Monday, May 24, 2021
TBS Launches Best of Friends Awards; AMC Networks Adds to All-Star Cast of Ultra City Smiths
TBS announced the launch of of the first-ever "Best of Friends Awards" hosted by Schitt's Creek star and #1 Friends fan, Sarah Levy. Fans can vote for their favorite moments from the iconic series in a variety of categories – including Best Cellebrity Cameo, Best Musical Moment, Best Romantic Moment and more – by visiting www.TBS.com . Winners will be announced during a livestream on TBS' YouTube, Twitter and Facebook pages on Wednesday, May 26 at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT, with a special guest appearance from a Friends fan favorite. Fans who vote will be entered to win a Friends merchandise prize pack.
Additionally, in support of the highly anticipated premiere of Friends: The Reunion streaming on HBO Max Thursday, May 27, TBS is running a bracket on Instagram and Twitter to select the #1 fan moment of all time, having already achieved 800k votes and counting. This joins the previously announced Friends: From the Beginning marathon currently airing on TBS until June 4.
HBO Max debuted the official trailer and key art for Friends: The Reunion, debuting Thursday, MAY 27 on HBO Max. Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer return to the iconic comedy's original soundstage, Stage 24, on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank for a real-life unscripted celebration of the beloved show.
Ben Winston directed the special and executive produced along with Friends executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. The special hails from Warner Bros. Unscripted Television in association with Warner Horizon, Fulwell 73 Productions and Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions. Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, Perry, and Schwimmer executive produced the special. Emma Conway, James Longman and Stacey Thomas-Muir co-executive produced.
In celebration of the special, HBO Max will launch the following activations, inspiring friends to reunite nationwide to watch Friends: The Reunion:
To celebrate the must-stream event of the summer, HBO Max will launch the "For Fans Of Friends" spotlight page on May 27, offering customized Friends-themed content to invite viewers to immerse themselves in curations centered around everyone's favorite group of six. The page will include a myriad of themed episodic collections from fan favorites, guest stars, iconic moments and fashion to custom talent-driven curations. Collections include "Best of Rachel," "The Ones With Celebrity Guests" and the most-watched episodes.
AMC Networks announced the second round of voice casting for its new half-hour, stop-motion, animated baby doll series, Ultra City Smiths, created by Steve Conrad (Patriot, Perpetual Grace), who serves as showrunner, and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords). The first two episodes of the series will premiere on AMC+ on Thursday, July 22 with subsequent episodes dropping weekly, every Thursday. The six-episode first season will air on AMC this fall.
Rounding out the cast are Kristen Bell (Queenpins, The Woman in the House) as Donella Pecker, Dax Shepard (Parenthood, The Ranch) as Congressman Chris Pecker, Alia Shawkat (Seach Party, Duck Butter) as Little Grace, Tim Meadows (Schooled, No Activity) as Deputy Mayor Jeff Thumb, Terry O'Quinn (Lost, Patriot) as Captain Krieger, Debra Winger (Terms of Endearment, Shadowlands) as Trish McSapphire, Guzmán (Shameless, Traffic) as Rodrigo Smalls, Julian Barratt (Truth Keepers, Killing Eve) as The Most Dangerous Man in the World, Sunita Mani (Evil Eye, Save Yourselves!) as Detective Jaya Mukherjee, and Tom Waits (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Dead Don't Die) as The Narrator.
These all-star cast members join the previously announced Jimmi Simpson (Westworld, Black Mirror), Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Dolemite Is My Name, The United States vs Billie Holiday), John C. Reilly (Moonbase 8, Ralph Breaks the Internet), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Cheers), Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth, Infinite), Damon Herriman (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Underground Railroad), Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live, Toy Story 4), Kurtwood Smith (That '70s Show, RoboCop), Tim Heidecker (Moonbase 8, Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!), Chris Conrad (Patriot, Perpetual Grace, LTD) and Hana Mae Lee (Patriot, The Babysitter: Killer Queen).
From AMC Studios and created by Conrad, the Ultra City Smiths story unfolds via the stop-motion animation of baby dolls repurposed as a grown-up cast of characters. The series hinges on an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of fictional metropolis Ultra Cit's most famous magnate (Smith). Two intrepid detectives (Simpson and Randolph) follow the case, rallying to fight against their city's dangerous corruption, at a high cost to themselves and their families, all in pursuit of a gentler place to call home.
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios' Seth Green, John Harvatine IV, Matthew Senreich, Eric Towner and Chris Waters serve as executive producers along with Jennifer Scher. Jeff Dieter and Thomas J. Glynn are producers.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, October 8
Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Hut-Hut Psyche" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin wants Calvin Jr. to play football, but Ella thinks football is too dangerous and pushes him to play tennis instead.
Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Roll Model" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Vinny's weed smoking is making him a bad role model for Philip, so he attempts to rehab his image by volunteering at Cora's church; Cora lands a date with a promising gentleman.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 7)
Tuesday, October 8
- Harrison Ford (Shrinking) - Catch Harrison on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) and Mary Holland (The Big Door Prize/Robbie/Blunt Talk) - Skylar and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Drake Bell (Drake & Josh) - E! News has an interview with Drake at 11pm on E!.
- Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl), Ella Hunt (Dickinson) and Kim Matula (LA to Vegas) - Lamorne, Ella and Kim talk about Saturday Night on NBC's Today some time between 7-9am.
- Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Jim talks about Our Town on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Patricia Clarkson (Davis Rules) - Patricia talks about Lilly on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta talks about the new season of Abbott Elementary on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Terry Crews (Everybody Still Hates Chris/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry tells Sherri about the animated new series Everybody Still Hates Chris on Comedy Central on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Ali Wong (Big Mouth/American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali talks about Ali Wong: Single Lady on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) and Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary/Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Quinta and Tyler talk about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke is sharing the secrets behind her shiny and bouncy hair and why she decided to create he own haircare line in her 50s on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa disusses Abbott Elementary on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) - Sasheer talks about Agatha All Along on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
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)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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