Tuesday, November 21, 2017
CBS Gives 9JKL More Episodes; Remembering Della Reese of Touched by an Angel, Chico and the Man
CBS has given a full season order to new drama series S.W.A.T. (20 episodes) and has picked up three additional episodes of new comedy 9JKL for the 2017-2018 broadcast season. S.W.A.T. is averaging 10.36 million viewers, 1.9 in adults 18-49 and 2.8 in adults 25-54 (all Live+7). The Monday freshman comedy 9JKL is averaging 7.40 million viewers in Live+7. S.W.A.T. stars Shemar Moore, Stephanie Sigman, Alex Russell, Jay Harrington, Lina Esco, Kenny Johnson, Peter Onorati and David Lim. Aaron Thomas, Shawn Ryan, Justin Lin, Neal Moritz, Marney Hochman, Danielle Woodrow and Pavun Shetty are executive producers for Sony Pictures Television in association with CBS Television Studios. S.W.A.T. airs Thursdays (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
9JKL stars Mark Feuerstein, David Walton, Elliott Gould, Linda Lavin, Liza Lapira, Matt Murray and Albert Tsai. Dana Klein, Mark Feuerstein, Aaron Kaplan, Wendi Trilling, Dana Honor and Pamela Fryman are executive producers for CBS Television Studios. 9JKL airs Mondays (9:30-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
Actress and singer Della Reese, who starred as Tess in Touched by an Angel and as Della Rogers in Chico and the Man, has died. She died peacefully at her Los Angeles home on November 19. Ms. Reese was 86.
Reese hosted her own talk show early in her career called Della. It aired for 197 episodes from June 9, 1969 to March 13, 1970. She became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1970.
Some of her early television appearances included The Mod Squad, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Police Woman, McCloud, Petrocelli, The Rookies and Sanford and Son.
She joined the cast of Chico and the Man in the fall of 1976. She played Della Rogers, the owner of the diner across from Ed's Garage and Ed's landlady. The ABC sitcom ran for four seasons and 88 episodes from 1974-1978. It starred Jack Albertson, Freddie Prinze (1974-1977), Scatman Crothers, Bonnie Boland (1974-1975), Isaac Ruiz (1974-1977), Ronny Graham (1975-1976), Gabriel Melgar (1977-1978) and Charo (1977-1978). Reese first guest starred as The Judge in the 1975 episode "The Juror."
Reese appeared as Judge Caroline Phillips in six episodes of the 1982-1983 ABC sitcom It Takes Two. The series starred Richard Crenna, Patty Duke Astin, Helen Hunt, Anthony Edwards, Billie Bird, Richard McKenzie and Randy Dreyfuss.
She joined the cast of Charlie & Co. for four episodes in early 1986 as Charlie's (Flip Wilson) sister-in-law, Aunt Rachel. The 1985-1986 CBS sitcom also starred Gladys Knight, Fran Robinson, Kristoff St. John, Jaleel White, Ray Girardin, Richard Karron, Kip King, Terry McGovern and Eddie Velez.
Reese starred with Redd Foxx in the 1991-1992 CBS sitcom The Royal Family. Al Royal and his wife Victoria were an Atlanta couple looking forward to retirement until his daughter and her family move back home. The series also starred Mariann Aaida, Sylver Gregory, Larenz Tate, Naya Rivera, Jackée Harry and Barry Shabaka Henley.
Her best known role was as the supervisor Tess in the religious supernatural drama Touched by an Angel, which aired on CBS from 1994-2003. It ran for nine seasons and 212 episodes. It also starred Roma Downey, John Dye and Valerie Bertinelli (2001-2003). Reese performed the show's theme song titled "Walk with You." She received two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1997 and 1998 and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television in 1998. She also appeared in six episodes of the spin-off series Promised Land in 1996-1998.
Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Welcome Back, Kotter, The Love Boat, 227, Night Court, Married People, Dream On, Designing Women and That's So Raven.
She played the mother of B. A. Baracus (Mr. T) in a 1985 episode of The A-Team. Some of other drama guest appearances included Medical Center, Insight, Crazy Like a Fox, The Young Riders, MacGyver, L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Detroit 1-8-7 and Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
Her film credits included Psychic Killer, Harlem Nights (with Redd Foxx), A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Beauty Shop, If I Had Known I Was a Genius and Expecting Mary.
The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive itnerview with her on June 13, 2008.
Survivors include her husband, Franklin Lett, and her three children, James, Franklin and Dominique Reese.
Ms. Reese was a gifted actress and singer. She was wonderful as the wise angel Tess in Touched by An Angel. We thank her for the many hours of entertainment she brought us over her long career. She will be deeply missed.
Share your memories on our Touched by an Angel or Chico and the Man message boards. View photos in our galleries.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Friday, December 8
CBS announced the new entertainment special Norman Lear: A Life on Television, to air tonight - Friday, Dec. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs). Presented by Entertainment Tonight, this one-hour special features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created, including Jimmie Walker from Good Times and Mackenzie Phillips from One Day at a Time, in addition to never-before-seen interviews from the ET vault. Also included with this new footage and interviews is an in-depth sit-down interview with Lear that ET host Kevin Frazier conducted when Lear celebrated his 100th birthday, in which he reflected on his lengthy, groundbreaking career.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 4)
Friday, December 8
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- John Caponera (The Good Life) - John is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Robert Smigel (Let's Be Real) - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog aka Robert Smigel chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Noah Galvin (The Real O'Neals) and Molly Gordon (Ramy) - Noah and Molly talk about Theater Camp on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Eric Stonestreet (The Santa Clauses/Modern Family) - Eric talks about The Santa Clauses on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan sits down with Sherri to talk about his new book, When I Was Your Age, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
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
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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