SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The network upfronts are next week, but Fox has announced series orders for six new series, including two new comedies (both single-camera). Starting with the comedies, they have ordered Making History, which chronicles three friends from two different centuries as they try to balance the thrill of time travel with the mundane concerns of their present-day lives. Two shows in one, it's both a rollicking historical adventure, and a contemporary comedy about love, friendship and trying to fit in to an increasingly complex and impersonal world. Adam Pally and Leighton Meester star. In the other comedy, The Mick, Murphy (Kaitlin Olson) is a brash, blue collar, two-bit hustler who has spent her entire life gaming the system and shirking any semblance of responsibility. But when her estranged sister and billionaire brother-in-law flee the country to escape federal charges, the opulent, care-free life Mickey has always envied is finally within reach... But there is one minor catch: she must assume custody of her sister's three rich, entitled, high-maintenance children.

The four new dramas are APB, The Exorcist, Lethal Weapon and Pitch. Stars for these dramas include Justin Kirk, Natalie Martinez, Eric Winter and Ernie Hudson in APB; Geena Davis in The Exorcist; Damon Wayans, Clayne Crawford, Jordana Brewster and Keesha Sharp in Lethal Weapon; and Kylie Bunbury, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Ali Larter, Mark Consuelos, and Dan Lauria in Pitch. These four dramas join the previously ordered to series 24: Legacy and Star. Stay with us for continued updates, as the networks continue to order the new series prior to the scheduling announcements next week.

Character actor William Schallert, who starred as Martin Lane in The Patty Duke Show, has died. He died on May 8 at his home in Pacific Palisades, California. Mr. Schallert was 93.

Schallert's early sitcom guest appearances included It's a Great Life, Blondie, Leave it to Beaver, Hey, Jeannie!, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Father Knows Best, The Donna Reed Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Hennesey and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Some of his early drama guest appearances included The Adventures of Jim Bowie, Maverick, Peter Gunn, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Philip Marlowe, Lawman, The Twilight Zone, Johnny Ringo, The Rifleman, The Rebel and Perry Mason.

Schallert appeared as Leander Pomfritt, Dobie's English and science teacher at his high school and later one of his college professors, in 24 episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis from 1959-1962. He appeared in the recurring role through the end of season three. He reprised the role in the 1988 CBS TV movie Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis.

He starred as Martin Lane, Patty Lane's (Patty Duke) father, in The Patty Duke Show. Martin Lane was the managing editor of the New York Daily Chronicle. The series ran for three seasons on ABC from 1963-1966. It also starred Jean Byron, Paul O'Keefe and Eddie Applegate. The cast reunited in the 1999 CBS TV movie The Patty Duke Show: Still Rockin' in Brooklyn Heights. In 2009, the cast (except Byron, who died in February 2006) reunited again for a series of PSAs for the Social Security Administration.

Some of his other sitcom starring roles included playing Teddy Futterman, a TV network executive, in the short-lived 1976 ABC sitcom The Nancy Walker Show. He starred as Russ Lawrence, Gidget's father, in the 1986-1988 syndicated sitcom The New Gidget. He appeared as Wesley Hodges in the first season of the NBC sitcom The Torkelsons in 1991-1992.

His other 1960s and 1970s sitcom guest appearances included Hazel, McKeever & the Colonel, Ensign O'Toole, The Lucy Show, Pistols 'n' Petticoats, Bewitched, That Girl, Room 222, Get Smart, The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, Maude, One Day at a Time and Archie Bunker's Place. His later guest appearances included The New Leave it to Beaver, Murphy Brown, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Coach, Roseanne, Dream On, My Name Is Earl, How I Met Your Mother and According to Jim. His final appearance was on 2 Broke Girls in 2014.

He starred as Carson Drew, Nancy Drew's father, in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in 1977-1978. In 1979, he starred as Rev. John March in the short-lived NBC drama Little Women. He played Harry Hopkins in the 1988-1989 ABC miniseries War and Remembrance.

Some of his other drama guest appearances included The Virginian, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, The Wild Wild West, Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, Gunsmoke, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, Lou Grant, Magnum, P.I., Highway to Heaven, Quantum Leap, In the Heat of the Night, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Desperate Housewives.

Survivors include his sons Edwin, Joseph, Mark and Brendan and seven grandchildren.

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on February 29, 2012.

It's sad that we have lost Patty Duke and her TV father in the last two months. Mr. Schallert was a fine character actor. He may have not been a household name, but his face was recognizable in his hundreds of television appearances during his prolific career. We thank him for the many hours of entertainment he brought us. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our Patty Duke Show message board. View photos in our galleries.