Remembering Sitcom Legend Tom Poston; Black Family Channel Will Move to Broadband

We have some breaking news to report. Veteran actor Tom Poston has passed away. Mr. Poston passed away yesterday after a brief illness. Everyone has seen this man in at least something. The Emmy Award Winning actor is best remembered for his roles on The Bob Newhart Show, Mork & Mindy and Newhart. In his early career he guest starred on sitcoms such as The Phil Silvers Show before winning the Emmy in 1959 for his role on The Steve Allen Show. After that he guest starred on series such as Get Smart and The Good Guys before landing the role of Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock on The Bob Newhart Show. After his run on that show he guest starred on series such as Alice, CHiPs and was a regular on two short lived sitcoms On the Rocks & We've Got Each Other. In 1979 he got the role of Franklin Delano Bickley on the hit sitcom Mork & Mindy, starring Robin Williams. His next big role was of George Utley in the sitcom Newhart, reuniting him once again with Bob Newhart. Mr. Poston would reunite one more time with Bob in the sitcom Bob for a few episodes. He was also a regular in the Fox sitcom Good Grief in 1990 and more recently on NBC's short lived sitcom Committed. That is not all Tom was in. He guest starred in many many sitcoms in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. He had recurring roles on the ABC sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Coach. He also had a few memorable guest appearances as Mr. Looney (that's Loon-ay!) on the ABC sitcom Family Matters. The man was everything, more sitcom guest credits include Becker, Cosby, 8 Simple Rules, Dharma & Greg, Dream On, George & Leo, Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me, Malcolm & Eddie, Murphy Brown, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That '70s Show, Love Boat, The Simpsons, Will & Grace and reunited with his wife Suzanne Pleshette in the NBC sitcom Good Morning Miami. And that's just the sitcoms! He has been on dramas, game shows, movies, too. He was last seen in late 2006 on an episode of the Disney Channel sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. He will be dearly missed as he has graced a lot of shows and films. Mr. Poston was 85.

We mentioned last week that the Black Family Channel is no more, but now they announced today they are moving to broadband as a free channel!
Black Family Channel's slate of original, must-see, award-winning programs will soon be available free as a brand new, feature-rich broadband TV service.
Anyone who has access to a broadband connection at home, at school, or at work will be able to get Black Family Channel. The broadband service is launching soon under the leadership of Hollywood actor and director Robert Townsend and Mr. Newberger.
In tandem with the launch of the broadband service, Black Family Channel announced a cable partnership with Gospel Music Channel, the nation's first and only 24-hour music television entertainment network dedicated to all styles of Gospel and Christian music.

Broadcast May Upfront Highlights; Black Family Channel Ceases

We told you about the CBS season finale dates a few weeks back, but CBS hasn't issued an actual May sweeps press release. We do however have ABC, NBC and Fox's for you!
ABC will have high-power episodes of its signature series Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars and more! There are no stunt programming except a special sneak peek on the summer series Traveler on May 10 at 10pm. National Bingo Night, another summer series, will get a preview during the last Friday of sweeps (May 18 at 9). Its all about its series on ABC, so viewers will be glued all month long. To view the May sweep ABC highlights, click HERE.
For fourth place NBC, it is all about stunt programming. NBC will launch a special blockbuster movie night on Sundays for sweeps, such as Along Came Polly. They will also have two SNL specials in primetime, along with two super-sized Thursdays. The NBC signature series will finish with a bang such as Heroes, Deal or No Deal, The Office, My Name is Earl, ER, and Law & Order: SVU. Click HERE for NBC's highlights.
For Fox it will be a mix of series and stunts this May. Fox has announced it has canceled new drama Drive and have replaced it with more House encores (Mondays at 8). The Fridays at 8 House encores will cease on May 4 with encores of Nanny 911 airing instead. Fox has two NASCAR races on two Saturdays, the world broadcast premiere of the movie The Day After Tomorrow, The Simpsons' landmark 400th episode, and of course the finale of American Idol. Fox will also preview summer reality series On the Lot after the first part finale of American Idol. It looks to be a good May for Fox, click HERE for highlights.
May sweeps starts tomorrow! Watch all you can because your favorite series will go on a summer break after the sweeps ends on May 23.

The low-rated cable channel Black Family Channel will go off-air on April 30. The network never really took off after eight years on air. Black networks such as TV One and BET do much better in the ratings. It used to air reruns of the sitcom Roc and the animated Dennis the Menace. Currently it was airing reruns of the animated The Bullwinkle Show and King Leonardo on Saturday mornings.
The network was in 16 million homes, which is not that much really compared to other cable networks.