Hot in Cleveland, The Soul Man returning to TV Land

TV Land has announced that Hot in Cleveland and The Soul Man will kick off their new seasons on Wednesday, March 26th, with a pair of “live” episodes. Series stars Betty White and Cedric “The Entertainer” will make crossovers and appear on both shows.

Here are the details:

TV LAND ANNOUNCES ONE-HOUR SITCOM EVENT ON MARCH 26TH WHEN “HOT IN CLEVELAND” AND “THE SOUL MAN” PREMIERE WITH LIVE EPISODES

Betty White and Cedric “The Entertainer” to Make Appearances on Both Shows

Los Angeles, CA – TV Land announced today a LIVE television event: one hilarious hour with two LIVE back-to-back season premieres of original sitcoms – “Hot in Cleveland” and “The Soul Man.” “Hot in Cleveland” will go LIVE on Wednesday, March 26th at 10pm ET, and “The Soul Man” will follow at 10:30pm ET. “The Soul Man,” a spin-off of “Hot in Cleveland,” stars Cedric “The Entertainer” as Reverend Boyce Ballentine, a character that originated as Elka Ostrovsky’s (Betty White, “Hot in Cleveland”) pastor. Their characters will again cross over into each other’s worlds during the live shows. The West Coast will get the live-to-tape versions beginning at 10pm PT.

“We shoot in front of a live studio audience every week, but nothing is more exciting than working without a net,” said Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land. “The thrill of knowing that viewers at home are seeing exactly what’s happening live on stage really amps up the pressure and makes the energy on set electrifying.”

“Hot in Cleveland” premiered their last season with a live episode on June 19, 2013. Guest stars in this episode included Brian Baumgartner (“The Office”), Danny Pudi (“Community”), Shirley Jones (“The Partridge Family”) and “Star Trek” legend William Shatner, and the episode averaged 2.7 million total viewers (Source: Nielsen, L+7).

“Hot in Cleveland” revolves around three fabulous best friends from LA – Melanie Moretti (Valerie Bertinelli), Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves) and Victoria Chase (Wendie Malick) – who find their lives changed forever when their plane, headed for Paris, makes an emergency landing in Cleveland. When the friends discover that life is better in Cleveland, they decide to stay. Starting over together, they rent a house that happens to come with a very opinioned caretaker, Elka Ostrovsky (White).

“The Soul Man” follows R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce “The Voice” Ballentine (Cedric) after he relocated from Las Vegas to St. Louis with his wife Lolli (Niecy Nash). While learning to adjust to their new humble life, they have plenty of obstacles in their way. One of these is Boyce’s brother Stamps (Wesley Jonathan), who seems to have taken up permanent residence in their house – and that’s only made worse when Stamps sparks a new relationship with Lolli’s sister (Kellee Stewart).

About TV Land

TV Land is the programming destination featuring the best in entertainment on all platforms for consumers in their 40s and 50s. Consisting of original programming, classic and contemporary television series acquisitions, hit movies and digital portfolio, TV Land is now seen in over 98 million U.S. Homes.

About Viacom

Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA) is home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form video, apps, games, consumer products, social media and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 160 countries and territories. Viacom’s media networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, SPIKE, T?3s , Paramount Channel and VIVA, reach approximately 700 million television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures, America’s oldest film studio, is a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.

For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom’s blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.