Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable Covers Funny Bone of the ‘80s at the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences

Dawna Lee Heising and John Alsedek Cover TV Academy Event as Cast and Creators from Cheers, Night Court, Designing Women and Murphy Brown Take the Stage at Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences turned back the clock and visited some of the most beloved sitcoms from the 1980's when the cast and creators of Cheers, Night Court, Designing Women and Murphy Brown appeared at the TV Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre for Funny Bone of the '80s.  The TV Academy event occurred on Monday, November 16, 2009.

Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for eleven seasons from 1982 to 1993.  It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. The show was set in the Cheers bar in Boston, Massachusetts, where a group of locals meet to drink and have fun.  By its final season Cheers had a run of eight consecutive seasons in the Top Ten of the Nielsen ratings.  The show's 273 episodes have been successfully syndicated worldwide, and have earned 28 Emmy Awards from a then-record 117 nominations.  Cast members Ted Danson ('Sam Malone'), Kelsey Grammer ('Dr. Frasier Crane'), John Ratzenberger ('Cliff Clavin'), Woody Harrelson ('Woody Boyd') and creators/executive producers Jim Burrows, Les Charles and Glen Charles attended the event.  

Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1984 until 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone (played by Harry Anderson). It was created by comedy writer Reinhold Weege, who had previously worked on Barney Miller in the 1970s and early 1980s.  The cast included Harry Anderson, Gail Strickland, Markie Post, John Larroquette, Selma Diamond and Richard Moll. In total, the show was nominated for thirty-one Emmys, winning seven.  Cast members John Larroquette ('Asst. DA Dan Fielding'), Markie Post ('Christine Sullivan'), Charles Robinson ('Mac Robinson') and creator/executive producer Reinhold Weege were in attendance.

Designing Women is an American television sitcom that centered around the working and personal lives of four Southern women and one man in an interior design firm in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired on the CBS television network from September 29, 1986 until May 24, 1993. The show was created by writer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, who wrote many of the episodes in the show's initial seasons.  The cast included

Dixie Carter, Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meshach Taylor and Alice Ghostly.  Meshach Taylor ('Anthony Bouvier') and creator/executive producer Linda Bloodworth Thomason attended the event.

Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from 1988 to 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as Murphy Brown, an investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television newsmagazine. Brown was a recovering alcoholic, who, in the show's first episode, was returning to FYI for the first time since a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic. The rest of the cast included Charles Kimbrough, Joe Regalbuto, Faith Ford and Lily Tomlin. Murphy Brown won 11 Emmy Awards.  Joe Regalbuto ('Frank Fontana'), director Peter Bonerz, writers/executive producers Gary Dontzig and Steven Peterman and writer/producer Korby Siamis were in attendance at Funny Bone of the 80’s.

Publicity for the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences is handled by The Lippin Group.  For additional press information and resources concerning the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, please contact Robin Mesger of The Lippin Group at (323) 965-1990.

About the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences was founded in 1946 just one month after network television was born. It is a non-profit organization devoted to the advancement of telecommunications arts and sciences and to fostering creative leadership in the telecommunications industry. In addition to recognizing outstanding programming through its Emmy® Award, the Television Academy publishes Emmy® Magazine and stages many industry-related programs, services and year-round events for the television community. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences rewards excellence in Prime Time programming.

About Eye on Entertainment
“Eye on Entertainment”, a division of Eye on Excellence™ Productions, is aired twice weekly on Time Warner Cable in Southern California. The EOE team covers entertainment events, film festivals, red carpets and award shows, and features interviews with successful people in all walks of life, exploring the traits they have in common. Dawna Lee Heising is the executive producer and host of EOE.  She is a long-standing member of SAG & AFTRA and is Ms. Universe 2009.  The show is produced and directed by John Alsedek, who is also the writer, director & producer of the horror anthology series “AS DARKNESS FALLS”, which runs on Time Warner Cable.  The EOE co-producer is John Cox, an educator in the film department at Golden West College. The EOE photographer is David McNeil, who is a former executive with United Artists and was one of the developers of Pay-per-View.  For more information, please visit http://www.eyeonentertainment.tv/.