Friday, March 07, 2025
Trailer for Apple TV+ Comedy Government Cheese; Remembering Saved by the Bell and TV Producer Peter Engel

Apple TV+ unveiled the trailer for Government Cheese, starring multi-award-winner David Oyelowo, who also serves as executive producer. The 10-episode comedy will make its global debut on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, April 16, with the first four episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through May 28, 2025. Simone Missick, Jahi Di'Allo Winston and Evan Ellison star alongside Oyelowo in the Apple Original series hailing from creators Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr.
Government Cheese is a surrealist family comedy set in 1969 San Fernando Valley that tells the story of the Chambers, a quirky family pursuing lofty and seemingly impossible dreams, beautifully unfettered by the realities of the world. When Hampton Chambers (Oyelowo) is released from prison, his long-awaited family reunion doesn't go quite as he'd planned. During his absence, Hampton's wife Astoria (Missick) and sons Einstein (Ellison) and Harrison (Di'Allo Winston) have formed an unconventional family unit, and Hampton's return spins their world into chaos.
The ensemble cast also includes Jean-Michel Richaud, London Garcia, Djilali Rez-Kallah, Bokeem Woodbine, Jeremy Bobb, Louis Cancelmi, Julien Heron, Louis Ferreira, Thomas Beaudoin and Kyle Mac, with John Ortiz and Adam Beach.
Television producer Peter Engel, who worked on Saved by the Bell, Hang Time and City Guys, has died. He died on March 4 at his home in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Engel was 88.
Engel's early television producing credits included the 1971 CBS variety series The Ice Palace, which had an ice skating theme. He was an executive producer of the 1974-1975 NBC soap opera How to Survive a Marriage. He was a producer of the short-lived 1976-1977 NBC sitcom Sirota's Court, which starred Michael Constantine, Cynthia Harris, and Fred Willard.
He was an executive producer of the 1988-1989 Disney Channel sitcom Good Morning Bliss. Starring Hayley Mills as teacher Miss Carrie Bliss, the series takes place at the John F. Kennedy Junior High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. The original pilot aired on NBC in the regular primetime timeslot of The Facts of Life. He also wrote an episode in 1988.
After one season on the air on the Disney Channel, the show was retooled as Saved by the Bell, which aired on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The show follows a group of high school friends and their principal at the fictional Bayside High School in Los Angeles. The series ran for four seasons and 86 episodes. Engel also wrote 12 episodes of the series. The series starred Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Dustin Diamond, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Elizabeth Berkley, Lark Voorhies, and Dennis Haskins.
Engel was an executive producer of the 1993-1994 NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell: The College Years. The series follows Zack Morris, Screech Powers and A.C. Slater, and their three female suitemates, including Kelly Kapowski, in the dorms at college. It was the only series of the franchise to air in primetime.
He was an executive producer of the 1993-2000 NBC sitcom Saved by the Bell: The New Class. The show had the same concept as the original series but featured a new group of students roaming the halls of the fictional Bayside High School. At seven seasons, it was the longest-running incarnation of the franchise. Engel appeared as Murray in a 1997 episode.
Engel worked as an executive producer of the 1992-1996 NBC sitcom California Dreams. The series centers on the friendships of a group of teenagers (shifting toward a multi-ethnic makeup beginning with the show's second season) who form the fictional titular band.
He was an executive producer of the 1995-2000 NBC sitcom Hang Time. The series centers on the exploits of the Deering Tornados boys' varsity basketball team of the fictional Deering High School in the fictional Midwestern town of Deering, Indiana. Engel became the showrunner for the second season, resulting in extensive changes to the show. He appeared as The Commissioner in a 1997 episode.
Engel created and executive produced the 1997-1999 USA Network sitcom USA High. The series revolves around six friends enrolled at the American Academy boarding school in Paris, France. He played Chancellor Engel in a 1999 episode.
He created and executive produced the 1997-2001 NBC sitcom City Guys. The series centers on two teenagers from different backgrounds who both attended Manhattan High School that became best friends.
Engel was an executive producer of the 1998-2001 NBC sitcom One World. The series centers on the Blakes, a family mostly made up of six racially diverse foster teenagers living under one roof under the care of parents Dave, a former professional baseball player and Karen, a sculptor.
He and Carl Kurlander co-created the 1998-2000 first-run syndicated sitcom Malibu, CA. The show centers on the lives of twin brothers Scott (Trevor Merszei) and Jason Collins (Jason Hayes), who move to Malibu, California, from New York City to live with their father, Peter (Edward Blatchford).
In 2001, he was an executive producer of the short-lived NBC comedy-drama All About Us. The series focuses on the development of four teenage girls who live and attend high school in Chicago.
After producing teen-focused series for NBC, Engel transitioned to producing reality television series. He was an executive producer of 28 episodes of the NBC reality series Last Comic Standing from 2004 to 2014. The series received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2004.
He was one of the executive producers for 11 episodes of the 2020-2021 Peacock sitcom Saved by the Bell. The series is set 26 years after Zack and Kelly's wedding, with the main characters of the original series reunited in their 40s and trying to navigate their lives.
In 2016, he released a memoir titled I Was Saved by the Bell: Stories of Life, Love, and Dreams That Do Come True. He opened up for the first time about his life, from personal and professional highlights to the serious challenges that shaped him.
Mr. Engel was one of the most prolific producers in television with more than 1,000 episodes produced under his banner. He was the architect behind Saved by the Bell, which he executive produced through all of its many incarnations, and which led to his many other teen series. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment that he brought us on Saved by the Bell and his many other sitcoms. He will be greatly missed.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
NBCUniversal to Launch FAST Channels, Sitcoms & More; Tracy Morgan's Max Special Debuts Aug. 17

NBCUniversal announced new free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) linear content offerings from across the NBCU Television & Streaming portfolio and NBCUniversal Global Distribution library. For the first time ever, viewers can access programming across all NBCUniversal genres centered on popular titles and categories available anytime at no additional cost. Curated with content from past seasons of iconic series including Saturday Night Live, The Real Housewives franchises, Top Chef, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, along with hit library television series including Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote and Saved by the Bell, along with genre-based sitcoms, action, crime, westerns, and monster movie content will also launch as dedicated FAST channels.
NBCUniversal has inked agreements with Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play for the entire FAST content portfolio. Xumo Enterprise, the business-to-business arm of Xumo that provides content owners, distributors and advertisers with tools and services to succeed in FAST, will power the distribution of NBCUniversal's new FAST channels on third party services starting with Amazon Freevee. With the new launches, NBCUniversal is adding to its industry leading lineup of current channels including Dateline 24/7, NBC News NOW, and Local NBC and Telemundo news stations. The new entertainment, news, sports, and Spanish Language FAST channels include: Bravo Vault, E! Keeping Up, Million Dollar Listing Vault, Oxygen True Crime Archives, Real Housewives Vault, SNL Vault, Top Chef Vault, News, Sports, Telemundo Channels, Rotten Tomatoes, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bad Girls Club, Lassie, Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote, Saved by the Bell, TNBC (Punky Brewster, City Guys, Hang Time, Major Dad and more), The Lone Ranger, Universal Action (Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, The A-Team and many others), Universal Crime (Columbo, Kojak, The Rockford Files and more), Universal Westerns (The Virginian, Tales of Wells Fargo among many others), and Universal Monsters (movies). These channels join NBCUniversal’s lineup of previously announced FAST channels including NBC News NOW, TODAY All Day, Dateline 24/7, LX, NBC and Telemundo Local Stations, and Sky News International. Peacock, NBCUniversal's streaming service, also has a robust FAST channels offering featuring content from across the company's portfolio.
The Max Original stand-up comedy special Tracy Morgan: Takin' It Too Far debuts Thursday, August 17 on Max. Two-time Emmy®-nominated actor and comedian Tracy Morgan (30 Rock, The Last O.G.) leaves it all on the stage in his first Max stand-up special taped live from the Wilbur Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. Grateful and hyped, the comedian owns his set and unabashedly tackling topics such as dating in his 50s (along with the unexpected side effects that comes with it), his dysfunctional family, attempting to reverse gentrification in Brooklyn, and the very public 2014 car accident that left him with multiple broken bones, a traumatic brain injury, and a substantial settlement. Executive produced by Emmy and GRAMMY® winner Rikki Hughes, Tracy Moran: Takin' It Too Far showcases a seasoned comedy veteran in his most edgy and fearless special yet.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
BET Schedules Season 4 of The Game, New Original Sitcom; Malcolm in the Middle Moves to TeenNick
Moving on to the current BET schedule, they have removed City Guys from the Saturday line-up, effective last week (Oct. 23). This week, they will air an In Living Color marathon from 9am-4pm, promoting its airings on sister network Centric. Original series stunts will air every other Saturday morning now instead of City Guys and other sitcoms.
BET has also returned The Jamie Foxx Show beginning yesterday to weekdays 11am hour. The series will continue to air on sister network Centric as well. And since last week, Bernie Mac's afternoon hour was moved to mornings with its first hour, so now the series airs weekdays from 9am-11am leading into Jamie Foxx at 11am. Everybody Hates Chris remains in the 12pm and 5pm hours, as The Game's morning hour moved to afternoon to join the afternoon hour. So The Game now airs from 3-5pm. As for Sundays, there are early afternoon airings of Bernie Mac, Everybody Hates Chris, and The Game, but times vary week-to-week. Stunts wise, besides In Living Color for this Saturday, there will be an Everybody Hates Chris day after Thanksgiving marathon on Friday, Nov. 26 from 9am-4pm. A Bernie Mac stunt airs on Saturday, Nov. 27 from 9am-2pm.
Malcolm in the Middle is moving from Nick at Nite to sister network TeenNick starting this November. Malcolm in the Middle was pulled from the Nick at Nite regular schedule last month and hasn't been seen since. An episode was slated to air on Nick at Nite in their Halloween marathon this coming Saturday (Oct. 30), but was replaced by a Halloween episode of Home Improvement instead. Back to TeenNick, Malcolm in the Middle will launch with a three-day block on Friday, November 26 to Sunday, November 28 from 10pm-12am for these three nights. Then effective Monday, November 29, the sitcom will air weekdays in the 10pm hour and again in the 1am hour. Malcolm in the Middle will replace Degrassi in the 10pm hour, as that hour will move to the 12am hour, cutting That '70s Show to just the 11pm hour. The second hour of That '70s Show will move to the 2am hour, as the What I Like About You 1-3am block moves to 3-5am replacing One on One, which will be off the line-up then. The daytime line-up will remain the same.
So first Full House goes from TeenNick to Nick at Nite and now Malcolm in the Middle goes from Nick at Nite to TeenNick. I think that is a better fit for Malcolm in the Middle. The series has been in contract with Viacom since July, 2009.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Centric Fall 2010 Schedule, BET Notes; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 27, 2010)
The series schedule for Centric looks like this on weekdays starting Monday: 6am Miami Vice, 7am The A-Team, 12pm Soul Train, 1-2pm The Steve Harvey Show, 2-3pm Jamie Foxx Show, 3pm Flick Central movie, 5-6pm The Steve Harvey Show, 6-7pm Jamie Foxx Show, 7pm original encores, 8-10pm The Cosby Show, 10-11pm In Living Color, 11pm The A-Team, 12am Miami Vice, 1-2am The Cosby Show, 2-3am In Living Color, 3am Flick Central Movie, and 5am The A-Team.
Weekends will continue to have marathons in the daytime, such as October 2-3 will have The Proud Family (Sat 12pm-6pm and Sun 9am-5pm). The Proud Family is no longer airing weekdays at 12 noon as you can see. And we mentioned Cosby Show's weekend slots above.
View the episode info for The Cosby Show launch marathon on Centric.
We have a BET note for you, too. City Guys didn't have the launch marathon last Saturday (Sept. 18) as planned, but BET has moved that launch to Saturday, Oct. 2 from 9am-12pm. Then after that you can still catch the show every Saturday morning from 9am-11am as planned starting Oct. 9. And view the episode info for BET's The Cosby Show week-long marathon.
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, September 27, 2010
- Keri Russell & Will Arnett (Running Wilde) - The stars of the new Fox comedy will be on The Rachel Ray Show, so check your listings.
- Tony Danza (Who's the Boss?) - Catch Tony promoting his new A&E reality series on the Oprah Show so check your listings.
- Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Catch Melissa on an all-new Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jim Belushi (According to Jim) - Catch Jim on Lopez Tonight at 11pm on TBS. Maybe they will discuss their days on their sitcoms for ABC?
- JoAnna Garcia and Jennifer Finnigan (Better with You) - Catch the two stars of the new sitcom on The View at 11am ET/10am CT-PT on ABC. Then catch JoAnna on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:35am on NBC.
- David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) - Catch David on an all-new The View as well at 11am ET/10am CT-PT on ABC.
- Tony Danza (Who's the Boss?) - Watch Tony on the TODAY show on NBC. And then later catch him on The Joy Behar Show on HLN at 9pm.
- John Stamos (Jake in Progress/Full House) - Watch John on The Ellen DeGeneres Show so check listings.
- Marla Thomas (That Girl) - Catch Marla on the TODAY show on NBC as well.
- Joel McHale (Community) - Catch Joel on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12:06am on ABC.
- Busy Phillips (Cougar Town) - Watch Busy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as well at 12:06am on ABC.
- Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Catch Bryan on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:35am on NBC.
- Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Catch the legendary star promoting her new book on The View, at 11am ET/10am CT-PT on ABC.
- Jim Belushi (According to Jim) - Watch Jim-bo on The Rachel Ray Show so check your local listings.
- The Cast of Modern Family - Watch the entire cast of the Emmy award winning sitcom on The Oprah Show so you'll for sure want to check your listings. Hey hey!
- David Cross (Running Wilde/Arrested Development) - Catch the funny David Cross on an all-new Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12:06am on ABC.
- Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - Catch the Emmy Winner on Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC at 11:35pm.
- Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation/The Office) - Watch Rashida also on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:35am on NBC.
- Steve Harvey (The Steve Harvey Show) - Watch Steve on Rachel Ray Show so check your listings.
- Cybill Shepherd (Cybill) - Watch Cybill on The Oprah Show, so check listings.
- Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/Cleveland Show) - Catch Seth on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
- David Cross (Running Wilde/Arrested Development) - Watch David on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
- Kyle Massey (Cory in the House/That's So Raven) - Catch the Disney star on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your listings.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
BET Fall 2010 Schedule Has 3 New Sitcoms; Network TV Fall Preview Specials for 2010
So, we have so far two new sitcom acquisitions for BET: City Guys and Bernie Mac. In this blog's title I mentioned there are THREE new sitcoms. The other one is... The Cosby Show! Yes, the classic family comedy will have a five-day marathon from Monday, Sept. 27 through Friday, Oct. 1 from 11am-5pm each day! The Huxtables will not be joining the BET regular schedule it seems the following week. Why? It will be joining sister network Centric's primetime fall schedule starting Sept. 27! Centric currently airs sitcoms The Steve Harvey Show & The Jamie Foxx Show along with dramas The A-Team & Miami Vice and animated comedy The Proud Family. They also air Smart Guy stunts. We will have Centric's fall 2010 schedule soon for you, so stay tuned for regular times for The Cosby Show, including a launch marathon of their own on Sunday, Sept. 26. And don't be surprised if you see Cliff and the gang pop-up on BET from time to time.
Anyway, back to the BET Fall schedule. The schedule starts on Monday, Oct. 4 with Bernie Mac in the 10am hour, replacing One on One. Maybe that will move to Centric? We shall see. An hour each of The Game and Everybody Hates Chris remains at 11am & 12pm. Then a movie airs at 1pm leading into The Game's new afternoon timeslot of 3pm, as now Bernie Mac will air in the 4pm hour leading into Everybody Hates Chris in the 5pm hour. On Saturdays, we have City Guys airing usually from 9am-11pm, followed by the return of Sister Sister from 11am-1pm. An hour each of Everybody Hates Chris & The Game airs at 1pm & 2pm leading into Bernie Mac from 3pm-5pm. And finally on Sundays, the only thing of note is Everybody Hates Chris in the 1pm hour leading into Bernie Mac from 2-4pm.
View and discuss the FULL BET Fall 2010 schedule and stay tuned in the coming days for sister network Centric's fall schedule which will have The Cosby Show!
Pretty soon it will be that time of year again...the start of the new TV season. So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2009 preview from last year.
First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2010 preview special is actually in two half-hours. They have been titled ABC 2010 Red Carpet Premiere Event: Laugh ON and ABC 2010 Red Carpet Premiere Event: No Ordinary Dramas hosted by Cameron Mathison and Nancy O'Dell with reports from Rico Rodriguez of Modern Family. It started airing on local ABC affiliates last weekend (Aug. 28-29). It can be aired between August 28-Sept. 19, 2010 on local stations, so check your local listings. Both half-hours will air nationally on ABC on Sunday, September 19 back-to-back at 5pm ET/4pm CT/3pm MT-PT. The first fall preview special is about the new fall dramas that will be joining the line-up in September including No Ordinary Family, My Generation and two 10:00 PM dramas: Detroit 1-8-7 and The Whole Truth. And the second special highlights ABC Laugh On Wednesday featuring returning hits, The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town as well as new comedies; Better Together, Happy Endings and Mr. Sunshine. These specials will air on ABC-owned cable networks as well, as of now ABC Family has scheduled them both on Monday, Sept. 13 at 12am ET/11pm CT. Both specials are on abc.com as well: Laugh ON and No Ordinary Dramas.
The CBS Fall 2010 preview special, simply titled again CBS Fall Preview will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of the new Wednesday drama The Defenders - Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell - will be broadcast on Monday (Sept. 6) from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. The preview will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series Hawaii Five-0, The Defenders and Blue Bloods and the comedy series $#*! My Dad Says and Mike & Molly. Hosts Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi will introduce the video previews for each new series with a fun mix of banter during what appears to be a wardrobe fitting for their Vegas lawyer characters, surrounded by bold suits and pinky rings galore.
The NBC Fall 2010 preview special (titled once again The NBC Primetime Preview) has aired on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates since Aug. 7 and will continue to run through Sept. 27 (in NYC on WNBC Sat Sept. 4 at 7pm). The lively 30-minute cavalcade will feature exclusive, behind-the-scenes views to be delivered across a wide gamut of NBC Universal media platforms beginning August 7 through September 27. The program will run nearly 500 times over broadcast and cable platforms. The annual Fall program will be offered to NBC's 232 television stations (check local listings) as well as other channel entities such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband. NBC stations will also make it available on their websites while NBC.com will feature it as well. NBC stations can also run it on their websites while NBC.com is also running it as well. In addition, the program will be once again screened on selected American Airlines flights (estimated to be shown on approximately 11,000 flights). Watch now online.
The Fox Fall 2010 preview special has already started airing on local Fox affiliates (in NY WNYW Sat Sept. 4 at 3pm). It will only run on local Fox affiliates again and not on Fox in primetime. No information is available as of this writing on who is hosting and what the special features. No idea yet also if it will be on fox.com.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, August 30
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 25)
Friday, August 29
- Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Timothy Olyphant (Stick/Santa Clarita Diet) - Watch Timothy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Austin Butler (Ruby & the Rockits/Zoey 101/Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide) - Austin is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Jenna Ortega (Stuck in the Middle/Richie Rich) - Jenna appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Clifton Davis (Amen/That's My Mama) - Clifton makes a special appearance on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Sabrina on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Danielle Pinnock (Ghosts/Young Sheldon) - Danielle talks about Ghosts on a repeat on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- David Zayas (The Bear) - David talks about The Bear and Paramount+'s Dexter: Resurrection on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
- Regina King (The Boondocks/Leap of Faith/227) - Regina talks about Caught Stealing on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - NBC's Today catches up with Kel in the 9am hour. He will also be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
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