WGN Adds Weekly Retro TV Block, Renames to WGN America; TV Tonight

Late last week we told you all that WGN was planning a '70s TV week called "The Outta Sight Retro Nights Week: Flashback to the 1970s" from June 2-6 featuring The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Barney Miller, Taxi, Welcome Back Kotter and WKRP in Cincinnati from 8-10pm each day that week...now they have added a weekly "Outta Sight Retro Night" airing each Sunday starting June 8! The block will feature three classic TV shows airing from 7-10pm ET (4-7pm PT). Kicking it off from 7-8pm each Sunday will be WKRP in Cincinnati! Following WKRP, we get reruns of Bob Newhart's second series, the '80s sitcom Newhart from 8-9pm and closing the night is the all-time classic The Honeymooners from 9-10pm. These three shows will air every Sunday night starting June 8 and will go in order, so get those VCRs/DVRs ready.
Now WGN is also planning more theme weeks. The '70s week is the first of many to come. They tentatively have an '80s week planned for July and we could see ALF, Family Ties, and more shows. So stay tuned to that when it is announced! Casey Kasem will be announcing during promos and voice-overs for the theme weeks and the regular Sunday block...how cool!
We will certainly let you know if more of these shows join the actual line-up...so far WKRP is the only one joining the line-up that has aired during a theme week. I wouldn't be surprised though if Newhart is in the '80s week and IF they have a '50s week, The Honeymooners could air in that. And once again all this is not available for the local WGN in Chicago. This is for the national WGN only, the cable version.

Also, the national WGN was called Superstation WGN for many years, but this past Monday they changed their name to WGN America. So, from now on I'll refer WGN to WGN America. The new name and logo was introduced this past Monday and also with the slogan "TV You Can't Ignore." According to the Chicago Tribune, WGN America's new "eyes" logo, which resembles the one used for much of the '90s by cable's The Movie Channel, was the inspiration of Tribune Co. Chief Innovation Officer Lee Abrams. The former radio consultant wanted the channel to look more like an album cover. It resembles the eyes of the woman on Duran Duran's "Rio" album, but Abrams said he was just trying to help the channel break from traditional TV.
Sean Compton, a former Clear Channel exec recruited to tend to Tribune TV programming, meanwhile is repackaging reruns (WKRP, etc) and old movies (Rocky movies, etc) and giving away prizes via WGNAmerica.com, the new website. By the end of the summer, the plan is to introduce an original program. And within 18 months or so, Compton hopes the nation will barely recognize the channel.

We leave you tonight with a reminder. Tonight is the last of the regular season show's, as Lost will ends its season with an all-night event. At 8pm an encore of the previous episodes will air with bonus footage followed by the game changing two-hour season finale from 9-11pm on ABC. It should do big. Only other new programming on the night is summer reality series: So You Think You Can Dance on Fox from 8-10 and Last Comic Standing on NBC from 8:30-10:30pm. Sitcom wise, NBC will wraparound The Office repeats around Comic at 8 and 10:30pm. CBS will encore Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother from 8-9pm. But you should be getting Lost tonight! After tonight, the summer season will really begin since the regular season scripted series will come to an end until the new season.

NBC's Today Reunites Classic TV Casts: Happy Days, Growing Pains, Newhart and More; Raymond Moves to Fox Stations in March

There have been some TV reunions already this month (Cosby Show kids on Oprah and Family Ties on Today). But now we will get much more! NBC's Today will bring America's favorite classic television show casts together again starting Saturday, February 23 and continuing through Friday, February 29. "Together Again" reunions will air each day sometime during the 8:00 a.m. hour of Today.
On Saturday, February 23, Weekend Today's Amy Robach will interview the cast of Growing Pains. Kirk Cameron, Joanna Kerns, Alan Thicke, Jeremy Miller, and Tracey Gold will talk about their experience as the Seaver family in the classic 1980's sitcom.
On Sunday, February 24, Peter Alexander interviews the cast of Newhart. Bob Newhart, Julia Duffy, Peter Scolari, William Sanderson, Tony Papenfuss, and John Voldstad are reunited for the first time on television as a full cast.
Happy Days are here again on Monday, February 25 when Henry Winkler, Ron Howard, Marion Ross, Tom Bosley, Erin Moran, Don Most, and Anson Williams are reunited live in the studio.
On Tuesday, February 26, the cast of the classic sitcom One Day at a Time with Bonnie Franklin, Valerie Bertinelli, Mackenzie Phillips, and Pat Harrington together again live in the studio. Valerie Bertinelli returns later in the show (9am hour) to discuss the book "Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time." Gary Coleman is also interviewed in the hour.
Candice Bergen, Faith Ford, Charles Kimbrough, and Joe Regalbuto will be live in studio 1A on Wednesday, February 27 to talk about their time on Murphy Brown.
On Thursday, February 28, Michele Lee, Joan Van Ark, and Donna Mills stop by to talk about one of the longest-running primetime dramas in network history, Knots Landing.
Friday's reunion will be announced soon...Taxi was originally planned this week, so it could be that. We will let you know.
Get those VCR's and DVR's ready at 8am for the next 7 days starting Saturday! To discuss these reunions, click HERE!

The hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond is one of the top sitcoms in off-network syndication. In many markets it airs on a Tribune station. That will change starting March 17, though. The show will be on the move in many markets from Tribune stations to Fox-owned stations. For example, in New York City the show airs currently at 6:30pm and 12am every weeknight on WPIX (CW11), a Tribune station. It will be moving to WWOR (My9), a Fox-owned station, in New York. If you all recall, something similar happened to Seinfeld some years back when it moved from Tribune to Fox-owned stations (in NY that was WPIX to WNYW). The Fox-owned deal for Raymond runs from March 2008 to September 2013.
So how will this Raymond move affect New York? Obviously this will affect WPIX and WWOR, since they are the ones removing and adding Raymond. But this will also effect WWOR's sister station, WNYW (Fox5), as some series will migrate from WWOR to WNYW, and vice versa. First off, WWOR will add Raymond every weeknight at 6:30pm and 12am (the same slots WPIX aired it). The show will also be available in HD! Raymond will also air Saturdays at 6:30pm. WPIX will replace Raymond at 6:30pm with Friends, so it will air back-to-back from 6-7pm now. Friends' late slot will now be gone though as Sex and the City, Will & Grace, Frasier, and George Lopez will move to an half-hour or hour earlier. Joining WPIX's late night line-up are classic sitcoms The Odd Couple and The Jeffersons in the 2am hour...both are now back after a short break! WNYW's changes include moving the 2nd run of TMZ on TV from noon to midnight and adding the second run of Bernie Mac, which was on WWOR. WWOR will air the first run of Bernie Mac now at 4:30pm instead of 6:30pm.
To see a FULL list of the changes on WWOR, WPIX and WNYW, I really urge you to click HERE!

Our big week continues tomorrow with more big news, including a follow-up on our BET schedule story and some TV One changes. You will not want to miss this!

AmericanLife July 2007 Highlights, Includes New Monday Classic Sitcom Block; Nick at Nite Change for July 1; Jim Renewal Now Official

AmericanLife TV Network, the network devoted to the Baby Boomer generation, debuts a new Monday night primetime programming line-up on July 2, featuring classic television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Newhart, WKRP in Cincinnati and The Bob Newhart Show from 8-10pm and immediately encoring after that each Monday.
Among the episode highlights for this new block in July include:
Monday, July 2
- WKRP in Cincinnati: The late film and stage legend Sylvia Sidney guests as Mama Carlson on "Pilot (Part 1)" (9:00 p.m. ET/PT).
- The Bob Newhart Show: Comedian and actress Penny Marshall guest stars as a stewardess on "Fly the Unfriendly Skies" (9:30 p.m. ET/PT).

Monday, July 9
- Newhart: William Sanderson, John Voldstad and Tony Papenfuss make their first appearance on the show as Larry, "my brother Darryl and my other brother Darryl" on "Mrs. Newton's Body Lies A'Mould'ring in the Grave" (8:30 p.m. ET/PT).

Monday, July 30
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show: NFL star turned actor Timothy Brown guests as himself on "Keep Your Guard Up" (8-8:30 p.m. ET/PT).

Visit our highlights section for AmericanLife July 2007 for complete highlights for the entire month!

Nick at Nite will air the 1978 John Travolta and Olivia Newton John movie Grease on Sunday (July 1) from 9 to 11:30 p.m., pre-empting the regular line-up. A marathon of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will follow from 11:30pm-5:00am...but what else is new? The movie will kick off the summer season for Nick at Nite, which will be wall-to-wall marathons (a week of one show from 9:30pm-5am each night), as we mentioned already.

Today ABC made it official, According to Jim will return next season for its 7th season! "When Brillstein-Grey approached me with the idea of doing a family show, I didn't realize the family would extend so wide," said Jim Belushi. "For six years, it's been a joy being part of the ABC and Touchstone families and part of each and every family who have been loyal viewers of our show every week. This season will top all the rest. I'm thrilled to continue this seventh season with these extended families."

AmericanLife TV Acquires Classic 20th TV Shows, WKRP, Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Batman, etc.; Nick at Nite Schedule Switcharoo

AmericanLife TV Network, the only independent network devoted to the Baby Boomer generation, has reached a long-term agreement with Twentieth Television for a library of classic television series. Among the series that they have acquired are: Batman, Bob Newhart Show, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Lost in Space, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Newhart, St. Elsewhere, WKRP in Cincinnati.
Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and L.A. Law will debut June 3 in an all-new Sunday "The Greatest Drama" primetime schedule from 8-11pm (with an encore from 11pm-2am). The other programs acquired (such as Batman and Lost in Space) will be airing in varying time slots later this year. We will let you know when we know when they will launch! It seems the current Sunday night shows ("The Greatest Drama" block) The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Mayberry RFD, I'll Fly Away and Homefront will be off the line-up completely.
Click HERE to view the press release and to discuss this news!

A Nick at Nite change (yes, what else is new?)...Roseanne will return to Sun-Thurs 10-11PM now and Fresh Prince will move back to Sun-Thurs 11PM-12AM starting May 28. Fresh Prince will still air 11PM-12AM on Fri-Sat.

Remembering Sitcom Legend Tom Poston; Black Family Channel Will Move to Broadband

We have some breaking news to report. Veteran actor Tom Poston has passed away. Mr. Poston passed away yesterday after a brief illness. Everyone has seen this man in at least something. The Emmy Award Winning actor is best remembered for his roles on The Bob Newhart Show, Mork & Mindy and Newhart. In his early career he guest starred on sitcoms such as The Phil Silvers Show before winning the Emmy in 1959 for his role on The Steve Allen Show. After that he guest starred on series such as Get Smart and The Good Guys before landing the role of Cliff "The Peeper" Murdock on The Bob Newhart Show. After his run on that show he guest starred on series such as Alice, CHiPs and was a regular on two short lived sitcoms On the Rocks & We've Got Each Other. In 1979 he got the role of Franklin Delano Bickley on the hit sitcom Mork & Mindy, starring Robin Williams. His next big role was of George Utley in the sitcom Newhart, reuniting him once again with Bob Newhart. Mr. Poston would reunite one more time with Bob in the sitcom Bob for a few episodes. He was also a regular in the Fox sitcom Good Grief in 1990 and more recently on NBC's short lived sitcom Committed. That is not all Tom was in. He guest starred in many many sitcoms in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. He had recurring roles on the ABC sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Coach. He also had a few memorable guest appearances as Mr. Looney (that's Loon-ay!) on the ABC sitcom Family Matters. The man was everything, more sitcom guest credits include Becker, Cosby, 8 Simple Rules, Dharma & Greg, Dream On, George & Leo, Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me, Malcolm & Eddie, Murphy Brown, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That '70s Show, Love Boat, The Simpsons, Will & Grace and reunited with his wife Suzanne Pleshette in the NBC sitcom Good Morning Miami. And that's just the sitcoms! He has been on dramas, game shows, movies, too. He was last seen in late 2006 on an episode of the Disney Channel sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. He will be dearly missed as he has graced a lot of shows and films. Mr. Poston was 85.

We mentioned last week that the Black Family Channel is no more, but now they announced today they are moving to broadband as a free channel!
Black Family Channel's slate of original, must-see, award-winning programs will soon be available free as a brand new, feature-rich broadband TV service.
Anyone who has access to a broadband connection at home, at school, or at work will be able to get Black Family Channel. The broadband service is launching soon under the leadership of Hollywood actor and director Robert Townsend and Mr. Newberger.
In tandem with the launch of the broadband service, Black Family Channel announced a cable partnership with Gospel Music Channel, the nation's first and only 24-hour music television entertainment network dedicated to all styles of Gospel and Christian music.