Thursday, August 19, 2021
Lifetime's Highway to Heaven Premieres November 6; COZI TV's Dog Days of Summer on August 21
The Lifetime original movie Highway to Heaven, starring Grammy(R) Award winner Jill Scott and Barry Watson, is set to premiere on Saturday, November 6 at 8/7c. A "first look" trailer for the film has been released by the network in anticipation of the upcoming premiere. A contemporary take on Michael Landon's iconic 80s television series Highway to Heaven, the new movie follows Angela Stewart (Jill Scott), an angel who is sent back to earth to help others in need. In the premiere movie, Angela takes on the role of a temporary school counselor and finds herself working alongside junior high school principal Bruce Banks (Barry Watson) as she intervenes in the lives of a troubled student Cody (Ben Daon), his father Jeff (Robert Moloney) and his aunt Vanessa (Victoria Bidewell), who are grieving the tragic loss of Cody's mother, Melissa (Ashley Ross). As Angela seemingly works miracles with Cody, Bruce is stunned when he learns of the divine nature of Angela's work. Just like the original series, Lifetime wishes to retain the same messages of hope and encouragement for its audience, while exploring social and emotional issues with sensitivity, joy, and humor.
The first movie installment of the Highway to Heaven series is produced by Rain Productions and Propagate for Lifetime. Jonathan Baruch and Rob Wolken executive produce for Rain Productions; Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, Gregory Lipstone and Rodney Ferrell executive produce from Propagate; Howard Braunstein is executive producer; Jill Scott and Shawn Gee also executive produce. Stacey K. Black directs from an original script by executive producer/writer Cathryn Humphris and award-winning playwright Angelica Chéri. Cindy Landon and Wayne Lepff are executive producing on behalf of Michael Landon's estate.
COZI TV will be airing its Dog Days of Summer special, a day full of viewers' favorite television dogs, on Saturday, August 21 starting at 9:00 a.m. The special will begin with a Lassie marathon running until 1:00 p.m., followed by a special edition Ten Secret Stories episode, TV's Amazing Dogs, and concluding with a season two episode of Frasier, where fans are introduced to Dr. Frasier Crane's Jack Russell Terrier, Eddie, who will also be featured in the prior special Ten Secret Stories special. All of these animal-friendly episodes are to help kick-off NBCUniversal Local's Clear The Shelters™ campaign. The animal adoption campaign starts on Monday, August 23 and goes through Sunday, September 19.
Ten Secret Stories is a COZI original series that first aired in 2017. The half-hour episodes feature clips from many of television’s most beloved programming along with behind-the-scenes access to many of television's best-known personalities. This year's special is an updated episode from the original series showcasing TV's most iconic dogs. The special episode, TV's Amazing Dogs, will include appearances by The Nanny's Fran Drescher, sharing memories of her beloved dog, Chester, who also appeared on her sitcom, John Roberts from Bob's Burgers, comedian Chris Gethard, and from NBC's 1st Look, Johnny Bananas. Clear The Shelters™ is NBCUniversal Local's campaign promoting pet adoption and is returning for its seventh consecutive year on Monday, August 23. This campaign has nationally helped find forever homes for more than half a million pets. For more information on Clear The Shelters™ including participating animal shelters and rescues, along with details on local events, visit ClearTheShelters.com.
The following is the episode lineup for the Dog Days of Summer special airing on Saturday, August 21 (check local listings):
Lassie Episodes
9:00 a.m. – "Winged Rescue"
9:30 a.m. – "The Cliff"
10:00 a.m. – "Warm Heart--Cold Nose"
10:30 a.m. – "Whitewater Fury"
11:00 a.m. – "Lassie's Busy Day"
11:30 a.m. – "The River"
12:00 p.m. – "For the Love of Lassie (1)"
12:30 p.m. – "For the Love of Lassie (2)"
1:00 p.m. – Ten Secret Stories, "TV's Amazing Dogs"
1:30 p.m. – Frasier, "The Unkindest Kind of Cut" (Season 2, Episode 2)
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and 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)
11/12 - 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
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