Networks Scramble for Delayed State of the Union Address; Freeform Gets Comedy Pilot from Laurence Fishburne

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Networks Scramble for Delayed State of the Union Address; Freeform Gets Comedy Pilot from Laurence Fishburne

The State of the Union Address was supposed to be last night, but as we all know it didn't happen and is delayed to next Tuesday (Feb. 5) instead. So the networks have to reschedule yet again. NBC is adjusting original episodes of This Is Us, The Village and New Amsterdam to accommodate. It's the finale dates that get affected. On Tuesday, April 2, the season finale of This Is Us will now air on this date at 9:00pm ET/PT followed by an original episode of The Village. The Village will move to its 9pm ET time period the following week for the remainder of the season which was already announced. And now the season of New Amsterdam will now air a week later through Tuesday, May 21. For Fox, Tuesday dramas Lethal Weapon and The Gifted will now have their season finales a week later on Tuesday, February 26. And this means MasterChef Junior and Mental Samurai will now launch yes, a week later, on Tuesday, March 5. ABC and CBS have not released what the impact will be for their Tuesday series, but ABC's American Housewife is still premiering its new night and time Tuesdays at 8pm slot on Tuesday, Feb 5, followed by an original episode of The Kids Are Alright. But black-ish, Splitting Up Together and The Rookie could likely end their season a week later, or a week of less reruns. ABC aired repeats of its Tuesday comedies and The Rookie last night.

Freeform

Freeform announced that it has signed a script to series deal for Party Girls, a half-hour, single-camera dramedy inspired by the true story of Ericka Suzanne, daughter of the first female leader of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown. Set in Oakland in the '70s, Party Girls will follow Ericka's attempt to survive her adolescence as her mother rises in the Party. The plot explores an unconventional mother-daughter relationship, balancing the stakes of the movement with the humor inherent in coming-of-age, and asking the question how do you rebel when your mom is leading a rebellion? From Platform One Media, headed by CEO Katie O'Connell Marsh, Party Girls will be executive produced by Elisa Ellis of Platform One Media (Narcos), Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland of Cinema Gypsy Productions (grown-ish, black-ish), and Lance Krall and Peter Siaggas of Picture It Productions, with Dayna Lynne North (Insecure) set to write the pilot script and serve as executive producer/showrunner, should it go to series. Ericka Suzanne is repped by the Law Office of Adia Z. May, P.C.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Friday, October 18

American Housewife - "Lasagna" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Greg hosts a meeting for the Westport Historical Guild to welcome back Stan (Timothy Omundson), and Katie’s homemade lasagna is a huge hit with the guys. After Stan makes several trips back for seconds and begins spending an inordinate amount of time at the Otto house, Chloe Brown Mueller (Jessica St. Clair) becomes convinced that Katie and Stan must be having an extra-marital affair. Meanwhile, Angela and Doris step in to help Oliver with his Teen Help Line.

Fresh Off the Boat - "S'Mothered" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
While Eddie faces his fears and finally introduces his girlfriend Tina to his mom, Louis is in search of his next passion.

Raven's Home - "Girls Just Wanna Have Phones" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Nia and Tess square off in a competition with Raven and Chelsea to see who can go without technology the longest; Booker tries to impress a new girl in the building.

Just Roll With It - "The Tutor" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Owen volunteers to tutor the school's star basketball player, Big Jim, so that he can pass an upcoming test and be eligible to play in the game.

Gabby Duran & the Unsittables - "Wesley and the Fischman" (Disney Channel, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Gabby has to choose between keeping her new secret alien-babysitting gig a secret or risking it all by confiding in her extraterrestrial-obsessed best friend, Wesley.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 14)

Friday, October 18

Chris O'Dowd (Family Tree/The IT Crowd) - Watch Chris on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kal Penn (Sunnyside/Deadbeat/We Are Men) - Kal appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
America Ferrera (Superstore) - America is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Regina King (227) - Regina visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Julie Andrews (Julie) - Julie speaks about her book Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - Sean guest hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Pam Grier (Bless This Mess) - Pam drops by The Real, so check your local listings.
Sara Gilbert (The Conners/Roseanne/Living Biblically/Bad Teacher) - Sara appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine) and Jenna Fischer (Splitting Up Together/The Office) - Angela and Jenna talk about the Office Ladies Podcast on ABC's GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke at 1pm.
Kal Penn (Sunnyside/Deadbeat/We Are Men) - Kal visits Access Live, so check your local listings.
Marcus Scribner (black-ish) - Marcus appears on Access Live, so check your local listings.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William can be heard on The Morning Mashup on SiriusXM.
Billy Bob Thornton (Hearts Afire) - Billy Bob talks about Goliath on Couch Surfing at 8am.