SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

MeTV Summer Changes, Adds Adventures of Superman; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Summer Guest Hosts

MeTV will be making some minor changes on the weekends this summer beginning in July. Adventures of Superman will return and air early Sunday mornings (late Saturday nights) at 12am & 12:30am ET replacing Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Just in time for the new Superman movie?

On Sunday mornings, the short-lived series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is replacing fellow short-lived series The Powers of Matthew Star at 6am. Then Sundays 7-10am E/I block is being swapped with Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom from the '60s replacing the '90s E/I sitcom Saved by the Bell, which has expired. All of this begins the weekend of July 5/6. Everything else for the summer of MeTV remains the same!

This summer, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will welcome a dynamic lineup of celebrities and comedians to guest host the show starting today - Monday, June 23. Fan favorite Diego Luna will kick off the summer as guest host this week (June 23). Anthony Anderson, Nicole Byer, Alan Cumming, Chris Distefano, Fortune Feimster, Kumail Nanjiani and Jelly Roll will also be hosting the late-night show later this summer.

Diego Luna's guests this week will include Patton Oswalt, David Corenswet, Nicholas Hoult, Emma Stone, Adria Arjona, Tiffany Haddish, Alan Tudyk, Ariela Barer, Heidi Klum and Dolores Huerta, with musical performances by NEZZA, Hermanos Gutiérrez, and Good Charlotte. Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EDT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.

Remembering Suzanne Somers of Three's Company and Step by Step; Adult Swim Renews YOLO and Orders Women Wearing Shoulder Pads

Actress, author, singer and businesswoman Suzanne Somers, who starred as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step, has died. She died after a long battle with breast cancer at her home in Palm Springs, California, on October 15, the day before her 77th birthday.

Somers starred as Chrissy Snow on the ABC sitcom Three's Company from 1977 to 1981. The story revolves around three single roommates: Jack Tripper (John Ritter), Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt), and Chrissy Snow, who all platonically live together in a Santa Monica, California, apartment complex owned by Stanley (Norman Fell) and Helen Roper (Audra Lindley). Christmas "Chrissy" Snow works as an office secretary. Somers's contract was not renewed after the fifth season following a contract dispute and Chrissy's place in the apartment was taken by her clumsy cousin Cindy Snow (Jenilee Harrison). The cast also included Richard Kline (1978-1984), Don Knotts (1979-1984), Ann Wedgeworth (1979-1980) and Priscilla Barnes (1981-1984).

She starred as Sheriff Hildy Granger on the 1987-1989 first-run syndicated sitcom She's the Sheriff. Hildy Granger is a widow with two young kids who decided to fill the shoes of her late husband, a sheriff of fictional Lakes County, Nevada (near Lake Tahoe). Somers wrote an episode in 1989. The series, which aired for two seasons, also starred George Wyner, Pat Carroll, Lou Richards, Guich Koock, Leonard Lightfoot, Taliesin Jaffe and Nicky Rose.

Somers starred as Carol Foster Lambert on the 1991-1998 sitcom Step by Step. It ran on ABC as part of its TGIF Friday night lineup from September 20, 1991, to August 15, 1997, then moved to CBS, where it aired from September 19, 1997, to June 26, 1998. Patrick Duffy and Somers starred as single parents Frank and Carol, respectively; each with three children, who wed and form a blended family. Carol is the matriarch of the Foster family, who works as a beautician and runs a hair salon out of a room in her house, originally with the cooperation of her mother, Ivy, and sister, Penny. Eventually, with Frank's help, she opens a bigger studio at a stand-alone location in the sixth season. The cast included Brandon Call, Staci Keanan, Angela Watson, Christopher Castile, Josh Byrne (1991-1997), Sasha Mitchell (1991-1996), Patrika Darbo (1991-1992), Peggy Rea (1991-1992), Emily Mae Young (1997-1998), Bronson Pinchot (1997) and Jason Marsden (1997-1998).

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included Lotsa Luck, One Day at a Time, The Love Boat, Billy (1979), The Ropers (as Chrissy Snow), The Larry Sanders Show, Full House and The Naked Truth. Some of her other television guest appearances included The Rockford Files, Starsky & Hutch (3 episodes), The Six Million Dollar Man and Sisters.

Somers played the "Blonde in the white Thunderbird" in American Graffiti (1973). In the early 1990s, she was the spokeswoman in a series of infomercials for the Thighmaster, a piece of exercise equipment which is squeezed between one's thighs above the knees. She hosted the daytime talk show The Suzanne Somers Show from 1994 to 1995. She co-hosted Candid Camera with Peter Funt on CBS from 1997 to 2000. In the fall of 2012, she hosted The Suzanne Show for 13 episodes on the Lifetime Network. In 2015, she competed on Dancing with the Stars. She wrote several books, including two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry.

She was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on July 15, 2009.

Ms. Somers was a talented, funny and lovely actress. She had great comedic timing as Chrissy Snow. We thank her for the laughs and entertainment that she brought us on Three's Company, She's the Sheriff, Step by Step and her other television roles. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on Three's Company, She's the Sheriff and Step by Step message boards. View photos in our galleries.

To commemorate the life of Suzanne Somers on what would have been her 77th birthday, Antenna TV will air a Three's Company marathon on Monday, October 16 beginning at 4pm until 4:30am ET.

We also remember actress Phyllis Coates. She was best known for her portrayal of reporter Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men and in the first season of the television series Adventures of Superman. She died on October 11 at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Coates was 96.

Coates starred as Lois Lane in the 1951 film Superman and the Mole Men, which starred George Reeves as Superman. The film served as a pilot for Adventures of Superman and prompted the start of production of the first season in August/September of the same year. Coates played Lois Lane in the first season, with Noel Neill, who had previously played Lois Lane in the film serials Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), stepping into the role in the later seasons.

She starred as Gloria on the short-lived 1954 NBC sitcom The Duke. The series, which was broadcast live, was about Duke London, a professional boxer who was also an accomplished painter. Gloria was his girlfriend. It also starred Allen Jenkins, Claude Stroud and Sheldon Leonard.

Coates starred as Nurse Madge Allen on the short-lived 1955 CBS sitcom Professional Father. The whimsical sitcom involved a child psycholigist named Tom Wilson (Steve Dunne) and his family. It also starred Barbara Billingsley, Ted Marc, Beverly Washburn and Ann O'Neal.

She starred as Clarissa Mae Holliday on the 1958-1959 sitcom This Is Alice, which starred nine-year-old Patty Ann Gerrity as Alice Holliday. The program aired in first-run syndication from October 1958 to August 1959, distributed by the NTA Film Network. The series also starred Tommy Farrell, Kathy Garver, Stephen Wootton, Lucien Littlefield and Nancy DeCarl.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included The Abbott and Costello Show, Topper, Willy, The Great Gildersleeve, It's a Great Life (2 episodes), Leave it to Beaver, Hennesey and The Patty Duke Show (2 episodes).

She appeared as Ellen Lane, Lois Lane's mother, in the first season finale of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in 1994. Some of her other television guest appearances included The Cisco Kid (4 episodes), The Range Rider (2 episodes), The Files of Jeffrey Jones (2 episodes), The Adventures of Kit Carson (2 episodes), The Lone Ranger (3 episodes), Stage 7 (2 episodes), Lassie, General Electric Theater (3 episodes), Hawaiian Eye, Tales of Wells Fargo (2 episodes), Rawhide (2 episodes), The Untouchables (3 episodes), Perry Mason (3 episodes), Gunsmoke (3 episodes), Death Valley Days (7 episodes) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (2 episodes).

Ms. Coates had a career spanning over fifty years. We thank her for her work as Lois Lane on Adventures of Superman and her other television roles. She will be sorely missed.

Actor Mark Goddard was best known for portraying Major Don West on Lost in Space. He died from pulmonary fibrosis in Hingham, Massachusetts, on October 10. Mr. Goddard was 87.

Goddard's first starring role was as Cully on the 1959-1960 CBS western Johnny Ringo. He starred as Sgt. Chris Ballard for the second and third seasons (1960-1962) on the ABC/NBC crime drama The Detectives (also known as The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor, Captain of Detectives, and Robert Taylor's Detectives).

He starred as Bob Randall on the 1964-1965 CBS sitcom Many Happy Returns. The show starred John McGiver as widower Walter Burnley, the manager of the Adjustments and Refunds Department at the fictitious Krockmeyer's Department Store in Los Angeles. Bob Randall is the husband of Burnley's daughter, Joan Randall (Elinor Donahue). The series also starred Richard Collier, Jesslyn Fox, Mickey Manners, Andrea Sacino and Elena Verdugo.

Goddard starred as Major Don West on the 1965-1968 CBS science fiction series Lost in Space. The series follows the adventures of the Robinsons, a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in the depths of space. U.S. Space Corps Major Donald West is the pilot of the Jupiter 2. The series also starred Guy Williams, June Lockhart, Marta Kristen, Angela Cartwright, Billy Mumy, Jonathan Harris, Bob May as The Robot and Dick Tufeld as The Robot's voice.

He starred as Ted Clayton in 10 episodes of One Life to Live in 1981. He played Lt. Paul Reed in six episodes of The Doctors in 1982. He starred as Derek Barrington in 11 episodes General Hospital from 1985 to 1986.

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Fair Exchange, The Bill Dana Show, The Beverly Hillbillies and Benson. Some of his other television guest appearances included The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Rebel, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, The Rilfeman, Burke's Law, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason (2 episodes), The Fugitive, Mod Squad (2 episodes), Adam-12, Switch, Petrocelli (2 episodes), The Streets of San Francisco, Quincy, M.E. (1977), B.J. and the Bear, Barnaby Jones (4 episodes), The Fall Guy and Jake and the Fatman.

Goddard starred as politician Edward Fleming in the 1977 film Blue Sunshine. He briefly appears as the military general who gives Major Don West his orders for the mission in Lost in Space (1998).

Mr. Goddard was very good as Major Don West on Lost in Space. In 2009, he released an autobiographical memoir To Space and Back. We thank him for his work on television. He will be greatly missed.

At New York Comic Con, Adult Swim announced a new stop-motion series Women Wearing Shoulder Pads, which follows a wealthy Spaniard living in Ecuador as she journeys through the complicated world of love, family, commercials, and cuyes, a.k.a. South American guinea pigs. The new series will mark Adult Swim's first-ever Spanish-language series along with its return to the stop-motion animation format. During the panel, Adult Swim also announced the third season renewal of the animated comedy YOLO from Smiling Friends co-creator Michael Cusack. With a second season that ranked #2 in its timeslot across cable in key demos, the third installment, YOLO: Rainbow Trinity, will follow a pair of Australian best friends through absurd and fantastical adventures.

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads is a quarter-hour comedy that features an all-female cast and centers on Marioneta, an extremely wealthy and ambitious Spaniard living in South America pursuing business and pleasure. Produced entirely in Spanish, with English subtitles, the series comes from creator Gonzalo Cordova (Tuca & Bertie, Adam Ruins Everything) in partnership with Mexico City-based studio Cinema Fantasma (Frankelda's Book of Spooks).

MeTV Winter 2015 Schedule Launches Jan.1; FXX's The League to End After 7 Seasons

In2TV Creating 'Superman' Channel on June 12; FX 4th of July Weekend Marathons

We have yet more In2TV Month 3 (that's June 2006) news! In anticipation of the June 28 release of Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kevin Burns team on Look, Up In the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman, a multi-million dollar special on the Superman legacy, which debuts first Monday from 8 to 10 p.m. on A&E.
This feature-length documentary is narrated by Superman Returns star Kevin Spacey and shows behind-the-scenes clips of the cast from the upcoming movie including Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth. Guest stars include Superman director Richard Donner and producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind; comic book legend Stan Lee; Superman fans Jerry Seinfeld and Mark Hamill; Lois & Clark's Dean Cain; Smallville's Annette O'Toole; Jack Larson and Noel Neil, TV's Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane; and many others.
So what does this have to do with AOL's In2TV? After one airing on A&E, this feature length documentary gets its Internet debut exclusively on In2TV beginning June 13 through the end of July. In2TV will create an all-new channel just for Superman called It's A Bird. It's A Plane. It's A Superman Channel.

Additionally the channel will feature:

* The groundbreaking, quintessential Superman TV series, The Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves.
* Before Smallville there was Superboy, the TV series that focuses on a young Clark Kent, from the producers of the Superman movies.
* Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain. The series has been on In2TV since launch (back in March).
* Plus classic Superman cartoons from Max Fleischer of Popeye and Betty Boop fame.

It looks to be a fun month on In2TV. This is in addition to all the cool stuff we mentioned the other day and last week. In2TV is certainly an interesting concept and is probably the best thing out there for classic TV!

We will slowly give you details on all of the 4th of July marathons. Today, we will tell you that FX has planned a King of the Hill marathon on Monday, July 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Then on July 4th they will air Cops from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET/PT. There are tons of marathons on channels this weekend, and we will tell you about most, if not all, in the coming weeks. So, come on back like usual!