ABC’s New Wednesday/Thursday Night Comedy Blocks

ABC’s New Wednesday/Thursday Night Comedy Blocks

Posted by Dustin on 01.26.2009 at 3:52 pm

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?”

Read on for a description of all the shows . . . .

“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 Ÿberboss 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.

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1 Comment

  1. ABC needs to bring back The Mole this summer. That has been my favorite reality show since the first season with Anderson Cooper *sigh*

    Comment by melissa
    01.26.2009 at 7:48 pm

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