New Scrubs and Better off Ted Return to ABC in December; NBC Cancels Trauma, More Chuck; Roseanne's Wicked Halloween Bash on TV Land

Scrubs will return with an all-new season starting Tuesday, December 1 (as I expected), as the action will shift from Sacred Hearts hospital to the classroom and make med-school professors of John C. McGinley's Dr. Cox and Donald Faison's Dr. Turk, however their students will still make rounds at Sacred Heart. Eliza Coupe as intern Denise "Jo from Facts of Life" Mahoney will remain on the show. Joining the cast are Michael Mosley, Kerry Bishe and Dave Franco. Scrubs will air back-to-back episodes for its season premiere on Dec. 1 at 9:00pm & 9:30pm (airing after A Charlie Brown Christmas and the new special Disney Prep & Landing), before airing every Tuesday in the 9:00pm half hour. Most of the original cast will make appearances throughout the season, including Zach Braff as J.D., but this series will now focus on a new cast with McGinley and Faison now the stars. 18 episodes have been ordered for season nine, of which at least 4 or 5 will air in December before the holidays.
The new Scrubs will lead into the second season of the hilarious comedy Better off Ted. That will launch its second season on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 9:30pm. Unofficially 13 episodes have been ordered, but there is no confirmation of that. The first season had 13 episodes, with 7 airing in the spring and 6 in the summer. If you missed any of those 13 episodes, get the DVD coming out Dec. 1 or watch the last 5 episodes from season one on Hulu.

NBC has canceled freshman medical drama Trauma, which is airing Mondays at 9pm. The series has failed to draw any interest and will remain airing until it finishes its 13 episode order, as of now at least, but production has stopped for anything more than 13 episodes. If NBC sticks with the show on the schedule, the finale will be airing on Dec. 21.
Meanwhile, it looks like Chuck will return earlier than planned, as NBC has ordered 6 more episodes of the one-hour comedy. Originally 13 episodes were ordered, so now we have a total of 19. It is expected to return to Mondays starting in January now, instead of March. Stay with us for an official confirmation!

TV Land has stirred up a magical brew of Halloween-themed episodes of Roseanne to celebrate All Hallow's Eve on Saturday, October 31 from 10:00PM-2:00AM (ET/PT). Tune in to "Roseanne's Wicked Halloween Bash" for a haunting night of episodes, including when the Conners have a spooky night of fun with a Ouija board, a hilarious parody of the horror flick Rosemary's Baby, their annual Halloween party at the lodge and finally, a night filled with antics that leads to the arrival of a new family member -- Jerry Garcia Conner.
Episodes airing are: "BOO!," "Trick or Treat," "Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down," "Halloween IV," "Halloween V," "Skeleton in the Closet," "Halloween: the Final Chapter," and "Satan, Darling."

TV Land Orders Sitcom Pilots, Schedule Changes This Week; NBC Orders Full Seasons of 3 Shows; Remembering Soupy Sales and More

TV Land has given cast-contingent pilot orders to the comedy series Hot in Cleveland and Retired at 35. This is TV Land's first foray into scripted comedy series and is being developed for TV Land PRIME, the network's primetime programming block designed to appeal to the attitudes, life stage and interests of people in their 40s.
Hot in Cleveland is written by Emmy Award-winning Suzanne Martin (Frasier, Ellen) and produced by Emmy Award-winner Sean Hayes' (Will & Grace) Hazy Mills Production.
Chris Case (Reba, Spin City) is the writer for Retired at 35 and Michael Hanel and Mindy Schultheis (Rita Rocks, Reba, Titus) are executive producers.
Hot in Cleveland revolves around three fabulous, eccentric, LA women of a certain age, and best friends whose lives are changed forever when their plane unexpectedly lands in Cleveland and they soon rediscover themselves in this new "promised land." Retired at 35 follows a successful businessman who decides to leave the rat race of New York City behind and move into his parents’ Florida retirement home to reconnect with them, reevaluate his life and live the dream of retirement that so many are working towards.
These are just pilot orders, it doesn't mean they will air and have been picked-up. It all depends on the cast and if the pilots came out good. So stay with us and you'll find out if they actually make it on air!

Also at TV Land, some changes are happening this week...and they are pretty good if you like classic TV! Starting tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 27), weekdays in the 4pm hour will now be more All in the Family, replacing an episode of Bonanza. All in the Family will also still remain in the 12 noon half-hour as well! In the 5pm hour, we now have an hour of Sanford & Son, replacing Bonanza. And Sanford & Son will remain in the 11am hour as well. Bonanza is now airing 6pm om Tuesdays (Little House remains on the other weekdays), Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, and weekdays at 3pm now replacing an episode of Gunsmoke, which remains at 2pm. The other weekday changes in the 7pm hour is now The Andy Griffith Show, as Hogan's Heroes and Brady Bunch are not airing anymore on weekdays. Andy will also air from 8-10pm each weeknight (except Fridays it is 7-9pm). This means the primetime marathons from 9pm-12am are now cut to 10pm-12am, with Andy on Mondays, 3rd Rock on Tuesdays, M*A*S*H on Wednesdays, and Roseanne on Thursdays. Everything else is the same as it was before.

NBC has picked up the comedies Community (Thursdays, 8:00 p.m. ET) and Parks and Recreation (Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. ET) -- as well as the new drama Mercy (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) -- for the rest of the season by adding nine additional episodes to each.
All three are doing so-so in the ratings, but NBC has picked them up anyway for full seasons. Parks and Recreation is in its first full season after launching mid-season last spring, while the other two are actually rookies. So far this season, Mercy has averaged a 2.1 rating, 5 share in adults 18-49 and 7.8 million viewers overall. Community has averaged a 2.6 rating, 5 share in adults 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers overall so far this season, that includes a stint at 9:30 p.m. after The Office. And Parks and Recreation has averaged a 2.1 rating, 5 share in adults 18-49 and 4.8 million viewers overall this season.
The jury is still out for NBC's Trauma, which has not heard its fate yet.

Finally, we leave you today with a recap of many stars that have passed away in the past week or so.
Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. Sales died at Thursday (Oct. 22, 2009) night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said. The comic's pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show. His greatest success came in New York with The Soupy Sales Show in 1976 -- an ostensible children's show that had little to do with Captain Kangaroo and other kiddie fare. Sales' manic, improvisational style also attracted an older audience that responded to his envelope-pushing antics. His sitcom credits included Hennessey, The Beverly Hillbillies, Love American Style, Love Boat, Wings and Boy Meets World. He appeared on many game shows as well such as What's My Line, I've Got a Secret, The Match Game, Hollywood Squares, Body Language, and more. Mr. Sales will certainly be missed. Let's throw a pie in someone's face or at least eat a pie in honor of him. Mr. Sales was 83.
Vic Mizzy, who composed the indelible theme music for The Addams Family and Green Acres died Saturday, October 17 in Los Angeles. For the The Addams Family theme, which became a long-remembered part of '60s pop culture, Mizzy played the harpsichord and sang the vocal parts (overdubbing his own voice three times) and coached the actors during the main-title sequence (including on-camera finger-snapping by the actors). The equally iconic Green Acres theme was performed by stars Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor. Mizzy also wrote all the underscore for both series. His theme for Addams was reprised in the 1990s feature films. Mizzy also had many other 1960s and '70s sitcom themes that also included The Pruitts of Southampton, The Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Captain Nice, The Don Rickles Show and Temperature's Rising. He also wrote underscores for TV's Richard Boone Show and Quincy along with several TV movies including Terror on the 40th Floor. His film scores included the William Castle films The Night Walker and The Busy Body; five Don Knotts films: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Shakiest Gun in the West, The Reluctant Astronaut, The Love God? and How to Frame a Figg; and other films including The Caper of the Golden Bulls, Don't Make Waves and Did You Hear the One About the Traveling Saleslady? His TV and film scores will certainly remain on TV/film, but he will certainly be missed. Mr. Mizzy was 93.
TV director Linda Day passed away on Friday, October 23, 2009. Linda was the first woman to receive steady employment as a TV director. To her credit are more than 50 different series and 350 episodes including Married... with Children (for which she did the pilot and continued for more than two years), Archie Bunker's Place, Dallas, Kate & Allie, Alice, WKRP, Benson, Newhart, Too Close for Comfort, Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, It's Your Move, Double Trouble, Small Wonder, Gimme a Break, Throb, Women in Prison, Major Dad, Top of the Heap, Teacher's Only, Mad About You, Who's the Boss?, Baby Talk, Almost Home, Thea, The Nanny, Unhappily Ever After, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Clueless. And that's just some of the shows! During the 1980's and part of the 1990's, Linda was one of the top 5 television directors currently then working. She will be certainly be missed and was a pioneer for women TV directors. Ms. Day was 71.

NBC Fall Pilot Review: Community - Premieres September 17; TeenNick Premiere Week

Community - Thursdays 9:30PM ET/PT on NBC (Moves to 8:00PM on Oct. 8)
Premieres Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9:30PM ET/PT

From Dan Harmon (The Sarah Silverman Program) and Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) comes Community, a smart comedy series about a band of misfits who attend Greendale Community College. At the center of the group is Jeff Winger (Joel McHale, E! TV's The Soup), a fast-talkin' lawyer whose degree has been revoked. With some help from his fellow classmates, Winger forms a study group who eventually learn more about themselves than their course work.
Also among the series stars who comprise the group are comedy legend Chevy Chase as Pierce, a man whose life experience has brought him infinite wisdom; Gillian Jacobs as Britta, the 28-year old drop out with something to prove; Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley, a sassy middle-aged divorcée; Danny Pudi as Abed, a pop culture junkie; Alison Brie as Annie, a high-strung perfectionist; Donald Glover as Troy, a former high school football star trying to find his way and Ken Jeong as Spanish professor, Señor Chang.


Cast Details:

* Joel McHale as Jeff Winger
* Gillian Jacobs as Britta
* Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley
* Danny Pudi as Abed
* Alison Brie as Annie
* Donald Glover as Troy
* Ken Jeong as Señor Chang
* Chevy Chase as Pierce

Joel McHale (Jeff Winger) is poised to make 2009 a breakout year. In addition to his starring role in Community, he recently wrapped production on the Steven Soderbergh directed, Warner Independent dark, comedic thriller The Informant opposite Matt Damon. McHale is best known as the star of The Soup, a weekly entertainment show that satirizes pop culture and current events. He also serves as a writer and producer on the show. McHale's quick wit and sharp comedic timing have made The Soup a pop culture phenomenon and led to the success of The Soup Presents specials. McHale recently began touring the country to sold-out audiences with his stand-up act. McHale's guest starring roles include Will & Grace, CSI: Miami and, most recently, Pushing Daisies. He also jumped onto the big screen with roles in Spider-Man 2 and Lords of Dogtown.

Gillian Jacobs (Britta) was most recently seen in Richard Kelly's film The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella. Jacobs can also be seen in the upcoming films Coach directed by Will Frears, Watching TV With the Red Chinese, NoNames and Helena From the Wedding.
On the small screen, she has appeared in Fringe, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Royal Pains. Jacobs will also be seen in the upcoming drama series The Good Wife and had a recurring role in The Book of Daniel.

Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley) dreamed of a career on stage and screen as a young girl. She began her entertainment career as a vocalist while still in her teens, when after an impromptu audition for Michael Bivins (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) she was signed to Motown Records as a part of the East Coast Family, a group of new talents that included Boyz II Men. In just a short time, Brown has emerged as one of the most sought-after character actresses in Hollywood, highlighted by memorable appearances on numerous hit TV shows, including: House, Entourage, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Two and a Half Men, Malcolm in the Middle, 7th Heaven, Fat Actress, 'Til Death, That's So Raven, Rules of Engagement, Privileged and That '70s Show among others. In addition, she has had recurring roles on Boston Legal, Girlfriends, Sleeper Cell, Half & Half and Drake & Josh. She also was a series regular on the short lived sitcom The Big House.

Danny Pudi (Abed) is an actor and comedian originally from Chicago. On the small screen, Pudi's credits include NBC's ER and TBS's The Bill Engvall Show, as well as recurring roles on Greek and Gilmore Girls. He can also be seen in the upcoming films Road Trip 2: Beerpong and the independent film Thunder Geniuses directed by Michael Clancy.

Alison Brie (Annie) can currently be seen as Trudy Campbell on the award-winning drama series Mad Men, which returns in August 2009. She will also appear in a film titled Montana Amazon with Olympia Dukakis and Haley Joel Osment, slated for release later this year. Brie guest-starred on Comedy Central and Disney's Hannah Montana and landed leading roles in some independent films before her current role in Community.

Donald Glover (Troy) is a talented actor, comedian and writer. He studied improvisation and comedy writing with the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre in New York and had the pleasure of improvising with the likes of Amy Poehler and Horatio Sanz. Glover also performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien multiple times. He was hired as a staff writer on the show 30 Rock while he was still a resident assistant at NYU. During his time at 30 Rock, the show has won two Emmys for best comedy, as well as a Writers Guild Award for best comedy.

Ken Jeong (Señor Chang) is known as the "scene stealer" and is quickly establishing himself as the go-to character actor for today's hit comedies. In the summer of 2009, Jeong appeared as the Asian-mobster "Mr. Chow" in the sleeper-hit comedy The Hangover, also starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. Since his feature-film debut as the doctor in Knocked Up in 2007, Jeong has gone on to a number of memorable roles in a series of successful comedies. Directed, written and produced by Judd Apatow. In 2008 Jeong starred in his first major role as the villain, King Argotron, in Role Models, opposite Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. The same year, Jeong had supporting roles in two other major comedies, Pineapple Express and Step Brothers. On the TV side, he has appeared on The Office, Entourage, and MADtv.

Chevy Chase (Pierce) is one of the most honored and beloved actors of his generation, Chase first came to national prominence as a writer and performer with the original cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, for which he won two Emmy Awards. Soon after he had endeared himself to television audiences, Hollywood beckoned and Chase made his feature film debut in the comedy-thriller Foul Play with Goldie Hawn. His many memorable films include: Caddy Shack, Seems Like Old Times, National Lampoon's Vacation, Fletch, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Spies Like Us, The Three Amigos, Funny Farm, Caddyshack I, Fletch Lives, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Cops and Robbersons, Man of the House, Vegas Vacation, Snow Day, Ellie Parker, and last year's Funny Money. In 2007, Chase received critical acclaim for his guest-starring role on NBC's award-winning series Law and Order. He followed that return to the small screen with a two-episode guest-appearance on the ABC drama series Brothers and Sisters. Most recently, Chase guest starred on the NBC series Chuck.

Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs September 17)
A band of misfits attend Greendale Community College. At the center of the group is Jeff Winger, a fast-talking lawyer whose degree has been revoked. With some help from his fellow classmates, Winger forms a study group who eventually learn more about themselves than their course work. The study group consists of Pierce a man whose life experience has brought him infinite wisdom; Britta a 28-year old drop out with something to prove; Shirley a sassy middle-aged divorcée; Abed a pop culture junkie; Annie a high-strung perfectionist; Troy a former high school football star and Spanish professor, Señor Chang.
Directed By Joe Russo and Anthony Russo.

Analysis:

"The funny thing about being smart is that you can get through most of life without having to do any work."

To be perfectly frank, when re-typing the above line I wasn't sure if I was quoting a line of my favorite of the fall pilots, or writing the first sentence of my autobiography. Writing this review you have a reviewer who perhaps above all else ultimately wants people on his agenda. And the lead character in the new show Community is extremely similar. Joel McHale plays Jeff, a lawyer who was suspended by the state bar after it was discovered that his Bachelor's degree was in fact from Colombia (the nation) and not Columbia (the school). He turns to the local community college in part because one of the psychology professors (portrayed by John Oliver) is one of his frequent clients and he hopes to take advantage of their friendship. Not to spoil a little twist in the final episode, but the professor isn't a doormat.

Jeff is already enrolled when the pilot begins, and it's through his actions one day that we meet his co-stars. McHale's character met a girl (Britta, played by Gillian Jacobs) in Spanish class that he likes (aww). To learn more about her, he consults with Abed (Danny Pudi) who recites a whole list of things he learned about her just through the hunt for a pencil. This leads to Jeff creating a study group for the class, where the rest of the main and recurring characters really begin to come into their own. You have Chevy Chase as Pierce, a senior who was married seven times. Chevy also provides one of my favorite bits of physical humor in the show when trying to figure out what to do with a disgusting cafeteria hot dog. (No, no, nothing obscene. He stuck it in with the hot dog buns in their drawer after some debate). Other cast members include Donald Glover as Troy, Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley and Alison Brie as Anne.

I'm really going to like this show, and might even have a message delivered home to me, for a reason I strongly hint at in the beginning of this review. Jeff's character, through coincidence, has a personally not entirely unlike mine. We've both spent a very, very long time being able to BS our way through virtually any situation -- but as the grand culmination of that BS we both have recently found ourselves in situations where, like it or not we each might have to actually do a little work. Though there's no way to know what direction the character will proceed from here, the fact is that the rendition of Jeff in the pilot is probably the character on TV I'm empathized with the most in a very long time.

And through both my own twisted narcissism and a desire to see quality stories told on television, the end result of the 25 minutes of the pilot is a comedy that I truly enjoy. It doesn't have the wacky hijinks of 30 Rock or the random fantasy sequences of Scrubs or, well, Dwight from The Office. What you see here is one of the most genuine comedies I've seen on TV in a long time. Will you, the reader, like this though? If you've never seen a single-camera comedy you've liked? Your opinion probably isn't going to change. But quality pieces of entertainment like The Office, 30 Rock, and yes now Community are all wonderful shows in their own, wildly different, rights when you give them a chance.

Conclusion:

I'm supposed to score this show on "Funniness" and "Watchability." It is definitely 5 stars in watchability. But it took a lot of gnashing of the teeth to score it on the funniness. It's funny, but there are different types of humor. For someone like me, the show is hysterical yet poignant. For someone else, they might have a different reaction. I know at least one person who refused to even discuss the show after hearing Chevy Chase was in it. While they have a right to their opinion, I think that's a silly opinion. Even if you don't like one component there is a LOT of FUNNY stuff here to watch even if you're not a fan of one of the actors. There's something to laugh at for (nearly) everyone.

This is a five star show, airing amongst a couple of other five star shows (The Office, 30 Rock). NBC has possibly their strongest lineup of comedies on Thursday in over a decade, and I personally think it's a wonderful replacement for My Name is Earl. Given that they finally wrote a sitcom about me, I obviously can't recommend this one enough. In all sincerity though, and with all self-indulgence removed: this sitcom is hilarious, two huge reasons being McHale and Chase. Joel and Chevy deliver the laughs, and you're in for a great show.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 5/5
Funniness: 4.5/5
Overall: 5/5

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher on 09/16/09

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, September 17 on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Community Photo Gallery

The N will change its name to TeenNick on Monday, September 28, as you all know. So from now on our labels (the links on the bottom of every story) for the network will be TeenNick. So bookmark that if you follow all The N's schedules in one shot. This will be our last label for The N. Anyway, TeenNick will not have any changes for premiere week. So the same schedule, that we mentioned, that started this week and that will be for week of Sept. 21, will continue when The N changes its name to TeenNick on Sept. 28. You'll still have Full House in primetime from 8-10pm for example.
However, there will be a huge Degrassi: The Next Generation marathon starting Oct. 1 at 2am (technically Oct. 2) running all day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 2-4). The only stoppage on those three days is for That '70s Show from 12-2am.

ABC Family October 2009 Has 8 Simple Rules Returning; Big Three To Air Obama Address on Wednesday

After a year off from the schedule, family comedy 8 Simple Rules is returning to the ABC Family line-up in October 2009! However, it will only air on weekend mornings starting Saturday, October 3. The series will air Saturdays 10-11am and Sundays 11am-12pm, both replacing Grounded for Life, which is now off the schedule totally. There will be times when one or even both of the airings will be preempted due to a movie, especially on Sundays. There are no other schedule changes on ABC Family October 2009, so the same schedule as September otherwise.
ABC Family last aired 8 Simple Rules for a month in the weekdays 3-4pm slot in September 2008 through early October 2008. Previously it was airing weekdays 6-7pm for well over a year. It's good to see the John Ritter/Katey Sagal comedy back on air, even if it is only weekends.
Elsewhere on ABC Family October 2009, the annual 13 Nights of Halloween begins Monday, October 19. Among the items we will see are hit movies such as The Goonies, The Addams Family, The Mask, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Haunted Mansion, Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Batman, Batman Returns and Batman Forever. We will also see Halloween episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos on Mondays at 10pm.
Other ABC Family theatrical premiere for October are Coyote Ugly, Meet Joe Black, and Underdog.

President Obama will be having his sixth primetime address tomorrow at 8pm ET/5pm PT. It will be a joint session to Congress on Health Care and the Republican response will follow. This will once again effect the big three networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC in primetime. Fox will pass on the address for the third straight time.
ABC will air the Presidential Address to Congress live at 8pm ET/7pm CT, so for the east and central, an all-new Wipeout will shift to 9/8 central, preempting Crash Course. Primetime: Crime will remain at 10/9 central. For mountain time, the Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 6pm MT, so the all-new Wipeout remains in its normal time of 7pm MT, but they will air a repeat of Wipeout at 8pm MT since Crash Course is preempted in the east. For pacific time, it is essentially the same as mountain. The Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 5pm PT, so the all-new Wipeout remains in its normal time of 8pm PT, but like the mountain time zone they will air a repeat of Wipeout at 9pm PT since Crash Course is preempted in the east.
For CBS they will air the Presidential Address to Congress live at 8pm ET/7pm CT, so for the east and central, they will just simply preempt scheduled repeats of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried in the 8/7 central hour. For mountain time, the Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 6pm MT, so nothing will be changed as repeats of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried will air in the 7pm MT hour as planned. For pacific time, it is essentially the same as mountain. The Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 5pm PT, so nothing will be changed as repeats of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried will air in the 8pm PT hour as planned. Repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY will air at its normal times in all time zones.
Finally, for NBC they will air the Presidential Address to Congress live at 8pm ET/7pm CT, so for the east and central, they will just simply preempt the scheduled repeat of America's Got Talent in the 8/7 central hour. The all-new episode will remain at 9/8 central. For mountain time, the Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 6pm MT, so nothing will be changed as the repeat of America's Got Talent will air in the 7pm MT hour as planned. For pacific time, it is essentially the same as mountain. The Presidential Address to Congress airs live at 5pm PT, so nothing will be changed as the repeat of America's Got Talent will air in the 8pm PT hour as planned. The all-new America's Got Talent airs still in its normal time in all time zones as well as a repeat of Law & Order: SVU.
Fox will air its primetime schedule as planned, which will have the season premiere of the new fall edition of So You Think You Can Dance and the regular series premiere of Glee. The CW will launch America's Next Top Model with a two-hour premiere.

Network TV Fall Preview Specials for 2009; Scooby-Doo Turns 40!

Pretty soon it will be that time of year again...the start of the new TV season. So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2008 preview from last year.

First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2009 preview special has been titled ABC Fall Preview Open House. It will premiere this weekend on local ABC affiliates (NY: WABC Sun Sept. 6 at 2:30pm). It can be aired between September 5-20, 2009 (affiliate exclusive clearance window is September 5-6, then it will air on ABC cable networks after Sept. 6). The fall preview special is about ABC's new Wednesday night comedies and the most talked about new drama this season, Flash Forward. The special will also include material about the two new 10pm dramas: Eastwick and The Forgotten as well as the returning hit drama, Castle. This fall preview special will introduce viewers to character descriptions, storylines and recaps of last season and provide a sneak peek at the new season ahead! ABC: Start here! The special will be available on abc.com soon as well, if you miss it on your local ABC station or an ABC-owned cable network.
The CBS Fall 2009 preview special, simply titled CBS Fall Preview will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of the hit comedy series How I Met Your Mother, will be broadcast tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 2 from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Three Rivers, and Medium and the comedy series Accidentally on Purpose. Hosts Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders exchange humorous banter throughout the special, which was taped on their series' sets, in the midst of introducing various video previews. They also utilize comical means to drive home the point that How I Met Your Mother is moving to 8:00 PM on Mondays.
The NBC Fall 2009 preview special (titled The NBC Primetime Preview) has aired on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates (in NY on WNBC Sun Sept. 6 at 12:30pm) and is also available online on nbc.com, but as of now it will air on NBC itself. Joel McHale, star of the all-new NBC Thursday comedy Community, hosts a special preview of NBC's new upcoming season. The lively 30-minute cavalcade will feature exclusive, behind-the-scenes views to be delivered across a wide gamut of NBC Universal media platforms beginning August 8 through September 27. The program will run an estimated 306 times over broadcast and cable platforms. The annual Fall program will be offered to NBC's 232 television stations (check local listings) as well as other channel entities such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband (search "NBC Fall Preview" on TVGuide.com). NBC stations can also run it on their websites while NBC.com is also running it as well. In addition, the program will be screened on selected American Airlines flights (estimated to be shown on approximately 11,000 flights). Watch now online.
The Fox Fall 2009 preview special has already started airing on local Fox affiliates (in NY WNYW Sat Sept. 5 at 3pm). It will only run on local Fox affiliates this year and not on Fox in primetime. Actress Jane Lynch hosts a comprehensive look at the upcoming shows on Fox's fall schedule, including returning favorites like House and American Idol, new shows like Brothers, and the highly acclaimed comedy series Glee.
The CW aired its Fall 2009 TV preview special called The CW Fall 2009 Preview Special this past Sunday (Aug. 30) at 6:30pm, but your local CW affiliates (in NY WPIX Sun Sept. 6 at 1pm) are still airing encores this week...so be on the look out (search "CW Fall Preview" on TVGuide.com)! From the set of The CW's new drama, Melrose Place, returning stars Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro gives viewers a sneak peek into the world of vixens, vampires, models and more. New series featured include Melrose Place, The Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life and the midseason drama, Life UneXpected.
In addition, The TV Guide Network will run the Fox and CW primetime fall preview specials starting Sept. 14 at 7:30pm with Fox on Monday and The CW on Tuesday.

Looking quite remarkable for his age in dog-years (approx. 280!), Scooby-Doo will celebrate his 40th Birthday with a two-day Labor Day Weekend marathon on Boomerang. Saturday and Sunday will each feature seven hours of classic Scooby-Doo episodes from two of the earliest animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (1969) and The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972).
When Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? premiered on broadcast television (CBS) Saturday morning, Sept. 13, 1969, television audiences took their first journey on what would become literally hundreds of mystery-solving comedy capers featuring a teenage gang of amateur detectives and their cowardly, yet beloved great Dane. Today, having recruited generations of fans young and old across the globe, Scooby-Doo will celebrate his milestone 40th birthday over Labor Day Weekend on the commercial-free Boomerang network with two seven-hour marathons, 2-9 p.m. (ET), Saturday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 6, as we mentioned on the Boomerang Fall 2009 schedule.
To commemorate the special event, Scooby and the gang--Freddy, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy--on Saturday will solve 17 classic supernatural mysteries, including their very first from the original premiere episode, "What a Night for a Knight." Then on Sunday, Boomerang will devote another seven-hour marathon, 2-9 p.m., to showcase The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the second series in the Scooby-Doo canon and the only series to feature hour-long episodes. The hallmark of this series is its animated celebrity guests, and during the special presentation, Scooby and the gang meet the casts of other great Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as Josie and the Pussycats and the Harlem Globetrotters.

TV One September 2009 Highlights; Summer 2009 TCA Tour: NBC; Donna Reed Show Season 2 DVD Giveaway!

TV One has announced their September 2009 schedule and highlights. There are no changes to the regular schedule, so we are not certain if this is the fall line-up or not. My guess is we will see changes in October and that will be the fall line-up. But anyway, TV One has many stunts in September!
On Labor Day (Monday, September 7) beginning at 10am through 8pm (encores 8pm-6am), TV One proudly introduces the African American drama series Lincoln Heights, to its series roster with an all-day marathon event of all 10 episodes from the first season of this groundbreaking ABC Family original drama series. In the show, when police officer Eddie Sutton packs up his family and moves back to the inner-city neighborhood where he grew up, he faces the struggle to balance the safety and happiness of this family with his desire to change the neighborhood. The series stars Russell Hornsby, Nikki Micheaux, Erica Hubbard, Mishon Ratliff, Robert Adamson, and Rhyon Nicole Brown. We are not sure yet if repeats are joining the regular schedule anytime soon, but it will not be joining the September schedule, that's for sure. The series is entering its fourth season on ABC Family, but not sure why TV One is airing a marathon. Maybe they will pick up the off-net rights when eligible?
On Saturday, September 19 beginning at 1pm through 9pm (select encores from 2am-6am), TV One celebrates September brides with a 'Battle of the Brides' marathon of two classic sitcom viewer favorites Amen and Good Times in the "Battle of the Thelmas" marathon. Which Thelma has the best romance and wedding - Thelma Evans from Good Times or Thelma Frye from Amen? Episodes in this marathon feature the romance and wedding of Thelma and Keith from the classic sitcom Good Times in addition to the romance and wedding(s) of Thelma and Ruben from the classic sitcom Amen.
On the next day on Sunday, September 20 beginning at 12 Noon though 8pm (select encores from 2:30am-6am), it's a "Movin' On Up" Marathon as TV One presents a marathon of the classic sitcom The Jeffersons. Viewers can join George, Weezie, and the rest of the crazy characters in this special marathon of the longest running African American sitcom in the history of television. The series is still not returning to the regular schedule, but maybe a return in October is likely? But for now enjoy this marathon!
Stay tuned for October, because I think we'll see changes and perhaps new additions then!

NBC and its cable networks are up today at the summer 2009 TCA press tour. First up at the panel is Wake Up with Al, the new Weather Channel series with Al Roker. Then we have the executive sesson, followed by panels on new NBC series Community and Trauma. Lunch follows with Bravo's Top Chef Las Vegas. More panels follow of White Collar (USA Network), Syfy's Stargate Universe & Alice, and NBC's Mercy and Jay Leno Show. NBC Universal's All-Star Party follows sponsored by Oxygen's The Naughty Kitchen with Blythe Beck.
Stay tuned for any key announcements.

We have 3 copies of The Donna Reed Show - Season Two DVD for giveaway thanks to the fine folks at Virgil Films and Entertainment. It's now available in stores and from online retailers.
When you hear that ringing of the telephone, you know it is time for more of The Donna Reed Show on DVD! Season Two of The Donna Reed Show brings the 38 episodes from the 1959-1960 season of the series to DVD on a four disc set.
Donna Reed, the title star, plays Donna Stone, a woman that is proud to be a housewife based upon her perception of what a housewife is. Carl Betz plays Alex, her husband, who has a successful career as a physician. She has two children, Jeff (Paul Petersen) and Mary (Shelley Fabares). The series is much like most other sitcoms from the era in a sense, but at the same time, it is different. While it certainly wasn't the first family sitcom or the first sitcom with a female lead, it was among the first successful family sitcoms WITH a female leading character. The episodes mostly centered around Donna and her life, although that doesn't mean that the other characters never got story lines. She always liked to think of herself as more than just a housewife, somewhat of a domestic engineer so to speak, but that doesn't mean that the series was a new wave in feminism or anything like that. It was still a light-hearted late '50s/early '60s family sitcom. But a great family sitcom, for sure.
You can read our review of the DVD, purchase the DVD now, and enter the DVD contest if you're eligible! Make sure you read the contest rules first before entering. Good luck!

Obama News Conference On Wednesday Alters Network Schedule; Cronkite Specials on Bio TV, AmericanLife; Update on Nick at Nite

President Obama is having another live news conference. It will be held tomorrow (Wednesday, July 22, 2009) at 8pm ET/5pm PT. This will affect the networks' schedules. ABC, CBS and NBC will cover the news conference on broadcast, with Fox passing for the second straight time. Fox will air the two-hour So You Think You Can Dance from 8-10pm ET/PT.
ABC will air the Obama News Conference live at 8pm ET/5pm PT, so this means an all-new Wipeout will be moved in Eastern and Central time zones to 9pm ET/8pm CT instead. I Survived a Japanese Game Show will also air an hour later, at 10pm ET/9pm CT. Charlie Gibson's Special Edition of 20/20 - Over A Barrel: The Truth About Oil will now be scheduled to air on Friday, July 24, 2009 at 10:00 PM ET/PT, because of this change. It had been scheduled to air 10pm ET/PT on Wednesday. In the Mountain and Pacific time zones, Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show will air in its normal time periods of 8pm PT/7pm MT and 9pm PT/8pm MT. A repeat of Primetime: Crime will air after them at 10pm PT/9pm MT. View our time zone schedule list for ABC on this date.
Next up is CBS. They will also air the Obama News Conference live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. This will preempt the repeats of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried in the East and Central at 8pm ET/7pm CT. They will air as planned in the Mountain and Pacific time zones in their regular time periods of 8pm PT/7pm MT, as the news conference airs live at 6pm MT and 5pm PT. Repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY will not be affected, and air as planned in all time zones.
Finally, NBC will also air the Obama News Conference live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. In the East and Central, this will preempt the America's Got Talent encore from the previous day at 8pm ET/7pm CT. I haven't been able to 100% confirm, but it is likely that the encore will remain intact in the Mountain and Pacific time zones at 8pm PT/7pm MT, as the news conference airs live at 6pm MT and 5pm PT. An original America's Got Talent will air immediately following the news conference in the East and Central at 9/8 central and as planned in Mountain and Pacific time zones. The same goes true for The Philanthropist at 10pm ET/PT.
Really only ABC is the most affected here, so if you're DVRing or watching, be aware of the changes!

Bio TV will honor the late Walter Cronkite tonight with a repeat of his Biography episode. It will air from 8-10pm ET tonight (Tuesday, July 21, 2009). The special 2-hour portrait of the war correspondent, TV broadcast pioneer, and anchorman who was beloved by almost all Americans. With vintage clips of his most famous newscasts, including his announcement of the death of President Kennedy. Because of this schedule change, Bio TV has shifted some of its primetime programming tonight to next week. View those changes. Stay with us tomorrow for details on new Biography episodes on Bio TV for August!
AmericanLife TV will honor Walter Cronkite with the special Moments That Changed Us: Walter Cronkite. It will air today at 3pm, Wednesday at 3:30pm, and Thursday at 4pm. Throughout the 1960s, as the cost in American lives lost in the Vietnam War increased, Americans began to wonder what we were really accomplishing there. In the wake of the Tet Offensive in early 1968, Walter Cronkite, the venerable anchor of the CBS Evening News, went to Vietnam see for himself. His now-famous report from the front changed the face of journalism, changed the direction of the war and changed history. Veteran journalist Nick Clooney gets the story behind the story in a rare interview with Walter.

Yesterday we gave you a story on Nick at Nite's schedule changes. We mentioned weekends wouldn't change, but now they have. We updated the story to reflect the changes, so view the story again.
And you can also view the schedule effective July 20 in a list form. View both the story and list so you don't get confused!

Sci Fi Changes to Syfy Today; Jackson Memorial Special Tonight; Hallmark Primetime Changes

We told you back in March that Sci Fi Channel was renaming to Syfy starting July 7, and now that day has come. Syfy also has a tagline saying "Imaging Greater." They will launch original series Warehouse 13 tonight at 9 with a two-hour premiere.
As for the regular schedule, there are no changes. The rest of this week Syfy is airing more movies than usual though, as there is no daytime rotation marathons. The regular schedule will return July 13, that includes Lost at 4pm and 1am weeknights. And speaking of the daytime rotation marathon, in August we will see Early Edition finally air on this network. It was set to join the schedule in March, but it never happened, as we mentioned. Early Edition will air on Tuesday, August 4 from 8am-4pm and Friday, August 21 from 8am-4pm as well. Other daytime rotation notables in July and August include Joan of Arcadia, 7 Days, Friday the 13th: The Series, and The Sentinel.
Ghost Whisperer joins the Syfy schedule this fall. That show was acquired from part of their CBS-Paramount deal. I think everything from that deal has now aired at least one time (if Early Edition ends up airing this time!), except Charmed and I believe The Invaders. We are not sure when those will turn up. We are still hoping for another Mork & Mindy marathon! Anyway, stay tuned in the coming weeks for Syfy's Fall 2009 schedule.
Check out their new website www.syfy.com!

If you don't get a chance to watch the Michael Jackson Memorial live this afternoon (on ABC, CBS, NBC, and many other networks including Hulu on the Internet) from approx. 1pm-3pm ET (10am-12pm PT), then the broadcast networks will all have specials on Michael Jackson tonight. ABC will have s Special Edition of 20/20: Remembering Michael Jackson tonight at 9pm, preempting scheduled Better off Ted and Scrubs repeats. That's not all, ABC will air a special episode of Primetime: Family Secrets focusing on Michael Jackson's children at 10pm, instead of the regular story. So, it's two-hours of Jackson on ABC primetime tonight. CBS will have a special 48 Hours tonight titled 48 Hours - Michael Jackson: The Last Dance at 10pm, preempting regularly scheduled segments. And finally NBC will preempt an encore of Law & Order: SVU at 10pm for a Dateline special on Michael Jackson titled Dateline: A Farewell to Michael Jackson.

Finally, The Hallmark Channel has announced that they will preempt five primetime movies in favor of Touched by an Angel at 9pm and an hour of The Golden Girls at 10pm. The movies will be preempted on Thursday, July 9 and the week of Monday July 13 through Thursday, July 16 from 9-11pm. No reason why, but due to this, Cheers will air also in the 1am hour since Golden Girls is airing at 10pm.
This is not a permanent primetime change, it is just for these five dates...as of now. View this in a list form.

Remembering Farrah Fawcett, Charlie's Angels Marathon on WGN America Among the Tributes; CBS and NBC Fall 2009 Premiere Dates

As everyone already knows, Farrah Fawcett passed away yesterday. We mentioned it on our blog yesterday that we would do a tribute for her today and we will keep our promise!
Farrah Fawcett, who soared to fame as a national sex symbol in the late 1970s on television's Charlie's Angels and in a swimsuit poster that showcased her feathery mane and made her a generation's favorite pinup, died Thursday (June 25, 2009) Fawcett, whose celebrity overshadowed her ability as a serious actress, was diagnosed with a rare anal cancer in 2006, died about 9:30 a.m. PT at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica.
Three months after she was declared cancer-free in 2007, doctors at UCLA Medical Center told her the cancer had returned, spreading to her liver, and she repeatedly sought experimental treatment in Germany.
As an actress, Fawcett was initially dismissed for her role as Jill Munroe in Charlie's Angels, one of the "jiggle" series on ABC in the late 1970s. Fawcett quit the series that brought her initial fame in 1977 after a single season, saying producers were preventing her from growing as an actress. With Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, Fawcett played a private investigator. She returned for 6 episodes as a special guest star.
She transformed her career and some popular perceptions in 1984 with The Burning Bed, a NBC television movie about a battered wife that brought her the first of three Emmy nominations. She further established herself as an actress in the play and later feature film Extremities in 1986, about a rape victim who takes revenge on her attacker. In 1989 she starred in the ABC TV mini-series Small Sacrifices opposite Ryan O'Neal, giving her an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination. Her other Golden Globe nominated roles on TV-movies include ABC's Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story and NBC's Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story.
Among Farrah's other cedits includes the short lived CBS sitcom in 1991 called Good Sports starring her and boyfriend Ryan O'Neal, and guest appearances on many other TV series over the years such as Mayberry RFD, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, The Partridge Family, Owen Marshall, The Girl with Something Extra, McCloud, Apple's Way, Marcus Welby, S.W.A.T., The Brady Bunch Hour, The Battle of the Network Stars, Larry Sanders Show, Ally McBeal, and So noTORIous. And recurring appearances on Harry-O, The Six Million Dollar Man, Spin City, and The Guardian. She had her own reality series in 2005 on TV Land called Chasing Farrah, where she made her last rounds on talk shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live, Late Show with David Letterman, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Regis & Kelly. During the 2006 Emmy Awards, the same year she was diagnosed with cancer, she and her fellow Charlie's Angels paid tribute to the late Aaron Spelling on stage. Recently she documented Farrah's Story for NBC about her daily life with anal cancer.
Farrah will certainly be missed as there were two primetime specials on her last night on ABC and NBC at 10pm. Take some time this weekend to watch tributes and marathons dedicated to Farrah. Her death was overshadowed by the untimely death of Michael Jackson, but she is certainly not forgotten. She was 62.

As we mentioned yesterday, there will be a lot of tributes and marathons to Farrah this weekend, so let's go over them here. The biggest one is on WGN America where they will air Charlie's Angels on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we get the two most famous episodes she did probably, the first episode and "Angels in Chains." in primetime from 8-10pm ET (5-7pm PT). Then on Sunday, WGN America will air a Charlie's Angels marathon from 5-10pm ET and 11pm-2am ET during their Outta Sight Retro Night. Eight episodes will air on this day including "Lady Killer" and "Blue Angels." And if you're in Chicago, Me-TV will air Charlie's Angels all next week, Mon-Fri at 11am and 12pm CT featuring some of her best Charlie's Angels performances as Jill Munroe. All week long, Chicago viewers will see back-to-back episodes of Charlie's Angels, highlighting Fawcett's first and only full season - along with her guest appearances from the third and fourth seasons.
TV Land will also air Charlie's Angels on Saturday but from 7-9pm (first episode and "Angels in Chains") and also air the first two episodes of its 2005 original series Chasing Farrah in primetime on Saturday from 9-10pm ET/PT. The series chronicled her daily life as one of the most recognized stars in the history of celebrity. TVLand.com will feature a Memorial Spot, which will also run on-air, and an Obituary section.
Bio TV will salute Farrah by reairing her Biography episode this Monday at 10pm, retitled Biography Remembers: Farrah Fawcett. Before that, Bio TV will air Biography episodes of Aaron Spelling and Charlie's Angels at 8 and 9pm, as a lead-in. And Michael Jackson fans, Biography Remembers: Michael Jackson will follow at 11pm on Monday (in addition to its already scheduled airings on Saturday at 10 and 11pm).
Movie wise, BET will air her last movie The Cookout from 2004 on Saturday at 8:30pm and again on Sunday at 1:30pm. BET is currently airing Michael Jackson programming all-day today, as are most other music channels like VH-1 Classic. Other movies airing for Farrah are The Burning Bed on Tuesday, June 30 on ENCORE Drama and Dr. T and the Women on TMC later in the week. This TV will air two classic TV movies of her. Beginning this Saturday, THIS tv Network remembers the television and film career of Farrah Fawcett. She was a critically acclaimed movie actor. This week, THIStv Network pays tribute to her life and career with two of her finest ABC TV-movie performances in The Nazi Hunter: Beate Klarsfeld Story at 2pm on Saturday and Small Sacrifices at 4pm on Saturday, with encores during next week for both.
And if you missed the documentary Farrah's Story, NBC and Oxygen will re-air it. NBC will air it tonight from 8-10pm ET/PT and Oxygen on Saturday starting at 3:30pm.
We will keep you up to date if we hear anything else. View the full list.

We mentioned some Michael Jackson tributes above, and we would also like to pay tribute to Michael a bit. There were lots of tributes yesterday for him with ABC and NBC airing specials at 9pm and CBS at 10pm. ABC also devoted Nightline to Michael last night. ABC will have another special 20/20 on Jackson tonight at 9pm, while NBC will air yet another Dateline special tonight at 10. TV Land will reair the 1992 five-hour miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream on Sunday, June 28, 2009 from 2pm–7pm ET/PT with an immediate encore presentation from 7pm–12am ET/PT, breaking into its regularly scheduled Married...with Children marathon. Fox will reair a Michael Jackson themed episode of American Idol from this past season on Monday from 8-10pm ET/PT. We mentioned Bio TV will reair his Biography multiple times and nearly all the music channels are playing his videos or is doing special programming on him. Michael was only 50.

Back to some news--we have the CBS and NBC Fall premiere dates now, joining ABC, Fox, and The CW.
CBS's new season roll-out officially begins on Monday, Sept. 21 with How I Met Your Mother moving to 8:00 PM, ET/PT, the premiere of the new comedy Accidentally on Purpose at 8:30 PM, ET/PT, the seventh season premiere of television's number one comedy Two and a Half Men at 9:00 PM, ET/PT, the third season premiere of The Big Bang Theory in its new time period of 9:30 PM, ET/PT and the eighth season premiere of CSI: Miami at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.
NCIS begins its seventh season on Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT, followed by the new NCIS: LA spin-off at 9:00 PM, ET/PT and the freshman drama The Good Wife at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.
CBS returns its Wednesday comedy block on Sept. 23 with the fifth season of The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8:00 PM, ET/PT and sophomore comedy Gary Unmarried at 8:30 PM, ET/PT, followed by the fifth season premiere of Criminal Minds at 9:00 PM, ET/PT and the sixth season premiere of CSI: NY at10:00 PM, ET/PT.
Survivor: Samoa, the 19th installment of the hit reality series, will debut a week prior to the formal start of the season, on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT). CSI returns for its 10th season on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 9:00 PM, ET/PT followed by the new night and time period premiere of last season's No. 1 new hit The Mentalist at 10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT.
The Network's top-rated Friday lineup returns on Sept. 25 with the fifth season premiere of Ghost Whisperer at 8:00 PM, ET/PT, the CBS debut of the popular drama Medium at 9:00 PM, ET/PT, followed by the sixth season premiere of NUMB3RS at 10:00 PM, ET/PT.
CBS's Saturday schedule premieres Sept. 26 with the return of 48 Hours Mystery at10:00 PM, ET/PT, preceded by two hours of crime repeats from 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT.
60 Minutes returns for its 42nd season on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 7:00 PM, ET/PT, followed by a special two-hour debut of the 15th edition The Amazing Race from 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT and the seventh season premiere of Cold Case in its new time period of 10:00 PM, ET/PT. Premiering a week later on Sunday, Oct. 4 is the new drama Three Rivers at 9:00 PM, ET/PT.

NBC kicks off the Fall 2009 season with NBC Sunday Night Football, beginning September 13 with a classic match-up: the Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers. Then on Monday, September 14 the primetime debut of The Jay Leno Show from 10-11 p.m. ET/PT kicks off its new weeknight hour. On Tuesday, September 15 from 8-10 p.m., The Biggest Loser returns with all new two-hour episodes, featuring more inspiration and real-life drama as this season's contestants challenge themselves to reach their weight-loss goals. Then the premiere of the network's night of comedy on Thursday, September 17, as Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday (8pm) and new series Community (9:30) join Parks and Recreation (8:30) and Emmy winner The Office (9pm). Emmy winner 30 Rock returns to the Thursday comedy line-up on October 15 at 9:30, as Community moves to 8pm on Oct. 8.
A two-hour Heroes will start the actual premiere week on Monday, September 21 from 8-10 p.m. and the new high-octane Trauma will premiere the following Monday, September 28 from 9-10 p.m. ET, as Heroes moves to 8pm. The compelling family drama Parenthood premieres on Wednesday, September 23 from 8-9 p.m. ET leading into Law & Order: SVU from 9-10 p.m. ET. On Fridays, beginning September 25, the venerable Law & Order returns for a record 20th season at 8 p.m., followed by the acclaimed drama Southland at 9 p.m. ET. Beginning September 26, Saturdays in primetime will be a showcase for Dateline NBC at 8 p.m. ET and encore presentations of Trauma at 9 p.m. ET and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit at 10 p.m. ET. In addition, Saturday Night Live returns for its 35th season on September 26 from 11:30 p.m.-1:00 a.m. ET/PT.

ABC Summer Pilot Review: The Goode Family - Premieres May 27; TV's 50 Funniest Phrases Airs Tonight

The Goode Family - Wednesdays 9:00PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 9:00PM ET/PT

The Goode Family is a new animated series from Mike Judge (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-head), John Altschuler & Dave Krinsky (King of the Hill, Blades of Glory).
With standards always changing, no matter how hard you try to be good, it's virtually impossible these days... especially for the Goode family.
Meet Gerald and Helen Goode, a couple who live by the motto WWAGD ("What Would Al Gore Do?"). Gerald, a college administrator, and Helen, a community activist, are determined to obliterate their carbon footprint on the planet: They're zealous vegans, they drive a hybrid, and they recycle everything possible. Even the family dog, Che, is vegan. In the words of Helen, all the Goodes want to do is buy organic apples and call minorities by their right names. But despite their best efforts, something always goes haywire with their politically correct plans.
Like adopted son Ubuntu - Gerald and Helen thought they were doing the right thing by adopting a baby from Africa, only to learn that Ubuntu was South African... and white. Now a teenager, he eagerly tries to embrace the Goodes' love of things like crafts and organic gardening, even though deep in his gene pool is a drive towards more blue collar pursuits like driving fast, using tools and violent sports. Teenage daughter Bliss is constantly mortified by her parents (especially her mom's efforts to talk openly, girlfriend-to-girlfriend, about sex). Even Che is rebelling against his owners - he's secretly depopulating the neighborhood of every stray squirrel, cat, rabbit and bird in search of a square meal.
Their kids and dog aren't the only ones who find the Goodes hard to understand. Helen's SUV-driving, meat eating dad, Charlie, thinks her efforts to save the planet are just a waste of time. Neighbor Ray Johnson (recurring star Gary Anthony Williams) is bemused at the Goodes' attempts to refer to him by the right ethnic catch phrase ("African American?" "Person of Color?") and the constant drama unfolding right next door.


Cast Details:

* Mike Judge as Gerald Goode
* Nancy Carell as Helen Goode
* David Herman as Ubuntu Goode
* Linda Cardellini as Bliss Goode
* Brian Doyle Murray as Charlie
* Gary Anthony Williams as Ray

The Goode Family is voiced by Mike Judge as Gerald, Nancy Carell as Helen, Dave Herman as Ubuntu, Linda Cardellini as Bliss and Brian Doyle Murray as Charlie. Gary Anthony Williams is recurring as their black neighbor Ray.

Mike Judge (Gerald Goode) considered cartooning a hobby while he toiled as bassist for Anson Funderburgh and Doyle Bramhall, but when MTV picked up his 1992 short, Frog Baseball, animation history was made. The network simultaneously decided to spin-off Beavis and Butt-Head into a show of its own, making him the premier animator of the 1990s. The creation of these two teenage icons led to his next equally successful project, Fox TV's King of the Hill. Judge expanded his artistic endeavors into directing films such as 1999's cult classic, Office Space, featuring Jennifer Aniston, and his underrated Idiocracy, with Luke Wilson, as well as doing voices for South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut and acting in Robert Rodriguez' Spy Kids series. Writer, actor, producer, director, composer, animator, musician... Mike Judge is many things, but nothing beats making it okay for grownups to hold up their hands and proclaim, "I am Cornholio!"

Nancy Carell (Helen Goode) got her start in comedy at The Second City, and from there went on to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. She appeared for three years as a correspondent and guest host on The Daily Show. Carell has been a recurring character on the comedy series The Office as Carol Stills, the real estate agent and former girlfriend of Michael Scott. Her feature film work includes The 40 Year Old Virgin and Anger Management. She and her husband, Steve Carell (The Office), have two children.

David Herman (Ubuntu Goode) was one of the eight original cast members of Fox's late night sketch comedy show, Mad TV. In 1997 he began doing voice work on the Fox animated sitcom King of the Hill" where he met writer/director/actor Mike Judge. He was so impressed with Herman that he cast him as Michael Bolton in his critically acclaimed cult hit, Office Space. He also began doing voices for the Fox animated sitcom Futurama.

Linda Cardellini (Bliss Goode) is well known for her portrayal of Nurse Samantha Taggart on the NBC series ER. She has reprised her role, which she originated in 2003, in its 15th and final season. Cardellini first came to prominence starring as academic decathlete Lindsay Weir on the Emmy Award-winning series Freaks and Geeks, which has recently enjoyed a renaissance on DVD. In 2005 Cardellini delivered a heartfelt performance as a jilted lover in Ang Lee's highly acclaimed, award-winning drama, Brokeback Mountain. Last year she starred with Val Kilmer and Steve Zahn in the epic CBS miniseries Comanche Moon. Cardellini captured the hearts of young girls, boys and teenagers worldwide for her portrayal of Velma in Warner Bros.' popular Scooby-Doo and Legally Blonde, as well as in the Adam Sandler produced comedy, Grandma's Boy.

Brian Doyle Murray (Charlie, Helen's father) has appeared in such films as Daddy Day Camp, Nearing Grace, Snowdogs, Bedazzled, Drowning Mona, Stuart Little, As Good As It Gets, Waiting for Guffman, Jury Duty, Cabin Boy, Coneheads, Groundhog Day, Wayne's World, JFK, Nothing But Trouble, Christmas Vacation, How I Got Into College, Ghostbusters II, The Experts, Scrooged, Club Paradise, Legal Eagles, The Razor's Edge, Sixteen Candles and National Lampoon's Vacation. His television work includes Yes, Dear, Lucky, Family Guy, King of The Hill, Seinfield, Ellen, The Martin Short Show, Married with Children, Roseanne, Bakersfield PD and many others. In addition he appeared in over 50 episodes of Saturday Night Live and was nominated for three Emmy Awards for writing for the series. As a writer, he also co-wrote the hit comedy film, Caddyshack.


Pilot Plot:

We have received the first three episodes for air for review!

#1 (PROD #101) "Pilot" (Airs Wednedsay, May 27, 2009)
In the premiere episode, "Pilot," Helen is distraught when Bliss, fed up with her mom's trying to talk to her about sex, joins an abstinence group. Things go from bad to worse when Bliss asks her father, Gerald, to take her to the group's purity ball. Meanwhile Ubuntu turns 16 and wants to learn how to get his driver's license.
Guest voice cast: Gary Anthony Williams as Ray/the DMV Person/Ted, Mo Collins as the Checker/Lucy, Dee Bradley Baker as Che, and Julia Sweeney as Margo.
"Pilot" was written by John Altschuler, Mike Judge and Dave Krinsky, and directed by Wes Archer.

#2 (PROD #106) "Pleatherheads" (Airs Wednesday, June 3, 2009)
Gerald and Helen have a tough time adjusting to the demands of being a football family after Ubuntu unexpectedly becomes a star on high school football team. Meanwhile, Bliss tries some unorthodox ways to improve her college prospects.
Special Guest Voice: Adam Carolla. Guest voice cast: Bob Odenkirk as Brian Kennedy, Gary Anthony Williams as Ray/Coach/Mr. Alvarez, Amy Hill as Jacki/Kiki, Phil Lamarr as Mr. Whitmore/Solosolo and Laraine Newman as Mo/Nice Old Lady.
"Pleatherheads" was written by Dave Jeser & Matt Silverstein and directed by John Rice.

#3 (PROD #102) "Goodes Gone Wild" (Airs Wednesday, June 10, 2009)
Helen sees a way to win her father's approval when he takes a shine to one of the rescues at her pet adoption. Unfortunately, it's a disgusting animal of unknown origin named Gutterball who has to stay with the Goodes because Charlie's "home" doesn't allow pets. While Helen copes with Gutterball, their dog Che gives Gerald a hand with the college's squirrel problem.
Guest voice cast: Gary Anthony Williams as Ray/the Animals First Leader, Dee Bradley Baker as the Animals First Leader/Che/Gutterball, Lori Nasso as Penny and Julia Sweeney as Margo.
"Goodes Gone Wild" was written by Jordana Arkin and directed by John Rice.


Analysis:

I received for review the first three episodes airing. This animated comedy is produced by Media Rights Capital (MRC). It is about a family who wants to do good for the world, but they just can't get it right. They are learning on the way, though. This family is certainly a 21st century family, as they are vegans and an energy saving family. The father and mother (Gerald and Helen) are trying their very best to practice what they believe in, but you'll see not always what they believe is what they actually believe in.
The family is pretty likable. If you like current animated comedies like The Simpsons and King of the Hill, and animation styles of King of the Hill and Beavis & Butt-head then you'll certainly will want to watch this show. Mike Judge has created a show about a family that we can all relate with. It honestly reminds me of a live-action comedy. It is a great family comedy that you'll enjoy. This show has a lot of pop-culture related jokes to make it even more hip.
The characters are pretty interesting. The father, Gerald is probably the one who wants to do the most "good." He works for the local college as an administrator. His wife, Helen also believes in "good" but sometimes her inner bad comes out, as you'll see in many episodes. They have a teenaged daughter, Bliss, that is pretty smart and attractive as well (she reminds me of the type of girl on Beavis & Butt-head). She doesn't really like the "good" way, but still does it. They also have an adopted son named Ubuntu. He was adopted from South Africa, but he is white. He dresses like an African as well. He is a bit eccentric and likes to do good, but as you'll see even he tries to be wild at times. The family also has a dog named Che. He is a vegan dog, but hates it. Gerlad and Helen have no idea that he eats wildlife when they are not looking. Rounding out the characters are Helen's father Charlie, who does not like at all what this family practices and their neighbor Ray, who is black and the family tries to be "politically correct" with him.
In the first episode, it is basically about Helen and Bliss, as Bliss is fed up with her mom's trying to talk to her about sex so she joins an abstinence group. She even goes to a purity ball, but it doesn't work out. Also in the episode Ubuntu turns 16 and wants to learn how to get his driver's license.
In the second episode airing, Ubuntu joins the high school football team, but his parents sees the demands of being a football family are not good and they do some not so "good" things. Also in the episode Bliss tries ways to get into college.
In the third episode airing, Helen never has had her father's approval, but when he takes a shine to one of the rescues at her pet adoption...she tries to take advantage. The catch is it's a disgusting animal of unknown origin named Gutterball who has to stay with the Goodes because Charlie's "home" doesn't allow pets. Also in the episode their dog Che gives Gerald a hand with the college's squirrel problem as he goes wild without them knowing again. The episodes get better and better...maybe because we are now engulfed with the family.


Conclusion:

This show is pretty funny. It is a show about the family itself and not a show about to be a vegan or drive hybrid cars. So don't get freaked out by them saying "What Would Al Gore Do?" This family wants to do "good," but it is so hard to do that, as you'll see with every episode. The show premieres after last summer's biggest hit Wipeout, so the premiere should be sampled in the ratings. Promos have been airing a lot over the past few months, so this is not just a summer burn-off. ABC has ordered 13 episodes, but only 6 are airing this summer (and wow, I've seen 3 of them already). I'm thinking if this show does well, you could see it in the regular season perhaps in the winter on Tuesday nights with Scrubs and Better Off Ted? I've never really watched much of King of the Hill, but I do like The Simpsons and the family element of that show makes it so likeable and it is shown here as well. I did like Judge's other show Beavis & Butt-head, though the only thing similar about that show with The Goode Family is the animation style.
I think if you're going to give this a try, give it a few episodes. I think I liked it more and more because I saw more than one episode. Think about it, sampling something with just one episode is not a good sample. This is the summer, so there won't be much new scripted programming anyway...so stick with it! The episodes get better and better. We need a good animated comedy that is not on Fox. It is very watchable and the laughs are also there. The Goode Family is a "goode" show and I was surprised!


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4.5/5
Funniness: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 05/26/09

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, May 27 on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

The Goode Family Photo Gallery


Tonight on NBC from 8-10pm ET, get ready to laugh your way down memory lane with an array of amazing stars both past and present.
From "No soup for you" to "We are two wild and crazy guys" to "Hug it out," catch phrases are instantly recognizable and become part of popular culture. Actress, dancer, singer and Tony Award-winner Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) hosts. Jeremy Piven, Regis Philbin, Gabe Kaplan, Dana Carvey, Neil Patrick Harris, Jean Stapleton, Ron Howard, Andy Griffith, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Jackie Gleason, Bob Newhart, Penny Marshall, Polly Holliday, and Redd Foxx are among some of the legendary stars featured when The Paley Center for Media and NBC count down fifty of the all-time funniest catchphrases said on television in a two-hour special. With great scenes from the shows and interviews with the stars who brought the lines to life, this program will celebrate the history and humor of catchphrases. The Paley Center for Media's TV's 50 Funniest Phrases airs tonight from 8-10pm ET on NBC. See who made it to the top 10 and what phrase is #1.

New Fall 2009 Sitcoms Preview

Today we take a look at the new sitcoms that made the fall schedules. There will be a total of 10 new sitcoms this season, including 1 that will air at midseason and 1 animated comedy. 5 will be single-camera. 4 will be multi-camera. Some familiar faces returning to sitcoms include Kelsey Grammer, Melinda McGraw, Macey Cruthird, Patricia Heaton, Neil Flynn, Ed O'Neill, Sofia Vergara, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Courteney Cox, Christa Miller, Ian Gomez, Jenna Elfman, Ashley Jensen and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell. Comedy legend Chevy Chase will appear on an American sitcom as a regular for the first time. Former New York Giants great and current FOX NFL Sunday analyst Michael Strahan will appear in a new FOX sitcom.

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ABC



Hank - Wednesdays at 8:00PM EST/PST on ABC

Kelsey Grammer stars in this timely comedy as Hank Pryor, a titan of industry who suddenly finds himself out of work, almost out of money and around a wife and kids for whom he's never made much time. Despite his recent setbacks, however, Hank is confident he's on the road back to the top. He knows he is destined to return to greatness. And he is — just not the greatness he imagines.

The series is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with McMonkey Inc., Grammnet Productions, Werner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television. It is written by Tucker Cawley. Tom Werner, Tucker Cawley, Kelsey Grammer and Mike Clements serve as executive producers. The pilot was directed by James Burrows.

Cast:
Kelsey Grammer as Hank
Melinda McGraw as Tilly
David Koechner as Grady
Macey Cruthird as Maddie
Ryan Wynott as Henry

Preview:



Links:

TV.com

Wikipedia



The Middle - Wednesdays at 8:30PM EST/PST on ABC

The Hecks are a middle class family living in the middle of Indiana, just trying to keep their heads above water. Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton stars as a wife and mother of three in a comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations.

The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline are executive producers/writers and Werner Walian is producer. The pilot was directed by Julie Anne Robinson.

Cast:
Patricia Heaton as Frankie
Neil Flynn as Mike
Eden Sher as Sue
Atticus Shaffer as Brick
Charlie McDermott as Axel

Preview:



Links:

TV.com



Modern Family - Wednesdays at 9:00PM EST/PST on ABC

Today’s American families come in all shapes and sizes. Shot from the perspective of an unseen documentary filmmaker, this comedy takes a modern look at the complications that come with being a family in 2009.

The series is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television. Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd are executive producers. The pilot was directed by Jason Winer.

Cast:
Ed O'Neill as Jay
Sofia Vergara as Gloria
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Eric Stonestreet as Cameron
Ty Burrell as Phil
Julie Bowen as Claire
Sarah Hyland as Haley
Rico Rodriguez as Manny
Nolan Gould as Luke
Ariel Winter as Alex

Preview:



Links:

TV.com

Wikipedia



Cougar Town - Wednesdays at 9:30PM EST/PST on ABC

Courteney Cox stars as a recently divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture.

The series is from ABC Studios. Bill Lawrence is executive producer/writer/director, Kevin Biegel is writer/co-executive producer, and Courteney Cox and David Arquette are executive producers.

Cast:
Courteney Cox as Jules
Christa Miller as Elle
Busy Phillips as Laurie
Dan Byrd as Travis
Brian Van Holt as Bobby
Josh Hopkins as Grayson
Ian Gomez as Andy

Preview:



Links:

TV.com

Wikipedia

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CBS



Accidentally on Purpose - Mondays at 8:30PM EST/PST on CBS

ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE is a comedy starring Golden Globe Award winner Jenna Elfman as Billie, a single woman who finds herself "accidentally" pregnant after a one-night stand with a much younger guy, and decides to keep the baby... and the guy. A newspaper film critic, Billie is barely surviving a humiliating breakup with her charming boss, James (Grant Show), who's still trying to resume their relationship. Suddenly expecting a child with her "boy toy," Zack (Jon Foster), Billie and Zack make an arrangement: to live together platonically. Billie's party girl best friend Olivia (Ashley Jensen), and Abby (Lennon Parham), her conventional, younger married sister, eagerly look forward to the new addition and offer their own brands of advice and encouragement. But when Zack and his freeloading friends, including Davis (Nicolas Wright), start to turn her place into a frat house, Billie isn't sure if she's living with a boyfriend, a roommate, or if she just has another child to raise. Lloyd Braun, Gail Berman, Gene Stein and Claudia Lonow are the executive producers for CBS Television Studios. Pamela Fryman directed the pilot.

Cast:
Jenna Elfman as Billie
Ashley Jensen as Olivia
Nicolas Wright as Davis
Grant Show as Daniel
Lennon Parham as Abby
Jon Foster as Zack

Preview:



Links:

CBS.com

TV.com

Wikipedia

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NBC



Community - Thursdays at 9:30PM EST/PST on NBC

From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo ("Arrested Development") comes "Community," a smart comedy series about higher education -- and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, "Community" focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin' lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, "The Soup"), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian Jacobs ("The Book of Daniel"); Yvette Nicole Brown ("Rules of Engagement"); Danny Pudi ("Greek"); Alison Brie ("Mad Men"); and comedy legend Chevy Chase ("Saturday Night Live"). "Community" is a Krasnoff Foster Entertainment, Harmonious Claptrap and Russo Brothers production in association with Sony Pictures Television and Universal Media Studios. Russ Krasnoff ("The Soloist"), Dan Harmon ("The Sarah Silverman Program"), Joe Russo ("Arrested Development"), Anthony Russo ("Arrested Development") and Gary Foster ("The Soloist") serve as executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo directed the pilot that was written by Dan Harmon.

Cast:
Joel McHale as Jeff Crocker
Chevy Chase as Pierce
Danny Pudi as Abed
Gillian Jacobs as Britta
John Oliver as Duncan
Donald Glover as Troy
Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley
Alison Brie as Annie

Preview:



Links:

NBC.com

TV.com

Wikipedia



100 Questions - Mid-Season on NBC

Emmy winner James Burrows ("Will & Grace," "Friends") directs "100 Questions," a new comedy series written and executive-produced by Christopher Moynihan ("For Your Consideration") that provides hilarious answers to 100 questions about love. Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, "Peep Show") is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals -- but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, "The Ex List") - who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions aren't easy for Charlotte to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in her life with friends Leslie (Elizabeth Ho, "Women's Murder Club"), Jill (Joy Suprano, NBC's "Law & Order"), Mike (Christopher Moynihan "For Your Consideration") and Wayne (David Walton "Quarterlife"). The test becomes a journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly wants in a relationship. Ron West ("Psych"), Kelly Kulchak ("Psych") and Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") join Moynihan as executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios and Tagline.

Cast:
Sophie Winkleman as Charlotte
Elizabeth Ho as Leslie
Joy Soprano as Jill
David Walton as Wayne
Christopher Moynihan as Mike
Amir Talai as Andrew

Preview:



Links:

NBC.com

TV.com

Wikipedia

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FOX



Brothers - Fridays at 8:00PM EST/PST on FOX

Starring Michael Strahan ("FOX NFL Sunday") and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell ("Ed," "Veronica's Closet"), BROTHERS is a new half-hour comedy about a former NFL hot shot who learns that even though you can always go home again, the trip back might be tougher than you think. MIKE TRAINOR (Strahan) seemingly has it all he's a good-looking, wealthy and recently retired NFL player living the high-life in New York City, but he's about to get sidelined. When Mike gets a phone call from his MOM (CCH Pounder, "The Shield") who orders him home to Houston, he quickly realizes the more his life has changed, the more his family has stayed the same. His brother CHILL (Daryl "Chill" Mitchell), whose life was altered drastically after a car accident left him in a wheelchair, is struggling to keep his restaurant afloat with the help of his loudmouth associate, ROSCOE (Colton Dunn, "MADtv"). The dynamics between Mike and Chill are the same as when they were kids, and their sibling rivalry hasn't lessened with age. If they can stop their bickering, put aside their differences and learn to be teammates, the brothers might just turn out to be each other's biggest asset. Wedged between Mike and Chill are their parents. Their father, whom everyone refers to as COACH (Carl Weathers, "Rocky"), is the local high school football coach and the conservative, opinionated alpha male of his clan. Coach thinks he runs the show, but really it's Mom who calls the shots. Saucy, stern and a schemer, she is the mastermind of the family. And when she learns that Mike's business manager took off with all his money, she orchestrates a plan to keep Mike in Houston, save Chill's restaurant and bring the family back together under one roof again all without anyone realizing what she's up to. Mom's plan helps Mike realize that his family however dysfunctional they may be is the only family he's got. And although he may not have a penny to his name, as long as he's surrounded by people who love him, he'll always be a rich man.

Cast:
Michael Strahan as Mike
Daryl "Chill" Michell as Chill
CCH Pounder as Mom
Carl Weathers as Coach
Colton Dunn as Roscoe

Preview:



Links:

FOX.com

TV.com

Wikipedia



The Cleveland Show - Sundays at 8:30PM EST/PST on FOX

THE CLEVELAND SHOW is a new animated series that follows everyone's favorite soft-spoken neighbor, CLEVELAND BROWN (Mike Henry), to his hometown in Virginia as he settles down with his high school sweetheart, her unruly kids and his own 14-year-old son, CLEVELAND JR. (Kevin Michael Richardson). Many years ago, Cleveland was a high school student madly in love with a beautiful girl named DONNA (Sanaa Lathan). Much to his dismay, his love went unrequited, and Donna wound up marrying another man. Cleveland once told Donna he would always love her, and if this man ever done her wrong, he'd be there when she called. Well, this man done her wrong. Donna's husband ran off, leaving Donna with a teenage daughter and a young son. Now she's open to Cleveland and has offered him another chance at love. Unattached after the Loretta-Quagmire debacle and true to his word, Cleveland joyously reunites with Donna, and he and Cleveland Jr. move to Virginia to join their new family. Once in Virginia, there are a few surprises in store for Cleveland, including ROBERTA (Reagan Gomez-Preston), a rebellious new stepdaughter; RALLO (Henry), his new 5-year-old stepson who loves the ladies; and a collection of neighbors that includes a loudmouth redneck, LESTER (Richardson); a hipster wanna-be, HOLT (guest voice Jason Sudeikis); and a religious pair of talking bears, TIM (Seth MacFarlane) and his wife ARIANNA (guest voice Arianna Huffington).

Voice Cast:
Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown, Rallo and others
Sanaa Lathan as Donna Tubbs
Reagan Gomez-Preston as Roberta Tubbs
Kevin Michael Richardson as Lester and Cleveland Jr.

Guest Voices:
Arianna Huffington as Arianna
Jason Sudeikis as Holt

Preview:



Links:

FOX.com

TV.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia



Sons of Tucson - Sundays at 8:30PM EST/PST in January 2010 on FOX

In the tradition of "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Bernie Mac Show," SONS OF TUCSON is a family comedy about three brothers who hire a charming, wayward schemer to stand in as their father when their real one goes to prison. What begins as a business relationship evolves into something more complex and compelling: a family unlike any we've ever seen. The three brothers find their dad-for-hire, RON SNUFFKIN (Tyler Labine, "Reaper"), at the local sporting good store. Ron will be forced to draw on a wide array of skills and a vast bag of tricks as he steps into the patriarch role to take care of the boys of the Gunderson family. ROBBY GUNDERSON (Davis Cleveland, "How I Met Your Mother"), 8, is a loose cannon who doesn't respond well to authority; GARY GUNDERSON (Frank Dolce, "Doubt"), 11, is a bright and street-savvy leader who is every bit the con man his father is; and BRANDON GUNDERSON (Troy Gentile, "Entourage"), 13, is a gentle free spirit who simply goes along for the ride. MAGGIE MORALES (Natalie Martinez, "Saints & Sinners"), Robby's second-grade teacher and the object of Ron's affection, might just be the only stable figure in the lives of this quirky quartet. While SONS OF TUCSON is grounded in the day-to-day challenges of a single-parent home, nothing in the Gunderson household is quite what it seems. An ongoing chess match between Ron and the boys will keep both parties on their toes, as neither side can afford to give up too much power or independence.

Cast:
Tyler Labine as Ron Snuffkin
Davis Cleveland as Robby Gunderson
Frank Dolce as Gary Gunderson
Troy Gentile as Brandon Gunderson
Natalie Martinez as Maggie Morales

Preview:



Links:

FOX.com

TV.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

---

Discuss the fall schedules here:

ABC
CBS
NBC
Fox
The CW

What's Your Fall 2009 Viewing Schedule?

Which new sitcoms have the best chance at success? Vote in our poll.

Stay tuned for our reviews of the pilots for these new sitcoms in the upcoming months!

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

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

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

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

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

ABC and NBC Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedules

Your FIRST look at ABC's official line-up!

ABC 2009-10

Fall 2009

Sundays
7:00PM America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00PM Brothers & Sisters

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
10:00PM Castle

Tuesdays
8:00PM The Shark Tank (NEW!)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM The Forgotten (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Hank (NEW!)
8:30PM The Middle (NEW!)
9:00PM Modern Family (NEW!)
9:30PM Cougar Town (NEW!)
10:00PM Eastwick (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Flash Forward (NEW!)
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Private Practice

Fridays
8:00PM Supenanny
9:00PM Ugly Betty
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM Saturday Night College Football

NOTE: The Shark Tank will launch in late summer following the special 10th anniversary of Who Wants to Be Millionaire? this August.

Mid-Season:

New series for midseason include The Deep End, Happy Town, and the limited series event V.
More new mid-season series will be announced at a later date.
Other returning series include Scrubs, Better Off Ted, Wife Swap, The Bachelor, True Beauty, & Lost.
Scrubs/Ted will air Tuesday nights at 9:00pm in January and The Bachelor from 8-10pm in January on Monday nights.

At 8am ET, ABC had a press conference with Steven McPherson (President of ABC Entertainment). Some of the things he mentioned were that they were frustrated with Samantha Who's ratings despite it being a great show (the budget couldn't be cut enough so the show won't return). Cupid and The Unusuals are dead, and Surviving Suburbia will run in the summer and depending on how it does, a decision will be made (they have an option for it through September). ABC is really high on new series Flash Forward, as it will have Lost-like elements of faith and good characters. Speaking of Lost, no day and time has been set for the final season yet. It depends on the fall shows. ABC is going after the Tuesday at 10pm slot with a crime drama since NBC won't have one there. Zach Braff will return to Scrubs for at least 6 episodes. And finally Shonda Rimes' Inside the Box wasn't picked-up to series yet. They will look into it for another few weeks, it didn't test as well as they would have liked but they think it was done very well and just need to improve it a bit and be patient with it. View a complete outline of the press conference.
Then the upfront presentation for ABC was at 3pm ET. Among the highlights were great clips from all the new shows, the first act of Flash Forward, the full pilot for Modern Family, the ABC House promos featuring all ABC stars in the same house, and the hilarious Jimmy Kimmel at upfront! View my full recap of the presentation!

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



NBC 2009-10

Fall 2009

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

Mondays
8:00PM Heroes
9:00PM Trauma (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Biggest Loser

Wednesdays
8:00PM Parenthood (NEW!)
9:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Thursdays
8:00PM SNL Weekend Update Thursday / Community (NEW!)
9:30PM Parks and Recreation
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM Community (NEW!) / 30 Rock

Fridays
8:00PM Law & Order
9:00PM Southland

Saturdays
8:00PM Dateline NBC
9:00PM Trauma repeats
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU repeats

Mid-Season:

Sundays
7:00PM Dateline NBC
8:00PM The Marriage Ref (NEW!)
9:00PM The Celebrity Apprentice

Mondays
8:00PM Chuck
9:00PM Day One (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Biggest Loser
9:30PM 100 Questions (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Mercy (NEW!)
9:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Thursdays
8:00PM Community
9:30PM Parks and Recreation
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM 30 Rock

Fridays
8:00PM Law & Order
9:00PM Southland

Saturdays
8:00PM Dateline NBC
9:00PM Southland repeats
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU repeats

Notes: The Jay Leno Show airs weeknights at 10pm. The midseason shows will all launch following the Winter Olympics (Feb. 12-28, 2010). And coming in the summer 2010, NBC will telecast all original episodes of The Jay Leno Show, Friday Night Lights, America's Got Talent, Breakthrough with Tony Robbins, Dateline NBC, with additional programs to be announced later. NBC has not picked-up Medium and My Name is Earl. Medium could very well be on its way to CBS now since they own the show. Earl is a long shot of returning on Fox (they own the show), but it won't likely happen.

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

Upfront Rumblings; Blog DVD Review: Freakazoid! - Season 2

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Saturday blog DVD review for an update on the network upfronts. This is probably the busiest TV weekend of the year--the weekend before the network upfronts start. Latest buzz on scripted series:

ABC:
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Flash Forward, Happy Town, The Associates (David Hemingson Project), Eastwick, The Forgotten, V. (all confirmed)
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: Modern Family, Cougar Town, The Middle, Awesome Hank. (all confirmed)
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Inside the Box
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Romantically Challenged, The Law
No Shot: Canned, No Heroics, Limelight, See Kate Run
Bubble Current Series Renewals: Castle, Better Off Ted, Samantha Who, Scrubs (all pretty much confirmed)
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Surviving Suburbia, The Unusuals
Comments: ABC is going full frontal on comedy it seems. Scrubs, Better Off Ted, Samantha Who? are all returning, with just the latter not really official yet, but it has a great shot since repeats are going to air Fridays at 9pm starting June 5. Sam and Scrubs could be in a format change too, from single camera to a mix of single/multicamera. And ABC has already ordered new comedy Modern Family last week and Cougar Town was ordered last night. Unofficially it is also ordered The Middle & Awesome Hank last night and possibly Romantically Challenged & The Law will be ordered on the day of the upfront for midseason. My moles tell me it will happen. Lots of comedy!! That's what we like here at SitcomsOnline. Now of course all of these comedies are not for the fall. Some will be held for midseason for sure.
New drama wise, ABC is very high on Flash Forward, and on-air promos are already airing. ABC unofficially set series orders for Happy Town, Eastwick, The Forgotten, The Associates and V. V could be used for mid-season as a 6-hour event (good counter-programming vs. the Winter Olympics maybe?) and The Associates is also likely midseason. Inside the Box also still has a good shot of coming to ABC for fall or midseason, but has not been ordered just yet. Current drama wise, Castle was renewed for a second season. That was the only drama that had a real shot that was not renewed yet. Reality wise, ABC has ordered a season second of True Beauty, likely for midseason with The Bachelor.

CBS:
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: NCIS: Legend (wt), The Good Wife.
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: Accidentally on Purpose, Waiting to Die
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Three Rivers, Washington Field
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Happiness Isn't Everything
No Shot: A Marriage, Big D, The Karenskys
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: The Unit, Flashpoint, Old Christine, Cold Case, Rules of Engagement, Gary Unmarried, Without a Trace
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Eleventh Hour
Comments: CBS is tight-lipped. No official pick-ups at all. Just the buzz is that NCIS spin-of and The Good Wife are locks to being picked-up drama wise., with Three Rivers, Miami Trauma, and Washington Field also in the running. But usually with CBS something comes out of left field on the day of the upfront. Comedy wise, it's the same thing as dramas, no official pick-ups, but Accidentally on Purpose and Waiting to Die are heating up in buzz with Happiness Isn't Everything also on the radar. As for current series that were not renewed yet, only Ghost Whisperer got officially renewed, as there was word it could have been moved to ABC since CBS didn't want to pay full license fees. Cold Case, Gary Unmarried, Flashpoint, Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, The Unit, and Without a Trace are still not picked-up. What will make the cut? I don't think all of these will make it. Amazing Race, Big Bang Theory, Survivor and Two and a Half Men have no worries along with Ghost Whisperer since they were officially renewed, and CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist, NCIS, NUMB3RS are locks for a pick-up of course. Everything else is gone including Eleventh Hour.

NBC:
Picked-Up Dramas: Trauma, Parenthood, Day One, Mercy. (all confirmed)
Picked-Up Sitcoms: Community, 100 Questions. (all confirmed)
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: None.
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Off Duty
No Shot: Adler/Hurwitz Project, Legally Mad, Lost & Found
Bubble Current Series Renewals: Chuck, Law & Order, Medium
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: My Name is Earl
Comments: NBC's pick-ups came at infront on May 4, so we have nothing new to report really. It's just the on the bubble current series we still need to know. It is looking good for Chuck, Medium, and Law & Order but My Name is Earl looks like will be canceled. Medium is being reported it was renewed, but that is unofficial. Can we expect another new series or two to be picked-up on Tuesday when NBC announced the schedule? Yes, but the only other option really is off-beat comedy Off Duty, since NBC passed on the other pilots. The only thing we really need to see for NBC is a schedule and the one I predicted could very well be something similar.

FOX:
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Human Target, Glee, Past Life. (all confirmed)
Picked-Up/Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: Brothers, Sons of Tucson, The Cleveland Show. (all confirmed)
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Maggie Hill
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: None
No Shot: Absolutely Fabulous, $2 Beer, Eva Adams
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Dollhouse
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Comments: Fox is also pretty much set in terms of new series pick-ups. For dramas, they will launch Glee this Tuesday for a sneak peek, and have picked-up Human Target and Past Life.
Maggie Hill is probably the only other drama that could see a pick-up on the day of the upfront. Comedy wise, Fox is actually picking-up two live-action comedies, but they could be held for midseason. Brothers and Sons of Tucson are the comedies, they join animated comedy The Cleveland Show which will for sure be in the fall on Sunday nights. No other new comedies will be picked-up. Fox also has a few seasons of 'Til Death they could use at some point. In a surprise move, Fox renewed Dollhouse for 13 episodes and it will likely remain on Fridays this fall. The series has terrible ratings, so I don't understand this move. Dollhouse's pick-up means death for Sarah Connor Chronicles. And Fox has thrown us a wildcard. They have picked-up a fall version of So You Think You Can Dance. It will likely launch after the World Series, I would guess, as Hell's Kitchen's summer version will spill into the fall. It's just an actual schedule for Fox we need now. Fox also ordered reality series Someone's Gotta Go for next season, not sure if it is fall or midseason.

The CW:
Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries
Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: None.
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: The Beautiful Life, The Body Politic, Gossip Girl: Lily
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: None.
No Shot: Perhaps Light Years
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Privileged, The Game
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Everybody Hates Chris, Reaper
Comments: The CW is the last network to go at upfront, so they have not announced official pick-ups just yet. Melrose Place and Vampire Diaries are a lock it seems for fall. With Beautiful Life, Body Politic, and Lily battling for mid-season or a third slot in the fall. On the bubble current shows Privileged and The Game are also battling for a slot. What won't make the cut? I think The Game looks like the odd show out. Lily also could be out, but they should order 6 episodes only just in case they need it come midseason. Still too early for The CW, should know more during the week.

Check back periodically as we get more updates all-weekend long! I don't sleep during upfronts week!

Join us all next week (May 18-21) bright and early for the fall schedules. I assure you we will be among the first ones to post the fall line-ups for each network. Fox will be first on Monday, it'll be interesting how they schedule shows now that So You Think You Can Dance is coming in the fall as well.


And now back to our regularly scheduled blog programming:

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for weekly Blog DVD Review! Today we have we take a look at Warner Home Video's animated series Freakazoid! - Season 2. Freakazoid! was an animated series on Kids' WB. See Seth Thrasher's Blog DVD review of Freakazoid! - Season 2:

Freakazoid! - Season 2 (Warner, $26.98) is on DVD for the first time, and you'd have to be crazy not to buy it! Contained in this amazing bundle of plastics and fibers and metals that makes up this DVD set are the final eleven episodes of one of the craziest, and funniest, and most overall enjoyable cartoons I've ever had the pleasure to view. And, as one of the twelve people known to have watched the show when it originally aired in The WB's Saturday morning cartoon block in the mid-90s, I can speak with great aplomb as to what a quality show you're getting with your money.
The season starts off with a bang, with Dexter actually managing to get a date with Steff, only to have the Lobe interfere and potentially blow it. The fun with Freakazoid & the Lobe continues into his next adventure on the next show, when it's Freakazoid's birthday -- which, per the Superhero Codebook, means *he* has to do favors for the others. This sets up a scenario in which every last other superhero is out of town, and Lobe has a plan. The crazy hits keep coming all season, with Freakazoid getting bogged down at a sci-fi convention, Steff getting turned to stone, and so much more madness. In the amazing series finale, Lobe figures out how to destroy Freakazoid once and for all -- but to do so he needs to build his evil device out of wood. Having no talent, he kidnaps master carpenter Norm Abram (This Old House), who voices himself in the strangest cartoon guest appearance ever. Knowing this is the end, the show goes out with a bang making for an enjoyable 22 minutes in one of the most enjoyable series ever. Really, though, how can you go wrong with a cartoon that had recurring voice actors like Ed Asner and Ricardo Montalban -- not to mention the best host in late night TV, Craig Ferguson. Also appearing this season in a guest spot is Leonard Maltin.
Since it's not yet possible to stream these episodes directly into your brain, there must well be packaging that the episodes arrive on. And oh, what wonderful packaging it is. Millions of carbon and hydrogen atoms bonded together just for the benefit of this amazing *HARD plastic!* case. Their sacrifice makes it possible for you to effectively store your DVD set on a shelf near you. The artwork features a giant picture of America's 7th favorite blue skinned superhero pointing to himself and smiling. I'd be happy too if *I* had superpowers so it'd be quite a disappointment to find him unhappy. Background of the artwork is green and features a computer chip-like design, heavily stylized for the purposes of cartoons. Rear cover features more green fun, only this time...Freakazoid has a jetpack! Disc art features more green, with Freakazoid doing a little flexing on disc 1, with Lobe doing some flexing of his own on disc 2. Interior package art features the disc one information, Freakazoid, and Fan Boy on the left panel, with all the villains hiding behind the 2nd disc (the one with Lobe on it).
With a cartoon from the mid-1990s, you're unfortunately not going to get 3D stereovision with 17.2 panaural sound...partially because I just made both things up. What you do get is an animated picture mostly free of defects. I did detect some compression artifacts around the lines on the picture, but I was sitting two feet from a 32" HDTV when doing so. For normal use you're probably not going to notice anything amiss. More importantly, you get 5.1 surround sound. Because of the wonderful musical accompaniment that comes with mid 1990s Warner cartoons, the 5.1 surround sound is wonderfully appreciated, and during a few scenes in the cartoon is enough to make you melt. The chapter stops stop chapters. More importantly than that, they're located after the episode's opening titles, as well as after each act -- where commercial breaks would normally be placed.
When we say special features, we're not implying these features should be riding the short bus, it means that they're a bonus, above and beyond the call of DVD duty. First up is "A Full Season's Worth of Commentaries (in Five Minutes or Less)"and features the creative minds behind the show talking about the season, what went into it, and all the other sorts of things you'd expect. Ideally it would have been nice to do actual commentaries, but pressed for time this is certainly better than a kick in the pants. There's also the demo version of the music to the Hello, Dolly parody Bonjour Lobey -- it's good stuff worth a listen. The true highlight is probably the final feature (say that 81,931 times fast) -- a look into the making of the show's final episode. The feature runs nearly the length of a full episode, and taking a similar tone as the series explores the workings of the last episode.
Let's be serious for a minute. For the basis of pure enjoyment, season one is honestly the better of the two in my opinion. The episodes are just...funnier. But season two is still better than the vast, vast majority of cartoons. Since this set is already out, hopefully you already own it. If you don't already own it, then hopefully you started the order process while reading this review -- I know you can multi-task, come on. If not, you should probably do so now. The review will still be here when you get back. There is probably even a link to buy it below. Needless to say, I recommend this set.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4.5/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Freakazoid! TV.com Page

Week 33 Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did; SitcomsOnline.com 2009-10 Upfront Preview: NBC

Week 33 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: CBS 7.9/12.9; Fox 7.6/12.1; ABC 6.8/11.0; NBC 4.5/7.3; The CW 1.6/2.5; MNT 0.8/1.2.
Total Viewers: Fox 12.92 million; CBS 12.63 million; ABC 10.51 million; NBC 6.96 million; The CW 2.41 million; MNT 1.21 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox 4.6/12.4; CBS 3.3/9.2; ABC 3.1/8.5; NBC 2.4/6.5; The CW 1.1/3.0; MNT 0.4/1.1.

Analysis: Week 32 sees CBS with the lead for the first four nights in HH but Fox is on top in viewers and 18-49. CBS will likely take over in HH when the week is done after tonight, but Fox will prevail in 18-49. Through the first four days, CBS and Fox share the lead as mentioned, with ABC in third and NBC back in fourth.
Last week, CBS won in week 32 in HH/viewers, but Fox once again took 18-49. Fox was second for the week in viewers and 18-49, with ABC third in viewers, but ABC was second in HH, leaving CBS in third in 18-49 and Fox in third in HH. NBC was fourth across the board.
Monday it was ABC with the victory as Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate. ABC aired a two-hour version of Dancing with the Stars at 20.28 million, up a million from the previous week though that was 92-minutes. A new episode of crime-romance drama Castle followed doing 9.97 million...up well over a million from previous week. Season finale is tomorrow of this drama that is poised to return next season. CBS was all-new with episodes of The Big Bang Theory doing 9.25 million, on par really from previous week, followed by a new episode of How I Met Your Mother doing 8.89 million, also on par really from previous week. A new Two and a Half Men followed with 14.17 million, yes on par really from previous week. Rules of Engagement followed with a new episode and closed the sitcom block with a decent 11.33 million, continuing the pattern of its lead-ins being on par really from previous week. CBS closed the night with a new CSI: Miami at 13.72 million, up over a million from previous week's low. Fox started with a new episode of House doing 12.05 million, up from previous week...then Fox had an all-new 24 doing 10.11 million, down from previous week. NBC was next with a sluggish return of Deal or No Deal doing only 4.36 million, Chuck doesn't look so bad now, does it? Medium followed with a two-hour installment doing 7.24 million, up from previous week when it was an hour at 10pm. The CW was next with a new Gossip Girl doing only 2.22 million, but up some from previous week and a new One Tree Hill did 2.23 million, down a tad from previous week.
Tuesday it was Fox on top but CBS was close by in HH/viewers. Fox started with a 63 minute American Idol doing 23.41 million, up some from previous week. Fox then aired a new Fringe at 9.24 million, down from previous week. CBS started with a new episode of NCIS doing 16.72 million which was on par really from previous week, followed by a new episode of The Mentalist doing 16.68 million, down from previous week. Without a Trace was new and did 11.83 million, down from previous week. ABC started with special episodes of Scrubs/Better Off Ted on a special night doing 3.7 and 3.07 million only. Dancing with the Stars: The Results was next at 9pm doing 14.56 million, down some from previous week. ABC followed with a new Cupid at just 5.14 million, down from previous week. NBC started with a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 9.13 million, down some from the previous week. NBC finished the night with a new episode of Law & Order: SVU at 10pm doing 9.82 million, down from previous week. The CW aired a new episode of Reaper and did just 1.89 million, but up some from previous week and a new 90210 followed with 1.84 million, also up some from previous week.
Wednesday saw Fox with the win. Fox was led by the results show of American Idol at 9pm doing 23.57 million, up over a million from previous week. New Fox drama Lie to Me at 8pm did 8.68 million, up nearly a million from previous week. CBS started with sitcoms Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, doing 6.45 and 6.66 million...OK. A new Criminal Minds followed and did 14.13 million, up from previous week. CSI: NY was new and did 13.4 million, up nearly a million week-to-week. ABC aired the perfect Scrubs finale as J.D. said goodbye and did 5.07 million, could have been better, but decent enough. An all-new episode of Lost followed at 9pm doing a solid 8.7 million and a 4.0 18-49 rating, both slightly off from previous week. Three-hour finale event this week, with a clip show followed by two episodes! A new episode of The Unusuals at 10pm did 4.63 million, down a bit from previous week, as the show will now return May 27. NBC opened the night with the NBC premiere of Law & Order: Criminal Intent doing 5.71 million, followed by a repeat of Law & Order: SVU doing only 4.51 million, down a bit from previous week. Law & Order followed at 10pm with a new episode and did 8.14 million, up some from previous week. The CW was on the map with America's Next Top Model doing a nice 3.82 million, though down a bit from previous week, then The CW followed with an encore of what else--90210-- doing 1.09 million viewers, completely losing the lead-in...and down a tad from previous week.
Thursday saw CBS and ABC battle. CBS started with a new Survivor: Tocantis at 11.99 million, up some from previous week. CSI was next with 14.91 million, down some from previous week and just a 3.6 18-49 rating. And a special repeat of CSI at 10pm did 9.58 million, down from previous week's encore of Criminal Minds. ABC started with a new episode of Ugly Betty doing 7.38 million, up nicely from previous week. An all-new Grey's Anatomy was next and did 15.55 million and a night best 5.4 18-49 rating, both up from previous week and #1 in the timeslot. A 10.3 HH rating, too. The special Michael J. Fox: Adventures of an Incurable Optimist followed and did a solid 10.23 million at 10pm. Fox started with Bones at 8.76 million, down some from previous week. An all-new Hell's Kitchen followed at 9pm did 6.5 million, down from previous week. NBC started with a new episode of My Name is Earl at only 4.47 million at 8pm, down again from previous week. Cancel this already. Then the new Parks and Recreation followed with another low of 4.72 million, ouch and they renewed this for next season. Again these types of shows just don't generate big numbers I guess. The Office followed with a new episode doing 7.84 million, up some from previous week and 30 Rock followed with only 6.13 million, but up some from previous week. NBC closed the night with a new episode of Southland doing 6.61 million and only a 2.0 18-49 rating, both series lows again and lower than what ER did. Smallville was new on The CW and did 3.39 million, up some from previous week, followed by a new Supernatural at 2.79 million, down some from previous week.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with new episodes of Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, NUMBERS. ABC did decent with the movie Happy Feet from 8-10pm. Prison Break/Dollhouse did terrible for Fox, and NBC did better than normal with a two-hour Dateline.
Saturday saw Fox win with NASCAR, edging the Cavs/Hawks NBA Playoffs game on ABC.
Tonight will be ABC and CBS battling. ABC will easily win in 18-49, but it will again be close for HH/viewers. CBS has a new 60 Minutes followed by the Amazing Race 14, Cold Case & The Unit. ABC will have new episodes of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters. Season finale of B&S tonight! NBC has an one-hour Dateline at 7pm and a three-hour season finale of Celebrity Apprentice, which doesn't usually do well with expanded finales. Fox has an all-new lineup of its animated comedies from 7-10, which includes dud Sit Down, Shut Up.
As for the week, CBS should win the week in HH/viewers, with Fox in 18-49. Fox will be second in HH/viewers, while ABC will take third in all categories but could sneak in for 2nd in 18-49 and HH. NBC will be fourth everywhere. As for the coming week...lots of season finales including Big Bang Theory, Castle, The Biggest Loser, Fringe, Cupid, Lie to Me, America's Next Top Model, Lost, NBC comedies, Smallville, Supernatural, Grey's Anatomy, CSI, CSI NY, Prison Break, America's Funniest Home Videos and next Sunday: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, and the Fox animated comedies.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of April 27-May 3, Week 32)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A new episode did 6.66 million. Up some from previous week.
• Sit Down, Shut Up (Fox) - Just 2.06 million in its move to 7pm, ouch.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - A new episode at 8:30pm did 5.14 million, much better than previous week when it aired at 7:30.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 6.57 million for a new episode...down a bit from previous week.American Dad! (Fox) 2 episodes - 2.52 million for a repeat at 7:30pm was higher than previous week when it was 7pm, and its regular 9:30pm slot was new and did 5.35 million, up some from previous week.

Week 33 (May 4-10):
Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 9.25 million for a new episode, on par from previous week's 9.24 million. Season finale tomorrow.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.89 million for a new episode...pattern for the CBS comedies this week is up so slightly from previous week.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.17 million for the comedy leader...same pattern as above
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 11.33 million for a new episode, decent stuff....same pattern as above again.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Scrubs (ABC) - 3.7 million on a special night...was better than According to Jim.
• Better Off Ted (ABC) - 3.07 million for the season finale on a special night was NOT better than the usual Jim. That should tell you if ABC has plans for this show for next season.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 6.45 million for a new episode is below normal.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 6.66 million for a new episode...could be better.
• Scrubs (ABC) - J.D.'s finale was awesome and did 5.07 million.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - New episode and did just 4.47 million, could be a series low...ouch.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - 4.72 million...series low again.
• The Office (NBC) - 7.84 million, up some from previous week.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 6.13 million...seems very low again but better than previous week.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 1.83 million...up some from previous week's prelim numbers. That was the finale.
• The Game (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 2.05 million. Up from previous week's prelim numbers.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox animated comedies from 7-10pm!

Summing it up. The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement & The Office were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (Gary Unmarried, 30 Rock) or just plain old terrible (such as Better Off Ted, My Name is Earl).

NBC was the first network to release something about 2009-2010 with their infront last week, but they have not announced their actual 2009-10 schedule yet.
NBC's schedule seems easy to predict (at least we think so) since they have announced most of the shows that they have picked-up. With the addition of The Jay Leno Show on weeknights in the 10pm hour, NBC will have limited space, losing 5 hours a week.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com NBC 2009-10 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Parenthood, Trauma, Mercy, Day One (dramas) and Community & 100 Questions (comedies)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: None (everything new seems locked for fall)
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Off Duty (comedy)

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM Football Night in America
8:00PM Sunday Night Football
(March: 7PM Dateline, 8-10PM Celebrity Apprentice, 10PM The Marriage Ref (NEW!))

Mondays
8:00PM Heroes
9:00PM Trauma (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM The Biggest Loser
9:00PM Parenthood (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Law & Order: SVU
9:00PM Southland

Thursdays
8:00PM SNL: Weekend Update Thursday / 100 Questions (NEW!)
8:30PM Parks & Recreation
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM 30 Rock

Fridays
8:00PM Dateline
9:00PM Law & Order

Saturdays
8:00-11:00PM Repeats

Comments: NBC has already announced it has picked-up six new series and I have included three of them here. NBC already has confirmed that Day One will launch in the winter following the 2010 Winter Olympics. I don't see how medical drama Mercy could air in the fall, since medical drama Trauma has also been picked-up. One or the other will be in the fall, with the other held for midseason. I have included Law & Order on the schedule, even though it has not been picked-up yet. NBC will likely bring some series in midseason just in case Jay Leno Show tanks. Medium and Chuck could be among them. Even My Name is Earl has a shot. As far as more new series for midseason, I'm having Mercy, Day One, and Community for midseason. NBC could pick up another series, perhaps the new legal drama Legally Mad, even though it tested poorly...but there is a fee if they don't pick-it up. It is said NBC will likely pick this or Chuck, as both are from Warner Bros. NBC also had three alternative series officially picked-up if needed (The Marriage Ref, Breakthrough with Tony Robbins and The Sing Off). They could put those on in the winter/spring.
For Mondays, NBC has said Heroes will stay on Mondays, but I think it will be on the move to 8pm. Trauma is a good candidate to follow Heroes, as Trauma just doesn't seem like an 8pm show. On Tuesdays, The Biggest Loser could be reduced to 60 or 90 minutes...it is certainly not good for NBC, but I think they have to do it since they are losing the 10pm hour. Parenthood seems like their best pilot and it could work after Loser. Another option they have is to have a comedy at 9:30pm, maybe 100 Questions...but I think they will use that on Thursdays at 8, al la Friends. Wednesdays could have Law & Order: SVU moving to this night and airing at 8pm leading into Southland, which has to be 9pm as 8pm seems way too early for a show like that. On Thursdays, it will be comedies of course...it's just the placement that needs to be determined. I think they will start off with SNL specials for the first 6 Thursdays leading into Parks & Recreation to try and build that up. Then NBC should try multicamera sitcom 100 Questions leading into the single camera comedies...because I just don't think another single camera sitcom is what NBC needs here. They could save single camera sitcom Community for midseason. Fridays will be a wild card for NBC. Will they pick-up Law & Order and put it on Fridays or save it for midseason again? The same goes for Medium. NBC could easily slot an episode of Dateline here....and dare I say it, Deal or No Deal? Saturdays will be repeats of course, while Sundays in the fall is NFL giving NBC some life. Then in January into mid-Feb. they could slot specials or miniseries until the Winter Olympics begin, which will be Feb. 12-28, 2010. After that NBC will likely launch their Sunday lineup of Celebrity Apprentice and perhaps another reality series to go with it, such as Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref? Another scenario could be the scripted Legally Mad, if NBC picks it up. Day One would likely replace Heroes after the Olympics.
Series that will be canceled or are ending include: Kath & Kim, Kings, Chopping Block, Lipstick Jungle, Knight Rider, Life, Crusoe, My Worst Own Enemy, Howdie Do It, ER.
Chuck & My Name is Earl are still question marks, while Medium & Law & Order are likely to get an additional season.
Anyway, this season NBC had another terrible season with declines from the previous year despite having the highest rated Super Bowl ever this year. Looking at next season, it'll be another tough year for NBC...especially if Jay Leno bombs big time. We still don't know how some of NBC's current 10pm shows will do in earlier timeslots, with some moving to even possibly 8pm. I think NBC is a mess and in a dire need of a hit as Southland and Parks & Recreation didn't do that this midseason and were lucky to be picked-up. On any other network, they could have not been brought back.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!

Remember, next Tuesday (May 19) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's "schedule" plans for the 2009-10 season. So, come on back next Tuesday 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 Fox's upfront, which will be May 18.

NBC's 2009-2010 Series Pick-Ups; WGN America Minor Schedule Changes

NBC unveiled today programming for the 2009-2010 television season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas including Trauma, Parenthood, Mercy and the event series Day One, as well as two new comedies including Community (single camera) and 100 Questions (four camera). It will be announced in two weeks which are for the fall and which are for midseason, but Day One is midseason. Four returning series pickups were also announced today including Heroes, Southland, Parks and Recreation and the addition of six new episodes of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday skewering today's top stories in live half-hour primetime shows.
The new and returning series will launch next season and the epic event series Day One is slated to premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games with a two-hour event.
The Jay Leno Show will be broadcast Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall, slated for the second week of September. Previously announced series pickups include The Office, 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, The Celebrity Apprentice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Friday Night Lights, and new alternative series The Marriage Ref, Breakthrough With Tony Robbins and Who Do You Think You Are?
View video clips of the new series.
NOTE: Additional series pickups will be announced May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule. So this means the fate of series such as My Name is Earl, Chuck, Medium, and Law & Order will be revealed during that week. I expect two of those to get cut, but knowing how desperate NBC is, they might all return. NBC will likely stock-up shows for midseason just in case Jay Leno Show is a big bust. We could get more new series announcements then too, such as David E. Kelley's Legally Mad.
View the details on the announced new series. And stay tuned in two weeks for the actual fall schedule, but before that come on back next week for our schedule predictions week!

WGN America has made some minor schedule changes. It seems new series Around The World For Free is not doing that well in the ratings on Thursday nights at 9pm ET. WGN America will move it to Mondays starting tonight, but tonight they will repeat the first two episodes from 8-10pm ET, before it joins the Monday schedule next week (May 11) at 9pm ET following an episode of AFV. Around the World for Free will also encore at 12am ET on Mondays replacing a Bob and Tom Show airing which moves to 4am ET on Mondays. That will cut the Corner Gas triple shot from 4am-5:30am to just a half-hour at 5am. Not to worry, because Corner Gas will be added to Tuesday nights starting May 12 from 4am-5:30am ET replacing Moesha. Moesha will slide over to Wednesday nights from 4am-5:30am replacing Sister, Sister which is off the schedule. Both Moesha and Sister, Sister were slated to leave the schedule after June as we previously mentioned, so Sister, Sister is leaving earlier than planned. Moesha will still leave after June. Fortunately, both shows are on other cable networks (Moesha on The N and Sister, Sister on ABC Family).
Anyway, replacing the original Around the World for Free airing on Thursdays will be various specials. Slated Thursdays at 9pm are Funniest Wedding Outtakes, Funny Things Kids Do, World's Most Shocking Moments Caught On Tape, and That Moment! With Jake Steinfeld. The specials will air out of WWE Superstars.
View the full list of changes happening on WGN America starting next week.

SitcomsOnline 2009-2010 NBC Infront Preview; Blog DVD Review: Tiny Toon Adventures - Season 1, Volume 2

NBC will have their "infront" presentation this coming Monday. But unlike last year, they WON'T announce an actual schedule since that was a disaster last year announcing it a month earlier than normal. If you all recall, they ended up changing it drastically a month later. So on Monday (May 4) they will only announce what new series and returning series will get picked-up for 2009-2010. Then they will announce the actual schedule in the actual upfront week, the week of May 18. We won't give you our prediction of the schedule until a week before upfronts, like usual, but today we will give our predictions on what will be picked-up by NBC on Monday. So here are our picks:

*CONFIRMED* Already Renewed Returning Series: 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, The Celebrity Apprentice (Spring), Friday Night Lights (DirecTV), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Southland, and The Office.
Likely Returning Series: Heroes, Parks & Recreation, Law & Order, Medium, Deal or No Deal, and of course Dateline.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Kath & Kim, Kings, Chopping Block, Chuck, Lipstick Jungle, Knight Rider, My Name is Earl, Life, Crusoe, My Worst Own Enemy, and Howdie Do It.
Likely New Series Pick-Ups (our picks): Parenthood (drama for fall), Community (comedy for fall), Off Duty (comedy for spring), 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne (comedy for fall or midseason), Trauma (drama for fall), and Mercy (drama for midseason)

COMMENTS: NBC only has 11 new pilots in production with 6 dramas and 5 comedies. Since NBC is only going to program from 8-10pm ET/PT on weeknights since Jay Leno Show (wt) will take over 10pm, we could expect some veteran/returning series getting canceled. Among the most likely are Chuck, Medium, My Name is Earl, and Law & Order...but I think one or even two of those will be back, probably Law & Order & Medium...maybe midseason for both.
If NBC has success with testing on their five comedy pilots, I can see them picking up 2 or 3 of them for the season (1 or 2 of the pick-ups held for midseason) instead of bringing back Parks & Recreation. Community starring Joe McHale and Chevy Chase is getting the most buzz. A traditional camera even has some buzz for NBC (100 Questions for Charlotte Payne), but not sure where that would fit with all single-camera comedies (possibly on another night then, like following Biggest Loser?). Off Duty (single camera) starring Bradley Whitford has some buzz as well. I think it will come down to those three comedies, with the other two comedy pilots probably having no chance.
Among dramas, Parenthood looks like it has the best shot of getting picked-up. Trauma also looks good as NBC is probably looking for another medical series to replace ER. Mercy has gotten some buzz the past few days and could be for midseason, while Legally Mad, Day One, and Lost & Found have not tested as good or have no buzz. I won't talk much more until our predictions week, but it will be interesting to see what NBC does to The Biggest Loser, cut it to one-hour, 90-minutes, or leave it at two hours? I'd cut it to one hour, but then again NBC is in bad shape. Also, how will Law & Order: SVU perform before 10pm and possibly without their two main stars? We just got late word that Southland was just renewed for 13 episodes, no surprise even though the show has gone down big in the ratings each week. NBC needs to bring back something new from this season.

Come on back Monday to see what NBC picks up. And stay tuned the week of May 11 for our annual upfront schedule predictions and the following week (May 18) for the actual Fall 2009 schedules, to see what we got right! I love this time of year!


Back to our regularly scheduled Saturday programming! It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly blog DVD review! Today we look at Warner Home Video's Tiny Toon Adventures - Season 1, Volume 2. Tiny Toon Adventures was created and produced as a collaborative effort between Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered as a syndicated cartoon in 1990. See Seth's Blog DVD Review of Tiny Toon Adventures - Season 1, Volume 2:

Tiny Toon Adventures - Season 1, Volume 2 (Warner Home Video, $44.98) is on DVD! I'm using extra exclamation points due to my love for this show. Not to mention that I now own, in DVD quality, my favorite episode of the series: "Tiny Toons Music Television." I talked about it in the review for Vol. 1. It features re-done videos for several songs using the Tiny Toon cast, including TWO songs by "They Might Be Giants," a take on "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, and more. It's great stuff. I'm jumping to that episode immediately in the review due to my fear that they might attempt music replacement. Luckily, Warner is THE studio I can count on to use original music elements in their DVD product, by and large. Having this episode itself complete is worth the price of admission for the set for *me*. Filling out the set and the remainder of the first season are 29 additional episodes (30 total) that remind me why this is an absolutely classic cartoon and a MUST OWN for any fan of the genre. One sequence, from "Best O' Plucky Duck Day," sticks out in my mind well -- Plucky wanting to get out of school but being tortured by the classroom alarm clock that just would NOT turn over to the time needed for class to be dismissed. I wholeheartedly admit it...Plucky is by FAR my favorite character. And *baby* Plucky in particular is still quoted 20 years later (Any 20-something with any childhood whatsoever should understand "elelator (or golf ball) go down the hoooooole.").
Technically the set is pretty good. There aren't any real problems with the animation quality. The colors match their original presentations, and 8 episodes fit nicely on the dual-layer discs. Audio is FIVE POINT ONE SURROUND! I don't actually have the equipment on hand right now to take advantage of the 5.1 (that will be reserved for a late night downstairs with the monster A/V rig.) but if I did I'm sure I'd be gushing random syllables. Packaging is the abominable translucent white plastic case that's become quite common. There are four discs, with 7-8 episodes per disc. Like other sets using the Clear Plastic Abomination style, the plastic clip holding the 4 discs' holders to the inner spine is fragile as will be mentioned in further detail in the Blog Review for Freakazoid's second season. Runtimes hover in the 21-22 minute range. Chapter stops are placed at the end of each act, causing a mild problem in the music video episode where there's more than 1 song per act. Otherwise it works out well.
If you enjoy comedy, cartoons, music, or life itself, you owe it to yourself to pick up this DVD set. It's one of the hallmark cartoons of the 1990s, and helped revitalize an entire genre that was in decline before its launch. I'm positive that you'll enjoy this show if you give it a chance. Cartoons are one of my favorite television genres, and this is one of my favorite cartoons. If you try it, it may become yours too. DVD sets from this studio need sales for future sets -- and without your support I won't get to see the continuing adventures of Buster and the gang, not to mention the periodic Baby Plucky spots. I want to see the complete adventures of Baby Plucky on DVD – and there's something innately charming in watching the elelator...er...elevator go down the hole.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4.5/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
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TV One June 2009 Adds Two Sitcoms; Network Notes Includes Obama Address; Hogan Family Interview

The weather is getting warmer out there in most of the country, so we are going to look ahead all this week to the month of June! Yes, May is still on the horizon but we here at SitcomsOnline like to plan ahead, which I'm sure you all like! We start out our "June schedule week" with plans for TV One June 2009! And they will add two new sitcoms to its regular line-up! On Monday, June 8 at 7:30pm, a new comedy joins the TV One prime-time line-up. The Holly Robinson-Peete short-lived family sitcom Like Family takes over the weeknights at 7:30pm timeslot to add some fresh laughs in the comedy zone. Like Family (2003-04) is a sitcom about two families -- one black, one white -- who share the same house and work together to overcome their differences to create a home.
Also joining the line-up on Monday, June 8 will be the classic '70s sitcom That's My Mama! We told you previously the show will have a special Mother's Day marathon on May 10, but now it is ALSO joining the weekday line-up as well a few weeks later! Mama and her family will air weekdays at 5:00pm kicking off the early evening sitcom line-up.
Due to these two new additions, there are quite a few changes to the weekday line-up. In the weekdays at 6am hour we now get Divorce Court, replacing Amen. At 7am Living It Up with Patti LaBelle replaces an episode of All About the Andersons, but that slides to 7:30am replacing Comics Unleashed. In the 8am hour, we now get two episodes of Amen, replacing an episode each of Comics Unleashed and Sharp Talk with Al Sharpton. The 9am and 10am hours remain the same with original encores. Weekdays in the 11am hour will now be Half & Half replacing original encores. The daytime marathons continue from 12pm-3pm, while Divorce Court's afternoon airings are moved in the 3pm hour replacing Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes. The Tom Joyner Show will air in the 4pm hour replacing Divorce Court. Then the sitcom line-up starts at 5pm as we mentioned with That's My Mama replacing Good Times at 5pm, followed still by Sanford & Son at 5:30pm, and Good Times at 6pm. Not to worry, the 5pm Good Times is now at 6:30pm replacing Half & Half. All of Us replace Eve at 7pm, and the aforementioned Like Family launches at 7:30pm replacing another Half & Half. Then we still have Martin and Living Single in the 8pm hour, followed by another Living Single a 9pm, but now 9:30pm will be Half & Half instead of All of Us. Back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons remain in the 10pm hour, while Martin and Sanford & Son still share the 11pm hour. The late night schedule also gets a bit of a change, at 12 midnight we now have Eve instead of another Jeffersons, while at 12:30am we have Living Single instead of Good Times. 1-3am will still feature a movie. Then the really late schedule also gets changed, in the 3am hour will be The Jeffersons and Martin instead of back-to-back Living Single. At 4am Half & Half remains, but the 4:30am Half & Half is replaced with Martin! And finally the 5am hour will still have Get the Hookup. So that's the entire schedule! We still have highlights to give though.
On Saturday, June 20 beginning at 12 Noon (following the Saturday morning sitcom block from 6am-12pm) through 8pm (with an encore from 12am-6am), Our Music Month is in full effect as TV One presents the "Half & Half: Must Be the Music" marathon consisting of episodes of the sitcom with guest appearances from some of the music industry greats including DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Musiq Soulchild, Faith Evans, MC Lyte, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
On Sunday, June 21 beginning at 3pm through 8pm (encores from 2am-6am), TV One airs a Fathers Day tribute in the form of an "All of Us: Fathers Day" marathon consisting of episodes of the family sitcom dealing with father/son episodes and situations of characters Robert and his son Bobby.
Finally, yes this is in July, but technically it part of June for TV One. On Friday, July 3 beginning at 8pm, the zany antics of Martin Payne will keep viewers in stitches as TV One presents the "Martin: Independence Day" mega-thon, a 24-hour laugh-a-thon consisting of some of the funniest and most talked about episodes of the sitcom Martin featuring comedian Martin Lawrence in some of his classic best moments and alter-ego character.
It is certainly going to be fun in the sun this June on TV One!

We have a lot of network notes for you. We announced them all on our message board yesterday, but we want to put it all in one space in case you missed it. President Obama is having a news conference live on Wednesday at 8pm ET for an hour. This means yet again the networks have to scramble and juggle programming. ABC and CBS had to change the most, especially CBS. We'll start with ABC, though. In the eastern and central time zones, Scrubs and Better Off Ted have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal, including the 100th episode of Lost at 9/8 central. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Scrubs and Ted will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Scrubs and Ted will air at 8pm PT. Because of this change, ABC will move the planned new episodes of Scrubs and Ted to a special night of Tuesday, May 5 in the 8pm ET/PT hour replacing two episodes of According to Jim. Poor Jim has had so many preemptions already and won't get to air its finale in the season now. Four episodes got preempted so ABC will have to air those sometime in the summer. Jim is still airing tonight and as of now on May 12. I would just pull it on May 12 and bring it back in the summer for its final 6 episodes. We'll let you know what happens to Jim. View the changes in a list form.
Moving on to CBS, they will have more changes than anyone. They also will air the Presidential News Conference on Wednesday at 8pm ET. In the eastern and central time zones, special airing of Rules of Engagement and Old Christine at a special time, will have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal on this night. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Old Christine and Gary Unmarried will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Old Christine and Gary will air at 8pm PT. In other changes, CBS has pulled Harper's Island out of the Thursdays at 10pm slot effective immediately. A repeat of Criminal Minds will air this Thursday (April 30), followed by a repeat of CSI on May 7. And on May 14, the final Thursday of the regular season, will see the season finale of CSI NY on a special night! Programming for the 10pm hour for the summer season, effective May 21, is to be announced right now. As for Harper's Island, it will be still on the air...it will be moved to Saturdays at 9pm replacing crime repeats. The series will air from May 2 through July 11, except on May 16 a special Mentalist repeat will air. And because of the Obama news conference on April 29, the sitcoms get affected. The Rules of Engagement special night and time is now on May 13 at 8pm, followed by a new Old Christine at a special time of 8:30pm. Because of that the season finales of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, which were slated for May 13, will now be May 20 against American Idol. And the two-part Criminal Minds season finale on May 20 moves from 8-10pm to 9-11pm, since the CSI NY finale at 10pm has been moved to Thursday, May 14. Besides the Harper's Island changes, all of these changes are because of the news conference! View the changes in a list form.
NBC is not really affected by this. NBC will air the Presidential News Conference at 8PM ET this Wednesday (April 29). A Law & Order repeat was scheduled in that slot. In the Mountain and Pacific time zones they will get Dateline at 7pm MT and 8pm PT instead of the Law & Order repeat. Why not just air the repeat there? No big loss for NBC.
Fox announced it is NOT airing the news conference! They will have a little scroll on the bottom saying you can watch it on Fox News Channel or Fox Business Channel. They will air an all-new episode of Lie to Me as scheduled. This is the first time Obama's conferences have been not aired by one of the big four. But they are making some changes to Sundays. Effective this Sunday (May 2), new animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up is being banished to 7pm replacing the American Dad! encore, which moves to 7:30pm. So this means King of the Hill moves from 7:30 back to its old 8:30pm slot for new episodes! This is not good news at all for Sit Down, Shut Up, which only after two airings has not done well in the ratings. 3 more episodes are left, as Fox is only airing 5 of the 13 for some reason. View these changes in a list form.

It went through three names, two leading ladies, and two networks, yet The Hogan Family managed to last six seasons and is well remembered as one of the great family sitcoms of the '80s. Our good friend Eric is back with another retro interview on his wonderful interview website, JustMyShow.com! Listen to on and off camera insight as Eric hangs out with Mark Hogan himself, Jeremy Licht! For six seasons, Jeremy Licht played the role of Mark Hogan on The Hogan Family. His other credits include the ABC TV movie The Comeback Kid starring John Ritter and appearances on TV hits such as St. Elsewhere and Hotel. These days, he spends his time working as a financial advisor with his company JL Capital Management. It is a very fun interview and Eric also has a bonus clip of him asking Jeremy on when on earth the Hogan Family is coming to DVD?! Life is such a sweet insanity, indeed! Head on over to Just My Show to listen to this new great interview!

Lifetime Networks 2009 Upfront; Network Notes; Remembering Wendy Blair

Lifetime Networks unveiled its 2009-10 program slate that encompasses the most powerful line-up of original series and movies in Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network's history, headlined by the sixth season of cable's hottest unscripted competition series, Project Runway.
Project Runway, featuring host Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, is set to make its long-awaited return to television on Thursday, August 20, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) with 14 hour-long episodes. The series, the highest-rated unscripted competition show on all of cable, will seamlessly lead into Models of the Runway at 11:00PM (ET/PT), beginning August 20, an all-new, half-hour companion series will center around the drama, anxiety, tears and joys of Project Runway's models as they compete for money and a major magazine cover shoot. In other unscripted news, new shows Cook Yourself Thin debuts on May 4 at 5:00 PM (ET/PT), and DietTribe is scheduled to return for its second season later this year.
As we mentioned, Lifetime's hit drama series Army Wives returns for its third season at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) on Sunday, June 7. Joining Army Wives this summer will be Drop Dead Diva, the spirited new comedic drama, starring newcomer Brooke Elliott (Hairspray, Wicked) and Margaret Cho (17 Again). It will air at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) starting Sunday, July 12. Lifetime has many original dramas in development. However, they have not been picked-up as series just yet. In development are: Mona Lisa Smile, based on the feature film of the same name; Mystic Pizza: Another Slice, a two-hour, back-door pilot based on the hit film; Marry Me, a limited-run anthology series that starts with a couple who meets in the pilot and concludes with a wedding in Episode 13; Queens of the Rodeo, a comedic drama with the exciting and dangerous rodeo circuit as the backdrop; The Fallen (working title), based on T. Jefferson Parker's novel of the same name; and Murder in Suburbia, formatted from the popular British series.
Rita Rocks, its first original comedy in a decade, stars Nicole Sullivan as an overworked wife and mother trying to find time for herself, will return for its second season in the Fall. Lifetime has three other original comedies in the works, but have not been picked-up as a series yet. In production for pilots are Sherri, loosely based on Sherri Shepherd's (The View) personal family experiences; The Valerie Bertinelli Project (working title) is about a newly divorced mother (Bertinelli) who must maintain a balance between her family and running her ex-husband's struggling hardware business; Alligator Point, is from Kelsey Grammar and stars Cybill Shepherd following the life and times of an eccentric group of Floridians whose lives change when a "Yankee" becomes part of their disjointed family. We will let you know if any of these three gets picked-up as a series joining Rita Rocks.
As for daily strip schedule, this fall Lifetime will begin airing two high-profile, off-net properties nightly, the popular dramas Grey's Anatomy and Medium. Currently, they both air once a week. They join a strong schedule that already features such top acquired product as Wife Swap, Desperate Housewives, Reba, Will & Grace and Frasier. Cybill joins the daytime line-up on May 4. Finally, in September 2010, Lifetime will also begin stripping the hit off-net comedy How I Met Your Mother, which currently fills one hour of the network's schedule per week on Mondays.
View more on Lifetime and LMN's upfront, which includes all the original movies they have in the works for 2009 and 2010.

We have a lot of network notes for you today. First off, ABC will air a repeat of Grey's Anatomy this Thursday (April 23) at 8pm leading into the return of all-new episodes at 9pm. The repeat will be the last original episode that aired, so fans can remember what happened, if they need refreshing. This means In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will not return to the slot now since yesterday we announced Ugly Betty was coming back a week earlier than planned (April 30). So updating my story from yesterday, Motherhood will now have three episodes still remaining to air, as it will have 4 of its 7 aired (though they had only planned to air 6 anyway). Samantha Who? looks like will only air 13 of its 20, with seven still left in the can, but ABC could certainly use those next season, which is more than likely to happen despite the ratings falter on Thursdays.
In other ABC notes, ABC has announced the celebs and athletes for the new summer series The Superstars! The eight athletes are Jennifer Capriati (tennis), Brandi Chastain (soccer), Robert Horry (basketball), Jeff Kent (baseball), Kristi Leskinen (X Games), Lisa Leslie (basketball), Bode Miller (skiing) and Terrell Owens (football). The eight celebrities are David Charvet (actor), Maksim Chmerkovskiy (Dancing with the Stars), Dan Cortese (host/actor), Paige Hemmis (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition), Julio Iglesias, Jr. (singer), Joanna Krupa (model), Ali Landry (model/actress) and Estella Warren (actress). The series is based on ABC's classic Wide World of Sports, which pitted athletes from all different sports against each other to determine the best athlete in the world. The Superstars pairs the celebrities with the athletes to compete in varying sporting events. Participants found out who their selected partners were only when they met for the first time at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The six-episode series premieres Tuesday, June 23 at 8:00PM on ABC. The team pairings for The Superstars will be Terrell Owens & Joanna Krupa; Jeff Kent & Ali Landry; Robert Horry & Estella Warren: Bode Miller & Paige Hemmis; Kristi Leskinen & Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Lisa Leslie & Dan Cortese; Jennifer Capriati & David Charvet; and Brandi Chastain & Julio Iglesias, Jr. Every week a team will be eliminated until one team is ultimately crowned the winner. Competitors' athletic prowess and strategy will be put to the test to excel in events including swimming, biking, running and kayaking, in addition to other head-to-head athletic challenges everyone must try to conquer. Find out more on the celebs and athletes.

Moving on to NBC, they have pulled drama Kings from Saturdays even after just one airing. Repeats of Law & Order: SVU will air instead at 8pm (it was at 9pm), with Southland encores moving to 9pm (from 10pm), and now Law & Order repeats will close out the night at 10pm. Then after May sweeps ends, Law & Order: Criminal Intent repeats will air for a few weeks at 8pm before Kings returns. 7 episodes of Kings remain and NBC promises to return the series on Saturday, June 13 at 8pm to finish them off. That date was originally the plan to end the series, now that will be the return date. The series will last through July 25, bearing any more changes of course.
Finally Fox has changed its summer schedule a bit again. New series Mental will now air Tuesdays at 9PM starting May 26 following summer repeats of House. Mental was previously scheduled to launch on Friday, May 29 at 9PM. It will still air Fridays, but now they will be encores of the Tuesday episodes. However, the Tuesday airings will only last through June 23. The Friday encores will become the new night for new episodes for Mental starting July 3 through August 14. Fox has also announced that it will return reality show The Moment of Truth on Wednesday, July 29 airing Wednesdays at 9PM, following So You Think You Can Dance. Dance ends its season in early August (Aug. 5 & 6), though, so Truth will then have repeats of Bones as its lead-in starting Aug. 19. August 12 will see two episodes of Moment of Truth from 8-10pm. View the complete Fox summer schedule.

Finally, we leave you today with some sad news. Wendy Blair died of cancer on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 in North Hollywood. Blair enjoyed a long career in the entertainment industry, having served as the first female junior executive at CBS Television City in the mid-1950s. Known for being analytical and extremely organized, she worked as an associate producer and producer on a number of popular television series. Among the series she worked on as an associate producer are Three's Company, and both of its spin-off series The Ropers and Three's a Crowd, as well as several variety shows and specials for companies including Dick Clark Productions and Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises, such as Dr. Shrinker.
Her other producer credits include pilots and series such as What a Country! in 1986, I Married Dora in 1987, Mutts in 1988, and Where's Rodney? in 1990. She later segued from working in production to serving as the manager of business operations for The Smothers Brothers and was active in this role until the beginning of 2009. Now, Joanne McCracken has taken over. Blair was a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America and was a founding member of the Association of Associate Producers (which later merged with the PGA). Blair was devoted to her family and family traditions. She will be deeply missed, especially by Three's Company fans and The Smothers Brothers followers. She was only 70.

NBC Mid-Season Preview: Parks and Recreation - Premieres April 9; NBC Pulls Kings; TV Land Renews High School Reunion

Parks and Recreation - Thursdays 8:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 8:30PM ET/PT

From Emmy Award-winning executive producers Greg Daniels (NBC's The Office, King of the Hill) and Michael Schur (NBC's The Office, Saturday Night Live) comes a new mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government. The new half-hour comedy will examine the mundane but necessary ways that people interact with their government, and ask why it's frequently so complicated -- as everyone knows from standing in line at the DMV, applying for home construction permits, or trying to get the city to fix a pothole.
The documentary cameras follow Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, NBC's Saturday Night Live, Baby Mama) a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. In an attempt to beautify her town -- and advance her career -- Leslie takes on what should be a fairly simple project: help local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones, NBC's The Office, Unhitched) turn an abandoned construction pit into a community park. Opposing them are defensive bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, real estate developers, and single-issue fanatics -- whose weapons are lawsuits, the jumble of city codes, and the very democratic process that Leslie loves so much.
Leslie is alternately helped and undermined by her colleague, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari, Human Giant, Scrubs), who cheerfully exploits his government position for personal gain. She is also thwarted by her boss Ron Swanson, who is philosophically opposed to government in any form.
Helping Leslie and Ann navigate the Pawnee bureaucracy is charismatic city planner Mark Brendanawicz, whose outlook has been soured by 15 years of public service.
If they can pull it off, Leslie hopes that she also will have inspired her uninterested college intern April (Aubrey Plaza, Mayne Street) and April's whole generation - all the while moving one step closer to her ultimate goal: becoming the first female president of the United States.
Parks and Recreation is a production of Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios. Along with Daniels and Schur, Howard Klein also serves as executive producer for the series.

Cast Details:

* Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
* Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford
* Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins
* Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson
* Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate
* Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz

Emmy Award nominee Amy Poehler stars as mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope on the new NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. The new series is a half-hour mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government.
The year 2008 was a very busy year for Poehler. Between her seventh season of NBC's Saturday Night Live (and her fourth as the co-anchor of Weekend Update), a trio of films and a new animated project for Nickelodeon, she was very active. Poehler received her first Emmy nomination in 2008 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Saturday Night Live. Due to a change in eligibility, this is an unprecedented nomination, making her the first performer in SNL history to land a spot in this category.
Poehler could be seen starring opposite Tina Fey in Universal Pictures' hit comedy film Baby Mama and also lent her voice to the animated film Horton Hears a Who! with Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. Poehler had a starring role in the ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory, alongside Will Ferrell, Will Arnett and Jon Heder, and she also provided the voice to the boxoffice smash hit Shrek the Third as Snow White. Her other feature credits include the hit comedy Mean Girls, Mr. Woodcock, Southland Tales, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, The Ex, Wet Hot American Summer and Envy.
Poehler has made memorable appearances on television ranging from NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien (as recurring character Stacey, Andy Richter's little sister), Arrested Development, Wonder Showzen and Undeclared. She also was a voice on O'Grady and The Simpsons.

Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford) is poised for 2009 to be his breakout year with a new television series, a trio of films, and a headlining comedy tour. Before the new series premieres, Ansari will appear in a handful of features. He recently began production on Judd Apatow's upcoming comedy Funny People, opposite Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, and also has roles in I Love You, Man with Paul Rudd, and opposite Rogen and Anna Faris in Observe and Report.
Ansari is best known for his role on MTV's hit sketch comedy series, Human Giant. The series is based around comedy sketches performed by Ansari, along with Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer. Many of their sketches have become Internet sensations and have popularized the trio with young people all across the U.S. Last year, Ansari also had a memorable guest-starring role on Flight of the Conchords, in which he portrayed a racist fruit vendor. He can also be seen in a multi-episode arc on Scrubs.

Rashida Jones (Ann Perkins) can be seen in the feature film I Love You, Man for writer-director John Hamburg, starring opposite Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. She recently completed her starring roles in the independent features Life in Flight (with Patrick Wilson and Amy Smart), and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (with Max Minghella) -- both set for release later this year. Her past film credits include Little Black Book, opposite Holly Hunter, Kathy Bates and Brittany Murphy.
Jones caught attention of audiences and the industry alike when she portrayed the ambitious saleswoman, Karen Filippelli, in NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy NBC's The Office, opposite Steve Carell. She also starred as Kate on Unhitched a half-hour comedy from the Farrelly brothers. Her previous television credits include David E. Kelley's Boston Public as Louisa Fenn and Jorge Zamacoma's Wanted as Detective Carla Merced. She also appeared in Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, If These Walls Could Talk II, The Chappelle Show and the British television series NY-LON. Jones was also a weekly correspondent on the talk show Vibe TV.

Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) received his B.F.A. in theater from the University of Illinois and has performed at Chicago’s famed Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters. He was a series regular on American Body Shop and has appeared on 24, Deadwood, Will & Grace, Monk, The West Wing, CSI: NY and NYPD Blue. He recurred on George Lopez as Randy.
His feature credits include Wristcutters, Patriotville, The Go Getter, Sin City, and Miss Congeniality 2. Nick can next be seen in the feature films Men Who Stare at Goats with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor and All Good Things with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst.

Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate) is originally from Wilmington, Del., and is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is an actor, writer and comedian. She has been performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also recently began performing stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv.
Plaza stars in the upcoming comedy features Funny People, directed by Judd Apatow, and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team which debuted at Sundance. She can also be seen in the hit online series The Jeanne Tate Show, and ESPN's Mayne Street. Plaza will next star in the Universal feature Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, directed by Edgar Wright.

Paul Schneider (Mark Brendanawicz) will next be seen in Bright Star directed by Jane Campion as well as Sam Mendes Away We Go opposite John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Schneider was lauded for his performance in Lars and the Real Girl opposite Ryan Gosling as well as The Assassination of Jesse James with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. His directorial debut Pretty Bird starred Billy Crudup and Paul Giamatti and screened in competition in Sundance in 2008. He has also received critical acclaim for his work in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, All the Real Girls and The Family Stone.


Pilot Plot:

#1 - SERIES PREMIERE--MAKE MY PIT A PARK - From Emmy Award-winning executive producers of The Office comes a new mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government. The documentary cameras follow Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. In an attempt to beautify her town Leslie takes on what should be a fairly simple project: help local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) turn an abandoned construction pit into a community park. Leslie is alternately helped and undermined by her colleague, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), who cheerfully exploits his government position for personal gain. She is also thwarted by her boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) who is philosophically opposed to government in any form. Helping Leslie and Ann navigate the Pawnee bureaucracy is charismatic city planner Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), whose outlook has been soured by 15 years of public service. If they can pull it off, Leslie hopes that she also will have inspired her uninterested college intern April (Aubrey Plaza) and April’s whole generation – all the while moving one step closer to her ultimate goal: becoming the first female president of the United States.

#2 - REPORTER - LESLIE HAS TROUBLE WITH A REPORTER - When Leslie (Amy Poehler) invites a reporter to do a story on her park project, she and her committee have trouble staying on message. Leslie calls in Mark (Paul Schneider) to help save the story, but he only makes the situation worse. Meanwhile, Tom (Aziz Ansari) kisses up to his boss (Nick Offerman). Rashida Jones and Aubrey Plaza also star.

Analysis:

Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain any screener copies in time for review. The show looks pretty funny from the promos and 5-minute preview they've posted online. I've always liked Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones, so I will be tuning in to watch the premiere. I'm not too familiar with the rest of the cast. NBC is set to air 6 episodes.

Here are some external reviews:

The Hollywood Reporter
Entertainment Weekly
Variety
Newsday
San Francisco Chronicle
Zap2it

More on Google News

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, April 9 on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

Knope Knows - A Parks and Recreation fansite

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Parks and Recreation Photo Gallery


Sorry we couldn't give you our take on the pilot. If we somehow get the pilot before airing, we will edit it in and let you know. Thanks for the preview, Todd! Anyway, back to the news...NBC has pulled Kings from the Sunday line-up. NBC will dethrone to Kings to Saturdays at 8PM effective Saturday, April 18. Kings will not air this week. NBC will replace Kings' Sundays at 8PM airings with an expanded Dateline from 7-9PM. Kings is just the latest NBC bomb. NBC says they will air all the episodes, so that should last it into June. Kings lasted only 4 weeks on Sundays.

TV Land announced that it has picked up its successful reality series High School Reunion for a third season. Over 1 million people have been watching the current season, which airs its final episode tonight (April 8) at 10pm ET/PT. Now viewers can tune in as Las Vegas' Chaparral High School's Class of 1989 will experience a reunion like no other. Set on the garden isle of Kauai, the classmates of Chaparral -- some of whom haven't seen each other in over twenty years -- will have the unique opportunity to finally settle a score, find new love or rekindle an old flame and reconnect during this luxurious getaway. High School Reunion is produced for TV Land by Mike Fleiss through his NEXT Entertainment production company in association with Warner Horizon Television. High School Reunion is set to debut its third season on TV Land, with eight episodes, in the third quarter of 2009, on TV Land during TV Land PRIME, the network's primetime destination block.
Season two of High School Reunion has been averaging 883,000 total viewers with a median age of 45. Among A25-54, it has been posting a 0.5 rating and 554,000viewers 25-54 and among A40-54 a 0.6 rating and 343,000 viewers among 40-54.

ABC To Air Animated Comedy The Goode Family in Summer with Wipeout; Fox and NBC Updates

Today we have all network news, including some scoops! As we first announced on our message board on Friday (and then later on Twitter), we have gotten the early portion of the ABC summer 2009 schedule! We already knew about The Bachelorette airing on Mondays (it launches in-season on May 18 after the Dancing performance finale), and will air 8-10pm on Mondays starting the following week (May 25). It is unknown right now what will air at 10pm on Mondays, but ABC does have Here Come the Newlyweds on the roster for a possible pairing. The next night will be Tuesday, May 26 as ABC brings back the family game show Opportunity Knocks for at least two weeks airing May 26 and June 2 at 8pm. Then the NBA Finals come, so not sure what ABC will do yet. ABC has six episodes on the shelf, so at least two will see the light of day. ABC will air the miniseries Diamonds on two nights--Sunday, May 24 and Tuesday, May 26 from 9-11pm. Diamonds is a Canadian production starring Judy Davis. Diamonds weaves together five storylines to form the plot, focusing on the daughter of a U.S. Senator who is murdered at a diamond mine in Sierra Leone (in Africa). It is a Hollywood event limited series from start to finish, especially with its stellar ensemble including Judy Davis who won an Emmy for the last role she played which aired on ABC (Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows). James Purefoy (Rome) also stars. ABC has another Canadian miniseries in the works for later in the summer called Impact. Impact is a four-hour disaster epic and stars David James Elliott, Natasha Henstridge, Steven Culp and James Cromwell.
Then on Wednesday, May 27, ABC will launch the second season of last summer's big hit Wipeout! It's back with all the big balls and more for 16 episodes this summer! Wipeout will lead into new animated comedy The Goode Family airing back-to-back in the 9pm hour. The series has 13 episodes to air. The 10pm hour will likely be new episodes of The Unusuals, as that series (which launches this Wednesday) will have only 5 episodes airing of its 10 in the regular season, so the final 5 could air in the summer following Wipeout and Goode Family. As previously announced, Thursday, May 28 will be The Scripps National Spelling Bee from 8-10pm. Saturday, May 30 will see the return of Pushing Daisies! The series has three episodes left and will likely be stripped for the next two weeks as well in the Saturdays at 10pm timeslot concluding the series. ABC could also air the final three episodes of Dirty Sexy Money and the final four of Eli Stone as well in the slot thereafter. We'll let you know for sure when we do. Sunday, May 31 could see game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals in primetime, if it is necessary. The 2009 NBA Finals will air from June 4-18 on Thursdays, Sundays and Tuesdays for up to seven games, if necessary. A second year of the half-hour series Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night will lead into all of the games once again. We don't have any other June details or late summer news, so stay tuned for that. Lots of stuff still to come, such as the second season of I Survived a Japanese Game Show and new stuff such as Wide World of Sports Superstars, with possibly the 10th anniversary return of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this August!
In other ABC updates, they will air a clip show of Lost on Wednesday, May 13 at 8pm leading into the two-episode season finale from 9-11pm, while ABC will air a performance recap show of Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday, May 19 at 8pm leading into the two-hour grand finale from 9-11pm.

Fox has given Bones two special nights. Because of the all preemption by American Idol and President Obama, Bones will have to air on two special nights to catch up on its episode order. The first special night will be Wednesday, April 15 at 8pm, preempting Lie to Me, which has also had its share of preemptions. The second special night will be Monday, April 20 at 8pm, replacing a scheduled House repeat. So, yes that will be three new episodes of Bones in a matter of 5 days, as it will still air and be all-new on its regular night and time of Thursday, April 16.
We gave you the Fox summer 2009 schedule before, but they have added a new series and moved the premiere of one by a week. New medical drama Mental now premiering Friday, May 29 at 9:00 pm ET/PT. Mental follows Dr. Jack Gallagher (Chris Vance), a dynamic, young psychiatrist who serves as Director of Mental Health Services at a Los Angeles hospital. It was previously scheduled to launch on May 22, but now a House repeat will air instead. In other summer updates, More to Love, the inspirational new dating competition out to prove that love comes in all shapes and sizes, is set to premiere Tuesday, July 28 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Fox. Executive-produced by Mike Fleiss, the unscripted series follows a single average guy with a big waist and an even bigger heart as he romances several confident and secure plus-size women. The series will follow episodes of Hell's Kitchen.

Meanwhile NBC has pulled Law & Order: Criminal Intent Wednesday repeats after one airing effective this week. The repeats had replaced the recently pulled Chopping Block. Instead now NBC will air repeats of the original Law & Order. After the Life season (or series?) finale this Wednesday, repeats of Law & Order: SVU take over starting the following week (April 15). So, the night will be turned into an all Law & Order series night, with repeats of the original at 8 and repeats of SVU at 9, leading into new episode of the original at 10pm. This could be a test for the fall to see how Law & Order and Law & Order SVU do from 8-10pm, back-to-back, even though they will be repeats right now.

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.

WGN America Adds Marathons, More Spring Changes; Fox Summer 2009 Schedule; NBC Chops Chopping Block from Schedule

Two weeks ago we gave you the WGN America's spring 2009 line-up, but now there are some changes and additions! First, I want to give you the marathons they have added. The first marathon is an afternoon marathon of Matlock on Sunday, April 5 from 1pm-5pm ET, yes four episodes of Ben Matlock representing clients. Then the following Sunday on Sunday, April 12 from 1pm-5pm will be In the Heat of the Night. For this event, we get two episodes followed by a 1995 TV-movie called In the Heat of the Night: Grow Old Along with Me (1995). The next marathon is a primetime launch of the classic animated series The Bullwinkle Show! The marathon will be Friday, April 17 from 8-10pm ET (5-7pm PT). As we mentioned last time, the series will regularly air Saturdays at 12am ET (9pm PT) starting April 18. Great to see this series back on national TV! The four episode marathon will be the first four parts of the story arc "Wossamotta U" from the fifth season. The regular airings will start with the second season episode "Rue Britannia, Part 1." The final marathon they have scheduled so far is probably the best one because it is for a show that doesn't air on the regular schedule! On Sunday, April 19 during the classic block "Outta Sight Retro Night" hours we will get The Munsters! Yes, from 5pm-10pm and 11pm-2am ET. WGN America will preempt Cosby Show, ALF, WKRP, Newhart, Honeymooners, Bewitched, Jeannie, and Hillbillies for one night for Herman Munster and gang! The last time the series aired on WGN America was for a Halloween marathon. Check out the episode schedule for this marathon!
As for the regular changes starting week of April 13, what we gave you before it pretty much right...but there are a few changes now. The weeknights at 1am ET hour will no longer be a rotating wheel. We will now get Star Trek: The Next Generation (except Thursday nights is still the delayed Scrubs airings). Four nights a week of Star Trek: TNG, so the Tuesday primetime airings will be replaced by movies or baseball games now. The only other changes are to late nights. Tuesday late nights from 4am-5:30am ET will now be Moesha instead of a second night of Corner Gas. But as of now, when Moesha leaves at the end of June (looks like it is expiring), the second night of Corner Gas will return in July. Replacing the Thursday airing of Moesha at 5am ET starting the week of April 13 will be Reno 911. Since Reno 911 will be replaced at 1am hour, the airings will be moved to Friday late nights from 4am-5:30am ET replacing Funniest Pets & People. And the fifth airing of Reno 911 is still Sundays at 5am ET. As I said, July will see more late night changes. Sister, Sister will also be removed after June as well it seems. Because its Wednesday 4am-5:30am ET block will be replaced by Funniest Pets & People starting in July. Thursdays and Fridays in July will see a bit of a change, too...4-5am ET will be Reno 911 and 5am ET will be Funniest Pets & People. Why the change? Because new reality series Around the World for Free concludes at the end of June, so the Bob & Tom Show encore won't air at 4am ET on Thursdays anymore. I know...confusing. That's all we have for now. Stay tuned for more WGN America news, since we were told to expect more sitcom marathons in the summer and possibly new shows on Sunday nights in the fall!

Fox's summer 2009 season begins this May with season five of So You Think You Can Dance and the premiere of new medical drama Mental. Fan-favorites heat up the summer with the next installment of culinary competition Hell's Kitchen and all-new episodes of Don't Forget the Lyrics!, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, Cops and America's Most Wanted.
So You Think You Can Dance kicks off with a two-night, four-hour premiere Thursday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 27 both from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. Once the auditions conclude, weekly performance shows will air Wednesdays from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, and weekly results shows will air Thursdays from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT.
Mental will debut Friday, May 22 at 9:00PM ET/PT. The series follows Dr. Jack Gallagher (Chris Vance), a dynamic, young psychiatrist who serves as Director of Mental Health Services at a Los Angeles hospital. Leading into Mental, will be the return of Don't Forget the Lyrics! as it returns to lock-in the lyrics with all-new episodes starting Friday, May 22 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
Then six weeks later, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? heads back to the classroom for summer session and all-new episodes starting Friday, July 3 at 8:00PM ET/PT.
The summer gets even hotter when the next installment of Hell's Kitchen kicks off with a special two-hour premiere Tuesday, July 21 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. The intensity continues Tuesdays beginning July 28 in its regular hour of 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT as Chef Gordon Ramsay narrows down the field of competing chefs until only one remains standing in the kitchen.
Finally, Cops and AMW will be new all summer long on Saturdays. And as previously announced, Teen Choice 2009, the annual special that celebrates the year's hottest teen icons in film, television, music, sports and fashion, will air Monday, August 10 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT.

NBC has chopped its last meal for Chopping Block. NBC has pulled the Wednesday at 8pm cooking-reality competition series from the schedule after just three airings. The series has gone down in the ratings in each episode and was pulled after just a 1.8 HH rating and just 2.58 million viewers. Those are Saturday numbers! The show will be replaced by repeats of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, which was scheduled to air repeats starting April 29, so it is coming 5 weeks earlier than planned. No, these will not be the new season of Criminal Intent, that starts on NBC in June on Mondays. But USA Network will air the new season first starting April 19.

Detroit's WADL New Classic TV Block; Obama Preempts Programming on March 24

WADL TV-38, Detroit's Urban TV station will be adding some exceptional new programming that will include legendary favorites to the station's spring line-up. The new additions to the classic TV programs will include: I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, The Brady Bunch, The Honeymooners, The Beverly Hillbillies and The Andy Griffith Show.
WADL TV 38 features Detroit's only local dance show Dance Party, and nationally known programming such as Cribs, American Chopper, RENO 911, Dave Chappell's Show, and Cheaters. In addition, the station already specializes in classic programming such as Good Times, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Fat Albert, The A-Team, In The Heat of the Night and up and coming to the lineup, Steve Harvey, Brian McKnight, The Brady Bunch and many others.
Currently the classic TV line-up on weekdays starting at 4PM is The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, The A-Team, The Rockford Files, Fat Albert, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, A Different World, In the Heat of the Night, Good Times, M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, Magnum P.I., Hawaii Five-0, and What's Happening Now!!
So, the new programming will start Monday, March 30. Weekdays starting 4PM: Fat Albert, The Brady Bunch, Beverly Hillbillies, I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Sanford & Son, Fresh Prince, A Different World, The Honeymooners, In The Heat of the Night, The Jeffersons, Good Times, M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, Magnum P.I., Hawaii Five-0, and What's Happening Now!!

President Obama is as it again...with preempting primetime programming. This time it will be on Tuesday, March 24 at 8PM ET. I'm all for Obama, but come on this is crazy. Eastern/Central time zones will be mostly affected by this. I'll detail it by network.
First up ABC will air the Presidential News Conference with Obama live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. So in the eastern/central time zones, the return of According to Jim will be totally preempted. Dancing with the Stars: The Results and Primetime: What Would You Do? will air as scheduled following the news conference. Out in the mountain and pacific time zones, everything will air as normally scheduled, including According to Jim...but they will be repeats instead ("The Blankie" and "Cabin Boys"). So if you're in the east/central time zones and love According to Jim, you'll have to watch the repeats on abc.com the next day, or if you get ABC onDemand on your cable system. Not sure how this will affect ABC's finale date of May 5 for According to Jim. Will it be pushed back a week or will they air two episodes on a special night to catch up? I was looking forward to the return, because Constance Marie (George Lopez) was going to guest star and the second episode was directed by Penny Marshall.
CBS will air the Presidential News Conference with Obama live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Following the address, they will air all-new episodes of NCIS and The Mentalist at special times of 9pm and 10pm ET/PT. Without a Trace will totally be preempted. Not sure yet what will air at 8pm PT/7pm MT, but that could go back to local affiliates or CBS could air a NCIS repeat there leading into a new NCIS.
NBC will air the Presidential News Conference with Obama live at 8pm ET/5pm PT, pushing The Biggest Loser an hour back from 8-10pm to 9-11pm ET/PT. So, Law & Order: SVU is totally preempted. For mountain/pacific time zones at 8pm PT/7pm MT you will see a special Dateline episode leading into The Biggest Loser at a special time.
Finally, most affected by Obama is Fox. Fox will have to totally scrap a two-hour American Idol Tuesday. They will air the Presidential News Conference with Obama live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. A House repeat will follow at 9pm ET/8pm CT. House will also air at 9pm PT/8pm MT. King of the Hill repeats will fill the hour at 8pm PT/7pm MT. The regular Tuesday installment of Idol will be moved to Wednesday 8-10pm ET/PT, so that means an episode of Lie to Me will have to be preempted that week. And the regular results of Idol Wednesday will have to be moved to Thursday, March 26 from 8-9pm ET/PT preempting Bones. Instead of this mess, couldn't Fox just have aired Idol 9-11pm ET on Tuesday and air it in its normal time in the mountain/pacific time zones instead of causing mass confusion? I know Fox doesn't schedule at 10pm, but the local affiliates wouldn't mind, I'm sure.

I'm on my way to a quick trip to Houston in literally minutes, so I'll see you back live on Sunday when I return...but please do come on by tomorrow (great story!) and Saturday (blog DVD review) as I have already done those stories for those days set to post on their own. Ain't technology grand?

NBC Announces Summer 2009 Schedule; Nick Upfront, Includes Details on Nick at Nite's Glenn Martin

NBC will serve up a sizzling menu of new and returning summer series -- accented by all-new original scripted programming with the series premieres of The Philanthropist, Merlin and The Listener - and paced by the new alternative series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Great American Road Trip plus the return of summer's top-rated America's Got Talent. I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, based on the international hit from Granada America, will debut as a two-hour television event on Monday, June 1 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT and will be stripped over four weeks in June from Mon-Thurs in the 8pm hour. The series was briefly brought over to the U.S. in 2003 on ABC.
In addition, NBC's season finales of Medium, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order and the premiere of The Listener will provide additional primetime momentum at 10 p.m. for the inaugural week of The Tonight Show Starring Conan O'Brien beginning Monday, June 1 from 11:35 p.m.-12:35 a.m. ET/PT. NBC's eventful summer will also include the action-packed original miniseries Meteor and The Storm. In addition, Law & Order: Criminal Intent episodes from USA Network will join the NBC lineup for its 16 new episodes.
Check out the full NBC summer schedule that starts June 1 basically.

Nickelodeon had their upfront yesterday, and of course Nick at Nite was there. They announced talent for their upcoming original animated comedy. Also, two Nickelodeon channels are renaming (more on that below), but first...
A star-studded voice-over cast featuring Kevin Nealon (Weeds, Anger Management), Catherine O'Hara (For Your Consideration, Chicken Little) and Judy Greer (27 Dresses, Miss Guided) has been tapped for Nick at Nite's upcoming stop-motion animated comedy, Glenn Martin, DDS set to premiere this Summer. The first television production to come from Michael Eisner's Tornante Animation, Glenn Martin, DDS follows a beleaguered dentist and his family trading in the suburbs for life on the road. Crisscrossing the country, the Martins are beset by an array of colorful locals and crazy situations in locations ranging from Las Vegas to Amish Country. Many of the characters they encounter are voiced by enough instantly recognizable guest stars to fill a parking lot of RVs, including: Chrissie Hynde, Betty White, Gene Simmons, Wendie Malick and more.
Each of season one's 20 episodes follows the life of Glenn Martin (Kevin Nealon), who yearns for a change of scenery and a deeper connection with his family. Determined to bring the family closer together, Glenn takes the Martins on a road trip to protest the destruction of a beloved childhood park. As things unravel right from the get-go, the family is forced to make the dental-mobile - replete with a giant decorative toothbrush on the roof - their new home. Glenn, Jackie and Courtney (Jackie Clarke) - an 11-year-old future corporate maven who brings along her personal assistant, Wendy (Judy Greer), a 14-year-old North Korean exile - and son, Conor (Peter Oldring), the 13-year-old hormone-addled tween who's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed--quickly learn when hitting the road that the road can sometimes hit back in unexpected ways. The Martins are accompanied on their journey by the family dog, Canine, who's pronounced buttocks only add to the hilarity.
In other Nickelodeon upfront news, The N will be renamed to TEENick Network later this year, likely the fall. That is not all... Noggin will also be renamed. Noggin will be renamed to Nick Jr. Nickelodeon had programming blocks on their network for TEENick and Nick Jr. and they will now be dropped. The name changing for both networks is because Nickelodeon wants to show their Nickelodeon brand on all their channels so instantly they know what to expect such as Nick at Nite, TEENick, Nick Jr., and NickToons TV.

Seinfeld To Produce Comedy-Reality Series for NBC; Fox Orders Two More Seasons Simpsons, CBS Orders Two More Editions of Survivor

NBC is proud to announce a new comedy-reality series created by superstar comedian and producer Jerry Seinfeld's Columbus 81 Productions. Mr. Seinfeld has partnered with Ellen Rakieten, a 23-year veteran of The Oprah Winfrey Show on this project. This marks Jerry Seinfeld's first regular TV venture since starring in the sitcom Seinfeld.
This new series titled The Marriage Ref (working title) will feature opinionated celebrities, comedians and sports stars who will candidly comment, judge and offer different strategies for real-life couples in the midst of a classic marital dispute.
No word yet when it will air exactly, but look for it sometime in the 2009-2010 season. More info will come soon, such as how many episodes were ordered. As of now, Jerry will create and produce the series, and not appear on it...but don't be surprised if he appears on it once or twice.

Fox has ordered two additional seasons of The Simpsons, which will bring the longest-running series in primetime television history through its 22nd season. The 44-episode pickup ensures the series will reach an astounding 493 episodes.
Since its debut on January 14, 1990, The Simpsons immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture and has become one of television's most iconic families.
"Best. 20 Years. Ever.," a year-long global celebration honoring all things The Simpsons, launched in January 2009 and will culminate on January 14, 2010, the 20th anniversary of the series' debut.
CBS has ordered two more editions of Survivor to be broadcast during the 2009-2010 season. These will mark the 19th and 20th editions of broadcast television's longest-running reality competition series. Jeff Probst, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Series, will continue as host. The groundbreaking reality series, which premiered in May 2000, has aired Thursdays at 8pm since February 2001.

Hallmark Channel Reduces I Love Lucy in February; Obama Preempts Programming

Earlier this week we gave you Hallmark Channel's March line-up, now Hallmark has edited February a bit. We are not sure if this will affect March yet, but I think it will. As of now, we don't have details on if March will be altered, but we do have what will happen starting Monday.
They have made last minute changes to be started on Monday (Feb. 9). Weekdays 4-5pm ET/PT will now be another episode of Little House on the Prairie replacing I Love Lucy. Lucy will remain weekdays 8-9am, though. The rest of the changes are on weekends. Saturdays 6-9am ET/PT will now be three episodes of Little House on the Prairie replacing the three-hour block of I Love Lucy. And that's not all on Saturdays...Saturdays 1-3am will now be back-to-back episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger replacing more I Love Lucy. Get the pattern yet? If not, keep reading. Sundays from 9-10am will now be another extra episode of 7th Heaven, so that series will air from 9am-3pm now on Sundays. The 9am hour will replace two episodes of I Love Lucy. However, all is not lost for Lucy on Sunday mornings, it will remain at 8:30am. And finally Sunday nights from 1-3am will now be more Walker, Texas Ranger replacing... you guessed it, I Love Lucy. So if you're keeping score, I Love Lucy now will only air weekdays 8-9am and Sundays at 8:30am...ouch.
So what will this mean for the March schedule we announced earlier this week? Not sure yet. If I were to guess, some of these changes happening Monday will be carried over to March (I doubt Lucy will air 3pm in March), but we'll let you know as soon we know! So for now, the March schedule we announced is still happening...but expect I Love Lucy to be reduced from the original March plan. The Hallmark sitcom curse continues...can The Golden Girls break that in March?

President Obama is planning a Presidential News Conference on Monday (Feb. 9) at 8PM ET/5PM PT. So this will affect the Eastern/Central time zones programming on network TV. The press conference is expected to last between 40-60 minutes. So in the eastern and central time zones, the 8pm hour will be different. At 8PM ET on CBS, the all-new episode of The Big Bang Theory will be moved to 9:30PM ET/PT for the entire nation, replacing Worst Week's season finale. That season finale will now be on Feb. 16 at 9:30pm ET/PT. How I Met Your Mother was also slated to be all-new at 8:30pm, but since the press conference will be between 40-60 minutes, CBS will air a repeat of Mother instead, joined in progress if the press conference ends before 9pm. Out west at 8pm PT (7pm MT), a repeat of Old Christine will air on a special night, followed by a repeat of How I Met Your Mother at 8:30pm PT/7:30pm MT.
Over at NBC, they will also air the press conference. They will have to preempt an all-new episode of Chuck at 8pm ET. If the press conference ends before 9pm ET, then they will air a Heroes repeat joined in progress. Out west, a repeat of Heroes will air in its entirety at 8pm PT.
ABC will devote the full 8pm ET/5pm PT hour to the press conference. In east/central, The Bachelor will air an hour later from 9-11pm ET (8-10pm CT), as True Beauty will be preempted. Out west, The Bachelor will air in its normal time of 8-10pm PT (7-9pm MT), followed by a repeat of True Beauty at 10pm PT/9pm MT. The regularly scheduled new episode of True Beauty will air on a special night of Tuesday at 10pm ET/PT, preempting Primetime: What Would You Do? for the week. Fox will preempt an all-new episode of House on Monday and move it to the following Monday in its normal time (another Obama address pending), while a 24 repeat from the previous week will air at 8pm PT/7pm MT out west.
That is not all for Obama. He is also planning a Presidential Address to Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. All the networks have committed to that. ABC will preempt two Scrubs repeats on that night to air the Presidential Address to Congress from 9-10pm ET. That will air 6-7pm PT, so ABC will likely air those Scrubs repeats out west. NBC will cut The Biggest Loser in half that night and will air the second hour the following night at 8pm, no idea what NBC will air out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT yet. CBS will preempt a scheduled The Mentalist repeat at 9pm ET that night to accommodate the address but it will air out west. Fox will make the most drastic change for this night. A Bones repeat will air at 8pm ET leading into the Presidential Address to Congress at 9pm ET. Not sure what is airing out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT, but I would guess another Bones repeat. Since American Idol was scheduled to air two-hours that Tuesday night, Fox will move those two-hours to Wednesday from 8-10pm ET/PT. So Lie to Me is totally preempted that week (Wednesday Feb. 25). The second night of American Idol will be shifted to Thursday that week at 8pm ET/PT, preempting Bones. Idol will lead into an all-new Hell's Kitchen.
And believe it or not, Obama also plans a short address on Monday, Feb. 16 as well. So far no networks have committed to that one. We will keep you up to date of everything on this, so keep checking back.

TCA Winter 2009 Press Tour: NBC; Remembering Ricardo Montalban and Steven Gilborn

Today it is NBC's turn at the TCA Winter 2009 Press Tour. You know network TCA tours usually start in the morning (8 or 9am PT) and run through the evening with dinner/party, but as usual, the lately strange NBC has to mess with that. They are skipping the morning (no breakfast or lunch!) and starting at 2pm PT. Cost cutting NBC, indeed. Cheap...they will have a cocktail reception though tonight. Up first is the executive session. Among the items announced are: ER has been ordered for 3 more episodes, giving it a total of 23 episodes for its last season. The two-hour series finale will now be on Thursday, April 2 from 9-11pm instead of March 12. Earlier on that night, a one-hour retrospective will air from 8-9pm ET leading into the two-hour send-off. The following week, April 9, new police drama Southland takes over the ER slot now for 6 episodes. The series comes from ER showrunner John Wells. Previously NBC had slotted Kings to air after ER ends, but now Kings is going to be moved to Sundays at 8PM leading into Celebrity Apprentice starting March 15. On March 1, NBC will air a new special called SNL Short Films (wt) from 7-9pm leading into the Celebrity Apprentice premiere. The untitled Amy Poehler comedy will also launch April 9, airing at 8:30pm replacing Kath & Kim, which has been cut to only 17 episodes and likely will be done for good. New cooking reality series Chopping Block is the series that will air Wednesdays at 8pm starting March 11 (through April 29), following the conclusion of Knight Rider on Feb. 25. Celebrated chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White (UK's Hell's Kitchen) serves up in this new original cooking competition series, in which the British Michelin star chef offers 16 neophyte hopeful chefs/restaurateurs working in pairs a chance to compete in America's greatest restaurant challenge for their chance to open their own Manhattan restaurant. Howdie Do It will air Fridays at 8pm through March 27 now instead of Feb. 20. And a Kung Fu Panda special called Secrets of the Furious Five will air on Thursday, Feb. 26 in the 8pm half-hour.
NBC also announced that 30 Rock, The Office and The Biggest Loser are all safe for next season (2009-10).
Panels followed with the cast and crew of The Untitled Amy Poehler Comedy, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Last Templar, Southland, and Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
The Amy Poehler comedy stars Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones and comes from Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The Last Templar is an NBC miniseries airing Jan. 25-26 starring Mira Sorvino, Scott Foley and Victor Garber and comes from Robert Halmi, Sr. And as mentioned above, Southland is the series from ER's John Wells that will air Thursdays at 10pm after ER ends April 2. Among the stars are Tom Everett Scott, Regina King, Ben McKenzie, and Kevin Alejandro. It will be a police show set in Los Angeles.

Today we will also remember two stars who have passed on...Ricardo Montalban and Steven Gilborn. Ricardo Montalban, the suave leading man who was one of the first Mexican-born actors to make it big in Hollywood and who was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on ABC's Fantasy Island, has died. Montalban died Wednesday (Jan. 14) morning at his Los Angeles home of complications related to old age. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he made the first of many TV appearances. In addition to his role as Chief Satangkai in the 1978 ABC miniseries How the West Was Won, he appeared in the Dynasty spinoff The Colbys on ABC in the late 1980s. More recently, he did a voice on the Disney Channel's animated series Kim Possible. He has also appeared on an episode or two of Family Guy, The Brothers Garcia, The Golden Palace, Chicago Hope, Dream On, Murder She Wrote, Police Story, Hawaii Five-0, Here's Lucy, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and many more! He was also a fixture on the game show Win, Lose or Draw in the late '80s. But it was Fantasy Island that created his lasting image in front of the Hollywood cameras. Elegantly attired in a white suit and black tie, Montalban created such an iconic -- albeit somewhat kitschy -- figure that he often reprised the character insubsequent films and television shows.
While making Fantasy Island" Montalban also gave one of his best movie performances -- as Khan Noonian Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), a follow-up to a beloved 1967 Star Trek television episode, "Space Seed," that also featured Montalban. Among his other movie credits include Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, and Cannonball Run II.
So, Montalban will be deply missed and we will always remember him saying "Welcome to Fantasy Island." Mr. Montalban was 88.
We have also lost Steven Gilborn. Gilborn is a great character actor that has appeared on many sitcoms and TV series. He is best known for playing the father of Ellen DeGeneres' character on Ellen. He died of cancer in North Chatham, N.Y., on Jan. 2. Gilborn also played the math teacher on The Wonder Years and appeared on MANY sitcoms and TV shows including Rodney, According to Jim, Out of Practice, Complete Savages, 8 Simple Rules, Damages, The Bernie Mac Show, Still Standing, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Malcolm in the Middle, Two Guys and a Girl, NYPD Blue, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Get Real, Action, Maggie Winters, The West Wing, The Practice, Living Single, Boy Meets World, NewsRadio, Mad About You, ER, Empty Nest, Coach, Lois & Clark, Hearts Afire, Dream On, Blossom, Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Vegas, L.A. Law, The Torkelsons, The Golden Girls, Matlock, Knots Landing, Perfect Strangers, Who's the Boss?, Kate & Allie, Columbo and Law & Order. Since 1983 he has been on about everything as you can see. His film credits include Nurse Betty, Doctor Doolittle, The Brady Bunch Movie, The Night Shift and the TV movie The Dreamer of Oz. He has been on so many TV series and movies, that nearly everyone saw him in something at one point. He will be deeply missed. Mr. Gilborn was 72.

TV Land Changes Late Afternoons; TCA Winter 2009 Tour: Cable; 66th Annual Golden Globe Winners

TV Land will be making last minute schedule changes beginning today. We relayed you these changes on our message board, but would like to make it more widespread here. TV Land will alter its late afternoon schedule beginning today at 4pm. Weekdays in the 4pm hour will now be Green Acres, as the series returns to weekdays. The Beverly Hillbillies returns to early evenings, airing in the 5pm hour, causing Hogan's Heroes to move into the 6pm hour, shifting the Andy Griffith two-hour block to 7-9pm rather than 6-8pm. The 8pm Andy hour replaces Cosby Show, but Cosby Show is still heavily featured in PRIME. Rural sitcoms now air weekdays 4pm-9pm and 60s shows in general from 1-9pm with Hillbillies (1-2pm) and westerns still on from 1-4pm. TV Land will also change their late night schedule a bit. Sanford & Son and The Jeffersons will each take an hour from 2-4am, replacing Three's Company. Three's Company will remain on Saturday nights from 2-4am. So now on weekdays, we get Paid Programming in early mornings from 6-9am, '70s sitcoms from 9am-12pm, lunch hour at home at noon with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, '60s TV from 1-9pm with westerns and sitcoms, TV Land PRIME from 9pm-2am, and '70s sitcoms from 2-4am.
We still have more changes, though! Monday nights now starting tonight will be Andy Griffith Show from 7pm-1am, while Tuesdays from 11pm-2am will be M*A*S*H/M*A*S*H specials. The Cosby Show will air in the 9pm hour, but on Tuesdays it will also air in the 10pm hour, which means Scrubs is totally off primetime now because of these Monday and Tuesday night changes. It wasn't airing Wed-Fri anyway. The final batch of changes are for Sundays, with the Beverly Hillbillies block being extended to 2pm, so 10am-2pm now rather than 10am-12pm. The Brady Bunch will air late Sundays now from 2am-4am instead of Beaver, which will remain 5-7pm earlier in the day.
Head on over to our TV Land January 2009 thread to see these changes, the rest of January info we announced, and to discuss this!

The Television Critics Association's (TCA) winter 2009 press tour began last week. We haven't covered it yet because the cable portion (Jan. 8-10) has been very stale and nothing really noteworthy has come out of it. Coming up tomorrow the broadcast networks begin their portion, with Fox on Tuesday, CBS on Wednesday, NBC on Thursday, and ABC on Friday. Here is a recap of cable:
Cable portion started midday on Thursday, Jan. 8, after PBS's 1 1/2 day tour. WE tv kicked off the cable portion with a lunch session. WE tv was followed by fellow Rainbow Networks AMC, IFC, and Sundance. Among the highlights were Breaking Bad launching its second season on AMC later this year. The National Geographic Channel closed out the day.
On day two (Friday), select MTV Networks are on hand: Nickelodeon, Spike TV, Comedy Central, LOGO and MTV. Among the highlights were Nickelodeon's upcoming CGI series Penguins of Madagascar, launching in March. A&E was next as it promoted The Beast, the new drama starring Patrick Swayze. He was not on hand, as you all know, as he was hospitalized for pneumonia. He is batling Pancreatic Cancer. His series launches this Thursday. Comcast's E! and style. followed, as E! announced Keeping Up with the Kardashians returns in March. HBO followed with many new series and movies announcements, along with returning series announcements such as for In Treatment. Discovery Networks closed out the day as Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet relayed their upcoming programming.
Finally on Saturday, we had BET, BBC America, Starz, Travel Channel, and Current. This was a total bore with nothing really noteworthy, and many cable networks were not here including TV Land, Nick at Nite, Lifetime, Hallmark, ABC Family, and more. No wonder it wasn't exciting!
Stay tuned this week for updates from the broadcast portion...which will be much better.

The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards were last night. For the television portion, cable ruled big time in drama as HBO won nearly everything. AMC won one award. 30 Rock was the only show that won for broadcast and swept comedy. Here are the television winners:

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)
WINNER: 30 Rock (NBC)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife (USA Network)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (Showtime)
WINNER: Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
David Duchovny, Californication (Showtime)
Kevin Connolly, Entourage (HBO)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
WINNER: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Dexter (Showtime)
House (Fox)
In Treatment, (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
WINNER: Mad Men (AMC)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
January Jones, Mad Men (AMC)
Anna Paquin, True Blood (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
WINNER: Anna Paquin, True Blood (HBO)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors (Showtime)
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment (HBO)
WINNER: Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment (HBO)

View the FULL list of television nominees and winners...and to discuss this.

66th Annual Golden Globe Awards Nominees; SAG to Vote Whether to Strike Or Not

The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominees have been announced! HBO leads with 22 (up from 18 last year) nominations. NBC leads the broadcast nominees with 6 this year (same as last), followed by last year's leader ABC with 5 (down from 11 last year), Fox with 3 (up one from last year) and CBS with again just 1. The telecast airs Sunday, Jan. 11, 8-11pm ET on NBC. Here are the major nominees:

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Weeds (Showtime)
COMMENTS: Pushing Daisies not in it this year. The Office returns.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife (USA Network)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (Showtime)
COMMENTS: No Housewives again for second straight year, same list as last year except Messing is in, Friel is out.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
David Duchovny, Californication (Showtime)
Kevin Connolly, Entourage (HBO)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
COMMENTS: The love for Pushing Daisies from last year is gone, as now Shalhoub gets in over Pace.

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Dexter (Showtime)
House (Fox)
In Treatment, (HBO)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)
COMMENTS: Damages & Grey's Anatomy didn't make it from last year. Still no Lost, as it really deserves it. Surprised Breaking Bad didn't get in. Too much cable.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
January Jones, Mad Men (AMC)
Anna Paquin, True Blood (HBO)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
COMMENTS: Field and Sedgwick only remain from last year. Last year we had 7 nominees actually. Can't believe Hargitay made it.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors (Showtime)
Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment (HBO)
COMMENTS: Same as last year but Byrne instead of Bill Paxton. Nearly all cable shows again. Wonder why Boston Legal is gold at the Emmys but not at the Globes?

Since the nominees for Supporting Actors/Actresses in Comedy and Drama are mixed in with TV movies and in just one category for actor and one for actress, I won't give the full nominees, but here are the TV series players (see link below for full list):
Melissa George, In Treatment (HBO)
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment (HBO)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)
Blair Underwood, In Treatment (HBO)

View the FULL list of television nominees and to discuss this.


Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced that strike authorization ballots will be mailed to paid-up SAG members on Friday January 2, 2009, and will be tabulated on Friday, January 23. A yes vote by 75% of members voting is required to pass the measure, which would authorize SAG's national board of directors to call a strike, if and when the board determines it is necessary.
Since the counting will take place on Jan. 23, the Golden Globes will not be affected or canceled like they were last year during the writers' strike. But if there is a strike, the Oscars could be affected. Let's all hope and pray for the sake of the TV business that there is NO actors' strike, as we saw what the 100-day writers' strike did last season. So hopefully they vote no and resolve all this. I don't want to be doing this come February (or whenever it could start): "SAG Strike Day 30."

NBC Cuts 10PM From Primetime and Adds Jay Leno to 10PM; ABC Adds Special Wipeout on Super Bowl Sunday; 2009 WGA Awards Nominees

It is now official...Jay Leno will not move on to ABC and stay with NBC, but with a twist ... in primetime! Jay Leno will host a new comedy/talk show on NBC five nights a week in primetime, beginning in the fall of 2009. The show will originate from Burbank, Calif., and will air Monday through Friday, 10-11 p.m./9-10 p.m. CT. This show will be the first-ever entertainment program to be stripped across primetime on broadcast network television.
Leno will sign off as host of The Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009. His new show will showcase many of the features that have made Leno America's late-night leader for more than a dozen years. Signature elements will include his opening monologue and well-known comedy segments "Headlines," "Jaywalking" and "Battle of the Jaywalking All-Stars."
As previously announced, Conan O'Brien will take over The Tonight Show hosting duties on Monday, June 1, 2009, broadcasting from the state-of-the-art studio currently under construction on the Universal lot. O'Brien will continue an unmatched late-night legacy that includes Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson, and, for the last 16 years, Jay Leno. Jimmy Fallon will assume the role of host of Late Night on March 2, 2009.
So what does this all mean? NBC is in terrible shape right now both in the ratings and financially. They have been stuck in 4th place in the ratings for some years now and recently many employees were laid off. With this move, NBC will slice off five-hours from their weeknight schedule and air the cheaper Leno series. The new Leno deal is up to 50 million a year for 5 years, while the show doesn't cost too much to produce so NBC will benefit from a financial aspect in this hour as shows like Law & Order and ER cost a lot to produce. This means many primetime shows on NBC could be cut next fall. Many of them could be veteran series. Nothing has been officially announced as dead yet but series such as Kath & Kim, My Name is Earl, Knight Rider, Life, and Friday Night Lights could be cut, while Chuck, Medium, and the original Law & Order series could go either way. ER is already ending this season, so that will obviously be gone, while Lipstick Jungle is canceled and the cheap Crusoe is also canceled despite low production costs but the ratings were terrible. And if Heroes continues its downward trend, NBC could cut it also as that series costs a lot to make. Law & Order: SVU, The Biggest Loser, The Office, are some of the series likely to remain on NBC.
There is word also that NBC could give Saturday nights back to their affiliates to program. So that would be another three-hours that NBC could lose. As of now, they will only program 17 hours a week, and could be as low as 14 if they lose Saturday. That would be lower than Fox, which has 15.
What do I think? I think this is great for Jay Leno and I am happy for him but what is NBC thinking? I know they have to cut costs and stuff, but there is no way they can expand on finding hits without the 10pm hour. Leno gets 4 million or so in late night and will likely go up a bit in primetime, but every weekday it will get tiresome. Leno will have to face entertainment dramas and not go up against similar late night shows. This also could hurt NBC's other late night shows, as now they will have yet another one. They already have The Tonight Show, Late Night, and Last Call. Four talk shows in one night? You can expect ABC and CBS's 10pm shows to rise next fall without NBC. It is still not known though if NBC will even count Leno's series in their primetime averages. NBC's 10pm shows the last few years have been a bright spot for them with series such as Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, Medium, and even ER doing higher ratings than anything from 8-10pm. It is not a guarantee they can just move down an hour and generate the same ratings. Law & Order moved to Wednesdays at 9 a few years ago and got crushed by Criminal Minds on CBS, and was quickly moved back to 10pm. NBC has made some weird moves lately and have already back-fired. Last development season, they eliminated the expensive pilot process, a move that saved money but backfired after all of its fall shows flopped, such as My Worst Own Enemy. They picked-up series without actually seeing a pilot. Also, their "infront" last April was a total bust. They announced line-ups for Fall 2008, Winter/Spring 2009 and Summer 2009 in advance, and ended up changing the schedule around anyway. What is the point to all this NBC? Stick with tradition and get yourself back on track by trying to find quality shows instead of giving up. Just my two cents.

The news gets worse for NBC. ABC has announced it plans to counter program NBC's Super Bowl entertainment telecasts with a sports-star-studded episode of the summer obstacle-course megahit Wipeout.
ABC will air a brief football-themed Wipeout special against NBC's official halftime show headlined by Bruce Springsteen. Then, during NBC's post-Super Bowl presentation of The Office," ABC will air an hour-long Wipeout in which cheerleaders compete against male "couch potato" sports fans.
The two-part ABC special, "Wipeout Superball Sunday," pulls out all the stops to cater to NFL fans: Hall of Famer Michael Irving will lend sideline commentary, the Navy's Blue Angels will perform a flyover, the USC marching band will storm the course, contestants will run a gantlet with quarterbacks pelting them with footballs, NFL luminaries will stop by the commentary booth, and the show's signature Big Balls obstacle has been converted into jumbo-sized footballs, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The special is one of the most ambitious Super Bowl Sunday programming plans ever mounted by a non-host network. Yet for the reality show's producer, Endemol, it's familiar territory. In 2002, NBC enjoyed some of Fox's big game thunder by airing a special episode of the Endemol-produced Fear Factor featuring Playboy Playmates as contestants against the halftime show. Fear Factor did 11.4 million viewers that night. The family-friendly Wipeout could attract even more.
ABC plans to air repeats of Wipeout against the game directly itself, with AFV encore from 7-8pm ET. The Super Bowl starts at about 6:30, and the halftime show will likely be around 8pm so the Wipeout halftime special will air then, then they will air two Wipeout repeats from about 8:30ish-10:30ish, before the hour Wipeout special at about 10:30 against The Office. Wipeout will return as a series this summer for a second season. Goodnight and big balls!

Finally, we leave you today with the nominations for the 61st Annual WGA Awards. Comedy wise, 30 Rock, Entourage, The Office, The Simpsons and Weeds were nominated for their writing work. While Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Lost, Mad Men and The Wire took writing nominations for dramas. Among the other categories, Life on Mars and Breaking Bad were among the nominees for best new series, Ugly Betty, Eli Stone, 30 Rock, and The Office were among the nominees for actual episodic writing.
View the full nominees.

WGN America's 2008 Holiday Programming; NBC Announces More Midseason 2009 Changes; ABC Update

WGN America has announced its holiday schedule for 2008! They are airing holiday movies all month long such as the 1985 movie Santa Claus: The Movie on Saturday night, I'll Be Home for Christmas starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas & Jessica Biel, and It's a Very Muppet Christmas Movie. But what about their stunt on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself? On Christmas Eve, you can catch Christmas episodes of regularly scheduled timeslot series Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Matlock, In the Heat of the Night, and Nash Bridges from 8am to 1pm ET. Then after the WGN News at 1pm ET, Christmas episodes of The Cosby Show will air at a special time of 2-3pm ET (instead of the usual Homicide) followed by the classic 1977 Christmas special A Flintstone Christmas from 3-4pm ET and the 1980 Yogi Bear classic Yogi's First Christmas from 4-6pm ET. A Flintstone Christmas will also air Monday, Dec. 22 in primetime from 8-9pm ET, while Yogi's First Christmas will also air in primetime on Friday, Dec. 19 from 8-10pm ET. Back to Christmas Eve, WGN America will then reair the movie Santa Claus: The Movie from 6-8pm ET. Then in primetime, WGN America will spend the holidays with The Honeymooners from 8-9pm ET, includes the classic Christmas episode, leading into the Yule Log from 9pm-6am! Who needs a fireplace when you have the classic Yule Log playing classic Christmas songs from the Golden Age of Radio!
On Christmas Day itself, WGN America will air Midnight Mass from Chicago at 8am ET and Midnight Mass from New York at 9:30am ET, with Feed the Children at 11am ET before regular programming starts at 12pm ET with a holiday movie marathon until 10:30pm ET, with stars in movies such as Peter Falk, William H. Macy, Don Rickles, Patricia Heaton, Valerie Bertinelli, and Katey Sagal. At 10:30pm ET WGN will air a half-hour special called WGN News Holiday Special.
Now originally the plan was for some sitcom holiday episodes during the day on both days, but that is not happening. It was supposed to be from 2pm-6pm ET on Christmas Eve with holiday showings of Cosby Show, Coach, Becker, NewsRadio, Bewitched, WKRP and two episodes of Beverly Hillbillies leading into A Flintstone Christmas and Yogi's Fist Christmas. The Yule Log was originally slated for Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning from 1:30am-6am and again 8am-11am ET followed by a sitcom marathon from 11am-4pm ET of Beverly Hillbillies, Coach, Sister Sister, Cosby Show, Becker, NewsRadio, WKRP, Bewitched and more Coach & Hillbillies leading into three movies. It is too bad this isn't happening, but still WGN is giving us some goodies at least with the animated classic specials. NewsRadio fans might be happy though, as that series is airing as a filler now at times on Fridays at 10:30pm ET, and its holiday episode will air on Dec. 26! Make note of it!
So what does WGN America have in store for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? We can tell you it is a sitcom marathon! We will announce it next week...so stay tuned! Come on back!

NBC has announced its plans for their post Super Bowl schedule starting Feb. 2. We gave you their January schedule, now they have announced their February and March plans. Immediately following Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, February 1, NBC will broadcast an original, hour-long episode of The Office from approx. 10:30-11:30 p.m. ET (airing simultaneously to all time zones). Then starting the next day, February 2, Monday nights will feature the returns of Chuck (8-9 p.m. ET), the latest volume of Heroes (9-10 p.m. ET) and the season premiere of Medium (10-11 p.m. ET), back in its old slot. Tuesdays will remain the same as they did in January with The Biggest Loser: Couples and Law & Order: SVU. Wednesdays will have the return of Life starting Feb. 4 in between Knight Rider and Law & Order. Speaking of Knight Rider, NBC has cut its episode for the series from the full 22 episodes to 17 episodes due to declining ratings. Knight Rider will now have its season finale on Feb. 25, with a new show launching March 4, but NBC has not announced what yet. Thursdays will stay the same until mid-March, when ER has its two-hour series finale on March 12 from 9-11pm. NBC has ordered an extra ER episode, giving it 20 for this final season. The following week NBC will launch new series Kings with a two-hour premiere on March 19 from 9-11pm, before settling to its new timeslot of 10pm on March 26. I just don't get why NBC is not launching this earlier when they have the Super Bowl platform. Kings is a riveting new drama about a modern-day monarchy. It is a contemporary retelling of the timeless tale of David and Goliath. This series is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances -- and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom. I don't know if the ER audience will stick for something like this. Anyway, Fridays will remain the same in February & March as January with Howdie Do It, Friday Night Lights, and Dateline. Saturdays will continue to have more Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU encores. While Sundays will continue the event specials with the new miniseries XIII airing a week after the Super Bowl from 9-11pm on Feb. 8 and concluding on the week after on Feb. 15 from 9-11pm. XIII is a high-stakes cat-and-mouse thriller starring Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff, Stephen McHattie and Jessalyn Gilsig, as the first female U.S. president is shot dead by a sniper during her Veterans Day speech. Three months later, a wounded man is found tattered in a forest with no memory of his identity. The only clue is a tattoo on his neck -- XIII. NBC has not announced what will air 7-9pm on Sundays, but it will likely be Dateline or possibly the missing Deal or No Deal. NBC has not announced what special is airing on Feb. 22, but starting March 1, Celebrity Apprentice will air Sundays from 9-11pm.
NBC says premieres for additional midseason shows such as The Untitled Amy Poehler Comedy and The Philanthropist, will be announced at a future date.
View the NBC Feb-March 2009 press release for more details on these shows.

Yesterday we mentioned we thought ABC would air the docudrama Border Security USA as a lead-in to Lost starting Jan. 28. Now ABC has announced it has renamed the series to Homeland Security USA and will launch it instead on Tuesdays at 8pm starting Jan. 6 as a lead-in to the ABC premiere of Scrubs, a week before Idol comes. So this means According to Jim will not move to that slot on that date. Promos for Homeland started airing last night. However, it seems ABC is only airing 5 of the 11 episodes right now for Homeland Security USA as According to Jim is listed in returning on Feb. 10, though that could change. Looks like ABC wants to do better vs. Idol and give Scrubs a better lead-in. ABC still has not announced what will air as a lead-in to Lost...could it possibly be repeats of Lost? We will keep you up to date on this. But it seems the According to Jim holiday episodes in December will be it for awhile, so watch it all this month Tuesdays 9-10pm! Meanwhile, ABC has cut the episode order for upcoming new series Cupid from 13 to 9 episodes, as it is launching pretty late in the season...on March 24. ABC already cut The Unusuals and Castle from 13 to 10 episodes due to so many series, so this is nothing against Cupid.

More ABC Midseason 2009 Updates; More Network Notes

We detailed most of the ABC midseason schedule for January, now we have some spring news. Three new dramas will be joining the ABC lineup this spring: Castle on Monday, March 9 at 10:00 p.m.; Cupid on Tuesday, March 24 at 10:00 p.m.; and The Unusuals on Wednesday, April 8 at 10:00 p.m. In addition, ABC News Primetime: What Would You Do? will return on Tuesday, January 6 at 10:00 p.m. replacing Eli Stone (all times ET/PT).
ABC will also return Dancing with the Stars for an all-new season starting Monday, March 9 with a two-hour premiere leading into the premiere of crime drama Castle. Castle will benefit for three weeks from Dancing because Dancing will be two-hours for the first three weeks before settling into its regular 90-minute slot from 8-9:30pm. ABC has not announced yet what will air at 9:30pm starting that night (March 30), one would think it would be either Samantha Who? or new sitcom In the Motherhood. Or even Scrubs? The Dancing with the Stars: The Results show will launch a week later on Tuesday, March 17 at 9:00pm. Looks like there will be no elimination the first week, as there is no results show on March 10. No idea yet what will air following the first results show (perhaps the finale of Primetime: What Would You Do?) on the 17th, but on the 24th ABC will launch new comedy-drama Cupid at 10pm. It is still not known what will happen to Scrubs, but most likely it will go back an hour to 8pm replacing According to Jim. ABC still has not announced dates for new comedies Better Off Ted and The Goode Family, although promos for The Goode Family indicate it is coming this spring. I don't think starting Jan. 20 one of those will premiere, so expect Scrubs double airings Tuesdays 9-10pm for awhile.
As for Wednesdays, ABC has not yet announced what will air before Lost. However, we think that Wednesday at 8pm slot starting Jan. 28 will likely be the new docudrama Border Security USA, but it is not official yet. My guess is that will be it and will run for 11 weeks before perhaps The Goode Family taking over in April. We do know that ABC will air last season's three-part season finale of Lost on Wednesday, January 14 from 8-11pm, a week before the new season starts on Jan. 21. This means Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money will not finish its runs on Wednesdays, as on January 7 ABC will air an ABC News Special called Earth 2100, a look at what the world will look like in 2100 where cities are abandoned and our population has dropped by 80 percent if we do not head the warning signs. Will those two and Eli Stone be used on Saturdays? We shall see. Life on Mars will finish its 17 episodes by April 1, so that is how The Unusuals is launching on April 8.
View complete details on these new three shows announced.

The CW will return Reaper on Tuesdays at 9pm starting March 17. 13 episodes have been ordered for its second year. Returning for its second season, Reaper blends suspense and humor as it follows Sam, a slacker whose world turned upside down on his 21st birthday when he learned that his parents sold his soul to the Devil before he was born. Reaper will follow 90210 on Tuesdays, so the series will be replacing Privileged. Privileged aired a new episode this past Monday at 9 on a special night, and will also air next Monday at 9 with an immediate repeat on its normal night at 9pm. However, it will return to Tuesdays at 9 on Jan. 6 to finish off its 18 episodes. 6 episodes will remain starting then.
Meanwhile, NBC is set to announce its post-Super Bowl plans for midseason (including what will air immediately following the Super Bowl) this week. NBC has announced its January midseason plans, but has not announced nothing more than that yet. One thing you will see is two-hour episodes of Celebrity Apprentice, according to creator Mark Burnett. Sundays 9-11pm is one option or even Wednesdays 8-10pm. So stay tuned, as we learn what NBC will do.

TV Land January 2009 Highlights; NBC Revises January 2009 Schedule

TV Land has announced their January 2009 schedule and highlights, and as expected, I Love Lucy is not on it, as its contract has expired. Also, Paid Programming is continuing, but it will move from 5-7am to 6-9am starting Monday, December 29. So, the 7-9am show will be knocked off, as M*A*S*H's morning slot and Night Court's slots are removed...which means Night Court is off the line-up for now. Late nights will be affected a bit too, as Three's Company will now air four in a row from 2-4am, as the modern sitcom block moves from 3-5am to 4-6am, with Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me, since Paid Programming will move to 6-9am. Replacing I Love Lucy on weekday afternoons is essentially two Beverly Hillbillies episodes, so Hillbillies is back on weekdays. I Love Lucy aired a lot on weekends, and replacing it will be Green Acres and Brady Bunch on Saturdays, as both of those shows return. And on Sundays more Beverly Hillbillies will replace Lucy in the mornings, while Leave it to Beaver will replace it in the late night block. Also, Star Trek is back once a week on Sundays at 6am, though it sort of is airing in December, on some Thursdays at 7am.
As for stunts, New Year's Day is "Jan" 1st. Jan, Jan, Jan. It's a new year and this year it's all about Jan from The Brady Bunch. On January 1, beginning at 12pm through 6pm, TV Land celebrates everybody's favorite middle-child with a 6-hour marathon of Brady episodes featuring none other than the positively groovy Jan Brady! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, indeed!
High School Reunion is coming back for an unforgettable second season in mid-February. But first...counting down to that big February 18 second season premiere, TV Land PRIME will bring you all of the action from season one every Wednesday at 10pm starting on January 7. A marathon of the entire first season will also air in a President's Day event on Monday, February 16.
He was handsome. He was dangerous. He was rock n' roll. He was 'The King.' He was Elvis! TV Land PRIME celebrates the life of a true American original on January 8, when Elvis would have celebrated his 74th birthday. Explore the enduring legacy of rumor and innuendo that still surrounds the epic entertainer with a special episode of TV Land's Myths & Legends, and take an intimate look at the life and times of Elvis as told by his family, during a special presentation of Elvis by the Presleys. Also, prior to the PRIME event, TV Land will host a PRIME preview presentation of the marathon on Saturday, January 3 from 2-6pm, featuring both the Myths & Legends episode and the Elvis by the Presleys program, as well as a special presentation of the iconic concert, Elvis's '68 Comeback Special!
This January, viewers will laugh out loud all month long on TV Land and TVLand.com during TVLand.Comedy Month. Each Saturday in January starting January 10, TV Land will feature marathons of popular comedies like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Sanford & Son, Beverly Hillbillies, Leave it to Beaver, The Jeffersons and The Andy Griffith Show, serving as a promotional platform for these titles and more online. In January, TVLand.com will stream more full episode content than ever before! This includes the launch of new series to TVLand.com, including The Jeffersons, Leave it to Beaver and Sanford and Son. And there's more! For all of their current online series favorites, all episodes available will be streaming for the first time on TVLand.com. And don't miss the limited one-month offering of full episodes of Just Shoot Me.
Finally, the TV Land PRIME Movies for January are all 80s classics such as Cocktail, Jewel of the Night, and The Color of Money. Tom Cruise is among the stars you'll see.
View the COMPLETE TV Land January 2009 schedule and highlights.

NBC has announced its January 2009 schedule and it will have the series premieres of Superstars of Dance (debuting January 4) and Howie Do It (January 9), the returns of The Biggest Loser: Couples (January 6) and Friday Night Lights (January 16). NBC will broadcast the original movie event The Last Templar Sunday and Monday, January 25-26, 9-11 p.m. ET both nights. Specials include Saturday Night Live Sports Extra on Sunday, January 4 (7-9 p.m. ET) and Saturday Night Live Film Festival on Sunday, January 18 (9-11 p.m. ET). Dateline NBC also will broadcast a Presidential Inauguration Day Special on Tuesday, January 20 (10-11 p.m. ET). Here is a look at how NBC will look in January (pre-Super Bowl):

NBC January 2009

MONDAYS (beginning January 5)
8-10 p.m. - Superstars of Dance (premieres Sunday, January 4 from 9-11 p.m. and the season finale airs Monday, January 26 from 8-9 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. - Momma's Boys
(Chuck and Heroes return in February, after the Super Bowl)

TUESDAYS (beginning January 6)
8-10 p.m. - The Biggest Loser: Couples
10-11 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
(Special on Jan. 20: Dateline NBC: Presidential Inauguration Special from 10-11 p.m. ET)

WEDNESDAYS (beginning January 7)
8-9 p.m. - Knight Rider
9-10 p.m. - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Encores (Life returns in February after the Super Bowl)
10-11 p.m. - Law & Order

THURSDAYS (beginning January 8)
(No changes)
8-8:30 p.m. - My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 p.m. - Kath & Kim
9:00-9:31 p.m. - The Office
9:31-10 p.m. - 30 Rock
10-11 p.m. - ER

FRIDAYS
8-9 p.m. - Howdie Do It (series premiere January 9)
9-10 p.m. - Friday Night Lights (beginning January 16) (Lipstick Jungle has its finale on January 9)
10-11 p.m. - Dateline NBC (beginning December 5)

SATURDAYS (beginning January 10)
8-11 p.m. - Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit encores

SUNDAYS
January 4:
7-9 p.m. - Saturday Night Live Sports Extra
9-11 p.m. - Superstars of Dance (series premiere, special night)

Sunday -- January Event Specials
January 11: 7-8pm TBD and 8-11 p.m. - The Golden Globe Awards
January 18: 7-9pm TBD and 9-11 p.m. - Saturday Night Live Film Festival
January 25: 7-9pm TBD and 9-11 p.m. - Mini-Series: The Last Templar (also on Monday, January 26)
February 1: approx. 6:15-10 p.m. - Super Bowl XLIII and 10-11pm TBD (post-Super Bowl show)

NBC will announce their full midseason series and revised schedule at a later date. Many series will be premiering after the Super Bowl in February, such as the return of Medium, new series Kings, and the winter premiere of Heroes. NBC will also officially announce their post-Super Bowl timeslot series soon.

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 Orders Make My Day, Originals Update; Night Court Reunion on 30 Rock; ABC Family New Season Dates for Kyle XY and Teenager

TV Land is about to make your day. Continuing its push into original non-scripted series, TV Land has ordered a hidden-camera series, Make My Day, from producer Michael Davies and Sony Pictures Television.
Make My Day revolves around people who are unwittingly put through a series of "weird and wonderful" surprises and coincidences set up by friends and family members. TV Land has ordered six episodes of the hour-long series. It's based on a successful format from British production company Monkey Kingdom that aired on the U.K.'s Channel 4 in 2001-03. To me this sounds like Nick at Nite's now defunct series Hi-Jinks. Make My Day will premiere on TV Land's primetime schedule next year, on the TV Land PRIME block, most likely on Wednesday nights.
Coming soon to TV Land PRIME, the countdown to the next exciting season of TV Land's highly rated original series High School Reunion is on! The second season of this successful TV Land original series brings together high school alumni from Chandler, Arizona 20 years after their graduation as they gather for two weeks in exotic Kauai, HI. The fun is slated to begin on Wednesday, February 18, 2009. Other originals include new series The Cougar launching April 15, 2009 and the new season of She's Got the Look on June 10, 2009. The 2009 TV Land Awards are slated for Sunday, June 14, 2009.

We are having sort of a Night Court reunion tomorrow night on NBC. Three of the cast members from the hit show will guest star on NBC's 30 Rock at 9:30pm tomorrow (November 13) as themselves. Series star Harry Anderson (Judge Harry Stone), Markie Post (Public Defender Christine Sullivan), and Charlie Robinson (Clerk Mac Robinson) will reunite. Also in the episode, Jennifer Aniston returns to primetime television as a free-spirited, "fatal Attraction"-like stalker named Claire Harper. She randomly shows up in New York to visit Liz (Tina Fey) and Jenna (Jane Krakowski). Claire zeroes in on Jack (Alec Baldwin) upon first sight and claims him for her own. She is dressed very well from the videos, I've seen. Very stunning.
Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), distressed and let down over the new page uniforms, turns to Tracy (Tracy Morgan) for some cheering up. To make Kenneth smile again, Tracy has a surprise involving the cast of Night Court.
The only thing that would have made this "reunion" better if they had Dan Fielding himself, I guess John Larroquette is busy on ABC's Boston Legal. Roz (Marsha Warfield) and Bull (Richard Moll) would have been nice to see as well. Oh well, three stars is better than nothing! Click click (as the Night Court theme goes)!

Following ABC Family's celebrated "25 Days of Christmas" programming event, ABC Family will start the new year strong by bringing back two of its hit original series this January. The break-out summer hit The Secret Life of the American Teenager returns on a new day (Monday) with twelve all-new one hour episodes beginning Monday, January 5 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT. And season three of Kyle XY will premiere a week later with ten all-new one hour episodes beginning Monday, January 12 from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, on a new time.

TV One December 2008, Acquires Jeffersons, Sanford & Son; ABC Schedules Season 5 Lost Premiere; More Network Notes

This December on TV One they are going all out in celebrating with holiday episodes of sitcoms and more, including the launch of Half & Half on Kwanza and classic sitcom The Jeffesons and Sanford & Son on New Year's Day. But first we have to talk about some schedule changes. The weekday 7-9am block has changed and will now be actual series programming rather than original repeats. Starting Monday, December 8 following Amen from 6-7am will be All About the Andersons at 7am, followed by back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed from 7:30-8:30am and the sitcom Good News at 8:30am. 9am-11am will continue to be originals, while 11am-4pm continues to be the daily marathons. Also on this date, TV One launches its HD channel TV One HD!
To the highlights we go, Saturday, December 13 is the beginning of the TV One "12 Days of Christmas" Promotion that features a mix of holiday series, movies, and specials to keep viewers filled with joy and Christmas spirit leading up to Christmas Day. First up is a Christmas Sitcom marathon on December 13 beginning at 7am through 10pm featuring Christmas-themed episodes of Amen, Martin, Roc, Wanda at Large, Living Single, Eve, The Hughleys, Good News, The PJs, All of Us, and Good Times.
On Sunday, December 14 from 3-6pm, you can catch a block of Amen Christmas episodes leading into the animated Christmas special Santa Baby at 6pm about a little girl who gets a wish for Christmas returns to TV One for the holidays and stars the voices of Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and Eartha Kitt. This special has an encore broadcast on Sunday, December 21 at 7pm (and Saturday, Dec. 20 in the daytime at 12pm).
From Monday, December 15 through Friday, December 19, TV One devotes the 8pm-12am timeblock exclusively to "The 12 Days of Christmas" themed programming including sitcom episodes of Martin, Living Single, Good Times, Amen, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, All of Us and For Your Love from 8-11pm, original Christmas specials at 11pm, and the holiday film The Kid Who Loved Christmas starring Sammy Davis Jr. premiering Friday, December 19 at 10pm.
On Saturday, December 20 beginning at 6am, the holiday fun starts bright and early as TV One continues the "12 Days of Christmas" programming with a holiday marathon mix of sitcoms, holiday specials, movies that will give viewers the warm and fuzzy feel of holiday time at TV One. Sitcoms airs from 6am-12pm, 2pm-7pm, and late nights from 3-6am. Catch holiday episodes of Where I Live, Amen, All of Us, Eve, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Good Times, The PJs, and Living Single on this day.
From Monday, December 22 through Wednesday, December 24, the TV One "12 Days of Christmas" themed programming begins each night at 5pm and continues all night with sitcoms, movies, and specials to keep viewers Christmas Cheer at a high level as we get closer to the biggest holiday of the year. Sitcom episodes airs from 5pm-1am these three days. Catch episodes of Good Times, Roc, The PJs, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Wanda at Large, Parent'hood, Martin and Eve from 5-8pm, with blocks of All of Us (Mon), Good Times (Tues), and Martin (Wed) from 8-10pm. The fun continues from 10pm-1am with holiday showings of For Your Love, Cedric, Eve, Living Single, The Hughleys, Good Times, Roc, The PJs, and Martin.
On Thursday, December 25, TV One gives viewers 24 hours of Christmas on Christmas Day itself starting at 6am with themed movies, music, and specials keeping the holiday cheer at a high and then beginning at 5pm, the annual TV One sitcom Christmas Day Marathon closes out our "12 Days of Christmas" promotion with Christmas-themed episodes from sitcoms For Your Love, Roc, Martin, Good Times, Living Single, Parent'hood, Wanda At Large, Cedric, The PJs, All of Us, Eve, and The Hughleys.
TV One sure knows how to showcase sitcom Christmas episodes! I hope you all got that! One thing missing is Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, as it has left the line-up. It was airing Saturdays 7-8am but was replaced by Parent'hood on Dec. 6 and holiday specials/marathons for the rest of the month. No word on when it could return.
We're not done with TV One! Three shows will launch with big marathons! On Friday December 26 (Kwanza), beginning at 8pm, TV One introduces Half & Half to its sitcom lineup with a 24-hour Mega-thon that will keep viewers laughing all night long as they are introduced to the characters in the latest series added to the TV One sitcom landscape. Half & Half, starring Essence Atkins, Rachel True, Valarie Pettiford and Telma Hopkins, is a sitcom about two 20-something half-sisters who share the same father. They are completely unlike each other, but they live in the same apartment building, creating a situation of conflict and love especially with their often feuding mothers. Half & Half joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday, December 29 airing back to back episodes in the 7pm & 7:30pm timeslots Monday-Friday. It will replace an episode each of Martin and Eve. Half & Half will also air in the 4-5am hour replacing All of Us and Good Times in the hour.
As a sneak peak to January, TV One has acquired two classic '70s sitcoms: The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son! On New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, beginning at 10am through 6am, the classic sitcom The Jeffersons makes its bow on TV One in a New Year's Day marathon taking viewers on a trip down memory lane with George & Weezie (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) and the hilarious cast of characters that will keep viewers laughing and reflecting all day long. The Jeffersons joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday January 5. More on that in our January highlights next month.
Finally, on Friday, January 2 beginning at 9pm through 9pm on Saturday, January 3, TV One premieres another classic sitcom Sanford and Son to its sitcom landscape in a 24-hour Mega-thon that introduces viewers to cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford (played by the late Redd Foxx) and his son Lamont (played by Demond Wilson) who run a junk business in a Los Angeles Watts neighborhood. Sanford & Son also joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday January 5 (more on that next month).
Recently President-Elect Barack Obama mixed up these two sitcoms by saying "I'm coming Weezie," when discussing McCain's Health Care plan. So maybe now Obama will know the line is "I'm coming to join you Elizabeth."
Both The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son are NOT exclusive to TV One, so TV Land will continue to air both series as well, but TV One will give them better timeslots obviously. Discuss all of TV One's December programming in our TV One December 2008 Highlights.

We were among the first to report the Lost season 5 premiere date and time on our message boards on Friday, but if you haven't heard, Lost will launch its fifth season on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 with an "all-night event." The first hour will be a recap one-hour clip show from 8-9pm ET/PT, followed by the two-hour season premiere from 9-11pm ET/PT. So, the promos that aired on Election Night on ABC were correct about the two-hour premiere.
Lost will then air Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT starting the following week, as the show returns to Wednesdays after moving to Thursdays last winter. ABC has not announced what it will do at 8pm and 10pm on Wednesdays yet, but adding Lost to anchor Wednesdays is a good move. I'm guessing Private Practice will follow Lost, with new docudrama Border Security USA could lead off the night. Dirty Sexy Money is possibly on the move to another night and the jury's still out on Pushing Daisies. ABC is expected to announce their midseason winter schedule this week. We will bring it to you first either here or on the message board...depending on the timing. So keep checking back!

In other network news, NBC has picked-up the back nine episodes of sophomore crime drama series Life, giving it a full 22 episodes, despite low ratings. Life joins Kath & Kim and Knight Rider in surprising NBC full season orders. Life moved back to Wednesdays last week, but this time at 9pm, after disappointing in its Friday at 10pm slot. Speaking of Knight Rider, NBC is looking to change the direction of the series and we will get the direction back to the style of the '80s series...making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping regular people. Finally! This new style was dumb and a disgrace to the franchise I thought, and it is no wonder the ratings are bad. NBC is expected to start the changes on episode ten, which will be part one of a two-part episode. Episode ten will air in January (possibly after an NFL game), with episode nine as the fall finale on Nov. 26 (good riddance to this new style). Due to this change, three major stars, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison are leaving the show after 13 episodes. There are no immediate plans to add new regulars to the show, as now the show will focus on the five remaining characters: Mike (Justin Bruening), Sarah (Deanna Russo), Billy (Paul Campbell), Zoe (Smith Cho) and of course K.I.T.T. The producers also are looking to do stunt guest castings. Maybe more Hoff? Could this save this revival series?
Meanwhile, Fox has ordered a full season of the Family Guy spin-off series The Cleveland Show...and it hasn't even premiered yet. The show will now launch in Fall 2009 rather than this coming Spring. No reason was given for the delay in airing, but my guess is it would be better to launch in the fall. No word on what will happen to the other Fox animated series that was set to come, Sit Down, Shut Up. I would think that is still slated for this Spring. We'll let you know, as soon as we do.

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Boomerang Schedules Flintstones Musical Marathon on Sunday; Network Notes

Boomerang will air a Flintstones marathon this Sunday, with a musical twist! In addition to making television history as the world's first prime-time animated series (ABC), The Flintstones also offered viewers many samplings of fun, culturally relevant music that delighted viewers throughout the show's six-year run. On Sunday, Oct. 26, these classic animated musical moments will return for a command performance as Boomerang presents a day-long marathon of the best of The Flintstones musical episodes. From 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., America's favorite Stone-Age families-Fred, Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone plus Barney, Betty and Bamm-Bamm Rubble-will "rock out" to prehistoric beats while they welcome a number of celebrity guests, including Ann-Margaret (Ann Margrock) and James Darren (Jimmy Darrock).
Once again showing the depth and breadth of its incredible classic cartoon library, Boomerang presents a rollicking good time with a commercial-free marathon of 15 jamming episodes guaranteed to get your toes tapping. The seven-and-a-half hour rock block will be followed by an encore presentation so that music aficionados coast-to-coast can join in the fun. Highlights in the "Bedrock 'N' Roll" Marathon include: Fred discovers that Barney is a compulsive poet, so he seeks songwriting assistance from famed composer Hoagy Carmichael! While working on the new Bedrock Bowl, Fred and Barney prepare an act for the dedication ceremony starring Ann-Margrock. Fred's quiet seaside weekend is interrupted by a national surfing contest. Fred gets caught up in the activities and must be saved by surf idol Jimmy Darrock. Fred and Barney check out the new TV show, "Shinrock," hosted by Jimmy O'Neilstone. When Fred drops a bowling ball on his foot, Jimmy takes it as a new dance and names it "The Frantic."

First it was picked up for four additional scripts, which was a good sign, now...NBC has picked up a full season worth of episodes for Knight Rider. NBC will pick up nine additional episodes of its the freshman drama series Knight Rider (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) to provide the series with a full-season order for 2008-09.
Knight Rider premiered on Wednesday, September 24 (8-9 p.m. ET). The series is averaging a 2.4 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 7.4 million viewers overall so far this season in Live+Same Day DVR averages. Knight Rider is the #1 regular series in its competitive time period in all key adult-male demographics and won the slot in adults 18-49 with its most recent telecast on October 15.
Meanwhile, The CW has ordered two more scripts for new drama Privileged. The Warner Bros./CBS Paramount/Alloy Entertainment drama has been struggling in ratings on Tuesdays at 9PM ET/PT, yet has demonstrated some growth in recent weeks even as lead-in 90210 has gone down a bit. The last new Privileged episode was up 22% to 2.3 million viewers, 1.1 adults 18-49 rating and a 3 share on October 7 when other networks aired a Presidential Debate.
In other CW news, Valentine encores will replace encores of In Harm's Way at 6PM ET/PT. In Harm's Way will still air new episodes at 7PM ET/PT and Valentine will still be new at 8PM ET/PT. The 6PM encores start this Sunday and will start from the Pilot episode...so start up if you haven't started. I admit, I watch it and it is surprisingly good...I'm only watching because of the sexy Christine Lakin, though.

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

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

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

Hallmark Channel November 2008 Sees More Cheers; Network Notes

Hallmark Channel has announced its November 2008 schedule and Cheers will be getting more timeslots! Currently Cheers airs on weekends, Saturday and Sunday nights from 1-3am ET and Sunday mornings from 10am-12pm ET. However, starting Monday, October 27, Cheers will also air weekdays! Cheers will air back-to-back at 4:00pm & 4:30pm ET replacing an airing of Little House on the Prairie, which will still air weekdays 10am, 11am and 3pm. There will be no other schedule changes for November. Cheers will lead into another classic sitcom in M*A*S*H from 6-8pm. For fans wondering, the weekday rotation will start from episode one and will be different from the current weekend airings.
Among the other highlights in November are holiday movies starting Saturday, November 22 everyday. Movies include Angel in the Family, The Christmas Card, A Season for Miracles, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, and The Note. On Thanksgiving Day you can enjoy family movies with your family like Mighty Joe Young, The Rookie, and Iron Will. The day after Thanksgiving will see more holiday movies.

The premiere date for NBC's upcoming reality dating series Momma's Boys has been moved back two weeks to Wednesday, November 12 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The previously announced premiere date was Wednesday, October 29 from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT. The show will air for 6 weeks through December 17. Deal or No Deal will air in the timeslot on October 22, 29 and November 5.
At ABC, on Wednesday, November 5, 2008, a special Dancing With The Stars: The Results will air from 8:00-9:02 PM ET/PT because it will be preempted on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 due to ABCNews' Presidential Election Coverage from 7PM-2AM ET on that night. So, Private Practice will air off the clock from 9:02-10:02 PM ET/PT and Dirty Sexy Money will also air off the clock from 10:02-11:00 PM ET/PT on this date (Nov. 5) only. Pushing Daisies will be preempted on that night.
Also, the back-door pilot episode for the Supernanny spin-off series, Super-manny will air in the Supernanny timeslot on Friday, November 14 at 9:00PM.
We are still waiting for CBS to pick up the new drama The Mentalist for a full season. CBS has ordered six additional scripts, though. So the back-nine should be next.

Three new shows launch tonight. Sitcom Kath & Kim at 8:30PM on NBC, and two new dramas battle at 10PM on ABC and CBS with Life On Mars and The Eleventh Hour. Both will get good sampling, but Life On Mars is getting the better reviews. I've also seen an advanced preview of the pilot and it is great. Check out abc.com for a 1973 look in honor of the premiere of Life On Mars tonight!

NBC Fall Pilot Review: Kath & Kim - Premieres October 9; NBC Schedule Changes; Home Makeover Also Airing on CMT

Kath & Kim - Thursdays 8:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 8:30PM ET/PT

NBC's Kath & Kim is an American version of a series of the same name that is already a proven hit in the land down under, Australia. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair star as a mother-daughter duo that find themselves living together after finding that happiness cannot be found in their respective marriages. But that could quite possibly be where the similarities end, because this duo is driving each other nuts. Can they take it anymore? Well, obviously the answer is that they're going to have to, thus we have the premise of a series.

The series is developed by Ben Silverman, who also serves as the executive producer of the ever-popular series The Office (which airs on the same night as Kath & Kim). Michelle Nader serves as the executive producer and writer of the series. The stars and producers of the Australian version, Jane Turner and Gina Riley, serve as the consultants for the NBC version.


Cast Details:

* Selma Blair as Kim Day
* Molly Shannon as Kim Day
* John Michael Higgins as Phil Knight
* Mikey Day as Craig Barker

The series keeps the core cast small, focusing primarily on stars Molly Shannon (as mother Kath) and Selma Blair (as daughter Kim). Mikey Day portrays Craig, Kim's husband that she has separated from, who has a job in the exciting field of electronics, which happens to mean that he works at Best Buy. John Michael Higgins plays Phil, Kath's boyfriend that just doesn't quite get along with Kim, but may somehow have to learn to do so.

Molly Shannon is, of course, known from her years of work on the series Saturday Night Live. Selma Blair, while not necessarily known as a TV actress, has found success in films such as Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde, Hellboy, and others. Mikey Day is relatively new to the small screen, although he has had minor roles here and there. John Michael Higgins is known for his recurring roles on series such as Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, and Arrested Development, as well as a few big screen roles.


Pilot Plot:

We received two episodes for review--the first episode and the second episode airing October 9 and 16.

In the premiere episode, "Love," romance is in the air for divorcee Kath, when she discovers a sandwich shop owner named Phil. But daughter Kim, who has decided to part from her husband that she married mere weeks ago, is determined to not see this trainwreck of a man (as she sees him) steal her mother's heart. So what other choice does she have than to do than to move back home?

The second episode of the series, "Old," finds Kath planning the perfect wedding with Phil, the perfect wedding that she missed out on before... but will Kim allow that to happen? Of course not! So what better way to talk her mother out of marriage than to convince her that she is too old? The wedding bells get silenced even further when Kath starts believing it, after she sees Phil with a younger woman. Justina Machado guest stars.


Analysis:

This is a decent and well-written series, with many funny moments, but there is one major issue. To me, the series feels like much more of a niche series that would cater to a very specific audience. It doesn't feel like a series that should be airing on a national broadcast network such as NBC, but rather on a cable network. The show appears to want to break a lot of barriers, which would make it appropriate for a premium cable network, where it could truly let loose.

Still, going back to the writing and casting, it must be said that a great job was done in respect to these. The cast is very impressive, particularly in regards to the "unknown" actors that appear on the series. Shannon and Blair play a very convincing mother-daughter duo (even if they are only a few years apart age-wise) and I really thought that the Higgins portrayal of the character Phil was great. Hopefully he'll play a large role throughout the series.


Conclusion:

When the dust settles, this is a decent series that has some hope, but not if it remains on the NBC Thursday night lineup. While it is a sitcom that is done in a style similar to the other NBC Thursday night programs, the substance isn't quite the same, and it feels like it would work better on another night or even another network (which probably won't happen). The series doesn't need to be "retooled" or anything, but it does need to find a better place to air if it wants to survive (airing after the slumping My Name is Earl isn't it).


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

-- Reviewed by skees53 on 10/03/08

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, October 9 on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Kath & Kim Photo Gallery

It looks like NBC is pulling America's Toughest Jobs from Friday at 8 after tonight and next week. 8 episodes would have aired after its October 10 airing. The series was ordered for 10 episodes and the final two episodes will air on Saturdays at 8pm (Oct. 18 and 25). Ouch...but at least it will air, but it will be painful to see if it can even get 3 million on that slot. The series doesn't even get 4 million on Fridays. Deal or No Deal will move from 9pm to 8pm starting Friday, October 24. On Friday, October 17, NBC will launch the two-hour series premiere of new drama Crusoe. Crusoe will then air Fridays at 9pm following Deal or No Deal starting Friday, October 24.
In other NBC news, NBC is adding new reality series Mommas Boys, the mother of all reality dating shows -- from multimedia talent-producer, Ryan Seacrest. It will debut on Wednesday, October 29 from 9-10 p.m. ET/PT, replacing the previously scheduled Deal or No Deal, which will still remain on Fridays. The series centers on three possessive, yet loving mothers who must help their complacent sons choose the perfect woman -- and ultimately poses the question: "Who is really the most important woman in every man's life?"

TV Land is not the only cable network getting into the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition game, now sister station CMT will also air the show. CMT will start airing the home building ABC show tomorrow with a marathon of three two-hour episodes from 2-8pm. Then CMT will air the show weeknights in the 5pm hour and 8pm hour starting Monday (October 6). On TV Land it will air weekdays at 7PM and 11PM ET, among other times (see our TV Land October thread).
Remember new episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition still airs on Sundays at 8/7 Central on ABC.

TV One November 2008 Highlights; New Partridge Family Possibly Soon on NBC; Tonight's Preview

This November on TV One there will not be much in terms of series television highlights, but we do have a few still! Thursday, November 27 is Thanksgiving Day and TV One has a Holiday Weekend full of Family, Fun, Music, and More to keep viewers high on holiday spirit through Sunday, November 30. I will only discuss the series highlights. On Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 27), catch Thanksgiving episodes of TV One sitcoms Good Times, All of Us, The Hughleys, Living Single and Martin from 8am-2pm and again from 1am-6am at night.
On Friday, November 28 (Black Friday) beginning at 8pm, let the good times roll as TV One presents the Good Times family sitcom mega-thon. As viewers are spending time with their families during this family holiday weekend, they can also spend time with the Evans family and relive those special moments that make family so special in our hearts while the antics of J.J. and the crew will keep viewers laughing in this 24-hour mega-thon event.
On Sunday, November 30 concluding Thanksgiving weekend, beginning at 12pm through 8pm, TV One airs an All of Us Family Edition marathon that features episodes focused on family issues and themes to keep viewers in the family holiday spirit. The marathon will also be seen from 2-6am.

The Partridge Family is possibly headed for a return to the small screen, according to The Hollywood Reporter. NBC has picked up a contemporary single-camera pilot on the classic ABC '70s sitcom. The show's writer, Jeff Rake, is a fan of the 1970s sitcom who plans to "turn the premise on its head," as he calls it. "In the original, the kids actually recruited their mom to front the band, which I can't see happening in any family on this planet," he said. "The new version will reflect what seems to me to be the more realistic family band scenario these days: a struggling, sort of well-meaning mom pimping her kids in order to create a wholesome-slash-sexy cash cow."
Oh boy. If this is picked up to an actual series order, will NBC have more success with this than attempts for Bionic Woman, American Gladiators, and Knight Rider? It remains to be seen. For fans of the classic series, the third season DVD comes out Oct. 14, so buy it if you want more seasons. See our full DVD review.

Tonight is the long awaited returns of Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money on ABC. They haven't aired since last December due to the writers' strike, and ABC is relaunching them all tonight. They were last fall's number one shows on Wednesday night in 18-49. I expect that to happen once again. Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning this is because I've seen all three season premieres and I want to share with you all what I thought. Check out my thoughts on the Wednesday premieres.

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.

BET September Programming Includes Smart Guy; 5 More RTN Stations to Launch in Early 2009; Network Notes

This September BET will launch Judge Karen and Judge Hatchett, as we previously announced, but they will also launch a new sitcom! Since Diff'rent Strokes and a few others leave after this Friday (don't forget the Strokes farewell marathon this Friday from 9am-6pm!), a sitcom void was needed. BET has acquired the rights to air the '90s sitcom Smart Guy from Buena Vista! T.J. Henderson (Tahj Mowry) is a high school sophomore. He isn't just a regular one though. He is a ten-year old tenth grader! After being promoted to high school, T.J. deals with the usual problems of fitting in as a genius, while being a little kid in a big school. Also stars Jason Weaver, Omar Gooding and Essence Atkins. The sitcom was last seen in reruns on The Disney Channel from 1999-2003 with a marathon appearance in fall 2004 for back to school. The series originally ran from 1997-99 on The WB.
BET will launch Smart Guy on Saturday, September 6 with a marathon of the first 10 episodes from 11am-4pm before moving to its regular airing of weekdays at 5:00pm & 5:30pm ET/PT after The Steve Harvey Show starting Monday, September 8.
Other BET portions of the schedule will include Girlfriends airing from 9-10am weekdays starting September 1 and starting September 22 BET will launch Judge Karen at 10am and Judge Hatchett at 10:30am. Back-to-back Hell Date will air in the 11am hour, as the morning "Blackbuster" 10am-12pm movie will be gone. Steve Harvey and Smart Guy round out the daytime weekday series schedule from 4-6pm. Music and rap programming will primarily air elsewhere weekdays, however 11pm and 11:30pm will now will be Judge Karen and Judge Hatchett as well starting Sept. 22. The midnight "Blackbuster" movie follows, as A Different World will now only air sometimes in the 3am hour.
As for weekends, there will be no changes until the weekend of Sept. 27 when Romeo! shifts from the 11am hour to the 9am hour, while Just Jordan remains in the 10am hour, and two hours of Smart Guy airs from 11am-1pm starting Sept. 27 on Saturdays. On Sundays, starting Sept. 28, Judge Karen will air from 1-2pm, no other changes will be made.
Stunts for the month include a marathon of sister station TV Land's original series Family Foreman starring George Foreman on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 1-4pm featuring all six episodes.
Check out the generic BET September Fall 2008 schedule, if you want to see it in a list form.

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced that it has entered into an agreement with New Age Media to launch RTN affiliates in five new markets.
The new affiliates will air on digital streams of WQMY in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania; WPXT in Portland, Maine; WTLH in Tallahassee, Florida; analog station WYPN-CA in Gainesville, Florida; and a new television station in Columbus/Tupelo, Mississippi. The RTN affiliations are anticipated to sign on in early 2009.
These are the first announcements of new RTN affiliates since RTN was sold to Luken Communications...but the first of many to come, so stay tuned!

It's time for another round of network notes! NBC has announced it has picked up nine additional episodes of its sophomore drama Chuck (Mondays, 8-9 p.m. ET) to provide the series with a full-season 22-episode order for 2008-09. The new season launches Monday, September 29.
Fox has announced that Hole in the Wall, the body-bending, global game show, will now air a special preview episode on Sunday, Sept. 7 from 8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT following Fox's first NFL doubleheader of the season and as previously announced on Tuesday, Sept. 9 from 9:35-10:00 PM ET/PT following the series premiere of Fringe on FOX. Hole in the Wall will have its one-hour series premiere Thursday, Sept. 11 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox and will air in that slot thereafter. Fox has still not announced what will air Sunday, Sept. 14 from 9:35-10pm following the Fringe pilot encore.
And finally, like I predicted, the season finale of ABC's High School Musical: Get in the Picture will now air on Monday, September 8, 2008 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT and not September 15 as previously reported. The finale will lead-in to the previously announced CMA special from 9-11PM ET/PT. As a result of that change, The ABC Monday Movie of the Week Batman Begins will now air on Monday, September 15, 2008 from 8:00-11:00 PM ET/PT.

Network Fall 2008 Preview TV Specials; More New York Locals Fall 2008 Updates

Well the fall 2008 TV season is upon us and that means it is time to watch the network Fall 2008 preview specials! As we do every year, we will let you know when these fall preview specials will air. See our Fall 2007 one from last year.
First up is ABC. Last season ABC had three fall preview specials specially designed for their affiliates and abc.com. One of the three last year was for ABC's then new Wednesday line-up. This year ABC will be focusing on that night as they relaunch the night with the same shows but due to the strike, all three of those shows haven't aired since the end of 2007. This year's special, titled The ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit, gives us a recap and preview of what is to come on Pushing Daisies, Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money. This half-hour special has started airing already on local ABC affiliates since the weekend of August 15. Check local listings for time and day in your area. If you're in the NYC market, WABC will air it this Saturday (August 30) at 2:30PM. So what if your local ABC affiliate aired this special already and you missed it? Not to worry the ABC cable networks will air it, too. SOAPnet will air it a few times...on Saturday, August 30 at 4:30PM, Saturday, September 13 at 4:30PM and Friday, September 26 at 5:00AM. ABC Family Channel will also air it on Thursday, Sept. 4 (early Sept. 5) at 12:30AM ET/PT. So plenty of chances to watch this, but if you still somehow miss it, it is online on AOL Video. As of now, ABC will not air this special itself, though. They will also as of now not air a full preview special previewing new series, but that could change. We will let you know if it does happen. Finally, ABC.com has a Starter Kit of everything you need to know about your favorite ABC shows in order to catch up in time for the new season. Shows include Dirty Sexy Money, Samantha Who, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters.

Moving on to NBC, they also will do an affiliate special. Their affiliate special has not aired yet anywhere, so no one has seen it yet. Titled NBC Primetime Preview special, the special premieres this weekend, weekend of August 30. Zachary Levi of Chuck hosts this half-hour special that will preview NBC's new series and returning series. If you're in the NYC market, WNBC will air it twice: Saturday, Sept. 6 at 5:00AM and Sunday, Sept. 7 at 12:00PM. Like ABC's special, NBC will air this special on their cable networks as well. CNBC will air it on Monday, September 1 at 12:30PM and Sunday, September 7 at 8:00PM. USA Network will air it on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 2:30PM and Saturday, Sept. 13 at 10:00AM. Sci Fi Channel will air it later in the month on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 11:00PM and Thursday, September 25 at 3:30PM. Like ABC, as of now, NBC does not plan to air this special on the network itself.

CBS will have a fall preview special this year! Last year they didn't have one at all. This year CBS will air one and in primetime on CBS, too. Titled, CBS Fall Preview, this special will give viewers an exciting preview of CBS's 2008-09 primetime programming. The special will air on Friday, September 5 at 9:00PM ET/PT following the Stand Up To Cancer special airing on ABC, NBC and CBS. Following the special CBS will an encore episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine at 9:30.

As of now, this year Fox is not scheduling a primetime preview special on Fox itself, but the affiliate special is still airing. Titled, Fox Fall Preview Special, this special takes a look at what is to come to Fox this season. It will begin airing this weekend, so be on the lookout. In the NYC market, WNYW will air it this Saturday night at 1:00AM and again on Sunday (Aug. 31) at 3:00PM, both in place of M*A*S*H airings. Now, Fox does have a slot open on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 9:35PM-10:00PM, so I wouldn't be surprised if this special actually airs on Fox in that slot. We'll let you know, but for now check your listings!

Finally, The CW is also doing an affiliate special and the special has started airing already. Titled, CW Fall 2008 Preview, this special is a preview of new series and returning favorites, including 90210, Gossip Girl, Privileged and Stylista. The special is hosted by Privileged stars Anne Archer and Joanna Garcia with Bob Saget introducing the MRC Sunday block that include series such as Valentine (with Christine Lakin, Autumn Reeser, etc) and his own sitcom Surviving Suburbia. The special will be airing quite a lot it seems. In NYC, WPIX will air it this Friday (Aug. 29) at 5:00PM, Saturday, August 30 at 7:30PM and Sunday, August 31 at 4:30PM. Check local listings in your area, as it doesn't seem The CW will air this on the network itself.

Last week we did a story on what is coming up on local stations in the New York market and we didn't have the full weekday schedule for WNBC and WPIX just yet...but now we do! First up is WNBC. Their 11am-5pm schedule will be revamped on weekdays. We already told you new talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show is coming to 2pm and back-to-back half-hours of Deal or No Deal will air at 4pm, but we guessed at other slots, and we were primarily right! NBC soap Day of Ours Lives is indeed on the move to its old 1pm slot again, while Martha Stewart Show moves to 11am. In the 12pm hour now since Crosswords is on production hiatus is Style by Jury and Inside the Box, from the same studio...Program Partners. Finally, WNBC will air Monk on Sunday nights at 12:35am replacing Showtime at the Apollo, which is gone. Take a look at the full WNBC Fall 2008 schedule.
As for WPIX, we told you Judge Karen starts Sept. 8 weekdays 1-2pm and how the CW Daytime line-up will change on Sept. 22, but we were not sure if the sitcom line-up from 5-8pm and 11pm-4am would change...and guess what? It will a bit! Starting Sept. 22, in the 5pm hour now will be My Wife & Kids at 5pm (coming from 5:30pm) and George Lopez moves from late nights at 1:30am to a much better 5:30pm slot! George is doing very well in syndication and on cable on Nick at Nite, so expect to see it in better time slots on local channels this fall if your local channel was airing it in a late night slot this season. So, According to Jim which was airing at 5pm, will be on the move to late nights at 1am. The 1am slot replaces Frasier which slides to 1:30am where George Lopez was. Now if you get WPIX's digital station LATV, you can watch George Lopez's secondary airings at 6:30pm! That started a few weeks ago, so tune in. Everything else on weekdays primarily remains intact. Weekend additions is Star Trek and Stargate Atlantis, as we mentioned previously, on Saturday nights from 12-2am...sliding Chappelle's Show to 2-3am. Then starting Nov. 1, new first-run syndicated series Legend of the Seeker joins WPIX on Saturday nights at 8 and 9pm. It'll be like Xena and Hercules all over again! anyway, view the full WPIX Fall 2008 schedule.
We have a lot of members on our message boards and they are posting various schedules for other markets like Boston, Fort Wayne, Sacramento, New Orleans and others, so if you want to help and post your market, head on to our message board!