SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Beginning today (Monday, May 2), getTV (American digital multicast television network that is owned by the Sony Pictures Television Networks subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television) is drastically changing their lineup this week, adding a bunch of classic sitcoms and classic dramas to the schedule. The network is reducing the number of movies they air by a lot, too. Among the series being added include classic sitcoms The Jimmy Stewart Show at 7:35AM. That is followed by Nanny and the Professor at 8:15AM and then The Ghost & Mrs. Muir at 8:50AM. The westerns will air from 9:30am-12pm with A Man Called Shenandoah, The Restless Gun and Laredo. Dramas are being added later in the afternoon with Tour of Duty at Noon, S.W.A.T. at 1PM, Airwolf at 2PM, Riptide at 3PM, Hardcastle & McCormick at 4PM, The Equalizer at 5PM and then back-to-back In the Heat of the Night at 6 & 7PM

The best dinner parties are filled with good food, great company, and lots of laughs. That holds especially true when Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Conan, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Andy Barker P.I.) is the host, famous foodies and chefs are on the guest list, and crazy culinary games are on the menu. At this ultimate dinner party, as each course is served, so is a new round of the competition where stars are paired up to compete in fast-paced trivia games and food-themed challenges. The team that earns the most points will win the coveted Golden Dinner Plate, while the losing team will have to wash the dishes. Catch all the action unfold on Celebrity Food Fight, with double episodes premiering on Sunday, May 29th at 10pm & 10:30pm ET/PT on Food Network. Joining the fun in the 10 half-hour episode season are Tom Arnold, Jonathan Bennett, Richard Blais, Anne Burrell, Kim Coles, Scott Conant, Coolio, Andy Dick, Graham Elliot, Bill Engvall, Jennie Garth, Duff Goldman, Greg Grunberg, Alex Guarnaschelli, Penn Jillette, Kristen Johnston, Kevin Jonas, Christopher Knight, Katie Lee, Tara Lipinksi, Antonia Lofaso, Carlos Mencia, Damaris Phillips, Dr. Drew Pinsky, Caroline Rhea, Melissa Rivers, Aaron Sanchez, Jean Smart, Ruben Studdard, and Kendra Wilkinson. Two teams of two, each consisting of a chef and a celebrity, will compete in a variety of unique food-related games designed to test their culinary knowledge. From Cooking The Books, where the teams must find the fake cookbook title, to Talking With Your Mouth Full, where contestants read the names of entrées with their mouths full, while their teammates must correctly guess what they said, to Finger Foods, where the contestants must put their hands in a box and use their fingers to correctly identify each edible item, playing with food has never ever been this fun!

Calling all lovers! This Valentine's Day, Pivot is bringing you a special gift: a mystical marathon with the most lovable, yet daring, vampire slayer there is--Buffy. Airing on Sunday, February 14, starting at 9:00am ET, Participant Media's television network, Pivot, will air a "I Heart Buffy," 13-hour marathon featuring the complicated love story of one of pop culture's most beloved couples. Whether you're snuggled up with your sweetheart or celebrating with friends, be sure to enjoy some quality time with Buffy and her gang as they slay the forces of evil all day long. From Buffy and Spike's first meeting to planning their big day, this marathon features episodes about their love story. Take a bite out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer starting at 9:00am ET this Valentine's Day only on Pivot.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, which ran for seven seasons from 1997-2003, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. Chosen to battle vampires, demons and other forces of darkness, Buffy is aided by a Watcher who guides and teaches her as she surrounds herself with a circle of friends called the "Scooby Gang."

ABC has given a series order to Big Fan. The half-hour weekly comedic game show will be hosted by Andy Richter (Andy Richter Controls the Universe). Late-night television host, writer, and producer Jimmy Kimmel teams with Banijay Studios North America to produce. Big Fan is based on the hilarious "Who Knows...?" the celebrity vs. super-fan game segment that originally aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The segment became a viral video success when pop star Katy Perry went up against one of her biggest fans in this hilarious challenge. Each episode of the half-hour, studio-based game show will feature one celebrity and three of his or her biggest super fans. The super fans will go head-to-head to see who knows more about the episode's featured celebrity. The succeeding super fan will move on to the final round in an ultimate showdown, celebrity vs. super fan, to see who knows most about the celebrity. If the super fan wins, their prize is a priceless experience with the celebrity they admire most. No premiere date as been set, so stay tuned for that.

Today we continue our fall schedule barrage with a lesser known network, but they are adding two classic series! The network is Universal HD and we last covered them a few months ago when we announced they have acquired The Unit. We also mentioned that they air short-lived series on Friday nights, and come this October, they will be changing up the line-up again. Universal HD's Fall 2010 schedule begins Friday, October 1 with the additions of classic Sony Pictures series Charlie's Angels and T.J. Hooker. They both will air weekdays and also in stack blocks. Charlie's Angels will air weekdays at 6am and 3am with a stack on Mondays from 9am-7pm. Meanwhile, T.J. Hooker will air weekdays at 7pm and 2am with a stack on Tuesdays from 9am-7pm.
As for the short-lived series, joining the line-up on Fridays starting Oct. 1 will be medical drama 3 lbs at 9pm, followed by sitcoms Out of Practice at 10 and Andy Richter Controls the Universe at 10:30. These will be replacing the current batch of Cuts, Love Inc., Sex Love & Secrets and Love Monkey. Leaving the schedule completely will be Six Feet Under, Nash Bridges and That's Life, while Becker will only air Fridays now from 11:30am-2pm & 4:30pm-7pm with Hogan's Heroes from 9:30am-11:30am & 2pm-4:30pm.
Marathon wise, there will be a Six Feet Under 48-hour marathon during Labor Day weekend (Sept. 5-6), a Charlie Angel's 24-hour marathon on Columbus Day (Oct. 11), and a 24-hour marathon of short-lived drama Haunted starring Matthew Fox on Halloween (Oct. 31)
View the FULL Universal HD Fall 2010 schedule that starts Oct. 1!

Today we also pay tribute to legendary producer Bernie West. He was an Emmy-winning screenwriter and producer who worked on the classic sitcoms All in the Family, The Jeffersons and Three's Company. He was part of the famous trio of producers known as "NRW" (Nicholl-Ross-West). Mr. West died on Thursday, July 29 at his Beverly Hills home of complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Mr. West won his Emmy in 1973 for writing, with Mickey Ross, the "Bunkers and the Swingers" episode on All in the Family. He received two other nominations as a producer for his work on All in the Family and Three's Company. In 1971, he and Ross submitted a script for All in the Family to Norman Lear and began what Bernie referred to as his first steady job. They worked on the CBS sitcom from 1971-74, where they were writers, script consultants, story editors and eventually, with Don Nicholl, producers. West and Ross created the character of Maude, played by Bea Arthur, on a 1972 episode of All in the Family that spun into another long-running CBS series. And he and his partners worked on the 1974 pilot script of NBC's Chico and the Man.
Nicholl, Ross and West (NRW) later wrote and produced for The Jeffersons, which ran for 10 years (1975-1985), and then Three's Company for eight seasons (1977-1984). Other series included The Dumplings (1976) and two spin-offs of Three's Company: The Ropers (1979-80) and Three's a Crowd (1984-85). Don Nicholl passed away in 1980, while Mickey Ross passed away last May (2009), so now all three members of NRW are no longer with us.
Before Mr. West was producing, he was acting. Among his early acting credits were appearances on The Garry Moore Show, Dixon of Dock Green, The Arthur Murray Show, The Jack Paar Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Phil Silvers Show, Car 54, Where Are You? and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. He also was on an episode each of All in the Family and What's Happening Now!! years later.

Mr. West will be deeply missed and his mark on classic sitcoms was certainly made with NRW. Pay tribute to Mr. West by watching his three classic sitcoms All in the Family and Three's Company on TV Land and The Jeffersons on TV One. Mr. West was 92.