TV Land Acquires Raymond, Boston Legal for 2010, Borrows Home Improvement, Nanny; Nick at Nite Renews Glenn Martin

TV Land has landed the exclusive primetime broadcast rights for the Emmy® Award-winning comedy, Everybody Loves Raymond, from CBS Television Distribution beginning June 2010. The series ran in primetime for eight seasons, totaling 212 episodes and will premiere in TV Land PRIME, the network's primetime programming block designed to appeal to the attitudes, life stage and interests of people in their 40s. Additionally, the network announced three other new series to hit the airwaves in 2010: Boston Legal, Home Improvement and The Nanny.
Everybody Loves Raymond will be shared with cable network TBS, which airs the series in daytime and will still do so next June. Boston Legal will premiere on TV Land in the first quarter of 2010, while Home Improvement is being borrowed from sister network Nick at Nite and will be either on both networks or will move to TV Land by first quarter 2010. My guess is that it will totally move to TV Land. Home Improvement also airs in the daytime on TBS, so TV Land will only have evening rights. The Nanny will also be borrowed from sister network Nick at Nite and will be either on both networks or will move to TV Land, but this won't happen until third quarter 2010...next fall. Boston Legal is currently not on cable besides the weekend play on WGN America, though ION Television does have broadcast weekday rights.
These four series represent a continued commitment to build TV Land PRIME, the network's primetime programming destination dedicated to 40-somethings - a vibrant group with unmatched purchasing power and living in the most dynamic stage of their lives with relationships at work, with family and with friends all thriving. All of the programming in TV Land PRIME is hand-picked to appeal to the attitudes, life stage and interests of this important demo.

Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite has ordered a second season of 20 episodes of stop-motion animated series Glenn Martin, DDS, the first television series from Michael Eisner's Tornante Animation. The animated comedy series chronicles the offbeat adventures of the Martin family as they crisscross America in their tricked-out RV, encountering an array of bizarre situations and colorful locals. Ranked as the number-one program on Nick at Nite last quarter, the show features an all-star voice cast that includes Kevin Nealon as Glenn Martin, Catherine O'Hara as Jackie Martin and Judy Greer as Wendy Park.
Glenn Martin, DDS ranks as Nick at Nite's number-one program among total viewers average with 2.1 million total viewers each week, in third quarter 2009. In its first week, Glenn Martin, DDS reached a total of 11.3 million viewers and averaged 2.6 million (P2+) total viewers per telecast (Monday-Thursday, Aug. 17-20, 8 p.m.-8:30 p.m. [all times ET/PT]), according to Nielsen. The series also ranked as ad-supported cable's number-one co-viewed entertainment series in prime time for the premiere week with 40% of Adults 18-49 watching with at least one kid per household. Forty percent of Adults 18-49 watched with at least one kid 2-11 per household.
Season one has featured celebrity appearances, including Wendie Malick and Betty White, and will soon feature Bret Michaels, Chrissie Hynde, Gene Simmons, Sean Hayes, Jim Parsons, Estelle Harris and Don Johnson, among others.
Recently, Nick at Nite added hit series Everybody Hates Chris and Malcolm in the Middle, strengthening its slate of popular hit family comedies including the Emmy Award-winning series George Lopez, Home Improvement, The Nanny and Roseanne.

Don't forget ABC Comedy Wednesday starting tonight at 8/7 central! Today's blog is sponsored by Cougar Town, airing 9:30/8:30 central on ABC Comedy Wednesday. Because 40 is the new 20!

Nick at Nite Brings Back Roseanne; Centric Acquires Miami Vice, Homicide

Late last week we told you Roseanne was going to be cut by an hour on TV Land to 12-2am instead of 12-3am, and now we know why. Sister network Nick at Nite will bring back the show and also air it in late nights starting TONIGHT! Nick at Nite will air Roseanne every night from 3-6am, replacing the nightly marathons of The Nanny, Family Matters and Home Improvement. In fact, Family Matters will be gone totally now, while Home Improvement will only air weekdays at 6am. Big bummer. Of course The Nanny will continue to air in the 11pm hour every night.
So if you're keeping track, Roseanne airs on TV Land every night from 12-2am, except it is longer on Thursdays (9pm-2am) and Fridays (11pm-2am) and now every night on Nick at Nite from 3-6am. Just last week it was looking like Roseanne would finally be reduced, but now here comes Nick at Nite re-adding the series. At least the TV Land reduction brought Three's Company (my personal favorite) another half-hour on weeknights (now 3:30am-5am) and on Saturdays we now get the series from 2-6am instead of 4-6am.

Exactly a week ago today we told you that BET J (spin-off network of BET) was renaming to Centric, now today they will launch their regular schedule after having stunts last week. And they have acquired two dramas! They have acquired the rights to the '90s drama Homicide: Life on the Street and '80s action drama Miami Vice. Both will start airing TONIGHT every weeknight! Homicide will air 9pm & 12am while Miami Vice will air 11pm & 4am. Miami Vice is also slated for Saturdays from 3-6pm.
These new acquisitions join Centric's line-up of The Montel Williams Show, Judge Karen, and sitcom The Steve Harvey Show (daytime, 11am-2pm); Afternoon Movie, VH-1/MTV/BET Reality Series (late afternoons, 4pm-8pm), and original series at 8pm. Centric is also airing reruns of BET's American Gangster weeknights at 10pm and 1am, while the afternoon movie encores weeknights at 2am. Soul Train will air once a week on Fridays at 7pm and encores Saturdays at 12 noon & 6pm.
We will keep you up to date on any further developments, but adding these two dramas is a nice start, especially Miami Vice!

Nick at Nite Fall 2009 Schedule; Dancing with the Stars Season 9 Cast

We continue our look at Fall 2009 schedules today with Nick at Nite's Fall 2009 line-up. Joining the schedule will be the comedy Everybody Hates Chris. The sitcom will launch with a marathon on Labor Day evening (Monday, Sept. 7) airing from 10pm-6:30am ET/PT. The series is inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock (who is also the narrator), while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in the early-mid 1980s. The series stars Tyler James Williams as the young Chris Rock. Tequan Richmond, Terry Crews, Tichina Arnold, Imani Hakim, and Vincent Martella also star. With recurring guest appearances by Todd Bridges, Ernest Thomas, Jackee Harry, and Jason Alexander. The series is also expected to air on sister Viacom network BET this fall (more to come on that).
All 88 episodes of Everybody Hates Chris will air on Nick at Nite as the show will air every night at 10 & 10:30PM ET/PT starting the next night as well as 2 & 2:30AM ET/PT. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will be leaving the schedule, as the contract has indeed expired, as we guessed a few weeks back. The show will air on Disney-owned ABC Family and Disney XD (more on Disney XD soon) on weeknights in September, while continuing to air on TBS in the mornings. As we mentioned Chris will air in the 10pm hour, this is now shifting the second hour of George Lopez back to 1am. The Nanny's weeknight 11pm-3am block is now just the 11pm hour, as Malcolm in the Middle returns to 12 midnight. 3-6am every night will be a rotating wheel of three series: The Nanny (Mon, Thurs, Sun), Family Matters (Tues, Fri) and Home Improvement (Wed, Sat). Also, the 6am half-hour will now be a wheel of these three series as well. This means Family Matters and Home Improvement will not air before 3am, as the 8pm-3am schedule is consistent each night with a few exceptions (Glenn Martin Mondays at 8 and Malcolm in the Middle Sunday nights in the 1am hour).
Other September highlights include a week-long marathon of George Lopez prior to Everybody Hates Chris joining. George week will be Aug. 31-Sept. 6, from 9pm-6am (10pm-6am on Fri-Sat). And of course original series Glenn Martin, DDS continues Mondays at 8pm. The original stop-motion animated series follows the life of Glenn Martin (Kevin Nealon), who yearns for a change of scenery and a deeper connection with his family.
View the FULL Nick at Nite Fall 2009 schedule that begins Sept. 8. As always, especially with Viacom owned networks, this is subject to change. So stay with us for continued updates.

An all new cast of celebrities hits the dance floor on ABC's Dancing with the Stars with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere on Monday, September 21, 2009 from 8:00-10:02 p.m., ET/PT on ABC. With its biggest season yet, Dancing with the Stars Season Nine introduces us to 16 new stars, including an Osmond and an Osbourne, two Grammy Award ® winning artists, a Cowboy, a model CEO and a former House Majority Leader.
During the first week, eight teams will strut their stuff on Monday night (Sept. 21), while the other eight teams will show off their moves on Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at a special time of 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET/PT. On a special night and time, two couples will learn their fate and be sent home on Wednesday night (Sept. 23) from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT.
The series will regularly air Mondays 8-10 p.m. ET/PT and the results show on Tuesdays from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT. A 90-minute performance finale is scheduled for Monday, November 23 with the two-hour season finale on Tuesday, November 24 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT. Four new dance styles -- the Bolero, the Charleston, the Two Step and the Lambada -- are also going to be introduced. The middle stages of the competition feature the return of the "Dance Off" on Tuesday nights, where contestants will perform a dance style of their choosing to fight for their spot in the competition, and three consecutive double eliminations promise the most dramatic period of Dancing with the Stars.
And the stars are: Aaron Carter (singer/actor), Natalie Coughlin (Olympic swimmer), Mark Dacascos (chef, Food Network), Tom DeLay (politician), Macy Gray (singer), Ashley Hamilton (actor, son of George Hamilton), Melissa Joan Hart (sitcom star/actress), Kathy Ireland (model, CEO), Michael Irvin (NFL legend), Joanna Krupa (model, The Superstars), Chuck Liddell (UFC mixed martial arts), Debie Mazar (actress), Mya (singer), Kelly Osbourne (singer/actress, personality), Donny Osmond (singer/actor/host, brother of Marie Osmond), and Louie Vito (professional snowboarder).
View full details on all the cast members for Season Nine and more!

TBS Fall 2009 Schedule; Gospel Music Channel Acquires Sister Sister; Summer TCA Tour: Cable Days 1 and 2

Our fall schedule blog posts barrage continues today with another fall schedule! Today we take a look at TBS Fall 2009, as they will add four new sitcoms to its weekday line-up. Three of them have been airing once a week, so there is only one new sitcom really. The Office, My Name is Earl and House of Payne are now also going to air in the regular weekday line-up, while According to Jim joins the TBS schedule for the first time.
TBS will make its first batch of changes starting the week of Sept. 21. For this week only, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will slide to the 8am hour replacing the second hour of Saved by the Bell. In the 9am hour now for this week it will be an episode each of Just Shoot Me and Home Improvement. The TBS Movie continues to air at 10am, but this week will be its last week! Yes, Dear moves to 12pm, sharing the hour with Everybody Loves Raymond. Home Improvement still airs in the 1pm hour for now, more on that in a bit. Then we get more Everybody Loves Raymond in the 2pm hour, so this show goes from 5pm-6:30pm to 12:30pm & 2-3pm now. Then House of Payne will join the line-up airing in the 3pm hour replacing Yes, Dear. The King of Queens remains at 4pm for now, more on that in a bit as well. Friends now gets a full hour and moves to 5-6pm. Seinfeld is now only a half-hour and at 6pm, leading into The Office at 6:30pm. My Name is Earl will air back-to-back in the 7pm hour. Primetime has blocks of Family Guy on Mondays, The Office on Tuesdays, House of Payne/Meet the Browns on Wednesdays, with movies on Thursdays and Fridays. The late night line-up will have Seinfeld in the 11pm hour on most days, with My Name is Earl on Tuesdays. Sex and the City remains at midnight with a movie following until blocks of Steve Harvey Show and Married...with Children airing after that until dawn. Lots of sitcoms, less movies, good!
Then starting the following week on Monday, Sept. 28, we get some more changes. Fresh Prince is back in the 9am hour, with Saved by the Bell getting its second hour back at 8am. The TBS 10am movie is now gone and we get all sitcoms now in the daytime, as Just Shoot Me and Home Improvement slide up to the 10am hour now and we get an extra sitcom hour as Home Improvement and Yes, Dear air in the 11am hour. Everything else is the same as the week of Sept. 21. But a few days later on Thursday, October 1, According to Jim joins the TBS sitcom line-up! According to Jim will air in the 4pm hour replacing King of Queens. That show will slide to 1-2pm, replacing two episodes of Home Improvement. Home Improvement will still air at 10:30am & 11am, so not to worry. Nothing is being replaced at all (well...except the movie) despite four new series coming to the regular schedule!
View the full TBS Fall 2009 schedule. Now it is still early, so we might have some changes, as always. I'm still not 100% sure what will happen on weekends after According to Jim comes, but it'll likely be the same as it was prior to it coming. As always, stay with us for more!

Gospel Music Channel will be adding even more shows now to their schedule! First they added Christy, Doc, and Dr. Quinn to weekdays, then they went with some comedies in Amen and Good News on Mondays in primetime, now we get another comedy and another drama! Gospel Music Channel has acquired '90s sitcom Sister, Sister and '90s drama Promised Land. Yes, this means Sister, Sister will be on THREE cable networks in BET, ABC Family and now Gospel Music Channel. WGN America also recently aired the Tia and Tamera Mowry comedy. The series premieres on Gospel Music Channel next Monday (Aug. 3) and will join the Monday comedy block with Amen and Good News. Sister, Sister will air back-to-back in the 8pm hour (encores at 12am), replacing two Amen episodes. Good News will remain at 9pm (encore at 1am) and Amen is cut to just 9:30pm (encore at 1:30am).
Sister, Sister will also air Saturdays in the 6pm hour as well starting Aug. 8! Amen has gained some more slots airing Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays back-to-back in the 7pm hour. So losing some slots on Mondays wasn't a bad thing! Good News will also air Saturdays at 7pm leading into Amen.
Gospel Music Channel has also acquired the drama Promised Land. It lasted three seasons on CBS from 1996-1999 and was a spin-off of Touched by an Angel. They will air the series Wednesdays at 8pm with an encore at 11pm starting Aug. 5.
I like how they are adding actual series now. We will as always keep an eye on then and if we have any more news, we will certainly let you know!

The Summer 2009 TCA Tour started yesterday and will through August 8. First up from July 28 to July 31 is the cable portion. Day one was pretty slow with TBS and TNT the main players on that day. Networks that went yesterday were Travel Channel Fox Reality Channel, Turner Networks (TBS, TNT, HLN, CNN) and AMC closed the night off with cocktails. We'll give you the rundown of the notables. Househusbands of Hollywood will premiere Aug. 15 on Fox Reality Channel. Househusbands of Hollywood follows the lives of five men and their high-powered, successful wives. The couples include Darryl Bell and Tempestt Bledsoe and Grant and Jillian Reynolds. And TBS gave details on their original new talk show Lopez Tonight, that will premiere in November. Comedian and actor George Lopez headlines a new talk show with an outdoor street-party atmosphere and a high-energy crowd. The show will feature celebrity guests, live music and comedy acts, and Lopez flair and personality.
Up today were MTV Networks (MTV, TV Land, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central), History, NatGeo, ESPN, Starz, and BBC America. TV Land promoted their new originals that premiere next Wednesday: Make My Day and How'd You Get Rich, which we have mentioned so many times already. Nick at Nite was promoting their new original animated comedy Glen Martin, DDS which will launch Aug. 17 at 8pm. We will have more on that very soon.

Nick at Nite Changes Schedule Starting Tonight; WGN America Acquires Cheers

Nick at Nite has made a last minute schedule change that will be in effect for weekdays starting TONIGHT (Monday, July 20, 2009). George Lopez will now air 2-hours in primetime from 9-11pm now Sun-Thurs, as Family Matters gets replaced in the 10pm hour. George Lopez won't encore now at weeknights at 1-2am as a result of the change (except on Fridays), because the 10-11pm episodes repeat the next night at 9-10pm. Nick at Nite is not yet allowed to air the series for more than 2 episodes in 24-hours on a regular basis, since the series is still only in its second year in syndication. It enters its third season in syndication this fall. Maybe by then they can air more than 2 episodes a night? We'll see.
Family Matters will move to 1-2am Mon-Thurs and weekend late night blocks of Fridays 3-5am, and Sat-Sun 1-3am, while The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air takes over the overnight on Mon-Thurs nights airing 3-6am. The Nanny will air 3-6am now on Sat-Sun nights. So, this means Home Improvement is off the weeknight line-up, as it was airing in the 5am hour. Not to worry, Home Improvement is still on Friday nights in the 5am hour.
View the updated Nick at Nite schedule, and stay tuned soon for the August 2009 highlights!

WGN America has acquired another sitcom for its Outta Sight Retro Night on Sunday nights. Yesterday Barney Miller launched on the network, as we announced, airing Sundays at 9pm ET/6pm PT. Now they have acquired the '80s hit Cheers to air Sunday nights in the 11pm ET/8pm PT hour starting Sunday, August 2, 2009. Cheers will shift Bewitched to 12am ET/9pm PT and I Dream of Jeannie to 1am ET/10pm PT on Sunday nights, so this means The Honeymooners are off the line-up for now.
Yes, Cheers will still remain on The Hallmark Channel as well. Hallmark airs it late nights on weeknights, while WGN America is airing it regularly on Sunday nights. This means the Outta Sight Retro Night looks like this starting at 5pm ET/2pm PT: The Cosby Show, ALF, WKRP, Newhart and Barney Miller. Then a one-hour break for the news and Cheers, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie close the night off, as mentioned above. At times Coach airs in the 4pm hour if there is no baseball game. Coach regularly airs Wednesdays at 8pm ET, and it does well for them.
Stay with us in the coming weeks as we announce the WGN America fall schedule and see what more classics are in store! Stay with us!

Nick at Nite July 2009 with Malcolm in the Middle; Spike has No Scrubs

We finally can release the Nick at Nite July 2009 schedule! Malcolm in the Middle joins the Nick at Nite line-up with an all-night marathon on Sunday, July 5 from 8pm-1am and an encore from 1am-6am! Then the series will join the Nick at Nite line-up the next night airing Sun-Thurs in the 8pm hour and 12am hour (all times ET/PT). On Fridays it will also air in the 4am hour, in addition to 12am. Saturdays and Sundays it will air in the 2am hour as well. Yes, that means on Sundays it is on for three hours (8pm, 12am, 2am) So what does this mean for the rest of the schedule?
George Lopez will still anchor primetime, but now since Nick at Nite starts at 8pm with Malcolm, the anchor will move to the 9pm hour on Sun-Thurs since primetime is now 8pm-11pm instead of 9-11pm! George Lopez will still lead-off Nick at Nite on Fridays & Saturdays in the 10pm hour, as Nick at Nite starts still at 10pm on those two nights. The 1am encore will remain Mon-Fri.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is back in primetime, Mon-Thurs in the 10pm hour and on Fridays in the 11pm hour. It will also air late nights Mon-Thurs in the 4am hour. Who knew this show would come back big? My guess is it is holding the hour for Everybody Hates Chris for the fall.
The Nanny will remain in the 11pm hour every night but Friday (Fresh Prince). The late night hour moves to the 2am hour from Mon-Fri. And on Sat-Sun nights the late night airings are 3-5am.
Family Matters moves to only the 3am hour now on Mon-Fri, with the Mon-Fri at 6am half-hour airings remaining. On Saturdays it is just in the 1am hour and on Sunday nights it will also air in the 1am hour but it will be in primetime as well in the 10pm hour.
Home Improvement is now just every morning in the 5am hour, as it loses all of its slots, including primetime at 9pm.
Anyway, on to the rest of the highlights. We have more than just the Malcolm in the Middle launch marathon. Sister network The N's new series The Assistants (launches Friday, July 10 at 8:30pm on The N) will have a special one-time encore on Nick at Nite on Friday, July 12 at 9pm, sandwiched in between Malcolm in the Middle and George Lopez. Nickelodeon will celebrate the 10th birthday of their megahit SpongeBob SquarePants with "The Ultimate SpongeBob Sponge Bash" from Friday, July 17 starting at 8PM through Sunday, July 19 at 9:30pm ET/PT. That's nearly 50 hours of non-stop SpongeBob! Finally, there will be a George Lopez marathon on Sunday, July 26 from 9pm-4am ET/PT, but we don't have details yet. Stay tuned. Once Nick at Nite officially announces these stunts and what is airing Sunday nights 1am-3am, we will let you know.
For now view our Nick at Nite July 2009 thread and discuss the schedule with others.

We mentioned before that Scrubs was joining the regular schedule for Spike TV starting July 6, weekdays in the 11am hour, now that is not happening. The series had been airing on Thursday nights this month in the 1am hour and was set to join the regular schedule in July, but now instead Spike TV will air Spike's Most Amazing Videos in the 11am hour starting July 6. The other changes we mentioned starting July 6 will remain, including the return of Married...with Children from 9-11am on weekdays. At least Scrubs got to air Thursdays 1-2am on June 18 and will again this Thursday (June 25). It will also air Sunday morning this week.
Scrubs will still be on sister network Comedy Central and also not to mention on WGN America and local broadcast syndication. Starting next week, Scrubs will only be 7-8pm on weekdays on Comedy Central as its 2:30-3:30pm slot will be taken over by MADtv, as Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist returns weekdays in the 8am hour. Just Shoot Me! will remain 3:30-4:30pm. Scrubs will still air in mini-blocks on weekend midday/early afternoons.

Nick at Nite June 2009; CBS Summer 2009 Slate; MyNetwork TV Fall 2009

The Nick at Nite June schedule will begin this weekend with some changes to the weekend line-up. The changes begin this Friday (May 29), with now Friday looking exactly like Mon-Thurs, which will remain unchanged. That means, the 2am hour on Friday nights will be Fresh Prince replacing an hour of Family Matters, the 3am hour is now Home Improvement instead of Fresh Prince, 4am hour is The Nanny instead of Home Improvement, and the 5am hour is now Family Matters instead of The Nanny. So, now the schedule is the same 10pm-6:30am on Mon-Fri. Home Improvement remains 9-10pm from Mon-Thurs.
And they have also matched-up Saturdays and Sundays to look the same. On both nights now 1am Family Matters is added instead of Home Improvement. So Urkel and the gang are 12-2am now on weekends. The Nanny also gets a two-hour block from 2-4am, with the 2am hour on Saturdays replacing Home Improvement. Home Improvement is now 4am on both nights replacing The Nanny on Saturdays and Family Matters on Sundays. And once again the only difference between the two nights is that Home Improvement airs on Sundays in the 9pm hour, as that airs Sun-Thurs at 9.
George Lopez continues to dominate for the network every night at 10-11pm and weeknights at 1-2am. I know you want to see the full schedule, so view the full Nick at Nite June 2009 schedule. As of now, there are no special stunts, but that could change. The only thing to report is the new movie Mr. Troop Mom starring George Lopez is airing Friday, June 19 and Sunday, June 21 from 8-10pm for Father's Day. Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite partners with Warner Premiere and George Lopez Presents on Mr. Troop Mom, a film about single dad Eddie Serrano (Lopez), a workaholic lawyer/widower, who must climb mountains, ford streams and more as "Team Mom" in order to bond with his tween daughter in this camp-set comic adventure. The film also stars Jane Lynch (Another Cinderella Story, Role Models) as camp director Ms. Hulka, Daniela Bobadilla as Eddie's daughter Naomi and a special appearance by Nat and Alex Wolff of The Naked Brothers Band.
Looking in the future: Nick at Nite will launch original animated series Glenn Martin, DDS on Monday, August 17 with a week-long premiere at 8pm for a half-hour each night from Aug. 17-20, before settling into its Tuesdays at 9pm half-hour. The series has a 20 episode order. More info soon!

CBS has finally announced their summer 2009 plans. All we knew so far was burn-offs and repeats of Million Dollar Password on Sundays at 8pm, which started May 24. First, Tuesdays at 10pm starting June 2 will now be 48 Hours Mystery replacing the canceled Without a Trace. Trace will get two Sunday repeat airings at 10pm on June 14 and June 21, its last airings likely. The Mentalist will get a feel of its upcoming Thursdays at 10pm slot when it airs repeats following CSI starting June 4. The Mentalist will continue to also air Tuesdays at 9pm through and including July 7, when Big Brother comes, but more on that in a bit. The Big Bang Theory will also move to its upcoming slot of Mondays at 9:30pm for repeat play starting June 8. It will remain in its current 8pm slot as well until June 22, when How I Met Your Mother repeats moves to its new 8pm slot. Airing at 8:30pm on Mondays starting June 22 will be repeats of Rules of Engagement, which will return with new episodes in early 2010. Finally, CBS's only summer original returns on Thursday, July 9...that's reality staple Big Brother. The series will air Thursdays at 8pm starting July 9, Sundays at 8pm starting July 12 and Tuesdays at 9pm starting July 14. On Thursdays it will replace comedy/crime repeats, on Sundays it will replace Million Dollar Password, and on Tuesdays it will replace The Mentalist repeats. So that's basically CBS summer...repeats, 48 Hours Mystery and Big Brother.

Finally, we end with the fall line-up for MyNetwork TV. They will rely a lot on off-network programming more than ever. They will start their fall line-up on Monday, Sept. 28. Airing on Mondays will be off-network reruns of Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 8 and 9pm. On Tuesdays, they will air episodes of first-run syndicated series Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? at 8 & 8:30pm and the syndicated version of Deal or No Deal at 9 & 9:30pm. The syndicated version of 5th Grader will launch this fall on local stations and also on Tuesdays on MyNetwork TV. On Wednesdays we have two back-to-back episodes of The Unit, which makes its off-network syndication launch this fall on both local stations and MyNetwork TV. CBS has canceled the series, so this will be your only way to watch the series in primetime, but they are just reruns. Thursdays and Fridays remain unchanged with Movie Night on Thursday and WWE Smackdown! on Fridays. As mentioned before, MyNetwork TV has handed Saturdays back to local affiliates to program, so both The CW and MyNetwork TV will now only focus on Mon-Fri.
View and discuss the full Fall 2009 MyNetwork TV schedule.

Nick at Nite Adds More Nanny; Cosby Show Celebrates 25th Anniversary; More RTN Stations

Nick at Nite, which introduced The Nanny to its line-up on Mother's Day, is going to add more slots for the show. Last weekend, they expanded on the late night airings on weekends for The Nanny, expanding the one-hour slots to two-hours (Saturdays 3-5am and Sundays 2-4am). Now Nick at Nite is doing more. First, they will have an all-night marathon this Sunday (May 24) from 10am-2am (encores 2am-6am) ET/PT. Then The Nanny moves from midnight to 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays starting tonight (May 22), bumping Home Improvement. Family Matters takes over the 12 midnight slot on both nights. 1am-3am on Saturday nights will now be two-hours of Home Improvement. This may sound confusing, but the schedule is actually easier to follow a bit now with these changes, as now The Nanny airs every night in the 11pm hour and Family Matters in the 12am hour. View the full updated schedule for Nick at Nite. I don't have anything official yet, but it seems The Nanny is a surprise hit for the network.

The Cosby Show premiered on NBC on Sept. 20, 1984, nearly 25 years ago. This week some of the cast reunited on NBC's Today show. Bill Cosby (Cliff Huxtable), Phylicia Rashad (Clair Huxtable), Earle Hyman (Cliff's dad), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo Huxtable), Geoffrey Owens (Elvin Tibideaux), Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy Huxtable), and Raven Symoné (Olivia Kendall) were together again. On Tuesday, they were heavily featured on the Today show. They spoke to both Matt Lauer and Al Roker. Roker was even in a Cosby sweater! If you missed it, not to worry, we have all the clips for you:
It's the Huxtables!
Behind the Scenes
25 Years Later
Cast Answering Viewer Questions

RTN is coming to more Ohio stations! WAX Channel 35 in Cleveland and WAOH Channel 29in Akron, starting Monday, June 1 will carry RTN. Old favorites such as Magnum P.I., Kojak, Night Gallery and The Incredible Hulk will air between 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. seven days a week.
Speaking of RTN, it seems like they are changing their name to RTV, according to their website.

So we finished upfront this week, stay tuned tomorrow as we give a full preview to all the new sitcoms on the broadcast networks from Modern Family to The Middle to Accidentally on Purpose. We have about 10 new sitcoms coming in 09-10!

Rodney Episodes on CMT; 2009 TV Land Awards Show Details; ABC Note

This coming weekend on CMT (Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26) is Rodney Carrington Weekend on CMT. Included in that weekend will be episodes of his sitcom Rodney, which aired on ABC for two seasons from 2004-2006 and lasted 44 episodes. There were six unaired episodes though, but unfortunately we still do not get to see any of them here. Instead, CMT will air six season one episodes. The episodes will premiere on CMT on Friday from 9pm-12am. Various encores of these episodes will air on Saturday from 5:30-7:30pm and Sunday from 8pm-11pm. The episodes airing are: "Teacher" with guest star Christine Lakin (Step by Step), "Halloween," "Dream Lover" with guest star Sofia Vergara, "It's Up It's Good," "Charity Ball," and "Rodney's Affair."
To kick off the weekend, Rodney Carrington will also host the CMT Top 20 Countdown on Friday, April 24 at 11:00am ET/PT. CMT will also air Rodney's one hour Comedy Central special Rodney Carrington Live at the Majestic at 12 midnight (ET/PT). On Sunday April 26, CMT will air the feature film Beer for My Horses starring both Rodney and Toby Keith at 6:00pm and 11:00lm (ET/PT).
Also, a DVD package consisting of all 22 episodes from the first season of Rodney, will be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart as of May 19. Hopefully that package will soon also be available as a regular DVD!

It was an unforgettable and star-studded evening as celebrities from television, film and music came out tonight for the taping of the 2009 TV Land Awards which will premiere on Sunday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME. Appearances included Will Ferrell (presenter for Pop Culture Award), Matthew McConaughey (presenter for Hero Award), Martin Sheen (presenter for Impact Award), Teri Hatcher (presenter for Future Classic Award), Amy Poehler (presenter for Legacy of Laughter Award), Jimmy Kimmel (presenter for Legend Award), Cyndi Lauper, Angela Bassett (presenter for Entertainer Award), Reba McEntire (presenter for Anniversary Award), Jamie Lee Curtis (presenter for Fan Favorite Award), Dr. Phil McGraw (presenter for Innovator Award) and more. This year's honorees included Don Rickles (Legend Award), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Lucille Ball Legacy of Laughter Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Married With Children (Innovator Award), ER, (Icon Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Sid and Marty Krofft (Pop Culture Award), Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award), and Earth, Wind & Fire (Entertainer Award).
An entertaining videotaped parody/show open by host Neil Patrick Harris which took him through his own version of The Twilight Zone, traveling through TV hits spanning from The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Love Boat, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Happy Days - featuring an appearance by Marion Ross, Baywatch and finally Survivor where he comes face to the show's host Jeff Probst.
There was also a heartwarming taped tribute to Don Rickles by close friend and fellow icon Bob Newhart. Neil Patrick Harris performed the song "I'll Take TV," written by acclaimed Academy Award-nominated composer Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Sleepless In Seattle).
Read more about the 2009 TV Land Awards, and tune in on Sunday (April 26) at 8PM!

As we mentioned on Friday on our message board and yesterday here on our ratings report, ABC will air two all-new episodes of the comedic cop show The Unusuals this week. ABC will air The Unusuals on a special night of Tuesday (April 21) at 10pm following Dancing with the Stars: The Results. That means new romantic comedy-drama Cupid will be preempted this week, but is slated to return the following Tuesday (April 28). The Unusuals will also air on its regular night of Wednesday this week at 10pm, following a Lost Special. The show has a 10 episode order, and thus far has aired two episodes--so after this week four will air in all. So it is slated to air through June 17, unless ABC decides to double up each week, if it does much better than Cupid. But for now, tune in this week! It is a well done show!

TV Land Makes Early Evening Changes; TV Land Announces Presenters and More for TV Land Awards

TV Land has announced some last minute schedule changes. The first one begins tonight, with Thursdays 10pm-12am now M*A*S*H instead of The Jeffersons. Now next week that won't happen since the already scheduled Married...with Children stunt is airing, but M*A*S*H will air tonight and April 30. The rest of the changes are to the weekday late afternoon/early evening line-up starting Tuesday, April 21, 2009. At 4pm ET/PT we get a second episode of Bonanza replacing two episodes of Green Acres. Bonanza will remain at 3pm as well. Then from 5-8pm we had three episodes each of Beverly Hillbillies and Hogan's Heroes, but now we have will some changes. In the 5pm hour we get two episodes of Hogan's Heroes replacing back-to-back Beverly Hillbillies. In the 6pm hour we now get Green Acres replacing one Hillbillies and one Hogan's Heroes. Then finally in the 7pm hour we get two episodes of Beverly Hillbillies replacing back-to-back Hogan's Heroes.
So nothing is replaced in the weekday schedule, but some time shifting, while Bonanza gets an extra episode and Hogan's and Hillbillies get an episode reduced.
See our TV Land April 2009 schedule and highlights, if you haven't seen it.

Sticking with TV Land, they announced that legendary producers Sid and Marty Krofft will receive the Pop Culture Award at the 2009 TV Land Awards, and Will Ferrell, star of the upcoming film Land of the Lost, Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives), Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation), comedian and talk show host Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live!), Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) and TV talk show host and psychologist Dr. Phil will be among the presenters at the evening's celebration.
Additionally, music stars Cyndi Lauper and David Cassidy will perform in the tribute to Sid and Marty Krofft. The two-hour show, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will tape this Sunday (April 19) at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City and will air on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26th at 8PM ET/PT.
Medical drama ER has been added as an honoree at the 2009 TV Land Awards. ER, one of television's longest running dramas, will be presented with the Icon Award for the way that it changed television with its fast-paced steadi-cam shots as well as for its amazing and gritty storylines. The Icon Award is presented to a television program with immeasurable fame and longevity. The show transcends generations and is recognized by peers and fans around the world. Cast members Alex Kingston, Anthony Edwards, Linda Cardellini, Ellen Crawford, Laura Innes, Kellie Martin, Mekhi Phifer, Parminder Nagra, Shane West and Yvette Freeman will all be in attendance to accept the award.

Other stars scheduled to appear so far: Don Rickles, Julia Louis-Dreyfus; cast of Home Improvement Tim Allen, Zachary Ty Bryan, Debbe Dunning, Richard Karn, Patricia Richardson, Taran Noah Smith; cast of Knots Landing Lisa Hartman Black, Kevin Dobson, William DeVane, Constance McCashin, David Jacobs, Michele Lee, Don Murray, Donna Mills, Michelle Phillips, Ted Shackleford, Joan Van Ark; cast of Magnum P.I. Larry Manetti, Roger E. Mosley, Tom Selleck; cast of Married with Children Christina Applegate, David Faustino, Ted McGinley, Ed O'Neill, Katey Sagal; cast & crew of M*A*S*H Alan Alda, Allan Arbus, William Christopher, Larry Gelbart, Mike Farrell, Jeff Maxwell, Burt Metcalfe, Gene Reynolds, David Ogden Stiers, Loretta Swit, Kellye Nakahara Wallet; and cast & crew of Two and a Half Men Mark Burg, Jon Cryer, Conchata Ferrell, Angus T Jones, Chuck Lorre, Charlie Sheen, Holland Taylor.
TV Land previously announced additional honorees for this year's show including Don Rickles (Legend Award), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Legacy of Laughter Award), Married With Children (Innovator Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award) and Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award).

The Nanny Joins Nick at Nite in May 2009; TBS Orders Original Animated Comedy

We have mentioned many times that The Nanny is coming to Nick at Nite in spring 2009. Yesterday we gave you an actual date. That was for the all-night marathon launch on Sunday, May 10 from 9pm-6am ET/PT...now we have the regular airing schedule, along with the rest of Nick at Nite May 2009! Effective Monday, May 11, 2009 The Nanny will join the Nick at Nite line-up airing Sun-Thurs at 11:00pm & 11:30pm ET/PT. That will force Nick at Nite to move Family Matters, which is one of their big guns, to 12:00am & 12:30am ET/PT on Sun-Thurs nights. You might say why are they doing this? Now Nick at Nite will sandwich The Nanny in between big time ratings hits George Lopez (10-11pm) and Family Matters (12-1am). Now if The Nanny does falter, they can always switch it to midnight and move Urkel and company back to 11pm. Family Matters is replacing Home Improvement at 12 midnight. That hour of Home Improvement will move to Mon-Thurs 3-4am ET/PT, replacing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Fresh Prince will now only air Mon-Thurs from 2-3am, instead of the 2-5am block. The Nanny will also air 4-5am on Mon-Thurs nights, followed by Family Matters from 5-6am on Mon-Thurs nights, replacing Roseanne. Family Matters will also remain at 6am as well on weekdays. Now if you noticed the late night airings are Mon-Thurs (1am-6am) rather than Sun-Thurs like primetime (9pm-1am). On Sunday nights at 1am, we get back-to-back Home Improvement episodes replacing The Cosby Show, which is now gone from Nick at Nite. The Nanny airs 2-3am and Family Matters from 3-4am on Sunday nights, with Roseanne closing it out with a two-hour block from 4-6am.
So now that Sun-Thurs is all done, we have Friday & Saturday left. Again it is broken up into two different pieces (10pm-1am and 1am-6am). On both nights we get a change at 12 midnight with The Nanny airing back-to-back episodes, replacing Family Matters. Family Matters moves to 2-3am on Friday nights and 1-2am on Saturday nights, both replacing Home Improvement. Home Improvement moves to 4-5am on Friday nights replacing Roseanne and 2-3am on Saturday nights replacing Family Matters. The Nanny airs 3-4am on Saturday nights replacing Family Matters. Family Matters late night airing on Saturday nights are now 4-5am, replacing an hour of Roseanne, which will only be 5-6am on Saturday nights now. 5-6am on Friday nights will be The Nanny, replacing Family Matters encore.
In other May news, we get a George Lopez marathon on Tuesday, May 5 from 9pm-3am ET/PT called "Cinco de Lopez II." Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Lopez style!
This is the first major schedule change in a while. It is hard to follow, but here is a recap: The Nanny joins, Cosby Show is gone, Fresh Prince & Roseanne are heavily reduced, and Family Matters and Home Improvement get some time shifting, while George Lopez's slots remain unchanged.
Still confused? Don't worry, view the full Nick at Nite May 2009 schedule.

Adding a devilish touch to its line-up, TBS has greenlit the half-hour animated series Neighbors from Hell, which comes to the network from Fox TV Animation (same people who do Family Guy), DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and Jeffrey Katzenberg (Shrek). Pam Brady (South Park), who wrote the pilot episode, and Mireille Soria (Madagascar) will serve as executive producers. TBS has ordered 10 episodes of the series, marking the network's first foray into original primetime animation. The series should work well with reruns of Family Guy on TBS.
Neighbors from Hell centers on the Hellmans, a typical, all-American suburban family, with Balthazor; his wife, Tina; their two children, Mandy and Josh; and their dog, Pazuzu. The only thing that distinguishes them from the rest of the folks in the neighborhood is that the Hellmans happen to be from Hell. They have been sent to Earth to pose as normal suburbanites with a mission to keep humans from finding their way to Hell. Their task is made all the more complicated by Balthazor's growing affection for humans and their odd but endearing qualities.
TBS has not given a set launch period for this show as of yet.

TV Land May 2009 Highlights, TV Land Awards Honorees; George Lopez Talk Show Coming to TBS in November

For May 2009 on TV Land we really don't get any schedule changes, but the schedule seems more consistent, especially from 10pm-6am now. Airing from 10pm-12am will be The Andy Griffith Show (Mon); The Cosby Show (Tues); The Cougar (Wed); The Jeffersons (Thurs) and TV Land PRIME Movie (Fri). Usually from 12-6am we will get back-to-back episodes of sitcoms 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Cosby Show, Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and M*A*S*H. Nothing else really is different.
As for stunts, viewers get to spend some time with Mom and "The Cos" just in time for Mother's Day when TV Land PRIME gives moms everywhere the nite off on Thursday, May 7 from 9pm-1am! PRIME presents a special Cosby Show marathon salute to Mom with episodes that feature Cliff struggling to entertain the kids and keep the household in order as he indulges his wife Clair with some well deserved time away from Huxtable family mayhem.
The eight-episode original series The Cougar starring Stacey Anderson, a stunning 40-year-old successful realtor from Scottsdale, Arizona, continues Wednesdays at 10pm on TV Land PRIME.
On Memorial Day (Monday, May 25), it's been six weeks since single sophisticated cougar Stacey embarked on her prowl to find her perfect cub. Prior to the season finale and Stacey's final pick on Wednesday, June 3, come relive all of the romance, laughs, tears and heartbreaks with a marathon of the first six episodes of The Cougar. Tune in to see additional footage and dramatic deleted scenes as well as get an inside scoop on what everyone from Stacey to Vivica to the guys were really thinking.
TV Land PRIME movies for the month are Witches of Eastwick, Patriot Games, The Fugitive, and The Twilight Zone. Risky Business gets some weekend place and on Memorial Day.
View the full TV Land May 2009 schedule (with a generic schedule and also adjustments).
As for the honorees for this year's TV Land Awards, TV Land announced today that it will pay tribute to M*A*S*H, Married with Children, Home Improvement, Magnum P.I., Knots Landing and Two and a Half Men at the 7th Annual TV Land Awards. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the two-hour show will tape on Sunday, April 19, at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City and will air on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26th at 8PM ET/PT.
All of this year's honorees are cultural icons representing a cross-section of classic and modern television that viewers love. The Legacy of Laughter Award will be presented to television actress and Seinfeld alum Julia Louis-Dreyfus. M*A*S*H will be honored with the Impact Award. The Innovator Award will be given to the unconventional Fox sitcom Married with Children, as we mentioned yesterday TV Land will showcase six classic episodes in honor of this on Thursday, April 23 from 9pm-12am. The classic CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and will be recognized for its place in television history. The Fan Favorite Award will be presented to Home Improvement, and the action drama Magnum P.I., which launched the career of Tom Selleck as a leading actor, will be bestowed with the Hero Award. Finally, the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men will be awarded the Future Classic Award.
View more details on this year's honorees!

The late-night landscape is about to shift when comedian and actor George Lopez headlines a new talk show for TBS. The program, from 2.2 Productions, paraMedia Inc. and Telepictures Productions, in association with Warner Horizon Television, will bring the excitement back to late night with an outdoor street-party atmosphere and a high-energy crowd. The fun will include visits from celebrity guests, live music and comedy acts and the benefit of George's own flair and personality. Lopez and Jim Paratore (Warner's The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Bonnie Hunt Show) serve as the executive producers for the not-yet-titled series, which will air on TBS Mondays-Thursdays at 11 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning in November 2009.
While high-energy, Lopez's new series will feature a casual environment that invites guests to engage fully with the crowd, giving audience members the chance to interact with the guests, ask questions and walk away feeling as though they've experienced something new. The new talk show represents Lopez's return to series television after co-creating, writing, producing and starring in Warner Bros. Television's groundbreaking hit sitcom George Lopez, which ran for six seasons on ABC. George Lopez remains a hit with viewers in syndication on both broadcast stations and cable's Nick at Nite, ranking as one of the top-rated shows on the network and among the top five comedies and top 20 weekly programs in syndication. George Lopez is one of only four off-net comedies to post weekly ratings gains among households from the 2007–08 to 2008–09 season.
Lopez continues to work steadily and his most recent film credits include the box-office hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Swing Vote, Henry Poole Is Here and Balls of Fury. He will next be seen starring opposite Jackie Chan in The Spy Next Door and Mr. Troop Mom, with Jane Lynch. In August, Lopez will film his second HBO Comedy Special, Tall, Dark and Chicano.

ION Television April 2009; Nick at Nite Changes Mind; SOAPnet Gets Gilmore Girls

This April on ION will see a schedule change! The 6pm hour on weekdays is changing starting Monday, March 30. The Steve Harvey Show and Family Feud is being cut from the line-up and being replaced by M*A*S*H, which returns to weekdays after only airing weekends the last few months. M*A*S*H will also air sometimes in the 7pm hour on Thursdays, if the Thursday movie doesn't start earlier than 8pm. As for movies, ION is really showing us more big screen movies and seems to be preempting the RHI movies more in April. The big screen premieres for April are Jurassic Park III, Malice, Keeping the Faith, Deep Blue Sea, The American President, You've Got Mail, and The Negotiator. And the premieres of most of these are on Thursday, but there are a few that will be on a special Wednesday or Sunday airing as well. Some of these movies will run until 10:30pm only, so a filler episode of M*A*S*H will air...and in one case the movie ends at 10pm, so there is a 48 Hours Mystery sighting (April 23)!
RHI movies include movies from the Jane Doe, Mystery Woman, and McBride movie franchises, and movies such as Shapeshifter, In the Beginning and Bloodknot.
View the full ION Television April 2009 highlights with everything you need to know!

Nick at Nite has changed their mind! And it hasn't been even a week yet! The new schedule that was originally was supposed to be for a week (week of Feb. 23), was extended to March 2 and beyond...but now after just two weeks, the schedule prior to the Feb. 23 change returns! So, Home Improvement is back at 9pm and George Lopez's second airing is back at 10:30pm. This schedule returned last night and we only knew about it hours in advance, so we couldn't post it on the blog yesterday. So no more George Lopez at 9pm and a third Family Matters at 10:30pm. George is back to two episodes in the same hour, 10-11pm and Family Mattters is back to two episodes only from 11pm-12am, while Home Improvement gets it second airing back as it was only airing at 9:30pm, now it is 9-10pm again.

SOAPnet has also acquired all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. This acquisition is shared with sister network ABC Family, which has been airing the show for a few years now. Gilmore Girls will begin airing on Saturday, April 4, at 9PM and 10PM. The series will also air on Sundays from 6-8PM. Gilmore Girls revolves around single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, and best friend in the world, "Rory" (Alexis Bledel). Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated with an eclectic mix of everyday folks and lovable lunatics, Gilmore Girls is a humorous multigenerational series about friendship, family and the ties that bind. The series was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. There will be some changes to weekends as a result, The O.C. moves to 8am (Sat & Sun). One Tree Hill moves to 9 & 10am (Sat). Beverly Hills, 90210 moves to 11am-3pm (Sat) and 9am-1pm (Sun). And the General Hospital Marathon moves to 1-6pm (Sun). There will be no changes to weekdays.
Meanwhile, SOAPnet has also acquired more movies and is producing original series. The theatrical titles the network has acquired from Twentieth Television are How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Brokedown Palace, Object of My Affection and The Fabulous Baker Boys. The titles from Disney ABC Domestic Television include While You Were Sleeping, Tuck Everlasting, Bounce, Three Men and a Baby, Three Men and a Little Lady, Miami Rhapsody and Adventures in Babysitting. The movies will begin airing in March.
As for originals, Holidate is a reality special that takes two women who are looking for love but having no luck with the suitors in their individual cities and transports them into each other’s lives. The women will temporarily trade homes, spend time in each other's cities and date the men in each other's lives. They'll be able to communicate with each other throughout the journey. Holidate begins production in March and will premiere this Fall. In addition to Holidate, the other reality series in development from ABC Media Productions is Mother/Daughter Project (working title). In the series, celebrity mother-daughter pairs with huge relationship issues are brought together to work out their problems under the guidance of a renowned therapist. The format is from Outline Television and will be produced in association with ABC Media Productions.
The scripted series in development are Julia's Tango and Santa Monica. Julia's Tango is a one hour scripted series set in Buenos Aires. Despite her great job and devoted boyfriend, Julia feels stifled by a life of endless routine. On an impromptu trip to her hometown of Buenos Aires, she abandons it all to turn her family home into a bed & breakfast. With the help of her girlfriends, Julia embarks on an unpredictable detour she didn't know she needed. The format of the series is from Endemol. SOAPnet will produce the series in conjunction with Endemol. Santa Monica is a one-hour dramedy about four twenty-something best friends living together and embarking on adulthood. The series follows their journeys as they cope with obstacles in love lives, family lives and careers. Whether they're dealing with a broken heart or a career setback, they take comfort in the fact that they always have each other.

Nick at Nite March 2009: Lopezadrine; BET Changes Its Mind, 'Fresh', 'Matters' Marathons Are Back

From the network that brought you "Luck 'o the Lopez" last St. Patrick's Day, brings you "Lopezadrine." It is an all-night marathon of George Lopez on Nick at Nite, clinically proven to reduce the risk of boredom by 800%. Used correctly, Lopezadrine is guaranteed to keep you laughing throughout the night. The seven hour marathons airs from 9pm-4am on Sunday, March 15, 2009.
In other Nick at Nite news, last week the schedule was changed for that week only, with George Lopez at 9 and another Family Matters at 10:30pm from Mon-Thurs. Now that schedule will be in effect until further notice, as you all probably noticed this week.
So we have George at 9, Home Improvement at 9:30, another George at 10, triple shot of Family Matters from 10:30pm-12am, followed by double shots of Home Improvement and George Lopez in the 12 and 1am hours. The Mon-Thurs nights conclude with a Fresh Prince block from 2-5am and an hour of Roseanne mornings at 5am. No changes will be made to the Fri-Sun blocks.
View and discuss more about Nick at Nite March.

On Friday, we mentioned BET removed the March Saturday marathons...guess what? Now they're back! Some things have changed from the original plan, but they are back. Originally this coming weekend was supposed to be Family Matters, but we will now get a mix of One on One (from 12pm-4pm) and The Game (4pm-6pm). Earlier the Proud Family Movie airs from 9-11a followed by two episodes of the series. So get ready to spring forward that night, as the clocks go ahead an hour. BET will air The Game encores before and after that from 2-3am EST and 4-5am EDT. So that will technically air back-to-back in a two-hour block.
The following Saturday (March 14) we have One on One again from 12pm-4pm followed by a 12-hour marathon of sister station Nick at Nite's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 4pm-4am!
The week after (Saturday, March 21) will be another series from sister station Nick at Nite, this time Family Matters. The marathon will also continue to the next day on Sunday, March 22. On Saturday Steve Urkel and company will air from 10am-11pm. That's thirteen "lucky" hours of Urkel. And if that's not all the following day (Sunday, March 22), the show will air from 1pm-6pm, for an additional five-hour block.
Finally, March madness ends with a marathon of Season 2 episodes of The Game on Saturday, March 28 from 2pm-2am...so a nice 12-hour marathon.
As always with BET, this is all subject to change...and we're the only ones on top of this, so stay with us! Check out episode info for the marathons, as we post it (we will only provide the full-fledged marathons such as Fresh Prince, Family Matters and The Game on March 28).

BET Acquires Sitcom 'The Game'; Nick at Nite Valentine's Stunt and More February 2009

BET has acquired reruns of current CW sitcom, The Game! The Game is a spin-off of Girlfriends, which also has its reruns on BET (and WE tv), and is in its third season on The CW. The show aired on UPN in its first season. The Game will launch on BET on Monday, Feb. 23 and air weekday afternoons at 1 & 1:30pm ET and weeknights at 11 & 11:30pm ET. So this is how BET's acquired series schedule looks starting Feb. 23 for weekdays: 9am Montel Williams Show, 10am-12pm Judge Hatchett, 12pm-1pm The Steve Harvey Show, 1-2pm The Game, 2-4pm One on One, 4-6pm Smart Guy, 11pm-12am The Game, and 3-4am Hell Date.
On Saturdays the schedule looks like: 9-10am Just Jordan, 10am-12pm The Proud Family, 12pm-2pm Smart Guy, and 2pm-4pm One on One. On Sundays usually from about 1-3pm we see a block on One on One.
So it seems since we last reported about BET, Judge Karen, Girlfriends, Romeo!,, and A Different World all seem to be off the schedule. Girlfriends will likely still air in special blocks/marathons again, but seems to have left the regular schedule. We'll continue to monitor the schedule on BET if anything changes.

Nick at Nite finally officially released their February 2009 information yesterday. Once again, there are no schedule changes to the regular schedule but we do have a special stunt on Valentine's Night. Love is in the air at Nick at Nite, so grab that special someone and settle in for an evening of Valentine's Day themed episodes from your favorite TV families. Back-to-back Valentine's/loved themed episodes of George Lopez, Home Improvement, and Family Matters will air on Saturday, Feb. 14 from 10pm-1am ET/PT.
Other than that, nothing special. However, the week of Feb. 23, for some reason Mon-Thurs that week, George Lopez is airing its two episodes at 9pm and 10pm, Home Improvement at 9:30pm, and Family Matters from 10:30pm-12am. The 12am-6am schedule is the same. I am told it is for that week only. Stay tuned for more details, if anything transpires.
View the full details on Nick at Nite February 2009, including a list of episodes for the Valentine's block.

ION Television January 2009 Sees Returns of Drew Carey and Quantum Leap; Nick at Nite Scores in 2008

ION Television will returns a few series this January 2009, while dropping one and reducing another. But first the series that will be dropped will get more plays the first few weeks of January. For the weeks of December 29 and January 5, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper will air in the weekdays at 4-5pm hour replacing M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H will remain in the 6-7pm hour on Saturdays and Sundays. Cooper will also still air in its Mon-Thurs 6-7pm hour the week of December 29 but for the week of January 5, those airings will be moved to 5-6pm, as The Steve Harvey Show moves to the Mon-Thurs 6-7pm hour. Then effective the following week, January 12, both hours of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper will be replaced by the sitcom The Drew Carey Show (weekdays 4-5pm) and sci-fi drama Quantum Leap (Mon-Wed 5pm), as both series return to the line-up, while. Mr. Cooper is leaving the line-up totally for now. Also, on Thursdays starting Jan. 8 from 5-8pm will now be encores of theatrical movies leading into Total Theatre Thursday at 8pm. This is in addition to the encores on Fridays from 5-7pm. So, the regular series airing from 5-8pm will only be Mon-Wed, but 4-5pm (Drew Carey) gets five days a week.
In primetime, NCIS and Boston Legal will still rule, but a few minor changes will occur. Effective week of Jan. 5, NCIS will now air for the full night on Mondays from 8-11pm, while Boston Legal will now air for the full nights on Tuesdays & Wednesdays from 8-11pm. This is a better way to remember when these shows are on, as previously NCIS was on Mondays 9-11pm and Tuesdays 9pm, while Boston Legal was on Mon-Wed 8pm, Tuesday at 10, Wednesdays 9-11pm...confusing, now it is much easier. Of course Thursdays will be the theatrical movie in primetime and Fri-Sun in primetime it is the RHI film.
As for those movies, the theatrical ones will be James Bond themed for the most part in the month as we see classic '80s Bond flicks For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983) and A View to Kill (1985) on Thursdays in primetime, with a Bond week of these three films airing in primetime from Jan. 27-29. On New Year's Day we get the theatrical movie Double Impact (1991) in primetime on Thursday. Thursday and Friday early evening airings (Thursdays 5-8pm, Fridays 5-7p) include those movies above encores, Matchstick Men, Major League: Back To The Minors, and Sphere.
As for RHI Entertainment, some first time airings will air such as To Dance with Olivia, National Lampoon's Attack Of The 5'2" Women, Final Days of Planet Earth, and Human Trafficking. ION will also premiere the world premiere event for the miniseries The Diplomat on Saturday, January 24.
View complete details on ION Television January 2009.

Nick at Nite is total day's number-one basic cable network in 2008 with Adult 18-49 delivery. Marking its most-watched year in four years with A18-49, Nick at Nite placed second overall only to sister-channel Nickelodeon for the year with total viewers. The network posted 11 consecutive months (January - November 2008) of double-digit growth this year with both A18-49 and total viewers.
Nick at Nite is ranked number one with Adults 18-49 for 2008 in total day, according to Nielsen Media Research (12/31/07-12/14/08)--averaging a 0.6 rating (655,000 viewers 18-49) A18-49 (up 20% in rating over last year), and marking its most-watched year in four years with A18-49.
BOTH men and women watch. Among Men 18-49, Nick at Nite is cable's fastest-growing cable entertainment network, averaging a 0.4 rating (245,000 viewers) M18-49 (up 33% in rating) -- its most-watched year ever. Nick at Nite was the number-one ranked network with Women 18-49 for the fifth straight year in total day, averaging a 0.7 rating (410,000 viewers) W18-49 (up 17%).
In prime time, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 rating and 1.7 million total viewers--up 40% over last year (Nick at Nite airs 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT in primetime with Home Improvement and George Lopez hours).
Driven by family comedies and new original hits such as George Lopez, Family Matters, Home Improvement, and Gym Teacher: The Movie, Nick at Nite's programming highlights include:
* George Lopez (airs regularly at 10 p.m. [all times ET/PT]) averaged a 0.6 rating (716,000 viewers 18-49) with A18-49 (10 p.m.) for the year, up 50% over last year's like time period. The series also encores at 1 a.m. and does even better.
* Family Matters (airs regularly at 11 p.m.) averaged a 0.7 rating (753,000 viewers 18-49) with A18-49 in 2008, up 40%.
* Home Improvement (airs regularly at 9 p.m.) averaged a 0.4 rating (450,000 viewers 18-49) A18-49, up 33% over last year. The series also airs at 12 a.m. and does even better.
* Gym Teacher, a Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite original TV family movie (premiered Friday, Sept. 12, 8 p.m.) was the number-one telecast on broadcast and basic cable television for the night with kids 2-11, earning a 4.6 kids 2-11 rating and 1.6 million kids 2-11 viewers, up 59% over last year. Gym Teacher: The Movie drew 3.0 million total viewers (up 73%).
Stay tuned tomorrow for highlights and insight for Nick at Nite January 2009!

Nick at Nite November 2008 Highlights; CBS Removes Ex-List, More Network Notes

Nick at Nite has released its November 2008 highlights and schedule, and once again there are no changes to the line-up. We do have a stunt for Thanksgiving though. They will air a marathon of Thanksgiving episodes on "Thanksgiving Nite" from 9pm-12am ET/PT. Viewers will get to see how Nick at Nite's favorite families celebrate Thanksgiving. They invite neighbors, they go to a NFL game, they go away on vacation, they help homeless shelters, and they go to a massage parlor...huh? You'll see all that on Thanksgiving night as Nick at Nite presents Thanksgiving episodes of Home Improvement, George Lopez and Fresh Prince!
That's it...nothing else is out of the ordinary in November, so expect to see the regular line-up on other days in November. See the Nick at Nite November 2008 Schedule and Highlights.

Effective immediately CBS has removed first year Friday drama The Ex-List off the Friday line-up. This Friday, the first Friday of November sweeps, CBS will air a repeat of NCIS in the Ex-List timeslot of Friday at 9pm. The timeslot is very weak and at times Ex-List wins its slot in total viewers, but this past Friday the show was very weak in 18-49 losing to first place Supernanny on ABC.
Last night Game 5 of the World Series on Fox was suspended after 5 1/2 innings because of rain in Philadelphia with the score tied at two. The game was supposed to resume tonight at 8pm, but due to still bad weather conditions, the game won't resume until Wednesday night at 8:30pm. Wednesday night was supposed to be game 6 in Tampa Bay, but that will be moved to Thursday night, if it is necessary. If Philly wins the continuation of the suspended game, the series is over and they are the champs, winning 4 games to 1. If Tampa Bay can win the next two games, game 7 will likely be on Friday now. Stay tuned...
Also, ABC will not air the Obama Ad on Wednesday at 8pm. ABC was in discussion to air the ad, but now they are not going to. CBS, Fox, and NBC will air the ad. So, ABC will be the only network airing scripted programming in the half-hour with the very creative series Pushing Daisies...tune in!

Lost '80s Week continues tonight at 8pm ET (5pm PT) on WGN America with another Three's Company spin-off, this time ... The Ropers! See how Jeffrey Tambor got his start. Tomorrow night WGN America will air the '80s sitcom Too Close for Comfort, and we will have an interview with Lydia Cornell (Sarah on Too Close for Comfort) tomorrow right here on the blog! It will be of course in our Seven Questions format and she gave us so much, that we have an additional segment where Lydia talks about things for the first time! How was her working relationship with star Ted Knight? That's just SOME of the things you'll read tomorrow! You'll want to read this!

One on One Joins BET Line-Up on Monday; Nick at Nite's Great Ratings Continues; Fox Picks-Up Fringe for Full Season

BET will be adding another sitcom! This time they will add the sitcom One on One to their weekday line-up beginning Monday (October 6). The show will air weekdays at 3:00pm & 3:30pm ET/PT, creating a sitcom block from 3-6pm on weekdays with Steve Harvey and Smart Guy still airing in the 4 and 5pm hours.
One on One will also get a weekend marathon on Saturday, October 11 from 2-5pm (following a Smart Guy marathon from 11am-2pm) and on Sunday, October 12 from 1-4pm. The show will regularly on Saturdays from 12-2pm and Sundays from 1-3pm. The new Saturday schedule is now 9-10am Just Jordan, 10-11am Romeo!, 11am-12pm Smart Guy, 12-2pm One on One, 2-3pm Steve Harvey, 3-4pm Girlfriends, and 4-5pm Judge Hatchett. The new Sunday schedule is now 12-1pm Steve Harvey, 1-3pm One on One, and 3-4pm Girlfriends.
One on One will also get a special block on Columbus Day (Monday, October 13) from 2-6pm.
About One on One: Intelligent and outspoken, the in-your-face 17-year-old Breanna Barnes (Kyla Pratt) loves attention. Anywhere there's a crowd, you can bet she's at the center of the action. Breanna's sportscaster dad, Flex (Flex Alexander), is a fun-loving ladies' man who not only wants to be a responsible parent, but also wants to be his daughter's best friend. Flex is happy giving Breanna the freedom to make her own choices, but only if she is willing to accept the consequences.

Nick at Nite, driven by hit family programming like George Lopez and newcomer Family Matters, scores its second consecutive quarter as total day's top cable network with Adults 18-49 (from 6/30/08-9/28/08). Nick at Nite soared in third quarter 2008 with high double-digit gains among its A18-49 and total viewer (P2+) audience, and has delivered 11 consecutive months of double-digit growth since last year.
Nick at Nite is ranked number one with A18-49, for third quarter 2008 (3Q08) in total day, averaging a 0.6 rating and 667,000 viewers 18-49 and up 20% over last year. With P2+, the network delivered 1.5 million total viewers, up 22%. Nick at Nite ranks as the number-one basic cable network for W18-49 in total day this quarter (0.7 rating and 416,000 18-49 women viewers, up 17% over last year).
In prime time, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 rating and 1.7 million total viewers (P2+), up 40% over last year. Family Matters, which joined the network's schedule in 3Q, is Nick at Nite's number-two program in total day, only behind George Lopez. Family Matters averaged a 0.7 rating and 775,000 viewers A18-49 at 11 p.m., up 40% over last year's time period. George Lopez is the network's highest-rated program and has experienced growth of 40% in rating since launching in September 2007. George Lopez averaged a 0.7 rating and 768,000 viewers A18-49 at 10 p.m. for the quarter, up 75% over last year's like time period. Home Improvement remains a growth engine for Nick at Nite, and averages a 0.6 rating and 654,000 viewers A18-49 in total day for 3Q08. Its ratings have grown 20% since launching on Nick at Nite in September 2007.

Fox has announced that Fringe is the second new show this fall to be picked-up for a full season, joining The CW's 90210. Both shows launched a few weeks before the season. Fringe has benefited from airing behind House, which is down big from last fall, but still strong. Fox has ordered an additional nine episodes for Fringe, bringing the series to a full season order of 22 episodes.
New episodes return Tuesday, October 14 because next week is the second Presidential Debate.

Scorecard for New Series:
Picked-Up for Full Season: 90210, Fringe
Canceled: Do Not Disturb
On Verge of Being Picked-Up: The Mentalist
On the Fence: Hole in the Wall, Worst Week, Gary Unmarried, Knight Rider, Opportunity Knocks, Privileged
Still Yet to Premiere: The Ex-List, Life on Mars, Kath & Kim, 11th Hour, My Own Worst Enemy, Stylista and The CW's MRC Sunday Block

Nick at Nite October 2008 Has Urkel Week and Halloween Week; Lifetime Acquires How I Met Your Mother for Fall 2010

This October on Nick at Nite will have various stunts such as an Urkel week hosted by Jaleel White and the 1st Annual Worldwide Fido Awards. At last an award show for real dogs! Forget the pedigree, purebreds and professional judges! The dogs on this show are chosen by you the viewer! The one-hour special event hosted by actor/comedian Fred Willard will showcase the six Fido finalists and best of WorldwideFido.com's user-generated videos, where one lucky dog will ultimately be crowned the 2008 Worldwide Fido winner. It will air Sunday, October 5 from 8-9PM.
On Columbus Day (Monday, October 13), Nick at Nite will bring out the stars on George Lopez with a marathon from 9pm-4am. Got a favorite guest star? Check out the special line-up of hand picked celebrities all of whom have graced the George Lopez stage to see if your favorites made the cut! Eva Longoria, Mario Lopez, Jerry Springer, Adam West, Barbara Eden, Jim Belushi, Sandra Bullock, Lou Diamond Phillips, Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff, Richard Lewis, Kimberly Williams, Laila Ali, Andy Garcia, who made the cut? Find out on October 13!
Get up close and personal with Steve Urkel himself (Jaleel White) as he reminisces with Nick and Nite on what it was like to play one of America's favorite nerds and his favorite episodes. Jaleel White hosts an hour a night from Oct. 20-26 featuring classic Steve Urkel-themed episodes of Family Matters. Classic episodes include his very first episode, Jaleel as Myrtle Urkel, the Urkel dance episode, Urkelbot, Urkel & Grandmama, and classic Stefan episodes.
Finally, it's a spooktacular week for Nick at Nite the week of October 27-31. Tune in all-week long to catch Halloween themed episodes of your Nick at Nite favorites (Fresh Prince, George Lopez, and Home Improvement) in the 9pm hour and also in regular timeslots for more Halloween fun. It will be capped off with a Halloween marathon on Halloween night from 10pm-1am featuring George Lopez, Home Improvement and Family Matters. Be ready for the scary Stevil!
View the full Nick at Nite October 2008 schedule and highlights.

Continuing the aggressive expansion of its comedy programming, Lifetime Television has acquired the exclusive basic cable rights to the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother from Twentieth Television, beginning in the fall of 2010.
How I Met Your Mother joins Lifetime comedy mainstays such as Reba, Still Standing, Will & Grace and Frasier. So far in 2008, Reba ranks #1 in cable comedies among W18+ and W25-54 in the Monday-Friday, 8-9PM (ET/PT) time period.
Both Lifetime and Twentieth Television declined comment on the financial terms of the deal, but sources said the sitcom fetched around $725,000 per episode in a highly competitive bidding situation that included at least six interested cable nets, including TBS, ABC Family and FX. The deal will be a four-year deal and could add on a year each time it gets renewed on CBS. The deal can reach as high as eight years. Lifetime's deal is the second biggest license fee ever by a cable network for a sitcom in the first cycle, beaten only by the near $800,000 an episode that FX did for Warner Bros. Domestic's Two and a Half Men. Lifetime can also reportedly air two episodes a week by early next year before it can be stripped for daily play in fall 2010.
Last week, Twentieth TV scored deals with the Fox-owned TV stations in N.Y. (WNYW), L.A. (KTTV) and Chicago (WFLD) for reruns of How I Met Your Mother for local station play starting in fall 2010. Stations in five other major markets, including CBS-owned outlets in Philadelphia (WPSG) and Dallas (KXTA) bought the series. WLVI Boston, KQCA Sacramento, and Seattle's KCPQ/KMYQ round out the additional five.
Starring Neil Patrick Harris, Josh Radnor, Jason Segal and Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother debuted on CBS in 2005 and currently airs Mondays at 8:30PM (ET/PT) on CBS in its fourth season.
In other Lifetime news, just a reminder that original sitcom Rita Rocks launches with five new episodes airing in a one week strip, beginning Monday, October 20, through Friday, October 24, at 8:30PM (ET/PT), following Reba repeats. Then starting Tuesday, October 28, Rita Rocks will air regularly Tuesdays at 8:30PM (ET/PT). Also, starting Monday, October 5, The Nanny will return to weekdays at 8-9am replacing a Desperate Housewives airing. The Nanny had been airing only weeknights at 2am and will still retain that slot. Both The Golden Girls and The Nanny will be expiring from Lifetime in early 2009, so Lifetime will have some slots to fill. We'll let you know what happens.

Tonight it is the season premieres of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy on ABC. I have watched both premieres already and both are very good, especially the two-hour Grey's Anatomy premiere. On Ugly Betty, a month has passed and Betty has made her choice. When she returns, she finds out what happened to Mode and Daniel. Meanwhile, Betty's dad is now working at a local hamburger place...where Betty's high school bully Kimberly (Lindsay Lohan) is the manager. Very fun scenes with Betty and Kimberly. And Hilda's romance with Coach Diaz continues, despite his marriage. Without giving anything away, the premiere is funny and it's a fresh start with lots of changes. The move to New York in production has paid off!
As for Grey's Anatomy, the premiere is fantastic. It also has change. It seems many ABC shows this fall has changes, and it is for the good. A freak fall ice storm has hit Seattle and Seattle Grace Hospital has moved out of the top 5 in the rankings of best teaching skills. Chief Webber has to make changes and decisions to get the hospital back to its credibility. Making quite the entrance in this episode is the very talented Kevin McKidd, who plays General Hunt, a doctor in the military. He has excellent scenes with Cristina...and steamy ones. There are a few dream sequences, some shocking and some touching...not giving it away though. Also, I won't give it away, but the keyword for the episode is "icicle." It's a premiere you will want to watch for sure.
I have seen many of the premieres for ABC, so check my thoughts on them if you want to read it. More is on the way, so keep checking back.

Nick at Nite September 2008; WGN Changes; Tulsa Gets RTN This Fall; Calling Bob Newhart Fans!

We finally can release the Nick at Nite September 2008 highlights! We knew the details more than two weeks ago, but finally some of the details finally got confirmed. There will be changes to the regular schedule once again...but there are plenty of highlights, including "plenty" of Benny! Grandparent's Day may be less than a week away, but that doesn't mean you can't spend this Labor Day with the mother of all annoying grandmothers. Join Nick at Nite for a full night of George Lopez episodes featuring your favorite Benny episodes...it will be plenty of Benny indeed! The Plenty of Benny marathon airs from 9pm-4am on Labor Day (September 1).
Then it's time to go back to the gym and get ready for the original movie Gym Teacher: The Movie, but first spend an hour of physical activity with your favorite Nick at Nite sitcoms leading up to the movie ... with episodes of Family Matters, Fresh Prince, George Lopez and Home Improvement! Let's Get Physical Week airs Sunday, Sept. 7 through Thursday, Sept. 11 from 9-10pm each night.
After that week-long stunt, Nick at Nite and Nickelodeon invite you for the world premiere of original movie Gym Teacher: The Movie on Friday, September 12 at 8pm. The movie stars Nathan Kress (Nick's iCarly), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), and Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy). Dave Stewie was America's hope for the Gold in the 1988 Seoul Olympics until he ran face first into the vault. His failure made him a national joke, and he quickly faded into obscurity. Stewie rebuilt his life from the ashes of humiliation to become a gym teacher, but his Olympic competitiveness never left him. Let’s just say that NASA scientists take their job less seriously than Dave takes his job of molding the physical fitness of young people. So when the President announces a national gym class fitness competition, Dave knows that this is his opportunity to redeem himself by leading his class of athletes to triumph.
Launching September 15 on Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite is My Family's Got GUTS. They will air two 10-episode tournaments. My Family's Got GUTS is an extreme sports competition series that brings families together where every member of the team -- from the smallest to the strongest -- plays a vital role and works together to complete each challenge. Each episode will feature a host (Ben Lyons), and three teams of four players (two adults and two kids) who gather in the Extreme Arena to compete against each other in four rounds of events inspired by today's extreme sports.
Coming Sunday, October 5 on Nick at Nite it is the The Worldwide Fido Awards. More on that soon.
View the full Nick at Nite September 2008 highlights.

Well we gave you all not one but two updates on WGN America's fall schedule already...and now here comes update three. Just a few edits, but they are good ones. Starting September 8, weekdays at 4pm ET will now be Becker instead of a full-hour of Funniest Pets & People. Funniest Pets & People will still air at 4:30pm ET, though. Then on Sundays starting Sept. 14 from 5-6pm ET will now be Coach instead of the previously scheduled Funniest Pets & People. Coach will sitll air Saturdays 7-8pm ET later in the fall starting October 4...so good news for Coach fans. Don't forget the Coach marathon tonight and tomorrow! The other changes are minor and involves a few weekend shifting of Scrubs, Reno 911! and Corner Gas, not big deals.
I really advise you all to see the full updated WGN America Fall 2008 line-up.

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced that Allbritton Communications will add a fourth RTN affiliate, now in Tulsa, OK. The new affiliate will launch this fall on a digital stream of KTUL-TV, the local ABC affiliate. I told you the new affiliate announcements will start to get rolling now!

Calling all Bob Newhart fans! You can find a "Behind the Scenes" of Bob's new show called The Challenge starring Bob Newhart now online at Vimeo! Also, check out Lloyd Garver's blog entry at Strike.TV. The Challenge will be featured when their first slate is released on September 8. So, sign up at Strike.TV to be kept in the loop!

Nick at Nite August 2008 Sees Wedding Themed Week; Remembering I Dream of Jeannie Director Claudio Guzman

This August on Nick at Nite will see no schedules changes, as of now. However, they do have a week-long stunt in the 9pm hour for Aug. 3-7! It's "Wedding Unveiled Week" on Nick at Nite from Sunday, August 3 through Thursday, August 7 each night in the 9pm ET/PT hour! Nothing brings a family together like a wedding. Nick at Nite invites viewers to a week of matrimony madness with your favorite Nick at Nite families. So get ready to celebrate with singing preachers and bad wedding singers as Nick at Nite lets you tie the knot from the comfort of your own couch, without all the stress ... with episodes of Family Matters, Fresh Prince, George Lopez and Home Improvement! See Mother Winslow get married to Fletcher on Family Matters and George Lopez renewing his vows with Angie...or is he?
For episode details and more on Nick at Nite August 2008, head on over to our Nick at Nite August 2008 thread.

We have another death to report. Claudio Guzman, director and producer of the '60s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie passed away July 12 of pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was the main director of the Barba Eden-Larry Hagman sitcom I Dream of Jeannie and also served as producer for that NBC series. He helped create Villa Alegre, a half-hour show in the tradition of Sesame Street.
In a career that spanned four decades, Guzman directed almost 30 TV shows, including several episodes of The Patty Duke Show in the mid-1960s and Harper Valley P.T.A. in 1981, reuniting him with Barbara Eden. His other directorial work included an episode or two of The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Partridge Family, The Fugitive, Love on a Rooftop, The Flying Nun, The Good Life, California Fever and Here's Boomer.
He was also an art director for many series such as The Lucy Show, Date with the Angels, The Real McCoys, Where's Raymond, December Bride, and Make Room for Daddy.
He was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy for Villa Alegre and once for a Primetime Emmy for art direction on Where's Raymond?
Mr. Guzman will be missed. He was 80.

Nick at Nite Overnight Change, 2nd Quarter Ratings, Family Matters Doing Well; Remembering Henry Beckman

Starting Monday (July 7), Nick at Nite will change their overnight schedule a bit. Mon-Thurs nights at 3:00am & 3:30am will now be The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, replacing Cosby Show (Mon/Wed) and Roseanne (Tues/Thurs). Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was already airing at 3:00am & 3:30am on Friday nights, and will continue. Fresh will still also air 2-3am from Mon-Thurs. And Mon-Wed 4:00am & 4:30am will now be encores of the 8:30pm and 11pm Family Matters airings! So yes that means starting next week the 8:30pm and 11pm Family Matters airings will be two new episodes, so the 8:30pm episodes will not be an encore from the previous night's 11pm airing. Tape both now! To see upcoming episodes for Family Matters, I have made a list for you all. Great news! The 4-5am encores will replace Roseanne. Roseanne is still slated to air Thursdays 4-5am and its other slots still. To view the full schedule and to see where everything stands I advise you to view our Nick at Nite July 2008 thread.

Nick at Nite has issued their second quarter ratings. With its strongest showing in more than two years, Nick at Nite is total day's number-one basic cable network with Adults 18-49 (tied with TNT) and ranks second only to sister-channel Nickelodeon among total viewers in the just-completed second quarter 2008 (NMR: 3/31/08-6/29/08). Driven by George Lopez and Home Improvement, Nick at Nite has soared this quarter with high double-digit gains among its A18-49 and total viewer (P2+) audience.
With A18-49 this quarter in total day, Nick at Nite is ranked number one, averaging a 0.6 rating (676,000 viewers) and up 50% over last year. Among total viewers, the network delivered 1.5 million total viewers, up 22%.
Nick at Nite also ranks as the number-one basic cable network for W18-49 in total day this quarter. (0.8 rating (426,000 viewers), up 33% over last year). In prime time, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 rating (1.7 million viewers) in W18-49 -- up 40% over last year.
- George Lopez is the network's highest-rated program, and the network has experienced ratings growth each month since the show launched in October 2007. George Lopez averaged a 0.7 rating (773,000 viewers) A18-49 at 10 p.m. this quarter, up 75% over last year's time period. Launch to date, the program has grown 34% in the demo. George Lopez ratings have grown significantly since joining the Nick at Nite schedule in September 2007, and launch to date the show has grown +40%.
- Home Improvement also is a growth engine, averaging a 0.6 rating (683,000 viewers) A18-49 total day rating, and program ratings have grown 20% since it joined Nick at Nite in September 2007. In Prime, Home Improvement ratings are up 33% this quarter vs. last year.
- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air continues to earn strong ratings for Nick at Nite. For the quarter, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air averaged a 0.6 rating (716,000 viewers) A18-49 total day rating, up 20% over last year.
- Original programming coming to Nick at Nite this year include the original TV family movie Gym Teacher, premiering Friday, Sept. 12 and starring Christopher Meloni; My Family's Got Guts, a family game show airing Monday, Sept. 15; Worldwide Fido Awards, a canine competition in October. Also coming in 2009 is the hit comedy Everybody Hates Chris, from co-creator and narrator Chris Rock and inspired by his real-life childhood experiences.

Although they haven't released a press release yet, Family Matters has done very well on the network since launching on Sunday. The launch marathon on Sunday from 9pm-4am did pretty well, especially from 10pm-3am, with big growths from the 9pm hour. The marathon delivered a full family audience averaging 1.9 million total viewers.
Then in the first two night in its regular timeslot of 11pm, it did a 0.7 rating in A18-49 on Monday and a 0.6 A18-49 on Tuesday, on par with its top guns George Lopez, Fresh Prince and Home Improvement. The Monday airing was one of the best for Nick at Nite for the night overall, if not the best, in households it did a 1.9 rating (which probably comes out to around 2.5 million viewers)! The 1.9 household rating for Monday's airing also beat the highest rating from the Sunday launch marathon which was a 1.7 household rating at 10:30pm. The Tuesday 11pm airing also did a solid 1.6 household rating. It looks like Urkel is here to stay!

Character actor Henry Beckman died Tuesday, June 17 in Barcelona, Spain. Beckman appeared in hundreds of TV shows, films and commercials in the U.S. and Canada, often playing heavies or roles requiring accents or foreign languages. Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he served in the Canadian military during WWII and survived the Normandy invasion.
He guest starred in just about every show during the 1960s including Dennis the Menace, Hennesey, Dr. Kildare, Father of the Bride, My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll, The Jack Benny Program, The Munsters, Perry Mason, Adam-12, Flying Nun, Andy Griffith Show, The Monkees, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Twilight Zone. He had larger roles as George Anderson on Peyton Place and Colonel Harridan in McHale's Navy. He was also known for his recurring role as Captain Clancy in Here Come the Brides.
Beckman later appeared in shows including The Rockford Files, Bonanza, Here's Lucy, Mannix, Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, Ironside, Barney Miller, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, Fantasy Island, Quincy ME, Check It Out, MacGyver, The Commish, Columbo, and MANY more. More recently, he played Detective Briggs on The X-Files and on the syndicated series Cold Squad.
You all have seen him in something probably. What a great resume! He will be missed. He was 86.

Nick at Nite July 2008 Highlights; TV Land Orders 2nd Season for She's Got The Look; AmericanLife TV Honors George Carlin

For Nick at Nite in July, they are launching Family Matters this week on the regular schedule, as you all know. I told you the changes being made to the schedule last week, as Fresh Prince won't be available to air on weekends anymore. Now we have the full stunt highlights for Nick at Nite July. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Nick at Nite celebrates five nights of the battle of the sexes, family style in a "Gender Clash"... with episodes of Family Matters, Fresh Prince, George Lopez and Home Improvement the week of July 13-17, 9-10pm each night.
As we mentioned previously, Nick at Nite will premiere The N's new series Queen Bees and The N's Student Body with two simulcast airings on Friday, July 11 at 9pm and 10pm.
For the full regular schedule and details on the Nick at Nite July 2008 stunts, head on over to our Nick at Nite July 2008 thread.

Following impressive ratings gains and steady growth in popularity, TV Land has announced today that it has renewed its original reality series She's Got The Look for a second season. Emmy Award-Winner Allison Grodner will return as executive producer.
Premiering in 2009, the second season of She's Got The Look will expand from six episodes to eight and will again set out to discover a sophisticated, beautiful and confident woman 35 or older destined for supermodel stardom.
Season one of She's Got The Look has been averaging 633,000 total viewers, an increase of 17% versus channel total day average with a median age of 46. Among Adults 25-54, it has been posting a 0.4 rating (409,000 viewers), up 63% in both rating and viewers over channel total day average. Among Adults 40-54 it is posting a 0.5 rating (262,000 viewers), up 33% in rating and 34% in viewers.
The first season finale airs Wednesday, July 9 at 10:00PM on TV Land.

AmericanLife TV Network, the cable network devoted to the Baby Boomer generation, will air a special tribute to legendary comedian, George Carlin on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 8:00pm ET and 10:00pm PT. The special includes footage from George Carlins' early days on the hit show, Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour.
For a few minutes each week George had the stage to himself, sharing with the audience the humor he found in every day words and situations.
The special consists entirely of his segments from the series with only an introductory voice over. One of these segments, done over 30 years ago, now has a special meaning:
"In reviewing the shows" said Mark Ringwald, VP of Programming for ALN, "one of the segments contained a five minutes routine of his on death and comedians (when comedians do well, they "kill," when they do poorly, they "die"). It was so funny and yet now so poignant that we felt it would be fitting conclusion to the special."
"These were some of his funniest routines and since it was on Tony Orlando its all G rated and so it's a perfect way for the entire family to enjoy his unique sense of humor."

ABC Family Picks-Up Weekend Rights to Fresh Prince; CBS Fall Premiere Dates

In a shocking move, ABC Family has picked-up rights to air The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air beginning in August. You might be thinking, uh isn't it already on TBS and Nick at Nite/The N? Yes, you're of course right. This will be a three-way shared deal (with a record breaking four cable networks involved). This is at least the second three-way deal I have heard of, with the first being That '70s Show (FX, The N, ABC Family), but the first involving four networks. That '70s Show's deal is very complicated that I can't figure out what times each of those networks can air the show.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air deal is pretty easy to figure out. ABC Family will be airing the series weekend evenings only starting Saturday, August 2. The show will air Saturday nights from 11pm-2am ET/PT and sometimes as well on Sundays back-to-back at 11 & 11:30pm ET/PT, if a movie doesn't go until midnight.
So, ABC Family will have weekend evening rights to the series. TBS has the daytime rights. Nick at Nite/The N (AKA Viacom portion of the deal) will now only have weekday evening rights (as they lose the seven days evening rights...what no more all-night seven nights Fresh marathons??), which means Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will not be airing on weekends anymore on both networks and that will be in effect starting next week (the deal starts in July actually). So the Nick at Nite schedule will change a bit. Family Matters, which launches this Sunday with a marathon from 9pm-4am, will get more timeslots because of this! Family Matters will take over the Saturday (early Sunday) slots at 12-2am and 2-3am and Sunday evenings 11pm-12am. Home Improvement will now air Saturdays 11pm-12am and 1-2am, while The Cosby Show will take over Sunday nights (early Monday) 1-2am. So Fresh Prince will only air weekdays...Mon-Thurs 11:30pm & 2-3am and Friday nights 12:30am & 3-4am. The N will air it weeknights at 8-9pm and 1-2am, as weekend airings for that network will also be removed. And TBS will continue to air it weekdays 9-10am.
For the full Nick at Nite schedule effective this Monday, head on over here. ABC Family won't be making any other changes in August when Fresh Prince comes.
If you're a Family Matters fan, then I have compiled an upcoming episodes list for Nick at Nite, that I thought might be handy. They are skipping season one because Urkel didn't become big until season two. Season one will air after this rotation finishes, which means we will have to wait until season nine ends. Tune in this Sunday for the launch marathon!

CBS announced premiere dates for the fall premieres of its new and returning series, which include a pre-season debut for Survivor: Gabon and the launch of its Thursday and Friday drama series in early October. CBS will introduce everything else from its schedule beginning Monday, Sept. 22, the official start of the 2008-2009 season. The only reason the premieres of the Thursday and Friday night dramas have been scheduled outside of premiere week is to accommodate the scheduled Presidential Debate on Sept. 26 and the Vice Presidential Debate on Oct. 2.
Here are the 2008-09 CBS premiere dates:

Thursday, Sept. 18
8-9 p.m.: Survivor (17th edition)

Monday, Sept. 22
8-8:30 p.m.: The Big Bang Theory (2nd season premiere)
8:30-9 p.m.: How I Met Your Mother (4th season premiere)
9-9:30 p.m.: Two and a Half Men (6th season premiere)
9:30-10 p.m.: Worst Week (series debut)
10-11 p.m.: CSI: Miami (7th season premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 23
8-9 p.m.: NCIS (6th season premiere)
9-10 p.m.: The Mentalist (series debut)
10-11 p.m.: Without a Trace (7th season premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 24
8-8:30 p.m.: The New Adventures of Old Christine (4th season premiere)
8:30-9 p.m.: Project Gary (series debut)
9-10 p.m.: Criminal Minds (4th season premiere)
10-11 p.m.: CSI: NY (5th season premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 27
8-9 p.m.: Crimetime Saturday
9-10 p.m.: Crimetime Saturday
10-11 p.m.: 48 Hours Mystery (season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 28
7:00-8 p.m.: 60 Minutes (41st season premiere)
8-9 p.m.: The Amazing Race (13th edition)
9-10 p.m.: Cold Case (6th season premiere)
10-11 p.m.: The Unit (4th season premiere)

Friday, Oct. 3
8-9 p.m.: Ghost Whisperer (4th season premiere)
9-10 p.m.: The Ex List (series premiere)
10-11 p.m.: Numb3rs (5th season premiere)

Thursday, Oct. 9
9-10 p.m.: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (9th season premiere)
10-11 p.m.: Eleventh Hour (series debut)

Nick at Nite June 2008: At Last Family Matters Is Coming; Remembering Earle H. Hagen

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Family Matters is launching June 29 on Nick at Nite! The show will launch on Sunday, June 29 with a seven-hour marathon from 9pm-4am ET/PT with some famous episodes such as "Rachel's Place" (where Urkel by mistake causes a fire at Leroys, but because of that Rachel gets her own restaurant), "The Crash Course" (where Eddie crashes the station wagon into the living room), "Life of the Party" (where Urkel does his famous Do the Urkel dance on rooftop party). Those are just some of the memorable episodes you will see! The marathon seems to focus on seasons two and three. For the marathon episodes, click on the link below.
Family Matters will then air regularly, Sunday through Thursday at 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 p.m. and Friday & Saturday at 12 a.m. (all times ET/PT) starting Monday, June 30 on Nick at Nite!
But before that, sit dad down on the couch this Father's Day as George Lopez plays host to a nightlong marathon honoring our favorite Nick at Nite fathers...Tim, George and Philip. Tune in Father's Day evening (Sunday, June 15) starting at 9pm!
To see the complete Nick at Nite June 2008 schedule and higlights, including the episodes for the Father's Day stunt and Family Matters marathon, click HERE! "As days go by, it's the bigger love of the family."

Earle H. Hagen, the Emmy Award-winning television composer who wrote the memorable theme music for The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Spy and other classic TV programs, has died. He died Monday night at his home in Rancho Mirage, CA with wife, Laura at his side. He had been ill for several months.
Mr. Hagen had been writing TV themes since 1953. He was a fixture of TV hits in the '60s writing TV themes for many popular series. In addition to the ones he was really famous for, he wrote the themes for Make Room for Daddy, Dobie Gillis, That Girl, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Mayberry RFD, The Mod Squad, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, The New Perry Mason, Eight is Enough and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
He won an Emmy in 1968 for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Compositionfor I Spy. But it was The Andy Griffith Show theme song that people most remember him for. In fact, the famous whistling is done by Mr. Hagen himself! So you can hear him in each episodes before it starts.
Mr. Hagen will certainly be missed as his TV theme songs will live on forever. He was 88.

Nick at Nite May 2008 Highlights; Classic Cannell Dramas Come to iTunes; Ghost Whisperer Officially Announced for ION in 2009

This May Nick at Nite will give viewers a few special marathons and the premiere of the classic '80s movie E.T. The Extra Terrestrial! Nick at Nite is celebrating Cinco De Mayo with a 7 hour George Lopez marathon from 9pm-4am on Monday, May 5, 2008. They are calling it Cinco De Lopez!
This Mother's Day, Constance Marie from George Lopez will host Nick at Nite's "Hot Mother's Nite" honoring the hot sexy moms of television. Throughout the night, Constance will be treated to some poolside pampering and primping for all her hard work being a Mom on Nick at Nite. The block will be from 9pm-1am and feature episodes of Jill from Home Improvement, Angie & Benny from George Lopez and Vivian & Will's mom on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!
Then on Friday, May 16 from 8pm-10:30pm, an extra-terrestrial is accidentally left behind on Earth and is befriended by a young boy and his brother and sister on the Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite premiere of the classic '80s movie E.T. The Extra Terrestrial! As Elliot attempts to help his extra-terrestrial companion contact his home planet so that he might be rescued, the children must elude scientists and government agents determined to apprehend the alien for their own purposes...which results in an adventure greater than any of them could have imagined. Premieres on Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite! The movie premieres on sister station TV Land this Friday (May 2).
Finally, this Memorial Day and the days after, Nick at Nite serves up a seven day marathon chock full of tools and fools of Home Improvement! 10pm-6am each night from Monday, May 26 to Sunday, June 1!
Still no word on Family Matters, but a good guess would be June or July. We'll let you know when we do. Anyway, to discuss Nick at Nite May 2008 and to view the full highlights with episode info for the stunts, click HERE!

Stephen J. Cannell Productions, Inc. and New Video announced that top series from the vast Stephen J. Cannell Productions, Inc. library of groundbreaking television drama programs are now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Store.
Effective yesterday, iTunes customers are now able to purchase compelling character-driven series such as 21 Jump Street, Hunter, Silk Stalkings, The Greatest American Hero and Wiseguy, with other titles to be added in the coming weeks.
Individual episodes are available for purchase at $1.99, and full season passes of each series are available at a discount. New Video and Stephen J. Cannell Productions, Inc. look forward to expanding their partnership to make more quality Cannell programming available in digital format on iTunes.
Two more popular series, The Commish and Renegade will also be available on iTunes in the coming months.
To view the full press release and to discuss this news, click HERE!

We gave you the news the other day that ION Television has gotten broadcast rerun rights to Criminal Minds for Fall 2009 and also mentioned that Ghost Whisperer was also coming. Today ION made it official!
ION Television officially today announced it has entered into a content agreement with CBS Television Distribution for the broadcast syndication rights to the hit television series, Ghost Whisperer. ION Television will debut this popular show in primetime, beginning in 2009. The deal continues the network's positioning momentum as a general entertainment destination.
The full press release is available HERE.
We will have more on ION's future on Thursday when they have their annual upfront presentation. I am told more programming will be announced and we hope to have an interview with them shortly after upfront.
Come back tomorrow for full details on Criminal Minds coming to A&E for cable reruns next month. We also hinted on that the other day with the ION news, but now we have the official information!

TV One Brings Amen to Evenings Starting in April Now; Nick at Nite Sees 1st Quarter Ratings Do Big; TNT Loves Romano

Beginning on Monday April 7, TV One has made a change to their line-up. The Sherman Hemsley sitcom Amen will air one hour of back-to-back episodes in the weekday 5pm & 5:30pm timeslot. For Your Love and Eve, previously airing in these time periods will no longer air. This change was set to happen on Monday, May 5, as we said late last week, but TV One has decided to do it a month earlier!
As also stated late last week on the TV One May highlights, TV One will be airing 24-hour sitcom marathons during the month of May beginning on Friday nights. The first of these special marathons will actually begin now on Friday, May 2 at 8pm with a special Martin marathon continuing on the theme of TV One's election year slate of 'Martin for President' marathons that originated over President's Day weekend. This time, the "Martin 'HaterNation' Marathon" takes on the sniping that usually happens in election campaigns with a full 24 hours of Martin Payne & his host of wacky alter egos battling Pam, Sheneneh and all the other Martin-haters who would try to take Martin down.

Nick at Nite, fueled by the performance of George Lopez and Home Improvement, scored double digit increases during the 1Q08 (Jan-Mar) among total viewers (P2+) and Adults 18-49 in both primetime and total day. In primetime, Nick at Nite was up +32% over first quarter 2007 (1Q07), and was +37% higher among Adults 18-49. George Lopez has been the network's highest rated program in 2008, with ratings growing consistently since it joined the schedule, while Home Improvement ratings have also increased each month. The recent George Lopez marathon did huge as the ratings were the best week ever for Nick at Nite.

TNT has ordered a one-hour pilot of Men of a Certain Age, a new character-based drama from Everybody Loves Raymond Emmy winners Ray Romano and Mike Royce. Romano will star in the project that takes a wry look at what it means to be a guy approaching mid-life while also exploring the unique bonds of male friendship. Romano wrote the pilot script with Royce and will executive-produce with Royce (who will serve as show runner), Rory Rosegarten and Cary Hoffman. The show is about the highs and lows of being a guy in the modern era. It's about three best friends, each hoping to fulfill his dreams before the clock starts running out.
This is the latest project to emerge as part of TNT's aggressive plan to change most of the network's weekday, primetime schedule to originals by 2010. The network currently has 15 projects in various stages of development, including both scripted dramas and unscripted programs.

Day 86: WGA's Strike; NATPE Notes; Nick at Nite February 2008 Highlights

It is day 86 of the strike. I wish we could 86 this strike for god's sake! Anyway, the WGA has granted permission for the Grammys to go on with its broadcast on CBS. The Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has agreed to grant an interim agreement for this year's Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. This will allow for written material for the show to be covered under a Guild contract.
Meanwhile, CBS has ordered two more editions of Survivor to be broadcast during the 2008-2009 season. These will mark the 17th and 18th editions of television's longest-running hit reality competition series.
Additionally, Jeff Probst has signed a new agreement to continue as host.

As we all know, NATPE is here. This of course is the National Association of Television Program Executives conference in Las Vegas where syndication deals are made. The conference is from Jan. 28-31, so it started yesterday. ION made the biggest news yesterday as they acquired Baywatch, but there were much more dealings. I'll recap the biggest news makers from yesterday and today right now:
- At a surprise NATPE press conference in Las Vegas today, one of America's most beloved stars, Marie Osmond, announced her latest venture as host of a new entertainment/lifestyle talk show, Marie. Program Partners will offer the hour-long television series in syndication beginning in fall 2009.
- Syndicated daytime game show Crosswords, from Merv Griffin Entertainment and distributor Program Partners, has been renewed for season two in 40 of the top 50US markets, despite not so strong ratings this season. Twentieth Television's The Morning Show With Mike and Juliet received a pickup for a sophomore season as well.
- On the heels of the ratings success of MGM and Reveille's hit reality series American Gladiators on NBC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.'s (MGM) domestic television distribution operation is bringing Gladiators 2000, the kids competition series starring a young Ryan Seacrest in off-network syndication.
Gladiators 2000 is a half-hour series, which was shot in the 90's as a companion to the original American Gladiators. In the series, teens compete in games that challenge their physical abilities as well as their knowledge of nutrition, fitness and the human body. MGM is offering 39 episodes of the show at NATPE.
- Court show queen Judge Judy Sheindlin has inked a new multi-year deal with CBS Television Distribution to continue with her strip, Judge Judy, and the CBS Television Stations group has renewed the top-rated court show for another two seasons, taking it through 2012.
- MGM said Monday that it picked up distribution rights to Ron Hazelton's HouseCalls from Tribune. The home-improvement series, currently in its ninth season, is cleared in more than 70% of the country and MGM is looking to line up clearance for the next two seasons during the National Association of Television Program Executives' show in Las Vegas this week. MGM will sell 22 new episodes for each of the next two seasons of the half-hour, as well as nine years' worth of library episodes.
- Disney/ABC Domestic Television will bring Wizard's First Rule to first-run syndication this fall as a one-hour weekly series. It is based on Terry Goodkind's best-selling epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth. 22 episodes will be for sale. 35% of the country has been cleared, with Tribune stations the high buyer. Tribune's stations include WPIX in New York; KTLA in Los Angeles; WGN in Chicago; WPHL in Philadelphia; KDAF in Dallas; WDCW in Washington, D.C.; KHCW in Houston; KCPQ/KMYQ in Seattle; WSFL in Miami–Ft. Lauderdale; KWGN in Denver; KTXL in Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.; KPLR in St. Louis; KRCW in Portland, Ore.; WTTV/WXIN in Indianapolis; KSWB in San Diego; WTIC/WTXX in Hartford-New Haven, Conn.; WXMI in Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.; WPMT in Harrisburg-Lancaster-Lebanon-York, Pa.; and WGNO/WNOL in New Orleans.
- Twentieth Television has cleared Bones to 45% of the country. The off-net drama now is in more than 20 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia for a launch in fall 2009 and it will air on weekends. Station clearances include Fox Television Stations' WNYW/WWOR in New York, KTTV/KCOP in Los Angeles, WFLD/WPWR in Chicago, WTXF in Philadelphia, WFXT in Boston, KDFW/KDFI in Dallas, WTTG/WDCA in Washington, D.C., WAGA in Atlanta, KRIV/KTXH in Houston, WJBK in Detroit, KSAZ/KUTP in Phoenix, KMSP/WFTC in Minneapolis, WOFL/WRBW in Orlando, Fla., WUTB in Baltimore and KTBC in Austin, Texas; Tribune's KCPQ/KMYQ in Seattle, KTXL in Sacramento, Calif., KRCW in Portland, Ore., and KSWB in San Diego; the CBS Station Group's KPIX/KBCW in San Francisco; and Bahakel’s WCCB in Charlotte, N.C.

By the end of the week we will try to list everything that is coming to syndication this fall (2008). Sitcoms, weekly dramas, talk shows, court shows, game shows, first-run shows, and more! So come on back!

We have highlights of Nick at Nite February 2008 finally for you. There are no regular schedule changes, which means you'll still get your favorite shows at the same time. Tune into Nick at Nite for love-themed episodes of your favorite Nick at Nite shows...Home Improvement, George Lopez and Fresh Prince from 9p-12a the week of February 11-14 for I Heart Nick at Nite Week part of a Crush stunt on Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite.
From Monday, February 25 through Sunday, March 2, 2008, it is Home Improvement Week! Tune in all-night long M-Th, 10-6am, F-Sat, 11-6 and Sun, 10-6 for a hearty dose of Home Improvement. Watch George Lopez each night leading into the Wall-to-Wall Home Improvement week! Whoppppah!! Click HERE to view and discuss the February Nick at Nite highlights!
Many of you have asked, so I will state it here. Family Matters IS coming to Nick at Nite in March! Yes, catch Urkel in primetime all over again. We will have details in the coming weeks. I can also confirm to you that ABC Family will lose the rights to the show at the end of this month, so Feb. 29 will be the last airing. More details on ABC Family March will come shortly.

Day 36: WGA's Strike; Minor TBS Schedule Change; ION Not Airing Kung Fu

It is now day 36 and there seems to be no end in sight for this strike. Late on Friday, we received this statement from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers: "We're disappointed to report that talks between the AMPTP and WGA have broken down yet again. Quite frankly, we're puzzled and disheartened by an ongoing WGA negotiating strategy that seems designed to delay or derail talks rather than facilitate an end to this strike. Union negotiators in our industry have successfully concluded 306 major agreements with the AMPTP since its inception in 1982. The WGA organizers sitting across the table from us have never concluded even one industry accord. Their Quixotic pursuit of radical demands led them to begin this strike, and now has caused this breakdown in negotiations. We hope that the WGA will come back to this table with a rational plan that can lead us to a fair and equitable resolution to a strike that is causing so much distress for so many people in our industry and community."
And the WGA told us this on Friday: "Today, after three days of discussions, the AMPTP came back to us with a proposal that included a total rejection of our proposal on Internet streaming of December 3. They are holding to their offer of a $250 fixed residual for unlimited one year streaming after a six-week window of free use. They still insist on the DVD rate for Internet downloads. They refuse to cover original material made for new media. We remain ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high. We were prepared to counter their proposal tonight, and when any of them are ready to return to the table, we're here, ready to make a fair deal."
I don't care who to believe. I just want this over NOW! ABC will be releasing their January strike schedule this week. We will let you know when that happens! So come on back!

TBS has made some minor schedule changes effective Monday, December 24. Many viewers have complained about the constant airings of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on many channels (Nick at Nite, The N, and TBS), well now you might be just a little bit relieved. TBS is moving the show out of 3-4pm weekdays into 9-10am weekdays. I guess that is a start. TBS is wishing us a Merry Christmas by doing this...their present to us. With this change, the morning movie will go from 9-11am to 10am-12pm, thus the Home Improvement block will be shifted from 11am-1pm to 12pm-2pm which will move Yes, Dear from 1-2pm to 3-4pm. Say that ten times fast. Click HERE to view the changes and to discuss them. These changes are only for the cable TBS...not Peachtree TV in Atlanta and Canada.

In other scheduling news, ION Television was slated to bring back Kung Fu to Saturday nights at 6pm starting Dec. 15, but that will not happen anymore. NFL Game of the Week highlights will continue to air the rest of the month until the NFL season is over. So maybe Kung Fu will return in January? We will let you know. We should have January this week, if all goes well. So you'll want to come on back for that! The only thing announced is The Drew Carey Show weeknights 9-10pm.

It is still early in the day...if we have more news, we will return for sure.

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.

More Nick at Nite Halloween Stunts, November Highlights; ION Brings Back Murder; TV Land Goes Frankenstein

All last week Nick at Nite had Halloween stunts 9-10pm with Home Improvement and various shows in the 11pm hour. They had actually a night of Halloween episodes last night from 9pm-12am, with Full House, Fresh Prince, Home Improvement, The Cosby Show, and a full-hour of Roseanne. On Halloween night this Wednesday they will have another block of Halloween episodes from 9pm-12am with Home Improvement, George Lopez, Fresh Prince, another Home Improvement, The Cosby Show & Roseanne.
That is a lot of Halloween episodes this year...very strange but good I guess. Spooky.
Anyway, moving on to November, we have a few stunts as well, as of now. On Sunday, November 18, it's a night of Family Secrets on Nick at Nite and all will be revealed eventually, even if that's not the plan! Did Theo get his ears pierced? Did Benny get a boob job? Find that all out on Nov. 18 from 9pm-12am. Shhhhhh!
Got nothing to be Thankful for? Now you do! Join Nick at Nite for a night of Thanksgiving themed episodes on Wednesday, November 21.
Finally, come join Nick at Nite for a night of family fun theatrical movies of all Rugrats from 9pm-1:30am!
For more on November and to discuss this, click HERE.

ION has made another minor change for November. Starting Tuesday, November 6, Diagnosis Murder will return at 10pm replacing Sue Thomas F.B.eye on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. 48 Hours will still air Monday and Thursdays at 10. Will Diagnosis Murder ever leave? It's been on and off forever on that channel, when it was PAX, i, and now ION.

TV Land is celebrating the Broadway opening of Mel Brooks' new musical Young Frankenstein with a series of events on-air, online and off-air. TVLand.com, the network's revamped website, is offering a trip to New York City to see the highly anticipated production and will feature original interviews with the Broadway cast including Megan Mullally, Andrea Martin and more. TV Land will also show the network premiere of the original 1974 comedic masterpiece, Young Frankenstein, as part of TV Land's Friday night programming block, Movieland, the network will air the classic Oscar-nominated movie Young Frankenstein on Friday, November 2 at 10PM ET/PT, with an encore on Saturday, November 3 at 1PM ET/PT.

Nick at Nite Adds Halloween Stunts; CBS Pulls Viva Laughlin

Nick at Nite is getting ready for Halloween this week! They have added Home Improvement Halloween episodes all this week from 9-10pm. The 11pm hour this week will be like a Halloween Candy Bag, you'll never know what you'll find. They will be all Halloween episodes, though. Catch episodes of Home Improvement, Roseanne, Full House, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Cosby Show.
Also, Nick at Nite doesn't want you to be watching horror movies late at night, so instead, all this week from 3-6am find yourself watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Many viewers are probably scared by the overplaying of that show, though.
They will have some more Halloween stunts, which we will detail later on. This is just for Mon-Thurs of this week. Come on back!

New CBS musical drama Viva Laughlin didn't live long. The network announced Monday that it was canceling the show after it garnered a most unimpressive 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demo with its premiere Thursday night and a 1.2 overnight rating in what was to be its regular time slot Sunday at 8 p.m.
In its place, CBS said The Amazing Race will start its engine Nov. 4. On Oct. 28, Laughlin will be replaced by a repeat episode of CSI.

Tonight is sitcoms galore on three networks--CBS, The CW and ABC. CBS and The CW have their four comedies each tonight starting at 8/7 central and on ABC it is the #1 comedy on television after one week, Christina Applegate in Samantha Who. The addictive new comedy airs at 9:30/8:30 central on ABC!

AmericanLife Adds Batman, Trapper John, Lou Grant, Green Hornet and More; Nick at Nite Starts With Fresh

AmericanLife TV Network, the cable network devoted to the Baby Boomer generation, debuts lots of new shows including three new action and adventure programs this October on its primetime program schedule. Mission: Impossible premieres on Monday, October 1, and Batman and Green Hornet follow on Friday, October 5.
Mission: Impossible (Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET /PT) premiered in 1966 and aired for seven years. The series stars Greg Morris, Peter Lupus, Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Bob Johnson, who was the voice on the tape that intoned, "Your mission, should you decide to accept it..." Mission: Impossible chronicles the adventures of a secret government agency tasked with conducting covert missions, including freeing hostages, releasing war weapons and solving international mysteries. The series won numerous awards, including three Golden Globe Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show.
Batman (Fridays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT), based on the comic book series, follows Batman and his sidekick Robin as they fight Gotham City’s villains. Starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, the series also attracted A-list Hollywood talent to play the roles of the villains: Frank Gorshin and John Astin as The Riddler, Burgess Meredith as The Penguin, Cesar Romero as The Joker, Victor Buono as King Tut, Vincent Price as Egghead and Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt as Catwoman. Batman premiered in 1966 on ABC and aired four years.
Green Hornet (Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET /PT) stars Van Williams as Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher who becomes the masked hero to fight criminals. He is assisted by his secretary, Lenore "Casey" Case (Wende Wagner), and Asian valet and martial arts expert Kato (Bruce Lee). Only airing for one season in 1966, this series marked Lee's debut on American television.
AmericanLife will be adding lots of other ner series this month as well. The other new shows are: Lou Grant, Trapper John M.D., Rat Patrol, 12 O'Clock High, Big Valley, and Burke's Law.
With all these new shows coming from the Fox and Paramount libraries, the Warner Bros. library will be leaving. The shows leaving are: 77 Sunset Strip, China Beach, Gallant Men, I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The F.B.I., Our Gang, Adventures of Superman, My Favorite Martian, F Troop, Chico and the Man, Welcome Back Kotter and Lawman. The Warner Bros. deal has lasted quite a while on the network, so you all should have taped your shows while you had the chance.
For the full list of changes and to discuss these changes, I urge you to click HERE!

Other highlights for October include a Halloween-themed special (Nancy Kerrigan's Halloween on Ice) and classic television series featuring guest star appearances by several television and film celebrities.

Thursday, October 4
The Time Tunnel: Carroll O'Connor guests in "Last Patrol" (9:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Sunday, October 7
St. Elsewhere: Judith Light guest stars in "Dog Day Hospital" (8:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Thursday, October 11
Lost in Space: Warren Oates guest stars in "Welcome Stranger" (8:00 p.m. ET/PT).
The Time Tunnel: Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn guests in "Crack of Doom" (9:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Friday, October 12
Mission: Impossible: Lloyd Bridges guest stars in "Fakeout" (8:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Sunday, October 14
Mission: Impossible: William Smithers guests in "The Ransom" (8:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Wednesday, October 17
Combat!: James Coburn guests alongside ex-heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Marciano, making his television acting debut, in "Masquerade" (7:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Saturday, October 20
The Big Valley: Mary Astor guest stars in "Who Killed Cable Roberts?" (6:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Monday, October 22
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Vic Tayback guests in "Second Story Story" (9:00 p.m. ET /PT).

Wednesday, October 24
Trapper John, M.D.: Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress Shelley Long guest stars in "The Shattered Image" (10:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Thursday, October 25
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Richard Carlson guest stars in "The Village of Guilt" (10:00 p.m. ET /PT).

Friday, October 26
Combat!: Actor and director Ron Howard guests in "What Are the Bugles Blown For? Part I" (7:00 p.m. ET /PT) (Part two airs Monday, October 29 at 7 p.m. ET /PT).

Nick at Nite will be kicking off each night this week with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, replacing one of the Home Improvement airings. No other changes will be made. Maybe Fresh is coming into boost the ratings a bit? We'll see, but as of now it is just for this week...but that could change.

Don't forget tonight to tune in to the series premiere of Aliens in America on The CW, along with the rest of the season premieres of The CW Monday comedies. And if that is not all, it is week two of the CBS Monday comedies! The fun starts 8/7 central on both CBS and The CW. Watch and TiVo!
8:30pm will be a busy slot as Perfect Strangers launches on ION tonight! Get out of the city!

Some Nick at Nite Changes for the Week; Florence Henderson Back on the 'Brady' Set

Nick at Nite has extended the marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for another two nights. The marathon was slated to end after tonight, but now will continue on Friday and Saturday from 12am-5am ET/PT. Also, due to this change, tomorrow George Lopez will air 10-11pm then Home Improvement from 11-12. And finally, the Home Improvement marathon on Sunday is a bit longer how. Originally slated for 9pm-3:30am, now it will be 9pm-5am. An 8 hour event!

Agion, a global leader in naturally safe antimicrobial solutions for healthcare, has launched the That's Revolting! viral video site (www.ThatsRevolting.com) starring Florence Henderson, America s favorite TV mom. Shot on the original (but reconfigured) set of the classic '70s TV sitcom that made Henderson an American icon, That's Revolting! features Henderson as the mom in a whacked family that s inadvertently passing microbes to each other in a series of over-the-top comedic videos. Florence also plays the perennially cheerful host, who urges web viewers to Spot the Germs before family members get ill with everything from Flesh Eating Bacteria to Salmonella. It's fun for the whole family!

Tonight NBC will have one-hour season premieres of their two best sitcoms...My Name is Earl and The Office. The smart laughter starts at 8/7 central on NBC.
Also returning tonight at 8/7 central is the one-hour comedy Ugly Betty on ABC leading into the #1 scripted show Grey's Anatomy.
The only new show that will premiere tonight is Big Shots at 10/9 central on ABC. I have seen the pilot, so I'll give you my take. The series is like a male Desperate Housewives. We have four male leads, just like how we have 4 female leads on DH. Michael Vartan, Christopher Titus, Joshua Malina and Dylan McDermott star in this all-star cast. All four are high profile New York CEO's and have some women trouble. Vartan's character, James, learns a secret about his wife. Titus' character, Brody, is happily married...or is he? Malina's character, Karl, is having an affair. And McDermott's character, Duncan, is divorced but is about to be hit with a scandal involving a transvestite hooker. Can these four men balance between the boardroom and bedroom? This show is a dream come true for those upscale viewers!
The show has funny moments and some serious juice, but is not as good as Desperate Housewives yet. I think following Grey's Anatomy, this show will certainly be sampled, and I'm sure many (especially the women) will stick to see Vartan and McDermott. It is not bad of a pilot, but the series needs to get better for viewers to stick. Try it for at least 3 weeks, then make your decision...don't do the "one and done." Many did that for Brothers & Sisters, and now that show is among the best shows out there in quality.

TV Land Brings Back Brady Bunch...For Now, Nick at Nite Notes; TBS Gets Earl Window; More Notes

This might be just for two weeks, but The Brady Bunch is coming back to TV Land. The Brady Bunch has been added to the schedule airing Tues-Fri at 11am starting Tuesday, October 2. It might be just for weeks of Oct. 1 and 8 (replacing a second Green Acres), as Designing Women is slated to still launch Tues-Fri at 11am starting Oct. 15. We will keep you up to date. As the theme song starts, "here's a story," this certainly is a story to watch!
Meanwhile, if you haven't noticed, but since Saturday, Nick at Nite has added a last minute Fresh Prince of Bel-Air marathon. It is a 6 night marathon that will run through Thursday. 11pm-5am each night (Saturday it was 12-5am). Home Improvement and George Lopez are still kicking off each night. And speaking of Home Improvement, it will get a 9pm-3:30am marathon this Sunday (Sept. 30).

We've mentioned before that TBS has gotten the 5-days a week syndication rights to the NBC sitcom My Name is Earl starting Fall 2009, but now we have some more good news. Starting this April, they can air the series back-to-back one night a week, like they do with shows like House of Payne. So Earl will get a sneak peek a full 1 1/2 years before its syndication launch!

Emmy voters have spoken and now viewers have a chance to catch up on the NBC Emmy Award-winning comedy 30 Rock, when Bravo airs a six episode mini-marathon on Sunday, September 30th from 1:00 4:00 PM ET/ PT. Six sure-to-become classic episodes of the critically acclaimed comedy will include fan favorites featuring Paul Reubens as a bizarre foreign prince, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) getting set up on a blind date with a lesbian, and Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) becoming an NBC page for a day. 30 Rock is told through the comedic voice of Fey playing Liz Lemon, who heads the variety show TGS while clashing with the ever-meddling head honcho Jack Donaghy.
30 Rock, with special guest star Jerry Seinfeld, premieres Thursday, October 4th at 8:30 PM ET/PT on NBC.
And finally, Firebrand TV is finally rescheduled on ION. It will start Monday, Oct. 22 airing weeknights at 11pm. Full details, click HERE.

Labor Day Marathons; New Bug, Logo, Website for Nick at Nite Debuting Tonight

Happy Labor Day everyone! Go enjoy the day outside, but if you must stay inside, I'm sure you'll like one of these marathons at least. Here is our usual holiday marathon look:
Besides the Jerry Lewis Telethon, there are other marathons out there. Home Improvement week launches tonight on Nick at Nite.
Spike TV will have a CSI marathon, while A&E will do a CSI: Miami marathon. Disney Channel will showcase the sitcom The Suite Life of Zach & Cody from 10am-8pm. TV One will have a Cedric the Entertainer Presents marathon starting at 12pm. G4 will do a Cops marathon starting at noon, while Oxygen will air the short lived drama Pasadena. ABC Family will present the first nine episodes from the second season of Kyle XY from 11am-8pm, leading up to the season finale at 8pm. TNT will present The Closer from 10am-9pm, leading up to a new episode at 9pm. FX will have a morning King of the Hill marathon followed by a Damages marathon from 3-8pm, a five-episode marathon that begins with the series pilot. USA Network started a Law & Order: SVU marathon at 6am that will run until 7pm. Hallmark looks for murder with a Murder, She Wrote marathon that starts at 8am. TV Land will present a two-part episodes of Gunsmoke marathon from 12-6pm. On Sci-Fi, it is a Dead Like Me marathon from 8am-6pm. SOAPnet goes to The O.C. with seven episodes about Summer explore her relationship with Seth, her high-school years and her transformation at college. Rachel Bilson stars.MTV will showcase America's Next Top Model from 9am-9pm. On Bravo, pro tennis player Mark Philippoussis goes for a love match in an eight-episode block of the dating-competition show Age of Love from 8am-4pm, followed by Top Chef, the culinary drama boils over in a block of six Season 3 episodes from 4pm-10pm. CourtTV will be patrolling the beach in Beach Patrol from 9am-6pm. BET will have a block of episodes of the faux reality dating show Hell Date from 9am-1:30pm featuring actors and actresses appearing as potentially perfect partners. E! will showcase Sunset Tan and Dr. 90210 from 8am-5pm. Discovery Channel will air an all-day marathon of Dirty Jobs from 9am-12am...wow. TLC will air the series Little People, Little World from 9am-8pm. History Channel will air The Universe from 8am-8pm. Animal Planet will showcase a daughter and father marathon, first up is Bindi the Jungle Girl from 8-11am, followed by her late father's classic series The Crocodile Hunter from 11am-8pm. On HGTV, seven episodes of the design competition Design Star will air starting at noon. First up: the contestants are chosen from thousands of applicants.
Hope you found something at least! Movies are on TBS, Comedy Central, and Lifetime if you can't find anything.

Nick at Nite will have a new logo. It looks similar to Nickelodeon's. Their website has changed it already, but the new look and bug will likely premiere tonight when Home Improvement launches on the network. So take a look on air and on the website!

Important Nick at Nite and TV Land Schedule Changes; RTN in Reno in January

Well it's not that important. Nick at Nite's changes are a bit important though. We gave you the September fall schedule a few days back. Nick at Nite has since altered that just a bit. They will air America's Funniest Home Videos after all. Every night at 4:30am, replacing one of the Home Improvement encores. The other changes are really on Fri-Sat. Fridays will get a little bit of a change from 10pm-1am. Originally it was back-to-back Home Improvement, George Lopez, and Fresh Prince. Now it will be one Home Improvement, one George Lopez, back-to-back Home Improvement at 11, Fresh Prince at 12 and another George at 12:30am. Weird...because Saturdays 10pm-1am it is not like that. Fresh Prince encores were slated Fri-Sat nights 3-4am, now it will be the same as Sun-Thurs, which is Roseanne and Cosby Show.
So, let's go back to the September schedule to see the fully updated schedule that will start Sept. 10.
In other Nick at Nite news, the movie Grease will air again tonight pre-empting programming from 9pm-11:30pm.
Moving on to TV Land, not many changes really, it is just minor stuff. The Saturday line-up for this Saturday only, September 1, will be changed a bit. We get a Sanford & Son afternoon-thon from 1-4pm, followed by three movies until 10pm, then Andy Griffith mini-marathon will air until 1:10am. I guess this is for Labor Day weekend. Click here to view this change.
The week of Sept. 17, What's Happening Now!! will return for a week at 7am. I guess because M*A*S*H will be airing a lot that week, with the anniversary marathon.

RTN is now coming to Reno, NV! They announced that it has entered into an agreement with COX Broadcasting to bring RTN programming to Reno, NV. The new affiliate will launch Jan. 7, 2008, on a digital channel of COX's KRXI-TV, a FOX affiliate that reaches more than 260,000 households in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.
"RTN-Reno viewers will delight in seeing a young Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Francisco, one of the original procedurals that spawned many of today's hit shows," said Mark Dvornik, Executive Vice President of RTN, "and they will enjoy hearing Robin Leach say 'champagne wishes and caviar dreams' in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous on their very own 'Prime Time all the Time' schedule."

Nick at Nite's September Schedule; RTN in Albany Now

As promised, we will give you the Nick at Nite September schedule. The schedule is broken up into two periods, Sun-Thurs and Fri-Sat. Fri-Sat is really the same as Sun-Thurs but an hour later. Home Improvement, which will get a week-long marathon Sept. 3-9 (9p-5a each night), will kick-off the night by airing from 9-10pm starting Sept. 10. George Lopez will premiere after that airing 10-11pm. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air follows the two newcomers, which will both likely do very well, from 11pm-12am. From midnight to 3am, we get the same three shows again. Then at 3am we get Roseanne and at 3:30am The Cosby Show. Wow...both of those have been heavily reduced, especially Roseanne! At 4am we get Full House and 4:30am another slot of Home Improvement. 5am will be the wheel of shows again, with Mad About You being added to the wheel now. Finally, 5:30am will remain Full House. So, what about Fri-Sat? OK, Home Improvement, George Lopez, Fresh Prince will kick-it off from 10pm-1am, and again from 1am-4am. Then 4-5am we get yet another Home Improvement hour (its third hour!). 5-6am will be the same as Sun-Thurs. America's Funniest Home Videos will be gone. Confused? See our September schedule and you can share your thoughts there as well.

RTN has been added to another city now! If you live in these area and don't have digital cable, there this a good reason for you to get digital cable so you can watch RTN on the DT feeds of these channels. They announced today that it plans to launch a new affiliate on the digital channel of Albany's ABC station, adding more than 550,000 households to RTN's rapidly expanding footprint.
The new network will launch Oct. 1 on WTEN-TV, a Young Broadcasting station that serves upstate New York, western Massachusetts and southern Vermont. Shows like Matlock, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii 5-0 and Streets of San Francisco are expected.

Nick at Nite Details Home Improvement and George Lopez Launches; Disney Channel Fall and Some Lifetime Changes

This September, Nick at Nite brings two of America's favorite family comedies to living rooms across the country when award-winning series, Home Improvement and George Lopez join the networks' Fall line-up.
Home Improvement, starring America's #1 family movie star Tim Allen, premieres with a seven-day marathon on Monday, September 3 running through Sunday, September 9 from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. (ET/PT). Tim Allen will host the week-long marathon for one-hour every evening from 9-10 p.m. offering viewers a look at his favorite episodes with anecdotes from behind-the-scenes of the celebrated series.
George Lopez, starring famed comedian George Lopez, promptly follows the week after, premiering Monday, September 10, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). The executive producers of The Drew Carey Show -- Bruce Helford, Academy Award(R) winner Deborah Oppenheimer and Robert Borden -- team up with superstar actress/producer Sandra Bullock for this comedy loosely based on Lopez's own experiences as a Mexican-American native of Los Angeles.
We will have more on Nick at Nite September very soon!

Disney Channel has released their fall line-up, which starts on Sept. 4, and it looks like there will be no Boy Meets World! The sitcom will be leaving the line-up after its August 31 airing. The sitcom also airs on ABC Family currently, and they also will remove it after that day. So, it seems to me that maybe the contract expired? We will try to find out. In case anyone is wondering the full schedule, I won't detail it here, but you can view the complete schedule HERE! Yes, it still has your favorite Disney tween sitcoms like Hannah Montana, That's So Raven, The Suite Life, Cory in the House, etc.
Disney is coming off a historical weekend when the TV movie sequel High School Musical 2 poured in a basic cable record of 17.2 million on Friday! I suggest you read about that here because this is TV history.

Lifetime has moved around their once a week repeats of current dramas once again. Grey's Anatomy now airs Saturdays at 11PM ET/PT and Desperate Housewives follows at 12AM ET/PT. Medium now airs Sundays at 11PM ET/PT.

Schedule Updates for TV Land and Nick at Nite; Who's the Boss? Scores for ION!

Late on Friday both TV Land and Nick at Nite issued schedule changes. TV Land will make some changes effective Monday, August 20. The Summer Cocktail Party marathons will be ending. Changes include, M*A*S*H coming to mornings also now from 7-8am on weekdays but Wednesdays will be What's Happening Now!!, Cheers moves up a half-hour to 8am Tues-Fri, All in the Family at 8:30am Tues-Fri, The Jeffersons & Leave it to Beaver round out the morning schedule from 9-10am Tues-Fri. Mon-Thurs primetime will also change a bit: The Jeffersons from 9-10pm, Sanford & Son from 10-11pm, and M*A*S*H from 11p-12a (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition remains on Tues). Mon-Fri late night will now be Sanford & Son at 12:05am, back to back Three's Company, The Jeffersons, and Good Times from 12:35am-4am. On Tuesday nights, the times are on time, so the extra half-hour at 1:30am is The Munsters, its only slot now. Another Sanford & Son at 4am, All in the Family at 4:30am, and back to back I Love Lucy (Mon-Thurs, The Andy Griffith Show is on Fridays) from 5-6am. Weekend changes include Green Acres at 8am and back to back Leave it to Beaver episodes from 9-10am.
These changes are likely to spill over to September, but afternoons will be altered a bit as the Elvis movie will not be there in September. For now view these August 20 changes by clicking HERE!

Nick at Nite's change is for the week of Aug. 13. The wall to wall summer marathon that week is now The Cosby Show instead of Full House. We will have their September line-up shortly with new shows Home Improvement and George Lopez.

Tony Micelli and the gang have made their mark on ION Television...big time! ION Television scored a homerun for its launch of the 80s sitcom Who's the Boss? starring Tony Danza, Judith Light, and Alyssa Milano. Who cares about the Barry Bonds record, as Tony Micelli has been doing it longer than Barry.
Primetime airings of Who's the Boss? have delivered significant ratings increases among key adult demographics on ION Television. In the first two weeks following the popular program's July 9 debut, viewership in its 9-10 PM timeslot season-to-date increased 41 percent in women 25-54, and 33 percent in adults 25-54.
During the weeks of July 9 and 16, Who's the Boss? delivered 175,000 household impressions for women 25-54, and 259,000 impressions for adults 25-54, the highest weekly impressions performance in the 9-10 PM hour season-to-date.
Benefiting from a solid Who's the Boss? lead-in, Wonder Years enjoyed a six percent ratings increase in households and women 25-54 in its 10-11 PM timeslot during the weeks of July 9 and 16, representing a season-to-date increase of 22 percent.
We hope to have ION Television's September lineup this week...maybe by tomorrow. So come on back!

TBS September 2007 Schedule, The Office on Tuesdays, 'Sex' All Week-Long; My Boys Scores on TBS

TBS has released its September 2007 schedule and it will feature some changes. The week of September 3 has some minor changes, which are just filler until the new line-up that starts on September 10. Let's start with the filler stuff. Sept. 4, 5, 6 and 7 NewsRadio returns for 4 days in the noon slot followed by The Cosby Show at 12:30pm. The other filler stuff is very minor, and you can take a look at that in our link at the end of this story.
Let's move on to the September 10 line-up. The Steve Harvey Show is moving from its afternoon slots to 6 & 6:30am, replacing The Cosby Show which will now move to the dreaded approx. 5:30am slot, where it will not air everyday. Saved by the Bell continues to air its two-hour block from 7-9am. The morning movie will move from 10am-12pm to 9am-11am now. Dawson's Creek which was at 9am will move to the dreaded approx. 4:30am slot, which like Cosby Show, will not be everyday. Home Improvement will get a two-hour block from 11am-1pm. Yes, Dear moves from late afternoon to early afternoon at 1-2pm. Just Shoot Me, which premieres August 6, will move from 1-2pm to 2-3pm. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air moves to an hour later at 3-4pm. The King of Queens will take over the 4-5pm slot followed by an hour of Seinfeld at 5-6pm. Friends will air at 6pm followed by a triple shot of Everybody Loves Raymond from 6:30pm-8pm.
Primetime will also be changing. Friends will kick-off Mondays and Thursdays with back-to-back episodes from 8-9pm. On Mondays it will lead into Family Guy from 9-11pm and on Thursdays a movie from 9-11pm. Tuesdays will see a Family Guy block from 8-10pm and then starting September 18 The Office will air Tuesdays 10-11pm. Wednesdays will see a House of Payne marathon from 8-10pm followed by back-to-back Family Guy episodes 10-11pm. Finally, Fridays will have Everybody Loves Raymond kick-off the night leading into Dinner and a Movie.
Effective week of September 17, you can now catch Sex and the City five nights a week on TBS at 11 & 11:30PM! Seinfeld will get the late Tuesday slot of 11:59PM and 12:30AM, while movies will air the rest of the week. Other notes: Parent'hood is missing from the schedule because its contract has expired. Drew Carey Show has also expired, as we noted in the August changes.
No word yet if this is indeed the Fall schedule or not, as usually TBS launches its fall schedule in October. We shall find out and when we do, we will let you know. So for now click HERE to view a list of these changes!

Sticking with TBS, the season premiere of original sitcom My Boys scored well for TBS last night. Continuing to ride a wave of comedy success, TBS has triumphed once again on the original comedy series front. Last night's return of the critically acclaimed sitcom My Boys scored extremely well with young adults, garnering a median age of 29. The show also outdelivered the series' November 2006 series premiere among adults 18-34 and scored an extraordinary 43% growth in that demographic when compared to the show's 2006 13-episode average. Last night's episodes averaged more than 1.6 million viewers, nearly half of them among the key adults 18-34 demographic. My Boys airs Mondays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), exclusively on TBS.
Other ratings highlights for the return of My Boys on TBS:
- Combined, last night’s back-to-back episodes averaged 801,000 adults 18-34, a 43% jump over last year's 559,000 premiere average for the first 13 episodes in that demographic. Last night's episodes also averaged 1,176,000 adults 18-49, up 12% vs. premiere telecasts of the show in 2006 (1,052,000).
- Demonstrating the successful strategy of stacking episodes to provide stronger flow, the 10:30 p.m. episode of My Boys last night showed growth over its lead-in 10 p.m. episode, with adults 18-34 up 4% and adults 18-49 up 6%.
- With My Boys joining the list, TBS now claims ad-supported cable's Top 8 sitcoms for the year to date among adults 18-49, with Tyler Perry's House of Payne ranking #1, The Bill Engvall Show ranking #2 and My Boys ranking #6. Rounding out the list are Friends (#3), Seinfeld (#4), Everybody Loves Raymond (#5), King of Queens (#7) and Sex and the City (#8).

WGN Fall 2007 Schedule; TCA 2007 Summer Tour: ABC Day 2

Well, now fall schedules for cable will be on the horizon. The first one we will take a look at is WGN. WGN will be adding some new programs this fall, returning a classic, and dropping a few shows. The new series they are adding to the weekday line-up are Nash Bridges, Sister Sister, Corner Gas, and The Steve Wilkos Show. Airing weekends will be Reno 911, Chappelle's Show and Whacked-Out Sports. The series that will make its way back on WGN is...Happy Days! They will air it late nights/early mornings at 4:30am and 5am ET. With all the new shows and the returning Happy Days, some shows will be leaving. The contracts have expired for Home Improvement, Magnum P.I., and Sex and the City, thus they can't air them anymore. Taking a leave of absence is Moesha, which is still under contract through fall 2009, but will be benched this fall on WGN. The Greg Behrendt Show has been canceled so of course it will not be returning on WGN.
To see the FULL 7-day Fall 2007 schedule, I urge you to click HERE!

Moving on to the final day of the 2007 Summer TCA Tour, it is ABC's second day. Up at the panel today are the cast & crew of: Nightline, i-Caught, GRΣΣK, Kyle XY, Samantha Who?, MEN IN TREES, Private Practice, and Big Shots. Basically they gave us some hints on what to expect and answered questions. MEN IN TREES had 5 episodes leftover from last season, since it hasn't aired since like February, a new episodes will be created to air before these 5 to remind people of the show.
The Lost panel at Comic-Con is at 5pm PT today, so no news yet!

Nick at Nite August Highlights; CBS Schedule Change

Nick at Nite will continue the wall-to-wall summer marathons in August. Wall-to-Wall Marathons are marathons of one show all-night long (9:30pm-5am). Here are the marathons for August, always subject to change knowing Nick at Nite:
Week of August 6: Roseanne
Week of August 13: Full House (Mon-Fri), Fresh Prince (Sat-Sun)
Week of August 20: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
No word yet if August 27 will also have a marathon or not or if the marathons ends after August 26.
Home Improvement and George Lopez join the Nick at Nite family sitcom line-up this fall. More to come on those.

CBS has issued an urgent program advisory effective tonight. 48 Hours Mystery will replace Pirate Master, effective tonight (Tuesday, July 24) at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.
The remaining five episodes of Pirate Master will be streamed on CBS.com every Tuesday starting tomorrow beginning at 3:00 AM ET/12:00 AM PT. Pirate Master will also be made available to partners of the CBS Audience Network.

Diff'rent Strokes Reruns Come to Atlanta TBS; Fresh Week on The N; Preview of Our Exclusive Interview with AmericanLife TV!

Effective yesterday (Monday, June 4), WTBS-17 in Atlanta added the hit '80s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes to its line-up from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Yes, three episodes in a row! It is unfortunate that only people in the Atlanta metro area can see this because the national feed of TBS airs Fresh Prince and Home Improvement in those slots.
WTBS-17 was airing Home Improvement up until the end of last week, but the local channel deal expired. So, even if you're not from Atlanta, check your local listings on when Home Improvement was airing, because now it is gone from all locals and will be exclusive to cable (airing on TBS and WGN, and Nick at Nite come this fall).
And why isn't Fresh Prince on WTBS-17 in Atlanta? Again that show is exclusive to cable now, too. It airs on Nick at Nite, The N and TBS.
Well, anyway, I just hope we get Diff'rent Strokes back nationwide. Let's hope the national TBS feed airs the show. Even if it is 4am or 5am, that would do! Lucky people in Atlanta...'the world don't move to the beat of just one drum' for them!

And if you have not gotten sick of Will Smith's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, then think again, because The N will have a nightly marathon all next week from 12-3am, which is of course all in addition to its regular slots on the network.
The N seems to be having a rotating 12-3am block each week. Last week it was Growing Pains. This week it is Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and now next week it will be Fresh Prince.

Calling all classic TV and AmericanLife TV Network fans! You will want to come to the blog tomorrow as we will have an exclusive interview with the network on their programming plans! See what they have to say, as we have asked some very good questions. All classic TV fans might want to read this! Come back tomorrow to see this wonderful piece!