SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

• Just in time for the 60th anniversary of the series, Antenna TV is featuring a 60 episode marathon of I Dream of Jeannie today and tomorrow.
• Catchy Comedy has a binge of Laugh-In tomorrow.

by Vincent

I know I've written about Abbott Elementary before, but it bears repeating just how good this incredible sitcom has been. If you've yet to check it out, please do so on Tuesdays on ABC (or binge on Hulu). The show is an absolute delight, and there has been a lot of talk about the show single handedly reviving the mockumentary format - or even the network sitcom.

What makes Abbott Elementary so good? For one, the show has found a way to appeal to both sitcom lovers and young audiences. A quote from the show goes viral nearly every week on Twitter. Additionally, the show draws in a lot of weekly viewers, showing its connecting to broadcast audiences. In 2022, it's crucial for a network sitcom to straddle this line. If you don't appeal to young audiences, you fail to draw in profitable youth demographics. But if you only appeal to those young audiences, you risk not fitting in with the network landscape and getting poor ratings. It’s getting harder and harder for shows to straddle this line, but Abbott does it with ease.

Crackle has added a very rare short-lived sitcom to its service to stream for free. ABC's One in a Million from 1980. That time when the hysterical Shirley Hemphill of What's Happening!! had her own show and now you can finally watch it. It looks like 11 of the 13 episodes are available to stream. In the series, when a young taxi driver inherits a major corporation and becomes "Chairman of the Board" - her unschooled businessways are remarkably wise in understanding. Start with the pilot, when a millionaire bequeaths controlling stock in his corporation to cab driver Shirley Simmons, she must decide whether to take the money or run the company. The sitcom stars Shirley Hemphill, Keene Curtis, Carl Ballantine, Mel Stewart, Ann Weldon, Richard Paul and Dorothy Fielding.

Antenna TV is adding quite a bit of new series to its lineup in January, as we mentioned. Series joining the schedule are Designing Women, Diff'rent Strokes, It's a Living, NewsRadio, That Girl and The Facts of Life. With all these additions, only What's Happening!! is on hiatus and the 90-minute weekend episodes of Johnny Carson are off the lineup. You can catch That Girl weekdays at 12:00pm & 12:30pm and Saturdays at 11:00pm & 11:30pm. The Facts of Life will air weekdays at 3:00pm & 3:30pm and weekends at 1:00pm & 1:30pm. Diff'rent Strokes will pair up with Facts and air weekdays at 4:00pm & 4:30pm and weekends at 12:00pm & 12:30pm. It's a Living will kick-off the new primetime lineup weeknights at 8:00pm and Sundays at 10:00pm & 10:30pm. Designing Women will air weeknights at 10:00pm and Sundays at 11:00pm & 11:30pm. And finally NewsRadio will air six nights a week at 12:30am from Sun-Fri.

The rest of the lineup features series moving to new time periods. New timeslots include Benson weeknights at 6pm, Three's Company weeknights at 8:30pm, Family Ties & Growing Pains back in prime in the 9pm hour and Murphy Brown at 10:30pm. Weekend afternoons will be all '80s with new additions Strokes and Facts kicking it off at noon, continuing with Gimme a Break!, Webster, 227 and What's Happening Now!! on Saturdays and Benson on Sundays, all from 12pm-6pm. The '80s fun is extended on Sundays with Silver Spoons, Head of the Class, Growing Pains, Hogan's Family, Family Ties and My Two Dads from 6pm-9pm. View the full Antenna TV Winter 2020 Schedule.

Netflix has ordered a second season of comedy series Special from Warner Bros. TV, Jim Parsons' That's Wonderful, and Stage 13. The series premiered season one last April. Based on Ryan O'Connell's part-memoir, part-manifesto I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, the hilarious and heartwarming story centers on a gay man with mild cerebral palsy who decides to rewrite his identity as an accident victim and finally go after the life he wants. O'Connell stars in this semi-autobiographical series, which he also wrote and executive produced. The series also stars Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel, Marla Mindelle, Augustus Prew, and Patrick Fabian. Jim Parsons, Eric Norsoph and Todd Spiewak serve as executive producers for That's Wonderful Productions.

TV One gears up for the holiday season with a programming slate full of original movies, specials and marathons. Kicking off the festive season is a back-to-back marathon of the popular sitcom, Family Matters, airing on Thursday, November 28, Thanksgiving Day from 6 a.m. ET through Saturday, November 30 until 6 a.m. ET. Throughout the "Turkel" marathon, TV One will commemorate the 30th anniversary of Family Matters by airing a cast reunion. This TV One original content will replay during the Family Matters marathon airing on Christmas Eve and can be found at www.tvone.tv.

Just in time for Christmas, TV One will air a marathon of fan-favorite, Christmas-themed sitcom specials from The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, Good Times, What's Happening, What's Happening Now, Family Matters, Living Single, Girlfriends, Eve and All of Us. The marathon will begin on Sunday, December 22 at 6 a.m. ET until Monday, December 23 at 3 a.m. ET. The love and laughter continues throughout the day on Christmas Eve with a back-to-back marathon of Family Matters, which airs Tuesday, December 24 starting at 6 a.m. ET until Wednesday, December 25 6 a.m. ET. The holiday slate will wrap with a round-up of your favorite TV One holiday films on Christmas Day starting Wednesday, December 25 at 6 a.m. through Thursday, December 26 at 2 a.m. ET.

Disney Channel has ordered a third season of its popular live-action comedy Sydney to the Max ahead of its season two premiere, scheduled for 2020. The endearing daughter/father comedy, set in the present day with flashbacks to the 1990s, follows middle schooler Sydney Reynolds who lives with her single dad, Max, and her unconventional grandmother, Judy. As Sydney navigates becoming a teenager alongside her bestie Olive, Max's flashbacks of his childhood with his best friend Leo parallel her adventures, illustrating how life's "growing pains" never change. The series stars Ruth Righi, Ian Reed Kesler, Caroline Rhea, Jackson Dollinger, Ava Kolker and Christian J. Simon. Created and executive produced by Mark Reisman (Frasier, Wings, The Exes), the show is currently in production on season two.

by Vincent

This past week, it was announced that NBC's The Good Place will be ending after its upcoming fourth season. I had two district reactions to this news. On one hand, I'm incredibly sad that we are only getting one more season of what has been the best comedy on TV for the past few years, and one of the most creative and imaginative sitcoms of the decade. I'm a bit of a traditionalist with sitcoms - if it were up to me, every good sitcom would air 22 episodes a year and run for 6 or more seasons. I just like the comfort that sitcoms offer, even if the quality of them admittedly gets spotty as they grow long in the tooth. So the selfish part of me wanted The Good Place to stick around for years and years.

And yet, I can't help but feel that this is the right move to preserve the show's legacy. The Good Place is such a unique show, but it can only reinvent the wheel so many times. While I feel the show's quality has remained consistently high in its three seasons that have aired so far, I could also sense some sense of "well, what now?" for the first time ever in the third season. Granted, the show ended on a high note, but I'd imagine it very well could get tiring re-inventing the wheel over and over again. So I do consider it a creative win that the show is going out on top and on its own terms, and the fact that NBC is allowing a solid-rated veteran comedy to do so in a time where it desperately needs comedy hits shows how much network TV has changed recently. 10 years ago, NBC would've milked the show for all they could, but now, there's more respect paid towards shows and their creators - and if you're a fan of good TV, it's a good thing to see.

Antenna TV is making some changes to the weekend afternoon schedule beginning next weekend (Saturday, June 22, 2019) and one minor change on weekdays beginning June 24. As a result of the changes, three shows are returning from hiatus. Webster, What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!! all return back to the lineup. Webster will air weekends at 1:00pm & 1:30pm, replacing The Hogan Family, which is still on the schedule Sunday late nights at 3:00am & 3:30am. What's Happening!! is replacing Head of the Class at 2:00pm, while spin-off What's Happening Now!! will air at 2:30pm for Head of the Class. Not to worry Head of The Class fans, the sitcom will air an hour later replacing Family Ties at 3:00pm & 3:30pm, but Family Ties will still remain weeknights at 2:30am. What's Happening!! will also return to the weekday line-up, airing weekdays at 3:30pm, replacing Soap. Not to worry Soap fans, Soap will also still remain on the schedule in its Saturday at 9pm & 9:30pm slots.

Antenna TV has released its first quarter 2019 schedule that begins on January 2. There will be no new series joining the lineup, but many series will have new time periods and a few shows will be on hiatus. Small Wonder returns, airing Sundays from 12-1pm. Taking a break in Q1 2019 will be Webster, What's Happening!!, What's Happening Now!! and Good Morning World. Among the series moving timeslots include Johnny Carson heading back to 10pm, while Three's Company moves back into late fringe at 11pm & 11:30pm (with an early morning encore from 5-6am). There are other late fringe and overnight changes including Coach and Murphy Brown from 12-1am. In the early evening, Archie Bunker's Place will double-up now from 7-8pm, while 227 and Maude also get two runs from 4:30-5:30pm and 6-7pm, respectively. Weekends will get the most changes to the schedule. Almost everything from 1pm and on has a new timeslot, including The Hogan Family from 1-2pm, Head of the Class from 2-3pm, Family Ties from 3-4pm and Silver Spoons from 4-5pm.

Saturday nights in primetime get '70s fever with Three's Company, Barney Miller and Soap from 7-10pm leading into 90-minute editions of Johnny Carson. The new Sunday primetime features Coach, My Two Dads and Growing Pains from 7-10pm. Early mornings on weekends will remain intact from 5-9am, but with Jack Benny Program now at 6:30am. Before this schedule starts, Antenna TV celebrates the end of 2018 with a New Year's Eve of The Paul Lynde Show from 6pm-3:30am. And Antenna TV rings in 2019 with a New Year's Kick-Off Coach marathon from 5am-4am. View the full Antenna TV Winter 2019 schedule.

Moving from Friday to Sunday night, High Maintenance returns for its nine-episode third season Sunday, Jan. 20 from 10:30-11:05 p.m. ET/PT. Created by Katja Blichfeld (who directs the season premiere) and Ben Sinclair, the critically acclaimed show uses The Guy, a marijuana dealer (played by Sinclair), to tell a variety of stories about New York lives, including his own. High Maintenance continues to paint a uniquely authentic portrait of New York with empathy and insight, telling amusing, surprising, sometimes moving and always poignant tales of denizens who are usually just faces on the crowded sidewalks of Brooklyn. The series is executive produced by Katja Blichfeld (Emmy(R)-winning casting director of 30 Rock), Ben Sinclair (Home Again, Sisters) and Russell Gregory.

This season, High Maintenance profiles everyday people whose stories of success, failure, love and loss intersect across New York, while delving deeper into personal life of The Guy, who is spending less time on his iconic bicycle and more time in "Steve RV," a set of wheels gifted to him last season. Featuring an intricate web of memorable returning characters and unforgettable new faces, the new episodes find New Yorkers exploring their relationship with the city, touching on such themes as death, parenthood, sexuality, fantasy, aging and more. Returning guest stars this season include: Amy Ryan, Gary Richardson, Arthur Meyer, Jen Harris, Micah Sherman and Abdullah Saeed. New guest stars this season include: Jemima Kirke, Margaret Cho, Guillermo Diaz, Rosie Perez, Kathleen Chalfant, Ken Leung and Annie Golden.

We have mentioned a few times already about Welcome Back, Kotter starting this Labor Day, but now we will relay the full fall 2017 schedule. Effective Tuesday, Sept. 5, the Antenna TV lineup gets refreshed again. There is only one new addition, but many timeslot changes. Welcome Back, Kotter will air weekdays at 6:30pm and Sun-Thurs nights at 1:30am, both following Three's Company. Antenna TV is trying single episodes of their series from 5pm-7am, while 7am-5pm will still be double episodes of sitcoms like Dennis the Menace, Bewitched and more. Other new time periods for weeknights include What's Happening!! at 7pm, 227 at 7:30pm leading into the Norman Lear four-some of Sanford & Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons and All in the Family (they will encore from 3-5am, too). On weekends, double episodes will air from 5am-6pm, but like on weekdays the evenings will see single episodes. On Friday and Saturday nights after Johnny Carson, the 11:30pm-2am block will have more Norman Lear series: One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, All in the Family, Maude and Good Times. View the full schedule so you'll know where all of your faves will be airing!

Amazon announced it will offer a second season of the half hour comedy series Fleabag with series creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (A Star Wars Story: Untitled Han Solo Film), returning as writer and star. Waller-Bridge can also be seen in the upcoming untitled Han Solo Star Wars anthology film and will serve as showrunner and executive producer of BBC America's upcoming 2018 drama, Killing Eve. The second season of Fleabag is expected to premiere in 2019 on Prime Video in over 200 countries exclusively for Prime members.

The first season premiered in September 2016 and was hailed by The New York Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, Vulture, The Atlantic, Variety, and Buzzfeed among others, as one of the best new shows of the year. Fleabag was nominated for six BAFTA Awards in 2017, including a win for Waller-Bridge for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme. Fleabag is a hilarious and poignant window into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, grief-riddled woman (Waller-Bridge), as she hurls herself at modern living in London. The show is based on Waller-Bridge's play Fleabag, which won an Edinburgh Fringe First Award, the Critics' Circle and Off-West End Awards for Most Promising Playwright and a Special Commendation from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

In 2 weeks Antenna TV is making some changes to its summer schedule. One Day at a Time and Evening Shade will return to the schedule on Sundays, while What's Happening!! takes a hiatus and Becker and 227 get shifted to the overnight. The changes will begin on Monday, July 17, with weekday mornings through 4pm the same as now. The Partridge Family is being re-added to weekdays (and will still air Sunday mornings) from 4-5pm. Three's Company moves to 5-6pm, as the Norman Lear sitcoms will now shift to 6-10pm (Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, and All in the Family). 227 is off of primetime and will move to 3-4am, and Becker moves from 12-1am to 4-5am. Replacing Becker at midnight will now be Family Ties, which also returns to weekdays. What's Happening!! is now completely off the schedule, while Mr. Belvedere is now only on Sundays.

On weekends, the Saturday summer-thons will continue from 1-10pm on Saturdays. Some minor changes on Saturdays have Good Morning World moving to 7-8am replacing Circus Boy, and Bewitched and Jeannie airing in late night from 11:30pm-2am replacing Joey Bishop and World. The Sunday changes have the return of One Day at a Time, airing Sundays 6-7pm, replacing more Becker. In Sunday late night, 11pm-2am gets a change with Newhart shifting to 11pm, the return of Evening Shade at 12am, and My Two Dads moving to 1am. Dear John is off the line-up as well, as it was only airing Sunday late nights. View the full lineup that begins Monday, July 17.

Amazon Studios announced Comrade Detective, a new half-hour live action series that will premiere August 4 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Comrade Detective is a one-of-a-kind cop show and comedy set in 1980's Romania. True to its nostalgic inspiration, the series is presented in Romanian and dubbed in English--as a Romanian show of that time would have been. Channing Tatum (Logan Lucky) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) provide voice over dubbing performances for the series' two leading roles, Detectives Gregor Anghel and Iosef Baciu--both characters played on screen by leading Romanian actors, Florin Piersic Jr. (Killing Time) and Corneliu Ulici (The Devil Inside).

In addition to Tatum and Gordon-Levitt, the illustrious roster of talent dubbing other roles includes Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Chloë Sevigny (Bloodline), Jake Johnson (New Girl), Jason Mantzoukas (The House), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Fred Armisen (Documentary Now!), Kim Basinger (LA Confidential), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Tracey Letts (The Lovers), Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Debra Winger (The Lovers), Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed), Katie Aselton Duplass (Legion), Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show), Bo Burnham (The Big Sick) and John Early (Search Party).

It's back! Spend your summer weekends with Antenna TV's "Saturday Summer-thons," featuring a marathon of a classic TV sitcom every Saturday between June 3 and September 2. The marathons will air from 1pm to 10pm [Eastern Time] and will feature fan-favorite episodes from the Antenna TV sitcoms that viewers love. Shows featured include Mork & Mindy, What's Happening!!, Webster, One Day at a Time, 227 and the 50th anniversary marathon of The Flying Nun! The full lineup is below:

6/3: Mork & Mindy
6/10: The Monkees
6/17: Good Times
6/24: Sanford and Son
7/1: What's Happening!!
7/8: My Two Dads
7/15: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
7/22: One Day at a Time
7/29: Webster
8/5: Doogie Howser, M.D.
8/12: The Jeffersons
8/19: Newhart
8/26: 227
9/2: The Flying Nun (50th anniversary!)

In a sweeping victory, Comedy Central has extended the inaugural season of The President Show for an additional seven episodes. Created by Anthony Atamanuik who hosts as Donald J. Trump, and produced by Clone Wolf Productions and 3 Arts Entertainment, this weekly, topical late night series airs on Thursdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT. In the world of The President Show, Trump is bypassing the crooked media by hosting a late-night show direct from the Oval Office. No unfair questions from reporters, no awkward photo ops with German ladies, and no bedtimes. Just a fun show where he can put his unique Trumpian spin on such late-night staples as desk segments, field pieces and guest interviews. Vice President Mike Pence is featured as his sidekick, played by Peter Grosz. The President Show airs weekly on Thursdays at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT following The Daily Show with Trevor Noah and available to stream the following day on cc.com/thepresidentshow and the Comedy Central App.

The Winter 2017 schedule for Antenna TV is now here! It begins on Monday, January 2, 2017. Coming to Antenna TV in January are What's Happening!!, Becker, 227, My Two Dads, The Joey Bishop Show, Good Morning World, and The Patty Duke Show, while Circus Boy and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin return to the schedule on Saturday mornings. Get in on the gossip with Marla Gibbs, Alaina Reed Hall, Helen Martin, & Jackee Harry when 227 starts airing Mon-Thu at 9pm & 9:30pm ET & Sunday nights at 1am & 1:30am ET on Antenna TV. Watch Ted Danson in Becker, Monday - Thursday nights at midnight & 12:30am ET and Sundays at 6pm & 6:30pm ET on Antenna TV. Other timings include, What's Happening!! Mon-Thurs at 8:00pm & 8:30pm, My Two Dads Sundays at 11:00pm & 11:30pm, and The Joey Bishop Show weekdays at 1pm & 1:30pm, Saturdays 11:30pm-1am, and Sundays 9am & 9:30am. Good Morning World will air Saturdays at 1am & 1:30am, while The Patty Duke Show airs weekdays at 11am & 11:30am.

Among the highlights of the schedule is a Friday night '70s block in primetime with One Day at Time from 8-9pm, Barney Miller from 9-10pm, leading into 90-minute Johnny Carson '70s episodes (now on Fridays and Saturdays as 90-minutes) from 10-11:30pm, Maude follows from 11:30pm-1am into Good Times from 1-2am. Other moves include Family Ties now only Sundays at 12am & 12:30am, Three's Company only airing Mon-Thu at 3:00am & 3:30am, but The Ropers and Three's a Crowd are back on their own Sundays 10am & 10:30am. And that's just some of the changes, because the whole schedule is pretty much all-new in timings, so please view the Antenna TV Winter 2017 Schedule!

For the second year, in a strategic partnership with Just For Laughs, The CW Network announced the brand new primetime comedy special, The Howie Mandel All-Star Comedy Gala. Featuring stand-up performances from today's comedic heavyweights such as Jay Pharoah, Iliza Shlesinger, Russell Peters and JB Smoove, this special will premiere Monday, January 16, 8:00-10:00 pm ET/PT on The CW. Recorded at the biggest comedy event in the world, the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and hosted by Howie Mandel, this primetime special also showcases performances from Alonzo Bodden, Jo Koy, Matt Donaher, Ryan Hamilton, Gina Brillon and Tom Papa. Additionally, as Just For Laughs prepares to celebrate its 35th anniversary this year, the special includes comedians paying tribute to some of their favorite comedians from the festival over the past 34 years, such as Amy Schumer, Jim Gaffigan and Wanda Sykes.

Also back with new episodes on CW Seed, The CW's digital network, The Elevator Talk Show with new host Nick Thune is all the late-night talk show you can cram into an eight-foot box. Hosted by comedian Nick Thune, guests on this season of The Elevator Talk Show include John Mulaney, Hannibal Buress, Lauren Lapkus, Scott Aukerman, Tone Bell, Noel Wells, and Blake Griffin, all recorded at the Just for Laughs Festival and all inside one very crowded elevator. The new episodes will debut on CW Seed later this month.

We hinted that Antenna TV was going to add a bunch of shows and even named a few, now the announcement is here for most! Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast network continues to invest in programming and will add nine new programs to its schedule in 2017. Antenna TV currently airs in 131 TV markets across the U.S. reaching 87% of TV households. In January 2017, Becker, What's Happening!! and My Two Dads will begin their run on Antenna TV, while Alice, Growing Pains, 227, The Hogan Family, Head of the Class and Murphy Brown will join the network during the year. In 2016, Antenna TV brought Johnny Carson back to late night with a 60-minute classic Carson episodes airing weeknights and a 90-minute episode on weekends, marking the first time Carson is airing in strip since he signed off in 1992. This year, the network also added Webster, Wings and The Addams Family, which launched on September 12.

Alice, Murphy Brown, Growing Pains, Head of the Class, and The Hogan Family join Antenna TV from Warner Bros., Becker joins from CBS, 227, My Two Dads and What's Happening!! join the network from Sony.

TeleXitos, the first-of-its-kind multicast channel for Spanish-language viewers that seek action adventure en Español, announced the network has the rights to air the iconic 1960's television series, Batman, in Spanish. Viewers in the United States will now be able to watch the 120-episode series in Spanish and without subtitles. TeleXitos will kick-off the Batman series premiere with a weekend marathon that will begin on Saturday, September 17 at 1 PM ET / 12 CT. To view a promo of the series in Spanish, click here. Batman, the 1960's television show that was based on DC Comics characters, first aired in the United States on January 12, 1966 on ABC. The fan-favorite series that featured the caped crusader duo, Bruce Wayne as Batman and Dick Grayson as Robin, alongside a cast of supervillains including the Joker, the Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman among others, took the country by storm and spurred a "Batmania" phenomenon. To date, Batman and its legendary onomatopoeia graphics, remains a beloved classic.

To commemorate TeleXitos' debut of Batman and celebrate DC Comics' "Batman Day 2016" on September 17, the network will also offer viewers an opportunity to access special Batman-themed trivia in Spanish on its digital and social media platforms. Viewers can visit TeleXitos.com, as well as the network;s Facebook page at Facebook.com/TeleXitos or its Twitter page at @TeleXitos and use the hashtag #BatmanEnTeleXitos, to access the specially-curated digital content and keep up with the network's Batman debut.

Hey, Hey, Hey! Another '70s classic sitcom is now on Logo! This time the fun sitcom What's Happening!! has joined the Logo lineup filled with sitcom stacks. As Mama would say, "this is true." The series joins other '70s classics that recently joined like Three's Company and All in the Family. As with every Logo series, you'll have to check your listings to see when it airs as there is no set schedule. We can tell you that there is What's Happening!! stack tonight on Logo from 10pm-2am! The sitcom of course stars Ernest Thomas as Roger "Raj" Thomas, Haywood Nelson as Dwayne Nelson, and Fred Berry as Freddy "Rerun" Stubbs. Co-starring are Danielle Spencer as Roger's younger sister Dee; Mabel King as Roger and Dee's mother Mabel; and Shirley Hemphill as Shirley Wilson, a waitress at Rob's Place, the neighborhood restaurant where the boys are regular patrons.

Britt Robertson will star in the Netflix Original Series Girlboss, a 13 episode comedy inspired by the NY Times best-selling book #Girlboss by Sophia Amoruso, founder of the fashion brand Nasty Gal. The show will premiere in 2017. In the series, Robertson portrays Sophia, a rebellious, broke anarchist who refuses to grow up. She stumbles upon her passion of selling vintage clothes online and becomes an unlikely businesswoman. As she builds her retail fashion empire, she realizes the value and the difficulty of being the boss of her own life. Girlboss is created by and executive produced by Kay Cannon (Pitch Perfect 2, 30 Rock), who also serves as showrunner. Charlize Theron (Monster, Young Adult) and Laverne McKinnon, of Denver & Delilah, Christian Ditter (How to Be Single) and Sophia Amoruso will also serve as executive producers. Ditter will also direct the series, that is a Netflix production.

Unedited episodes of The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son and Good Times are coming to Encore Black beginning Tuesday, December 1, 2015. The classic '70s sitcom will air in primetime and will be available on Encore Black onDemand. Good Times will start it off at 8pm, followed by Sanford and Son at 8:30pm and then a double dose of The Jeffersons at 9pm & 9:30pm. The lineup will be kicked-off from 7-8pm with Diff'rent Strokes, which has been airing on the network for awhile. Leaving the lineup will be What's Happening!!, 227 and Amen after their airings on Nov. 30. No word on if and when these series will return at some point, but it seems their contracts could have expired, since three shows are coming in to replace them. All three of the newest additions are seen elsewhere on cable (TV One) and on digital simulcast networks (Antenna TV). Stay with us for continued updates on these series and Encore Black.

Disney Channel has ordered the comedy series Bizaardvark, which will introduce newcomers Olivia Rodrigo and Madison Hu as the lead characters Paige and Frankie, respectively. Production begins early 2016 for a summer premiere. Bizaardvark creators Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman were participants in Disney Channel's inaugural Storytellers program. Now in its second year, the program continues to foster creative ideas and develop the next generation of series creators and writers of programming for kids, tweens and families. Paige and Frankie are quirky 13-year-old best friends who write funny songs and create music videos for their online channel, Bizaardvark. Now with 10,000 subscribers, the girls get to work from a creative studio space that they hope will take their videos to the next level. In this cool new environment - and with the help of family and friends -they'll embark on a series of comedic adventures in their quest to become online stars.

Marc Warren (Full House, Even Stevens, That's So Raven, Cory in the House), who supervised Disney Channel Storytellers, served as Executive Producer for the pilot. Eric Friedman (Austin & Ally, Crash & Bernstein) will serve as Executive Producer and Showrunner. Stegina and Lehrman are co-executive producers. Casting information will be announced at a later date.

• We had news about The Simpsons last week that wasn't necessarily positive (that there may be no future home media releases of the series), but for King of the Hill, things are looking pretty good for the remainder of the series. This week, TVShowsOnDVD.com uncovered that plans are in the works to have the entire series finished by the end of the year.
• Mill Creek isn't giving up on The Cosby Show, and will in fact be re-releasing the final two seasons with The Cosby Show - Seasons 7 and 8 on June 16.
• Mill Creek is also bringing the entire series of Soap back together on DVD, with a June 2 release of Soap - The Complete Series.

• Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and if so, you'll love what CBS has in store: Cheers - The Complete Series. Although each season has been released (as well as a complete series that shrinkwrapped all of those seasons together), this is the first time fans will be able to get every episode in one box set. It is set to be released on May 5 at a $117.99 MSRP. 
• CBS will also be re-releasing The Fugitive - The Complete Series on DVD on May 5, and it will come at a very low $79.99 MSRP.
• Mill Creek has another re-release of a Sony series in the works, and this time it is a complete series, with What's Happening!! - The Complete Series. It will be released April 21 at a $29.98 MSRP.
• Mill Creek will also be re-releasing Tour of Duty - The Complete Series on April 21, at a $44.98 MSRP.

• Tina Fey (30 Rock) - Watch Tina on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Zach Braff (Scrubs) - Zach stops by The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/The Cleveland Show) - Seth appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11pm.
• Malin Akerman (Trophy Wife) - Malin is a guest on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) - Josh stops by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs/Rules of Engagement/Reno 911!) - Wendi guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She will also be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET.
• Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith and Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Kelly and Michael will be on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am.
• D.L. Hughley (The Hughleys) - D.L. gives viewers an all access pass inside the hottest Oscar parties on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am.
• Tim Conway (McHale's Navy/Rango) - Tim appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show, so check your local listings.
• Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) - Beth and Kat dish on crazy stories from their set on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Ted Lange (The Love Boat) - Ted appears on The Better Show, so check your local listings.
• Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Allison is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• The Cast of The Game - Brandy Norwood, Coby Bell, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Hosea Chanchez, Jay Ellis and Lauren London will be on The Aresenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.

• Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/The Golden Girls/The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Catch Betty on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC. She will also be on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am. Finally, she will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) - Keke appears on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Gabourey Sidibe (The Big C) - Gabourey guest co-hosts Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
• Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Nadine Ellis (Let's Stay Together) - Nadine talks about the new season of Let's Stay Together on BET on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations. She will also be on Arise TV at 2pm.
• Michaela Watkins (Trophy Wife) - Michaela visits Pop Sugar on TV Guide Network at 6pm and on the next day on their website at noon.
• Jenna Elfman (Growing Up Fisher/1600 Penn/Dharma & Greg) - Jenna plays "What Am I Touching?" by trying to guess if she can identify some of the wildest animals in the bayou on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs/Rules of Engagement/Reno 911!) - Wendi will be on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo. She will also be on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York at 9:15am.
• Parker Young (Enlisted/Suburgatory) - Parker is a guest on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.

• Jennie Garth (What I Like About You) - Jennie talks about her new book, Deep Thoughts From a Hollywood Blonde, on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex and the City/Square Pegs) - Sarah is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs/Rules of Engagement/Reno 911!) - Wendi dishes about her new film, Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club, on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Annie Potts (Designing Women) - Annie talks about her return to Broadway in Pippin on The Couch on WLNY 10/55 in New York between 7-9am.
• George Lopez (Saint George/George Lopez) - George will be on ESPN's SportsNation.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Sarah stops by The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) - Keke is a guest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. She will also be on Arise TV at 2pm.
• Christine Lakin (Step by Step) - Christine appears on Big Morning Buzz Live with Nick Lachey on VH1 at 10am.
• Hayley Orrantia (The Goldbergs) - Hayley visits Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.

• Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Allison is part of the guest panel on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
• Kristin Chenoweth (Kristin) - Kristin appears on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Billy Connolly (Head of the Class/Billy) - Billy is a guest on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Paul Scheer (The League) - Paul visits The Pete Holmes Show at midnight on TBS.
• Ty Burrell (Modern Family/Back to You/Out of Practice) - Ty talks about lending his voice for new animated film Mr. Peabody & Sherman onLIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Scott Foley (The Goodwin Games/A.U.S.A.) - Scott appears on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am. He will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings. Finally, he is a guest on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Cheryl chats on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney is part of the guest panel on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
• Michael Mosley (Sirens) - Michael is a guest on Pop Sugar on TV Guide Network at 6pm and on the next day on their website at noon.
• Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Ray appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show, so check your local listings.
• Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) - Cynthia is a guest on NBC's Today between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
• Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) - Patrick will be on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York at 9:15am. He will also be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET.
• Jason Hervey (The Wonder Years) - Jason talks about his iconic role on The Wonder Years and what he's up to now on Katie, so check your local listings.

• Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen) - Watch Ellen on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Kenan Thompson (Kenan & Kel) - Kenan appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) - Patrick discusses the new season of Dallas on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings. He will also be on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
• Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move) - Jason is a guest on Pop Sugar on TV Guide Network at 6pm and on the next day on their website at noon.
• Scott Foley (The Goodwin Games/A.U.S.A.) - Scott joins the Chew Crew on ABC's The Chew at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
• Judy Gold (All-American Girl) - Judy weighs in on hot topics on The Couch on WLNY 10/55 in New York between 7-9am.
• Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea answers calls from the Foodie Phone Booth on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) - Stephanie discusses Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Lena Dunham (Girls) - Lena will be on NBC's Today between 7-9am.
• Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement/Seinfeld) - Patrick appears on NBC's Today between 7-9am.
• Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry is a guest on Larry King Now at 2/5pm PT/ET on Ora.tv and Hulu.
• Christine Lakin (Step by Step) - Christine is a guest on Big Morning Buzz Live with Nick Lachey on VH1 at 10am.
• Henry Winkler (Happy Days/Out of Practice) - Henry visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.

The Hallmark Channel has made a schedule change. The biggest news is that The Good Wife has been reduced by two hours and will now air 8-10pm rather than for four hours from 6-10pm. Moving to the 6-8pm block will be four episodes of Home Improvement, as that show was airing 4-6pm. More power! Airing in the 4-6pm block will be The Brady Bunch, which will move over from 8-10am in a major timeslot upgrade. Groovy! In other schedule news, The Waltons is returning to the line-up and will air weekdays 2-4pm, replacing two-hours of The Golden Girls, which will move back to 8-10am. All of these changes are effective immediately and have already started. Why the change? Likely The Good Wife did not perform as they would have liked in its first week on the schedule. The network will add repeats of The Middle this March, which should be a much better fit. Stay with us for continued updates.


It's that time again, the winter portion of the TCA press tour. The TCA Winter 2014 press tour actually began last Thursday with cable leading it off at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California. The cable networks that went were: Discovery, IFC, TV One, Lifetime/A&E, HBO, Sportsman Channel, Viacom, Starz, Turner, Ovation, National Geographic Channel, AMC/Sundance, Weather Channel, Pivot, ESPN, BBC America, UP, Hallmark Channel, WGN America, Al Jazeera America, Revolt, and the upcoming El Rey Network. We will cover the major news only that deal with TV/sitcoms.

We'll start with the upcoming new cable network El Rey. El Rey Network, the new 24-hour English-language cable network founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, has licensed the cable rights to three fan-favorite and critically-acclaimed series: Starsky & Hutch, Dark Angel, and The X-Files. Under the agreement, El Rey Network will have access to an extensive library of newly-acquired content which will air as part of an expanded 24-hour schedule beginning Friday, February 14. These three celebrated series are part of an adrenaline-infused lineup featuring rebellious heroes, iconic car chases, epic fight scenes and more, which all speak to the network's desire to provide viewers a visceral storytelling experience. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Starsky & Hutch will airs Monday-Friday from 2PM-4PM ET. Dark Angel will air air Mondays and Thursdays from 4PM-8PM ET. And The X-Files will air Tuesday, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4PM-8PM ET and Sundays from 3PM-7PM ET.
The Hallmark Channel has announced many new movies for the new year, with stars like Jessica Szohr, Deidre Hall, Rachel Boston, Stefanie Powers, Lacey Chabert, Warren Christie, Kristy Swanson, Vivica A. Fox, Sarah Lancaster, Marcia Strassman, and Patricia Richardson. Original series wise, Cedar Grove has began production on season two while Signed, Sealed, Delivered premieres this spring starring Eric Mabius with guest star Valerie Harper. Moving on, Lifetime's critically-acclaimed hit series Devious Maids (#DeviousMaids, #DeviousArmy), returns for a second season on Sunday, April 20, at 10PM ET/PT. The series is executive produced by Marc Cherry and Eva Longoria, and stars Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramírez, Roselyn Sánchez, Edy Ganem and Judy Reyes as five maids with ambition and dreams of their own while working for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills. Longoria will direct the series' eagerly anticipated season two opener, marking her television directorial debut.

WGN America has made bold moves, ordering straight to series the production of two standout, scripted dramas: Salem, to premiere Sunday, April 20, 2014, and Manhattan, to start production in New Mexico in March for a July 2014 premiere. WGN America has also ordered the 10-part scripted event series Ten Commandments from The Weinstein Company (TWC). Over 10 nights, 10 different visionary filmmakers will take on a single Commandment with their modern interpretation of that Commandment. Five of the 10 filmmakers on board to direct episodes are Gus Van Sant, Lee Daniels, Jim Sheridan, Wes Craven and Michael Cera. Academy Award(R) winning producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Silver Linings Playbook) and Bob Weinstein will produce the series. Finally, for cable, TV One is expanding its NAACP Image Award-winning Unsung franchise with new series Unsung Hollywood, premiering Wednesday, February 26 at 10PM/ET. From revealing portraits of beloved stars of film and television, including feminist film icon Pam Grier and politically charged comic Dick Gregory, to in-depth stories behind the making (and breaking) of influential films and TV series such as Cooley High and What's Happening!!, Unsung Hollywood shines a spotlight on subjects and stories that have rarely or never been told. Preceding Unsung Hollywood's debut in February, flagship series Unsung will return with all-new episodes beginning Wednesday, January 29 at 10PM/ET. The What's Happening!! episode airs Wednesday, March 12 at 10pm!


Fox was up at the TCA Winter 2014 Press Tour yesterday and we have the full scoop! First up, the big news was that Fox is by-passing the pilot season and have already started to pick-up new series with episode orders. We mentioned one of them already was the Rainn Wilson drama. We'll have more info closer to the upfront on these pick-ups. In other news, Fox announced guest stars on their post-Super Bowl shows. Music royalty Prince will make a special guest appearance on New Girl in the episode, "Party Time" airing approx. 10:30-11:00 PM ET/7:30-8:00 PM PT. Dean Winters, Fred Armisen and Joe Thiesmann are among those set to appear on the all-new "Operation: Broken Feather" episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine airing approx. 11:00-11:30 PM ET/8:00-8:30 PM PT.

Moving on to some new series and scheduling news, Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) and National Geographic Channel (NGC) announced the global series premiere of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, the thrilling new 13-part series from executive producer/writer Ann Druyan and executive producer Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted). The highly anticipated series will premiere in the U.S. on Sunday, March 9 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT on Fox, and encore with all-new bonus footage and behind-the-scenes content on the National Geographic Channel (NGC) Monday, March 10 from 10:00-11:00 PM ET/PT. As a result, beginning Sunday, March 9, all-new episodes of Bob's Burgers will move to 7:00PM ET/PT, followed by all-new episodes of American Dad! at 7:30 PM ET/PT. All-new episodes of Family Guy will move to 8:30PM ET/PT to lead-in to Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. And finally, Fox announced premiere dates for event series 24: Live Another Day, and new series Surviving Jack (comedy) and Gang Related (drama). The iconic pulse-pounding clock resets when 24: Live Another Day premieres with a special two-hour television event Monday, May 5 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, and makes its time period premiere the following week on Monday, May 12 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. 12 hours will air.
New comedy series Surviving Jack will premiere Thursday, March 27 at 8:30PM ET/PT following the American Idol XIII results show at 8. From executive producer and Emmy Award nominee Bill Lawrence (Cougar Town), the series is based on best-selling author Justin Halpern's autobiographical book, "I Suck at Girls." Co-created and written by Halpern and Patrick Schumacker (both of $#*! My Dad Says), the series is set in 1990s Southern California, and stars Emmy Award nominee Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as a man becoming a dad, as his son (Connor Buckley) becomes a man, in a time before "coming of age" was something you could Google. The series also stars Rachael Harris (The Hangover), Claudia Lee, Kevin Hernandez and newcomer Tyler Foden. And finally, gritty new action-drama Gang Related will have its series premiere on Tuesday, May 20 at 9:00PM ET/PT, following Part One of the two-night American Idol XIII Season Finale at 8. Created and written by Chris Morgan (Wanted, Fast Five), the series follows Ryan Lopez (Ramon Rodriguez, The Wire), a rising star in Los Angeles' elite Gang Task Force - led by Sam Chapel (Emmy Award winner Terry O'Quinn, Lost) - who teams up with longtime Task Force member Cassius Green (RZA, Californication) to take on the city's most dangerous gangs, including one that he swore an allegiance to as a boy. And that's about the major highlights from the Fox press tour. If anything else comes up, we'll let you know!

Up today at the TCA Winter 2014 press tour will be cable network FX. Stay tuned for any updates, if anything is of note for us. And Wednesday we will have CBS up at the TCA Winter 2014 press tour, as they will be doing a two-day event with CW and Showtime.

All month long TV One will feature music-centric episodes of its sitcoms on Tuesday nights in primetime (with an immediate encore following). The block will air Tuesdays from 8pm-11pm and encore from 11pm-2am. The music-centic episodes launches tomorrow night (Tuesday, Jan. 7) with back-to-back What's Happening!! episodes centered around Stevie Wonder and The Doobie Brothers. Episodes of The Rick Smiley Show, A Different World and The Tracy Morgan Show follow from 9-11pm on Jan. 7 which center around Gladys Knight, Snoop Dogg and others. On Jan. 14 we get another hour of What's Happening!! (with more Doobie Brothers action and music acts on The Gong Show), another episode of The Rick Smiley Show followed by a triple shot of A Different World, which will have Lena Horne guest starring. Tuesday, Jan. 21 will feature two episodes of Living Single, an episode of Everybody Hates Chris, back-to-back A Different World and another Living Single. Music talent guest starring on this night includes Heavy D & The Boyz. And on Tuesday, Jan. 28 we get another hour of Living Single, followed by The Rick Smiley Show at 9, then an episode of A Different World and an hour of Love That Girl from 10-11pm. TV One airs original series centered around music like R&B Divas and Unsung.

Moving on, TV One will officially launch Everybody Hates Chris (which they previewed on New Year's Day) on Friday, Jan. 17 with a marathon from 8pm-2am. The sitcom will then air every Friday night from 8-9pm and encores will be seen later that night from 11pm-12am. As we mentioned, Chris can also be seen on UP Mon-Thurs from 11pm-12am and Saturday afternoons. I think we now officially covered all the details on Chris on TV One and UP! Enjoy!

Dedicated to expanding its network and channel brands and content across multiple platforms and devices, Disney/ABC Television Group announced that the new "WATCH ABC Family" authenticated service will launch today (Monday, January 6, 2014). Similar to DATG's WATCH ABC and suite of WATCH DISNEY services, the new WATCH ABC Family offering will allow viewers with participating TV subscription services access to 24/7 live viewing of the network, as well as continued on demand access to such popular series as Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, The Fosters, Baby Daddy and Melissa & Joey at home and on the go via a wide array of devices. At launch today, the WATCH ABC Family app will be available on iOS and Kindle Fire devices, as well as select Android tablets, including Samsung Galaxy devices. Select Android phones, as well as Blackberry and Windows 8 devices, will be able to access the WATCH ABC Family service later this month. Viewers can also access WATCH ABC Family online at WATCHABCFamily.com.

Also, in support of DATG's growing authenticated WATCH initiative, the availability of free streaming episodes from ABC and ABC Family will change beginning January 6. To watch the most current episodes of ABC and ABC Family shows the day after they air, viewers will log in to the WATCH ABC and WATCH ABC Family apps, WATCHABC.com, WATCHABCFamily.com and hulu.com with their subscription TV account usernames and passwords. Following an advantaged viewing window for subscription TV customers, on demand episodes will be unlocked for all WATCH ABC users eight days after their initial broadcast. On demand episodes of ABC Family series will only be available to verified customers of participating subscription TV providers.

ENCORE networks are about to launch classic TV hits, including many sitcoms, to their networks starting Monday, Dec. 2, 2013! We already have classic westerns airing on ENCORE Western, but now two ENCORE networks will rebrand and add sitcoms as a part of their schedule. Already a favorite for consumers as the most widely subscribed premium pay TV service in the United States with 35 million subscribers, Starz has strengthened ENCORE and its family of thematic multiplex channels and service offerings. The new ENCORE pack of channels bring programming enhancements to further super-serve the nation's evolving demographics and focus on groups who over-index in viewing within the premium pay TV category. First up, ENCORE BLACK will be the new name of the current ENCORE DRAMA network. Showcasing popular programming for the African-American community, ENCORE BLACK will bring a terrific combination of commercial-free premium movie content, comedy such as Martin Lawrence's 1st Amendment Stand Up, and the introduction of TV favorites including: What's Happening!!, Diff'rent Strokes, 227, and Amen. The sitcoms will be commercial-free and unedited! ENCORE BLACK will be originated in HD and service the strong viewership from the African-American community, which has historically over-indexed on premium channel viewership. The December 2 launch will spotlight Academy Award® nominee, actor Samuel L. Jackson with films such as Unbreakable, Losing Isaiah, Freedomland, One Eight Seven, and more. Back to the sitcoms, they will launch in primetime on Monday, Dec. 2 with the premiere episode of Sony's Diff'rent Strokes at 8pm, followed by back-to-back episodes of Universal's Amen at 8:30pm and 9pm. '70s classic What's Happening!! from Sony Pictures will round out the night at 9:30pm. These sitcoms will air in primetime in these time periods every weekday, but starting Tuesday, Dec. 3 additional airings will air from 6-8pm in the same order. They will be encores of the previous night in primetime. Starting on New Year's Day (Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014), 227 will join the ENCORE BLACK line-up and will air at 8:30pm and encore the next day at 6:30pm, taking one of Amen's airings. All times are Eastern.

But wait, there's more! Another ENCORE network will add sitcoms starting Dec. 2. ENCORE CLASSIC will be the new name for the current ENCORE LOVE. It is a new addition to the ENCORE HD channel portfolio, ENCORE CLASSIC will be a favorite for the Baby Boomer set, with a mix of generational evergreen movie favorites and classic TV series. Leveraging the deep and broad ENCORE movie library of new release and favorite hits, ENCORE CLASSIC will add TV hits, Murphy Brown, Magnum, P.I., and Night Court to its programming slate. The TV hits will be commercial-free and unedited! Classic movie titles will air every night with a new favorite every day of the month at 9PM ET/PT. Films include Kramer vs. Kramer, American Graffiti, Independence Day, Breaking Away, Stand By Me, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Good Will Hunting, Tootsie, Basic Instinct, The Notebook, and more. Back to the sitcoms, they will launch with in primetime on Monday, Dec. 2 with the premiere episode of Murphy Brown at 7pm, followed by Night Court at 7:30pm. Then Universal-owned drama Magnum, P.I. will round out the night at 8pm leading into the movies at 9pm. These classic TV hits will air in primetime in these time periods every weekday, but starting Tuesday, Dec. 3 additional airings will air from 5-7pm in the same order. They will be encores of the previous night in primetime. And finally on New Year's Day (Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014), Magnum P.I. will have a New Year's marathon on ENCORE CLASSIC starting at 2am on the night of New Year's Eve and will last until 12:20am on New Year's Day. Also on the night of New Year's Eve, the pilot episodes of Murphy Brown and Night Court will air in the 1am hour leading into the Magnum P.I. marathon. All times are Eastern.

This is certainly great news for classic TV fans. Fans can watch their favorite series without commercial interruption and even more importantly, unedited! ENCORE told SitcomsOnline that they "anticipate acquiring more sitcom titles in the future." We are not sure if these are exclusive deals, but 227 is starting a month later. ENCORE says that they "cannot shed any additional light on the contractual specifics for each series including terms of exclusivity." Currently, 227 is airing on GMC on basic cable. As for the other series, only What's Happening!! is on basic cable on TV One. Diff'rent Strokes is airing on digital broadcast on Antenna TV, as is Magnum P.I. on COZI TV. Warner Bros.-owned Night Court and Murphy Brown are not airing anywhere else. In addition, the December 2 roll-out will also feature brand new channel logos, graphics and audio package as part of a fresh, new on-air style representative of the newly improved and fortified ENCORE channels and services. Stay with us for continued updates on ENCORE's new networks and series. For now, find out where these networks on your service by visiting their website.

Moving on, Debmar-Mercury has sold Celebrity Name Game, a nationally syndicated pop culture game show hosted by The Late, Late Show's Craig Ferguson from co-producers FremantleMedia North America and Debmar-Mercury, to Tribune Broadcasting stations covering 40% of the U.S., including seven of the top-10 markets. U.S. distributor Debmar-Mercury has provided a firm fall 2014 launch for the half-hour strip, which will air on Tribune stations including WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles and WGN Chicago. We first announced this new series a few weeks ago, but now clearances have been already been made. Courteney Cox and David Arquette's Coquette Productions (Cougar Town) teamed with veteran showrunner Scott St. John (Deal or No Deal), as well as Laura Robinson and Richard Gerrits of North 44 Productions, to develop the fast-paced game show in which celebrities team with contestants to identify famous names, including actors, singers, athletes, pop culture figures, politicians and even cartoon characters. Stay with us for continued updates, especially in January at NATPE and as we get closer to next Fall.