Nick at Nite Has Best April Ever; Classic TV Moms on Rachel Ray; Fringe Returns for Second Season

Nick at Nite is total day's number-one basic cable network with Adults 18-49 and Women 18-49 for April, and ranking second only to sister-channel Nickelodeon among total viewers.
April 2009 also marked Nick at Nite's most-watched April in its history with Adults 18-49, Women 18-49 and total viewers. And also, year to date, Nick at Nite is the number-one network with Women 18-49 and is number one with Adults 18-49 (tied in rating with USA Network).
The April 2009 dates were from 3/30/09-4/26/09 and Nick at Nite averaged a 0.6 rating and 697,000 viewers A18-49 and 1.6 million total viewers for the month. With Women 18-49, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.8 rating and 464,000 viewers W18-49 (up 14% year-to-year). Among Men 18-49, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.4 rating and 233,000 viewers M18-49. And in prime time, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 rating and 1.7 million total viewers on average per night in April in primetime. Nick at Nite airs 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT in primetime.
And that's not all! For the entire 2009 so far (12/29/08-4/26/09), Nick at Nite is averaging a 0.6 rating and 691,000 viewers A18-49 and 1.5 million total viewers for the year. With Women 18-49, Nick at Nite is averaging a 0.8 rating and 442,000 viewers W18-49 (up 14% year-to-year) for the year. Among Men 18-49, Nick at Nite is averaging a 0.4 rating and 249,000 viewers M18-49 for the year. And in prime time, Nick at Nite is averaging 1.7 million total viewers on average per night for the year in primetime. Nick at Nite's success are from shows like George Lopez and Family Matters, with The Nanny joining the line-up this Sunday!

As we alerted all of you on Sunday on our Twitter page, three classic TV moms were judges on a cook-off on The Rachel Ray Show yesterday. So if you missed that, then you missed our alert. Follow us from now on so you don't miss a beat! Anyway, we have a video clip from this cook-off for you to see. And oh the three classic TV moms are Mrs. Brady, Mrs. Partridge and Mrs. C! Classic '70s fever indeed! Brady Bunch, Partridge Family and Happy Days were three excellent classic family comedies. All three moms look very good still! Watch the video clip!

Meanwhile, the busy network month of pick-ups continues, with Fox. You won't have to wait until May 18 for the fate of one show at least because Fox has renewed creepy thriller Fringe from J.J. Abrams. Fringe has captivated audiences this season, winning its Tuesday time period weekly among key demographics and ranks as the No. 1 new series in primetime among Adults 18-49, as it has followed House in the fall and American Idol this winter/spring.
One thing Fringe couldn't do well was hold a good percentage of those huge lead-ins much. The series has always had a huge lead-in, and that could change this fall with House expected to stay on Mondays. Could that break this series this fall? We shall see, but it get a chance to be tested! Fringe stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Blair Brown and Jasika Nicole. The series is produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Hallmark Channel Reduces More Lucy; JustMyShow Interviews Dave Madden

We announced this first on our message board on Friday and didn't get a chance to tell you here on the blog, but Hallmark Channel made a last minute schedule change effective today (Monday, March 9). Weekdays 8-9am will be now another hour of The Golden Girls, which has done well in the ratings for them. The marathon on Sunday, March 1 did decent for them. The 8-9am hour will replace I Love Lucy, as that show has heavily been cut. This change is in addition to all the changes already for Lucy. That's not all though! Starting tonight in the 2am ET/PT hour, Cheers will move up a half-hour to 2am, while Lucy gets shifted back to 2:30am, ouch. That is more bad news for Lucy as Cheers did even worse in the ratings when it first aired. So yes, I Love Lucy is not doing well in the ratings, as you all must have assumed. I think they need more sitcoms in the same vein as Lucy, since Golden Girls and Cheers are '80s series. Hallmark has had no success with sitcoms in recent years besides M*A*S*H (which to me is really a half-hour drama), so looks like Golden Girls will break that curse...but shows like Facts of Life, Family Ties, Cheers, and I Love Lucy all didn't.
So Golden Girls will now air weekdays 8-10am, 4-5pm, and 12am-2am; Saturdays 6-9am; and Sundays 8:30am-10am. And I Love Lucy is just weeknights at 2:30am. Discuss this new change on our message board.

Our friend Eric of JustMyShow.com has released another interview! He digs into the archives to bring you a never before heard 2007 interview with Reuben Kincaid himself, The Partridge Family's Dave Madden. Dave Madden is known to TV fans everywhere as manager Reuben Kincaid on the '70s ABC series The Partridge Family. His other credits include Laugh-In and Alice as well as extensive theatre and voiceover work. He is the author of the memoir Reuben on Wry.
In bonus material, he talks about where the famous Partridge Family bus is now, where Simone went, on being recognized on the street, and his bowling shoes! But before you listen to the bonus audio, listen to the actual interview at JustMyShow.com!

And finally, tonight on ABC premieres the new drama Castle following the two-hour season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. I already saw the pilot and loved it. Nathan Fillion of Desperate Housewives is the lead and really does a great job here...and is funny! You Moonlighting fans out there will like this, as the sexual tension between the two leads is great. I really think this show will hit big tonight, but before you watch it...read my thoughts of the pilot (and view the first 13 minutes of the pilot)! Tune in tonight a 10pm ET/PT 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.

Strike Update; ME-TV Coming to Milwaukee, Chicago to Launch ME-Too; RTN Coming to Illinois

Well we all know the strike is just about over. Yesterday I mentioned that they had a press conference. So what happened in it? They announced a vote will be held on Tuesday. A yes vote means they are voting to end the strike immediately; a no vote means they are voting to continue the strike during the ratification process.
So the strike has unofficially ended, but it won't be official until after this vote. It is widely expected that the WGA members will indeed vote yes on the new deal and the writers would return to work Wednesday.
So today is technically still day 99 of the strike. And tomorrow is day 100, the last day technically of the strike. How cool is it that this will all end officially on day 100. We will have more on the vote and more details this week.

You all know about ME-TV in Chicago. The local Chicago station (WWME-23) that airs classic TV, well now the same people will bring ME-TV in Milwaukee! ME-TV will launch in Milwaukee March 1 with a lineup that will include programs such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Lost in Space.
ME-TV in Milwaukee will be on a new digital subchannel on Channel 58.3 (WDJT). In addition to being available over the air at 58.3, it will have a spot on the Time Warner and Charter digital lineups. For the record, Channel 58's less-than-full power sister channel, WMLW-TV - Channel 41 over the air and Channel 7 on Time Warner Cable - airs at 58.2.
Stay tuned right here on the News Blog for the launch schedule for this new ME-TV station in Milwaukee! We will be the first to post it, I'm sure.

Sticking with ME-TV, ME-TV in Chicago is still going strong. It just launched its new Chill with Me winter line-up and added shows such as Gilligan's Island and My Favorite Martian. Now, WWME (ME-TV Chicago) has announced it intends to add classic reruns to WFBT-Ch. 48 and rename it WMEU-TV beginning March 1. WWME-23 has called itself ME-TV. WFBT-48 will call itself ME-Too.
Besides being broadcast and carried by some area cable providers, the channels also will be available on digital sub-channels belonging to sister station WCIU-Ch. 26, WCIU-DT 26.2 and 26.3 respectively.
Between ME-TV and ME-Too, more than 100 different series will be aired! Having ME-Too will allow development of targeted blocks of programming for different demographics. It also will create a classic program stream when sports preempts regularly scheduled shows.
Among the shows we will see will be a Saturday night "pajama party" lineup will feature sitcoms Square Pegs, Silver Spoons, Facts of Life, The Monkees, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Also we can expect a Sunday "Noir at Night" block of Route 66, Naked City, 77 Sunset Strip and Boris Karloff's Thriller.
Let's hope ME-TV and ME-Too expand to more cities. It would be nice to have at least a ME-TV in most markets...Chicago and Milwaukee are very lucky! I hope we get one in New York!
As we said about ME-TV Milwaukee's launch schedule, stay tuned right here on the News Blog for the launch schedule for Chicago's ME-Too! We will be the first to post it, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, something similar to ME-TV is of course Retro Television Network. RTN is now well over in 50 different markets and growing each day! Retro Television Network announced that it will partner with GOCOM Media of Illinois to bring RTN programming to Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, IL. The network will launch early next year on one of the digital streams of WRSP/WBUI.

Day 32: WGA's Strike; Classic TV Sitcom Holiday Episodes in Toledo!

It is now day 32 of the strike. Frankly I'm getting tired of saying what day it is. I just want this to be over already! Well anyway, we have more schedule news because of the strike. NBC has confirmed their January schedule now. The other day we gave you most of it and now it is all confirmed! Here you go:
Mondays - 8pm American Gladiators, 9pm Deal or No Deal, 10pm Medium
Tuesdays - 8-10pm The Biggest Loser, 10pm Law & Order: SVU
Wednesdays - 8pm Deal or No Deal, 9pm Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 10pm Law & Order
Thursdays - 8pm Comedy Repeats, 9pm Celebrity Apprentice, 10pm ER (Lipstick Jungle takes over in Feb)
Fridays - 8pm 1 vs. 100, 9pm Friday Night Lights, 10pm Las Vegas
Saturdays - Repeats
Sundays - Mix of Specials
So, Medium is returning to its old Monday at 10pm slot. Deal or no Deal returns to Mondays, but it moves to 9pm. Mondays at 8pm starting Feb. 18 will be the reality series The Baby Borrowers, as American Gladiators' six-week run will conclude by then. Sunday specials include The 65th Annual Golden Globes Awards" broadcasting live on Sunday, January 13 from 8-11 p.m. ET, The Guinness Book of World Records - Live! featuring a live death-defying stunt on Sunday, January 27 from 9-11 p.m. ET and Top 100 Most Outrageous Moments on Sunday, February 10 from 9-11 p.m. ET. Don't be surprised to see Dateline pop-up Sundays at 7 or even two-hour Deal or No Deal episodes from 7-9pm Sundays. If that is the case, we have Deal on three nights (Sun, Mon, Wed).
Meanwhile Fox has picked-up more episodes of Don't Forget the Lyrics! Fox has ordered 13 additional episodes of the musical game show. The series, hosted by Wayne Brady, cranks up the volume with all-new episodes Thursdays at 9:00 PM ET/PT and encore episodes airing Fridays at 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox.

Attention Toledo, Ohio! Classic TV fans will be VERY happy this holiday season as WTVG (ABC13) will give you fans a treat this holiday season with classic holiday episodes of sitcom favorites! Starting this Saturday, fans can tune in from 1-3PM on Saturday afternoons on ABC13 for Christmas episodes of classic sitcoms. Dec. 8 we will see holiday showings of Bewitched, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best and The Flying Nun. On Dec. 15 we will see more holiday classics with Bewitched, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best and this time The Monkees. And the final holiday airings will be on Dec. 29 and we will see yet more Bewitched, Dennis the Menace, The Partridge Family and another Bewitched. You lucky people in Toledo you! Hopefully they do more of this and let's hope other stations across the nation learn from this and follow!
In Toledo? Or love the fact they are airing classic sitcom holiday episodes? Discuss this with us HERE!

Sony Classic TV Minisodes Launches Today, Full Details; Interviews with Marion Ross and Dan Lauria

MySpace today announced the exclusive debut of The Minisode Network, a selection of episodes from hit TV shows from the Sony Pictures Television library that have been pared down for the Internet audience. Each minisode is three to five minutes in length, and retains the full story arc of the original episode. Starting today, MySpace Video users can watch minisodes from each series at http://www.myspace.com/minisodenetwork.
The Minisode Network will launch with three episodes each from 15 classic series: The Partridge Family, Starsky & Hutch, TJ Hooker, Charlie's Angels, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Who's the Boss?, What's Happening!!, Dilbert, Sheena, Fantasy Island, Police Woman, VIP and Ricki Lake. New minisodes will be added weekly with more than 500 episodes available by the end of the year.
Among the classic episodes include the famous "Angels in Chains" episode of Charlie's Angels, "Shoplifting" episode of The Facts of Life and "The Spanking" episode of Diff'rent Strokes!
To discuss this news and to read the full press release, click HERE.

Eric's JustMyShow.com Podcast is back for episode 14 and it features interviews with a classic TV mom and a classic TV dad...and the best part is both are sitcom stars! The guests are Marion Ross from Happy Days and Dan Lauria from The Wonder Years.
Marion Ross is one of TV's most beloved moms for her 11 years as "Mrs. C" on Happy Days. A five-time Emmy nominee, Ross also starred in the critically acclaimed series Brooklyn Bridge and had a recurring role on The Drew Carrey Show. She was most recently seen on an episode of the current ABC drama Brothers & Sisters.
Dan Lauria is best known to audiences as Jack Arnold, Fred Savage's TV dad on The Wonder Years. A former Marine, Lauria gives his time to various veteran causes. When he's not appearing on TV & film, he's focusing on his first love, the theater.
Head on over to JustMyShow's 14th episode listen to these two great interviews! There are bonus clips as well that you will for sure want to listen to. Good job once again to our buddy Eric!

TV One July Highlights; Nick at Nite, The N Changes; Honda Sponsors Sony Minisodes

There are not many highlights related to actual TV series for TV One in July, but we do have some. Here are some:
On Sunday, July 8 at 8pm, TV One premieres the legendary mini-series Roots: The Next Generations, the 14-hour, 7-part sequel to the original Roots miniseries that made television history. The story picks up in 1882 just after the original left off where Tom Harvey, the great grandson of Kunta Kinte has established a marginal existence as a blacksmith in Henning, Tennessee. The series continues the story of author Alex Haley’s family line from the Post American Civil War era to Alex’s search for his genealogical roots which led him to Africa. The mini-series stars Georg Stanford Brown, Lynne Moody, Debbi Morgan, Henry Fonda, Stan Shaw, Irene Cara, Marlon Brando, Paul Winfield, Ruby Dee, and James Earl Jones as Alex Haley. The first six parts air at 8pm all week through Friday, with encore showings at 10pm and in the weekday noon movie slots. They will also re-air on Saturday, July 14 from 12 noon to midnight. The final part will air Sunday night, July 15 also at 8pm and 10pm – and will be repeated on Monday, July 16 at 9pm.
Beginning Sunday, July 29 from 2am-6am, In the House replaces Amen in TV One’s Sunday weekly overnight comedy mini-marathons.

Nick at Nite has made a minor change for Saturday, June 23. From 10pm-2am, they have scheduled a mini-marathon for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. What else is new, though?
The week of June 18, The N will air overnight marathons of the teen drama Summerland from 12-3am, but Monday it will be 12-6am.

Next week Sony will officially announce the full details for the Sony minisodes we mentioned a few weeks back. Today, Sony said Honda will be the sole sponsor for the short episodes. It is scheduled to begin next week. Visitors to the MySpace Web site will be able to watch episodes of 15 (initially...more will come soon) vintage Sony series like Charlie's Angels, Police Woman, The Partridge Family, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, What's Happening!!, Fantasy Island and Who's the Boss?, edited from their original lengths of approx. 30 or 60 minutes each to an Internet-friendly 4 to 6 minutes.
Honda and its longtime agency, RPA, have agreed to run only eight seconds of commercials with each episode, appearing before the shortened show starts. First, there will be an on-screen billboard lasting three seconds, declaring, "The Minisode Network, brought to you by Honda." The billboard will be followed by a five-second commercial for the Honda Fit, the mini-car that American Honda introduced last year, and its website.
The minisodes will appear exclusively on MySpace through the end of August. Initially, there will be three episodes of each series, with new episodes to be added each week. Sony Pictures Television announced the idea in April, describing it as a way to re-purpose for the new media programming that was originally produced for the traditional media.
The minisodes are not intended as pastiches or excerpts; they are edited carefully so the plots can be followed from beginning to end. (It helps that many of the series are formulaic sitcoms or police dramas.)
After the exclusivity with MySpace ends the goal is for the minisodes to come to other websites while remaining on MySpace. Sony Pictures Television is looking at sites like AOL.com, Yahoo! and YouTube, as well as posting them on a micro-site, a special site of their own.