E! Brings Back True Hollywood Story; Brockmire Scores in Season Premiere

Wednesday, May 02, 2018

E! Brings Back True Hollywood Story; Brockmire Scores in Season Premiere

E! announced six new series plus three unscripted development projects that are rooted in celebrity and pop culture and target the network's core female millennial audience. New series include an innovative talk show hosted by actress Busy Philipps, a new series centered around the women of the popular podcast The LadyGang, and a new docu-series featuring actress and singer Ashlee Simpson-Ross and her husband, actor and artist Evan Ross. In addition, popular, long-running franchise E! True Hollywood Story will return with a fresh approach and new episodes that dive deep into the most compelling personalities and stories that are shaping headlines. The People's Choice Awards of course is airing November 11 for the first time on E! Among the notable items:

Busy Tonight (working title)
Hosted by actress Busy Philipps, Busy Tonight features comedic commentary, interviews, and segments that go behind her most popular Instagram stories. Unfiltered, in-the-know and always entertaining, Busy will give us her unique and hilarious point of view on literally everything. Executive Producers for Busy Tonight are Busy Philipps, Julie Darmody and Eric Gurian for Little Stranger.

E! True Hollywood Story
The series that told Hollywood's most compelling stories is back. E! True Hollywood Story is taking a modern approach, and providing a voice to the moments that are reshaping popular culture. Each self-contained documentary will explore a topic, headline, or person that became the ground zero for a revolution, change or shift in culture, told by the people who were on the frontlines of the story. E! True Hollywood Story is produced by Wilshire Studios.

Brockmire

The season two premiere of acclaimed IFC comedy Brockmire, starring Hank Azaria experienced strong growth - eclipsing both the season one premiere and finale in key demos - remarkable growth in this environment. Compared to the 2017 series premiere, the season two premiere grew 15% among adults 25-54 and 11% among adults 18-49 in Nielsen live+3 ratings. And compared to the season one finale of Brockmire, the season two premiere grew 24% among adults 25-54, 13% among adults 18-49 and 7% among total viewers. The season two premiere on Wednesday, April 25 also delivered 506,000 total viewers in Nielsen live+3 ratings.

Additionally, the digital pre-premiere generated nearly 3 million total views on digital platforms including VOD, IFC.com, the IFC YouTube and Facebook pages, and FunnyOrDie.com. Debuting to critical praise in 2017, Brockmire follows Jim Brockmire (Azaria), a famed major league baseball announcer who suffered a notorious public breakdown after stumbling upon his wife's infidelity - a breakdown so bad that "Brutal Brockmire" became a viral internet meme. Season one of the series begins a decade later, as Brockmire looked to reclaim his career, reputation, and love life. He eventually found happiness calling games for the Morristown Frackers, the underdog minor league baseball team, alongside his girlfriend, Jules (Amanda Peet). Season 2 finds Brockmire enjoying new found success as a top podcaster with his show "Brock Bottom," while chasing an opportunity to call games in New Orleans and living with his co-dependent friend Charles (Tyrel Jackson Williams).

Episode 202, "Platoon Player," premieres tonight (Wednesday, May 2) at 10:00 PM on IFC. When Charles (Williams) needs the night off for his birthday, tensions arise when Jim shows up at Charles' dinner and meets his judgmental family.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 9

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Volunteers" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don’t go as planned.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Months after the Gang visited, Abbott's Principal Ava walks viewers through some of the unseen footage of the Gang's volunteerism and reveals their true intentions.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Frank Is in a Coma" (FXX and FX, 9:33PM ET/PT)
The five stages of grief set in for Dee as Frank lies on his deathbed; the Guys plot their new path forward by pitching their business ventures to Philadelphia's elite.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Wednesday, July 9

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Salma Hayek Pinault (The Sinbad Show) - Watch Salma on a repeat of 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 is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Richie Moriarty (Ghosts), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Richie, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela chats about her film Superman on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Anna and Justin discuss their film Nuked on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Simon talks about Peacock's Poker Face on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.