TV Land December 2009 Includes 10th Annual Merrython; TNT Picks-Up Southland

This December on TV Land there are not many changes to the regular schedule, but of course we have the 10th Annual Merrython coming up filled with holiday episodes of all your TV Land favorites! But first, TV Land original series Make My Day returns Wednesday, December 2. It was pulled from the schedule in August but now will be burned-off with three weeks of episodes in the 10pm & 10:30pm half-hours. Amazing dreams really do come true when TV Land returns its new original comedic hidden camera series Make My Day on Wednesday, December 2 at 10:00 P.M. ET/PT on TV Land PRIME. The 30-minute series executive produced by Michael Davies provides an exciting window into the eventful day of an unsuspecting and deserving participant as hidden cameras capture the weird coincidences, extraordinary situations and surprise celebrity appearances that occur for them over the course of a seemingly "normal" day.
Kick start the holiday season with TV Land's 10th Annual Merrython on Sunday, December 13! TV Land delivers holiday cheer to our viewers during this all day marathon featuring holiday-themed episodes from classic series like Andy Griffith, All in the Family, Brady Bunch, Three's Company, Sanford & Son and Beverly Hillbillies together with modern favorites from Roseanne, 3rd Rock and The Cosby Show. Grab the eggnog, tune in with loved ones, and celebrate the holiday season with TV Land! It's three days of holiday magic on Sunday, December 13, 2009 from 6am-6am,
Thursday, December 24 from 8pm-6am and continues Friday, December 25 from 9am-9pm!
Saturday classic marathons continue in December with big blocks of Sanford & Son, Good Times, and Beverly Hillbillies. And the Friday night PRIME movies for the month are The Pelican Brief, Top Gun, and Planes Trains & Automobiles. Encore showings on weekends are of Crocodile Dundee II and City Slickers.
View the FULL TV Land December 2009 highlights with full Merrython details!

TNT has picked up the critically acclaimed series Southland, closing a deal with Warner Bros. Television that will bring the drama from Emmy-winning producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing) to the network in January. TNT has obtained exclusive rights to air all six episodes that have been shot for the second season, as well as the seven episodes from the series' first season. Southland will air on TNT Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning with the very first episode of the series on Jan. 12. Southland aired on NBC in the first season and they picked up a second season but then decided to cancel it before it even launched its second season. It is unclear right now if TNT will make more than the 6 episodes produced for season two. It will depend on ratings of the first season and the new second season.
As of now TNT will air the series following repeats of Law & Order. TNT will give it a lot promos though on their Monday night original block of The Closer and Men of a Certain Age.

Cougar Town Special Marathon on SOAPnet, ION Television November 2009; TV Land Makes Changes to Yesterday's Changes

SOAPnet announced that it will air a four-episode marathon of ABC's hit comedy Cougar Town on Saturday, November 14 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM. The critically acclaimed series airs Wednesdays at 9:30PM ET/PT on ABC. They are doing this to attract even more new viewers to the program. The show has done very well in the ratings, especially in the 18-49 demo. The Cougar Town marathon will include four previous episodes ("Pilot," "Into the Great Wide Open," "Don't Do Me Like That," and "I Won't Back Down") previously broadcast on ABC earlier this season.
Courteney Cox stars as Jules, a recently divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture. While most women in their twenties go through life experiencing the challenges and often humorous pitfalls of meeting men, Jules took on the responsibilities of marriage and raising a son. Now in her forties, she embarks on a journey to self-discovery whilst surrounded by fellow divorcees and singletons eager to live or re-live a time gone by.
Along for the journey are her friends and family: Laurie (Busy Philipps), the younger, feisty co-worker who encourages her to get out there and have some fun; Ellie (Christa Miller), the sarcastic, unapologetic confidante content with her life and marriage to her average, but loveable husband, Andy (Ian Gomez); ex-husband Bobby (Brian Van Holt), a classic under-achiever who'll test her patience as they attempt to raise their teenage son, Travis (Dan Byrd); and newly divorced neighbor Grayson (Josh Hopkins), who proves to be a catalyst of sorts for Jules.

This November on ION Television, we don't have any schedules changes, as of now, but we have a lot of movie premieres. ION airs movies Fridays in primetime and all-day on Saturday & Sundays (3pm-11pm). Movie premieres for the month are On Deadly Ground, Breach, Heist, Miami Vice, Out for Justice, Waterworld, Demolition Man, and The Rookie. Encore airings include Hunt for Red October, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Last Boy Scout, Batman Forever, Sphere, Pale Rider, Magnum Force, and The Enforcer.
So the regular weekday schedule will remain the same as it is now, with Reba at 4, Family Feud from 5-7p, Ghost Whisperer at 7, and in primetime Ghost Whisperer at 8, followed by various nights and times of NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Durham County.
See the full ION Television November 2009 schedule.

Yesterday we announced some TV Land schedule changes that starts today...and now they have made changes to those changes. Bonanza will still replace Gunsmoke at 3pm, leaving Gunsmoke only at 2pm on weekdays, but now Bonanza will remain in its 4pm and 5pm hours. That means All in the Family (originally scheduled to air 4pm) will now air back-to-back in the 6pm hour replacing Little House on the Prairie, which leaves the weekday schedule now. It will remain Sunday nights (early Monday mornings) from 4-6am. Sanford & Son (originally scheduled to air 5pm) will now get the 7pm hour, replacing Andy Griffith, Hogan's Heroes and Brady Bunch hours. Andy Griffith Show will still be replacing series from 8-10pm weekdays (Fridays it is 8-9pm), as we announced yesterday. However, Cosby Show will replace Andy's Monday block from 10pm-12am. Other little changes include two-hour episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on weekends from 8-10am, Gunsmoke & Bonanza on Sundays are now 10am-3pm, and Andy Griffith is now 3pm-9pm on Sundays. M*A*S*H follows on Sundays from 9pm-11pm, as Roseanne gets an additional hour now on Sundays airing 11pm-2am. Also a personal bummer for me, the Three's Company marathon slated for this Saturday (Oct. 31) from 12:30pm-8pm, will be replaced by Sanford & Son and it gets two more hours, too, airing from 12:30pm-10pm.
See the full changes and the full TV Land schedule now.

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.

TV One November 2009 Highlights; New Biography Episodes in November on Bio TV

This November on TV One there won't be any regular schedule changes, so it will remain the same as October, but there will be plenty of sitcom related stunt marathons! On Friday, November 13 beginning at 10pm, it's a comedy master class as TV One presents the "Martin 'Thug Homey' Mega-thon," a 24-hour comedy event that features episodes of TV One sitcom favorite Martin with Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) in aggression mode battling his friends, his enemies, his woman, and even himself in this hilarious TV One comedy extravaganza.
Thursday, November 26 is Thanksgiving Day and TV One has programming scheduled to keep viewers "Home for the Holidays" and in the holiday spirit in the day and thumping to a music beat throughout the evening, while the rest of the holiday weekend includes a mix of TV One originals and TV One sitcom favorites, and movies. Thanksgiving weekend programming plans for sitcoms are as follows:
On Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving Day will begin at 6am with a sitcom marathon consisting of Thanksgiving themed episodes of TV One sitcoms Half & Half, Martin, The Hughleys, Living Single, Good Times, and All of Us through 1pm with select encores in the overnight from 2am-6am.
Then on Friday, November 27 beginning at 10pm, it's a Holiday Comedy Mega-thon as TV One airs 24-hours of holiday themed episodes of TV One sitcom favorites Martin, Good Times, The Jeffersons, Eve, Amen, The PJs, The Hughleys, Living Single, Cedric, Half & Half, Where I Live, Good News, Amen, Sanford & Son, , and All of Us in this holiday comedy mega-thon event.

This November Bio TV will launch a few TV related Biography episodes. Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives, Lois & Clark) will be featured on Wednesday, November 4 at 10pm and Woody Harrelson (Cheers) is featured on Tuesday, November 24 at 10pm. For Teri Hatcher, a profile of the glamorous Desperate Housewives star whose career and personal life have seen many ups and downs. Hatcher suffered sexual abuse as a young girl. But her career took off when she appeared on TV's Seinfeld and starred as the girlfriend to both Superman on TV and James Bond in the movies. After her professional life cooled down a decade ago, she came roaring back with Housewives and her 2006 autobiography, "Burnt Toast and Other Philosophies of Life," which was endorsed by Oprah's Book Club. For Woody Harrelson, a portrait of the actor who was plucked from obscurity and found stardom on the hit TV sitcom Cheers. Harrelson became a violent youth when his father was sent to jail. He started acting in high school, and nailed the audition for Cheers after hearing about the casting call from a friend. He went on to star in White Men Can't Jump and such controversial movies as Natural Born Killers and The People vs. Larry Flynt. Harrelson also became a vegan, took up yoga, and became an activist--he was arrested for climbing the Golden Gate Bridge in an effort to protect California's redwoods.
Repeat episodes airing this month include Biography episodes on Alyssa Milano, Tony Danza, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Landon, Aaron Spelling, Burt Reynolds, Heather Locklear, Shaun Cassidy, Valerie Bertinelli, Gary Coleman, Bob Saget, Dana Plato, Diff'rent Strokes, Kristy McNichol, Billy Crystal, Reba, Suzanne Somers, Patrick Duffy, Don Knotts, John Ritter, Three's Company, Patricia Heaton, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kirstie Alley, Cheers, Batman, The Partridge Family, Full House, Doris Roberts, Shirley Jones, Bill Cosby. Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals: Gilligan's Island and Diff'rent Strokes; Laverne & Shirley and Cheers, Dynasty Reunion, The Cosby Show: A Look Back, Cast Confessions: Facts of Life, and Laverne & Shirley Reunion will also reair.
And about 10 days ago we told you the Celebrity Ghost Stories episodes for November that will feature stars like Lisa Rinna, Eric Roberts, Justine Bateman, and Jay Thomas.

TV Land November 2009 Highlights; Lifetime Weekday Changes

This November on TV Land, there will be no schedule changes, as of now, but we have movie premieres and the annual Thanksgiving event! The regular schedule with changes that started in October will carry over into November. So Married...with Children is still not back on TV Land. Friday PRIME movie premieres for November are Crocodile Dundee II and Twelve Angry Men. Encores for the month are City Slickers and Footloose. TV Land will also premiere the big screen Dennis the Menace movie on Saturday, November 21 at 8am. Not sure why they didn't premiere it in primetime...could be a contract thing. Weekend marathon blocks continue in November, but Sundays are now the same every week with blocks of Hogan's Heroes, Beverly Hillbillies, TV Land Goes West and Andy Griffith Show. But on Saturdays they are different each week. We will see marathon blocks such as Brady Bunch, Sanford & Son, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Leave it to Beaver, and The Beverly Hillbillies.
As for stunts, all we have in November 2009 is the 3rd Annual Overstuffed Thanksgiving Weekend from Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) to Sunday, November 29. TV Land knows that once the holidays begin that you can always make room for one more - eating one more helping of food, giving one more gift or watching one more of your favorite classic TV shows! The 3rd Annual Overstuffed Thanksgiving Weekend will serving up four days filled with multi-packs of great TV. So gather the family around and feed your funny bone with multiple TV servings as well as a back-to-back double-features of some our viewers' favorite movies. With favorites The Andy Griffith Show, Sanford & Son, Little House on The Prairie, Beverly Hillbillies, Brady Bunch and Hogan's Heroes together with movies Crocodile Dundee II and Footloose, there will be something for everyone in the family!
It looks like a November to remember on TV Land! View the full TV Land November 2009 schedule and highlights!

Starting today Lifetime has made some minor schedule changes. The 12pm airing of Wife Swap will be replaced by Medium, but Wife Swap will still remain 1pm & 2pm. Then weeknights at 7pm starting tomorrow (because Project Runway marathon is today from 3pm-11pm) will be a third consecutive hour of Grey's Anatomy, replacing Medium. Grey's Anatomy's late night airing of 1:30am will be replaced by Medium starting tonight, though. So Medium gets a third airing, but it loses its evening slot. And finally on weekends, How I Met Your Mother was airing Saturday nights 1-2am, now that will be Sunday nights 1-2am instead.
As for original sitcoms Sherri and Rita Rocks, catch new episodes Tuesdays at 10pm & 10:30pm and then encores later that night at 1am & 1:30am. And for this week only, the comedies are encoring 10am-11am weekdays this week ONLY.

ABC Fall Pilot Review: The Middle - Premieres September 30; TV Land Goes Brady Crazy This Week

The Middle - Wednesdays 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 8:30PM ET/PT

Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton stars in this warm and witty single-camera comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations.

Frankie Heck is a superhero. Well, no, not an actual superhero - not unless you count getting her kids out the door for school every morning as a superfeat. Middle-aged, middle class and living in the middle of the country, this harried wife and working mother of three uses her wry wit and sense of humor to try to get her family through each day intact. Frankie has a job selling cars at the town's only surviving car dealer; her husband, Mike, is a manager at the local quarry.

In between juggling shifts and picking up fast food dinners eaten in front of the TV, Frankie and Mike raise their kids with love and solid Midwestern practicality. Axl is the oldest, a teenage jock who eats the family out of house and home and walks around in his underwear. Then there's Sue, their extraordinarily ordinary pre-teen daughter who fails at everything she tries with great gusto. Brick, the youngest son, is an odd kid whose best friend is his backpack. Together, they're putting THE MIDDLE on the map.

Cast Details:

* Patricia Heaton as Frankie Heck
* Neil Flynn as Mike Heck
* Charlie McDermott as Axl Heck
* Eden Shur as Sue Heck
* Atticus Shafer as Brick Heck
* Chris Kattan as Bob

Patricia Heaton (Frankie Heck) is perhaps best known for her role as Debra Barone on the award-winning series Everybody Loves Raymond. She won two Emmy Awards for the role and was nominated seven times. In addition to her Emmy wins, Heaton is also the recipient of the Best Comedy Actress Award from the Viewers for Quality Television, a SAG Award and three SAG nominations in the Best Actress category for her work on Raymond. Heaton most recently starred opposite Kelsey Grammer in the Fox comedy series Back to You. She also starred in the Hallmark Hall of Fame film, Front of the Class. Other television credits include a recurring role on ABC's popular series thirtysomething and prominent roles in the series Room for Two, Someone Like Me and Women of the House, as well as the television films A Town Without Christmas and Miracle in the Woods. Heaton produced and starred in the TNT/FourBoys Films production, The Engagement Ring, She also starred in the TNT/Neil Simon production of The Goodbye Girl and ABC's The Path to 9/11. Her feature film credits include Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Beethoven, New Age and Space Jam.

Neil Flynn (Mike Heck) just finished his eighth season as Sacred Heart Hospital's menacing janitor in the ABC comedy series Scrubs. Flynn can be seen interrogating Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, directed by Steven Spielberg, and is also well known for playing Lindsay Lohan's dad in the hit comedy Mean Girls. His other feature appearances include Hoot, Home Alone 3, The Fugitive, Chain Reaction, Rookie of the Year, Baby's Day Out and Major League. Equally adept at comedy and drama, Flynn has performed a variety of roles on television series, ranging from Seinfeld, The Drew Carey Show and That 70's Show to C.S.I., Boston Public and NYPD Blue. Other T.V. appearances include Arli$$, Ellen, Family Law and Smallville.

Charlie McDermott (Axl Heck) is a quickly rising star who will make his presence felt on both the large and small screen in 2009. On the big screen he has two new films in production: He'll join Chevy Chase, John Cusack, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson in United Artist's Hot Tub Time Machine, an absurdist comedy slated to open in February 2010; he will also star alongside Laura Linney and writer/director Leland Orser in Morning, opening later this year. McDermott began his career with M. Night Shyamalan's The Village, alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Additional film credits include The Sex Drive, opposite Seth Green and James Marsden. Television credits include The Office, as the disinterested student who ignores Michael Scott (Steve Carell), ABC's Private Practice, Parks and Recreation, and Medium.

Eden Sher (Sue Heck) is best known for her work on the ABC comedy Sons & Daughters. She has also starred in Starz Party Down, ABC Family's The Middleman, Disney's Sonny With A Chance and Showtime's Weeds.

Atticus Shaffer (Brick Heck) was discovered by his manager in 2006 and soon landed a guest starring role in the series The Class. That role led him to the role of Brick in the original ABC pilot, The Middle. Several episodics followed, such as My Name is Earl, Days of Our Lives, Carpoolers, Out of Jimmy's Head and Human Giant. Perhaps best known for the bus stop scene he shared with Will Smith in Hancock, Atticus' other roles in feature films include The Unborn, An American Carol, Leaving Barstow and Opposite Day.

Chris Kattan (Bob) is best known for his many characters on Saturday Night Live, which he joined in March 1996, completing his seventh and final season in 2003. With numerous upcoming projects, he was recently seen in the Independent Film Channel's three-part miniseries, Bollywood Hero, in which he played himself in an otherwise fictional comedy. Other big-screen credits include Universal's Undercover Brother, Disney's Corky Romano" the script of which was based on a character Kattan developed, and A Night at the Roxbury, written by Kattan and Will Ferrell and produced by Lorne Michaels and Amy Heckerling. Kattan was also seen opposite Brendan Fraser and Bridget Fonda in Monkey Bone, and in The House on Haunted Hill, opposite Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Ali Larter and Taye Diggs and produced by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs September 30)
Frankie is struggling in her career as a car salesperson because she has failed to actually sell a car. Sue has auditioned for show choir and, to everyone's shock, makes the team, but fails to mention that she's part of the stage crew. To top things off, Brick wants Frankie to come to his class presentation dressed as a superhero. Just when Frankie thinks she's got a car sold and her kids under control, she does show up to Brick's class dressed as a superhero -- but he's given her the wrong day -- and the car she thought she had sold is stolen right in front of her. Work and home have taken over Frankie's life... to the point that she barely recognizes herself and has even taken to coloring her hair with a magic marker. Her youth has faded and the day-to-day grind has worn her down, but it's family and the struggles they face together that keep Frankie and the rest of the Hecks one big happy mess.
Guest starring are Brian Doyle-Murray as Mr. Ehlert, Amy Farrington as Gail, Patricia Belcher as Mrs. Rettig, Jeanete Miller as Aunt Edie, Francis Bay as Aunt Ginny, Peter Breitmayer as Pete, Andy Kreiss as choir director, Ping Wu as Mr. Yamamoto, Mike Randleman as flight attendant and Robert Clendenin as P.A.
"Pilot" was written by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler, and directed by Julie Ann Robinson.


Analysis:

ABC has had this pilot in development for a few years, so they have really believed in it and got to a point where they made it the best they could. Previously when it was in development, Ricki Lake was the star...now we have Patricia Heaton as the star and she shines in this role! This sitcom is about an average family living in "the middle" of the country in Indiana. If you liked Malcolm in the Middle, you are sure to like this. While that series was focused mainly on Malcolm, this series is all about Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton). But that is not to say this isn't an ensemble, because the family is a key part of the show.

The pilot is excellent. Mike and Frankie Heck have three children Axl, Sue and Brick. They are all so unique and funny in their own ways. I think everyone in the entire country will love the youngest child, Brick. He is unbelievably funny! Even his name is pretty funny! Seriously, Frankie, Axl, and Brick...strange names, but funny! Frankie is a car salesman and of course a mom, where she has to juggle so many tasks. Brick has even called his mom a superhero for his class. What happens with that is actually very hysterical. Frankie also can't sell any cars and when you think she is about to, something very out of the blue happens that you'll never see coming. And at the dealership, Frankie's co-worker Bob (Chris Kattan) is there, but he hasn't really gotten any substance yet. He has now been made a series regular, where on this pilot he was just a guest star. We have two very fun men here in Neil Flynn as Mike Heck and Chris Kattan as Bob the car salesman. Just a wonderful cast and a hilarious family!

You've see some hilarious scenes in promos, such as Brick unknowingly tapping her teacher's breast when trying to get her attention, and the hilarious scenes just keep on coming on this show! Another scene that is hysterical is when Frankie is telling Brick to lick his frozen pancake because it will last longer! Everything in this pilot clicks very well and ABC now I think has 3 very good comedies on Wednesday nights, with only Hank (The Middle's lead-in) being the exception so far.


Conclusion:

This could quietly become one of the top comedies on the air right now. Modern Family is probably the best family comedy, but this should not be overlooked either. If you like sitcoms like Roseanne and Malcolm in the Middle, you'll love this one because it is a mix of both. I am from the Northeast, so I don't know if families are really like that in "the middle" of the country, but Heaton has said in interviews that she was born in Ohio (close to Indiana) and her family was so much like this. I'm sure people in the middle of the country will even like this show more since they can relate to this. In these tough times, we sure need a show like this! I never really liked Everybody Loves Raymond, but Patricia Heaton shines in this role...she plays it real and is funny. Neil Flynn was always hilarious on Scrubs and just seeing the janitor from Scrubs as a father is hysterical itself! I think the real show stealer in this is Atticus Shaffer as the young Brick. He pulls his pants down in public to go to the bathroom, he touches his teacher's breasts (not on purpose), and repeats stuff under his breath. He is like Dewey from Malcolm, but so much funnier!

The ratings should be pretty good for this show. This hour is pretty weak and the show is millions better than CBS's competing Gary Unmarried. Tune in tonight at 8:30pm for this new hilarious comedy on ABC Comedy Wednesday! You'll be saying "this is a winner" and like Brick, you'll say it under your breath, too!

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

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

-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 09/30/09

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, September 23 on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

The Middle Photo Gallery

Preview:

TV Land has made a slight change for the remainder of the week starting tonight. The Brady Bunch will air Wed-Fri this week ONLY in the 7pm hour instead of the usual back-to-back The Beverly Hillbillies. That is interesting as it seems last week's Brady Bunch anniversary must have did decent for them in the ratings. However, it just seems so strange they have Brady Bunch followed by Married...with Children! Talk about two totally different shows! I'm not sure what TV Land is doing, but their scheduling has been pretty weird the last year or two.
TV Land has also quietly returned Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in the weekdays at 9am hour, replacing Good Times, which now shifts to 10-11am, followed by Sanford & Son from 11am-12pm. Previously three episodes each of these two sitcoms were airing from 9am-10:30am and 10:30am-12pm.
Stay with us for more TV Land news. We hear more changes could happen next week, so keep checking back. We also have the TV Land November 2009 schedule to give you all, but we might wait a few days for that...just in case we have wholesale changes happening next week.

TV Land and Hallmark Make Changes Starting Sept. 14; Chris Does Well for Nick at Nite; John Ritter Anniversary

TV Land and Hallmark Channel have both made some last minute schedule changes to its schedule starting this Monday (Sept. 14). TV Land's change is very minor, as it will add a third Sanford & Son in the morning at 10:30am replacing a Good Times airing. Good Times will remain 9am-10:30am, as Sanford & Son is now 10:30am-12pm. The previous changes that were set to happen on Sept. 14 for TV Land that we announced, will still happen.
Meanwhile, it wouldn't be a week without a Hallmark Channel schedule change. It seems like every week we have a schedule change now. This schedule change is a bit more drastic than the usual changes. The changes start this Monday (Sept. 14) with Paid Programming replacing The Golden Girls in the 8am hour. Not to worry is that The Golden Girls will retain that hour by airing at 12pm replacing the start of a movie. Golden Girls will now air between 9am-1pm every weekday morning. Murder, She Wrote returns to the line-up airing at 1pm (replacing the continuation of the afternoon movie) and 2pm (replacing a Little House airing). Little House has been cut to 3-5pm. The final change is in the late night, with another hour of The Golden Girls replacing an hour of Cheers. So, Golden Girls late night is now 11pm-2am, while Cheers is cut to 2-3am. Looks like Hallmark Channel thanks you for being a friend!

Nick at Nite's latest prime-time addition to its family-programming lineup, Everybody Hates Chris (Monday, Sept. 7, 10 p.m. ET/PT), scored 1.8 million total viewers in its Labor Day premiere. The series also drew double-digit gains with adults 18-49 (+25%) and women 18-49 (+20%) and ranked as the most-watched live action premiere for the net with adults 18-49 since the debut of Home Improvement (September 2007).
The premiere scored 1.8 million total viewers (+8 %) and double-digit gains over last year's like time period with adults 18-49 (+25%) and women 18-49 (+20%), averaging a 0.5 A18-49 rating and 592,000 viewers A18-49 and a 0.6 W18-49 rating and 372,000 viewers W18-49.
Chris has of course George Lopez as its lead-in, which is the #1 program on the network averaging well over 2 million viewers an airing.

And finally, today is September 11...we of course remember the lives of all the victims of the 9/11 attack in 2001, but we also remember the tragic passing of John Ritter on this date in 2003. I cannot believe it has been 6 years to this day that we lost such a great actor and more importantly a wonderful human being. The best way you can remember John today is by of course watching his great work on TV or DVD, or by saying something nice and funny to someone, but also by donating to the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health. I've made my annual donation today, and I think we should all do the same. We miss you John!

TV One October (Fall) 2009 Schedule; Yet More Hallmark Changes

As we predicted on the TV One September 2009 schedule, the fall schedule changes will happen on TV One in October 2009! Beginning on Monday October 5, 2009, as the seasons change, the TV One fall schedule settles into place! Divorce Court starts the weekday schedule off from 6-7am. Then we have original programming from 7am-12pm with programs like Sharp Talk, TV One on One, and Comics Unleashed. At 12pm the series programming starts with short-lived comedies in the 12pm hour with the '90s comedy Where I Live followed by '70s comedy That's My Mama at 12:30pm. Amen now moves to 1pm being paired with the short-lived comedy Life Family. At 2pm we get back-to-back episodes of Half & Half. NY Undercover returns to the line-up airing weekdays at 3pm, while Divorce Court's afternoon airings move to the 4pm hour. In the 5pm hour will now be TV One original TV One Access. Returning to the regular schedule are The Jeffersons airing back-to-back in the 6pm hour. TV One staples Martin and Good Times now are airing in the 7pm hour. In primetime, we get blocks and movies. Mondays from 8-11pm will be Martin, Tuesdays will be Good Times, Wednesdays will be a movie followed by an hour of The Jeffersons at 10, Thursdays it is Sanford & Son and Fridays are more movies. At 11pm, Martin and Sanford & Son remain, as will Living Single and Eve in the 12am hour. At 1am it is a movie and 3am-5am will be abbreviated encores of the primetime marathon. And finally at 5am we get more original programming encores.
Saturday morning sitcoms will change a bit. All About the Andersons, Parent'hood and South Central will leave, as Life Family, The Hughleys, and The Jeffersons are now in. Airing from 6am-12pm are back-to-back episodes of Like Family, The Hughleys, All of Us, Good Times, The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son.
Moving on to stunts and marathons, on Saturday, October 24 beginning at 12 Noon, the hunks just keep coming as TV One presents the "Hottest Hunks" Sitcom Marathon showcasing episodes of favorite TV One sitcoms including All of Us, Half & Half, Eve, and Living Single that feature guest appearances by some of the hottest hunks in Hollywood including Boris Kodjoe, Will Smith, DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Tyson Beckford, Shemar Moore, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Blair Underwood.
On Saturday, October 31 beginning at 12 Noon, the ghouls and goblins are upon us as Halloween comes to TV One in the form of the TV One "Hallo-Scream" Marathon. TV One showcases Halloween-themed episodes of TV One sitcoms The Jeffersons, Martin, Living Single, Sanford & Son, and The Hughleys.

Effective Tuesday, Little House on the Prairie returns to the Hallmark Channel line-up airing weekdays from 2-5pm, replacing 7th Heaven, which is now gone again. Can they make up their mind already? That's not all the changes. Weekends starting Oct. 3 will see the acquistion of Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures airing Saturdays 6-9am and Sundays 8am-10am replacing Golden Girls. Golden Girls morning airings on weekends will move to Saturdays 9am-11am and Sundays 10am-11am. It will still air weekends 1-3am as well. And effective Monday, October 26, the Mon-Thurs 9-11pm airings of Touched by an Angel will be replaced by a movie. Touched will remain at 8pm weekdays, though. That's still over 7 weeks away, so don't worry yet Touched fans! Finally, there will be an I Love Lucy marathon on Sunday, Oct. 4 from 11am-3am. Lucy is not on the regular schedule right now, but October is a special month for Lucy since it launced in 1951 in that month. So I guess you can say Hallmark is celebrating the 58th birthday for Lucy.
As Hallmark keeps changing the schedule, stay with us for updates!

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

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

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

TV One August 2009 Highlights; Hallmark Extends Primetime Schedules for 1 More Week; Calling All Runners!

In August 2009 on TV One we get some changes! Beginning on Monday, August 3, the TV One primetime landscape gets a makeover on weeknights starting at 8pm. Mini-marathons of TV One viewer favorites will be showcased and will air as follows: "Martin Mondays showcases episodes of the sitcom Martin on Mondays from 8pm to 11pm; "Good Time Tuesdays showcases episodes of the sitcom Good Times on Tuesdays from 8pm to 11pm; "Wisecrackin' Wednesdays" showcases episodes of the sitcom Living Single on Wednesdays from 8pm to 11pm; "Thrifty Thursdays" showcases episodes of the sitcom Sanford & Son on Thursdays from 8pm to 10pm; and "Family Fridays" showcases episodes of the sitcom The Hughleys on Fridays from 8pm to 10pm. These marathons will preempt the regular 8-11pm primetime of Martin, two Living Single episodes, Half & Half, and back-to-back The Jeffersons. Also, these marathons will have select episodes same night encores from 3-5am, preempting the regular schedules of The Jeffersons, Martin, Half & Half, and another Martin. So this means The Jeffersons is off the regular schedule for now and Half & Half airs Tues-Fri in the 11am hour. These primetime marathons are probably just for August, so The Jeffersons will likely return to the regular schedule in September. Stay tuned.
Elsewhere on TV One August we have some stunts! On Saturday, August 15 beginning at 12pm and lasting through 8pm, the lazy days of summer are in full swing as TV One presents the "Operation: Summer Vacation Sitcom Marathon" featuring storylines of your favorite TV One sitcom characters on extended vacations including episodes from Martin, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, The Hughleys, and Living Single. Select episodes will also encore late night that night from 2am-6am. At least The Jeffersons will air on this special marathon!
Finally, TV One will close out summer on Saturday, Sept. 5. On Saturday, September 5 beginning at 12pm and lasting through 8pm, summer is ending and it's that time again as TV One gets ready for fall with a "Back to School" marathon consisting of an all-day sitcom marathon featuring school-related storylines including episodes from Good Times, The Parent'hood, Like Family, and All of Us. Select episodes will also encore late night that night from 2am-6am.

The Hallmark Channel is keeping the primetime schedule that aired this week for next week as well. It was scheduled to end last night, but will air tonight as well. So Touched by an Angel will air from 8-10pm, followed by The Golden Girls from 10pm-1am, and Cheers from 1am-2:30am. As of now, this primetime schedule will air through and including Thursday, July 23.
The original primetime schedule was Touched by an Angel at 8pm, a Movie from 9-11pm, Golden Girls from 11pm-2am, and then Cheers/I Love Lucy in the 2am hour. Will that return next Friday? We'll have to wait and see, but for now the primetime schedule that started last week will air next week as well.

Finally, The Fresh Air Fund is still looking for runners and sponsors to join The Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, August 16. This is a great way to participate in NYC's premier summer road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children. Last summer's NYC Half-Marathon was a huge success and the Fresh Air Fund-Racers raised more than $125,000. They are also still in need of Friendly Town hosts for next month. Host families open their hearts and home to a NYC child who would not otherwise have the opportunity to escape the hot, crowded city streets. WABC-7 in NYC will air a one-hour highlight show from 11:30pm through 12:30am on Sunday, Aug. 16 on television.
For more information, visit their website.

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

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

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

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

TV Land Classic Marathons on Weekends Continues; Remembering Gale Storm

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

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

Comcast's TubeTime Brings Back Diff'rent Strokes, What's Happening; WGN Acquires American Gladiators Revivial Reruns

Comcast's onDemand service TubeTime is bringing back Diff'rent Strokes and What's Happening!! onDemand! The first 5 episodes of each are available again to view at your leisure! These two have been on Comcast's TubeTime previously and now they both return.
TubeTime still has Facts of Life, Three Stooges, Gidget, Larry Sanders Show and Sanford & Son on their service, too. So fans of those series, not to worry...they will remain. It looks like since we last reported, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Who's the Boss?, One Day at a Time, and Silver Spoons are off the service for now. For those wondering Facts of Life episodes are currently in the sixth season on TubeTime, while Three Stooges are in the fourth season, Gidget at the end of the first season, Larry Sanders Show is in the second season, and as is Sanford & Son. Let's hope they get to season three of Diff'rent Strokes quickly, since starting with that season it is not on DVD yet. What's Happening!! is already complete on DVD, so it would have been better if it was follow-up series What's Happening Now!! instead, since only one season of that is on DVD. In addition to that, I'm hoping the following pop-up on TubeTime in the future: Dennis the Menace, Sanford, Benson, 227, Archie Bunker's Place, Maude, and hoping some return like Silver Spoons. Maybe wishful thinking on some? TubeTime only provides Sony owned series to Comcast.

WGN America has acquired reruns of the revival of American Gladiators that aired on NBC last year. The series will air Thursday nights at 9pm ET starting Thursday, June 25. American Gladiators will follow WWE Superstars on Thursday nights and that should finally give WGN America a good companion to WWE Superstars.
In other schedule news, Around the World for Free will wrap up its season on Monday, June 22, then a series of specials will air in July on Mondays at 9pm ET titled Lance Burton, Master Magician. Once that wraps, a second rerun of AFV will return on Monday nights. The special ASA Action Sports World Tour will air at 9pm ET on Thursday, July 9 (that will shift American Gladiators to Wednesday at 9pm ET for that week only).
And as for classic TV, there will be plenty of it this fall and we will get to that soon! One hint is one show that airs on the network will be celebrating an anniversary, and WGN America will air an anniversary marathon! We will tell you that soon! So keep checking back!

Memorial Day 2009 Marathons

Happy Memorial Day! Today unofficially marks the first day of summer. As we celebrate the day for our troops past and present, let's honor them and watch some good TV as well. So if you're not having fun in the sun, have some fun indoors with some television marathons!
We told you about Sci-Fi Channel's all-day Land of the Lost marathon from 8am-4am, but there are way more marathons than that! If you want more drama, TNT has a Bones marathon from 12pm-9pm, while we get a Law & Order: SVU marathon on USA Network from 6am-5pm. Spike TV also goes with crime with CSI: NY from 9am-6pm. Get addicted to Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original!) with a marathon on SOAPnet from 9am-7pm.
Looking for laughs? WE tv is your best bet with The Golden Girls from 10am-5am, that's a lot of Bea Arthur! TV One also has a good bet with Sanford & Son from 10am-8pm. BET has a marathon of The Game from 9am-6pm. TV Land starts the day off with classic laughs from The Brady Bunch from 9am-12pm. More classic laughs are on Universal HD, if you get that channel. They will air a marathon of Hogan's Heroes from 9am-7pm, how fitting on Memorial Day! Animation wise, Disney XD goes for The Spectacular Spider-Man from 8am-5pm.
Other fun type marathons that are not scripted are WGN America's Around the World for Free from 2pm-8pm; MonsterQuest on History from 8am-8pm; a block of Shatner's Raw Nerve on Bio TV from 8am-11am and again from 2pm-5pm; America's Next Top Model on Oxygen from 11am-11pm; CMT goes for home makeovers and spouse swapping with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Trading Spouses from 2pm-8pm; and what day would it be without a Cops marathon on G4 from 1pm-2am.
Hope you find something to watch if you're indoors! Enjoy the day, and see you tomorrow for actual news!

TV One May 2009 Says That's My Mama; Rickles To Be Honored at TV Land; Ape-Reel Fool's on Boomerang; Sitcom Hint

Originally there was supposed to be an Easter marathon on TV One for the classic but short lived '70s sitcom That's My Mama, but then they decided to pull it. I had thought they pulled it because they wanted a better night for it like Mother's Day, and I was right...we will indeed get the marathon on Mother's Day now!
Beginning at 1pm on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10), the classic sitcom That's My Mama comes to the TV One airwaves with an all-day marathon. The classic sitcom which starred Theresa Merritt in the title role as Eloise "Mama" Curtis took place in Washington D.C. and centered around Clifton Curtis, Mama's son and young barber, he had inherited the family barbershop from his late father, Oscar Curtis. Mama wanted the best for her son and that meant a woman in his life, so she often tried finding him a mate even though he enjoyed bachelor life. The series also stars Clifton Davis and Jester Hairston (who both went on to star in another TV One favorite Amen), Ted Lange (who went on to star in The Love Boat), Lynn Moody (Roots), and Theodore Wilson (Sweet Daddy from TV One's Good Times). The marathon ends at 7pm...but after an original special at 7pm, we get more sitcom mom fun! Concluding the Mothers Day festivities, TV One airs a "Mothers Day Comedy Marathon" beginning at 8pm consisting of Mothers Day themed episodes of TV One sitcom favorites Living Single, Half & Half, and The Hughleys. It's good to see The Hughleys get some play, as the series has been off the regular schedule. The marathon runs until 1am, but encores until 6am. That's My Mama is not scheduled to join the regular line-up in May...hopefully it will at a later date. The Mama marathon is an hour shorter than the originally planned Easter marathon, though.
On Saturday, May 16 beginning at 12pm, TV One says Happy Birthday to a superstar as they offer their annual birthday tribute to Grammy Award winning entertainer Janet Jackson by airing an all-day marathon of "Good Times: The Janet Years," featuring episodes when a young Janet played the Evans neighbor, Penny who after being abused by a violent mother was eventually adopted by Willona. The marathon runs until 8pm, with select episodes encoring from 12am-6am.
TV One goes retro for Memorial Day weekend beginning on Saturday, May 23 with series, movies, and marathons that will take viewers on a trip back in time for a weekend full of laughs, romance, danger, and action. Movies will kick off on Saturday. Then on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 1pm to 7pm, TV One presents an action-packed marathon of the '80s crime drama series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role of the tough talking and street fighting Hawk. Keeping the retro theme going on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 8pm, TV One pays homage to actor/comedian John Witherspoon (who is the roastee at a TV One Celebrity Roast premiering the next night) with the airing of episodes of sitcoms Martin and Living Single as well as the Robert Townsend Tinseltown parody Hollywood Shuffle. On Memorial Day itself (Monday, May 25), beginning at 10am, closing out retro-weekend on TV One is a marathon of '70s sitcom Sanford & Son starring the late Redd Foxx as cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son Lamont who run a junk business in a Los Angeles Watts neighborhood. The marathon runs until 9pm and select episodes encore from 1am-6am.
As for regular schedule changes, beginning on Monday, May 4 and continuing until further notice, the TV One weeknight overnight sitcom block has changed and will now air the following line-up: 3:00am Half & Half (replacing Living Single), 3:30am Martin (replacing Living Single), 4:00am Half & Half and 4:30am Martin (replacing Half & Half).

It's April Fool's Day, so what better way to celebrate this day then to give you news about Don Rickles! Multi-talented Don Rickles, the world's most beloved "outrageous comic," actor and author will be bestowed the Legend Award at The 2009 TV Land Awards. The Legend Award is presented to an entertainer or a television show that has stood the test of time and ranks among the most memorable and celebrated in television and movie history. The 2009 TV Land Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris will tape on Sunday, April 19 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City to air on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT. Previous recipients of the Legend Award include The Carol Burnett Show, Cheers, Garry Marshall, The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
TV Land previously announced additional honorees for this year's show including Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Legacy of Laughter Award), Married with Children (Innovator Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award) and Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award).
View more on the awards and Don Rickles.

Spend a primate-packed day with Boomerang as the commercial-free network celebrates "Ape-Reel Fool's Day" today! The big star of the day is everyone's favorite fun-loving (and well-dressed) gorilla, Magilla. Debuting in 1964, The Magilla Gorilla Show chronicles Magilla's antics in Mr. Peeble's Pet Shop. This classic cartoon will air in three-hour blocks on Wednesday, April 1, at 9 a.m. (ET) and 5 p.m. (ET), and again overnight at 2 a.m. (ET). So, yes this story didn't publish until 1pm ET, but you have time to catch these encores!
But not all the animated apes are as amiable as Magilla, as Mojo Jojo of The Powerpuff Girls will prove. This most evil of apish villains will wreak havoc at 7 a.m. (ET), 2 p.m. (ET) and 10 p.m. (ET). Other classic cartoons--The Flinstones, Scooby Doo, Pink Panther, Dexter's Laboratory and Top Cat also will join in the fun with monkey-themed episodes and simian guest stars. On The Flintstones, a mix-up at the Bedrock pharmacy has Fred taking strange pills that don't help his allergy but turn him into an ape. Tune in today at 3pm ET and other encores like 9pm!

And no foolin' we have some sitcom acquisition news for the next two days. Stay tuned tomorrow to find out what sitcom ION Television has acquired and on Friday to find out what sitcom Lifetime has acquired. Both networks will start airing these sitcoms this May! What can they be? You'll have to join us the next two days!

TV One March 2009 Highlights; ION Finally Airs RHI Mini-Series That Was Slated for November 23

This March, TV One springs forward with more great programming! On Sunday, March 1 beginning at 12pm, TV One presents a throwback afternoon with a six-episode marathon of the classic private eye series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role. Then we have some schedule changes to the regular line-up happening on weekdays starting Monday, March 2. Sitcom Eve returns to the TV One weeknight comedy line-up airing weekdays at 7pm. This addition has caused a shift in the sitcom line-up which will now air as follows: 5:00pm Good Times, 5:30pm Sanford and Son (replaces The Parent'hood), 6:00pm Good Times, 6:30pm Half & Half (replaces The Hughleys), 7:00pm Eve (replaces Half & Half), 7:30pm Half & Half. So Parent'hood and The Hughleys are now off the line-up.
Then beginning on Saturday, March 7, Sanford & Son will be added to the TV One Saturday morning comedies which will now air the following line-up: 6:00am All About the Andersons (two back-to-back episodes), 7:00am Where I Live (two back-to-back episodes), 8:00am All of Us (two back-to-back episodes replaces Cedric the Entertainer Presents), 9:00am Good Times (two back-to-back episodes), 10:00am The PJs (two back-to-back episodes), 11:00am Sanford & Son (two back-to-back episodes replaces All of Us). So Cedric the Entertainer Presents is now off the line-up.
On Saturday, March 21 beginning at 12 Noon to 8pm, TV One celebrates L.A. Fashion Week with the "Eve-Diva Style Marathon", an all-day sitcom marathon showcasing episodes of Eve that focuses on the Diva Style fashion business run by main character Shelley Williams played by rapper/actress Eve and her two business partners Janie (Natalie Desselle-Reid) and Rita (Ali Landry).
Finally, on Saturday, April 4 at midnight, the clues are in, the facts are adding up, and the players are exposed as TV One airs the one-hour shocking finale of the action series Day Break starring Taye Diggs.
So there you have it, TV One March 2009. No other changes will be made to schedule. Before March, don't forget about February and the Feb. 22 marathon of South Central!

ION Television, the "Positively Entertaining" general entertainment network available to over 94 million homes, and RHI Entertainment, the leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking movies, miniseries and series for television, announced the U.S. television premiere of The Color of Magic, a four-hour production premiering on ION Television on Sunday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET. This movie was rescheduled from November 23.
Based on the first two books in best-selling author Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series, The Color of Magic stars Oscar nominee Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Toy Soldiers, Rudy), Emmy nominee Tim Curry (IT, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Kinsey) and David Jason (RHI's Hogfather). Additionally, Emmy Award-winning actor Brian Cox (Bourne trilogy, Running with Scissors) serves as the narrator and Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars Episodes II and III) takes on the vocal role of Death.

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

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

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

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.

Comcast onDemand's TubeTime Adds More Series, Removes Some; Comcast onDemand's TheWB Adds More; Scrubs Returns Tonight

Comcast onDemand's channel TubeTime, owned by Sony Pictures Television, has added four more series to its onDemand slate this past week. Gidget, The Larry Sanders Show, The Three Stooges, and Sanford & Son have been added with the first four episodes of each series. Now gone from the service are Silver Spoons and One Day at a Time. It is unfortunate because they didn't get to finish the run on either. They even had episodes beyond season one for those two, and both haven't had any DVD releases after season one. Still on the service will be The Facts of Life, Who's the Boss?, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and Party of Five. It's nice Facts of Life and Who's the Boss? are still on it since they are on seasons 5 and 4 respectively, and they haven't been released on DVD after seasons 3 and 1 respectively. I don't understand a few of these additions to the slate like Sanford & Son, which is already complete on DVD and is on television on TV Land & TV One. It would have been better if they kept Silver Spoons or One Day at a Time. What would have been better was if they added Sanford Arms or Sanford instead of the heavily seen Sanford & Son. What I'd like to see return or come to TubeTime: Diff'rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, One Day at a Time, What's Happening Now!!, Benson, Maude, 227, Archie Bunker's Place, Sanford, Sanford Arms, Grady, Hello Larry, Checking In and more. All of those are from Sony Pictures, so they could come. We'll keep you up to date as always.

Sticking with more Comcast onDemand news...a few weeks ago we told you that Comcast has added TheWB onDemand channel to its onDemand service. They launched with Warner Bros. owned series Martin, All of Us, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and Jack & Bobby. More episodes of those shows are added each week, and this week they added three more series to the onDemand channel! Three dramas from this decade have been added: One Tree Hill, The O.C., and Veronica Mars. The first 5 or 6 episodes of those were added, while the existing series are now up to the first 8 episodes. So far they seem to be skewing with the newer series, with Mr. Cooper and Martin as their oldest series. Hopefully they add more sitcoms, and more from the past. Some shows hat would be perfect for this service would be Alice, Perfect Strangers, Hogan Family, Head of the Class, Welcome Back Kotter Gilligan's Island, and Chico and the Man. Just my thoughts. All of those are not seen anywhere nationally. Hopefully some of those will come soon. We'll let you know if we get further updates.

Just a reminder that Scrubs returns for an all-new season, its eighth season, tonight at 9pm with two back-to-back episodes...on ABC! I saw both episodes last month, and they were pretty funny, especially the first one...check out my comments. I was never big on this show but did watch a handful of episodes in the past.
Also premiering tonight leading into Scrubs at 8pm ET will be Homeland Security USA, a look at how the Homeland Security Division does its job. It is pretty interesting. I also saw that premiere a few weeks back and I think many will like it also...check out my comments.
Finally, I have to mention this because I'm from the town, but Primetime: What Would You Do? returns tonight at 10pm on ABC and will feature my town of Linden, NJ! I am so actually excited. What Would You Do? explores how people react when they witness blatant racial discrimination. In this scenario, Latino men and women attempt to place an order in broken English at All Aboard Bagel and Deli in downtown Linden, NJ. But their requests are met by extreme prejudice from the cashier. Hidden cameras capture how customers respond to the scenario. Find out what happens tonight at 10pm.

TV One February 2009 Highlights; Few TV Land Overnight Changes for Jan. and Feb.

We're in January still, but we have highlights for February 2009 for TV One! There will be a few notable items sitcom wise for TV One in February. On Saturday February 14, beginning 12pm through 9pm, TV One celebrates Valentines Day with a Martin marathon that chronicles the romance and marriage of Martin & Gina. Viewers will experience the highs and the lows of their loving relationship concluding with their romantic Caribbean wedding. Select episodes will encore from 2am-6am later that night.
On Sunday, February 22, beginning at 7pm and running to 11pm, TV One brings back the much loved and critically praised dramedy South Central in a four-hour mini-marathon that will remind viewers of the special nature of this before its time groundbreaking series. The first eight episodes will air. The series was set to launch on TV One a few months back but was delayed but now it is airing! South Central was a short-lived series about the struggles of a family residing in South Central Los Angeles. Joan Mosely, an independent-minded single mother, must find a way to make ends meet while still keeping a close eye on her teenage children, Andre and Tasha. In addition, she has taken in Deion, a five-year-old foster child with special needs. A critically acclaimed but extremely short-lived series, South Central is now perhaps best remembered as one of the earliest acting roles for Jennifer Lopez, who had a recurring role as Joan's co-worker at the co-op. The marathon will have an encore play beginning at 2am through 6am.
There is no word yet if South Central will have a regular slot on the schedule, but maybe it will in March? We will let you know. But for now enjoy the marathon! There will be no other changes or marathons in February, so new additions like The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son remain in their current slots that will start Jan. 5. If you're reading this on Jan. 2, then you can catch the Sanford & Son 24-hour launch tonight at 9pm on TV One.

TV Land will be making a few overnight changes in January and February, mostly on Fridays. Fridays in January only we will have the TV Land PRIME Movie be until 12:30am each Friday in January, so following the movie will be 3rd Rock from the Sun from 12:30-1:30am, while M*A*S*H will be shifted a bit to 1:30am-2:30am. Also, for these four Fridays, The Brady Bunch will air 5-6am (early Saturdays), so these two episodes will encore later in its 10am-12pm block on Saturdays.
Then in February, on most Wed-Fri nights we now have Scrubs and Just Shoot Me! in the 5am hour for February instead of M*A*S*H (and no more Brady Bunch on Fridays). Scrubs/Just Shoot Me! will start out by just Friday the first week, then expands to Thursdays the following week, and by the time High School Reunion launches the third week, we will have Wednesdays added. M*A*S*H will still encore Monday and Tuesday nights in the 5am hour starting the third week of February.
These are very minor changes, but still are changes to be made a note of.

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

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

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

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

TV One January 2009 Highlights Sees Jeffersons, Sanford and Son Regular Slots; Remembering Beverly Garland and Nina Foch

Last month we gave you a sneak peek that The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son will join the regular TV One line-up on Monday, Jan. 5 after their marathons. Now we have details on when they will air starting Jan. 5! TV Land will continue to air the series, so not to worry, if you don't get TV One. Beginning on Monday, January 5, the TV One weeknight (Monday-Friday) comedy block has shifted with the addition of The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son and will look like this: Good Times remains at 5pm ET, but now Parent'Hood will shift to 5:30pm replacing The PJ's. Good Times remains anchoring the 6pm hour, but now at 6:30pm we will have The Hughleys replacing Parent'Hood. Half & Half will remain in the 7pm hour with two episodes, as we mentioned this starts Dec. 29. Martin and Living Single remain in the 8pm hour, while another Living Single remains at 9pm, but at 9:30pm All of Us replaces For Your Love. Then in the 10pm hour, back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons replace All of Us and Eve. At 11:00pm Martin remains leading into the launch of Sanford & Son at 11:30pm replacing The Hughleys. At 12:00am we get another episode of The Jeffersons replacing Good Times, but Good Times will shift to 12:30am replacing The PJs. Everything else on weekdays is the same as December.
On Saturday mornings starting Jan. 10, the sitcom line-up has changed a bit. In the 7am hour will now be Where I Live, replacing Parent'hood. And in the 11am hour now will be All of Us instead of Where I Live. Where I Live will no longer air Sundays 6-7pm either, but at least it is still on...on Saturdays from 7-8am and all 21 episodes will air. Viewers will have another chance to unravel the mystery as the action drama series Day Break starring Taye Diggs returns to TV One airing Saturdays at 12 midnight beginning on Saturday, January 10. The series will have encore airings on Fridays at 11am and 2am starting Jan. 16. So, to recap, The Jeffersons (weeknights 10p, 10:30p, 12a) and Sanford & Son (weeknights 11:30p) are in, The PJs and For Your Love are out, Day Break is back and Eve is off the regular line-up but will remain Fridays from 12-4pm.
Other highlights include: On Saturday, January 17 beginning at 12 Noon thru 8pm (and again 2-6am), as the nation prepares for a new first couple to take residence in the White House, TV One salutes our own first couple of comedy Overton and Synclaire (John Henton and Kim Coles) from the sitcom Living Single with a marathon that showcases the couple's relationship, engagement, wedding, and honeymoon.
On Sunday, January 18 beginning at 1pm, TV One is solid as a Roc as they present a marathon to showcase characters from the urban sitcom Roc starring Charles S. Dutton as Roc Emerson, a city garbage collector who balances the pressures of work with the everyday crises of family life.
Finally, on Tuesday, January 20 beginning at 9am, TV One celebrates the election of the first African-American President of the United States with coverage of the Inauguration Barack Obama, the US' 44th President. Coverage of this historic Inauguration begins at 11am while post inaugural events and inaugural ball coverage begins at 8pm.

Beverly Garland, the actress who starred in 1950s movie cult hits like Swamp Women and Not of This Earth and who went on to play Fred MacMurray's TV wife on the family sitcom My Three Sons, has died. Garland died Friday at her Hollywood Hills home after a lengthy illness. She had a 50-year career that included 40 movies and dozens of television shows. She starred in the crime series Decoy in the late '50s as police woman Casey Jones. Garland showed her comedic chops as Bing Crosby's wife in the short-lived sitcom The Bing Crosby Show in the mid-'60s, which led her to be cast as the second wife of MacMurray's widower Steve Douglas during the last three seasons of the popular sitcom My Three Sons that aired from 1960 to 1972.
Her television credits also include playing her fair share of mothers in TV series. She was Stephanie Zimbalist's mom in the 80s series Remington Steele, Kate Jackson's mom in the 80's series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Teri Hatcher's in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the '90s. She also had MANY other TV credits to her name such as appearing on episodes of Hawaiian Eye, The Millionaire, Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Fugitive, Here's Lucy, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Love American Stle, Ironside, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Marcus Welby MD, Charlie's Angels, Trapper John MD, Hart to Hart, Magnum P.I., Hotel, Friends, Ellen, Diagnosis Murder, Teen Angel, and The Simple Life. She recurred on Mary Hartman Mary Hartman as Cookie LaRue, on the ABC soap Port Charles as Estelle Reese, and as Ginger Jackson on 7th Heaven, with her last episode in 2004, as her last role.
Her name may not be recognizable to many, but her face probably is. She appeared in so many TV series and movies, everyone had to have seen her once. She will be deeply missed and remembered. She was 82.

We also remember Nina Foch today. Nina Foch, the Dutch-born actress who often played cool, calculating women in films, theater and television and was a respected coach of aspiring actors and directors has died. Foch died Friday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of complications from the blood disorder myelodysplasia. She became ill last week while teaching at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Foch had taught at USC for 40 years.
What many people know about Nina is that she was the acting teacher for the late John Ritter when he attended USC from 1966-71. She taught John well and was one of her favorite students of all-time. She even worked with John on the big screen movie Blake Edwards' Skin Deep in 1989, in which John was the star. John had a supporting role in the movie Shadow of Doubt in 1998 and Nina also worked with John then. And you John Ritter fans know that Nina was interviewed in many John Ritter documentaries such as John Ritter's Biography episode.
Foch's career goes back all the way to the 40s. Her lengthy television credits include Prescription: Murder in 1968, which launched the popular Columbo detective series starring Peter Falk, the miniseries War and Remembrance in 1989 and episodes of Studio One, Rawhide, Route 66, I Spy, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Mod Squad, That Girl, Hawaii Five-0, Trapper John MD, Hunter, LA Law, Murder She Wrote, Just Shoot Me, Bull, Dharma & Greg, NCIS and most recently on The Closer. She earned an Emmy nomination for best supporting actress in a drama series in 1980 for her work on an episode of Lou Grant.
She was known for her film work as she earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in Executive Suite in 1954. But her dedication as an acting teacher at USC was her legacy and many actors and actresses have respect for Nina Foch. "Believe it or not, teaching is the most rewarding thing I do," Foch told United Press International in 1994. "It has been the most successful thing I've done in my life." She will be remembered for her work, her wonderful teachings, and for her support for the great John Ritter. Nina was 84 and never retired.

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.

Hallmark and TV Land Make Schedule Changes; ABC and Fox January News

Hallmark Channel has made a schedule change that will start this coming Monday (November 10). Cheers will leave the line-up from 4-5pm and be replaced with more Little House on the Prairie. So, this means Cheers only lasted two weeks in its weekday slot with a second Little House returning to the hour. As of now, Cheers is totally off the line-up, because if you all recall when Cheers started on weekdays, its weekend airings were removed.
We will keep you up to date if anything else comes out of this, but as of now, no more Cheers on Hallmark. If I were to guess, it could return in January when they launch I Love Lucy. This network has had trouble launching sitcoms besides M*A*S*H, which is a shame because they have two coming in 2009 (I Love Lucy, Golden Girls).

As for TV Land, we already told you about the late afternoon change that started this past Monday (Nov. 3) with Hogan's Heroes at 4pm and Leave it to Beaver at 5pm, now more changes are happening next week. Originally we stated, Scrubs was set to move Nov. 10 from 9-10pm to 10-11pm, but it seems that is not happening. Now on that week, we will get a week-long Cosby Show marathon! The Cosby Show Marathon airs Monday, November 10 through Thursday, November 13 form 8pm-2am and Friday, November 14 from 8pm-10pm and 12am-4am (it is preempted Wednesday, Nov. 12 from 10p-10:30p for Myths & Legends).
A few changes are also coming starting that week for at least the rest of November. In the 7am hour, back-to-back episodes of Scrubs will replace two episodes of M*A*S*H. So, Scrubs is out of primetime. In the weekdays at 1pm hour, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will replace Beverly Hillbillies for the rest of the month at least. And in late nights, for the week of November 10 from 2-3am will be Sanford & Son replacing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition encore (weeks of Nov. 17 and 24 it will be more Cosby Show in the hour). Finally, Three's Company is back regularly starting Nov. 10, at least for the rest of November, airing weeknights from 3-4am ET/PT!
So what will happen to TV Land PRIME after Cosby Show's marathon week? Cosby Show will now air 8-10pm from Mon-Sat for at least through the end of November, with 3rd Rock from the Sun now staying in its 10-11pm Mon-Thurs slot. Replacing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at 11pm will be ... CSI, from sister station Spike TV (which airs it at 3pm and 8pm weekdays)! CSI will also air at 12 midnight, replacing M*A*S*H. This is for at least the rest of November (weeks of Nov. 17 and 24), we do not know yet if CSI will still be airing in December. For the final two weeks in November at least, this is how TV Land PRIME looks: 9PM Cosby Show, 10PM 3rd Rock from the Sun, 11PM CSI. With more Cosby Show leading in at 8PM and more CSI leading out at 12AM, as Scrubs and Home Edition are relegated to daytime...again for at least the end of the month.
So it seems M*A*S*H is not airing AT ALL the final two weeks of November and Beverly Hillbillies has been reduced to weekend blocks and in the Thanksgiving marathon. I don't expect CSI to air beyond these two weeks, but we'll see. Will these changes be in effect in December? We shall soon find out!
For now, view the full updated TV Land November 2008 schedule, so you don't get confused.

ABC has released part of their January plans. They have released Mondays. Originally it was supposed to be True Beauty (new Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks produced reality show) from 8pm-9:30pm followed by The Bachelor from 9:30-11pm. Now it will be The Bachelor from 8-9:30pm, followed by sitcom Samantha Who? staying put at 9:30pm despite no Dancing and True Beauty in the 10pm hour. This new night will launch Monday, January 5. On that date The Bachelor will have a two-hour premiere leading into the premiere of True Beauty. So, Samantha Who? will air in between those two starting Jan. 12. No other ABC January details are in yet, but we could expect Lost, as last night we saw promos saying "two-hour premiere in January." If I were to guess, Lost will air on Wednesdays. Also, last night promos for unscripted docudrama series Border Security USA started playing, and we could expect that in January as well, perhaps with Lost. ABC premiere of Scrubs and animated comedy The Goode Family are among the other items that could launch in January on ABC, with on the bubble shows like Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies perhaps benched. I want to clarify, that Scrubs is not coming Dec. 2 as I mentioned earlier in the week, the original plan of According to Jim remains starting Dec. 2.
As for Fox, they have announced they will launch 24 with its usual two-night/four-hour event on Sunday, January 11 and Monday, January 12 from 8-10pm. Then starting January 19, it will air in its 9-10pm slot. No word on what will air at 8pm, it could be new series Dollhouse though. American Idol obviously will return in January as well, perhaps Tuesday, Jan. 20. We will keep you up to date.

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

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

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

TV One December Highlights; TV Land Minor Change in November; Daisies Gets Full Season

December has been officially christened the most "TV One-derful Time of the Year," as TV One presents a whole lineup of exciting holiday programming throughout the month, including premiere specials, beloved movies, and holiday-themed episodes of our favorite sitcoms. Starting Monday, December 17, in fact, TV One's primetime programming hours from 7pm until 11pm each night through Tuesday, December 25 will be largely turned over to non-stop Christmas programming, in addition to holiday programming all-day long on December 24 and December 25. Week of Dec. 17 follows:
Monday: Holiday episodes of Parent'Hood, Good News and All Of Us run from 7pm until 10pm
Tuesday: Holiday episodes of Cedric the Entertainer Presents, The PJs, and Good Times from 7-10pm lead into Ray Charles Celebrates A Gospel Christmas at 10pm.
Wednesday: Holiday episodes of Wanda At Large and For Your Love from 7-8pm lead into an airing of the classic movie Soul Food at 8pm and holiday cooking from Chef G. Garvin and comedienne Mo’nique on a special hour episode of Turn Up the Heat at 10pm
Thursday: Holiday episodes of Eve and Martin from 7-10pm lead into a rebroadcast of the special Get Together with John Legend at 10pm.
Friday: Holiday episodes of 227 and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper air from 7-10pm.
Before all that we have on Saturdays December 8, December 15 and December 22, each week beginning at 12 Noon and lasting until 8pm, TV One celebrates holiday humor with all-day marathons of classic Christmas sitcom episodes. On December 8, the lineup features Martin, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Eve, Wanda at Large, Cedric the Entertainer Presents. On December 15, the lineup focuses on family, with holiday stories from 227, Good Times, All Of Us, Roc, The PJs. And on December 22, it's an encore of all the best holiday episodes.
On Saturday, December 15 at 12 midnight, TV One offers a special Saturday Midnight Movie with a presentation of Bill Cosby: Himself, a comedy concert movie featuring some of the routines that ultimately formed the basis for the legendary The Cosby Show.
On New Year's Day Tuesday January 1 beginning at 10am, TV One presents an all-day marathon event of the Eddie Murphy claymation series The PJs including two never before seen on television episodes that air at 8pm and 8:30pm and again at 11pm and 11:30pm.

TV Land has made a minor schedule change to its Tues-Fri 4pm hour. Cheers and All in the Family will be replaced by an hour of Sanford & Son starting Tuesday, November 6. No other changes will be made and morning airings of those two sitcoms will still remain.

ABC has reportedly picked up a full season of the wonderful and unique new show Pushing Daisies. The show wins its timeslot each week in viewers 18-49 and is a strong second in viewers in its Wednesday 8pm time slot. If you haven't tuned in yet, it is not too late! If you like what you see, catch up with previous episodes on abc.com.

Tonight it is a sitcom hour on ABC starting at 8/7 central with Cavemen followed by an the hilarious Carpoolers. Don't miss the laughs on both shows! Don't make sitcoms extinct! Speaking of Carpoolers, ABC has ordered three extra scripts of the sitcom. Could additional episodes or a full season be next? We'll let you know!

TV Land December 2007 Highlights; Heroes Reruns to G4 and Mojo

I mentioned the other day that TV Land will start The Beverly Hillbillies in December. They will not now. It was slated for a marathon on Dec. 22 and regular play starting Dec. 25, but that will be moved to January now. We do however get a Christmas episode on Christmas Eve!
There are no schedule changes (yet...), but we have some notable events. Christmas comes early to TV Land this year and yule love Thursday when TV Land features Christmas episodes from your favorite shows! Dec 6, 13 and 20 from 8-10pm catch The Jeffersons, Andy Griffith, Good Times, All in the Family M*A*S*H, and Three's Company in holiday episodes.
And if that is not enough holiday episodes for you, TV Land will have not one but two 24-hour Merry-thons! Could the holidays be as merry without TV Land's annual Merry-thon? Christmas spirit, eggnog and your favorite TV friends means a jolly good time all around! Tune in to TV Land's 8th Annual Merrython featuring classic Christmas episodes of shows like Good Times, Three's Company, The Jeffersons, Andy Griffith, and so much more!
Weekends at 5PM, TV Land will encore originals that had countdowns, like 100 Most Unexpected Television Moments and Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases.
Finally, the Friday night movies include Thelma & Louise, Wallstreet, and Running Scared.
For complete episode details and more on December, click HERE! Ho ho ho!

NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has sold hit NBC primetime series Heroes to cable networks G4 and MOJO for its debut in off-network syndication. The multi-season strip deals with G4 and MOJO debut in fall 2010, and include a repurpose window of current season episodes the week following NBC's initial airings starting later this month.
G4 will debut Heroes with all-day marathons of season one episodes on Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28. The network will begin airing episodes from the current season with a mini-marathon of the first six episodes of Heroes season two on Saturday, November 3 from 5:00-11:00pm et/pt. G4 will then regularly air each week's current episode of Heroes on Saturdays at 10:00pm et/pt.
Heroes will premiere on MOJO Thursday, November 1, airing the first six episodes of season two from 3- 9:00 pm et. Going forward, Heroes will air on MOJO every week on Wed. at 8pm pt/11:00 pm et and Thurs. at 5pm pt/8pm et. MOJO will also air a marathon of season one episodes during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tonight sitcom wise we have NBC's Comedy Done Right block with My Name is Earl, 30 Rock and yet another hour-long The Office. All starts at 8/7 central on NBC!

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

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

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

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

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

TV Land Thanksgiving Stunt Change; Deal or No Deal Comes to First-Run Syndication

Hope you're enjoying your day off from Columbus Day, those of you who actually get the day off. Whatever happened to the Columbo marathons on this day? I always looked forward to those. Anyway, let's move on to the news.
About a month ago we gave you the highlights for TV Land November, and we mentioned a Little House on the Prairie marathon in primetime on Thanksgiving night. Now TV Land has scrapped that and added a whole holiday weekend of marathons. Thursday, November 22, 2007 through Sunday, November 25, 2007
This Thanksgiving weekend treat yourself to TV Land marathons to fill your stomach! On thanksgiving Day, I Love Lucy will be on all day from 10am-11pm...what better way to spend your Thanksgiving? On Friday, November 23 we have a mini-Sanford & Son marathon from 9am-12pm followed by more Lucy from 12-5pm. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on this night at 7pm, too, as its usual night and time on Saturday will be another marathon. That will be of course The Andy Griffith Show. The marathon airs Saturday, November 24 from 10:30pm-6a. And we get more Andy to wrap up the holiday weekend from 6pm-2:30am on Sunday, November 25. To view the full schedule of changes this holiday weekend, click HERE.
We will be back with TV Land December sometime this week that will feature of course the annual Merry-thon and the launch of The Beverly Hillbillies. Ya'll come back now ya here?

A daytime version of Deal or No Deal is coming in Fall 2008. Howie Mandel, who will continue to host NBC's hit one-hour primetime run of the game show, is set to host the new half-hour version being sold to local stations for Monday-through-Friday broadcasts. This syndicated version will include all key elements that made NBC's primetime version a breakout hit, with Mandel as host, the Banker, models, contestants risking big money and the same award-winning production team.
Among the early buys include NBC Universal stations in the nation's top markets including WNBC-TV New York, KNBC-TV Los Angeles and WMAQ-TV in Chicago, WCAU-TV Philadelphia, KNTV-TV San Francisco and others, as well as to stations from CBS, Allbritton, Scripps, Sinclair and more in top markets.
Deal or No Deal was actually NBC's most watched program of the 2006-2007, but is off to a slow start this season thus far. The culprit is because it moved from Mondays to Wednesdays. The Friday edition is also down.

TV Land's CASA Stunt Full Details; Network Notes

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

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

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

Perfect Strangers Joins ION Television in October; Peachtree TV Launch Schedule; TV Land Schedule Changes, Includes Return of Night Court

It is schedules galore here on SitcomsOnline on a Friday! We have not one, not two, but three schedules to give you today! First up, we will start with ION Television! ION will FINALLY give us the show that I (and I know many other fans have been asking about)...Perfect Strangers! That's right Larry and Balki return to primetime and will air Mon-Thurs at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT starting October 1! And I'm not being ridiculous! You don't know how happy this makes me feel. This one is for you my good friend Linda (of PerfectStrangers.tv)!
Since Perfect Strangers will air at 8:30 p.m., that means Mama's Family will be shifted to 7:30 and 8pm, instead of 8-9pm. Designing Women, which was 7-8pm will now just be a half-hour at 7pm. Diagnosis Murder will be leaving the line-up and will be replaced by another old faithful...Doc, Mon-Fri at 6pm.
Then starting October 8, 48 Hours will join the line-up and will air Monday and Wednesday nights at 10PM. Tuesday nights will be Sue Thomas F.B.Eye and Thursday nights will be more Doc. This means starting Oct. 8 The Wonder Years will be off the line-up. Still no sign of the rescheduled Firebrand TV.
For complete details on the schedule, including the RHI movies for the month, click HERE!

Continuing our massive Friday of schedules, we move on Peachtree TV. Peachtree TV is of course the new WTBS in Atlanta. Their new call letters will be WPCH. Their launch schedule starts October 1 and will have sitcoms all day long! Among the highlights are Diff'rent Strokes from 8-9am, All in the Family from 9-10am, The Jeffersons from 11am-12pm, Sanford & Son from 12-1pm, and The Cosby Show from 2-3pm. New game show Temptation will air 10-11am, the only non-sitcom from 7am-8pm. Looking at that show's ratings, it will be gone soon anyway. In the Heat of the Night will air late nights and weekends, and America's Funniest Home Videos will air on weekends.
Atlanta just got a bit better! They are not close to Chicago's ME-TV yet, but this is a start! To view the FULL schedules, I urge you to click HERE!

Finally, the other day we told you the new regular schedule for TV Land November that was starting on Oct. 29. Guess what? It will start on Oct. 1 now! Everything will be the same as that schedule we gave you but the 8-10pm weekday marathons and Designing Women don't start until week of Oct. 15. And also Wednesday mornings 7-8am will be Night Court now instead of Gunsmoke! Until Designing Women comes, 11am will be an extra Green Acres and 1:45am will be an extra Three's Company.
I urge you to click here to see the revised October schedule that will go into November as well!

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

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

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

Important Nick at Nite and TV Land Schedule Changes; RTN in Reno in January

Well it's not that important. Nick at Nite's changes are a bit important though. We gave you the September fall schedule a few days back. Nick at Nite has since altered that just a bit. They will air America's Funniest Home Videos after all. Every night at 4:30am, replacing one of the Home Improvement encores. The other changes are really on Fri-Sat. Fridays will get a little bit of a change from 10pm-1am. Originally it was back-to-back Home Improvement, George Lopez, and Fresh Prince. Now it will be one Home Improvement, one George Lopez, back-to-back Home Improvement at 11, Fresh Prince at 12 and another George at 12:30am. Weird...because Saturdays 10pm-1am it is not like that. Fresh Prince encores were slated Fri-Sat nights 3-4am, now it will be the same as Sun-Thurs, which is Roseanne and Cosby Show.
So, let's go back to the September schedule to see the fully updated schedule that will start Sept. 10.
In other Nick at Nite news, the movie Grease will air again tonight pre-empting programming from 9pm-11:30pm.
Moving on to TV Land, not many changes really, it is just minor stuff. The Saturday line-up for this Saturday only, September 1, will be changed a bit. We get a Sanford & Son afternoon-thon from 1-4pm, followed by three movies until 10pm, then Andy Griffith mini-marathon will air until 1:10am. I guess this is for Labor Day weekend. Click here to view this change.
The week of Sept. 17, What's Happening Now!! will return for a week at 7am. I guess because M*A*S*H will be airing a lot that week, with the anniversary marathon.

RTN is now coming to Reno, NV! They announced that it has entered into an agreement with COX Broadcasting to bring RTN programming to Reno, NV. The new affiliate will launch Jan. 7, 2008, on a digital channel of COX's KRXI-TV, a FOX affiliate that reaches more than 260,000 households in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area.
"RTN-Reno viewers will delight in seeing a young Michael Douglas in The Streets of San Francisco, one of the original procedurals that spawned many of today's hit shows," said Mark Dvornik, Executive Vice President of RTN, "and they will enjoy hearing Robin Leach say 'champagne wishes and caviar dreams' in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous on their very own 'Prime Time all the Time' schedule."

TV Land October 2007 Highlights; The N and Noggin To Turn To Two 24/7 Channels, Nick GAS Turning Broadband

As we mentioned on Friday, we have TV Land October for you today! The same schedule changes that will be in effect in September, the ones we announced Thursday and Friday, will remain in October except for one change. Effective Monday, October 15, 2007, Designing Women will join the TV Land line-up and air Mon-Thurs at 9pm and every night at approx. 1:45am ET/PT. As for the highlights for the month, Leave it to Beaver is turning 50 years old! Join TV Land as they celebrate a beloved television classic. Tune in for favorite episodes of Leave it to Beaver including a rarely seen unaired pilot as a bonus. Think that's all...no. Also available online will be streaming footage of the show as chosen by fans and other Beaver experts. The fun begins at 8pm on Saturday, October 6 running for 24 straight hours!
Week-long primetime marathons of I Love Lucy and Sanford & Son are scheduled the first two weeks of the month. Lucy on Oct. 1-5 and Sanford on Oct. 8-12. Mon-Thurs from 8-11pm and Friday from 8-10pm. No idea why, but fans will be happy. The regular primetime schedule returns Oct. 15. Join TV Land as they celebrate Halloween with a mini-marathon of its hit original series TV Land's Myths & Legends on Sunday, October 28 from 8-10pm. TV Land's Friday movies are all-new this October with The Blues Brothers which features Jake Blues, just out from prison, puts together his old band to save the Catholic home where he and brother Elwood were raised. Other movies include Rainman and Throw Momma from the Train. Every Friday at 10pm only on TV Land!
To discuss and view the complete October highlights, click HERE!

Noggin/The N nework will both turn into two separate TV channels by the end of the year (Dec. 31, 2007)! Both networks will be 24/7 with Noggin taking over the current Noggin/The N channel full-time, while The N will take over Nick GAS full-time. Nick GAS will now only be an online broadband channel called TurboNick.
The N has acquired reruns of That '70s Show for June 2008, which ABC Family has also acquired for 2008. New original shows for The N include its first comedies, About a Girl, which follows a college sophomore living with four male roommates, and another with the working title Interns, from the creators of its series South of Nowhere. The half-hour Gigantic will take a fictional look at teenagers growing up in the shadow of Hollywood stars.
And because a cable network is nothing without its own reality show these days, The N plans its first one, with the working title Queen Bees. The Degrassi Spring Break Movie, the network's first Degrassi TV movie, scheduled to premiere in April 2008, will feature the cast from Degrassi Community High as they take their first college road trip.
Let's hope since The N will be turning 24/7 they bring back series like Growing Pains and A Different World. Who knows maybe they will even air The Brady Bunch, which aired on The N for a few weeks some years back. We will keep you up to date on The N and its full 24/7 schedule when it is announced. So stay tuned!
For complete details on this and to discuss this news, click HERE.

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

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

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