Monday, December 03, 2018

Comedy Central Orders Awkwafina Comedy; Remembering Ken Berry of F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama's Family

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is working with ascendant multi-hyphenate Awkwafina, as the #1 brand in comedy ordered 10 episodes of her self-titled scripted series. Awkwafina is a half-hour scripted narrative starring writer, actor and rapper Awkwafina (Ocean's 8, Crazy Rich Asians) as a twenty-something living in Queens, striving for a larger than life existence while living with her father and grandmother. Awkwafina, Karey Dornetto (SMILF, Portlandia) and Teresa Hsiao (Family Guy, American Dad) wrote the pilot directed by Lucia Aniello (Broad City, Rough Night). The cast is rounded out by Bowen Yang as Awkwafina's more successful cousin, BD Wong as her father, and Lori Tan Chinn as her grandmother.

Looking ahead, Comedy Central has a stacked year to offer fans with a programming slate that will feature new and returning series including: the premieres of scripted half-hour series Robbie, The Other Two and South Side; sketch-comedy series Alternatino with Arturo Castro; stand-up series This Week at the Comedy Cellar and The New Negroes; new series from Jordan Klepper and Anthony Jeselnik; along with the final season of Broad City, the return of the critically acclaimed Corporate, and new seasons of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Tosh.0, Drunk History, The Jim Jefferies Show and much, much more.


Ken Berry

Actor Ken Berry, who starred in F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama's Family, has died. He died on December 1 in Burbank, California. Mr. Berry was 85.

Berry's early television guest appearances included Talent Patrol, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Playboy's Penthouse and Harrigan and Son. He had a recurring role as Woody, a bellhop at a New York hotel called the Bartley House, in the CBS sitcom The Ann Sothern Show from 1960 to 1961. He appeared in seven episodes of Ensign O'Toole as Calucci / Lt. Melton from 1962 to 1963. Some of his other 1960s sitcom guest appearances included The Jim Backus Show, Peter Loves Mary, Hennesey, The Gertrude Berg Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show (two episodes), Hazel, No Time for Sergeants (three episodes), The Lucy Show and The Andy Griffith Show (four episodes as Sam Jones).

F Troop

His first sitcom starring role was as Captain Wilton Parmenter in the 1965-1967 ABC sitcom F Troop. He was the gallant although laughably clumsy military governor of the territory and commander of Fort Courage. The series, which ran for two seasons, also starred Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Melody Patterson, Frank de Kova, Don Diamond, James Hampton, Bob Steele and Joe Brooks.

Mayberry R.F.D.

He appeared in the last few episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as Sam Jones, a widowed farmer with a young son, in 1968. Berry continued to play the character in the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D., which premiered on CBS on September 23, 1968. It ran for three seasons and 78 episodes until the rural purge of 1971. The series also starred Frances Bavier (1968-1970), George Lindsay, Jack Dodson, Paul Hartman, Arlene Golonka, Buddy Foster and Alice Ghostley.

Berry had a long working relationship with Carol Burnett. He made 19 guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show from 1968 to 1978. They appeared together in the 1972 CBS color remake of Burnett's Broadway hit, Once Upon a Mattress. He played Phillip, Eunice's brother, in the 1982 CBS TV movie Eunice, which was based on The Carol Burnett Show sketch, The Family.

Mama's Family

He starred as Vinton Harper in Mama's Family, which was a spin-off from The Carol Burnett Show. Vinton was the youngest of Thelma Harper's three children. He was married to Naomi Oates Harper. The series aired for two seasons on NBC from 1983 to 1984 and four seasons in first-run syndication from 1986 to 1990. It starred Vicki Lawrence, Rue McClanahan (1983-1984), Dorothy Lyman, Eric Brown (1983-1984), Karin Argoud (1983-1984), Betty White (1983-1984, 1986), Allan Kayser (1986-1990) and Beverly Archer (1986-1990).

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style, The Brady Bunch, The Love Boat, Gimme a Break!, Small Wonder, The Golden Girls and Maggie Winters.

He appeared in television dramas. He provided comic relief as Dr. John Kapish in 25 episodes of Dr. Kildare, which starred Richard Chamberlain, from 1961 to 1964. Some of his drama guest appearances included Michael Shayne, General Electric Theatre, Mr. Novak, Burke's Law, Combat!, The Rogues, Rawhide, 12 O'Clock High, Medical Center, Ellery Queen, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Little House on the Prairie, CHiPs and Fantasy Island.

Some of his film credits included the 1969 musical comedy Hello Down There, Guardian of the Wilderness and Disney's Herbie Rides Again and The Cat from Outer Space.

Berry was also an accomplished dancer and singer. He appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes Revue and headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical George M!. Some of his other theater credits included The Music Man, I Do! I Do!, Sugar and 1993's From the Top with Carol Burnett. In 1970, he released an album called Ken Berry RFD. He appeared in two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1964 as dance instructor Tony Daniels. He had his own short-lived summer musical variety series called The Ken Berry "Wow" Show on ABC in 1972. He worked as a choreographer on several episodes of Mama's Family.

He was interviewed for the Archive of American Television for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on March 7, 2012.

Mr. Berry was a man of many talents as an actor, dancer and singer. He stated in interviews that he was most proud of his work on F Troop, but he made everything he appeared in much better. He just seemed like a genuine, likable man. We thank him for the many laughs and hours of entertainment that he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama's Family message boards. View photos in our galleries.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, February 24

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Getting Lucky" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin and Dave join Lamar (Kevin Pollack) on a road trip to the casino. Also, Tina and Gemma babysit Daphne while Marty desperately tries to spend time with Courtney alone. Series star Tichina Arnold directs this episode.

Poppa's House - "Slumber Party" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Poppa dodges an invitation to a family slumber party, Junior attempts to change his mind by making him jealous of everyone attending. Charo guest stars as herself. Wendy Raquel Robinson returns as Catherine. Geoffrey Owens returns as J.J.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)

Monday, February 24

  • Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Chris on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) - Drew appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Wendell Pierce (The Odd Couple/The Michael J. Fox Show/The Weber/The Brian Benben Show/The Gregory Hines Show) - Wendell appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. He talks about the latest season of Raising Kanan on Starz on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Sam Waterston (Grace and Frankie) - Sam makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Christian is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) and Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Tichina and Essence are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS. Tichina appers on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Jon Hamm (Grimsburg/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Jon appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
  • Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
  • Kate Hudson (Running Point) - E! News has an interview with Kate at 11pm on E!.
  • Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) - NBC's Today catches up with Eric in the 9am hour.
  • Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons and Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - CBS Mornings has CBS deals with Anthony and Cedric sometime between 7-9am.
  • Clifton Davis (Amen/That's My Mama) - Nancy Giles goes behind the scenes of CBS' new series Beyond the Gates with actors Clifton Davis, Tamara Tunie, Daphnée Duplaix and Karla Mosley on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank chats with the hosts and performs with the EZ Street Band on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso) - Phil talks about the new season of Ted Lasso on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle is hitting the headlines with Drew and Ross and opening up about finding love again on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, Halle is opening up about her experience with menopause and the new platform Respin she made to help women through it.
  • Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (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

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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

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


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