SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Nickelodeon has ordered 20 episodes of the original scripted comedy series, Daddy's Home (working title), starring Scott Baio, which was ordered to pilot back in October. Now it will be an official series! A multi-camera, half-hour comedy for Nick at Nite, Daddy's Home follows David Hobbs (Baio) an actor who, after ten years of starring as America's favorite TV dad, becomes a stay-at-home father to honor the deal he made with his soap star wife so that she may return to the limelight. The series comes from creators/executive producers Tina Albanese and Patrick Labyorteaux and is helmed by executive producers Nat Bernstein and Mitchel Katlin who will show run. Eric Bischoff and Jason Hervey are also executive producing through their production company Bischoff Hervey Entertainment (BHE), along with Baio. Daddy's Home marks Hervey and Baio's return to scripted comedy, with BHE having previously collaborated on three acclaimed unscripted series including Scott Baio is 45 and Single, Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, and Confessions of a Teen Idol. Production on the series is slated to commence later this year in Los Angeles.
For over 30 years, Baio has been a beloved actor, successful producer, writer and director. He received his acting break in 1976 when he was cast as the lead in the youthful gangster film Bugsy Malone. Baio is perhaps best known for his role as Chachi Arcola on one of television's most iconic comedy series Happy Days, followed by a starring role in the spin-off series Joanie Loves Chachi. Baio also starred in his own 1980s hit sitcom, Charles in Charge. Following his television comedy roles, he delved into some deeper and more dramatic roles, such as in the award-winning ABC after-school special, Stoned, the CBS film The Boy Who Drank Too Much and as a hemophiliac in NBC's Senior Trip! He continued his acting career as the youthful associate of Dick Van Dyke on the successful CBS series Diagnosis Murder and a decade later, made several appearances on the Emmy Award-winning television series Arrested Development. Most recently, Baio was featured as himself on VH1's popular series, Scott Baio is 45... and Single and Scott Baio is 46... and Pregnant. Off-screen, he has directed episodes of popular series including The Parkers, Unhappily Ever After, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Wayans Bros., Harry and the Hendersons, Out of This World, Charles in Charge and recently served as executive producer of VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol.
Stay tuned for much more information on this series, including more casting, and a premiere date.

Elsewhere at Nick at Nite, actor James Franco will also be joining the cast of Hollywood Heights, a daily scripted series premiering on Nick at Nite this June. Franco will star in a multi-episode arc, playing the role of Osborne "Oz" Silver - a passionate, intense eccentric movie mogul who lives life to the fullest, often outrageously. Funny, offbeat, seductive, ruthless when he has to be, Oz adores the moviemaking process and does whatever it takes to make the films he wants. Hollywood Heights (previously titled Reach for a Star), a daily scripted series based on the wildly popular Televisa telenovela, Alcanzar Una Estrella, will debut in primetime on Nick at Nite in June. The 80 one-hour episodes currently in production will star Brittany Underwood, Melissa Ordway, Cody Longo and Justin Wilczynski. Hollywood Heights is a co-production with Televisa and is being produced by Sony Television.
Stay tuned for a premiere date and timeslot, as it seems it will air four or five days a week.

It's the final day at NATPE 2012 and as promised we will give you a list of the shows being offered for fall 2012 syndication. So, without further adieu, here is what is being offered (some might not be bought, so beware) for Fall 2012:

OFF-NETWORK REPEATS

Daily Half-Hour Sitcoms
Are We There Yet? (Debmar-Mercury)
Rules of Engagement (Sony Pictures Television)

Weekly Hour Dramas
Burn Notice (20th Television)
Castle (Disney/ABC)
Fringe (Warner Bros.)
Leverage (Trifecta Entertainment)
Private Practice (Disney-ABC)


FIRST-RUN SERIES

Talk Shows
Katie (Disney/ABC)
Trisha Goddard Show (NBC Universal)
Steve Harvey (NBC Universal)
Ricki Lake (20th Television)
Jeff Probst (CBS Television)
Bethenny (Warner Bros.) - six-week summer test run on Fox owned stations

Court Shows
Justice for All with Cristina Perez (Entertainment Studios)

Game Shows/Reality
Baggage (Sony Pictures Television)

News Magazine
America Now (Raycom)
Dish Nation (Twentieth Television)
The Electric Playground (PPI Releasing)
RightThisMinute (Raycom)

First-Run Weekly Airings
Bloopers (Trifecta) (NYC: WPIX)
The First Family (sitcom, Entertainment Studios)
Mr. Box Office (sitcom, Entertainment Studios)
Best Little Auction House (Telco)
Bob Vila (Telco Productions)
Children's Med Dallas (Target Vision)
Real Green (Telco Productions)
Unsealed: The Alien Files (Bellum Entertainment/Tribune)
Unsealed: The Conspiracy Files (Bellum Entertainment/Tribune)
What America Thinks with Scott Rasmussen (Telco)

Remember this is what is being offered. Some of these entries have not gotten clearances, but if and when they do, we'll let you know. Discuss this update on our message board and we will keep that thread updated all-year until the fall. So keep checking that and stay with us!


Nickelodeon, in partnership with Televisa, has ordered 80 episodes of a groundbreaking, original one-hour U.S. adaptation of the popular Mexican telenovela, Reach for a Star (Alcanzar una Estrella) for Nick at Nite. The first telenovela ever adapted for the U.S. audience, Reach for a Star is a single-camera, daily series following a teenage girl whose life changes completely when she becomes a star and wins the love of her teen idol. Reach for a Star will be produced in association with Sony Pictures Television and is set to premiere later this year on Nickelodeon's nighttime block for families--Nick at Nite. Production begins in March in Los Angeles, CA.
Reach for a Star follows Nickelodeon's success with its live-action serialized series, House of Anubis and Degrassi. Nickelodeon has also experienced tremendous success with the format in Europe and Latin America. The Reach for a Star series is an adaptation of the hit Mexican telenovela, Alcanzar una Estrella, first broadcast on Canal de las Estrellas and Univision in 1990. The success of the series led to a film and sequel telenovela starring Latin American pop sensations, Ricky Martin and Sasha Sokol. Reach for a Star is about a smart, shy and independent high school senior, Loren, who has ambitions of being a songwriter and secretly sends her song lyrics to her celebrity crush, rock superstar Eddie Wild. Loren's wildest dreams come true when she not only wins a songwriting competition sponsored by Eddie, but strikes up a friendship with her idol. Eddie sees beyond Loren's potential as a songwriter and gives her a first break as a singer, and when the truth about his less-than-faithful girlfriend Chloe is revealed, Eddie and Loren's friendship blossoms. The series will be co-executive produced by six-time Emmy Award-winner Jill Farren Phelps (General Hospital, One Life to Live) and Hisham Abed (The Hills and The City). Josh Griffith (Young and the Restless, As the World Turns) will serve as head writer.
The original series is likely going to be paired with Nick at Nite staple George Lopez, which airs every night at 9:00pm & 9:30pm. Stay with us for a premiere date for Reach for a Star and timeslot details. Remember Nick at Nite also has a pilot order for a sitcom starring Scott Baio, should that go to series. So Nick at Nite is ramping it up in originals now!