via ABC press release. Ugly Betty will be taking a breather...
January 26, 2009
ABC ANNOUNCES NEW THURSDAY NIGHT COMEDY BLOCK WITH
"IN THE MOTHERHOOD" AND "SAMANTHA WHO" AT 8:00 P.M. AND 8:30 P.M.
"BETTER OFF TED" WILL PREMIERE PAIRED WITH "SCRUBS" ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
ABC announces a new Thursday night comedy block, with "In the Motherhood" premiering March 26 at 8:00 p.m., paired with "Samantha Who?" at 8:30 p.m. In addition, "Better Off Ted" will premiere Wednesday, March 18 at 8:30 p.m., following "Scrubs" at 8:00 p.m.
"The Bachelor" will continue on Monday nights from 8:00-10:00 p.m., leading directly into "True Beauty," and "Ugly Betty" will return to Thursday nights at 8:00 p.m. following the run of "In the Motherhood" and "Samantha Who?"
"In the Motherhood" - Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.
Megan Mullally ("Will & Grace") and Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") come to ABC in the new comedy "In the Motherhood," which takes a look at the importance of family and friends while trying to juggle motherhood, work and love lives in an overly complicated modern world. The story focuses on Rosemary (Mullally), Jane (Hines) and Emily (Jessica St. Clair), who represent mothers we all know. Rosemary is a free-wheeling mom who plays it fast and loose when it comes to parenting her teenaged son, Luke. Married numerous times, but currently single, Rosemary lives by her own rules. Much to the amazement of the other moms, her nontraditional parenting style has yielded a son much more responsible than she. Rosemary's best friend, Jane, is a recently divorced working mother of a pre-teen, Annie, and a baby girl, Sophie, who is just trying to keep her career and home afloat. Having just returned to work after giving birth eight months ago, Jane struggles to find a happy balance - lucky for her she has her "manny," Horatio (Horatio Sanz, "Saturday Night Live"), to help out. Jane's younger sister, Emily, sees herself as the model stay-at-home-super-mom for her two young children, Esther and Bill. Emily's home is a work of art, and her kids are polite and sweet -- everything has its place in her world. Married to Jason (RonReaco Lee), Emily takes parenting as seriously as any mother could.
"In The Motherhood," based on a popular web series of the same name, will feature stories inspired by real life experiences of viewers shared through our website www.inthemotherhood.com. From play dates and daycare to stretch marks and potty training, ABC wants to hear about your poignant, hilarious, emotional and even your most banal mommy moments.
"In the Motherhood" stars Cheryl Hines as Jane, Jessica St. Clair as Emily, Horatio Sanz as Horatio, RonReaco Lee as Jason and Megan Mullally as Rosemary.
Jennifer Konner & Alexandra Rushfield ("Undeclared"), Stuart Bloomberg and David Lang are the executive producers of "In the Motherhood," which is from ABC Studios.
"Samantha Who?" - Thursdays at 8:30 p.m.
After a hit-and-run accident left Samantha Newly (Christina Applegate) in an eight-day coma, she awoke with retrograde amnesia, which allowed her to fully function in the world but left her with no personal memories of her past. As she began her quest to rediscover herself, she learned that she had been a horrible person. Vain, selfish and potentially surrounded by far more enemies than friends, she made a conscious decision to improve herself moving forward with the help of her eclectic friends and family.
"Samantha Who?" stars Christina Applegate as Samantha, Jennifer Esposito as Andrea, Kevin Dunn as Howard, Melissa McCarthy as Dena, Tim Russ as Frank with Barry Watson as Todd and Jean Smart as Regina.
"Samantha Who?" was created by Cecelia Ahern and Donald Todd. Todd, Peter Traugott and Matthew Carlson serve as executive producers. "Samantha Who?," which is filmed in Los Angeles and premiered on October 15, 2007, is from ABC Studios.
"Scrubs" - Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m.
"Scrubs" focuses on the unique point of view of Dr. John Dorian, or "J.D." (Zach Braff). After surviving his internship and residency at Sacred Heart Hospital, J.D. is now an attending physician with his own class of interns to guide and mentor. Even though J.D. has risen in the hospital ranks, he will continue to face many challenges in both his personal and professional life. Joining the rumpled J.D. at Sacred Heart Hospital are Dr. Chris Turk (Donald Faison, "Remember the Titans," "Felicity") -- J.D.'s college buddy who is part of the elite surgical group -- Turk's wife, the no-nonsense head nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes, "Oz"), as well as the beautiful, but socially Awkward Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke, "Roseanne"). Former Chief of Medicine Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins, "Courage Under Fire") now keeps a watchful eye on the hospital staff from the coffee shop. Meanwhile, the caring yet abrasive Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley, "Wall Street," "Platoon") is struggling with an identity crisis as he reevaluates his career, and Neil Flynn ("Magnolia"), the hospital janitor, portrays J.D.'s nemesis, who never seems to miss an opportunity to harass his target.
"Scrubs" stars Zach Braff as J.D., Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, Donald Faison as Chris Turk, John C. McGinley as Dr. Perry Cox, ,Judy Reyes as Carla Espinosa, Ken Jenkins as Dr. Bob Kelso and Neil Flynn as the Janitor.
"Scrubs" is produced by ABC Studios. Bill Lawrence ("Spin City") is the executive producer and creator.
"Better Off Ted" - Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.
"Better Off Ted" is a new office comedy about successful good guy Ted who runs Research and Development at the morally questionable Veridian Dynamics. No achievement is too far-fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Need cow-less meat grown in a test tube? Done. Need pumpkins that also double as weapons of mass destruction? No problem. Ted's a single dad to a seven-year-old girl and he loves his job, but he's starting to take a closer look at the company's extremely dubious practices. Do you manufacture the best teeth whitener ever if it could also kill off all of the planet's fish? Probably not, but... Ted's also fighting an attraction to co-worker Linda, who enjoys small acts of rebellion against Veridian (she's secretly stealing and hoarding all the company's creamer packets). But he holds back about his true feelings. He's already had his self imposed "one office affair" with überboss Veronica. Incredibly beautiful (if seemingly devoid of conscience and emotion-free), Veronica lets nothing get in her way when it comes to serving Veridian's needs.
"Better Off Ted" stars Jay Harrington as Ted, Portia de Rossi as Veronica, Andrea Anders as Linda, Jonathan Slavin as Phil and Malcolm Barrett as Lem. Isabella Acres appears in the recurring role of Rose, Ted's daughter.
"Better Off Ted" is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. Victor Fresco ("My Name Is Earl," "Andy Richter Controls the Universe") is executive producer and creator of the series.
Oh no! for Ugly Betty if this works out Ugly Betty will be dead.
ABC with comedies! wow!
seriously, I think this is good option for them..this will replace low rated UB repeats. Will have not problem beating NBC sitcoms
This almost definitely won’t work out, but this can’t be a good sign for how ABC feels about Ugly Betty.
NOOOOOOO! for betty!
well i cant see these 2 doind much better actually!!
Sam gets 6m with no Dancing!
thats because Dancing is not compatible with Sam.
What Sw? needs is a comedy block and that’s what they’re doing with In the Motherhood and SW?
actually, I think this is good idea.
I’ve mentioned before that Betty (and for that matter, Who) not being moved around with all of ABC’s other post-Lost related moves boded well for the show. Well, forget all that. (Aren’t a couple of those dates sweeps as well?)
Although this does raise an interesting point we aren’t considering: On paper, Betty, as a Touchstone production, would seem a lock to come back for Season 4 for the syndication money. However, we aren’t factoring in that the shortened strike season of 07/08 means that many existing shows will need to run for longer to hit the “preferred” number of episodes for syndication (used to be 100, now roughly 85?).
With the way Betty’s ratings are trending, will ABC really keep it on the air through season 5 just for the syndication money – especially since Thursday still nets them decent ratings?
That said, I think Betty will return in 09/10 – but will probably be moved to Wednesday at 8pm, at least for fall.
so i know according to jim was in its last season and was replaced by Scrubs but will it they air the remaining 12 episodes or will they be shown over the summer or just in syndication? some please answer.
ABC is ordering also the ‘V’ pilot, about the 1980s miniseries.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3ieb36f849687dcd17e5b52a01f319c982
Jason, Although there has been no announcement, I would guess that ABC will use those Jim episodes at some point before the end of the broadcast season in May.
i love the cast, but the previews for in the motherhood look horrible… and as much as i love her, it has the Megan Mullally kiss of death, if she has a strong character to play she does it great, but the character on the show dosent seem like a good fit for her and it came off in her acting in the previews
as for UB, i doubt its going anywhere, it’ll be back, i dont totally get the decision given betty wasnt performing poorly in the first half of the season but has been since thanksgiving, but abc’s scheduling of the show has also been all over the place which has screwed with the storyline
though if it was originally just planned to air reruns of UB in this time frame it is a better move, though not having SW? lead into motherhood seems odd
Doesn’t sound good for Betty.
Sounds like they are benching Betty and it’s future is up in the air.
Thanks ABC.Horrible shows like the Bachelor stay on and good shows like Betty and Pusshing Daisies get the Axe.
In the motherhood originally stared Leah Remini (king of queens) jenny mcCarthy and Chelsea Handler (chelsea lately)…handler signed on for the series but dropped out due to scheduling……just as a fun fact haha
In the motherhood originally stared Leah Remini (king of queens) jenny mcCarthy and Chelsea Handler (chelsea lately)
Well, personally I’m glad the casting is what it is now, instead. I may have to check it out, but I wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole with that casting.
Damn’t! Chelsea Handler was the only thing that made me want to watch In the Motherhood. I can’t believe she’s not in it! What happenened?
I was looking forward to seeing Chelsea Handler in something else too! I think her commitment to her talk show made it impossible for her to sign onto ITM, that’s what I’ve heard anyway.
Oh man where’s Ugly Betty
This thursday comedy block is gonna suck!. I personally don’t like or watch any of ABC sitcoms, I hope it’ll suck. Damn Chelsea Handler should accepted the offer for In the Motherhood.
I hope Ugly Betty will move to Tuesday 8pm or Monday 9pm after DWTS.
Just like I said in other threads, I just knew this would happen. And I knew they would “bench” it. In fact, someone at the ABC boards asked if it was true Betty would only get half a season this time…
I think “benching” is a fancy word for “hiatus/cancellation”.
Too many signals…
Christopher Gorham left the show
Rebecca Romijn left the show (she stated she was not happy with the new writers)
Freddy Rodriguez left the show
Ashley Jensen (Christina) just quit the show
Plus the stupid storylines for this season (Christina being 12 months pregnant, etc)
Yep, it’s being axed.
ABC just lost me. There is no loyalty to their viewers and they keep moving the schedule. No wonder Ugly Betty’s numbers keep going down. NO ONE KNOWS WHEN IT’S ON!!
I doubt they will cancel the show, but I’m tired of checking to see when it’s on. For that amount of work I’ll just go to a movie.
ABC will not cancel the show..they’re just replacing REPEATS with NEW episdes of SW? and ITM.