Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Hallmark Dumps The Good Wife; Remembering Ben Starr Co-Creator of The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons
The Hallmark Channel has pulled The Good Wife completely from its line-up effective today (Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014). The series started a few weeks ago by airing weekdays from 6-10pm but after just a week it was reduced to 8-10pm and now it is gone completely. The Waltons will now air in primetime from 8-10pm, so its 2-4pm airings will be replaced by Home Improvement. Hallmark will replace the 6-8pm Home Improvement block with the return of Little House on the Prairie. Classic '70s and '80s family dramas from 6-10pm trump over The Good Wife in the ratings for Hallmark it seems. Hallmark has a quick axe usually on shows that do not deliver in ratings, but for a big acquisition like this, it might have been too quick to pull. We'll let you know if and when it returns to the line-up. The rest of the Hallmark Channel weekday schedule will remain as is, with I Love Lucy from 5-8am, The Golden Girls from 8-10am, a new and encore of Home & Family from 10am-2pm, the aforementioned Home Improvement from 2-4pm, The Brady Bunch from 4-6pm into the classic dramas from 6-10pm (Little House & The Waltons). Comedies will rule in late night still with Frasier from 10pm-12am, The Golden Girls from 12-2am, Cheers from 2-3am, and more Frasier from 3-5am.
Television writer and producer Ben Starr, who helped create The Facts of Life and Silver Spoons, has died. He died on January 19 at his home in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. Mr. Starr was 92.
Starr's early sitcom writing credits included Duffy's Tavern, My Hero, I Married Joan, The Ray Milland, December Bride, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Bachelor Father. He wrote 40 episodes of Mister Ed from 1961-1963. Other sitcoms he wrote multiple episodes of included My Favorite Martian, Petticoat Junction, The Brady Bunch, Chico and the Man and All in the Family.
He worked as a writer and producer for Diff'rent Strokes from 1978-1982. He was instrumental in inadvertently coining the famous "Whatchu talking 'bout Willis?" catchphrase by Gary Coleman. The line was originally written as "What are you talking about, Willis?" before Coleman gave his classic delivery. He was interviewed in the E! True Hollywood Story specials on Diff'rent Strokes and Dana Plato in 1998 and 1999. In 1979, he helped develop the spin-off series The Facts of Life with Howard Leeds and Jerry Mayer. The popular series aired on NBC for 9 seasons and 209 episodes. Starr later helped create Silver Spoons with Leeds and Martin Cohan in 1982. The series, starring Ricky Schroder, Joel Higgins and Erin Gray, aired for five seasons (four on NBC and one in first-run syndication).
The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on November 9, 2009. Survivors include three children and three grandchildren and nephew Andy Kaplan, who heads international channels for Sony Pictures TV. We thank him for bringing us the classic 1980s sitcoms The Facts of Life and Silver Spoons. He will be greatly missed.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, April 18
Young Sheldon - "An Ankle Monitor and a Big Plastic Crap House" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Sheldon studies to be Meemaw’s lawyer when she is put on house arrest, and the Coopers have a plumbing emergency.
Ghosts - "Holes Are Bad" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Sam and Jay leave the ghosts home alone for the weekend in an attempt to have a romantic getaway, shocking revelations are made about two of Woodstone’s beloved spirits.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 15)
Thursday, April 18
- Zendaya (K.C. Undercover/Shake It Up) - Catch Zendaya on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Sandra Oh (Arliss) - Sandra is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She talks about Sympathizer on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Reid Scott (Veep/My Boys/It's All Relative) - Reid appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Daniel Radcliffe (Miracle Workers) - Daniel will be on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Joel McHale (Animal Control/The Great Indoors/Community) - Joel is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Dulcé Sloan (The Great North) - Dulcé hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Chris O'Dowd (The Big Door Prize/Family Tree) - Chris appears on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am. He chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Tony Danza (Taxi/Who's the Boss?/Hudson Street/The Tony Danza Show) - NBC's Today catches up with Tony in the 10am hour.
- Jurnee Smollett (On Our Own) - Jurnee talks about We Grown Now on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Jay Hernandez (Hang Time) - Jay discusses his new film The Long Game on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Lil Rel Howery (Rel/The Carmichael Show) - Lil Rel talks about We Grown Now on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Michaela Watkins (Dinner with the Parents/Search Party/The Unicorn/Casual/Trophy Wife) - Michaela is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
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