Wednesday, January 10, 2018
TCA 2018 Winter Press Tour: NBC; grown-ish Premieres Strong on Freeform
Moving on to NBC at the TCA 2018 Winter Press Tour, we have news on a new comedy. From Executive Producers Mindy Kaling and Charlie Grandy, Champions will premiere Thursday, March 8 and will air at 8:30pm through May 17. From executive producers Charlie Grandy (The Mindy Project, Guys with Kids) and Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Vince is living every bachelor’s dream. He owns the fifth largest gym in Brooklyn, dates an endless string of beautiful women and lives with his dumb, lovable brother Matthew. But Vince's simple life gets complicated fast when his high school fling Priya (Mindy Kaling) unexpectedly drops off their 15-year-old son Michael so he can attend a city school for super-talented kids. How will Vince handle this wildly ambitious and hilariously witty teenager? Well, somehow he’ll have to work it out. Next, fresh off its stellar debut, NBC has ordered a 13-episode second season of its new hit alternative series Ellen's Game of Games.
NBC's newest comedy A.P. Bio, starring Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt with Seth Meyers and Lorne Michaels as executive producers, will premiere two original episodes on digital platforms. As we mentioned, A.P. Bio will launch as a special preview on NBC Thursday, Feb. 1 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT with Will & Grace as its lead-in. The following two episodes (along with the pilot) will be available across digital platforms, including the NBC App, Hulu and those run by NBC owned and affiliated stations, beginning Feb 2, one day after the show debuts on the network. The digital episodes will then air when the series returns on NBC, first on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 10:30 p.m., immediately following the Closing Ceremony of the Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, South Korea; and then on Thursday, March 1 at 8:30 p.m. A.P. Bio will move to its normal 9:30 p.m. Thursday timeslot beginning March 1. And finally, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will host a star-studded guest lineup in Minneapolis for its special post-Super Bowl episode on Sunday, Feb. 4, including Justin Timberlake, Dwayne Johnson and the cast of NBC's hit series This Is Us: Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley. The show will air live from the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis following NBC's broadcast of Super Bowl LII, an original episode of This Is Us and late local news.
The debut of grown-ish (Jan. 3, 2018, 8:00-8:31 p.m. EST) ranked as Freeform's biggest series launch in 2 years among Total Viewers (1.562 million), Adults 18-49 (917,000/0.71 rating), Women 18-49 (658,000/1.01 rating), Women 18-34 (340,000/0.98 rating) and Females 12-34 (448,000/0.96 rating) - since Shadowhunters on 1/12/16. Freeform's grown-ish out-delivered the channel's most-recent comedy debut by strong triple digits (Kevin From Work on 8/12/15) across all key demographics: Total Viewers (+111%), Adults 18-49 (+132%), Women 18-34 (+170%), Females 12-34 (+152%) and Female Teens 12-17 (+108%). In fact, grown-ish opened as Freeform's best comedy debut in nearly 6 years in Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Women 18-49 - since long-running hit Baby Daddy on 6/20/12.
Competitively, the grown-ish debut opened as Wednesday's No. 1 scripted series on cable TV among Women 18-49, Women 18-34 and Females 12-34. The 8:00 p.m. debut of grown-ish was the strongest scripted comedy series launch on basic cable among Women 18-49 since April 2014 (MTV's Faking It), among Women 18-34 since July 2014 (FX's Married) and among Adults 18-49 since September 2016 (FX's Atlanta).
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, June 2
The Neighborhood - "Bienvenidos a Nosotros" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Marty prepares to head back to work but isn’t emotionally prepared to send Daphne to daycare. Meanwhile, Gemma notices an issue with the grade Grover’s receiving in his Spanish class.
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Pickleball" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The new neighbors who moved into Miss Kim’s old house are keeping the Butlers and Johnsons up all night. Meanwhile, Courtney tells Marty she is going on a date.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 1)
Monday, June 2
- Owen Wilson (Stick) - Watch Owen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Brett Goldstein (Shrinking/Ted Lasso) - Brett appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Dakota Johnson (Ben and Kate) - Dakota is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - George stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Christopher Sieber (It's All Relative/Two of a Kind) - Christopher is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Ralph chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Roy Wood Jr. (Sullivan & Son) - Roy is a guest on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Leanne Morgan (Leanne) - Leanne guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - NBC's Today catches up with Lisa in the 10am hour.
- Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Drew Sidora (Mind Your Business/The Game) - Drew appears on New York Living on New York Living at 10:05am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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