ABC Family Working on 3 Pilots; Kickstarter Campaign to Bring Back Beat the Geeks

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

ABC Family Working on 3 Pilots; Kickstarter Campaign to Bring Back Beat the Geeks

ABC Family has begun production in Los Angeles on three drama series pilots: Recovery Road, Stitchers and Unstrung. All three are just pilot orders and are for consideration. If they like it, they could pick the pilot to series. Based on the popular young adult novel by Blake Nelson, Recovery Road focuses on a teenage girl dealing with addiction. Recovery Road stars Samantha Logan as Maddie, Sebastian De Souza as Wes, Kyla Pratt as Trish, Sharon Leal as Charlotte, Alexis Carra as Cynthia, Justin Prentice as Dallas, Caroline Sunshine as Emily, and also guest stars Doug Savant as Alan. Stitchers is a procedural drama series written by Jeffrey A. Schechter (Overruled!) and follows a young woman recruited into a covert government agency to be 'stitched' into the minds of the recently deceased, using their memories to investigate murders and decipher mysteries that otherwise would have gone to the grave. It stars Emma Ishta as Kirsten, Kyle Harris as Cameron, Felix Gomez as Dr. Pecha, Minni Jo Mazzola as Camille, and also guest stars Diane Farr as Maggie. And finally, Unstrung explores the sexy, cutthroat, and emotional stakes of the professional world tour of tennis as brother and sister Luke and Ellie Holt compete to move up the ranks. Unstrung stars Alex Roe as Luke, Chanel Celaya as Ellie, Sofia Mattsson as Ninotchka, Travis Winfrey as Brett, and also guest stars Josh Stamberg as Phil. Stay with us for continued updates should these go further. And don't forget to tune in tonight for the season premiere of Pretty Little Liars followed by the series premiere of Chasing Life all starting at 8|7c on ABC Family!

Remember the game show Beat the Geeks? It was a comedy game show that aired on Comedy Central from 2001 to 2002. On the show, contestants face off in trivia matches against "geeks" who are well-versed in music, movies, and television, as well as a fourth guest geek with an alternate area of expertise which varies from episode to episode. The object is to outsmart the geek at their own subject; as a handicap, the geeks are given questions of considerably greater difficulty than the contestants. Some of the regular geeks included: Marc Edward Heuck as the Movie Geek, Paul Goebel as the TV Geek and Andy Zax as the Music Geek. Now you can help bring back this show via Kickstarter!

Help us bring back the definitive game show for geeks so we can show today's nerds how it's actually done. Let's face it. The world contains exactly two types of people - the dummies and the smarties. Watch a random movie trailer or click over to any given TV channel and you’ll find that there are an infinite number of projects dedicated solely to celebrating the idiocy of idiots. Whether it's shows featuring vapid commentary on video fail compilations or multi-series franchises about wealthy drunks having pseudo-scripted screaming matches with each other, you don’t have to search far and wide for content about stupid people that appeals to a stupid audience. So how about we change that and make a show for smart people to enjoy? But it's more than just a show for geniuses to passively watch...they can also participate in it, influence it, and help create something special. This project isn't going to exploit fans of nerd culture like some sort of dork-filled freak show. It’s going to elevate geekdom to a proper art form. By donating to this project, you’re joining a movement towards bringing intelligent, interesting, and fun content back to the airwaves. If this project is successfully funded, we can produce a quality pilot that will be released online and then used to pitch as a network-ready game show. From there, the sky’s the limit - fancier celebrity judges, a bigger contestant pool, and all kinds of cool audience interactivity that’s never been done in a show before. Back this project today!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, October 16

The Goldbergs - "Animal House" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Barry decides to rush a fraternity, but it doesn’t quite work out as he expects. Meanwhile, Beverly and Murray find themselves getting closer to being empty nesters, which means more hobbies and activities for Beverly and more TV for Murray.

Schooled - "Kick Like a Girl" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Hoping to improve the football team’s chances at winning the title, Coach Mellor and Principal Glascott recruit star soccer player Felicia to kick field goals. But soon, she is treated like one of the guys, which affects her relationship with fellow player Reza. Meanwhile, CB chaperones an overnight ski trip and hopes to get in some quality time with Lainey but is constantly thwarted by socially awkward Tom Scott.

Modern Family - "Pool Party" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mitch and Cam help Lily overcome her insecurities about wearing a bathing suit to a pool party but discover their own. Meanwhile, now that Gloria’s new internship is taking up so much of her time, Jay is feeling particularly neglected.

Single Parents - "Big Widow Wives" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a house incident leaves Graham in fear of staying in his and Angie’s home, Angie enlists Will to help her get the house back together; however, there is a hiccup in the plan as Angie discovers a possum on the loose that she has to deal with. Meanwhile, Poppy discovers that Douglas is lying to her about a weekly poker game he must attend, as he participates in a weekly widow’s support group instead, causing Poppy to get a little jealous of his emotional vulnerability with the women in his support group.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Chokes" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Annoyed that the gang failed to react as he nearly choked to death on an appetizer, Frank decides the waiter, his savior, is the only person who has his back.

Family Time - "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number" (Bounce TV, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Devin starts dating an older woman, which has Tony and Lisa concerned; Ebony's school project inspires her to go vegan.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 14)

Wednesday, October 16

Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Watch Jennifer on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Dane Cook (Maybe This Time) - Dane appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi) - Whoopi is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
John Goodman (The Conners/Roseanne/Center of the Universe/Normal, Ohio) - John appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ed Helms (The Office) - Ed is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie/Burning Love/Players) - June appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Thomas and Whitney are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa chats with the ladies of The View about her book Project Middle School (Alyssa Milano’s Hope #1) on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa visits The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Rapaport (Awkward/The War at Home) - Michael stops by The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules) - Kaley is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Paul Rudd (Living with Yourself/Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later/Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp/Wild Oats) - Paul talks about Netflix's Living with Yourself on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.
Ali Wong (American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali talks about Dear Girls on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William talks about The Good Place on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine) and Jenna Fischer (Splitting Up Together/The Office) - Angela and Jenna talk about the Office Ladies Podcast on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 2pm.
Julie Andrews (Julie) - Julie talks about her book Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years on the BUILD Series at 5pm.