ASPiRE Acquires Mod Squad, Soul Food; Syfy's Twilight Zone Marathon Goes HD

Thursday, December 17, 2015

ASPiRE Acquires Mod Squad, Soul Food; Syfy's Twilight Zone Marathon Goes HD

ASPiRE has acquired all five seasons (124 episodes) of cool crime drama series The Mod Squad. The series will debut Monday, January 4, launching "Mod Squad Mondays" from 2 to 8pm EST. All three members of The Mod Squad were on probation when they were recruited for a special "Youth Squad" to infiltrate the counterculture and ferret out criminals. The series stars Michael Cole (Mr. Brooks) as Pete Cochran, Peggy Lipton (Psych) as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III (Lee Daniels' The Butler, American Gangster) as Linc Hayes and the late Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. Cole, Lipton and Williams were billed as the hippest cops on TV. The series premiered on ABC in 1968 and earned six Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe nominations (including one win). A 1970 episode, "Mother of Sorrow," was ranked #95 on TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time."

Soul Food

ASPiRE also announced it has acquired all five seasons (74 episodes) of the critically acclaimed family drama series Soul Food. The award-winning series reunites the Joseph family and a talented, eclectic ensemble cast starring Malinda Williams (UP's A Baby for Christmas, Girlfriend's Getaway) as Tracy "Bird" Van Adams, Vanessa Williams (UP's Raising Izzie), as Maxine Chadway, Nicole Ari Parker (Rosewood, Murder in the First) as Teri Joseph, Rockmond Dunbar (Sons of Anarchy, The Mentalist) as Kenny Chadway, Darrin Dewitt Henson (UP's In the Meantime) as Lem Van Adams, Boris Kodjoe (Real Husbands of Hollywood, The Last Man on Earth) as Damon Carter and Aaron Meeks (Crossing Jordan) as Ahmad Chadway. Soul Food will premiere on ASPiRE with a three day New Years weekend marathon beginning at noon EST on Friday, January 1.

ASPiRE will support the premiere of Soul Food with a multi-level social media campaign that will include a family photo contest, pop-up facts and trivia about the series, Facebook ads, #FoodfortheSoul countdown menus, a special pre-holiday email blast, "Soul Food Sunday Recipes" shared weekly on the network's social media platforms, and a Soul Food countdown clock and quiz on ASPiRE.tv.

The TWilight Zone

Syfy will take viewers into a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity during its 21st annual New Year's Eve The Twilight Zone marathon, which will air all 156 episodes of Rod Serling's legendary TV series in chronological order and in HD for the first time ever on the channel. The 87-hour marathon will begin Wednesday, December 30 at 7PM (ET/PT), concluding Sunday, January 3 at 12PM. The only interruption will be the telecast of WWE SmackDown(R) on Thursday, December 31 from 8-10PM. Among The Twilight Zone fan favorites will be Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (starring William Shatner); The Encounter (starring George Takei); Time Enough At Last; Living Doll; To Serve Man and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, April 1

The Goldbergs - "Island Time" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Erica, Barry, Geoff and the JTP go on a spring break trip and things are not what they expect. Meanwhile, Adam questions if college is for him when his test scores are not as good as he was hoping for.

Schooled - "Lainey's Mom" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
With some encouragement from Coach Mellor, Lainey reunites with her mother. While inspired by the film “Good Will Hunting,” Wilma adds a new, unorthodox addition to the robotics club.

Modern Family - "I'm Going to Miss This" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mitchell is having a hard time letting go of his old life and Gloria steps in to help him say goodbye. Meanwhile, Haley, Luke and Alex decide to throw a party at the Dunphy house when Claire and Phil leave for a trip, and Dylan’s mom takes the twins for the night.

American Housewife - "The Battle for Second Breakfast" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Katie begins to feel like the third wheel when the topic at second breakfast starts revolving solely around Angela and Doris’ new relationships. Meanwhile, Greg struggles with Anna-Kat’s newfound independence.

Dave - "Talent Shows" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Dave is in Philly for his first concert ever, and the gang stays with his parents; after reuniting with his overnight camp friends, Dave ponders his artistic roots.

In The Cut - "Barbershop Through the Years" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When the city announces it will demolish Jay's business to make way for a new freeway, everyone must come together to convince an appraiser that the barbershop is a historical landmark.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 30)

Wednesday, April 1

Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Watch Eric and Jesse on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12:05am on ABC.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Pizza Place) - Ryan is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Anna Faris (Mom) - Anna appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry is a guest on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC. He will also be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Nico Santos (Superstore) - Nico talks about Superstore on People Now at 1pm.
Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa talks about The Lovebirds on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Adam Pally (Indebted/Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam talks about Indebted on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Carly Hughes (American Housewife) - Carly talks about American Housewife on a repeat of Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.