WPIX's Halloween Chiller Theatre and a November 13 Marathon of a Sitcom; Hallmark Cuts Lucy...Again

While WGN America airs a Munsters and Addams Family marathon for Halloween (Oct. 30 and 31), local New York station WPIX is going for some movie horror. WPIX is airing The Evil of Frankenstein on Halloween night (Saturday, October 31) at 8pm (as Chiller Theatre) and this year its hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and will feature the original Chiller Theatre opens: "The Six-Fingered Hand" and the "Monster Montage"
(wpix.com/chillertheatre).
Chiller Theatre originally aired on WPIX from 1961-1978 and again from 1980-1982. After WPIX resurrected Chiller Theatre in 2008 (with a broadcast of Tarantula hosted by Zacherley) the station received hundreds of requests from viewers demanding the return of Chiller Theatre to the air. So this year, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark will host WPIX's Chiller Theatre presentation.
The 1964 campy chiller The Evil of Frankenstein -- from Hammer Film Productions, one of the most famous names in horror -- Peter Cushing stars as Baron Frankenstein who resurrects his monster only to have him come under the spell of Zoltan, a svengali-like carnival hypnotist who mesmerizes the creature into doing his evil bidding.

And that's not all the WPIX news we have! Let's see if you can guess it before I reveal it. On what opening theme did we have a narration that mentioned November 13? Did you figure it out? Still stumped? Read this: "On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. (Unger's unseen wife slams door. She reopens it and angrily hands Felix his saucepan) That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right, but he also knew that someday, he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend, Oscar Madison. Sometime earlier, Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?"
Yes, the classic '70s ABC sitcom The Odd Couple! In a cool marathon stunt, WPIX will air a late night marathon of The Odd Couple on that very day when Felix leaves his wife and moves in with Oscar...and that's how they became The Odd Couple. WPIX in New York will air the marathon from 11pm-4:30am on Friday, November 13 with classic episodes. Episodes airing are "Password," "You Saved My Life," "Sleepwalkers," "The Flying Felix," "The Odd Monks," "Felix Calypso Singer," "Let's Make a Deal," "The Subway Show," "The New Car," "A Grave for Felix," and "I Gotta Be Me." We'll have more on this if anything new arises, and let's hope WPIX can do some more marathons of shows!

It was just on Tuesday when we announced that we would be getting more I Love Lucy on Hallmark, but guess what...now that will be cut. Like I said, Hallmark's love and hate relationship continues with Lucy. They quietly removed the weekdays 9-10am hour of I Love Lucy yesterday and returned Golden Girls in the hour, so now that airs 9am-1pm...for now (keep reading). Starting Monday (Oct. 19) Touched by an Angel returns to weekdays at 12 noon, replacing an hour of The Golden Girls, as that is now 9am-12pm every weekday morning. Then once again I Love Lucy is given a short leash and is getting cut completely from its current 5pm-11pm hours. M*A*S*H returns and will air in its old 5pm-8pm hours, while Touched by an Angel returns at 8pm, and the primetime movie from 9-11pm. So I Love Lucy goes from 7 hours a day this week to ZERO hours a day next week! What is with the love-hate relationship? Ratings must be key to the changes, but it seems Hallmark makes moves and changes those moves within days. Are you getting tired of it? Sound off on our message board! Ah, the on going soap opera of Hallmark Channel schedule changes!

ABC Picks Up Full Seasons of 3 New Comedies; Hallmark Does More Changing; Bio TV's TV Related Specials

ABC has announced it has given early full season orders to three of the four new Comedy Wednesday sitcoms. The Middle starring Patricia Heaton, Modern Family starring Ed O'Neill and Cougar Town starring Courtney Cox were given at least 22 episodes for this season, adding on nine episodes at least in the original 13 episode order. The latter two especially has done well in the ratings, in particular in 18-49. They have set up for a good comedy foundation for the network. No news was given yet on Hank starring Kelsey Grammer, the next few airings will be key for its future.
The three comedies join CBS's NCIS: LA & The Good Wife, along with Fox's Glee and Cleveland Show in full season pick-ups, though the latter was given multiple season orders before it even aired. Look for more full season renewals officially soon such as for ABC drama FLASHFORWARD.

Well it must be Friday because The Hallmark Channel has made some changes to its schedule. Effective Monday (October 12), the weekday 9am hour will now be I Love Lucy instead of The Golden Girls. So Golden Girls in the mornings are now 10am-1pm instead of 9am-1pm. And it will still air weeknights 11pm-2am. Then starting next Saturday (Oct. 17), M*A*S*H returns and will air Saturdays from 9am-11am replacing The Golden Girls. Then on both Saturday and Sunday nights starting next weekend, Walker, Texas Ranger is back, replacing The Golden Girls from 1-3am on both nights. And finally Sundays starting next Sunday we have another hour of Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures on Sundays in the 10am hour, and yes it replaces The Golden Girls. The Golden Girls is now totally off the line-up on weekends but remain of course on weekdays. So if you're keeping track, Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures airs Saturdays 6am-9am and Sundays 8am-11am.
And for the November schedule, Touched by an Angel will replace I Love Lucy in the 8pm hour starting Oct. 26, but Lucy will remain 5-8pm. Touched by an Angel will not be airing 9pm and 10pm because of the previously announced movie airing weeknights 9-11pm starting Oct. 26.

Finally Bio TV has some new specials this month that are interesting. First on Tuesday (Oct. 13) at 10pm, they are airing Cast Confessions: The Facts of Life. This special takes you behind the scenes to reveal everything you never knew about one of our favorite sitcoms...The Facts of Life. Revisit this classic comedy as back-stage secrets and hidden drama are revealed through exclusive footage and interviews with original cast members, writers and network executives. Sounds interesting!
They have also premiered a new series called Celebrity Ghost Stories. It launched last Saturday and airs Saturdays at 10PM. In the premiere last week, celebs featured were Joan Rivers, David Carradine, Scott Baio, Teri Polo. Joan Rivers asks a voodoo priestess to help her with an angry ghost; Scott Baio's unresolved issues with his father haunt him when his dad dies; Teri Polo has a horrifying encounter one night when she's just 8 years old; and David Carradine has a strange encounter with his wife's dead husband. Airing tomorrow (Oct. 10) are about celebs Barry Williams, Debi Mazar, Greg Grunberg, Sammy Hagar. When Barry Williams holds a memorial service for his father, a few strange "happenings" make the day even more unforgettable; Debi Mazer gets a hostile welcome from a ghost when she moves into a friend's home; Greg Grunberg meets a ghost with a shocking past; and Sammy Hagar gets a visit from Van Halen's dead manager.
Upcoming celebs featured are: Carrie Fisher, Rue McClanahan, John Waters, Federico Castelluccio (10/17); Tom Arnold, Dee Snider, Carnie Wilson, Nia Long (10/24) Lisa Rinna, Jeffrey Ross, Vincent Curatola, Illeana Douglas (11/7); Carnie Wilson, Eric Roberts, Elisabeth Rohm, C. Thomas Howell (11/14); Justine Bateman, Traci Lords, Jay Thomas, James Kyson Lee (11/21). There will be a marathon on Halloween night starting at 8pm.

Hallmark Channel Welcomes Back I Love Lucy; 61st Primetime Emmy Awards Winners

A few weeks back we mentioned that I Love Lucy would get a marathon on The Hallmark Channel on Sunday, Oct. 4 from 11am-3am...now we have more news for Lucy! It looks like they were planning that marathon for a comeback rather than Lucy's anniversary! Effective Monday, Oct. 5 (the very next day), I Love Lucy returns to the regular Hallmark Channel schedule and it isn't a late night/early morning slot! I Love Lucy will air weekdays from 5pm-8pm, yes that's six straight episodes, replacing M*A*S*H, which is now off the line-up. This is the second bit of bad news for M*A*S*H, as on Thursday we told you ION Television was removing it also. Not sure what is going on with M*A*S*H yet, but TV Land will still carry it.
As for I Love Lucy, you people need to watch if you want it to STAY on the schedule, especially 5pm-8pm. They are giving it yet another chance...but Hallmark seems to have a short leash, so watch it this time or you'll have some splaining to do! Luuuuuuuucy!

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Weeds (Showtime)
The Office (NBC)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
30 Rock (NBC)
Entourage (HBO)
Family Guy (Fox)
Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
WINNER: 30 Rock.

OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Jermaine Clement, Flight of the Conchords (HBO)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
WINNER: Alec Baldwin.

OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTRESS
Sarah Silverman, The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Old Christine (CBS)
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (Showtime)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Toni Collette, United States of Tara (Showtime)
WINNER: Toni Collette.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Kevin Dillion, Entourage (HBO)
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Rainn Wilson, The Office (NBC)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jack McBrayer, 30 Rock (NBC)
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock (NBC)
WINNER: Jon Cryer.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (NBC)
Amy Poehler, SNL (NBC)
Kristin Wiig, SNL (NBC)
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds (Showtime)
WINNER: Kristin Chenoweth.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Lost (ABC)
House (Fox)
Damages (FX)
Big Love (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
WINNER: Mad Men.

OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Simon Baker, The Mentalist (CBS)
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Gabriel Bryne, In Treatment (HBO)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
WINNER: Bryan Cranston.

OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Damages (FX)
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace (TNT)
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
WINNER: Glenn Close.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal (ABC)
William Shatner, Boston Legal (ABC)
William Hurt, Damages (FX)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Michael Emerson, Lost (ABC)
WINNER: Michael Emerson.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Cherry Jones, 24 (Fox)
Ross Byrne, Damages (FX)
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Hope Davis, In Treatment (HBO)
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Diane Wiest, In Treatment (HBO)
WINNER: Cherry Jones

View the full list of winners at Emmys.tv

Stay tuned for pilot reviews of Modern Family, Cougar Town, Brothers, and The Cleveland Show from Tues-Fri this week...we have a sitcom pilot review each day for you! See what we think of all the sitcom pilots this season!

ION Television October 2009, More Programming Hours; Remembering Henry Gibson

This October 2009 on ION Television will see a few schedule changes. First, ION Television will add the 11pm hour every weekday. Currently, ION only has the 11pm hour on Mondays with Durham County's instant encore, but starting Tuesday, Sept. 29, Tues-Fri at 11pm will be Criminal Minds. It will replace Paid Programming. So we gain an hour on weekdays! Starting Monday, Oct. 5, M*A*S*H will leave the line-up, as we get another hour of Reba from 4-5pm. Reba will continue to air 7-8pm as well.
Moving on to weekends starting in October, ION will be adding 3 more hours to both days! Yes, that means the start time goes from 6pm to 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays! Movies will rule on weekends but there are times when there will be a filler in the 3pm half-hour or 3pm hour even. Right now the filler is TBD, but I'd expect maybe Reba or something to fill in.
ION will have many movie premieres this October, as movies airs Fri-Sun. The premieres are The Rainmaker, The Medallion, The Departed, The Perfect Storm, Wild Wild West, The Return, On Deadly Ground, and Breach. Among the encore airings are Heat, A Bronx Tale, Inside Man, Above the Law, The Specialist, Hard to Kill, The Break-Up, Patriot Games, and more. If you say you missed Heat, then you are crazy since ION is airing it so many times. No excuse for missing that 1995 movie!
View the full ION Television October 2009 schedule.

Henry Gibson, a wry comic character actor whose career included Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Nashville and Boston Legal, died Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer.
Gibson's breakthrough came in 1968 when he was cast as a member of the original ensemble of NBC's top-rated Laugh-In, on which he performed for three seasons. Each week, a giant flower in his hand, he recited a signature poem, introducing them with the catch phrase that became his signature: "A Poem, by Henry Gibson."
After Laugh-In, he played the evil Dr. Verringer in The Long Goodbye (1973), the first of four films in which he appeared for director Robert Altman. Their second collaboration came in Nashville (1975), in which Gibson earned a Golden Globe nomination and a National Society of Film Critics supporting-actor award for his performance as unctuous country singer Haven Hamilton. He also wrote his character's songs.
In television, Gibson's recent work included a five-season stint as cantankerous Judge Clarence Brown on ABC's Boston Legal and providing the voice for sardonic, eye-patched newspaperman Bob Jenkins on Fox's animated series King of the Hill.
His previous TV work include appearances on The Joey Bishop Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, My Favorite Martian, The Dick Van Dyke Show, F-Troop, Bewitched, Love American Style, Fantasy Island, The Dukes of Hazzard, Smurfs, Magnum P.I., Simon & Simon, The Love Boat, The Fall Guy, Knight Rider, Newhart, Evening Shade, MacGyver, Sisters, Coach, The John Larroquette Show, Maggie Winters, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Early Edition, Charmed, Becker, Malcolm in the Middle, and the short-lived Cracking Up.
Gibson was a true character actor and will be missed. He was 73.

TBS and ABC Family Renew Original Sitcoms; Remembering Larry Gelbart

The beer will continue flowing at Crowley's Tavern as TBS orders up a fourth season of its critically acclaimed original sitcom from Sony Pictures Television, My Boys. The series stars Jordana Spiro as PJ Franklin, a 20-something sports columnist in Chicago. TBS has lined up nine episodes for the new season, which is slated to launch in 2010.
Co-starring in My Boys as PJ's mostly male group of close friends are Kyle Howard as boyfriend Bobby, Reid Scott as best friend Brendon, Michael Bunin as Kenny and Jamie Kaler as Mike. Kellee Stewart co-stars as Stephanie, a former schoolmate and the only female influence in PJ's life.
The single camera sitcom premiered to critical praise on TBS in November 2006. When the series returned in summer 2007, it scored 22% growth among adults 18-34. Earlier this year, the show's third season garnered 11% growth among adults 18-34. The comedy is particularly strong among DVR users, delivering 72% growth among adults 18-34 and 52% growth among viewers when comparing Live to Live + 7 viewing for the third season.

Meanwhile, ABC Family has ordered another season of ten episodes of original comedy 10 Things I Hate About You. The ensemble single camera sitcom based on the 1999 feature of the same name has performed well for ABC Family since its July 7 debut. The comedy is created and executive produced by Carter Covington and stars Lindsey Shaw, Meaghan Martin, Larry Miller and Ethan Peck. The series just finished its first season episode order (10 episodes) last Tuesday.
However, the news was not as good for another original ABC Family series that premiered this summer, Ruby and the Rockits. ABC Family will not renew the multicamera sitcom that revolved around a pair of aging pop stars and their families, which starred Patrick Cassidy, David Cassidy and Alexa Vega and was executive produced by Shaun Cassidy. The series still has two episodes left to air in its only season episode order, with the series finale airing next Tuesday at 8:30PM.

Larry Gelbart, the award-winning writer whose sly, sardonic wit helped create such hits as Broadway's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the film Tootsie, and of course television's M*A*S*H, died Friday. Gelbart died at his Beverly Hills home after a long battle with cancer. He is likely best remembered for the long-running TV show about Army doctors during the Korean War. Gelbart won an Emmy for M*A*S*H and was nominated for writing but quit during the show's fourth season, saying he was "totally worn out."
Gelbart's Broadway show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, written with Burt Shevelove, was a runaway hit. It was based loosely on the Roman plays of Plautus with songs by Stephen Sondheim.
His films Oh, God! with George Burns as a philosophical deity, and Tootsie, with Dustin Hoffman as a cross-dressing actor, both brought him Academy Award nominations, and the HBO movie Barbarians at the Gate, about Wall Street chicanery, brought another Emmy.
Gelbart's other television work was creating the short-lived CBS sitcom Roll Out! in 1973. It starred Stu Gilliam and Hilly Hicks, and featuring Ed Begley, Jr. and Garrett Morris, the series was set in France during World War II and was loosely based on the 1952 film Red Ball Express. Instead of Army medics, Roll Out! highlighted the pratfalls of the supply drivers of the 5050th Quartermaster Trucking Company of the U.S. Third Army's Red Ball Express, whose staff was mainly African American.
Gelbart was also known for writing the first television pilot for Three's Company in 1976, which today is known as "The Larry Gelbart Pilot." The pilot never aired originally, but has been on DVD and aired on cable on TV Land. In 1980, Larry had another show that didn't last too long. The series was for NBC titled United States and starred Beau Bridges. It was a show about Richard and Libby Chapin and their two children Dylan and Nicky. The show differed from other sitcoms in that there might not be closure to problems after a frank discussion and the subjects discussed were not common to other sitcoms.
In 1983, Larry came back to M*A*S*H in the spin-off AfterMASH. It only lasted two seasons and had the Korean War ended with Colonel Potter, Sergeant Klinger, and Father Mulcahy finding themselves together once again, this time at a veteran's hospital.
In recent years Larry has been interviewed for TV Land Confidential, Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, Inside TV Land: The Dick Van Dyke Show, M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion, and most recently Biography: Three's Company. He was also at the TV Land Awards earlier this year.
Larry will certainly be missed and his great writing will live on forever in M*A*S*H and his other work. He was 81.

TV Land October 2009 Highlights; Retroality.TV's Totally Awesome Features for September

October 2009 for TV Land will be the same regular schedule that will start in September, as of now. There are some minor weekend time adjustments, but it is not a big deal. This October, Married...with Children's Saturday block goes from 5pm-10pm to 2pm-10pm, while Andy Griffith Show's Sunday block goes from 5pm-10pm to 5pm-12am. As a result, M*A*S*H's Sunday primetime airing gets shifted to Saturdays 10pm-1am replacing Cosby Show. That's all but there are plenty of highlights! First off, leading into Married on Saturdays will continue to be various classic marathons each week, in October on Saturdays we have 3rd Rock from the Sun, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Sanford & Son, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Three's Company...with time varying, but usually between 10am-2pm. Leading into Andy on Sundays will continue to be various classic marathons each week as well, in October on Sundays we get Hogan's Heroes, Bonanza, Good Times, and Gunsmoke.
TV Land invites you again for the annal event CASA Family Day. Spend the 6pm hour with your family around the family table during CASA's annual Family Day on Monday, September 28. This year an episode of Little House on the Prairie will air.
This Halloween be scared. Be very scared! Because it's Roseanne's Wicked Halloween Bash! Catch every single Halloween episode from Roseanne's run on Halloween night from 10pm-2am! What better way for a wicked Halloween bash? Michael Myers who?
Finally, the TV Land PRIME movies for October are Police Academy, Office & a Gentleman, The Mod Squad, The Bodyguard, and Private Benjamin.
View the TV Land October 2009 Highlights.

Chris Mann's Retroality.TV has many many new features coming this September that will something for everyone! The cover story for September will be about Susan Olsen's new book Love to Love You Bradys, a look at how the Bradys paved the way for reality TV! There will be another cover story as well! Chris Mann has part 1 of an explosive two-part, in-depth interview with Farrah's Story executive producer Craig J. Nevius. Two days before NBC premiered the special back in May, Nevius sued Ryan O'Neal and Alana Stewart, claiming they interfered in the project and barred him from carrying out the terms of his signed April 2008 contract with Farrah. Nevius also was barred from contacting Farrah during the last three months of her life. She died of course on June 25 after a three-year struggle with anal cancer. In part one of this exclusive interview, Nevius discusses his five-year friendship and business relationship with Fawcett--beginning with a failed Charlie's Angels reunion and then TV Land's Chasing Farrah--and his promise to help her win an Emmy (She and Nevius are nominated for their roles as executive producers in Farrah's Story). Part 2 of the story will post by Sept. 7, leading up to the Creative Arts Emmys on Sept. 12.
Also, coming this September to this wonderful and cool website is a story on why TV Land censors Sanford and Son from guest columnist John Wekluk. And Price is Right fans take note, part four of Holly Hallstrom's audio interview will be posted in mid-September. She discusses, among other things, Rod Roddy's tragic, lengthy battle with colon cancer and why Bob Barker's longtime on-screen sidekick was suddenly taken off camera--against Roddy's wishes--on The Price is Right in 2002. Was it "Come on Out" instead of "Come on Down" for Roddy? You'll want to hear this!
And finally, the home page of Retroality.TV will feature links to last month's exclusive Hollywood Show video interviews, including Chris' chat with Tanya Roberts (who discusses her husband's death after a long illness, as well as Farrah's passing), Three's Company's Jenilee Harrison (Cindy Snow), and his revealing four-part chat with Susan Olsen (who gives Chris Brady scoops on her book, the Jan and Marcia "feud" and a rumored Oprah reunion this fall). That Olsen video is perfect timing since one of the cover stories is on Susan Olsen!
So head on over to our pals at Retroality.TV! Chris Mann never disappoints!

TV Land and Spike TV Fall 2009 Updates; Lifetime Original Sitcoms Update; A Personal Message

Today we have a couple of updates to fall schedules we already gave you. Viacom strikes again. Yesterday we mentioned Married...with Children is returning to TV Land effective immediately. So yes this will indeed affect TV Land's September line-up that we originally gave you. Married...with Children will remain on the TV Land schedule this September as well! Starting Sept. 14 it will air weeknights 8-9pm and will join the weeknight 9pm-12am block on Tuesday nights. So this means Andy Griffith Show will not air weeknights 7-9pm anymore, as originally planned. Beverly Hillbillies will still fill the 7pm hour, as that change starts next week. Originally the 9pm-12am block from Mon-Thurs had Andy on Monday, Roseanne on Tuesday, M*A*S*H on Wednesday, and Cosby Show on Thursday. Now it will be Andy on Monday, Married...with Children on Tuesday, Cosby Show on Wednesday, and Roseanne on Thursday.
Also, Married...with Children will air on Saturdays as well in marathon blocks during the day instead of Andy Griffith, but that will remain on Sundays. Late Sunday nights from 4-6am will now be Brady Bunch airings. And since the Cosby Show primetime block goes from Thursdays to Wednesdays, the 25th anniversary marathon moves to Wednesday, Sept. 23.
View the fully updated TV Land September 2009 line-up.

And that's not all for changes! Spike TV's Fall 2009 line-up starts on Monday, Sept. 28, as we told you. There is one change now. Instead of Married...with Children from 9-11am on weekday mornings, we now get a morning movie. Why? You guessed it...sister network TV Land is now airing the show on weekdays and Saturdays as we mentioned above. But on Sundays, Spike TV will still air the show in the mornings and sometimes in the 1am hour on that night. Everything else for Spike TV Fall 2009 is the same as we previously relayed to you, so Unsolved Mysteries is still Mon-Wed nights at 2am.

Moving on to Lifetime, we first announced the premiere date for Lifetime's new original sitcom Sherri as October 5 on our Lifetime Fall 2009 schedule...now we have full details on that and the return of Rita Rocks.
The all-new, multi-camera comedy series Sherri, premieres Monday, October 5, at 7PM ET/PT on Lifetime Television. Sherri will bow as part of a one-hour comedy block paired with the returning Rita Rocks, starring Nicole Sullivan, at 7:30PM ET/PT. Both series will feature stripped original episodes for a full week in the 7PM hour. Sherri will then move into its regular timeslot Tuesdays at 10PM ET/PT, followed by Rita Rocks Tuesdays at 10:30PM ET/PT--both starting Oct. 13.
Sherri centers around a newly single mom, paralegal and part-time comedienne/actress who tries to get back into the dating scene and move on with her life after divorcing her cheating husband. Sherri finds solace and support among her girlfriends at the office while juggling her hectic life.
Sherri marks the first comedy series ever to be wholly owned by Lifetime. The Network has picked up 12 episodes of the program, to be produced in New York by Lifetime Television. Also starring in the series are Elizabeth Regen, Kate Reinders, Kali Rocha and Tammy Townsend. Classic TV stars Malcolm-Jamal Warner and James Avery will guest-star in multiple episodes.

Finally, I have a few personal news for you. Tonight's episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is the one I went to! Watch Night 5 tonight at 8pm ET/PT on ABC. Hint: I'm sitting close to where the contestant's spouse/family member sits, but in the third row instead of the first row. And finally, since 1997 I've been raising money for a Walkathon. This year I'm raising money online as well. So I'm asking you readers out there to help me out for my online portion and donate for a great cause that benefits so many causes, including the American Cancer Society. Any amount is good and you'll feel good for donating! So please donate today (I sound like Sally Struthers, don't I?)! You'll find all the info on that link...it is amazing. Please help us out!

ION Television Fall 2009 Schedule; Summer 2009 TCA Tour: CBS; 2009 TCA Awards Winners

ION Television has officially announced their full Fall 2009 schedule. We gave you a preview of what was to come a week or so ago, but now we have the full schedule! The changes will be all made in primetime. The 4pm-8pm schedule will remain the same, so we still have M*A*S*H, Boston Legal, Family Feud and Reba airing every weekday. As we mentioned, Ghost Whisperer goes from Mondays at 8pm to Mon-Thurs at 8pm starting Sept. 7. Criminal Minds joins the schedule and will air Mondays at 9pm, Tuesdays 9pm & 10pm, Wednesdays at 10pm, and Fridays at 10pm...that's five airings a week! New original series Durham County will air Mondays at 10pm and will have an instant encore at 11pm on Mondays as well. So, the 11pm hour on Mondays will not be paid programming anymore! Returning to the schedule after having August off is NCIS airing Thursdays at 9pm and 10pm, replacing Total Theatre Thursday. Boston Legal, which will still air in the daytime schedule, will now only be Wednesdays at 9pm in primetime. The ION Monday & Wednesday movie will be replaced, just like Thursday. ION Movies are now weekends only airing Fridays through Sundays. As far as weekends, the movies continue but instead of M*A*S*H leading into the movies at times, it will now be Reba.
ION Movie premieres for September 2009 are big hits! The Break-Up, Outbreak, A Bronx Tale, Inside Man, and Patriot Games are the premieres. Encores for the month are Matrix Reloaded, The Specialist, The Enforcer, The Gauntlet, and Magnum Force.
View the full ION Television September 2009 schedule and highlights.

CBS is the first broadcast network up at the summer 2009 TCA press tour. It gets underway at 9am PT with the Executive Session. Schedule after that has panels for The Goode Wife & The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, a research presentation on the latest findings about the relationship between TV and the Internet, then lunch time with gourmet lunch packages, a special press conference, panels for Accidentally on Purpose, The Doctors, Medium, and the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards. The Stars Party closes things out in the evening with stars of CBS, The CW, Showtime and CBS Television Distribution. Stay with us all day for news here as it happens!
Let's Make a Deal, a new take on the classic game show where audience members dress in outlandish costumes to win cash and prizes by making deals with the host, will premiere Monday, October 5, (check local listings) on the CBS Television Network. Emmy Award-winner Wayne Brady will host the new daytime series produced by FremantleMedia North America. When it joins the CBS Television Network daytime schedule, it will be replacing Guiding Light. Guiding Light will have its last telecast on Friday, September 18, 2009. Programming for this time period from September 21-October 2 will be announced shortly, but starting Oct. 5, it will be Let's Make a Deal.
The original series was a television game show staple during the 1960's and 70's when it was hosted by Monty Hall from 1963-1977. While later versions aired in syndication and primetime, the game show is best remembered for the years hosted by Hall, who will serve as a creative consultant on this latest version.
Up tomorrow at the press tour will be The CW and Showtime! NBC will be Wednesday, Fox on Thursday, FX on Friday, and ABC closes it out on Satuday.

The Television Critics Association marked the 25th anniversary of its awards on Saturday night (Aug. 1) with a ceremony looking back at the history of the organization and its tradition of honoring quality television programs.
HBO led all the networks with three trophies at the Television Critics Association Awards, winning for Outstanding New Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series & Specials and Outstanding Achievement in News & Information. Sitcom The Big Bang Theory won Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. Its star, Jim Parsons, received the Outstanding Individual Achievement in Comedy award. Full winners:

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Battlestar Galactica (Syfy)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: True Blood (HBO)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Mad Men (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: The Alzheimer's Project (HBO)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: Yo Gabba Gabba (Nickelodeon)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: Grey Gardens (HBO)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
HERITAGE AWARD: ER (NBC)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Betty White

ION Television August 2009 Highlights; Comedy Central Orders Original Sitcom

This August on ION Television, there will be no regular changes, so August 2009 will look the same as July 2009 in terms of the regular schedule. So for weekdays starting at 4pm we have M*A*S*H, Boston Legal, Family Feud, and Reba leading into primetime with Ghost Whisperer and NCIS on Mondays, Boston Legal on Tuesdays, and movies the rest of the week.
The movie premieres for August on ION are Dave, Cocktail, Hard to Kill, Blazing Saddles, End of Days, Suspect, Matrix Revolutions, Wyatt Earp, The Specialist, and four movies in the Clint Eastwood Weekend on August 29 and 30: The Gauntlet, Magnum Force, Dead Pool and The Enforcer.
Encores movies airings are Unlawful Entry, Batman, Soldier, Double Impact, Tango & Cash and Assassins. It looks like the full M*A*S*H Sunday airings are preempted this month for movies in primetime, but we still do get M*A*S*H in the early part of the evening usually.
View the complete ION Television August 2009 Highlights.

Employing the same unique formula used for the launch of Tyler Perry's two successful sitcoms, Debmar-Mercury, the television distribution and syndication arm of Lionsgate, announced that Comedy Central has ordered an initial run of 10 episodes of a new, untitled sitcom starring Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Blades of Glory) from Gary Sanchez Productions and Debmar-Mercury.
The production company led by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, and distributed by Debmar-Mercury, the untitled, multi-camera sitcom for Comedy Central will star Heder as an out of work computer IT specialist who leaves the big city and returns to his small home town, where he moves back in with his parents and younger brother. Ferrell, McKay and Henchy will write and produce the series.
They have initially ordered 10 episodes of the Heder sitcom and will then have the option to order an additional 90 episodes upon a successful first-season run. Debmar-Mercury would retain the rights to take the series into syndication after its run on Comedy Central.

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.

ION Television July 2009; RTN Coming to New York City, Announces More Shows

ION Television has announced its July line-up. But before we relay that to you, the change they were making we told you about starting June 8, is now NOT happening. This means Family Feud will stay in the 6pm hour and Reba will remain in the 7pm hour. Previously they were going to be switched, but they changed their mind.
Now back to July. Effective Monday, June 29, the 4-6pm weekday hours are changed. Previously we mentioned ER would return weekdays at 5pm starting June 29, with M*A*S*H moving to the 4pm hour. Now that is not happening either. Boston Legal will be airing weekdays at 5pm now! And Boston Legal will remain Tuesdays in primetime from 8-11pm as well. M*A*S*H will however still move to the 4pm hour as previously announced. Everything else will remain the same.
Movie premieres for July are Revenge, Uncle Buck, Wildcats, Batman Returns, Mother Knows Best, Terror in the Family, Passenger 57, and Training Day. Movies encores for July are Assassins, Pacific Heights, True Crime, Best Friends, Falling Down, Lethal Weapon 2, and Just Cause. Movies on Friday, July 3 and Saturday, July 4 are still TBD, so stay tuned!
View the full ION Television July 2009 schedule and highlights.

Retro TV is FINALLY coming to the Big Apple! Yes, RTN is coming to the New York market. Retro Television announced today that is has entered into an agreement with Multicultural Broadcasting's WSAH to begin airing RTN starting Wednesday, July 1 in New York. RTN will air on the primary channel of WSAH-TV and will be available to cable, satellite and over the air viewers immediately. WSAH is actually based in Bridgeport, CT, though. So, there will be areas in the NY/NJ market that don't get this station on cable.
The new WSAH will air RTN 24/7 with great shows like Quincy, Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock, Emergency! and many more. According to RTN's Neal Ardman "WSAH brings millions of cable and satellite viewers to the RTN family and we are beyond excited to launch our custom feed this July. We now New Yorkers will be thrilled with the Prime time all the Time lineup of RTN."
Sean Kim, COO of Multicultural Broadcasting said, "We are very excited to continue our relationship with Retro and looking forward to providing New York viewers with best programming from the '60s, '70s and '80s."
RTN is currently in or under contract in 75% of the US with its unique format of providing custom feeds to most markets.

RTN has also picked-up the rights to air 7 more shows, in addition to the Universal-owned shows they air. All 7 series are from independent production companies. The shows they have picked-up are:
I Spy - starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp (1965-68, 82 episodes)
The Rifleman - starring Chuck Connors (1958-63, 168 episodes)
The Cisco Kid - Starring Duncan Renaldo (1950-56, 156 episodes)
Daniel Boone - Starring Fess Parker (1964-70, 165 episodes)
Peter Gunn - Starring Craig Stevens (1958-61, 114 episodes)
The Adventures of Robin Hood - Starring Richard Greene (1955-60, 143 episodes)
Black Beauty - Starring Black Beauty (104 episodes)
These series will launch on RTN this July across the nation.

The CW Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedule; WGN, Hallmark Schedule Changes, Sci Fi's Land of the Lost Marathons

The CW 2009-10

Fall 2009

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM One Tree Hill

Tuesdays
8:00PM 90210
9:00PM Melrose Place (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM The Beautiful Life (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Vampire Diaries (NEW!)
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM America's Top Model Encore

Mid-Season:
New series Parental Discretion Advised (AKA Light Years) has been picked-up.

Discuss The CW's 2009-10 line-up and also you can view complete program information.


WGN America is going Newhart crazy! This coming Sunday they will air all Newhart during the weekly Outta Sight Retro Night! The Cubs and Padres baseball game is from 4-7pm ET, but immediately following the game, watch a Newhart marathon from 7pm-10pm ET and from 11pm-2am ET! Before the game there is also a Newhart episode at 3pm ET, leading into the game. And that's not all for Newhart! The series will now air for two-hours every Sunday night from 8-10pm ET, so it will replace The Honeymooners in the 9pm ET hour. But The Honeymooners will move to the 1am hour replacing Beverly Hillbillies (but that airs weekday mornings anyway).

And if that's not urgent enough for you, Hallmark Channel is making a last minute schedule change that starts TODAY! We told you that they made changes starting this past Monday (May 21), and now they are already changing that schedule change. I Love Lucy replaced back-to-back Matlock from 3-5pm, and now starting today, Lucy will be replaced from 3-5pm with Little House on the Prairie. But Lucy fans don't fret, because I Love Lucy will actually benefit and air an hour more now, airing 11am-2pm replacing an episode each of Little House, Touched by an Angel and 7th Heaven. 7th Heaven remains at 2pm though. Earlier in the morning, Golden Girls gets extended and adds the 10am hour, replacing Little House. It evens out because in the 7pm hour now will be an extension of M*A*S*H, replacing an hour of Golden Girls.
That's just weekdays, now we have weekend changes, too! Saturdays from 6-9am will now be three episodes of Little House on the Prairie replacing three-hours of Golden Girls. Also, we get more Lucy as I Love Lucy will air late nights from 1am-3am replacing back-to-back Murder, She Wrote. Sundays is basically the same changes, 8am-11am will be Little House replacing two-hours of Golden Girls and an episode of 7th Heaven. An finally like on Saturday nights, two-hours of Lucy closes the night from 1-3am replacing Murder, She Wrote.
So, Touched by an Angel is off the schedule it seems for now, joining Walker Texas Ranger and Matlock on the bench. Weekdays from 8am-8pm is now filled with three-hour blocks of different shows: Golden Girls, I Love Lucy, Family Dramas (7th Heaven/Little House), and M*A*S*H (which is actually 4 hours). View the full changes and the full schedule if you get confused. Remember this starts TODAY!

Finally, we close the day with some Sci Fi Channel news. The movie version of Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell is coming out Friday, June 5, but before that comes out...Sci Fi Channel will air a marathon of the classic '70s NBC series on Memorial Day and two other days! On Monday, May 25 from 8am-4am it's all Land of the Lost, all day! Get your Cha-Ka on! Then the following week as we get ready for movie version, watch more classic episodes on Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5 from 8am-6pm on both days.
I was hoping someone would also air the '90s ABC version since the big screen movie is coming out. Yes, it was cheesy, but still good. Good show for ABC Saturday mornings and very rare these days as it hasn't been on television in a while (last seen on Nickelodeon).

Fox Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedule; ER Returns to ION June 29

Your first look at Fox's official line-up!

Fox 2009-10

Fall 2009

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun/Animated Repeats
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM The Cleveland Show (NEW!)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad!

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM Lie to Me

Tuesdays
8:00PM So You Think You Can Dance

Wednesdays
8:00PM So You Think You Can Dance Results
9:00PM Glee (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Fringe

Fridays
8:00PM Brothers (NEW!)
8:30PM 'Til Death
9:00PM Dollhouse

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted


January / Spring 2010:

Sundays
7:00PM Repeats
7:30PM American Dad
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM Sons of Tucson (NEW!)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM The Cleveland Show

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM 24

Tuesdays
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Past Life (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM American Idol Results Show
9:00PM Human Target (NEW!) / Glee (spring)

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Fringe

Fridays
8:00PM Brothers (NEW!)
8:30PM 'Til Death
9:00PM Dollhouse

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

NOTES: For fall, Fox has ordered one new drama, one new comedy, and one new animated comedy, with a fall version of summer hit So You Think You Can Dance. For midseason, Fox has ordered two new dramas and one new comedy.
The new event drama, Human Target (Wednesdays at 9 in January), will premiere with a special preview Sunday, Jan. 17 at approx. 8:00 PM ET/PT following the NFC Divisional Playoff game. 24 will also launch its season that night from approx. 9-11PM ET/PT.
On Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT, Wanda Sykes returns to Fox to host The Wanda Sykes Show (working title). And at 12 midnight ET, for a half-hour each Saturday night will see an animated comedy encore from "Animation Domination."
On the shelf but not scheduled yet is a second year of Kitchen Nightmares.
More coming...

Discuss Fox's 2009-10 line-up. You'll find the official press release there, too...with more detailed information.


Back to some other news of the day, ION Television will bring back reruns of ER starting Monday, June 29. The series has been on and off the schedule because of low ratings. Now ION will give it another shot, airing it weekdays at 5PM replacing an hour of M*A*S*H, which moves to the 4pm hour now replacing drama Quantum Leap. Quantum Leap will now be off the schedule. No other changes will be made, as of now, starting June 29...so this is a preview of their July schedule. We are not sure if any other changes are being made in July, but we will let you know in our official July write-up very soon. ER last aired in March and April on Monday nights at 8pm.
We won't have as many news stories this week due to the upfronts, but we'll try to have something different as a secondary story each day. Tomorrow could be hard since we have two announcements (ABC and CBS). We have some WGN America and Sci Fi schedule news we want to share with you later this week...so come on back for that and of course network fall schedules! Fun week!!

ION Television June 2009, Acquires More Warner Movies; TV Land Heats Up This Summer

I'm back after a day off. Todd filled in nicely, as usual. Well anyway, we have news on ION Television June 2009 today. But first they made some May schedule changes. On Wednesdays we now get primetime movies from 9-11pm following Reba. So Boston Legal will only be Tuesdays (8-11pm) now. And on Sundays it will be M*A*S*H every Sunday from 6pm-11pm! M*A*S*H will still air weekdays in the 5pm hour as well. Primetime movies will now be Wed-Sat, with times varying. View the updated May schedule.
Now for June 2009, those changes are also in June. There are no other changes. So weekdays still looks like this: Quantum Leap, M*A*S*H, Family Feud, Reba from 4pm-8pm. In primetime, we have Reba in the 8pm hour every weekday but Tuesday, NCIS from 9-11pm on Mondays, Boston Legal from 8pm-11pm on Tuesdays, primetime movies from 9-11pm on Wed-Fri. We have many June movie premieres: Assassins, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Batman, Just Cause, Major League II, Sudden Impact, Pacific Heights, and True Crime. Encore airings are The Outlaw Josey Wales and Young Guns II.
View the full ION Television June 2009 schedule.

Sticking with ION, reinforcing an aggressive commitment to build its primetime schedule with high-profile, event-driven programming, ION Television has acquired a major new feature film package from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD) which includes exclusive windows for multiple Oscar winner The Departed and acclaimed hit Ocean's Thirteen. The movies will air immediately beginning this month, with broadcast runs as far out as 2010.
This announcement underscores ION Television's continued positioning as a leading network destination for "A-list" feature films. This movie package expands upon ION's current roster of hit films from WBDTD, which will now boast nearly 70 titles. In addition to The Departed and Ocean's Thirteen, the new WBDTD film package features a dozen hit movies, including Heat, starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro and directed by Michael Mann; The Matrix Reloaded, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss, written and directed by The Wachowski Brothers and produced by Joel Silver; The Perfect Storm, starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg; Passenger 57, starring Wesley Snipes; and Assassins, starring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas and Julianne Moore, produced by Joel Silver and directed by Richard Donner; among many other films.

TV Land's got a scorching summer schedule kicking off this June that includes the premiere of three original reality series, an exciting celebrity-filled tribute to Michael Douglas as this year's recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award, blockbuster movies and the addition of Roseanne -- all premiering in TV Land PRIME, the network's new primetime programming block designed to appeal to the attitudes, life stage and interests of people in their 40s.
The network's summer schedule kicks off on Friday, June 5 with a week-long launch event of the hilarious sitcom Roseanne starring Roseanne Barr. Then, on Thursday, June 11, a new season of the TV Land hit She's Got the Look” -- a reality show modeling competition searching for the next great supermodel over the age of 35 -- kicks off. Both of these we have mentioned alrady. On Sunday, July 19 TV Land will air a special presentation of the AFI Life Achievement Award honoring celebrated actor Michael Douglas. And on Wednesday, August 12, TV Land premieres two brand new original series back-to-back with How'd You Get So Rich? -- starring Joan Rivers -- and the hidden camera show Make My Day. TV Land's signature Friday night PRIME Movie block will continue to air star-powered movies all summer long including Born on the 4th July, Back to School, Driving Miss Daisy, Another 48 Hours and Doc Hollywood.
View more on these summer series and specials!

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.

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).

ABC Announces First Batch of Summer 2009 Schedule; ION Ratings Go Up, Schedule Changes

A few days back we gave you a peek at some of ABC's summer schedule. All of that was right basically but now we have more details! So let's take a look night-by-night! As we knew, the new cycle of The Bachelorette launches May 18 from 9-11pm, but its timeslot launch is Monday, May 25 from 8-10pm. We are not sure how long the cycle will run, since there will be for sure a Men Tell All and After the Final Rose specials, so maybe the finale won't be July 13 and could last longer? We'll let you know. So what will air at 10pm on Mondays? I guessed a second season of Here Come the Newlyweds, and I was right! ABC will air that series for eight straight weeks from May 27-July 13 at 10pm on Mondays. Following the run of that, ABC will launch a new series starting July 20 at 10pm. The reality series Dating in the Dark will air for six weeks making it last through all of August. The show is a unique alternative series that asks the age-old question, "Is Love Blind?" Each week, three single men and three single women, all looking for love, will move into a house together, but be totally sequestered from the opposite sex. While they will have no chance of seeing each other in the light, they will have the opportunity to date in a completely dark room.
Tuesdays will not change until after the NBA Finals are over. Prior to the NBA finals will be filler programming, including two burn-offs of Opportunity Knocks. Then after the NBA Finals (which airs Thursdays, Sundays, and Tuesdays from June 4-18) ends, ABC will launch The Superstars on Tuesdays at 8pm starting Tuesday, June 23. The Superstars, a fresh take on an old favorite, is based on ABC's classic "Wide World of Sports" series, The Superstars, which pitted athletes from all different sports against each other to determine the best athlete in the world. Eight celebrities are paired with eight professional male and female athletes to compete against each other in varying sporting events. Each week a team will be eliminated until one team is ultimately crowned the winner. The six-episode series will be shot entirely on location at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The finale is set for Tuesday, July 28. As for rest of Tuesday, it is unknown still what will air from 9-11pm starting June 23. And it is unknown what will air following the run of The Superstars starting August 4. As I said, this is only the first batch details.
Moving on to Wednesdays, as we mentioned, Wipeout will have its season premiere on a new night starting Wednesday, May 27 at 8pm. And ABC has 16 episodes this season, well one aired already, as ABC aired the Wipeout Bowl (the 6th one produced) on Super Bowl Sunday. We get new obstacles and a new twist to the big balls! Cannot wait for this as this will last throughout the summer on Wednesdays at 8! Following Wipeout, for six weeks, as we mentioned we get the animated comedy The Goode Family! The Goode Family is a new animated series from he King of the Hill crew Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. With standards always changing, no matter how hard you try to be good, it's virtually impossible these days... especially for the Goode family. Gerald and Helen Goode are a couple who live by the motto WWAGD ("What Would Al Gore Do?"). We first thought the series would be aired back-to-back at 9pm & 9:30pm, but now that is not the case. It will air in the 9pm half-hour only. So we get 6 of the 13 episodes produced. Following The Goode Family will be the new night of the Bob Saget sitcom Surviving Suburbia. That sitcom launched to decent ratings on Monday at 9:30 and will air five more times in that slot (through May 11) before moving to Wednesdays at 9:30pm starting May 27 for six more episodes for an original summer run. So ABC will air at least 12 of the 13 episodes produced. I really think this sitcom has potential and ABC could use it next fall to launch new traditional comedies. Both comedies will run through Wednesday, July 1. Starting Wednesday, July 8, we get a second season of the game show I Survived a Japanese Game Show! It is an unscripted reality/game show -- actually a show within a show - that takes an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at 12 Americans who are whisked away to Japan to compete in the ultimate Japanese game show. This season we get 10 episodes, so it will last into September. It is unknown what ABC will do at 10pm, but The Unusuals has five episodes remaining in its first season episode order if they want to air originals of that. The series launched last night to good ratings. The series will air for four more straight weeks through May 6, before the Lost two-episode season finale on May 13. So five episodes will for sure air out of its ten episode order. If ABC chooses to air the remaining five in the summer, it would air from May 27 through June 24, for five straight weeks. That would give ABC an entire night of originals on Wednesdays from 8-11pm. If that is the case with The Unusuals, they have not announced what would air Wednesdays at 10pm starting July 1. Or they could hold those episodes for next fall, if the series returns.
There has been nothing announced for Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. We have specials and stuff, though. Thursday, May 28 will be The Scripps National Spelling Bee from 8-10pm, as we told you. And Sunday, May 24 is the first part of the miniseries Diamonds from 9-11pm, also as we told you. It concludes on Tuesday, May from 9-11pm. ABC has another miniseries in the works called Impact.
Finally, Saturdays at 10pm is a rotating wheel to burn-off remaining episodes of canceled series. Pushing Daisies returns to the schedule from Saturday, May 30 through Saturday, June 13 at 10:00pm for its final three episodes. Then Eli Stone returns on Saturday, June 20 through Saturday, July 11 at 10:00pm for its final four episodes. Then finally Dirty Sexy Money returns on Saturday, July 18 through August 8 at 10:00pm for its final four episodes (which includes the unaired Thanksgiving episode!). It'll be weird seeing the Thanksgiving episode first since they aired three other episodes after that.
Well there you have it, the first batch of ABC summer. Of course more timeslots needs to be announced and we will let you know as soon as we hear what they are! Will Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? return in August for its 10th anniversary? We shall see!

First quarter 2009 has been a record breaking time for ION Television, with double digit growth in primetime viewership among households as well as in the key adults 25-54 demo. ION has delivered more adults 25-54 than at any other time in its history and ION's top five most watched episodes ever in households (HH) all aired during the first three months of this year. ION's extraordinary growth is a continued reflection of the success of its strategy to build viewership through its acquisitions of critically acclaimed off-network series in primetime.
Primetime delivery for households was up 26%, while adults 25-54 rose 44%, year over year. Also during this time period, viewership for adults 25-54 exhibited double digit growth across every hour in primetime: The 8:00 PM hour was up 20%, the 9:00 PM hour grew 49% and the 10:00 PM hour rose 62%.
ION's primetime off-network series continue to deliver. NCIS and Boston Legal have both grown significantly since their launch in fourth quarter 2008. In fact, NCIS delivered ION's top five most watched episodes ever (HH), reinforcing ION's mission in attracting more viewers than ever. NCIS averaged over one million total viewers in first quarter 2009, up 27% among households and up 31% among adults 25-54. Boston Legal's first quarter 2009 performance has grown 18% among households and 17% among adults 25-54.
ION's ratings gains provide the network with considerable momentum as it prepares its programming schedule for the 2009-10 season and beyond. That schedule will feature 12 originally produced movies a year, the new first-run series Durham County, The Border and The Guard; and the newly acquired off-network hits Ghost Whisperer and Criminal Minds.
Speaking of ION Television, they have just announced some changes to April. They are not major changes, though. All of the RHI movies have been pulled for the rest of April. So this Saturday (April 11) from 6-11pm we will get a M*A*S*H marathon instead. Other replacements include a Boston Legal block on Friday, April 17 from 8-11pm, big screen movies and more M*A*S*H. We already told you for May, the RHI movies would be leaving, so now it is earlier than planned. The Lonesome Dove four part mini-series is still slated to air the weekend of May 2-3, then after that there is no more RHI movies scheduled. More mainstream big screen movies will air. Check out the revised April schedule so you know what is on a particular day.

Stay tuned tomorrow for ABC Family upfront update!

ION Television May 2009 Adds Reba; Nick at Nite Ratings Climb; Charles in Charge on NBC.com

As I hinted yesterday, ION Television has acquired a sitcom! They will start this sitcom on Monday, April 27! That date will mark the start of the ION Television May 2009 lineup! And the sitcom is...Reba! The WB/The CW 2001-2007 Reba McEntire sitcom joins the ION Television line-up on Monday, April 27 airing weeknights at 7:00pm & 7:30pm. It will also air Monday nights and Friday nights at 8:00pm & 8:30pm. And whenever a movie airs during weekdays in primetime (such as the weekly Thursday slot) and starts at 8:30pm or 9pm, Reba will air leading into it. The sitcom is distributed by 20th Century Fox. Reba also airs on cable on Lifetime TV as well, but ION Television is considered a broadcast station. Reba hasn't aired on broadcast stations since it aired on The CW Daytime. It will be weird because from Tues-Fri, Lifetime also airs Reba in the 7pm hour. That is very strange ION decided to air it at the same time! Did they not realize? Sound off on this on our Twitter page!
The addition of Reba, will cause some shifting. The Drew Carey Show has been removed, as Quantum Leap, M*A*S*H, and Family Feud move back an hour each from 4pm-7pm to make room for Reba at 7:00pm & 7:30pm. ER has also been removed, as Reba will take over Mondays in the 8pm hour as well. Also, after the weekend of May 2-3, starting May 9, RHI Entertainment movies and miniseries will no longer air! We're not sure yet if this is the last of the RHI programming, since the deal expires soon, but the last scheduled programming is May 2-3 with the four-part, eight-hour miniseries Lonesome Dove. Big screen movies will replace RHI the following weekend, May 9-10.
Among the big screen movie premieres this month are American President, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 3, The Hunt for Red October, Presumed Innocent, The Mask, Angel Eyes, and The Fugitive! The big screen movie encores this month are Octopussy and Rocky IV.
View the complete schedule and highlights for ION Television May 2009!
Stay tuned tomorrow as we announce what sitcom is joining Lifetime in May. And I promise you, it isn't something airing elsewhere! We will also have our review of upcoming new sitcom for ABC starring Bob Saget called Surviving Suburbia tomorrow on the blog. Big Friday!

Nick at Nite scored its most-watched quarter ever in first quarter 2009 (Nielsen Media Research 12/29/08-3/29/09) with Adults 18-49 and Men 18-49. Driven by hit family programming like George Lopez, Nick at Nite produced double-digit gains among A18-49 and W18-49 this quarter, and has delivered 16 consecutive months of year-over-year growth in delivery. Nick at Nite closes the first quarter of 2009 as the number-one cable network with W18-49 in total day, and the number-two network with A18-49.
The first quarter for 2009 marked Nick at Nite's most-watched quarter ever with A18-49 and M18-49, averaging a 0.6 rating (690,000 viewers) among A18-49 (up 20%) and a 0.4 rating (254,000 viewers) among M18-49. Nick at Nite ranks as the number-one basic cable network for W18-49 in total day for the first quarter of 2009, averaging a 0.8 rating (436,000 viewers) among W18-49, up 14% over last year. The network is number two in total day with A18-49 in the quarter as well. The network delivered 1.5 million total viewers on average, up 5% in viewers over the same time last year. In primetime, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 overall rating and 1.7 million total viewers for the quarter. George Lopez is the network's highest-rated program and has experienced growth of 40% in rating since its launch in September 2007. George Lopez averaged a 0.7 A18-49 rating and 791,000 viewers among A18-49 in the first quarter of 2009. "Whappppah!" "I got this," indeed George!

For fans of Charles in Charge (and Scott Baio), the first season of the popular sitcom (with an amazing theme song) from 1984-85 is now available for enjoyment on NBC.com at any time! You can see the first season in its entirety featuring all 23 episodes. Charles in Charge has been added in the vintage section called "Video Rewind" joining other vintage series such as The A-Team, Simon & Simon, Alfred Hitchcok Hour, and Emergency! Charles in Charge is the first vintage sitcom to be added in the Video Rewind, though! Hopefully we get more Universal-owned sitcoms added to Video Rewind soon such as Amen, Out of this World, Still the Beaver, Harry and the Hendersons, and Bachelor Father. Those would be great because they are not on DVD, while Charles in Charge is. Even though they are on DVD, Gimme a Break and Kate & Allie would be good to have on here, too.

Hallmark Channel April 2009, Two Shows Dropped; TV Land Makes Last Week's Schedule Change Until Further Notice

Originally Hallmark Channel had no changes set in store for April 2009, but now we have some changes. The two shows being removed from the line-up are not two shows you would think that would be removed either. And no it isn't I Love Lucy or Cheers! Effective Monday, March 30, Hallmark Channel will remove both Little House on the Prairie and Walker, Texas Ranger from the line-up. Now they can't expiring I think, since they were originally on the schedule, but I'll find out. The weekdays 10am airing of Little House will actually be replaced by back-to-back I Love Lucy! Lucy gets to keep its weeknights at 2:30am slot, too! The 11am episode of Little House will be replaced by another airing of Touched by an Angel, so that will now air back-to-back from 11am-1pm. The third and final airing of Little House at 3pm will be replaced by two episodes of M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H also will air now 4-5pm replacing The Golden Girls, but it seems Golden Girls is doing well as they will now air it weekdays 6-7pm replacing M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H. will air now 3-6pm, so it moves and also gains another hour. The Golden Girls doesn't gain any slots, but it gets a better evening slot of 6-7pm, in addition to its other weekday airings from 8-10am and 12am-2am. Finally, Walker, Texas Ranger will be replaced at 7p and 8pm with more episodes of 7th Heaven! 7th Heaven will also still air in the afternoon at 1pm and 2pm as well...and these won't be encores, so four episodes a day. There will be no changes to the weekend line-up this time, well except that NASCAR Angels is gone from Sundays at 8am, so Golden Girls will take that half-hour, and that show will now be 8am-10am on Sundays.
See the full Hallmark Channel April 2009 schedule.

TV Land has made it official this week. At the very least for the rest of March the changes we saw last week will be in effect for at least the end of this month. The big change was having CSI: NY on Thursday nights from 10pm-4am. Mainly the late night schedule is effected. Monday nights we see Cosby Show from 12-2am and encoring 3-5am. Tuesday nights will see more Cosby Show from 1-3am. All three of the nights will have an encore of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at 5am. Wednesday nights will see two hours each of Jeffersons and M*A*S*H from 2-6am. Fridays will see more changes during the early evening portion. The Beverly Hillbillies is 6-7pm, Cosby Show will lead into the movie from 8-10pm and encore 2-4am, and M*A*S*H will air 1-2am and encore 5-6am. Yes, this is all very confusing. I suggest you keep checking the schedule adjustments on our TV Land March 2009 thread.

WGN America Spring Changes Includes Bullwinkle, WWE Superstars; ION Schedule Change

Spring is in the air and WGN America will be make some changes this spring! First, America's Funniest Home Videos is re-added at 7pm ET (4pm PT) every Tuesday now (it already airs the other weekdays in the slot) starting Tuesday, March 17 replacing an airing of Star Trek: The Next Generation. TNG will still air 8pm, 9pm and 1am ET on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 12 noon ET for now...keep reading below. Then Tuesday nights (well Wednesday mornings technically) from 4am-5:30am starting March 31 will be a second consecutive night of Corner Gas replacing Moesha. Moesha will still air Thursday nights (Friday mornings technically) in that slot...but not for long...keep reading.
Then the week of April 13 is when the majority of the changes start! The weeknight 1am ET rotating hour will now have Funniest Pets & People on both Monday and Tuesday nights replacing AFV and Star Trek: TNG respectively. Reno 911's Thursday 1am airings migrate to Wednesday nights replacing ALF. ALF will still remain on Sundays on Outta Sight Retro Night, though. ALF has suffered a bit of a ratings let-down, but they are still keeping it on Sundays at least. The big change on WGN America will be the WWE Superstars series airing every Thursday on WGN America at 8pm ET and encoring at 11pm ET starting April 16. Thursdays in primetime will also see the series Around the World For Free at 9pm ET and 12am ET right after WWE Superstars. So what is Around the World for Free? Alex Boylan (winner of The Amazing Race, Season 2) attempts the impossible: he strips himself of all monetary funds, and with only a backpack and the help of an online community, sets off on a mission to circumnavigate the globe. So on Thursdays at 1am ET we will see Scrubs because its Thursday 11pm ET airings are preempted and at 4am ET Bob & Tom Show will air since its 12 am ET slot is preempted on Thursdays. This is bad news for Moesha fans because now the show will only air once a week at 5am ET on late Thursday nights (early Friday mornings). And for more bad news, Moesha will be gone after the end of June and will be replaced by more Funniest Pets & People. At least Moesha will still be on The N.
Moving to weekends, on Saturdays... Hollywood and Dine is going national. The local Cleveland produced food show on WJW, hosted by David "Mossman" Moss, will be syndicated on WGN America starting Saturday, April 18 at 12 noon ET and airing every Saturday at noon ET. Following Hollywood and Dine at 12:30pm ET will be Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. Both will replace an airing of Star Trek: TNG, so that series will only be in primetime on Tuesday nights by then. An episode of Boston Legal will follow at 1pm ET replacing a Bob & Tom Show airing, but that Bob & Tom airing will be moved to a Sunday slot of 11am ET. More on Sunday in a bit, but back to Saturday. The Saturday evening Boston Legal still remains in its slot. And the biggest news for us is that the classic '60s animated comedy The Bullwinkle Show is coming to WGN America on Saturday nights starting April 18! It will air Saturdays at 12 midnight ET (9pm PT) replacing an airing of The Honeymooners. Bullwinkle will follow two Scrubs episodes at 11 & 11:30pm ET. I'm still trying to find out what package of Bullwinkle this is, but I'm guessing it is the 98 episode package from The Program Exchange. It would be cool if it were all 130 episodes, though, including the Rocky episodes. And of course The Honeymooners will still air on the Outta Sight Retro Night on Sunday evenings, so the half-hour removal on Saturday nights is not a problem. So back to Sundays, we said Bob & Tom Show is in a Sunday slot of 11am ET, replacing Whacked Out Videos, which moves to Sunday nights at 3am ET replacing one of the Homicide: Life on the Street episodes, but that will still remain at 4am ET. The other Sunday change is at 12 noon ET with an encore of WWE Superstars replacing that Boston Legal airing, so both of its airings are on Saturdays starting April 18.
That's all for now, but Sean Compton of WGN America promises us that we will see more sitcom themed weeks this summer as we did last summer! Also, they will change up the Outta Sight Retro Night on Sundays in September a bit...so that will be cool to see what they add. So just because not much is added this spring, doesn't mean anything. WGN America is working on lots of classic TV stuff, and Bullwinkle is not a bad idea! Yes, ALF did well for them but it has weakened, but they are still airing it on Sundays at least. Stay tuned and keep it with us for all WGN America news!

Just a few days ago we gave you ION's April 2009 schedule saying that M*A*S*H would return to weekdays starting March 30. Well that is still happening...but two weeks earlier now! M*A*S*H will take over the 6pm hour on weekdays starting this Monday now (March 16). And in a twist, Family Feud will move to the 7pm hour from Mon-Thurs! Feud was supposed to be totally off the line-up by March 30, but ION is indeed keeping it! Feud will replace an airing of ER on Mondays and an airing of Boston Legal on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and a scheduled M*A*S*H hour or movie on Thursdays. So the only thing leaving is Steve Harvey Show...and two weeks earlier than planned. So tonight is the last night actually. This is tough news because BET removed it as well a few weeks back. Everything else we reported for April is intact, including the movies.

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.

Neil Patrick Harris to Host 7th TV Land Awards; M*A*S*H All-Star Weekend on TV Land; Big Bang and Men Renewed for Multiple Seasons?

Acclaimed television, stage and movie actor Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser, M.D.) has been named the host of the 7th Annual TV Land Awards. As mentioned previously, the 90-minute TV Land Awards will be taped on Sunday, April 19 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City and air in TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26 at 9pm ET/PT.
This year, the ninety-minute show will honor legendary artists from the entertainment industry, feature exhilarating musical performances, reunite some of the most iconic celebrity TV casts and of course, the fan favorite -- the perennial TV Land Awards parody that always highlights the year's most-talked-about events. TV Land has not yet announced any honorees, but as soon they do...we will tell you.
Read more about this and more about Neil Patrick Harris.

We continue you our TV Land news with a reminder for this weekend. Long before "Johnny" took "Baby" out of the corner in Dirty Dancing and "Opie" and "Richie Cunningham" added director extraordinaire to his résumé, Patrick Swayze and Ron Howard both paid guest visits to M*A*S*H's 4077th. On Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8 from 8pm-4am ET/PT, catch both of these stars - along with a medley of your other favorite film and television icons - on TV Land when the network becomes a virtual celebrity central during the "M*A*S*H Weekend Marathon." This twenty-four episode showcase features guest appearances by John Ritter, Laurence Fishburne, Teri Garr, Blythe Danner, Leslie Nielsen and more. Throughout the marathon, there will be no shortage of antics, pranks and escapades that still captivate viewers, making M*A*S*H one of the most successful shows ever seen on television.
Check out the schedule of episodes for this weekend!

Finally rumor has it that CBS has ordered three more seasons of TV's top sitcom Two and a Half Men and two more seasons of the red-hot sitcom The Big Bang Theory! CBS has not made it official yet, but as soon as they do, we'll let you know the specifics. Both shows are owned by Warner Bros. and produced by Chuck Loree. Remember this is just a rumor right now, and this same source was quoted in saying that Evangeline Lilly of Lost was auditioning for pilots, meaning she would be leaving the show...which was NOT true. She confirmed that last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

TV Land and ION Schedule Special Brady, M*A*S*H Marathons; CW, ABC Family Announcements

TV Land has scheduled a marathon of The Brady Bunch on President's Day (Monday, Feb. 16) from 10am-2pm ET/PT. Who needs George Washington and Abraham Lincoln when you have Marcia Brady! Watch episodes such as Greg and Marcia both running for student body president. The hiding of the school goat and a hair tonic turns Greg's hair orange. View the episodes airing in this special marathon.
ION Television has pulled the movie The Diplomat for this Sunday (Sunday, Feb. 8), and replaced it with a special M*A*S*H block from 7-11pm ET/PT instead. M*A*S*H will also air in its regular 6-7pm airings on this date as well, so it is an all M*A*S*H night on ION from 6-11pm. Among the episodes airing is the two-part episode "Our Finest Hour," when newscaster Clete Roberts, reprising an earlier interview appearance, returns to update Korean War conditions when he conducts a series of television interviews with the leading characters of the 4077th. View the full schedule for this date.

The CW is making a few changes to its midseason schedule. Beginning Tuesday, March 3, freshman drama 90210 moves to a new timeslot on Tuesday nights, with encore episodes through March 24. The series will move up an hour to 9:00pm ET/PT from 8pm ET/PT. Then eight consecutive original episodes will air from March 31 through the season finale on May 19. Since 90210 is moving to 9pm, the second-season premiere date of the devilish dramedy Reaper moves up to Tuesday, March 3 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET). All 13 original episodes will air consecutively through the season finale on May 26.
Finally, the season finale of the critically acclaimed freshman drama Privileged will air on Tuesday, February 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Encore episodes of Privileged will continue to air on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT from January 28 through February 18. Then the new season of America's Next Top Model will premiere on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

ABC Family announced the pick-up of three pilots: the one-hour scripted drama Perfect 10, the single camera half-hour 10 things I Hate About You, based on the 1999 hit film, and the multi-camera half-hour Ruby and The Rockits. Each has been given a 10-episode order.
In addition, original series Greek and Lincoln Heights will return in summer 2009 for a third and fourth season respectively. However, Kyle XY will NOT return for a fourth season and the show will end its run in March. The network also has two original movies, Au Pair 3 Adventure in Paradise, (as we mentioned in our March highlights) starring Gregory Harrison and Heidi Saban, and another as-yet-titled original movie starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, both to debut in early 2009.
Perfect 10, is a one-hour scripted drama, created and written by Holly Sorensen, who also serves as executive producer. The pilot was directed by Steve Miner. Set in the world of competitive gymnastics, Perfect 10 follows a group of teen Olympic hopefuls as they train and prepare for their day in the spotlight. The cast includes Chelsea Hobbs as gymnastic newcomer 'Emily Kmetko,' Ayla Kell as top gymnast 'Payson Keeler,' Josie Loren as the beautiful gymnast 'Kaylie Cruz,' and Zachary Burr Abel as the gym's resident hottie, 'Carter Anderson.' Peri Gilpin returns to series television in the role of 'Kim Keeler,' the mother of one of the female gymnasts.
10 Things I Hate About You is a half-hour, single-cam series with director Gil Junger (who also directed the 1996 feature film) and executive producer and writer Carter Covington. Based on the hit movie, the Stratford sisters, Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin) and Kat (Lindsey Shaw), are two very different people, which is evident as they start at their new high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly whose only concern is that she is popular, at any cost. As they both start a bumpy year at Padua High, can each girl get what she wants in the end, as they navigate the popular crowd, boys and their over-protective Dad? The original series will also star Larry Miller, who reprises his film role as the girls' father, and Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory Peck) has been cast in the role of 'Patrick" (portrayed by Heath Ledger in the film).
Ruby and The Rockits is an ABC Studios half-hour multi-cam comedy series executive-produced by Shaun Cassidy and Marsh McCall. Ruby and The Rockits follows Patrick Gallagher, a former teen idol who has chosen to lead a quiet life with his wife and two sons. But when his former Rockits band mate and brother, David, shows up unexpectedly with his new-found teenage daughter in tow, the Gallagher family's life becomes anything but normal. David, who refuses to give up his past glory days, comes to Patrick for help raising Ruby while he continues to perform. Patrick must now put the past with David behind them in order to help raise Ruby and keep order within the rest of the Gallagher clan. Ruby and The Rockits was written by Shaun Cassidy and Ed Yeager, with teleplay by Ed Yeager (the pilot was directed by Ted Wass). Alexa Vega, Austin Butler, Patrick Cassidy, and former teen idol David Cassidy star.
No time frames for these have been announced yet, but don't forget the first two original sitcoms launch on ABC Family this March!

TV Land March 2009 Highlights; NATPE Day 3 Updates, Mother Cleared for Fall 2010 Syndication

This March on TV Land, there won't be any regular schedule changes, and the schedule will remain as it is in January and February, as of now. We do have plenty of March 2009 highlights, though! High School Reunion season two continues on airing Wednesdays at 10pm. It will launch Feb. 18 and air into all of March. This year friends will be reunited, enemies will confront each other, and a secret will be revealed that could forever change the legacy of the Chandler High School Class of 1988.
What do Ron Howard, John Ritter, Laurence Fishburne, Patrick Swayze and Shelly Long have in common? They're all Hollywood celebrities visiting the 4077 for two days of drama, laughs and romance in TV Land's M*A*S*H Guest Star Weekend marathon airing Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8. Don't miss 24 episodes featuring your favorite stars - some of whom were just beginning their careers - together with special 2-part episodes starting at 8pm both nights and lasting until 4am.
Take a vacation from the winter doldrums and go on Spring Break with TV Land, Hawaii style! Pack up your grass skirts and floral shirts and head to Hawaii Saturday, March 14 starting bright and early at 6am with Elvis, the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition gang, George and Louise Jefferson, Fred Sanford, The Brady's with Don Ho. Then at 2pm, relive the first 4 weeks of Chandler High School's 20-year reunion set against the beautiful backdrop of, you guessed it, Hawaii! Kick back and relax during this fun-filled, tropical event. Just be sure to leave the Tiki behind. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, and Brady Bunch, what more can you ask for? Not to mention Elvis and High School Reunion. Paradise indeed!
On Monday, March 23, the High Commander of comedy, Dick Solomon, and his team of extra-terrestrial jesters have a "PRIME" mission for viewers: tune in for a week-long marathon of laughter of 3rd Rock from the Sun beginning each night at 9pm that week. Viewers won't want to miss this 3rd Rock tour-de-force that begins with the series premiere, continues with every multi-part episode – including season cliffhangers and guest star appearances – then culminates with the series finale on Sunday, March 29. Start training for The Big 3rd Rock-athon now because TV Land is playing through this super-sized series snapshot over seven action-packed nights – only on TV Land PRIME!
The TV Land PRIME movies for the month are Big Shots and Revenge of the Nerds. Awesome!
View the full TV Land March 2009 highlights and information.

We have some third day updates from NATPE, as today is the last day for the conference. It looks like talk show Marie is now a firm go. It got some buys yesterday. Program Partners has cleared the Marie Osmond talk show on NBC Universal-owned WNBC New York and Tribune’s KTLA Los Angeles. WCIU in Chicago is expected to sign on shortly. Program Partners says the show has been cleared for 70% of the country thus far. The show will tape in Las Vegas. What better city for this entertainer?
How I Met Your Mother is now a firm go for reruns on local stations starting in Fall 2010! It is cleared in 75% of the country for a fall 2010 debut. Clearances include the Fox Television Stations in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and in 23 of the top 25 markets, including Philadelphia and Dallas (stations from Hearst-Argyle, Tribune, CBS Television, Raycom, Gannett, Cox, Belo, Hubbard and Bahakel). Not bad at all. The series will also be available as a daily strip in fall 2010 on cable on Lifetime. Until then, Lifetime can only air it once a week.
The weekly series Wild About Animals and Awesome Adventures have been cleared to return next season in 29 of the top 30 markets so far, including the Fox O&O station group. Another series, Whaddyado, has been cleared to return for another year in 27 top markets including the CBS Television Stations group for the CW and MyNetwork stations. All three series are doing well this season.
If we have any updates from today that we missed, we will bring that to you tomorrow to wrap NATPE up.

SitcomsOnline Turns 10; ION Television February 2009 Highlights; Morning Show Reunited TV Stars, Including Small Wonder Reunion

As we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, there are a few TV marathons of note. Sanford & Son on TV Land, The Proud Family on BET, CSI: NY on Spike TV, and the King movie on TV One.
Today is also a VERY special day here at SitcomsOnline! We celebrate 10 years online! This blog has been around for 3 1/2 years or so, but SitcomsOnline was born 10 years ago today. SitcomsOnline launched on January 19, 1999. However, Happy Days Online started it all on May 12, 1997. Then came sites for Diff'rent Strokes, Gimme a Break!, Mork & Mindy, The Courtship of Eddie's Father in 1998 then mini sites for Hello, Larry and Please Don't Eat the Daisies before SitcomsOnline launched in January 1999. After SO launched, full sites for Webster, Hogan Family, Silver Spoons, Family Ties, and The Facts of Life were created, along with many mini sites. My Jack's Bistro website just celebrated its 10th anniversary in December as well. Can't believe it has been 10 years.
SitcomsOnline.com was created by Todd Fuller in 1999 to develop an online shrine to every sitcom ever to have been seen. SitcomsOnline.com has been featured in many media and news publications, such as TVGuide Magazine and Entertainment Weekly, and was featured in a syndicated TV-news story on Sitcoms in early 2004.
SitcomsOnline.com features sitcom news, news blog, links, theme songs in audio & video, message boards, show pages, sitcoms on DVD purchasing and the very popular DVD Review System. SitcomsOnline.com showcases all-time Classic hits such as Happy Days, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life and I Love Lucy, and modern hits such as Friends, 30 Rock and The Big Bang Theory.
Share your memories of the website. We hope you like it here and continue to come for many years to come! Ya'll came back now ya here?

Moving on to other news, ION Television has announced its February 2009 line-up. There are no real changes to the line-up, just minor stuff. Only changes are that Wednesday movies have been added in early evening starting at 6:30pm and another one in primetime, so Boston Legal will only be Tuesday nights now. Thursday movie encores remain in early evening leading into the regular Thursday primetime movie. So two nights of primetime movies now (Wednesday and Thursday). Friday late afternoon movie encores are removed, and the regular schedule is inserted back, but with M*A*S*H on Fridays 6-7pm. The ION movie premieres are Sphere, Heat, Soldier, Analyze This, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Pale Rider, and Murder in the First. RHI movies on weekends include The Temptations, Fatal Error, Final Days of Planet Earth and Valentine's themed movies A Stranger's Heart, Love's Unending Legacy, Love is a Four Letter Word, Love's Abiding Joy, and Love's Unfolding Dream.
View the full ION Television February 2009 highlights.

Talk show The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet last week had a week-long feature called, "Whatever Happened To?" I know we didn't alert you before it aired, but you can still watch it online! Isn't it great, everything is available on demand these days? On Monday, whatever happened to Jimmie "J.J." Walker of Good Times? M&J catch up with the man who made "Dy-no-mite!" a household word! Catch the video! On Tuesday, whatever happened to Winnie from The Wonder Years? Brainy beauty Danica McKellar reveals her hugely popular second career, and proves how sexy being smart can be! See what Danica looks like now! On Wednesday, it was my personal favorite of the week! Whatever happened to that cute little girl from the weirdest show on television? Tiffany Brissette tells M&J what's she's been doing since playing Vicki on the '80s sitcom Small Wonder! If that's not all, Mike & Juliet reunite other stars from the show as a surprise...Dick Christie, Marla Pennington and Edie McClurg for a mini reunion! You must catch this! Finally, on Thursday, M&J catch up with Patty Duke from The Patty Duke Show! Find out how the Oscar winner finally found peace after a tumultuous life on and off the set. View the video.
Check out the videos! It's too bad they are so short interviews. The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet airs weekday mornings in syndication, check local listings for time and channel in your area. The show will run through the end of the summer before signing off.

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!

TV Land Removes Four Sitcoms; TBS Schedules New Sitcom Meet the Browns for January and My Boys for March

We gave you details on TV Land's changes coming in January starting Dec. 29 and told you Paid Programming would be expanded and moved to 6-9am, so Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me would move back to 4-6am instead of 3-5am. Now TV Land will remove these four sitcoms all together. Starting Monday, Dec. 29, we now get another hour of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in the 4am hour followed by more M*A*S*H in the 5am hour. Yes, Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me will be off the regular line-up totally now, so watch them these next few weeks all you can. Just Shoot Me will still air in the weekend "TV Land.Comedy Month," on Jan. 17 from 2-6am. For regular airings, these four do not have return dates. If they shall returns, we will certainly let you know.
View the rest of TV Land's January 2009 schedule and highlights.

After bringing his unique style to TBS with the enormously popular sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Tyler Perry is preparing to add to his successful track record with a spin-off based on characters of his popular play and hit movie, Meet the Browns. The series stars David Mann as the fun-loving but sometimes crass Downtown Leroy Brown, who also appeared in several episodes of House of Payne on TBS. This series opens with Leroy Brown trying to fulfill his father's dying wish by opening a retirement home. Helping him out are his daughter, Cora (Tamela Mann); his nephew Will (Lamman Rucker), a doctor; Will's wife, Sasha (Denise Boutte), a nurse; Carmen Martinez (Jeanette Sousa), a beautiful young social worker; and Jesus Hernandez (Antonio Jaramillo), a maintenance engineer studying to be a lawyer. Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns comes to TBS from Debmar-Mercury. As he does for his other series, Perry is once again serving as executive producer and director, as well as occasionally writing.
Meet the Browns launches Wednesday, January 7 airing back-to-back episodes for five weeks, as 10 episodes have been ordered, through and including February 4. House of Payne will lead-into the series from 8-10pm and lead-out as well from 11pm-12am, giving it an ample lead-in.
TBS has also scheduled all 10 episodes of Meet the Browns the weekend of Feb. 21-22, as part of a Tyler Perry marathon, in case you miss any. The first two will encore on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 9-10pm, following two episodes of House of Payne from 8-9pm. Then TBS will air the movie Diary of a Mad Black Woman at 10pm followed by a House of Payne marathon from 12:30am-8:30am on Sunday. Then the remaining eight episodes of Meet the Browns will follow from 8:30am-12:30pm, followed by another airing of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and finally more House of Payne from 3-8pm...so it is all Tyler Payne for 24-hours!
Meanwhile, My Boys will return in March for a third season! This critically acclaimed comedy stars Jordana Spiro as PJ Franklin, a 20-something sports writer looking for love while also trying to maintain her close connection with her friends, most of whom are guys. Co-starring with Spiro is the show's top-notch ensemble cast, including Jim Gaffigan, Kyle Howard, Reid Scott, Michael Bunin, Jamie Kaler and Kellee Stewart. My Boys premiered on TBS in November 2006, ranking as ad-supported cable's #1 original sitcom of the year. This year, the show averaged 1.5 million viewers, up 14% when compared to last summer. My Boys comes to TBS from creator Betsy Thomas.
Speaking of third seasons, just a reminder, TBS's popular late-night comedy 10 Items or Less, a loosely scripted look at life behind the scenes at a family-run grocery store, returns for a third season on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 11pm. It is co-created by acclaimed comedy improv actor John Lehr. It delves into the offbeat lives of the employees at Greens & Grains. In addition to Lehr, the series stars Kirsten Gronfield, Chris Payne Gilbert, Greg Davis Jr., Christopher Liam Moore, Roberta Valderrama and Robert Clendenin, as well as new cast member Kim Coles. 10 Items or Less is written and executive-produced by Lehr and director Nancy Hower.

2008 Network TV Holiday Specials; TV Land Schedule Changes Includes Paid Programming?; NBC Kills Crusoe to Saturdays

Can you believe the holiday season is nearing? Thanksgiving is this week, which means Christmas is right around the corner! And then it will be 2009 a week after that. Time flies! Anyway as I mentioned, I have put together our annual network television (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, MyNetwork TV) holiday specials list that we all like to watch every year like Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas, new classics like Shrek the Halls and we even get some new specials this year like A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Sure the network holiday line-ups are not as detailed as some cable networks like ABC Family, but the main holiday specials are still on network television! These are just actual holiday related specials and movies, not movies or specials airing during the holiday season on broadcast network television:

ABC
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers
Thursday, Nov. 27, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers ENCORE
Friday, Nov. 28, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: The Polar Express
Monday, Dec. 1, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action)
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 13, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas
Sunday, Dec. 14, 8-10pm: ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2
Monday, Dec. 15, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-8:30pm: Shrek the Halls ENCORE
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated, expanded edition)
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 8-9:30pm: Happy New Year, Charlie Brown and Rudolph's Shiny New Year
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on ABC, view our schedule.

CBS:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns
Friday, Dec. 12, 9-10pm: The Flight Before Christmas (NEW!)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-10pm: CBS Saturday Movie: Elf
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: 10th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on CBS, view our schedule.

NBC:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-9pm: Little Spirit: A New York Christmas
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-9pm: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (NEW!)
Friday, Dec. 19, 8-10pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown and Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
Tuesday, Dec. 24, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 25, 10-11pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on NBC, view our schedule.

Fox:
None
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on Fox, view our schedule.

The CW:
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 5, 9-10pm: The Story of Santa Claus
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on The CW, view our schedule.

MyNetwork TV:
Saturday, Dec. 6, 8-10pm: MySaturday Night Movie: Miracle on 34th Street
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-10pm: MyMonday Night Movie: Blizzard
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-10pm: Olive the Other Reindeer and Santa's Funniest Moments
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-10pm: MyWednesday Night Movie: Home Alone
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-10pm: Soul of Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-10pm: Christmas is Here Again and Santa's Funniest Moments
Thursday, Dec. 18, 8-9pm: Wrestlemania Holiday Special
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-10pm: The Spirit of Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-10pm: MyTuesday Night Movie: Babes in Toyland
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on MyNetwork TV, view our schedule.


TV Land has edited their line-up a bit effective immediately. I announced the changes on Saturday on our message board, but in case you didn't see that...they are adding Paid Programming from 5am-7am on weekday mornings. It started today. No reason was given and it will last at least until the end of December. So, this means Star Trek is off the regular schedule, but it will air sometimes on Thursdays at 7am. M*A*S*H will air every other weekday in the 7am hour, followed now by a full-hour of Night Court at 8am. Back-to-back sitcom episodes will last until 1pm with Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times and I Love Lucy from 9am-1pm. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be indeed staying at 1pm on weekday afternoons. The other changes are in primetime. After The Cosby Show block from 8-10pm, we now will get Scrubs from 10-11pm as 3rd Rock from the Sun moves to 11pm-1am, with a four episode block now. M*A*S*H will assume the 1am hour now while Three's Company moves up an hour to 2-3am. The 4-6am block of Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me will all move up an hour to 3-5am, as mentioned Paid Programming will assume the 5-7am hours now.
Weekends will not see many changes, but I advise you to view our one-time-only schedule dates for November and December. You can see the full list of changes starting Nov. 24 in the November highlights, too.
The Beverly Hillbillies only airs on weekends now, primarily on Sundays from 12-4am...view our highlights for details. And yes, there is NO paid programming on Saturdays and Sundays. Paid Programming is just weekdays. If you notice on the December highlights, the last three days of December, the paid programming will be 6-9am instead of 5-7am. Not sure if that will continue into January or not, but we'll let you know soon.
In the November schedule highlights, you'll notice the Thanksgiving marathon has been edited a bit, with CSI now included in the marathon this Saturday and Sunday night in primetime. CSI was originally supposed to air this week in the 11pm-1am hours, as it did last week, but TV Land has decided to air them in holiday weekend marathon block instead. After that, CSI will not be scheduled on TV Land in the near future, unless another schedule change happens.

Effective Saturday, December 6, struggling Friday drama Crusoe will move to Saturdays at 8:00pm ET/PT. It aired its last Friday airing this past Friday at 9pm and it continued to bomb for NBC. Six episodes still remain, so NBC will have to deal with more bad ratings until then, unless they pull it. It'll of course do worse on Saturdays, but NBC was airing low-rated Knight Rider repeats in the Saturday slot anyway, so expectations are lower.
Because of the change, Fridays will see newsmagazine Dateline added, but not in Crusoe's slot. Dateline will air Fridays at 10pm against ABC's 20/20, while current 10pm slot holder Lipstick Jungle moves to Fridays at 9pm. Don't understand that move. Dateline would be better at 9pm, as Lipstick Jungle is also doing terrible and is on its last four episodes, so that series will air its last episode on Jan. 9. NBC has not announced what will happen to Fridays after that. In fact, NBC will likely see many changes in January and the rest of midseason, and we'll let you know as soon as we do. The schedule NBC announced last April for this winter is of course going to change, so I don't understand why NBC announced it last April in the first place.

ION Television December 2008 Highlights; CBS Picks-Up More Episodes for 'Gary', 'Worst', While NBC Adds More 'Medium'

ION Television has announced its December 2008 schedule and highlights, and there will be no regular changes to the line-up...but there will be plenty of holiday movies and holiday episodes! ION's holiday airings start on Friday, December 12 in the RHI block with the 2007 TV-Movie, A Grandpa for Christmas. Other RHI holiday movies in the weekend RHI block include Silent Night, Hogfather, Night They Saved Christmas, and more. ION will also have a holiday TV-movie week the week of December 22-25 from 4-6pm these four nights with more holiday fun such as the ION premieres of 2008 films My Santa My Dad and The Elf Who Didn't Believe. Four holiday episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper will air Dec. 17-18 in its regular 6-7pm time slot and four M*A*S*H holiday episodes will air the weekend of Dec. 20-21 from 6-7pm. And during the week of December 22, you can catch two classic Boston Legal Christmas episodes, including "The Nutcracker." The Thursday Total Theatre Warner Bros. movies are not in yet, so we don't know what is airing there yet. We will update you on that and if any more things change on our message board as soon as we know. So view our ION Television December 2008 highlights.

CBS Wednesday comedy Gary Unmarried, starring Jay Mohr, will have an additional seven episodes at least this year, bringing the total from 13 to 20 episodes. Two additional scripts were also ordered, so if it does well, we could see up to 22 episodes this season. Meanwhile, CBS has ordered three more episodes of struggling Monday sitcom Worst Week from 13 episodes to 16 episodes. The untraditional sitcom is a critical darling but has not capitalized out of the #1 sitcom, Two and a Half Men. 4 scripts were ordered previously, so one more script has yet to turn into an episode order. CBS still has Rules of Engagement coming in midseason, so if Worst Week doesn't pick-up, you'll see Rules there by February or March. Remember February sweeps doesn't start until March 5 this year because of the transition to digital TV in mid-February.
NBC has ordered 6 additional episodes of Medium, its veteran supernatural drama starring Patricia Arquette. The order brings the total from 13 episodes to 19 episodes for its fifth season. NBC recently canceled Monday drama My Worst Own Enemy and Friday drama Lipstick Jungle, so both will be out of here in January, which is when Medium will more than likely launch. Originally the show was set to launch Sundays at 9PM after Sunday Night Football concludes, but now that will likely change. As soon as NBC announces its revised midseason schedule, we will let you know. I bet it will return to its original Monday at 10pm slot followed the sinking Heroes.

TV Land and NBC November Changes; Win Free Copy of Donna Reed Show Season 1 DVD!

TV Land has edited their primetime schedule a bit and added a few more stunts in November. First, TV Land has given 3rd Rock from the Sun a week-long TV Land PRIME marathon. It will air Monday, November 3 through Friday, November 7 from 9pm-12am ET/PT. Some slots will be preempted though, such as Wednesday at 10 and Friday at 10 for other TV Land PRIME programming. This change will lead into a new slot for 3rd Rock the following week, as TV Land swaps 3rd Rock and Scrubs. Scrubs will now move from 9-10pm to 10-11pm weeknights, as 3rd Rock goes from 10-11pm weeknights to 9-10pm weeknights starting November 10. Looks like 3rd Rock has surprised and done decent in the ratings. And finally, TV Land has added a weekend M*A*S*H Fan Favorites marathon the weekend of November 15 and 16 from 8pm-6am ET/PT both nights. You can catch memorable episodes, the series finale and the 30th anniversary reunion special!
Head on to our updated TV Land November 2008 schedule and highlights so you're all updated!

NBC has made changes to its schedule, that will alter Wednesdays and Fridays in the next week or two and later on Mondays get a little makeover. Effective Friday, October 31, Lipstick Jungle moves from Wednesdays at 10 to Fridays at 10 replacing Life. Life will be over to Wednesdays at 9pm starting November 5 replacing Deal or No Deal-Wed. Also that night NBC will launch the new season of Law & Order at 10pm. Lipstick Jungle was only at over 4 million for its latest episode, while NBC probably thinks Life is worth saving and trying back on Wednesdays. Also NBC has moved the series premiere of reality series Momma's Boys yet again...this is take three! The series will now launch on Tuesday, December 16 at 10pm following The Biggest Loser finale. Then it will air for five more weeks on Mondays at 9pm starting December 22. Heroes will be on a 5 week break at least as its fall finale is Dec. 15. NBC must not have much faith in Momma's Boys as it will be airing in the low rated holiday season, especially the first two Monday airings.

We have 5 copies of the classic sitcom The Donna Reed Show - The Complete First Season for giveaway thanks to the fine folks at Arts Alliance America. It arrives on DVD tomorrow (October 28, 2008). The contest begins today, Monday, October 27 and ends at the end of the day on Monday, November 10. So you have two weeks to enter! One entry per e-mail address and household. Multiple entries from the same IP address will be deleted...so no tricks, please. We'll know.
For the first time ever, the preeminent family television series from the 1960's will be brought back into America's homes. Amazingly, this series has never been on home video in any format. This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the show. Arts Alliance is pulling out the stops for this historic occasion. Arts Alliance has digitally re-mastered all 37 episodes of the first season. This 4-disc set will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.95. Working closely with Donna Reed's family, Arts Alliance America has acquired the priceless series that fans have been clamoring for.
Look for our full DVD review very soon, but please enter our Donna Reed Show DVD contest, but before you do...please make sure you read the FULL contest rules and eligibility details.

Don't forget this week it is "Lost '80s Week" on WGN America featuring Three's a Crowd, The Ropers, Too Close for Comfort and Check it Out! All week long from 8-10pm ET (5-7pm PT). Tonight's presentation will be four episodes of the John Ritter series, Three's a Crowd! Tune in and let's try to get these on the air as regulars, at least on weekends. As a special treat, we will interview Too Close for Comfort star Lydia Cornell this week just in time for Too Close for Comfort on WGN America! Come on back for that and tune in to WGN America this week!

The N's Halloween Stunt Includes Classic Nick Series Are You Afraid of the Dark; More Minor ION Changes

The week of October 25-31 is Halloween Week on The N! To celebrate this haunted holiday, The N will air Halloween-themed programming, including an encore presentation of the Degrassi Halloween specials, Curse of Degrassi and Degrassi of the Dead on Friday, October 31. Also, tune into the classic Nickelodeon series Are You Afraid of the Dark? all-week long, along with special Halloween episodes of The N's hit sitcoms, including That '70s Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Moesha, Zoey 101, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The N will also premiere the movie Roxy Hunter and the Horrific Halloween on Sunday, October 26 at 8am and Friday, October 31 at 12pm. As for Are You Afraid of the Dark?, it will air Saturday, October 25-Sunday, October 26 from 4-6pm and Monday, October 27-Friday, October 31 from 3:00-4:30pm. The show aired on Nickelodeon from 1991-1996, and was revived in 1999-2000, but actually was a Canadian production from CTV. The series revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as "The Midnight Society". Every week, at a secret location in the woods, one member would tell a scary story to the group. No idea yet if the series will join The N's line-up come November, but as of now, I don't think so. We'll let you know if it does join, though!
View episode info for the Are You Afraid of the Dark? week and more on The N's October 2008 programming.

ION Television has announced it has replaced the filler airings of The Drew Carey Show with more M*A*S*H. These filler airings are only a few times a month at 10:30PM when the ION Movie runs 2 1/2 hours instead of two hours or three hours, such as this Friday at 10:30PM. So, fans of Drew Carey Show will not see any episodes anymore, unless it is brought back to the regular line-up.

Still early in the day, if any news breaks, we will post...check back!

TV Land November 2008 Highlights; Bush Speech Hits Primetime Tonight Affecting Network Primetime

Before we get to the November 2008 TV Land highlights, we have some news for fans for this week. For this week only, from Wed-Fri (Sept. 24-26), two more Night Court airings will air per day from 7-8am instead of the usual M*A*S*H, in addition to its weekdays at 8am airing. Why is this happening? Because M*A*S*H will takeover the 11pm-12am slot this week instead of Scrubs, in addition to its 12-1am airings. The Cosby Show marathon is going on this week in primetime, so there have been time shifting, and possibly Scrubs didn't do well at 11pm this week.
This November on TV Land it's time to vote and then have a feast on Thanksgiving! Its election season and TV Land is offering viewers the chance to voice off on a homefront issue of grave importance: Who should be the first family of TV Land -- The Taylors (Andy, Aunt Bea and Opie of The Andy Griffith Show), the Sanfords (Fred, Lamont and Aunt Esther of Sanford & Son) or the Clampetts (Jed, Granny, Elie-Mae and Jethro of The Beverly Hillbillies)? For two weeks, beginning Saturday, October 18 and leading up to election weekend, viewers will have the opportunity to go to tvland.com to vote on their favorite TV Land clan after viewing clips featuring the contending families at their best...and their worst. So whether they are having each other's backs or sticking a knife in it, TV Land's contenders always come together in the end to cut through the red tape and bring the laughter. On Sunday, November 2, after the viewers have voted on their favorites, the winning family will be featured in an 8 hour block from 8p-4a. Exciting!
Every Wednesday at 10pm, TV Land continues with TV Land Myths & Legends in November. The season premiere is October 8 and runs through November 19.
Don't miss the movies that made you believe a man can fly with a 3-night primetime limited commercial interruption event...of Superman! Superman and Superman II will be presented at 10pm on Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22. Then on Sunday, November 23 at 8pm, TV Land encores both movies in a special double-feature presentation (both of which will be enhanced with additional content giving viewers the scoop on behind the scenes drama along with fun facts and trivia about the Superman myth and the stars themselves.) Superman will save the day once more on Sunday, December 14 when the movie will encore on the eve of the 30th Anniversary of the film featuring limited commercial interruption and movie facts! It's certainly not a bird or plane!
Finally, TV Land's 2nd Annual Overstuffed Thanksgiving Weekend is serving up four fun-filled days of great television from Thursday, November 27 through Sunday, November 30 beginning at 10am each day. Viewers will delight in having four fun-filled days of classic and modern shows, TV Land originals and dynamic movies. With shows like The Andy Griffith Show, The Cosby Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Sanford & Son, I Love Lucy and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition together with movies like Superman and Police Academy, viewers will keep coming back for more like they do with turkey on Thanksgiving!
There will be no schedule changes to the regular line-up in November. Movie premieres for the month include Superman, Superman II, Dennis the Menace and Fatal Attraction with encore showings of City Slickers, Easy Money and Police Academy.
View the full TV Land November 2008 schedule and highlights.

President Bush plans to talk to Americans directly about the financial crisis in a primetime tonight at 9PM ET. This means primetime programming will be delayed after 9PM tonight. The speech will last 15 minutes and will delay all programming on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in Eastern, Central and Mountain time zones. Pacific time programming will not be affected by this, as they will get the speech at 6PM PT, so no delays out west. Out in the east and central, for ABC, David Blaine: Dive of Death will run from 9:15-11:15PM ET (that's 8:15-10:15PM CT). For CBS, the season premiere of Criminal Minds will run 9:15-10:15PM ET and CSI: NY's season premiere will run from 10:15-11:15PM ET. NBC's America's Got Talent will run 9:17-10:00PM ET and be abbreviated (it will air fully out west)the season premiere of Lipstick Jungle will run normally at 10-11PM ET. And finally, Fox's struggling sitcoms will be on a delay, with 'Til Death from 9:15-9:45PM ET and Do Not Disturb from 9:45-10:15PM ET. Set those DVRs or be on alert tonight!

ION Unveils New Look, Website, Line-Up Tonight; Today Reunites Classic Movie Casts; 2 More RTN Affiliates Added

Today, over 94 million households will have the opportunity to tune-in to a reinvented ION Television, repositioned as a compelling new entertainment destination and galvanized by an exciting new brand, ION Television: Positively Entertaining. The new contemporary look and tag line - Positively Entertaining – complement the robust critically acclaimed off-network series – Boston Legal, ER and NCIS – which launch as part of ION Television's strategically acquired fall programming lineup that appeals to a younger audience. The rebranding campaign coincides with the launch of ION Television's new advertisers, distribution partners, shifted viewership, and newly rebranded website, http://www.iontelevision.com/. The new daytime line-up also begins today starting at 4pm with M*A*S*H.
New Website Launch -- iontelevision.com: ION Television extends its breadth beyond television and is launching a newly revamped and rebranded website, www.iontelevision.com. The site will feature numerous new features from streaming video, interactive games, video mash-ups, cast/show information, show trivia, forums and blogs.
ION Television's strategy will focus heavily on expanding its programming offerings in coming television seasons, targeting a strong mix of quality major network TV series, as well as signature originals produced specifically for ION Television. Several key content additions have already been secured, such as the successful Ghost Whisperer and Criminal Minds franchises, which will infuse the lineup in fall 2009.
For more read the Press Release.

Back in February, NBC reunited classic TV casts in their week-long "Together Again" series on the Today show. This week, Today will reunite the casts of three of America's favorite movies. Beginning Monday, September 8, the famed actors of the hit movies The Big Chill, Airplane! and Footloose will talk about their experiences making the films and what it's like to reunite after more than 20 years.
On Monday, Glenn Close, JoBeth Williams, Mary Kay Place, Jeff Goldblum and William Hurt will talk about their Oscar-nominated movie The Big Chill and the impact it had on their generation. On Wednesday, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Hays, Peter Graves, Leslie Nielsen and Jill Whelan will reunite to chat about their often-quoted, hilarious movie, Airplane! On Friday, Kevin Bacon, John Lithgow and Lori Singer will kick off their Sunday shoes and talk about their dance-filled hit, Footloose. Kenny Loggins will make a special appearance and perform the movie's title song.

More Retro Television Network (RTN) affiliates are coming! Cocola Broadcasting plans to add RTN programming on its Monterey-Salinas, CA and Boise, ID stations. The network will launch next year on KYMB in Monterey-Salinas and KKJB in Boise.

ION Television September 2008 Schedule; Your Memorable TV Moments At This Year's Emmys

ION Television announced their Fall 2008 schedule back at their May upfront presentation, but it seems that schedule was just tentative. Boston Legal and M*A*S*H will join the ION September 2008 line-up on Monday, September 8. Boston Legal will air Mondays at 8PM, for now. The reason I say "for now" is because their Fall 2008 schedule actually starts Monday, September 29 and we don't have details on that yet since that is considered October. I do think Boston Legal will air Mon-Wed at 8pm probably by then, but for now it will start off airing Mondays at 8PM starting Sept. 8. The legal drama is entering its last season on ABC, moving to a new night Mondays at 10pm starting Sept. 22.
As for M*A*S*H, ION Television will launch it also on Sept. 8 airing it weekdays back-to-back at 4:00PM & 4:30PM and on weekends back-to-back at 6:00PM & 6:30PM ET/PT! ER will still air Mon-Wed at 10PM, but it will also air Tuesdays at 8PM and Wednesdays at 8 & 9PM...again, until at least Sept. 29. So, yes ER will air from 8-11pm on Wednesdays. Quantum Leap and The Dead Zone will be off the primetime line-up in this September schedule, but who knows they could return in that Fall October schedule, but I doubt it. Baywatch is off the Saturday line-up and 48 Hours will air on Thursdays at 10PM only now after the Thursday movie, if the movie ends at 10pm. The Drew Carey Show was originally slated to return this Fall, but it now won't. It will air however sometimes after the Thursday movie at 10:30pm, if the movie runs longer than 2 hours.
Now, ION Television will launch another drama on Sept. 8 airing it Mondays and Tuesdays at 9PM, but they have not announced it yet so I cannot tell you yet. As soon as they announce it, I will post it. But it is a drama similar in style to their other recent acquisitions (Boston Legal, Criminal Minds) but more mainstream than Quantum Leap and The Dead Zone.
The other slots will remain the same, with Steve Harvey Show airing weekdays 5-6PM, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper airing weekdays 6-7PM, and Family Feud airing Mon-Thurs from 7-8PM. RHI Entertainment is still Fri-Sun from 7-11PM. The Friday qubo block from 2-5pm will now be spread out to an hour each day from 3-4pm on Wed-Fri.
We will let you know about that new 9PM drama as soon as they announce it and if we get any details on their Fall line-up (that starts Sept. 29). I don't expect many changes then, but probably Boston Legal will air Mon-Wed (or Mon-Thurs) at 8, that new drama Mon-Wed (or Mon-Thurs) at 9, and ER Mon-Wed (or Mon-Thurs) at 10. I think the Thursday movie will be on its way out by then, but not sure. Again, I'll let you all know when it is announced!
For now, view the ION September 2008 Schedule.

The most memorable moments in television history will be revealed during the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 21, and it's up to voters to decide which bits should take top honors.
40 "moments" -- 20 dramatic and 20 comedic -- are in the running. Comedy contenders include M*A*S*H, Mork & Mindy, I Love Lucy, All in the Family, Murphy Brown, The Honeymooners, Newhart, Ellen, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Friends, Seinfeld, Sex and the City and The Cosby Show, while Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Dallas, Dynasty, Grey's Anatomy, Miami Vice, Moonlighting and The Sopranos are among the drama candidates.
The television academy and Emmy show producers came up with the competition and the contenders in honor of the 60th annual presentation of the Emmy Awards. Fans can watch clips and vote for their favorite moments online until Sept. 15.
The top five vote-getters in each category will be presented during the Emmy show on Sunday, Sept. 21 on ABC, and the two winning moments will be revealed just before the year's outstanding drama and comedy series are named.
So head on to ABC's Most Memorable TV Moments section and vote for your favorites moments!

Hallmark Channel Fall 2008 Schedule With Cheers; Comcast Launches MGM's Impact Action onDemand

We continue the fall 2008 schedules for cable and today we take a look at The Hallmark Channel's Fall 2008 schedule. Now, their fall schedule schedule will start in October and they really have no changes at all! I believe their weekday line-up of dramas (Little House, Murder She Wrote, etc) and comedic drama M*A*S*H are doing well that they don't want to change anything yet. Now we already announced that Cheers is coming this fall previously, and now we have when it will air. Since we just said weekdays will have no changes at all, that will leave Cheers to just weekends, and they will air four episodes a week on Sundays from 10am-12pm starting Saturday, October 5. Hopefully it can do well there and then they can transition it to weekdays possibly?
Also joining the Hallmark schedule is the first-run syndicated series NASCAR Angels (it will also remain on your locals weekly as well) airing Sunday mornings at 8am, replacing one of the M*A*S*H airings, so M*A*S*H Sunday airings will now be 8:30am-10am.
Original movies for the month are Ladies of the House on Oct. 18 and Generation Gap on Oct. 25 both from 9-11pm.
We're sorry that there are not many changes or that Cheers is not on any other day, but we just report what we get and see! Anyway, view the Hallmark Channel Fall 2008 Schedule.
Stay tuned for Canada cable schedules, ION Television, WE tv, Nick at Nite, BET, and NYC local channels fall line-ups in the coming days.

Comcast Corporation and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) today announced a partnership to launch Impact, the first video-on-demand (VOD) channel dedicated exclusively to action programming. The new channel, available first to Comcast customers this week, features a host of exciting and popular action films and television shows, many available in high-definition (HD), that will captivate adventure seekers and fans of action, one of the fastest growing movie categories at the box office.
Within the first year, Impact will premiere many of the most successful films in action history, including movies from the James Bond series, Rocky, Terminator, Magnificent Seven and RoboCop. Impact will also kick-off its programming with some of its most popular action stars from the MGM library such as Chuck Norris, Sylvester Stallone and Charles Bronson. As an ongoing part of this VOD channel, there will be special programming themes created around the popular action genres including thrillers, crime, espionage, westerns, war films and martial arts.
It looks like this onDemand service will primarily be movies, though. We will try to get a list of MGM action TV series coming to Impact soon.

ION Fall 2008 Schedule, Dead Zone and Mr. Cooper Also Join; ABC Family Upfront

Yesterday we gave you some details on ION Television's upfront, with the announcement of ER coming in June. Later in the evening ION sent us the full details of their acquisitions and plans for Fall 2008.
ION Television solidified its evolution into a popular, general entertainment network aimed at the 25-54 demographic. At its 2008 sales presentation to the advertising community, held at the New York Public Library in New York City, the Upfront highlighted ION Television's exciting, contemporary programming initiatives for the 2008-2009 television season and promised strong partnerships for advertisers in an ever-changing and competitive marketplace.
ION Television's new campaign is called the "Positively Entertaining" network branding, showcasing a powerful new primetime lineup and the expansion of the network's programming block to 4 p.m.
This Fall, viewers will see a great new lineup of top shows during the week and on weekends. RHI Entertainment, ION Television's exclusive partner in weekend primetime programming, will deliver 12 original movies, including three Westerns, during the 2008-2009 season. RHI's high-caliber content has brought impressive ratings returns, demonstrating how well the ION platform does with quality programming. The award-winning producer and distributor of groundbreaking miniseries and movies for television will continue to provide original programming, as well as quality library titles.
We mentioned in the past and recent days, that ION has acquired Boston Legal & M*A*S*H for this fall, ER starts next month and Criminal Minds & Ghost Whisperer for Fall 2009, but now ION has given more announcements for more series!
USA Network's original series, The Dead Zone, a science fiction/suspense series from Debmar-Mercury, will appear on ION Television's Fall primetime schedule airing Thursday nights. The hit drama stars Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, a man who awakens from a six-year coma to discover that he has psychic abilities.
Through a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, the hit sitcom, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, will be on the ION Television Fall lineup airing weekdays. Mark Curry plays Mr. Mark Cooper, a single teacher and basketball coach at a high school in Oakland, California. The cast also includes Raven-Symoné, Holly Robinson Peete, Nell Carter, Omar Gooding and more.
ION clearly said at their upfront, that they are not "the Mama's Family channel" anymore and thus the show will be off the line-up by the fall, as of now. That is not to say it won't ever return, but as of now, they are trying to move forward. Recently introduced shows such as The Drew Carey Show, Quantum Leap, Family Feud and The Steve Harvey Show will remain on the network in the Fall.

The following is an outline of ION's Fall 2008 schedule, but could change, so it is not set in stone:

Mondays-Fridays
4:00PM The Steve Harvey Show
4:30PM The Steve Harvey Show
5:00PM Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
5:30PM Hangin' with Mr. Cooper
6:00PM The Drew Carey Show
6:30PM M*A*S*H

Mondays-Thursdays
7:00PM Family Feud
7:30PM Family Feud
8:00PM Quantum Leap

Mondays-Wednesdays
9:00PM Boston Legal
10:00PM ER

Thursdays
9:00PM The Dead Zone
10:00PM The Dead Zone

Fridays-Sundays
7:00PM-11:00PM RHI Entertainment on ION

6:00PM (and if any other slots on weekends are added) weekends will be known closer to the Fall.
We will have an interview with ION very soon (if all goes well), and will try to answer everything in our on going "Seven Questions With..." series. So stay tuned!

Moving on to another upfront, ABC Family also had their upfront yesterday! They outlined ABC Family's plans for Summer and Fall of 2008. Scheduled to debut this summer are new original drama series including The Middleman (Monday, June 16) and The Secret Life of the American Teenager (Tuesday, July 1). In addition to the summer series, ABC Family will premiere Samurai Girl, a special event premiering with six hours over three nights this Fall (September 5, 6, 7) and has ordered a third season of Lincoln Heights (Fall 2008), a second season of Greek (Fall 2008), and a third season of Kyle XY (January 2009). The 11th annual 25 Days of Christmas event will feature an original movie and special as well as the basic cable premieres of The Chronicles of Narnia and Cars.
Rerun wise, joining the successful line-up of acquired series, including America's Funniest Home Videos, What I Like About You, 8 Simple Rules and Gilmore Girls will be the newly acquired sitcoms That '70s Show premiering this June and My Wife and Kids premiering this September. We gave you news on both of these already, though.
New ABC Family original movies include The Circuit starring Michelle Trachtenberg on Sunday, June 8 and Picture This starring Ashley Tisdale on Sunday, July 13. In addition, ABC Family presents the new original movie Snow 2: Brain Freeze starring Tom Cavanaugh and Ashley Williams, the sequel to the highly successful Snow during the 25 Days of Christmas.
In the works for 2009 are an original sitcom and a half-hour dramedy. Roommates, the network's first foray into a half-hour sitcom, will premiere with thirteen episodes in 2009. Roommates is about a group of friends trying to figure out love and life in their post-collegiate years. The ensemble cast includes, Tyler Francavilla, Dorian Brown, Tommy Dewey, David Weidoff and Tamera Mowry (Sister, Sister).
Sophie, an all new original half-hour series will also premiere in 2009 with thirteen episodes also. Sophie is a heartwarming and comedic tale of a lovely young woman having the worst year of her life. The cast includes Natalie Brown, Sebastian Spence, Jeff Geddis, Amy Lalonde, Mimi Kuzyk, Sara Botsford, Chantelle Chung and Catherine Bérubé.
For more details on ABC Family's Upfront highlights, I suggest you click HERE! You can also discuss the new there. We should have ABC Family's June schedule in the coming days so you will know when That '70s Show will be airing!

Stay tuned next week as we preview the broadcast network upfronts, in our annual preview. We will let you know what we think ABC, The CW, CBS and Fox will do (NBC has already announced their fall schedule, so we can't preview them) for the fall.
Upfront week is week of May 12, starting with NBC, but they already announced their 2008-09 schedules.

Family Matters Now Coming to Nick at Nite in April; Biography Acquires Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals; TV Land Greenlights 4 Pilots

Nearly two months ago we got word that Family Matters coming to Nick at Nite got moved to June. Originally it was supposed to come in March, but they moved it to the summer, which made a bit more sense to me, since lots of teenagers and young adults would watch. But now it looks like they changed their minds! Last night during the first night of the George Lopez seven-night Luck o' the Lopez Marathon, a promo aired indicating Family Matters is "coming next month" (April). They showed Urkel, too. We don't have full details yet, but we are working on it. So if we have something more, come back to this spot and find out...if not we will bring it to you in the coming days. It's certainly time to "do the Urkel dance" in primetime!

Sorry for the late notice, but The Biography Channel has acquired the series of specials called TV Guide's Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals. If you all remember or didn't know, these specials aired in 1999 and 2000 on Fox. They had about 5 specials under this name and profiled a lot of sitcoms behind-the-scenes details (some very scandalously) such as Three's Company, The Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H, Diff'rent Strokes, Gilligan's Island, Welcome Back Kotter, Facts of Life, Roseanne and more. Then they changed the name for three more specials called TV Guide's Truth Behind the Rumors and profiled series such as Growing Pains, Charlie's Angels, Cheers, Laverne & Shirley, and Dynasty. Well starting tonight (Tuesday, March 18) The Biography Channel will re-air most of these specials! It will air Tuesdays at 10:00PM and re-air 2:00AM later that night.
Tonight they will air special #3 of Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals. First stop in this episode is a look back at The Love Boat, the series the critics claimed would "sink like the Titanic," but which sailed on for nine years with its Aaron Spelling formula of bikinis, blondes, celebrity guests, and lovable, yet troubled stars. Then we'll hear Loretta Swit as she recalls what it was like to be the only woman on the set with all men in the hugely popular medical comedy M*A*S*H.
Up next week is special #4 of Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals. Stars from Happy Days, The Jeffersons and One Day at a Time reveal controversies. We don't have April episode info yet, but keep checking back on our message board's thread on this. To view that and to discuss these specials, click HERE! I remember watching all of these, and I taped a few even originally. If you haven't seen this or need to tape it, I would advise you watch/tape.

TV Land announced that it has greenlit four pilots as part of its ongoing original programming agenda. The channel, which recently rolled out new original series High School Reunion to double digit ratings increases, will continue to rev-up production on programming designed to appeal specifically to viewers in their 40's. The four pilots are all reality based and are:
- First Love, Second Chance -- gives long-lost sweethearts an opportunity to rekindle their romance -- years later.
- Now or Never -- Empty nesters are given the chance of a lifetime to open a new chapter in their lives by pursuing careers that they always dreamed of but never dared to pursue. In each installment, couples try out their dream jobs, a new place to live and a whole new social scene before making the gut-wrenching decision of which path to follow.
- Make My Day -- provides a window into one day in the life of an unsuspecting participant. Hidden cameras capture the action as contestants are put through a series of weird coincidences, extraordinary situations and surprise appearances.
- What's In The Box? -- TV Land's first game show in which individual contestants square off in the ultimate, fast-paced 20 question competition.
For more info about these pilots, and to discuss this, click HERE!
Upcoming TV Land originals after the conclusion of High School Reunion include: The Big 4-0 (launches April 16), She's Got the Look (launches June 4) and Family Foreman (launches July 16). In addition, the 6th Annual TV Land Awards will now air this summer instead of the spring (June 22 is the tentative date).

And don't forget the premiere of sitcom Miss Guided tonight after Dancing with the Stars at 10:30pm ET/PT on ABC. Hope you saw our review on Friday...because this is one of the top 3 sitcoms I think of the season behind Big Bang Theory and Samantha Who? So if you like those, you'll like this. Episode 2 is even funnier, so tune in to that on its regular night and time on Thursday at 8pm.

TV Land May 2008 Highlights; RTN Adds 2 More Affiliates; Hulu.com Launches

As promised, we will bring you TV Land May 2008 highlights today! No schedule changes are being made thus far, so we should expect the same changes that happened on March 10. New original series The Big 4-0 will continue through May 14, Wednesdays at 10. It starts April 16, of course, as we mentioned in the April highlights. For every mom whose ever wanted to sit back and watch dad do the work, TV Land's Movie Land block offers Three Men and a Baby, celebrating Mother's Day Weekend on May 9 and 10. Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg star as three swinging bachelor roommates who find a baby girl on their doorstep. Moms everywhere can sit back and relax as they watch three ill-equipped men try to tackle a job that normally only take one woman to accomplish!
The TV Land Movie Week for May has a lot of fun. Grab your popcorn and kick back as Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline lead an all-star cast of diamond thieves in the hilariously funny A Fish Called Wanda on Monday. Tuesday, the star power continues with Steve Guttenberg, Ted Danson and Tom Selleck who find themselves thrust into fatherhood in Three Men and A Baby. Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith duke it out in the workplace on Wednesday with Working Girl. Thursday brings an out of this world experience with Christopher Lloyd, Elizabeth Hurley, Jeff Daniels and Darryl Hannah in My Favorite Martian, based on the '60s TV series.
The regular Friday Movie Land block in May features movies such as E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Working Girl, A Fish Called Wanda, Flashdance.
TV Land will feature all of the best and brightest M*A*S*H episodes the weekend of May 17-19. They're fun, odd and unforgettable! If that wasn't enough, TV Land has got the highest rated episode in television history, the M*A*S*H Finale, plus the 20th & 30th anniversary M*A*S*H Reunions!
This Memorial Day, it's a day full of TV Land's newest and brightest originals. Starting at 8am, it's enjoyable and adventurous birthday celebrations with The Big 4-0. Then at 11am the fun never ends with the classmates from High School Reunion and at 5pm Myths and Legends reveals stars best kept secrets and some of the greatest stories in Hollywood. A primetime marathon of Andy Griffith rounds out the night.
Finally, on Saturday, May 31, there's only one "fabulous", "chic" and "sassy" man who can take TV Land's fashion head-on–celebrity stylist and judge of TV Land's new original reality series, She's Got The Look (premiering June 4) ... Robert Verdi! Integrated in surprising "pop-up" flags, Robert entertains viewers with his lovably-snarky fashion commentary of everyone's favorite TV Land characters, from the mile-high trousers of Jethro Bodine to the super shoulder pads of our Designing Women and Miami Vice.
For more on TV Land May 2008, click HERE!

Retro Television Network (RTN announced that it plans to add an RTN affiliate in Evansville, IN. The new affiliate will launch this summer on a digital stream of WEHT-TV, Evansville's ABC affiliate that is owned by Gilmore Broadcasting Company. Evansville will see James Garner in Rockford Files, Jack Klugman in Quincy, M.E., Raymond Burr in Ironside, Jack Lord in Hawaii 5-0 and Don Adams in Get Smart on weekdays. On the weekends, viewers will see The Partridge Family, The Monkees, The A-Team, Knight Rider, Kojak, Airwolf, Gunsmoke, The Wild Wild West and many more.
Meanwhile, Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it will partner with Trans-America Broadcasting Corporation to launch an RTN affiliation in Fresno, CA. The network will begin airing in April on a digital stream of KAIL-TV. Hit shows like Perry Mason, The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I. and Hawaii 5-0 will air weekdays, while the weekend lineup will include Emergency!, Kojak, Airwolf, The A-Team, Knight Rider and The Wild Wild West.

Hulu.com, a joint venture between News Corp. (Fox) and NBC Universal has launched! Obviously it will have current Fox and NBC shows on here such as 'Til Death, The Simpsons, House, Law & Order, ER and The Office, but it has SO much more from other outlets. Hulu.com is a vast online library of ad-supported TV shows and movies. Other networks on Hulu are Bravo (The Real Housewives of New York City, Make Me A Supermodel , etc), NBC Universal's Chiller (Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Tremors, etc), E! (Pop Fiction), Fox Reality Channel (Paradise Hotel 2), Classic Fox (Arrested Development, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bob Newhart Show, etc), FX (Dirt, 30 Days, etc), MGM (Addams Family, Fame, etc), Sony's Minisode Network (Facts of Life, Dilbert, Married with Children), MyNetworkTV (Decision House), Classic NBC (A-Team, Knight Rider, The Munsters Today, Problem Child animated, etc), NBC Universal (Jerry Springer, etc), Sci-Fi Channel (Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, etc), NBC Universal's Slueth Network (Simon & Simon, Miami Vice), Sony-owned (Benson, Archie Bunker's Place, What's Happening Now!!, Married with Children, Who's the Boss?, etc), Universal Media (Major Dad, Adam-12, Airwolf, etc), USA Network (Monk, Psych, Starter Wife, etc), and Warner Bros. (Welcome Back Kotter). Wow! Most of the shows are full episodes, but some are clips as well. This will be a treat for everyone as it will have something you like, I'm sure! Check it out!

BET Adds More Thea to Weekends; ION Upfront To Be Held May 1, Minor Schedule Change

As you all know BET has added the short-lived 1993-94 season sitcom Thea to weekends along with short lived 1980 sitcom Sanford. Thea is airing Saturday nights at 3am and Sunday afternoons at 12pm...with Sanford as its lead-in both times (2:30am and 11:30am). Now BET has announced it will air more Thea! Effective this Saturday (March 8), BET will air Thea also Saturday mornings at 9am and 9:30am, replacing Diff'rent Strokes. This is not a big loss for Diff'rent Strokes because the Saturday airings were only repeats of Monday's airings, and Strokes will still air weekdays from 9-10am.
As for Thea, we will now get two episodes a week rather than just one. 9-10am episodes are two new episodes and they will repeat one each on Saturday night at 3am and Sunday at 12 noon. So, if you're DVRing, TiVoing, recording Thea, back-to-back 9-10am Saturday mornings is your best bet.
Don't forget also to tune in this Saturday from 10am-11pm for the Sanford marathon as we set our clocks San"forward" for the spring, as all 26 episodes of the short-lived revival series starring Redd Foxx will air, including the three-part pilot episode.

ION Media Networks, Inc. announced today that it will display its new programming and marketing initiatives for the 2008-2009 television season at its second annual Upfront sales presentation. The event, aimed at the advertising community, will be held on the evening of Thursday, May 1st at the New York Public Library.
ION Television recently announced it will be adding the hit series Boston Legal to its Fall 2008 primetime lineup. Also coming to the network will be the timeless comedic drama, M*A*S*H.
ION Television already has made some significant additions to its primetime schedule in 2008, launching the beloved sitcom, The Drew Carey Show, on New Year's Day, and debuting the multi-generational TV staple, Baywatch, earlier this week. Original movies from RHI Entertainment, such as Journey to the Center of the Earth and Aces 'N Eights, set to premiere March 15th, also have contributed to the increased excitement at the network in the first quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, due to low ratings, ION has canceled the infomercial program Firebrand TV. Firebrand took a curated approach to Madison Ave., selecting flashy spots from blue-chip advertisers ranging from Coca-Cola to 24 Hour Fitness. The show was airing weeknights at 11pm and it will be replaced with real infomercials now starting Monday (March 10). No joking.

ABC Picks Up 9 Series for Next Season; ION Picks Up M*A*S*H; ABC Family March Changes

The strike will most likely officially end today after the vote...no doubts. We will keep you up to date on it certainly. Today is day 100.
ABC Entertainment announced pickups for nine of its most popular shows, returning broadcast television's most successful fall series. ABC Entertainment ordered episodes of Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty.
On average during Fall 2007 (10 complete weeks: 9/24-12/2/07), ABC was the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49 (3.9/10), delivering the top position in the key young adult sales demo on 7 of the first 10 weeks of the season and ranking No. 1 during the November Sweep for the third consecutive year. In addition, ABC claimed eight of the Top 20 highest-rated TV shows among young adults during the fall, including five of the Top 10 freshman series.
Now these 9 are not the only ones returning, these 9 are just the early pick-ups. Missing are Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, America's Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Women's Murder Club, among others. Most of those, if not all, could also be back next season. Cavemen, Carpoolers, Notes from the Underbelly, October Road, Big Shots are in danger...and possibly Cashmere Mafia. Jury is still out on Eli Stone, but it needs to pick up in the ratings more.

ION Media Networks, Inc. today announced it has entered into an agreement with Twentieth Television to air the television series, M*A*S*H, on ION Television starting this Fall. The agreement marks the latest addition of programming to the ION network's primetime lineup. This comedic drama melds humor, social, political commentary and often heart-wrenching plotlines to provide ION's broad audience with a perennial favorite that redefined the boundaries of television programming.
More details will come closer to the premiere, but it is not certain yet if local broadcast channels will lose rights to the show this fall when ION launches it, since ION is technically a broadcast channel. TV Land and Hallmark Channel air the show on cable and will continue to do so, as this deal is not exclusive.

Since Family Matters' contract is expiring at the end of this month on ABC Family (it will move to Nick at Nite in June), they will make changes to ther March line-up. Sister, Sister will move to both Family Matters hours (Mon-Sun 7-8am and Mon-Fri 1-2pm). Sabrina, the Teenage Witch will lose its weekdays 2-3pm slot and move to every morning 8-9am. Step by Step will return to afternoons and air weekdays 2-3pm, which will be in addition to its 9am slot. And finally, weekends from 10am-12pm will be a block of Grounded for Life, with sometimes early movies in there.
To view these changes and to discuss this, click HERE!

Day 11: WGA's Writers' Strike; In2TV to Re-Launch; M*A*S*H Marathon Score for TV Land

We are now on day 11 of the writers' strike. Reality/game shows will dominate the schedule soon when originals of scripted series run out. The Office runs out after tonight's airing. CBS's new sitcom The Big Bang Theory ran out of new episodes this past Monday. Rules of Engagement looks like will run out of episodes after its airing this Monday. Which means half of CBS's Monday sitcom line-up would have ended...the other two are expected to end after their Monday, Nov. 26 airings.
NBC has announced that its struggling new series Life, which airs Wednesdays at 10, will have a special two-part episode which will air following the finale of Heroes on December 3 at 10pm. Part two will air in its regular timeslot on Dec. 5. NBC will also have a special three night Deal or No Deal stunt a week later, on Dec. 10-12 starting at 8pm. Following that NBC will launch the new series Clash of the Choirs, which will air Dec. 17-21 at 8pm. Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, Kelly Rowland and Blake Shelton will embark on a musical challenge as they return to their hometowns to assemble an amateur choir and prepare them to compete live in studio for the title of America's best choir. ABC will counteract with a new gameshow called Duel the same four nights, but with also an airing on Sunday, Dec. 23 at 8pm. Duel is a tournament style competition featuring head-to-head matches with nerve rattling game play rewarding contestants who embrace shrewdness and manipulation to win. If a contestant can react quickly under pressure and outsmart their opponent using strategy and deception, intellect and skill, they could walk away with up to $2 million.
We gave you ABC's holiday plans (with more coming probably), now we will give you CBS's. The classic holiday special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer will air Tuesday, December 4 from 8-9pm on CBS, head-to-head against ABC's Santa Claus is Coming to Town. CBS will also air the classic special Frosty the Snowman on Friday, December 7 at 8pm, followed by Frosty Returns at 8:30. CBS will also air the holiday movie Elf on Saturday, Dec. 22.

MediaPost is reporting that AOL/Warner Bros. plan to relaunch their In2TV co-venture sometime next year, as the broadband network with full episodes of old-time hits has failed to gain traction since debuting in early 2006. They said it would be "reinvented" by the second quarter next year. A redesign and the addition of some sort of social networking capabilities are expected. The service's section, with memorable show theme songs, might also be an untapped resource. The site's experience is "not immersive" enough.
The coming relaunch is an example of the commitment of the studio--which produces a run of current prime-time hits--to exploiting its library via new distribution channels.
Also next spring, the company has said it will launch TWorks.com--a site focusing on animation with shows such as Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera series. The company said the venture, which will have original content produced by Warner Bros., will also include games and virtual worlds.
So what does this mean? We are not 100% sure...but let's hope they don't remove all of the classic TV on In2TV. So this is the reason why there have not been many new episodes for series on In2TV. They started by giving us 4 new episodes a month, but that hasn't happened in many months now. We will keep you up to date on any further development.

TV Land's M*A*S*H Mail Call Marathon averaged big gains across several key categories during the programming event, which aired on Saturday, November 10 and Sunday, November 11, in honor of Veteran's Day. The eighteen episode programming salute scored double-digit gains in rating and delivery among its target A25-54 audience and total viewers over last year while doubling delivery among its core audience of A40-54. The M*A*S*H Mail Call featured episodes about members of the 4077th sending and receiving letters from loved ones. M*A*S*H averaged a 0.5/524,000 among A25-54, representing a +67% lift in ratings and +95% increase in delivery over the same period last year. TV Land averaged over 1 million total viewers, an increase of +79% over YAGO. Among its core audience, Adults 40-54, TV Land secured substantial gains in rating and delivery, averaging a 0.7/404,000, representing a rise of +75% in rating and +108% in delivery.
In other TV Land news, starting in December Mondays 4-5PM will now be Sanford & Son, thus it will be Mon-Fri instead of Tues-Fri. Gunsmoke will be 2-4pm on Mondays now, with Bonanza 11a-2p Mondays.
On Saturday, Dec. 8, the 12PM encore of the movie Beaches will be replaced by I Love Lucy from 12pm-2:30pm. I Love Lucy's morning airing that morning from 10a-12p will be Designing Women instead. On Saturday, December 15, encores of the movie Wall Street are canceled in the afternoon, so we will get a Three's Company marathon from 1-5pm. Wall Street encore will now air from 7-9:30pm, with Andy Griffith following at 9:30pm.

DotComedy.com to Cease?; Network Notes; TV Land Announces M*A*S*H Mail Call Stunt

NBC Universal plans to shut down the website DotComedy.com in the near future, according to sources with knowledge of the company's plans, eventually folding the site's content and traffic into NBC.com, Mediaweek reports.
NBCU executives declined to comment, but sources indicated that DotComedy, which launched in mid-2006 as part of the company's enhanced focus on digital media, may or may not continue as a branded channel on NBC.com. Some of the site's original programming, which included original content produced by a team of video bloggers, will likely be redistributed to other sites within the NBCU family. So enjoy Leave it to Beaver while you can!

It's time for another game of...network notes! Yes, this is where we have so much network news, we will round it up all here for you! Let's start with NBC. After last night's terrible numbers, NBC has pulled the reality show The Singing Bee from November sweeps at least...so now we will get an extra half-hour of...you guessed it, The Biggest Loser. That means that series will air two-hours each Wednesday (8-10pm) for sweeps. In other NBC news, they have pulled production on the Heroes spin-off, Heroes: Origins. Two reasons I think...the potential writer's strike or maybe because Heroes is in a sophomore ratings slump? The spin-off was supposed to spell the original series for six weeks in mid-season. Finally, not surprisingly ABC has given a three extra scripts order for the Friday night thriller, Women's Murder Club. I expect a full season pick-up very soon. So, this means Cavemen and Big Shots are the only new ABC series without extra scripts or a full pick-up. Not bad...but I don't expect those two to get any additional orders, unless they pick up drastically in the ratings the next few weeks. November ratings sweeps starts TODAY and ends November 28. Let the games begin!

TV Land officially announced its M*A*S*H Mail Call Weekend today. It's two nights of madcap antics, pranks, love letters, homemade cookies and the latest gossip when TV Land presents a marathon of episodes from the hit series M*A*S*H during "M*A*S*H Mail Call". The marathon begins on Saturday, November 10, at 9:00pm (all times ET/PT) and Sunday, November 11, at 9:00pm (all times ET/PT) and chronicles the many personal letters and packages sent to and from loved ones of the gang at 4077th -- some good, some bad -- but all filled with side-splitting laughter. Fans will be treated to some of the most memorable episodes including "Dear Mildred", "The Winchester Tapes", "Dear Comrade" and the popular three-part series "Dear Dad", "Dear Dad, Again" and "Dear Dad, Three", featuring Hawkeye's comical and heartfelt letters sent to his father back in the United States.

TV Land Brings Back Wings, More Night Court; RTN Pittsburgh Launch Schedule; Gossip Girl Picked-Up for Full Season

TV Land has yet made more changes to its October 15 schedule. Originally we were getting Night Court back starting next Wednesday from 7-8am each Wednesday, but now TV Land has announced it will air each weekday at 7am starting Monday (Oct. 15)! They have also re-added Wings to the schedule starting Monday. It will air at 7:30am each weekday morning. M*A*S*H was airing weekday mornings in this hour and will now be moved to 8-9pm in primetime. That means the weekday primetime mini-marathons will be shifted from 8-10pm to 9-11pm. Sanford & Son was airing 10-11pm, now it won't be as the marathons will continue in that slot. M*A*S*H will follow still 11pm-12am. Also, the Wednesday and Friday marathons will be switched. So we will get Sanford & Son on Wednesdays now from 9-11pm and M*A*S*H from 8-10pm (because TV Land Movies air Fridays at 10).
See the full schedule if you are now totally confused on what is airing when by clicking HERE!

We announced previously that WPXI-DT in Pittsburgh, PA will be turning into a Retro Television Network (RTN) starting Monday, Oct. 15. Now we have your first look at the launch schedule! We are so proud that SitcomsOnline.com continues to be the exclusive home for classic TV schedules and news. The digital feed of WPXI will air RTN programming weekdays from 10am-2am, Saturdays 7am-1am, and Sundays 10am-2am. Among the classic programs will we see on weekdays include I Love Lucy, Gomer Pyle, Happy Days, My Three Sons, Laverne & Shirley, and Get Smart. On weekends we will see shows like Mork & Mindy, Brady Bunch, Family Affair, Petticoat Junction, Family Ties, Hogan's Heroes, The Honeymooners and The A-Team! Wow! So many classics! If you live in Pittsburgh and don't have digital cable, get it now!
To see the full schedule for WPXI-DT Pittsburgh, click HERE!
Also, we will have more on RTN in the next week or so, including an exclusive interview with them! So stay tuned for updates!

Acclaimed and much buzzed-about new drama Gossip Girl has become the first new series picked up for a full season of episodes.
With online buzz mounting and the show's success on other platforms like iTunes, the premiere of The CW’s new drama Gossip Girl also gained significant number of viewers in its target demos when DVR usage is factored in, according to Nielsen live-plus 7 day ratings.
Gossip Girl continues to also be a hit on different platforms like iTunes, where the two most recent episodes continue to rank among the top 5 downloaded shows on the site.
As far as live ratings, the show increased a bit in its previous episode over the previous week. The show is watched by just under 3 million viewers each week live. Not good, but not bad for The CW.

Tonight it is week four already for sitcoms Back to You and 'Til Death. Tune in starting at 8/7 central on Fox!
I have seen the third episode already for the new addictive ABC series Dirty Sexy Money, airing tonight at 10/9 central, so I'll comment a bit on it. The episode title is "The Italian Banker." That term has a few meanings one is a sexual position! Anyway, there seems to be a sex tape done by one of the Darlings. And a blackmailer has it and wants a million dollars for it. Darling family lawyer Nick George (Peter Krause) doesn't tell Tripp (Donald Sutherland) about it and gets the money to pay off the blackmailer another way (I won't spoil it). Nick also interviews each Darling children to see who the sex tape belongs to. I'm sure no one will ever guess who it belongs to. We also get a taste of Tripp's nemesis Simon Elder (who will be played by Blair Underwood). Did he kill Nick's father? We will find out. But anyway, tune in tonight for the sex tape episode of Dirty Sexy Money. You'll be saying "Oh My God" like Nick does when you watch this great episode!

TV Land's CASA Stunt Full Details; Network Notes

We mentioned this a lot already, but TV Land has issued yet another press release on the CASA Family Day. As part of its commitment to Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM), TV Land will pre-empt regularly- scheduled programming and "go dark" on September 24 from 6pm to 7pm (ET/PT) to encourage families to dine together. Viewers tuning in to The Family Day Dinner Hour will see photos submitted to TVLand.com of various families sharing meals and spending time together. Packaged like a scrapbook, the hour will display montages of the photos along with Family Day graphics, all set to easy-listening Americana and Jazz music.
To further promote Family Day, TV Land will air a two-hour block of classic family dinner-themed episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, Sanford & Son, and M*A*S*H on Sunday, September 23, from 8pm to 10pm (ET/PT).

Fox has announced the premiere date for season 7 of 24. The innovative, addictive, Emmy Award-winning television series 24 resets the clock for Season Seven with a special two-night premiere event Sunday, Jan. 13 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT and Monday, Jan. 14 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox.
In keeping with Fox's commitment to airing original programming year-round, the intense season will unfold in 24's regular 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT time period beginning Monday, Jan. 14, and will continue to air all originals all season into June.
NBC.com today announced the launch of its new service, "NBC Direct," which will allow users to download and view NBC's popular primetime and late-night entertainment programming on their desktops for up to one week after broadcast. This new feature provides yet another platform on which fans will be able to enjoy NBC Entertainment content.
The first version of this new feature, which will begin beta testing in October, will allow users to download full length episodes for viewing on Windows based PCs. Each original episode will be licensed to users for viewing through "NBC Direct" for one week following broadcast and will then expire. The downloaded file will provide users with an improved overall viewing experience compared to traditional streaming video. The list of programs available at launch will include Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Later in the beta launch, users will be provided the free subscription option that will allow them to pre-select their favorite NBC programs they want to watch. Those shows will be automatically delivered to their computers as soon as they are available after the original broadcast. The downloadable player will also have filtering technology, which will prevent it from playing any stolen copyrighted material.

And finally, as a reminder the first two original sitcom airings of the new season start tonight with the series premiere of Back to You and the season premiere of 'Til Death. The laughs start at 8/7 central on Fox.
Our final ratings for each night will return this week on our message boards (see General Sitcoms board)

TV Land November 2007 Highlights; Internet's TV4U.com Adds Classic Sitcoms Like The Lucy Show

TV Land will have a new regular schedule this November that will take in effect on Monday, October 29! Among the highlights of the changes are the removal of Knight Rider and Little House on the Prairie from the regular lineup. Little House will get a Thanksgiving night stunt, though. Weeknights from 8-10pm will be marathons of sitcoms. Four episodes from series like Designing Women, Cosby Show, M*A*S*H, Good Times and Sanford & Son. We also have a big change to weekday late afternoons and early evenings! Sitcoms will rule from 4-8pm...and they include Cheers, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and I Love Lucy. Lucy will air for a full hour from 6-7pm. Designing Women highlights the midday changes, airing at 11am.
We also have sitcoms now from 5-8pm on Saturdays! Back-to-back episodes of Good Times, The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son.
To see the FULL line-up that is starting in November, please click HERE!!
Let's move on to the stunts for November. Friday Night Movies for the month include Young Frankenstein, Beaches and Saturday Night Fever.
The members of 4077 maintained contact with the outside world through letters. Characters would write letters to their loved ones, thereby becoming the narrators for those episodes. They were shown the love as well during "mail call," where they would receive letters – some good, some bad, but all funny! That's right another mail call marathon for M*A*S*H from Nov. 10-11, 9p-1:30a both nights.
Oprah. Heather Locklear. Homer Simpson. Regardless of age, TV genre or lifeform, there are select TV personalities whose work is timeless and whose popularity is endless due to the impact they have made through television. Entertainment Weekly and TV Land Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons, counts down the iconic personalities who have made their indelible mark via the small screen on November 16 from 8-10p.
And finally, as we mentioned earlier, celebrate Thanksgiving with your favorite frontier family! Join the Ingalls for this special 3-hour Thanksgiving feast, featuring a look back at the most memorable Little House on the Prairie moments in these heart-felt retrospective episodes. Along with the standard turkey and apple pie, you'll get a side of family love and great memories in Walnut Grove.
Again, for more November insight, click HERE!

TV4U, which presents free internet television on a 42 channel broadband network TV4U.Com, will provide seven channels of free internet TV programming to the new Classic TV service, which will be available in September exclusively on HP consumer notebook PCs and accessed through HP QuickPlay software. The service will allow HP viewers, thru their internet connection, to access all programming at no charge and offer the option to buy DVD or video download versions of the programs at popular prices. In all, more than 5,000 classic programs are being made available to HP consumer notebook PC users through this unique service.
TV4U is programming seven HP Classic TV channels - Action, Comedy, Classic Commercials, Drama, Sports, Variety, and Western.
Action programming includes Combat, Burke's Law, Peter Gunn, Sea Hunt, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Robin Hood, Long John Silver, Ramar of the Jungle, Sky King, Zorro, Lassie, Fury and a wide collection of Kung Fu Classics.
Comedy programming includes The Lucy Show, Dobie Gillis, Love That Bob, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Green Acres, Mothers in Law, Our Miss Brooks, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Topper, The Three Stooges, Petticoat Junction, Life of Riley and others.
Classic Commercials includes the campiest, funniest and most nostalgic commercial spots produced in the history of TV. From the Miller Lite 'Taste Great Less Filling' to Maypo, to Mikey, to future stars just getting their start, each is a treat in its own right.
Drama Channel includes Arrest and Trial, The Loretta Young Show, Four Star Theater, GE Theater with Ronald Reagan, Studio One, Dragnet, Mannix, Highway Patrol, Ellery Queen, Mike Hammer, Alfred Hitchcock, One Step Beyond and series from the Golden Age of Television as well as many early soap operas.
Sports includes complete game action from some of the greatest sports events of the past 60 years. Muhammad Ali, Floyd Patterson, Pele, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, Richard Petty and Isaiah Thomas are just some of the stars who will appear.
Variety programming includes Hollywood Palace, Milton Berle, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Mike Douglas, Liberace, plus a wide variety of classic game shows such as The Price is Right, Truth or Consequences, Break the Bank, Beat the Clock, Concentration and many more.
Western Channel includes John Wayne movies, The Deputy with Henry Fonda, Sugarfoot, Stoney Burke, Shotgun Slade, The Rifleman, Jim Bowie, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and a wide variety of legendary spaghetti westerns with stars like Lee Van Cleef as well as Bonanza, Wagon Train, Rin Tin Tin, The Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid and Roy Rogers.

ABC Family October Changes; JustMyShow Interviews M*A*S*H Stars

ABC Family Channel will be making some changes in October, which will be their fall line-up. There are no new shows being added, but America's Funniest Home Videos is returning after a brief break, and will air weeknights at 10pm, shifting Whose Line to weeknights at 12 midnight. So, that means Smallville is gone again. The other notable change is 7th Heaven moving from 8:30am to 4pm...talk about a big move. Some sitcoms will be shifted a bit because of that. An extra Sister, Sister will air now at 8:30am, Step by Step moves to 9am, as Sabrina, the Teenage the Witch takes the 2-3pm slot since it is being moved out of 4-5pm. That is just weekdays.
Let's move on to weekends. Back-to-back Step by Step replaces Sister, Sister from 8-9am, back-to-back Full House replaces Step by Step at 9-10am, and a Sabrina, the the Teenage Witch double shot replaces Full House 10-11am. Hope you're not confused! Other events for the month include a 7th Heaven 12-hour marathon on Oct. 7, 13 Days of Halloween stunts from Oct. 19-31, and more!
I suggest you view this information by clicking HERE!

M*A*S*H is turning 35 next month and our friend Eric from Just My Show is celebrating the big birthday with longtime cast members Mike Farrell (B.J.), William Christopher (Father Francis Mulcahy), and Jamie Farr (Klinger). And as a special guest, they have Todd Susman as well. Todd Susman served as the M*A*S*H PA announcer throughout the 11 year run of the series.
It is his longest podcast yet...over an hour and twenty minutes of M*A*S*H memories! Talk about a big M*A*S*H bash! And that is not all either. Like usual, special bonus clips are available including a 10 question segment with Mike Farrell!
Click HERE to view all this and you'll be happy you did!

Even More TV Land Updates; Network Notes

I don't know what is with all these TV Land updates lately, but we have more today. TV Land has announced the Sept. 24-28 week-long marathon and it isn't The Beverly Hillbillies as I guessed unfortunately, it will be The Andy Griffith Show. So I was wrong. Let's hope that show comes in the future. Don't lose hope because it is likely to come. Anyway, Andy will air 8-11pm that week, but also its regular airings of 7-8pm and 11pm-12am will be there (yes it actually airs 12-1am in regular play, but not this week, as M*A*S*H will air 12-1am that week), so essentially the marathon is 7pm-12am.
Moving on to TV Land original programming, TV Land and Wilhelmina Models, Inc. announced a partnership to discover the next new face of the fashion industry. Documented in a six-part series tentatively titled The Next Great Supermodel, TV Land and Wilhelmina Models, Inc. will scour the country -- and put the would-be models to the test -- to find their next star: a woman 35 or over who exudes sophistication, beauty and confidence.
The Next Great Supermodel will premiere on TV Land in the Spring of 2008 and is being executive produced by Emmy Award Winner Allison Grodner (Big Brother, Blowout). The winner of the reality series competition will receive a lucrative modeling contract with Wilhelmina Models, Inc.
For more details, including how to apply, click HERE.

Effective immediately, as of Tues., Aug. 21 and Wed., Aug. 22, the time slots of ABC News programs i-CAUGHT & Primetime: Crime (Tues.) and NASCAR IN PRIMETIME & Primetime: The Outsiders (Wed.) are being flipped. Meanwhile, ABC has announced that they will indeed burn-off The Nine on abc.com. 9 episodes aired on television, with 4 still in the can. Episodes 10 and 11 launched yesterday I believe, with episode 12 coming Aug. 23 and episode 13 on Aug. 30. Go to abc.com to watch this. They have removed their video section for The Knights of Prosperity completely, so it doesn't look like we will ever see the final two episodes...let's pray for a DVD!
NBC will preview the upcoming syndicated game show Merv Griffin's Crosswords in primetime on Saturday, September 8 at 8:30PM ET/PT following the NBC Fall Preview Show. The first-run syndicated series will launch on various NBC owned-and-operated stations on Monday, September 10, 2007...check local listings for time and channel (here in NY, WNBC will air it back-to-back from 4-5pm).

TV Land Adds Bob Newhart Anniversary Stunt, Possible Beverly Hillbillies Anniversary Stunt; RTN Adds New Station in North Carolina

TV Land has added a few extra stunts for September! TV Land will celebrate the 35th anniversary of The Bob Newhart Show on Monday, September 10, from 8pm-12am! If you miss the marathon somehow, you can catch 7 of the 8 episodes online at TVLand.com for the entire week anytime at your leisure from Monday, September 10 to Sunday, September 16. September 16, is the acutal date the series premiered 35 years ago. For episode info click HERE.
TV Land will continue to celebrate the 35th anniversary of M*A*S*H as well for an entire week, from Sept. 17-21 from 8-11pm Mon-Thurs and 8-10pm on Friday. This is in addition to the already scheduled primetime stunt they announced for Sept. 15-17. So, it will be nothing but M*A*S*H in primetime from Sept. 15-21...almost an entire full week! September 17 is the actual date the series premiered 35 years ago. We don't have episode info yet from Sept. 17-21, but it will be posted on the above link when available to us.
Finally, the last marathon will also be a week-long marathon from Sept. 24-28 from 8-11pm Mon-Thurs and 8-10pm on Friday. TV Land hasn't formally announced what the show is yet, but all guesses hint that it will be a 45th Anniversary marathon for The Beverly Hillbillies! The show premiered Sept. 26, 1962...so what else can they air that week? I'm sure fans will be happy with this! We will confirm when they announce it! And could this be one of the '60s shows they have acquired for regular play starting sometime in 2008? Maybe!
Anyway, these are in addition to the week-long marathons of I Love Lucy and Sanford & Son for the first two weeks of October, before the regular primetime schedule returns Oct. 15 with the addition of Designing Women.

Retro Television Network (RTN), which is owned and distributed by Equity Media Holdings Corporation, announced today that it will partner with Capitol Broadcasting to bring RTN programming to Raleigh-Durham. The new affiliate will launch Sept. 10 on Capitol Broadcasting's WRAZ-DT, a station that reaches more than 22 counties in North Carolina. The new 24 hour-a-day network will be available over-the-air on digital channel 50.2 and on Time Warner Digital Cable channel 251 in the Raleigh, NC area.
RTN is a new television network that provides each affiliate a customized feed 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.
RTN is home to dozens of classic TV shows, such as Hawaii 5-0, Brady Bunch, Family Ties, Matlock, Perry Mason, Mission: Impossible, Hogan's Heroes and Gomer Pyle USMC.
Let's hope more stations announce plans to carry RTN! We will let you know of course.

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!

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: NBC; TV Land June Change

For NBC it will be all about starting the night off with a reality/game show to set up the dramas. NBC's Thursday comedy block is not what it used to be, but it has a cult audience and maybe another one of those shows will be launched this fall. NBC is looking for a drama hit as some of the older series are running out of gas.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com NBC 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Lipstick Jungle (drama), Journeyman (drama), Fort Pit (drama), and The I.T. Crowd (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: The Mastersons of Manhattan (sitcom), Life (drama), and Bionic Woman (drama)

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM Football Night in America
8:00PM Sunday Night Football

Mondays
8:00PM Deal or No Deal
9:00PM Heroes
10:00PM Journeyman (NEW)

Tuesdays
8:00PM 1 vs. 100
9:00PM Fort Pit (NEW)
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Wednesdays
8:00PM Thank God You're Here
9:00PM Medium
10:00PM Lipstick Jungle (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM My Name is Earl
8:30PM The I.T. Crowd (NEW)
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM 30 Rock
10:00PM ER

Fridays
8:00PM Deal or No Deal
9:00PM Friday Night Lights
10:00PM Las Vegas

Saturdays
8:00PM Dateline NBC
9:00PM Drama Repeats
10:00PM Drama Repeats

Comments: So what about Crossing Jordan, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order? I say they will be benched until January after the NFL ends and they will bring them to Sundays for a repeat free season...but maybe one will be a goner. The Apprentice might not be back until next winter either...I wish that would just die already. The Black Donnellys, Studio 60, Kidnapped, Identity, Raines, 20 Good Years, Andy Barker, and Real Wedding Crashers are all (or will be) canceled or ended. I really think NBC will only go with one comedy night once again, as we saw what happened to Wednesdays 8-9pm last year. Scrubs is probably gone from NBC, and on the way to ABC for next winter. There is a good chance that The Office will be an anchor show on Thursdays at 9, but I don't think it will do as well as it did at 8:30, but they have to move it to 9pm to try and launch another similar sitcom, as 30 Rock is not a strong show to anchor an hour. So NBC will be multi-camera sitcom-less in the fall, but I have them picking up The Mastersons of Manhattan for mid-season. Life and Bionic Woman could get orders for mid-season. Maybe another drama called Chuck could get in. NBC only has a total of eight drama projects, so that means maybe 1/2 or more could get picked up. NBC had a dismal season once again, but Heroes was a bright spot, as the high power project Studio 60 was a bust. Friday Night Lights was not a good either, but I see them bringing it back to try again. They can use Deal or No Deal on Fridays again as Sundays will be Football, and have 1 vs. 100 on another night, say Tuesday. Will NBC revamp the schedule they released at upfront once again after releasing it, like it did last year? We shall see.

Remember, next Monday (May 14) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's plans for the 2007-08 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on ABC's upfront.

TV Land has announced that it has changed its late night schedule starting for June. Starting June 4, each weeknight starting at 10pm will have three nightly mini-marathons lasting until 4:30am. Each marathon will consist of four episodes. Mondays will be The Cosby Show, Three's Company & Good Times; Tuesdays will be M*A*S*H, Sanford & Son, & The Jeffersons; Wednesdays will be Sanford & Son, M*A*S*H, & All in the Family; Thursdays will be The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy & Leave it to Beaver; and Fridays will be the Friday Movie, M*A*S*H & Star Trek. Other changes include all Andy Griffith Saturday from 9pm-1:10am with a reairing on Sundays from 7-10pm. So, this means the current 10pm-4:30am line-up will only be on Sundays. The only other change is at 4:30am everynight with The Jeffersons taking over for Sanford & Son. There are no other changes in the daytime and will remain the same as it is now.
What's Happening Now!!, which is airing weekdays at 7am, will get more new episodes starting May 29, but we will let you know when we learn more.
For now click HERE for the list of changes for this nightly marathon changes.

We shall be back with more news, if any.

TV Land Changes May 2007 Schedule; Nick at Nite Schedules AFV for May

TV Land has edited their May line-up and mostly everything is moving to new timeslots. The new schedule will start on April 30 and will bring back All in the Family and The Cosby Show to regular airings, and also What's Happening Now!! will finally air as a regular (weekdays at 7am). Among the changes include a sitcom block from 7-9am with What's Happening Now!!, Sanford & Son, All in the Family and The Jeffersons. A note on What's Happening Now!!, they seem to be airing the 12 episodes that they have already aired in a marathon. So once the 12 episodes finish, they start again with the same 12. I hope they decide to air every episode...maybe this is a test. Gunsmoke has been removed from the weekday line-up, but will still air on the weekends. Sunday's encores will however air Monday mornings. The other notable changes include: Andy Griffith Show's four airings are all in early evening now at 5-6pm and 7-8pm, rather than 8-9pm and 1-2am. Good Times coming back in prime-time (8-9pm Mon-Thurs, 9-10pm Fri-Sun). Instead of M*A*S*H from 9-10pm and 12-1am, TV Land has decided to air a M*A*S*H block from 10pm-12am, so there is no breaks. Thus, Sanford & Son which was at 10-11pm will slide to 9-10pm and Three's Company was 11p-12a will move to 12-1am. Late nights will have encores and also Cosby Show from 2-3am. Star Trek has been cut to just 4 times a week in its 5a and 6a slots. See the full schedule starting April 30 by clicking HERE.

As we reported already, the Bob Saget years of America's Funniest Home Videos is coming to Nick at Nite on April 30. The timeslot originally was weeknights at 8:30pm. That has been changed to Sun-Thurs at 9pm and Fri-Sat at 10pm, replacing one episode of Full House each day. Full House will still air immediately following AFV.
The first week though, April 30-May 6, you can catch the show back-to-back all week-long (Sun-Thurs 9-10pm and Fri-Sat 10-11pm) to celebrate the show joining the network.

Canada's DejaView Channel Salutes Three Sitcoms; Fox Expands 'Idol' Results Show, Ends 'Til Death' Early, 'Delays 'Standoff'

April on Canada's DejaView leaves no milestone unturned as the network pays homage to Hogan's Heroes, Three's Company, and M*A*S*H. with day-long marathons April 6, 7 and 8.
DejaView commemorates the 36th anniversary of Hogan's Heroes' last original episode ("Rockets and Romance," April 4, 1971) with a day-long marathon Friday, April 6 beginning at 6am ET.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of TV audiences' first encounter with Jack, Janet and Chrissy, the lovably loopy roommates of Three's Company (debut: March 15, 1977). The trio, along with Cindy, Terri, Larry, Mr. Furley and the Ropers, is feted with a special marathon featuring 16 hilarious episodes specially chosen from the series' 174-episode run on Saturday, April 7 beginning at 6 am ET.
The laughter's a-surgeon as M*A*S*H* celebrates its 35th year in 2007 (debut: September 17, 1972). With an army of the most memorable characters to ever grace television - Hawkeye, Trapper, Hot Lips, Radar, Klinger – M*A*S*H* finds the humour and pathos in everything from minor abrasions to Major Burns. Fans can spend the day with them all as DejaView presents 16 episodes of the gold-standard sitcom Sunday, April 8 beginning at 6am ET.
To see the line-up for all three marathons, click HERE.

The American Idol Results Show, continuing to feature performances by renowned musical artists who mentor the contestants each week, will expand from 30 minutes to 60 minutes on the following dates: Wednesday, April 11 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed); Wednesday, April 18 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed); and Wednesday, May 2 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.
'Til Death, the comedy that looks at married life from the divergent perspectives of a long-married couple, played by Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher, and their neighbors who've been married for just a year, played by Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster, will conclude its first season with a special one-hour finale episode Wednesday, April 11 at a special time 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT on FOX, leading into an expanded American Idol Results Show.
Ted McGinley, Joely Fisher's sister Tricia Fisher, Krysten Ritter and Tim Sharp guest-star on the Webby's Not Happy/Summer of Love season finale of 'Til Death.
Meanwhile, freshman drama Standoff was slated to return April 6 on Fox in its new Fridays at 8 slot, but that will not happen now. Fox will continue to air encores of House on Fridays at 8 until further notice. Standoff might be now burned-off in the summer. Sorry!