Monday, January 16, 2017

TCA 2017 Winter Press Tour: Cable Round-Up, From TBS, TV Land, IFC and More

TBS

Friday and Saturday at the TCA 2017 Winter Press Tour it was all cable networks. We have a round-up of all the noteworthy news. Let's start with TBS. TBS's upcoming new comedy The Guest Book is filling up quickly with notable entries. The new comedy series from Emmy® winner Greg Garcia (My Name Is Earl) has locked its first-season cast and guest cast. The Guest Book is slated to premiere on TBS in August. Among the regular and recurring cast members joining The Guest Book are Kellie Martin (Life Goes On, Army Wives) as Officer Kimberly Leahy, who serves on the police force in the small mountain town of Mount Trace. Charlie Robinson (Night Court, Hart of Dixie) is Wilfrid, an easygoing, friendly gentleman who manages a group of mountain rental cottages with his wife, Emma, played by recurring guest star Aloma Wright (Suits), Carly Jibson (Broadway's Hairspray) is Vivian, a tough, strong-willed woman who runs a bikini bar called Chubbys with her stepson Frank, played by Lou Wilson (Tween Fest). Rounding out the first season cast in recurring roles will be Garret Dillahunt (The Mindy Project), Laura Bell Bundy (Scream Queens) and Eddie Steeples (My Name Is Earl). The Guest Book emerged from Greg Garcia's habit of writing fictitious stories in the guest books of various rental cabins in an effort to freak out the next renters. Now he is bringing some of those stories to life on screen centering on the vacation home Froggy Cottage and its visitors. While the house and cast of characters living in this small mountain town remain the same, each episode will feature a different set of vacationing guests.

TBS has greenlit ten episodes of the animated series The Cops (working title), starring and co-created by Louis C.K. and Albert Brooks. The two also serve as executive producers on the series with Greg Daniels, Dino Stamatopoulos, Dave Becky and Howard Klein. The series is slated to premiere in 2018. The Cops follows Al (Brooks) and Lou (C.K.), two Los Angeles patrolmen trying their best to protect and serve, sometimes failing at both. Ride with them as they patrol one of the biggest cities in the world, then go home with them and be glad you're not married to either. Moving on to sister network TNT, have ordered a second season of its hit drama series Good Behavior, starring award-winning actress Michelle Dockery. Juan Diego Botto, Terry Kinney and Lusia Strus also star in the seductive thriller, which is executive-produced by Chad Hodge and Blake Crouch and based on a series of books by Crouch. The entire first season of Good Behavior is currently available on TNT On Demand and TNT's digital and mobile platforms. The second season is slated to launch in the fall. Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral) is set to star in TNT's The Alienist, the eagerly anticipated series based on the Anthony Award-winning New York Times bestseller by Caleb Carr. Playing Sara Howard, a headstrong secretary at Police Headquarters, Fanning joins recently cast Daniel Brühl (Rush, Inglorious Bastards, Captain America: Civil War), who stars as forensic psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, and Luke Evans (The Girl on The Train, The Hobbit trilogy), who will play reporter John Moore. The series will follow the three of them as they investigate a series of brutal murders in New York during the Gilded Age. Slated to premiere in late 2017.

IFC

IFC announced that its flagship Emmy(R)-nominated and Peabody Award-winning sketch series Portlandia will return in 2018 for its eighth and final season. The series, currently airing Thursdays at 10PM, has captivated viewers and critics alike since its premiere in 2011 by lovingly satirizing our society's idiosyncrasies by exploring the eccentric misfits who embody the foibles of modern culture. Portlandia was created by Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel. In other IFC news, IFC's Brockmire is ready to take the field! The network's newest original comedy, starring Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet, premieres Wednesday April 5 at 10PM. The first season will be comprised of eight episodes airing weekly. The series follows Jim Brockmire (Azaria), a famed major league baseball announcer who suffered an embarrassing public meltdown live on the air a decade ago after discovering his wife's infidelity. Now, looking to reclaim his career, reputation, and love life, Brockmire takes a job in a small American rust belt town, calling minor league baseball games for the Morristown Frackers. Peet co-stars as Jules, the strong-willed and hard-drinking proud owner of the Frackers.

TV Land

On to TV Land, two months before its March 29, 2017 series premiere, TV Land has picked up a 12-episode second season of Nobodies, starring and executive produced by Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras. The news was announced at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour by Keith Cox, President of Development and Production for TV Land. The comedy is executive produced by Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone with Michael McDonald serving as executive producer, director and showrunner. Season two will premiere in 2018. The comedy revolves around the three as they try desperately to land one of their famous friends for a feature script that they have developed, so that they, too, can rise to fame in Hollywood. TV Land has picked up its first ever hour-long series with Heathers. The first season is a 10-episode order and is set to premiere in Fall 2017. Based on the 1988 cult classic film of the same name, Heathers is a pitch-black comedy anthology set in the present day, as our heroine Veronica Sawyer (Grace Victoria Cox, Under the Dome) deals with a very different but equally vicious group of Heathers. Also starring are James Scully as JD, Melanie Field (Wicked National Tour) as Heather Chandler, Brendan Scannell (Funny or Die) as Heather Duke, and Jasmine Mathews as Heather McNamara. It was also revealed in November that original Heathers cast member Shannen Doherty will guest star as a pivotal, unnamed character in the TV Land series.

HBO

And finally at HBO, the comedy series Barry, starring Bill Hader, will begin production on its eight-episode season in Los Angeles this spring. Hader (Saturday Night Live) and Alec Berg (HBO's Silicon Valley) serve as co-creators, executive producers and writers on the show, which is slated for 2018 debut on the network. Hader stars in the title role as a hitman who, after following his intended target to an acting class, finds himself intrigued and decides to become an actor and change his life. As well as starring in the series, Hader will direct episodes of the show, marking his directorial debut. Other cast regulars include Stephen Root (HBO's All the Way), Sarah Goldberg (Hindsight), Glenn Fleshler (HBO's True Detective), Anthony Carrigan (Gotham) and Henry Winkler (Arrested Development).


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, March 18

The Neighborhood - (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Worth the Cooties" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
After Christina kicks Abishola and Dottie out for making light of her pre-pregnancy preparations, Christina bonds with Douglas and Abishola spends a fun day with Dottie. Also, when Bob, Goodwin and Kofo are stumped on a work issue, Bob insists they go out to lunch to loosen up.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 18)

Monday, March 18

  • Christina Applegate (Dead to Me/Up All Night/Samantha Who?/Jesse/Married with Children) - Watch Christina on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Carrie Preston (Crowded/Happyish/Emeril) - Carrie is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Rachel Dratch (Grimsburg/Imaginary Mary/30 Rock) - Rachel appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and John Hodgman (Up Here/Married) - Sasheer and John are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
  • Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa will be on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
  • Brett Gelman (Camping/Fleabag/Married/Go On) - Brett talks about The Terrifying Realm of the Possible: Nearly True Stories on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
  • William Shatner ($h*! My Dad Says) - NBC's Today catches up with William in the 9am hour.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Father Knows Best - The Complete Series The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

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