Monday, March 06, 2017

Antenna TV Goes Green for Green Acres on St. Patty's Day; Remembering Sitcom Writer and Producer Howard Leeds

Antenna TV is showing its St. Paddy's Day pride by airing 17-hours (fitting for March 17) of "green" with a 34-episode Green Acres marathon. Antenna TV's "St. Patrick's Day Green Acres Marathon" begins on the farm with Oliver & Lisa Douglas at 5am ET on Friday, March 17 and concludes at 10pm ET. Green Acres regularly airs on Antenna TV weekdays 8am ET/5am PT and Sundays 2pm ET/11am PT. Antenna TV's "St. Patrick's Day Green Acres Marathon" will air the following episodes:

5:00 AM Oliver Buys a Farm
5:30 AM Lisa's First Day on the Farm
6:00 AM My Husband the Rooster Renter
6:30 AM The Deputy
7:00 AM Ballad of Molly Turgiss
7:30 AM Never Look a Tractor in the Mouth
8:00 AM Wings Over Hooterville
8:30 AM Ugly Duckling
9:00 AM I Didn’t Raise a Pig to Be a Soldier
9:30 AM The Hooterville Image
10:00 AM Never Take Your wife to a Convention
10:30 AM The Computer Age
11:00 AM The Beverly Hillbillies
11:30 AM Music to Milk By
12:00 PM Getting Even With Haney
12:30 PM Love Comes to Arnold Ziffel
1:00 PM Haney's New Image
1:30 PM Flight to Nowhere
2:00 PM Guess Who's Not Going to the Luau
2:30 PM Agricultural Student
3:00 PM Old Mail Lady
3:30 PM How to Get From Hooterville to Pixly
4:00 PM Everywhere a Chick Chick
4:30 PM Prize in Each and Every Package
5:00 PM Oh' Promise Me
5:30 PM The Road
6:00 PM The Confrontation
6:30 PM The Cow Killer
7:00 PM Ralph's Nuptials
7:30 PM The Case of the Hooterville Refund Fraud
8:00 PM Oliver Goes Broke
8:30 PM Great Mayorality Campaign
9:00 PM Oliver's Double
9:30 PM The Spot Remover


Howard Leeds

Sitcom writer and producer Howard Leeds, who was one of the creators of The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons and Small Wonder, has died. He died on February 11 at his home in Los Angeles, California after a long-term illness. Mr. Leeds was 97.

Leeds worked as a writer for many sitcoms from the 1950s to 1980s, including Meet Millie, How to Marry a Millionaire, Bachelor Father, The Bob Cummings Show, Ensign O'Toole, Make Room for Daddy, McHale's Navy, My Three Sons, The Bill Dana Show, Bewitched, That Girl, The Doris Day Show, Julia, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, The Brady Bunch, Barney Miller and Grady. He received an Emmy nomination in 1956 for his work on the comedy/variety series The George Gobel Show.

He created his first sitcom The Queen and I in 1969. The short-lived CBS series starred Larry Storch, Billy DeWolfe, Carl Ballantine, Pat Morita, Barbara Stuart, Dave Morick, Liam Dunn and Dave Willock.

Leeds was a producer and story consultant for the 1964-1965 CBS sitcom My Living Doll. The series was about a lifelike adult android being cared for by a psychiatrist. It starred Bob Cummings, Julie Newmar, Jack Mullaney and Doris Dowling.

In 1979, he wrote "The Girls School" episode of Diff'rent Strokes with Ben Starr, Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon. The episode was for pilot for the spinoff The Facts of Life. Leeds worked as a writer on 33 episodes of Diff'rent Strokes from 1978-1984. He also served as a producer from 1979-1984.

He helped Martin Cohan and Ben Starr create the sitcom Silver Spoons in 1982. The series aired for four seasons on NBC before moving to first-run syndication for the fifth and final season. It starred Ricky Schroder, Joel Higgins, Erin Gray, Franklyn Seales, Jason Bateman (1982-1984), Corky Pigeon (1983-1985), Alfonso Ribeiro (1984-1987) and John Houseman. Leed provided the story for one episode.

Leeds was the creator and producer for the syndicated sitcom Small Wonder. The series aired for four seasons from 1985-1989. It starred Dick Christie, Marla Pennington, Jerry Supiran, Tiffany Brisette, Paul C. Scott and Emily Schulman. Leeds wrote one episode. He was also one of the writers of the theme song lyrics.

Some of his other producing credits included The Bill Dana Show, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, The Brady Bunch and Grady. He worked as a production executive for Reg Grundy Productions from 1976 to 1978.

Survivors include his wife Joan Hajny-Leeds, son John Hajny, daughter-in-law Kim Hajny and grandchildren Jenna and Erin Hajny.

Mr. Leeds worked on many memorable sitcoms during his career. We thank him for bringing us The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons and Small Wonder. He will be greatly missed.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 22

St. Denis Medical - "Bruce-ic and the Mus-ic" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
At the annual fundraiser, Alex and her husband, Tim, try to have a wild, kid-free night; Ron and Joyce butt heads over hosting duties; Bruce sets out to win this year's "Dancing with the Caregivers" competition.

Night Court - "Passing the Bar" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby gets more than she bargained for when she offers to help Wyatt's friend stay sober for the night; Dan and Julianne battle for the best prize in Gurgs' annual evidence locker lottery.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Piece by Piece" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Calvin teams up with his ex-wife Miranda to get to the bottom of why Laura broke off their engagement; Calvin works with Ella to repair his relationship with Calvin Jr.; Curtis and Floyd attempt to get publicity for their barbecue sauce brand.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Tough Love" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Phillip makes a decision, Jeremy rethinks the way he handled the recent argument between them; everybody worries about Phillip's safety; Jeremy wonders if his tough love did more harm than good; Mr. Brown goes through a breakup.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Tuesday, April 22

  • Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - Catch Will on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Dove Cameron (Schmigadoon!/Liv and Maddie) - Dove appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael makes a special appearance on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Rob Delaney (Bad Monkey/Catastrophe) - Rob appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about Eva Longoria: Searching for Spain with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jon Bernthal (The Class) - Jon talks about The Accountant 2 on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
  • Terry Crews (Everybody Still Hates Chris/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry is hitting the headlines with Drew and Ross Mathews on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew and Valerie are covering the latest headlines and hearing from a dance group of all senior citizens on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Susan Kelechi Watson (Louie) - Susan talks about Netflix’s unique murder mystery The Residence on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Daniella Pineda (The Detour) - Daniella is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.


New on DVD and 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 Frasier (2023) - Season Two

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
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

04/22 - Hallmark Channel's May For Moms Month; Prime Video Gets Korean Comedy Action Series
04/21 - Peacock's Twisted Metal Returns July 31; Poker Face Lines Up Big Guests for Season 2
04/20 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 21, 2025)
04/19 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Clueless Reboot in the Works at Peacock; King of the Hill Cast Reunion and Revival Preview at ATX TV Festival Next Month
04/18 - 2025 TIME100 on ABC; Atsuko Okatsuka: Father Premieres June 13 on Hulu
04/17 - BET+ Orders Martin Spinoff Varnell Hill; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Returns in July
04/16 - And Just Like That... Season 3 on Max This May; MGM+ Comedy Series Adds Big Stars
04/15 - HBO's Harry Potter Series; Classic TV Comes to Life in NYC
04/14 - TV Stars Lineup for Summer of 69 Hulu Film; Jessica Kirson Comedy Special
04/13 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 14, 2025)
04/12 - SitcomsOnline Digest: FX Sets Premiere Date for Adults; Netflix Picks Up Monopoly Themed Reality Competition Series
04/11 - Bounce TV Renews Mind Your Business; AMC Networks 2025 Upfront Highlights
04/10 - David Spade's Prime Video Comedy Special; Brett Goldstein's HBO Comedy Special Filmed in New Jersey
04/09 - Paramount+ Orders Season 3 of Colin from Accounts; FX's Adults Premieres May 28
04/08 - Prime Video's New Comedy Overcompensating; Nine Perfect Strangers Returns on Hulu in May
04/07 - NBC Celebrates Joan Rivers with Special; Remembering Jay North of Dennis the Menace
04/06 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 7, 2025)
04/05 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Renews Three Animated Series and Brings Back a Fourth for Four More Seasons; ABC Renews Shifting Gears
04/04 - ABC 2025-26 Season Renewals for Scripted Series; New Season of Phineas and Ferb Returns June 5
04/03 - Fox Renews Animated Hits for 4 Additional Seasons and American Dad! Returns; South Park Season 27 Premieres July 9
04/02 - Rick and Morty Season 8 Premieres May 25; Netflix's Tires Returns June 5
04/01 - Disney Renews Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for Season 2; Prime Video Details Final Season of The Summer I Turned Pretty
03/31 - Prime Video's Dance-World Comedy Étoile; Netflix's Tom Segura Dark Comedy Bad Thoughts
03/30 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 31, 2025)
03/29 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Netflix Gives Pilot Order to A Different World Sequel; Malcolm in the Middle Reboot Recasts Role of Dewey
03/28 - Pat Sajak's Final Spin on Wheel and Return of Jeopardy! Masters; Remembering George Foreman and Wings Hauser
03/27 - IFC Renews SisterS for Season 2; Netflix Orders Live-Action Scooby-Doo Series
03/26 - Hulu Spring 2025 Slate; The Making of The Americas Special Narrated by Tom Hanks on NBC
03/25 - Deli Boys Now Streaming All Episodes on Hulu; Heartland Season 18 on UP Faith & Family
03/24 - Peacock April Highlights Include Three's Company; Antenna TV's 50 Years on the Beat Barney Miller Anniversary Marathon
03/23 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 24, 2025)
03/22 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* Coming to DVD; American Dad! Moving Back to Fox