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

Thursday, May 21

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Funky Chili and Friends Who Take Their Clothes Off" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy and Jim butt heads when they take over the store for a sick Georgie and Ruben. Meanwhile, Audrey panics when Connor rekindles an old flame.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A New Beau and Someone Else's Mom’s House" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy take matters into their own hands when Mary starts warming up to Fagenbacher (Matthew Letscher). Also, Audrey struggles to cope with Connor’s absence.

Ghosts - "Up the Creek" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When Woodstone’s future is put in jeopardy, Sam and Jay join forces with the ghosts to protect the mansion by securing its place in history.

Ghosts - "Across the Pond" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A trip abroad could determine Woodstone’s fate. Meanwhile, a major career opportunity takes Sam out of town, leaving others to step in and help with the ghosts.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 18)

Thursday, May 21

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert - Watch the series finale of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jake Johnson (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed/Minx/New Girl) - Jake appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Andrew is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Forever/Up All Night) - Maya appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) and Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Andy Cohen interviews Keke and Brooke on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta) - LaKeith chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Laurie Metcalf (Big Mistakes/The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/The Norm Show) - Laure discusses Death of a Salesman on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Niecy Nash (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Niecy is Sherri's special guest on the final Sherri show, so check your local listings.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle stops by for a very special Sherri's Laugh Lounge on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - The Drew Barrymore Show has a little bit extra from Drew-crewers Ross Mathews, Sunny Anderson and Valerie sharing their tips in the kitchen with knife skills 101, so check your local listings.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) and Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Paul and Nick can be heard on the Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about AMC+'s The Terror: Devil in Silver on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts) - Utkarsh talks about Ghosts on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.