ER Comes to ION Television in June 2008; BET Schedule Changes, Includes Diff'rent Strokes and Different World Memorial Day Marathon

Today is ION Television's upfront! ION Television today announced a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to air seasons 11-14 of the long-running hit series ER on ION Television. The medical drama, which has earned more Primetime Emmy Award nominations than any other program in history, will debut in primetime on the network beginning this June. The show will enter its 15th and final season on NBC next season. We will have more on ER and ION June 2008 in the next week or so, so stay tuned! We also still have the interview with them planned, and hopefully we will know when next week.

BET has made some more schedule changes. And again it is better than before. First off, fans of Diff'rent Strokes and Malcolm & Eddie take note that the episodes will not encore later in the day anymore...but now we will get two new hours each! This started yesterday, so you need to watch or tape both hours immediately. So, Diff'rent Strokes airing 9-10am will not encore 3-4pm later in the day, but that 3-4pm will be new episodes! The same for Malcolm & Eddie...10-11am and 4-5pm are both new episodes. So we get four episodes a day rather than two! So, watch or tape/DVR both hours now. That is good news, I think.
Then, starting this Saturday (May 3), BET has added a sitcom block on Saturdays from 9am-1pm! From 9-10am it will be The Parkers, the Nickelodeon sitcoms Just Jordan and Romeo! will move up an hour to 10-11am and 11am-12pm, and finally closing out the block is two episodes of Diff'rent Strokes from 12-1pm...and yes, they will be new episodes, so you'll need to watch or tape/DVR these as well! Also on Saturday, May 3, we told you A Different World will get a mini marathon block from 8:30-10pm last week, but now it has been extended to 8-10pm...so an extra episode. The show will get weekly Sunday evening airings, but the times vary as I stated last week.
BET has also added Girlfriends for this Saturday only from 10-11pm and 2-3am, while A Different World will encore this Saturday from 3-4am for one time only, preempting Sanford.
Starting next Saturday night (May 10), In Living Color will return and air Saturday nights from 3-4am, replacing Sanford. Sanford fans don't worry because the show will return again to Sundays 12-1pm replacing The Parkers starting May 18, as The Parkers is now Saturdays 9-10am. Remember there is a Thea Mother's Day marathon on May 11 from 12pm-5pm. The marathon episodes of that will be episodes where they left off in the regular run, so we will get (in production order): #11 "Birthday Girl," #12 "Mama I'm Full," #13 "Good Stock," #14 "A Christmas Story," #15 "Danesha's Project," #16 "Who's Zooming Who?," #17 "Of Fish and Men," #18 "T.C.B.," #19 "Call Me Thea," and #20 "The Pie Queen and the Loan Duck," all from 12pm-5pm. So it seems they have aired about every episode of Thea after this...I think just 1 or 2 haven't been aired, so hopefully we get those soon.
Finally, this Memorial Day (Monday, May 26), BET will present a 'different' (or is it spelled Diff'rent?) kind of marathon for viewers! It is the Diff'rent Strokes and A Different World marathon! Diff'rent Strokes will air from 9am-7pm and A Different World from 7pm-3am. We will have episode info for both marathons in a few weeks, so stay tuned for that!

BET Schedule Change for Weekends; RTN Officially Announces Website; Under One Roof Premieres Tonight on MyNetworkTV

BET has made a slight schedule change for Saturday mornings starting Saturday, April 26. Thea was preempted last week (April 12) at the last minute for a Spring Bling special and this week (April 19) it was already slated to be preempted for the Malcolm & Eddie marathon from 9am-7pm...and now BET will remove Thea for now from the schedule. Back-to-back episodes of the Nickelodeon sitcom Romeo! will air on BET Saturday mornings from 9-10am starting Saturday, April 26 replacing Thea. Also, returning to BET on Saturday mornings is the Nickelodeon sitcom Just Jordan right after Romeo! on Saturdays from 10-11am, replacing Malcolm & Eddie on Saturdays only. Both former Nickelodeon shows are also currently re-airing on sister Viacom station The N as well.
All is not lost for Thea however. Thea's Mother's Day marathon is still slated for Sunday, May 11 from 12 noon to 5pm ET/PT. We will have episode info shortly. Let's hope Thea returns to the line-up shortly as well, so we can see all 22 episodes...I believe about 11 have aired so far.

We already told you about this, but RTN officially announced their website today. Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it has launched a new network website, www.RTNville.com. The website features extensive content about the network, including detailed show descriptions (for shows like Cheers, Happy Days) and a complete list of RTN affiliates. A large picture of Robin Leach on the welcome page (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) is also featured!
"We are thrilled to have a website that showcases RTN programming," said RTN's Neal Ardman. "I believe that RTNville.com is the perfect next step for our network."

Premiering tonight on MyNetwork TV is original sitcom Under One Roof starring Flavor Flav. We gave you the details back in February on what this show is about. The sitcom will air Wednesdays at 8:00pm ET/PT on MyNetwork TV. Tune in tonight as this is the first sitcom in the history of MyNetwork TV! Airing at 8:30pm ET/PT following Under One Roof episodes will be repeats of the classic Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color! The show currently airs in repeats on cable on BET during late nights but it returns to broadcast television in primetime with repeats on MyNetwork TV. MyNetwork TV is calling it The Best of In Living Color...so you'll have to tune in to see which episode airs. Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey, and Jennifer Lopez are among the stars of the show.
Also airing tonight of note are the returns of Fox sitcoms Back to You and 'Til Death from 8-9pm. ABC has probably the last debate between Obama and Clinton tonight from 8-10pm ET/PT...should be interesting. And TV Land premiere's new original series The Big 4-0 tonight at 10pm ET/PT.