Mr. Television
09-04-2007, 10:29 PM
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971301.html?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2565
TBS renews 'The Bill Engvall Show'
Sitcom drew three million viewers per episode
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
.
TBS has renewed "The Bill Engvall Show," the family-friendly sitcom that drew as many as three million total viewers per episode this summer.
Time Warner cabler has ordered ten episodes for the second season, likely for next summer, when the show could again air behind net's reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond."
While critics have given "Engvall" mixed reviews, show was touted by TBS as a throwback series that offered counter-programming to edgier comedies elsewhere on cable and even on broadcast. TBS programming topper Michael Wright has said that his goal with "Engvall" is to air a show that parents can watch with their children.
Engvall, the former star of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, stars in the series as the suburban father of three wisecracking and gently quirky children. Comedian created the show, which is produced in-house by the net, with "Cosby Show" vet Michael Leeson.
Move means that that TBS has filled one of what Turner prexy Steve Koonin has said could be eight sitcom slots on TBS across primetime and latenight. Net currently has "My Boys" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" on the air and is set to debut Frank Caliendo's latenight sketch show in the fall.
TBS also announced that it will air the next installment in the Blue Collar Comedy franchise, a special titled "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation," and said that Engvall will host.
Special, which will feature a slew of new comedians on the tour, will be taped at the HBO-hosted comedy festival in Las Vegas November, to which TBS owns broadcast rights.
TBS has never aired a Blue Collar special before. "Blue Collar" pics have been aired on Comedy Central, while a series based on the comedians' material previously aired on the WB Network.
TBS renews 'The Bill Engvall Show'
Sitcom drew three million viewers per episode
By STEVEN ZEITCHIK
.
TBS has renewed "The Bill Engvall Show," the family-friendly sitcom that drew as many as three million total viewers per episode this summer.
Time Warner cabler has ordered ten episodes for the second season, likely for next summer, when the show could again air behind net's reruns of "Everybody Loves Raymond."
While critics have given "Engvall" mixed reviews, show was touted by TBS as a throwback series that offered counter-programming to edgier comedies elsewhere on cable and even on broadcast. TBS programming topper Michael Wright has said that his goal with "Engvall" is to air a show that parents can watch with their children.
Engvall, the former star of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, stars in the series as the suburban father of three wisecracking and gently quirky children. Comedian created the show, which is produced in-house by the net, with "Cosby Show" vet Michael Leeson.
Move means that that TBS has filled one of what Turner prexy Steve Koonin has said could be eight sitcom slots on TBS across primetime and latenight. Net currently has "My Boys" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" on the air and is set to debut Frank Caliendo's latenight sketch show in the fall.
TBS also announced that it will air the next installment in the Blue Collar Comedy franchise, a special titled "Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation," and said that Engvall will host.
Special, which will feature a slew of new comedians on the tour, will be taped at the HBO-hosted comedy festival in Las Vegas November, to which TBS owns broadcast rights.
TBS has never aired a Blue Collar special before. "Blue Collar" pics have been aired on Comedy Central, while a series based on the comedians' material previously aired on the WB Network.