SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

ALF is coming to Laff starting next week! ALF will air weekdays at 11am & 11:30am with an encore at 2:00am & 2:30am. ALF was last seen on television on MeTV from 2017-2019. The sitcom joins the weekday sitcom line-up that also has How I Met Your Mother, According to Jim, Home Improvement and That '70s Show. Laff has also announced that Saturday mornings will feature classic sitcom marathons, with The Dick Van Dyke Show scheduled for this Saturday (Dec. 31) from 6am-12pm and The Beverly Hillbillies scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 7 from 6am-11am.

Welcome to a special New Year's style edition of the News Blog! As we end 2022 and start 2023, today we will give you a marathon recap on TV for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, which is the perfect cure for the tripledemic! Some of the major TV stunts including saying farewell to another year and get ready to ring in the new with Antenna TV and "A Benny Hill Show Marathon," including the one-hour special Benny Hill World Tour on Saturday, December 31 starting at 11pm ET. A new year brings new beginnings, so cheers to yours with Antenna TV and a "Fresh Start." This day-long Sunday, January 1 marathon starting at 5am ET features the first episodes of all of Antenna TV's catalog of shows from The Burns and Allen Show to Family Ties.

Sister network Rewind TV is once again doing The Drew Carey Show with the "Straight from Cleveland! Drew Carey's New Year's Eve Party" starting at 8pm on New Year's Eve. Then on New Year's Day, just like Antenna TV, it's the "New Year's Day Fresh Start" marathon starting at 8am with first episodes and other firsts happening which includes everything from Mork & Mindy to Becker! COZI TV welcomes in 2023 with a toast to Columbo as part of their 10th anniversary. Starting at 11 a.m. on New Year's Day tune in to COZI TV as they are offering a special toast to Columbo fans from coast-to-coast this New Year's Day.

Syfy has its 27th annual Twilight Zone New Year's Eve and Day marathon that starts New Year's Eve at 5am continuing through early Jan. 2 in the late night (early Jan 3). WPIX in New York will of course have their annual The Honeymooners marathon starting at 11pm on New Year's Eve through 5pm on New Year's Day (with a break for news from 7am-12pm). Also in New York City, WLNY-TV 55/10 will have a marathon of The Odd Couple once again starting at 10pm on New Year's Eve night through 10pm (a break from 6am-12pm) on New Year's Day for the 11th straight year.

TV One has a New Year's Eve marathon of Sanford & Son starting at 6am through 3am, followed by a New Year's Day marathon of Good Times also from 6am-3am. TV Land will have their regular schedule block on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, with multiple shows such as Mike & Molly, Roseanne, Mom, Two and a Half Men and more. FXX will air Family Guy & The Simpsons on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that ends at 8pn on NYD. Comedy Central begins the year with a The Office marathon from 10am-12am. E! will air drama Las Vegas starting at 6am on New Year's Eve and lasting all weekend. USA Network has a Law & Order: SVU Resolve to Watch New Year's Eve marathon starting at 1pm on New Year's Eve and continuing all day on New Year's Day. Other notable marathons on New Year's include Godzilla movie marathon on Comet on NYD, SVU New Year's Eve/NCIS on New Year's Day on ION, more Twilight Zone on Decades, Columbo on both days on Sundance, Reba & Last Man Standing marathons on UPtv and a Bones marathon on BBC America that begins on New Year's Eve at 6pm.

It won't be the end of the year and the start of the year without ABC's Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2022 special on New Year's Eve from 8pm-10pm, followed by its annual special at 10:30pm. NBC and CBS air their own New Year's Eve specials hosted by Miley Cyrus & Dolly Parton and Bobby Bones & Rachel Smith, respectively. CNN rings in the new year with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Movie wise, AMC, TNT, Freeform and many others will air movies on New Year's Day, while Hallmark Channel continues to air Christmas movies on New Year's Eve. Tune in!

Last week Lifetime had a week-long marathon for Rizzoli & Isles, now it will join the regular schedule that begins today (Monday, Jan. 4, 2021)! Lifetime is also adding The Closer and Major Crimes to the lineup. All three series are former long-running TNT original series lead by female stars (Angie Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Kyra Sedgwick and Mary McDonnell). The weekday schedule starts with back-to-back airings of Grey's Anatomy from 8-10am. The Closer follows with back-to-back airings from 10am-12pm. The Closer spin-off series Major Crimes follows from 12-3pm. Then Rizzoli & Isles follows with its block starting at 3pm and ending at various times during the week (Mondays & Tuesdays it ends at 4am, Wednesdays it ends at 7pm (original series follows) and Thursdays & Fridays at 8pm (movies follows). On Saturdays and Sunday, it is all wall-to-wall Lifetime movies.

Actress Tanya Roberts, who starred as Julie Rogers in Charlie's Angels and as Midge Pinciotti in That '70s Show, has died. She died on January 4 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. On December 24, she collapsed suddenly after returning home from walking her dogs. Her exact cause of death has yet to be determined or disclosed. Ms. Roberts was 65.

Roberts' first television lead role was as Julie Rogers in the fifth and final season of the ABC detective drama Charlie's Angels from 1980 to 1981. Julie Rogers was a streetwise fighter and model from New York who used her fists more than her gun. Roberts was chosen in the summer of 1980 from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack (1979-1980). The final season cast included Jacklyn Smith, Cheryl Ladd, David Doyle and John Forsythe as the voice of Charles "Charlie" Townsend.

She played the supporting role of Midge Pinciotti in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. She was a regular from seasons 1 to 3 (1998-2001) before making special guest appearances in seasons 6 and 7 (2004). Midge Pinciotti was Bob's (Don Stark) wife, Donna's (Laura Prepon) mother, and Kitty's (Debra Jo Rupp) best friend. Midge was the sexy mom whom Eric Forman (Topher Grace) and his male friends fantasize when coming of age. Her character was written out of the series after the third season after divorcing Bob and moving to California. She returned for five episodes as special guest appearances in seasons 6 and 7.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included The Love Boat, Off Centre, Eve and Barbershop. Her voice credits included The Blues Brothers Animated Series, The Angry Beavers and Fillmore!.

She starred as Rebecca in the Cinemax erotic anthology series Hot Line from 1995 to 1996. Some of her drama guest appearances included Vega$, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, Silk Stalkings and High Tide. She portrayed Velda, the secretary to private detective Mike Hammer, in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You in 1983, based on crime novelist Mickey Spillane’s iconic Mike Hammer private detective series. The two-part pilot spawned the syndicated television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer.

Roberts starred as Bond girl Stacey Sutton in the 1983 film A View to a Kill. She played Kiri in the 1982 adventure fantasy film The Beastmaster. She starred as Sheena in the 1984 fantasy-adventure film Sheena. Some of her other film credits included Forced Entry (1975), Fingers (1978), Tourist Trap (1979), California Dreaming (1979), Racquet (1979), Hearts and Armour (1983), Body Slam (1986), Night Eyes (1990) and Inner Sanctum (1991).

Survivors include her long-time partner Lance O'Brien, and her sister Barbara Chase.

Ms. Roberts was a talented and beautiful actress. She was funny and memorable in her role as Midge in That '70s Show. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our That '70s Show and Charlie's Angels message boards. View photos in our galleries.

LAFF, the country's first-ever, over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to comedy around-the-clock, added to its lineup of the most popular and biggest EMMY-winning sitcoms in contemporary television acquiring the broadcast television rights to five hit series from Carsey-Werner Productions. In the multi-year licensing agreements announced today, LAFF acquires: Roseanne (Nine seasons, 222 episodes), That '70s Show (Eight seasons, 200 eps), 3rd Rock from the Sun (Six seasons, 139 eps), Grounded for Life (Five seasons, 91 eps) and Cybill (Four seasons, 87 eps). There is no set timeframe on when they will launch on the network just yet. As of now, they are not slated thru end of May. LAFF currently airs The Drew Carey Show, Spin City, Empty Nest, Ellen, The Bernie Mac Show, Night Court and Carsey-Werner's Grace Under Fire. The network is closing in on its first anniversary this week (April 15). Stay with us for continued updates as these five sitcoms join the line-up. Will any of the current sitcoms be leaving? You'll have to stay tuned!

Groovy! The Brady Bunch is coming to Logo starting this morning! It will air five days a week every morning starting at 9am following I Dream of Jeannie (starting at 6am). The Brady Bunch will vary from day to day, as sometimes it will air thru 6pm and some days thru 1pm. Roseanne, The Nanny, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Designing Women, and Samantha Who? are the other sitcoms still on the line-up with this new addition. The Brady Bunch currently also airs on The MeTV Network, but hasn't been on cable lately, as TV Land aired it last in 2015. Prior to TV Land, The Brady Bunch was briefly on The Hallmark Channel. Stay with us for continued updates on The Brady Bunch on Logo.

Superstore - Mondays at 8:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Series Preview Monday, November 30, 2015 at 10:00PM & 10:30PM ET/PT; Timeslot Premiere on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 8:00PM ET/PT

by Vincent

Superstore is a new comedy centering around life at the supersized department store Cloud Nine. From the bright-eyed newbies and the seen-it-all veterans to the clueless summer hires and the in-it-for-life managers, together they hilariously tackle the day-to-day grind of rabid bargain hunters, riot-causing sales and nap-worthy training sessions.

Cast Details:

America Ferrara as Amy
Ben Feldman as Jonah
Colton Dunn as Garett
Lauren Ash as Dina
Mark McKinney as Glenn
Nichole Bloom as Cheyenne
Nico Santos as Mateo

America Ferrara is best known as the titular character on the popular ABC dramedy Ugly Betty. She has also appeared in films such as Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, How to Train Your Dragon, and X/Y, as well as TV series such as The Good Wife and CSI.

Ben Feldman is known for his role as Michael Ginsburg on the critically acclaimed drama Mad Men. He also starred in the short-lived NBC rom-com sitcom A to Z, and has appeared on The Mindy Project, Children's Hospital, Drop Dead Diva, and Medium.

Colton Dunn is a comedic writer and actor who has written and appeared in shows such as Parks & Recreation, Key & Peele, and The Arsenio Hall Show.

Lauren Ash is a comedic actress who has appeared on shows such as Another Period and Super Fun Night.

Mark McKinney is a comedic actor who was a cast member on both The Kids in the Hall and Saturday Night Live. He also appeared in shows such as Corner Gas, Dino Dan, and several SNL character movies including Superstar and A Night at the Roxbury.

Nichole Bloom is best known for her role on Showtime's dramedy Shameless. She also appeared in the popular teen film Project X.

Nico Santos is an actor who has appeared on shows such as 2 Broke Girls, Mulaney, and Ground Floor.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" (Airs November 30 at 10:00PM ET)

Jonah begins his first day on the job at big-box store Cloud 9 and immediately starts a rocky relationship with floor supervisor Amy when he comes off as elitist and mistakenly marks appliances for only a quarter. He is also the romantic target of aggressive assistant manager Dina whose bible is the employee code of conduct. Pregnant Cheyenne shares a memorable moment with her boyfriend, Bo.

"Magazine Profile" (Airs November 30 at 10:30PM ET)

Store manager Glenn gets overly excited when the Cloud 9 corporate magazine, Stratus, is interested in a story. The reporter, Cynthia (guest star Eliza Coupe), is more focused on Jonah, however, and the two develop a more-than-business relationship, which Amy had suspected. Garrett does his best to avoid be photographed for the magazine's cover. Cheyenne asks her boyfriend, Bo to come up with a corporate jingle to help earn money to pay expenses for their upcoming baby.

Analysis:

It's no secret that NBC has had a lot of trouble developing comedies over the past few years. After dominating the sitcom line-up with smash hits such as Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld and Will & Grace, the peacock has spent most of their time trying to reclaim their glory days. For a while, this meant being the home of critical and fan favorites such as The Office, 30 Rock, Community, and Parks & Rec – shows that didn't garner blockbuster ratings, but earned the network critical acclaim and awards attention. But as network TV has continued to crumble, and as the network has seen success in other areas such as reality and procedural dramas, they decided to chase big ratings by revamping their comedy line-up and bringing in new "broad" styles of comedy. Unfortunately, this did little more than completely dismantle their comedy line-up – year after year, we watched as NBC desperately tried to appeal to America, either by giving them broad, hokey concepts (Animal Practice, Bad Judge), or by taking stars they had liked before and hoping that was all they needed (The Michael J. Fox Show, Sean Saves the World). None of these shows lasted, and it all resulted in a network that almost eschewed comedy completely – the only sitcoms on NBC this fall were a measly, low-rated hour on Friday nights. So, long story short, as NBC's first real attempt to launch comedy this year, Superstore is stepping into an incredibly tough environment. That's unfortunate, because much to my surprise, Superstore is pretty good! In fact, aside from this summer's surprisingly excellent The Carmichael Show, it's the first NBC comedy in years that actually feels like it could become something worthwhile.

Superstore isn't perfect, and saying it's better than most of the half-baked desperation that NBC has thrown our way over the past five years isn't saying much. But unlike most recent NBC sitcoms, it's a show that seems to have a vision and a purpose beyond "let's try really hard to get people to watch this show." In fact, Superstore almost seems like a deliberate attempt to throw back to the not-so-long-ago era when NBC was the place to go for well-written, immensely likable comedies. Created by Justin Spitzer (a former writer for Scrubs and The Office), the show mixes the darkly funny realism of The Office with the bouncy, lively characterization of shows such as Community and Parks & Rec. The show also has a real gem of a cast, from the two excellent leads Ferrara and Feldman (each putting in some great work on their "straight man" characters) to the rest of the well-rounded comedic ensemble. There are issues that need to be dealt with – the show relies a bit too heavily on stereotypes (though it does, on several occasions, subvert them), and it's somewhat light on jokes (though not at all light on hilarious, strange visual gags). But the pieces being set here look very similar to what shows like The Office and Community did in their earliest episodes – taking "stock characters" we'd expect in a setting like "corporate office" or "community college," or in this case, "big box retailer," and expanding on them, digging into them, and analyzing them. It's got a ways to go, but Superstore shows some real direction and promise, and I can only hope NBC's comedy problems don't squander that potential.

Conclusion:

Superstore is one of the most promising NBC comedies in ages, with a likable cast, an interesting premise reminiscent of previous great NBC comedies, and a bunch of well-drawn, if slightly stereotypical, characters. The show has a ways to go before it can be called "great," and it'll need to work in funnier and more original jokes before it can reach that level. But the first four episodes show a series with real direction, a deft handle on its characters, and a lot of potential. Let's just hope the show gets the chance to fully live up to it.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4.5/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 10:00PM & 10:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

Fox.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Superstore Photo Gallery

Preview:

Can you dig it? That '70s Show is now on Pop, starting today (November 30). That '70s Show of course is a half-hour situation comedy series focusing on an eclectic group of friends who are typical teens on the verge of young adulthood – only it's the 1970s. When the series premiered in 1998, it launched the careers of several young actors who would go on to become pop culture icons: Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama. Is it any wonder it's #StillAwesome? That '70s Show airs weekday afternoons on Pop, with four back-to-back episodes at 4pm ET, beginning today. The Pop line-up will be Dynasty at 10am and 11am (which returns Dec. 7, by the way), Beverly Hills 90210 at 12pm & 1pm, Dawson's Creek at 2pm & 3pm into That '70s Show from 4-6pm. Evenings will still feature Celebrity Name Game at 6 into soaps Bold and the Beautiful at 6:30pm, Young & The Restless at 7 and Days of Our Lives at 8. Classic sitcoms Wings, Family Ties and The Love Boat will still pop up on Pop in early morning marathon blocks beginning at 9 and on weekends. Isn't this #StillAwesome?

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's been a somewhat busy news week (one of the few where we've actually had to limit what we can cover), but we're hear with even more news about potential reboots of classic sitcoms, the unpleasant things about the relationship between John Stamos and the Olsen twins, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• TVShowsOnDVD.com uncovered a bit of a pleasant surprise for fans of Blu-ray sitcoms this week, as they found a preorder listing for That '70s Show - The Complete Series on Blu-ray. It looks as if it will be released November 3.
• It looks like Warner Archive is eager to just complete George Lopez as quickly as possible, with George Lopez - The Complete Fifth Season scheduled for August 18. It is also worth noting that the Warner Archive releases, unlike the earlier seasons which were released by Warner Home Video, include the original theme song.

Who to Follow: Tracy Morgan (Twitter), "This is really Tracy Morgan"

Claim to Fame: Unlike many actors, Tracy Morgan's life did not start out so simple. His family life was not so great, and he was selling drugs after he dropped out of high school. But he was also trying comedy, and that really seemed to work for him. He eventually ended up with a recurring role on the sitcom Martin, before landing a regular role on Saturday Night Live. He eventually left Saturday Night Live to do his own sitcom, The Tracy Morgan Show. Unfortunately, that series was a dud, but it wasn't much later after that when he landed a starring role on 30 Rock. He was involved in a serious car accident last year, but is now recovering, and could be making a comeback to television soon.

Last week we mentioned ABC Family was moving Buffy, the Vampire Slayer to mornings effective this week, but now Dawson's Creek will also move to mornings. Just not immediately. It will move to mornings starting Monday, Aug. 31...so you have a full month before the change. Starting Aug. 31 Dawson's Creek will replace That '70s Show in the weekdays at 8am timeslot, following Buffy at 7am. Dawson's afternoon slot of 12 noon will be filled with more Gilmore Girls at 12pm, as that series will air back-to-back at 11am and 12pm for now. These changes come Aug. 31 mean that That '70s Show is off the line-up. There will be more schedule changes to come in September, including a new addition to the line-up, when ABC Family launches its fall 2015 schedule and we will give that to you very soon...so stay tuned!

TV Land has closed a deal for a pilot script with Emmy(R) Award winner and Oscar(R) nominee Melissa McCarthy and acclaimed comedic actor/director Ben Falcone, serving as executive producers through their production company On The Day. The single-camera comedy, tentatively titled Friends with Melissa, is written, executive produced and inspired by the real lives of Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras (Mike Tyson Mysteries), who watched as their friends from The Groundlings went on to star in blockbuster comedies and win Oscars, while they toiled away writing for children's television. Melissa McCarthy will appear in the pilot episode. This project is one of several in development for TV Land, along with the recently announced I Shudder starring Hamish Linklater and produced by Dan Jinks and Paul Rudnick, and the untitled John Wells/John Riggi/Warner Horizon Television project inspired by the life of Kyle Richards (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills).

Starting on Monday (July 27) ABC Family will make some last minute schedule changes to its line-up. Buffy the Vampire Slayer will move to 7am replacing That '70s Show Monday-Friday until further notice, but That '70s Show will remain from 8-9am. Boy Meets World will replace The Middle Monday-Friday from 1-2pm, as The Middle replaces Reba Monday-Friday from 3-4pm (so The Middle is now 2-4pm). Why because Reba replaces Buffy the Vampire Slayer Monday-Friday at 5pm. Reba will now air 4-6pm. No reason for the changes, but it looks like Buffy might have underperformed in the ratings at 5pm, so it will move to 7am. Fellow recently added series Dawson's Creek will remain at 12 noon following Gilmore Girls at 11am, as they seem to be doing well together. No shows will be leaving the line-up with these changes, though.

FXX is the destination for comedy this fall with the seventh and final season of its hit comedy series The League and the second season of the acclaimed comedy You're the Worst. Season seven of The League will premiere on FXX on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 PM e/p, immediately followed by the second season of You're the Worst at 10:30 PM e/p. To be a fan of FXX's The League, you don't need to know much about fantasy football, or sports at all. You just need to have friends that you hate. The ensemble comedy follows a group of old friends in a fantasy football league who care very deeply ... about beating each other for bragging rights. You're the Worst is a modern look at love and happiness told through the eyes of two people who haven't been very successful with either. It's the story of Gretchen and Jimmy, fear, heartbreak, romance, sex, food, Los Angeles, Sunday Funday, friendship, and the fact that sometimes the worst people make the best partners.

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got developments on the upcoming reboot of Coach, news of a new Netflix series reuniting That '70s Show cast members, news of DVDs of The Michael J. Fox Show, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• It looks like The Michael J. Fox Show, which aired in the 2013-2014 season on NBC, will finally be coming to DVD after all. TVShowsOnDVD.com announced this week that The Michael J. Fox Show - The Complete First Season will arrive on DVD July 7.
• As we mentioned earlier this week, Sisters - Seasons 1 and 2 will arrive on DVD on September 15.

Who to Follow: Danny Masterson (Twitter), "i been workin on the railroad,all the live long day... i been workin on the railroad jus to pass the time awaaaay..."

Claim to Fame: We're featuring another That '70s Show cast member this week (after Kurtwood Smith from last week), and it just so happens that this one actually did make news this week with the announcement of a new Netflix series. But going back to the beginning, Danny Masterson's first role was on an episode of Jake and the Fat Man. From there, he appeared as a guest star on series such as Cybill, Roseanne, Party of Five and NYPD Blue, along with a string of B (if not C) movies in the early 90s. His first big role (and true claim to fame) came in 1998 with the role of Hyde on That '70s Show. Most recently, he starred for three seasons on the TBS sitcom Men at Work. This week, it was announced that he will reunite with Ashton Kutcher in an upcoming Netflix series.

NickMom has acquired the rights to the family drama Parenthood. The series is airing Fri-Sun at 10pm & 11pm. Those six airings encore during the week, Mon-Sat at 1am as well following reruns of That '70s Show at midnight, which is now also on the network. That '70s Show of course is on other Viacom-owned networks like TV Land and has aired on other networks like TeenNick, MTV and Nick at Nite. Anyway, back to Parenthood. The drama series - based on the movie of the same name - just wrapped its sixth and final season on NBC, and tells the story of the Braverman family as they face life's triumphs and struggles. The series stars Lauren Graham, Mae Whitman, Craig T. Nelson, Peter Krause, Bonnie Bedelia, Erika Christensen, Dax Shepard, Miles Heizer, Sam Jaeger, Savannah Paige Rae, Max Burkholder, Tyree Brown, Sarah Ramos, Xolo Maridue and more. Stay with us for continued updates.

Having recently scored its biggest hits to date, CMT continues to expand an impressive slate of original programming with five new series, a NASCAR event and several returning favorites. The new originals include two comedies: Still the King starring singer-songwriter/actor Billy Ray Cyrus and a forthcoming series I Love Kellie Pickler (working title) featuring country singer Kellie Pickler and her husband Kyle Jacobs produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions. CMT will launch its first-ever nightly talk show, The Josh Wolf Show, starring comedian Josh Wolf and produced by Chelsea Handler. Also coming to CMT are The Ed Bassmaster Show, starring YouTube phenomenon Ed Bassmaster; Gainesville, a coming of age docu-series from the award-winning producers of Brick City; and American Speed: The True Story of NASCAR, a first of its kind limited series event that gives fans an unparalleled look at NASCAR narrated by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Additionally, the entire series of the highly lauded ensemble drama Friday Night Lights starring Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton will begin airing in May on CMT. It will be shared with sister network TeenNick, which will start the series this Friday (April 10) and will air it 9pm-12am Fri-Sun. CMT is now also airing reruns of George Lopez and Hot in Cleveland in the daytime to go along with reruns of Reba. The comedies are airing from 1pm-8pm, with two-hours each of George and Hot and three-hours of Reba from 5-8pm. The Dukes of Hazzard will be off the schedule starting the 13th, as the series was airing 1-3pm. As for the new comedies,Still The King starring Billy Ray Cyrus, the scripted comedy features Cyrus as 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 in Laughlin, Nevada. After crashing into an old country church outside of Nashville during a drunken bender, he is sentenced to return and perform community service. Along the way, he pretends to be the congregation's new minister and discovers he has a 15-year-old daughter he's never met. In I Love Kellie Pickler, Kellie Pickler catapulted from small-town obscurity and became a household name thanks to American Idol and Dancing With the Stars, but has since gone on to become a country sensation and part of the CMT Family. Recognized and beloved for her quirky personality, uniquely hysterical witticisms and Southern charm, the series will follow her marriage to Kyle Jacobs - her complete opposite.

ABC Family has announced their fall 2014 schedule and original series. First up, we'll discuss the weekday daytime schedule. Effective Tuesday, Sept. 2, That '70s Show is returning to the ABC Family schedule. It will air weekdays from 7-9am, replacing three episodes of Boy Meets World and an airing of The Middle. At 9am, The Middle will remain. Following The 700 Club block from 9:30-11am, Gilmore Girls will remain at 11am but another episode will be added at 12 noon, replacing 8 Simple Rules, which will be off the line-up. The afternoon sitcom line-up will remain intact from 1pm-6pm, with The Middle from 1-2, Reba from 2-4pm and Boy Meets World from 4-6pm. A mix of movies, originals and original encores airs from 6pm-12am. From 12-2am, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be replaced by a movie effective Monday, Sept. 8, as the contract for that show expires (it is heading exclusively to Viacom networks).

ABC Family's original series will be on hiatus in early fall, as most series had their summer finales this weeks. There will be specials coming during the 13 Nights of Halloween from Oct. 19-31. The Pretty Little Liars Halloween special will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 8pm. This will be all-new interviews with the cast. Then, the new hilariously scary, hidden-camera, funny-prank show, Freak Out will premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 9 with back-to-back episodes. Two more episodes will air the following night on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 9 The half-hour series has been picked up for 14 episodes, no word on if it will continue to air in November when the 13 Nights of Halloween is over. As of now, 4 half-hour episodes are scheduled. And finally, all-new Halloween episodes of ABC Family's original sitcoms Melissa & Joey ("Witch Came First") and Baby Daddy ("Strip or Treat") will air on Wednesday, Oct. 22 starting at 8pm. Network premiere movies during the special 13 night event include Dark Shadows and ParaNorman. Stay with us for continued updates.

The Ultimate Horror Convention Experience is coming September 12-14, 2014 in Long Island, New York. New York is about to experience an event that will leave everybody begging for more. Over 70 Horror Scream Queens, Playboy Playmates, Glamour Models are appearing over the course of three days. Silent auction to raise money to the Jack Kirby Research Museum. Over 8 screenings of popular horror movies from acclaimed indie filmmakers, including Mass Grave Pictures, Church Hill Productions, Bradco Productions. The sensational After Party will take place Saturday Night at Dave & Busters in the same building which includes a sumptuous Buffet, Unlimited Soft Drinks, Unlimited Video Games (All day Saturday September 13), Bowling, Billiards. You will have the opportunity to meet the girls and take photos with them. If that's not enough, a concert featuring top horror rock bands Mother, Midnight Mob, Apparition and Terror Garden and a swimwear fashion show consisting of at least 10 models!

Come take pictures with legendary iconic cars KITT from Knight Rider and Bumblebee from Transformers. Ice T, Coco, Krista Allen (Days of Our Lives, Baywatch Hawaii), Courtney Henggeler (The Big Bang Theory, Friends with Benefits), Holli Pockets, Sybil Danning, Cynthia Gibb, Nia Peeples (Fame; Walker, Texas Ranger), and Dona Speir are among a few of the guests scheduled to appear. For complete list visit their website. Queen Divatox from Power Rangers and Hilary Shepard are also making a special appearance. There will also be numerous vendors including DIABLIQUE "The Premiere Horror Genre Magazine" selling all sorts of merchandise, tattoo artists, posters, toys, magazines, autographs, t-shirts, jewelry, trading cards (sport and non-sport). This Blood & Babes Comic Con will take place at The Source on 1504 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY 11590. Order your tickets TODAY!

Earlier this year Nick at Nite announced that How I Met Your Mother is among the new shows coming to its line-up. Well, now we have the full timeslot details! The series joins the schedule with a week-long marathon from Monday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 14 from 11pm-6am each night. The ensemble comedy stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris and Alyson Hannigan. The series begins with Ted Mosby telling his kids how he met their mother. The marathon will go in chronological order. The series will then continue in that order in its regular timeslots beginning Monday, Sept. 15, airing seven days a week from 11pm-1am following Full House. As a result of this change, four episodes of Friends will move to approx. 1-3:30am, while George Lopez airs from approx. 3:30am-7am with six episodes in a row. This means That '70s Show (currently airing 3:30-4:30am) and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (currently airing 6-7am) will be both off the Nick at Nite line-up. Back to HIMYM, currently the series airs on Lifetime, WGN America and FX/FXX. It will continue to air on FX/FXX this fall as we mentioned, but we will reveal if Lifetime & WGN will still carry it soon.

Keep it right here for continued Nick at Nite and HIMYM updates. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is coming to Viacom networks (Nick at Nite, BET/Centric) this fall as we know, but official details will follow. Stay tuned.

Woot, woot! The brilliant, iconic, ground-breaking, beloved series that is The Simpsons opened spectacularly on FXX on Thursday (Aug. 21). Sit back, take a load off, grab a donut why don't you, and bask in a bevy of superlatives. In every daypart, The Simpsons led FXX to its most-watched day ever. Compared to FXX's daypart average to date (9/2/13 - 8/20/14), The Simpsons bettered FXX primetime (8-11PM) by +391% in Total Viewers (1.01 million vs. 206,000) and +461% in P18-49 (623,000 vs. 111,000) ... daytime (10A-3P) by +652% in Total Viewers (376,000 vs. 50,000) and P18-49 by +770% (235,000 vs. 27,000) ... early fringe (3-6P) by +515% in Total Viewers (572,000 vs. 93,000) and +626% in P18-49 (385,000 vs. 53,000) ... access (6-8P) by +492% in Total Viewers (876,000 vs. 148,000) and +610% in P18-49 (575,000 vs. 81,000) ... and late night (11P-3A) by +331% in Total Viewers (556 vs. 129) and +389% in P18-49 (372,000 vs. 76,000).

All in: this aggregates to The Simpsons' premiere day of the 12-day marathon bettering FXX's prior Total Day average by +524% in Total Viewers (624,000 vs. 100,000) and +618% in P18-49 (402,000 vs. 56,000). Of Thursday's 34 telecasts of The Simpsons (ratings for post 3:00A telecasts are not available till late today): In Total Viewers: 18 rank among FXX's Top 30 telecasts of all time. What's more, FXX's Top 10 telecasts ever in Total Viewers all consist of Thursday's episodes of The Simpsons: The Simpsons' most-watched telecast yesterday (1.23 million) @ 8:30P ("Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"). In P18-49: Thursday's The Simpsons telecasts repped 17 of the Top 30 FXX telecasts of all time and 8 of the Top 10, including the top two. It's a great start for this historic marathon and more of the same probably happened Friday-Sunday and will continue to happen through the end of the marathon on Sept. 1.

ABC Family will be making some scheduling maneuvers starting Monday (June 9). That '70s Show will be off the line-up as Boy Meets World will air 7-8:30am. The Middle will be moving to mornings now and will air Mon–Fri 8:30am & 9am, as Still Standing is now off the schedule again. The Middle's second hour will now be Mon–Fri from 1-2pm, replacing an hour of Reba, which will move to 3-4pm instead of Boy Meets World. Not to worry, because the 2pm hour of Reba will still be on the schedule. And the biggest move is Boy Meets World will now also air from 5-6pm replacing The Middle. This means Boy Meets World will now air from 7-8:30am and 4-6pm. No word on why the last minute changes, but perhaps ABC Family is getting ready to promote sister network Disney Channel's upcoming series Girl Meets World by airing Boy Meets World at a later time. The rest of the schedule will remain intact, including 8 Simple Rules at 12 noon. Keep it right here for continued updates.

On Sunday, June 8 at 9|8c viewers will have the chance to catch up with some of their favorite television icons when Oprah: Where Are They Now? sits down with the cast of The Love Boat and Full House actor and comedian, Dave Coulier. In exciting new interviews, these stars will talk about the work they are most famous for and they will give all the latest updates on their careers and personal lives. The all-new season kicks off with compelling updates from the stars of the '70s hit television show The Love Boat, Ted Lange, Cynthia Lauren Tewes and Jill Whelan, as they reunite and reminisce about life aboard The Pacific Princess. Then, in a rare interview at her Beverly Hills home, the one and only Latin music sensation Charo shares the secrets of her success and sets the record straight about the real meaning of her multimillion-dollar catchphrase "Cuchi-Cuchi." Next, Dave Coulier charmed millions as the goofy and loveable Uncle Joey on the popular sitcom Full House. Now, he reveals his real-life relationships with former co-stars Bob Saget and John Stamos, the priceless advice Jay Leno gave him about standup comedy, and the truth about those Alanis Morissette rumors. Plus, actor D.B. Sweeney, best known for his role in the '90s classic film Cutting Edge, talks about why he left Hollywood and how he ended up on OWN! Tune in this Sunday!

Friends with Better Lives - Mondays at 8:30PM ET/PT on CBS
Premieres Monday, March 31, 2014 at 9:00PM ET/PT

by Skees

As we come of age, we all think that we're the ones suffering, and it's our friends who have the better lives. So, naturally, that would be the premise of the latest sitcom on CBS, Friends with Better Lives. The series follows a married couple (Andi and Bobby), a divorced man (Will), a soon-to-be-engaged couple (Kate and Lowell), and the eternally obnoxious one who finds the flaws in everybody (Jules). So who really has the better life? That's what this CBS series tries to answer, in sitcom form.

Cast Details:

James Van Der Beek as Will Stokes 

Brooklyn Decker as Jules Talley 

Zoe Lister-Jones as Kate McLean 

Rick Donald as Lowell Peddit 

Majandra Delfino as Andi Lutz 

Kevin Connolly as Bobby Lutz 

James Van Der Beek (Will Stokes) is primarily known for playing the starring role in the teen drama Dawson's Creek. More recently, he was on ABC's Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23. His first TV appearance came in 1993 on an episode of Clarissa Explains it All, and since Dawson's Creek ended, he has been cast in several unsold pilots, and has also played roles in many dramas such as Criminal Minds and One Tree Hill

Brooklyn Decker (Jules Talley) is primarily known as a swimsuit model, having appeared in many magazines including Sports Illustrated, but she has also made appearances in series such as Chuck, Ugly Betty, and New Girl. She is married to retired tennis player Andy Roddick.

Zoe Lister-Jones (Kate McLean) is possibly best known for her role of Lily on the series Whitney. She has also made guest appearances on three out of four series in the Law & Order franchise, as well as an episode of The Good Wife.

Rick Donald (Lowell Peddit) is an Australian actor who has made appearances on series such as House Husbands, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Underbelly, and Home and Away. This series marks his American television debut.

Majandra Delfino (Andi Lutz) is a Venezuelan-American actress who is best known for her role on the series Roswell. She got her start in Hollywood in the film Zeus and Roxanne, as well as appearing in the short-lived sitcom The Tony Danza Show, and has appeared in episodes of The Office and Boston Public.

Kevin Connolly (Bobby Lutz) is best known for his role of Eric on the HBO series Entourage. Before that, he was a regular on the series Unhappily Ever After. He has appeared in movies including The Notebook, Antwone Fisher, Secretariat, and will be reprising his TV role in the upcoming Entourage film.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" – airs Monday, March 31st, 2014 at 9PM ET/PT

Andi (Majandra Delfino) and Bobby (Kevin Connolly) are married and happily living on their own... well, sort of. They've also got to deal with parenting, and also Will (James Van Der Beek), who recently moved in after his own marital troubles. Bobby is about to throw a surprise party for Andi, but it is something that is going to end in disaster for almost everybody, except for Kate (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Lowell (Rick Donald).

Analysis:

In the 21 minutes of the episode that I watched, I mostly found myself confused by who the characters were and what their backstory was, which can be expected to some extent in a pilot... but that is also a solid indication that there is little, if anything, that is exciting about the characters or the series. The premise here is that we've got the married couple, the engaged couple, the one who is dating, and the one whose relationship just crashed. These are, ideally, all distinct characters that should have completely unique personalities. But everything just seemed to sort of mesh together into a horrible mess.

Like many pilots, a lot of things happened in the pilot. But in this pilot, maybe it was a bit too much. An engagement and a divorce happening within minutes of one another in the same house (all during a wedding anniversary celebration of another friend, to top it off) was a bit too much for the pilot. It would have been better to see the pre-engagement relationship play out a bit first, followed by a drawn out divorce. Now the series has already turned into two people dating and two couples married married (or one of them is at least close to it).

While the pilot did have some great actors in it, I felt that their potential was not utilized as fully as it could have been. While I was never a fan of Dawson's Creek, it cannot be denied that James Van Der Beek is a talented actor... but having him played the desperate divorced guy seemed out of place. It may have felt more natural for Kevin Connolly (another talented actor) to play that role, but instead, he was the happily married guy. Personally, I'm still seeing him as Eric from Entourage, or to go back even further, Ryan from Unhappily Ever After.

I can't say that I laughed at all during the entire episode. Of course, I'm always willing to give a sitcom the benefit of the doubt if it isn't a laugh-filled riot, because even some of the greatest sitcoms ever have good story telling with few laughs. The problem is, there wasn't a great story to be told here. The pilot attempted to focus on getting quick laughs, particularly related to some sexual content. But the problem is that a lot of sexual jokes are going to get their biggest laughs from a much younger audience than this series could ever hope to target.

Conclusion:

In all honesty, CBS probably doesn't have a hit on their hands with this series. I'm not sure what can be done about this series to make it a bit more watchable, as it honestly seems to show little promise. Of course, I've been wrong about these things before, but it mostly just feels like something CBS is using to fill the hole left by How I Met Your Mother, except there really isn't going to be anything good enough to fill that hole for the time being. Luckily for CBS, they have a mostly solid lineup, with a majority of their lineup already having been renewed for next season, and plenty of pilots in the works, which makes it unlikely that they'll turn back to this series in the fall. The real question, though, is will they continue to turn to this for an entire 13 episode run. The series will be given a very fair chance to capture an audience with what will probably be a solid lead-in for the debut, but what viewers decide beyond that is to be determined.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 2/5

Funniness: 1/5

Overall: 2/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, March 31 at 9:00PM ET/PT on our message board.

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