Day 26: WGA's Strike; TV One January Highlights

It is day 26 of the strike, and the strike will continue until at least Tuesday for sure because they are not going back to the tables until then. Late yesterday the AMPTP unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year. In response, the WGA has asked for time to study the proposals. While the AMPTP strongly preferred to continue discussions, they respect and understand the WGA's desire to review the proposals. They will resume talks on Tuesday, December 4.
So that was last night, this morning the WGA rejected that proposal, calling it a "bad deal." So it is back to square one in discussions. Talks resume Tuesday. Let's hope they can settle this next week or at least before Christmas.
NBC continues to announce schedule details. NBC will wrap up low rated new drama Journeyman after 13 episodes. Episode 11 airs Monday, December 10 at 10pm (this coming week we have a special episode of Life after the finale of Heroes). Episode 12 airs Dec. 17 and the final episode will air on a special night, Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 10pm. The Singing Bee will return to the schedule, this time as one-hour installments, for two Fridays, on Friday, Dec. 21 and Friday, Dec. 28 from 8-9pm. Deal or No Deal is expected to come back to Wednesdays at 8 soon. Due to the strike, NBC will overload on reality shows starting in January. Tuesdays 8-10pm starting Jan. 1 will be yet another season of The Biggest Loser...the current season ends Dec. 18, so the series will return after just a week off. We already said Celebrity Apprentice will air Thursdays at 9 starting Jan. 3 (the lead-in will be mixed sitcom repeats). Game show 1 vs. 100 returns Friday, Jan. 4 in its old 8pm timeslot, which means The Singing Bee is just for two weeks. Deal or No Deal will be Wednesdays at 8 only. The updated version of American Gladiators will launch with a two-hour premiere Sunday, January 6 from 8-10pm before moving into its regular Monday 8pm time slot on Jan. 7, head to head vs. ABC's Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann. So, NBC's new drama Chuck will be benched for awhile, though as we mentioned it has been renewed for the full season.

TV One January will finally see the launch of the short lived sitcom Good News. On Sunday, January 13, TV One celebrates "the gospel” with an all day festival of spirited comedy and specials, including the season premiere of a brand new season of TV One's gospel music series, The Gospel of Music with Jeff Majors and the TV One premiere of the church-based sitcom Good News, starring David Ramsay as a young minister who takes over the pulpit at a church full of crazy characters. Good News marathon airs from 2PM to 8PM. Good News settles into a regular time slot Sundays at 7-8PM the following week.
As for other schedule changes, weekdays 6-7AM Roc will replace 227, which means 227 will be off the line-up. weekdays at 2PM, comedian Wanda Sykes sitcom Wanda At Large replaces All About The Andersons. It will also air at 4AM replacing a Good Times airing. Overnights have been slightly rearranged. Martin will once again air back-to-back at 3AM and 3:30AM, followed by as we mentioned Wanda At Large at 4AM, and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper at 4:30AM.
On Thursdays at 10PM, New York Undercover returns on a regular basis for an additional primetime airing per week. It now airs regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays in primetime at 10PM, with a repeat at 1AM. On Fridays at 11AM and 12PM, in place of the daily mid-day movie, TV One will be airing back-to-back episodes of A Man Called Hawk, the critically acclaimed but short-lived crime series starring Avery Brooks. On Saturday early evenings, Cedric the Entertainer Presents joins the Saturday lineup at 6PM and The PJs at 7PM. Saturdays from 5-8PM now features Martin Lawrence (Martin), Cedric the Entertainer, and Eddie Murphy (The PJs) – TV One's own 'kings' of comedy block.
Other stunts:
On Saturday, January 19, beginning at 12PM, get ready for an invasion – as TV One presents an "Attack of the Old School Stars" marathon of Parent'hood sitcom. It'll be classic guest stars galore, including LaWanda Page, Nancy Wilson, Coolio, Kym Whitley, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Antonio Fargas, Peabo Bryson, the O'Jays, Gary Coleman, Dawnn Lewis, and Ernest Thomas all the way until 10PM, leading into the series premiere of TV One's brand new stand-up comedy series, Laff Wit It, Rock Wit It.
On Martin Luther King, Jr Day (Monday, Jan. 21), beginning at 9AM, TV One features a mix of films and series episodes that address the issues of race in America, including the movies Nothing But A Man, American Blackout, and Murder in Mississippi, and poignant episodes of Boston Public, New York Undercover, Good Times, All Of Us, Roc, and Parent'hood through 8PM.

We will return with more news, if anything.

Day 25: WGA's Strike; ABC Family Acquires What I Like About You; TV Land Scores in November

We are in day 25 of the strike. Non-writing staffers of The Tonight Show are being laid off on Friday we hear, but Letterman's production company will pay its nono-writing staff from their own pockets. Conan O'Brien is also paying out of his own pocket for his non-writing staff.
Meanwhile NBC has made a schedule move that seems like it was done for the strike. NBC's new dramedy Lipstick Jungle, based on the best-selling novel by Candace Bushnell - and starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver and Lindsay Price - will premiere on Thursday, February 7 at 10:00 p.m. ET. ER will continue in the Thursdays 10:00 p.m. ET time slot through January when the Emmy Award-winning drama series completes its current run of original episodes.
Fox finally announced its holiday line-up. Nothing really except on Christmas Eve we get the movie Cheaper by the Dozen and on Wednesday, December 26 we get the broadcast premiere of Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. But why a day after Christmas?

I guess trying to bank on the success of Jennie Garth on Dancing with the Stars, cable network ABC Family will begin airing reruns of the sitcom What I Like About You in January. The sitcom starred Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth as sisters. The show had a decent four season run on The WB/CW from 2002-06. The show will air weekday afternoons at 4:00pm & 4:30pm ET/PT starting Monday, January 7, replacing 7th Heaven. We asked ABC Family if 7th Heaven would return and they said no, as the show will be moving to The Hallmark Channel. So that answers that. As for What I Like About You, The CW Daytime will still air it at 3:30pm in January from what we see in their listings. We'll keep you posted if that changes. So fans can watch it basically from 3:30-5pm on two channels!
Elsewhere on ABC Family January, the second half of season two of the hit original drama Kyle XY will return on January 14 airing Mondays at 8pm for 10 episodes! A marathon of 9 of the 13 episodes from the first half of the season will air before it from 11am-8pm. The fourth season of another original drama, Wildfire will start a week later, Monday, January 21, and air Mondays at 9pm. Other highlights include, the annual The 700 Club Special Programming will air from 9am-11am for two weeks, week of Jan. 14 and 21, thus Step by Step will be pre-empted for those two weeks at 9am. A marathon of the 700 Club will air on Sunday, January 27 from 12pm-12am. As for movies, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants will get a basic cable premiere on Jan. 6, and a lot of movies will be airing on the ABC Family for the first time, such as Mean Girls, Pleasantville, Bring It On Again, and the TV premiere of Bring It On: In It To Win It.

TV Land scored huge gains among its target demo of Adults 25-54 as well as its core audience of Adults 40-54 for the month of November (10/29/07-11/25/07). The success of the network's regularly scheduled Friday Night Movie Block, a M*A*S*H Mail Call Marathon, the original special Entertainment Weekly and TV Land Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons and the network's "Overstuffed Thanksgiving Weekend" led the network to score double-digit gains in rating and delivery among A25-54 and total viewers over last year. November was also the most-watched month among A25-54 for the year.
TV Land's November prime time line-up scored a 0.4 rating, 406,000 viewers, up +33% in rating and +24% in viewers among A25-54. Among total viewers in primetime, TV Land delivered nearly 944,000 total viewers, up +15% over last year. In total programming day, TV Land averaged a 0.3 rating and 295,000 viewers among A25-54 for the month, representing a +50% gain in rating and a +19% climb in viewers versus November 2006. It was also the most-watched month among A25-54 in total day this year. Additionally, the network attracted an average of 633,000 viewers for the total programming day, an increase of +13% over November 2006. Among its core audience, Adults 40-54, TV Land averaged a 0.6 rating, 317,000 viewers in prime time, up +50% in rating and +39% in viewers versus last year. In total programming day, the network posted a 0.4 rating, 227,000 viewers, up +33% in rating and +26% in viewers.
Click HERE for the full highlights.

Day 24: WGA's Strike; Hallmark Channel Acquires 7th Heaven, Cheers, I Love Lucy; Animated Dennis the Menace to DVD!

It is day 24 now of the writers' strike. It is still early in the day, but no news yet on an agreement. We do have some news. Talk show host Carson Daly has crossed the picket line. Which means his show, NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, will soon be back with new episodes. The half-hour talk show airs on NBC late nights at 1:35am. Unlike other talk show hosts like Kimmel, Letterman and Leno, Daly is not a member of the WGA, so it was easier for him to cross. The WGA is however disappointed. No word yet when we will see new episodes, but I'm betting starting next week.

Hallmark Channel has just completed a major deal to acquire several award- winning series, including the critically acclaimed 7th Heaven, the ever popular Cheers and classic baby boomer favorite, I Love Lucy, along with additional episodes of Matlock and Touched By An Angel from CBS Television Distribution. The deal also includes rights to 12 off-net holiday movies, including Finding John Christmas, Town Without a Christmas and When Angels Come to Town.
7th Heaven is the first show that will be ready to launch on Hallmark Channel as early as January of 2008 with Cheers having the next window later in 2008 and I Love Lucy in January of 2009. Matlock has been renewed through 2011, with a similar extension for Touched By an Angel.
Now what does this mean for ABC Family still airing 7th Heaven? That fate will be revealed on tomorrow's blog as we announce ABC Family January. Come on back for that...it will include a new show for ABC Family!
As for Cheers and I Love Lucy, Hallmark says it is not an exclusive cable deal, so TV Land could still run it, but Cheers is expiring from TV Land in September 2008 and I Love Lucy expires on TV Land in December 2008, which makes me think TV Land will not renew both series and Hallmark will just air it. That is still awhile away, so we will find out more details soon. I bet Cheers will launch next fall on Hallmark. Anyway, stay tuned for further details! We hope to have the January line-up soon. For now click HERE to view the press release and to discuss this big news!

Finally, a personal favorite of mine, the '80s animated series Dennis the Menace is finally coming to DVD this March! Dennis The Menace: Trouble, Trouble Everywhere debuts on DVD March 18, 2008 from Fox Home Entertainment.
In Dennis The Menace: Trouble, Trouble Everywhere entire nations can't run and hide. If they did, they surely would when lovable troublemaker Dennis Mitchell pays a visit! Like most families, the Mitchells love taking vacations, but wherever they go, young Dennis seems to wind up in the center of numerous hilarious catastrophes. Whether he’s chasing crooks in Venice or kangaroos in Sydney, outrunning Mayans in South America, or bulls in Spain – or even proving that erupting volcanoes in Hawaii wreak less havoc than he does, Dennis is always drawn to find trouble, wherever it is!
I wish it was a full set with full episodes and not just a best of set. I hope this sells well so we can get all of them on DVD in the full form. Episodes on this set are: "Dennis in Venice," "Mayan Mayhem," "The Big Candied Apple," "A Royal Pain," "Dennis and the Kangaroo Cavalry," "Dennis Plasters Pamplona," and "Black and Blue Hawaii."
To read more about this and to discuss this, click HERE!

Day 23: WGA's Strike; USA Network Acquires Becker, Drops Coach; More on ION's Drew Carey Show Deal

It is now day 23 of the strike and still no announcements on whether the strike is over or not. Hopefully soon. But we have some network news. NBC has picked up the freshman dramas Chuck (Mondays, 8-9 p.m. ET) and Life (Wednesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) for nine more episodes -- for a full 22 episode season, of course all depending on the strike. NBC will most likely cancel dramas Journeyman and Bionic Woman, so whatever has been shot, looks to be it so far.
In order to boost Fridays a bit, Fox will switch timeslots for reality shows The Next Great American Band and Don't Forget the Lyrics! starting December 7. Band has done terrible at 8pm and Lyrics! has done much better, so let's see if this will benedit both shows.

USA Network has acquired the Ted Danson sitcom Becker for morning play starting in January. To introduce the show to the USA Network line-up, Becker will have two mini morning marathons on Wednesday, January 2 from 6am-12pm and Thursday, January 3 from 6am-12pm. The show will be airing Monday-Friday at 8am and 8:30am thereafter starting January 7, so JAG will move from 7-9am to 6-8am. '90s sitcom Coach will be off the line-up as a result. The show could be back soon, but they haven't lost the rights it seems. As for Becker, it looks like Superstation WGN will also continue to run it late nights. Becker will also air as late night fillers or general fillers like Coach does.

ION Television formally announced today that it has obtained from Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution the rights to air the beloved, long-running sitcom, The Drew Carey Show. ION Television will launch the Emmy-nominated series with a New Year's Eve marathon from 7:00-11:00 pm (ET), and then add it to the network's weeknight primetime lineup New Year's Day with airings Mondays through Thursdays at 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm (ET). That will mean Who's the Boss?, the current time slot holder at 9:00 and 9:30 will either be moved or off the line-up. We will know when the January schedule is released and will let you know. We still haven't forgotten our promise to deliver the ION December holiday highlights. We are just waiting word on a few days, but it doesn't look to be a big deal like last year when we got shows like holiday episodes of McHale's Navy, Kate & Allie, and others. Stay tuned for that and more on Drew!

Day 22: WGA's Strike; Nick at Nite December Highlights; Sitcom Reminders for Tonight

Well it is day 22 is the writers' strike and this could be the last day! Both sides went back into the bargaining table and let's hope they work things out. The buzz is they have worked out a deal! We will know soon I guess. For now, check out the rumor mill. And at TV Guide.

Nick at Nite this December will give us a lot of Christmas episodes. Spend the 11 p.m. hour each day the week of Dec. 3 with classic Christmas episodes! Home Improvement holiday episodes air all-week at 11pm. 11:30pm will be Fresh Prince on Monday, Roseanne on Tuesday, another Fresh Prince on Wednesday, another Roseanne on Thursday and Cosby Show on Friday!
Then on Sunday, December 16, Nick at Nite gives a four hour event with holiday episodes of Home Improvement, George Lopez, Fresh Prince, Cosby Show and Roseanne from 9pm-1am.
Then the week of Dec. 17 it is more 11pm hour time! Spend the 11 p.m. hour each day the week of Dec. 17 with classic Christmas episodes! Roseanne holiday episodes air all-week at 11pm. 11:30pm will be Home Improvement on Monday, Fresh Prince on Tuesday, Cosby Show on Wednesday, another Fresh Prince on Thursday and another Home Improvement on Friday!
And if that is not all, Nick at Nite will give us one last chance to watch holiday episodes on Christmas night from 9pm-12am of their best shows...Home Improvement, George Lopez, Fresh Prince and Cosby Show.
Finally, spend New Year's Eve with Nickelodeon, as Nick at Nite hands over the night to them. Tune in and catch some of your favorite Nick movies and specials as they count down the clock, all the way to midnight!
Click HERE for more details and to discuss this. Keep checking back there for constant updates.

Don't forget to catch the season premiere of sitcom Notes from the Underbelly at 9:30 ET/PT after an all-new Samantha Who at 9/8 central at a new time following part one of the season finale of Dancing with the Stars!
The CW and CBS will also have sitcoms tonight starting at 8/7 central, but CBS's Big Bang Theory and Rules of Engagement will be encores until the strike is resolved.

Week 9: How the Sitcoms Did

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday we don't have final numbers for you yet. So all we will do this week is How the Sitcoms Did. Everything will be back to normal next week.

Week 9 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: N/A
Total Viewers: N/A
Adults 18-49: N/A

Analysis: N/A.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of November 12-18)

• Aliens in America (The CW) - A repeat did just 1.13 million, but up from the previous two weeks, which was under 1 million (850,00 viewers and 910k).
• The Simpsons (Fox) - 10.56 million and a 5.3 18-49 rating...up from previous week...NFL overrun always helps it.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) - Beat previous week's 7.6 million by a lot and grew to 9.23 million this week! The old timer showing some life!
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 10.55 million tuned in, up from previous week and matched previous week's 5.4 18-49 rating!
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 8.12 million, up from previous two week's 7.77 million and 7.08 million.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.06 million tuned in, down from the previous week.
  
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 7.51 million tuned in for a repeat, as this sitcom will be in repeats now until the strike is over.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 13.91 million this week, down from previous week's 14.12 million.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 11.48 million, up from the previous week's 10.46 million....this week it will be its last episode until the strike is over
  
• Samantha Who? (ABC) - 14.38 million and a 4.6/10 18-49 for week six, up from previous week and a series high in 18-49...impressive!
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, Aliens in America, Girlfriends, The Game. Not doing that well at all. Aliens did a terrible 1.37 million, down from previous week, The Game did 2.35 million this week, down from previous week but still led the block.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Cavemen (ABC) - Preempted for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, will not be on the schedule until at the earliest in January now.
  
• Carpoolers (ABC) - Preempted for A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, will not be on the schedule until at the earliest in January now.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Back to You (Fox) - Preliminary numbers for a repeat show 5.35 million and a 1.5/5 18-49 rating.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - Preliminary numbers show 4.67 million for a repeat...two new episodes air this coming week.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Preempted for Thanksgiving.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - Preempted for Thanksgiving.
  
• The Office (NBC) - An encore episode aired at 10:30 following a movie, did just 3.36 million in preliminary numbers, a big drop from the last half-hour of the movie...but NBC should have made the movie 3 hours.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - Preempted for Thanksgiving.

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms

• 30 Rock (NBC) - A special Saturday encore episode aired at 10:30 following a movie, did just 4.6 million, a big drop from the last half-hour of the movie...but NBC should have made the movie 3 hours...and it was the same movie that aired Thursday...odd.

Airing tonight (Sunday) is a repeat of Aliens in America on The CW at 7:30, and Fox's animated comedies starting at 8:00!

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, Samantha Who?, and Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory Repeat) or just plain old terrible (Aliens in America, Everybody Hates Chris).

Mini-DVD Review: Christmas Time in South Park; Solomon's Weekly Rant: Cartoons on Thanksgiving on Nick at Nite; NFL Thanksgiving Games

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for mini-DVD reviews and Solomon's Weekly Rant! First up, are the mini-DVD reviews. Today we take a look at Comedy Central/Paramount's Christmas Time in South Park. South Park of course is the popular cable animated series that is full of laughs for all ages. Join Cartman and the gang for all the holiday fun. Get your hats & coats on! See skees53's mini-DVD review of Christmas Time in South Park:

Christmas Time in South Park (Comedy Central DVD, $19.99) lets us all celebrate the holidays with our favorite foul-mouthed children from South Park, Colorado. The single disc release brings seven Christmas themed episodes of the Comedy Central hit series together in one compilation. Some may be confused and think that this has already been released on DVD, but it hasn't--there was a 2000 release called Christmas in South Park which was released by Warner Brothers that contained only three episodes, only one of which carried over onto this DVD. Many great Christmas classics are included on this DVD. Kyle thinks he is going crazy when a piece of crap (literally) starts talking to him in "Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo." The kids all decide to spend Christmas with Cartman's family when a family friend--Charles Manson--decides to break out of prison with Cartman's uncle in "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!" Mr. Hankey returns in "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics." Mr. Hankey is too busy with his wife and three... nuggets... in "A Very Crappy Christmas," so it is up to the boys to return the Christmas spirit to South Park. Cartman has been naughty so he decides to help the citizens of Iraq, with the help of Jesus and Mr. Hankey, in "Red Sleigh Down." Kyle's brother Ike is going back to Canada after his birth parents come to take him back, but how will the boys react when they find out that the town is spending money to bring Ike back instead of buying Christmas gifts? Find out in "It's Christmas in Canada." Finally, Stan helps the Woodland Critters build a manger in "Woodland Critter Christmas," but it all backfires in the typical South Park fashion.
The DVD doesn't come in the standard type case that you would expect for a single disc release, but instead comes in packaging that looks like one of those Little Golden Books that we all used to read as a child. It almost makes the set appear to be a nice thing that you can watch with the whole family, but don't be fooled. After all, it IS South Park. The packaging includes a description and the original airdate of each and every episode and also includes a memorable quote from each episode. The video and audio quality of the episodes tends to vary from episode to episode, mostly because these episodes are taken from all of the first eight seasons, but in general there are no real issues to be concerned with. The episodes all appear to be unedited, running at their original 22 minutes each.
The DVD has nothing to offer as far as special features are concerned, and every single one of these episodes can be found in one of the previous season releases of South Park. So, this DVD may not be particularly impressive to the average South Park fan, but for those that must own everything related to South Park or those that simply love Christmas episodes are certain to enjoy the DVD. This isn't a bad DVD at all, but it would have been nice if they could have thrown in some holiday related special features to spice up the set a little bit. A release like this really shouldn't be a plain episodes only release, especially when every episode on it has already been released on DVD at least once. But if you can pick this set up at a reasonable price (under $10 or so), then you'd probably be happy with the set and be glad to have it. Head on up to South Park and look for the bargains!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
South Park TV.com Page


Solomon's Weekly Rant
Saturday, November 24, 2007
"Cartoons on Thanksgiving on Nick at Nite; NFL Thanksgiving Games Being Treated Like the Super Bowl"
By Solomon Davis

I came home around 11:10pm on Thanksgiving night to watch some sitcoms like George Lopez and Fresh Prince and found out that Nick at Nite decided to air Rugrats movies after 11pm?? How many children would be up watching cartoons after 11pm? And to make things worse, at midnight there was a filler airing of SpongeBob which made me think it was 9am in the morning. Do the people at Nick at Nite think parents let their kids stay up later at night because there is no school the day after Thanksgiving? There are no children up watching cartoons after midnight and Nick at Nite felt the need to remove all the regularly schedule sitcoms to entertain kids after 9pm to 12:30am which is the dumbest programming decision by Nick at Nite in 2007. Maybe Nick at Nite can air Christmas cartoon specials like Jimmy Neutron from 1am to 6am on Christmas Eve since there are no kids sleeping on Christmas Eve.

NFL games on Thanksgiving Day are still a regular season game so why do fans have to watch musical performances at halftime like it is Super Bowl Sunday? The guys in the studio can easily just talk about what happened during the first half of the game and preview the upcoming NFL games on Sunday. But to extend halftime just so someone can get on stage and sing is just plain stupid. It's bad enough we have to stomach these pointless musical performances like Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake during halftime of the Super Bowl, so can we at least have a regular halftime show on Thanksgiving day?


My Weird TV Moments of the Week:
Sunday, November 18, 2007: On Sunday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills kicked a field goal to cut the New England Patriots lead to 42-10 in the 4th quarter and the coach of the Bills started clapping? Think they were going to come back?
Monday, November 19, 2007: Good Morning America - On "Melody's Money Minute," her holiday shopping tips was, "use CASH instead of CREDIT." She gets paid to tell GMA viewers that OBVIOUS TIP? HA!

Agree or disagree with Solomon? Discuss it here.

DISCLAIMER: Remember, Solomon is not the voice of SitcomsOnline. He is just stating his opinions and does not reflect what SitcomsOnline says or thinks. It is just his 'View' but it is always quite entertaining.

Drew Carey Show Coming to ION Television, December Monthly Preview

Many of you have seen the promos already that The Drew Carey Show is coming to ION Television on New Year's Eve! They will start the sitcom with a New Year's Eve marathon on Monday, December 31. The show will then join the line-up thereafter. We don't have complete details yet, but we should very soon...so check back soon!
And yes, I know we have not posted the ION December highlights yet. There seems to be no schedule changes except Alice getting a full hour at 7-8pm (replacing Designing Women at 7) starting Dec. 3 and Kung Fu is returning and airing Saturdays at 6PM starting Dec. 15, replacing the NFL Game of the Week episodes. They also plan to give us one holiday airing at least each night basically all month long, from holiday movies to holiday episodes of Amen, Alice, Who's the Boss?, and Mama's Family. We'll post the line-up very soon...let's hope they alter it a bit to have shows not on the lineup as well, like holiday episodes of Perfect Strangers, Growing Pains, and others. Stay tuned!
In addition to Alice returning on Monday at 7:30, Firebrand TV is finally launching Mon-Thurs at 11pm starting Monday.

OK, go back to your Black Friday sales!

Happy Thanksgiving; Network Holiday Specials

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We thank you for visiting us on this special day. We also are very thankful that you all continue to visit every single day and making this blog a huge success. We get thousands of visitors everyday (even on weekends). We thank you for the growth each year!
Retro Television Network also thanks you and they have sent us a nice 10-second bumper wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving! Click HERE to view it!

Before we let you go back to your families...let's prepare for the Christmas holiday season! It is never too early to prepare. I have put together a holiday specials list that we all like to watch every year like Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas and we even get some new specials this year like Shrek the Halls. These are just actual holiday related specials and movies, not movies or specials airing during the holiday season.

ABC
Tuesday, Nov. 27, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls (NEW!) and Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Friday, Nov. 30, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: The Polar Express
Monday, Dec. 3 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Saturdays, Dec. 8, 8-10pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Monday, Dec. 10, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Winnie the Pooh and Christmas, Too
Saturday, Dec. 15, 8-10pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 10-11pm: A Christmas Celebration at Ford's Theatre
Sunday, Dec. 23, 7-8pm: Elmo's Christmas Countdown (NEW!)
Sunday, Dec. 23, 9-11pm: ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2
Monday, Dec. 24, 8-9pm: Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (expanded edition)

CBS:
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 7, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty
Returns
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty
Returns
Friday, Dec. 21, 8-9pm: 9th Annual Home for the Holidays with Sheryl Crow
Saturday, Dec. 22, 8-10pm: CBS Saturday Movie: Elf

NBC:
Thursday, Nov. 22, 2-4pm: Miracle on 34th Street
Friday, Nov. 23, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: Family Man
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Saturday, Dec. 1, 8-9pm: The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Thursday, Dec. 13, 9:30-11pm: Saturday Night Live: Christmas Special
Friday, Dec. 14, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Monday, Dec. 24, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life

The CW:
Sunday, Dec. 2, 6-7pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Sunday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: The Story of Santa Claus

Fox has not announced anything, if they even are planning any specials and movies. We'll let you know. And also if there are any additions to the other networks.

Day 17: WGA's Strike; RTN Coming to Seattle; TV Land's 50 Greatest Icons Scores; Thanksgiving Marathons

It is now day 17 of the writers' strike. Nothing really new to report. Come back tomorrow for some network schedule notes.

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it will partner with COX Television to bring RTN programming to Seattle, the nation's 14th largest television market. The new affiliate will launch in January on a digital stream of KIRO-TV, Seattle's CBS affiliate. Viewers will love seeing Don Adams and Barbara Feldon in Get Smart, prior to next summer's hit movie starring Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, and will enjoy escaping to Waikiki Beach each evening as they watch Hawaii 5-0 and Magnum P.I. In addition, the weekends are a cavalcade of hit shows, including It Takes a Thief, Gunsmoke, A-Team, Knight Rider, Emergency, Wild, Wild West and many more. Mission: Impossible and Happy Days are also slated to come.

The 50 Greatest TV Icons was a huge hit for TV Land with viewers for its premiere on Friday, November 16, scoring double-digit gains in rating and delivery among its target A25-54 audience and triple-digit ratings and delivery gains among its core audience A40-54. The two-hour special an editorial/on-air collaboration with Entertainment Weekly presented 50 timeless performers from the history of television like Johnny Carson, Lucille Ball and Jerry Seinfeld who have all made their indelible mark in TV history.
According to Nielsen Media Research, The 50 Greatest TV Icons posted a 0.5 rating (500,000 viewers) among A25-54, up +67% in rating and +67% in delivery over last year. Among its core audience, Adults 40-54, TV Land scored triple-digit gains in rating and delivery, averaging a 0.8 rating (432,000 viewers), up +100% in rating and +100% in delivery. The special scored triple digit gains among total viewers over last year, averaging nearly 1.1 million total viewers, a rise of +112% over from a year ago.

Finally, we leave you today with some Thanksgiving marathons for tomorrow and this weekend. Before and after you eat with your family tomorrow, you could spend some time watching some marathons together! We gave you details on TV Land's Overstuffed Thanksgiving marathon which has I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, among others. If you're in L.A. don't forget KTLA's 60th Anniversary celebration this weekend. ION will have its Thanksgiving marathon tonight with Mama's Family from 7p-11p!
TBS will share marathons of Saved by the Bell from 7a-10a, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 10a-4p and House of Payne from 4p-9p. On Fresh Prince, a holiday visit from Will's taskmaster mother puts the kibosh on conspicuous consumption and puts the kids to work preparing Thanksgiving dinner.
TNT goes Charmed this Thanksgiving with a marathon of the hit drama from 8am-6pm.
FX will give us movies on Thanksgiving, but the day after we get a marathon of Malcolm in the Middle! A 22-episode marathon begins with a 2000 episode in which Malcolm's cushy babysitting job provides relief from the trailer his family's using while their house is being fumigated. Meanwhile, the school's master key leads Francis to a corpse, for which he provides a proper send-off. Airs 7am-5:30pm.
Nickelodeon will have days worth of marathons, including some classics! I urge you to click HERE for the schedule.
GSN will give us two marathons. A Family Feud marathon on Turkey Day from 9am-7pm and a Viewer's Choice Marathon on Friday. The latter sounds VERY good and you all should click HERE to see what I mean!!
WGN will go with laughs on the day after Thanksgiving with America's Funniest Home Videos from 9am-8pm.
USA Network will have a marathon battle between Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: SVU each airing after one another starting 6am Thursday and ending 9pm Friday!
Comedy Central will give us Drawn Together in the late night after our feast from 11pm-3am. Eight episodes of the animated comedy are featured.
G4 will showcase Jamie Kennedy Experiment from 9am-8pm. And on Friday Ninja Warrior from 10am-8pm.
Sci-Fi Channel will bring us episodes from the reality series Ghost Hunters investigating accounts of strange phenomena are featured. First up at 8am "Whispers and Voices" has the team probing two Massachusetts locales. Star Trek: Enterprise airs the day after.
Discovery Channel will have a Dirty Jobs marathon on Turkey Day from 9am-9pm.
Bravo will give a block of the delicious reality show Top Chef that features 10 Season 3 episodes from 8a-6p. It's a dessert storm in the first hour when the chefs are challenged to create a sublime pie crust, after which they must cook up tasty fare for personalities of the Telemundo television network.
TLC gives us two shows. Little People, Big World on Thursday from 9a-3a and What Not to Wear from 9p-3a on Friday.
News channel CNN will give us CNN: SIU episodes from 1p-6a with a break at 5p for a special on Larry King's 50 Years.
Cartoon Network will give us Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends all-day starting at 7am through 7pm, then we will have an all-new special Tom & Jerry: A Nutcracker Tale.
A&E will give us marathons of Cold Case Files and First 48 on Thanksgiving and a CSI: Miami marathon the day after from 8am-4am.
BET gives us a 10-episode block of the reality series following singer Keyshia Cole from 9a-2p on Turkey Day and Baldwin Hills on Friday from 1p-6p.
Regional sports network YES will have a Yankeeography marathon from 12pm-12am featuring profiles on stars such as Catfish Hunter, Tino Martinez, Billy Martin, and Reggie Jackson.
I think that covers the majority of them.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving and don't forget to check back with us each day this Thanksgiving weekend for some news. We don't take any days off!

Day 16: WGA's Writers' Strike; RTN Adds Atlanta Station, RTN Honors Dick Wilson; Remembering Sigrid Valdis

It is now day 16 of the writers' strike. We are getting anxious to Monday when they go back to the negotiations table. With episodes running out of the current scripted shows, fans are sad and upset. But remember we have two current shows returning for second seasons this week. October Road returns this Thursday after Grey's Anatomy for a special preview timeslot before airing Mondays at 10 starting next Monday. Now since scripted programming will be a bit scarce and if you have never watched the show, then SOAPnet will give us a marathon of all six episodes plus this season's season premiere on Saturday from 12-7pm. Try to watch...it is good entertainment. Also, as we mentioned before, ABC will return Notes from the Underbelly also next Monday at 9:30pm. So we do have some scripted programming life! Even so, let's hope the strike can end next week.

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it will partner with COX Television to bring RTN programming to Atlanta, the nation's 8th largest television market. The new affiliate will launch on a digital stream of WSB-TV in January. WSB-TV is COX Television's flagship station that serves as the ABC affiliate in Atlanta. The station, which is the oldest television station in Georgia, began broadcasting in 1948 and is one of the premier ABC affiliates in the nation.
Viewers in Atlanta will soon enjoy RTN's 'Primetime All The Time' line-up, including Matlock, Hawaii 5-0, Magnum P.I., Mission: Impossible, Love American Style, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and Love, American Style.
Yesterday we gave you the sad news that Dick Wilson had passed away. Today, RTN honored the passing of "Mr. Whipple" in a retromercial. We have gotten the clip from RTN and will share it with you. So here is a taste of RTN, if you don't have a RTN station yet. Click HERE to see RTN's retromercial of Dick "Mr. Whipple" Wilson.

Sigrid Valdis, who played Col. Klink's sexy blond secretary on Hogan's Heroes and married the show's star, Bob Crane, has died. Valdis died of lung cancer Oct. 14 at her daughter Ana Sarmiento's home in Anaheim, but was just recently announced. Valdis played Hilda for five seasons on Hogan's Heroes, the 1965-71 CBS situation comedy about Allied prisoners in a World War II German POW camp. She and Crane were married on the TV show's set in 1970. Crane was found bludgeoned to death in a Scottsdale, Ariz., apartment in 1978. You can catch Hogan's Heroes on TV Land starting next June. She didn't have many other credits, but she did guest star on Wild Wild West and Kraft Suspense Theatre. Ms. Valdis will be missed by her fans. She was 72.

Day 15: WGA's Writers' Strike; Alice Returns to ION Television; Remembering Dick Wilson

We are now in day 15 (week 3) of the writers' strike. We have some potential good news, though! Late last week we got word that the writers plan to go back to the negotiations table with studios on Nov. 26. So, hopefully this is the last week of the strike and by next week we get a settlement. If we get a settlement sometime next week, maybe we can start production again on TV shows before the holidays even. If not, for sure in early January. We might get a lot of repeats in January, but Feb-May will be essentially all-new episodes with very little repeats. This all depends what happens next Monday! Let's pray and hope they settle it!
ABC has announced that they have picked-up the back nine episodes of the addictive new drama Dirty Sexy Money. This is the first show to be picked-up for a full season during the strike. As of now 11 of the original 13 episodes have been completed, so when the strike ends, they will start working on the 11 episodes they need to for the season.
ABC is moving the holiday classic Santa Claus is Comin' to Town to Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 8pm now. It was slated for Tues., Dec. 4 at 8, but CBS will now program Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer there. So as a result, Pushing Daisies is pre-empted on Wed., Dec. 5. And a holiday encore of AFV, which was scheduled Tues., Dec. 4 at 9pm will move to 8pm. AFV will also air an encore on Dec. 18 at 9pm. Airing at 9pm and 9:30pm on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11 will be encores of According to Jim.
More network news: The CW's drama One Tree Hill returns for season five with a special two-hour premiere on Tuesday, January 8 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. ET. Subsequent episodes will take over the 9:00 p.m. ET timeslot beginning Tuesday, January 15, following encore presentations of Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants. Reaper will return to the schedule with original episodes later in the season.
NBC and Donald Trump return to New York City with The Celebrity Apprentice, with an all-star celebrity lineup of candidates in its seventh season. The Celebrity Apprentice with host Donald Trump begins its latest edition on Thursday, January 3 (9:00PM ET). Participating are Tracy Adkins, Stephen Baldwin, Nadia Comaneci, Tiffany Fallon, Jennie Finch, Nely Galan, Marilu Henner, Lennox Lewis, Omarosa, Piers Morgan, Tito Oritz, Vincent Pastore and Gene Simmons. I wonder what will happen to this show if the strike ends? NBC for sure would want The Office to air instead...

First we announced Amen is returning to ION Television (which starts tonight at 6p!), now we got word late last week that '70s sitcom Alice is also returning! Alice will air Mon-Thurs at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT starting next week (Monday, Nov. 26), replacing one of the Designing Women episodes (that show will still air in the 7 p.m. half-hour). And the good news for fans who watched Alice from April-June is that they will start from where they left off! So, episode 62 "Sweet Charity" will air first. So we won't have to start all over again! For those who felt like telling ION "kiss my grits" at the end of June, let's take that back and watch the show starting next week!
I should post the full December highlights shortly, so come on back either today or tomorrow for that.

Long-time Charmin bath tissue pitchman Dick Wilson -- known to millions as Mr. Whipple -- died today at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, CA. Wilson portrayed grocer Mr. Whipple and made "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" a household phrase. Wilson appeared as Mr. Whipple in more than 500 spots for Charmin from 1964 through 1985. After a 14-year hiatus, Wilson reprised the role in 1999 to introduce a new version of Charmin. In 2001, Procter & Gamble, maker of Charmin, presented Wilson with a lifetime achievement award to commemorate his contribution to the brand.
Wilson's television credits include Captain Gruber on Hogan's Heroes, Assistant Mayor Dino Boroni on McHale's Navy, a popular recurring character on Bewitched as a drunk, and other roles in Alice, The Bob Newhart Show, Adam-12, Love American Style, Get Smart, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, Gidget, My Favorite Martian, Perry Mason, The Hero, That Girl, Don Rickles Show, The Rifleman, Fantasy Island, Quincy M.E., The Rockford Files, Arrest & Trial, Petticoat Junction, Maude, The Partridge Family on the Bewitched spin-off Tabitha, and many more.
Wilson is survived by his wife Meg, three children (which includes Perfect Strangers co-star Melanie Wilson) and three grandchildren -- all located in the Los Angeles area. He will be missed. I always loved him as the drunk on Bewitched. Mr. Wilson was 91.
Share your thoughts and memories of Dick Wilson HERE.

Week 8 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 8 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 8.5/13.3; ABC: 8.3/13.0; Fox: 5.3/8.0; NBC: 5.1/7.9; The CW: 2.1/3.1; MNT: 0.8/1.2.
Total Viewers: CBS: 13.31 million; ABC: 12.52 million; Fox: 8.49 million; NBC: 8.1 million; The CW: 3.14 million; MNT: 1.23 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 3.9/10.0; CBS: 3.9/10.0; NBC: 3.3/8.5; Fox: 3.2/8.1; The CW: 1.4/3.6; MNT: 0.5/1.3.

Analysis: Week 8 is nearly done...and we might not know who will win the week once again until after tonight! Last week ABC won the top spot in every category, with CBS a close second in HH and viewers. In 18-49, Fox was second, nipping CBS, which was in 3rd. NBC was fourth in all categories and Fox was in 3rd in HH and viewers. Through the first four days of this week, CBS a slight lead in all categories in week 8 with ABC a close second, Fox and NBC are way back, with Fox with the slight edge.
Monday it was all ABC thanks to Dancing with the Stars. A 92 minute performance show did an impressive 21.81 million and a 5.2/13 in 18-49, up a bit from the previous week, that lead into new sitcom Samantha Who doing 13.7 million (up from previous week) and a 4.3/10 18-49 rating. The Bachelor followed with 8.96 million, down a bit from the previous week, but this was a Women Tell All special...finale is this coming week. Next up was CBS with its comedies and CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did 9.32 million, on par with the previous week and yet again it built on How I Met Your Mother's ratings of 8.42 million, almost a million increase...impressive for Big Bang, but due to the strike that was its last episode that they made, so repeats now. Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement followed with decent numbers (14.12 and 11.46 million). Men was over 14 million for the first time in awhile, and over 11 million for Rules. CSI: Miami followed with 15.46 million, up well over a million from previous. NBC was in third, lead by Heroes at 11.16 million and a 5.2 18-49, below its usual average once again...but it was up from previous week by a lot. Chuck opened the night with 7.56 million, down just a bit from previous week. Journeyman closed the night with 6.09 million, actually was up a million from previous week. Fox kicked off with the fall finale of Prison Break at 7.18 million, down from previous week and K-Ville returned for some reason and did bad once again with 4.72 million...how about sticking with Hang Time, Anthony Anderson? The CW aired their Monday sitcoms, with Aliens in America doing just 1.99 million, up a bit from the previous week's series low, and The Game finally went up and did 2.55 million, the best of the block.
Tuesday, it was a three network race, with Fox on top. CBS and ABC were also right behind. Fox's huge hit House did 16.95 million and a 7.0 18-49 rating (both down from previous week) and Bones started the night off with a solid 9.12 million, down a bit from previous week. The always reliable NCIS opened the night off for CBS with 17.39 million, down from previous week which was aa series high. The Unit followed with 11.04 million, on par from previous week, and Cane did 7.29 million, down from previous week. ABC's sitcom hour of Cavemen/Carpoolers did poor numbers for the second week in a row, doing just 4.58 and 5.05 million, Dancing with the Stars: The Results followed with 17.59 million saying goodbye to Cameron Mathison...why not Marie Osmond? Boston Legal followed and did a solid 11.36 million, a season high? NBC was fourth with another two-hour The Biggest Loser from 8-10 doing 8.16 million, followed by Law & Order: SVU at 12.48 million, both up from previous week a bit. The CW had Beauty & the Geek and Reaper do 2.48 and 2.46 million.
Wednesday it was CBS on top. CBS saw Kid Nation go up a bit to 7.42 million, and veteran dramas Criminal Minds and CSI: NY did well and were consistent doing 15.73 (up from previous week...season high maybe) and 13.13 million (up from previous week). ABC's trio of dramas returned after a week off for the CMA Awards, with Pushing Daisies doing 8.83 million, followed by Private Practice doing 11.48 million, and Dirty Sexy Money doing 7.9 million...the week off might have hurt these, but still solid. NBC and Fox again were battling for third, as Fox saw Back to You, 'Til Death and Kitchen Nightmares, all go up from previous week and did 7.31, 7.34, and 6.95 million each. NBC opened