Hallmark Removes Home Improvement; USA Network Orders New Comedy Benched Starring Eliza Coupe, Jay Harrington

Monday, January 27, 2014

Hallmark Removes Home Improvement; USA Network Orders New Comedy Benched Starring Eliza Coupe, Jay Harrington

Hallmark Channel will be making some more changes to its line-up this week. Starting Wednesday, January 29, afternoons and evenings will have some changes. From 2-4pm, Hallmark will cut out Home Improvement and move The Brady Bunch to this block. Little House on the Prairie will now occupy the 4-6pm block where The Brady Bunch was. Hallmark will keep the 6pm hour of Little House, so now the series will air from 4-7pm, gaining an additional hour. Its 7pm airing will be replaced by another Waltons airing, so that series will get an extra hour as well and will air from 7-10pm in primetime. So the odd show out is Home Improvement, as it is no longer on the schedule starting Jan. 29. The series was not airing on the weekends, so it will not be added to weekends. We'll let you know if and when it returns, but as of now, Hallmark has removed the show from its line-up totally. Stay with us for continued updates for Tim "The Toolman" Taylor and family.

Eliza Coupe and Jay Harrington

USA Network has picked-up the ABC Signature and The Mark Gordon Company produced courtroom comedy Benched. The series stars Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings) and Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted) and marks the first series out of ABC Signature, the boutique division of ABC Studios. Benched is USA's first series pick-up of the year. They have already picked-up two other comedies: Sirens and Playing House. The latter was ordered to series but is still waiting for a premiere date. Sirens premieres March 6. The network also has several drama pilots in the pipeline including Complications, The Novice, Rush and The Untitled Jablonski Project. In November, USA picked up the event series Dig, an action adventure drama from co-creators and executive producers Tim Kring (Heroes) and Gideon Raff (Homeland).

Benched is a single-camera half-hour courtroom comedy that focuses on Nina (Coupe), a dedicated, career-driven corporate attorney who has a very public nervous breakdown after getting passed up for an expected promotion, and finds herself working as a public defender. Her personal and professional worlds are turned upside down when she joins the ranks of the legal world's underdogs and very quickly realizes that the law isn't quite as fair as she once thought. Jay Harrington stars as Nina's new colleague, Phil, a tall, dark and handsome, if not a little scruffy, public defender and avid gambler. 12 episodes have been ordered. Stay with us for a premiere date and time.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, May 4

The Neighorhood - "Welcome to Kalamazoo?" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Dave and Gemma seriously consider a major life change, it sends ripples through the family and strains relationships. Meanwhile, wedding chaos and unexpected revelations complicate plans for Malcolm and Marty, forcing everyone to confront what’s really ahead.

DMV - "Car-lette" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Colette tries to fix up her run-down car to get it re-registered, Gregg encourages her to buy a new one to save money. Meanwhile, Barb tries to teach everyone DMV robbery protocols.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 4)

Monday, May 4

Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Watch Nicole on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback/No Good Deed/HouseBroken/Web Therapy/Friends/Mad About You) - Lisa appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Andy Cohen interviews Billy on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Jamie Lynn Sigler (Guys with Kids) - Jamie Lynn talks about And So It Is...: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) and Rob McElhenney (Mythic Quest/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Ryan and Rob talk about Welcome to Wrexham on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Damon Wayans (Poppa's House/My Wife and Kids/Damon) - Damon discusses diabetic macular edema with GMA lifestyle contributor Lori Bergamotto on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous/Champaign ILL) - Jay chats about The Quiz with Balls on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Goldie Hawn (Good Morning World) - Goldie talks about The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose #1 on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - The Drew Barrymore Show has a little bit extra with Sean, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - The Drew Barrymore Show has more from Valerie and and Drew in the kitchen on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - The Drew Barrymore Show has a little bit extra with Oliver, so check your local listings.
Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.