ATX Festival 2016 to honor Norman Lear, 'Everybody Loves Raymond' reunion and more

The ATX Television Festival has announced its first wave of programming for the 2016 festival, which will include a tribute to Norman Lear, an Everybody Love Raymond reunion and a script reading for the Big remake that never got picked up to series.

During the upcoming fifth season of the festival, which will take place June 9-12 in Austin, Texas, the ATX Award will go to Lear, the man behind such series as All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons and Good Times.

“We’re humbled and honored to have the legendary Norman Lear accept our Achievement in Television eXcellence Award, which was created with the intention of acknowledging those who have dedicated their lives to television – participating in its history as well as its future – and there is no one better suited to receive that honor than Mr. Lear,” said Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson, co-executive directors and founders of the ATX Television Festival. “We’re also thrilled to begin announcing our programming for Season Five, as we strive to continue balancing our reunions, niche series, current shows and new series premieres, as well as some of the biggest hits from network, cable and streaming platforms.”

The other panels will include the 20-year reunion for Everybody Loves Raymond, featuring creator Phil Rosenthal, cast members Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts and Monica Horan, and writers Mike Royce, Lew Schneider, Steve Skrovan, Jeremy Stevens and Aaron Shure.

The writers room for The Shield will also reunite for a panel that includes creator Shawn Ryan and writers Glen Mazzara, Scott Rosenbaum and Sarah Fain. Ryan will also join Michael Raymond-James for a cancelled-too-soon panel about Terriers.

Following last year’s successful Dawson’s Creek pilot script reading, the festival will feature a reading of Big, with creators Kevin Biegel and Mike Royce joined by a surprise cast.

Shondaland’s Betsy Beers will also paricipate in conversations about her wide-spanning career and role as a non-writing executive producer on Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder and the upcoming midseason drama The Catch. Other panelists include Hart Hanson (Bones) and Krista Vernoff (Wonderfalls, Grey’s Anatomy), who will screen her never-picked-up pilots Grace and Introducing Lennie Rose, with special guest Abigail Spencer, who starred in both.

This year, the cast of Gilmore Girls reunited at ATX. Relive the fun of that event in the video below.