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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 15

St. Denis Medical - "A Waste of Time and Marble" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
With the threat of a nurse walkout, Alex is caught between her colleagues and Joyce; Ron and Bruce go above and beyond to help an unexpected patient.

The Paper - "Churnalism" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Ned takes over Esmeralda's advertorials and assigns the staff to test products themselves, but Esmeralda retaliates and covers one of Ned's stories and finds a scandal; Ken turns Adam into a lab rat; Oscar and Adelola compare pain tolerances.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 15)

Monday, December 15

Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Watch Simu on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about The Copenhagen Test on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Andy Cohen interviews Kerry on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
Odessa A'zion (I Love LA/Fam) - Odessa talks about Marty Supreme on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti treats us to an EXCLUSIVE festive performance of It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) - Kate talks about Song Sung Blue on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank and The EZ Street Band stop by for a chat and performance on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/People of Earth/Lady Dynamite/Suburgatory) - NBC's Today catches up with Ana in the 10am hour.
Connie Britton (SMILF/Lost at Home/The Fighting Fitzgeralds/Spin City) - Connie tells Sherri about starring in The Family McMullen, the sequel to The Brothers McMullen, on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris/Only Murders in the Building/Girls5eva/Nightcap) - Ashley talks about the highly-anticipated fifth season of Emily in Paris on Netflix on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Glen talks about The Running Man on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
William H. Macy (Sports Night) - William talks about Netflix's Train Dreams on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Andy talks about ABC's Dancing with the Stars on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.