SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's been a very busy news week (which we imagine will be offset with a very slow news week next week due to Thanksgiving), with news of a new series being proposed with Vicki Lawrence and David Alan Grier, more TV series fallout from sexual harassment scandals, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Who to Follow: Kat Dennings (Twitter), "I'm a man with conversation skills and I'm a man with hundred dollar bills"

Claim to Fame: Kat Denning got her start in an episode of Sex and the City before moving on to star as the daughter of Bob Saget's character on the WB series Raising Dad, which aired for a full season in the early 2000s. She had a few other guest roles after that, but her big claim to fame came in the CBS series 2 Broke Girls. With that series cancelled, we aren't sure where we'll see her next, but we're sure that we'll see her reappear somewhere soon. However, you can find her voice appearing in some episodes of the Netflix adult animated series Big Mouth right now.
Pick of the Tweets: "And yes I am in @bigmouth! I pop up often as Nick's older sister, Leah!" (September 29, 2017)

Fred Savage will host the new, high-stakes game show series Child Support on ABC. The one-hour, studio-based series will feature adult contestants and priceless interactions between funny man Ricky Gervais and a group of five kids, ages 6-9 years old, who say the most unpredictable things. Contestants are asked to answer 10 questions correctly to earn the top prize. If they answer incorrectly, the contestants have a chance to be saved by the five kids who have been asked the same question by Gervais. A premiere date has not yet been announced. Starting out in commercials in Chicago, Fred Savage's acting career has included such feature films as Vice Versa, The Princess Bride and Austin Powers: Goldmember. On television, he is perhaps best known for a six-year run as Kevin Arnold on The Wonder Years, a role that earned him several accolades and awards, including two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He recently stared as "Stewart Sanderson" opposite Rob Lowe on Fox's critically acclaimed comedy, The Grinder.

CMT announced that Austin Swift, Arden Myrin and Natalie Dreyfuss will appear in season two of the hit comedy, Still The King, starring Billy Ray Cyrus, Joey Lauren Adams and Madison Iseman premiering this summer. Swift guest stars as Tyler, the manager of Nashville's premier music venue, The Bluebird Café, while Myrin and Dreyfuss join the series in recurring roles. Myrin plays Kaitlynn, a single mother who manages Betty's - the local bar where Debbie (Joey Lauren Adams) works. Dreyfuss plays Leia, Walt's (Travis Nicholson) equally-as-quirky love interest who just so happens to be dating Walt's arch nemesis, Reggie (Jerry Trainor).

The first season of Still The King attracted an average of nearly 3 million fans each week. The comedy is part of CMT's hit scripted lineup which includes Nashville and Sun Records, both which recently attracted more than six million viewers to notch the most watched night of CMT originals in the channel's history. The successful premieres come on the heels of overall ratings growth. Original premieres on CMT are pacing up 46% among A 18-49 and 73% among W 18-49 versus year ago. Total day ratings are up 27% with A 18-49 and 31% with W 18-49. When season two of Still The King returns, Vernon (Billy Ray Cyrus) is fresh out of jail and determined to reclaim his position as a country music superstar while being present in the lives of Charlotte (Madison Iseman) and Debbie (Adams). Faced with the possibility of being a father to Debbie's unborn child, Vernon must balance his desires for fame and family. Additional casting for season two will be announced at a later date.

CMT revealed the premiere dates for its 2017 scripted series including Nashville, Million Dollar Quartet (working title) and sitcom Still The King, marking the biggest scripted slate in the network's history. Additionally, CMT has ordered a new scripted sitcom pilot, His Wives & Daughters. The three series join an impressive roster of CMT originals that fueled +11% ratings growth year over year among Adults 18-49. Nashville makes its triumphant season five debut on CMT with Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (the creators of Thirtysomething) at the helm, returning with a special two-hour premiere on Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 9pm ET/PT. Still The King starring Billy Ray Cyrus and Joey Lauren Adams will return for a 13 episode second season in spring (exact date and time TBD). The premiere on June 8 marked CMT's highest-rated original series premiere to date, grossing 3.6 million total viewers (L+3) and a stellar 1.03 rating A18-49 rating across a 3 network simulcast (CMT, TV Land, Nick@Nite). Additionally, CMT has ordered a pilot for His Wives & Daughters. The soapy, comedic series centers on the eclectic and cunning wives and daughters of larger-than-life country music legend (and infamous womanizer) Eddie Ray Banks. After his estranged family is brought together unexpectedly, tempers flare and old rivalries resurface setting the stage for startling secrets to emerge as an unforgettable mystery begins to unfold. Casting is underway now with production slated to begin in the fall.

Starz announced that it has ordered a fourth season of the critically-acclaimed comedy series Survivor's Remorse from executive producers Mike O'Malley, Tom Werner, LeBron James and Maverick Carter for SpringHill Entertainment, Paul Wachter, Victor Levin and Hilton Smith. Season Three of Survivor's Remorse has seen record increases in its audience, averaging 2.9M viewers per episode among all reportable platforms, an increase of more than 20 percent above Season Two and 60 percent above Season One. Episode 306, which aired Sunday, August 21, showed a 20 percent gain over the previous week, making it the second highest premiere viewing ever for the series. Survivor's Remorse is a top-4 scripted program on cable among African-American viewers and a top-6 weekend program on cable among African-American viewers.

Survivor's Remorse follows the life of Cam Calloway (played by Jessie T. Usher), a hard-working, young basketball star who is thrust into the limelight after signing a huge contract with a pro basketball team in Atlanta. In Season Three, fame and fortune can't shield pro-basketballer Cam Calloway against tragedy. Each member of the Calloway family copes with the fallout of Uncle Julius' accident in their own way. Family bonds are tested, as a new season of Survivor's Remorse explores themes of love and loss, the comforts and doubts found in religion, the danger of seeking out ancestral roots, the power of bad parenting, the pitfalls of public utterances, and the pain of dredging up the past. The cast also includes RonReaco Lee, Tichina Arnold, Teyonah Parris and Erica Ash.

Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast network, will be adding The Addams Family and Wings to the lineup beginning September 12. Antenna TV, which airs in 130 TV markets across the U.S. reaching nearly 87% of TV households, will air the classic '60s sitcom The Addams Family (and their macabre misadventures) 5-6pm ET on Saturdays and 10-11am ET on Sundays. '90s fan favorite comedy Wings will take flight on Antenna TV weekdays from 12-1am ET. Wings has aired on Antenna TV as a special during the holiday season this past year, but now will officially join the schedule! More info on Antenna TV's fall 2016 schedule is still to come...along with many more new additions coming in the coming months!

CMT announced a 13-episode second season pickup of its hit sitcom Still The King, starring Billy Ray Cyrus, Joey Lauren Adams and Madison Iseman. The one-hour season finale airs Sunday, August 14 at 9pm ET/PT. Season two will begin production this fall and is slated to premiere next year. Fans can catch up on this season now at CMT.com, on the CMT app and VOD. The premiere of Still The King on June 8 marked CMT's highest rated original series premiere to date grossing more than 4.7 million total viewers (L+3) for a stellar 1.03 rating A18-49 rating across a 3 network simulcast (CMT, TV Land, Nick@Nite). The series is currently reaching nearly 4.5 million viewers each week. Still The King features Billy Ray Cyrusas Vernon Brown, AKA "Burnin' Vernon," a scandal-ridden washed up one-hit wonder who is kicked out of country music, only to emerge 20 years later as the second best Elvis impersonator. After crashing into an old country church outside of Nashville during a drunken bender, he is sentenced to return and perform community service. Instead, he pretends to be the congregation's new minister and re-connects with a former one-night-stand (Joey Lauren Adams), only to discover he has a 15-year-old daughter he's never met (Madison Iseman).

The series is part of CMT's most diverse programming line-up to date, featuring a mix of scripted programs (including the forthcoming premieres of Nashville and Million Dollar Quartet), unscripted series (including I Love Kellie Pickler, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making The Team, and Broken Skull Challenge), original documentaries (including the forthcoming premiere of The Bandit) and music events (including CMT Music Awards, CMT Artists of the Year, and the forthcoming CMT Concert of the Summer).

Late last week Viacom Networks TV Land and CMT had their annual upfront presentation in New York City. Following a successful brand re-invention, TV Land continues to evolve and expand its roster of original scripted programming by partnering with A-list talent, producers and writers to become a destination for compelling, quality television. During the network's Upfront presentation at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Keith Cox, TV Land's Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, announced an overall deal with entertainment icon Darren Star, the creator, executive producer and writer of the network's critically-acclaimed comedy Younger, keeping him on board to develop another project with the network. Cox also revealed that TV Land has renewed Teachers for a 20-episode second season after reaching an impressive average of 3.4 million viewers each week across all platforms (1 minute qualifier, average weekly reach).

TV Land also announced pilot orders for projects with prominent creative forces in the industry. The first is a fresh adaptation of the cult comedy hit The First Wives Club, to be written by Rebecca Addelman (New Girl) and executive produced by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City), and the second is an untitled put pilot based on the life of Kyle Richards (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) with Emmy(R)-winning executive producers John Wells (Shameless, ER, The West Wing) and John Riggi (The Comeback, 30 Rock, Will & Grace). These join the previously announced pilot Nobodies, currently shooting in Los Angeles, executive produced by Emmy(R) winner Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone. TV Land's growing list of comedies include The Jim Gaffigan Show, premiering season two Wednesday, June 22 at 10pm ET/PT, and Impastor, premiering season two on Wednesday, July 13 at 10:30pm ET/PT. New series Lopez, executive produced by comedian George Lopez and Silicon Valley's John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, premieres Wednesday, March 30 at 10pm ET/PT. Younger's second season, which hit series highs this week with Adults 18-49, Adults 25-39 and total viewers (L+3), airs its finale on Wednesday, March 23 at 10pm ET/PT and was recently renewed for a third season.

The event featured appearances by TV Land series stars Molly Bernard (Younger), Hilary Duff (Younger), Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show), Peter Hermann (Younger), George Lopez (Lopez), Debi Mazar (Younger), Miriam Shor (Younger), Nico Tortorella (Younger), and executive producers Alison Brie (Teachers) and Darren Star (Younger).

Moving on to CMT, they are doubling its impressive slate of original award-winning programming, music events and documentaries including a new annual music tent-pole event "Concert of the Summer," the first round of casting for Million Dollar Quartet (working title) and a second season order for I Love Kellie Pickler. CMT also revealed the premiere dates for Still The King, The Dude Perfect Show and NASCAR: The Rise of American Speed at the network's annual Upfront presentation held at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. We'll cover the new comedy Still the King only here. The comedy Still the King debuts Sunday, June 12 at 9pm ET/PT, a few days after the 2016 CMT Music Awards. The series boasts an impressive ensemble cast with Billy Ray Cyrus, Joey Lauren Adams (Big Daddy, Mall Rats), Madison Iseman (Laid in America, Nickelodeon's Henry Danger), Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls, Party of Five), Leslie David Baker (The Office), Kevin Farley (The Waterboy), Travis Nicholson and Jon Sewell. Still the King follows Vernon (Cyrus), a scandal-ridden, washed-up, one-hit-wonder who crashes back into the life of his ex (Adams) and discovers he had a daughter (Iseman) he knew nothing about.