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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, March 24, 2017 18 Cable Conversion Chart O SB C NB GG N Dish DTV ABC WIVT - 7 - - - 7 - - ABC WUTR 7 - - - 10 - 20 20 CBS WBNG 3 3 - 7 - - 12 - CBS WRGB 26 - 6 3 - 2 - - CBS WTVH - - - - 6 - - 5 CW WKTV2 11 - - - - - - 3 FOX WFXV 9 9 - 11 - 11 33 33 FOX WICZ 10 10 - 9 - - - - FOX WOLF - - - 10 - 10 - - FOX WXXA - - 8 - - - - - IND WISF 27 27 - - 8 - - - MNT WPNY - - - 27 - - - - NBC WGBH - 2 - - - - - - NBC WKTV 2 - - - - 17 2 2 NBC WNYT - - 13 2 - - - - NBC WSTM - - - - 13 - - - NBC WTEN - - 10 - - 3 - - PBS WCNY 12 12 - 12 - 12 - - PBS WMHT - - 11 - 11 - - - PBS WSKG 8 8 - 8 - 8 - - WGN 25 25 - - - - 239 307 FREEFORM 16 16 35 16 35 25 180 311 AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS 66 66 29 66 29 66 131 254 ANIMAL PLANET 67 67 132 67 132 67 184 282 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 42 42 38 42 38 42 118 265 BRAVO 29 29 59 29 59 29 129 237 CABLE NEWS NETWORK 15 15 46 15 46 24 200 202 CNN INTERNATIONAL - - 216 - 216 - - - CARTOON NETWORK 59 59 32 59 32 59 176 296 CINEMAX 531 531 531 531 531 531 310 515 CINEMAX 2 (MOREMAX) 532 532 532 532 532 532 312 517 CNBC 39 39 48 39 48 39 208 355 COMEDY CENTRAL 32 32 36 32 36 32 107 249 COUNTRY MUSIC TELEVISION 30 30 293 30 293 30 166 327 CSPAN 47 47 14 47 14 18 210 350 CSPAN2 226 226 226 226 226 226 211 351 DISCOVERY CHANNEL 41 41 37 41 37 41 182 278 DISCOVERY LIFE 70 70 180 70 180 70 - 261 DISNEY CHANNEL 51 51 34 51 34 51 172 290 E! ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION 44 44 60 44 60 44 114 236 ESPN 14 14 24 14 24 23 140 206 ESPN2 63 63 25 63 25 63 143 209 ESQUIRE 114 114 114 114 114 114 191 235 ETERNAL WORD TELEVISION 52 52 78 52 78 21 261 370 FOOD NETWORK 48 48 42 48 42 48 110 231 FOX NEWS CHANNEL 55 55 70 55 70 55 205 360 FOX SPORTS 1 400 400 400 400 400 400 150 219 FOX SPORTS OHIO - - - - - - 425 660 FX MOVIES 632 632 632 632 632 632 384 258 FX NETWORK 43 43 31 43 31 43 136 248 GOLF CHANNEL 71 71 51 71 51 71 401 218 HALLMARK 34 34 123 34 123 34 185 312 HEADLINE NEWS 45 45 45 45 47 45 202 204 HOME BOX OFFICE 511 511 511 511 511 511 300 501 HOME BOX OFFICE 2 512 512 512 512 512 512 301 502 HOME BOX OFFICE SIGNATURE 513 513 513 513 513 513 302 503 HISTORY CHANNEL 57 57 39 57 39 57 120 269 HOME & GARDEN 20 20 41 20 41 47 112 229 ION TELEVISION 4 4 20 4 20 4 250 305 LIFETIME 37 37 30 37 30 37 108 252 MADISON SQUARE GARDENS 60 60 54 60 54 60 - 634 MSNBC 69 69 49 69 49 69 209 356 MTV 18 18 57 18 57 40 160 331 MTV2 119 119 119 119 119 119 161 333 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 33 33 61 33 61 33 186 276 NBC SPORTS NETWORK 49 49 44 49 44 49 159 220 NICKELODEON 36 36 33 36 33 36 170 299 OXYGEN 90 90 171 90 171 90 127 251 QVC 6 6 22 6 22 6 137 70 SHOWTIME 551 551 551 551 551 551 318 545 SPIKE TV 21 21 55 21 55 52 241 241 SPORTSNET NEW YORK 19 19 66 19 66 62 - 639 SYFY CHANNEL 62 62 53 62 53 38 122 244 TLC 58 58 40 58 40 58 183 280 TRAVEL CHANNEL 68 68 165 68 165 68 196 277 TRUTV 46 46 71 46 71 46 148 246 TURNER BROADCASTING SYSTEM 38 38 5 38 5 20 139 247 TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES 31 31 58 31 58 31 132 256 TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION 22 22 27 22 27 26 138 245 TV LAND 50 50 63 50 63 50 106 304 USA NETWORK 17 17 28 17 28 27 105 242 VIDEO HITS 1 35 35 56 35 56 35 162 335 WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT 61 61 65 61 65 61 128 260 YANKEES NETWORK 53 53 52 53 52 53 - 631 O - Oneonta, SB - Sidney/Bainbridge, C - Cobleskill, NB - New Berlin, GG - Grand Gorge, N - Norwich, D1 - Dish Network, D2 - DirecTV By cassie dresch TV Media A pair of well-known co- medians teams up for ABC's latest addition to its family-friendly prime- time lineup. Jenna Elfman, best known for playing the titular Dharma in "Dharma & Greg," and Rachel Dratch, fa- mous for her years-long turn on "Saturday Night Live," star in the alphabet net- work's "Imaginary Mary," a new comedy that premieres Wednesday, March 29. Elfman is easily recogniz- able as she steps into the role of Alice, a career-driven, fiercely independent woman whose priorities suddenly change when she falls head over heels in love with Ben (Stephen Schneider, "Broad City"), a divorcé with three kids: Andy (Nicholas Coombe, "Pants on Fire," 2014), Dora (Matreya Scarrwener, "Strange Empire") and Bun- ny (Erica Tremblay, "Before I Fall," 2017). Dratch, on the other hand, is only distin- guishable by her voice, which she lends to the titular Mary, a fuzzy little creature who is white with blue spots and pink eyebrows. Mary is a figment of Alice's imagination, concocted when the latter was a child to help deal with tough situa- tions. Now, Alice stares down another tough challenge — sudden motherhood — and her little friend is back to try to help make things better. The problem is, though, Mary seems to have a penchant for stirring up trouble. The 45-year-old Elfman, who has two kids herself, owns her role in "Imaginary Mary," even though the gig came with its own set of challenges. Not only is Mary imaginary in the show, but she's also CGI, which means Elfman is acting with literal- ly nothing every time the two characters interact. It's not something she's unfa- miliar with — she starred opposite Brendan Fraser ("The Mummy," 1999) in the live-action/CGI blended film "Looney Tunes: Back in Ac- tion" in 2003 — but "Imagi- nary Mary" takes a com- pletely different approach to filming these important scenes. "When we were filming 'Looney Tunes,' we had men in green suits, greenscreens, green little balls on sticks. There was a lot of, in the real world, greenscreen elements when we were filming," she told reporters at the Televi- sion Critics Association win- ter press tour. "This, because it's CGI, is a whole different sort of approach to anima- tion. We had rehearsal with a stuffed, life-size puppet, and we had an amazing puppe- teer, so we would rehearse with her." Things get fun and inter- esting when it comes to actu- ally shooting the scenes. "We would film one take with the puppet so that the animators had a reference for her in that live space. Then, they would take her away, and there would be nothing. So I didn't even have a green ball. I had nothing. It was like nothing, an independent chair. And then she'd be walking across the room, and she'd hop up on furniture, and then she'd come near me. ... It was actually a really great challenge comedically to maintain the scene with [Mary], but that's how it was different: I literally had no reference except during re- hearsal." Dratch is on the other end of things. She does her work in New York, after everything is filmed, and is able to go with the flow of the scene as she sees them. She told the TCA press tour: "I have the freedom to go crazy." And while it may seem cra- zy (and perhaps expensive) to do a live-action/CGI TV show, it isn't the first time re- cently that the main net- works have blended anima- tion with real people. Fox de- buted a sitcom in September called "Son of Zorn," which saw Jason Sudeikis (another "Saturday Night Live" alum) voice a barbarian warrior from a fictional island oppo- site Johnny Pemberton ("21 Jump Street," 2012), Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusi- asm") and Tim Meadows ("Mean Girls," 2004). Still, it remains to be seen if "Imaginary Mary" will fit seamlessly into ABC's packed family-friendly lineup. Its epi- sode order was slashed from 13 to nine in September of last year, but it's sliding into a slot on a strong day — Wednesdays on ABC feature the likes of "The Goldbergs," "Modern Family" and "Black-ish," all acclaimed shows, with the latter two taking home a Golden Globe apiece ("Modern Family" also has 22 Emmys to its name). Every so often, we all have a little voice in our heads pushing us to make decisions one way or another. For Alice, that little voice comes to life in the form of her childhood imaginary friend, Mary, who helps her when she jumps into instant motherhood. Elf- man is back in prime time af- ter a three-year hiatus as Al- ice, and Dratch lends her co- medic timing and infectious personality to the little white-and-blue made-up creature Mary. Catch the se- ries premiere of "Imaginary Mary" when it airs Wednes- day, March 29, on ABC. Jenna elfman, rachel dratch star in new aBc comedy Featurestory

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