Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Amazon's First Pilot Season; ABC Family Greenlights Two Comedy Pilots
Amazon Studios announced it will debut its first pilot season of 2015 on Thursday, January 15 on Amazon Instant Video in the US, UK and Germany. Seven drama and comedy pilots will premiere, including hour-long shows Cocked from Samuel Baum (Lie to Me) and Sam Shaw (Manhattan - TV series), Mad Dogs from Cris Cole (The Bill) and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Man in the High Castle from Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files), and Point of Honor from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Randall Wallace (Braveheart). In addition, pilots for two half-hour shows will debut, including Down Dog from Robin Schiff (Are You There, Chelsea?) and Salem Rogers from Will Graham (Onion News Network) and newcomer Lindsey Stoddart, along with a documentary series, The New Yorker Presents, inspired by non-fiction and fiction material from one of the most acclaimed and longest running publications, The New Yorker. The New Yorker Presents is Executive Produced by Oscar and Emmy-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (The Armstrong Lie).
Customers will once again be invited to watch and provide feedback on the shows they want to see turned into full series. All pilots will be available via the Amazon Instant Video app on Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablets, Fire phone, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Roku, Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, as well as hundreds of other connected devices such as smart TVs--or customers can visit Amazon.com/AIV to watch online. Cocked stars Sam Trammell, Jason Lee, Brian Dennehy, Laura Fraser and Dreama Walker. Mad Dogs stars Steve Zahn, Billy Zane, Romany Malco, Michael Imperioli and Ben Chaplin. The Man In The High Castle stars Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank, Rupert Evans, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Joel De La Fuente, Rufus Sewell and DJ Qualls. Point of Honor stars Nathan Parsons, Christopher O'Shea, Annabelle Stephenson, Riley Voelkel, Hanna Mangan Lawrence, Patrick Heusinger, Luke Benward, Adrienne Warren, Lucien Laviscount and James Harvey Ward. As for the comedies, Down Dog stars Josh Casaubon, Paget Brewster, Lyndsy Fonseca, Will Greenberg, Andrea Savage, Amir Talai, Kris Kristofferson and Alysia Reiner. And finally, Salem Rogers stars Leslie Bibb, Rachel Dratch, Jane Kaczmarek, Brad Morris, Harry Hamlin, Toks Olagundoye and Scott Adsit. Stay tuned on which make it to series!
We have more pilot news. As part of its expansion in comedy, ABC Family has greenlit two new comedy pilots, Kevin From Work and Tough Cookie. Both pilots are single-camera and will go into production later this month. These orders join the second-season pick up of comedy series Young & Hungry, announced in September. Comedy favorites Melissa and Joey and Baby Daddy will premiere their fourth seasons on January 14 at 8:00pm ET/PT and 8:30pm ET/PT, respectively. Kevin from Work is a half-hour workplace comedy about a young man unluckily in love who professes his love to a co-worker, thinking he'll never see her again after he accepts a job offer overseas. But then that job offer is rescinded, and now they have to continue to work with each other. The pilot is written, created and executive-produced by Barbie Adler (How I Met Your Mother, My Name Is Earl, and Arrested Development).
The half-hour comedy Tough Cookie is a fresh take on the friends-and-family convention. It's centered on a young mother who isn't ready to parent and her daughter who doesn't want to be parented. As everyone knows, it takes a village to raise a child, or rather a child to raise a village. The pilot is written and created by Lauren Iungerich (Awkward), who will also serve as executive producer and direct the pilot. Casting for both pilots have not been announced yet. Stay with us if either of these pilots will make it to series.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, July 15
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 14)
Tuesday, July 15
- Chris Distefano (Benders) - Chris guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Catch Julie on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Megan Stalter (Too Much/Hacks) - Megan appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She also talks about Too Much on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) and Mark Consuelos (Alpha House/Hope & Faith) - Kelly and Mark are guests on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens), Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) and Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) - Patton, Ed and Sasheer are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley discusses her new documentary Something Beautiful on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) - Meg talks about Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) - Mary-Louise chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- John Goodman (The Conners/The Righteous Gemstones/Roseanne/Center of the Universe/Normal, Ohio) - John talks about Smurfs on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- The Jonas Brothers (Jonas/Jonas LA) - The Jonas Brothers are interviewed on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick talks about Smurfs on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) and Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - Valerie and Oliver will be on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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