Looks like the tube is about to get a little funnier.
Emmy-winning actor Hank Azaria and comedian Jim Belushi have each landed a new TV pilot deal, Daily Variety reports.
Azaria, who received rave reviews and an Emmy for his role in the TV movie “Tuesdays With Morrie,” will star as a sketch comedy writer in a new comedy for NBC.
And the Belushi project, geared for ABC, will be a half-hour family comedy developed by “Drew Carey” scribes Tracy Newman and John Stark.
GEENA ENGAGED! Let’s hope that the fourth time is the charm. The Associated Press reports that actress Geena Davis, who has forayed into tube territory with “The Geena Davis Show” on ABC, became engaged to her 29-year-old surgeon boyfriend over the Thanksgiving weekend. No date has been set.
AN ALMOST ‘TITANIC’ SUNDAY: King of the world NBC was not on Sunday night. According to preliminary Nielsen numbers, NBC’s four-hour network premiere of “Titanic” garnered respectable ratings for the network but was unable to defeat ABC’s airing of the Tim Allen comedy “The Santa Clause” for an overall win for the night Sunday.
CBS’ SPRING RALLY: CBS has two secret weapons in store for the spring season: “Survivor 2” and Ellen DeGeneres. Coming off a weak finish in the November sweeps, CBS is hoping that the reality-series sequel and the untitled sitcom from DeGeneres will turn the ratings tide for the network, which currently trails behind NBC and ABC during this ratings period.
As if you haven’t heard, “Survivor 2” this time will take place in the Australian Outback. As to the new DeGeneres comedy, the network says that it will focus on a lesbian who returns to her Midwest hometown. But the character’s sexual orientation would not be a main focus, CBS has said.
It’s worth tuning in just to see how the series will manage that one.
