2009 4th of July TV Marathons; Blog DVD Review: Matlock - The Third Season

As America celebrates its 233rd birthday, you can celebrate by watching television marathons of course! If you are not doing anything outdoors, what better way to celebrate? Among the marathons of course is the launch of Sister, Sister on BET, as we previously mentioned. The fun starts at 9am and runs all the way to 4am! TV Land will spend the day with classic marathons of Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith Show before its feuds and fireworks event with Roseanne for the night capper from 8pm-6am. TV One celebrates the holiday with Martin until 8pm. The N has over a 70-hour Degrassi marathon then continues today and tomorrow. So far all of these we have already announced in the past in our news reports. Hallmark Channel will celebrate with the Love's movie franchise all day today and tomorrow they will have Little House on the Prairie. On Friday they had M*A*S*H.
Elsewhere, what 4th of July would it be without The Twilight Zone on Sci-Fi? It started yesterday and will air all-day today until 6am Sunday morning! Reality is the way to go otherwise with Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel and The Revolution on History. Movie lovers might like the James Bond movie marathon on USA Network, and the movies on ABC Family, Lifetime, FX, and TNT.
It's not as many marathons as usual since the holiday is on a Saturday this year it seems.

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog programming:

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the blog DVD review! Today we take a look at CBS DVD's Matlock: The Third Season. Matlock of course is the very popular courtroom drama starring Andy Griffith that is often mentioned on The Simpsons as Grandpa Simpson's favorite show. See skees53's blog DVD review of Matlock: The Third Season:

Matlock: The Third Season (CBS DVD, $49.99) serves 20 episodes of justice to fans in a five disc DVD set. When you've been charged with a serious crime in Atlanta and you know you are innocent, you need the best. You need somebody that will play rough and dirty with the prosecutor. You need somebody that isn't afraid to go there. You need a man in a gray suit. You need Atlanta's finest, Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith).

The Third Season of Matlock is the season where we are introduced to a new neighbor and friend of Matlock, Les "Ace" Calhoun (Don Knotts). Knotts, of course, worked with Andy Griffith in the 1960s on the classic TV hit The Andy Griffith Show, and this reunion of Griffith and Knotts brings back a lot of the old chemistry that they had working together on that series. Knotts would make many appearances on the series in this recurring role for several seasons, until the series moved to ABC in the early 1990s. As for the rest of the cast, we still have Matlock's partner in his firm, Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford) and his private investigator, Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday), who always seems to have to do the rough and dirty work on behalf of the law firm. Prosecutor Julie March (Julie Sommars) is there as Matlock's opponent, and although she simply can't win against the ruthless defense techniques of Ben Matlock, she isn't nearly as incompetent as the character of Hamilton Burger on the TV series Perry Mason. But Matlock is in it to win it, and you can't go wrong with him on your side.

We are introduced to Les Calhoun in the third season premiere, "The Lemon," when he buys a used car from a shady used car dealer (he buys a DeLorean, the same car used on the Back to the Future movies). But like every DeLorean, he ends up with a lemon and gets angry with the car dealer, and not long thereafter, the car dealer ends up murdered. It's Matlock to the rescue! Matlock must go to New York City to defend a British ambassador accused of murder in the two-part episode "The Ambassador." Matlock (reluctantly) agrees to take the case of a shock jock accused of murdering his competition in "The D.J." Matlock must take on a vigilante police captain in "The Captain." The entire office (sans Matlock) is being held hostage in "The Vendetta," but why are they being held hostage? And why isn't Matlock there to save the day?
Matlock has a client that is accused of a political assassination in Chicago in the two-part episode "The Mayor," but he simply can't find the evidence to acquit him. In "The Black Widow," a man is wrongly accused of murder after his wife fakes her own death, but after he serves his sentence and released she actually is murdered. Can Matlock exonerate him? The first runner-up in a beauty contest will never be called upon to fulfill her duties in "The Starlet" after she is murdered, but did the winner murder her? A psychic predicts a murder in "The Psychic," but was this truly an accurate prediction or did she have worldly knowledge?
Everything is complicated in the two-part episode "The Thief," where a coin shop owner is accused of killing one of his employees, and one of Matlock's suspects kidnaps the daughter of the female detective that he put on the case. A mentally challenged man is accused of murder in "The Thoroughbred," and Matlock has to do his best to defend him based upon his innocence. Matlock is determined to not give up on his client after being hit by a car in "The Model." In "The Cult," a man is accused of killing the cult-leader that brainwashed his son, and Tyler has to join the cult in order to do some undercover work to prove his innocence. The season ends with "The Priest," where a priest is murdered... or is he?

The set does not have any fancy packaging, which should be expected from a CBS DVD set. It is just the standard CBS DVD plastic case, containing five discs. The cover art has a very basic cast photo shot, and inside the case, we have a listing of all of the episodes, along with original airdates and brief descriptions. There are exactly four episodes on each disc. Of course, as this is a CBS DVD product, the menus are the same as every other CBS DVD set as well, with nothing more than a main menu that has a listing of all of the episodes on the disc, as well as a Play All option.

Once again, the episodes appear to be unedited, although it is important to note that the set DOES contain a disclaimer saying that some episodes may be edited from their original network versions. I did not notice anything significant. However, as was the case with the previous season, all of the episode previews have been removed from the episodes. This isn't significant, as these merely preview what is going to be on the upcoming episode, but if the producers saw it appropriate to include them on the TV broadcast, I can't understand why they should remove them on the DVD set. Still, they are not an integral part of the episode. Each episode runs around 48 minutes. Every episode is closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired. There are no special features at all on this set. It would have been nice to have seen something from the original cast, such as a cast reunion.

This set is a very basic set that isn't fancy or flashy, but then again, Matlock is a very basic series that isn't fancy or flashy. This is a great show to watch, even if it is unrealistic to think that there may actually be a defense attorney in the world that is as effective as Ben Matlock. My only hope is that future sets include something--anything really--along the lines of special features! The Second Season did include alternate endings to one episode, but other than that, we have seen nothing on these sets. This is a cult favorite (even if that cult consists of a lot of senior citizens, although the series is popular among younger people as well), and the fans want something extra on these sets! Still, it is nice to see that CBS DVD is releasing (what appears to be) unedited episodes with mostly decent video and audio quality. I will now rest my defense of this sufficient set of this excellent series and hope that you judge this DVD set the same way.

-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
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TV Land August 2009 Schedule; Bio TV July Premieres; Scrubs Joins MTV

This August on TV Land we will have more weekend Classic Marathons along with some schedule changes (primarily weekday mornings) and the premiere of two new original series. First let's start with the schedule changes. Cosby Show will get the primetime block of 8-11pm on Tuesday nights starting Aug. 4, replacing Roseanne, while Roseanne takes Wednesday nights now from 8-10pm replacing Cosby Show...a flip-flop basically. Roseanne also gains Thursdays from 9pm-12am since She's Got the Look's season will be over.
The weekday morning changes begin on Monday, August 10. Kicking off mornings now will be Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in the 9am hour replacing an episode of All in the Family and Sanford & Son. At 10am we get back-to-back Good Times replacing The Jeffersons. At 11am we get back-to-back Sanford & Son replacing Good Times. In the 12pm hour we now get an episode each of All in the Family and Leave it to Beaver replacing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. So basically everything changes times only, but The Jeffersons is totally removed and Beaver is in. Why? Because The Jeffersons' contract is up after Aug. 31, and we don't have official word yet but it seems they will not renew since it is not listed on the regular schedule. More on The Jeffersons below. The only other change is Monday nights from 10pm-12am will now be M*A*S*H instead of Roseanne.
TV Land will have two all-new half-hour original series this August. They will air in the 10pm hour on Wednesdays starting Aug. 5. First up is How'd You Get So Rich? Sure, the economy is in the tank, but like it or not, there are still millionaires out there -- and they didn't all get rich by stealing your money (thanks for nothing, Wall Street). They made their fortunes by inventing Billy Bob Teeth and Butt Paste. Enter Joan Rivers and her money-obsessed new show, How'd You Get So Rich? Then we have Make My Day at 10:30pm. This comedic hidden-camera series provides a window into one day in the life of an unsuspecting participant. Tune in as cameras capture the action as they experience weird coincidences, extraordinary situations and surprise celebrity appearances for one whole day. Make My Day is a 30-minute series produced for TV Land by Embassy Row (Power of Ten, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?), Monkey Kingdom and Sony Pictures Television. Michael Davies serves as the executive producer.
As for the weekend Classic Marathons, they will continue in August! We get two marathons a day and Andy Griffith Show is always the second one. Joining Andy are shows like Leave it to Beaver, Bonanza, Beverly Hillbillies, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Green Acres, and The Jeffersons. The latter two could be farewell marathons since they are expiring at the end of the month. Tune in on Aug. 9 from 11am-5pm for The Jeffersons and Aug. 15 from 12pm-5pm for Green Acres (and a special block from 6am-8:30am on Aug. 22). They both seem gone to me, but that will be confirmed in September.
Next it's the M*A*S*H Flashback Weekend the weekend of Aug. 21-23 in primetime. TV Land PRIME is taking M*A*S*H fans back to where it all began. The event begins on Friday at 10pm in the PRIME Movie block, when PRIME looks back at the feature film that inspired the series. Relive all of the unforgettable moments, and enjoy extra M*A*S*H commentary and trivia in the breaks from TV Land's own PRIME Players. PRIME is even taking you all the way back to the series premiere as the Flashback Weekend continues with three nights of back-to-back episodes from the first season of the hit show. So for that weekend sit back, kick back, and flash back with TV Land's M*A*S*H Flashback Weekend!
Finally, the movies for the month are Clue, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, M*A*S*H, and Doc Hollywood.
View and discuss more on TV Land August 2009.

Bio TV this July will have all-new Biography episodes of your favorite series. On Tuesday, July 7 at 10PM we get an all-new Biography on Full House. It was one of the most popular family sitcoms of the late 80s and early 90s. Over the course of eight wildly entertaining seasons, Full House enthralled audiences, created iconic teen idols, and launched the ever-expanding Olsen Empire. In this hour, Bio TV steps behind the scenes and hear from former cast members what it was like to grow up in one of TV's wackiest, most unconventional families. Join us as Bio TV opens the doors and go on a special tour of the Tanner Family's Full House.
We get the Biography premiere on David Letterman at 10pm on Wednesday, July 29. A former TV weatherman who once predicted hail stones "the size of canned hams," David Letterman was a struggling stand-up comic and TV writer when guest shots on shows such as The Gong Show caught the attention of Johnny Carson. As a result, he eventually became the permanent substitute host for the The Tonight Show. When Carson retired, however, Letterman lost a mano-a-mano battle for the coveted seat to Jay Leno and he left NBC, landing at CBS and his own late night show. Along the way, Letterman has overcome a determined stalker, emergency quintuple bypass surgery, and several failed relationships, before finding a measure of happiness in his marriage to his longtime girlfriend and the birth of their son.
These are just the premieres, there will be plenty of other TV/sitcom related Biography encores such as Diff'rent Strokes, Facts of Life, The Partridge Family, John Stamos, Bob Saget, Dana Plato, Bill Cosby, Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli. The Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals airing for the month is an episode with The Jeffersons & One Day at a Time. They will also the reunion A Cosby Show: A Look Back.
Coming in August, three all-new Biography episodes of three classic sitcoms and more! Stay tuned in the coming weeks!

Finally, it looks like Scrubs is joining MTV beginning Monday (July 6, 2009). Scrubs will air weekdays in the 4pm hour on the Viacom owned network. MTV also recently began airing reruns of Degrassi weekdays in the 10am hour (from Viacom's The N) and recently aired Futurama in the 4pm hour for a few weeks (from Viacom's Comedy Central). Talk about Viacom sharing! This is getting crazier everyday. Because of the MTV addition, Comedy Central will remove the weekday afternoon slots of Scrubs (2:30-3:30pm), but it will still air weekdays 7-8pm.
Scrubs was supposed to join the weekday line-up on Viacom's Spike TV starting July 6, but maybe because of this change it didn't happen. Scrubs is airing for at least until end of July on MTV. There is word Scrubs will appear on Spike TV at a later date, so stay tuned for that. Spike did air a few Thursday late night airings and Sunday morning airings for a few weeks.

TV Land Classic Marathons on Weekends Continues; Remembering Gale Storm

We have some minor TV Land schedule changes to tell you about. First off, Married...with Children is indeed airing tonight from approx. 8-11pm ET/PT for its last "scheduled" airing on TV Land. We have said that many times before, too, though and it always returns. Starting next Monday (July 6), TV Land will air another night of PRIME movies from 8-10pm, with Roseanne getting the 10pm hour. PRIME Monday movies scheduled for July are the premiere of History of the World and encores of Doc Hollywood, National Lampoon's Vacation, and National Lampoon's European Vacation.
Now as we all have seen the last few weekends, TV Land is having marathons on weekends during the day and now they will continue in July as well now. This past weekend was Married...with Children, but it was abbreviated because of the Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson tributes. These marathons are called "Classic Marathons" and will consist of a classic show followed by an Andy Griffith Show marathon, so yes, Andy will still be on weekends only. The first show airs usually from 11am-5pm, with Andy from 5-10pm, but the times vary. The weekend of July 4-5 will be Leave it to Beaver and Andy (with the scheduled "Roseanne 4th of July Feuds & Fireworks" marathon from 8pm-6am both nights). July 11-12 it will be Hogan's Heroes and Andy. July 18-19 its The Brady Bunch and Andy on Saturday, while Bonanza gets the nod on Sunday with Andy. Finally on July 25-26 it will be The Jeffersons and Andy on Saturday, and Sanford & Son and Andy on Sunday. Those are classic shows indeed! We will have TV Land August 2009 soon, but it is expected these marathons on weekends will continue as well. Stay tuned for that.
For the full schedule and more, view our updated TV Land July 2009 schedule & highlights.

We keep losing famous people. We have lost Billy Mays, the infomercial guru yesterday at the age of 50, but we won't cover his life here. We will however cover the life of Gale Storm, who passed away as well. Gale Storm, whose wholesome appearance and perky-personality made her one of early television's biggest stars on the comedy My Little Margie and The Gale Storm Show, died Saturday (June 27, 2009) at a convalescent hospital in Danville, CA. My Little Margie debuted on CBS as a summer replacement for I Love Lucy in 1952. It quickly became an audience favorite and moved to its own slot on NBC that fall. The premise was standard sitcom fare: Charles Farrell was a business executive and eligible widower, Storm was his busybody daughter who protected him from predatory women. After the series ended its 126-episode run in 1955, she moved on to The Gale Storm Show, which lasted until 1960 on CBS and later on ABC. This time she played Susanna Pomeroy, a trouble-making social director on a luxury liner.
After her comedies, she moved on to become a singer basically, but she did have some TV roles as well. She guest starred on Burke's Law, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.
She will certainly be missed and let's hope one day My Little Margie is on DVD! Gale was 87.

The N Brings Back Kenan, Growing Pains; Retro Television Coming to Columbia, SC

As we patiently wait for Nick at Nite's official July schedule with the addition of Malcolm in the Middle, we will bring you the July schedule for sister Viacom network The N. The new The N schedule starts Monday, July 6. The N, like other Viacom networks, likes to double-dip their comedies. Kenan & Kel will return to The N schedule! Starting at 6am we get back-to-back Caitlin's Way, Radio Free Roscoe, Kenan & Kel, Amanda Show, Moesha, and a four-spot of Degrassi from 11am-1pm. Afternoons starting at 1pm its back-to-back Beyond the Break, H2O, Saved by the Bell, Kenan & Kel, Unfabulous, and a four-spot of Zoey 101 from 6-8pm. The four-spots continue from 8pm-6am as well with What I Like About You, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, That '70s Show, What I Like About You, and Moesha. On Fridays, 7pm-8:30pm its Degrassi, followed by the new original series The Assistants at 8:30pm & 9pm for its premiere (then will air 8:30pm only weekly) with encores at 10:30pm & 2am. More Degrassi on Fridays are 9-10:30pm and 11pm-12am. What I Like About You is extended on Fridays from 2-6am instead of just 2-4am.
Weekends is the same as weekdays from 6am-10am. Then we have the four-spots of series from 10am-6pm with Unfabulous, Zoey 101, Degrassi and iCarly. Zoey 101 will air in the 6pm hour on Sundays. Then it gets a bit complicated for the rest of the night on weekends, so I suggest you view that schedule. Growing Pains is returning to the schedule but just once a week on late Sunday nights (early Monday mornings) at 4am ET/PT. The first week it will air at 3:30am, though. It joins a block of Clueless (4:30am) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (5-6am), as both of those are on just once a week as well. Too bad Growing Pains isn't returning to weekdays in its old 11am hour timeslot.
View and discuss the entire The N July 2009 schedule.

WKTC-My63, Columbia's My Network TV affiliate, is proud to announce that it has signed an exclusive agreement with RTV (Retro Television) to begin broadcasting classic TV programming on its digital subchannel, WKTC-DT2 (63.2), starting tomorrow (Saturday June 20, 2009)!
Daytime programming will include classic comedy hits such as Leave it to Beaver, McHale's Navy, and drama Marcus Welby, while evenings will be filled with hits such as Knight Rider, The A Team, Magnum P.I. and The Rockford Files.

TV Land Adds Married with Children Weekend Marathon and First 2 Weeks of July Change; Emmy Awards Changes Date Again

Previously on "TV Land Schedule Changes," Bree wanted Orson to stop stealing, oops wrong show...we told you the changes from June 15-28, now we have June 27 through July 12! This is like a soap opera, isn't it? The weekend of June 27-28 will now have a change now. It will have a Married...with Children marathon primarily. Al Bundy and family will air from 9:30am-8pm on Saturday, June 27 and from 8am-2am on Sunday, June 28. That's a whole lotta Bundy! Encores of movies Grease and Grease 2 will also air on Saturday, June 27, with Roseanne blocks as well. Then the regular schedule starting Monday, June 29 is pretty similar to the changes that started on June 15, but just a few things. For weekdays, the 12pm hour is now back to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, replacing Leave it to Beaver/Beverly Hillbillies. But Beverly Hillbillies will air in the 1pm hour, so that means TV Land Goes West (2 episodes of Gunsmoke & Bonanza each and one Little House) goes from approx. 1:30pm-7pm to now more on the clock from 2pm-7pm. This means Beaver is now weekends only again if they have a marathon. Mondays from 8pm-11pm will now be yet more Roseanne replacing Married...with Children, so Married is now off the regular schedule, but not to worry as it returns to Spike TV weekdays on July 6. So it looks like (for now I guess) Married (which is doing decent for them) will have its last TV Land airing during that weekend marathon (June 27-28). I expect we will see more soon as they keep bringing it back and changing the schedule, so stay tuned. Everything else on weekdays is the same as it is now, so yes, Andy Griffith is not on weekdays through July 12.
On weekends we get marathon blocks ("Andy & Friends" as I'd like to call it). But first, from 6-8am on both days we now see more Roseanne, so that replaces Star Trek, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and whatever else pops up weekend mornings usually. But remember, as of now this is through July 12 only. The weekend of July 4-5 will see Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith. On Saturday, July 4, we see Beaver from 11am-3pm and Andy Griffith from 3pm-8pm. On Sunday, July 5 we see Beaver from 12pm-3pm and more Andy from 3pm-8pm. As previously announced, Roseanne July 4th Feuds & Fireworks Marathon airs from 8pm-6am on both nights. The weekend of July 11-12 will see more marathons. A special SpongeBob SquarePants block will air on Saturday, July 11 from 10am-12pm, as SpongeBob is getting ready for his 10th birthday on Nickelodeon with "The Ultimate SpongeBob SpongeBash." We will have more on that during our Nick at Nite July schedule & highlights very soon, as SpongeBob will have about a 50-hour non-stop marathon on Nick/Nick at Nite from July 17-19. Back to TV Land, it's more marathons as the weekend of July 11-12 it is Hogan's Heroes and Andy Griffith. Hogan's Heroes on both days will air from 12pm-5pm while Andy will air both days from 5pm-10pm. Regular weekend schedule will air elsewhere. So is TV Land trying to phase Andy out by airing it only on weekends? Sound off on our message board and also you can view these changes in a list form. Remember TV Land keeps releasing schedules two weeks at a time, so as of now this is through July 12 only. Stay tuned for more!

The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards has been re-scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 20 from approx. 8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on CBS. That was the original date and now CBS has gone back to that after moving it to Sunday, Sept. 13. But September 13 is the same day for the MTV Video Music Awards. So CBS had to move it back to the original Sept. 20. date. CBS moved it to Sept. 13 originally because of an NFL game from 4-7:30pm ET. To present The 61st Primetime Emmy Awards as close as possible to its scheduled 8:00 PM start, 60 Minutes is planning a flexible broadcast following CBS Sports late afternoon NFL game. So we will finally see a shortened 60 Minutes or possibly preempted totally in the East if the game goes over 7:30pm ET.
Remember nominations will be announced Thursday, July 16 at 5:40 AM PT from the Television Academy's Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood. You can watch it live on CBS's Early Show.

TV Land June 2009 Has Roseanne; ABC/Disney Now on Hulu

This June on TV Land they will launch sitcom Roseanne in TV Land PRIME, launch the second season of reality series She's Got The Look on a new night and time, and spend Father's Day with TV Land Rough n Rugged.
TV Land PRIME welcomes Roseanne to the network with a week long, primetime marathon beginning Friday, June 5. The marathon will air 8pm-1am each night and encore 1am-6am each night through Friday, June 12, before the series joins the regular schedule on Saturday, June 13. Roseanne is the quintessential sitcom about a working class family that put the "Real in TV" long before reality television became the norm. Travel back in time with the "Queen of Comedy" as TV Land PRIME chronicles the Conner family's ups and downs, laughs and love, and dreams - both real and imagined.
Roseanne will air Saturdays from 9pm-11pm & 2am-4am; Sundays from 12am-2am; Mon-Tues & Thurs 11pm-2am; Tues-Fri from 8pm-10pm (except 9-10pm on Thursdays); and Wednesdays & Fridays 1-2am. That's a whole lotta Roseanne! And good news for classic TV fans because Leave it to Beaver is renewed and on the June schedule airing Saturdays from 12-2pm. Three's Company is unfortunately off the line-up for now with the addition of Roseanne, as will be Hogan's Heroes & Green Acres. The other big change is late nights on weeknights. 2am-6am all get changed, with The Cosby Show airing in the 2am hour, 3rd Rock from the Sun will only air now at 3am, followed by the return of Scrubs at 3:30am, followed by M*A*S*H at 4am, Sanford & Son at 4:30am, The Jeffersons at 5am, and Good Times at 5:30am. So this does mean M*A*S*H is just once a night on weeknights, but it will still air on Sunday nights, but now 9pm-12am. We have the full schedule for you to click on below...so keep reading!
They're back again... and this time the stakes are bigger and better as 12 gorgeous women 35-and-over grace TV Land PRIME in season 2 of the modeling competition series that's like no other...She's Got the Look! For one very lucky winner, a second chance for a supermodel career, a life changing contract with the world famous Wilhelmina Modeling Agency, and a spread in Self magazine awaits. Watch the nationwide search, follow the drama as the number of contestants dwindles, and root for your favorite to win it all. Join in on the fun on a new night and time starting Thursday June 11, 2009 at 9pm for eight straight weeks through July 30. Encores of the show will air Thursdays at 10pm & 1am; Fridays at 12 midnight; Saturdays 10am & 1am; Sundays 3am; Mondays 11am; Tuesdays 2am; Wednesdays 10pm; and the next Thursday at 12 noon.
But before the premiere on June 11, catch a sneak peek at She's Got the Look season two on Wednesday, June 3 at 11pm following the finale of The Cougar.
It's Dad's Day and TV Land has 12 hours of rough rugged entertainment planned that will keep dad glued to his seat. Starting with a 7-hour block of movies featuring fights and sports, a classic Mel Brooks comedy and a 4 hour western block featuring popular episodes of Bonanza and Gunsmoke, Dad is sure to appreciate that you've kept him busy doing his most favorite thing: sitting on the couch and watching good manly TV! Catch the movies Slapshot 2, Slapshot, and History of the World Part 1.
Other TV Land PRIME movie premieres for the month are Another 48 Hours and Driving Miss Daisy.
View the full TV Land June 2009 schedule, with full highlights and one-time adjustments.

Hulu and The Walt Disney Company announced that Disney, through a subsidiary of ABC Enterprises Inc., has agreed to join NBC Universal, News Corporation and Providence Equity Partners as a joint venture partner and equity owner of Hulu, a leading online aggregator of video content. Upon closing, the agreement will enhance Hulu's programming lineup through the expanded online distribution of Disney's most popular current and library primetime series and library feature films. In particular, full-length episodes of hit current and library programs like Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Greek, Hope & Faith, Less than Perfect, Wizards of Waverly Place, Phineas and Ferb, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, General Hospital, The View and The Secret Life of the American Teenager will soon be streamed on Hulu on an ad-supported basis.
· Full-length episodes of ABC primetime programs like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, Samantha Who?, Scrubs, Private Practice and popular late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!
· Full-length episodes of hit ABC Family series like The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Greek
· Popular series from ABC Daytime and SOAPnet like General Hospital and The View
· Classic series from ABC's library like Hope & Faith, Less than Perfect, Commander in Chief, Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and past seasons of the megahit Dancing with the Stars
· Select hit programs from Disney Channel like Wizards of Waverly Place and Phineas and Ferb which can be easily accessed from a new DISNEY location in the Channel section of Hulu.com
· Popular library titles from The Walt Disney Studios
· Short-form content including webisodes, sneak peeks and episode recaps from ABC Entertainment, ABC Family and SOAPnet
That is a lot and this is huge! ABC/Disney has bought 30% of Hulu. There is no date yet when all of this will appear, but we will let you know.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our regular blog DVD review and a look at what we think will be picked-up by NBC for both new and returning series. NBC has their "infront" on Monday and will announce what they will pick-up, but an actual schedule won't be announced until upfront week (week of May 18). NBC continues to be the oddball with this "infront" stuff.

TV Land Changes May Schedule; Adult Swim Acquires British The Office

Today we were supposed to give you TV Land June 2009, continuing our June week, but now TV Land has edited their May schedule. We will have to delay the June schedule until tomorrow or next week. So stay tuned for that. TV Land has changed their May schedule a bit starting May 4. Among the changes are more Gunsmoke & Bonanza on weekdays now extended from 2pm-6pm from Tues-Fri. This means the Monday block is now from 12pm-6pm. Evening sitcoms now start 6pm with Hogan's Heroes moving to the 6pm half-hour, followed by Green Acres at 6:30pm. The Beverly Hillbillies remains in the 7pm hour.
TV Land Goes West is added also on Saturdays from 1pm-7pm, just like how it airs on Sundays, with two Gunsmoke episodes followed by four episodes of Bonanza. This means the TV Land movie encores are now just Saturdays at 6am. The Brady Bunch on Saturday mornings is now 9am-11am, with Leave it to Beaver from 11am-1pm leading into the westerns block. Beaver also airs 7-8pm on Saturdays, followed by blocks of Andy Griffith from 8pm-11pm, M*A*S*H from 11pm-1am, and Three's Company from 1am-3am. Sundays has an extended Hillbillies from 10am-1pm leading into the westerns. Andy follows from 7-10pm, then M*A*S*H from 10pm-1am, Hillbillies from 1am-3am, and now only an hour of Brady Bunch (in the 3am hour).
It is not many changes, but this make schedule more of a regular schedule, especially on weekends with shows getting set time slots now. What does this mean for June? We will have to wait and see, but we know one thing, Roseanne is joining the TV Land PRIME line-up. But for now, view the full updated TV Land May 2009 schedule.

The Office, the BBC series that spawned the NBC comedy of the same name, is returning to American television on Adult Swim. The Turner-owned network, which shares channel space with Cartoon Network, has acquired both seasons of the British comedy, as well as The Office Christmas Special and will start airing them this summer.
Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office is about the day-to-day lives of employees in the Slough, Bershire branch of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company. The series' main character, David Brent, as portrayed by Gervais, is familiar to office workers everywhere. As regional manager of the company, Brent fancies himself as a great team leader using humor to win the loyalty of his staff. In reality, he is belittling, smug, sexist, insensitive, patronizing and unthinkingly offensive.
Adult Swim also airs the BBC hit The Mighty Boosh, since March 29. They recently secured the rights to Look Around You.
The U.S. version of the series airs in repeats on sister station TBS.

'Twas the Day Before Christmas....2008 Christmas Marathons on Television

'Twas the day (or night, depending on when you read this) before Christmas...when all through the blog not a creature was stirring, not even Mickey Mouse! Sorry, that was the best I could come up with. Well it is indeed Christmas Eve! Marathons will be airing all this long holiday weekend and we will let you know what and where. We have told you many of the notable ones in our regular stories, such as Retro Television Network's Leave it to Beaver marathon starting today at 4pm and running until 11:59pm on Christmas Day! That's 32 hours of The Beav! Gee whiz, Wally, can't we sleep and stuff? Nope! We have a promo for the marathon for you to watch. Our gift to you! Well, from RTN to you. Enjoy the marathon, if you get the channel.


Now for the other holiday helpings...we told you about BET's Holiday Sitcom Marathons that started yesterday with Family Matters. It continues today with One on One, Smart Guy on Christmas Day, The Proud Family on Friday, and Girlfriends on Saturday. And Fresh Prince to throw in on Monday even. Nice! TV Land has holiday episodes starting at midnight ET tonight running until 9pm on Christmas Day with such series such as Night Court, Cosby Show, All in the Family, and The Jeffersons labeled as their Merrython. Nick at Nite also has holiday episodes tonight and tomorrow, with series such as Family Matters and George Lopez in primetime. We mentioned WGN America's holiday programming, such as the Yule Log tonight and holiday classics like The Flintstones and The Honeymooners today. Catch holiday episodes of sitcoms on TV One, FX, ABC Family, Lifetime, and more in their regular slots today as well. And TBS has its annual showing if 24 hours of the holiday movie classic A Christmas Story starting tonight a 8pm. What we didn't mention yet for today: Family Feud marathon on GSN, Top Chef on Bravo, James Bond movies on Spike and Ghost Hunters on Sci Fi. On Christmas Day, we haven't mentioned: Mythbusters on Discovery, Card Sharks on GSN, Law & Order on TNT, Star Trek: The Next Generation on Sci Fi, House on USA Network, Rocky movies 1-5 on Versus, and James Bond films continues on Spike.
Among the day after Christmas marathons we haven't mentioned include CSI on Spike, Amazing Race 13 on Travel, Super Password on GSN, Highlander: The Series on Sci Fi, and House continues on USA.

Make notes of all these marathons and enjoy them with your family this holiday. Come on back tomorrow for a bit, if you get a chance! Be on the look out for Santa tonight! Clear those chimneys and fireplaces! Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!

TV Land Brings Back All in the Family, Other Minor Changes; CMT's Mama's Family Block on Dec. 27-28

We gave you many updates already for TV Land January, now TV Land has made some minor changes to its January line-up. First, starting January 2, weekdays in the 5pm hour will now be more Hogan's Heroes, replacing Leave it to Beaver. So, Hogan's Heroes will air weekdays from 4-6pm, four episodes in a row. Beaver will only air on weekends as a result of this change, Saturdays 8-9am and Sunday nights 2-4am. Also starting Sunday, Jan. 4, TV Land Goes West gets extended to 2-7pm instead of 2-6pm, an extra Bonanza episode is added replacing essentially Hogan's Heroes in the 6pm hour on Sundays. It will be three Bonanza episodes from 2-5pm and two Gunsmoke episodes from 5-7pm.
Finally, effective Monday, January 5, All in the Family returns to the regular schedule airing weekdays at 9am replacing an episode of Sanford & Son. Sanford & Son will continue to air weekdays at 9:30am. All in the Family will go in order from the beginning but the first episode will be skipped. Boy the way Glenn Miller played!
View full schedules and highlights for TV Land January 2009.

Mama's back! Well for one weekend, that is. Mama's Family returns to CMT for a special weekend block on Saturday, December 27 and Sunday, December 28 from 10pm-2am ET on both nights. As you all know, Mama's Family airs from time to time on CMT, mostly in special marathon blocks. Episodes 17-32 will air on these two nights, so from "Naomi and the Stork" to "Mama's Birthday." I think CMT has not aired anything after season two, though they might have aired a few episodes in early season three.
Mama's Family was last seen on CMT on a Saturday this past September with an eight episode marathon. CMT briefly aired it weekday afternoons in summer 2007.

Next week is Christmas, but that won't stop us. As always, we will have a story everyday...including lots of great stuff early in the week, such as WGN America's January 2009 changes. Can that channel get any better? Find out Monday! But before that join us this weekend for a blog DVD review of Password and our last ratings report for 2008 on Sunday!

Leave it to Beaver Christmas Marathon on RTN; Unsolved Mysteries To Return on Spike TV in January

Retro Television Network (RTN) will celebrate the Christmas holiday with a marathon of America's favorite family...The Cleavers, with a marathon of Leave it to Beaver! Every single RTN affiliate will air 32 straight hours of Leave it to Beaver beginning at 4pm on Christmas Eve. The 32-hour marathon will conclude at midnight Christmas night.
You will see 64 classic episodes of the sitcom that featured Jerry Mathers as the Beaver. Among the episodes you'll see are "In the Soup," "Beaver's Report Card," "Wally's Dream Girl," "Beaver's First Date," "Eddie Quits School," and the very last episode "Family Scrapbook."
This is a marathon you will not want to miss! Spend Christmas with your family watching the Cleaver family on RTN! I just always wondered why there never was an actual Christmas episode of Leave it to Beaver? View full episode info for the marathon.

Many of you have been wondering what has happened to Unsolved Mysteries on Spike TV lately? Spike TV decided to give all-day marathons of CSI and CSI: NY all December long and thus the entire schedule has been preempted this month, with James Bond movies during Christmas week. Even Married...with Children is not airing weekdays. Not to worry everything will be back in January! But first, week of December 29 will feature a marathon of one show per day. The marathon starts with a Married...with Children all-day marathon on December 29 and concludes on January 2 with Unsolved Mysteries. Unsolved Mysteries. will then have a week-long marathon from Monday, Jan. 5 to Friday, Jan. 9 from 9am-6pm each day! Talk about returning in style! But what about airing regularly? That will happen, too! Effective Monday, Jan. 12, Spike TV will have a new weekday line-up. The Shield kicks it off at 9am, followed by four episodes of Married...with Children from 10am-12pm, then Unsolved Mysteries will launch in its new time period with three episodes in a row from 12-3pm. The schedule continues with CSI: NY from 3-7pm and CSI from 7-9pm. Then we have primetime from 9pm-12am, and in the late night we have CSI: NY at midnight, Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol at 1am, Spike's Most Amazing Videos at 2am, and Star Trek: Voyager at 3am. Some nights late in week from 1-4am we get episodes of Married...with Children, The Shield, and MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge as well. You Unsolved Mysteries fans can see the series on most Sunday afternoons as well in January.
View complete details for Spike TV January 2009.

Early Show Celebrates 5 Decades; This TV Comes to Houston in December; Beaver's Tony Dow An Artist?

All this week CBS's Early Show has been looking at the past 5 decades in every way, including of course television. We didn't get word until about Wednesday, so it was too late to promote it...but we will recap it here today. On Monday, Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith took a walk down memory lane and had a chat with the former child stars of the 1950's, who made TV's golden age shimmer. Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver) of Leave it to Beaver, Jon Provost (Timmy) of Lassie, Paul Petersen (Jeff Stone) of The Donna Reed Show, Keith Thibodeaux (Little Ricky Ricardo) of I Love Lucy all joined The Early Show to reminisce of the good old days of TV. View the 50s segment.
On Tuesday, Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith sat down with four leading ladies of the 1960's, Barbara Eden (Jeannie) of I Dream of Jeannie, Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) of Gilligan's Island, Barbara Feldon (Agent 99) of Get Smart and Kathy Garver (Cissy) of Family Affair to chat about how their characters changed their lives. You can view this 60s segment.
On Wednesday, The Early Show celebrated the 1970's. There were no actual reunions or stars on, though, but they talked about the 70s and dressed in 70s clothing. Gloria Gaynor did perform her hits, though. View the 70s segment.
On Thursday it was time to celebrate the 1980's. Actress Joan Collins, who played Alexis Carrington, John Forsythe's vindictive ex-wife on Dynasty, helped to set the bar when it came to malicious scheming, cat-fighting and starting fashion trends. Today, Collins continues to challenge herself with writing books and columns, as well as roles on television and the big screen. The legendary 75-year-old actress sat down with Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith to chat about her iconic status during the '80s and dish on her secret to looking youthful. You can view that here.
Finally, today it was the '90s turn. Talk show host Maury Povich talked with Harry Smith and Julie Chen about Maury and other 90s talk shows. Tabloid talk shows in the '90s were loud and controversial and oftentimes over the top, but as crazy and uncensored as it may have been, it helped to define the decade. View this video.

We of course mentioned a few weeks ago that new digital station This TV has launched in a few markets on Halloween, now This TV will launch in Houston on December 1 as one of KPRC's (Channel 2) digital stations. This TV will replace the NBC WeatherPlus signal that currently airs on KPRC's digital signal 2.2 and at channel 320 on Comcast cable.
This TV is from MGM and Weigel Broadcasting and airs TV series such as Patty Duke Show, Mister Ed and The Outer Limits. The network mainly airs MGM movies, such as The Misfits, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, Diggstown, The Terminator, The Three Amigos and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini.

The actor most notably recognized as 'Wally' on the classic television sitcom, Leave it to Beaver is set to showcase his artistic talents in Paris, France. Tony Dow will display an abstract sculpture in Paris' historical Louvre museum this December. The showcase will run from December 11 to December 14.
Since the end of his run on Leave it to Beaver Dow has worked on several television shows as a director and producer, as well as acting here and there.
Dow, 63, now lives in Los Angeles and has expressed excitement about his upcoming debut stating, "Having something shown at the Louvre is about as good as you can get... I'm a little humbled by the whole thing but grateful nonetheless." Dow also stated, "Of course, I'm really proud of Leave It to Beaver and my directing career in television...but this is interesting because I don't think they know anything about that at the Louvre."

This TV Launches with Mr. Ed and Patty Duke; TV Land Changes; Samantha Who and Kath & Kim Renewed

Back in late July we told you new digital station "This TV" was launching in October, and as promised, they have launched! They launched on Halloween with a a marathon of scary movies like Amityville II & Amityville 3-D. This TV is owned by MGM and Weigel Broadcasting...Weigel also owns the popular Me-TV and Me-Too.
As of now, clearances are only in Chicago, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Columbus, Albany, Richmond, and Dayton, OH. They are primarily airing MGM movies like 12 Angry Men, Something Wild, & Great Balls of Fire, but a few MGM TV series have been mixed in as well such as the original Outer Limits, The Patty Duke Show and Mister Ed. They all air between 4-7am ET on weekdays, 4-10am on Saturdays, and 6-9am on Sundays. This TV also airs children's programming such as Miss Mallard Mystery, Paddington Bear, Flight Squad, Robinson Sucroe, Animal Crackers, Spider Riders and Ripley's Believe It or Not! ...these air weekdays 7-10am and Sundays 8am-11am. Another block airs on Saturday mornings from 10am-1pm with children's series such as Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures, Busy World of Richard Scarry, and Wimzie's House.
If you get this in your area right now, call yourself lucky to see Patty Duke & Mister Ed!

TV Land has made a schedule change starting late this afternoon (November 3). Hogan's Heroes goes from weekdays 5-6pm to weekdays from 4-5pm, replacing Beverly Hillbillies, which will remain 1-2pm. Now airing 5-6pm on weekdays is more Leave it to Beaver! Also, it seems 3rd Rock from the Sun is doing well for TV Land, in addition to its TV Land PRIME marathon this week (Nov. 3-7, 9pm-12am), it will get weekend plays from 12-7pm this Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 8-9). TV Land has also added a marathon of Three's Company this Saturday night (November 8) in the overnight from 2am-6am. Tune in!
View the full TV Land November 2008 highlights that we gave previously.

ABC has picked-up a full season of sophomore sitcom Samantha Who? It is no surprise, as the sitcom is a solid player for the network. It also is critically acclaimed with Christina Applegate winning a Golden Globe and Jean Smart winning an Emmy for the show. ABC will air 20 episodes this season, with three already have aired (fourth one airs tonight at 9:30pm ET/PT). Usually non-freshman shows already have 22 episode orders, but due to the strike last season, most second year shows got only 13 episode orders. The sitcom joins fellow ABC sophomore series Private Practice in getting picked up for a full season. They will not air the normal 22 for Sam, because they have a lot coming this mid-season comedy wise like The Goode Family, Single with Parents, Better off Ted...and returning series According to Jim and Scrubs. Speaking of those latter two, both could launch in December now. Previously as we stated, According to Jim was set to launch Dec. 2, Tuesdays 9-10pm, but I now hear that will be Scrubs. It is not official yet, but as soon as it is, I'll let you all know. Jim would air Tuesdays 8-9pm I think leading into Scrubs starting the following week, Dec. 9. Both shows have 18 episode orders.

Meanwhile, NBC has a fast trigger...in a good way though. They have picked-up nine more episodes of freshman sitcom Kath & Kim, despite low ratings. The last two airings have only been 4.99 and 5.44 million in its Thursday slot, but I guess NBC believes in the show and liked the little jump to 5.44 million after the series low? I cannot believe they picked-it up for a full 22 episodes already, but good news for fans of Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. The show has been blasted by critics.

Many Universal Series Seasons Not on DVD on Netflix.com!; Network Notes

Tired of waiting for some of your favorite Universal series to continue on DVD? Now Netflix is giving you the entire run of many series that are not yet complete on DVD from Universal! Shows include Coach, Charles in Charge, Leave it to Beaver, Gimme a Break!, Kate & Allie, Dragnet '67, Adam-12, Emergency!, Kojak, Simon & Simon, McMillian & Wife, Quincy, seaQuest DSV, The Rockford Files, Airwolf, Murder She Wrote and Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Wow you can watch every episode of Leave it to Beaver! Even season 6! Now you don't have to wait for Universal to complete the series and all the rest of these! All you have to do is to be a Netflix subscriber and you can watch all these episodes instantly on your computer in a nice streaming quality! Don't like that? Get the Netflix Ready Device so you can download these episodes to a device and play them on your TV! I know many of you would like to own the episodes on DVD, but this is a start in watching them.

It's time for more wheelings and dealings...it's network notes! CBS has given a full season order to its new drama The Mentalist, the season's top new freshman series in viewers and adults 25-54 so far. No surprise.
The Mentalist is averaging 16.14 million viewers (No. 7 among all primetime programs), 5.3/12 in adults 25-54 and 3.8/9 in adults 18-49. The series stars Golden Globe Award nominee Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation. The series joins Fringe and 90210 for full season orders for rookie series.
Meanwhile, NBC's veteran drama Medium returns sometime this mid-season (or earlier I bet) and NBC has ordered three additional episodes. Last season the show had 16 episodes, so we are not sure what the original episode order was for this year. Could be 13 or 16 and you can tack on three more for Patricia Arquette's series.
ABC's Eli Stone will have 4 more episodes this season as well. The show was ordered for 13 episodes in its second season, so you can tack on four more to that at least, pending the ratings being decent enough. ABC has been pleased with the quality and direction so far, thus their decision in adding four more. And if you haven't seen the season premiere yet, you missed out on an excellent season premiere with guest Sigourney Weaver. Catch it on abc.com if you missed it and don't forget to tune in for the second episode this Tuesday at 10PM ET, with special guest star Katie Holmes! As I said before, I saw this episode already from a review screener and she is excellent. Gina Torres and Katey Sagal also guest star. Have faith in Eli!
Finally, it seems that Fox will also air the half-hour political ad from Presidential Candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday, October 29. CBS and NBC have already signed on to air it. However, Major League Baseball would have to push back the start of game six of the World Series, if necessary, so Fox can air the Obama. The game was scheduled to have first pitch at 8:20pm, but Fox and MLB could move it to 8:35pm if necessary. ABC is in discussions as well to air it, but maybe on a different night like Tuesday instead, since they air an hour-long sow (Pushing Daisies) in the time period. CBS has two half-hour sitcoms and will preempt Gary Unmarried on the night and shift Old Christine to 8:30 for this night. NBC will preempt Knight Rider altogether and air a TBD show at 8:30.

RTN's New Line-Up and Answers To Fan Questions; New Digital TV Channel Coming Nationwide With MGM Classics

As many of you with Retro Television Network (RTN) affiliates already know, RTN changed their line-up last week (July 21). They primarily had CBS-Paramount shows on their line-up such as Perry Mason, Happy Days, The Beverly Hillbillies, Family Ties, Gomer Pyle, Get Smart, etc. But they also had other studio shows mixed in such as NBC Universal and Stephen J. Cannell. They also seem to have a few Sony shows on some affiliates still, such as The Monkees and The Partridge Family. Now the CBS-Paramount deal has expired, so those shows are gone, and RTN currently has Universal and Cannell shows only. Some of these shows were already airing on many RTN affiliates, but now more are added such as Leave it to Beaver, Adam-12, Dragnet, Kate & Allie, McHale's Navy, and That's Incredible! With of course the classics like The A-Team, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., Rockford Files, Ironside and many others remaining.
After this new schedule started, all the affiliates are almost the same (more uniform than before) as RTN is trying to air a nationwide line-up, as this might help them. This NBC Universal and Stephen J. Cannell line-up can let them do that, as some of the CBS-Paramount shows were also in syndication on another station in other markets (such as Matlock), that's why some shows weren't available in some markets. That is not to say the CBS-Paramount shows will ever return, but if this works, you can see them return. Also, RTN is not ruling out by signing more studio deals, such as Sony and Warner Bros. They are all for the viewers and classic TV.
Also, many of your local RTN affiliates have some rare programs listed on your local RTN TV listings such as Bachelor Father and Operation Petticoat listed but they haven't actually aired yet and more Leave it to Beaver is airing instead. Why? Because some of these shows have been stuck inside Universal's vault for many years and they are just now getting them out. Honestly, can you think of the last time Bachelor Father was aired? Also, if you recall there was a fire at Universal a few months ago, so that is a cause for this delay, too. RTN has told me they will indeed air these shows not airing yet. They will most likely start by this weekend (if not sooner), so keep checking! If not by this weekend, for sure at the latest by sometime next week. They will air! So get those DVRs/VCR's ready for rare Universal stuff like Operation Petticoat, Wagon Train, Run For Your Life, The Bold Ones, and Bachelor Father. Kudos to RTN for trying and bringing out the classics from the vault that have been barely seen in the last few decades.
Many of you also asked how come there hasn't been more announcements for some new RTN affiliates? Well, they were recently bought by another company (as we mentioned), and they are just settling in. You will see more announcements of new stations in the near future! If you don't have an RTN affiliate yet, don't worry, you could be next! RTN is very happy to note that Washington, D.C.'s RTN has gone live today! A big step! Nothing for New York yet, but those of you in the NY market, e-mail WCBS, WABC, WNBC or WNYW (Fox) and suggest to add RTN to their digital broadcasts.
So how can YOU help RTN? RTN says if you really like RTN, e-mail/call your local affiliates and tell them you love RTN and watch it everyday. This is the best way to help RTN as this shows the affiliates that viewers are happy and tuning in. The comments about RTN are then sent to RTN themselves, so they get each comment you make to your local affiliate. So go to your local station's website or call them (if you don't know your RTN's website, email me and I'll tell you!)!
Head on over to our RTN thread where you can see/post RTN schedules, see press releases, post your comments and more! It is 22 pages so far and growing!

From the people who brought you Me-TV and Me-Too in Chicago will bring you "This TV" coming nationwide to a digital channel near you in October! Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) is rolling out "This TV," a new ad-supported around-the-clock linear digital channel designed for broadcast stations' digital spectrum. The new network, a partnership with Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting (Me-TV, Me-Too, WCIU owners), will launch this fall. It gets immediate carriage with Weigel stations in Chicago, Milwaukee and South Bend, Ind. The idea is for MGM is to leverage its library of more than 4,100 films and 10,000 hours of television programming, but also to give stations the chance to localize the look.
This TV will offer stations programming all day every day, but stations signing on have the right to a certain number of pre-emptions so that they can localize the channel with sports, news and weather if they want.
The lineup will be film-heavy, with possible MGM titles including 12 Angry Men and Class, starring Rob Lowe. It also will have some MGM classic television shows mixed in there ranging from The Addams Family to Thirtysomething. We're working on a full list of shows they will air, so come on back...but beware the channel will mainly be a film network.
The line-up will also feature children's programming from Cookie Jar Entertainment, with shows such as Johnny Test, The Doodlebops and Caillou.
The goal for the network is at least a 40% clearance across the country within the first year.
We will have more on This TV for sure soon! So stay tuned!

Day 75: WGA's Strike; Desperate Housewives Lifetime Marathon; Remembering Bob LeMond

It is day 75 of the WGA strike. As we mentioned yesterday, the DGA (Directors Guild of America) reached a deal yesterday five months before its contract was set to expire, thus avoiding a strike. The WGA released this statement regarding that:
Now that the DGA has reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP, the terms of the deal will be carefully analyzed and evaluated by the WGA, the WGA's Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board of Directors, and the WGAE Council. We will work with the full membership of both Guilds to discuss our strategies for our own negotiations and contract goals and how they may be affected by such a deal.
For over a month, we have been urging the conglomerates to return to the table and bargain in good faith. They have chosen to negotiate with the DGA instead. Now that those negotiations are completed, the AMPTP must return to the process of bargaining with the WGA. We hope that the DGA's tentative agreement will be a step forward in our effort to negotiate an agreement that is in the best interests of all writers.

Desperate Housewives has quietly not been airing on Lifetime the past few weeks, but it will return next Saturday (Jan. 26) with a four episode marathon from 11am-3pm. The episodes are from season three. Starting Saturday, Feb. 2 the show will return to its normal timeslot of Saturday nights at midnight following Grey's Anatomy.
The show joined the network as a once a week play in August 2006. It will be airing five-days-a-week this coming fall (September 2008) and Lifetime also plans to repurpose new episodes that air on ABC a few days later on Lifetime beginning in September.

So who is Bob LeMond? He was the classic voice of shows like Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie & Harriet. Every week he introduced "America's Favorite Family, the Nelsons" on television. He died at his home in Bonsall, CA Sunday of complications from dementia. In addition to those two classic sitcoms, he was the voice of Our Miss Brooks, My Friend Irma, Life With Luigi, The Red Skelton Show and Bat Masterson. He even guest starred as an announcer on two episodes of The Addams Family.
From 1948 to 1951, Mr. LeMond was the announcer on Lucille Ball's radio sitcom My Favorite Husband. In 1951, he announced the pilot episode of the television show that would become I Love Lucy.
Mr. LeMond retired from show business in 1971, and in 1972 he moved to Bonsall, where he became involved in real estate.
He will certainly be missed. I love when he says "Leave it to Beaver" then reads the cast names. He was 94.

Day 73: WGA's Strike; Details on TV Land's Big '80s Weekend; TV Land Picks-Up 2nd Season of Myths and Legends

It is day 73 of the strike and many development deals have been terminated because of the strike. Many producing deals have been canceled such as Taye Diggs' for ABC Studios. Sigh...let's hope this strike gets resolved soon, because it really doesn't look like we will have any shows developed for the fall now. Development season is usually now through April, and at this rate, nothing new (scripted wise) will premiere this fall.
Meanwhile, The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a comprehensive independent agreement with Spyglass Entertainment. The company finances, produces, and distributes theatrical motion pictures, including some of the most successful films of recent years, including The Sixth Sense, Shanghai Noon, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the upcoming 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl. The deal reached with Spyglass Entertainment is similar to the deals the WGA recently announced with United Artists, Worldwide Pants, and MRC and addresses the issues important to writers, including New Media.

As promised, we now have the full details on TV Land Big '80s Weekend slated for President's Day weekend (Feb. 16-18). However, TV Land has cut the hours big time. It was originally slated for 12pm-11pm on Feb. 16 & 17 and on the 18th we would get it from 11am-11pm. We could have seen classic '80s TV shows too in addition to the '80s movies, TV series such as A-Team or Knight Rider, but now all we will get is '80s movies. The hours are now 5pm-11pm on the 16th, 5pm-3am on the 17th and the best two movies will air from 5-9pm on President's Day itself. Among the classic '80s movies airing are National Lampoon's Class Reunion, Sixteen Candles, Flashdance, and The Breakfast Club.
Classic TV fans don't fret, because TV Land will also give us some sitcom marathons that weekend now! On the 16th and 17th we will get a two-hour block of Andy Griffith, followed by two episodes of Sanford & Son leading into the movies starting at 5pm. On President's Day itself, we will get a two-hour morning block of Leave it to Beaver from 8-10am, followed by I Love Lucy from 10am-1pm and The Beverly Hillbillies from 1-4pm. Two episodes of Three's Company will lead into the movies.
See the updated February schedule highlights by clicking HERE for the full details!

Sticking to TV Land news...TV Land has ordered a second season of the series TV Land Myths & Legends, which aims to unravel Hollywood-related mysteries, scandals, rumors and urban legends. The first of the seven new half-hour episodes will premiere on Wednesday, August 27, 2008. Among the pressing issues to be covered are whether Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally cast as TV's Incredible Hulk and if Jennifer Lopez's derriere is really insured for $1 billion. Other investigations include whether Mars Inc., maker of M&M's, turned down product placement in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, allowing Reese's Pieces to step in and benefit immensely.

Day 72: WGA's Strike; TV Land March 2008 Highlights

We are in day 72 of the writers' strike. The Writers Guild of America and the NAACP signed an interim agreement that will allow The 39th Annual NAACP Image Awards to be broadcast on Fox as scheduled Feb. 14. The agreement will allow the hiring of WGA writers to script the show and means that there will be no picketing of the event by striking writers. In addition, the Guild has granted a waiver permitting the use of clips from motion pictures and television programs. Is that good for The Grammys and The Oscars? Writers Guild of America West president Patric Verrone reiterated Tuesday that he does not anticipate granting the Academy Awards or The Grammy Awards a waiver unless the striking writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a deal. Ouch.
Finally, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and MRC, the independent film, television, and digital studio, have reached a comprehensive interim agreement that forges a new alliance between writers, producers, and financiers in the production of feature films, television shows, and digital programs. The terms of the agreement are similar to the Guild's recent deals with Worldwide Pants and United Artists
There have been a lot of reality signings and renewals thanks to the strike. NBC has picked up a second season of the hit competition series American Gladiators after just three airings. The season finale is expected to air on a Sunday leading into the premiere of the Knight Rider movie in February. No word when the second season will air and how many have been ordered, but NBC is leaning towards a summer launch date. In other news, NBC has ordered a pilot for the international hit series Top Gear from BBC Worldwide America.
CBS has ordered three new alternative/reality series for broadcast later this year - the biweekly celebrity talent contest Secret Talents of the Stars, the hidden camera game show Game Show in My Head and the search for America's Top Dog. I'm serious about the latter.

We have TV Land March 2008 for you! There are no regular schedule changes, but there are some minor adjustments on some dates (see link below for full schedule)...such as episodes of Just Shoot Me, mostly to accompany encores of High School Reunion. That series will launch on Wednesday, March 5 and will air at 10pm for 6 straight weeks, with MANY encores. TV Land reunites more than a dozen alumni from JJ Pierce high school in Richardson, Texas. The jock, the cheerleader, the partier, the bully, the nerd and several others reunite more than twenty years later in a two-week Hawaiian get-away to rekindle past relationships, rivalries and romances.
For two hours every Friday in March, catch super-sized episodes of M*A*S*H as TV Land features every two-part episode from the series back-to-back. So come say a tearful goodbye to Radar, catch a touring USO vaudeville show with the gang, or see the unforgettable kiss between rivals, Hawkeye and Hotlips. No need to wait until next week for any of these exciting conclusions; TV Land has got it here and now all month long. Talk about March err M*A*S*H Madness!
On weekends, catch some mini-marathons of your favorite shows such as Beverly Hillbillies, I Love Lucy and Leave it to Beaver! Also, a big weekend is planned for Andy the weekend of March 22! Investigate with the men of Mayberry in a two-day marathon of crime-solving episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Swindlers, crooks, confidence men and slick-talkers all converge on this small town of simple folk and even simpler living. See how Sherriff Taylor and Deputy Fife use small town wisdom and wit to crack the case, round up the outlaws and make the streets of Mayberry safe once again.
Finally, it's the monthly Movie Week on TV Land, the week of March 24! Showtime is every weeknight at 8p, starting Monday with Gary Busey as the music legend in The Buddy Holly Story. On Tuesday, Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice tries to spook Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis out of their home. Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg are thrust into fatherhood in Three Men and a Baby on Wednesday. Finishing out the week, Cher finds herself caught between her fiancé and his brother Nicolas Cage in the romantic-comedy Moonstruck.
The Friday night movies include Beetlejuice, The Buddy Holly Story, and Three Men and a Baby.
For the COMPLETE TV Land March 2008 highlights, including the schedule adjustments on some nights, High School Reunion encores, episodes for the marathons and stunts, and much more, click HERE! You can also discuss there, too! March on to the March highlights!

Day 12: WGA's Strike; KTLA in LA Celebrates 60 Years On-Air with Classic Marathon

We are now in day 12 of the writers' strike. Still nothing new to report at all. According to Jim continues to be the only sitcom still in production. They probably had the scripts done since they didn't start taping until like early October. So they probably will run out soon...it is believe the show has an 18 episode order, so maybe 10 episodes will be done.
Picketing today: elected officials will pick up picket signs and march with film and TV writers on Day Twelve of the Writers Guild of America strike fight for a fair and just contract at CBS Television City. Following his public statement of solidarity with the Writers Guild of America last week, U.S. Senator John Edwards will join striking writers on the picket line today to support the WGA in its ongoing fight to secure a fair and reasonable deal in front of the NBC sign in Burbank.

KTLA in Los Angeles is celebrating 60 years on air and they will celebrate with a 60-hour Retro Marathon to celebrate their 60th anniversary year. The shows they will air will be some of the greatest shows that they have aired in the last 60 years! The marathon begins on Friday, November 23 at 10pm and runs all-day Saturday, all-day Sunday, and lasts until Monday, November 26 at 10am. KTLA will have an awesome variety of shows representing what KTLA has aired in reruns over the past 60 years - The Jack Benny Program, The Honeymooners, Kung Fu, Rawhide, The Big Valley, Hopalong Cassidy, Bonanza, Little House On The Prairie, Lassie, Uncle Waldo's Cartoons, Underdog, Popeye & Friends, Little Rascals, Gidget, Charles In Charge, Doogie Howser, M.D., Dr. Kildare, Emergency!, Highway Patrol, C.H.i.P.s., Dragnet, 21 Jump Street, Wonder Woman, Peter Gunn, I Spy, Hunter, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, McHale's Navy, F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D., The Andy Griffith Show, The Munsters, The Three Stooges, The Monkees, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Matters, What's Happening!!, Cheers, Friends, Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days, Please Don't Eat The Daisies, The Partridge Family, Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, Leave It To Beaver, The Twilight Zone, Lost In Space, Star Trek, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Tarzan, Gilligan's Island, and Time For Beany! Even KTLA's newscasts will participate by bringing you current and then retro news stories that they've covered during the past 60 years!
Wow! So many classics! Sounds like a great weekend! Lucky people in Los Angeles! To see the schedule grid, head on over to their website!

If we have more news, we will come back later today. Enjoy your weekend.

TVLand.com Redesigns Website, Adds Full Episodes; Another RTN Affiliate; Historic Brady Bunch Star Event

In its continued effort to superserve the entertainment needs of people in their 40s and 50s, TV Land announced a relaunch of the network's website TVLand.com.
The new TVLand.com features special areas devoted to all aspects of entertainment including television, music and movies. Each section delivers unique attractions such as full-length episodes of beloved classic television shows including The Andy Griffith Show, Leave it to Beaver and Gunsmoke.
Additionally, in the coming months, the site will feature The Beverly Hillbillies, Hogan's Heroes and Just Shoot Me. Television fans will be able to access these series online as select episodes are showcased on the site.
There are much more features added to the website, I urge you to click HERE to see what they are!

Retro Television Network (RTN), announced today to add an affiliate in El Paso, TX. The network will launch in 2008 on a digital stream of KFOX-TV, the local FOX affiliate that serves the El Paso, TX / Las Cruces, NM market.
Viewers will fall in love all over again with Love, American Style and will be on the edge of their seats as Dr. Richard Kimble, played by David Jansen, is The Fugitive on the run trying to prove his innocence. In the evening, audiences will enjoy seeing Robert Stack as Elliot Ness in The Untouchables.
If you don't know by now, RTN is a new television network that provides each affiliate a customized feed (on digital streams) with classic hit shows, in addition to local programming including news, weather and sports. RTN is specifically designed to go on a broadcast digital channel and provides local broadcasters with a way to get ratings and successfully monetize their digital spectrum.

On October 16, Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch) will be the first celebrity in the world to interact with his fans online and sign Brady collectibles with the inscriptions they request. You could be a part of this historic event-- there are a limited number of online signing experiences available, so Brady fans need to act fast (Each signing event includes a FREE DVD recording of Chris signing your item and responding to your question!).
Go to LiveAutographs.com and check out the exclusive inventory of signing experiences featuring Chris Knight. Select your package (1 guaranteed authentic autographed item + you get to ask Chris a question and WATCH him respond!). Purchase it today to reserve your place at this Exclusive Online Fan Event. Grooovy!

Customizable Versions of Classic TV Music; Beaver Reunion Video

SmartSound Software, Inc., the leading provider of music and scoring technology for film and video professionals, today announced the launch of four new customizable music libraries featuring all original music from the film and television catalog of EMI Music Publishing, one of the world's largest music publishers. Each track is licensed for unlimited use in home movies and is encoded to work with SmartSound-enabled applications, including many leading video editing software products. This nostalgic music combined with SmartSound's patented technology allows users to set the music into any length scene and listen to all possible arrangements that have a musical beginning and ending fit exactly to the scene.
Each library includes ten tracks. They can be purchased directly from SmartSound at http://www.smartsound.com/moviemusic for $39.95 each or just $99 for all four discs as a set. Here are the TV Classics Library details:
EMI TV Classics -- Memorable music from favorite TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Includes music from such popular shows as Batman, Bewitched, The Avengers and Lost in Space.

In case anyone missed it this morning, ABCNews.com has put up the video of the Leave it to Beaver reunion segment. Tom Bergeron, host of Dancing with the Stars, conducted the interview. Can you believe Barbara Billingsley is 91?? Anyway, see for yourself by clicking HERE. There are two video links there on the right.

Yesterday we reported that tonight's Grey's Anatomy will encore on Friday at 9 on ABC, but now ABC has decided not to. Private Practice will now air on Friday, October 5, 2007 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. This episode will be a repeat telecast of the Wednesday, October 3, 2007 broadcast.

Tune in tonight on NBC for the Comedy Done Right sitcoms starting at 8/7 central with My Name is Earl followed by the season premiere of 30 Rock and an all-new one-hour episode of The Office.

Beaver Reunion on GMA Thursday; The Fonz in Bronze?

Leave it to Beaver is turning the big 5-0 tomorrow debuting 50 years ago on Oct. 3, 1957, and ABC's Good Morning America will reunite June (Barbara Billingsley), Wally (Tony Dow), Lumpy (Frank Bank), Eddie (Ken Osmond) and The Beav (Jerry Mathers) himself on the Thursday (Oct. 4) telecast of the morning show. It will air sometime between 7-9am, so either set the VCR/TiVo on or watch while you get ready for work. It will be great to see the living cast together again. As we have mentioned, TV Land will air a 24-hour marathon honoring the 50th anniversary of the show by airing classic episodes including the rarely seen pilot starting Saturday at 8pm thru Sunday at 8pm (and more airings on Monday from 11am-5pm). It is going to be a Beaver-licious week!

Variety is reporting that a Wisconsin civic group called Visit Milwaukee is trying to bring 'happy days' to the city, launching a campaign to create a bronzed statue of the character of The Fonz (Fonzie, Arthur Fonzarelli, whatever you call him) played by the great Henry Winkler.
They have raised about half of the $85,000 needed to get the bust made and presented in the city where Happy Days was set. While TV Land has funded statues of notable TV characters in the past, it won't be financing this one -- to the city's chagrin (The net isn't giving thumbs down to the character; it's just very selective about its statue-funding.).

Tune in tonight for two series premieres of two sitcoms...Cavemen and Carpoolers. We reviewed Carpoolers on Saturday and it is a surprise, so please try it. We have not seen the updated Cavemen pilot (nor has any other critic), so we will be watching that for the first time, too. We will try to do a review of it after we see it.
Both sitcoms will air back-to-back and the laughs start tonight at 8/7 central on ABC!

Fox Pulls First Series of the Season; TV Land Details Beaver's 50th, More TVL Notes

Fox has "pulled" the first show of the season. Friday reality show Nashville has been pulled after just 2 airings. The series debuted terribly, and did even worse last Friday getting barely 2 million viewers, for last place. Fox will air encores of K-Ville the next two Fridays. After that the baseball playoffs will take over, and Fox says following that Nashville will return. Sureeee. I highly doubt that.

TV Land celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of television's beloved family sitcoms, Leave It To Beaver with a 24 hour marathon beginning on October 6th at 8:00PM ET/PT concluding on Sunday, October 7th at 8:00PM ET/PT. The marathon includes the rarely-seen 1957 pilot entitled "It's a Small World" that features Jerry Mathers as the Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver; Paul Sullivan as Wally and Barbara Billingsley and Max Showalter as the parents June and Ward Cleaver.
In the weeks leading up to the October 6-7th marathon, TV Land.com will be the home to all things Leave It To Beaver. The site will feature the best of Leave It To Beaver clips along with streaming the original 1957 pilot, "It's A Small World" as well as four bonus episodes chosen by TVLand.com users. In addition to the exclusive video content, tvland.com offers its users a chance to win the series on DVD. Finally, the site will be filled with a special photo gallery and a mind-bending Leave It To Beaver trivia game.
In addition, TV Land just announced that the 50th Anniversary of Leave it to Beaver marathon extends into Monday, October 8 from 11:00am-5:00pm. Gee, Wally!
One other note, for the week of Oct. 8 only, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, will air on Saturday, October 13 at 11:00p instead of Tuesday the 9th at 11, with the movie Rain Man following at 12:00a.

If you have noticed on the bottom of last Wednesday, Sunday and Monday's blog that I mentioned when the sitcoms are airing. I'll try to do this for the rest of the season. Tonight it is week two for Back to You and 'Til Death. It all starts at 8/7 central on Fox.
Also tonight we have four new dramas premiering. Two of them are going to be huge in Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money. Now we are not doing full fledge reviews of them, like we are for every sitcom, but I'll give my opinions on the pilots here. The opener for Private Practice is pretty good. It starts off with Addison telling Dr. Webber that she is leaving Seattle to go to Los Angeles. Then we see her in her new house and she is dancing in the nude. A very hilarious scene. There are not many funny stuff in the first episode, we have some great drama though. The highlight of the first episode is when a man dies while trying to donate sperm, and a huge battle goes on to try to get that sperm...you'll have to see what I mean. Also, Addison's friend Naomi hired Addison without consulting any of the other doctors, which makes them all pretty ticked. Will they welcome Addison? You'll see. So far not as good as Grey's Anatomy, but Kate Walsh s great as always. Should debut big tonight!
Following that we have the premiere of Dirty Sexy Money! The rich family called the Darlings have it all. The great Donald Sutherland plays the rich father and he is as evil as he could be. He hired Nick George, played by Peter Krause, to represent his family as the family lawyer, something his father used to do for them. This family gets in all sort of trouble, and Nick has no life now besides them. There is also a nice mystery on what happened to Nick's dad. Did Mr. Darling have anything to do with it? We shall find out. This series will be a 21st century Dynasty and it comes from the people who created the wonderful Brothers & Sisters. It is like Brothers & Sisters on crack. Tune in tonight for both of these dramas back-to-back starting at 9/8 central only on ABC!
The other two new series are on NBC, also starting at 9/8 central. Bionic Woman and Life. Bionic should debut decently, but I think it will drop a lot after that. Life is my pick for the first scripted series cancelation.

The Full Updated TV Land September Schedule; More Details on TV Land Canada This Fall

It was just yesterday when we released the updated TV Land weekend schedule for September, now we have the fully updated schedule for the rest of the week! So continuing where we left off yesterday, the late night schedule in September will be the same for every night. Which means the schedule we gave yesterday from 12:05am-6am on weekends will ALSO be on weeknights. So we won't go over that. Let's start with weekday mornings, we are started off with Star Trek at 6am, followed by back to back M*A*S*H at 7am, then we have a sitcom block of Cheers, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son and All in the Family until 10am. Knight Rider joins the lineup and will air at 10am (it was previously slated for weekdays at 3pm in the original September schedule). Then on Mondays only, we have a TV Land Goes West Monday block with Bonanza from 11am-2pm and Gunsmoke from 2-6pm. Tues-Fri in this time period we get Gunsmoke at 11am, back-to-back I Love Lucy at noon, back-to-back Green Acres at 1pm, the horror hour with Munsters & Addams Family at 2, back-to-back Leave it to Beaver at 3, Bonanza at 4pm and Gunsmoke at 5pm. Weeknights at 6 will remain Little House on the Prairie followed by back-to-back Andy Griffith Show episodes at 7. In primetime on weeknights we get back-to-back The Cosby Show at 8, followed by back-to-back The Jeffersons at 9, back-to-back Sanford & Son at 10, and back-to-back M*A*S*H at 11. There are some days when things get pre-empted, so I suggest you view our seven day a week schedule for September by clicking HERE!
Hopefully TV Land doesn't edit the September line-up again. We will have the October highlights very soon, so come on back for that. What to expect that month is a 50th Anniversary Marathon of Leave it to Beaver and Designing Women joins the line-up.

Moving up north of the border, we have some additional details for TV Land Canada's Fall schedule. We gave you the shows and details last month, but now we have some more info!
Among the highlights: TV Land Canada has 24-hour marathons of Remington Steele and Happy Days, and spends the Christmas holidays with Lassie and Dallas. Several stand-up comedy series hosted by comedian Ben Guyatt are also coming to the Canadian network. For complete details, click HERE you Canadians!