SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

by Vincent

This season, with a handful of unexpectedly popular shows on network television, I've been seeing a lot of articles touting ratings for new shows. For example, it often gets shared that Abbott Elementary is ABC's highest rated sitcom in years, outrating even the last few seasons of Modern Family after all platform data is in. The ratings that typically get shared include multiplatform delivery a month out (L+35/MP35 ratings) and seem to be the most common audience delivery used in network "fluff" pieces touting their shows' ratings. There are also a lot of articles quoting Hulu audience delivery. However, how relevant are these numbers? At one time, digital/streaming and DVR ratings were considered inferior to live broadcast ratings due to the fact that viewers could skip or watch less ads, making those views less profitable to advertisers.

However, linear live+same day broadcast ratings have gotten so low that it seems like perhaps the days of that being true are over. So what do networks use to determine what shows to renew and cancel? At one time, you could predict pretty easily what shows would be making the cut next year based on their ratings, which occasional "in between" shows (once called "bubble shows"). Now, though, it isn't as simple. There are so many factors to ratings, from digital/streaming numbers to live+SD numbers to DVR numbers to licensing agreements to critical acclaim to what company owns each show, that it's a bit of a mystery sometimes what shows make it and what shows don't. Ratings certainly aren't irrelevant, and they still make probably the bulk of the decisions. But much like with streaming series, predicting what shows will be renewed and what shows are cancelled is much less if an exact science than before. And networks are looking at broadcast series as streaming series as well.

Netflix's upcoming new comedy Blockbuster has started production and has added new cast members! Tyler Alvarez, Madeleine Arthur, and Olga Merediz join as series regulars, while JB Smoove and Kamaia Fairburn are recurring. They all join series stars Randall Park and Melissa Fumero in the new comedy series. Ten episodes have been ordered. An ensemble comedy that takes place in the last Blockbuster Video in America, that explores what it takes - and more specifically who it takes - for a small business to succeed against all odds.

Actress Farrah Forke, who starred as Alex Lambert on Wings, has died. She died of cancer at her home in Houston, Texas, on February 25. Ms. Forke was 54.

Forke starred as Alex Lambert on 35 episodes of the NBC sitcom Wings from 1992 to 1995. Alex Lambert is a helicopter pilot who moves to Nantucket to start her own helicopter tour business. She has a relationship with Brian Hackett (Steven Weber). Forke joined the series as a recurring cast member in the fourth season (1992-1993) before becoming a regular in the fifth season (1993-1994). She made a final guest appearance in the sixth season. The cast also included Tim Daly, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, Thomas Haden Church (1990-1995), Tony Shalhoub (1991-1997) and Amy Yasbeck (1994-1997).

She starred as Carey on the short-lived 1995 CBS sitcom Dweebs. Carey is an office manager for a Seattle computer software company called Cyberbyte. The series also starred Peter Scolari, Corey Feldman, David Kaufman, Stephen Tobolowsky and Adam Biesk.

Forke starred as Nikki Harkin on the short-lived 1996-1997 NBC sitcom Mr. Rhodes. Nikki Harkin is Tom Rhodes (Tom Rhodes) high school fantasy girl who is a guidance counselor at Harkin Academy, a small-town prep school. The series also starred Stephen Tobolowsky, Ron Glass, Jessica Stone, Shaun Weiss, Lindsay Sloane, Travis Wester and Alexandra Holden.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included A Whole New Ballgame, Ned and Stacey and Jenny.

She had a recurring role as Mayson Drake, an attorney who considers Superman (Dean Cain) a vigilante, but holds a candle for Clark Kent (Dean Cain), on four episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from 1994 to 1995. Her other drama guest appearances included Fantasy Island (1998) and three episodes of Party of Five as Tracy in 1999.

Forke provided the voice of Big Barda / Barda Free on two episodes of Batman Beyond in 2000 and one episode of Justice League Unlimited in 2005. She provided a voice for a 1997 episode of Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man. She was the voice woman of several companies, including Cadillac and Arby's.

Her film credits included Disclosure (1994), Heat (1995), Ground Control (1998) and Hitman's Run (1999).

She is survived by her two sons, Chuck and Wit Forke; her mother and stepfather, Beverly and Chuck Talmage; her three sisters, Paige Inglis, Jennifer Sailor and Maggie Talmage; and her best friend, Mike Peterson.

Ms. Forke was funny and memorable as Alex Lambert on Wings. She later took a break from the acting community to raise her twin sons in Houston. We thank her for the laughs and entertainment she brought us on television. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our Wings message board. View photos in our galleries.

As we mentioned a few months back, Nick at Nite has acquired the rights to Young Sheldon. The comedy series will begin airing this Monday (Nov. 30). The first night it will air from 9pm-12am, before settling into the every night from 9pm-10:30pm slot leading into a night of Friends from 10:30pm-5am. Mom will air from 5am-6am and Nick at Nite concludes with a half-hour of Full House at 6am. Young Sheldon will also have a marathon on Saturday, Dec. 5 from 9pm-5:30am.

In the single camera, half-hour comedy Young Sheldon, viewers get the chance to meet the iconic, eccentric and extraordinary Sheldon Cooper in childhood in East Texas, as the young once-in-a-generation mind (series star Iain Armitage) embarks on his innocent, awkward and hopeful journey toward the man he will become in The Big Bang Theory. In addition to Armitage, Young Sheldon stars Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, and Raegan Revord, with Annie Potts (Ghostbusters) and Jim Parsons, who narrates as the voice of Sheldon. Created by Chuck Lorre & Steven Molaro, the series is produced by Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc., in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Pluto TV once again added more 24/7 free channels to its lineup. As of November 24, Pluto TV added six more channels to its platform, adding over 60 seasons of classic TV series. Here are the throwback shows you'll find on Pluto TV as of earlier this week:

Garry Marshall
Ayyyy! Flashback to simpler (and funnier) times with the 24/7 channel that brings you three classic sitcoms created by the legendary Garry Marshall. Titles on this channel will include: Happy Days (11 seasons), Laverne & Shirley (8 seasons), and Mork & Mindy (4 seasons).

Wings
Welcome to Nantucket and thank you for choosing Sandpiper Air. Watch Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, Thomas Haden Church, and Tony Shaloub in the hit sitcom from the creators of Cheers, 24 hours a day (8 seasons).

Family Ties
The Emmy-winning sitcom that defined the '80s and made Michael J. Fox a superstar is now streaming on Pluto TV all day, every day. Also starring Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Justine Bateman, and Tina Yothers (7 seasons).

The Love Boat
Come aboard, we're expecting you. The crew of the S.S. Pacific Princess is here for you and their all-star passengers 24 hours a day on the one channel that brings you the iconic TV classic (9 seasons).

The Beverly Hillbillies
Y'all come back now to the original fish-out-of-water sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies! Watch Jed, Granny, Jethro, and Elly May in the classic comedy, now available any time of day on their own channel (9 seasons).

Mission: Impossible
Your mission, if you choose to accept it: watch a channel dedicated to the original '60s spy thriller series starring Peter Graves, Martin Landau, and Leonard Nimoy. And it won’t self-destruct in five seconds (7 seasons).

Actor Tom Lester, who was best known for his role as Eb Dawson in Green Acres, has died. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease on April 20 in the Nashville, Tennessee home of his fiancée and long-term caregiver, Jackie Peters. Mr. Lester was 81.

Lester starred as Eb Dawson in the 1965-1971 CBS sitcom Green Acres. Eb Dawson was the naive, wide-eyed, yet smart-mouthed young farmhand to Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) and Lisa Douglas (Eva Gabor). He habitually addressed the Douglases as "Dad" and "Mom", much to Oliver's consternation. Lester won the role over 400 other actors after a screen test. He got the role because he was the only one who could milk a cow in real life since he grew up on a farm in Mississippi. He appeared in 150 of the 170 episodes. He missed the first half of the 1967–1968 season when he suffered mononucleosis. The cast also included Pat Buttram, Alvy Moore, Frank Patterson, Barbara Pepper (1965-1969), Frank Cady, Sid Melton (1966-1969) and Mary Grace Canfield (1966-1971).

He appeared as Eb Dawson in six episodes of Petticoat Junction in 1966-1967 and three episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies in 1968. In 1990, he reunited with Albert, Gabor and the other surviving cast members in the CBS TV movie Return to Green Acres.

Some of his other TV guest appearances included Love, American Style, Marcus Welby, M.D., Little House on the Prairie, Knight Rider and Santa Barbara.

Lester appeared as Riley in the 1974 film Benji. He played the adult Pete Maravich in the 1991 film The Pistol: The Birth of a Legend. He appeared as Cousin Jake in the 1995 film Gordy, which was about a talking pig. His final role was in the 2014 film Campin' Buddies. He also served as a writer and producer of the film.

He was a farmer and for many years had been a Christian speaker who traveled the nation, preaching a message of faith and obedience.

Survivors include his brother, Michael; great-nieces Haleigh and McKenzie; great-great-niece Scarlett; and great-great-nephew Wes.

Mr. Lester was very funny and likable as Eb Dawson in Green Acres. He seemed like a very nice man off the screen just like his character. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our Green Acres message board. View photos in our galleries.

Emmy-winning writer Roger Beatty worked on The Carol Burnett Show and Mama's Family. He died on April 6 at his home in Palm Desert, California, of prostate cancer. Mr. Beatty was 87.

He won five Emmy Awards (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1978) for his work on The Carol Burnett Show. He created his first sketch for Carol Burnett in 1969.

Beatty directed three episodes and wrote an episode of the variety series The Tim Conway Show in 1980 and 1981. He co-wrote the feature film The Billion Dollar Hobo (1977), which starred Tim Conway. He directed 35 episodes and wrote an episode of Mama's Family in 1983 and 1984.

Television writer and producer Saul Turteltaub worked on 23 sitcoms, including That Girl, Sanford and Son and What's Happening!!. He died on April 9 at his home in Beverly Hills, California. Mr. Turteltaub was 87.

Turteltaub worked as a producer on That Girl from 1969 to 1971. He also directed 6 episodes and wrote 26 episodes of the series. The series starred Marlo Thomas, Ted Bessell, Lew Parker, Bernie Kopell and Rosemary DeCamp.

His sitcom producing credits included The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Sanford and Son, Sanford Arms, What's Happening!!, E/R (1984-1985), You Again?, Throb and Baby Talk.

Some of his sitcom writing credits included Hey, Landlord, Accidental Family, A Touch of Grace, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Love, American Style, Lotsa Luck!, Grady, Sanford and Son (23 episodes), Sanford Arms, What's Happening!!, Carter Country, 13 Queens of Boulevard, One in a Million, One of the Boys, Double Trouble, E/R (1984-1985), Foley Square, You Again?, Kate & Allie, Chicken Soup, Baby Talk and Cosby.

He received three Emmy nominations as part of the writing team for That Was the Week that Was in 1964 and 1965 and for The Carol Burnett Show in 1968.

He was interviewed for The Television Academy Foundation: The Interviews on May 12, 2016.

Television producer and writer Thomas L. Miller worked on Perfect Strangers, Full House and Family Matters. He died on April 5 from complications from heart disease in Salisbury, Connecticut. Mr. Miller was 79.

Miller and Edward K. Milkis formed Miller-Milkis Productions in 1969. They worked as producers on Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Blansky's Beauties, Angie, Makin' It and Out of the Blue. Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions sitcoms included Goodtime Girls, Bosom Buddies and Joanie Loves Chachi.

Robert L. Boyett joined the company in 1978. They became Miller-Boyett Productions. Miller-Boyett was responsible for family-oriented hit sitcoms such as Valerie/The Hogan Family, Perfect Strangers, Full House, Family Matters and Step by Step. Some of their other sitcoms included Going Places, The Family Man, Getting By, On Our Own, Meego, Two of a Kind and Fuller House.

Some of his sitcom writing credits included Nanny and the Professor, Me and the Chimp, Out of the Blue, Goodtime Girls, Bosom Buddies, Going Places, Getting By, Meego, Step by Step, Family Matters and Two of a Kind.

He is survived by Bob Boyett, his real-life and professional partner of 40 years.

Actor Brian Dennehy starred in the short-lived sitcoms Star of the Family and The Fighting Fitzgeralds. He died on April 15 of cardiac arrest due to sepsis at his home in New Haven, Connecticut. Mr. Dennehy was 81.

Dennehy starred as Buddy Krebs in the short-lived 1982 ABC sitcom Star of the Family. Buddy Krebs was a fire captain and the father of a 16-year-old singing daughter named Jennie Lee. The series also starred Kathy Maisnik, Michael Dudikoff, Todd Susman, George Deloy, Danny Mora and Judy Pioli.

He starred as "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the short-lived 2001 NBC sitcom The Fighting Fitzgeralds. Fitz was a widower and retired fire captain who wants to enjoy his retirement but shares his home with three grown sons, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter. The series also starred Justin Louis, Connie Britton, Christopher Moynihan, Abigail Mavity, Jon Patrick Walker and Constance Zimmer.

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included M*A*S*H, The Tony Randall Show, Just Shoot Me, 30 Rock and Rules of Engagement. His TV drama credits included Kojak, Police Woman, Dynasty, Cagney & Lacey, Hunter, Miami Vice, Birdland, The West Wing, The Good Wife, Public Morals, The Blacklist and Hap and Leonard. He was nominated for Emmy Awards six times for his television movies.

He was best known for his film work. Some of his credits included First Blood (1982), Gorky Park (1983), Silverado (1985), Cocoon (1985), F/X (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), Tommy Boy (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Knight of Cups (2015). He won Tony Awards in 1999 for Death of a Salesman and in 2003 for Long Day Journey's Into Night.

Actor Danny Goldman starred in The Good Life and Busting Loose. He died in his home in Los Angeles on April 12 from complications of two strokes. Mr. Goldman was 80.

Goldman starred as Nick Dutton, the teenage son of Charles Dutton (David Wayne) and Grace Dutton (Hermione Baddeley), in the 1971-1972 NBC sitcom The Good Life. The series starred Larry Hagman and Donna Mills as Albert and Jane Miller, a middle-class American couple who tire of their mundane existence and decide to seek new employment as the live-in butler and cook of a millionaire industrialist, Charles Dutton.

He starred as Lester Bellman, a childhood friend of Lenny Markowitz (Adam Arkin), in the short-lived 1977 CBS sitcom Busting Loose. The series also starred Barbara Rhodes, Jack Kruschen, Pat Carroll, Steve Nathan, Greg Antonacci, Paul Sylvan, Paul B. Price, Ralph Wilcox and Louise Williams.

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included That Girl, Room 222, The Partridge Family, Love, American Style, Happy Days, Chico and the Man, At Ease!, Soap, Alice, It's a Living, The Love Boat, Webster, The Golden Girls, The Famous Teddy Z, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and The King of Queens.

Goldman was most widely recognized as the voice of Brainy Smurf in Hanna-Barbera's The Smurfs from 1981 to 1989. He played Ozzie the Answer in Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer from 1984 to 1987. He appeared as the inquisitive medical student in the opening scene of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein.

Actor, singer and professional football player (Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Colts) Timothy Brown starred as Spearchucker Jones in the first season of M*A*S*H. He died of complications of dementia on April 4 in Palm Springs, California. Mr. Brown was 82.

Brown appeared as Dr. Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones in the first six episodes of M*A*S*H in 1972. The character was dropped from the show reportedly because the producers learned there were no African American surgeons serving in Korea during the Korean War. He played Cpl. Judson in the 1970 film M*A*S*H. Gary Burghoff, G. (George) Wood, and Corey Fischer were the only other actors to appear in both the film and TV series.

He guest starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970, Benson in 1984 and Gimme a Break! in 1985. Some of his other TV guest appearances included The Wild Wild West, The Young Lawyers, Cade's County, Adam-12, Mission: Impossible, S.W.A.T, Cannon, The Rookies, T.J. Hooker and The Colbys.

Actor David Schramm was best known for playing the role of Roy Biggins in Wings. He died from a heart attack on March 28 in New York City. Mr. Schramm was 73.

Schramm starred as Roy Biggins, the blustery, cantankerous rival airline owner of Aeromass, in the 1990-1997 NBC sitcom Wings. He appeared in all 172 episodes of the series. The series also starred Timothy Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, Rebecca Schull, Thomas Haden Church (1990-1995), Tony Shalhoub (1991-1997), Farrah Forke (1992-1994) and Amy Yasbeck (1994-1997).

He played Joe McGill, the father of Tess McGill (Sandra Bullock), in the short-lived 1990 NBC sitcom Working Girl, which was based on the 1988 film of the same name. The series also starred Nana Visitor, Judy Prescott, George Newbern, Edye Byrde, Tom O'Rourke, Anthony Tyler Quinn and B.J. Ward.

Some of his TV guest appearances included Another World, Spenser: For Hire, The Equalizer, Wiseguy, Jake and the Fatman, Max Monroe and Space Cases. His film credits included Let It Ride (1989), Johnny Handsome (1989) and A Shock to the System (1990).

We thank them all for the laughs and entertainment they brought us during their careers. They will be greatly missed.

This Valentine's Day, love is in the air with Antenna TV's Wings of Love Valentine's Day Marathon, a 17-hour/34 episode Wings marathon beginning at 5am [ET] on Tuesday, February 14. In its 8 seasons, the crew at Sandpiper Air found themselves in an array of romantic entanglements, re-live the love during Antenna TV's Wings of Love Valentine's Day Marathon with the following Wings episodes:

5:00 AM There Once Was a Girl from Nantucket
5:30 AM The Puppetmaster
6:00 AM Friends or Lovers
6:30 AM Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
7:00 AM Love Means Never Having to Say Geronimo
7:30 AM The Naked Truth 8:00 AM The Taming of the Shrew
8:30 AM I Ain't Got No Bunny
9:00 AM Marriage, Italian Style (part 1)
9:30 AM Divorce, American Style (part 2)
10:00 AM Four Dates That Will Live in Infamy
10:30 AM Mathers of the Heart
11:00 AM Two Jerks and a Jill
11:30 AM It's So Nice to Have a Mather Around the House
12:00 PM It May Have Happened One Night
12:30 PM I Love Brian
1:00 PM Date Package Number Seven
1:30 PM Stop in the Name of Love
2:00 PM An Affair to Forget
2:30 PM 2 Good 2 B 4 Gotten
3:00 PM Come Fly with Me
3:30 PM Sleepless in Nantucket
4:00 PM Whose Wife is it Anyway
4:30 PM Spark and How to get it
5:00 PM Is That a Ten Foot Sandwich...
5:30 PM Fools Russian
6:00 PM Hooker, Line and Sinker
6:30 PM 'Bye George
7:00 PM Lady Vanishes
7:30 PM The Lyin' King
8:00 PM Love Overboard
8:30 PM Single and Hating It
9:00 PM Dreamgirl
9:30 PM Heartache Tonight

Continuing its successful partnership with prolific producer Tyler Perry, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced a 38-episode order for a new comedy series from Perry, The Paynes, a spinoff of his popular series House of Payne. The network has also ordered 44 additional episodes of Perry's hit OWN drama series The Haves and the Have Nots and 18 episodes of If Loving You is Wrong. Written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry, The Paynes meets back up with Curtis and Ella Payne (stars LaVan Davis and Cassi Davis reprising their roles) who are trying to enjoy their retirement in Florida only to get roped into a real estate deal that will tumble their lives like clothes in a dryer. The series also stars Jackée Harry, Stephanie Charles, Markice Moore, JD McCrary and Sanai Victoria. The comedy has begun production at the new Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta and will premiere on OWN in 2018.

Additionally, the network announced the final seasons of Perry's popular comedy series Love Thy Neighbor and For Better or Worse, which will both move to Saturday nights. Love Thy Neighbor will premiere its fourth season on Saturday, March 4 with back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. For Better or Worse will premiere its sixth season on Saturday, June 10 with back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. Both series will air through 2017 with 22 and 20 episodes respectively.

We mentioned that Antenna TV has acquired The Addams Family and Wings for this September, but that is not all that is coming to the network. Sources tell SitcomsOnline that Antenna TV has a boat load of of new sitcoms coming in the next 1-2 years, including '70s classic Alice and '90s comedy Murphy Brown. It looks like Antenna TV will be diving into the Warner Bros. library with those two additions. They will also bring back shows that were once on Antenna TV but only aired weekly, like Sony's Benson and Soap. Perhaps they will get more exposure the second time around? Antenna TV is not confirming all of this yet, but we have good sources and a good reason to believe you'll be seeing plenty of new sitcoms joining the lineup soon. Just stay with us for continued updates, as they officially announce it. We're hoping they have also acquired shows like Perfect Strangers, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons and What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!! And bring back Diff'rent Strokes?

Antenna TV currently airs Johnny Carson, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, All in the Family, Barney Miller, The Burns and Allen Show, Bewitched, Dear John, Dennis the Menace, Doogie Howser MD, Evening Shade, Family Ties, Gidget, Good Times, Green Acres, Hazel, I Dream of Jeannie, Jack Benny, The Jeffersons, Leave it to Beaver, Maude, McHale's Navy, Mr. Belvedere. Mister Ed, The Monkees, Mork and Mindy, My Mother the Car, Newhart, One Day at a Time, The Partridge Family, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sanford and Son, Small Wonder, Three's Company and Webster.

Decades Network, the multicast TV network from Weigel Broadcasting Co. and CBS Television Stations, announces a special four-day tribute to the slapstick comic legacy of The Three Stooges. The event is scheduled to air Monday, August 29 through Thursday, September 1, in honor of the 33rd anniversary of The Three Stooges receiving their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To celebrate, Decades will present the broadcast television premiere of a nine-part Three Stooges documentary Hey Moe! Hey Dad!, as well as a collection of The Three Stooges movies. For the first time on broadcast television, Decades presents the premiere of Hey Moe! Hey Dad! from C3 Entertainment, Inc., The Three Stooges® brand owner, and produced by Frank Basile’s Fresh Produce Productions. The nine-part documentary goes behind the comedic curtain and tells the backstory of all the members of The Three Stooges, covering a hundred years from the perspective of narrator Paul Howard, Moe Howard’s son. Besides the rare footage and photos, the docu-series also features interviews with family members, friends and Hollywood celebrities, including Leonard Maltin, Billy West, Pat Cooper, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Decades will present the feature length Stooge antics in The Three Stooges Meet Hercules (1962), The Three Stooges in Orbit (1962), The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963) and Stop! Look! And Laugh! (1960). From the first "Why I oughta," to the next "Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk" to the final "What's the idea?," Decades pays tribute to the comedy genius of The Three Stooges.

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

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

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

The casts of several of the most iconic comedy series of all time will be participating in NBC's special Must See TV: A Tribute to James Burrows, which will air Sunday, Feb. 21 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT. Burrows is recognized as TV's most accomplished sitcom director. Burrows made his TV sitcom directing debut with a 1974 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He is probably best known for his work on Taxi, Cheers, Frasier and Will & Grace, which collectively earned him 10 Emmy Awards and four DGA Awards. He directed the pilots for all four series as well as for such other long-running comedies as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly. The Feb. 21 special will celebrate Burrows' 1,000th episode with his new NBC comedy Crowded, in which he also serves as an executive producer.

Scheduled to be in attendance will be the casts of the following shows. Others may also be added.

· Cheers - Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Bebe Neuwirth, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt (Kirstie Alley, Woody Harrelson in pre-taped segments)
· Friends - Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, David Schwimmer (Matthew Perry in pre-taped segment)
· Frasier - Peri Gilpin, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce (Kelsey Grammer in pre-taped segment)
· Will & Grace - Sean Hayes, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally
· Taxi - Tony Danza, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Christopher Lloyd
· The Big Bang Theory - Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Jim Parsons
· Wings - Tony Shalhoub, Steven Weber
· Mike & Molly - Billy Gardell, Melissa McCarthy, Katy Mixon, Nyambi Nyambi, Reno Wilson
· Two and a Half Men - Jon Cryer, Charlie Sheen
· Crowded - Carlease Burke, Stacy Keach, Carrie Preston, Mia Serafino, Patrick Warburton

Others in attendance include JB Smoove, Jason Bateman, Valerie Bertinelli, Kate Flannery and Will Arnett. Bob Newhart will participate in a pre-taped segment.

227 is headed to Centric with a huge marathon event this weekend! This comedy starring Marla Gibbs, Regina King, and Jackée Harry follows a nosy Washington D.C. housewife, Mary Jenkins, who can't stop dishing the 'T' and meddling in the lives of her fellow inner city apartment building residents. The hit '80s sitcom will premiere on Centric on Saturday, January 23 at 11pm and will run through 5:30pm on Monday, January 25! That's a whole lotta episodes, child! The series will then air weekdays from 3-6pm beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Then on Friday, Jan. 29, Centric will have a Bernie Mac launch marathon as the sitcom is back and will air a marathon from 10am-9pm and some weekend blocks that weekend as well, such as Saturday, Jan. 30 from 12pm-8pm. Bernie will then air weekdays from 10am-12:30pm beginning on Monday, Feb. 1. Family Matters will remain from 12:30pm-3pm. As we mentioned, 227 will air 3-6pm. Steve Harvey Show will be off the schedule come Feb. 1. Both new additions already air on sister network MTV2.

Spend the holidays with your favorite sitcom stars as Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast broadcast network airing in 111 TV markets across the US, reaching 79% of TV households, airs holiday episodes and themed marathons throughout the holiday season. Catch Thanksgiving episodes of your favorite sitcoms like All in the Family and Too Close for Comfort on Wednesday, Nov. 25 beginning at 5pm ET through 12am ET. And on Thanksgiving itself, Antenna TV will air "The Cleaver Family Thanksgiving Day Marathon," a 27-hour Leave it to Beaver marathon starting at 12midnight ET on Thursday, November 26, 2015.

Next, snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and your TV remote, Antenna TV is bringing you a Christmas full of the most beloved TV shows that celebrate the holiday season. It starts off at 3pm ET on Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24) with the 15-hour "Classic Christmas Collection," a showcase of Antenna TV's classic TV holiday episodes. Then at 6am ET on Christmas Day (Friday, December 25), gather the family around the TV to warm up next to the original "Yule Log" featuring a crackling fireplace and soothing Christmas music. The holiday favorites continue at 10am ET with more from the "Classic Christmas Collection," which includes holiday episodes spanning from the '50s through the '90s. Sitcoms airing in the marathon include holiday episodes of series not on the schedule (yet) like Webster, Dear John, Mork & Mindy and Wings!

Moving on to New Year's Eve, make a date with Antenna TV this New Year's Eve, and enjoy laughter and celebration all through the night. The party starts at 8pm ET on New Year's Eve, featuring alternating episodes of The Jack Benny Program and The Burns and Allen Show and continues for 9 hours (until 5am ET). Then the New Year means it's time for a new start and Antenna TV leads the way with a "Fresh Start" marathon from 5am-11pm ET on Friday, January 1, 2016. See how Antenna TV's classic shows started out with the airing of pilots and memorable firsts of each series, including the premiere of three new shows on Antenna TV: Johnny Carson, Mork & Mindy and Dear John. And finally...here's Johnny! Beginning January 1, Antenna TV will tuck America in each weeknight with a 60-minute classic Johnny Carson episode airing at 11 pm ET with a rebroadcast at 2 am ET. On weekends, Antenna TV will run 90-minute episodes at 10 pm ET with a rebroadcast at 1:30 am ET.

We will have more on the new Antenna TV January 2016 schedule that will have Johnny Carson, Mork & Mindy and Dear John. No word yet if Webster and Wings will join the lineup yet, but enjoy the Christmas airings this Christmas Eve and Day! Stay with us.

TBS has given a greenlight to Search Party, a dark comedy about a group of four self-absorbed 20-somethings who come together when a former college acquaintance mysteriously disappears. Led by Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), the cast of Search Party features an ensemble of young comic actors, including John Early, John Reynolds and Meredith Hagner. The pilot was written and directed by Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, whose credits include the 2014 SXSW Film Festival Grand Jury Award-winning feature film Fort Tilden and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and overseen by Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name Is Doris, Wet Hot American Summer). Tony Hernandez (Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie) and Lilly Burns (Broad City, Difficult People, Younger) will serve as executive producers, alongside Showalter, Rogers and Bliss. Plans call for Search Party to launch domestically across TBS's linear, digital and mobile platforms in 2016. Turner International's general entertainment networks will partner to present the series outside of North America.

Search Party centers on Dory (Shawkat), a fragile, frustrated, life-long doormat who's not particularly proud of her impact on the world, especially since her greatest accomplishment to date is organizing clothes to be donated to Goodwill for her wealthy employer. Dory feels stuck in a stale and disconnected relationship with her boyfriend, Drew (Reynolds), a kind of clueless, complacent, spoon-fed doofus who just really loves Christmas. She also feels removed from her closest friends, Elliott (Early), a self-diagnosed narcissist who loves adding job titles to his designer-stylist-curator multi-hyphenate lifestyle, and Portia (Hagner), an actress always struggling to balance the challenging demands of chronic insecurity and pathological self-absorption.

Search Party opens with Dory learning that Chantal, a girl she barely knew in college, has gone missing. Despite having almost no personal connection to her, Dory becomes fixated on the mystery. Dory, Drew, Elliott, and Portia are not crime solvers. They value brunch, parties, and their own loud opinions. So when Dory drags them into a bumbling, perilous pursuit to find the missing girl, they soon learn the meaning of real danger and become entangled in a sinister plot that is more than their privileged Brooklyn lifestyles ever bargained for.

TVGN is tapping into the CBS/Paramount library with some TV classics. They are adding sitcoms and dramas from various eras: Wings, Family Ties, The Love Boat, JAG, Joan of Arcadia and 7th Heaven. They will join existing CBS/Paramount series Cheers and Sony's Who's the Boss? on the line-up. Some of these series have already started and are airing in a block format weekly in the afternoons. Series still to premiere include: The Love Boat, which begins on Thursday, July 31 with a block from 12-4pm, while 7th Heaven will be aired as a strip beginning Monday, Aug. 4 airing weekdays at noon. Afternoon blocks will be as follow: JAG on Mondays, Family Ties on Tuesdays, Wings/Cheers on Wednesdays, The Love Boat on Thursdays and Joan of Arcadia on Fridays, all from about 12-4pm (then 1-4pm once 7th Heaven starts). Who's the Boss? will air weekdays from 9-10am (times vary). This is certainly great news and we hope TVGN gets even more sitcoms/dramas from that CBS/Paramount library. Perhaps Webster or Dear John?

The premiere of Hallmark Channel's original movie For Better or For Worse, starring Lisa Whelchel and Kim Fields (The Facts of Life), became Hallmark Channel's highest rated and most watched original movie of 2014 to-date, as well as the #1 household-rated cable movie of the week and day, averaging a 1.8 household rating with 1.6 million homes. The film also struck a chord in key demo ratings, making the network #1 in total viewers (0.9 rtg) and #2 among women 18-49 (0.8 rtg) and women 25-54 (0.9 rtg). The world premiere of For Better or Worse reached more than 3.0 million unduplicated viewers. In the movie, Facts of Life alumnae Lisa Whelchel and Kim Fields reunite in an adaptation of the bestselling novel For Better Or For Worse by Diann Hunt. Antonio Cupo, Edward Ruttle and Alicia Josipovic co-starred in this romantic comedy about a woman who learned that opening herself up to a second chance at love may allow her to find true happiness again.

REELZCHANNEL TV announced that it has become a co-production and equity partner in OK! TV, the new nationally syndicated, daily entertainment show. OK! TV is an entertainment news magazine show with a focus on pop culture, gossip and celebrity lifestyle, offering a fresh perspective with exclusive content from newsmakers, celebrities and ordinary people with big stories. OK! TV leverages the editorial strength of the flagship media property OK! Magazine that stands as one of most successful and popular brands with five million weekly readers. OK! TV viewers will get great access to big entertainment events and behind-the-scenes stories from the OK! TV newsroom with talent and producing teams based in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The show launched last week in national syndication on WLNY New York, KCAL Los Angeles and WCUU Chicago, among others. On ReelzChannel TV, it airs weekdays at 9am, 12:30pm, and 3pm.

As for its off-network fare, we still have some sitcoms airing. Wings airs weekdays at 9:30am & 11:30am, while Cheers airs at 10am & 2:30pm. Becker airs the most, airing weekdays at 10:30am, 11am & 2pm. Coach and some of the other sitcoms are no longer on the line-up. The Steven Seagal 2011-12 drama True Justice is airing weekdays at 1pm and encores at 4pm. The '90s drama Pacific Blue is also on the network but it is being replaced starting Monday (Sept. 23). The drama was airing weekdays at 11am and 2pm, but now we will get more sitcom airings as mentioned earlier. Stay with us for any additional updates!

USA Network is rolling out the red carpet for Modern Family and putting fans front and center. The network is creating a massive community of Modern Family fanatics, dubbed "MOFYs," offering these cult followers unique opportunities to engage with the series -- on-air, online, socially and on-the-ground -- like never before. The series premieres on USA on Tuesday, September 24 at 8|7c and airs five nights a week. Starting this week, die-hard MOFYs (which stands for "Make Our Family Yours") can congregate at MOFY Nation, (mofynation.com), a central digital hub where fans can interact to share favorite series scenes and personal family moments. Fans will be encouraged to upload testimonials inspired by the series for the rare opportunity to be featured on-air. So what exactly is a MOFY, and could you be one? View USA's new MOFY on-air spot to find out. USA is also announcing today the ultimate MOFY event: an exclusive Modern Family Fan Appreciation Day, featuring a live table read with the cast, on Monday, October 28 in Los Angeles. Fans can vote online for their favorite episode from a list curated by co-creators and executive producers Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd. The winning episode will be read by the cast, followed by a Q&A with the cast and creators. MOFYs across the U.S. can participate virtually by watching a live streaming of the red carpet and select interviews on Mofy Nation. View USA's on-air invitation to the event.

Starting September 24, fans can delve deeper into the world of Modern Family with USA's sync-to-broadcast experience offered for all 90+ episodes from the first four seasons. Each second-screen event will incorporate native ad integration and include never-before-seen interviews with the show's writers, trivia and polls. Viewers can access this bonus content during the show in real-time via Modern Family SYNC at www.modernfamilysync.com or within the USA Anywhere App, as well as inside a number of Social TV apps including, NextGuide, Shazam, Viggle and zeebox. USA will also be creating weekly themed destination nights. Every Friday will be family night, otherwise known as TGIMF, (Thank Goodness It's Modern Family), when the entire brood can watch together. And, for all those MOFY aficionados, Sunday nights on USA will be a not-to-be-missed real-time social activation. The network is rolling out Modern Family LIVE, where fans can watch, play along on their connected device and see real-time on-air results to polls, fan meters and more. Every week, the top registered players will be featured on-air at the conclusion of the Modern Family telecast.

Modern Family will also be arriving to a hometown near you this November. USA is bringing an interactive pop-up photo studio to major markets including Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta and St. Louis, which will serve as a destination for uber fans to take show-inspired photos, create animated gifs and cinemagrams - and share them across social media. The first four seasons of Modern Family will air five nights a week (Tuesday 8-11p, Wednesday and Thursday 9-11p, Friday 8-10p, Sunday 9-11pm) on USA.

ReelzChannel, TV About Movies, announced that all six seasons of the three-time Emmy Award® winning satirical sitcom The Larry Sanders Show will air on REELZ, premiering Monday, March 4 at 1pm ET/10am PT. New episodes will air back-to-back Monday-Thursday in one hour comedy blocks at 1pm ET/10am PT and again at 2am ET/11pm PT. It will replace an hour of Spin City at 1pm ET/10am PT. What will the rest of the schedule look like? We will let you know very soon, but right now among the comedies that air on Reelz are Wings, Becker and Spin City, as Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Coach have recently been dropped. Meanwhile, Larry Sanders is also seen weeknights on VH-1 Classic.
The show takes viewers behind the scenes of Sanders' late-night talk show revealing the comedic misadventures among the show's creators, crew and celebrity guests. The Larry Sanders Show stars Garry Shandling as host Larry Sanders and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) as his sidekick Hank. The show also stars Rip Torn as the show's executive producer, Artie, Penny Johnson as Sanders' assistant Beverly, Wallace Langham as the show's head writer Phil and Janeane Garofalo as talent booker Paula.

The Larry Sanders Show rivaled its real life late-night counterparts in many respects with guest lineups featuring the biggest names in entertainment including Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Sally Field, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, William Shatner, Greg Kinnear, Jeff Goldblum, David Duchovny, Burt Reynolds, Bob Costas, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sharon Stone, Robin Williams, Rob Lowe, Courtney Cox, Julianna Margulies, Mandy Patinkin, Rosie O'Donnell, Nicollette Sheridan, Vince Vaughn, Suzanne Somers, Jim Belushi, Sting, Heidi Klum, Jerry Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Terry Bradshaw, John Ritter and many others. In addition to actors and athletes, viewers will recognize a number of their favorite TV luminaries who portrayed themselves on the show including David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres, Regis Philbin, Carol Burnett, Larry King, Sarah Silverman, Howard Stern, Alex Trebek and REELZ' own Sam Rubin. Stay with us for further updates on REELZ!

On the next...New Girl:
By: Todd

Fox's Tuesday adorkable sitcom starring Zooey Deschanel airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (Feb. 5). And we continue where we left off last week in "Cooler!" In the episode airing tonight, "Table 34," Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) both are reeling from their passionate late-night kiss. Unsure of her feelings and what the kiss meant, Jess spends the day with Cece (Hannah Simone) at an East Indian marriage convention. Seeking to escape his own conflicted feelings, Nick offers to help Schmidt (Max Greenfield) at another attempt to win back Cece, unknowingly putting himself directly in Jess' sightlines.

Tonight's episode is a continuation of last week's "Cooler" episode. Jess tells Cece about her first kiss with Nick. Cece has plans on attending an East Indian marriage convention to look for a husband. Schmidt also plans on going to the convention and tries to win back Cece by wearing proper attire. Winston describes him as looking like the fortune teller in Big. Nick talks to Winston about his kiss with Jess. Nick and Jess argue about if their kiss meant anything. Cece and Nick are assigned to Table 34 for those with no advance degrees and part time employment. Winston gets his mojo back and draws the attention of one of the staff members. Jess and Schmidt are placed at Table 7. A series of games, including trying to build a table out of newspapers, are then played to show their compatibility. Jess tells Sam what happened between her and Nick. Sam doesn't exactly take the news well. The convention ends with a big speech by one of the characters. Jess wants to listen to a Taylor Swift song alone, but Nick is there dancing. B-

This episode is on par with last week. There are some serious moments, but there are also many funny lines and scenes at the convention. There is a nice mix of pop culture references from movies and physical comedy, including Nick's panic moonwalking. Like last week's episode, it ends with a big story development. Will sparks fly again? Tune in tonight to find out.

On the next...The Mindy Project:
By: Skees

Fox's Tuesday night comedy starring Mindy Kaling airs Tuesday nights at 9:30pm immediately following New Girl and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (Feb. 5). Can men and women really be just friends? Dr. Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) attempts to find the answer to this age-old question. In the episode airing tonight, "Harry & Mindy," Mindy tries to solve Jaime's (guest star BJ Novak) best friend problem by pairing up Lucy (guest star Eva Amurri Martino) with Danny (Chris Messina) on a Valentine's Day double date. Meanwhile, Jeremy (Ed Weeks) helps Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) with his pickup skills.

Relationship drama is what this entire episode comes down to, and it is made even more interesting considering that the drama comes from Novak and Kaling, both of whom of course were always in relationship drama when they were in the cast of The Office. In this continuation of last week's episode, "Harry & Sally," we once again meet up with Jaime who can't seem to separate himself from his female friend Lucy, despite the fact that Mindy would like to have him for herself. The solution to the problem seems pretty simple: just find somebody to fix Lucy up with, and she manages to hook her up with Danny. But when the two couples double date, Danny and Lucy hit it off very quickly, making Mindy and Jaime's date a choking hazard (literally). Jaime tries to make it up to Mindy afterwards by going all the way (to the top of the Empire State Building), but this big event may turn into a disaster before it can even happen. All in all, it is great to see Kaling and Novak back together again as a couple on screen, and that makes this one of the more "special" episodes of the series thus far, but the plot of the episode leaves a lot more to be desired. The ending of the episode is a bit predictable, but it isn't done in a way that seems to leave a lot of opportunities for Novak to make any further appearances. The B-story in the episode, of Jeremy helping Morgan in his pick up skills, leaves even more to be desired. It really felt like more filler than anything substantial, and it was greatly overshadowed by the main story. B

The Mindy Project continues to march through the first season, and seems to be working on trying to figure out exactly what it is... much like Mindy's own character. The series continues to have high points and low points, but each time I watch it, I feel that it is slowly getting to a point where it is consistently good. It would be nice if we do see more of Novak after this episode, but only time will tell if and how much of his character we'll see (right now, it doesn't appear that there are any future plans). Fans of The Office should be watching this show, especially this particular episode.

So Wings has just left USA Network as we mentioned, but it has quickly found another cable home. ReelzChannel TV has picked-up the rights to air the '90 sitcom and will begin airing it on Tuesday, Jan. 3. The sitcom will air in better time periods than the filler style airings it was getting on USA Network. ReelzChannel TV will air it weekdays at 2:00pm & 2:30pm ET and it will encore in the late night at 1:00am & 1:30am ET. The sitcom joins the ReelzChannel line-up filled with other '90s style comedies. To recap their schedule, they have Spin City in the 9am hour, followed by an hour of Becker, a half-hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun at 11am, then a break for an original series, an hour of Cheers at 12 noon, then another hour of Spin City at 1pm leading into Wings at 2pm. Then at 3pm we have another hour of Cheers, followed by a triple shot of Coach from 4-5:30pm. An original series follows, then the 6pm hour has more Becker and the 7pm hour has back-to-back 3rd Rock from the Sun. Movies air in primetime at 8pm and 10pm, then sitcoms return at 12 midnight with yet another hour of Cheers leading into Wings at 1am. More originals air after that from 2-4am, then paid programming rounds out the night until 7am.
On weekends, for sitcoms we have Spin City at 10:30am, followed by an hour of Wings at 11am. Then sitcoms return in early evening with Becker at 6pm and Cheers at 7pm. Cheers also airs in late night if a movie doesn't go over, anytime after 10pm. With the addition of Wings, ReelzChannel has a nice group of similar style sitcoms that ran in the 90s. Perhaps for the future they could add more sitcoms like Night Court, Mad About You, Suddenly Susan and Caroline in the City? They would certainly fit. Anyway, for now it is just the addition of Wings to a nice sitcom line-up. Get on board for Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, Thomas Haden Church, Amy Yasbeck, Farrah Forke, and Tony Shalhoub. Stay with us for any further updates.


We told you ION Television has acquired the drama Cold Case, but now we have a start date and timeslots! The crime drama will launch on the network on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 and air at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. The drama will air in these time periods on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Fridays it will air in a four episode block from 5pm-9pm and then back-to-back at 11pm & 12am. ION will be airing 15 episodes per week (with six of those on Fridays).
The drama joins a line-up of other dramas like Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Monk, Without a Trace, Flashpoint and Psych. ION also airs sitcom George Lopez and theatrical movies. There are no other real schedule changes besides the addition of Cold Case.
Cold Case is a procedural drama about Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a dedicated female detective in the Philadelphia homicide squad, who finds her niche when she's assigned to "cold cases" -- crimes that have never been solved. Previously, she used her instinctive understanding of the criminal mind on current murders. Now, she's interrogating witnesses whose lives and circumstances have since changed, making use of today's new science and finding fresh clues to solve cases that were previously unsolvable -- all of which appeals to this smart, driven detective.

USA Network has acquired an off-network sitcom! The popular sitcom Cheers will be joining the USA Network line-up this January replacing Becker and Wings. The sitcom will air regularly Saturdays at 3am & 3:30am, but as with Wings & Becker, it will fill some half-hour during early morning slots on any given day as dictated by movie lengths. Cheers' first actual airing will be Wednesday, January 4 at 6am. Hopefully Cheers gets a more of a regular slot soon, or at least on another Universal-owned network like Universal HD. Cheers will continue airing on cable on Hallmark Channel, WGN America and ReelzChannel TV as well. As for Becker, since it will be leaving USA Network, the only place to catch it will be on ReelzChannel TV. Also as of January, Universal HD will remove Becker (maybe Universal networks are losing rights?), as well as Hogan's Heroes, so you might want to watch both of these sitcoms on Universal HD in December before they leave in January. And with it leaving USA Network, Wings will not be seen anywhere now.
In other Universal-owned cable network news, Cloo (formerly known as Sleuth) will have some cool Old School Saturday marathons in 2012 that they usually do once a month. We'll reveal to you what some are soon, so stay tuned for that. And yes, Universal HD is removing Becker and Hogan's Heroes in January, but they will continue to air Charlie's Angels and TJ Hooker, so don't worry classic TV fans. Unfortunately, the Friday night Universal Rediscovered TV block (the short lived series block from 9-11pm) will also be removed in January for a classic series block featuring an episode each of Charlie's Angels and TJ Hooker.


FX has announced release dates for two of its returning hits, as well as a brand new animated comedy series. FX opens the new year with the return of the Emmy Award®-winning hit drama Justified on January 17, and will continue to run Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Starring Timothy Olyphant. FX's acclaimed animated comedy series Archer returns for its third season starting January 19 and will air Thursdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Archer is an animated, half-hour comedy that revolves around the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Archer's three part series "Heart of Archness," which aired this past September, gained 26% in P18-49 (1.37 vs. 1.08 million), 34% in M18-49 (1.04 million vs. 775,000) and 12% in Total Viewers (1.72 vs. 1.53 million) over its second season. And finally, FX will premiere its newest series with the animated comedy Unsupervised, which will premiere on January 19 at 10:30 ET/PT and will air immediately following Archer. This series is a comedy about optimistic best friends "Gary" and "Joel" navigating the harsh landscape of teenage life and trying to do what's right without any parental guidance whatsoever. The series was created by and is executive produced by Rob Rosell, Scott Marder and David Hornsby, all who currently serve as writer/producers on FX's hit comedy series It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. It features an outstanding voice cast including Justin Long, Kristen Bell, Fred Armisen, Romany Malco, Kaitlin Olson and Alexa Vega, along with Rosell and Hornsby.

Today on the cable fall schedule barrage, we have USA Network. Like nearly all of the Universal-owned networks, USA Network doesn't have a set schedule, but they air series in blocks. Series that air in blocks for them are NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, House, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent getting most of the action. USA Network also airs CSI a few times a week in late fringe, such as Fridays at 10pm. USA will also have the exclusive off-network rights to premiere CSI Seasons 11 (and beyond) beginning this fall. And the only sitcoms on the network are Becker and Wings and they are still being used as a filler in late nights or early mornings. The only show that regularly airs at a set time is Monk, airing weekends at 6am.
We do have one change, though! USA Network will start airing reruns of NCIS: Los Angeles every Wednesday at 7pm starting Wednesday, Sept. 28 in between marathons of the original series NCIS. We previously announced this, but the series will not air five days a week until Fall 2013, so for now, it is just once a week. Among original series, all of the summer entrees will be ending in August or September. In September, season finales of Suits and Burn Notice will air on Thursday, Sept. 8 while freshman drama Necessary Roughness will ends its first season on Wednesday, Sept. 14. With the start of the TV season on broadcast, USA Network will not have any original series to start the fall season.
Stay tuned for any updates, if anything changes in October or beyond!

The 27th Annual TCA (Television Critics Association) Awards were held on Saturday night. The final season of DirecTV/NBC's Friday Night Lights took home the award for "Program of The Year." Winning its second consecutive TCA Award, ABC's Modern Family took home the award for "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy." AMC's Mad Men received the award for "Outstanding Achievement in Drama," its third in this category, having previously won the distinction in 2008 and 2009. The award for "Individual Achievement in Drama" went to actor Jon Hamm (Don Draper, of AMC's Mad Men) while actor (and host of the TCA Awards) Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson, of NBC's Parks and Recreation) shared the honor of "Individual Achievement in Comedy" with fellow actor Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy, of ABC's Modern Family).
In addition to recognizing the year's finest programming, the TCA bestowed a Heritage Award on CBS's former series The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66) for the cultural and social impact the program has had on society. Carl Reiner, the show's creator and the recipient of the 2003 TCA Career Achievement Award, was on hand to receive the honor alongside series actors Rose Marie and Larry Mathews. Here are the full list of winners:

Individual Achievement in Drama: Jon Hamm (Mad Men, AMC)
Individual Achievement in Comedy: Ty Burrell (Modern Family, ABC) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: Restrepo (National Geographic Channel)
Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming: Amazing Race (CBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: Sesame Street (PBS)
Outstanding New Program: Game of Thrones (HBO)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials: Masterpiece: Sherlock (PBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama: Mad Men (AMC)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: Modern Family (ABC)
Career Achievement Award: Oprah Winfrey
Heritage Award: The Dick Van Dyke Show
Program of the Year: Friday Night Lights (DirecTV/NBC)

As we mentioned earlier this year, USA Network has acquired CSI. USA Network will have non-exclusive rights to seasons 1-10 (shared with Spike TV) when they premiere the show next month. Starting Fall 2011, USA Network will also have the exclusive off-network rights to premiere CSI Seasons 11 and beyond. Then finally, beginning September 2014, USA Network will be the exclusive home of CSI, as Spike TV will lose the rights to the series.
So we knew all of that, now to where CSI will air on USA Network! CSI will join the schedule on Friday, January 14, 2011 with a 24-hour launch marathon starting at 6am! The series will then air every Friday from 8pm-1am ET/PT starting Jan. 21. The rest of the USA Network schedule will remain the same with blocks of many shows such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent, House, NCIS, and Law & Order: SVU. There will also be continued airings of Walker Texas Ranger, JAG, Monk and sitcoms Becker and Wings.
Original series wise, January rings in the year with the mid-season premieres of returning series White Collar and Royal Pains and the launch of USA's newest offering, Fairly Legal. Seasons 2.5 of both White Collar (7 episodes) and Royal Pains (6 episodes) premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 10pm and Thursday, Jan. 20 at 9pm, respectively. Royal Pains will be the lead-in for new drama Fairly Legal, which premieres Thursday, Jan. 20 at 10pm. Prior season episodes will air over 3 weeks on Tuesday mornings for White Collar, which includes a White Collar season 2 marathon on Tuesday, Jan. 18 from 6:30am-2:30pm to platform the season premiere later that night. Two months later, a White Collar season 2.5 marathon will air on Tuesday, March 8 from 6am-2pm to platform the season finale later that night at 10pm. For Royal Pains, prior season episodes will air over 3 weeks on Thursday mornings starting January 6 to promote the return and a Royal Pains "Ladies Man-a-thon" will air on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6 from 10am-12am. The season finale will be on Thursday, Feb. 24. And finally, new series Fairly Legal will have 10 episodes, including the pilot. A mid-season marathon will air on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 9am-1pm (prior to the first week without a Royal Pains lead-in). The series will continue to air though Thursday, March 24.
And finally, we will cover marathon stunts for USA Network in January. USA welcomes 2011 with a weekend of marathons of NCIS and Law & Order: SVU! The NCIS "Resolve to Watch" marathon will air on Saturday, Jan. 1 from 6am-4am, while the SVU "Resolve to Watch" marathon will air on Sunday, Jan. 2 from 6am-4am. An NCIS marathon will air on MLK Jr. Day, Monday, January 17 from 6am-9pm. NCIS marathons will also air on Sunday, Jan. 16 from 9am-11pm and Sunday, Jan. 30 from 12pm-11pm. A Law & Order: SVU "Happy Birthday Mariska" marathon is planned for Sunday, Jan. 23 from 12pm-12am.
That about covers USA Network January 2011, series wise. Stay with us for any further updates, but as of now CSI will air Fridays in primetime on USA Network.

Moving on to Antenna TV, with less than a month to its Jan. 1 launch, we now have affiliate substation numbers details for the digital service. In New York City, Antenna TV will be free over-the-air on WPIX's 11.3 substation. With this addition, THIS tv moves to the new 11.4 substation, while Estrella remains on the 11.2 substation. In Los Angeles, Antenna TV will be on KTLA's 5.2 substation, as THIS tv moves to the new 5.3 substation. As previously announced, in Chicago Antenna TV will be on WGN's 9.2 substation. Antenna TV will be available in 32 markets so far, including the 19 Tribune markets. View the stations so far for launch. Antenna TV will of course be available on many cable services in these markets as well, you just have to ask your cable company if they will be carrying it. Call and e-mail your local cable service providers and ask! Request it, if they have no plans! Word is Comcast will be adding it in many of these markets, including channel 353 in Chicago.
50 million homes will be reached in this first wave of station launches. Antenna TV also announced that legendary announcer Gary Owens is the voice of the channel. View some of our previous stories on Antenna TV, including the New Year's Launch Weekend marathons of Three Stooges & Benny Hill and the actual regular schedule featuring series such as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Father Knows Best, Married...with Children, Maude, Good Times, Three's Company, Too Close for Comfort, The Partridge Family, Dennis the Menace and Burns & Allen.
Get ready for Antenna TV by watching some promos and join their Facebook page. Jan. 1 can't come fast enough!