New TV One Daytime Schedule Starting Monday; Retroality.TV Stories on Suzanne Somers, Rod Roddy, and More!

Starting Monday (Nov. 16) TV One will be making last minute schedule changes to its daytime line-up. Short-lived sitcom For Your Love will now air for the full hour at 7am, rather than just the 7am half-hour, as original series Singletary Says is no longer scheduled at 7:30am. Sitcom Half & Half moves to the 8am hour, replacing an hour of original series. Original series will continue to air from 9am-12pm. Then at 12 noon, we now have an hour of Eve replacing short-lived comedies Where I Live and That's My Mama, which are now gone from the schedule totally. In the 1pm hour we now have another hour of Martin, replacing Amen and Like Family. This means Amen is totally gone from the regular schedule, but Like Family remains Saturdays in the 6am hour. In the 2pm hour, we now have back-to-back Living Single instead of Half & Half, since that moved to 8am. New York Undercover and Divorce Court remain in the 3pm and 4pm hours. The final change is to the 5pm hour with two episodes of All of Us replacing original series. Everything else will remain the same such as The Jeffersons in the 6pm hour.

Chris Mann has some very interesting reads up on his wonderful website Retroality.TV that you won't want to miss reading! As you all probably know, Suzanne Somers is much in the headlines these days about cancer and how chemo is not the answer. She has a new book titled Knockout, which boldly slams chemotherapy while promoting controversial treatments. Suzanne has gone back and forth this week with Gerald Posners in dueling blogs on The Daily Beast this week. Chris takes a look at this entire debacle and even has some interesting comments from her Three's Company co-star John Ritter about Suzanne Somers' breast cancer revelation and related liposuction debacle in 2001. Did Suzanne lie again? You won't want to miss this interesting investigative blog story titled "RETROALITY.TV EXCLUSIVE! John Ritter initially questioned if Suzanne Somers really had breast cancer: 'She lies,' he told me ...!"
Chris says he will have even more about this story later this month, so stay tuned! In other updates for Retroality.TV, the cover story is about Price is Right announcer Johnny Olson. GSN's new The Newlywed Game announcer Randy West wrote a great new book about his old friend and mentor Johnny. Chris has an exclusive interview with Randy.
Staying on the topic of The Price is Right, announcer Rod Roddy mysteriously wasn't visible on camera much as used to be in his final years. Why? Chris has an exclusive and interesting story on why from a former Barker's Beauty. Was Bob Barker responsible for this instead of the generic response given by FremantleMedia? Read Chris' very interesting story on Rod Roddy.
All of this is part of cancer month on Retroality.TV.
Also, later this month, he'll have an interview with Dick Van Patten regarding his new book Eighty is Enough. Retroality.TV just gets better and better! I suggest you read all of this, it is good stuff (I was especially interested in the Somers and Roddy blog stories!)!

TV One December 2009 Highlights; Accidentally on Purpose Gets More Episodes

This December on TV One, they have holiday stunts, special marathons, and more! We'll only cover the sitcom/TV series events, like usual. First up, on Saturday, December 12 beginning at 12 Noon through 8pm, TV One keeps with the Holiday Season Spirit as they air a Holiday Sitcom Marathon consisting of Christmas-themed episodes of favorite TV One comedies Good Times, The Jeffersons, The Hughleys, Amen, and Sanford & Son.
Beginning on Monday, December 14, TV One presents a Lincoln Heights - "Best Of Season 2" week-long event. The series is an original ABC Family series, but TV One is once again airing some repeats. The Sutton family is back for another stunt week on TV One...which starts out with a race riot at the high school that spills out into streets where violence catches up to Eddie, who shoots a boy who he thought shot at him. Join the Sutton Family as they must deal with life on the hard edge confronting such issues as racial violence, gangs, family issues, and an unexpected tragic event. Episodes in this special stunt week air Monday-Friday the week of Dec. 13 only at 9pm and 10pm with encore airings at 1am & 2am.
On Saturday, December 19 beginning at 2pm through 12am (encores until 6am), TV One keeps with the Holiday Season Spirit as they air another Holiday Sitcom Marathon consisting of Christmas-themed episodes of favorite TV One comedies Martin, All of Us, Eve, The PJs, For Your Love, Where I Live, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Half & Half, and Living Single.
Then beginning on Monday, December 21 and continuing through Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24), TV One presents a Christmas Comedy Countdown from 7pm to 11pm each night showcasing Yuletide episodes of your favorite TV One sitcoms leading up to Christmas. The Holiday countdown begins each night with Christmas episodes of Martin at 7pm followed by Good Times at 7:30pm. The 8pm to 11pm Christmas Comedies are in blocks. On Monday we get Martin & Living Single, on Tuesday we get Good Times & Amen, on Wednesday it is The Jeffersons & Cedric The Entertainer Presents and on Thursday we get All of Us & Eve on Christmas Eve.
And finally on Friday, January 1 (New Years Day) beginning at 9am through 8pm (encores until 6am), ring in your New Year in 2010 with Martin Payne as TV One presents the "Martin: It's All Love - New Years Day Marathon." Join Martin along with Gina, Tommy, Pam, and Cole as love is the theme of the day with the thin line between love and hate growing ever so closer in the world of Martin.

CBS has ordered an additional five episodes of its freshman comedy Accidentally on Purpose, bringing its season order to 18. Accidentally on Purpose is averaging 8.04 million viewers, 3.1/7 rating/share in adults 18-49 and 3.7/8 rating/share in adults 25-54 in its Monday (8:30PM) time period, according to Nielsen most current ratings (not counting the repeat on Oct. 26).
This Monday's episode did a decent 8.09 million, 3.1/8 rating/share in adults 18-49, and a 3.7/8 rating/share in adults 25-54, right on par with its season average. However, it was slightly off from its previous all-new episode on Oct. 19 of 8.26 million, 3.3/8 rating/share in adults 18-49, and a 3.7/9 rating/share in adults 25-54.

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.

Schedule Changes for Next Week for TV Land, WGN America, Hallmark, TV One and ION

It's Friday and my oh my we have so many schedule changes taking place starting next week! So saddle up and get ready! First up, TV Land is removing Married...with Children again despite good ratings. Why? I think they are removing it because as I mentioned, sister network Spike TV will air it weekdays again starting Monday from 12-2pm. Who knew TV Land would remove it again? This Saturday is the last airing on TV Land (for now, knowing them) with the Saturday marathon. Starting next week, 3rd Rock from the Sun returns from the dead and will air Tuesdays 8pm-12am replacing the Married...with Children Tuesday block. The regular 8-9pm hour from Tues-Fri will also be replaced, with Hogan's Heroes on Wednesday and The Brady Bunch on Thursdays and Fridays. Actually those two shows will air 7-9PM, so they replace The Beverly Hillbillies in the 7pm hour...but that sitcom still airs in the afternoon at 1pm. The Saturday Married marathons will also be replaced starting Oct. 10 with various sitcoms. On October 10 we have Hogan's Heroes from 2:30-6pm, followed by a movie (Police Academy) until 8pm, then the M*A*S*H and Roseanne blocks have earlier start times, 8pm-11pm and 11pm-4am. Now TV Land has not announced yet if these changes are beyond next week, but I think they are.
View the updated TV Land October schedule.

Next up is WGN America. Starting Monday night, The Cosby Show will return to the WGN America regular line-up, as it was airing just Sundays. It will air Mon-Wed nights in the 4am hour replacing AFV, which only aired for a week there. And finally Toni On! New York will switch with Reno 911. Toni On! moves to Sundays at 5am, while Reno 911 moves to Mondays at 5am. That makes sense since now Reno 911 airs weeknights at 5am. Minor changes, but still changes!
Moving on to The Hallmark Channel, they get even more Lucy! Beginning Monday, October 5, I Love Lucy gets another hour. It will expand into 5-9pm, instead of 5-8pm. The 8pm hour addition replaces Touched by an Angel, which will still air from 9-11pm.

As for TV One, beginning on Tuesday October 6, TV One airs the sitcom For Your Love in the weekday morning 7am timeslot. The TV One original financial advice series Singletary Says previously announced for this time period will slide down a half hour and will now air weekdays at 7:30am. Finally, beginning on Thursday, October 8, TV One presents Thankful Thursdays with religious based sitcom Good News returning to the primetime mini-marathons airing Thursdays from 8pm to 10pm with encores from 3am to 5am until further notice, replacing the planned Sanford & Son marathons. Also of note, on Sunday, October 11 at 4pm, TV One encores the original special Living Single: The Reunion Show that reunites the cast of the popular TV One sitcom for a trip down memory lane.
The rest is the same as we previously announced for TV One October.
Finally, ION Television has announced the TBD slots on weekend afternoons will indeed be Reba starting this weekend. Reba will air in the 3pm ET half-hour this Sunday (Oct. 4).

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

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

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

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

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 One July 2009; ABC Moves Goode Family and Suburbia to Fridays

This July 2009 on TV One, it is going to be pretty slow. We gave you the TV One June 2009 highlights already, and at the end we mentioned a Martin Independence Day marathon is scheduled for July 3 starting at 8pm last until 8pm the following day. But now we have the rest of July. There are no schedule changes, so the schedule that started in June with the additions of That's My Mama! and Like Family, will continue (see the June schedule link above for more).
The only highlight worth mentioning for TV One July is on Friday, July 24 beginning at 10pm when TV One presents the "Living Single: Queen For A Day Mega-Thon" featuring episodes of the long-running sitcom focusing on Queen Latifah's character Khadijah James in a 24-hour mega-thon event.
The other highlights are for movies and original series, but that doesn't concern us really. Stay tuned if anything changes, if not see for the August highlights in a month!

ABC has moved animated comedy The Goode Family and sitcom Surviving Suburbia from Wednesdays to Fridays effective next week. This coming Wednesday (June 10) will see two episodes of the summer megahit Wipeout at 8pm and 9pm, before the season premiere of I Survived a Japanese Game Show launches on June 17 at 9pm out of new episodes of Wipeout at 8pm. Japanese Game Show was previously not launching its new season until July 8, so this is 3 weeks ahead of schedule due to the ratings bombs of Goode and Suburbia. I think I was the first one to mention the possibility of Japanese Game Show launching June 17, a few days ago on our message boards. And I was right!
Starting next Friday (June 12), we will now see the remaining new episodes of Surviving Suburbia at 8pm, followed by The Goode Family at 8:30pm, and back-to-back repeats of Samantha Who? are still slated to air on June 12 and 19 from 9-10pm, before According to Jim repeats take over on June 26.
Suburbia is not going to air Fridays at 9:30pm as previously announced starting July 3, at least not on July 3 because ABC announced another According to Jim repeat will air then. After that week, I would guess no, and Jim would continue to air for an hour instead. Nevertheless, Fridays is now a full night of comedies! We like that! Tune in!
In other ABC updates, ABC will launch the third season of the hidden camera comedy Just for Laughs airing a half-hour a week on Sundays at 7pm starting Sunday, June 21. An abbreviated half-hour repeat of AFV will follow each week. It is unclear how many episodes are airing, but the two past seasons had 13 episodes each.

TV One June 2009 Adds Two Sitcoms; Network Notes Includes Obama Address; Hogan Family Interview

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

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

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

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 Adds South Central, Removes 'Mama' Marathon; TV Land Adds Married with Children Marathon for April

We gave you TV One April 2009 highlights already, which included the That's My Mama! Easter marathon, but now some changes will occur. And the Mama! Easter marathon has been pulled. Instead TV One will air the six-hour miniseries Alexs Haley's Queen starring Halle Berry. No word if the That's My Mama marathon will be rescheduled, but something tells me maybe for Mother's Day? We should have TV One May 2009 soon, so we will let you now if that is the case.
As for regular schedule changes, beginning on Saturday, April 4, the TV One Saturday night lineup has changed in the 10pm and 10:30pm timeslots and will now air the critically acclaimed short-lived comedy-drama series South Central, a serio-comic show about the struggles of a family residing in South Central Los Angeles, to the Saturday nights. 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. The series stars Tina Lifford, Larenze Tate, and Jennifer Lopez. The series aired last month in a marathon block and it looks like it di well for TV One!
Then beginning on Saturday, April 11, the serio-comic series South Central has also been added to the TV One Saturday morning comedy block in the 10am and 10:30am timeslots. The Saturday morning lineup will now air as follows: back-to-back episodes each of All About the Andersons, The PJs, All of Us, Good Times, South Central and Sanford & Son all from 6am-12pm. So this means short-lived comedy Where I Live has been removed from the TV One schedule. Its last airings are April 4 from 7-8am.
Originally on Sunday, April 19 at 5pm was supposed to be an encore of TV One's original special Living Single: The Reunion Show, which reunites the cast of the long running sitcom Living Single for a trip down memory lane including backstage gossip, set secrets, guest star tales, and bloopers for a night of fun and fond memories, but now has been rescheduled for 10pm and 2am that night. The show also has an additional encore airing on Friday, May 1 at 12am.
Finally, on Saturday April, 25 from 8pm to 10pm to conclude the "Good Times Favorite Episodes" 24-hour mega-thon, TV One airs viewers choice episodes of the sitcom Good Times which are episodes viewers picked as their favorite on the TV One website. So now the marathon is two more extra hours...26 to be exact!

TV Land has also done some editing to their April line-up! The biggest change to the schedule is an addition of a Married...with Children marathon! Yes, Al Bundy on TV Land for one-night only on Thursday, April 23 from 9pm-12am on TV Land PRIME! This is all in anticipation of the cast reunion during the 2009 TV Land Awards on Sunday, April 26, TV Land is offering viewers 6 of the most popular episodes from this outrageous series. If you're wondering how TV Land is airing this series, well because sister station Spike TV airs the show, so TV Land is borrowing it for one night. It looks to be a good love and marriage for TV Land!
Speaking of the 2009 TV Land Awards, the show will now start at 8pm ET/PT instead of 9pm.
As for other changes, TV Land will not have CSI: NY in April on Thursday nights. It was only for March. Instead we will have The Jeffersons from 10pm-12am, 3rd Rock from 12-1am, Cosby Show 1-2am, and Sanford & Son 2-3am.
Finally, a M*A*S*H weekend marathon has been added for the weekend of April 18-20. On late Friday, April 17 from 2am-5am we get the M*A*S*H series finale followed by the regular 5-6am airing. Then the fun really begins on Saturday and Sunday from 8pm-6am, and concludes Monday (April 20) from 8pm-12am!
View more on the updated TV Land April 2009 schedule. Stay tuned for TV Land May 2009 highlights and schedule tomorrow.

TV One April 2009 Includes That's My Mama Marathon; Lifetime Renews Rita Rocks for 2nd Seasons

This April on TV One, comedy is once again king! On Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 12, 2009) beginning at 12 Noon, the classic '70s sitcom That's My Mama comes to the TV One airwaves with an all-day marathon from 12pm-7pm with the first two episodes encoring from 5-6am. 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 favorite Good Times).
On Sunday, April 19 at 5pm, the gang is back together again as TV One encores their original special Living Single: The Reunion Show which reunites the cast of the popular sitcom Living Single including Kim Fields, Kim Coles, Erika Alexander, John Henton, and T.C. Carson as they take a stroll down memory lane with bloopers, set stories, and little known backstage gossip and antics that will have viewers wanting more. So if you missed it or need to record it, April 19 at 5pm is your chance!
Finally, on Friday, April 24 beginning at 10pm, TV One presents the "Viewers Choice Good Times Mega-thon," a 24-hour event that airs the funniest and most talked about episodes from the long running classic sitcom and lets viewers decide (by voting on the TV One website) on their favorite episodes which will air at the end of the mega-thon from 8pm to 10pm on Saturday April 25.
There are no changes really to the schedule, but some minor stuff. The short-lived comedy Good News has been removed from weekdays at 8:30am and Sunday mornings and replaced by Comics Unleashed. That change happened early last month though. TV One has scheduled original series Black Men Revealed at 11am on weekdays, so the daily marathons are now 12-3pm instead of 11am-3pm. More TV One originals air at 3pm. The Divorce Court encores weekdays from 5-6am have been replaced by the original series Get the Hookup. Court will still air weekdays 4-5pm, though. That's about it...no other real changes.
We don't see That's My Mama airing on the regular schedule, so for now it is just a one-time marathon...but wouldn't it be nice if it appears in May in time for Mother's Day? Mama would be proud...but spend this Easter with Mama! Mama Curtis, that is!

Rita Rocks, Lifetime Television's first original primetime comedy in 10 years, has been picked up for a second season. The 20-episode order was announced today. The family comedy starring Nicole Sullivan premiered on October 20, 2008, and, in a unique programming strategy, stripped original episodes for a full week before moving into its regular timeslot (Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m. ET/PT before moving to Mondays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT). Developed as a companion to Lifetime's most popular comedy, Reba, Rita Rocks met with early success and frequently built on or retained the Reba audience. Since its debut, the first season has cumed more than 36.4 million viewers total.
The first season had its season finale last Monday. Reruns from the beginning start tonight at 8:00PM every Monday, so get hooked again or watch for the first time! No start date has been given for the second season premiere, but as soon as we know...we'll let you know because we 'rock'.

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 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 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.

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

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

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

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

WGN Edits Schedule and Adds ALF, Legal; Schedule Updates for TV One, The N ; 90210 Gets Full Season; Nick at Nite's Fido Awards Gets Willard As Host

It's a very busy Tuesday here at SitcomsOnline!
WGN America has edited their fall schedule again. They will make a few changes to their weekend line-up this week (Sept. 27-28). On Saturday, September 27, at 6pm ET they will premiere Boston Legal leading into the White Sox game at 7pm ET. On Sunday, Sept. 28 from 11am-12pm ET will be two episodes of Funniest Pets & People for his week only. Now at 12 noon ET, WGN America will air Boston Legal every week. Following Legal, will be two episodes of Whacked Out Sports at a special time from 1-2pm leading into the regular season finale for the Chicago Cubs. Beverly Hillbillies Sunday airings will move to 1-2am ET, following the Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie hours.
So what will happen regularly? Originally starting Saturday, October 4, NewsRadio was slated to join the WGN America line-up airing Saturdays 6-7pm ET followed by two Becker episodes from 7-8pm ET on Saturdays. Now NewsRadio won't be airing at all. Becker will slide to that 6-7pm ET timeslot on Saturdays followed by Boston Legal airing Saturdays at 7pm ET. On Sundays, as mentioned earlier, Boston Legal will air at 12 noon ET. The Cosby Show will be replaced on Sundays from 6-7pm with ALF, as ALF joins the regular line-up! The '80s comedy will actually launch Wednesday, October 1 from 8-10pm ET with a four episode block, for that week only. However, ALF will air on Mondays from 9-10pm ET as well starting Monday, October 6! So, Sundays 6-7pm ET and Mondays 9-10pm ET starting Oct. 5 and 6 for ALF. Also, on Sundays, as mentioned earlier, Beverly Hillbillies will move from Sunday daytime to 1-2am ET Sunday night. What a sitcom block on WGN from 5pm-2am on Sundays (with a break for news at 10-11pm ET), with Coach, ALF, WKRP, Newhart, Honeymooners, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie & Beverly Hillbillies!
Finally, starting Monday, November 3, weekdays 1-2am ET has changed a bit. Reno 911 is now 5 days a week rather than just airing 5 times on Fri/Sat nights. Corner Gas will move to 1:30am ET, as Becker will leave late nights but will still air weekday afternoons at 4pm ET and Saturday evenings from 6-7pm ET. Reno/Corner will follow The Bob and Tom Show at midnight ET weekdays starting Nov. 3. And the Saturday night midnight ET airing of Reno 911 will be another episode of The Honeymooners instead starting November 8, since Reno 911 will be airing weekdays. So, The Honeymooners gains another slot (it already airs Sundays 9-10pm ET).
I suggest you view the FULL WGN America Fall schedule so you don't get confused. We're not done with WGN America, as in the coming days or weeks we will announce what is airing on Halloween for a marathon!

TV One has made a few schedule changes. Beginning on Monday, September 29, the TV One primetime schedule will make a few adjustments. In the 9:30pm weeknight timeslot, TV One will now air the sitcom For Your Love replacing All of Us which has moved now to 10pm. Also beginning that week, the Friday night 4am timeslot will now be an additional airing of the animated comedy series The PJs. However, from Monday, October 6 and continuing through Thursday, October 9, that late night 4am timeslot will also be The PJs preempting All of Us for this week only. Also, the previously announced "Living Single: Celebrity Edition" marathon on Saturday, October 11 beginning at 11am, will now include an encore airing of Living Single: The Reunion Show, which reunites the cast from the classic hit sitcom.
TV One has pulled the launch for short-lived sitcom South Central. The sitcom was slated for a launch marathon on Saturday, October 18, but now movies will air instead that day. It will definitely air at a later date. The TV One programming and marketing group decided that they had too many other things to promote this fall, and they wanted to be able to give it the attention they think it deserves. We will of course let you know when it is scheduled again. So, yes, it won't air regularly on Saturdays at 11am and Sundays at 6pm either. Instead we will get two back-to-back episodes of fellow short-lived sitcom Where I Live starting Sunday, Oct. 19 airing Sundays 6-7pm and Saturdays 11am-12pm. Where I Live was previously scheduled to air Saturdays 11:30am and Sundays 6:30pm following South Central.
Moving on to The N...we mentioned Saved by the Bell was pulled last week and now a week later, it's back! The show is now airing weekdays at 3:00pm & 3:30pm starting immediately. Also, from 4-5pm two episodes of H2O is replacing two episodes of Kenan & Kel, which goes off the schedule. And from 5-6pm two episodes of Unfabulous replaces to shots of All That, which also is off the line-up now. Degrassi is back on The N with a weekend marathon from Friday, October 3 to Sunday, October 5. The show will air all day on those three days from 6am-6am, except 12-2am when That '70s Show airs. Degrassi returns for an all-new season the week after on October 10 at 8pm with an one-hour season premiere as Mia's got a new friend, a new guy, and maybe even a job as a model -- if she's willing to do what it takes to beat the competition. The season premiere will be followed by the season premiere of South of Nowhere at 9pm. If that weekend marathon was not enough, the week of October 6 will see more Degrassi. Degrassi will air Monday, October through Thursday, October 9 from 6am-10am, 3-6pm, and 2-6am. And all day on Friday, October 10 leading up to the season premiere.

The CW's drama 90210, quickly becoming one of the most popular series among young women, has been picked up for a full season of episodes even before it aired an episode during the actual TV season which started Monday.
The two-hour debut of 90210 on Sept. 2 shattered ratings records for The CW Network, becoming the highest-rated series premiere in the network's history with women 18-34 (4.5/12), adults 18-34 (3.1/9) and adults 18-49 (2.6/7). The 90210 series opener on Sept. 2 led The CW to become Tuesday's #1 network in all key demographics. With a double airing of the 90210 premiere during the opening week (Tuesday and Thursday), 12.7 million viewers watched all or part of The CW's highly anticipated new series. Facing increased competition, the most recent telecast of 90210 scored week-to-week gains in target demos, including 6% in women 18-34 (3.3/10), 14% in adults 18-34 (2.4/7) and 3% in total viewers (3.3mil). In addition, the series debut of 90210 added over a third more viewers in target demographics with Live-Plus Seven Day DVR viewing included.
While it is off to a good start, I think The CW should have waited until at least after today to announce it has picked up the back nine. The first Tuesday of the season is tonight, so it would have been wise to see how it would do tonight in the actual season.

A blues-singing beagle, a bull dog who can skateboard and flush the toilet on command and a Jack Russell terrier who can jump rope and walk up steps backward are among the semifinalists as the final round of voting begins for the top six pups who will compete for the champion title on the First Annual Worldwide Fido Awards, airing in primetime, Sunday, Oct. 5, at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nick at Nite.
The one-hour special event hosted by actor/comedian Fred Willard (Best in Show) will showcase the six Fido finalists and best of WorldwideFido.com's user-generated videos, where one lucky dog will ultimately be crowned the 2008 Worldwide Fido winner. Fans can vote now on http://www.worldwidefido.com to determine the finalist in each of the six categories, including "Cutest Dog," "Best Dressed," "Best Voice," "Most Outrageous," "Best Trick" and "Dog/Owner Look-Alike." Popular dog trainer-to-the-stars Tamar Geller will serve as one of the judges, while one very special dog will be presented the "Hero" Award, to honor invaluable services provided to humans. The show will also feature pooch performances throughout the evening.

TV One Producing Living Single Reunion; BET Edits Fall Schedule; Fox Sunday Note

On Monday, September 22 at 7pm, it's a comedy reunion blow-out as TV One presents the premiere of Living Single: The Reunion Show that has the cast of the widely successful sitcom about a group of six African American friends living in (or near) a Brooklyn brownstone reuniting for an all-new evening of laughs, memories, and backstage tales that will have viewers wanting more. Join Kim Coles (Synclaire), Erika Alexander (Max), Kim Fields (Regine), John Henton (Overton), and T.C. Carson (Kyle) as TV One takes this trip down the Living Single memory lane. There will be an encore showing at 11pm as well later that night after the Living Single's first day marathon episodes as well as on Friday, September 26 at 12am.
Living Single will air weeknights at 8:30pm, 9pm and encore 3-4am after the marathon week, starting Sept. 29. The marathon week will be week Sept. 22-26, 7pm-12am each night.
Head on over to our TV One September/October thread for more details and for discussion.

BET has made some schedule changes to its fall schedule that starts Sept. 22. We originally announced the changes happening, but BET has now altered weekdays 9am-8pm just a bit. Airing 9-10am now will be more Smart Guy followed by a double dose of Girlfriends from 10-11am. Judge Karen and Judge Hatchett will now premiere in the 11am hour, rather than the 10pam hour. The shows will still air in the 11pm hour in late night. Then The Steve Harvey Show moves to 12 noon and 12:30pm, which means it will air there seven days a week since it was already airing in those slots on weekends. A Movie follows at 1pm with BET Now and Rap City moving to 3 and 4pm, in Harvey's old 4pm hour. Smart Guy episodes remain 5-6pm and 106 & Park is now two-hours from 6-8pm.
For more details, head on over to our BET September thread for details and to discuss.

Fox has finally announced what will air in the other 25 minutes this Sunday to go along with the 95-minute encore of last night's Fringe premiere. On Sunday, Sept. 14 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT Fox presents a Sunday night like no other. The evening kicks off with an exclusive first look at an extended scene from the highly anticipated film The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Keanu Reeves, followed by a preview of 24: Redemption, the two-hour special event airing this November on Fox. Immediately after the exclusive previews, the series premiere of Fringe will encore, followed by an exclusive preview of the not-to-be-missed, heart-pounding first four minutes of Fringe's second episode. So three previews will air in those 25 minutes that are needed to be filled. Fringe encore will likely start at 8:15ish.

TV One October 2008 Includes Two Short-Lived Sitcoms; Atlanta's PeachTree TV Fall 2008 Schedule

This October on TV One we will see a Saturday morning sitcom block added with two short-lived sitcoms joining on Sunday evenings and in that Saturday morning block later in the month. Let the highlights speak for themselves:
On Saturday, October 11 beginning at 6am, Saturday mornings get a makeover on TV One with the addition of an all-new comedy block to let viewers awake to laughter on their day of rest. From 6am-11am it will be back-to-back episodes each of All About the Andersons, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Good Times and The PJ's.
As for marathons and stunts...on Sunday, October 5 beginning at 1pm, TV One presents a New York Undercover mini-marathon consisting of 5 episodes of the crime drama series focusing on hate crimes and racial issues that will keep viewers demanding that justice be served, part of TV One's "Justice for All" marathon.
On Saturday, October 11 beginning at 11am through 10pm, celebrities take TV One by storm in a "Living Single: Celebrity Edition" Marathon that features episodes of the sitcom with guest appearances from celebrities including Nia Long, Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut, Arsenio Hall, Shemar Moore, Vivica A. Fox, and Deion Sanders.
Then on Saturday, October 18, at beginning at 12 Noon through 8pm, the critically-acclaimed short-lived 1994 sitcom South Central comes to TV One in an all-day marathon event. South Central is a comedy series with dramatic undertones about the struggles of a family residing in South Central Los Angeles that stars Larenz Tate, Tina Lifford, Earl Billings, and a then unknown Jennifer Lopez. The series lasted 10 episodes and aired on Fox following Roc and was known as the 'Good Times of the 90s' when it aired. The series will air Sundays at 6pm starting Oct. 19 and have encore airings on Saturdays at 11am in the Saturday morning sitcom block beginning on Oct. 25.
The second short-lived sitcom will join on Sunday, October 19, at 6:30pm, as the critically-acclaimed coming of age 1993 sitcom Where I Live makes its bow on TV One. Where I Live is a sitcom focused around a teen named Doug, who is a student from urban New York, his two friends, and his Jamaican parents. Most of the story revolves around the neighborhood where Doug and his friends are always getting into crazy situations and then playing basketball after each adventure. The series lasted 14 episodes, but had 7 more unaired episodes (for a total of 21) and aired for two short seasons on ABC, and the first season aired on ABC's popular TGIF block. Bill Cosby liked the show and was a consultant on the series. The series stars Doug E. Doug (Cosby 1996), Flex Alexander, and Lorraine Toussaint and will air Sundays at 6:30pm with encores on Saturdays at 11:30am...both airings following South Central.
South Central and Where I Live's Sunday airings will follow an episode each of Wanda at Large and For Your Love from 5-6pm. There will be no other schedule changes to the TV One October schedule, and for those of you wondering short-lived sitcom Good News will now only air Sundays 6-7am. See the September schedule story for details on the changes happening this month.
Finally, Friday October 31 is of course Halloween and TV One is celebrating with a "Scarefest" sitcom marathon from 11am-4pm and again from 6:30pm-10pm with Halloween themed episodes of Martin, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, The Hughleys, Parent'hood, and Living Single. The "Scarefest" marathon will also air on Saturday morning November 1st from 6am- 11am in the Saturday morning sitcom block.

PeachTree TV in Atlanta (WPCH, formerly known as WTBS-17) has announced their fall 2008 schedule. Tyler Perry's House of Payne, which ranks as ad-supported cable's #1 sitcom of all time on TBS and television's #1 summer series among African-American adults 18-49, is coming in syndication to Peachtree TV Atlanta, beginning Wednesday, Sept. 24. The comedy about multiple generations of one Atlanta family living under the same roof will air six days a week, Mondays through Saturdays, with back-to-back episodes at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Other new arrivals to WPCH includes the long-running game show Family Feud (weekdays at noon and 12:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 8). Family Feud has been extremely popular in Atlanta and is moving to Peachtree TV as the show's exclusive home in this market. Peachtree TV also will be home to the all-new audience-participation game show Trivial Pursuit: America Plays (weekdays at 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., beginning Sept. 22) and the hit reality series American Chopper (Saturdays at 5 p.m., beginning Sept. 27). The station will also add Best of Montell Williams in the 10am hour. Leaving WPCH on Sep. 8 are The Nanny, Mad About You, Diff'rent Strokes and the canceled Temptation. All in the Family leaves the week of Sept. 22, while Sanford & Son moves to late night.
View the full Peachtree TV (WPCH) Fall 2008 schedule.
Come back tomorrow as Chicago viewers will see the fall 2008 schedules for Me-TV Chicago and its spin-off network Me-Too right here.

TV One September 2008 Schedule and Highlights; TV Rebels: Bill Cosby

Our look at the fall 2008 season on cable continues with TV One's September 2008 line-up. This September TV One will be adding the hit '90s sitcom Living Single to its African-American line-up. Living Single premieres on TV One in a week-long marathon event that airs each weeknight from 7pm-12am ET/PT (encores 3-6am ET/PT). Each character will be showcased on various nights -- Khadijah on Monday, Synclaire on Tuesday, Regine on Wednesday, Max on Thursday, and The Boys (Overton and Kyle) on Friday. Living Single was a situation comedy that centered on the lives of a group of six African American friends living in (or near) a Brooklyn brownstone. The series focused on the personal and professional lives of each character, as well as their relationships with one another.
After the marathon, Living Single settles into its regular time-slot weeknights at 8:30pm & 9pm starting Monday, September 29, with an encore from 3-4am ET/PT.
Other changes include the fall 10am-4pm block. Beginning on Monday September 8 and continuing until further notice, the TV One daytime marathons which air weekdays from 10am to 4pm will have a steady schedule consisting of the following: Eve (Mondays), Movies (Tuesdays), Wanda At Large/Divorce Court/Between Brothers rotate (Wednesdays), TV One on One/Roc rotate (Thursdays) and All of Us (Fridays).
On Monday, September 29, the TV One fall schedule settles into place with changes taking place after 5pm. View the full TV One September 2008 line-up for complete details.
Moving on to other highlights, on Saturday September 20 beginning at 1pm, it's girl power time as TV One presents the "Eve-Sisters Doin' It For Themselves-Marathon" that showcases episodes of the sitcom Eve that feature the women taking charge while resolving their own problems and issues that will keep viewers laughing as well as fired up with emotion as Shelly (Eve) and her crew prove that new millennium women have it all together.
Future Outlook: TV One has also acquired the sitcom Half & Half for later in the fall...we will have details on that at a later date!
So, don't forget to view and discuss the TV One September Line-Up!


It's time for another edition of TV Rebels. We originally had special permission to publish the first 6 essays on TV shows and actors that will be featured in the upcoming book TV Rebels: 100 People and Programs That Shaped the Medium by authors Lou Orfanella and Oscar De Los Santos...and as we mentioned in April, we have now gotten rights to 6 additional essays (for a total of 12!), so we will be bringing you one each month until at least November! Upcoming TV Rebel columns coming soon are about Rod Serling and Desi Arnaz. The book is in the works and will be released in 2009.

So without further adieu, we bring you the eighth essay of TV Rebels:

Bill Cosby: Double Rebel
by Lou Orfanella

In 1965 standup comic Bill Cosby earned critical praise and the first of three consecutive Emmy Awards as outstanding lead actor in a dramatic series as he began his three year run as globetrotting government agent Alexander Scott on the NBC drama I Spy. More significant and media changing than his triple Emmy feat was that this was the first instance of a major dramatic starring role by a black actor on a network television series. The groundbreaking weekly adventure costarred white actor Robert Culp as Scott's partner Kelly Robinson. "Coinciding with the crest of the civil rights movements, the series' light touch was 'balm for the jangled American psyche of the time,' said the New York Times. It was a historic moment in casting when a black man was placed along side a white man as his equal and it created international interest in the show" ("Biography").
After I Spy ended in 1968, Cosby headlined the sitcom The Bill Cosby Show on NBC ffrom 1969-1971 as well as the variety shows The New Bill Cosby Show (CBS) and Cos (ABC) in 1972 and 1976 respectively. He entered the Saturday morning children's shows arena from 1972-1977 with the message filled animated offering Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. It was in 1984 however, that Cosby would achieve his greatest success and become a double TV rebel.
In 1984 with the situation comedy genre mostly left for dead by network executives, Cosby returned to weekly series duty as the unflappable dad Cliff Huxtable on NBC's The Cosby Show, a light hearted family sitcom that skyrocketed to the top of the ratings and rejuvenated the genre during its eight year run. In the process it became the anchor of what was to become NBC's Thursday night lineup of "Must See TV." The Cosby Show was the most watched show on the air for five of its seasons and is credited with reviving the viability and profitability of the situation comedy genre.
In many ways The Cosby Show allowed its star to extend the social changes he had been a part of with I Spy. Two decades after Alexander Scott showed that blacks and whites could be equal partners, The Cosby Show depicted the black family on equal footing with middle and upper class white families, rather than as low income ghetto dwellers such as in previous shows as Good Times and Sanford and Son. "The Cosby Show discontinued familiar sitcom formulas filled with disrespectful children and generational conflict and presented instead a two-parent family in which both partners worked as professionals. In the Huxtable household, viewers were exposed to the existence and culture of historically black colleges and universities" ("Cosby"). Black art and music as well as black history were all apparent in the Huxtable universe expanding the traditional and often stereotypical view of black families television had presented.
During the 1990s the man known widely as simply "Cos" would star in three additional series. First came the revival of the comedic quiz show You Bet Your Life with Cosby filling the legendary shoes of Groucho Marx. The Cosby Mysteries followed, and the Cosby (CBS, 1996-2000) sitcom closed the decade. He also hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things for CBS. While none of those efforts made an indelible mark on television history, Cosby's legacy had long been secured with I Spy and The Cosby Show, two series that helped change the face of television.

Works Cited
Biography of Bill Cosby. The Kennedy Center. 7 August 2007 http://www.kennedy-center.org.
Cosby, Bill. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. 7 August 2007 http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/humlC/cosbybill/cosbybill.htm.

Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: Cable Day 1

It is the first day of the summer 2008 TCA press tour and this week it is the cable portion (July 8-11).
TV One was the first network to present. Among the announcements they made were details on their original series Black Men Revealed which launches its second season on July 20. It is the series that brings together males from all walks of life to frankly discuss and often explode the myths and truths surrounding black men. TV One will offer live, nightly primetime coverage of the Democratic Convention in Denver, followed by TV One Live: DNC Afterparty, a smart, irreverent and engaging hour that includes a uniquely African American cultural perspective on the events of the day. The special will air August 25-28. TV One also has a documentary special titled Murder in Black and White airing October 5. Murder In Black and White is a series of four documentary specials that explore unsolved civil rights murders from which information uncovered will be shared with the FBI's Cold Case Unit in an effort to bring to justice murderers who may still be alive.
Among the acquired series TV One will launch this fall is the previously announced sitcom Living Single in September from the Warner Bros. Television deal.

The Hallmark Channel was up next and they announced they have 30 TV Movies in the works with many familiar stars. Among the stars are Jane Seymour in Dear Prudence, Mark Consuelos, Chandra West and Corbin Bernsen in For the Love of Grace, Florence Henderson and Donna Mills in Ladies of the House, Ed Asner and Alex Black in Generation Gap, Daphne Zuniga and Greg Evigan in Mail Order Bride, Tom Arnold, Candace Cameron and Barbara Niven in Moonlight & Mistletoe (November), Cicely Tyson, Eriq La Salle, Michael Michele and Michael Beach in Relative Stranger, Lesley Ann Warren and Meredith Baxter in Bound by a Secret, Chandra Wilson, Ben Vereen, Kathleen Munroe and LAPD Sgt. Tami Baumann in Accidental Friendship (Nov. 15), Jacqueline Bisset in An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving (Nov. 22), Jason Priestley, Teri Polo and Cheech Marin in Expecting a Miracle (Jan. 3), and Cloris Leachman and Haley Duff in Love Takes Wing (early 2009). A holiday movie titled The Christmas Choir will air Dec. 6.
Among the reruns they will add are Cheers this fall and I Love Lucy & The Golden Girls in 2009.

Other networks went like HDnet announced a Sneak Preview series. It is partnered with HDNet's "Ultra Video On Demand" offering, allows cable subscribers access to movies PRIOR to the movie's theatrical premiere.
BBC America announced BBC World News America news. It provides a unique, international perspective on matters at home and abroad. Ted Koppel is joining the series as a contributing analyst. Also, BBC America announced Primeval, new series launching August 8. The past and present collide when evolutionary zoologist Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) discovers prehistoric creatures alive and well in the present day. Launching August 26, is Gavin & Stacey. This double BAFTA award-winning comedy from Steve Coogan's production company, Baby Cow, tells an endearing story of true love and human relationships. Gavin is an ordinary boy from England, Stacey is an ordinary girl from Wales. The two are obsessed with each other, yet they've only ever spoken on the phone. And Britz, coming in November, is a two-part thriller about a young brother and sister, Sohail and Nasima, and how they are pulled in radically different directions in the post 9/11 world.
style Network announced Ruby, a new unscripted series premiering November 9. It takes viewers inside the life of Ruby Gettinger, a 500-pound young woman living in Savannah, Georgia.
E! and G4 didn't announce anything really but further promoted E!'s The Soup and G4's Attack of the Show.

Stay tuned tomorrow for day two coverage of the summer TCA press tour as more networks go tomorrow, such as TV Land.

TV One August 2008 Highlights; Comedy Central Revives The Gong Show

The summer continues to heat up on TV One with daytime marathons and more! In August, the 10am-4pm daytime marathons for the month include, Amen, Between Brothers, All of Us, Eve, The Hughleys, All About the Andersons, Martin, New York Undercover, For Your Love, and Boston Public.
During Labor Day Weekend, TV One will be working hard for the viewers with four days of marathons:
On Friday, August 29, beginning at 10pm and through Saturday, August 30 at 10pm, it's a battle of the 'child star divas' pitting Janet Jackson's Penny from Good Times vs. Raven-Symone's Nicole from Hangin' With Mr. Cooper in a 24-hour 'Child-Star Megathon,' with episodes of the two sitcoms back-to-back alternating in a 24-hour TV One Megathon. Viewers can vote for their favorite at tvoneonline.com.
On Sunday, August 31, beginning at 3pm and running until 10pm (encores 2-6am), it's all about Black Men as TV One salutes Black Men in a day long event that starts with a marathon of the sitcom Between Brothers about two brothers and their two college buddies living and working in Chicago that stars Kadeem Hardison, Dondre Whitfield, Tommy Davidson, and Kelly Perine.
On Labor Day itself, Monday, September 1, beginning at 10am and running until 6am, TV One presents a "Martin 'Labor Day Cliff-Hanger' Marathon." Join Martin, Tommy, Gina, Cole, and Pam as TV One presents a Labor-Day marathon that will have viewers on the edge of their seats with multiple cliff-hangers in a day-long holiday even featuring some of the best and most memorable Martin continuing storylines and conclusions without the wait.
There are no schedule changes in August to the regular schedule.

First we had news of The Match Game being revived on TBS for possible premiere (pilot just taped with celebs like Sarah Silverman), now another '70s classic will be revived later this month. The 1970s classic The Gong Show is back with new episodes and who better to host the return of the legendary talent showcase series than boundary-pushing comedy all-star Dave Attell? Viewers won't be able to contain their laughter (and their astonishment) when The Gong Show with Dave Attell premieres Thursday, July 17 at 10:00 p.m. on Comedy Central.
Executive Produced by Doug Robinson of Happy Madison Productions and Andrew Golder in association with Sony Pictures Television, The Gong Show with Dave Attell will showcase seven to ten off-beat and diverse acts judged by a revolving panel of three celebrity judges. At the end of each show, the act with the highest score will be crowned the winner! The premiere episode features celebrity judges Brian Posehn, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Steve Schirripa.
Judges featured throughout the season include Adam Carolla (The Man Show, Dancing with the Stars), Kate Walsh (Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy), Andy Dick (NewsRadio, Less than Perfect), Ron White, Dave Navarro, Greg Giraldo, Jim Norton and JB Smoove.

TV Land Announces Stars Attending 6th Annual TV Land Awards; TV One July 2008 Highlights

TV Land has lined up an array of television, film and musical icons for the sixth annual TV Land Awards. The network announced that Steve Carell, Justin Timberlake, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Henry Winkler, Kathy Griffin, Jack Klugman, the cast of The Office, She's Got The Look's Kim Alexis and Beverly Johnson and more are set to appear, and musical sensation Lionel Richie will take the stage for a musical performance.
They join previously-announced honorees Mike Myers, Garry Marshall, the casts of Roseanne and The Golden Girls and Jonathan Winters. The show will tape this Sunday, June 8 at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA and will premiere on TV Land the following week on Sunday, June 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Justin Timberlake will present The Legacy of Laughter Award to Mike Myers.
Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Henry Winkler, Jack Klugman and Dick Van Dyke will present The Legend Award to Garry Marshall.
Robin Williams will present The Pioneer Award to Jonathan Winters.
More will come on the TV Land Awards very soon, so check back with us!

Now let's move on to some TV schedules! TV One has released its July 2008 schedule to us. As we mentioned in our June highlights last month, they are doing weekday marathons from 10am-4pm for the summer and they will have a 24-hour Martin 4th of July marathon from 8pm to 8pm July 5.
The 10am-4pm weekday blocks for this month include a birthday tribute to actress Roz Ryan by airing episodes of Amen, Good News, All About The Andersons, Bid Whist Party Throwdown on July 7. On July 14, TV One presents a Roc Fights Back marathon following the sitcom's storyline surrounding neighborhood drug dealer Andre (Clifton Powell) and his effect on the community. On July 15, it is a Boston Public marathon featuring all of the American Idol finalist Tamyra Gray's episodes. On July 22, it is a Eve Girl Power Marathon, featuring all stories about the hijinx of Shelley, Rita and Janie. Fastlane, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, A Man Called Hawk, Divorce Court, and Hangin' with Mr. Cooprer round out the other series marathons.
Other notable highlight is an All of Us Marathon. On Saturday, July 26 starting at 12 noon through 9pm, TV One presents an All of Us 'Celebrity Drive-By' Marathon that features episodes full of famous guest appearances from notable stars such as Beyonce, Boris Kodjoe, Will Smith, Allen Payne, Tyra Banks, Serena Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Paula Abdul, and many more.

TV One June 2008 Highlights Includes Return of Between Brothers; Law & Order SVU Heads to Weekday Syndication in Fall 2009

Starting Monday, June 2, the TV One weekday daytime lineup from 10am-4pm on weekdays will undergo a summer makeover. Each day, TV One will now air a mixture of daily marathons of their various sitcoms, dramas, movies, and original shows that will keep summertime viewing fun and easy while still offering the variety that will keep viewers coming back for more.
The 10am-4pm marathons include series marathons of All of Us, Fastlane, Wanda at Large, Eve, Good News, Good Times, Roc, Parent'hood, NY Undercover, The PJs, A Man Called Hawk, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Amen! Some of these are specially themed, such as Eve's Black Music Month Special featuring musical guests, Happy Birthday Bookman and Happy Birthday Jimmie Walker marathons of Good Times, Happy Birthday Ella Joyce Marathon of Roc, New York Undercover's Ice T & Tyra Banks marathon, Fastlane with Bill Bellamy, and Amen's Thelma's In The Army Marathon.
Another schedule chage will happen starting Monday, June 2 at 9:30pm. The '90s sitcom Between Brothers (1997-99 Fox sitcom) returns to the TV One lineup in place of The PJs at 9:30pm weeknights. Tommy Davidson, Dondre Whitfield, Kelly Perine, and Kadeem Hardison starred in this sitcom about four bachelor friends. No other changes will be made to the line-up.
Other highlights include: On Sunday, June 8 at 10pm, the mystery is finally revealed and all of your questions are answered as TV One airs the much-anticipated series finale of Day Break starring Taye Diggs airs for the first time on television.
On Saturday, June 28 beginning at 1pm, summertime romance is in full bloom on TV One as we present the "Will You Marry Me" Marathon, a day chock full of love, romance, engagements, and weddings in celebration of the June bride season. First up is the TV One and Essence Magazine original special "Will You Marry Me" that has suitors proposing marriage to their women in new and innovative fashions. Then from 3pm-9pm, watch three of your favorite TV One sitcom couples - Thelma and Ruben from Amen, Thelma and Keith from Good Times, and Martin and Gina from Martin - all get engaged and married in a romance filled day full of laughter, tears, and celebration.
As a preview to July, starting at 8pm on Friday, July 4, with the nation's best interests at heart, its megathon time again, and Martin is doing his patriotic duty to make everyone in America laugh through their fireworks and barbecue with a 24 hour marathon of favorite episodes through 8pm on Saturday, July 5!

NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution has sold Dick Wolf's hit procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to the Fox Television Stations in the nation's top markets, as well as other local stations from other leading broadcast groups for weekday runs starting in fall 2009. SVU has been sold to the Fox owned and operated stations in New York, Los Angeles Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C., Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando and Baltimore. The series has also been sold in 18 of the nation's top 20 markets, as well as to stations from CBS, Sinclair, Sunbeam, Belo, Hearst, Granite, Capitol, Local TV and more.
The announcement comes on the heel's of Law & Order: Special Victim Unit's successful debut this season in weekend broadcast syndication. SVU will follow in the footsteps of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as that series has done pretty well in weekday play this season on Fox-owned locals and other local stations. Criminal Intent has ushered the return of hour dramas to weekday strip syndication. When SVU airs weekdays on locals, I'm sure it will not air on weekends anymore on locals.

TV One Brings Amen to Evenings Starting in April Now; Nick at Nite Sees 1st Quarter Ratings Do Big; TNT Loves Romano

Beginning on Monday April 7, TV One has made a change to their line-up. The Sherman Hemsley sitcom Amen will air one hour of back-to-back episodes in the weekday 5pm & 5:30pm timeslot. For Your Love and Eve, previously airing in these time periods will no longer air. This change was set to happen on Monday, May 5, as we said late last week, but TV One has decided to do it a month earlier!
As also stated late last week on the TV One May highlights, TV One will be airing 24-hour sitcom marathons during the month of May beginning on Friday nights. The first of these special marathons will actually begin now on Friday, May 2 at 8pm with a special Martin marathon continuing on the theme of TV One's election year slate of 'Martin for President' marathons that originated over President's Day weekend. This time, the "Martin 'HaterNation' Marathon" takes on the sniping that usually happens in election campaigns with a full 24 hours of Martin Payne & his host of wacky alter egos battling Pam, Sheneneh and all the other Martin-haters who would try to take Martin down.

Nick at Nite, fueled by the performance of George Lopez and Home Improvement, scored double digit increases during the 1Q08 (Jan-Mar) among total viewers (P2+) and Adults 18-49 in both primetime and total day. In primetime, Nick at Nite was up +32% over first quarter 2007 (1Q07), and was +37% higher among Adults 18-49. George Lopez has been the network's highest rated program in 2008, with ratings growing consistently since it joined the schedule, while Home Improvement ratings have also increased each month. The recent George Lopez marathon did huge as the ratings were the best week ever for Nick at Nite.

TNT has ordered a one-hour pilot of Men of a Certain Age, a new character-based drama from Everybody Loves Raymond Emmy winners Ray Romano and Mike Royce. Romano will star in the project that takes a wry look at what it means to be a guy approaching mid-life while also exploring the unique bonds of male friendship. Romano wrote the pilot script with Royce and will executive-produce with Royce (who will serve as show runner), Rory Rosegarten and Cary Hoffman. The show is about the highs and lows of being a guy in the modern era. It's about three best friends, each hoping to fulfill his dreams before the clock starts running out.
This is the latest project to emerge as part of TNT's aggressive plan to change most of the network's weekday, primetime schedule to originals by 2010. The network currently has 15 projects in various stages of development, including both scripted dramas and unscripted programs.

Star-Studded Marathon for Diff'rent Strokes on BET; TV One May 2008 Highlights

We gave you highlights of BET's schedule changes and upcoming marathons in April a few days back, but now we have full details on one of the marathons! The Diff'rent Strokes marathon that is airing next Sunday (Sunday, April 6) will be a star-studded marathon! Join Arnold and Willis and the rest of the family as they welcome in special guests such as LaWanda Page and Whitman Mayo (Aunt Esther and Grady of Sanford & Son), Janet Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Forest Whitaker, Robin Givens, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Mr. T! The marathons starts at 1pm and will end at 9pm on that Sunday. Fans will be happy to see an assortment of episodes from all seasons (well none from season 7, but we do get a few season 8 ones). There will be 6 Janet Jackson episodes! Whatchya talkin' about Wills, indeed. To see the marathon episodes with the times, click HERE. And discuss this episode selection with other Diff'rent Strokes fans by clicking here.

TV One in May will see lots of marathons, including a Mother's Day stunt filled with motherly episodes. Throughout the month, TV One is going to get the weekends pumping with a series of true 'marathons' – 24 hour May Mega-Marathons, which will each start on Friday evening and run through Saturday evening.
On Friday, May 9 beginning at 7pm, TV One offers a "Mothers Day Weekend" 24-hour marathon saluting favorite sitcom moms from TV One sitcom favorites Martin, All of Us, The Parent'hood, Good Times, Amen, and The Hughleys.
On Friday, May 16 beginning at 9pm, TV One offers its annual birthday tribute to superstar Janet Jackson (she turns 42 on May 16) with a 24-hour marathon of Good Times: "The Janet Years," featuring episodes when a young Janet played the Evans' neighbor, Penny. Directly preceding the marathon at 8pm on Friday, a special TV One Access, hosted by former Cosby Show Kid Keshia Knight Pulliam, takes a look at "Our Favorite Child Stars: All Grown Up."
On Friday, May 23 beginning at 11pm, TV One kicks off the long Memorial Day weekend with a trip to the 'projects' of The PJs – featuring all the episodes of the series during the course of the 24 hour marathon.
Finally, on Memorial Day itself (Monday, May 26), TV One takes a "Memorial Day Break" beginning at 8am, TV One presents a full day marathon of the first 11 episodes of the action crime-drama series Day Break starring Taye Diggs. The show airs weekly every Sunday at 10pm.
Schedule changes include more Amen as it will also air 5 and 5:30pm weekdays starting May 5 replacing For Your Love and Eve, which will both be off the line-up totally. Amen will also air in the mornings as well still at 6am & 6:30am. Eve will be replaced in the early mornings as well, weekdays at 4am will be another Parent'hood instead. And the 1am airing of NY Undercover will be replaced by two more Divorce Court episodes. NY Undercover will still air in its other slots.

ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Miss Guided - Premieres March 18; TV One April 2008

Miss Guided - Thursdays 8:00PM & 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Tuesday, March 18 on a special night and time of 10:30PM ET/PT following Dancing with the Stars

This new ABC half-hour comedy series Miss Guided stars Judy Greer and is from actor/producer Ashton Kutcher (he also guest stars on this show) and Emmy Award-winning director Todd Holland directs this series that takes on high school's annoying tendency to repeat itself.

Having finally conquered the awkward, traumatic world of high school, Becky Freeley (Judy Greer) returns to her alma mater as a guidance counselor with her insecurities and orthodontia a distant memory.

While Becky deftly navigates the uncertainties of troubled students and an often troubling faculty, she is certain of one thing - her desperate attraction to hot mechanic-turned-Spanish teacher Tim (Kristoffer Polaha). Now that it seems Becky might finally be getting the upper hand in life and love, she's shocked to discover that the newly hired English teacher is none other than her high school nemesis, Lisa Germain (Brooke Burns). Lisa is a smart, stunning beauty, and suddenly Becky is forced to relive her past and compete for Tim's affections.

Cast Details:

Judy Greer as Becky Freeley, Kristoffer Polaha as Tim O'Malley, Brooke Burns as Lisa Germain, Chris Parnell as Vice Principal Bruce Terry, Earl Billings as Principal Phil Huffy

Judy Greer (Becky Freeley) has been on various TV series in the past. She has guest starred on series such as Early Edition, Family Guy, Maggie Winters, Just Shoot Me, Two and a Half Men and My Name is Earl. She might be best remembered for her role in Arrested Development as Kitty Sanchez. Judy also co-starred on the short-lived sitcom Love & Money and the short-lived drama Love Monkey. On the big screen her various films include The Three Kings, The Village, 13 Going on 30, The Wedding Planner and 27 Dresses opposite Katherine Heigl.

Kristoffer Polaha (Tim O'Malley) has graced the small screen over the last decade in various TV work. He is best known for his co-starring role in North Shore. Among the series he has guest starred on are Angel, Roswell, Birds of Prey, House, Bones, Mad Men, , and C.S.I. Miami. His comedy works include guest starring on both It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and short-lived ABC sitcom Hot Properties.

Brooke Burns (Lisa Germain) is best known for her role as Jessie Owens for three years on Baywatch. She has also co-starred on TV series such as North Shore (with co-star Kristoffer Polaha) and Pepper Dennis. She has also appeared on series such as Ally McBeal, Just Shoot Me, and She Spies. On the big screen, Burns starred in Shallow Hal, opposite Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow and in Smokejumpers, alongside Erin Karpluk and Rick Ravanello.

Chris Parnell (Vice Principal Bruce Terry) is an alumnus of Saturday Night Live, having made memorable contributions as a regular cast member off and on from 1998-2007 with his impersonations ranging from Eminem to Tom Brokaw. He has made numerous guest appearances on series such as 30 Rock, Seinfeld, The Jamie Foxx Show, Suddenly Susan, Murphy Brown, TV Funhouse, Friends and Ed, among others. On the big screen he made his debut in 1996 in Jingle All the Way and has since also appeared in The Ladies Man, Down with Love and Anchroman: The Ron Burgundy Story.

Earl Billings (Principal Phil Huffy) is a familiar face for sitcom and TV fans. He had a recurring role on the hit '70s sitcom What's Happening!! playing the character of Rob (the owner of Rob's Place). He has appeared on dozens of television series and made-for-television movies/mini-series including Roots: The Second Generation, Rockford Files, Perry Mason, Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills. Just a few of series television roles include Good Times, The Jeffersons, Home Improvement, South Central, Frank's Place, New Attitude, Family Matters, Roc, Wayans Bros, The Parkers, How I Met Your Mother, Without a Trace, ER and Ally McBeal, among others. His work on the big screen includes numerous film roles including Something New, American Splendor, Thank You for Smoking, Fat Albert, The Antwone Fisher Story, Con Air, Crimson Tide, Youngblood, Wired, among many others.

Pilot Plot:

#1 "Homecoming" (Airs Tuesday, March 18 at 10:30PM ET/PT).
Becky Freeley returns to her alma mater as a guidance counselor after having finally conquered the awkward, traumatic world of high school. With her orthodontia and teenage insecurities a distant memory, Becky deftly navigates the uncertainties of troubled students and an often troubling faculty, she is certain of one thing – her desperate attraction to hot mechanic-turned-Spanish-teacher, Tim. Now that Becky might finally get the upper hand in life and love, she is shocked to discover that the newly hired English teacher is none other than her high school nemesis Lisa Germain (Brooke Burns). Lisa is a smart, stunning beauty and, suddenly, Becky is forced to relive her past and compete for Tim's affection.

Guest starring in "Homecoming" are Jonathan Sadowski as Gary, Chad Broskey as Shane, Chelsea Harris as Allison, Daryl Sabara as Russell, Samantha Gray Hissong as Heidi, Vanessa Marano as Kelly, A.J. Noel as the whiny band geek, Christian Serratos as the weeping cheerleader, Jesse Fremont Allis as the angry delinquent, Tom Choi as Ed, Tim Bagley as Peter, Tiffany Hines as the pretty student, Juan Carlos Cantu as the janitor, Jane Galloway Heitz as the lunch lady and Lauren Gates as the thin girl.

"Homecoming" was written by Caroline Williams and directed by Todd Holland.

We also viewed the second episode airing, titled "The Hot Sub," which will air Thursday, March 20 at 8:00PM ET/PT, the show's regular night and time premiere. This episode was actually shot 6th, but is airing as the premiere episode in its normal time premiere.
Becky is over the moon when a hot Spanish substitute teacher (guest starring Ashton Kutcher as Beaux), chooses her over Lisa, but has second thoughts when his presence threatens Tim's job. Meanwhile, one of Becky's troubled students (guest starring Jamie Lynn Spears as Mandy Ferner), gets exciting news from college, but considers throwing it all away if it disrupts romantic life.

Guest starring in "Hot Sub" are Ashton Kutcher as Beaux, Jamie Lynn Spears as Mandy Ferner, Angel Laketa Moore as the staffer, Robin Krieger as the secretary, Mikey Reid as Roger, Travis Caldwell as Michael and Scotch Ellis Loring as Mr. Shoemaker.

"Hot Sub" was written by Kevin Etten and directed by Todd Holland.

Analysis:

After watching the first two episodes that are airing, I can say that this show is worth airing. The show completed 7 episodes before the writers' strike started and we will see all 7 episodes in 3 weeks. There was talk that it wouldn't even air at all because of the strike, but I'm glad it is airing! I think many people will be surprised that it is actually a good single-camera sitcom. If this hits, it could be paired with the hit sitcom Samantha Who? starring Christina Applegate next season.

The show is basically about Becky coming back to her old high school as a guidance counselor. Her high school nemesis Lisa Germain is also hired at the school as an English teacher. I can see a lot of battles between the two in future episodes. Becky's love interest seems to be the Spanish teacher Tim O'Malley. Tim doesn't realize however that Becky seems interested. Will Lisa beat her to him? Rounding out the great bunch is the Principal and Vice Principal. They both are very funny and have great chemistry together. Fans of What's Happening!! will like seeing Earl Billings again on a sitcom. He looks familiar still, but has gained some weight making him more like Bubba from Sanford & Son these days.

Basically the pilot revolves around the homecoming dance, hence the title of the episode. Will it be like high school all over again for Becky? There are some very funny scenes, especially when Becky is in the bushes looking on in the homecoming dance, because Tim and Lisa are there together.
The second episode is about a new substitute Spanish teacher, played by Ashton Kutcher. He uses an unorthodox way of teaching, but is it really a good method? He has everyone hooked, including the Principal, that Tim O'Malley has been demoted back to mechanics class instead of Spanish. When Ashton's character is walking in to the school for the first time, you see a girl in a blue shirt do something so hilarious. I won't ruin it, but a promo has shown a bit of it. Jamie Lynn Spears also guest stars in the episode as a confused teenager seeking about college. My has she grown up. She looks great and looks exactly like her sister when she was that age.

Conclusion:

I really hope this show hits and does well. It is pretty funny and charming. It should debut nicely after Dancing with the Stars but hopefully viewers follow it to Thursdays for the next three weeks. The mind of Ashton Kutcher is always innovative and his show are very young skewing (Punk'd, Beauty & the Geek). This show has gotten me thinking how it would be like to go back to high school and relive memories...both good and bad. Students currently in high school could also relate to this sitcom and have some fun with it. I would put this series so far up there with the best new sitcoms (The Big Bang Theory, Samantha Who). Maybe not better than those two yet, but it has a chance.

Maybe this show will be a hit rather than a "burn-off," since 7 episodes are being crammed into three weeks...but ABC has nothing to pair it with right now. With limited scripted programming currently, viewers will likely watch...I hope at least. What to look for in future episodes includes a guest appearance by Edie McClurg playing Mrs. Pool (ironically she played a character by that name on the hit '80s sitcom The Hogan Family). Will it be the same character? Tune in March 27 for that episode!
This is the best school-themed show currently, forget about High School Reunion, this is much better, funnier and more realer.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funiness: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 03/14/08

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Miss Guided Photo Gallery

Moving on to some news...we will talk about TV One in April 2008. We broke the story first about The Hughleys coming to TV One in April, now the trades have finally reported it this week. We already reported that it will start with a weekend marathon on April 5 and 6, but now we have details on its regular timings and the rest of TV One April!
Beginning on Monday, April 7, comedian D.L. Hughley's family sitcom The Hughleys joins TV One's weekday lineup at 7:30 PM and 11:30 PM. Because of this, some programs will be shifted a bit on weekdays:
1:00PM – Good News (replaces Wanda at Large)
6:30PM – Parent'Hood replaces Hangin' With Mr. Cooper)
7:30PM – The Hughleys (replaces Parent'Hood)
11:30PM – The Hughleys (replaces Eve)
4:00AM – Eve (replaces Wanda at Large)
4:30AM – Good Times (replaces Hangin' with Mr. Cooper)
5:00AM – Divorce Court (replaces Parent'hood)
5:30AM – Divorce Court (replaces Good Times)

Some stunts for April include that Hughleys two-day marathon. Saturday, April 5 from 8pm-6am and Sunday, April 6 from 4-7pm with an encore late night. Then on Saturday, April 26 beginning at noon through 10pm, it's a "Cedric Weekend" on TV One as Cedric the Entertainer’s variety/sketch comedy series Cedric the Entertainer Presents hits the TV One airwaves in an all-day marathon to keep viewers in stitches watching the resident funnyman in a variety of sketches playing a host of wacky characters and lampooning national past-times, attitudes and situations. Then on Sunday, April 27 at 9PM, Cedric the Entertainer gets serious with host Cathy Hughes in the premiere of an all-new episode of the TV One original interview series TV One on One. Cedric opens up about career highs and lows as well as some personal demons that don't always have the famous funnyman laughing out loud. An encore airing is scheduled for midnight.

Yes, we promised ION April 2008, but as of now only April 1-6 has been released and it confirms that Baywatch is just Saturdays at 6PM starting March 29, while Drew Carey Show will air 9-11PM Mon-Thurs until at least April 3. We will know very soon if that will continue for the rest of April or not...hopefully sometime next week, so come on back. Also, early next week we have some BET minor schedule news and don't forget to come this weekend for our weekly mini-reviews, Solomon's Weekly Rant and the Weekly Ratings report!

BET Schedule Updates, Sanford Marathon Planned; TV One Revises Programming in March; RTN Comes to D.C.; CBS Brings Classic TV to Online

TGIF! It is a busy (and snowy in NY) Friday here on the blog, as we have quite a lot of stories today!
First we still start with BET. As you recall, we announced on Monday that BET is now airing Diff'rent Strokes and Malcolm & Eddie weekdays and they will bring out short-lived series Sanford and Thea on weekends starting March 1. Now we have some updates for you. We have gotten word that Diff'rent Strokes will also air Saturdays 9-10am, in addition to its weekdays 9-10am slot. It will start airing on Saturdays next Saturday (March 1). However, the Saturday airings will be two repeats from earlier in the week, mostly from the previous Monday's airings earlier in the week. We mentioned the show could air 3-4pm starting next week, but that won't be the case, it will only air 9-10am. Malcolm & Eddie will also air on Saturdays, at 10-11am and 4-5pm. It won't air 11pm-12am, though, that will be only Mon-Fri, while its other slots will be Mon-Sat. A Girlfriends marathon is tomorrow, that is why we are not getting both of these shows tomorrow.
We mentioned that Sanford and Thea will join the weekend line-up late night on Saturday, March 1, which is technically early Sunday morning, airing 2:30am and 3:00am respectively. They will encore later in the day on Sunday at 11:30am and 12pm. Yeah, so we knew that already, but now we have learned that BET will have an all-day San"forward" Marathon on Saturday, March 8 from 10am-11pm just in time for Daylight Savings, as we move our clocks one-hour ahead later that night as we spring forward, or should I say San"forward." And get this, all 26 episodes of Sanford will air back-to-back all day! What a dream come true for Sanford fans! Get those TiVo's, DVR's and VCR's or whatever you use rolling because this is your chance to get every single episode in one shot! Now I have an idea for BET, when we move our clocks back in the fall, we should have a Diff'rent "back"Strokes marathon as we move our clocks one-hour back doing a backstroke. Just a thought! Anyway, BET is certainly looking bright now sitcom wise and we hope they continue this! Be sure you have some chips, nachos, and more snacks ready for this very rare marathon on March 8!

Moving on to another African American network, TV One, we have some changes in store for March. We announced March highlights already, but there are a lot of edits to it now. The TV One premiere of the action series Day Break has be postponed until Sunday, March 16. On Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, both at 8pm, Taye time is finally here as the weekend with Taye Diggs is now this weekend instead of March 8 and 9 as TV One premieres the Cool Factor and How Stella Got Her Groove Back starring Taye, Angela Bassett, and Whoopi Goldberg. An encore airing is scheduled for Sunday, March 16 at 12am following the premiere of Day Break from 10pm-12am. The weekend with Taye Diggs continues on TV One Sunday, March 16 at 10pm with the TV One premiere of the recent ABC action series Day Break starring Taye Diggs as a law enforcement officer framed for murder. The series will premiere with two back-to-back episodes to air at 10pm and 11pm and will premiere episodes on Sundays at 10pm.
On Saturday, March 22 beginning at 1pm and lasting to 10pm, it's time to get your praise on as the sitcom Amen returns to TV One back by popular demand with an all-day 'Best of Deacon Frye' marathon to give viewers a special treat before it returns to the regular schedule on weekdays at 6am & 6:30am beginning on Monday, March 24th replacing Roc on the TV One schedule, which will be off the line-up now.
Finally, The Hughleys: "All in the Family Launch Marathon" previously announced for Tuesday, April 1 will now air as a two-day weekend marathon on Saturday, April 5 & Sunday, April 6 starting at 1pm both days for this '90s sitcom. We will have more on The Hughleys' regular slots in the April highlights coming soon! Stay tuned for that!

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced that it will partner with Allbritton Communications to bring RTN programming to Washington, D.C. The new affiliate will launch late this year on a digital stream of Washington, D.C.'s ABC affiliate, WJLA-TV.
Allbritton began airing RTN's "Prime Time All the Time" lineup today on a digital stream of WSET-TV (Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA). RTN is scheduled to launch later this year on a digital stream of WHTM-TV (Harrisburg-Lancaster, PA).

CBS Interactive announced that it will begin offering Television Classics from the CBS (Paramount) Library, which is one of the largest television programming libraries in the entertainment business, online and across the CBS Audience Network. The initial lineup includes full-length episodes of Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, MacGyver, Hawaii Five-0 and Melrose Place, with more programs and clips to be added in the coming months. The distribution of Television Classics across the CBS Audience Network follows the same open, non-exclusive strategy that CBS has been using for its content online for the last nine months. All content is ad-supported, free to the consumer, and available immediately.
The initial programming lineup for Television Classics on CBS.com and across the CBS Audience Network includes full episodes the following:
Star Trek (original series) - Seasons 1, 2 and 3
The Twilight Zone - Seasons 1 and 2
MacGyver - Season 1
Hawaii Five-0 - Season 1
Melrose Place - Season 1
Let's hope they add some sitcoms as well, and some sitcoms that lasted awhile and haven't been aired on TV lately, such as Dear John and Webster. Series such as Family Ties, Cheers, The Love Boat, would also be nice to have.

It's only noon ET and we already have a lot of stories, but if anything breaking happens, we will break in. So come on back!

Day 88: WGA's Strike; Even More NATPE Notes; Day Break Joins TV One March; Family Matters Coming to Nick at Nite in...

It is day 88 of the strike. Nothing new at all to report. Tomorrow is my birthday...the best present I could get is certainly announcement that the strike is ending. It could happen. If not tomorrow then certainly in the next week or two.
ABC will launch the new season of Lost tonight! I have seen tonight's premiere and the second episode slated to air next week already...and I must say it is VERY good. I loved it and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I am not allowed to reveal any major story lines, but I will tell you someone we thought died in the season finale is alive and someone else who died will appear in the episode in some form. We will also get a nice flash forward in tonight's episode and an interesting flashback in next week's show. Are these people who are going to rescue them good or bad? You'll get bit more of a sense after these two episodes! Tune in!

Today is the last day of NATPE, but we will have a full wrap-up tomorrow if we missed anything. And we will try to give you a list of everything coming in Fall 2008 in syndication. Anyway, here are some latest NATPE updates:

- FremantleMedia North America is looking to revive the classic game show Match Game. They are in discussions with cable networks and is expected to lock up a deal soon. The company also is looking for an executive producer, with casting to follow. It was hinted at a "Coffee With" Q&A session at NATPE.
- GSN has bought a game show set to launch soon. The series is called Bingo America, an original, 40-episode series, beginning Monday, March 31 at 7PM/6C. Developed by executive producer Andrew Glassman, the fast-paced, "free-to-play-along-and-win" new series blends all the classic elements of trivia-based game shows with traditional bingo game-play. Bingo America and host Patrick Duffy (Dallas, Step by Step) will be awarding cash and prizes to both on-air contestants and at-home viewers in every episode.
More notes coming, if any. Check back with us.

This March on TV One we will get our normal sitcom stunts and also a launch of a new acquisition...the short lived action-packed drama Day Break starring Taye Diggs.
On Saturday, March 8 from 12 Noon to 8pm, spend a day with TV One's legendary male comedians - Martin (Lawrence), Cedric (the entertainer), and Eddie (Murphy) in an all-day marathon of comedies Martin, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, and The PJs that will keep the funny coming from all different angles.
Then, Saturday, March 8, and Sunday, March 9, in primetime, TV One offers a Taye Diggs Weekend with a two-day TV One premiere of the blockbuster film How Stella Got Her Groove Back starring a then-unknown Taye Diggs in his first big role alongside Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg.
Then, on Sunday, March 9, at 10pm, Taye Diggs Weekend continues with the TV One premiere of the recent ABC network action drama series Day Break. In the series, Diggs plays a detective framed for the murder of an assistant district attorney. 'Groundhog Day'-style, Diggs' character relives the same day over again each episode as he tries to investigate the murder, discover who framed him, and clear his name. TV One plans to air all 13 episodes of Day Break, which includes 7 episodes never seen before on American television, as ABC never aired those (they only aired them on abc.com). TV One premieres the season with two back-to-back action-packed episodes and will air subsequent episodes on Sundays at 10pm and 1am, with rebroadcasts Thursdays at 10pm and Fridays at 12pm. I suggest you all watch this series, as it is very good and actually has a conclusion after 13 episodes.
And we will have more on this in the coming weeks, but joining the TV One line-up in April will be the sitcom The Hughleys! It will get an all-day April Fool's Day marathon from 10am-6am, before joining the network line-up weekdays at 6:30pm and 11:30pm...more details on April soon!

As I mentioned a few times this week, Family Matters is coming to Nick at Nite. The official announcement should be coming soon, but Nick at Nite has access to the show beginning in March, but it won't premiere then (see below). ABC Family Channel, which currently airs the show weekdays (7-8am and 1-2pm) will lose rights after the Feb. 29 airing. So it will be leaving ABC Family.
However, the show will not be premiering on Nick at Nite in March after all. Family Matters is currently set to launch in June 2008. I think the reason they are holding it back by three months is to give it much more promotion because it will probably do very big for the network. It's going to be the Summer of Urkel this summer on Nick at Nite for sure! It really didn't make sense to launch it in March as planned because there is not much time to promote it. We will certainly have full details in the coming months on Family Matters' launch on Nick at Nite this June! Get ready for Urkel joining Tim the Toolman, George, and Will on Nick at Nite! "Did I do that?"

Day 60: WGA's Strike; TV One February 2008 Highlights, Divorce Court Joins Line-Up

Today is the 60th day of the strike with no end in sight. At least we have late night TV back somewhat. Now let's hope some studios get more independent deals, so we could see a few scripted shows go back in production.
The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) issued the following statement regarding the Golden Globe Awards:
"Dick Clark Productions is a struck company. As previously announced, the Writers Guild will be picketing the Golden Globe Awards.
The WGA has great respect and admiration for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but we are engaged in a crucial struggle that will protect our income and intellectual property rights for generations to come. We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion. In the meantime, we are grateful for the ongoing support of the Hollywood talent community."
It will be interesting to see what happens for this.

Now let's take a look at TV One February 2008. We will only comment and highlight series programming schedule news and stunts. On Valentine's Day, TV One takes a look at the flip side of love and marriage with a marathon premiere of "The Best of Divorce Court." Beginning Thursday, February 14 at 4pm, and running through 6am the following morning, its wall-to-wall love drama, presided over by original 'Divorce Court' host, Judge Mablean Ephriam. Divorce Court officially joins the weekday TV One lineup the following day, Friday, February 15, with an hour of episodes airing each weekday at 4pm. With Divorce Court airing 4-5pm replacing an airing of NY Undercover, other changes will include afternoon airings of Wanda at Large and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper moving from 2-3pm to 1-2pm, which means Roc at 1:30pm is now gone...but Roc will still air 6-7am weekday mornings. And that 4pm airing NY Undercover is moved to 2pm.
On Sunday, February 17, TV One celebrates a day of "Diva Style," with a full day of glamour, fashion, and hair. Events kick off with a six hour marathon of Eve (from 2pm to 8pm) focusing on the sitcom's fashion boutique setting and the glamorous style of the sitcom's star, rapper/designer/actress, Eve.
Finally, TV One celebrates "Our History Month" comically by honoring the activism and politics of one Michael Evans from Good Times with the "Militant Midget Marathon" (based on a popular nickname for the character) on Saturday, February 23 beginning at 1pm. All-day long, the youngest member of the Evans family, Michael, will try to keep the Black race uplifted, informed, and entertained. The marathon runs until 10pm, and then airs again in the overnight hours from 3am to 6am.

If we have any more news we will return. So check back once again.

Day 26: WGA's Strike; TV One January Highlights

It is day 26 of the strike, and the strike will continue until at least Tuesday for sure because they are not going back to the tables until then. Late yesterday the AMPTP unveiled a New Economic Partnership to the WGA, which includes groundbreaking moves in several areas of new media, including streaming, content made for new media and programming delivered over digital broadcast channels. The entire value of the New Economic Partnership will deliver more than $130 million in additional compensation above and beyond the more than $1.3 billion writers already receive each year. In response, the WGA has asked for time to study the proposals. While the AMPTP strongly preferred to continue discussions, they respect and understand the WGA's desire to review the proposals. They will resume talks on Tuesday, December 4.
So that was last night, this morning the WGA rejected that proposal, calling it a "bad deal." So it is back to square one in discussions. Talks resume Tuesday. Let's hope they can settle this next week or at least before Christmas.
NBC continues to announce schedule details. NBC will wrap up low rated new drama Journeyman after 13 episodes. Episode 11 airs Monday, December 10 at 10pm (this coming week we have a special episode of Life after the finale of Heroes). Episode 12 airs Dec. 17 and the final episode will air on a special night, Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 10pm. The Singing Bee will return to the schedule, this time as one-hour installments, for two Fridays, on Friday, Dec. 21 and Friday, Dec. 28 from 8-9pm. Deal or No Deal is expected to come back to Wednesdays at 8 soon. Due to the strike, NBC will overload on reality shows starting in January. Tuesdays 8-10pm starting Jan. 1 will be yet another season of The Biggest Loser...the current season ends Dec. 18, so the series will return after just a week off. We already said Celebrity Apprentice will air Thursdays at 9 starting Jan. 3 (the lead-in will be mixed sitcom repeats). Game show 1 vs. 100 returns Friday, Jan. 4 in its old 8pm timeslot, which means The Singing Bee is just for two weeks. Deal or No Deal will be Wednesdays at 8 only. The updated version of American Gladiators will launch with a two-hour premiere Sunday, January 6 from 8-10pm before moving into its regular Monday 8pm time slot on Jan. 7, head to head vs. ABC's Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann. So, NBC's new drama Chuck will be benched for awhile, though as we mentioned it has been renewed for the full season.

TV One January will finally see the launch of the short lived sitcom Good News. On Sunday, January 13, TV One celebrates "the gospel” with an all day festival of spirited comedy and specials, including the season premiere of a brand new season of TV One's gospel music series, The Gospel of Music with Jeff Majors and the TV One premiere of the church-based sitcom Good News, starring David Ramsay as a young minister who takes over the pulpit at a church full of crazy characters. Good News marathon airs from 2PM to 8PM. Good News settles into a regular time slot Sundays at 7-8PM the following week.
As for other schedule changes, weekdays 6-7AM Roc will replace 227, which means 227 will be off the line-up. weekdays at 2PM, comedian Wanda Sykes sitcom Wanda At Large replaces All About The Andersons. It will also air at 4AM replacing a Good Times airing. Overnights have been slightly rearranged. Martin will once again air back-to-back at 3AM and 3:30AM, followed by as we mentioned Wanda At Large at 4AM, and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper at 4:30AM.
On Thursdays at 10PM, New York Undercover returns on a regular basis for an additional primetime airing per week. It now airs regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays in primetime at 10PM, with a repeat at 1AM. On Fridays at 11AM and 12PM, in place of the daily mid-day movie, TV One will be airing back-to-back episodes of A Man Called Hawk, the critically acclaimed but short-lived crime series starring Avery Brooks. On Saturday early evenings, Cedric the Entertainer Presents joins the Saturday lineup at 6PM and The PJs at 7PM. Saturdays from 5-8PM now features Martin Lawrence (Martin), Cedric the Entertainer, and Eddie Murphy (The PJs) – TV One's own 'kings' of comedy block.
Other stunts:
On Saturday, January 19, beginning at 12PM, get ready for an invasion – as TV One presents an "Attack of the Old School Stars" marathon of Parent'hood sitcom. It'll be classic guest stars galore, including LaWanda Page, Nancy Wilson, Coolio, Kym Whitley, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Antonio Fargas, Peabo Bryson, the O'Jays, Gary Coleman, Dawnn Lewis, and Ernest Thomas all the way until 10PM, leading into the series premiere of TV One's brand new stand-up comedy series, Laff Wit It, Rock Wit It.
On Martin Luther King, Jr Day (Monday, Jan. 21), beginning at 9AM, TV One features a mix of films and series episodes that address the issues of race in America, including the movies Nothing But A Man, American Blackout, and Murder in Mississippi, and poignant episodes of Boston Public, New York Undercover, Good Times, All Of Us, Roc, and Parent'hood through 8PM.

We will return with more news, if anything.

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 One Schedule Changes, November Highlights; Remembering Alice Ghostley

TV One has been postponed the sitcom Good News until later in the season, so we will see filler programming in the previously announced slots for Good News. Programming such as 2 hour mini-marathons of All of Us and Wanda at Large. Good News was going to air Sundays 7-8pm starting Oct. 7. Also, TV One has added two more Saturday marathons! All of Us on Oct. 6 and Roc on Oct. 27. The stars shine on TV One as they present an All of Us sitcom marathon chock full of celebrity guest stars dropping in to add to the family fun. Celebrity sightings for the all-day event include Beyonce, Boris Kodjoe, Will Smith, Allen Payne, Patti LaBelle, Tyra Banks, Serena Williams, Fantasia, Paula Abdul, Keyshia Cole, Ruben Studdard, Cedric the Entertainer, and Vivica A. Fox from 12-8pm on Oct. 6.
On Saturday, October 27 beginning at 1pm, TV One presents the 'Roc with You' marathon, TV One's first ever marathon celebration of the most memorable episodes of the ground-breaking Charles Dutton sitcom Roc. Guest stars for the marathon event include Samuel Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, and 90's girl-group sensation EnVogue.
Now let's move on to TV One November. On Saturday, November 3 beginning at 12 Noon, TV One kicks off three weeks of Saturday afternoon marathons celebrating its "Month Of Martin." First up, on Nov. 3, romance is in the air as TV One presents an all-day love-a-thon featuring the romance and wedding of Martin & Gina on the sitcom Martin. Take a look back at how it all began and how the ups and downs of their relationship ultimately ended at the altar in a beautiful Caribbean wedding. On Saturday, November 10 beginning at 12 Noon, a marathon of Martin episodes featuring the girls Gina and Pam and their wacky escapades through the dating scene, navigating friendships, and career choices all while trying to remain true to each other. This all-day marathon keeps the laughs coming while letting the ladies shine. An encore version begins at 2am. Finally, on Saturday, November 17 beginning at 12 Noon, Martin's boy Tommy takes center stage in a Martin marathon featuring episodes focusing on Tommy dealing with relationships, his secret job, and his long standing friendship with Martin. Viewers can watch and see how Tommy keeps his cool while remaining the one in the group with the voice of reason in hysterical situations. An encore version will air beginning at 4am.
As far as the regular November schedule is concerned, beginning on Monday, November 5, TV One adds The PJs to the back to back laugh attack lineup in the 9:30pm weeknight timeslot. The show, created by Golden Globe winning actor/producer Eddie Murphy (who provides Stubbs' voice), follows the adventures of the Stubbs family and the others in the building, animated through a process called 'Foamation’. The show will also air in the late night 12:30am timeslot on weeknights as well.
Thanksgiving Weekend brings four days of special programming. Thanksgiving Marathon on Thursday, November 22 from 9am-12pm, episodes of All of Us, Martin, Good Times, and Parent'hood, followed by a Soul Food movie marathon from 12pm-9pm. On Friday, November 23, TV One presents Roots all day from 6am-6am. On Saturday, November 24 beginning at 12 Noon, let the good times roll as TV One presents the Good Times family sitcom marathon. As viewers are spending time with their families during this family holiday weekend, they can also spend time with the Evans family and relive those special moments that make family so special in our hearts while the antics of JJ and the crew will keep viewers laughing the day away. This 10 hour marathon event will have an abbreviated encore version beginning at 2am. On Sunday, November 25 beginning at 2pm, TV One continues their family themed weekend with an All of Us sitcom marathon. Blended families are the focus of this sitcom starring Duane Martin and LisaRaye McCoy as divorced parents who are still both involved in raising their son amidst their own love lives and career issues that cause unpredictable and hilarious situations for all involved. An encore version airs beginning at 1am.
For the complete October changes click HERE. And for the November schedule and highlights, click HERE!

SitcomsOnline mourns the loss of sitcom actress Alice Ghostley. She was of course most remembered for her roles on Bewitched and Designing Women. On Bewitched she played Esmeralda and on Designing Women she played Bernice (which she earned an Emmy nomination in 1992). She passed away on Friday at her home in Studio City after a long battle with colon cancer and a series of strokes. Ghostley had lots of film work too, including major movies such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Graduate, Gator and Grease. But it was television where she made her mark, especially sitcoms. She co-starred in the sitcoms Captain Nice, Small Wonder and Mayberry R.F.D (as Cousin Alice). She has guest starred on many sitcoms such as playing the ditzy social worker Mrs. Dodds on Good Times and playing Mama's boss Mrs. Turner on What's Happening!! Her other guest starring sitcom credits include Car 54 Where Are You?, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Get Smart, He & She, The Farmer's Daughter, The Mothers-in-Law, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Odd Couple, Hogan's Heroes, Temperature Rising, Here We Go Again, Love American Style, The New Gidget, Big Eddie, Maude, One Day at a Time, Chico and the Man, Gimme a Break!, Stir Crazy, What's Happening Now!!, Punky Brewster, The Golden Girls, Daddy Dearest, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Dharma & Greg, and a recurring role on Evening Shade.
Alice will certainly be missed, as she has certainly made herself known in the television world. She was one of the best character actresses out there and we will always remember her. She was 81.

Don't forget to tune in tonight to the CBS Monday sitcom line-up with three season premieres and the series premiere of The Big Bang Theory at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. You saw our review on Friday, and it has some great laughs. Sheldon (a new sitcom sidekick), played by Jim Parsons, says funny stuff.

TV One Fall Schedule: Parent'hood Joins, All of Us Comes to Weekdays; Scott Baio VH1 Show to Return for 2nd Season

TV One starts their fall line-up October 1 and it is full of new comedies! New to TV One's lineup of daily comedy programming is the Robert Townsend sitcom Parent'hood, to air weeknights at 7:30pm. This year, TV One also features the recent high-ranking African-American family sitcom All Of Us on weeknights at 7pm.
On weekends, starting Sunday October 7, spirited fun abounds at TV One as the 1997 sitcom Good News, starring David Ramsay as a new pastor in an urban church, comes to the network with back to back episodes airing on Saturdays & Sundays from 7-8pm (and encore airings on Sundays from 1-2pm and 2-3am). Guest stars include Bernadette Stanis (Good Times), Anna Maria Horsford (Amen) and Chaka Khan.
As for the schedule itself, besides the new shows we just mentioned, NY Undercover and Wanda at Large return to the weekday line-up. Shows such as Amen, In the House, On Our Own, and Fastlane will be off the line-up. So if you like those shows, tape them now before they go away on October 1. 227 will be just 6-7am now. TV One airs sitcoms all day long, afternoons from 1:30-3pm (Roc, All About the Andersons, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper), evening and primetime from 5-10pm (For Your Love, Eve, Good Times, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, All of Us, Parent'hood, Martin, All About the Andersons, Cedric the Entertainer Presents and another Good Times), late nights from 11pm-1am (Martin, Eve, All of Us, Wanda at Large) and early mornings from 3-6am (Martin, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Good Times, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Parent'hood, Good Times). 227 gets the 3-6am block every Sunday night (Monday mornings).
Highlights for the month include:
On Saturday, October 13 beginning at 1pm, in celebration of the impending Tuesday release of Eve's new CD "Here I Am," it's a marathon of the rapper Eve and her self-titled sitcom...Eve. All day long episodes will chronicle her character Shelley’s tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend J.T. as each tries to get the upper hand.
On Saturday, October 20, leading into the 'cool factor' premiere of the high school b-ball drama Sunset Park at 8PM, TV One presents a whole day of "hoops" with basketball themed episodes of All of Us, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, and Martin as well as two basketball related movies Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story and White Men Can't Jump and lastly an encore play of TV One's Famous People special spotlighting NBA mom Ann Iverson.
On Wednesday, October 31, it's an "all howls" day mini-marathon as Halloween rolls into TV One. Daytime and primetime showcases Halloween-themed episodes of your favorite TV One sitcoms: Martin, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Parent'hood, Wanda At Large, and Minor Adjustments. This special Halloween marathon airs from 11am – 3pm and again from 6pm – 10pm.
For FULL details including highlights and the full schedule of all the shows airing, I urge you to click HERE to view and discuss this line-up!

Scott Baio is back again! VH-1 has picked up a second season of Scott Baio...Is 45 and Single. Obviously the title will be altered for next season. In the season one finale, Doc Ali's two-month boot camp comes to a close and Scott ends his "graduation party" by committing to Renee and in turn, Renee surprises Scott with the big one- revealing that she's pregnant.
Thus, season two finds Scott struggling to come to terms with impending fatherhood. Ultimately, it will be a season full of life changing decisions for Scott who will be preparing for marriage, fatherhood and instantly becoming a father to an 18-year old stepdaughter. Scott's friends, especially Johnny V., will also have learn to live with these many changes in his life.
The new series goes into production this a Fall and is slated to run with nine episodes-six 30-minute episodes and three 1-hour episodes in early 2008, most likely.

TV One Schedule Change, September Highlights, Fall Preview

TV One has made a schedule change for August. Cedric the Entertainer Presents will rejoin the line-up on August 6, but first on Sunday, August 5 from 8-10pm, TV One kicks off Cedric with a special mini-marathon presentation of FOUR never before seen on television episodes of Cedric the Entertainer Presents, a sketch comedy variety show starring Cedric the Entertainer. This special premiere mini-marathon of 4 back-to-back episodes which were never shown on television during the show's initial network run has an encore play at 11pm. )Programming previously announced for this time period has been pre-empted.
Then the series comes to the TV One schedule full-time starting Monday, August 6 in the weeknights at 9pm time-slot. The sketch comedy series has an encore play in the overnight at 4:30am. Both slots will replace Wanda at Large.
But that's not all Cedric...turning to September now, laughter comes full force to close out the holiday weekend on Monday, September 3 from 12-9PM, as TV One presents a marathon of Cedric the Entertainer Presents. This all-day marathon, which includes two more episodes never before seen on television at 8pm, replays in late night beginning at 11pm.
Other September highlights:
On Friday, September 28; Saturday, September 29; and Sunday, September 30, TV One presents a ROOTS: The Next Generations marathon weekend as all seven parts are aired over the weekend with Parts 1-2 airing on Friday beginning at 8pm, Parts 3-4 airing on Saturday beginning at 6pm and parts 5-7 airing on Sunday beginning at 6pm. The seven part 14-hour mini-series stars Georg Stanford Brown, Lynn Moody, Irene Cara, Stan Shaw, Marlon Brando, Richard Thomas, Debbi Morgan, and James Earl Jones.
The TV One fall schedule beginning on Monday, October 1 and will be announced soon, but we can tell you All of Us will be headed to the weekday schedule, as now the series has been canceled by The CW, so repeats now can air 7 days a week on TV One.
Stay tuned this week for more September schedules, such as TBS, TNT and FX!

We will be back with more news in a bit.

Happy 4th of July; TV One August Highlights; ABC Summer Tuesday Change

Happy 4th of July to everyone from all of us here at SitcomsOnline.com! We hope you enjoy America's holiday and thank you for taking time to visit us today! Enjoy the fireworks.

TV One August 2007 is out and there are no regular schedule changes, but there are a few noteworthy specials & marathons! Is summer vacation over already? On Saturday, August 18, 2007 beginning at 12 Noon, TV One gets into a 'back to school' groove with an all-day "Back to Cool" marathon. First, beginning at 12pm is an all-day marathon of Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, the '90s sitcom starring comedian Mark Curry as a former basketball star who heads back to his own former high school to work as a coach and teacher. Marathon episodes will spotlight school-themed stories. Then at 8pm, join host Kim Coles as the Saturday night "Cool Factor" movie is the TV One premiere of Spike Lee's college classic, School Daze, starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell, Ossie Davis, and Kadeem Hardison.
On Sunday, August 19, 2007 at 9pm, TV One presents the latest hour to appear under its Famous People banner of specials. In the Company of Friends with Vanessa Bell Calloway offers the viewer an intimate peek inside a 'dinner party' for the rich and famous. Popular actress Vanessa Bell Calloway tastes and talks with friends such as Sinbad, Lela Rochon, Chante Moore, Kenny Lattimore, James Pickens Jr. and Kym Whitley. The special replays later that night at 2am, with additional plays on Wednesday 8/22 at 12noon, and Saturday 9/1 at 11am.

Finally, as we mentioned before, ABC will launch the new hidden camera comedy series Just for Laughs on July 17 with two back-to-back episodes from 8-9pm. The show will then air every Tuesday at 8:30 through August 14. So what will air at 8pm? We mentioned before George Lopez encores were tentatively scheduled, now ABC has announced that half-hour encores of America's Funniest Home Videos will air instead. That makes more sense, and it should be a great lead-in. Just for Laughs can be a hit like maybe AFV is, and air for many years to come. Sinbad will host the program.

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

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

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

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

TV Land Details TV Land Confidential Season 2 and New Series Back to the Grind; TV One Weddings with Amen and Good Times

Today TV Land announced the episode info and details for two new original series coming this July. The second season of the addictive TV Land Confidential and the series Back to the Grind, where classic TV stars actually go work in their classic TV character's profession!
Why was Ray Romano so reluctant to go to Italy to shoot Everybody Loves Raymond? What did Michael Jackson confess to Donny Osmond? What made the dance scenes in Saturday Night Fever so hot? TV Land, the network dedicated to building the ultimate Baby Boomer entertainment brand, answers these questions and reveals the untold stories behind viewers' favorite TV guest stars, finales, blockbuster movies and hit songs when the original series, TV Land Confidential, returns on Wednesday, July 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. This six-episode series, premiering with back-to-back episodes -- "Oddballs" and "Movies" -- airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. through August 8.
For complete episode descriptions of the second season, click HERE.

What happens when Sherman Hemsley spends the day sweating it out at a real dry cleaning establishment? Can Loni Anderson really hack it as a receptionist at a top radio station? And does the courtroom listen when Harry Anderson starts hitting the gavel? Viewers will find out when TV Land airs Back to the Grind, a new original series premiering Wednesday, July 18 at 10:30 p.m. This half-hour series challenges iconic TV performers to actually work in the jobs their TV characters held on shows like The Jeffersons, Night Court and WKRP in Cincinnati. Other performers featured in the series include Erik Estrada (CHiPs), Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons), Betty White (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Mark Curry (Hangin' With Mr. Cooper), Bea Arthur (The Golden Girls), Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere) and Jimmie Walker (Good Times).
This sounds good actually, and to learn more about the episodes, click HERE!

June is of course known for lots of things...Father's Day, First Day of Summer, among other things, but it is also a very popular month to get married! TV One celebrates with classic TV weddings from two very popular sitcoms...Amen & Good Times! See classic engagements, weddings, and more on Saturday from 2pm-10pm on TV One with happenings like Thelma finally marrying the Reverend on Amen! See eight episodes each of these two classic sitcoms!

We'll be back tomorrow with TV Land August details and later in the week details on TV One July.

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: CBS; Notes on ABC, TV Land, AmericanLife and TV One

CBS continues to be the network that will have the least amount of changes to its fall schedule. I think we will see a few moves and some cancellations though.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com CBS 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: The Man (drama), Los Duques (drama), Big Bang Theory (sitcom) and Babylon Fields (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Swingtown (drama), Viva Laughlin (drama), and Kohan & Mutchnick Project (sitcom)

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM Cold Case
9:00PM The Man (NEW)
10:00PM Without a Trace

Mondays
8:00PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30PM The Big Bang Theory (NEW)
9:00PM Two and a Half Men
9:30PM Rules of Engagement
10:00PM CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
8:00PM Navy NCIS
9:00PM The Unit
10:00PM CSI: NY

Wednesdays
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM Shark

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM Los Duques (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM Babylon Fields (NEW)
10:00PM NUMB3RS

Saturdays
8:00PM Crime Repeats
9:00PM Crime Repeats or Close to Home
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery

Comments: CBS will probably only pick up one sitcom for the fall. Their sitcom development has been terrible quite frankly so we might see on the bubble sitcoms return. This is what I said last year about Close to Home: "Close to Home is on the bubble for CBS, yet it wins its slot regularly on Friday nights, so I think it will return. Maybe CBS can try it on Saturdays to spice up that night." And I was right on the money...and I think this time it might move to Saturdays or just be gone outright as CBS wants to get a bit younger on Fridays.
Series canceled or will be include The Class, Jericho, Smith, 3 LBS, & The King of Queens. I think CBS will have to bring back Old Christine for mid-season as its sitcom development was bad...maybe they pick up one newbie for mid-season. The Class and Jericho are most likely done, but Jericho has a slight chance, but CBS's drama pilots have come out better than expected. Their best drama is probably Swingtown, but it is nothing like a CBS show, so I had no idea where to slot it in the fall. Maybe they can find a fit for mid-season, to say Wednesdays at 8? Wednesdays at 8 is very hard to schedule for CBS. Maybe they will have Amazing Race to that slot in the fall. I really think CSI: NY will move to the cursed CBS Tuesday at 10 slot. That will help that slot and CSI: NY has battled the original Law & Order well in the past, so I think it can tackle a declining Law & Order: SVU. Maybe they will try Shark out of Criminal Minds so CBS can try something else post-CSI, like Los Duques.

Remember, next Wednesday (May 16) is the actual date when we will find out CBS's plans for the 2007-08 season. So, come on back next Wednesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on Fox's upfront.

ABC has pulled the 9:30pm airing of Notes from the Underbelly for tonight for a repeat of George Lopez. Notes from the Underbelly will still air in its regular 8:30pm slot.
On TV Land, they will be finally airing new episodes of What's Happening Now!! and not the same 12 episodes over and over. Starting Tuesday, May 29 you can catch episodes never seen on TV Land before of the hit follow-up series. The series lasted 66 episodes, so let's hope we see them all. The series airs weekdays at 7am ET/PT on TV Land. Program those DVRs, TiVos, VCRs, or whatever. For more information on the new episodes click HERE.
AmericanLife TV has acquired the classic '60s drama Mission: Impossible to its primetime classic TV line-up! The series will debut October 2007! For full details click HERE.
In addition to the TV One Mother's Day marathon we mentioned in the May highlights, TV One is asking us to vote for the top TV One mom...Mary Jenkins of 227 or Florida Evans of Good Times? Vote for your fav TV mom, plus enter for a chance to win $25,000 by clicking HERE.

TV One May Highlights; Simpsons: The Ride at Universal Orlando

The month of May is blooming for TV One as they celebrate Mother's Day, Janet Jackson's Birthday, and Memorial day!
On Sunday, May 13 beginning at 1pm, join TV One in a salute to Mother's Day as they present a "Favorite Black TV Moms" sitcom marathon. Mom related episodes in this marathon come from black series such as Amen, All of Us, All About the Andersons, Eve, Martin, Good Times, 227, and For Your Love. The marathon runs from 1pm to 8pm and resumes from midnight to 6am.
On Saturday, May 19 beginning at 1pm, TV One says Happy Birthday to superstar singer/actress Janet Jackson in an all-day Good Times marathon showcasing episodes featuring Miss Jackson's character Penny. This special marathon which also marks the 30th anniversary of Janet joining the Good Times cast in 1977 has an encore play beginning at 2am.
On Monday, May 28 beginning at 12 Noon, It's Mama Payne vs Sheneneh as TV One presents an all-day Martin Comedy Showdown marathon of two of the funniest characters in the history of television. This special Martin marathon features Mama Payne and Sheneneh caught in their most hilarious situations and gives viewers the chance to vote on which character they think is the funniest at www.tvoneonline.com.

"Woo Hoo!" Universal's theme parks add animated fun and excitement to their roster as FOX's blockbuster hit series, The Simpsons, becomes the inspiration for the world's most highly anticipated new theme park ride.
Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson - stars of TV's longest running series - will ride along with guests in a new mega-attraction opening at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood in Spring 2008.
Guests will be rocketed along with the Simpson family on a hysterical, almost unimaginable adventure. They'll experience a side of Springfield previously unexplored as they enjoy the new ride's interpretation of thrill rides, dark rides and "live" shows that make up a new fantasy amusement park dreamed up by the show's cantankerous Krusty the Clown.
It will feature the show's classic humor and many of its instantly recognizable characters - all voiced by the original actors.
The ride will be replacing the Back to the Future Ride. Universal says more TV show rides could be announced soon.

AmericanLife TV April Highlights; TV One April Highlights

It is double the please of the month of April today, as we take a look at AmericanLife and TV One's April line-ups!

AmericanLife TV Network, the only independent network devoted to the Baby Boomer spring with a bevy of April beauties, including a star-studded new episode of the healthy lifestyle series Alive & Well, a special hour-long episode of 'Til Debt Do Us Part helping engaged couples out of debt, the premiere episodes of F Troop and Homefront, guest star turns by Star Trek's Scotty and Sulu on The Gallant Men, and appearances by the likes of Sal Mineo on Combat!, and Boris Karloff and Peter Lawford on I Spy.
Also in April Secret Agents lurk Wednesdays on AmericanLife TV, with such series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E and I Spy!
Click HERE to view the full highlights!

On to TV One, on Easter Sunday April 8, starting at 8pm, TV One presents a special 30th anniversary showing of the highest-rated and most acclaimed mini-series ever in the history of television, Roots. Based on Alex Haley's book tracing his own family history, Roots told the saga of African-American life through many generations, dealing frankly with the issue of slavery. Presented in six 2-hour parts, TV One has recruited original cast members, including LeVar Burton, Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen, Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Roundtree, as hosts for individual nights of the broadcast.
Parts 1-5 will air Sunday, 4/8 through Thursday 4/12 at 8pm with encore performances each night at 10pm. Friday and Saturday will provide chances for viewers to catch up on any parts they may have missed, with Parts 1 & 2 re-airing at 8pm and 10pm respectively on Friday 4/13, and all of Parts 1-5 airing in order from 2pm to 12m on Saturday 4/14. The conclusion of the mini-series airs on Sunday April 15 at 8pm (and 10pm).
Starting Sunday night April 8 in the overnight hours, TV One will celebrate Amen Sundays all month long from 2am to 6am, with mini-marathons of the classic '8-s Sherman Hemsley sitcom.
Starting Monday April 16, the sketch sitcom Wanda At Large returns to weekdays on TV One each evening at 9pm, pushing Good Times to 9:30pm. All About The Andersons currently at 9:30pm weeknights, takes over the current Wanda slot on Saturdays at 6pm.
On Saturday April 21, beginning at 1pm, join TV One for the "Big Baller" Sitcom Marathon in preparation for the series premiere of I Married a Baller later that evening. Episodes of your favorite TV One sitcoms such as In the House, Martin, Eve, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, and Amen are showcased featuring guest star appearances from some famous 'Ballers' including football legend Eddie George, who is one of the stars of I Married a Baller. Other 'Ballers' slated to appear in this TV One sitcom marathon are: Tim Hardaway, Charles Barkley, Marcus Allen, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Cheryl Miller, Randall Cunningham, Lisa Leslie, Kobe Bryant, and Derek Fisher.