SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

AXS TV, the premier destination for classic rock programming, puts the spotlight on the enduring films, series, and pop culture moments that defined the 1970s in the all-new countdown show The Very VERY Best Of The 70s, premiering Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The insightful and witty series is executive produced by Katie Daryl (The Top Ten Revealed) who will be guiding a rotating panel of celebrity guests each week, as they share their honest, hilarious, and always unfiltered thoughts on the classic entertainment that made this unforgettable decade so iconic. Each week will highlight a different theme, kicking off with an adrenaline-fueled look at the 70's most explosive "Action TV Shows." Other topics include a look at the top "Teen Flicks," from the funny to the heartfelt (May 23); a breakdown of the most groundbreaking "Stand-Up Comedians" (May 30); an out-of-this-world examination of the '70s spaciest "Sci-Fi Movies" (June 6); a play date with the decade's most "Amazing Toys" (June 13); quality time with everyone's favorite "TV Moms" (June 20); a trip to the '70s Cineplex for the most "Epic Movies Of '75" (June 27); and a sizzling look at the decade's most "Sexy Sirens" (July 11).

The star-studded guest roster features a slew of pop culture figures from all across the entertainment spectrum, including beloved funnyman Fred Willard, prime time star Morgan Fairchild, Brady Bunch brother Barry Williams, Good Times' Jimmie Walker, Man-of-1,000 Sound Effects Michael Winslow, heavy metal mastermind Sebastian Bach, multi-talented TV personality Mark Steines, Family Matters' Jaleel White, comedy trailblazer George Wallace, Happy Days fan-favorite Anson Williams, Horror movie maven Dee Wallace, Diff'rent Strokes icon Todd Bridges, Facts of Life star Mindy Cohn, legendary game show host Bob Eubanks, Law & Order actress Elisabeth Röhm, Baywatch actor David Chokachi, and even Daisy Duke herself, Catherine Bach.

The Emmy Award-winning documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? returns to celebrate all new journeys of self-discovery, connection and diversity on NBC with 13 episodes. A new group of celebrities will celebrate culture and set sail on their mission to connect with their personal history. From executive producers Lisa Kudrow, Dan Bucatinsky and Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, the series returns to NBC at a time when ancestral and genealogical exploration is enjoying unprecedented popularity. Cutting-edge research tools and billions of digitized records from Ancestry will provide remarkable insights into the star's background and illustrate the cultural mosaic that connects us all together. Each week a different celebrity will go on a poignant search to trace their family tree with the help of historians and experts, unlocking past mysteries and unbelievable real-life stories across the world and through time. The first three seasons originally aired on NBC from 2010-2012. The series moved to TLC from 2013-2018 with all-new episodes and now will move back to NBC. Premiere and weekly dates are to be announced.

TLC's Emmy Award-winning series, Who Do You Think You Are? returns this spring with a new group of celebrities ready to delve into their lineage and get answers to the questions they've wondered about their entire lives. Eight new one-hour episodes bring more unexpected turns and surprising discoveries of great historical significance. Executive Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, the new season premieres on Sunday, March 5 at 10/9c. This season's celebrity contributors include:

· Jessica Biel makes surprising discoveries that change what she thought knew about her heritage.
· Julie Bowen uncovers the story of two relatives whose moral codes are from opposite ends of the spectrum.
· Courteney Cox traces her maternal line back seven centuries to the Medieval times to discover royalty in her lineage and an unbelievable tale of family drama.
· Jennifer Grey uncovers new information about the grandfather she thought she knew, learning how he survived adversity to become a beacon of his community.
· Smokey Robinson searches for answers behind the mystery of why his grandfather disappeared from his children's lives and finds a man tangled in a swirl of controversy.
· John Stamos digs into the mystery of how his grandfather became an orphan, and learns of tensions between families that led to a horrible crime.
· Liv Tyler learns that her family is tied into the complicated racial narrative of America.
· Noah Wyle unravels the mystery of his maternal line, uncovering an ancestor who survived one of America's bloodiest battles.

The gang from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is offering fans the ride of their life with a scripted narrative VR experience from a comedy series. "Project Badass," a four-minute VR episode that went live yesterday, uses never-before-seen footage to take viewers on an ultimate motorcycle stunt. Evel Knievel? Please. In "Project Badass" in VR, you hop on the back of Mac's motorbike and prepare to make history, speeding through smoke and off a ramp into the bosom of the Atlantic Ocean. When the stunt goes awry, will you and Mac survive? Hold your breath, bitches! Viewers can go to www.fxnetworks.com/projectbadass to watch a 360-degree experience of "Project Badass," as well as learn how to download the Jaunt VR App to watch on every major phone and VR headset, including Oculus, Samsung Gear V and Google cardboard devices.

"Project Badass" premiered last night, the same day It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returned with an all-new episode featuring a hilarious and epic VR storyline: "PTSDee" (Wednesday, February 15 at 10 PM ET/PT on FXX) - After finding out she's a male stripper's "rock bottom," Dee goes on a mission to prove she's the best thing that ever happened to him. Dennis takes over for the stripper with the help of his bag boy, Charlie. Meanwhile, Mac and Frank get sucked into a VR war game that causes Mac to develop his own case of PTSD. Written by Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Rob McElhenney; Directed by Jamie Babbit.

The two-time Emmy nominated series Who Do You Think You Are? returns this summer to share more fascinating stories, and shed light on surprising revelations, of the real life family history of celebrities. Executive Produced by Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, the new season premieres Sunday, July 26 at 9/8c. The celebrities featured are: Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars), who is aware of his French Canadian roots on his paternal side, but wants to know what brought his ancestors to North America. He goes as far back as his 10x great grandmother to find the answer. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), who comes to discover an unfortunate pattern amongst the men in his family. Ginnifer Goodwin (Once Upon a Time), who sets out to learn about her mysterious paternal great grandparents, whom her father, regretfully, does not know much about either. Alfre Woodard (State of Affairs), who strives to find out more about the paternal side of her family, and explores how her surname came to be. Additionally, TLC will air the U.S. premiere of J.K. Rowling's (Harry Potter author) episode of the series, where the best-selling author sets off to uncover her maternal French roots. She finds that a family war story might not be what she thought when military records reveal a surprising twist.

Ancestry, the leading family history company, is teaming up again with TLC as a sponsor of the upcoming season. As part of the show sponsorship, Ancestry provides exhaustive family history research on each of the featured celebrities to help make discoveries possible and build out the story of each episode.

TBS is about to bring some stormy competition to late night with the brand new series Funny Or Die Presents America's Next Weatherman, produced by Funny Or Die, Mark Burnett and United Artists Media Group (UAMG). Funny Or Die Presents America's Next Weatherman features 12 competitors vying for a job as America's next great weathercaster. Matt Oberg (The Comedians) hosts the competition, which will be judged by longtime weather personalities Johnny Mountain (KABC, KCBS) and Jillian Barberie (Good Day LA). The series is set to premiere Saturday, Aug. 8, at 11 p.m. (ET/PT) on TBS, with availability across TBS's on-demand, digital and mobile platforms the following day. Funny Or Die Presents America's Next Weatherman marries the comedic and subversive voice of Funny Or Die with the production value and compelling storytelling of a show from Mark Burnett. Each classic reality show element - from the physical challenges to the dramatic vote-offs - will be tweaked through the Funny Or Die prism to create an original viewing experience. However, the stakes are 100% real as the contestants will be vying for $100,000 and an appearance on TBS's sister network CNN forecasting the national weather for the morning show New Day. TBS has ordered eight one-hour episodes of Funny Or Die Presents America's Next Weatherman, which is based on a concept and format by the creative teams at Funny Or Die and UAMG, including Seth Morris (Kroll Show), who will serve as a producer on the show. Funny Or Die's Mike Farah and Joe Farrell serve as executive producers, along with Mark Burnett and Dean Houser.

Remember we told you about the upcoming network Decades? Well, The Countdown to Decades is on and there is a unique binge viewing event unlike any other going on, if you haven't heard. The special program lineup is dedicated to one TV series at a time, with continuing episodes airing in sequence 24 hours a day. Viewers are be able to binge on episode after episode of each program as it airs in order. Fans of every genre will enjoy 36 different TV series over the next 5 months. As the name implies, "Countdown to Decades" is programmed to count down to the official premiere of Decades, the new multicast network presented in partnership with CBS Television Stations. Every day Decades will allow viewers to experience a different year, trend, event or day through the unique lens of Decades. The Binge started January 15 and if you are receiving the preview, you're seeing many classics. Among the series that have aired so far are F Troop, Get Smart, Family Affair, I Love Lucy, Mayberry RFD, and Gomer Pyle. Still to come the next two months: Mission Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Love American Style, Dark Shadows, Route 66 and The Fugitive. Then starting Monday, May 25, Decades officially launches and we'll have their launch schedule for you soon. For now, enjoy The Binge on Decades.

TLC announced it has ordered a second season of its hit series Leah Remini: It's All Relative, returning to the large, loud, and loving family that viewers fell in love with last year. The series, produced for TLC by Gurney Productions and Leah Remini's No Seriously Productions, Inc., started filming 14 new episodes this month, and the network plans to premiere the season this summer. Leah Remini: It's All Relative follows Leah, her husband Angelo, their 10 year-old daughter Sofia, mother Vicki and stepfather George, and sister Shannon and her husband, William. Making Leah's household even more interesting is her team, including Sofia's nanny Trish, friend/handyman/security Lou, and Leah's personal assistant Raffy. Season one of Leah Remini: It's All Relative aired in the summer of 2014. Stay tuned for a premiere date for season two that will air in summer 2015.

As we all know WKRP In Cincinnati is coming to Antenna TV, but now we have the official launch date and the rest of the new Antenna TV schedule! Spring is in the air and it is time for some spring cleaning to the schedule. The new schedule begins Monday, March 26, 2012 with your some of your favorite Antenna TV shows getting new time periods. WKRP in Cincinnati will air Sunday nights, as we knew, airing from 9-11pm ET starting April 8. Why a week later? A special event will air on Sunday, April 1, so the new Sunday line-up will have to wait a week. We will reveal that special event soon, so stay with us for that! As for the schedule, starting with weekdays, the sitcom line-up begins a little earlier now! Instead of starting at 1pm ET, the sitcoms now start at 11am-12pm. The 11am movie is now gone, but movies still air from 5-11am. '80s sitcom Too Close for Comfort will now air every weekday and will start the line-up of classic TV off in the 11am hour. The Ted Knight comedy will also get an encore at 11pm-12am. At 12 noon, it's time for some afternoon laughs with Three's Company, as it gets a daytime airing! The John Ritter sitcom will also air in primetime, but now at 10pm instead of 8pm. Then from 1-5pm, it is a black & white sitcom block! Back-to-back episodes of McHale's Navy, Hazel, Dennis the Menace, and Leave it to Beaver will air in new time periods. Hazel is back on the weekday afternoon schedule, but Bachelor Father and Father Knows Best isn't anymore...but not to worry they will still be on the schedule. More on that later in the story. From 5-7pm, Antenna TV will give Adam-12 and Dragnet better time periods and also a second half-hour in the evening line-up!

Then we get into primetime and overnight. 11am-7pm is all five days a week, but everything after that on weekdays is Mon-Thurs, as the Friday line-up in primetime and overnights are different. In the 7pm hour, Good Times remains airing Mon-Thurs. Sanford & Son moves up three hours earlier in the 8pm hour leading into the 9pm hour of All in the Family, which remains stable. As mentioned earlier, Three's Company is now in the 10pm hour replacing Maude, which is off the weekday schedule. Too Close for Comfort is in the 11pm hour, as we mentioned and it will lead into some mystery at 12am, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, that is. The series moves up an hour from 1am. Also moving up an hour are Burns & Allen and Jack Benny as they go from 2-4am to 1-3am. Since we got rid of the 11am movie, there will be a movie added at 3am to finish off the night (and it will lead into the 5am-11am movie block). What about on Fridays from 7pm-3am? It's Black & White Friday Night on Antenna TV! All black & white comedies all night long featuring two episodes each of Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, McHale's Navy and Hazel. A movie airs at 3am on Friday nights as well.

On to weekends, starting with Saturdays starting March 31, the morning movie kicks it off at 5am. From 7am-10am we have the new night and times of Here Come the Brides, Iron Horse and Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, as they come over from Sunday. Missing from this list is Circus Boy, as that is no where to be found now on the schedule. We hope it returns soon. From 10am-1pm on Saturdays will still be E/I programming. Then at 1pm, the movie is now off the schedule, so Gidget, The Flying Nun, The Monkees and The Partridge Family move up to 1pm-5pm instead of 3-7pm. From 5-7pm, Adam-12 and Dragnet will air like it does Mon-Fri kicking off the Saturday Night cops/mystery line-up. These two won't be in primetime on Saturday nights anymore, though. S.W.A.T. remains at 7pm and It Takes a Thief is now earlier airing back-to-back from 8-10pm. Suspense Theater will air in the 10pm hour leading into the new Saturday night time period for Alfred Hitchcock Presents at 11pm. Then after you get some drama and seriousness, it's time for some laughs with black & white sitcoms in the overnight on Saturday nights! Airing from 12am-4am are Burns & Allen, Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace and The Three Stooges. And closing the night out is the '70s/'80s British comedy Benny Hill.

On to Sundays, this line-up will start on April 8. A movie kicks off the line-up at 5am leading into a Sunday morning black & white sitcom block from 7am-1pm. Airing back-to-back are Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, Hazel, McHale's Navy, Leave it to Beaver, and Dennis the Menace. Good 'ole classic TV! From 1-5pm will now be Sunday afternoon movies instead of more Gidget and Flying Nun. Also The Monkees is no longer on Sundays either, as another hour of Leave it to Beaver airs at 5pm leading into The Partridge Family at 6pm. Speaking of The Monkees, there has been a lot of great comments on the Antenna TV Facebook page for the Davy Jones Monkees marathon this past weekend. Great tribute marathon! Too Close for Comfort gets to keep its Sundays at 7pm hour still leading into the new primetime dysfunctional radio line-up. First up at 8pm is the new time for NewsRadio, which replaces The Nanny as that leaves the schedule. And WKRP finishes that block off from 9-11pm, as it replaces Married...with Children and that is also off the line-up. Super '70s continues with Soap in the 11pm hour and now airing on Sunday nights at 12am will be another '70s favorite: Three's Company. Lordy, lordy, lordy! From 1am-4am, we get more '70s action on Sunday night with an hour each of All in the Family, Maude, and Good Times. Yes, that is now the only scheduled airing of Maude, so make the most of it or God will get you for that, Walter! And finishing off the night is another Leave it to Beaver at 4am. Gee whiz, the Beav is getting a lot of action this spring!

So there you have it, the new Antenna TV schedule! It has something for everyone. New show, some new time slots, and some shows are expanded! View the full Antenna TV Spring 2012 schedule in a list form. And stay with us for continued updates and for the reveal on the April 1 special event.


TLC, the destination for the most engaging family docu-series on television, moves into new territory with the premiere of the docu-sitcom Leave it to Niecy, featuring actress/comedienne Niecy Nash. It was set to premiere March 28, as we announced, but now it will premiere March 25. Blending together production and storytelling elements from both the traditional sitcom genre and the world of non-scripted reality shows, Leave it to Niecy offers a new balance of real-life humor through the lens of the beloved comedy format. The eight-episode half-hour series will premiere March 25 at 10/9c with two episodes before airing on new episode every Sunday night.
TLC viewers were first introduced to Niecy when she walked down the aisle and married her husband Jay Tucker in front of nearly 5 million viewers in TLC's 2-hour event Niecy Nash's Wedding Bash last June. Now, Leave it to Niecy takes viewers into the couple's home, which includes her three kids and her opinionated mother. Together, they balance work, life, and love to create a modern blended family. In the premiere, Niecy tries to force her kids to bond with her new husband, but the kids are sick of their mother forcing them into awkward situations. Meanwhile Niecy's mother wants to start dating again and Niecy must decide if she is willing to help find her a man.

We were pretty busy yesterday with our scoop on Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers reuniting, so we couldn't bring you the TCA Winter 2012 Press Tour news for cable that was held this past weekend. The biggest news for us came from TV Land. TV Land has picked up its fifth original sitcom, Have Faith, starring Cedric "The Entertainer. This sitcom is not to be confused by the late '80s ABC short-lived sitcom that was produced by John Ritter. The network has ordered 12 episodes for the first season, which is tentatively set to premiere on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 10:30pm following the second half of the third season of Hot in Cleveland. The sitcom, which was created by Cedric and Hot in Cleveland creator Suzanne Martin, revolves around Cedric's character, Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballentine, an R&B superstar-turned-minister who takes over as preacher of his father's church. Niecy Nash (Dancing with the Stars, Reno 911) also stars as the reverend's wife, Lolli. The pilot also features John Beasley as his father, Wesley Jonathan (What I Like About You) as his younger brother, and Jazz Raycole (My Wife and Kids) as his daughter. The character of Reverend Boyce originated on a second season episode of Hot in Cleveland in which Cedric guest-starred, making this a spin-off series.



Meanwhile, Hot in Cleveland, TV Land's first original sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White, has also been greenlit by the network for a 24-episode fourth season. A syndication deal was recently reached for"Hot in Cleveland, giving CBS Television Distribution the domestic distribution rights for the series. This season pickup would bring "Hot in Cleveland" to 80 total episodes. The series, which is currently in its third season, averages 2.5 million total viewers per episode. The winter finale will be on Wednesday, Feb. 15, before the series returns for the second half of the season on June 6.

In other TV Land news, TV Land announced that the second season of the hit original sitcom Happily Divorced will begin production today (January 17, 2012) at CBS Radford Studios and will be filmed in front of a live studio audience. The twelve new episodes of Happily Divorced will now premiere on Wednesday, March 7 at 10:00 pm ET/PT. Previously it was set to return on June 6 at 10:30pm, but TV Land has changed their minds and will now test the waters by having this sitcom lead an hour. The sitcom, which stars Fran Drescher (The Nanny) is also inspired by her real-life story, and revolves around Fran, a Los Angeles florist, who finds out after 18-years of marriage that her husband is gay. Having to live under the same roof as her ex-husband and start over in the dating world is complicated but Fran jumps head first as only Fran can with laughter ensuing.
Last season, Drescher was reunited with her Nanny cast mates, Renee Taylor and Charles Shaughnessy. According to Nielsen, the first season of Happily Divorced averaged 2.2 million viewers and was a ratings success for TV Land. TV Land will air the second season of Retired at 35 as planned starting Wednesday, March 7 at 10:30pm for ten all-new episodes. TV Land has not given any updates yet on The Exes, which premiered on Nov. 30. If it gets another season we will let you know, but you can watch that show every Wednesday at 10:30pm through Feb. 1.

Elsewhere on cable, we will have even more Niecy Nash. TLC has ordered a docu-sitcom titled Leave it to Niecy. Blending together production and storytelling elements from both the traditional sitcom genre and the world of non-scripted reality shows, Leave it to Niecy offers a new balance of real-life humor through the lens of the beloved comedy format. The eight-episode half-hour series will premiere Wednesday, March 28 at 10/9c. The docu-sitcom takes viewers into Niecy and her husband Jay Tucker's home, which includes her three kids, and her opinionated mother. Together, they balance work, life, and love to create a modern blended family. Also, CMT is joining forces with Ryan Seacrest Productions on a new reality series. The eight-episode series, Melissa and Tye: A New Reality (working title), starring television personality Melissa Rycroft (Dancing With the Stars, The Bachelor) will premiere on CMT in April. Melissa, a SitcomsOnline favorite, the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and America's favorite bachelorette definitely has gotten the last laugh after being dumped on national TV. She found the ultimate redemption by becoming a hugely popular contestant on Dancing with the Stars, which ignited a television hosting career on series and specials such as Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Bachelor Pad, The Insider, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. But her greatest success came when she re-connected with the "real" man of her dreams, home town boyfriend, Tye Strickland. Now married with an eleven-month old daughter, Melissa is about to embark on her biggest journey yet - moving to Los Angeles from Texas to pursue her Hollywood dreams. The series will follow the couple as they navigate the trials and tribulations of being new parents, making a long-distance relationship work and making their dreams become a reality.
Finally, the world knows Shannen Doherty (Charmed, Beverly Hills 90210) as an icon, but she's also a devoted daughter and friend and now a newlywed. In the brand-new original series, Shannen Says, premiering Tuesday, April 3 at 9pm ET/PT, WE tv reveals a woman with substance and a sense of humor as she takes viewers on the hilariously bumpy ride of planning her wedding. Eight hour-long episodes of Shannen Says follow Shannen and her groom-to-be, famed photographer Kurt Iswarienko - two busy career-focused individuals with strong and often conflicting viewpoints - as they plan for their special day. Wedding preparations are sure to be stressful enough, but they've added to the pressure by allotting only seven weeks to get it all done! Pre-wedding jitters, a career-distracted groom, family turmoil and wardrobe malfunctions should be enough to make them pull the plug - but maybe love will conquer all in Shannen Says. After being engaged for over a year, Shannen and Kurt finally set a wedding date and did we already mention it's only seven weeks away? Shannen and Kurt are new to actual wedding planning and being from very different backgrounds with loyal sets of opinionated friends and family, they have quite an undertaking ahead of them. Among the highlights on this series, Shannen's Dancing with the Stars partner Louis Van Amstel is set to help the couple with their first dance.


We broke the news on the internet on late Friday that ABC has pulled new sitcom Work It off the schedule after just two episodes. The series premiered to a 2.0 18-49 rating, which was weak but doable. However, by the second episode the series dropped to a 1.5 18-49 rating and ABC has since then pulled the series. Repeats of Last Man Standing will air at 8:30pm starting tonight for at least the next three weeks. The Tim Allen comedy will also air in its normal 8:00pm slot.
ABC has not yet announced what will air Tuesdays at 8:30pm starting Feb. 7. One option of course is to air the unscheduled third season of Cougar Town. ABC had planned to start airing the comedy in March, but it could be called on earlier than planned. The sitcom has a 15 episode order for this season. Series creator Bill Lawrence has heard that today could be the day we get an announcement on a Cougar Town premiere date, so stay with us if any info comes out. As for Work It, eleven episodes will remain to be aired. Perhaps ABC will burn them off in the summer or just put them on abc.com like they did with the remaining five episodes of Man Up ("Camping," "Fear," "Up All Night," "Letting Go," and "Be Who You're Not."). Or not air them at all ever. We'll let you know if they do end up airing them somewhere whether it be on TV or online.