SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

• Every week for the past few years, we've reminded you of the weekly Catchy Comedy (and before that, Decades) Binge, but this will be the last time as Here's Lucy is featured tomorrow as the last planned binge before they switch to a different Sunday lineup.
• Although NBC is once again using the Winter Olympics as their post-Super Bowl programming rather than debuting a new series, sibling streaming platform Peacock will be debuting their series The 'Burbs on Sunday.
• Antenna TV has a marathon of Designing Women tomorrow.
• Buzzr is now airing the Drew Carey episodes of The Price is Right in addition to the Bob Barker ones
• As we mentioned, there are new Roku channels dedicated to The Bernie Mac Show, Blossom, and Cougar Town.

The Hallmark Channel has acquired the rights to Reba. The sitcom will join the lineup on Monday, January 4 and air weekdays from 5-7am, replacing where I Love Lucy used to air before the Christmas movies started. Reba reruns have previously aired on Lifetime, TV Land and Freeform, and the series still airs on UPtv and CMT. Hallmark Channel in January will still air The Golden Girls from 7am-10am & 10pm-1am, while Frasier airs in the overnight from 1am-5am. Reba McEntire stars as the titular character in this smash sitcom about a single mom of three, navigating life in a Houston suburb. The series originally aired on The WB/The CW from 2001-2007.

HBO Max announced season four of the Max Original Search Party premieres on Thursday, Jan. 14 with three episodes. The comedy thriller's ten-episode season continues with another three episodes on Jan. 21 and the final four episodes on Jan. 28. In Search Party season four, Dory (Alia Shawkat) is held prisoner by her psychotic stalker Chip (Cole Escola), who is determined to make Dory believe that they are best friends. Meanwhile, Portia (Meredith Hagner) is starring in a film about the trial, although not as herself; Elliott (John Early) has switched party lines to become a far-right conservative talk show host; and Drew (John Reynolds) is trying to escape his dark past by working as a costumed cast member in a theme park. As the friends begin to connect the dots that Dory might not be touring Europe as her faked social media suggests, they must decide whether to put their traumatic pasts behind them and once again become a search party - but this time, for Dory. Joining the show's stellar guest stars this season are Susan Sarandon, Busy Philipps, Ann Dowd, Griffin Dunne and Lillias White, as well as R.L. Stine in a cameo role.

The MeTV Network January 2021 lineup will start on Saturday, Jan. 2 with the addition of Saturday morning cartoons, as we mentioned. To start it off, January will have Popeye & Pals at 7am, The Tom & Jerry Show at 8am and and Bugs Bunny & Friends at 9am, all replacing westerns. However, westerns will still air the rest of Saturday from 10am-6am. The new weekday original series Toon In with Me will launch on January 4 and air everyday morning from 7-8am, following My Three Sons which is replacing I Love Lucy at 6:30am. The only other schedule change on weekdays will be Alfred Hitchcock Presents at 1am & 1:30am replacing Alfred Hitchcock Hour. And finally on Sundays, just sit right back and you'll hear a tale a tale of a fateful trip, yep it's the return of the Gilligan's Island Three Hour Tour every Sunday from 2pm-5pm, right after The Brady Bunch Brunch from 12-2pm. The Three Hour Tour replaces an hour each of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and another hour of Happy Days. And finally the only other change is Carol Burnett & Friends returning to Sundays at 10pm, as Collector's Call takes a hiatus. View the full MeTV January 2021 schedule.

"Having The Office back in the NBC family opens up access to a lot of extra content that we originally shot. The team at Peacock wanted to create the ultimate destination for fans, so I went back into the dailies with the original editors of the show and found some never-before-seen footage that was cut for time but is still fun to see. You can choose to watch the classic version of the show, or the superfan extended cuts with this new footage and other deleted scenes that we are gradually rolling out, starting with season 3. The experience on Peacock should feel like a celebration of The Office for fans." - Greg Daniels, creator of The Office. See a fun office memo below:

This memorandum is to inform everyone that we expect a significant spike in sales starting on January 1, 2021 when Peacock starts streaming the documentary footage that was shot at Dunder Mifflin Scranton between 2005 and 2013. This includes all previously released episodes and brand new, never-before-seen content. We anticipate that this will cause renewed interest in our product lines, especially as a result of the footage that will be released for the very first time. Customers will definitely be calling and they will most certainly have questions.

For quick reference on customer service calls, here is a summary of what Peacock will make public:
1. Every episode (201 total) of The Office that was originally broadcast will be exclusively streaming on Peacock.
2. Superfan Episodes that include never-before-seen footage and deleted scenes in extended cuts of the original series, starting with Season 3, with more coming in March. An example can be seen here.
3. Spanish audio and Spanish closed captions will be available for both the original series and Superfan Episodes in February.
4. Behind-the-scenes footage will be shared in addition to episodic content. This includes bloopers, featurettes, and interviews.
5. Curated themed episode collections such as the best of the Scranton branch holiday parties and favorite appearances by guest visitors - all arranged for easy viewing.
6. Range of clip playlists to chronicle pranks (feat. Jim Halpert, Dwight K. Schrute); best office romances (feat. Jim Halpert, Pam Beesly); and office words of wisdom (feat. former regional manager Michael Scott).
7. The Office Zen, a 24/7 channel of ambient noise devoted to the sights and sounds of the office for anyone working at home.
8. Launch of dedicated Office channels on GIPHY and TikTok, where fans can share the best of Dunder Mifflin.

We're forecasting such high demand because Peacock has decided to make the first two seasons of The Office available for free. The remaining episodes, seasons 3-9, as well as The Office: Superfan Episodes, will be available on Peacock Premium, which is available for $4.99/month. For an ad-free experience of this series, Peacock Premium Plus is $9.99/month. Despite our repeated requests, Dunder Mifflin employees will not receive a discount.

Starting Monday, October 5, Decades is bringing you a whole new block of late-night laughs. These comedies were far ahead of their time — and are bound to keep you up for hours with Smart Com! Every weeknight beginning at 10pm ET | 7pm PT, catch your new favorite block of comedy all starting with The Dick Van Dyke Show! Afterward, you can stop on by the place where everybody knows your name with comedy classic Cheers at 11 and catch a ride with Danny DeVito and Andy Kaufman on Taxi at 12 midnight. The classic Bob Newhart Show will air at 12:30am. In the overnight from 1am-5am it's more classic laughs with an episode each of The Lost Honeymooners, Get Smart, The Phil Silvers Show, Car 54, Dobie Gillis, Abbott & Costello and back-to-back Our Miss Brooks.

There is comedy in the morning, daytime and afternoons as well. Starting early in the morning at 6am with Laugh-In, followed by back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons at 7am. Daytime comedy starts at 9am with two episodes each of The Lucy Show, The Donna Reed Show, Family Affair, Petticoat Junction, I Love Lucy, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show and an episode each of The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart round it out at 4pm. Early evening and primetime remain the same starting at 5pm with The Jeffersons. Check out the full Decades Fall 2020 line-up.

Effective immediately, American Housewife reruns are now on CMT as of yesterday (Sept. 21). The ABC comedy starring Katy Mixon is entering its fifth season this fall (starts Oct. 28 at 8:30pm). CMT will air it Monday to Wednesdays from 11pm-1am in late fringe, following the Mom primetime block. CMT airs sitcoms all day as well with blocks of Roseanne, The Golden Girls, The King of Queens, and Last Man Standing also airing on weekdays. CMT mainstay Reba also airs in late fringe on some nights. The network has also recently aired Married...with Children and Home Improvement, but are currently not on the line-up. Back to American Housewife, this is its first off-network airing and CMT will also air a marathon on Sunday (Sept. 27) starting at 12 noon. American Housewife will be eligible for local broadcast syndication in Fall 2021, so we could see more networks airing it by then. The series stars Katy Mixon, Diedrich Bader, Meg Donnelly, Daniel DiMaggio, Julia Butters, Ali Wong and Carly Hughes. 

The Hallmark Channel will make some late fringe schedule changes effective immediately. First up, on Sundays as of yesterday (Sunday, March 15), The Golden Girls will replace Sunday 10pm-12am movie. The Golden Girls will air from 10pm–1am and Frasier will air from 1am–5am . Beginning tonight (Monday, March 16) on weeknights, The Golden Girls will air Monday – Friday from 10pm – 1am and Frasier will air weekdays from 1am – 5am, as both series get expanded. I Love Lucy will continue to air mornings from 5am-7am and more The Golden Girls in the mornings from 7-10am, to round out up the sitcom line-up.

A mix of original and encore programming is set to air on the CBS Television Network in primetime in lieu of the recently cancelled NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sitcom repeats will air the next two Thursdays from 8-10pm, with drama encores at 10pm. On Fridays, the regular lineup is in repeat mode this Friday but all-new on March 27 except Blue Bloods. CBS Daytime programming on previously scheduled game days will air in pattern. The Price Is Right and Let's Make a Deal will air encore presentations, while The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and The Talk will all air original episodes. The 55th Academy of Country Music Awards scheduled to air live on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, April 5 from Las Vegas is postponed and will be rescheduled to air on CBS in September, at a date, time and venue to be determined.

Moving on to Fox, network was previously scheduled to air XFL coverage on Thursday, April 2 and Thursday, April 9 in primetime, but now they will air Last Man Standing and Beat Shazam repeats instead. ABC had Saturday Night Primetime NBA games and will replace them with Shark Tank and American Idol repeats effective immediately. And finally NBC will air an encore of Game of Games and a new Dateline NBC in place of canceled World Figure Skating Championships on Saturday, March 21. The 

I Love Lucy Christmas Special, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 20 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. I Love Lucy Christmas Special features "The Christmas Episode" and the newly colorized "Paris at Last." The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes. "The Christmas Episode" finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky's Christmas tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of the Ricardos' son, Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux). Flashbacks recall the night Lucy told Ricky she was pregnant, the time Lucy showed up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearsed taking Lucy to the maternity ward. "The Christmas Episode" was first broadcast on CBS on Christmas Eve, 1956. The episode was not included in the series' long history of rebroadcasts, first on CBS Daytime and later in syndication. Long thought to be lost, the program was rediscovered by CBS in 1989.

In "Paris at Last," the Ricardos and Mertzes arrive in the French capital, where Lucy encounters a sidewalk artist who sells multiple copies of the same "original" oil painting, and a con man who offers a better exchange rate for her American dollars than the one offered in the banks. Later, her attempt to have a quiet lunch in an outdoor café finds her not only unwittingly ordering a plate of snails, but paying the check with counterfeit French francs. Next stop: the Bastille? "Paris at Last" was originally broadcast on Feb. 27, 1956, and became an immediate viewer favorite. I Love Lucy Christmas specials have aired on the Network the past six years, each combining the holiday-themed episode with a different comedy classic. Beginning in 2015, "The Christmas Episode" has been shown colorized in its entirety, with fully colorized flashback scenes that had previously been presented in black and white.

IFC's new original comedy series Year of the Rabbit follows Detective Inspector Rabbit (Berry), a hardened booze-hound who's seen it all, and his hapless, new, by-the-books partner Strauss (Freddie Fox; Cucumber, Banana). While they're investigating a local murder, the lewd but insightful adoptive daughter (Susan Wokoma; Chewing Gum, Crazyhead) of the chief of police joins them, becoming the country's first female officer. Together, the trio must fight crime while rubbing shoulders with street gangs, crooked politicians, spiritualists, music hall stars and more.

Year of the Rabbit, co-produced by IFC, is directed by BAFTA-nominated Ben Taylor (Catastrophe) and written by Emmy(R) and WGA Award winners Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil (Veep), with additional material from Matt Berry. Ben Farrell and Toby Stevens will executive produce for Objective Fiction, with Hannah Mackay producing. The six-episode first season of Year of the Rabbit premieres Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 10:30pm ET/PT only on IFC.

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now Living In Color!, a new one-hour special with two newly colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the beloved 1960s series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 14 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Series creator and co-star Carl Reiner personally selected the two episodes to showcase his favorite episodes featuring Dick Van Dyke. The special features the season one episode "Where Did I Come From," written by Carl Reiner, and the season four episode "Never Bathe on Saturday," also written by Reiner. The main titles and end credits of the two episodes are seamlessly combined into one set - at the beginning and end of the hour - with no interruption between the episodes.

I Love Lucy Christmas Special, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 14 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. I Love Lucy Christmas Special features "The Christmas Episode" and the newly colorized "Pioneer Women." Both were colorized with a nod to the 1950s period in which they were filmed. The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes.

The CW Network has started to set its 2019 midseason schedule by slating the debut of new series Roswell, New Mexico for Tuesday, January 15, 2019 (9:00-10:00pm ET/PT) and moving Black Lightning to Mondays after Arrow starting on January 21, 2019 (9:00-10:00pm ET/PT). With these January moves, DC's Legends of Tomorrow will return to Mondays in April after Black Lightning concludes its second season. Additionally, new series In the Dark is currently scheduled to debut on Thursdays after Legacies completes its first full 16-episode season. The beloved Jane the Virgin will return for its final season on Wednesday nights at 9 (after Riverdale at 8) in the spring once All American wraps its first full 16-episode season. Also, slated to return later in the Spring of 2019 is the final season of iZombie and the sixth season of The 100. Exact dates for Spring premieres to be announced later.

Decades has acquired the rights to Newhart beginning in March. Newhart was last seen on Antenna TV up until end of 2017. Decades will begin a regular weekday schedule starting Monday, March 5 with shows from sister network MeTV being added. Back-to-back sitcom episodes will air from 9am-8pm. Sitcoms airing are I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks, I Married Joan, The Donna Reed Show, Family Affair, Petticoat Junction, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, Ed Sullivan, and Laugh-In. In the overnight, after movies there will be other series such as The Loretta Young Show, Honey West, Mr. Lucky and more. Weekends will still be the Decades Weekend Binge with all-day marathons for two days, as this past weekend was The Facts of Life, next weekend will bring The Mod Squad. The weekend of March 3-4 will be The Mary Tyler Moore Show, followed by The Doris Day Show on the weekend of March 10-11. View the full Decades schedule that begins March 5. Keep it right here for continued updates on all things Decades.

Netflix unveiled some delicious casting news and a first look at the much-anticipated second season of comedy Santa Clarita Diet, launching this spring. Joel McHale and Maggie Lawson guest star as Chris and Christa, married realtors in Santa Clarita -- and a more successful, more aggressive version of Sheila and Joel. Gerald McRaney guest stars as Ed Thune, a retired army colonel who Joel finds very intimidating. Zachary Knighton guest stars as Paul, the chill descendent of Serbian ancestors who has been tasked with pursuing the truth of the undead, no matter who or what stands in his way. In Santa Clarita Diet, Joel (Timothy Olyphant) and Sheila (Drew Barrymore) are husband and wife realtors leading vaguely discontented lives in the L.A. suburb of Santa Clarita with their teenaged daughter Abby (Liv Hewson), until Sheila goes through a dramatic change sending their lives down a road of death and destruction...but in a good way.

Picking up right where we left off, Season 2 of Santa Clarita Diet finds the Hammonds trying to adapt to Sheila's now-advanced undead state -- even though she's desperately working to hold on to her suburban lifestyle and not be defined as just another monster. Unfortunately -- while the family has become markedly better at murder -- the number of missing people in Santa Clarita is starting to pile up and it's no longer going unnoticed. Meanwhile, the Hammonds are chasing the source of the virus so they can stop it from spreading and save humanity -- which seems important. Through it all, Sheila and Joel are grounded by their unconditional love for one another. Sure, being undead -- or loving someone who is -- isn't always easy, but don't all relationships have their challenges?

You want Full House on The Hallmark Channel? You got it dude! Yes, the '80s/90s comedy is coming to Hallmark Channel starting New Year's Day. Following the coverage of The 129th Rose Parade, Hallmark Channel will launch Full House with a New Year's Day marathon from 4pm-6am ET. The sitcom will join the regular schedule beginning Tuesday, Jan. 2 airing Mon-Thurs from 6-9pm, Fridays from 10-11pm, and weekend mornings from 7-9am. The weekday schedule will still feature I Love Lucy from 5-8am, The Golden Girls from 8am-10am, Home & Family from 10am-2pm (encore then new), movies from 2-6pm into Full House from 6-9pm, The Middle from 9-11pm, The Golden Girls from 11pm-1am, Frasier from 1-4am and Cheers from 4-5am. Full House currently airs on cable on Nick at Nite every night from 8-10pm. Will Hallmark's airings affect Nick at Nite? Stay tuned. In Full House, a widowed father Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) asks his friend Joey and his brother-in-law Jesse for their help in raising his three willful daughters.

CBS announced winter 2018 scheduling moves, including the debut of Big Brother's celebrity edition, the series premieres of new comedy Living Biblically and drama Instinct , and the return of The Amazing Race and Survivor. The Network will launch its first celebrity edition of reality hit Big Brother on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 8:00PM, ET/PT. As previously announced, the special winter edition will feature multiple episodes per week during a concentrated run, and include the series' signature Head of Household and Power of Veto competitions and live evictions. Julie Chen will return to host.

Also in February, CBS will premiere the new comedy Living Biblically (f.k.a. By the Book) on Monday, Feb. 26 at 9:30 PM, ET/PT after 9JKL completes its season order. Living Biblically stars Jay R. Ferguson as Chip Curry, a modern-day man at a crossroads in his life who decides to live strictly in accordance with the Bible. As he begins his sincere spiritual journey toward a more moral life with the help of his wife and friends, Chip wonders if he'll be able to take a page - or every page - out of the Good Book, and if the effect will be of Biblical proportions. Lindsey Kraft, Ian Gomez, David Krumholtz, Tony Rock and Camryn Manheim also star. Instinct will premiere Sunday, March 11 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT, two weeks after the season finale of Big Brother. The new drama stars Alan Cumming as Dr. Dylan Reinhart, a gifted author, university professor and former CIA operative who is lured back to his old life by NYPD Detective Lizzie Needham (Bojana Novakovic) to help her stop a serial killer who is using Dylan's first book as a tutorial. Daniel Ings, Naveen Andrews and Sharon Leal also star.

Also, in the second half of the year, the 30th season of the multi-Emmy Award-winning reality series The Amazing Race premieres Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 8:00PM, ET/PT, with two-hour episodes running on Wednesday Jan. 24 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), and Wednesday Feb. 7, Feb. 14 and Feb. 21 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT). The next installment of the Emmy Award-winning Survivor taking place in Fiji debuts with a special two-hour episode on Wednesday, Feb. 28 from 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT, after The Amazing Race concludes. It moves to its regular Wednesday 8:00PM, ET/PT hour on March 7. The premieres of Code Black, Elementary and Undercover Boss will be announced at a later date.

I Love Lucy Christmas Special, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized episodes of the classic series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 22 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. I Love Lucy Christmas Special features "The Christmas Episode" and the newly colorized "The Fashion Show." Both were colorized with a nod to the 1950s period in which they were filmed. The main titles and end credits are seamlessly combined into one set at the beginning and end of the hour, with no interruption between the episodes. "The Christmas Episode" finds the Ricardos and Mertzes decorating Lucy and Ricky's Christmas tree and reminiscing about how their lives have changed since the arrival of the Ricardos' son, Little Ricky (Keith Thibodeaux). Flashbacks recall the night Lucy tells Ricky she is pregnant, the time Lucy shows up unexpectedly as part of a barbershop quartet and the day Ricky and the Mertzes rehearse taking Lucy to the maternity ward. "The Christmas Episode" was first broadcast on CBS on Christmas Eve, 1956. The episode was not included in the series' long history of rebroadcasts, first on CBS Daytime and later in syndication. Long thought to be lost, the program was rediscovered by CBS in 1989.

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now In Living Color!, a new one-hour special with two newly colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the beloved 1960s series, will be broadcast Friday, Dec. 22 from 9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. Series creator and co-star Carl Reiner personally selected the two episodes to showcase the tremendous comedic talents of the late Mary Tyler Moore. The special features the season one episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette," written by Reiner, and the season three episode "October Eve," written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff. The main titles and end credits of the two episodes are seamlessly combined into one set - at the beginning and end of the hour - with no interruption between the episodes. The Emmy Award-winning series starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as television comedy writer Rob and his wife Laura Petrie; Larry Matthews as their son Ritchie; Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie as Buddy Sorrell and Sally Rogers, co-writers on the fictional "The Alan Brady Show"; Carl Reiner as Alan Brady; Richard Deacon as Mel Cooley; Jerry Paris as Dr. Jerry Helper; and Ann Morgan Guilbert as Millie Krumbermacher Helper.