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TBS and TNT Holiday Schedule; Hulu's Back 'Four' More Reasonable Doubt; Remembering Diane Ladd of Alice

Festive films, spirited sitcoms and 24-hour movie marathons return this season as TBS's "All I Watch for Christmas" delivers nostalgic classics and TNT's "Christmas Maximus" showcases blockbuster holiday hits beginning Sunday, November 9.

As part of the networks' annual tradition, TBS and TNT will host 24-hour movie marathons of Elf, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story. Additionally, TNT will air the broadcast premiere of Candy Cane Lane, starring Eddie Murphy, on November 16 along with the network debut of Shrek the Halls on December 2. Other seasonal favorites include Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), The Polar Express, Four Christmases, and many more.

TBS will also air holiday-themed episodes of Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, American Dad! and Family Matters.

Hulu's Reasonable Doubt is coming back "four" more. The hit series has been renewed for season four. Season three is currently Thursdays on Hulu, with the season finale set for November 13. You'll judge Jax Stewart for her questionable ethics and wild interpretations of the law...until you're the one in trouble. Then you'll see her for what she is: the most brilliant and fearless defense attorney in Los Angeles who bucks the justice system at every chance she gets.

Season three stars Emayatzy Corinealdi, McKinley Freeman, Tim Jo, Angela Grovey and Joseph Sikora, as well as recurring guest stars including Morris Chestnut, Lori Harvey, Kyle Bary, Rumer Willis, Brandee Evans, Richard Brooks, April Parker Jones, Keith Arthur Bolden and Kash Doll.

Actress Diane Ladd, who starred as Belle Dupree in Alice, has died. She died from chronic hypoxic respiratory failure complicated by idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis at her home in Ojai, California, on November 3. Ms. Ladd was 89.

Ladd starred as Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry in the 1974 romantic comedy drama film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Flo is a hardened, sharp-tongued waitress at Mel and Ruby's Cafe. The film inspired the television series Alice, in which Flo was portrayed by Polly Holliday. Ladd was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for the role. She won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1976.

She joined the cast of the CBS sitcom Alice as Isabelle "Belle" Dupree in the fourth season in 1980. Belle Dupree is a hard-edged but kind-hearted woman. She had been a waitress of Mel's in the past, during which the two had a romantic relationship. Ladd won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film for the role in 1980. Despite Ladd's Golden Globe-winning performance, the character was not retained for the duration of the series and was replaced early in 1981 after she had appeared in 23 episodes in the fourth and fifth seasons. Celia Weston then joined the cast as the good-natured, boisterous truck driver Jolene Hunnicutt, who came from Myrtle Point, South Carolina.

Ladd guest starred as Louise Burdette, the mother of Grace Kelly (Brett Butler), in two episodes of Grace Under Fire in 1994 and 1997. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for the episode "Things Left Undone" in 1994. Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Hazel, The Love Boat (3 episodes), and Young Sheldon.

She had a recurring role as Helen Jellicoe, Amy's (Laura Dern) quiet and rather aloof yet protective mother with her own ghosts from the past, in 18 episodes of the 2011-2013 HBO comedy drama Enlightened. In 2004, she starred as Sally Druse in the ABC horror medical drama Kingdom Hospital. She starred as Nell O'Brien in the 2016-2022 Hallmark Channel drama Chesapeake Shores.

Ladd received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her roles as Charlotte Cooper in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1994 and as Carolyn Sellers in a 1997 episode of Touched by an Angel. Some of her other television guest appearances included Naked City (2 episodes), Perry Mason (1963), The Fugitive (1964), Gunsmoke (3 episodes), The Big Valley, Ironside, Father Dowling Mysteries, In the Heat of the Night, L.A. Law, Sisters, Strong Medicine (2 episodes), Cold Case, ER, and Ray Donovan.

She received Academy Award nominations for her roles in Wild at Heart (1990) and Rambling Rose (1991), in both of which she starred alongside her daughter Laura Dern. They were also nominated for dual Golden Globe Awards in the same year. Some of her other film credits included Chinatown (1974), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), Primary Colors (1998), 28 Days (2000), and Joy (2015).

Ms. Ladd was a talented and versatile actress. She appeared in over 200 television shows and films in her career spanning over 70 years. We thank her for her work on television and in films. She will be deeply missed.

We also remember television director Ralph Senensky. He died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, on November 1. Mr. Senensky was 102.

Senensky's sitcom directing credits included The Courtship of Eddie's Father (9 episodes), The Bill Cosby Show (4 episodes), Nanny and the Professor (6 episodes), The Partridge Family (7 episodes), and Getting Together (3 episodes).

He directed 16 episodes of The F.B.I. from 1966 to 1972, 6 episodes of Star Trek from 1967 to 1969, and 12 episodes of The Waltons from 1973 to 1978. Some of his other directing credits included The Twilight Zone, Route 66 (2 episodes), Naked City (3 episodes), Arrest and Trial (2 episodes), The Doctors and the Nurses (2 episodes), Breaking Point (3 episodes), Dr. Kildare (5 episodes), 12 O'Clock High (4 episodes), The Fugitive (4 episodes), The Wild Wild West (2 episodes), Mission: Impossible, Ironside (2 episodes), Dan August (5 episodes), Banyon (3 episodes), Barnaby Jones (3 episodes), Eight Is Enough, Dynasty (4 episodes in 1981), Hart to Hart (7 episodes), Paper Dolls (3 episodes), and The Paper Chase (7 episodes).

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television in 2011.

Mr. Senensky was the last surviving person to have directed an episode of Star Trek (1966-1969). He chronicled and discussed his adventures in film and television on his official website Ralph's Cinema Trek. We thank him for his work on television. He will be greatly missed.

Actor Lee Weaver had a recurring role as Brian Kincaid in The Bill Cosby Show and starred as Ricardo Williams in Easy Street. He died at his home in Los Angeles on September 22. Mr. Weaver was 95.

Weaver had a recurring role as Brian Kincaid in seven episodes of the 1969-1971 NBC sitcom The Bill Cosby Show. Bill Cosby played the role of Chet Kincaid, a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school, a bachelor, and an "average cool guy" trying to earn a living and help people out along the way. Brian Kincaid is Chet's brother. The cast included Lillian Randolph (1969-1970), Beah Richards (1970-1971), Olga James, Sid McCoy, Joyce Bulifant, and Joseph Perry.

He starred as Ricardo Williams in the 1986-1987 NBC sitcom Easy Street. The series stars Loni Anderson as L.K. McGuire, a onetime showgirl who manages to nab a young wealthy husband, Ned McGuire, only to have him die and leave her fending for herself against his embittered sister, who's out to get L.K. out of the picture and away from her inherited money. Meanwhile, L.K. reconnects with a down-on-his-luck uncle, Bully Stevenson (Jack Elam) who has been on and off the streets of Los Angeles. L.K. invites him and his pal, Ricardo Williams, to move into her vast mansion, to the horror and consternation of her snobbish in-laws, Eleanor and Quentin Standard (Dana Ivey and James Cromwell).

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Good Morning World, Julia, Love, American Style (1969), Nanny and the Professor, That's My Mama, Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Soap, Mork & Mindy, AfterMASH, Diff'rent Strokes, What's Happening Now!!, 227 (2 episodes), Webster (3 episodes), Amen, Dear John, A Different World, The Cosby Show (2 episodes), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Nurses, Night Court (1992), Step by Step, Living Single, Roc, Sister, Sister (1994), Martin (2 episodes), Sparks (2 episodes), The Jamie Foxx Show, Good News (2 episodes), Suddenly Susan, For Your Love, Men, Women & Dogs, My Wife and Kids, The Parkers, The Bernie Mac Show, That's So Raven, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, My Name Is Earl (2 episodes), Community, Family Tools (4 episodes), and Grace and Frankie (2 episodes).

Some of his other television credits included Sheena: Queen of the Jungle (6 episodes), I Spy (2 episodes), The Blue Knight (4 episodes), Flamingo Road (6 episodes), Hill Street Blues (6 episodes), Reasonable Doubts (2 episodes), and NYPD Blue (3 episodes). He was the voice of Alpine in the animated television series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero from 1985 to 1986.

Mr. Weaver was a familiar face who wore stylish hats in many sitcoms. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment that he brought us during his 70 year career. He will be sorely missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:15 PM

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Labels: Alice, American Dad!, Bill Cosby Show, Family Matters, Friends, Hulu, Modern Family, Obits, TBS, The Big Bang Theory, TNT