Thursday, August 20, 2015
ABC Family Orders 3rd Season of Young & Hungry; Remembering Bud Yorkin and Yvonne Craig
ABC Family announced that it has picked up a third season of the hit comedy series Young & Hungry. For its recent Spring 2015 finale, Young & Hungry set a series high in adults 18-49 (973,000) and delivered its #2 telecast of all time in adults 18-34 (685,000), and for the season, ranked as cable's No. 1 original series in its Wednesday-at-8 timeslot among adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and key female demos. Launch to date, Young & Hungry is ABC Family's #1 comedy in women 18-34 (471,000), viewers 12-34 (837,000) and females 12-34 (681,000). The series and cast have been nominated for five Teen Choice Awards since its premiere last summer. In May's mid-season finale, Gabi (Emily Osment) left Josh (Jonathan Sadowski) to start a dream job in Switzerland just as they were about to finally take their relationship to the next level. In tonight's season premiere, Gabi and Josh must decide where they go from here, both professionally and personally. The series returned last night with its mid-season premiere, as it wraps up the second half of its second season.
Last night, Gabi returned from her internship in Switzerland and is anxious to face Josh after how things were left between them. But Josh insists he's fine and encourages Gabi to take a job with his new neighbor. But when Josh thinks his neighbor might have a thing for Gabi, he takes to spying to learn the truth.
Television producer, director, and writer Bud Yorkin has died. He died of natural causes on August 18 at his home in Bel Air, California. Mr. Yorkin was 89.
Yorkin's early golden age television work included musical variety shows and specials. He worked as a producer on The Tony Martin Show and The Ford Show (aka The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show). He directed The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Tony Martin Show, The George Goebel Show and The Ford Show.
In 1958, he founded Tandem Productions with television writer/producer Norman Lear. Yorkin directed and produced the 1958 TV special An Evening With Fred Astaire, which won nine Emmy Awards. He won his second Emmy Award with Ralph Levy for directing The Jack Benny Show in 1960.
Yorkin and Lear's string of sitcom hits in the 1970s included All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Maude and Good Times. Yorkin directed the second pilot episode of All in the Family (Those Were the Days in 1969), seven episodes of Sanford and Son from 1972-1975, and one episode of Maude in 1972. He worked as an executive producer on All in the Family and Sanford and Son.
After he ended his partnership with Lear in 1975, he formed Bud Yorkin Productions. He created the short-lived Sanford and Son spin-off series Grady. He worked as an executive producer on the spin-off Sanford Arms. In 1976, he formed TOY Productions with Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein. Their two hits were ABC's What's Happening!! from 1976-1979 and Carter Country from 1977-1979. Columbia Pictures Television acquired TOY Productions in 1979.
The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on December 2, 1997.
Surviors include his second wife, actress Cynthia Sikes Yorkin; two children from his first marriage to Peg Yorkin, Nicole (a television writer and producer) and David; two children with Sikes, Michael and Jessica; two sisters, Ruth Drazen and Martha Berman; and four grandchildren.
Actress Yvonne Craig, who was best known for her role as Batgirl in Batman, has died. She died at her home in Pacific Palisades, California on August 17 from metastatic breast cancer that had spread to her liver. Ms. Craig was 78.
Craig's early television drama guest appearances included Perry Mason, Bronco, Mr. Lucky, Checkmate, The Detectives, 77 Sunset Strip, Dr. Kildare, Wagon Train, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Ben Casey, The Big Valley and The Wild Wild West. Some of her 1960s sitcom guest appearances included Hennesey, Peter Loves Mary, The Jim Backus Show, Margie, Ichabod and Me, The Gertrude Berg Show, I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, McHale's Navy and My Favorite Martian. She made five guest appearances in various roles as Dobie's (Dwayne Hickman) girlfriend in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis from 1959-1962.
She starred as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in the third and final season of Batman in 1967-1968. She was Commissioner Gordon's daughter who worked at the Gotham Library. As Batgirl she wore a purple and yellow outfit and rode a purple motorcycle with white lace. Burt Ward and Craig reunited as Robin and Batgirl for an 'Equal Pay' public service announcement in 1972.
Some of her later television drama guest appearances included It Takes a Thief, Mod Squad, Star Trek, Land of the Giants, Mannix, The Magician, Kojak, Emergency, The Six Million Dollar Man, Starsky and Hutch and Fantasy Island. Her other sitcom guest appearances included The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Good Guys, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, The Partners, Love, American Style and Holmes and Yo-Yo. She provided the voice of Grandma in the animated series Olivia from 2009-2011.
Survivors include her husband, Kenneth Aldrich, and her sister, Meridel Carson.
Share your memories on our Batman message board. View photos in our galleries.
We thank them for the entertainment they brought us. They will will be greatly missed.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Tuesday, April 20
black-ish - "My Dinner with Andre Junior" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Junior and Olivia invite an excited Bow and Dre over for dinner in their new apartment, but upon arrival, they immediately become concerned with the young couple’s living conditions. Meanwhile, Diane bonds with Pops as she asks for his advice on dating.
mixed-ish - "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Rainbow’s best friend, Tamika, asks her to plan her 14th birthday party, so Bow goes out of her way to make sure it’s the coolest birthday party ever. Meanwhile, Paul and Alicia battle it out for who is the “coolest,” and Harrison takes Santi and Johan on a trip to Mexico for some quality time.
Young Rock - "A Lady Named Star Search" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Hawaii, 1982: While Ata prepares for her "Star Search" audition, Rocky takes an unorthodox approach to helping Dewey deal with some bullies; Lia's conflict with rival wrestling promoter Greg Yao has her on edge.
Kenan - "Teacher's Strike" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When the teachers go on strike, everyone has to pitch in to keep the kids occupied; Rick sets up a unique schoolroom in the morning show conference room.
Chad - "Ikrimah Breakup" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
When his mom breaks up with her boyfriend and Chad's left without a father figure, Chad does everything in his power to win him back.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 19)
Tuesday, April 20
- Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen Show/Ellen/Open House) - Catch Ellen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) - Jane appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bradley Whitford (Perfect Harmony/Happyish/Trophy Wife) - Bradley is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Imagine That/Herman's Head) - Hank will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kevin James (The Crew/Kevin Can Wait/The King of Queens) - Kevin appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Thomas Lennon (Reno 911!/The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World) - Thomas is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) - Ed will be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
- Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny - Jenny appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-April)
01/22 - Corporate - Season 2
01/22 - Corporate - Season 3
02/02 - Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In - The Complete Series (2021 Retail Release)
02/16 - Fam - The Complete Series
02/23 - Betty White's Pet Set - The Complete Series
03/02 - Blue Mountain State - The Complete Series
03/02 - Happy Together - The Complete Series
03/02 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-4 (DVD) (Blu-ray)
04/20 - 'Til Death - The Complete Series
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