FX, USA, TNT, Hallmark, Comedy Central Fall 2009; Hallmark Weekend Change

Today's fall schedule barrage theme is "more of the same." There will be some cable networks who really aren't changing anything this September. They include FX, USA Network, TNT, Hallmark Channel and Comedy Central. USA Network will continue to have
Wings and Becker air on some weekdays in the 6am hour with various late night filler airings also. Drama blocks and movies still air on weekdays for shows such as Monk, NCIS, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Wednesday mornings has Walker, Texas Ranger and JAG.
As for Comedy Central, it's more of the same as well. Just Shoot Me! continues to air in the weekday 8am hour, but Scrubs will move from the 7pm hour to the 8pm hour starting Sept. 14, as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report take the 7pm hour. That's really the only change.
FX, TNT, and The Hallmark Channel have the exact same line-up for September as they do right now, with shows like Malcolm in the Middle and Bernie Mac on FX; Charmed, Law & Order, Bones and CSI NY on TNT; and Golden Girls, Touched by an Angel, and M*A*S*H on Hallmark...all in the same time slots!
We had to cover these because we would get the question if these networks are making any changes in September. But are these the fall line-ups? We're not sure. Changes could be made in October, so stay tuned. However, USA Network is more of the same in October, so don't expect anything from us for that.
Stay tuned for more fall schedules all this week. We still have WGN America, Nick at Nite, The N, BET, WE tv and more to go through.

We didn't get a chance to warn you on Friday but Hallmark Channel has made some weekend changes that started this past Saturday (Aug. 8). The Saturday morning 6-9am episodes of Little House on the Prairie have been replaced by The Golden Girls. The same goes true for the Sunday morning airing from 8-11am as more Golden Girls are added. And if you think that's it, you're wrong because Hallmark will be thanking you for being a friend late nights on weekends as well! Both Saturday and Sunday nights (that's early Sunday and Monday mornings) from 1-3am are now also Golden Girls instead of a late night movie. So they go from no airings on weekends to all of this!

FX Fall 2008 Schedule; Save Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Fox Renews Dance for 5th Season

Just a few weeks ago we gave you details on FX's summer changes...and now we have their fall schedule! As we have mentioned many times already, Bernie Mac is joining FX's line-up. The four-year deal starts Monday, September 8, 2008 with a launch marathon from 12:30pm-8pm ET. Bernie Mac will then join the weekday line-up on Tuesday, September 9 airing weekdays at 8:00am & 8:30am ET and 4:00pm & 4:30pm ET (although sometimes it will be 4:30pm ET & 5:00pm ET depending on the FX movies). The morning airings will replace The Practice, which will now just air weekends at 7:00am & 8:00am. We urge you to view the full FX September 2008 schedule so no confusion arises.
Other September higlights include a Labor Day (Sept. 1) marathon of That '70s Show from 7:00am-5:30pm ET. The Shield will have its season premiere the following night at 10pm on Tuesday, September 2. FX will launch their new series Sons of Anarchy starring Katey Sagal on Wednesday, September 3 at 10pm with a special 75-minute premiere until 11:15pm ET. FX will launch a new season of its comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 18 at 10pm.

In June 2008, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced that it intends to soon change the way Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the beloved children’s television program, is distributed to member stations.
PBS will cease transmitting the program as part of their daily syndicated lineup beginning in September. Instead, PBS will provide member stations with a single Neighborhood episode on weekends. This unfortunate decision essentially silences the special nurturing voice of Mister Rogers in the daily lives of today's children.
Local public television stations, who make the final decisions about which programs to offer and when to air them, can still opt to broadcast Mister Rogers' Neighborhood each weekday, but they are much less likely to do so without the program being included in PBS's syndicated feed.
A campaign is underway for you to save Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on your local PBS station. It is sad if they just air it once a week on weekends. Many generations have learned from him since the 1960s and it has been tradition having it on daily on PBS. So save Mister Rogers by heading on to SaveMisterRogers.com!

Fox has ordered a fifth season of summer show, So You Think You Can Dance for next summer. Created by Simon Fuller and Nigel Lythgoe, the original dance competition follows amateur dancers as they compete in everything from Hip-Hop, Krumping and Popping to Salsa, Quickstep and Jive to be named America's favorite dancer.

FX Schedule Changes; Remembering Golden Girls' Estelle Getty, Lifetime Honors Estelle with Marathon on Friday

FX made some last minute schedule changes last week (effective July 14) but we didn't have time to inform me as we were swamped with so much other stuff. FX has removed Married...with Children, Dharma & Greg and Buffy the Vampire Slayer from its line-up. The first two were airing weekdays in the daytime while Buffy was airing weekends at 7am. The Practice was only airing weekends 8am but now it seems to be airing more. It is airing weekdays at 8am and weekends 7 & 8am. Also, FX will bring back disgusting reality series Fear Factor back from the dead starting July 28. It won't be airing in set slots, though. Look for it airing Monday afternoons around 1pm, Tuesday nights around 1am, Wednesday afternoons around 1pm & late nights around 1am, and some Thursday afternoons around 1pm.
As for the rest of the schedule, after 1pm the schedule is not really constant, but here is how it looks generally:
Weekdays - 7-8am Malcolm in the Middle, 8am The Practice, 9-10am Spin City, 10am Movie, 12-1pm Spin City, 1-6pm various back to back slots of King of the Hill, That '70s Show and Malcolm in the Middle (with some Fear Factor mixed in around 1pm on some days), 6pm-11pm movies/originals, 11pm-2am usually marathons of That '70s Show or King of the Hill (with an episode of Fear Factor on a few days days around 1am).
Weekends - 7am The Practice, 8am The Practice, 9am-10am Spin City (on some weekends), Movies otherwise, 10am-2am Movies/originals.
These changes are probably temporary (as of now through 9/1, but could be a bit more beyond that) and we will let you know the fall line-up as soon as we know. Married...with Children of course is expiring at the end of August, but we have seen the last of it on FX already (last airing was July 13 at 1am)...it'll be coming to Spike TV and TBS this September, as we have mentioned many times already. No idea if Buffy or Dharma are expiring, though, but we will try to find out. Dharma & Greg will still air on WE tv weekdays 11am-12pm. Bernie Mac is coming this Fall to FX we know in a four-year-deal...more info on that soon. Stay tuned!

We have yet another TV related passing to tell you. This time it is fan favorite Estelle Getty. Estelle of course is best known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on the sitcom The Golden Girls. She died this morning (Tuesday, July 22 at 5:35am PT) in Los Angeles. Estelle had been suffering from Dementia with Lewy bodies for the last 8 years or so.
Estelle had been nominated for an Emmy seven times for her role on The Golden Girls, winning in 1988. She was also nominated three times for a Golden Globe, winning in 1986.
Before The Golden Girls, her acting career started in 1978. She got her start in the Yiddish theater, and her most important early role was playing Harvey Fierstein's mother on Broadway in the play Torch Song Trilogy. She then moved on to films, with her most famous ones such as Tootsie (1982) and Mask (1985). She also guest starred on some series such Cagney & Lacey, Hotel, One of the Boys, and Newhart before getting The Golden Girls in 1985. During the run of The Golden Girls, she played Sophia Petrillo on other series as well. She guest starred a few times on the spin-off series Empty Nest. She also guest starred as Sophia on the sitcom Blossom in 1991, an NBC series at the time of The Golden Girls. After The Golden Girls ended in 1992 on NBC, CBS did a follow-up series called The Golden Palace, where the girls work at a hotel. Everyone came back except Bea Arthur (she did guest star a few time though). The sitcom lasted one season and also starred Don Cheadle and Cheech Marin. She once again played the role of Sophia on an episode of the Empty Nest spin-off series Nurses in 1993.
She guest starred on many series not playing Sophia as well. She played herself on episodes of sitcoms such as The John Larroquette Show, The Nanny, and It's Like You Know. She also guest starred on series such as City, The Fanelli Boys, Touched by an Angel, Hollywood Squares, Brotherly Love, Mad About You, and Ladies Man. She continued on film as well with movies such as Stuart Little and The Million Dollar Kid.
Estelle will be deeply missed by not only Golden Girls fans but by all sitcom fans.
UPDATE: This Friday, July 25, Lifetime Television will pay a special on-air and online tribute to Estelle Getty. July 25 is also her birthday. From 12-5PM (ET/PT), Lifetime will air 10 episodes showcasing 'Sophia' in all her blustering, sarcastic splendor, beginning with the show's pilot. The last episode at 4:30PM (ET/PT) will be the #1 favorite "Sophia episode" as decided through a vote of her legion of devoted fans at myLifetime.com.
Estelle would have been 85 on Friday, so she passed away three days before her 85th birthday. I'm sure many of you don't know this, but Bea Arthur is actually a bit older then Estelle, despite Bea playing her daughter on The Golden Girls.
The following was stated on her website:
"To all of Estelle's Fans,
Sadly, today July 22, 2008 at 5:35 a.m. Pacific Time, we said our last good-byes to our little friend Estelle, who passed away and made her journey to the great beyond. Although it was a trip that she never wanted to take, she went gracefully, in the comfort of her own home, surrounded by her family and her very loving care-givers.
Estelle's legacy will live on and on through the comedy and laughter she gave to us all, which will forever keep us laughing out loud."

TV Land Acquires 3rd Rock From the Sun; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: Fox, Day 2

TV Land has acquired the hit '90s sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun for this Fall. All 139 episodes of the 1996-2001 NBC series will be coming to TV Land starting Saturday, October 25. We don't have any other details than that yet. The series stars John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Wayne Knight, and Jane Curtin. The series was last seen on ABC Family Channel. It didn't air much on there, mainly airing weekends on and off in 2004 and 2005, before briefly returning for a bit in 2006. ABC Family's contract has now expired. The show really hasn't been seen much since Sept. 2004, that is when the local channel contract expired.
3rd Rock From the Sun is about a group of aliens that have come to Earth to learn about its population, customs, etc. To avoid detection, they have taken on human form which gives them human emotions, physical needs etc. WITHOUT the understanding of what they mean or the inhibitions normally present in humans. Their leader takes the position of a college professor, their military expert as his sister, their intelligence expert, supposedly oldest of group takes form of his teenage son. The uninhibited reactions turn everyday events into unusual situations.
We will let you know more on 3rd Rock From the Sun coming to TV Land in the coming months. Speaking of TV Land, we will have their September line-up for you shortly...hopefully by the end of the week. As you all know, Scrubs is coming Sept. 1 and The Cosby Show fully moves to TV Land on Sept. 15. In other TV Land news, the second season of the original series TV Land Myths & Legends has been pushed back to October 8. It was originally slated to start August 27, as we mentioned in the TV Land August highlights. So after Family Foreman concludes after its August 20 finale, there is no original series on Wednesdays on TV Land until October 8.

It is the second and final day for the Fox portion of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. We have some tidbits from yesterday that we need to mention today. Fox will have two development seasons this year at least. The first one will happen in December. Kevin Reilly said about eight shows are in development for that period. Expect some announcements for pick-ups then. The regular development season in the spring will still happen also. As for the rumored Prison Break spin-off, Fox is still planning one. However, it doesn't seem it will be introduced within the show but rather as its own series. The plan is to call it Cherry Hill and it'll be about a women's prison. Fox also discussed a bit about the 24 prequel and upcoming season along with the planned Osbournes variety series. Finally, there is still no end in sight for The Simpsons, so it'll likely extend beyond next season, which will be its 20th season. Oh and Fox is going to move its upfront date next year from Thursday to Monday it seems. Today at the tour will be all FX really. FX only has the morning half. On the panel will be casts and crews of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Damages, Sons of Anarchy, and The Shield. Some FX notes...FX has placed a 13 episode order for the new half-hour comedy series Testees (working title) and will air Thursdays at 10:30pm following It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia starting October 9. Speaking of Sunny, FX intends to produce 39 more episodes in addition to the 13 currently in production. The series' fourth season premieres on Thursday, September 18 at 10 p.m. FX will order 19 additional episodes of Nip/Tuck and the series will end its historic run in early 2011. FX and Sony Pictures Television closed a deal with Michael J. Fox for a four-episode arc for the fifth season of Rescue Me. The 22-episode fifth season begins in the spring of 2009 and he will appear in the season five opener. Finally, Damages' second season starts in January 2009 with new cast members Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant. Ted Danson will return in season two for several episodes.
The rest of the day is a TCA day with lunch being sponsored by the new upcoming syndicated talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show followed by a set visit for AMC's Mad Men. After that it is the evening program with dinner and cocktails. The Championship Gaming Series (CGS) World Championship Kickoff Event for media will be held Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The CGS is the first global professional video gaming league where head-to-head competition is televised live and in HD on DIRECTV's 101 Network. They are sponsoring the evening program.
Coming up tomorrow is ABC Day 1!

Also coming up tomorrow on the blog is our annual Emmy Awards Preview with our predictions of the nominees. The actual Emmy nominees will be announced the following day, Thursday.
We will also have more news, so make sure you come back tomorrow! This is a big week!

Married with Children Coming to Spike TV, Unsolved Mysteries Also; Save October Road

Spike TV has acquired the rights to all 259 episodes of the hit sitcom, Married ... With Children, which ran 11 seasons from 1987-1997 on Fox. The five year exclusive deal begins September, 2008. The network plans on stripping the series to run in mornings, afternoons, and late night.
As part of the distribution deal with Sony Pictures Television, Spike TV will have broadband rights and can exhibit episodes each week on the network's website at http://www.spike.com/. There are also 40 six-minute minisodes Spike TV can run on broadband or on mobile outlets.
Spike has said to have paid $12 million for the series, coming out to about $50,000 an episode, which is a bargain these days.
The series is currently on the FX cable network and has been airing there since Fall 1999. The series will leave FX this fall, as Spike TV's deal is exclusive.
The series starred Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy, Katey Sagal as Peg Bundy and Christina Applegate as the sexy Kelly Bundy. Later sitcom veteran Ted McGinley joined the series. Discuss this news on our message board. And speaking of Christina Applegate, her sitcom Samanatha Who? returns tonight with new episodes! The first of 6 straight new episodes airing Mondays at 9:30pm ET/PT on ABC! The series is the highest rated new sitcom.
Also coming to Spike TV this fall, is Unsolved Mysteries. They are creating a new collection of 175 re-edited episodes hosted by acclaimed television and film actor Dennis Farina. The new episodes, focusing on more of the dangerous and action-oriented cases, will also be available on Spike's web site, http://www.spike.com/, and mobile outlets. The series will have a five year run on Spike TV starting in October, 2008. Each one-hour episode will feature five stories re-enacted by professional actors, plus brand new show wraps and updates on past stories. The series will be stripped weekday afternoons. Spike TV has said to have paid $26 million for the 175 re-edited episodes, which comes out to about $150,000 per episode.
Related: Since Married with Children is leaving FX this fall, I'll give you a round-up of what is coming to FX and other networks affected by this, this fall. FX will add the sitcom Bernie Mac Show this fall starring Bernie Mac. That '70s Show will still be on FX despite ABC Family and The N also airing the series starting this June. So 3 cable networks will be airing that show. FX has aired the series since September 2005. Also coming to ABC Family this September is My Wife & Kids, the hit sitcom starring Damon Wayans and Tisha Campbell-Martin.
No word on what else Spike TV has planned this fall (if anything else) besides Married and Mysteries, but another sitcom would be wise to air with Married...with Children. You know what, The Simpsons still doesn't have a cable home, Spike TV could be a good fit.

Fans of on-the-bubble ABC drama October Road are deep into a campaign to save the show from cancelation. Their campaign is called "Pay October Road Forward." The premise of it is that the fans are buying copies of the first season DVD and donating to their local libraries' DVD sections. Along with that, some are donating books. Libraries are sometimes strapped for extra funds to puchase such things so this serves a double purpose. It allows the library to get things they can use at no cost to them and hopefully will produce new viewers for October Road when the DVD is checked out. The second season DVD is not out yet, but hopefully it will be soon.
All who are doing this are having a letter stamped by the library & signed by them and are sending onto ABC. They will be submitting a full report before the end of April to Mr. Stephen McPherson, President of ABC Entertainment about where they are in donations and how they plan to continue with this great campaign. You can view this by clicking HERE! Save the show so it can return for a third season! It really is a nice little show that is addictive. ABC is shopping the series, so they know it must be worth keeping. The series suffered in the ratings this season when it moved out of the post-Grey's Anatomy slot it had in its first season. So far ABC has shopped it to Lifetime, but they passed. I think ABC Family would be a good fit, especially out of their originals such as Greek, Lincoln Heights, Wildfire and Kyle XY. Heck, even The CW would be a good fit. Someone please bring it back! Help out! If Jericho could return, so could this show!

FX Fall 2007 Schedule, Malcolm Joins Line-Up; New Series Jury Duty Has Classic TV Stars

FX this September will have some changes. But first lets get some highlights out of the way. Original series Damages will get a Labor Day Marathon on Monday, Sepember 3 from 3pm–8pm. FX will air five hours featuring episodes 1 through 5 of the series.
Then on Monday, September 10 from 12pm-8pm, FX wil launch the newly acquired sitcom Malcolm in the Middle with an 8 hour marathon. The newly acquired series will air Monday-Friday in the daytime throughout the week.
FX doesn't really have a set schedule, as most of their series like That '70s Show and King of the Hill can jump around and air anytime. But for the most part, the new schedule will start on Tuesday, September 11, a day after the Malcolm launch marathon. The FX weekday schedule starts at 7am with back to back Malcolm in the Middle, followed by double shots of Dharma & Greg and Spin City. At 10am it will be the FX mid-morning movie. At noon we get a double take of Married with Children, followed by two episodes of King of the Hill, Malcolm in the Middle, King of the Hill, and That '70s Show. At 5pm a movie airs until 8pm, unless a movie is only 2 hours, then the movie starts at 6pm. If that is the case, then from 2-6pm we get an hour each of That '70s Show, Malcolm, King of the Hill, and more That '70s Show. At 8pm we get another movie. At 10pm we get original series such as Damages & Sunny in Philadelphia on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with That '70s Show on Mon, Wed, & Fri. 11pm will see a mix of original repeats. Midnight will have either movies or original encores. 1am sometimes will have filler programming such as Fear Factor and Married...with Children. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Practice will be relegated to weekends only from 7-9am. Movies will air the rest of the weekend with orginal encores late at night at times.

Jury Duty, the first-run court syndicated series from Radar Entertainment presided over by Judge Bruce Cutler and featuring three celebrity jurors coming this Fall, has signed on tons of classic stars to be jurors. Look for Ed Begley, Jr. (St. Elsewhere); Alexandra Paul & Traci Bingham (Baywatch); comedians Bruce Villanch, Elaine Boosler, Phyllis Diller and Paula Poundstone; Todd Bridges (Diff'rent Strokes), JM J. Bullock (Too Close For Comfort); Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat); Martin Kove (Cagney & Lacey); the legendary Debbie Reynolds; Tracy Scoggins (The Colbys); Charlene Tilton (Dallas); Jimmie Walker (Good Times); Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough); Dawn Wells (Gilligan's Island), Liz Sheridan (ALF), James Avery (Fresh Prince) and Growing Pains kids Tracey Gold and Jeremy Miller. For more on Jury Duty, which debuts on Sept. 17 go to juryduty.tv.
For those of you in the NYC market, you can catch the series on WPIX this September, but will have to set the VCR or TiVo as it will air 5 days a week at 4:30am!