Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Bounce Acquires Sitcoms for January 2015, Roc, Different World, Parent 'Hood, Hughleys; ABC Family Picks Up New Drama Recovery Road
Finally! In its first foray into off-network series acquisition, Bounce TV has landed the television rights to four shows in individual, multi-year licensing agreements they announced. In the deals, the nation's first-ever and rapidly-expanding broadcast television network for African Americans acquires Roc (72 episodes) and The Parent 'Hood (90 episodes) from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD), A Different World (144 episodes) from Carsey-Werner Distribution and The Hughleys (89 episodes) from Twentieth Television. The four popular series will be scheduled together to create a new line-up leading into prime time, with the network airing two episodes of each show back-to-back Monday-Friday starting at 5:00pm beginning Monday, January 5, 2015. It kicks off with Roc from 5:00-6:00pm, followed by The Parent 'Hood from 6:00-7:00pm. A Different World will air from 7:00-8:00pm into The Hughleys from 8:00-9:00pm. This will be the first time all four series will air on a digital multicast network.
The critically-acclaimed Roc aired originally on Fox and stars Charles S. Dutton as Baltimore garbage collector Roc Emerson and Ella Joyce as his wife, with appearances by a then-unknown Jamie Foxx. The Parent 'Hood was part of the original Wednesday night lineup that helped launch The WB network, starring Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. The multiple Emmy-nominated A Different World debuted as the #1 new show of its premiere season, staying at #1 in its time period for five consecutive seasons, with Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison leading the cast. Based on D. L. Hughley's real-life experiences, The Hughleys stars the comedian and Elise Neal as his wife who move their family from the inner to city to the Los Angeles suburbs with hilarious results. Bounce TV features programming mix of original series, theatrical motion pictures, documentaries, specials and now off-net series. Bounce TV is currently seen in 90 markets, including all of the top African American television markets, 90% of African American television homes and 73% of the total television homes in the United States.
ABC Family has picked up a new scripted drama to series Recovery Road. This announcement comes on the heels of the recently announced pick-up of the docu-series My Transparent Life, as the network continues to grow its impressive slate of original programming. Based on the popular young adult novel by Blake Nelson, Recovery Road focuses on a teenage girl dealing with addiction. Maddie has a reputation as a party girl who doesn't think she has a problem, until she's confronted one day by her school guidance counselor and is forced to choose between expulsion and rehab. Maddie makes the difficult decision to live with other recovering addicts at a rehab facility while facing the daily pressures of her teenage life.
ABC Family says casting will be announced at a later date, but their orginal announcement a few months back mentioned the series stars Samantha Logan (666 Park Avenue) as Maddie, Sebastian De Souza (Skins) as Wes, Kyla Pratt (One on One, Fat Albert) as Trish, Sharon Leal (Boston Public) as Charlotte, Alexis Carra (Mixology) as Cynthia, Justin Prentice (Malibu Country) as Dallas, Caroline Sunshine (Shake It Up) as Emily, and also guest stars Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives, Melrose Place) as Alan. We shall see if this cast remains intact or if we will see some changes to this. Stay tuned.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Tuesday, August 16
What We Do in the Shadows - "Pine Barrens" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Nandor and Lazslo air out their differences on a hunting trip at an isolated cabin; Nadja has a girls' night; Guillermo reconnects with his family for the first time in 12 years.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)
Tuesday, August 16
- Bob Odenkirk (The Larry Sanders Show) - Catch Bob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Al Franken (LateLine) - Al guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi is a musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murray is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Vanessa Bayer (I Love That for You) - Vanessa will be on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Brett Gelman (Fleabag/Married/Go On) - Brett appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kyle Richards (Down to Earth) - Kyle is a guest on a repeat of Watch What Happens: Live at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
- Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
- Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling talks about Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House/Hollywood Darlings/Full House) - Jodie is a guest on E!'s Daily Pop at 11am.
- Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Big Day/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about her new movie Mack & Rita on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
- Melba Moore (Melba) - Melba will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
- Suraj Sharma (How I Met Your Father) - Suraj appears on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (April-August)
04/05 - Up All Night - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/26 - The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy) - The Complete Fourth Season
04/26 - Jackie Gleason TV Treasures - 70th Anniversary Collection (including Honeymooners Rarities)
05/03 - No Activity - Season Three
05/13 - The Donna Reed Show - The Complete Seasons 1-5 (Time Life)
05/31 - Becker - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
06/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Eleventh Season
06/14 - Hacks - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/14 - Rutherford Falls - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season One / Season Two
07/19 - The Neighborhood - Season Four
07/19 - Reno 911! - The Hunt for QAnon (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/26 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Three / Season Four
08/16 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. - Canada)
08/16 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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