Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the courtroom.

One of the best cast television shows of all time, Boston Legal, is joining TV Land and the network will kick things off wit a marathon of the series’ most popular episodes today.  Great news!

The Primetime Emmy Award-winning hit series created by David E. Kelley premieres on Monday, February 15th with a President’s Day marathon from 12pm – 12am EST/PST, showing the best cases, most outrageous moments and most creative storylines that audiences love. During the marathon, TV Land PRIME will offer special character “briefs” on viewers favorite Crane, Poole & Schmidt firm members such as Denny Crane, Alan Shore and Shirley Schmidt, and viewers will learn personal and professional information on the characters as well as everything they need to know about this popular series.

“The poignant storylines offset by humor and wit skillfully acted and delivered by the infamous and talented William Shatner and Candice Bergen have resonated with audiences making ‘Boston Legal’ a favorite,” states Jaclyn Cohen, senior vice president of programming and acquisitions for TV Land. “TV Land viewers are sure to love this addition to our schedule!”

Created by David E. Kelley (“Ally McBeal,” “The Practice”) “Boston Legal” is a one-hour dramedy which ran on ABC for five seasons. The series follows the professional and personal lives of the attorneys at high-priced Boston law firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The on-goings at the firm are made thoroughly entertaining by the talented cast, starring James Spader and television veterans William Shatner and Candice Bergen. Spader garnered two Primetime Emmys for his depiction of Alan Shore, a winning attorney with at times, less-than-ethical tactics. William Shatner received an Emmy and Golden Globe for his role as the quirky Denny Crane, the leading name of the firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt, a star litigator in his heyday and now adjusting to his evolving role at the firm as he gets older. Candice Bergen, famous for her five-time Emmy-winning portrayal of Murphy Brown stars in “Boston Legal” as Shirley Schmidt, third name in the firm title. Schmidt is a no-nonsense attorney who rejoins the team toward the end of the first season, returning from a stint in New York. Schmidt and Crane were previously involved, which adds yet another layer of entertainment to the plot.

Boston Legal Marathon Episode Descriptions:

Monday, February 15, 2010

12:00PM #001: Head Cases

A partner arrives at the office wearing no pants; Shore meets with an African-American woman who claims her daughter was passed over for a role in “Annie” because of the color of her skin; a client wants to hire a private investigator to tail his cheating wife, but Denny advises against it; sparks fly between Bad and Sally when they represent a mom fighting her ex over a custody issue.

1:00PM #002: Still Crazy After All These Years

Shore represents a former lover who tried to kill him and who is now fighting for release from a mental institution; Crane behaves strangely during a case, prompting the partners to look for an excuse to get rid of him.

2:00PM #011: Schmidt Happens

Lori files a motion against the U.S. government on behalf of a Sudanese man, trying to draw attention to the genocide in that country; Shore represents a man who killed his mother; partner Shirley Schmidt, Crane’s former flame, returns to the firm.

3:00PM #016: Let Sales Ring

Crane represents an old friend who wants to die and be cryonically frozen; Shore represents a teenager who claims that a news channel is being illegally censored at his high school.

4:00PM #018: The Black Widow

Shore and Brad represent a beautiful woman accused of poisoning her wealthy, elderly husband; Tara finds herself opposing an old flame when she defends a doctor accused of groping a mute cellist.

5:00PM #019: Schadenfreude

Crane, Shore and Brad defend Kelly Nolan, who is accused of killing her rich husband; Denise insists on handling her own divorce; Catherine worries that Bernard Ferrion will kill again; Tara assists Malcolm in representing a singer.

6:00PM #040: Race Ipsa

Crane shoots his psychiatrist; Shore recruits Chelina to help defend a client in a racial profiling case; Denise shows Brad how to kiss.

7:00PM #062: Son of the Defender

Denny Crane is forced at gunpoint to re-try his very first murder case, but this time the lives of half the firm hang on the verdict; Alan defends a working girl and ends up sharing a cell with her.

8:00PM #084: The Mighty Rogues

Shirley asks Alan to argue a case that would allow her to end her father’s fight with Alzheimer’s; Jerry’s sued for sexual assault; Sack represents Nantucket Island in the island’s quest to build an atomic bomb.

9:00PM #088: Patriot Acts

Denny and Alan are finally accepted into the Coast Guard but their friendship is tested when Alan represents a town that wants to secede from the United States; Denny represents the opposing side.

10:00PM #100: Made In China

In desperate need of funding, but against everyone’s wishes, the firm votes to be acquired by a Chinese corporation; Shirley and Sack plan their wedding; Denny makes a proposal of his own to Alan.

11:00PM #101: Last Call

Alan argues before the Supreme Court for Denny’s right to take an experimental drug to halt the effects of his advancing Alzheimer’s; Shirley, Sack, Alan and Denny prepare for their weddings.

Additionally, beginning February 15th, fans of the series can log on to www.tvland.com and enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win one of 30 “Boston Legal” Season 5 DVD box sets.

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AfriCOBRA: Jeff Donaldson “Two for Cheikh”

This is outstanding!  I’m thrilled that TV Land is honoring these amazing artists and their work.   If not for TV Land, I would never have even heard of AfriCOBRA – but now I’m nothing short of mesmerized.

Go to TVLAND.com for more information!

TV LAND CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH WITH SALUTE TO VISUAL ARTS GROUP, AfriCOBRA

On-Air Tribute To Artists And Their Work Premieres in February on TV Land

New York, NY, February 4, 2010 – TV Land announced today that it will pay tribute to the art and artists of AfriCOBRA with a series of interstitials airing throughout Black History Month. AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) was formed in the 1960s by a group of Chicago-based artists seeking to effect positive change by creating images that affirmed and uplifted the black community. The group continues to create innovative African American artwork today. The network will present new, original interviews with some of the AfriCOBRA artists as well as an illustrious display of their artwork. The series of 30-second and 60-second spots will begin airing in February on TV Land in celebration of Black History Month. Extended versions of the spots will be available at tvland.com.

The TV Land AfriCOBRA spots were directed by Juan Delcan and Kenny Morrison from Nola Pictures. Delcan recently designed the stage visuals for U2’s 360 Tour as well as directed commercials for clients including NBC, Puma, Carolina Herrera, JetBlue and DeBeers among others. Morrison previously directed high profile campaigns for AT&T, BMW, 3M, and BlueCross among many others.

“The body of AfriCOBRA’s artwork is visually stunning and speaks to the strength, beauty and heroism of African Americans from both yesterday and today,” stated Larry W. Jones, president, TV Land. “These lively images and the amazing artists creatively illustrate the depth of Black American culture and its art. As we celebrate Black History Month, all of us here at TV Land are thrilled to be able to shine a spotlight on these vibrant and influential masterpieces.”

TV Land will donate the transcripts – both written and digital versions – to Smithsonian’s Archive of American Art, in Washington, D.C. The Archives of American Art collects, preserves, and makes available primary sources, such as letters, unpublished writings, financial records, and interview transcripts, documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. It is the largest collection of its kind in the world.

“Since the Archives of American Art was founded in 1954, it has cultivated an active program of recording oral history interviews,” stated Jason Stieber, Collections Specialist, Smithsonian’s Archive of American Art. “The transcripts of these interviews capture the true character of artists’ voices in a way that other written materials often don’t. The AfriCOBRA interviews have made an extraordinary contribution to our research holdings. Documenting the American experience through its artistic output is what we’re all about. Groups like AfriCOBRA represent the creative potency America has enjoyed by virtue of its linguistic, cultural, religious and racial diversity.”

About AfriCOBRA

In the 1960s, a group of talented African American artists called OBAC (Organization for Black American Culture) created the “Wall of Respect” mural in Chicago, IL. The mural depicted African American heroes and leaders of that era. The Wall became a meeting place for many and served as the community’s visual affirmation of African American cultural, intellectual and political heritage. When the group disbanded, a new group emerged and became COBRA (Coalition of Black Revolutionary Artists) which later became AfriCOBRA, a name they continue to use today. AfriCOBRA began when America was in an unprecedented racial upheaval and sought to express the dynamic and dramatic views of American Americans. The group was co-founded by Jeff Donaldson, Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, Barbara Jones-Hogu and Gerald Williams.

The artistic vision of the group is to create vibrant works that can start a dialog that is “pro-Black without being ‘anti’ anything else.” The body of work that stretches across a variety of mediums – including paintings and sculptures –follows several aesthetic principles. These include the use of bold, vibrant “coolade” colors, the use of lettering to clarify or extend the visual statement, lost and found line, mimesis at midpoint, and the objective of educating and speaking to African Americans’ past, present and future. On the artists’ use of these principles founder Jeff Donaldson wrote, “We are a family of image-makers and each member of the family is free to relate and to express our laws in his/her individual way. Dig the diversity in unity. We can be ourselves and be together too.”

AfriCOBRA Artists’

Jeff Donaldson

“We hope you can dig it, it’s about you and, like Marvin Gaye says, ‘You’re what’s happening in the world today, baby.’”

AfriCOBRA founder Jeff Donaldson was born in Pine Bluff Arkansas in 1932. He received a B.A. in studio art from the University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff in 1954, after establishing the school’s first arts major. He studied under John Howard, who had been a student of Harlem Renaissance painter Hale Woodruff, and who nurtured Donaldson’s interest in Afro-centric art. Donaldson went on to complete his M.F.A. at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1963, and a PhD in African and African American Art History at Northwestern University in 1974.

As a member of the Organization for Black American Culture (OBAC) in 1967

Donaldson organized the visual art workshop that created Chicago’s seminal “Wall of Respect” mural, which depicted black heroes and became an iconic symbol of the black pride movement. He was instrumental in the founding of AfriCOBRA, whose mission he saw as the development of a common aesthetic creed and the impetus for a movement in which artists effected social change by making images of affirmation for the black community and fostering black pride.

Donaldson described AfriCOBRA’s aesthetic principles as: “The expressive awesomeness that one experiences in African Art and life in the USA like the Holiness church…and the demon that is the blues, Alcindor’s dunk and Sayer’s cut…Summitry that is free, repetition with change, based on African music and African movement… We want the work to look like the creator made it through us… We want the things to shine, to have the rich luster of a just-washed ‘Fro, of spit-shined shoes…Color that shines… Color that defines, identifies and directs… Coolade colors for coolade images for the super real people.”

Donaldson promoted “TransAfrican” art, explaining that, “African art – the art of Dogon masks, Kasai axes, gold weights – is not art of isolated objects. Everything’s together, religion and tradition, oration, dancing, and song. James Brown doesn’t just stand up there and sing. You can’t see AfriCOBRA unless you’re in the struggle, unless you hear the music, unless you really know.”

As a painter, Donaldson participated in over 200 group and solo exhibitions internationally. He was also an educator and over the course of his career he served as a professor, art department chair and dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University.

Jeff Donaldson died in February 2004.

Wadsworth Jarrell

“If you can get to bebop, you can get to me. That is where the truth is.”

Founding AfriCOBRA member Wadsworth Jarrell was born in 1929 in Albany, Georgia and moved to Chicago in the mid-1950s. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded a B.F.A. in 1958. As a member of the Organization for Black American Culture (OBAC), he helped execute the famous “Wall of Respect” outdoor mural on the South Side of Chicago in 1967. That same year he married fellow artist Elaine “Jae” Jarrell. In 1968, the Jarrells co-founded the artist collective AfriCOBRA along with Jeff Donaldson, Barbara Jones-Hogu and Gerald Williams.

In 1971, Jarrell began teaching in the art department at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and received his M.F.A. from the university in 1974.

In 1978, Jarrell and his family moved to Athens, Georgia where he taught painting at the University of Georgia. He retired from teaching in 1988. He continues to work as an artist and is represented by several prominent commercial art galleries in the United States.

Jae Jarrell

“You speak through your work. We can all do something. You speak through your medium.”

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Elaine “Jae” Jarrell attended Bowling Green State University in Ohio before moving to Chicago. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She married artist, Wadsworth Jarrell in 1967 and, with her husband, helped form what became the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA) in 1968. Jarrell was a gifted clothing designer and contributed hand-made and adorned garments to AfriCOBRA exhibitions in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She later took graduate courses at Howard University and the Parsons School of Design in New York. Her original designs of Afro-centric garments were widely exhibited in American museum exhibitions and were featured in magazines including Ebony and the International Review of African American Art. Jae Jarrell owned a vintage men’s clothing shop in New York for many years before moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 2009.

Barbara Jones-Hogu

“Black people, a total people, a total force, Unite, Unite…”

Barbara Jones-Hogu was born in Chicago. She received a B.A. from Howard University in 1959, a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1964, and a M.S., with a concentration in printmaking, from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1970.

Jones-Hogu is an influential artist associated with the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s. As a member of OBAC (Organization for Black American Culture), she was one of the muralists who created the important “Wall of Respect” in 1967 on the south side of Chicago – a public work that inspired the creation of socially, politically and culturally themed murals across the urban American landscape. In 1968, Jones-Hogu became a founding member of the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA). As a member of AfriCOBRA she participated in formulating the group’s mission statement, which stressed Black independence and artistic self-determination.

Her signature use of lettering in her artwork became a hallmark of the AfriCOBRA aesthetic. Her famed screen prints created during her participation in the group were exhibited widely at venues including the Studio Museum in Harlem, Howard University, Cornell University, and the National Center of Afro-American Artists in Boston. Several books and catalogues over the years have included her work, and she is featured in Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists, the most important text on the subject, published in 2005. Unite, perhaps her most well known screen printed image, is included in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Napoleon Jones Henderson

“My work in its essence is spiritual; meaning-full. We must be about the business of expressing what is beautiful; ourselves.”

Napoleon Jones-Henderson was born in Chicago in 1943. He was awarded a B.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1971 and pursued graduate studies at Northern Illinois University in 1974. In 2005, he received a MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art. He has been an active and long-standing member of AfriCOBRA since 1969. During the formative years of AfriCOBRA, Jones-Henderson created large pictorial weavings that were included in the group’s important series of exhibitions mounted at the Studio Museum in Harlem in the early 1970s. He has taught in the art departments of several American institutions including Malcolm X College in Chicago, the Massachusetts College of Art, Emerson College in Boston and Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

Michael D. Harris

“Our art is not about destruction, it’s about construction. It’s about who we are and who we can be.”

Michael Harris is an Associate Professor of Art History at Emory University and also serves as the Consulting Curator for the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Art and Culture in Charlotte, NC. Previously, Harris was an Associate Professor of African and African-American Art History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for eleven years. In spring 2004, he served as the Visiting Professor of Art at Dillard University in New Orleans and has taught at Duke University, Georgia State University, Morehouse College and Wellesley College.

He also served as the Consulting Curator for African American Art at the High Museum in Atlanta from 2005 – 2009.

Harris has published extensively and his recent book, Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation, won two national awards. He was the curator of the exhibition “Transatlantic Dialogue: Contemporary Art In and Out of Africa,” which traveled to the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and to the Tampa Museum of Art, and co-curated “Astonishment and Power” at the National Museum of African Art in 1993. In 1996, Harris completed a doctorate in art history at Yale University, where he had also previously received his Master of Philosophy degree (1991), M.A. in Art History (1990), and M.A., with distinction, in African and African-American studies and Art History (1989). Additionally, he holds his M.F.A. in painting from Howard University and a B.S. in education from Bowling Green State University.

As an artist, Harris has exhibited nationally and internationally, is represented in public and private collections including those of David Driskell and the Hampton University Museum. He has been a member of AfriCOBRA since 1979.

Carolyn Lawrence

“Take the past and the present and make the new image.”

Painter Carolyn Lawrence grew up in Houston, Texas and received a degree in Education from the University of Texas in Austin in 1961. She started teaching in Gary, Indiana immediately after graduation, then went on to complete her MA in Art Education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Lawrence was a member of the Organization for Black American Culture (OBAC) and took part

in the creation of the “Wall of Respect” mural in Chicago, which sparked an urban mural movement and set off the chain of events that led to the founding of the AfriCOBRA collective. Lawrence joined AfriCOBRA in the spring of 1969, while teaching art at Kenwood Academy High School in Chicago. She contributed to the group’s first museum exhibition “10 in Search of a Nation” at the Studio Museum in Harlem in 1970. She continued teaching at Kenwood Academy, where she also served as art department chair, until she retired in 2001. In retirement, Lawrence is getting back to her art and working on refining her craft.

Howard Mallory

“Our offering to the planet is valid enough for us to feel good about ourselves.”

Howard Mallory is a sculptor and ceramic artist who joined AfriCOBRA in 1971 and exhibited with the group during their Studio Museum in Harlem exhibition in 1971 and in their Howard University exhibition of 1973. Mallory studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Texas Western College. Early in his career he worked as an instructor in ceramics at the Parkway Community House in Chicago and exhibited his work at regional art exhibitions. He continues to work from his home and studio on the South Side of Chicago, where he has installed an outdoor work entitled “The Freedom Train.”

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If anyone knows TV, it’s me.  Not only do I happen to, unapologetically, love the medium, I can’t imagine what a day without TV Land, televised sports, or the Food Network would be like.  Don’t want to know!  Anyway, I am sitting on tremendous TV knowledge and that knowledge leads me to announce that the fact that Betty White is returning to television is the best “television-related” news in two forevers.   This beautiful and hilarious comedienne  is one in a gazillion and how any network has let her go unutilized this long is beyond me.  For that matter, come on, shouldn’t the entire Golden Girls cast be gainfully employed on television and the movies?

Betty White has signed on in a Recurring Role in a promising new TV Land original series,  Hot in Cleveland.  I’m also doing back flips over the concept of Valerie Bertinelli returning to television.  I think her recent commercial campaign, her autobiography, and bikini pics (with snow and ice covering most of the country, I chose to show one of these pics at the top of the post – Valerie can thaw out as much ice now as she did 20 years ago…  probably more!) reminded the public of just how much we all love her.  TV Land is absolutely brilliant to bring both ladies back into our living rooms.

From TV Land:

“HOT IN CLEVELAND”

New York, NY, January 13, 2010 – TV Land announced today that it has signed comedic actresses Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick to star as best friends in the network’s sitcom pilot “Hot in Cleveland.” Additionally, the incomparable Emmy Award-winning Betty White has also been cast in the comedy pilot as a recurring guest star. The sitcom, which was previously announced in October along with comedy pilot “Retired at 35,” is TV Land’s foray into scripted comedy series and is a TV Land PRIME presentation.

“Hot in Cleveland” is written by Emmy Award-winning Suzanne Martin (“Frasier,” “Ellen”) and is produced by Emmy Award-winner Sean Hayes’ Hazy Mills Productions.

The new comedy revolves around three fabulous, LA women of a certain age and best friends (Bertinelli, Leeves and Malick). Their lives are changed forever when their plane unexpectedly lands in Cleveland and they soon rediscover themselves in this new “promised land.” Loving their new home, the women find themselves living under one roof and battling their sassy, property caretaker, played by Betty White.

Popular actress Valerie Bertinelli is most-remembered for her role as “Barbara Jean Cooper” on the beloved Norman Lear sitcom “One Day At A Time.” She also starred in “Touched By An Angel” for the show’s final two seasons. More recently, Bertinelli became a spokesperson for the Jenny Craig weight-loss program and in 2008 she released the autobiography Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound At A Time, which discussed her struggles with weight loss. In November 2009, Bertinelli released a fitness DVD called “Losing It and Keeping Fit” and also wrote a follow-up book called Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life without Opening the Fridge.

Jane Leeves starred for 11 seasons in the Emmy Award-winning NBC comedy “Frasier” and was also nominated for an Emmy as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on the series as Daphne Moon. More recently, Leeves lent her voice to The Disney Channel’s “Phineas and Ferb” and guest-starred in USA Network’s “The Starter Wife.” Leeves is also known to audiences for playing the memorable character “Marla Penney” in several episodes of “Seinfield.”

Wendie Malick was nominated for two Emmy Awards and won a Golden Globe for her role as the hilarious and beautiful fashion editor Nina Van Horn in the NBC ensemble comedy “Just Shoot Me.” She appeared as Judith Tupper Stone in the early 1990s in the HBO comedy “Dream On,” for which she won four CableACE Awards as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Malick’s work has included roles in the movies “The American President,” “Scrooged” and “Bugsy.”

One of television’s most beloved and talented actresses whose career has spanned over 50 years, Emmy Award-winning actress Betty White is best known for her role in the classic sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and the beloved series “The Golden Girls.” White won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for the first season of “The Golden Girls” and was nominated every year of the show’s run. The series ran from 1985 to 1992 on NBC. White has also guest-starred on a number of television programs including “Ally McBeal,” ‘The Ellen Show,” “That 70s Show” and won an Emmy in 1996 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, appearing as herself on a memorable episode of “The John Laroquette Show.” White had a recurring role in ABC’s “Boston Legal” from 2005 to 2008 as the calculating, blackmailing gossip-monger Catherine Piper, a role she originally portrayed as a guest star on “The Practice” in 2004. Most recently, White appeared in the 2009 motion picture, “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. She will be honored with the Screen Actors Guild Achievement Award on January 23, 2010.

“Hot in Cleveland” is part of TV Land’s foray into scripted comedy series and is one of two sitcom pilots for the network. The cast of the network’s other pilot, the multicamera “Retired at 35″ was announced last week with Johnathan McClain, “Saturday Night Live” alum Casey Wilson and acting veterans Jessica Walter and Christine Ebersole landing starring roles opposite previously cast George Segal. “Retired” follows David (McClain), a successful young businessman who decides to leave the New York rat race behind and move into his father Alan’s (Segal) Florida retirement home.

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TV Land has created a really powerful primetime line-up.  But wait!  It just got even better and even funnier.    Raymond just walked into the room and the party has officially begun.

One of the best-written, consistently hilarious comedies of all-time Everybody Loves Raymond is joining TV Land’s Primetime line-up.

“EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND”…AND TV LAND IS NO EXCEPTION!

Series Joins The Network On Thursday, March 18

New York, NY, January 25, 2010 – TV Land welcomes the hilarious Barone family to the network when the Emmy Award-winning sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” premieres on Thursday, March 18 with a four-day primetime event. The series then joins the schedule for a primetime block each weeknight starting at 9PM ET/PT. Viewers will fall in love all over again with the antics of Ray Barone’s entire family, from his over-bearing mother Marie and his wise-cracking father, Frank, to his wife Debra’s no-nonsense impatience with him and the incessant sibling rivalry between Ray and younger brother Robert.

“We’re excited to begin airing ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ so that we can infuse our schedule with a fan favorite, giving us a great lead-in audience for our newest original series “First Love, Second Chance,” states Jaclyn Cohen, senior vice president of programming and acquisitions for TV Land. “Our acquisitions of beloved television staples are critical to TV Land’s success as they transition viewers into our new original content. We are sure that our viewers will love this “Raymond and “First Love” pairing as both shows have the common thread of showing relationships in all their glory — the good AND the bad.”

The winner of 15 Emmy® Awards, “Everybody Loves Raymond” ran in primetime on CBS for eight seasons. The premise was born out of Ray Romano’s own life experiences of raising his children along with his wife, all while his parents and brother lived close by. In “Everybody Loves Raymond,” Romano plays Ray Barone, father of three and a sports writer for a local newspaper. Patricia Heaton plays his wife, Debra, who endures her husband’s overbearing parents played brilliantly by Doris Roberts and the late Peter Boyle. As in real life, Ray’s brother Robert, played by Brad Garrett, is a policeman who lives with his parents. Guest stars for the series run included hilarious appearances by Kevin James, Fred Willard, Georgia Engel and Chris Elliott.

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One of the most hilarious sitcoms of all time, Home Improvement, is coming to TV Land. The network will celebrate the Taylor’s arrival with a week-long marathon of hilarity.

From TV Land:
“Does everybody know what time it is?” “TOOL TIME!” Make some room Sheriff Andy Taylor, there are new Taylors in town when the hilarious comedy “Home Improvement” joins TV Land beginning Monday, January 4, 2010 at 8:00PM ET/PT. The series kicks off with a week-long marathon featuring the accident-prone “Tim Taylor” (Tim Allen) as he amusingly tries to balance the drama and chaos of his life as a husband, father and his fix-it television show “Tool Time.” Beginning January 11th, “Home Improvement” can be seen weeknights at 9:00PM ET/PT on TV Land.

“TV Land is thrilled to add another hugely popular and much-loved television family to our network,” states Larry W. Jones, president of TV Land. “Men and women alike love to watch with Tim Allen’s lovingly know-it-all character on the show because they either know someone just like him…or they are married to him.”

“Home Improvement” was a smashing success on ABC where it ran for eight seasons and received numerous awards and nominations including seven Emmys and a Golden Globe win for Tim Allen in 1995 for “Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical.” Audiences fell in love with the hysterical and often-times relatable family dynamic between “Tim,” his wife, “Jill” (Patricia Richardson) and sons “Brad” (Zachary Ty Bryan), “Randy” (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and “Mark” (Taran Noah Smith) — making the Taylors one of the most popular television families. Tim’s partner and best friend “Al” (Richard Karn) added an additional comedic layer to the show, as did the Taylors’ neighbor, “Wilson” (Earl Hindman), and the gorgeous “Tool Time” assistant, “The Tool Time Girl” (Pamela Anderson and later Debbe Dunning).

The “Home Improvement” week-long launch event schedule is as follows (all times listed are ET/PT):

Monday, January 4, 2010
8:00PM #001 – Pilot
8:30PM #004 – Wild Kingdom
9:00PM #007 – Nothing More Than Feelings
9:30PM #006 Satellite On A Hot Tim’s Roof
10:00PM #11 – Bubble, Bubble Toil & Trouble
10:30PM #019 – Baby It’s Cold Outside

Tuesday, January 5, 2010
8:00PM #021 – Birds Of A Feather Flock To Taylor
8:30PM #022 – A Battle Of The Wheels
9:00PM #025 – Read My Hips
9:30PM #037 – Bell Bottom Blues
10:00PM #042 – Bye Bye Birdie
10:30PM #047 – Birth Of A Hot Rod

Wednesday, January 6, 2010
8:00PM #049 – To Build Or Not To Build
8:30PM #054 – This Joke’s For You
9:00PM #058 – A Frozen moment
9:30PM #062 – Twas The Night Before Christmas
10:00PM #067 – The Eve Of Construction
10:30PM #071 – What You See Is What You Get

Thursday, January 7, 2010
8:00PM #072 – Swing Time
8:30PM #077 – He Ain’t heavy…
9:00PM #086 – Some Like It Hot Rod
9:30PM #088 – Twas The Night Before Chaos
10:00PM #091 – It’s My Party
10:30PM #092 – Super Bowl Fever

Friday, January 8, 2010
8:00PM #109 – Room Without A View
8:30PM #114 – Oh, Brother

Saturday, January 9, 2010
8:00PM #115 – High School Confidential
8:30PM #124 – Mr. Wilson’s Opus
9:00PM #125 – Alarmed By Burglars
9:30PM #154 – Room At The Top
10:00PM #159 – Jill’s Passion
10:30PM #163 – Bright Christmas

Sunday, January 10, 2010
8:00PM #168 – Taking Jill For Granite
8:30PM #176 – From Top To Bottom
9:00PM #191 – Knee Deep
9:30PM #193 – Young At Heart
10:00PM #194 – Love’s Labor Lost pt. 1
10:30PM #195 – Love’s Labor Lost pt. 2

Credit: Images and information courtesy of TV Land.

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“THE BODYGUARD,” starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston will air this Friday, September 18, on TV LAND PRIME at 9PM/8PM. Check your local listings for the exact time in your area.

This romantic thriller marked beautiful Whitney Houston’s film debut. Costner plays an ex-secret service agent-turned-professional-bodyguard who never leaves anything up to chance, until he meets a pop superstar-turned-actress whose fabulous career takes a life threatening turn when she becomes the target of an obsessive fan.

Watch the original theatrical trailer here.

Did you know?

The film was originally proposed in the mid-’70s, starring Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, but was rejected as “too controversial”.

Whitney Houston’s character Rachel Marron lives in the same mansion as the “horse’s head in the bed” mansion featured in “The Godfather” (1972).

Madonna was originally considered for the lead role of Rachel. The deal was called off informally after Madonna met with Costner backstage during her Truth or Dare tour. Costner congratulated her and called the show neat. Madonna made fun of his “neat” remark after he left.

“The Bodyguard” soundtrack became the first album to sell more than a million copies in a single week and won a Grammy for “Album of the Year.” To this day, “The Bodyguard” remains the best selling soundtrack of all time – outselling “Saturday Night Fever,” “Purple Rain” and “Grease.”

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As much as I love TV Land, they let me down big time when they removed Lucy, Ricky, Ethel, and Fred from their daily lineup. Fortunately they still provide a home for other favorites like Beverly Hillbillies, Good Times, and Andy Griffith. But no Lucy?!?!

No wonder dvds are so incredibly popular, eh? But, even so, I have to be honest – there’s a certain something special about watching our favorite episodes the way they were meant to be watched, as a television program. For one thing, I love the unexpected reveal of which episode it is. I’ve seen these shows so often, I love to test myself and see how fast I can identify the episode. With I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith, I’m so quick I usually get it right off the bat.

I also love the effect of commercials – they provide an opportunity to refill your coffee, grab more snacks, do a little housework, etc. For many shows, it builds the suspense before the next scenes and provides a small “cliffhanger.” Like the powerful scene in Little House on the Prairie where Mary realizes she can’t see. D.R.A.M.A!

I also wish the Dick Van Dyke Show were on television. I think TV Land could actually have TWO networks – one with the shows we love from the 70s and 80s, and with TV Land’s original new shows (High School Reunion is simply brilliant) and one for shows and movies prior to the 70s. They could show Lucy (!!!), Dick Van Dyke, Dobie Gillis (a new generation could fall head over heals in love with Maynard G. Krebbs, Dobie, and Zelda – the original hipsters), Father Knows Best, The Patty Duke Show, Leave it to Beaver, and so on.

Did I mention they could show Lucy?

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Here’s a run down of all the information you’ll need about TV Land’s always entertaining TV Land Awards.

• The Legacy of Laughter Award Recipient is Julia Louis-Dreyfus

• The show Tapes Sunday, April 19th at the Gibson Amphitheatre and premieres Sunday, April 26th at 8PM ET/PT on TV Land
• This year’s Awards Show will pay tribute to “M*A*S*H,” “Married with Children,” “Home Improvement,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Knots Landing” and “Two and a Half Men”
• Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and Assassins) will serve as host.
• “M*A*S*H” will be honored with the Impact Award.
• The Innovator Award will be given to the unconventional Fox sitcom “Married with Children.”
• The classic CBS soap opera “Knots Landing” celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and will be recognized for its place in television history.
• The Fan Favorite Award will be presented to “Home Improvement.”
• The action drama “Magnum P.I.”- which launched the career of Tom Selleck as a leading actor – will be bestowed with the Hero Award.
• The  hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men” will be awarded the Future Classic Award.

Below are details on this year’s honorees:

THE LEGACY OF LAUGHTER AWARD

This award is presented to an entertainer whose comedic work continues to serve as an inspiration and a guiding force. This year’s recipient is Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Julia Louis-Dreyfus got her first career breakthrough as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live.” Whether it was her dry wit comedy or that feisty shove with the catch phrase “Get out!” on “Seinfeld,” or her hilarious take on portraying a single mother trying to raise her son – and to her dismay learns that her ex-husband is seeing a much younger women named Christine – hence the name of her hit comedy “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s comedy always delivers. The recipient of the Legacy of Laughter award serves as an ideal appreciation to those who have provided the invigorating healing power of laughter. The first recipient to have received such an award was Lucille Ball for her awe-inspiring work which continues to set a precedent for those who receive this great honor.

THE IMPACT AWARD

This award is given to a show that offered both entertainment and enlightenment, always striving for both humor and humanity, with comedy that reflected reality. This year’s recipient is “M*A*S*H.”

Based on the 1970 Robert Altman film of the same name, “M*A*S*H” revolves around life at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. The show stars Alan Alda as Dr. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce and Wayne Rogers as Dr. “Trapper” John McIntyre, two brilliant surgeons often pre-occupied with attractive nurses, practical jokes and merry-making. Their relaxed approach is a source of consternation for other medical staffers including Dr. Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Lt. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit), whose secret love affair is no secret. During the fourth season, there were significant changes in the medical staff including B.J. Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell), who debuted as the new surgeon and replaced Trapper as Hawkeye’s teammate and co-conspirator.

THE FAN FAVORITE AWARD

The Fan Favorite is awarded to an All-American classic that won the hearts of television viewers, with characters who became our friends, stories we could all relate to and irresistible laughs. The 2009 Fan Favorite is “Home Improvement.”

Launching stand-up comedian Tim Allen into a full-force television star, “Home Improvement” was one of ABC’s most popular family comedies during the 1990s. The sitcom centered on local celebrity Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), who hosted the fictional series “Tool Time” along with his assistant Al (Richard Karn). At home, Tim was a bit of klutz when it came to handling tools and fixing things around the house that he shared with his wife Jill(Patricia Richardson) and his three sons Brad, Randy and Mark (Zachery Ty Bryan, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Taran Noah Smith), providing endless laughs.

THE HERO AWARD

The Hero Award salutes a lead character whose crime-solving feats were astounding, yet remained thoroughly authentic, offering equal parts of street smarts, wit and charisma – in this case, all wrapped up in floral prints. This year’s recipient is “Magnum P.I.

“Magnum, P.I.” starred Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a detective living in Hawaii. Magnum guards the estate of a wealthy writer, Robin Master (who viewers never saw), and when he wasn’t working, he was romancing the ladies or tooling around with the amenities of the estate. However, the one mystery that he never seemed to solve was whether or not Jonathan Higgins III (John Hillerman) was Robin Masters!

THE INNOVATOR AWARD

This award is presented to a series whose influence is still felt and evident in television today. It is most exemplified by a show that carved out new territory, re-defining elements of the genre and opening pathways for others to follow. TV Land will honor “Married with Children” as this year’s recipient.

One of the first primetime and controversial sitcoms that established FOX as a legitimate network, “Married with Children” redefined the meaning of a tight-knit family and also helped break barriers for comedies to continue to discuss unsuitable topics, much like “All in the Family” did in the late 1970s. The comedy focused on Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill), a bigoted, dim-witted shoe salesman unlucky in life, and his wife, Peg (Katey Segal), a housewife who didn’t do much except shop and style her highly coiffed red hair while dispensing her signature brand of sarcasm. Their daughter Kelly (Christina Applegate) was the hot, blonde airhead while their son Bud (David Faustino) was the unsuccessful bad boy. Along with their dog Buck, the Bundys often bickered with their obnoxious neighbor Marcy (Amanda Bearse), her ex-husband Steve (David Garrison) and later – Marcy’s second husband Jefferson (Ted McGinley).

THE ANNIVERSARY AWARD

TV Land will celebrate “Knots Landing’s” 30th Anniversary as one of the longest-running primetime soap-operas in television history. With its unpredictable storylines, intriguing characters and surprising plots, it charmed audiences and critics alike while creating a pathway for future programs.

Originally conceived as a spin-off of another popular soap-opera – “Dallas” – “Knots Landing” aired on CBS from 1979-1993. Loosely based on the 1973 film“Scenes From a Marriage,” creator David Jacobs developed the drama that focused on the adventures of several families, which included married couple Gary and Valene Ewing (Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark) as they moved from Dallas to the fictional town of Seaview Circle to start a new life. Once on the verge of cancellation, the drama, which starred Ted Shackleford, Joan Van Ark, Don Murray, Michele Lee and Nicollette Sheridan, was saved by critics and viewers who were intrigued with the stories featured in each episode. Today, “Knots Landing” remains a cult classic with reruns airing in syndication across the world.

THE FUTURE CLASSIC AWARD

This award was unveiled by TV Land in 1998 and is presented annually to a show that best exemplifies the qualities of a television show that will stand the test of time and become a television classic. “Two and a Half Men” is this year’s recipient of the Future Classic Award.

“Two and a Half Men” stars Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, a bachelor whose lifestyle is cut short when his newly separated, uptight brother Alan (Jon Cryer) moves in along with his son, Jake (Angus T. Jones). If that’s not enough, Charlie and Alan’s narcissistic mother -played by Holland Taylor – decides she wants to spend more time with her boys. Alan’s ex- wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) and the slightly crazy and Charlie-obsessed neighbor Rose (Melanie Lynskey) also help provide laughter amid the typical family drama all while Charlie, Alan and Jake continue to form a tighter bond.

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This sounds fun!

TV Land has announced that film and television actress Vivica A. Fox will host the upcoming TV Land original series “The Cougar,” a one-hour elimination dating series set to premiere in April on TV Land PRIME.

Executive produced by Mike Fleiss (“The Bachelor” – One of my guiltiest pleasures) and Warner Horizon Television, “The Cougar” is an eight-episode series in which an accomplished, beautiful and sexy woman hunts for love from a pool of eligible younger men.

“I’m so excited to be the guide for ‘The Cougar’s’ quest for love,” says Vivica A. Fox. “This show will prove to be empowering and enlightening for women everywhere. Plus, 20 hot guys gathered under one roof doesn’t hurt!”

“Vivica is a pop culture celebrity who uniquely connects with our audience and whose distinctive style and sense of humor will help TV Land deliver on our promise to create entertaining programs that reflect the lifestyles and tastes of our viewers,” stated Larry W. Jones, president of TV Land. “I’m thrilled that she will take viewers on our Cougar’s romantic journey.”

In 2009, Fox returns as Larry David’s new houseguest in HBO’s hit comedy, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and also co-stars with Jessica Simpson, Cheri Oteri and Steve Guttenberg in the upcoming feature comedy “Major Movie Star.” In 2008, Fox returned to her crime-solving roots as an FBI agent in pursuit of a serial killer in the suspense thriller “Junkyard Dog.” Switching to a dramatic role, Fox co-starred in “Cover,” a film directed by Bill Duke and based on a true story about the effects of HIV and AIDS in the African American community.

Continuing her producing efforts, Fox starred in and co-produced “Three Can Play That Game” (Sony/Screen Gems), co-starring Tony Rock. This romantic comedy is the sequel to the hit feature film “Two Can Play That Game.” Fox also starred in and co-produced the suspense thriller “Motives 2.” Vivica then lent her voice to the animated feature “Unstable Fables,” as well as starring as the animated character Black Velvet in the WB’s “New Loony Tunes.”

VivicaFox is also well-known for her role as Vernita Green in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino smash, “Kill Bill: Vol 1.”

Fox was also voted one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people. For obvious reasonns.

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The US Postal Service will be releasing an “Early TV Memories” stamp set this year devoted to the golden age of television – you know, the one we totally delight ourselves in. Included in the set will be (of course) our beloved Lucy and Ethel. Their stamp commemorates their stellar job on the chocolate assembly line.

Also featured in the set will be Joe Friday, Groucho Marx, Dinah Shore (hers shows her throwing her audience a kiss), The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Ed Sullivan Show, The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, The Honeymooners, The Howdy Doody Show, Kukla, Fran and Ollie, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, Perry Mason, The Phil Silvers Show, The Red Skelton Show, Tonight Show and The Twilight Zone.

Sigh. I just wish we had a network that aired these classics. TV Land should launch a sister network called TV Land Classic. There are just too many great shows for them to show at once.

The Early TV Memories stamp set is scheduled for release Aug. 11 in Los Angeles. This is one stamp set I’ll be collecting – to the tune of every single one.

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