Laff TV Acquires How I Met Your Mother; Lifetime Announces Stars for It's a Wonderful Lifetime for 2020

Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Laff TV Acquires How I Met Your Mother; Lifetime Announces Stars for It's a Wonderful Lifetime for 2020

Suit Up!🕴️ You asked... and Laff TV listened... there is a new crew coming to Laff! And it's going to be legendary. Laff has acquired the rights to How I Met Your Mother. The sitcom will join the lineup of According to Jim, That '70s Show, Home Improvement, Night Court, Grace Under Fire and 3rd Rock from the Sun. The series, which ran from 2005 to 2014 for 208 episodes on CBS, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his group of friends in New York City's Manhattan. As a framing device, Ted, in the year 2030, recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meet their mother. The ensemble comedy stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan.

It's a Wonderful Lifetime

Reaching over 80.1 million total viewers1 during last year's "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" programming block, Lifetime emerged as the #1 holiday movie destination. For 2020, the star studded "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" slate will feature 30 new movies, and over 1200 hours of holiday programming - 24/7 - from mid-October through December with many new and returning stars. Because the holidays are for everyone, this year Lifetime dives deeper in the commitment for diverse storytelling with its storylines, talent and characters. Following last year's Twinkle All the Way which featured an on screen, same sex kiss between couple Lex and Danny (Brian Sills and Mark Ghanimé), Lifetime has greenlighted The Christmas Set Up, the networks' first movie with a LGBTQ romance as the lead story. Additionally, Lifetime has greenlighted its first holiday movie centered on a Chinese-American family in A Sugar & Spice Holiday, to be directed by Jennifer Liao and written by Eirene Donohue. Casting is currently underway on both movies, with production set to begin this month.

With new faces joining the previously announced stars Betty White, Kelly Rowland, Mario Lopez and Melissa Joan Hart, 2020 will be extra wonderful with the addition of Tiffany Haddish executive producing Christmas Unwrapped starring Amber Stevens West, Marco Grazzini and Cheryl Ladd; Jason Priestley, Robin Givens, Ed Begley Jr. and Faith Prince co-starring with Melissa Joan Hart in Dear Christmas; and Tony® award winning actress Ali Stroker leading Christmas Ever After alongside Daniel DiTomasso. The full "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" slate will be released in September.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, December 26

Ghosts - "The Christmas: Spirit One" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In part one of a special one-hour #Ghostsmas episode, Jay’s sister, Bela (Punam Patel), visits Woodstone Mansion and brings along an adoring male friend, inspiring Sam to spark a romance between them in the spirit of the holiday rom-coms she loves. Meanwhile, the ghosts have conjured up a very different holiday plan for Trevor and Bela. Also, Isaac has an awkward encounter with Nigel that forces him to look back on events in his life.

Ghosts - "The Christmas: Spirit Two" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In part two of a special one-hour #Ghostsmas episode, Sam and Thorfinn get caught in the crossfire as the scheme Jay’s sister, Bela (Punam Patel), and the ghosts have conjured up goes awry. Also, Isaac’s marriage to Beatrice sheds light on how apprehensive he has been in communicating his feelings to Nigel.

Ghosts - "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1" / "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 2" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
A leaky water heater mishap threatens to ruin holiday plans as Sam and Jay prepare to host Jay’s hard-to-please dad, Mahesh (Bernard White), difficult-to-impress mom, Champa (Sakina Jaffrey), and sister Bela (Punam Patel), on a one-hour GHOSTSMAS special.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 23)

Thursday, December 26

Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Catch Jenny on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Paul Feig (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/The Louie Show/The Jackie Thomas Show/Dirty Dancing) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Luke Wilson (No Good Deed/Englightened) - Luke is joining Drew for a round of "Behind-the-Scenes" with tidbits from his roles in movies like Legally Blonde on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. He's also telling her about his role in the thrilling new show, No Good Deed.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney is chatting with Drew about joining her on Hollywood Squares, going back to work in comedy after becoming a mother, and hosting her new trivia show about Friends on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle appears on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Sanaa Lathan (Family Guy/The Cleveland Show/LateLine) - Sanaa and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor talk about the enduring power of friendship in their new Hulu film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Carol Kane (Taxi/All Is Forgiven/Amerian Dreamer/Pearl/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Carol chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl) - Lamorne sits down for an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous/Champaign ILL) - Jay talks about his new virtual reality series Soapstone Comedy Presents on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.