Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Amazon's First Pilot Season; ABC Family Greenlights Two Comedy Pilots

Amazon Studios

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!


ABC Family

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, January 21

St. Denis Medical - "Gimme the Scuttlebutt" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
An "intimacy in the workplace" discussion leads Joyce to discover she's out of the loop on office gossip; Alex gets self-conscious about her sex life; Bruce tries to fight a new policy about dating co-workers.

Night Court - "The Jakeout" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
After learning that Jake has never been in a long-term relationship, Abby is determined to find his secret dealbreaker; Dan and Julianne go head to head to prove they don't have feelings for each other.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Tuesday, January 21

  • Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Watch Sterling on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program) - Sarah appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Bobby Cannavale (Angie Tribeca/Will & Grace) - Bobby is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She also talks about Severance on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings
  • Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Adam stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Severance on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Mary Lynn Rajskub (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/How to Be a Gentleman/Veronica's Closet/The Larry Sanders Show), Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) and Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program) - Mary Lynn, Patton and Brian are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Stephanie Hsu (Laid) - Stephanie is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Frankie Grande (Danger Force/Henry Danger) - Frankie talks about Henry Danger The Movie on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Megan Hilty (Sean Saves the World) - Megan and Jennifer Simard talk about Death Becomes Her on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben talks about Severance on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Yvette Nicole Brown (Act Your Age/The Odd Couple/Community/The Big House) - Yvette talks about BET+'s The Family Business on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Chyler Leigh (That '80s Show) - Chyler is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

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