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Actor René Auberjonois, who starred as Clayton Endicott III in Benson, has died. He died from metastatic lung cancer at his home in Los Angeles on December 8. Mr. Auberjonois was 79.

Auberjonois' early television drama guest appearances included Mod Squad, McMillan and Wife, Night Gallery, Harry O, Ellery Queen, The Rookies, Black Sheep Squadron, Delvecchio, The Bionic Woman, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, Wonder Woman, Family, Hart to Hart and Charlie's Angels. Some of his early sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style, The Jeffersons, The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, Stockard Channing in Just Friends.

He starred as Clayton Endicott III in the ABC sitcom Benson. Clayton Endicott III was Governor James Gatling's (James Noble) snobbish and high-handed chief of staff. Auberjonois joined the series in the second season in 1980. His character replaced John Taylor (Lewis J. Stadlen) who appeared in the first season as chief of staff. Auberjonois received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for the role in 1984. The series also starred Robert Guillaume, Missy Gold, Inga Swenson, Caroline McWilliams (1979-1981), Ethan Phillips (1980-1985), Didi Conn (1981-1985) and Billie Bird (1984-1986).

Some of his later sitcom guest appearances included Doogie Howser, M.D., Frasier (two episodes as Professor William Tewksbury), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 1600 Penn (two episodes as Winslow Hannum).

He starred as Odo in the 1993-1999 syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Constable Odo was the station's chief of security. He was a Changeling, capable of assuming any shape he wishes, but usually assumed a shape of a male adult humanoid. Auberjonois also directed eight episodes of the series from 1995 to 1999. The series also starred Avery Brooks, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig, Nana Visitor, Michael Dorn and Nicole de Boer.

Auberjonois starred as Paul Lewiston the 2004-2008 ABC drama Boston Legal. Paul Lewiston is a senior partner at the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. He starred in the first three seasons and had a recurring role in the final two seasons. The series also starred James Spader, William Shatner, Candice Bergen, Monica Potter, Rhona Mitra, Lake Bell, Julie Bowen, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Constance Zimmer, Craig Bierko, Gary Anthony Williams, Tara Summers and John Larroquette.

He received his second Emmy nomination in 2001 for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Judge Mantz in The Practice. Some of his other drama guest appearances included Murder, She Wrote, L.A. Law, Eerie, Indiana, Matlock, The Outer Limits, Chicago Hope, Stargate SG-1, Nash Bridges, Judging Amy, Star Trek: Enterprise, Warehouse 13, Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy and The Good Wife. He appeared as Walter Nowack in four episodes of Madam Secretary in 2016.

Auberjonois was also known for his voice acting. He voiced Chef Louis in 1989's The Little Mermaid and Flanagan in 1997's Cats Don't Dance. Some of his television voice credits included Wildfire, Snorks, The Pirates of Dark Water, Xyber 9, The Legend of Tarzan, Xiaolin Showdown and Pound Puppies.

He made his credited film debut as Father John Mulcahy in M*A*S*H in 1970. He played expedition scientist Roy Bagley in 1976's King Kong. Some of his other film credits included Brewster McCloud, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Images, Pete 'n' Tillie, The Hindenburg, The Big Bus, Eyes of Laura Mars, Where the Buffalo Roam, Walker, The Ballad of Little Jo and The Patriot.

Survivors include his wife, Judith, and their two children, Tessa and Remy.

Mr. Auberjonois was a talented and versatile actor. He was wonderful as Clayton Endicott III in Benson. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.

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

Benson currently airs on Antenna TV weekdays at 4pm ET/1pm PT and Sundays at 4am ET/1am PT. We'll keep you posted if any tributes are planned.

Sparkling silver stars, glistening gold ornaments and illuminated glass panels etched with snowy scenes deck the halls of America's most iconic home in White House Christmas 2019. Premiering on Sunday, Dec. 15, at 5 p.m. ET/PT, the annual HGTV special follows Maureen McCormick -- from the classic television series The Brady Bunch and, most recently, HGTV's hugely successful series A Very Brady Renovation -- and Alison Victoria, star of Windy City Rehab, on an exclusive room-by-room tour of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue's magnificent holiday transformation.

This year's décor theme, The Spirit of America, is a tribute to the traditions, customs and history that shape our nation and celebrates the courageous individuals who have kept the American spirit alive. For example, the famed gingerbread replica of the White House features landmarks from around the country, such as the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore, while the East Room trees take inspiration from the American flag with gilded eagle tree toppers and red and blue ribbons. During the special, Maureen and Alison craft handmade topiaries and ornaments, create a chocolate tree for the gingerbread display, and hang signs and paper flowers representing their home states on the official Blue Room Christmas tree.

Katz Networks, part of The E.W. Scripps Company, announced three major off-network series licensing agreements. Escape, the over-the-air network reaching women 25-54 with a brand of programming anchored in stories of crime and mystery, has acquired the television rights to Law & Order and Boston Legal in two individual deals. Escape lands the first 12 seasons of Law & Order - the longest-running crime and investigation drama on American primetime television – in a multi-year licensing agreement with Universal Television. The complete series/five seasons of Boston Legal come from Twentieth Television, Inc. Laff, television's fastest-growing network and the nation's first over-the-air network devoted to comedy around-the-clock, has landed the broadcast television rights to all eight seasons of According to Jim, starring Jim Belushi, in an agreement with Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.

Escape will launch both series on New Year's Day. They join another hit off-network crime drama, Without a Trace, in the Escape line-up. Laff will debut According to Jim in early 2019. These agreements come on the heels of Katz sister network Bounce landing broadcast rights to the iconic series Scandal which just joined Bounce's primetime line-up. According to Jim joins Laff's sitcom hall-of-fame line-up which includes Home Improvement, 3rd Rock from the Sun, That '70s Show, The Drew Carey Show, Night Court, Spin City and more.

YEE-HAW! Co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Elisha Cuthbert just ran 13 stories to tell you when The Ranch is back! What gets Ashton Kutcher up in the morning? Coors or Keystone? How does he feel about Tom Brady? And when can fans expect new episodes of The Ranch?! Running up 13 stories at Netflix, Elisha Cuthbert gets the inside scoop from co-star Ashton Kutcher - the two triumphantly reach the top, marking their victory by shouting from the [Netflix] rooftop, 10 all-new episodes of The Ranch premiere December 7 on Netflix! Set in present day on a Colorado ranch outside Denver, this multi-camera family comedy returns with new episodes (Part 6, 10 new episodes for the back-half of season three) on December 7. Starring Ashton Kutcher, Sam Elliott, Elisha Cuthbert, Debra Winger and new guest star, Dax Shepard - the show follows Colt's (Kutcher) return home after a brief and failed semi-pro football career to run the family ranching business with his father Beau (Elliott). The sitcom has already been renewed for a 4th season of 20 episodes, so look out for Parts 7 and 8 in 2019!

Ovation TV has acquired two series for its lineup. The late '90s ABC comedy Dharma & Greg will premiere on Ovation tomorrow night (Tuesday, August 18) at 12 midnight with the first four episodes airing from 12-2am. Four episodes will air weekly. The four episodes will encore at various times during the week as well, such as Saturday afternoons from 12-2pm. Dharma & Greg has been seen in the past on TV Guide Network, WGN America, WE tv and FX. The sitcom starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a couple who got married on their first date despite being complete opposites. Also joining Ovation TV will be the dramedy Boston Legal, which will premiere in primetime on the network on Monday, August 24 from 8-11pm airing ever Monday night. Three episodes will air a week and encore at various times during the week. The series is David E. Kelley's spin-off from The Practice, set at a high-priced Boston law firm, plays smartly on the chemistry between James Spader (as wry and wily lawyer Alan Shore) and William Shatner. Boston Legal has been seen in the past on Logo, TV Land and ION Television.

ABC Family announced that returning hit comedy Young & Hungry will swap time slots with freshman comedy Kevin From Work when Young & Hungry premieres on Wednesday (August 19) at 8:00PM ET/PT. Kevin From Work will move to 8:30PM ET/PT. Reality series Job or No Job rounds out the Wednesday lineup, with the series airing at 9:00 PM ET/PT. The summer season of Young & Hungry will premiere on Wednesday (August 19) at 8:00PM ET/PT. The midseason finale left off with Gabi (Emily Osment) leaving Josh (Jonathan Sadowski) behind to start a dream job in Switzerland, just as they were finally poised to take their relationship to the next level. When the show returns, Gabi and Josh must decide what their next step is, both professionally and personally. Young & Hungry established a series high in Adults 18-49 (973,000/0.8 rating) and set a season (and near series) high in Adults 18-34 (685,000/1.0 rating), according to Live+7 ratings during its May midseason finale. For the season, it ranked as cable's No. 1 original series in its Wednesday-at-8 timeslot among Adults 18-49, Adults 18-34 and across key female demos (W18-34/W18-49/F12-34). Launch to date, Young & Hungry is ABC Family's No. 1 comedy of all time in Women 18-34, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

Kevin From Work will air at 8:30PM ET/PT. In the next episode, "Who's Your Friend From Work," Audrey sets her friend up with Kevin but then finds herself strangely jealous of all the fun they're having. Patti hires Brian to be her personal trainer, but he worries she wants something more. Meanwhile, Roxie needs to get a job but decides to be an actress instead. The comedy stars Noah Reid as Kevin, Paige Spara as Audrey, Matt Murray as Brian, Jordan Hinson as Roxie, Punam Patel as Patti, with recurring guest star Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) as Julia. Kevin From Work will air in its regularly scheduled time slot Wednesdays at 8:30 PM ET/PT after airing at 8:00PM last week for its two-episode premiere.

Logo will be adding Designing Women to its line-up this April. The sitcom will join the schedule with a launch marathon on Saturday, April 12 from 12pm-10pm. It will then join the regular schedule on Monday, April 14 airing in various marathon stacks, which Logo calls the "Sitcom Therapy" block. Designing Women will air with other sitcoms such as The Golden Girls, Roseanne, Will & Grace, Living Single and 30 Rock. It seems Logo has quietly removed NewsRadio from its line-up. In addition to sitcoms, Logo has recently added CSI and Boston Legal, borrowing these series from other Viacom-owned networks. Of course on Designing Women, Delta Burke, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts, and Jean Smart star in this legendary sitcom about a small interior design firm in Atlanta. Designing Women currently airs on TV Guide Network, but it now airs at random days rather than a set schedule as it was previously. It shares time with Who's the Boss? and Cheers. Stay with us for continued updates.

At an upfront presentation held yesterday at the Sony Building in New York, GSN executives unveiled their programming and development slate. The network announced a greenlight for Idiot Test, a new original series hosted by comedian Ben Gleib; re-upped two hit series, The Chase and The American Bible Challenge; and revealed a vigorous 2014 development slate. In the coming year, GSN plans to ramp up its commitment to original content, a strategy which helped re-write the network's ratings record book this past year. GSN talent Rebecca Romijn, host of Skin Wars, Brooke Burns and Mark Labbett from The Chase, and DeRay Davis, host of Mind of a Man as well as Ben Gleib were all on hand for the presentation.

In addition to the news surrounding new content, the network also pointed to strong first quarter performance with January being the most watched month ever followed by its best February ever. GSN also delivered on the demo front hitting new ratings records with W18-49, P25-54 and W25-54. In January, GSN’s year-over-year delivery increased double digits in both total day, where P25-54 rose +34% and W25-54 rose +38% and primetime where P25-54 rose +46% and W25-54 rose +47%. In February, P25-54 rose +22% and W25-54 +26% in total day. In primetime, P25-54 rose +16% and W25-54 +6%. More info on premiere dates for these series will be announced at a later date.

TV Land has announced its September 2013 schedule. We're not calling it their fall schedule yet since they haven't released plans for October and beyond yet (besides the premiere of new original sitcom Kirstie beginning Dec. 4). There are minor changes but a few notable notes. It seems Three's Company's contract is not going to be renewed, but we're not 100% sure yet. We do know that it is not on the schedule after Aug. 31, which is when the contract expires. The hit John Ritter comedy will have its last airings on Saturday, Aug. 31 from 5am-12pm, which is a bit longer than its usual Saturday airing. To sort of take its place will be the return of The Nanny. The sitcom actually quietly returns Aug. 22, airing late nights on Wednesdays, but it will get more airplay in September by airing Saturday mornings as well. Beginning Monday, Sept. 9, TV Land will bring back Boston Legal to its schedule -- but not in the mornings or overnight, but in early evening and primetime. The William Shatner/James Spader series will air on TV Land weekdays at 7pm and 8pm. TV Land has removed the late night airings of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which was getting overnight airings on Sunday nights. We were surprised to see that scheduled there, too...

Elsewhere, Friends will be airing Wednesdays from 11pm-12am now, while sitcoms overnight marathons will air every weeknight from 2-6am. On Mondays it is The Cosby Show, Tuesdays it is The Golden Girls, on Wednesday it's The Nanny, Thursdays has Roseanne and on Fridays it is Everybody Loves Raymond. Sometimes at 5:30am there are That '70s Show airings instead, but that comedy will be showcased on weekends starting at 2am. Everything else is pretty much the same, including mornings where the classic sitcoms are still not back, as Gunsmoke has completely taken over mornings. Yes, that means no I Love Lucy, Dick Van Dyke or Andy Griffith. We do get an Andy Griffith Show sighting on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 2) from 8am-6pm.

Original series wise, Hot in Cleveland will have a two-episode season finale on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 10-11pm. In the first airing, it's a Mary Tyler Moore Show reunion (as we hinted before), as Elka (Betty White) & Mamie (Georgia Engel) reunite their bowling team: Diane (special guest star Mary Tyler Moore), Peg (special guest star Cloris Leachman), & Angie (special guest star Valerie Harper), while Joy, Victoria & Melanie date a professor (George Hamilton), director & surgeon. On the season finale at 10:30pm, it's the big day of Victoria's wedding to incarcerated movie star Emmet Lawson (guest star Alan Dale), while Elka (Betty White) helps Joy reunite with her baby daddy (special guest star Craig Ferguson), who she hasn't seen in thirty-two years. TV Land's other two sitcoms, The Exes and The Soul Man will wrap up a week earlier on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Hot in Cleveland will return later this year for its fifth season, while The Exes will return for its second half of season three. TV Land has not ordered more episodes of The Soul Man yet.

View the full TV Land September 2013 schedule and discuss what you think!

Bounce TV has started production in Los Angeles on the network's first original scripted sitcom, My Crazy Roommate, as we first announced the series back in May. The series is created and produced by Bentley Kyle Evans (Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show) of Bent Outta Shape Productions. My Crazy Roommate will world premiere on Bounce TV, Tuesday, October 15 at 10:00 pm ET. My Crazy Roommate is a comedy series about two young women, Brooke (Laila Odom) and Chole (Brittany Richards), from vastly different backgrounds who are forced to live together while on a crusade to find fame and fortune in Hollywood. The reluctant roommates find themselves in a series of dilemmas causing them to temporarily put their differences aside to resolve the many obstacles they face throughout their journey.