News

Marc Maron is stepping out from behind his Wtf podcast microphone to star in Rob Burnett’s upcoming comedy In Memoriam. Burnett, a five-time Emmy winner, is ready to roll cameras on his latest feature starting on October 14.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, In Memoriam focuses on a veteran Hollywood actor (Maron) who becomes obsessed with being a part of the Academy Awards “In Memoriam” montage after learning about his terminal cancer diagnosis. The actor’s journey tells a heartfelt tale about self-discovery, humility, and ego as he hopes to leave his mark on the industry by becoming immortalized in a time-honored tradition.

Marc Maron, known for playing Sam Sylvia in the women’s wrestling drama series Glow, Gene Ufland in Todd Phillips’ Joker, and the Grumpy Gps in the YouTube Originals family series Jam Van, is a wildly successful actor and podcast host with over 80 million downloads yearly for his Wtf podcast.

This morning, ABC announced that it has relaunched its streaming service with a new name and a ton of new shows. ABCd will not just have digital short series but also has full seasons of 38 "throwback" shows such as 8 Simple Rules, My So-Called Life, Felicity (which aired on The WB but is owned by ABC), Ellen, Ugly Betty, and more. ABCd also has a whole new interface for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Apple TV and access to full episode of current shows on demand (such as Modern Family and Quantico). One of the most interesting elements is its collection of original digital series. Per the press release, here are descriptions of each series. “All My Gay Friends are Getting Married” A celebration of gay marriage through the eyes of only mildly bitter single girl, Michelle Collins, who’s realizing that everyone is now getting married – except her. She’ll...

ABC has relaunched its streaming service, complete with seven original digital short-form series — including ones starring former “View” host Michelle Collins and “Modern Family” star Ty Burrell — and full seasons of 38 older shows. Here are the dozens “throwback” series returning to the ABCd streaming service: “8 Simple Rules,” “Benched,” “Betrayal,” “Body of Proof,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Commander in Chief,” “Detroit,” “Dinosaurs,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Ellen,” “Felicity,” “FlashForward,” “Happy Town,” “Hope and Faith,” “I Survived a Japanese Game Show,” “The Knights of Prosperity,” “Less Than Perfect,” “Manhattan Love Story,” “Mixology,” “My Generation,” “My So-Called Life” (pictured above), “The Neighbors,”...

ABC has relaunched its streaming service with not just a new name — ABCd — but a bevy of new bells and whistles.

RelatedBrothers & Sisters Exclusive: Find Out What Would’ve Happened to the Walkers in Season 6

For one, full seasons of 38 “throwback” series — including Brothers & Sisters, Felicity, My So-Called Life, Body of Proof and Sports Night — will be available via the free, ad-supported service.

Other past programs now streaming include 8 Simple Rules, Benched, Betrayal, Commander in Chief, Detroit 1-8-7, Dinosaurs, Dirty Sexy Money, Ellen, FlashForward, Happy Town, Hope and Faith, I Survived a Japanese Game Show, The Knights of Prosperity, Less Than Perfect,...

The Knights of Prosperity

Showcase Inventory

Created by Rob Burnett, David Letterman, Jon Beckerman

Produced by B & B Productions, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, ABC Studios

Aired on ABC for 1 season (13 episodes, 2 Unaired) from January 3 – August 23, 2007

Cast

Donal Logue as Eugene Gurkin

Sofia Vergara as Esperanza Villalobos

Lenny Venito as Francis “Sasquatch” Squacieri

Kevin Michael Richardson as Rockefeller Butts

Maz Jobrani as Gourishankar Subramaniam

Josh Grisetti as Louis Plunk

Show Premise

After reflecting on the life of his recently deceased plumber coworker, Eugene Gurkin realizes that he wants to get more out of life, and decides to steal from the rich and famous in order to get it. He enlists his plumbing colleague, a cab driver, a security guard, and a waitress to achieve the goal. Together they decide on a target, Mick Jagger, which begins a series of foolishly constructed schemes to break into the rock star’s NYC high rise apartment.

You know, at the very beginning I was a fan of Law & Order: Svu. It probably goes without saying that I’m not inclined to be a fan of anything after 40 or 50 seasons (or whatever this show is on), but beyond the general boredom of a show that has outlived its usefulness, Svu started going downhill after two seasons, and simply wasn’t the same show anymore.

Well, whatever, such is my humble anyway.

As if to specifically mess with me, the show is now forcing me to watch it again, as Donal Logue has been given a recurring role. Fresh off of three of the coolest shows, and roles, you’re going to run into (Copper, Vikings, and Sons of Anarchy), Logue will continue the role as acting commander of the Svu.

The show returns on the 30th, and the Grey’s Anatomy-esque fun continues as Mariska Hargitay‘s character…...

By Carson Blackwelder

Television Contributor

***

Everyone has his or her favorite actor on TV, but what about the more obscure entertainers out there?

Amid the slew of popular TV performers that dominate the headlines lies an undercurrent of cult favorites, made iconic by uber-fans and bloggers — we’re talking the people that inspire beautiful, beautiful fan fiction and subreddits.

These actors may not earn millions or attend award shows, but they garner a small fan base that makes up for its size in devotion. No matter where this entertainer goes, for better or for worse, fans are sure to follow.

Here are the top 10 cult actors and actresses of all time:

10. Donal Logue

Starting the list is Donal Logue, a Canadian actor best known for his role as Sean Finnerty on Fox/The WB’s Grounded For Life.

Logue, who made an appearance on a 1993 episode of Fox’s The X-Files...

Did you love thy Neighbors?

The ABC sitcom, which debuted tonight at 9:30/8:30c, is set in a suburban, seemingly sedate gated community where Marty Weaver (The Knights of Prosperity‘s Lenny Venito) and his wife Debbie (Still Standing‘s Jami Gertz) have chosen to live with their two children. But on move-in day, the subdivision’s other residents give off some strange vibes.

For starters, they all dress alike and have professional athletes’ names – such as Larry Bird (Simon Templeman), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye) and Dick Butkus (Ian Patrick). They don’t seem to understand how to use...

Discussion of where to store all those Modern Family Emmy statues can get tense.

News

USA has ordered additional seasons of White Collar, Covert Affairs and Royal Pains. Pains got an order for two seasons and 26 episodes while White Collar and Covert Affairs will both be back for 16 episodes. News of 16 more episodes of Matt Bomer is always very welcome around here.

NBC has also asked for two more seasons of The Voice, which would include a run next spring and another one in the fall.

Greg Berlanti has already sold two projects to NBC, including Napa, a modern take on Wuthering Heights.

New Jersey is considering a law allowing its cities to regulate reality shows like any other business. The law is inspired by Jersey Shore and includes letting cities charge a reality show for the increased police force required for crowd control.

Bernadette Peters will be returning to Smash.

On TV this Wednesday: Premiere week continues with the returns of Modern Family, The Middle (supersized!), Criminal Minds, Svu, CSI and Key & Peele. Phew! In addition, ABC introduces us to new Neighbors and South Park takes a lickin’ and keeps on killing Kenny tickin’. Here are 10 programs to keep on your radar tonight.

8 pm The Middle (ABC) | In the hour-long Season 4 premiere, Mike accidentally reveals that he likes Axl best. Perhaps as a result, Sue tries to get her dad to spend some quality time with her.

8 pm Animal Practice (NBC) | Regular timeslot premiere: Doug tries to convince George to operate on his dog,...

Title: Santa Mesa Director: Ron Morales (2012′s ‘Graceland’) Starring: Jacob Kiron Shalov (TV’s ‘The Knights of Prosperity’), Jaime Tirelli (‘Carlito’s Way,’ TV’s ‘You Don’t Know Jack’) and Melissa Leo People often tend to try and classify themselves as being from one particular culture and having one heritage, but that has become increasingly difficult as people in recent years have progressively moved from country to country. The tendency to categorize people culturally and racially is the major conflict in writer-director Ron Morales’ feature film debut, ‘Santa Mesa.’ This trend, and the inability to cope with one’s new society, are the major problems plaguing the drama’s main character, Hector. ‘Santa Mesa’ follows...

Sofia Vergara Spanish Lessons with Elmo on Sesame Street

When it comes to actresses who are qualified to help Elmo give Spanish language lessons on Sesame Street, one may come to mind more quickly than the others. I hope that’s Sofia Vergara for you, because it was for me, and obviously for Sesame Street, too. The Modern Family star knows Elmo personally it looks like if today’s fun video is any proof. Check out the insanity below.

Vergara is gorgeous, but she’s also got fantastic comedic timing. Have you ever seen her on Ellen’s show? How great does her hair look in today’s video? Beware, there are penguins, well one at least, in our clip. There’s also a crazy chicken. Elmo will astound you with his detective skills. What else can you ask for? Are you a Vergara fan? Ring in below and you...

Update: 12th April We just made another massive update of the gallery. We have just added another 10,000+ images from the following shows.

8 Simple Rules, 21 Jump Street,Absolutely Fabulous, Accidently on Purpose,According to Jim, Taxi, Ally McBeal, American Dad, American Dreams, Andromeda, Angel, Angels in America, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica 1978, Band of Brothers, Bevelerly Hills 90210, Big Day, Birds of Prey, Blackadders, Blade, Boomtown, Bones, Boston Public, Brotherhood, Brothers, Buffy, Canterbury's Law, Caprica, Cavemen, Charlie Jade, Charmed, Chase, Cheers, Cold Case, Commander in Chief, Conan, Cracker, Cupid, Curb your Enthusiasm, Dark Angel, Dark Blue, Dawson's Creek, Dead Like Me, Defying Gravity, Dirt, Dollhouse, Eastwick,Es, Eleventh Hour, ER, Everybody Hates Chris, Ez Streets, Fastlane, Felicity, Flashforward, Flashpoint, Flics, Flight of the Conchords, Football Wives, Freedom, Friends, Friends with Benefits, Hellcats, Generation Kill, Ghost Whisperer, Gilmour Girls, Girls Club, Glory Daze, Green Wing, Hank, Harsh Realm, Haunted, Hawthorne, Head Case, Heroes, Hex,...

"Our challenge is that most people don't think of Arabs as funny or warm or capable of laughing at themselves," said standup comic Dean Obeidallah, who is a co-producer and co-founder of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival, whose seventh annual installment runs through May 9 at 3Ld Art & Technology Center in New York. Arab comics are not a new phenomenon—the late Danny Thomas was born Muzyad Yakhoob to Lebanese immigrants in Michigan—though their presence is not widely known of in the culture at large, said Obeidallah. Indeed, Obeidallah was a standup comic for close to seven years prior to the festival's inception. But in the wake of Sept. 11, he felt a sense of urgency, not simply on his own behalf but "to show Arabs to Americans in a different light." The festival has been a way to combat stereotypes and humanize the image of Arabs, as well...

Curvy actress Sofia Vergara's mum made the actress swear not to have her huge breasts reduced to land more film roles. The Colombian pin-up, who briefly dated Tom Cruise, was advised to cut a few breast sizes if she wanted to be taken seriously as an actress at the beginning of her career. She says, "They thought I was too much."

But it only took a call home to help Vergara make up her mind and decide to keep her busty look. She explains, "My mum was like, 'God is going to punish you if you take your t**s off'."

Sofia Vergara appeared as main cast in the ABC TV series "Hot Properties" in 2005. Two years later, she played another situation comedies in ABC "The Knights of Prosperity". She also appeared on the big screen for several movies such as "Chasing Papi" and "Lords of Dogtown".

Canceled series The Nine and The Knights of Prosperity had a short second life on ABC. The network pulled the well-reviewed shows after two low-rated airings for Nine and one for Knights. Knights, which aired Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., will be replaced by repeats of According to Jim.

The Nine, which ran in the Wednesday 10 p.m. slot, will be replaced by ABC News' new documentary series NASCAR in Primetime, which was originally slated to air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. beginning this week. ABC News' Primetime: The Outsiders will fill the 9 p.m. hour. It is not clear where the unaired episodes of Nine (4) and Knights (2) will be available.

NBC kicked off the broadcast networks' annual series-pickup frenzy with orders to dramas The Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life as well as a renewal of critical darling Friday Night Lights.

Additionally, sources said ABC is close to a 13-episode order for the midseason comedy Notes From the Underbelly, and CBS is close to bringing back the midseason comedy Rules of Engagement and the sophomore sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Talks are said to continue about ABC possibly picking up eight to nine more episodes of its well-received but low-rated comedy The Knights of Prosperity, featuring Donal Logue and company trying to rob Ray Romano (HR 5/10). Romano appeared at the end of the last aired episode of Knights. He also is featured in the remaining three episodes of the show's first season, which have not aired.

All four newly picked up NBC drama series were given permission to begin staffing last week (HR 5/8).

Bionic, from NBC Universal TV Studio, is a re-imagination of the 1970s series. David Eick, Jason Smilovic and director Michael Dinner exec produced the pilot starring Michelle Ryan, with Glen Morgan joining the series as exec producer.

Chuck, from Warner Bros. TV, is a dramedy starring Zachary Levi as a computer geek working as a spy.

ABC recently reshuffled its Wednesday night schedule in response to the ratings powerhouse American Idol on Fox. As part of that reshuffling, the network moved The Knights of Prosperity from 9pm to 8:30pm. Would that be enough to save the sitcom? Apparently not.

The Knights of Prosperity debuted on Wednesday, January 3, 2007. The sitcom followed a gang of misfits (the "Knights") who came up with the idea to rob Rolling Stones legend Mick Jagger's luxury apartment. The series featured actors Donal Logue, Sofia Vergara, Lenny Venito, Maz Jobrani, Kevin Michael Richardson and Josh Grisetti.

In its debut against the Sugar Bowl, Knights attracted a 4.4 rating (4.8 million households). The next week, up against regular competition, Knights attracted only 3.5 million households. Once American Idol began, the ratings got worse. ABC's schedule move didn't seem to help much (or actually take it out of Idol's path when Idol moved to 8pm). The...

Last week, in an attempt to do damage control from the effects of the ratings juggernaut known as American Idol, ABC reshuffled its Wednesday night sitcom schedule. But will that move be enough to save newbie sitcom The Knights of Prosperity? Probably not. It looks like the show's fate may already be decided.

The Knights of Prosperity debuted on Wednesday, January 3, 2007 on ABC. The sitcom follows a gang of misfits (the "Knights") who come up with the idea to burgle rock-legend Mick Jagger's luxury apartment. The show was initially going to be called Let's Rob Jeff Goldblum but was changed to Let's Rob Mick Jagger when Goldblum's Raines pilot for NBC was picked up. That titled was changed to Knights of Prosperity, perhaps at the request of Jagger who appeared in the premiere episode. The series features actors Donal Logue, Sofia Vergara, Lenny Venito, Maz Jobrani, Kevin Michael Richardson and Josh Grisetti.

ABC is shuffling its Wednesday comedy lineup, shifting new series The Knights of Prosperity away from Fox's American Idol.

The network said Friday that Knights will move back a half-hour to 8:30 p.m. beginning Wednesday, displacing According to Jim to 9 p.m. George Lopez will continue at 8 p.m.

While that's good news for Knights -- which saw its audience plummet nearly 50% from its Jan. 3 premiere when it aired opposite Idol on Jan. 17 -- fellow freshman comedy In Case of Emergency isn't so lucky, remaining in its 9:30 p.m. slot.

The ABC hit drama Lost returns to the Wednesday lineup at 10 p.m. Feb. 7.

How long can Fox hold that high note? American Idol demolished everything in sight again in primetime on Wednesday with a two-hour edition that peaked at 36.9 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour.

Idol opened up the night for Fox at 8 p.m. with 27.7 million viewers and 11.1 rating/30 share in the adults 18-49 demographic. By 9 pm., viewership had climbed to 36.9 million and 15.5/37 in the demo.

Idol surpassed the combined ratings of ABC, CBS, NBC and CW Network in both the 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. hours. CBS' Armed and Famous (4.7 million, 1.4/4) couldn't get arrested at 8 p.m. NBC's Fright Night Lights (6 million, 1.9/5) and ABC's combo of George Lopez (6.1 million, 1.9/5) and According to Jim (6.2 million, 2.1/5) weren't much better off, though CW's Beauty and the Geek (3.1 million, 1.3/3) held up well, relatively speaking by CW standards.

At 9 p.m., NBC's Deal or No Deal (10.1 million, 2.7/6) was a distant No. 2. ABC's struggled against the Idol vortex with new comedies The Knights of Prosperity (3.6 million, 1.4/3) and In Case of Emergency (3 million, 1.2/3) while CBS punted with a Criminal Minds repeat (9.6 million, 2.3/5).

NEW YORK -- CBS' celebrity-cop reality series Armed & Famous got off to a disarming start Wednesday even though it managed to win its time period in the demo against weak competition.

"Armed & Famous" just barely won the demo between 8-9 p.m. (and lost in viewers) while the second week wasn't kind to the new ABC sitcoms The Knights of Prosperity and In Case of Emergency. Primetime was interrupted on the East Coast and Midwest by President Bush's half-hour speech on Iraq, which caused some schedule changes.

"Armed & Famous" (8.2 million, 2.9 rating/8 share in adults 18-49) split with an hour of ABC's According to Jim (8.6 million, 2.7/7), according to preliminary estimates released Thursday by Nielsen Media research. The reality show just beat it in the demo while the blue-collar sitcom beat it in viewership. And the demo rating was down from the Jericho premiere (3.4/10) on Sept. 20 and slightly off the season average of 3.1/9 in the time period.

Meanwhile, Friday Night Lights (6.6 million, 2.4/7) had its highest ratings since a Monday telecast but was about even with a repeat of Fox's Bones (7.2 million, 2.4/6).

NEW YORK -- The New York Television Festival on Tuesday announced its lineup of panels, special events and pilot screenings for their 2006 edition, set for Sept. 12-17 in Midtown Manhattan. During the opening-night gala Sept. 12, NBC will screen the pilot of its new fall drama Kidnapped. On Sept. 14, ABC will screen the pilot of its new fall comedy The Knights of Prosperity, and Fox will screen an episode of its new drama Standoff. On Sept. 13, The Simpsons executive producer Mike Scully, Everybody Loves Raymond executive producer Phil Rosenthal and Arrested Development executive producer Mitchell Hurwitz will participate in a panel on the portrayal of the American family through the years.

ABC continued to stock its primetime shelves for the upcoming season, giving series orders to another four new dramas and two more new comedies late last week in advance of its fall schedule unveiling Tuesday in New York. Fox, which presents its 2006-07 schedule Thursday, also handed out additional pickups to one new drama and two new comedies late last week. ABC's green lights on Friday went to the hourlong pilots Brothers & Sisters, a family soap starring Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths; the telenovela-inspired Ugly Betty, set at a fashion magazine; the national security thriller Traveler; and Men in Trees, starring Anne Heche as a woman who moves to Alaska after her marriage breaks up. On the half-hour side, ABC gave the nod to two serialized projects, the single-camera half-hours Big Day, a look at a couple's wedding day through the eyes of the participants, and the untitled Burnett/Beckerman heist comedy, featuring Donal Logue as the ringleader of a group of guys who conspire to rob Mick Jagger.

Rock great Mick Jagger is in negotiations to appear in ABC's untitled Burnett/Beckerman comedy pilot, sources said. The Donal Logue-starring project, from Touchstone Television, revolves around a group of blue-collar guys in New York who decide to rob a celebrity (Jagger). Originally, the project was shopped around with the cheeky title I Want to Rob Jeff Goldblum, but Jeff Goldblum, who has his own pilot at NBC, was never attached. After the script was picked up to pilot in December, the show's creators, Rob Burnett and Jon Beckerman, zeroed in on Jagger as the celebrity at the center of the show. Jagger would only appear in a few scenes, and his name is not expected to be in the title of the single-camera project, sources said. But he is crucial to the plot line as the target of the planned robbery and is mentioned numerous times in the scenes that already have been filmed. DVDs with the taped pilot sans Jagger's scenes already have started floating around. If the pilot is picked up to series, Jagger would continue to appear as the plot to rob him develops. With the deal for the Burnett/Beckerman project, Jagger is poised to join another British rock star, Elton John, in the ABC/Touchstone comedy fold this season. John executive produces the single-camera half-hour pilot Him and Us. Earlier this week, Jagger and The Rolling Stones wrapped the spring leg of their world tour supporting the 2005 album A Bigger Bang, which covered North and South America, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand. The European portion of the tour begins next month.