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FETV's Sunday Mystery Matinee Block; Glen Powell Is Chad Powers for Hulu Comedy

FETV (Family Entertainment Television), home to beloved and timeless television series and movies carried across cable, satellite, and virtual platforms, announced that the "Sunday Mystery Matinee" will join the network's programming lineup beginning Sunday, September 8. The weekly special will debut with the Cagney & Lacey reunion movies, all four of which star Emmy winners Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly reprising their iconic roles, for the month of September before segueing to the 1980s series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The four Cagney & Lacey television movies all feature Sharon Gless as Christine Cagney and Tyne Daly as Mary Beth Lacey, reprising their roles from the original series. Released in the mid 1990s, the television films follow Cagney and Lacey as they reunite working as special investigators for the District Attorney's office. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984-85) stars Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke as Dr. John Watson. Originally broadcast on ITV in Britain, Sherlock Holmes episodes feature adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous stories, including "The Adventure of Copper Beeches" and "The Red-Headed League".

Think Fast, run fast. Upcoming Hulu Original Comedy series Chad Powers has officially started production starring Glen Powell. Hulu's half-hour comedy Chad Powers, from co-creators and executive producers Glen Powell and Michael Waldron. Eli Manning serves as executive producer along with Omaha Productions' Peyton Manning, Jamie Horowitz, Ben Brown and ESPN. Waldron and Adam Fasullo are executive producing for Anomaly Pictures. Luve Rakhe will executive produce and Tony Yacenda will serve as director and executive producer. The series stars Powell, who is also co-creating, co-writing and executive producing under his production co-banner Barnstorm Productions.

When bad behavior nukes hotshot QB Russ Holliday's college career, he disguises himself and walks onto a struggling Southern football team as the talented, affable Chad Powers. Based on the sketch produced by NFL Films and Omaha Productions that aired on ESPN+ as part of the Eli's Places series, the half-hour comedy from 20th Television will stream on Hulu. Powell and Waldron co-wrote the pilot.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Cagney and Lacey, Chad Powers, FETV, Hulu

SitcomsOnline Digest: Pilot Season in Full Swing; Katey Sagal to Play Role Inspired by Erin Brockovich in ABC Drama Pilot

• It's been a busy week for pilots, and Deadline is keeping us updated on the status of all of them for all of the networks and streaming services. (Deadline)
• Katey Sagal has been cast in a role that is inspired by the real-life Erin Brockovich in a drama that has been picked up as a pilot for ABC. (Hollywood Reporter)  
• John Karlen, who is probably best known for his role as Mary Beth's husband on Cagney & Lacey, has died at age 86. (Entertainment Weekly)
• The Hallmark Channel CEO is stepping down after a controversy involving airing commercials that included same-sex couples last month. (Deadline) 
• Meanwhile, Judith Light is going to be honored at the GLAAD Media Awards. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Want to create the name of a stew for a restaurant in a sitcom? Here's your chance. (SitcomsOnline)

• This weekend on Decades is a binge marathon of Vega$.
• Saturday Night Live returns from the winter break hiatus tonight, with Adam Driver as host.
• Showtime has season premieres of a pair of political series tomorrow, with The Circus and Our Cartoon President.
• On Tuesday, TBS has Miracle Workers: Dark Ages, the slightly retitled second season of the series.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Cagney and Lacey, Miracle Workers, Our Cartoon President, SitcomsOnline Digest, Vega$

SitcomsOnline Digest: Which TV Series Isn't Getting a Reboot, Anyway?; CBS Orders Three (Fresh) Comedy Pilots

• We feel like at this point we'd might as well just say "it's official, everything in the history of television is about to be rebooted," as this week, we're hearing about reboots of Murphy Brown, Magnum P.I., Cagney and Lacey, Greatest American Hero, Charmed, and most likely more that we're not even aware of or missed (we'll probably still never see that aborted Coach reboot, however). (Entertainment Weekly)
• If you're not in the mood for reboots, it seems that CBS (which also is the one who seems to be going the heaviest on these reboot pilots, ironically) has some comedy pilots that are fresher ideas in the pipeline as well. (Deadline)
• Even people who aren't soap opera fans are aware of the importance of the characters Luke and Laura on General Hospital, and even though the characters have come and gone over the years as the actors have chosen to pursue other interests, it seems producers are reducing Laura's character to a recurring role, and not by the choice of Genie Francis, the actress who plays that role. (Entertainment Weekly)
• Connie Sawyer, who was recognized as Hollywood's oldest actress and made guest appearances in TV series as far in the past as The Donna Reed Show and Dr. Kildare, as well as series as recent as The Office and New Girl (and plenty in between) and also has been cast in generic roles like "old lady" going as far back as 1975, has died this week at the impressive age of 105. (People)
• February 27th (i.e. 2/27) is coming up next month, so what's more appropriate for that date than a marathon of 227?.  (SitcomsOnline)

• All fifteen seasons of the popular NBC medical drama ER are now available to watch on Hulu.
• Speaking of Hulu, if you enjoy Scrubs and don't own the DVDs (and we still strongly recommend and collect DVDs for this very reason, you never know when streaming services will pull the plug), you may want to start binge watching that now, as it is scheduled to leave Hulu on February 7 according to Hulu's official Twitter account (barring any renewals).
• The new NBC sitcom, AP Bio, makes a special preview debut Thursday night.
• You can catch a binge of The Rookies all weekend on Decades.
• Will Ferrell returns to Saturday Night Live tonight as host, along with musical guest Chris Stapleton.
• The Grammy Awards air Sunday on CBS, and they have one slight sitcom connection, as Childish Gambino (known to sitcom fans as Donald Glover of Community and Atlanta fame) has five nominations.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 2:00 PM

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Labels: Cagney and Lacey, Charmed, Greatest American Hero, Magnum, Murphy Brown, SitcomsOnline Digest

SitcomsOnline Digest: Dick Van Dyke to Receive BAFTA Award; Hulu to Add 3000 Episodes to Library

• Dick Van Dyke is set to receive an award from BAFTA for excellence in television this fall. (Variety)
• We announced several animated additions for Hulu for the fall, and now they've announced even more series (including some classic sitcoms) from the 20th Century Fox library will be added to the streaming service. (SitcomsOnline)
• Ratings for O.J. Simpson on-air events are down to a fraction of what they used to be, as only 13.5 million people watched his parole hearing that aired live on nearly every channel that airs news or sports on Thursday, far less than the 95 million people who watched the police chase or the 150 million people who watched verdict of his murder trial two decades ago, each of which came in at just under 100 million viewers. (LA Times)
• Actor Harvey Atkin, who played Ronald Coleman (the desk sergeant at the precinct) in Cagney & Lacey, died this week at age 74. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Actor John Heard is probably best known for his role in the first two Home Alone films, but he also had a TV career that included guest roles in The Sopranos, CSI: Miami, Kate & Allie, and Modern Family (among others). He died yesterday at age 72. (Deadline)
• Antenna TV is adding nine sitcoms, including seven that have never aired on the digital broadcast network. (SitcomsOnline)

• Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete Sixth Season (DVD, $19.97): Shout! Factory continues with their releases of this classic sitcom with the sixth season.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:00 PM

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Labels: Antenna TV, Cagney and Lacey, Dick Van Dyke, Hulu, SitcomsOnline Digest