SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

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.

Antenna TV is adding some more sitcoms this July to its line-up. All of the series come from Sony Pictures Television and will be added the week of Monday, July 16. Archie Bunker's Place and What's Happening Now!! will be airing Monday-Friday at 7:30pm and 5pm, respectively, while The Paul Lynde Show and Lotsa Luck will be joining the weekend schedule on Saturdays at 6:30pm & 7pm. Welcome Back, Kotter is back on weekdays, too, airing at 3pm. Archie Bunker's Place is also going to air late nights at 2am on Saturday nights. Barney Miller and Alice also will get additional airings, as they get added to Saturday late nights, while Soap gets an additional Sunday airing. Full list of changes are below:

– Welcome Back, Kotter added at 3p Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Maude)
– What's Happening Now!! added at 5p Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Gimme a Break!)
– Gimme a Break! moved to 5:30p Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Webster)
– Three's Company moved to 7p Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Family Ties)
– Archie Bunker's Place added at 7:30p Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Three's Company)
– Family Ties moved to 2a Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Hogan Family)
– The Hogan Family moved to 2:30a Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Head of the Class)
– Head of the Class moved to 3a Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Silver Spoons)
– Silver Spoons moved to 3:30a Mon-Fri starting 7/16 (replaces Sabrina)
– The Paul Lynde Show added at 6:30p Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Hazel)
– Lotsa Luck added at 7p Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Dennis the Menace)
– Barney Miller added at 1:30a Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Mork & Mindy)
– Archie Bunker's Place added at 2a Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Welcome Back, Kotter)
– Alice added at 2:30a Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Maude)
– Mork and Mindy moved to 3a Saturday starting 7/21 (replaces Partridge Family)
– Soap added at 11p Sunday starting 7/22 (replaces Benson)

Fox pilot Mixtape wasn't picked up to series by Fox during the upfront in May, but now Netflix has picked up the pilot to series. Netflix has ordered 10 episodes. We all have our own soundtracks. Mixtape is a romantic musical drama that looks at the love stories connecting a diverse, disparate group of people in contemporary Los Angeles through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds. The series stars Callie Hernandez as Nellie, Jahmil French as Dante, Jenna Dewan as Joanna, Campbell Scott as Frank, Madeleine Stowe as Margot, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Annette, Megan Ferguson as Gigi, Evan Whitten as Barry and the role of Sam will be re-cast. The series will be produced by Joshua Safran, Megan Ellison, Sue Naegle, and Ali Krug from Annapurna Pictures in association with 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios.

FamilyNet's Fall 2014 schedule is in! They have announced a five-year agreement with Sony Pictures Television, which now has a minority stake with the network. Effective Monday (Sept. 1), the entire line-up will be classic TV shows from the Sony library. The weekday line-up begins with laughs with back-to-back episodes of I Dream of Jeannie at 8am, followed by two episodes of Bewitched at 9. Then from 10am-2pm, it's classic Sony dramas with TJ Hooker, Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, and Fantasy Island in 70s/80s action. The late afternoon block will feature more sitcoms, this time from the '70s and also urban sitcoms, starting at 2pm with an episode each of All in the Family, Barney Miller, Malcolm & Eddie, followed by two episodes of Good Times and an episode of What's Happening Now!! at 4:30pm. And if you miss all of that from 8am-5pm, they will do it all over again from 5pm-2am. Paid programming will close the night out from 2am-8am.

With the addition of all of these shows, current series Highway to Heaven and The Beverly Hillbillies will be leaving the schedule. Moving on to weekends, there will be a few more series! Saturdays from 7am-2pm will feature series, starting with the short-lived Michael Strahan sitcom Brothers from 7-8am, followed by a two-hour The Monkees block from 8-10am, an hour each of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched and then an episode each of dramas Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island. Sony movies will air at 2pm & 4pm, leading into an evening block of sitcoms with All in the Family and Barney Miller from 6-8pm. Movies return in primetime from 8pm-12am into late night sitcoms Good Times and Brothers from 12-2am. And finally on Sundays, Brothers will air from 7-8am into religious programming from 8am-2pm. The afternoon movies will air at 2 and 4pm on Sunday, too. The Sunday early evening block will feature TJ Hooker and Charlie's Angels at 5 & 7pm, leading into movies in primetime from 8pm-12am. Urban sitcoms Malcolm & Eddie and Good Times round out Sunday night from 12-2am. This is excellent news for us sitcom fans...keep it right here for continued updates on FamilyNet's line-up!


It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Sept. 1-5, 2014, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVRs (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!


Monday, September 1, 2014

• Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Watch Jennifer on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. There's a Friends reunion with Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) - Joseph is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Derek Waters (Married to the Kellys) - Derek appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Judy Greer (Mad Love/Arrested Development/Miss Guided) - Tune in to see Judy on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
• Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) - Kym is a guest on a repeat of The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
• Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) - Yvette guest co-hosts a repeat of ABC's The Chew at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
• Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) - Drew is a guest on a repeat of @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Patricia Heaton (The Middle/Back to You/Everybody Loves Raymond - Patricia sells a treasure from The Middle on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Debi Mazar (Entourage/Working) - Debi and her husband, Gabriele Corcos, share their passion for Tuscan food and each other on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
• Jane Leeves (Hot in Cleveland/Frasier/Throb) - Jane appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.

• Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Catch Allison on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• David Koechner (The Office/Hank) - David stops by @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• George Lopez (Saint George/George Lopez) - George appears on a repeat of The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
• Albert Tsai (Trophy Wife) - Albert is a guest on a repeat of The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
• Seth Green (Dads/Greg the Bunny) - Seth talks about his new film The Identical on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
• Marlon Wayans (The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• Brooklyn Decker (Friends with Better Lives) - Tune in to see Brooklyn on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) - Keke is a guest on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.

• Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Watch Terry on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• J.B. Smoove (The Millers/Curb Your Enthusiasm/'Til Death) - J.B. appears on a repeat of The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
• Jay Thomas (Cheers/Love & War/Murphy Brown) - Jay is a guest on a repeat of The Better Show, so check your local listings.
• Allison Williams (Girls) - NBC's Today goes behind the scenes of Peter Pan with Allison Williams in the 10am hour.

• Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Catch Larry on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program) - Sarah visits Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Ray appears on a repeat of The Arsenio Hall Show, so check your local listings.
• Chris D'Elia (Undateable/Whitney) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Chris and Whitney are guests on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Patrick Duffy (Step by Step/Welcome to Sweden) - Patrick chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Leah Remini (The King of Queens/Family Tools) - Leah appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Kirstie Alley (Kirstie/Veronica's Closet/Cheers) - Kirstie throws down a figure-friendly chicken dinner and gives the inside scoop on her weight-loss journey on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• George Lopez (Saint George/George Lopez) - George is a guest on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• Judy Greer (Married/Arrested Development/Miss Guided and Nat Faxon (Married/Ben & Kate) - Judy and Nat are guests on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• The Cast of The League - Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Steve Rannazzisi and Jon LaJoie will be on SI Now at 1pm.

• Tina Fey (30 Rock) - Watch Tina on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Seth Green (Dads/Family Guy/Greg the Bunny) - Seth visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - Jennifer chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Juliette Lewis (I Married Dora) - Juliette is a guest on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings. She will also be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET.
• Joely Fisher (Ellen/'Til Death) - Joely appears on a repeat of Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Amanda Fuller (Last Man Standing) - Amanda talks about Lifetime's The Brittany Murphy Story on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.

Centric has rescheduled its What's Happening Now!! 22-episode marathon for Friday, Feb. 21, 2014! The marathon was previously scheduled for January 1, but Centric decided to reschedule for a later date. And now that time has come and they will air the series for the first time on Feb. 21 from 9am-8pm - an 11-hour / 22 episode stunt. The complete 22-episode first season will air of this 80's revival of What's Happening!! We guess if the marathon does well we could see more marathons of this 3-season sitcom or perhaps it even could be added to the regular line-up? If you're a fan of the show, we suggest you watch the marathon on Feb. 21 on Centric. In the series, Roger "Raj" Thomas returns to live in the old neighborhood he grew up in to start his married life accompanied by his bride Nadine, a social worker. When his mother remarried and moved out of the state, she sold them the house. Appointed caretakers to the property when Mrs. Thomas moved away, Dwayne and Shirley drive by the house and assume that someone has broken into the Thomas home when they see lights on inside, completely unaware that Raj has moved in. After everyone finds out, they get a warm welcome from friends Shirley and Dwayne, but the cold shoulder from Rerun. Tune in Friday, Feb. 21 on Centric!

A couple days ago we mentioned that ION Television has acquired reruns of Blue Bloods, now we have more news on the series airing elsewhere. CBS Corporation announced a multi-platform syndication model for Blue Bloods, licensing off-network episodes of the series to distribution partners in broadcast, cable and subscription video on demand (SVOD). For subscription video on demand (SVOD), CBS has signed a non-exclusive content licensing agreement with Hulu Plus, which will offer its subscribers the first four seasons of Blue Bloods, beginning later this year. CBS also announced a new licensing agreement with WGN America, which will present off-network episodes of Blue Bloods exclusively on basic cable, also starting later this year. And as previously announced, ION Broadcasting has acquired the exclusive weekday, primetime syndication rights and will broadcast previous seasons of Blue Bloods on its stations in Fall 2014.

• Jaleel White Official Website 
• Jaleel White on Twitter 
• Jaleel White on Facebook 
• Jaleel White on IMDb 
• Jaleel White on Wikipedia

Centric will be closing out the year and starting out the year with marathons. Starting Friday, Dec. 20 there will be sitcoms, dramas and even a movie stunt. Kicking it off will be Girlfriends on Dec. 20. The weekend of Dec. 21-22 will have a Cosby Show marathon. Then the week of December 23 will have sitcoms from 9am-8pm. First up will be The Wayans Bros. on Monday, The Parkers Tuesday, The Jamie Foxx Show Wednesday, In Living Color Thursday and even a 227 sighting on Friday, Dec. 27. 12/27 is close enough to 227, I guess. Then the weekend of Dec. 28-29 will have a marathon of The Steve Harvey Show. On Monday, Dec. 30, spend the day with Bernie Mac from 9am-8pm. New Year's Eve will have a movie marathon from 9am-4am, while on New Year's Day Centric welcomes in 2014 with What's Happening Now!! for the very first time! Yep, the follow-up series from the '70s sitcom What's Happening!!, premieres on Centric on Jan. 1 with a marathon from 9am-8pm. The complete 22-episode first season will air of this 80's revival. Then the marathons end with dramas from Jan. 2-5, with New York Undercover on Thursday, Jan. 2 and Friday, Jan. 3 from 9am-8pm both days, while a weekend marathon of The A-Team ends the week.

Will What's Happening Now!! join the Centric line-up as a regular? Stay tuned! We hope it does, as we can see the parent series now on Encore Black and TV One, so it would be nice to see the revival series on TV again! The more Raj, Dwayne, and Rerun, the better!

Ever wonder what your life would be like without your weekly dose of insane talk show host and comedian Eric Andre? Worry no more! Eric Andre (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) and his laid back co-host Hannibal Buress (SNL, 30 Rock) will be back for a third season of The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim in 2014. Season two of The Eric Andre Show kept you on the edge of your seat with guest stars Dominic Monaghan, James Van Der Beek, Brian McKnight, Eric Balfour, Henry Rollins, and T-Pain. Also one of the top shows in the late night talk show race, The Eric Andre Show grew double-digits in ratings from season one and out-delivered the rest of the late night talk show competitors (on broadcast and cable) with Adults/Men 18-24 in its second season. Expect just as many insane antics, completely pointless interviews and disorderly conduct with season three. Tune in this Friday night as Eric welcomes his guests Scott Porter and Brutus the Barber Beefcake at 12:30am on Adult Swim.

SitcomsOnline: After Grady was over, the following TV season (1976-77) you were cast as Dwayne on ABC's new sitcom What's Happening!! How did you get the role and how did this change your life? I think females were going crazy over you, for sure! Despite the series only lasting three seasons, it was very popular and was huge in syndication after the network run was over in 1980. The show was as popular in syndication as some other series that lasted three seasons or less like Gilligan's Island, Batman and The Munsters. I certainly think What's Happening!! belongs on that list!
Haywood Nelson: When Grady was canceled Whitman Mayo came to my mother and I and said there was a show he wanted me to audition for. That it was very special and I was perfect for it. They required that we depart for New York ASAP. The audition was packed with hopefuls. The show was the TV series of the movie Cooley High which is an all-time favorite film of mine. That and The Big Chill were two at the top of my list. Auditioning was a breeze since I knew the film characters so well. It was only a matter of weeks and I was back on a stage in Los Angeles. The show was quickly being retitled. They asked for names that were hip. Everyone at the table was shouting out ideas. They wanted something popular and hip, I was from New York and a teenager. The answer was easy for me, "What's Happenin." They loved it and named the show What's Happening!!
My personal life for the most part remained the same. Unless in public. There, all anonymity was gone. That took some adjusting to. I also had a lot less time to play drums, draw, or ride motocross. All that are sacrifices temporarily acceptable to me with that type of career path. Also acting in What's Happening!! I saw as an opportunity to make a difference with break out influence. Hence the "Hay HAY Hay." While the girls went wild I was less interested in driving popularity with them as I was interested in seeing more black faces on television.

SitcomsOnline: It seemed the cast, particularly you, Ernest Thomas, Fred Berry, Shirley Hemphill and Danielle Spencer, had great chemistry on this show. It was definitely an appealing show for all ages, particularly younger audiences. Can you share some memorable moments you had with them during this era? Also, what did you love about the character of Dwayne Nelson (how cool that they named Dwayne's last name the same as yours!)? 
Haywood Nelson: The chemistry on the show was magical. We instantly became family. The best memories are the blooper worthy show stopping laughing fits. What I loved about the character Dwayne was his honesty. He felt his own sense of style and was committed to getting it out. Yet nothing took a backseat to his innocent common sense, unless he got excited where he was prone to cluelessness. Fun to play!

SitcomsOnline: The series was canceled after its third season despite still decent ratings and ratings even going up overall from the previous season. I know there was some behind-the-scenes issues that were going on this season and probably had more of a say ultimately in the cancelation. I don't want to point any fingers at anyone or anything, but how was it like during this time and did you think the show would be actually canceled? I'm sure fans, and the cast as well, were disappointed that there was no fourth season.
Haywood Nelson: I did not think the series would be cancelled. Behind-the-scenes chicanery aside, the show was very popular. I thought at most there would be some measure of conduct regulation imposed. I never thought it would be cancelled with the strong ratings and statistics it maintained.

SitcomsOnline: So after What's Happening!! was finished in 1979, you focused on technology and were quite successful. I know you told me before when we first met that you always were interested in technology. Can you talk about how this interest came about and how you got into that area after What's Happening!! finished its three-season run?
Haywood Nelson: I've always had an interest in technology. Starting with motorcycle, aerospace, and architecture. The architecture drove me into Electronics Engineering which led to Telecommunications, Satellite Broadcasting, and the first Dotcom. By the time the internet bubble burst I had been prominent in several tech start-ups. Over the course of many years struggling to get rebounded I've partnered with others whose journey mirrors my own and we've built two very strong efforts. One in traditional media and the other in 3D gaming and service entertainment commerce.

SitcomsOnline: Then six years after What's Happening!! finished its run, a new follow-up series in 1985 was born titled What's Happening Now!! Everyone came back basically, except Mabel King, and I thought the show was very funny! It was so great to see Raj, Dwayne and Rerun as young adults. How did this show come about and were you reluctant in doing it since you had moved on to the tech side? I think the ratings were so good in syndication, the series deserved coming back. And I really liked that they made Dwayne interested in computers...was that something you suggested since you yourself are interested?
Haywood Nelson: What's Happening Now!! was developed from an effort that Ernest Thomas put out. I was in engineering school when I was contacted. I was very hesitant to leave my junior year of school, yet was not comfortable with anyone else reprising my role. So I decided to make a go of it against my better judgment. It was the producer's idea to make Dwayne a computer technician. Mostly I believe because they didn't know what else to write for the character. So they emulated my life. Not the most creative thing to do but it made for easy moving through the season.

SitcomsOnline: Basically after What's Happening Now!! was over in 1988 you went back into the technology side and are continuing doing great stuff in this area on shows like Dr. Oz Show. Do you keep in touch with the cast these days like Ernest Thomas and Danielle Spencer? It's truly a shame that we lost Fred Berry (next year will be ten years already), Shirley Hemphill and Mabel King all within a few years (1999-2003) of each other. Did you keep in touch with them and can you describe some recent moments you had with them? And finally, would you ever consider doing a sitcom again and do you have some favorite sitcoms that are airing today?
Haywood Nelson: When What's Happening Now!! completed its syndication run I jumped fast into film production camera assisting. That led to screenwriting, and Film Distribution International. Today it's the same, I am a lighting tech, stagehand in general For Late Night With Jimmy Fallon and The Dr. Oz Show. Additionally I am a founding partner in two companies. One as an Executive Producer/Writer for television show creation, and the other as a Creative Executive for a start-up gaming company with a mobile consumer services application.
I'd describe my relationship with the cast of What's Happening!! as a family. I miss Mabel, Shirley, and Fred regularly, and speak with Ernest and Danielle frequently. The three of us were at an autograph signing not so long ago and the fun never stops with us. It was antics and jokes as always. It's nice too to be enterprising together at these signings.
My experience on What's Happening!! was such a good experience that I would most certainly consider doing another show in the future. Perhaps appear on one of the shows we are executive producing at our company. Unfortunately my schedule doesn't allow for much television viewing beyond my research for a project.

We definitely appreciate Mr. Nelson for taking the time to give us an interview! He is a very nice man and we hope nothing but success for his future projects! Follow him on Twitter! That'll do it for this installment of "Seven Questions," stay tuned next time for another brand new interview!

It's time to get "cozi" just in time for the holidays as COZI TV is set to have a soft launch on Thursday, December 20 through Monday, December 31, before it officially launches on January 1 with a regular schedule! COZI TV, as we reported, is replacing digital subchannel Nonstop on the NBC Owned Television Stations. So if you're in NBC's ten owned markets and have Nonstop, you'll have COZI TV! The network will be airing some Universal-owned series, Charlie's Angels from Sony Pictures and a lot of public domain series. The soft launch will include six days of Christmas episodes from Dec. 20-25 and will start at 6am on Thursday, Dec. 20 with five Christmas episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet from 6am-8:30am. The holiday fun continues on Dec. 20 with The Lone Ranger at 8:30am, back-to-back Lassie & The Beverly Hillbillies, then The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Ruggles, another The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Christmas episode, and Liberace Christmas at 12:30pm. At 1pm & 2pm, we have two holiday episodes of Highway to Heaven, then catch Betty White in Date with the Angels, followed by another The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Christmas episode. The 4pm hour will have the animated special A Snow White Christmas, followed by Casper's Haunted Christmas from 5-6:30pm. At 6:30pm, catch the COZI TV Preview Show where we will see wacky slow-mo stunts to memorable catchphrases, their all-star panel of hilarious commentators count down the top ten funniest moments from iconic shows. The 7pm hour will feature holiday episodes of Sherlock Holmes and Petticoat Junction.

In primetime on Dec. 20, encores of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet air in the 8pm hour followed by another Christmas episode at 9pm. At 9:30pm, Racket Squad will air its Christmas episode. Another holiday episode of The Lone Ranger followed at 10pm, followed by Roy Rogers Show and Four Star Playhouse. At 11:30pm, the COZI TV Preview Show will get an encore airing. In late night on this night we will have Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Lone Ranger movie, Sherlock Holmes, Petticoat Junction, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and another airing of COZI TV Preview Show at 4:30am. We won't detail the rest of the holiday episodes until Dec. 25, but you'll see shows like The Red Skelton Show, Meet Corliss Archer, He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special, and many movies. From Dec. 26-31, you'll get a preview of what is to come on COZI TV with various episodes of series such as The Lucy Show, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Lassie, Roy Rogers Show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Red Skelton Show and more. New Year's Eve will see the premieres of The Virginian, Alias Smith & Jones and Marcus Welby in the morning and as part of their New Year's Eve marathon of classics, with Banacek, McMillan & Wife and McCloud in primetime.

View the COZI TV "soft launch" schedule (Dec. 20-31). We will detail the COZI TV actual launch schedule very soon. A hint: Charlie's Angels will air in primetime on Tuesdays, rotating with series like Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar Man. Stay with us for that! Get cozi!