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

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.