SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The MeTV Network is bringing back some cartoon classics to air every Saturday morning! The network also announced the launch of its new original weekday morning series Toon In With Me. The hour-long program will feature original characters, comedy sketches, special guests, interviews, games and more. These episodes will include some of the most popular classic cartoon shorts ever made. Toon In With Me will launch in January 2021 every weekday morning at 7am ET/PT. Then get up early on Saturday mornings for Saturday Morning Cartoons, a three-hour weekend block of animated favorites. Saturday Morning Cartoons will launch in January 2021 as well, and will air from 7am-10am ET/PT every Saturday morning. The block will feature Warner Bros. superstars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Road Runner and the many other cartoons made famous in the Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes shorts. Other characters making appearances will be Tom and Jerry, Droopy Dog, Popeye, Tex Avery and more. More to come. That's All (for now) Folks!

HBO Max's eight-episode limited series The Flight Attendant takes flight with three episodes on Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 26, followed by the launch of two new episodes on December 3, two episodes on December 10, and the finale episode on December 17. Starring Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant is a story of how an entire life can change in one night. A flight attendant (Cuoco) wakes up in the wrong hotel, in the wrong bed, with a dead man – and no idea what happened. The dark comedic thriller is based on the novel of the same name by New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian. Starring alongside Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, 8 Simple Rules, Charmed) is Michiel Huisman, Rosie Perez, Zosia Mamet, Michelle Gomez, T.R. Knight, Colin Woodell, Merle Dandridge, Griffin Matthews and Nolan Gerard Funk. The series is produced by Warner Horizon Scripted Television, Berlanti Productions & Yes, Norman Productions. Greg Berlanti, Kaley Cuoco, Steve Yockey, Marcie Ulin, Meredith Lavender and Sarah Schechter serve as executive producers, and Suzanne McCormack is Co-Executive Producer. Susanna Fogel directs and executive produces the first two episodes.

ABC has ordered drama series Rebel straight to series to debut in 2021 starring TV veteran Katey Sagal (The Conners, Married...with Children, Sons of Anarchy, 8 Simple Rules) in the title role. The premiere episode is written by Krista Vernoff and directed by Tara Nicole Weyr. Inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich today, Annie "Rebel" Bello is a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She's a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. When Rebel applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost. The series stars Katey Sagal as Annie "Rebel" Bello, John Corbett as Grady Bello, James Lesure as Benji, Lex Scott Davis as Cassidy, Tamala Jones as Lona, Ariela Barer as Ziggie, Kevin Zegers as Nate, Sam Palladio as Luke and Andy Garcia as Cruz. More info to come, but look for it on ABC in 2021. In other ABC series news, they have reversed the decision for a second season of Stumptown and have canceled it due to reasons involving COVID-19. It could be shopped elsewhere, so it's possibly not totally canceled yet. It was slated to air Wednesdays at 10pm sometime this Fall on ABC but they hadn't even come close to starting production due to COVID-19. Stay tuned if it gets picked-up by another network.

New York Times bestselling author and two-time Golden Globe Award winner Jim Carrey to take on the role of Vice President Joe Biden for the upcoming 46th season of Saturday Night Live. And we have scheduling news! SNL will start the new season with five consecutive shows - Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT on Saturdays nights. SNL is planning to have a limited in-studio audience at Rockefeller Center for the upcoming season. The show will work closely with Gov. Cuomo's team. November and December dates have not been announced yet, however November 7 will be a repeat.

Saturday Night Live has added three featured players to its cast for the upcoming season:
· Lauren Holt is an actor, comedian, singer and improviser. She was a house performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Los Angeles and starred in the independent web series The Filth as well as the short film Parent Teacher Conference, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Atlanta Comedy Film Festival.
· Punkie Johnson is a comedian and writer whose recent credits include Space Force, Corporate, Adam Ruins Everything and Bill Burr Presents: The Ringers. She was a New Face at the Just for Laughs Festival in 2019 and is a proud paid regular at the world famous Comedy Store in Hollywood.
· Andrew Dismukes has served as an SNL staff writer since season 43. He is a stand-up comedian who was selected for the 2017 New Faces Showcase at the Just for Laughs Festival and has performed at other festivals, including Comedy Central's Colossal ClusterFest and the New York Comedy Festival. 

It's #ThrowbackThursday everyone and we have some "throwback" updates from ABC! ABC announced a major evolution of its streaming service, re-launching with seven original digital short-form series, full seasons of 38 "throwback" shows, and a redesigned user interface exclusively for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple TV that improves discovery and navigation. The new original ABCd shorts and the "throwback" series will be available to all viewers on ABC.com and the ABC apps for mobile and connected TV devices without signing in. Full seasons of beloved past shows include: 8 Simple Rules, Benched, Betrayal, Body of Proof, Brothers & Sisters, Commander in Chief, Detroit 1-8-7, Dinosaurs, Dirty Sexy Money, Ellen, Felicity, FlashForward, Happy Town, Hope and Faith, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, The Knights of Prosperity, Less Than Perfect, Manhattan Love Story, Mixology, My Generation, My So-Called Life, The Neighbors, October Road, Off the Map, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Perception, Reaper, Red Band Society, The River, Samantha Who?, School House Rock, Secret Millionaire, Smart Guy, Sports Night, Trophy Wife, Ugly Betty, What About Brian?

At launch, seven new ABCd (ABC Digital) comedy and lifestyle digital series developed in-house by ABC Comedy Development, ABC Daytime and ABC Digital Media, are available. More than 40 additional series are in development and will roll out monthly. These series, along with all library shows, are available without signing in with a pay TV service. The ABCd series are: All My Gay Friends are Getting Married with Michelle Collins, Boondoogle with Ty Burrell, Forever 31 with Iliza Shlesinger, Tastemade's Get Cookin', I Can Find $3,000 In Your Home, Newborn Moms, and On The Record.

Celebrate the birth of one of TV's greatest legends in his iconic role as Michael Knight...in Knight Rider. Knight, played by David Hasselhoff, will be crime-fighting the forces of evil with his artificially intelligent supercar KITT in a 10-hour marathon of Knight Rider airing on Hasselhoff's birthday, Sunday, July 17 from 10AM ET to 8PM ET on The El Rey Network. The marathon will feature all four season premiere double features, including fan favorite episode, "Goliath," in which Hasselhoff also plays Michael Knight's evil twin Garthe. So get your fake mustaches ready! Knight Rider also airs every weekday afternoon on The El Rey Network.

ABC Family has announced their fall 2014 schedule and original series. First up, we'll discuss the weekday daytime schedule. Effective Tuesday, Sept. 2, That '70s Show is returning to the ABC Family schedule. It will air weekdays from 7-9am, replacing three episodes of Boy Meets World and an airing of The Middle. At 9am, The Middle will remain. Following The 700 Club block from 9:30-11am, Gilmore Girls will remain at 11am but another episode will be added at 12 noon, replacing 8 Simple Rules, which will be off the line-up. The afternoon sitcom line-up will remain intact from 1pm-6pm, with The Middle from 1-2, Reba from 2-4pm and Boy Meets World from 4-6pm. A mix of movies, originals and original encores airs from 6pm-12am. From 12-2am, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be replaced by a movie effective Monday, Sept. 8, as the contract for that show expires (it is heading exclusively to Viacom networks).

ABC Family's original series will be on hiatus in early fall, as most series had their summer finales this weeks. There will be specials coming during the 13 Nights of Halloween from Oct. 19-31. The Pretty Little Liars Halloween special will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 8pm. This will be all-new interviews with the cast. Then, the new hilariously scary, hidden-camera, funny-prank show, Freak Out will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 9 with back-to-back episodes. Two more episodes will air the following night on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 9 The half-hour series has been picked up for 14 episodes, no word on if it will continue to air in November when the 13 Nights of Halloween is over. As of now, 4 half-hour episodes are scheduled. And finally, all-new Halloween episodes of ABC Family's original sitcoms Melissa & Joey ("Witch Came First") and Baby Daddy ("Strip or Treat") will air on Wednesday, Oct. 22 starting at 8pm. Network premiere movies during the special 13 night event include Dark Shadows and ParaNorman. Stay with us for continued updates.

The Ultimate Horror Convention Experience is coming September 12-14, 2014 in Long Island, New York. New York is about to experience an event that will leave everybody begging for more. Over 70 Horror Scream Queens, Playboy Playmates, Glamour Models are appearing over the course of three days. Silent auction to raise money to the Jack Kirby Research Museum. Over 8 screenings of popular horror movies from acclaimed indie filmmakers, including Mass Grave Pictures, Church Hill Productions, Bradco Productions. The sensational After Party will take place Saturday Night at Dave & Busters in the same building which includes a sumptuous Buffet, Unlimited Soft Drinks, Unlimited Video Games (All day Saturday September 13), Bowling, Billiards. You will have the opportunity to meet the girls and take photos with them. If that's not enough, a concert featuring top horror rock bands Mother, Midnight Mob, Apparition and Terror Garden and a swimwear fashion show consisting of at least 10 models!

Come take pictures with legendary iconic cars KITT from Knight Rider and Bumblebee from Transformers. Ice T, Coco, Krista Allen (Days of Our Lives, Baywatch Hawaii), Courtney Henggeler (The Big Bang Theory, Friends with Benefits), Holli Pockets, Sybil Danning, Cynthia Gibb, Nia Peeples (Fame; Walker, Texas Ranger), and Dona Speir are among a few of the guests scheduled to appear. For complete list visit their website. Queen Divatox from Power Rangers and Hilary Shepard are also making a special appearance. There will also be numerous vendors including DIABLIQUE "The Premiere Horror Genre Magazine" selling all sorts of merchandise, tattoo artists, posters, toys, magazines, autographs, t-shirts, jewelry, trading cards (sport and non-sport). This Blood & Babes Comic Con will take place at The Source on 1504 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY 11590. Order your tickets TODAY!

Yesterday it was Fox's turn at the TCA summer 2014 press tour. Among the key announcements were: this fall, Fox attracts an all-star lineup of guest voices on returning animated series American Dad!, beginning Sunday, Sept. 14 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, with two back-to back episodes; The Simpsons at 8:00PM ET/PT and a special one-hour broadcast of Family Guy from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, premiering Sunday, Sept. 28; and Bob's Burgers, debuting Sunday, Oct. 5 at 7:30PM ET/PT. Jane Fonda, Willem Dafoe, Nick Offerman, Julie Bowen, Liam Neeson, Allison Janney, Kevin Kline, Zach Galifianakis, Kim Kardashian, Megan Mullally, Bill Hader, Aziz Ansari, Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key are among the guest voices featured this Fall on all four series. Meanwhile, Multiple Emmy Award winner Hank Azaria ( The Simpsons) has been cast as Bud Buckwald, the lead voice role on Bordertown, the new animated comedy from Family Guy's Mark Hentemann and Seth MacFarlane. Azaria joins the previously announced voice cast of Alex Borstein (Family Guy), Missi Pyle (Jennifer Falls), Judah Friedlander (30 Rock), Nicholas Gonzalez (Sleepy Hollow) and guest voice Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite). Among the panels were for new drama Gotham, new sitcom Mulaney, new drama Red Band Society, new drama Gracepoint, returning drama Sleepy Hollow, and a comedy panel with producers of The Simpsons, Family Gut, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Mindy Project.

As for The CW, they were up on Friday. Among the key news was that they will keep bringing the funny with its hit improvisational comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, ordering an additional 24 all-new, half-hour episodes to debut in 2015. A premiere date and time for the new cycle of episodes will be announced at a later date. The panels they had were for new dramas Jane the Virgin, The Flash, and returning drama Supernatural. Premium network Showtime then took over for the rest of the day in the afternoon. Stay with us for continued updates.

Television and film actor James Garner, who starred as Bret Maverick in Maverick and as Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files, has died. He was found dead of natural causes at his Los Angeles home on July 19. Mr. Garner was 86.

Garner's television career began with appearances in Warner Brothers Presents, Zane Grey Theater, Conflict, Cheyenne and Sugarfoot. He got his big break in 1957 when he landed the role of professional gambler Bret Maverick in the western comedy series Bret Maverick. The series ran from 1957-1962 on ABC. It also starred Jack Kelly as his brother, Bart Maverick. Garner left the series after the third season due to a contract dispute. Roger Moore was brought in to play cousin Beau Maverick. Another brother, Brent Maverick, was played by Robert Colbert.

Garner and Kelly reprised their roles in the 1978 TV movie The New Maverick. Garner returned to the role again in the 1981-1982 NBC western Bret Maverick. The show was canceled after only one season despite decent ratings. He played Marshal Zane Cooper in the 1994 film adaptation Maverick, which starred Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster.

He starred in the 1971-1972 NBC western series Nichols. Garner played the motorcycle-riding anti-hero sheriff named Nichols. It was set in the fictional town of Nichols, Arizona, in 1914. The series also starred Neva Patterson, John Beck, Stuart Margolin, Margot Kidder and Alice Ghostley. It ran for one season and 24 episodes.

Garner's next big television role was as private detective Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files. The popular detective drama ran for six seasons on NBC from 1974-1980. The series, which was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell, also starred Noah Beery, Jr., Joe Santos, Gretchen Corbett and Stuart Margolin. Garner won an Emmy Award in 1977 for Best Actor. There were eight Rockford Files TV reunion movies made for CBS from 1994 to 1999.

In 1991, he starred in the NBC sitcom Man of the People. Garner played Jim Doyle, a con man chosen to fill an empty seat on a city council. The short-lived series, which ran for only 10 episodes, also starred Kate Mulgrew, Corinne Bohrer, Taylor Nichols, George Wyner and Romy Walthall.

He provided the voice of God in the 2000 NBC animated series God, the Devil and Bob. He had a recurring role as Hubert 'Hue' Miller in the final season of Chicago Hope in 2000. In 2002, he starred as Chief Justice Thomas Brankin in the CBS legal drama First Monday. The short-lived series, centered on the U.S. Supreme Court, also starred Joe Mantegna, Charles Durning, Randy Vasquez, Hedy Burgess, Christopher Wiehl and Joe Flanigan.

Garner joined the cast of the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules after the sudden death of John Ritter in 2003. He played Grandpa Jim Egan, the father of Cate Hennessy (Katey Sagal), in the final two seasons of the series. Suzanne Pleshette appeared as his estranged wife, Laura.

He starred in more than 50 films. Some of his more notable credits included The Great Escape, The Americanization of Emily, Grand Prix, Victor Victoria, Murphy's Romance, My Fellow Americans, Space Cowboys and The Notebook. He received an Emmy Award nomination for his role opposite Sally Field in Murphy's Romance. For a complete listing of his credits, please visit his IMDB page.

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him in 1999. Survivors include his wife, Lois, whom he married on August 17, 1956; his stepdaughter Kimberly; and his daughter Greta "Gigi" Garner.

Mr. Garner was a true legend on both the small and big screen. He was a very versatile and talented actor. We will forever remember him for his television roles as Bret Maverick, Jim Rockford and Grandpa Jim Egan. He will be greatly missed.

You can catch James Garner on television everyday. The Rockford Files airs regularly on the MeTV Network weekdays at noon and Sundays at 6pm. Maverick airs on COZI TV weekdays at 11am and on Encore Westerns at 2pm. And 8 Simple Rules airs weekdays at 12 & 12:30pm on ABC Family. Stay with us for updates on any tributes planned for him.

Share your memories on our Rockford Files message board. View photos in our galleries.

ABC Family is altering its sitcom line-up this December. Weekdays beginning Monday, December 2, will see some time changes and Grounded for Life being removed from the line-up again. That '70s Show will expand from 7-9am on weekday mornings, cutting out Grounded for Life in that 7am hour. At 9am, Still Standing returns to the line-up and will air weekday mornings at 9am replacing an airing of That '70s Show. Then the line-up remains the same from 9:30am-11am with The 700 Club programming and Gilmore Girls at 11am. Then its back to sitcoms with 8 Simple Rules and Reba switching hours, with Rules going to the 12pm hour and Reba moving to the 1pm hour. But that's not all for Reba! It will air in the 2pm hour as well, shifting the two-hour Boy Meets World block to 3-5pm instead of 2-4pm. In essence, the Reba hours are now consecutively airings (1-3pm) instead of broken up like it is now from 12-1pm and 4-5pm. And finally, new addition The Middle will remain from 5-7pm (well 5-6pm until 25 Days of Christmas event is over). One other note, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which airs weeknights from 12-1am, will return to the weeknight line-up on Dec. 30 after the 25 Days of Christmas event is over. Keep it right here for continued updates on all things ABC Family!

Leah Remini (The King of Queens) has been cast for a multi-episode arc in TV Land's original sitcom, The Exes. Remini, who was most recently a semi-finalist on ABC's Dancing With The Stars, will play Stuart's (David Alan Basche) sister Nicki – a tough-talking, no-nonsense, stylish and sexy woman from Staten Island whose 17-year marriage ends when she finds out her policeman husband had an affair. On this season of The Exes, Nicki retreats to Manhattan to seek the comfort of her brother, only to find out he's sharing an apartment with two guys, Phil (Donald Faison) and Haskell (Wayne Knight), and living next door to his divorce attorney Holly (Kristen Johnston). Unable and unwilling to keep her opinions to herself, she turns all their lives upside down as she tries to put her life back together and make a new future for herself in Manhattan.

The Exes, which returns with new episodes on Wednesday, December 11 at 10:30pm ET/PT, revolves around the unlikely trio of Phil, Haskell and Stuart, three roommates and divorcés who have finally found bromance after initially being forced to live together by their divorce attorney and landlord, Holly. Last we left the gang in the summer finale, Phil and Eden (Kelly Stables) realized that they were more interested in dating than remaining "friends with benefits," while the rest of the gang was surprised to find out that anything was going on between them at all. This past summer, The Exes had its highest-rated season ever among Adults 25-54, while also seeing a +21% increase among total viewers versus the prior season (Source: Nielsen, L+7, 6/19/13 - 8/28/13). Stay with us for continued updates on when Leah's episodes will air.

Welcome to the 2013 edition of our annual look at the fall schedules for cable and digital TV! We are launching this schedule barrage with ABC Family! As we all know, they will be adding reruns of The Middle to its line-up. Now we know when and what times! The network will launch the comedy on Monday, September 16, 2013 with a marathon from 11am-7pm. It will regularly air weekdays from 5-7pm during family time (though at times, the 6pm hour could be preempted for a long movie or original encore). On weekends, it will air in the mornings from 7-8am. The Middle will also be coming to local broadcast syndication on Sept. 16, so check your local listings (such as in NY on WPIX) and in March 2014 The Hallmark Channel will also run the series. The series premiered in fall 2009 on ABC (Wednesdays at 8PM) and is currently entering its fifth season on ABC. The Middle stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob. It is created and is executive produced by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.

Elsewhere on ABC Family September 2013, there will be many other schedule changes during the day starting Sept. 16. A couple sitcoms will return (8 Simple Rules and 10 Things I Hate About You), while one (Full House) will be off the schedule. Boy Meets World will move to afternoons, as the series moves out of the mornings and to 2-4pm, replacing Reba. That sitcom will slide into the 4pm hour and will be leading into The Middle. The afternoon staple That '70s Show will now move to mornings from 7:30am-9:30am, since Reba/The Middle will air late afternoon/early evening. AFV is off the line-up completely, as it was airing at 6pm. Leading off at 8am will be an episode of the ABC Family original sitcom 10 Things I Hate About You. This could be airing just temporary, since the series didn't have many episodes. After the 700 Club programming, Gilmore Girls remains at 11am. At noon, an hour of Reba will be added replacing Full House, while from 1-2pm the John Ritter comedy 8 Simple Rules returns to the schedule, also replacing Full House, as that series will be off the line-up.

In primetime, there will be no original series to start the fall, but more news on original series will come soon. Movies will air from 7-11pm each weeknight until then starting Sept. 16. Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy will have their mid-season finales on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 8-9pm and will return likely in early 2014 or late 2013 for the remaining episodes of their season. A Melissa & Joey Labor Day marathon will air on Sept. 2 from 12pm-4:30pm and a mini-marathon on finale day on Sept. 4 from 6-8pm. Baby Daddy will have a marathon on Sept. 4 from 12-6pm. Other September original finales are The Vineyard on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 and Spell-Mageddon on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9. In late night, 700 Club is at 11 leading into The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at 12 midnight. Starting Sept. 30, Fresh Prince will expand to two-hours airing from 12-2am. That's all for now, stay tuned if anything changes in October and any news on original series. We know that Pretty Little Liars will have its annual Halloween special in October, so stay tuned for a date on that along with the premiere of the spin-off series Ravenswood.

View the full ABC Family September 2013 schedule with The Middle.


The TCA Summer 2013 press tour continued this weekend, so we will give you a recap of what you missed. On Friday it was the third and final day for the cable portion, while on Saturday it was the first day of broadcast with NBC up first. For cable, NickMom announced that this fall they will premiere Instant Mom, its first original scripted comedy series, starring and produced by Tia Mowry-Hardrict (Sister, Sister). The half-hour, multi-camera series features Mowry-Hardrict as Stephanie, a party girl who trades in Cosmos for carpools when she marries Charlie (Michael Boatman, Spin City), who already has three kids. The series is picked up for 13 episodes and will premiere in the primetime NickMom block on the Nick Jr. channel, with encore episodes airing on Nick at Nite. No official premiere date and time has been announced just yet. Moving on to Lifetime, the witching hour is coming...get ready to meet the Beauchamps, the Witches of East End... Lifetime's newest drama, Witches of East End, featuring an all-star-cast headlined by Emmy Award-winner Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin, Mad Men), Mädchen Amick (Mad Men, Damages), Jenna Dewan Tatum (American Horror Story) and Rachel Boston (In Plain Sight) as a family of witches living in the secluded seaside town of East Haven, will cast its spell beginning Sunday, October 6, at 10:00pm ET/PT following the season finale of Devious Maids in late September. Also set to star are Eric Winter (The Mentalist), Daniel DiTomasso (CSI), Jason George (Mistresses, Grey's Anatomy) and Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominee Virginia Madsen (Sideways, Anna Nicole).

Onto NBC, in ramping up its commitment to long-form and event limited series programming along the lines of A.D.: After the Bible, which was announced last month (but won't premiere until the 2014-15 season), NBC is in early development on a handful of new projects, including a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary Rodham Clinton, an updated retelling of Rosemary's Baby, Stephen King's Tommyknockers and Plymouth, based on the epic story of the Mayflower's landing in America. The four-hour miniseries titled Hillary, based on the life of former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, stars Diane Lane and will be written and directed by Oscar nominee Courtney Hunt. Rosemary's Baby is a four-hour updated retelling of the bestselling novel by Ira Levin that was later adapted as a feature film about devil worship and the complex relationship between a young husband and wife. Stephen King's Tommyknockers is based on the renown author's chilling 1987 novel about how the residents of a small Maine town deal with what they believe is an alien spacecraft that has landed nearby. Limited series Plymouth, which examines the challenges and drama of the Pilgrims' journey across the Atlantic and the difficulties of settling in a new country, will be executive produced by Mark Burnett and Anne Thomopolous of Mark Burnett Productions, and Gina Matthews and Grant Sharbo. And finally for NBC, NBC Sports Group announced a new documentary on former Olympic figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding featuring an exclusive interview of Kerrigan that will air during its Sochi Winter Olympics coverage.

Yesterday had a full day for Reelz TV, but we aren't covering it. CBS will continue the broadcast portion today, so come on back for a recap tomorrow on the blog for any notable highlights.

Care Bear! Today we have a very special "Seven Questions" interview with actress Amy Davidson! She is of course is best known to sitcom fans as Kerry Hennessy on the popular ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules. Amy is a gifted comedic actor as we saw on the series and gelled well with the late John Ritter, along with the rest of the cast which include Katey Sagal and Kaley Cuoco. We talked to her about 8 Simple Rules of course but we also delved deeper in her career and life and we got some insight of how she started her career, what she is doing now, and other very interesting tidbits! So let's get right to another installment of "Seven Questions!"

"Seven Questions with Amy Davidson From 8 Simple Rules"



SitcomsOnline: Thanks Amy for doing this interview! We have been a fan of your work since 8 Simple Rules and you are such an accomplished actress, so it is an honor to interview you. We usually start our questions with actors/actresses by asking them how they got into acting, so let's start there. At what point did you realize you wanted to get into this business and can you share some memories from your first experiences? Was it as you thought it would be?
Amy Davidson: I think I was around five years old when I realized I wanted to be an actress. I remember sitting in front of the TV watching Kids Incorporated and thinking, 'I want to do that!' I was always on stage dancing and performing, but it wasn't until I was about twelve years old that I actually took my first acting class. At age 19, I moved to Los Angeles and really started pursuing my dream. This business is the ultimate roller coaster. There are many ups and downs, but the ones who stay on the ride will have a fruitful experience. For me, I have to remember to go with the flow...the cream rises to the top!



SitcomsOnline: Some of your first TV appearances were on a handful of episodes of the short-lived Olsen twins sitcom So Little Time from 2001-2002. What was it like working with them when they were teenagers and post-Full House? And was this role that got the attention of ABC and the producers of 8 Simple Rules in 2002?
Amy Davidson: Working with the Olsen twins was so fun! It was my first recurring role and solid experience being on set. I got a hug every morning from the girls and they quickly accepted me into their television world. Luckily my role grew as they chose to focus on high school. So it was a win-win. At first it was a trip because I watched Full House growing up - remember I was not a child star. So working with these girls took a minute to adjust to! If it wasn't for So Little Time I may have not gone back to my roots and remained a redhead! I then decided to stay red and 8 Simple Rules came a few months later. So many reasons to say thank you :)



SitcomsOnline: Can you share some of your experiences on getting that call to go in for that 8 Simple Rules reading and did you think this was going to be something special? I believe they cast the roles of the three children before they signed on John Ritter and Katey Sagal right? How many pilots had you done prior to this?
Amy Davidson: 8 Simple Rules was my first pilot. It was my first test! The audition process was just like any other, except there was something a little magical about it. The casting director read me, paused and said you would be perfect for this. She wrote my callback time to read for the producers on a post-it note and I was on my way. The next day I auditioned for the producers, no one said a word and I left. You never know, sometimes they have you do it 12 different ways, sometimes they say nothing. I got a call from my manager and she said they wanted to test me in two weeks. I continued to have a few more pilot auditions, knowing 8 Simple Rules was in my back pocket, but none of them seem as special. The tests were amazing, I got the call, the call that changes your world, "you are employed" and the rest is history! Later the creator of 8 Simple Rules told me that I was the first Kerry they saw and after I left the room they (producers) looked at each other and said 'no way...could the first girl we saw be her?' They knew :) And yes, all three of us kids were cast first, then later John signed on and then Katey.



SitcomsOnline: John Ritter has called you "so talented" and he was so right! His judgment was always spot on, just like how his work was always perfection. We all know John was the "nicest guy in Hollywood" (and yes, along with his pal Henry Winkler) and he was always the life of the party (or in this case, of the set), but what did you learn from him? And what will you remember the most from the period that you knew him?
Amy Davidson: John Ritter has forever changed my life. It's been almost 10 years (since he passed) and I swear I think about this man every day. When I was blessed to work with John I grew...I grew and grew as an actor and as a person. John ALWAYS told you how well you were doing. When he wasn't giving a compliment or doing one of his "bits" he was educating us. I remember when we were shooting the pilot, he and I were on the couch chatting and he said how lucky we were to be working. I was blown away that such a huge talent, a huge star was saying this. I understand now. Jobs come and go. Tragedies happen...but jobs and new experiences are always around the corner. John taught me gratitude. He taught me humility. And most of all, John gave me something to believe in.

SitcomsOnline: After 8 Simple Rules ended (which I was sort of surprised since the show was doing decently on Friday nights in season three and syndication was looming), you showcased more into drama and were certainly showing off your "so talented" skills that John mentioned. You had some great guest spots on shows like House, CSI, CSI NY, Criminal Minds and most recently on TNT's Major Crimes and the CBS freshman drama Vegas, along with great TV movie turns on The Capture of the Green River Killer and Annie's Point, opposite Betty White! Do you like drama as equally as comedy, since you're good in both?
Amy Davidson: I LOVE drama! Yet comedy is just as close to my heart. I want to always do both. Be that multifaceted actor that you never expect what I will do next. After 8 Simple Rules ended I chose to focus on drama. I thought that was where I wanted to be. Now I realize I can and want to do both!! At the moment I am creating a show that is a comedy. I'm choosing to go back to my roots. I realized how much I missed making people laughs vs. making them cry! (LOL!) Either way, my goal is to always give the audience something to feel. Sometimes you need to laugh and other times you need that emotional release.



SitcomsOnline: We're still trying to get you on the ABC comedy Suburgatory (see our campaign)! Our campaign is still alive and we'll continue to ask/suggest series creator Emily Kapnek! It only makes sense for you to be on that show opposite Jane Levy, who reminds us so much of you. Maybe it's a red-head thing, but you both would be perfect together on the same screen. It's such a fun show and I thought of you right away after seeing the pilot. So for the record, you would love to be on the show, right??
Amy Davidson: You are so very kind! Yes, I would love to be on Suburgatory! It is such a great show with so many talented actors! I would love to play with them. I met Jane last year, we were chatting and had a laugh about how we would play perfect sisters. The ideas are endless!



SitcomsOnline: We really miss you on a regular series. What are some of your favorite current TV sitcoms (or any other TV series)? And what can fans expect to see you in next? I think everyone is hoping to see you put on those dancing shoes and dance on Dancing with the Stars in the future! We're sure you have the dance moves like Kerry Hennessy did on the 8 Simple Rules episode "Son-in-Law!"
Amy Davidson: Like I said, the ideas are endless! And so are the opportunities!!! What is directly in front of me right now is this comedy pilot I am creating. Unfortunately I cannot say anymore than that at this point. But, I am EXTREMELY excited about it! This is an idea/story that is very close to my heart and truly has never been told this particular way. So, god speed!



We definitely appreciate Amy for taking the time to give us an interview! She is a very nice young woman and we hope nothing but success for her future projects! That'll do it for this installment of "Seven Questions," stay tuned next time for another brand new interview! But first, don't forget to check out Amy Davidson all over the web and social media. Follow her everywhere!

• Amy Davidson Official Website
• Amy Davidson on Twitter
• Amy Davidson on Facebook
• Amy Davidson on Instagram
• Amy Davidson on Tumblr
• Amy Davidson on Pinterest

And check out Amy's credits on IMDb and TV.com!




ABC Family has announced its red-hot summer line-up with the premiere of four new original series including reality competition series Dancing Fools, family drama The Fosters, mystery drama Twisted and docu-soap The Vineyard. Summer premiere dates are also set for returning original series Melissa & Joey, Baby Daddy, Switched at Birth and Pretty Little Liars. ABC Family's summer season kicks off on Wednesday, May 29 with two hit sitcoms. Melissa & Joey, the hit comedy starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, returns for the third season airing Wednesdays at 8:00pm ET/PT once again. Baby Daddy, the #1 new cable comedy of Summer 2012 in key female demos, returns with new episodes for its second season airing Wednesdays at 8:30pm ET/PT once again. Then new comedic reality series Dancing Fools premieres on the same night at 9:00pm ET/PT. The half-hour comedy clip show features the funniest, most outrageous and memorable dances caught on camera. The dancers from the top two clips of the week compete on stage for a chance to win $10,000. The series will air for eight weeks and is hosted by Melissa Peterman, who also stars in ABC Family's Baby Daddy (which is the lead-in) and in the upcoming ABC spring reality series Bet on Your Baby. Catch her in THREE series! After 8 weeks, new drama The Vineyard premieres on Wednesday, July 24, at 9:00pm ET/PT. It is a dramatic coming-of-age docu-soap that follows a handful of 20-somethings on Martha's Vineyard for the summer. Tight quarters, new friends and new rivals, all living, working and playing together, make this picturesque playground ripe for mischief and romance.



Moving on to Mondays, from executive producer Jennifer Lopez (American Idol, The Back-Up Plan), ABC Family's new original series The Fosters will premiere on Monday, June 3, at 9:00pm ET/PT, following the series finale of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. The one-hour drama centers on two moms (Teri Polo and Sherri Saum) raising a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids. The series also stars Jake T. Austin, Hayden Byerly, David Lambert, Maia Mitchell, Danny Nucci and Cierra Ramirez. Then Switched at Birth returns with all new episodes on Monday, June 10, 8:00pm. ET/PT to finish up its second season. The first half of the season finishes up on March 11. On Tuesdays, Pretty Little Liars returns for its fourth season on Tuesday, June 11, at 8:00pm ET/PT. The hit series is currently in its third season and the season finale is on March 19. And finally, new drama Twisted premieres on Tuesday, June 11 at 9:00pm ET/PT, following Pretty Little Liars' season premiere. The series is a one-hour mystery full of twists and turns that is centered on a charismatic 16-year-old with a troubled past (Avan Jogia) who has recently reconnected with his two female best friends from childhood (Maddie Hasson and Kylie Bunbury). He becomes the prime suspect when a fellow student is found dead in her home. The series also stars Kimberly Quinn, Sam Robards, Ashton Moio and Denise Richards. Stay with us for continued updates and if any other series is scheduled or picked-up, as ABC Family has a few series still in development like the sitcom pilots Phys Ed and Continuing Fred (which both taped in late 2012).

ABC Family is making some schedule changes as soon as the 2012 25 Days of Christmas event is finished. On Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012, ABC Family will bring back Full House to the regular schedule! We mentioned it will get a Christmas episode airing in 25 Days of Christmas, but now it is back regularly! The sitcom will air in two-hour block airing weekdays from 12pm-2pm replacing an hour each of What I Like About You and 8 Simple Rules. Those two shows will be going on hiatus for now, so we'll let you know if and when they return. Their last airings for now are Dec. 14 as Christmas programming airs weeks of Dec. 17 and 24. From 2-6pm, the two-hour blocks of That '70s Show and Reba will be switching time periods, as Reba will now air from 2-4pm followed by That '70s Show from 4-6pm. Movies or original series encores will follow at 6pm. Everything else in the daytime will stay as it is now such as Boy Meets World from 7-9:30am and Gilmore Girls at 11am. And in late night, an hour of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will remain at midnight.

Elsewhere on ABC Family January 2013, a New Year's Day marathon of original series Bunheads will air from 11am-6pm, as the new season begins on Monday, Jan. 7 at 9pm. A Switched at Birth marathon will air on Monday, Jan. 7 from 11am-8pm leading into the season premiere at 8pm. The very next day, those liars are back with an all-new season of Pretty Little Liars at 8pm on Tuesday, Jan. 8, as a marathon will lead-in from 11am-8pm. The season premiere of The Lying Game will follow at 9pm. As for movies, the network television premieres for January are Burlesque, Letters to Juliet, Ramona and Beezus and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole. ABC Family movie premieres for the month are A Lot Like Love, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, RV, Furry Vengeance, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, Drumline, Cinderella, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Stay with us for any further updates!

This holiday season, The Hub TV Network celebrates the holiday season by adding the outrageous animated television series Animaniacs, executive produced by Steven Spielberg, to the programming lineup. A broad mix of wit, slapstick, and pop culture references, the animated series from Amblin Entertainment and Warner Brothers Animation will serve as a cornerstone of The Hub's month-long lineup of holiday-themed programming. The series will premiere with a four-hour marathon on Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24 from 4-8pm ET followed by the holiday-themed musical feature film Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish Monday, December 24 from 8-10pm ET. Animaniacs will continue on the network's schedule in 2013 premiering in its regular timeslot on Monday, January 7 at 3pm ET.
Animaniacs is considered a variety show, with short skits featuring a large cast of characters including the Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and their sister, Dot – three inseparable siblings – as they have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet. The series also features a number of comedic educational segments, often in musical form. Distributed by Warner Brothers Television, Animaniacs originally ran from 1993 through 1998 and established itself with both younger audiences and adult viewers as one of the most successful and popular animated series of the decade.

In addition, during the holiday season The Hub TV Network will count down to a special 48-hour lineup of holiday-themed programming on Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25 highlighted by movies, specials, and series in the spirit of the season featuring a special six-episode, Christmas-themed marathon of the popular Melissa Joan Hart sitcom Sabrina, The Teenage Witch from 7-10am ET on Christmas morning followed by two holiday-themed television specials Atomic Betty: The No-L 9 at 10am ET and The Christmas Toy at 11am ET. Stay tuned if there are any other sitcom holiday episodes or stunts besides Sabrina.

Kaley Cuoco, the female lead of CBS's The Big Bang Theory, will return to host The People's Choice Awards 2013 for a second consecutive year, LIVE from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013 from 9:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT, on CBS. The People's Choice Awards is the only major awards show where fans determine the categories, nominees and winners across multiple genres of movies, music and television. Beginning Oct. 23, fans will have the opportunity to narrow down a selection of nominees in each of more than 40 categories. Voting will take place online at www.Peopleschoice.com/nominees until Friday, Nov. 2.

Prior to her role as "Penny" on The Big Bang Theory, winner of the 2010 People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy, Kaley Cuoco was best known to television audiences for her role as Bridget Hennesy in the sitcom 8 Simple Rules, winner of the 2003 People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Comedy. This year, Cuoco starred opposite Rob Lowe in the Lifetime movie Untouchable: The Drew Peterson Story. She was also seen in The Last Ride, an independent film which tells the story of Hank Williams's final days, and in 2011, she co-starred in the family comedy HOP, with James Marsden and Russell Brand. Recently, Cuoco wrapped production on Scribble, an indie comedy about a group of aspiring writers.

Stay with us for full details on the nominations for the 39th annual event in a few weeks!

The late great John Ritter continues to do good for the world. His youngest son Tyler Ritter, Watkins Little (the "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy"), thoracic aortic disease survivors and an aortic surgeon will be among the 15 Team Ritter runners dedicated to raising money for the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health (JRF) at the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012. Funds from the NYC Marathon raised for the JRF will go to the John Ritter Research Program in Aortic and Vascular Diseases (JRRP) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) to support research to identify genetic risks for aortic dissections. To donate, visit Edward Norton's Crowdrise online fundraising community.

"We are so proud and grateful to be one of the official charities of this year's NYC Marathon and have the opportunity to raise much-needed funds for life-saving research and education," said actress, writer and aortic health advocate Amy Yasbeck, the widow of legendary comic actor John Ritter, who died from an acute aortic dissection in 2003. "For Team Ritter, we looked for people who are passionate about increasing awareness of aortic dissection and its risk factors and committed to raising funds to support the JRF." As we all know John Ritter, 54, died from an undiagnosed aortic dissection on Sept. 11, 2003 after he experienced chest pain while rehearsing for an episode of his ABC hit comedy 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. After John's death, his brother was found to be at an increased risk for an aortic dissection and underwent surgery to prevent the dissection. Yasbeck formed the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health after John's death and the John Ritter Research Program at UTHealth was established in 2010. John's youngest son Tyler Ritter will be joined in the race by his wife, actress Lelia Parma, whose grandfather suffers from thoracic aortic disease. "By joining Team Ritter, we hope we can raise awareness that will help in effectively diagnosing and treating the disease at its earliest stages," Ritter said.

Other team members include aortic disease survivors; family or friends of people who have suffered from aortic and other cardiovascular diseases; and medical professionals who treat patients with aortic disease. The following are stories of their very personal journeys to the starting line of the ING New York City Marathon.
Please donate for this very good cause and help do good in the world like John Ritter did and how his name will always do. Watch the "Marathon Morning Across America" broadcast on WABC-7 throughout the NYC tri-state area from 9:00am to 2:00pm ET and on ESPN2 nationally from 9:00am to 12:30pm. A national highlight show will air on all ABC stations from 4:00 to 6:00pm ET/PT. Go Team Ritter!

ABC Family will be making some changes to its daytime line-up beginning next week (Monday, Jan. 30). The highlight of the change is the removal of Still Standing and the addition of Gilmore Girls back into early evening. America's Funniest Home Videos returns to ABC Family as a regular series, as it usually gets preempted at 6pm. AFV will replace back-to-back episodes of Still Standing at noon ET. Then in the 1pm hour, 8 Simple Rules moves to an earlier hour replacing an hour of Grounded for Life. That sitcom remains in the 2pm hour as it replaced My Wife & Kids earlier in the month as the Damon Wayans comedy is no longer airing on ABC Family. At 3pm, the That '70s Show two-hour block will shift up an hour, so the 3pm hour is replacing 8 Simple Rules. At 4pm, That '70s Show will remain, but now the 5pm hour will be the return of Gilmore Girls in the time period. And Gilmore Girls will remain in its 11am slot as well! Double the Lorelai and Rory fun! There are no other changes, but if you missed it, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air now airs most weeknights now at 12:00am & 12:30am as of Dec. 26, replacing Whose Line Is It Anyway, which is off the schedule. The Will Smith comedy was only airing on late nights on weekends prior to it joining the weeknight line-up on Dec. 26.
That's all for now, stay with us for further updates if Still Standing returns or not. We're not sure if My Wife & Kids' contract expired or not (as it hasn't aired in 2012), but we'll try to find out.


MeTV Network affiliate WAWS, Jacksonville (DMA Rank 50) is enjoying impressive local ratings after becoming an affiliate of the MeTV Network. The Newport owned WAWS 30.2 is beating its competitors in several time periods throughout the day. On many days their 7A-1A shares tie or beat WJXX (ABC) and WCWJ (CW), according to Jim Zerwekh, Vice President and General Manager of WAWS. On January 18, MeTV on MyTVJAX ranked third in several time periods behind WAWS (FOX) and WTEV (CBS). Programming such as Daniel Boone, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Bonanza and The Big Valley beat the following shows on WTLV (NBC), WJXX (ABC), WCWJ (CW), WJXT (Ind.): Anderson, Live with Kelly, Judge Mathis, The Nate Berkus Show, Excused, The Chew, Revolution, General Hospital, Dr. Drew, and The Big Bang Theory (syndication).

These are some of the highlights of MeTV Jacksonville's success; all times are Eastern:
· Daniel Boone at 9 a.m. had a 1.7 HH rating, which beat Live with Kelly on WJXX
· Perry Mason at 10 a.m. had a 1.1 HH rating, which beat Anderson on WJXX
· Gunsmoke at 1 p.m. had a 1.9 HH rating, which beat The Chew on WJXX and Excused on WJXT
· Bonanza at 2 p.m. had a 2.1 HH rating, which beat The Revolution on WJXX, The Big Bang Theory (syndication) on WJXT and Judge Mathis on WCWJ
· The Big Valley at 3 p.m. had a 2.5 HH rating, which beat The Nate Berkus Show on WJXT, General Hospital on WJXX and Dr. Drew on WCWJ

Today we are starting a campaign to get actress Amy Davidson (8 Simple Rules) on ABC's new comedy Suburgatory! The hit comedy Suburgatory has premiered on ABC's popular Laugh On Wednesday comedy block. As we know, the series stars break-out star Jane Levy about a father and daughter moving from Manhattan to the suburbs. Single father George (Jeremy Sisto) only wants the best for his 16-year-old daughter, Tessa (Jane Levy). So when he finds a box of condoms on her nightstand, he moves them both out of their apartment in New York City to a house in the suburbs. But all Tessa sees is the horror of over-manicured lawns and plastic Franken-moms. Being in the 'burbs can be hell, but it also may just bring Tessa and George closer than they've ever been.



We at SitcomsOnline.com love the comedy and think it is the best new comedy this fall! While watching the pilot, we thought it would be great to have actress Amy Davidson (8 Simple Rules) either guest star or recur on this comedy as a cousin or any other character the producers/casting have in mind. She would be a perfect match for this series because she is so much like Jane Levy -- a talented comedic star! And she also is spitting image of Jane!

Amy Davidson of course is best known for playing Kerry Hennessy on the popular ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules, which starred TV legend John Ritter. She showed her comedic chops on that sitcom and had great chemistry with John Ritter and the entire cast. John Ritter even called Amy Davidson "very talented." Amy has also worked with other great TV stars in her career such as Betty White, Katey Sagal, Ted Danson, James Garner, David Spade, Richard Thomas, Kaley Cuoco, Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen, Tom Cavanagh, and Sharon Lawrence.
Amy is a versatile actress with broad range in comedy and drama. Her latest TV appearance on a chilling episode of CSI was riveting television. She also showed her versatility in a great performance on the TV mini-series The Capture of the Green River Killer. But since we love comedy, we want to see Amy back on a TV comedy showing more of her great talent! We urge all of you to please sign this because Suburgatory and Amy Davidson are a perfect match and would make for great TV!

Please leave your name and comments to help us get Amy Davidson on this wonderful show! We will be sending this along to the producers and casting for the series! Thanks and spread the word! Follow Amy Davidson on Twitter and "Like" Amy Davidson on Facebook.



Onto some news, Broadcast Partners has announced it had entered into a license deal with both MeTV Network and ThisTV to bring its 2011 holiday package to life. MeTV and ThisTV will be airing ten great timeless holiday classics: He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special, The Legend of Frosty, Cricket on The Hearth, Fat Albert Christmas Special, First Snow of Christmas, Forgotten Toy's Christmas, Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas, Santa's Last Christmas, Second Star to the Left, and Snow White Christmas. MeTV and ThisTV are bringing a huge national audience to some amazing titles that frankly have been unseen in years, notes Broadcast's Partner's President Neal Ardman. He adds, how wonderful it is for parents to now be able to share some of these holiday memories with their own children. These classics include star voices like Bill Cosby, Hugh Laurie, Danny Thomas and Ed Ames and even a song by funny man Burt Reynolds!
Stay with us for more on these specials when MeTV Network and ThisTV announce their 2011 holiday schedules! Let's hope for some cool sitcom holiday episode stunts, too!

Last month we gave you ABC Family's September 2011 schedule, but there really weren't any changes to the regular schedule. Now we have October 2011 and there are changes to the line-up beginning Monday, October 3, 2011! There are no new shows joining the line-up, but the biggest news probably is that Gilmore Girls returns to the ABC Family line-up after a few months off the schedule. The series will return and air weekdays at 11am replacing an hour of Full House, bumping Full House to the 9am half-hour, replacing Grounded for Life. It's not bad news though for that sitcom, as Grounded for Life will now air for an hour in a later timeslot of 1-2pm. 8 Simple Rules will move from 1-2pm to 3-4pm right after My Wife & Kids at 2. That '70s Show's two-hour block will be shifted as a result of 8 Simple Rules coming at 3pm, so Fez and the gang will now air from 4-6pm. That '70s Show will replace repeats of The Secret Life of the American Teenager at 5pm, as the 5-days a week airing for that show will end. The rest of the line-up will remain as it is in September.
Moving on to stunts in October, we have the annual "13 Nights of Halloween" event starting Wednesday, October 19. This year the event will kick-off with a special Halloween episode for ABC Family's hit original series Pretty Little Liars. The episode will air at 8pm and will be a Halloween-themed episode but is a prequel episode for fans to have something new as we wait for the second half of the season (12 more episodes) to begin in January 2012. A marathon of the series will lead-in starting at 11am. Pretty Little Liars ended its first half this past Tuesday with a quite a cliff-hanger and to high ratings. "13 Nights of Halloween" will feature Halloween episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos and That '70s Show, but will be mainly filled with movies. The movie premieres are the basic cable premiere of Coraline and the ABC Family premieres of movies that are also TV series: Bewitched and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Other movies airing in the annual event are Hocus Pocus, The Goonies, Casper, Teen Witch, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Beetlejuice, The Addams Family Movie, Scooby-Doo Movie, Haunted Mansion, Monsters, Inc. and Practical Magic.
Before the 13 Nights of Halloween, the ABC Family premiere movies are Mamma Mia! and Unbreakable. Other movies airing include Coyote Ugly, Titanic, Dr. Dolittle, G-Force, 50 First Dates, and Along Came Polly. Besides, the Pretty Little Liars special episode, the only original series for ABC Family in October will be the final three episodes of the season for new series The Lying Game, airing Mondays at 8pm. The season finale will be on Monday, Oct. 17.
View the complete ABC Family October 2011 schedule and the complete breakdown of the annual 13 Nights of Halloween! Keep it right here if there are any changes announced.

BET will have some sitcom Saturday fun in September. First up, this coming Saturday (Sept. 3), BET will feature a marathon of Bernie Mac from 8am-4:30pm. The following Saturday (Sept. 10), will feature an appearance from sister network Centric's The Steve Harvey Show from 12:30pm-6:30pm following a mini-block of Jamie Foxx Show/Bernie Mac from 10am-12:30pm. Moving on to September 24, there will be an assorted display of sitcoms starting at 8am and running until 3pm. We get The Game, The Jamie Foxx Show, Bernie Mac and Everybody Hates Chris airing on this day.
We will have the BET Fall 2011 schedule soon, along with sister network Centric's Fall 2011 schedule. One hint for BET we will give you is that there will be a special sitcom stunt on Oct. 1, featuring a new acquisition that returns to the network after a couple years off. Stay tuned and find out what it will be soon!

Today's it time to give you the details on ABC Family September 2011. Due to limited changes to the regular schedule, we are not calling this the "fall schedule" just yet because we don't have their October schedule yet. The schedule will basically remain the same as it is now, but weekdays at 6pm will now be America's Funniest Home Videos, whenever there isn't an original encore or movie. This means Still Standing will not air in this hour anymore, but it will still air weekdays from 12-1pm. Whenever a movie starts at 6:30pm, you'll either see filler airings of 8 Simple Rules or That '70s Show in the 6pm half-hour. To recap, the daily comedy line-up begins at 7am with an hour of Boy Meets World followed by an hour of What I Like About You at 8am. The 9am half-hour will still be Grounded for Life followed by 700 Club programming until 11am. Then it is all comedies with an hour each of Full House, Still Standing, 8 Simple Rules, My Wife & Kids from 11am-3pm and then two-hours of That '70s Show from 3-5pm. At 5pm, it will still be repeats of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Sorry Gilmore Girls fans, still no sign of when that series will return. We'll keep you up to date, of course. AFV closes the daytime schedule at 6pm.
In primetime, two original series will have their season finales in September. On Monday, Sept. 5, the season finale of The Secret Life of the American Teenager will air at 8pm. A marathon will air from 11am-8am leading into the season finale. On Wednesday, September 14, we have the first season finale of Melissa & Joey with two all-new episodes from 8-9pm. A marathon event for this series will also lead-in from 11am-8pm. This show is getting really good and the episodes that aired last night were very funny. Good 'ole fashioned fun! The Lying Game, which premieres Monday, August 15 at 9pm, will be moving to 8pm as soon as The Secret Life of the American Teenager wraps up its season on Sept. 5, so effective Sept. 12 the new drama will move to 8pm.
Other notable ABC Family September events includes a marathon of 12 episodes of the ABC comedy Happy Endings on Friday, Sept. 16 from 5pm-11pm promoting its complete first season DVD (out on Sept. 20) and the return of the new season (Wednesdays starting Sept. 28 at 9:30/8:30c on ABC). If you haven't seen this show, now is your chance because it is ABSOLUTELY hilarious! ABC Family movie premieres for the month are Sweet Home Alabama, Royal Engagement, 50 First Dates, Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension, and G Force.
View and discuss ABC Family's September 2011 schedule. And stay tuned for October to see if anything will change.

CBS was up yesterday at the TCA Summer 2011 pres tour. The executive session with Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment, was ruled by what will happen to Charlie Sheen's character on Two and a Half Men. While that will not be revealed until the season premiere airs (which will be a two-part episode airing over two weeks), we did learn that Ashton Kutcher's character will be Walden Schmidt, an internet billionaire with a broken heart. As for what will happen to Charlie Harper: "The mystery is part of the marketing," Tassler said. "It's going to be a big event." As for the move of Rules of Engagement to Saturdays, "We see Saturday night as an opportunity. Advertisers like comedies. It's a terrific show. We see this as an opportunity for us," Tassler said. Other than that, there was nothing really of note. No scheduling news was released beyond fall, except that they will have Undercover Boss and new drama The 2-2 ready to go and they have shot a new pilot for the Rob Schneider comedy.
Following the executive session, there was a session for CBS Evening News with new anchor Scott Pelley. Following that was an interesting panel on research. Professor David Poltrack, Chief Research Office for CBS, did a presentation about TV viewer behavior patterns in today's multi-platform world, including the results of a recent Nielsen/CBS study that could change the way the TV audience is measured in the future. Then there was a panel for CSI as they introduced the new addition to the cast: Ted Danson. New series panels were next for Unforgettable, 2 Broke Girls, A Gifted Man, Person of Interest, and How to Be a Gentleman. And the night concluded with a Stars Party at Pagoda in Beverly Hills with cocktails, Asian-themed cuisine and lots of conversation!
Up today at the press tour will be The CW and Showtime and we will recap that for you tomorrow.

ABC Family is currently airings its annual 25 Days of Christmas, but once the annual festival is over, there will be some changes to the regular schedule in January 2011 starting Monday, Dec. 27. Weekdays at 11am & 11:30am will now be back-to-back Full House replacing the morning airing of Gilmore Girls. Weekdays at 2pm & 2:30pm will have My Wife & Kids, replacing Full House, which moves to 11am-12pm. Then we get a second hour of Still Standing airing weekdays at 6pm & 6:30pm, replacing My Wife & Kids which is moving to 2-3pm. Still Standing remains in its 12 noon & 12:30pm slots as well. There will be times when an ABC Family movie starts at 7:30pm, so if that is the case Still Standing will air in the 7pm half-hour, but when that happens it won't air in the 12:30pm half-hour that day, and instead we get a third airing of 8 Simple Rules (which airs 1-2pm). The final change to weekdays is the return of Whose Line Is It Anyway? airing at 12 midnight & 12:30am, replacing the second hour of My Wife & Kids.
As for ABC Family January 2011 stunts and highlights, Pretty Little Liars returns for its second half of the first season on Monday, Jan. 3 at 7:58pm for 12 weeks (season finale is slated for March 21, bitches). A marathon will air from 11am-7:58pm leading into the premiere on Jan. 3. Then at 9pm, Greek has its fourth season premiere with 10 all-new episodes (through March 7). A few days prior, on Saturday, Jan. 1, ABC Family will have a New Year's Day marathon of America's Funniest Home Videos from 7am-1am. What I Like About You will be preempted for two weeks, the week of Jan 17 and 24, for special 700 Club programming from 9am-11am. The sitcom airs in the 9am half-hour. There will also be a marathon of The 700 Club on Sunday, Jan. 30 from 12 noon to 12 midnight.
Movie wise, ABC Family will premiere the original movie Mean Girls 2 on Sunday, Jan. 23 at 8pm (encores at 10pm). The original feature film from 2004 will air right before at 6pm. This sequel stars Meaghan Martin (10 Things I Hate About You), Maiara Walsh (Desperate Housewives), Jennifer Stone, Nicole Gale Anderson, Claire Holt and Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars) in a classic high school story about good versus plastic. When new girl Jo (Martin) arrives at North Shore High School, her main goal is to skate under the radar to survive her senior year and definitely not get involved in any of the typical high school trappings. But her plan goes awry quickly when she meets Abby (Stone), a girl stuck at the low end of the high school food chain and favorite target of "The Plastics" (Walsh, Holt and Anderson). After defending Abby against the queen bee of the school and lead Plastic, Mandi (Walsh), Jo is dragged into the very same girl drama she was hoping to avoid. Tim Meadows returns as the school's principal, Mr. Duvall. ABC Family will also premiere the big screen movies Enchanted, Bruce Almighty, and The Game Plan for the first time, while encores of movies include Mean Girls, The Notebook, Evan Almighty, The Flintstones, Dennis the Menace, Cheaper by the Dozen, Liar Liar, Along Came Polly, Aladdin, and Freaky Friday.

And we will have a special ABC Family contest giveaway starting tomorrow at 12am ET (early Thursday) on our Facebook page. So stay tuned for information on how three very lucky winners will win an ABC Family gift bag filled with goodies just in time for the holidays! Also, if you haven't entered already, enter our Boy Meets World Season 4 DVD Contest, because the giveaway ends at 11:59:59pm ET tomorrow (Wednesday). Who will be the lucky two winners?

ABC has announced premiere dates for new comedies Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings, representing the final mid-season scripted dates for ABC. Matthew Perry returns to series television in Mr. Sunshine, also starring four-time Emmy winner Allison Janney (The West Wing), on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 9:30 p.m., ET, and Happy Endings, an all-new ensemble comedy including Elisha Cuthbert (24), will premiere Wednesday, April 13 in the new 10:00 p.m. ET comedy half-hour. ABC's upcoming medical drama Off the Map, will finish its 13 episode run on Wednesday, April. 6.
With the addition of Mr. Sunshine on Feb. 9, ABC's critically acclaimed comedy Cougar Town will take a two-month break and return to the schedule in its regular time slot of 9:30 p.m, ET following Modern Family on Wednesday, April 13 leading into the premiere of Happy Endings at 10. And the Emmy-winning Modern Family will air "Fan Favorites" episodes beginning that same evening at 10:30 p.m. out of Happy Endings, to try a new comedy hour in the 10 p.m. hour for the final 7 weeks of the season.
As of now, ABC has scheduled 9 episodes of Mr. Sunshine to air for 9 consecutive weeks from February 9 to April 6. The series will still have four episodes left in its 13 episode order after these nine weeks, but no word as of this writing on if and when they will air those this season (or next season). ABC has scheduled Happy Endings to air for the final 7 weeks of the season (April 13 to May 25). This series also has 13 episode order, so ABC will have seven still left to air. Perhaps for a week or two ABC could double-up on both Mr. Sunshine and Happy Endings to cut down repeats of other ABC Wednesday comedies. We'll let you know if that is the case. ABC's The Middle and Modern Family will each have 24 episodes each this season, with Better With You and Cougar Town having 22 episodes each. By taking Feb. 9 to April 6 off, Cougar Town is avoiding American Idol (except the two-hour premiere on Jan. 19), where it had a bit trouble last winter/spring. Mr. Sunshine will be facing Idol every week except its first week (Feb. 9, season finale of Human Target is airing) and its last week (April 6, series premiere of Breaking In is airing).
Yes, ABC is trying comedies in the 10 p.m. hour starting April 13, which is still months away, but ABC will try comedy repeats in the hour starting this week through the end of the month! ABC has pulled the burn-off episodes of canceled legal drama The Whole Truth effective immediately. So, now comedy repeats will air. This Wednesday (Dec. 8), following new episodes from 8-10pm, ABC will air a repeat each of Modern Family and Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. Next week (Dec. 15), ABC will air a Modern Family repeat at 9:30pm, followed by two repeats of Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. Wednesday, Dec. 22 will see an encore of CMA Country Christmas from 9:30-11pm, but on Wednesday, Dec. 29 we once again see a Modern Family repeat at 9:30pm, followed by two repeats of Cougar Town in the 10pm hour. ABC's comedies are all-new tonight and after that won't be new until Wednesday, Jan. 5...so enjoy the holiday episodes tonight!

Beginning next Monday (Oct. 11), ABC Family will make a few schedule changes. It looks like newly added drama Friday Night Lights isn't doing too well in the ratings because it be moving out of its weekdays at 6:00pm slot and move to weekdays at 11:00am replacing the Gilmore Girls morning airing. Replacing Friday Night Lights in the weeknights at 6:00pm hour will be back-to-back episodes of My Wife & Kids, which was airing in the weekdays 1:00pm hour. So what will air now in the 1:00pm hour? 8 Simple Rules will return to the schedule and replaces My Wife and Kids and will air back-to-back in the hour every weekday afternoon! It's certainly great to see 8 Simple Rules back on the regular schedule! Stay with us for any further changes, but this is good news for sitcom fans and bad news for fans of FNL, though it is still on at least.

The Inspiration Networks has announced a major rebrand for its flagship network INSP - The Inspiration Network that is slated to debut on Monday, October 18, 2010. The rebranded network will launch under the theme "It's a New Day!" with new network graphics and a refocused programming lineup.
Among the series joining will be two classic dramas. The Inspiration Networks announced an agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution that brings the family television classics The Waltons and Our House to INSP - The Inspiration Network. Beginning Monday, October 18, 2010, the network will strip '70s family drama The Waltons Monday-Friday at 1pm and 8pm ET and the '80s family drama Our House Monday-Friday at 7pm and 1am ET. The program additions are part of INSP's "It's a New Day!" rebrand, which targets socially-conservative Baby Boomers with values-based entertainment programming. INSP already airs the drama Highway to Heaven, another classic '80s family drama.
The new INSP lineup will tailor to the viewing habits of this demographic with a combination of original and acquired high-quality content that spans the drama, comedy and documentary genres, along with interstitials, award-winning specials, and top-tier music and teaching programs that viewers have come to expect from INSP.
INSP is available in more than 60 million homes across the US on more than 2,800 cable systems and on DIRECTV channel 364 and DISH Network channel 259. Viewers can check their local program guides for channel line-up information or visit www.insp.com.

As promised, today we will pay tribute to the late great Stephen J. Cannell. The bestselling novelist and Emmy-winning TV producer of hits like The A-Team, The Rockford Files and 21 Jump Street, died at his Pasadena home of complications of melanoma on Thursday (Sept. 30, 2010). Earlier in his career, he wrote for iconic series including Adam-12, Mission: Impossible and It Takes a Thief before founding Stephen J. Cannell Productions in 1979, a company that churned out classic action adventure series The Rockford Files, Baretta, Black Sheep Squadron, The A-Team, Riptide, The Greatest American Hero, Hunter, Hardcastle and McCormick, Stingray, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, Renegade, The Commish, Profit and so many more!
Cannell most recently served as Producer and Creative Consultant for the big-screen adaptation of The A-Team and has appeared as himself in episodes of the current ABC television series, Castle, where he joined fellow authors James Patterson and Michael Connelly as one of Castle's (Nathan Fillion) poker buddies. He was also a producer for Castle and appeared on a season two DVD bonus feature with Fillion that is still one of my favorite special features ever.
Though he is not a sitcom star or involved in any sitcoms, he is a legend and we have to pay tribute to him for bringing so many great TV series, especially in the '80s. He will be deeply missed and I'm sure all of you out there like AT LEAST one show he created or wrote. He has done so many shows and I have liked dozens of them! Mr. Cannell was only 69.