war.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)

Friday, March 31

Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Chris on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about The Super Mario Bros. Movie on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour.
Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Lee Curtis (Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke appears on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Animal Practice/Better with You/Reba) and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - JoAnna and Morris guest co-host The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Heather Graham (Californication/Emily's Reasons Why Not/Scrubs) - Heather appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra talks about Space Oddity on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. She will also be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
John Owen Lowe (Unstable) - John is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about her new OnlyFans comedy roast series Whitney Cummings Presents on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Kym Whitley (Act Your Age/Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) - Kym joins Sherri on the couch to talk about their NAACP Image Award-winning podcast Two Funny Mamas and her sitcom Act Your Age on Bounce TV on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Leslie Odom Jr. (Love in the Time of Corona/Big Dady) and Nicolette Robinson (Love in the Time of Corona/Perfect Couples) - Leslie and Nicolette talk about I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Christina Milian (Grandfathered) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs) - ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know spotlights Celia Cruz as first Afro-Latina on a U.S. quarter with family and celebrity guests Christina Milian, Amara La Negra and Judy Reyes at 1pm.