Question: Does ABC plan on ever finishing the run of a new sitcom? Last year, they gave Emily's Reasons Why Not a one-night trial, along with the returning Jake in Progress. They also pulled Crumbs after five episodes, after it averaged 7.5 million viewers on Tuesdays. That's much better than any of ABC's comedies have averaged this season, besides Dancing with the Stars-fueled Help Me Help You, which was pulled with four episodes left to air. Then, the network pulled Big Day with only one episode left to air, The Knights of Prosperity with four episodes left, In Case of Emergency with two episodes left and Notes from the Underbelly, which will only air seven of its 13 episodes. Do you think this shows an overall lack of confidence in new sitcoms?
Answer: Whew. You're certainly paying a lot more attention to that wasteland than I am. In most cases (though not for Knights of Prosperity, which deserved better), for ABC to take these shows off the air early is kind of like a mercy killing.
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Let me start with two completely unrelated facts that you should tell everyone you know:1) Someone just sent me the complete version of the Michael Richards meltdown, and the one part that was cut out of the version most people saw is where Hugh Laurie is high-fiving him. 2) We're on twice this week. Tuesday at 9 and 9:30 pm/ET.In keeping with the theme of twos, this week I'm going to present to you the two-part Big Day guide to torturing your coworkers. 1) Outthinking: "The Kurt Fuller."During this week of shooting, Josh Cooke and I spent countless hours in his trailer playing Connect Four for $50 a game. Josh and I were about evenly matched, having a good time, feeling solid about our skills, until Kurt showed up. He watched for a few minutes, and then he asked to play. Thankfully, we didn't play him for money. We played him just for "fun."I use quotation marks because it didn't take us long to realize that the fun was over. For one thing, we learned quickly that Kurt Fuller is th...
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Wendie Malick, Big Day
Will Wendie Malick ever get a chance to play a demure, down-to-earth role? Let's hope not. Best known for her seven-season, Emmy-nominated stint as narcissistic fashion editor Nina Van Horn on Just Shoot Me, Malick has made a career out of playing outrageous small-screen characters, including Brian Benben's neurotic ex on Dream On and a husky-voiced lounge singer during the final year of Frasier. Currently on ABC's mid-season sitcom, Big Day (Tuesdays at 9 pm/EST) — a real-time comedy about wedding-day drama — Malick adds a
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TVGuide.com's celebrity blogs are displayed in the reverse order that they were written, which is so that the reader can watch the author enjoy himself more and more. It would be kind of depressing to see them in the real order, from "Oh, wow! I get a blog! This will be fun!" to "Greta Garbo did not go far enough."That's because it's a lot of pressure to come up with an interesting story each time. Here's a television secret: not every episode of Big Day [Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET, on ABC] provides the sort of exciting behind-the-scenes anecdote that meets the incredibly high standards of a TVGuide.com blog. Sure, every once in a while you'll have to wrestle a sword away from a drunken Josh Cooke before he accomplishes his bellowed intention of driving to the set of The Office and decapitating John Krasinski ("There can only be one! There can only be one!"). But that's only three weeks out of 10. The other seven, you're searching for things to put in the blog. ("Maybe if I set Cooke's tra...
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After I wrote last week's blog, I planned on never having to write another story about my life. All I had to do, I figured, was just spend the next 10 weeks responding to the comments from this one. It is now seven days later and right now there are three fewer comments on my TVGuide.com blog than there are on my IMDB page arguing that I look like David Boreanaz: "However, David is much more attractive." (Words hurt, Dovercliffs.) Which is to say, zero. So here's blog entry No. 2.For me, as for many young actors, the difference between shooting the first episode and the second episode of ABC's Big Day [Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET] was kind of like the difference between Rocky and Rocky II. If your show gets picked up, you have a lot more money, and you know it's going to be on the air. The world gets a lot brighter. I had a new car. I was engaged. Things were good. But as we got ready to shoot the second episode, I realized I had to do the same thing I did in the first one, and there were s...
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Hello, dedicated TVGuide.com reader, my name is Stephen Rannazzisi. You can see me on ABC's new comedy Big Day. The show premieres Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 9 pm/ET. Each episode covers a different half hour in a single wedding day. It's kind of like 24 without explosions. The show was created by Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, a married couple who used to write for King of Queens. We have a talented cast: Marla Sokoloff (The Practice) and Josh Cooke (all three episodes of Four Kings!) are Alice and Danny, the bride and groom. Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Kurt Fuller (really, who cares? I've already gotten bored of giving everyone's credits, and to be honest, I'm not sure what else he's done. I think he was in Wayne's World, but he doesn't like to talk about it) play their parents. Miriam Shor (look it up) is Becca, the maid of honor, and the hilariously nervous Stephnie Weir (I really think the Red Sox overpaid for that Japanese pitcher) is Lorna, the wedding coordinator. But enoug...
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Words I've been waiting months to hear: "What new kind of crazy is this?" That rant from Dr. Cox signifies that Scrubs is finally out of hibernation, and delirious lunacy once again reigns at Sacred Heart Hospital. (Wait until you see the mileage they get out of Pop Rocks.) Fans of irreverent TV comedy can rejoice, because Scrubs is joining a terrific two-hour sitcom block on NBC on Thursdays (Scrubs airs at 9 pm/ET).
Scrubs starts its sixth season with wacky slapstick confidence — don't miss the elaborate Blue Man Group gag — and an undercurrent of anxiety, as J.D., Turk, Carla and Cox all face parenthood issues with babies on the way. Does this mean they're growing up? Thankfully, not so you'd notice. It's still a blast. And while the competition (CSI,
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Because I get questions about it every single week, I figured I'd weigh in on the CW's announcement this week that the former WB Friday sitcom Reba (once a bright spot on that dim night) is finally coming back on air. But very much on the margins. And there's a reason for that.November is becoming an unexpectedly busy month for series and season premieres: ABC's Day Break is filling in for Lost, CBS' 3 LBS is replacing Smith on Tuesdays, and ABC's wedding-day sitcom Big Day and NBC's long-awaited return of Scrubs (as part of a new Thursday two-hour comedy block) will both bow the week after Thanksgiving.And now Reba joins the party. But you'll have to make an effort to find her. The CW has scheduled the show for Sundays, in the unenviable slot of 7-8 pm/ET. On the first night back, Nov. 19, two new episodes will air back-to-back. After that, starting Nov. 26, an "encore" Reba will air in front of a "fresh" episode (as they used to be called on the WB). If it looks like the CW is bur...
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America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
It's nice to see that ABC wised up and invited Ugly Betty to the Thursday-night ball.
The new show — which will now be paired with Grey's Anatomy this fall — has been getting raves from those who have seen it. Executives from other networks have called it the best pilot they saw from their competition this year. Adapted from a telenovela that's been wildly popular for years in Latin America, Ugly Betty stars America Ferrera as a glamour-challenged woman from an immigrant family trying to make it at a flashy fashion magazine.
Salma Hayek and producer Ben Silverman have been trying to sell a U.S. version of Betty
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Question: I know it's still summer, but have the networks announced tentative dates for their season premieres?
Answer: As of now, the only network not to announce premiere dates is CBS, which will likely launch most of its new and returning shows the weeks of Sept. 17 and 24.
Here's how the others shape up: The season kicks off early on Fox, with Prison Break and Vanished on Aug. 21; then the limited reality series Duets on Aug. 29; Justice and Bones on Aug. 30; House and Standoff on Sept. 5; the comedies 'Til Death and Happy Hour on Sept 7; Nanny 911 on Sept. 8; Cops and America's Most Wanted on Sept. 9; Fox's animated comedy lineup plus The War at Home on Sept. 10; and MADtv Sept. 16. (The O.C. won't return until after postseason baseball on Nov. 2.)
On ABC, 20/20 officially kicks off Sept. 8; Dancing with the Stars returns Sept. 12 and 13; Wife Swap premieres Sept. 18; Grey's Anatomy and Six Degrees on Sept. 21; Ugly Betty and Men in Trees on Sept. 22; Extreme Makeover: Home
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