Laverne Cox Shares Summer Schedule For CBS Series DOUBT

While Laverne Cox's nascent CBS series Doubt only ran for two episodes this past season, Cox shares the news that all remaining episodes will get airtime this summer on Saturday nights at 8PM beginning July 1.

We have exciting news! Air dated for the remaining episodes of @doubtcbs. Setting your dvr's to record the series is the best way not to miss it. I will be reminding you to tune in as well. Love you @Regrann from @doubtwriters - Set your DVRs! @doubtcbs airs this summer on Saturdays, starting 7/1! Check out the schedule and catch up on episodes 101 & 102 on cbs.com! #doubtcbs #doubt - #regrann

A post shared by laverne cox (@lavernecox) on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:31pm PDT

TV Listing Of The Day: The Wizard Of Oz

ABC Picks Up New Dan Savage Comedy The Real O'Neals

ABC has announced the decision to pick up new comedy, The Real O’Neals, executive produced by Dan Savage.

From Deadline:

The O’Neals, about a family in the aftermath of a son comes out, had been an internal ABC favorite. Its fate was put into question when religious and conservative organizations started a campaign against the project over the involvement of outspoken gay activist Savage.

The comedy was originally going to be based on his life growing up but that changed during the development of the pilot, with the story evolving in a different direction. The O’Neals marks the return of Raising Hope‘s Martha Plimpton with another comedy starring role.

TV Tonight - "Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live In Concert"

Just a reminder it's a great night on PBS tonight. It's very clear where I'll be tonight... :)

Not only do we get Tony Award winner Billy Porter at 9PM, you get Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert at 10PM!

The concert of her Grammy-nominated album features Lennox’s takes on iconic American compositions by such artists as Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin and Billie Holiday, as she pays tribute to some of the greatest artists of the 20th century.

#TBT - "Heartache Tonight" with Olivia Newton-John, Toni Tennille, Tina Turner, Peaches

From the 1980 "Hollywood Nights" TV special hosted by Olivia Newton-John with Toni Tennille, Tina Turner, Peaches and Karen Carpenter.

I loved TV specials like this as a kid...

Retro TV Teens take on "Saved By The Bell"

Believe it or not, 80s teen TV show "Saved By The Bell" is about to turn 25.

Retro TV shares the show with their teens and asks their thoughts.

In a fight over "Zack" vs "Slater" guess who wins? Plus, the editors explain episode plots to the teens and get their reaction.

Don't you love looking back over two decades...?

CNN puts the Michael Sam "Draft kiss" into TV perspective

Excellent report by Bill Weir of CNN that puts the now famous Michael Sam "Draft kiss" into context in terms of famous, barrier breaking TV moments.

From William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols on "Star Trek" to Archie Bunker's macho football buddy to "Modern Family" to "Conchita Wurst" of Austria winning the Eurovision Song competition in front of 120 million viewers, TV has often opened our eyes to a new perspective on social attitudes.

Take a look below. And thanks, Bill Weir and CNN.

"How I Met Your Dad" gets second gay casting news

Did you know that the long running, Neil Patrick Harris starring "How I Met Your Mother" on CBS is drawing to a close this season?

Me neither.  I stopped watching a while back.  But that's just me...

What I was surprised about is there will be a spin-off of the series - "How I Met Your Dad."  No characters from the first series will intersect the second, although the bar where the characters hung out will be the one integrating element.

The announcements have already mentioned that the lead character, Sally (played by Greta Gerwig) will have a gay BFF (played by Drew Tarver) who is married to her brother.

Now, we get casting news that Andrew Santino, who is currently starring on ABC's "Mixology," has been tapped for the role of Sally's "perfect but uptight" brother, Danny.

Thanks to his personal website, it looks like Santino's already got the leather thing down.

Yay gingers!

(via Out)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. given full season pick up after strong premiere numbers

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC’s new hit show, has just been given a back 9 order of episodes, giving it a full season pickup!

ABC’s new show will now have twenty-two full episodes for the entire season.

The Joss Whedon show stars Chloe Bennet (Skye), Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson), Brett Dalton (Agent Grant Ward), Ming-Na Wen (Agent Melinda May), Iain De Caestecker (Agent Leo Fitz), and Elizabeth Henstridge (Agent Jemma Simmons).

The show originally premiered to big ratings for the network.

New series: The Tomorrow People debuts tonight on CW

New paranormal show on the CW loosely based on the 1970s TV series. 

I'm usually a sucker for these shows.  If it's done half-way well I'll follow it.  If not, they'll just get me for the pilot.  We shall see.

Check out the website here.

Starts tonight on the CW.

New teaser for "American Horror Story: Coven"

Clip description: A group of young witches is lead by Taissa Farmiga to a big house where Sarah Paulson and a hairless cat wait at the door. Dressed in black and hovering below a white pentagram, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett give the girls killer death stares.

Can't wait to see the powerhouse trio in action on October 9 at 10PM ET/PT when the series premieres on FX.

Teaser for new season of American Horror Story

FX Network has released it's first teaser for the third season of American Horror Story,
apparently titled "Coven."

The tag line is "This October - life your spirits."

Megan Hilty to join Sean Hayes new series on NBC

Yay! This didn't take long!

Love Megan Hilty and very happy to read that she's already booked her post-SMASH gig on TV:

Hilty will re-team with Sean Hayes, who guest-starred on Smash, for his upcoming NBC comedy Sean Saves the World, according to TVLine.

On the show, Hayes stars as a dad who must figure out how to parent his 14-year-old daughter (Samantha Isler) while dealing with a temperamental new boss (Thomas Lennon) at work.

Hilty has been tapped to replace Lindsay Sloane as Liz, Sean's long-time loyal friend and co-worker.

(source)

TV: "666 Park Avenue" to return to ABC for summer run

"666 Park Avenue" may still be canceled, but ABC is not done airing the series yet.

ABC has decided to air the remaining episodes of the series starring Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams with another cancelled drama, "Zero Hour," on Saturdays this summer for a two-hour block of supernatural TV.

The "Zero Hour" return was previously announced and begins June 15 with a two-hour premiere. "666" returns the following week, on June 22, when "Zero" airs in its regular 8 p.m. ET time slot leading into the remaining episodes of "666" at 9 p.m. ET.

(via Zap2It)

New series: "Almost Human" on FOX

This action-packed police drama set 35 years in the future centers around the unlikely partnership between a part-machine cop and a part-human robot.

YouTube description:

"Starring Karl Urban ("Star Trek"), Michael Ealy ("Sleeper Cell," "Common Law") and Emmy Award nominee Lili Taylor ("Six Feet Under,"), ALMOST HUMAN is a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids.

"An unlikely partnership is forged when a part-machine cop (Urban) is forced to pair with a part-human robot (Ealy) as they fight crime and investigate a deeper cover-up in a futuristic new world."

(h/t JMG)

Trailer: New Series - "Sean Saves The World"

Sean Hayes returns to NBC primetime this fall in "Sean Saves The World" as a single, gay dad trying to balance raising his daughter, cope with his mother (Linda Lavin) and his boss.

I enjoyed a lot of "Will & Grace" and Hayes was very good in the Broadway revival of PROMISES, PROMISES.

Some funny stuff here. I'll be checking it out.

Cancelled: "The New Normal"

NBC has canceled the gay parenting comedy The New Normal after one season, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Boosted by The Voice, the Justin Bartha-Andrew Rannells starrer about a gay couple starting a family earned a full-season order in October despite early protests from conservative watchdog groups. The series, like the rest of its Tuesday block, suffered without The Voice, notching a string of lows before the singing competition returned to revitalize the lineup.

While its April season finale was penned to serve as a potential series finale, producers said that a second se  ason would have featured the newly married couple raising their newborn son.

The 20th Television entry marks Murphy's first show to not move beyond its freshman run.

Ryan Murphy currently has two other shows that have received green lights to continue. Glee for two more seasons, and American Horror Story for a third season.

(source)

TV: "Survivor" starts new season tonight!

Starts tonight on CBS at 8PM EST.

Who's going home first?

Scott Baio returns to prime time TV

Scott Baio is returning to prime time TV with his new sitcom "See Dad Run" on Nick at Nite.

Baio plays an actor who decides to stay at home and take care of his kids when his long running sitcom - playing "America's favorite dad" -  gets cancelled and his wife goes back to work.

Says Baio:   "There's nothing new under the sun. No new ideas," Baio said. "This is an idea that's not particularly original, but it's fun and it's funny."

What makes "See Dad Run" different, Baio said, is the fact that "it's a story about a guy who is not an idiot like a lot of TV dads are. He's just ... playing catch up (after playing a dad on TV for 10 years), and he'll never really get there because nobody every really gets there."

This is Baio's first run at TV since his two VH1 reality shows.

Liza back on TV, So You Think You Can Dance reduced to one night a week

Some gay-fave entertainers have been signing dotted lines all over Hollywood since the clock turned on the new year.

First up Liza is set to play with Betty White and company on an upcoming episode of Hot In Cleveland, where she’ll play agent to Wendie Malick’s character.

Deadline.com is reporting that Cybil Shepherd is set to star alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt in Lifetime’s upcoming The Client List. Cybil will play mother to J. Love, who runs a message parlor that offers more than just back rubs...

And finally, the upcoming season of So You Think You Can Dance is going to look very different come May. Judge and producer Nigel Lythgoe has just announced that the former two-night format will be reduced to one!

“Fox [has] canceled the results show so I will have to change the format of #SYTYCD,” the show’s executive producer and judge shared via Twitter.

“I’m certainly not mad at Fox — they have supported SYTYCD FOR 9 seasons,” Lythgoe added. “With the help of Mike Darnell [Fox's president of Alternative Entertainment]. I think we have some great new ideas.”
(via Instinct)