TCA 2018 Winter Press Tour: NBC; grown-ish Premieres Strong on Freeform

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.

grown-ish

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

Tuesday, July 23

The Conners - "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Becky helps Harris keep a secret from Darlene, it opens up a can of worms that causes a rift between the two sisters. Jackie supports Peter with his Nordic history project, and Dan reunites with an old friend.

American Housewife - "Insta-Friends" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Katie feels left out and slightly jealous when Greg becomes fast friends with the newest member of the Westport Historical Guild. Meanwhile, Oliver fears Cooper is ditching him when he sees on social media that Cooper lied about his weekend plans.

Modern Family - "Whanex?" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While preparing a presentation for his students about their future goals, Cam (Eric Stonestreet) must also contend with a bully at the school and Jay (Ed O’Neil) is having a little technical trouble during his video conference. Meanwhile, the local mall is holding a photo shoot for its new ad campaign and Gloria tricks Phil and Joe into participating.

black-ish - "Under the Influence" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jack is going through an experimental phase and getting himself into trouble, so Dre chaperones the twins’ school dance to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Junior fights with his girlfriend, Niecy, after she thinks he spends too much time taking care of Devante.

Modern Family - "We Need to Talk About Lily" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Phil may have conquered his biggest real estate challenge when he thinks he found Pepper his dream home. Meanwhile, in an attempt to connect with Lily, Mitch and Cam get invited to an exclusive event for her favorite vlogger.

black-ish - "Each One, Teach One" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dre feels like he has made a difference with the diversity at Stevens & Lido as the head of the Urban Division, but when Junior tells him that Josh is his mentor, Dre flips out. Meanwhile, Jack and Diane show their friends a video of Bow dancing and now she’s become the hot mom.

The Detour - "The Game Show" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
The Parkers are contestants on a Japanese game show.

Sydney to the Max - "Dancin' the Vida Loca" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Sydney struggles with ballet, something her mom was great at, she starts to feel like she's losing touch of her mom.

Sydney to the Max - "How Sydney Got Her Phone Back" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When a cell phone ban policy during school hours goes up for a vote, Sydney is sure that her dad, who's on the Parent School Committee, will vote against it.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)

Tuesday, July 23

Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever) - Catch Fred on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Eva Longoria (Telenovela) - Eva stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) - Thomas visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Charlie Hunnam (Undeclared) - Charlie is a guest on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
Rami Malek (The War at Home) - Rami appears on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
David Spade (Rules of Engagement/8 Simple Rules/Just Shoot Me!) - David drops by Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback/Web Therapy) - Lisa is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Kyle Richards (Down to Earth) - Kyle visits Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Idris Elba (Turn Up Charlie) - Idris appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings. He also talks about Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz) - Jason talks about the Casteel Family Movie Series on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
David Spade (Rules of Engagement/8 Simple Rules/Just Shoot Me!) - David talks about Lights Out with David Spade on the BUILD Series at 2pm.