The CW Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedule; WGN, Hallmark Schedule Changes, Sci Fi's Land of the Lost Marathons

The CW 2009-10

Fall 2009

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM One Tree Hill

Tuesdays
8:00PM 90210
9:00PM Melrose Place (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM The Beautiful Life (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Vampire Diaries (NEW!)
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM America's Top Model Encore

Mid-Season:
New series Parental Discretion Advised (AKA Light Years) has been picked-up.

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


WGN America is going Newhart crazy! This coming Sunday they will air all Newhart during the weekly Outta Sight Retro Night! The Cubs and Padres baseball game is from 4-7pm ET, but immediately following the game, watch a Newhart marathon from 7pm-10pm ET and from 11pm-2am ET! Before the game there is also a Newhart episode at 3pm ET, leading into the game. And that's not all for Newhart! The series will now air for two-hours every Sunday night from 8-10pm ET, so it will replace The Honeymooners in the 9pm ET hour. But The Honeymooners will move to the 1am hour replacing Beverly Hillbillies (but that airs weekday mornings anyway).

And if that's not urgent enough for you, Hallmark Channel is making a last minute schedule change that starts TODAY! We told you that they made changes starting this past Monday (May 21), and now they are already changing that schedule change. I Love Lucy replaced back-to-back Matlock from 3-5pm, and now starting today, Lucy will be replaced from 3-5pm with Little House on the Prairie. But Lucy fans don't fret, because I Love Lucy will actually benefit and air an hour more now, airing 11am-2pm replacing an episode each of Little House, Touched by an Angel and 7th Heaven. 7th Heaven remains at 2pm though. Earlier in the morning, Golden Girls gets extended and adds the 10am hour, replacing Little House. It evens out because in the 7pm hour now will be an extension of M*A*S*H, replacing an hour of Golden Girls.
That's just weekdays, now we have weekend changes, too! Saturdays from 6-9am will now be three episodes of Little House on the Prairie replacing three-hours of Golden Girls. Also, we get more Lucy as I Love Lucy will air late nights from 1am-3am replacing back-to-back Murder, She Wrote. Sundays is basically the same changes, 8am-11am will be Little House replacing two-hours of Golden Girls and an episode of 7th Heaven. An finally like on Saturday nights, two-hours of Lucy closes the night from 1-3am replacing Murder, She Wrote.
So, Touched by an Angel is off the schedule it seems for now, joining Walker Texas Ranger and Matlock on the bench. Weekdays from 8am-8pm is now filled with three-hour blocks of different shows: Golden Girls, I Love Lucy, Family Dramas (7th Heaven/Little House), and M*A*S*H (which is actually 4 hours). View the full changes and the full schedule if you get confused. Remember this starts TODAY!

Finally, we close the day with some Sci Fi Channel news. The movie version of Land of the Lost starring Will Ferrell is coming out Friday, June 5, but before that comes out...Sci Fi Channel will air a marathon of the classic '70s NBC series on Memorial Day and two other days! On Monday, May 25 from 8am-4am it's all Land of the Lost, all day! Get your Cha-Ka on! Then the following week as we get ready for movie version, watch more classic episodes on Thursday, June 4 and Friday, June 5 from 8am-6pm on both days.
I was hoping someone would also air the '90s ABC version since the big screen movie is coming out. Yes, it was cheesy, but still good. Good show for ABC Saturday mornings and very rare these days as it hasn't been on television in a while (last seen on Nickelodeon).

CBS Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedule; Lifetime Picks-Up Sherri Shepherd Sitcom

Your first look at CBS's official line-up!

CBS 2009-10

Fall 2009

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Three Rivers (NEW!)
10:00PM Cold Case

Mondays
8:00PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30PM Accidentally on Purpose (NEW!)
9:00PM Two and a Half Men
9:30PM The Big Bang Theory
10:00PM CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
8:00PM Navy NCIS
9:00PM NCIS: Los Angeles (NEW!)
10:00PM The Good Wife (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Old Christine
8:30PM Gary Unmarried
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM CSI: NY

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM The Mentalist

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM Medium (CBS premiere)
10:00PM NUMB3RS

Saturdays
8:00PM-10:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery


Mid-Season:

Returning series: Rules of Engagement. New series: Miami Trauma, The Bridge, Arranged Marriage, Undercover Boss. Flashpoint returns summer 2010.

Canceled: The Unit and Without a Trace
Discuss CBS's 2009-10 line-up and view the full press release.


As I predicted, Lifetime has picked-up the Sherri Shepherd sitcom pilot to a series order. The series will be simply titled Sherri. I knew they would pick it up since they picked-up the off-network rerun rights to Less than Perfect, which starts June 1.
Lifetime Television has picked up 12 episodes of the all-new, multi-camera comedy series Sherri, starring comedienne and 2009 Daytime Emmy(R) Award-nominated co-host of The View, Sherri Shepherd (Less Than Perfect). The program, to be produced in New York by Lifetime Studios, marks the first comedy series ever to be wholly owned by Lifetime.
Sherri centers around a newly single mom, paralegal and part-time comedienne/actress who tries to get back into the dating scene and move on with her life after divorcing her cheating husband. Sherri finds solace and support among her girlfriends at the office while juggling her hectic life. Also starring in the series are Tammy Townsend (Lincoln Heights), Kali Rocha (Grey's Anatomy), Elizabeth Regen (The Black Donnellys) and Kate Reinders (Ugly Betty). Terri Minsky (Less Than Perfect, Lizzie McGuire) has been named writer/executive producer of Sherri. The program will also be executive produced by Nina Wass and Gene Stein (Less Than Perfect), while Dave Flebotte (Desperate Housewives), who executive produced the pilot, will be a consultant. Shepherd, who will continue to co-host the hit ABC daytime talk show The View, will serve as a co-executive producer of Sherri. The comedy reunites Shepherd, Minsky, Wass and Stein, who last worked together on the ABC sitcom Less Than Perfect, and reruns of that will now be on Lifetime in the 6pm ET hour starting June 1.
Sherri will join Lifetime's family comedy Rita Rocks. Set to return for its second season in the fall, the series stars Nicole Sullivan as Rita Clements, an overworked wife and mother trying to find time for herself. Other comedies that currently air on Lifetime include the off-net acquisitions How I Met Your Mother, Reba, Will & Grace, Cybill and Frasier.
Once we get a premiere date for Sherri, we will of course let you know!

ABC and NBC Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedules

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

ABC 2009-10

Fall 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturdays
8:00PM Saturday Night College Football

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

Mid-Season:

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

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

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



NBC 2009-10

Fall 2009

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

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

Tuesdays
8:00PM Biggest Loser

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

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

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

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

Mid-Season:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox Upfront 2009-10: Fall 2009 Schedule; ER Returns to ION June 29

Your first look at Fox's official line-up!

Fox 2009-10

Fall 2009

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun/Animated Repeats
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM The Cleveland Show (NEW!)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad!

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM Lie to Me

Tuesdays
8:00PM So You Think You Can Dance

Wednesdays
8:00PM So You Think You Can Dance Results
9:00PM Glee (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Fringe

Fridays
8:00PM Brothers (NEW!)
8:30PM 'Til Death
9:00PM Dollhouse

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted


January / Spring 2010:

Sundays
7:00PM Repeats
7:30PM American Dad
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM Sons of Tucson (NEW!)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM The Cleveland Show

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM 24

Tuesdays
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Past Life (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM American Idol Results Show
9:00PM Human Target (NEW!) / Glee (spring)

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Fringe

Fridays
8:00PM Brothers (NEW!)
8:30PM 'Til Death
9:00PM Dollhouse

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

NOTES: For fall, Fox has ordered one new drama, one new comedy, and one new animated comedy, with a fall version of summer hit So You Think You Can Dance. For midseason, Fox has ordered two new dramas and one new comedy.
The new event drama, Human Target (Wednesdays at 9 in January), will premiere with a special preview Sunday, Jan. 17 at approx. 8:00 PM ET/PT following the NFC Divisional Playoff game. 24 will also launch its season that night from approx. 9-11PM ET/PT.
On Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT, Wanda Sykes returns to Fox to host The Wanda Sykes Show (working title). And at 12 midnight ET, for a half-hour each Saturday night will see an animated comedy encore from "Animation Domination."
On the shelf but not scheduled yet is a second year of Kitchen Nightmares.
More coming...

Discuss Fox's 2009-10 line-up. You'll find the official press release there, too...with more detailed information.


Back to some other news of the day, ION Television will bring back reruns of ER starting Monday, June 29. The series has been on and off the schedule because of low ratings. Now ION will give it another shot, airing it weekdays at 5PM replacing an hour of M*A*S*H, which moves to the 4pm hour now replacing drama Quantum Leap. Quantum Leap will now be off the schedule. No other changes will be made, as of now, starting June 29...so this is a preview of their July schedule. We are not sure if any other changes are being made in July, but we will let you know in our official July write-up very soon. ER last aired in March and April on Monday nights at 8pm.
We won't have as many news stories this week due to the upfronts, but we'll try to have something different as a secondary story each day. Tomorrow could be hard since we have two announcements (ABC and CBS). We have some WGN America and Sci Fi schedule news we want to share with you later this week...so come on back for that and of course network fall schedules! Fun week!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


And now back to our regularly scheduled blog programming:

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

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

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

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Freakazoid! TV.com Page

SitcomsOnline.com 2009-10 Upfront Preview: The CW; ION and TV Land Start 'Whisperer' and 'Roseanne' Early

The CW is dropping Sundays this fall, so they will only program Mon-Fri. With only 10 hours a week of programming, space is limited. And to make things worse, they have 0 sitcom pilots in development, so all of their new series pick-ups will be dramas.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2009-10 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Melrose Place (drama), The Beautiful Life (drama), and Vampire Diaries (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Body Politics (drama) and Gossip Girl: Lily (drama).

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM Vampire Diaries (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM 90210
9:00PM Melrose Place (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM The Beautiful Life (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM The Game OR One Tree Hill
9:00PM One Tree Hill OR Privileged

Comments: The CW needs help and they need to improve ratings. With zero comedy, they are not a balanced network and have similar types of shows. For Mondays, Gossip Girl will likely continue to be leading off Mondays and they can try new drama Vampire Diaries at 9pm, as One Tree Hill can help another night. This block needs to do more than 3 million. Tuesdays should have the classic remake with 90210 and now Melrose Place. Melrose needs to do much better than 90210, which hasn't done too well, especially this spring. Wednesday will of course have America's Next Top Model followed possibly by a drama that is focused on models called The Beautiful Life, a new series from Ashton Kutcher. That could be the fit The CW was looking for, instead of wasting the timeslot with repeats of 90210. Thursday is The CW's best night I think...with Smallville and Supernatural, nothing needs to change here. Fridays will have to change, though. They need to be more aggressive. The CW could redevelop sitcom The Game into a one-hour comedy, as they have mulled the idea. I think they should go for that and it would be a nice way to start off the night. At 9pm instead of the Top Model repeats, how about being more aggressive and airing One Tree Hill? I'm not sure if that goes well with The Game, but nothing on the schedule with The Game goes with it but Top Model. The CW is not likely to bring back Everybody Hates Chris for a fifth season. Look for that in syndication next fall with repeats on Nick at Nite and BET. Reaper is the only other on the bubble show with a shot, but I don't see it returning. It is said ABC Studios is shopping the series for first-run syndication, and perhaps it would air on CW stations on Sundays with new episodes, since affiliates are now going to program Sundays this fall. A long shot of happening, though. People keep saying Privileged has a shot...why? With those terrible numbers it had, it has no shot I think unless Fridays is an option instead of The Game. Which come to think of it, that makes sense and could go well with One Tree Hill.
For midseason, they should for sure pick-up The Body Politic. It sounds actually good and has a nice cast including Gabrielle Union, Tim Matheson, Jay Hernandez, and Brian Austin Green. It is said the Gossip Girl spinoff called Lily starring the gorgeous Brittany Snow is being passed, but I think they will need it come midseason, so they should order 6 episodes. If not, they will order another drama like Light Years to fill the void.
You can say goodbye to the following shows Stylista, Reaper, Privileged, Everybody Hates Chris, 13: Fear is Real, 4Real, Easy Money, In Harm's Way, Valentine.
The CW needs help for sure, I think they should start each weeknight with a proven show (Gossip Girl, 90210, Top Model, Smallville, The Game/One Tree Hill). It baffles me why they had no sitcoms in development. Too many dramas that are centered for female teenagers is too much.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own.

Remember, next Thursday (May 21) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2000-10 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned on Saturday for our annual "weekend before upfronts rumbling."
And as a reminder, stay tuned next week for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!


We have some schedule news! First, ION Television will launch Ghost Whisperer in June! It was slated to begin in the fall, but will start earlier than expected. The show will air Mondays at 8pm starting Monday, June 1, 2009. It will replace two Reba episodes. Reba will continue to air weeknights in the 7pm hour and at times in the 8pm hour Wed-Fri, depending on the movies. For fans of Ghost Whisperer, or if you want to watch the show for the first time, the first five episodes will air in June (June 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29). So this is an update to the ION Television June 2009 schedule we previously announced.
Ghost Whisperer will lead into two episodes of NCIS at 9 and 10pm on Monday nights.

Elsewhere, TV Land made a very last minute schedule change YESTERDAY that was in effect immediately! Some of you probably saw Roseanne airing from 9-10pm and 12-1am, airing between The Cougar. Roseanne was not set to launch on TV Land until June 5, so it started on May 13--three weeks earlier than planned. Roseanne will leave Nick at Nite effective immediately because of the change. It was only airing late nights on weekends anyway. Family Matters takes over the Roseanne slots on Nick at Nite. View the updated Nick at Nite May 2009 schedule.
Back to TV Land, we also told you before that a second Married...with Children marathon was set for Thursday, May 14 (tonight) from 10pm-1am, and now TV Land has made that a weekly thing. So look for The Bundys every Thursday night in TV Land PRIME. Also, starting tomorrow the 6pm weekday hour will now be The Beverly Hillbillies, replacing Hogan's Heroes and Green Acres, which are leaving a few weeks earlier than planned. In the 7pm hour will be The Andy Griffith Show, as that show will air 7-9pm now. Though on Mondays it will still air its 7pm-12am marathons. Roseanne will air Tues-Fri in the 9pm hour and 12-1:30am on most nights. On Fridays, Roseanne will air from 9pm-2:30am, which means the TV Land PRIME Movie is gone. Will it remain in June? That still remains to be seen.
On weekends, Roseanne is airing 1am-4am on Saturday nights and 1-3am on Sunday nights. Hogan's Heroes gets a half hour airing a week now, airing Sundays at 10am. The Cosby Show seems to be airing with Roseanne a lot, and gains the 11pm-1am slot on Saturday nights. And Three's Company moves from 1am-4am to 4am-6am on Saturday nights. Looks like 3rd Rock from the Sun is totally gone on this schedule!
View the FULL new schedule that is in place now! Couple of points, TV Land will be going "off the clock" starting tomorrow...so the timings of shows will be way off. Just giving you a heads up, if you're taping something. And we're not sure what this means for June, as we already announced a schedule for that. As of now, these new changes are through the end of May. We will update you on any updates to the TV Land June schedule as soon as we get it. Stay tuned!

Come on back tomorrow for news on a sitcom coming to Lifetime in June!

SitcomsOnline.com 2009-10 Upfront Preview: CBS; RTN Now in Boston, Denver, Houston, Dallas, etc.

CBS hardly ever changes anything drastically, so I expect more of the same from them. However, I think the Wednesday comedies are on the way to Sundays.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com CBS 2009-10 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: The Bridge (midseason drama)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: The Good Wife (drama), NCIS: Legend (wt, drama), Happiness Isn't Everything (sitcom), Waiting to Die (sitcom) and Washington Field (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Accidentally on Purpose (sitcom) and Three Rivers (drama)

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Rules of Engagement
9:30PM Happiness Isn't Everything (NEW!)
10:00PM Cold Case

Mondays
8:00PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM How I Met Your Mother
9:00PM Two and a Half Men
9:30PM Waiting to Die (NEW!)
10:00PM CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
8:00PM Navy NCIS
9:00PM The Mentalist
10:00PM The Good Wife (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM NCIS: Legend (wt) (NEW!)
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM CSI: NY

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM Washington Field (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM Flashpoint
10:00PM NUMB3RS

Saturdays
8:00PM Crime Repeats
9:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery

Comments: CBS is the number one network in total viewers. They rely heavily on crime dramas and we can expect that to continue. That makes them older skewing, and I think they are trying to go younger, especially with younger skewing comedies. I'll dissect night by night on what I think they will do. Their Monday sitcom block will likely have one new comedy, Waiting to Die is a contender for the post Two and a Half Men slot, as a single camera comedy didn't work at all this season in Worst Week.
As for Tuesday, the combo of NCIS and The Mentalist will likely remain and not be messed with, but they could try a new drama instead of Without a Trace, something like The Good Wife. I would have Trace return in midseason for its final season and be placed where needed.
For Wednesdays, instead of opening the night with two sitcoms the NCIS spinoff series would be lethal if it is anything like the original. I don't think CBS will move Criminal Minds or CSI: NY, as they are solid.
CBS Thursdays will have to change since nothing post CSI worked particularly well at 10pm this season. CBS could go with drama Washington Field following CSI. Survivor would likely remain at 8pm, but there is talk of it moving to Sunday or even Wednesday.
Fridays will likely remain the same with Ghost Whisperer and NUMB3RS opening and closing the night with Flashpoint in the middle. CBS could try the picked-up Canadian crime series The Bridge at some point after Whisperer.
Saturdays would still have crime repeats and 48 Hours Mystery at 10pm.
And as for Sundays, CBS always gets screwed with the sports run-over (especially in the fall with the NFL) and they usually are in 30-40 minute delays or even more for the entire country except the west coast. I keep suggesting they just shorten 60 Minutes, or it will kill a new show if they launch one on Sundays, which I think they will this year. I think Amazing Race will be back at 8pm...but maybe for just one cycle. CBS could try to open a second night of comedy on this night. Rules of Engagement and new Jason Biggs sitcom Happiness Isn't Everything would air in the 9pm hour (though there are reports this sitcom won't be until midseason), bumping Cold Case to 10pm to better close the night. Once Amazing Race ends, in January they can bring back Old Christine and try a new similar comedy as well, with the Jenna Elfman comedy Accidentally on Purpose the perfect fit. So come January, CBS could have sitcoms from 8-10pm. I think it is a better night to try comedy for CBS than Wednesdays.
Series canceled or I think will be canned include The Ex List, Worst Week, Harper's Island, Eleventh Hour, Million Dollar Password, The Unit. I think CBS will bring back Old Christine for mid-season, as mentioned...and they could slot Gary Unmarried in some slot that needs help (perhaps Sundays). Without a Trace also will be on call to replace anything that fails in midseason. It's time for CBS to cut its ties with The Unit. CBS also has two reality series that have been picked-up to series: Arranged Marriage and There Goes the Neighborhood. I would guess they air in midseason or even next summer. I already mentioned I think the Jenna Elfman sitcom Accidentally on Purpose would go to Sundays in midseason as it goes perfectly with Old Christine, and CBS will likely pick-up a medical drama, likely Three Rivers...perhaps replacing Cold Case in January?

Remember, next Wednesday (May 20) is the actual date when we will find out CBS's plans for the 2009-10 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 The CW's upfront.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!


We haven't given you Retro Television Network (RTN) news in awhile, so I'm going to try and catch you all up news on all new affiliates in the past few months. It's an RTN round-up, so saddle up! RTN announced that it has reached an agreement with WMFP in Boston to put RTN on both the digital and primary feed. The station which had been airing infomercials and other paid programming will become a full time RTN affiliate within the next two weeks. According to RTN's Neal Ardman "we could not have a better affiliate. RTN will transform WMFP from an all infomercial station to a station that families all over the Boston DMA can enjoy with great shows like Quincy and The Rockford Files." RTN will provide WMFP with a 24/7 custom network feed from its studios in Tennessee.
Retro Television Network has also announced its newest affiliate will be KCDO in Denver, CO. KCDO is a full power station serving the Denver DMA. RTN's Neal Ardman said "we are thrilled to add KCDO to the growing list of RTN affiliates using RTN as their primary channel."
Johnson Broadcasting's independent KNWS Houston, will offer Retro Television Network's programming lineup of classic TV shows on a digital subchannel very soon. Houston is the 10th largest DMA in the nation.
Also, Johnson Broadcasting's independent KLDT Dallas, will offer Retro Television Network's programming lineup of classic TV shows on a digital subchannel. Dallas is the 5th largest DMA in the nation.
Welcome Back, Buffalo! WGRZ-TV has confirmed that the Gannett-owned station has a deal with the Retro Television Network (RTN) to carry it on a third digital channel once the necessary equipment arrives in Buffalo, NY. The Buffalo market was the most interested in the return of RTN since it was dumped from WNGS-TV, the station that was recently purchased at an Equity auction by a religious station group based in Dallas.
And another welcome back is in story for Little Rock, AR. In Little Rock, RTN says it will return to the state capital by July 1 and as an affiliate of Allbritton Communications KATV. KATV is one of five Allbritton Communications stations that has chosen to air RTN and its classic TV lineup on a digital subchannel. KATV's primary network is ABC.
KSLM-TV (Salem, OR), the Salem area's newest television station, is pleased to announce it has also reached an affiliation agreement with Retro Television Network. KSLM-TV is free to over-the-air viewers, and can be seen on DTV channel 17-2. View their schedule.
Wow, I think that is it! If not, I'll let you know as soon as I do. RTN is growing everyday, so I urge you to view their full list of affiliates, so you don't miss it in your area. I'm still hoping it comes to the #1 market of NYC soon, so I can enjoy it as well.
RTN was founded in 2005 and has deals covering over 65% of the U.S. RTN provides custom feeds for most markets allowing the stations to be a part of programming process. With great shows like Adam-12, Battlestar Galactica and Quincy RTN has become a viewer favorite quickly.

SitcomsOnline.com 2009-10 Upfront Preview: ABC; Bio TV Premieres TV Reunions in June

Last fall ABC barely had any new series because of the writers' strike the previous season. That could change in a big way this coming season. I expect ABC to bring in many new shows, with lots of comedies for the first time in years. ABC should focus that 8pm hour to families. The past year ABC focused on launching 10pm series...it is time to redevelop that focus to 8pm.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com ABC 2009-10 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Modern Family (comedy), Flash Forward (drama), Copper (midseason drama)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Happy Town (drama), Inside the Box (drama), Romantically Challenged (sitcom), Awesome Hank (sitcom), The Cougar (sitcom), The Middle (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Eastwick (drama), The Forgotten (drama), The Law (sitcom), V (event drama).

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00PM Inside the Box (NEW!)

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
10:00PM Brothers & Sisters

Tuesdays
8:00PM Modern Family (NEW!)
8:30PM The Middle (NEW!)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Castle

Wednesdays
8:00PM Awesome Hank (NEW!)
8:30PM Romantically Challenged (NEW!)
9:00PM The Cougar (NEW!)
9:30PM Samantha Who?
10:00PM Happy Town (NEW!)

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

Fridays
8:00PM Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas (NEW!)
9:00PM Ugly Betty
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football

Comments: This was very hard. So far the hardest prediction I'm doing is ABC...remember this is what I think they could do, not necessarily what I would want them to do. They have many pilots and many of them are getting good testing. I am going with my gut that Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas makes it this year after being redeveloped. I want it picked-up, too. This is what exactly ABC needs on a Friday. I have many new comedies being picked-up, and it could be a stretch, but I think ABC could go out and bring us many comedies this fall. Most have tested so well and we could be in a surprise on how many comedies are airing. ABC could focus on a Wednesday two-hour comedy block and even have room for a comedy hour on Tuesdays.
So let's look at each night. I'll start with Mondays. Dancing with the Stars should be two-hours every week, enough said. The only time it should be 90-minutes is when they need to boost a comedy for a special airing during the week or two before the two dances per star starts. ABC will easily fill the two-hour hole from Jan-Mar with the resurgent The Bachelor and they should move Brothers & Sisters to Mondays all year-round, making ABC Monday strong all year.
On Tuesdays, Modern Family & The Middle are two of ABC's most praised family comedy pilots. They could work well with each other and could work well with family-themed Dancing with the Stars: The Results at 9pm (more so than Cavemen and Carpoolers a few years ago). Castle should move a night over to Tuesday at 10 since there will be no NBC crime show and perhaps CBS will not schedule a crime drama here anymore. ABC really needs to focus on JUST two post-Dancing shows at 10pm: Brothers & Sisters and Castle. That's it, with the exception of a week or two on Mondays with a special comedy airing at 9:30 (or even 8pm). This season it seemed so many shows aired out of it on both nights. So what happens to the 9pm hour from Jan-Mar? ABC could launch some comedies perhaps bringing back Scrubs/Better off Ted for 6-8 weeks or even new comedy The Law. Primetime: What Would You Do? is an option at an earlier time.
Wednesdays I think ABC is going to go all comedy. They could launch as many as 3 new sitcoms and bring back a returning comedy. I think they will start off with two new traditional comedies in Awesome Hank (starring Kelsey Grammar) and Romantically Challenged (starring Alyssa Milano). Perhaps the most buzzed comedy would be next at 9pm in The Cougar starring Courtney Cox and finally ABC needs to give Christina Applegate the comedy slot it deserves by airing Samantha Who? after Cox's show. Both are single camera and could fit with each other like a button. Closing the night I think they should try new drama Happy Town. I know it is very risky to do this, but Happy Town has a two-hour pilot and they could have the two-hour pilot on the first Wednesday of the year from 9-11pm, following a special Dancing Results, since they do a three-night premiere in the fall. So hopefully that would help the show build some type of an audience before all the comedies start the following Wednesday.
As for Thursdays, Betty is likely on the move, and ABC should try the most buzzed about series Flash Forward at 8pm giving ABC some life in this hour. Grey's and Private Practice will return in the 9 and 10pm hours for sure. Lost will return for its final season at the end of January for 16 or 17 weeks, possibly Thursdays at 8...but if Flash Forward does huge, Lost could go to Wednesdays.
I think ABC should go after Fridays with scripted series and I think they will, too. Comedy is an option, but I don't think ABC will try that. New family adventure drama Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas is exactly what they should air at 8pm. This could be a new type of TGIF for them using family dramas, and Ugly Betty would follow and that certainly has a family feel to it. Wife Swap and Supernanny were only on because nothing was ready last fall due to the strike. Both of those are too important and could fill key holes on other nights in midseason.
Saturdays will have College Football in the fall. Winter they could have movies or even go with cheap reality series, like Homeland Security USA.
Finally, on Sundays...I would leave 7-10pm alone even though right now the ratings are declining. Remember springtime is always like that and they perk up in the fall/winter. I think new drama Inside the Box would be a great fit out of Desperate Housewives and could reclaim that DH/Grey's early magic. Yes, I keep predicting ABC is going to move Brothers & Sisters, but they never do. Now it is time and with it airing the next night, lots of promos will air on Sundays so fans will for sure know.
Series that will be canceled or are ending include: According to Jim, Boston Legal, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Opportunity Knocks, Life on Mars, Cupid, The Unusuals, In the Motherhood.
Lost, The Bachelor, Wife Swap & Supernanny will all return for mid-season. Other series like Scrubs, Better Off Ted, True Beauty, Homeland Security USA, Primetime: What Would You Do could be ordered for limited episodes at some point. ABC also has picked-up two new reality series, likely for midseason: The Shark Tank from producer Mark Burnett and an untitled cooking series with celeb Jamie Oliver from producer Ryan Seacrest. Supernanny spinoff SuperManny could also be in the running. As far as new scripted series for midseason, they already ordered Canadian crime drama Copper for midseason. Look for Eastwick, The Law, The Forgotten and perhaps even V in the running for midseason. There is a legal drama from David Hemingson in the works again, perhaps they could pick that up...but they have had so many legal dramas lately it seems.
Looking at the fall line-up prediction, yes lots of new shows. But there is a lot of protection, minus Wednesdays. Wednesdays is the only risk, but risks need to be taken in the fall when there is no American Idol. And if it doesn't work out, ABC has lots of series on the bench for midseason including the final season of Lost. ABC's goal in the fall should be to have strong 9pm shows every night. That is a recipe for success. ABC will have a better fall next season than it did this season for sure.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own.

Remember, next Tuesday (May 19) is the actual date when we will find out ABC's plans for the 2009-10 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong!). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on CBS's upfront.


Bio TV in June will broadcast special reunions of classic TV series from the past for the first time on Bio TV. We get both the 20th anniversary Happy Days reunion from 1992 and the 30th anniversary Happy Days reunion from 2005. The 20th anniversary premieres Tuesday, June 9 at 9pm following a day long theme of classic TV with Biography episodes of The Love Boat, M*A*S*H, Laverne & Shirley, Happy Days, Henry Winkler, Ron Howard and episodes of Shatner's Raw Nerve with guests Scott Baio, Tim Allen and Drew Carey.
On Tuesday, June 16, Bio TV will air the Laverne & Shirley Reunion from 1995 at 10pm. Just like the previous week, episodes of Biography and more will lead into it, such as Ozzie & Harriet, Barbara Eden, Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Cheers, Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals: Cheers/Laverne & Shirley, and the Happy Days 30th Anniversary Reunion premieres at 12pm and 6pm. We also get Shatner's Raw Nerve episodes featuring Valerie Bertinelli and Kelsey Grammar.
Thursday, June 18 at 10pm will see the premiere of Biography: Billy Crystal. On Tuesday, June 23, it's 90210's turn for a reunion. Beverly Hills 90210: The Final Goodbye from 2000 will first air at 10pm, followed by Beverly Hills 90210: The Reunion Show from 2003 at 11pm. Again before that, we get Biography episodes of Home Improvement, Tony Danza, Jason Priestley, Alyssa Milano, and Teen Heartthrobs.
View more on Bio TV's June 2009 highlights of TV/sitcom related specials, including encores of Biography episodes such as Gary Coleman, Charlie's Angels, and Child Stars: Their Story

SitcomsOnline.com 2009-10 Upfront Preview: Fox; TV Land Schedules Married with Children Mini-Marathon

Fox usually has a hard time in the fall, and depend a lot on American Idol and to a lesser degree 24 in January. This year is likely to be the same thing, but if Glee hits big after American Idol next week, Fox could have two hits in the fall and have a much better fall than usual, as House is the only big hit in the fall for fall.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2009-10 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Glee (drama), The Cleveland Show (animated sitcom)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Sons of Tucson (sitcom), Brothers (sitcom) and Human Target (drama)
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Maggie Hill (drama) and Masterwork (drama)

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun / Animated Encores
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM American Dad!
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM The Cleveland Show (NEW!)

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM Human Target (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Fringe
9:00PM Brothers (NEW!)
9:30PM Sons of Tucson (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Glee (NEW!)
9:00PM Kitchen Nightmares

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Lie to Me

Fridays
8:00PM Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9:00PM Don't Forget the Lyrics! / 'Til Death

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
8:30PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Comments: As I keep saying, it'll be once again a tale of two seasons within a season for Fox. Their mid-season line-up will probably be a lot different from fall, since 24 and American Idol come in January. House will likely still lead-off Mondays, leading into a new drama, perhaps Human Target. If that doesn't hit, they could always replace it with 24 in January. As for Tuesdays, I think the J.J. Abrams drama Fringe will likely be on a short leash and will kick off the night leading into two comedies, with one of them being the Michael Strahan comedy Brothers, which could get big promo push on Sundays with the NFL on Fox. Fringe will leave I think in January when American Idol comes, and perhaps a new drama will be used at 9pm (like Masterwork or Maggie Hill) or the comedies can stay if they hit. On Wednesdays, I think they will start with Glee but they really don't have anything to pair it with in the fall. It is perfect for American Idol. The best best would be something light, like Kitchen Nightmares. Since Hell's Kitchen will be airing in late summer, a new season of that wouldn't be airing in the fall I would think. Maybe in January again? If so, it would be on another night. And if Glee hits, it could remain in this slot all season and be a lead-in to American Idol Results. Good combo. I think Bones would likely remain on Thursdays at 8pm, but something more compatible needs to air with it, as currently the show following it at 9pm has a totally different audience. I think Lie to Me at 9pm on Thursdays is probably the best option. 5th Grader and Don't Forget the Lyrics will probably return to Fridays for the fall, with 'Til Death mixing in at some point unfortunately. Saturdays...do I need to ever talk about that? Fox will never change that. As for Sundays, animation domination will continue of course with the addition of The Cleveland Show, the Family Guy spin-off, but Sit Down Shut Up is likely dead after horrible ratings.
And so many series are goners next season we think: Prison Break, Dollhouse, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Do Not Disturb, King of the Hill, Sit Down Shut Up, The Moment of Truth, Hole in the Wall, Osbournes: Reloaded. I think Secret Millionaire is worth trying again in December. Everything else seems to be returning for Fox.
So, we have the usual...Fox hopes to do decent in the fall and explode in the winter/spring. Will American Idol fall more next season? It very well could.

Remember, next Monday (May 18) is the actual date when we will find out Fox's plans for the 2009-10 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!

A few weeks ago, TV Land aired Married with Children for a mini-marathon since they were honoring it at the TV Land Awards, the ratings must have been decent for it because now TV Land will air another mini-marathon this coming Thursday (May 14) from 10pm-1am ET/PT featuring classic episodes preempting the regular M*A*S*H. TV Land is borrowing the episodes from Spike TV, which is a sister station that airs the show regularly. They are owned by Viacom.
The episodes will be from seasons two-four. In the second season opener, the Bundy's go to a sleazy, dumpy motel in Dumpwater Florida. Trouble heads their way when an axe murderer, who hates tourists, arrives. Then in the conclusion, Peg is kidnapped by the axe murderer and it's up to Al to save her. Other episodes include: A nice weekend away for the Rhoadeses and the Bundys turns into misery for the men when Peg, Kelly, and Marcy all have their periods at the same time; Al grows his hair when his barber dies, and fears he is turning into a "sissy" just because he has to go to salons; Marcy's dead aunt's ashes end up in the Labor Day hamburgers, in the classic Labor Day episode; and Al's pride and "do-it-yourself" beliefs annoys the rest of the family when Al decides to fix the leaking roof himself.
TV Land should air this series regularly in primetime, it sure beats some of the shows that are airing there, including all the reality originals. Married would work well with the upcoming Roseanne. Whoaaaaaa Bundy!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Week 33 (May 4-10):
Monday Sitcoms

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

Tuesday Sitcoms

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

Wednesday Sitcoms

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

Thursday Sitcoms

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

Friday Sitcoms

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

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

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

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

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

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

OUR FALL 2009 PREDICTION:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturdays
8:00-11:00PM Repeats

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

Remember, next Tuesday (May 19) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's "schedule" plans for the 2009-10 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on Fox's upfront, which will be May 18.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Tiny Toon Adventures TV.com Page

Fox Upfront 2008-09: Fall 2008 Schedule

Your first look at Fox's official line-up!

Fox 2008-09

Fall 2008

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Runover/Animated Repeats
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM King of the Hill
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad

Mondays
8:00PM Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
9:00PM Prison Break

Tuesdays
8:00PM House
9:00PM Fringe (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM 'Til Death
9:30PM Do Not Disturb (aka: The Inn) (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM The Moment of Truth
9:00PM Kitchen Nightmares

Fridays
8:00PM Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
9:00PM Don't Forget the Lyrics!

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted


January / Spring 2009:

Sundays
7:00PM King of the Hill
7:30PM American Dad
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM King of the Hill/Sit Down, Shutup (NEW! Spring)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad/The Cleveland Show (NEW! Spring)

Mondays
8:00PM Dollhouse (NEW!)
9:00PM 24 (special two-hour prequel movie on Sunday, Nov. 23 8-10pm)

Tuesdays
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Fringe

Wednesdays
8:00PM House
9:00PM American Idol Results Show
9:30PM TBD New Comedy

Thursdays
8:00PM Hell's Kitchen
9:00PM Secret Millionaire (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM 'Til Death
9:30PM Do Not Disturb

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Fox will kick-off the Fall season week of August 25. Coming in mid-season are new series: drama Dollhouse (January, Mondays at 8), reality series Secret Millionaire (January, Thursdays at 9), animated comedies Sit Down, Shutup (March, Sundays 8:30) & The Cleveland Show (March, Sundays 9:30).
To recap, Fox will launch one new drama (Fringe) and one new comedy (Do Not Disturb) in the fall. One new drama (Dollhouse), two animated comedies (Sit Down, Shutup & The Cleveland Show) and one new reality series (Secret Millionaire) will launch in mid-season.
One additional comedy will be announced later for mid-season.

Discuss Fox's 2008-09 line-up here. You'll find the official press release there, too...with more detailed information.

5:30PM UPDATE: As with ABC, I got to see the actual Fox upfront presentation. Didn't get to see CBS or The CW. Here is an outline of what happened at Fox's upfront presentation. They could have another drama or two it seems for mid-season, but they haven't completed production yet. Lie to Me (from the people who made 24) or Courtroom K (from the people who made House) are the top contenders, as crew interview clips were shown at upfront. They haven't decided yet what comedy will air post-Idol next season, but it seems Outnumbered or Boldly Going Nowhere are the best bets. Outnumbered clips were shown, it seems like the new Fox Malcolm in the Middle. And I have to say how eerie similar Fringe seems to be of Lost. Same creator (J.J. Abrams), same type of premise (airplane), except they are not on an island, you see a cow come out of nowhere (we saw cows in the jungle on Lost), and what...Lance Reddick is in it (the mysterious Matthew Abaddon on Lost)?? Hmm...a connection?

CBS Upfront 2008-09: Fall 2008 Schedule; ION Television June 2008 Line-Up

Your first look at CBS's official line-up!

CBS 2008-09

Fall 2008

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Cold Case
10:00PM The Unit

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

Tuesdays
8:00PM Navy NCIS
9:00PM The Mentalist (NEW!)
10:00PM Without a Trace

Wednesdays
8:00PM Old Christine
8:30PM Project Gary (NEW!)
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM CSI: NY

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM Eleventh Hour (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM The Ex List (NEW!)
10:00PM NUMB3RS

Saturdays
8:00PM-10:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery


Mid-Season:

Coming off the bench in mid-season is returning sitcom Rules of Engagement and new drama Harper's Island.

Discuss CBS's 2008-09 line-up here.



Less than two weeks ago we gave you details on ION Television's upfront presentation. ION announced their fall schedule then, but they mentioned ER and The Dead Zone would launch before the fall season starts. Both are launching in June! ER joins the line-up with a four-night, eleven-episode marathon the week of June 9 in primetime! The eleventh episode in the marathon will lead into the ION premiere of The Dead Zone on June 12 at 10pm. ER marathon is 8-11pm June 9-12, except 10pm on June 12 is The Dead Zone premiere.
Then starting June 16, both The Dead Zone and ER will join the primetime line-up and air back-to-back from 9-11pm from Mon-Wed. Quantum Leap will slide over from 9pm to 8pm, replacing Mama's Family which is leaving the line-up. There are no other changes in the line-up, which means The Drew Carey Show is also gone. Now Drew is listed in the tentative Fall schedule for weekdays at 6pm that we gave you two weeks ago. So it will return likely, unless that Fall schedule changes a bit. Boston Legal, M*A*S*H and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper come to the schedule in the Fall as well. Again, check out the Fall schedule if you haven't seen it yet.
Back to ION June, besides the ER marathon and the primetime changes, ION still has Thursday movies and RHI Fri-Sun movies. Classic Warner Bros. movies will air on Thursdays such as The Point of No Return, Dirty Harry and Chisum. RHI movies include the 2006 The Ten Commandments, the 2007 Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and the world premiere of ION's The Summit!
For complete details on ION Television June 2008, click HERE!

ABC and The CW 2008-09 Upfronts: Fall 2008 Schedules; Fans Create Save Back to You Campaign

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

ABC 2008-09

Fall 2008

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

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
9:30PM Samantha Who?
10:00PM Boston Legal

Tuesdays
8:00PM Opportunity Knocks (NEW!)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Eli Stone

Wednesdays
8:00PM Pushing Daisies
9:00PM Private Practice
10:00PM Dirty Sexy Money

Thursdays
8:00PM Ugly Betty
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Life on Mars (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Wife Swap
9:00PM Supernanny
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football


Mid-Season:

New series for midseason include Scrubs (Tuesdays at 9 in January), The Goode Family (Tuesdays at 9:30 in January) and Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Reality Project (Mondays at 8 in January).
More new mid-season series will be announced at a later date, likely in July during the TCA Tour.
Other returning series include According to Jim, The Bachelor, Lost and ABC News' Primetime: What Would You Do?
5:30PM UPDATE: So, I just watched the actual ABC Upfront Presentation. Good stuff. Clips of Opportunity Knocks, Life on Mars, The Goode Family, were shown. View my thoughts here, which includes an outline of what happened in the presentation that started at 4:08pm and lasted through 5:17pm ET.
Other Notes: This is Boston Legal's last season and the series will have 13 episodes. Series finale will be two-hours in early December. Oprah's Big Give would have been back, but Oprah decided one season was enough. Another Oprah project is in the works still. Here Come the Newlyweds and Dance War will likely return for second seasons either in mid-season or next summer. For those wondering, According to Jim joins Scrubs with 18 episode seasons, as mentioned Scrubs will air Tuesdays at 9 starting in January. During the upfront Steve McPherson stated that ABC has 17 shows in development for mid-season. So the mid-season will be like a fall season this year, as we could see a handful of those make it on air. The shows in development are: Sitcoms - Bad Mother's Handbook, Five Year Plan, Never Better, Roman's Empire, This Might Hurt, Fourplay, Single With Parents (previously My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemmas), with Alyssa Milano) and In the Motherhood (based on an internet series). Clips of Fourplay and In the Motherhood were shown at upfront, though nothing from the actual pilots, since they are not shot yet. Dramas - Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas, Castle, Cupid, Finnegan, Good Behavior, Prince of Motor City, Untitled David Hemingson Project, The Unusuals and Section 8.

Discuss ABC's 2008-09 line-up here and also you can view complete program information.



The CW 2008-09

Fall 2008

Sundays
7:00-11:00PM MRC Block (NEW!) (TBA at a later date)

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM One Tree Hill

Tuesdays
8:00PM 90210 (NEW!)
9:00PM Surviving the Filthy Rich (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM Stylista (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM The Game
9:00PM America's Top Model Encore

Mid-Season:

Reaper will return air on Thursdays in mid-season replacing Smallville, which will end its run by then.

Discuss The CW's 2008-09 line-up here and also you can view complete program information.


Fox has canceled freshman sitcom Back to You, as we reported a few days ago, and now fans right here at SitcomsOnline.com have created a campaign to bring back the show! While I'm certainly not a fan of the show, I'm always willing to help to save a show needed to be saved, especially a sitcom. And the way fans think of how to save a show is the most important thing. Sure, an online petition is a good way to gather fans, but I know for a fact that they don't really help. Online petitions are usually ignored by networks. However, really creative ideas do work. We all know that because CBS executives last year canceled freshman drama Jericho after one season, and fans were outraged and they sent "nuts" to the CBS offices. To make a long story short, CBS was pleased how the fans reacted and brought the series back from the dead...but it didn't really help as the show is once again canceled after this season do to low ratings. I don't think nuts will work again.
Fans of Back to You on our message boards were outraged by the cancelation and created a petition. I told them that wouldn't really work...something more creative is needed. So I suggested they come up with one. We recently were all for a fan campaign to bring back October Road, a personal favorite of mine. Some fans from abc.com's message boards contacted me and I was very intrigued by their campaign that I even did a story on it right here on the blog. Basically that campaign was going to help local libraries, which is always a good cause. There was also another campaign to save MEN IN TREES, where fans helped to plant trees to save trees. Another good cause. They don't always work though, as both of those series have been canned, but it is better than not trying.
Well, anyway, the fans took my suggestion and brainstormed a few ideas and came up with a pretty funny (and good) one. Their idea is to send Fox (or even CBS) bottled water! Why bottled water? Because on the last episode that aired, fan TJL (who came up with this idea) says, "as part of the new station manager's cost cutting initiative, she eliminated some things, parking spaces, vacations, and free bottled water in the fridge." So what better way to save costs for Fox (since they canceled Back to You to save costs), then to give free bottled water to Fox.
A leader has emerged on this fan campaign and her name is Julie Somoski. She is big fan obviously and posts on our message boards daily. She has created a webpage for this campaign and you can find all the details there, such as where to send the bottled water and what note to put on it so they know what this is for. So check out her web campaign. She has an address for CBS but not Fox (she should add it on there I think)...I think fans should send bottled water to BOTH networks. CBS should get actual water filled bottles (since fans are trying to persaude them to buy the series), while Fox gets empty water bottles just for canceling the show...since they don't deserve free water! Don't forget to include the note, because I doubt CBS would know what this means, since the show is not on their network. A local Pittsburgh newspaper also published this campaign.

NBC Upfront 2008-09; Yet More Upfront Rumblings; More ABC Summer 2008 Series

NBC has already announced their Fall 2008 schedule early last month, along with Mid-season 2009 and Summer 2009 schedules, for some reason, but they still made some announcements at its upfront presentation today.
- NBC has identified the last piece in its late night succession plan, naming Jimmy Fallon as the new host of Late Night when Conan O'Brien moves to The Tonight Show in 2009. The premiere date for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will be announced at a later date.
- NBC will introduce Momma's Boys, a new reality series to be executive-produced by Ryan Seacrest and Andrew Glassman centering on a group of mothers who must help choose the perfect bride for their complacent sons -- and ultimately, the series poses the question: "Who is really the most important woman in every man's life?" The series will premiere on the heels of NBC's All-American Summer and the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

We will announce more on NBC's upfront, if anything else noteworthy comes out of it.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the Fall line-ups for ABC and The CW!

As for more upfront rumblings, CBS has picked up four new dramas and two new sitcoms, as of now. Dramas are: Eleventh Hour & The Mentalist for the fall and The Ex List (AKA: Mythological Ex) & Harper's Island for mid-season. The Ex-List could be shared with Moonlight on Fridays, which could be benched until mid-season. And the two sitcom pick-ups are Worst Week and Project Gary (starring Jay Mohr), both likely for the fall. There could be another pilot or two picked-up (Tower or sitcom My Secret Public Journal), but right now slim chances. Single White Millionaire with Fred Savage has no shot now. The Unit looks like will be back for another season, possibly on Sundays or Fridays in the fall, while Shark has been killed most likely. CBS announces its line-up on Wednesday.
On the Fox front, animated comedy Sit Down, Shutup has been renamed to Class Dismissed. They have also officially canceled New Amsterdam & Canterbury's Law, which I didn't think had a chance anyway. Fox is shopping canceled sitcom Back to You and the animated pilot The Pitts for new homes, along with the drama pilot The Oaks. None are likely to be bought.
The CW has for sure brought back sitcom The Game, while drama Reaper will be back...but for mid-season (13 episodes). The CW also announced new reality series, Stylista (also from Tyra) will air after Top Model this fall. Filthy Rich Girls joins 90210 as a new drama series order.
On ABC, no surprises so far, Eli Stone has been renewed for 13 episodes, while October Road has been canceled. Life on Mars finally officially got picked-up. Miss Guided is still set to return this fall.

Moving on to ABC summer news, we have more news. We announced ABC's summer slate already, but there is a bit more to announce. Before the NBA Finals begins, ABC Tuesday will feature According to Jim (new on May 27), Samantha Who, and Boston Legal repeats from 8-11pm on May 27 and June 3 (and June 17 if NBA Finals Game 6 is not necessary)
Friday, June 6 and Friday, June 13 from 8-10pm will be repeats of AFV and According to Jim from 8-10pm.
The NBA Finals begins Thursday, June 5 and will air Thursdays, Sundays and Tuesdays through June 19, if necessary. So up to 7 dates. The NBA Finals starts at 8:30pm ET each night, leading into them will be Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night at 8pm ET. Join Jimmy in primetime for up to seven times! On Sundays when the NBA Finals airs, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition repeats will air at 7pm instead.
After the NBA Finals, starting Sunday, June 22 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will air two-hour encore episodes from 8-10pm, leading into Desperate Housewives at 10pm, which will be its new summer time slot. High School Musical reality series starts on the night on Sunday, July 20 at 8pm.
Effective Tuesday, June 24, all-new Primetime: Crime will air Tuesdays at 10:00PM until further notice. The premieres of Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show launches from 8-10pm on the same night.
Effective Wednesday, June 25, all-new Primetime: The Outsiders will air Wednesdays at 10:00PM Et/PT until further notice.

Upfront Rumblings; Mini-DVD Review: JAG Season 6 (May 20)

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

ABC:
Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Life on Mars.
Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: Bad Mother's Handbook, The Goode Family.
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Good Behavior, Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas, The Prince of Motor City, Castle, The Unusuals
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: This Might Hurt, My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemmas)
No Shot: The More Things Change, Cedric
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Eli Stone, Boston Legal, Scrubs (from NBC)
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: MEN IN TREES (confirmed), Women's Murder Club, October Road
Comments: ABC will probably add just 1-2 new shows in the fall and load up in mid-season, because of the strike causing pilots not to shoot a pilot. The only pilot to shoot so far was Life on Mars, and word is ABC will re-shoot it but it will be picked-up. They have a lot of buzz on more dramas, but they haven't been shot yet. The scripts sound very good on most of those, like Good Behavior, Extraordinary Atlas and Prince of Motor City. Sitcom wise, ABC is very high on Bad Mother's Handbook, but other than that it is very quiet on what could make it. The Goode Family, an animated comedy, has a 13 episode commitment for 2009, so that will likely air. Mix reviews so far for Alyssa Milano's comedy My Brother's Hot (or is it known as Nuclear Family), but I bet it will be picked-up. No word on Cupid yet, the remake of the short lived comedy...ABC would be wise to pick it up...it could be Love Boat style as it will be an hour this time. Word is ABC has passed on Cedric's comedy, so there goes a chance of multicamera comedies returning to ABC. As for current series, ABC has officially axed MEN IN TREES (remaining episodes will air starting May 28) and the word is Women's Murder Club will also get the ax. Meanwhile Eli Stone fans will be happy that the word is it will indeed return. Boston Legal's chances are better to return than to be axed. No news on October Road, but ABC is shopping it. Maybe MRC can get it for that Sunday block on The CW? Scrubs will likely come to ABC in the fall it seems, and According to Jim is taping at least 6 episodes this month and in June, so maybe that will be available earlier this year than the previous two seasons.

CBS:
Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Eleventh Hour, Mentalist.
Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: My Secret Public Journal, My Best Friend's Girl
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Mythological Ex, Exit 19, Tower
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Single White Millionaire, Worst Week
No Shot: NY-LON
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: The Unit, Old Christine, Moonlight, Rules of Engagement
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Jericho, Shark
Comments: CBS is very high on Eleventh Hour and The Mentalist, so expect them to be picked-up for sure. CBS also is eying Mythological Ex, Exit 19, Tower and possibly Harper's Island. Sitcom wise, the picture is not that clear, but CBS seems to have liked quite a few like My Secret Public Journal, My Best Friend's Girl, and Single White Millionaire. Worst Week seems to have picked up steam and is also in the running with another sitcom or two also possible.
Current series wise, The Unit seems to have gained traction and could return now. Moonlight and Rules of Engagement has a better shot to return, while Shark could be on its way out. Old Christine is tough to figure. It'll be back next season...either on CBS or if CBS cancels it, ABC could pick it up. So maybe CBS will pick it up so ABC can't.

FOX:
Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: Fringe (confirmed), Dollhouse
Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: The Inn (confirmed), Sit Down Shutup (confirmed), Cleveland
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Courtroom K
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Spaced, Starting Under, The Pitts
No Shot: The Oaks
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: 'Til Death (confirmed)
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Back to You (confirmed)
Comments: Fox is very high on Fringe and Dollhouse. Fringe will be their main show to push as it has been picked-up for the fall, while Dollhouse could come mid-season. Courtroom K is another Fox drama that could be picked-up. Fox has passed on drama The Oaks, and they are shopping it to other studios. Sitcom wise, they have officially picked up The Inn, and a mid-season pickup for animated sitcom Cleveland (Family Guy spinoff) is almost certain. Sitdown Shut Up has been picked up for sure for mid-season. So maybe The Pitts will be passed on now. And another sitcom or two like Spaced or Bernie Mac's Starting Under. Boldly Going Nowhere is also picking up steam. Because of the pick-up of The Inn, the sitcom Back to You is canceled! After a bad performance this past week, it really sealed that deal. The cost of the show is also high as it has two sitcom veterans and the producers/director are also costly. Meanwhile, 'Til Death survives once again for the second straight year for a third season. So Back to You is canceled and 'Til Death is renewed. No word when or if the four unaired episodes of Back to You will air or not. Series finale is this coming week.

The CW:
Close to Being Picked-Up Dramas: 90210, Filthy Rich Girls
Close to Being Picked-Up Sitcoms: None
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Austin Golden Hour
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: None.
No Shot: N/A
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Reaper, The Game
Possible Current Series Canceled That Had a Chance: Aliens in America, Girlfriends (both confirmed)
Comments: 90210 is almost certain to be picked up now that Jennie Garth will indeed reprise her role as a recurring character. Filthy Rich Girls is another drama that will be picked-up for the fall, while Austin Golden Hour could be for mid-season. No new sitcoms at all, but they have canned Aliens in America and we already knew Girlfriends was ending. So it looks like Chris and The Game will be the only sitcoms on The CW, possibly Fridays 8-9pm. The CW has given up on Sundays, and will let MRC program from 7-11pm: The CW is aligning with Media Rights Capital to program its Sunday night primetime programming block for the 2008-09 broadcast television season. The strategic alliance between the two companies will take effect in Fall 2008 and feature four new programs--two comedies and two dramas--from top producers and creative talent.
As for returning shows, Reaper will be back most likely. Gossip Girl could be paired with 90210.

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

Join us all next week (May 12-15) bright and early for the fall schedules. I assure you we will be among the first ones to post the fall line-ups for each network. NBC will be first on Monday, but they have already announced their schedule...so nothing new. No changes are expected either on Monday for NBC's schedule.


And now back to our regularly scheduled blog programming:

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for mini-DVD reviews! Today we have we take a look at CBS DVD's 6th Season of JAG. JAG was a huge hit for CBS. If you are a fan of Navy NCIS, you know that NCIS is a spin-off of JAG. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of JAG - The Complete 6th Season:

JAG - The Complete 6th Season (CBS, $55.98) is coming to DVD for the first time on May 20! Enjoy this long running Donald Bellisario classic on DVD -- and I've got great news. If you didn't notice already, the MSRP for this season set has dropped by $9, from $65 to $56. In addition, the SRP for seasons one through four (as of this writing) have dropped significantly. Seasons 1 and 2 are now $30, Seasons 3 and 4 are now $39. Those of you who've read these reviews know that the SRP was EASILY my biggest gripe against the JAG sets, and now the first four sets are available for under $40 -- the first two for just under $30, with the price of the sixth season starting at a lower base. This is great for fans of the show who might have hesitated at the price point.
I'll be completely honest here -- this is around the point in the original run of the show that I lost interest -- about 2/3 of the way through the season to be specific. It wasn't the show itself so much as I just found other things to watch, and sort of drifted away. I didn't begin watching again until the final season. So this IS the first time I've seen a good third of the season. The season starts off with the great two-parter, "Legacy," which once again involves Harm's family life -- this time taking place in Russia. The fifth episode of the season, "JAG TV," is an interesting one. The JAG office has its first televised court martial -- resulting in a circus, not surprisingly. The episode features Lawyer Celebrities Gloria Allred and Johnnie Cochran, plus Mary Hart and then-host of the Late Late Show, Craig Kilborn. The season finale is, of course, a cliffhanger. The episode is titled "Adrift," and I won't reveal much of the plot...but it's a surprisingly good episode. Can't believe I missed it first time through.
Moving to the technical side, packaging is, thankfully, a mere outer box plus slim cases. Many CBS DVD titles are moving to those horrible translucent plastic cases with the fragile disc holders in the center. The number of discs involved with a drama such as JAG makes this a bit prohibitive, a fact of which I'm thankful. Video is presented nice and clear in anamorphic widescreen. The video, being shot in HD, has no defects that I can detect. Audio is great, and I once again have to just say I LOVE the show's theme and how good it sounds here. . The “disclaimer of doom” does appear on the back of the box, indicating possible edits, but honestly I think this is standard operating procedure for CBS DVD. There weren't any glaring edits that I could find, but I don't have original broadcast OR syndication copies to compare to -- and like I said, I stopped watching midseason. The episodes generally run 43:30-44:30, probably on par with the normal 2000-01 shows. There are, unfortunately, no special features that I could find.
I wish I’d kept on watching back then, as there's still quality story for the series left to tell -- the episodes I missed, and the season as a whole, is quite good, and I wholeheartedly recommend the set -- and go back and pick up the earlier seasons now that the prices have gone down.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
JAG TV.com Page

SitcomsOnline.com 2008-09 Upfront Preview: Fox; Flintstones Mother's Day Marathon on Boomerang

Fox's weak spot of the season is usually the fall line-up, but they could be better next season. They will probably go with stable shows with just a few new shows in the fall and more news shows for mid-season, when American Idol and 24 return.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2008-09 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Starting Under (sitcom) and Fringe (drama)
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Dollhouse (drama), Spaced (sitcom) Sit Down Shutup (animated sitcom) and Cleveland (animated sitcom)

OUR FALL 2008 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun / Animated Encores
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM King of the Hill
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad

Mondays
8:00PM Prison Break
9:00PM Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Tuesdays
8:00PM Fringe (NEW!)
9:00PM House

Wednesdays
8:00PM Back to You
8:30PM Starting Under (NEW!)
9:00PM Bones

Thursdays
8:00PM The Moment of Truth
9:00PM Kitchen Nightmares

Fridays
8:00PM Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9:00PM Don't Forget the Lyrics!

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
8:30PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Comments: It'll be once again a tale of two seasons within a season for Fox. Look for their mid-season line-up probably to be a lot different from fall, since 24 and American Idol come in January. Sarah Connor and Prison Break will air Mondays I think in the fall, with both possibly taking a break in January when 24 comes, and Fox can launch Dollhouse, another promising drama they have. That will probably run for 6-9 episodes or so, and then they could being back Sarah for its final batch of episodes from like March-May, paired with 24. I don't think Prison Break will return after the fall ends...it doesn't really deserve to...maybe the potential spin-off could be introduced in an episode sometime in the fall. As for Tuesdays, I think the J.J. Abrams drama Fringe will likely be paired with Fox's House. If it hits, I wonder where Fringe will go in January when American Idol comes? Maybe Thursdays? More on that later. On Wednesdays, I think they will start with two comedies. Right now their best bet is Back to You and the new Bernie Mac comedy Starting Under...with 'Til Death likely a goner or saved for mid-season. I personally wouldn't bring back Back To You, but Fox really doesn't have anything good in the sitcom development, except animated comedies and some single camera comedies. I think Bones could be asked to air at 9:00pm. It could work, too. When January comes, we can expect American Idol's Results Show at 9 and possibly Bones moving down an hour to 8 or the comedies (perhaps one of the mid-season sitcoms in there)? Can they move Bones once again by January? Fox is hard to figure. Thursdays I think Fox will remain reality, but maybe something different. I'm not sure if they have more episodes of The Moment of Truth by the fall, since new airings are coming this summer, but that would be good for the fall at 8 followed by Kitchen Nightmares, which is coming back in the fall for sure. Now by January, if Fringe is indeed a hit, they might move it to Thursdays paired with maybe Bones? I think Fox will have comedies at 8 (maybe a traditional sitcom in The Inn or single camera ones like Spaced or Outnumbered could be aired here with either Back or Under) before Idol or maybe Moment of Truth, if it is not available in the fall. 5th Grader and Don't Forget the Lyrics could be on the move to Fridays for the full season. As for Sundays, animation domination will continue, with the same shows in the fall, but perhaps as much as two new animated comedies will come by mid-season, for sure Cleveland, the Family Guy spin-off, and another new one such as The Pitts or Sit Down Shut Up...I hope the latter. They will likely replace King of the Hill and American Dad! for awhile, if not the rest of the season.
As a recap, for Fox January, I'd do: Sundays: Animated Repeats, The Simpsons, Sit Down Shut Up, Family Guy, and Cleveland; Mondays: Dollhouse/Sarah Connor and 24; Tuesdays: American Idol and House; Wednesdays: Sitcoms/The Moment of Truth and American Idol Results; Thursdays: Bones and Fringe; Fridays: 5th Grader and Lyrics.
And so many series are goners next season: K-Ville, Nashville, Search for the Next Great American Band, New Amsterdam, Canterbury's Law, Return of Jezebel James, Unhitched, & possibly 'Til Death. I think Hell's Kitchen could likely return sometime in the season or next summer.
So, it looks like Fox will be decent year-round. Will American Idol fall more next season? It might. But before that, let's see how Fox does in the fall. I still think CBS and ABC will share leadership for the fall in viewers/18-49, and Fox will have to rely on mid-season again, but maybe it will be a bit better next season.

Remember, next Thursday (May 15) is the actual date when we will find out Fox's plans for the 2008-09 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks...will NBC edit anything on upfront day? We shall see. Also, we will try to give you all latest pilot rumblings on Saturday, so you will want to check with us! See if we have any inside buzz on this very slow development season.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own by clicking HERE!

TV Land is having their upfront today...so if they announce anything later today, you can check here. If it is bit late then we will have a write-up for you tomorrow. So check back either way!

Throughout time, mothers have been revered for their love, nurture and support...not to mention their hard work. To celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday, May 11, Boomerang (Cartoon Network's 24-hour commercial-free sister network) gives birth to a 7-hour tribute to that modern Stone-Age matriarch, Wilma Flintstone. During the Wilma Flintstone Mother's Day Marathon, which airs from 12-7 p.m. (ET), viewers will see Wilma Flintstone through the years-as she and Fred first court, during her pregnancy, as a new mother and, finally, as she becomes a grandmother. The holiday marathon kicks off with five and a half hours of Wilma-centric escapades from the original The Flintstones animated series and concludes with the 90-minute animated feature Hollyrock-A-Bye Baby (1993).
To see the episodes, click HERE! Wilmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow to the TV special TV's All-Time Funniest airing 8-10pm ET/PT on ABC! It should be a fun special for all sitcom/comedy fans of all eras. I suggest you tune in!

SitcomsOnline.com 2008-09 Upfront Preview: CBS

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: Eleventh Hour (drama), The Mentalist (drama), Single White Millionaire (sitcom), My Secret Public Journal (sitcom) and Exit 19 (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Tower (drama) and Exit 19 (drama)

OUR FALL 2008 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Can Openers (NEW!)
10:00PM Cold Case

Mondays
8:00PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM How I Met Your Mother
9:00PM Two and a Half Men
9:30PM Single White Millionaire (NEW!)
10:00PM CSI: Miami

Tuesdays
8:00PM Navy NCIS
9:00PM The Mentalist (NEW!)
10:00PM Without a Trace

Wednesdays
8:00PM Rules of Engagement
8:30PM My Secret Public Journal (NEW!)
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM CSI: NY

Thursdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM CSI
10:00PM Eleventh Hour (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Ghost Whisperer
9:00PM Moonlight
10:00PM NUMB3RS

Saturdays
8:00PM Crime Repeats
9:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery

Comments: CBS will probably have one new show each from Sun-Thurs. Their Monday sitcom block will likely have one new comedy, Single White Millionaire starring Fred Savage seems like it would hold most of Two and a Half Men's numbers. As for Tuesday, there could be a shake up to this night. The Unit has been MIA since the strike, and it probably won't return...so CBS will try something new at 9 following NCIS, like The Mentalist? Exit 19 starring Geena Davis could also be an option (in her old Commander in Chief slot, but that was ABC) ...if not, for mid-season then. The cursed 10pm slot could go to a proven player like Without a Trace, which would move for the third time in three seasons if it were to move. Wednesdays 9-11pm will likely remain intact, but the 8pm hour CBS has had difficulty with. I think two sitcoms are the best option, possibly a returning one like Rules of Engagement paired with a newbie like My Secret Public Journal. CBS Thursdays will have to change if Without a Trace leaves from 10pm, CBS will likely add the Jerry Bruckheimer drama Eleventh Hour following CSI. Fridays will likely remain the same, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ghost Whisperer or NUMB3RS move to another night, like Sundays. Moonlight is doing OK, but maybe CBS could pick up new drama Mythological X, as that sounds like it would skew younger after Whisperer. And as for Sundays, CBS always gets screwed with the sports run-over (especially in the fall with the NFL) and they usually are in 30-40 minute delays or even more for the entire country except the west coast. I suggest they just shorten 60 Minutes, or it will kill a new show if they launch one on Sundays, which I think they will. Maybe a medical drama like Can Openers which would skew younger than the normal CBS show probably, especially out of the Amazing Race. I think Amazing Race will be back at 8pm...maybe for two cycles this year. As long as they don't bring back Big Brother in the regular season! What a disaster that was. Cold Case could be on the move to 10pm to better close the night.
Series canceled or will be include The Unit, Shark, Cane, Power of 10, Viva Laughlin, Kid Nation & Jericho. I think CBS will bring back Old Christine for mid-season in case one of the comedies fails. If not, then ABC will sure pick it up...so don't worry fans. Jericho is gone for good...send all the nuts you want, it won't work again. Price is Right will likely return in primetime for some specials...I doubt they would air it as a weekly series. I don't think they will pick-up any new mid-season sitcoms, especially since Jennie Garth is no longer in the My Best Friend's Girl pilot.

Remember, next Wednesday (May 14) is the actual date when we will find out CBS's plans for the 2008-09 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.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own by clicking HERE!

Slow news day so far...if we have anything (which I'm sure we will have SOMETHING), we'll post it, so check back!

SitcomsOnline.com 2008-09 Upfront Preview: The CW; Family Matters Coming To Nick at Nite June 29, More Nickat Nite News; CW Daytime Adds Wayans, Jamie

The CW is dying for some shows that do well, with one of their best shows actually in WWE Smackdown! leaving, they will need to find something that does 4 million. Their development slate seems to be very weak this season...the strike could be to blame, as there are actually no sitcoms ordered to pilot. Will America's Next Top Model rebound in the fall after a slow spring?
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2008-09 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: 90210 (drama), How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls (drama), and Styledome (reality).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Austin Golden Hour (drama) and Fashion Magazine Assistants (reality).

OUR FALL 2008 PREDICTION:

Sundays
5:00PM Various Repeats
6:00PM Various Repeats
7:00PM America's Next Top Model Encores
8:00PM Styledome (NEW!)
9:00PM The Game
9:30PM The Game Encores

Mondays
8:00PM 90210 (NEW!)
9:00PM Gossip Girl

Tuesdays
8:00PM One Tree Hill
9:00PM Reaper

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM Everybody Hates Chris Encores
9:00PM Reaper Encores

Comments: The CW has barely anything in production. Whatever they have ordered to pilot will be picked-up...that's how bad it is. The strike might be the reason, as they also have no sitcom pilots ordered to pilot. They have a script order for a Sherri Shephard sitcom, that would work well with The Game, so they should order it to pilot ASAP so it can be ready for mid-season. 90210 remake is their best shot at new success, and it would do well leading off Mondays and possibly can give Gossip Girl a bit of a bump...maybe over 3 million? Tuesdays should have One Tree Hill and Reaper, because they are both actually decent performers, as Reaper has proved itself this spring airing in multiple slots. Wednesday will of course have Next Top Model followed by How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls maybe. How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls would also fit with One Tree Hill, I think. Thursday with Smallville and Supernatural shouldn't be changed, as it does decent enough. Fridays will be changed and of course I don't think they can replace the 4 million that Smackdown! got. I would just double pump on Everybody Hates Chris and maybe encore Reaper on the night. Aliens in America would do terrible on this night, so I don't think The CW will bring it back. Repeats of Chris would do better...maybe for mid-season, they can develop another single camera comedy to pair with Chris. Or maybe by midseason Chris will be back to Sundays anyway. As for Sundays, maybe a reality show (Styledome) would be best to start at 8pm out of an encore of Top Model? This would lead into back-to-back episodes of sitcom The Game. Once Styledome wraps, they could always move Chris to 8-9pm if the Friday airings are bad. As for mid-season they could bring in a drama like Austin Golden Hour which is a medical drama, if anything fails... and the Fashion Magazine Assistants reality show maybe in between cycles of Top Model? Beauty & the Geek and Pussycat Dolls don't deserve to return.
You can say goodbye to the following shows Aliens in America, Beauty & the Geek, Girlfriends, Life is Wild, Pussycat Dolls, CW Now, Online Nation and Farmer Wants a Wife.
The CW needs help for sure, I think they should start each weeknight with a proven show (One Tree Hill, Top Model, Smallville, Chris) and 90210 would probably fall into those shows once it airs. Sophomore shows such as Gossip Girl and Reaper will be brought back to prove itself and grow. But without any new sitcoms, they are in a mess.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own by clicking HERE!

Remember, next Tuesday (May 13) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2008-09 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for our preview of CBS' upfront.
And as a reminder, stay tuned next week for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!

Finally Family Matters has been officially announced for Nick at Nite! A press release just came out! Nick at Nite will add Family Matters, a laugh-out-loud hit series for the whole family, to its sitcom line-up this summer, launching the show with a seven–hour marathon on Sunday, June 29 from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., before it lands in its regular time period, Sunday through Thursday at 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 p.m.; and Friday & Saturday at 12 a.m. (all times ET/PT). Family Matters ran for nine seasons (1989-98) and 215 episodes on broadcast networks ABC (first eight seasons) and CBS (for its last season), catapulted Jaleel White's archetypal nerd-next-door, Steve Urkel, into the pop culture, and the actor captured three Image Awards for his portrayal. In this long-running comedy – a spinoff of Perfect Strangers via wisecracking elevator operator Harriette Winslow – nosy, good-hearted Steve Urkel pesters and wreaks havoc on his neighbors, the Winslows of suburban Chicago. Starring Reginald VelJohnson, Jo Marie Payton, Darius McCrary, Kelly Shanygne Williams, Jaimee Foxworth, Rosetta LeNoire, Bryton McClure, with Telma Hopkins, and Jaleel White.
There will be no other changes to the June line-up. So, everything else will remain the same. Family Matters will replace a Nickelodeon airing at 8:30 on Sun-Thurs and a Fresh Prince airing at 11pm on Sun-Thurs...on Fri-Sat it will air at 12am replacing a Fresh Prince airing on Friday & a Home Improvement airing on Saturday. The only other change that will happen is at 6am, Full House will air Mon-Thurs replacing a Nickelodeon airing. Now this could be just a rough schedule...we shall know more soon when we announce Nick at Nite June in the coming weeks...so come on back!
In other Nick at Nite news, they will revive the classic Nickelodeon game show GUTS, with a family twist. GUTS, the groundbreaking, original hit game show from the '90s, is being recreated for a new generation of families as Nick at Nite greenlights My Family's Got GUTS, a new extreme sports competition series. Nick at Nite will commence production on two 10-episode tournaments, (20 new half-hour episodes and two hour-long specials), created and executive produced by the digital entertainment studio Worldwide Biggies. The series will be shot on location at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., beginning in August and is scheduled to premiere in prime time on Nick at Nite in fall 2008 with the finale on the Worldwide Day of Play. The original GUTS was hosted by Mike O'Malley (Yes, Dear, Get the Picture) and aired on Nickelodeon from September 28, 1992, until October 1995. A spin-off was created called Global GUTS.
Finally, Nick at Nite is going to the dogs...literally! For the first time ever, Nick at Nite will give dog owners everywhere the chance to showcase the unique charms of their canine companions by entering them online as contestants for The First Annual Worldwide Fido Awards premiering on Sunday, July 27, and Monday, July 28, 9-10 p.m. (ET/PT). The competition kicks off on May 19, when viewers can upload videos of their dogs to the popular online dog video community site www.WorldwideFido.com, created by digital entertainment studio Worldwide Biggies, to compete in six categories and vote online for their top picks. The contest culminates in a two-night television event that will reveal the winners in each category and ultimately the 2008 Worldwide Fido Award for best in show. The pooch fest will also feature canine friendly celebrities and their four-legged best friends. The categories include "Cutest Dog," "Best Dressed," "Best Voice," "Most Outrageous," "Best Trick" and "Dog/Owner Look-Alike."

The CW Television Network is teaming up with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to create a daily two-hour afternoon programming block that will bring a new court television series from Telepictures Productions and two hit comedies from Warner Bros. Television to The CW from 3:00–5:00 p.m. each weekday.
Judge Jeanine Pirro, a new original one-hour court program featuring Jeanine Pirro – regular contributor to Fox News Channel, former Westchester County (N.Y.) District Attorney and County Judge, nationally known legal commentator and author – as the presiding jurist will air Monday–Friday back-to-back at 3:00 p.m., followed by a one-hour comedy block of classic urban 90s sitcoms The Wayans Bros. at 4:00 p.m. and The Jamie Foxx Show at 4:30 p.m. The new programming schedule will debut Monday, September 22, 2008.
These shows will replace the current CW Daytime block of All of Us, What I Like About You and back-to-back Reba episodes.
Eventually, The CW would like to have two full hours of first-run product, rather than one, in the block by next year. Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Television and The CW originally discussed doing that immediately, but decided to just start with one hour for now. So this block will be fully Warner Bros. owned shows, and not other studios. They have aired shows from other studios before such as ABC Studios' 8 Simple Rules, 20th Century Fox's Reba and CBS Paramount's All of Us, with Warner owned shows in the mix as well such as ER and What I Like About You.

SitcomsOnline.com 2008-09 Upfront Preview: ABC; Sci Fi and WE tv Acquire Ghost Whisperer, Classics Coming to Sci Fi Such As Mork & Mindy

NBC is the first network going at upfront, which will be next Monday, but they have already announced their 2008-09 schedule last month so we can't preview and make predictions for NBC...so we decided to go with the next network ... ABC (which will go next Tuesday). With the writers' strike causing a lot of delays to the pilot season, many pilots won't be ready before the upfronts, thus we won't see many new shows this fall, unfortunately. I think mid-season will see a lot more shows than normal.
So, ABC will likely build on their sophomore shows (the current freshman series such as Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, and Samantha Who?). Most of those have not returned after the strike ended, so they will likely do large return promotions for these. New shows wise, I expect maybe 1-2 new dramas or 1-2 new sitcoms on ABC this fall, with lots of new shows being ordered for mid-season.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com ABC 2008-09 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Section 8 (6 episode order, but doesn't mean it will be on in the fall).
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Good Behavior (drama), Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas (drama), My Brother's Hot And Other Dilemas (wt for Milano series) (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Prince of Motor City (drama), Life on Mars (drama), Cupid (dramedy), Bad Mother's Handbook (sitcom), Never Better (sitcom), This Might Hurt (sitcom).

OUR FALL 2008 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00PM Dirty Sexy Money

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
9:30PM Samantha Who?
10:00PM Good Behavior (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemas) (NEW!)
8:30PM Miss Guided
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Boston Legal

Wednesdays
8:00PM Pushing Daisies
9:00PM Private Practice
10:00PM Brothers & Sisters

Thursdays
8:00PM Ugly Betty
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Eli Stone

Fridays
8:00PM Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas (NEW!)
9:00PM According to Jim
9:30PM According to Jim or Cedric the Entertainer Project (NEW!)
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football

Comments: It is really hard to predict what shows will be ready for the fall since the strike has caused a lot of production delays. I'm hoping new dramas Good Behavior and Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas will be ready for the fall...they sound very good. For Mondays, I'm leaving 8-10 intact right now but 10pm needs a change. The Bachelor is an average performer, but they can do better...especially with the high profile Good Behavior, which is the Outrageous Fortune Australian remake. The Bachelor would come back in January. My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemas) is the new Kristin Newman sitcom project that will star Alyssa Milano! I think Miss Guided should return. It was fed to the strike and it had to start itself off without any support and besides it is very funny and should be given another chance. It would do well out of Milano's show. However, if there is a chance CBS drops Old Christine, then I think ABC should really go after it and air it 9:30 Mondays after Dancing with the Stars because I think a multi-camera sitcom would do better. Thus if that happens, then I would slide Samantha Who in the 8pm hour on Tuesdays paired with Alyssa Milano's sitcom, and hold on to Miss Guided for later. ABC should start Boston Legal in the Tuesday at 10 slot for the fall since not many new shows will be available, and this show proves it can do decent in this slot out of Stars..so don't mess with it until mid-season. Wednesdays ABC should bring back the combo of Pushing Daisies and Private Practice from 8-10pm because they were very solid and helped ABC win this past fall on Wednesday nights. Closing the night I think the addictive Brothers & Sisters should move to this night and give a nice flow to the night...as it has proven itself already on Sunday nights. As for Thursdays, Betty and Grey's are a given, but I think Eli Stone should return for a second season and air in the fall at least. If it doesn't work, then try something else...but it should be tried because the show is high class and deserves to be given a shot after Grey's. If Betty continues to slide (which I think it will perk up when Lohan comes), they could try something else in the slot mid-season. Lost will return in February most likely for 16 or 17 straight weeks, possibly Thursdays at 10 again? Or maybe on another night? I don't see that happening though unless they want to have an all male night with Scrubs and a new comedy (possibly This Might Hurt). Speaking of Scrubs, I think ABC will indeed pick it up but not air it until January. I have no idea where they would slot it, too. Tuesdays at 8 in January or Thursdays at 8 giving Betty a break in January? I think ABC should go after Fridays. They shouldn't give up. They should go after the family audience. And new adventure drama Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas is exactly what they should air...especially in the the colder months between October-February when viewership is higher. I think According to Jim should wrap up its series run in the fall rather than being fed to American Idol in the winter/spring. I would double up on it because I'm too scared to launch a new sitcom, like Cedric the Entertainer's new sitcom. I guess they could double pump Jim for a while then bring in Cedric in one of the slots if this night clicks. Finally, on Sundays...I would leave 7-10pm alone. I think Dirty Sexy Money would be a better fit out of Desperate Housewives than Private Practice was...so yes it is a risk to move Brothers & Sisters, but I think that drama can do well on another night, too.
Series that will be canceled or are ending include: Notes from the Underbelly, October Road, Women's Murder Club, Big Shots, Cashmere Mafia, Cavemen, Carpoolers, Duel, MEN IN TREES.
The Bachelor, Wife Swap & Supernanny will all return for mid-season or maybe December/January on Monday nights. Other reality shows like Oprah's Big Give, Here Come the Newlyweds, and Dance War all did decent, and should be tried again for mid-season or maybe next summer.
Looking at the fall line-up, ABC is pretty stacked with shows that are hits and sophomores that could build and be big hits...but with the strike it is very hard to tell what new shows will be available in the fall. Some shows that should make it sometime this season that I haven't mentioned yet are dramas Prince of Motor City, Life on Mars, Section 8 (has a 6 episode order), and comedies Bad Mother's Handbook, Cupid, Never Better, and the animated Goode Family.
Anyway, this season ABC had some decent hits like Private Practice, Samantha Who, Pushing Daises and some promising shows such as Eli Stone, Miss Guided and Dirty Sexy Money. But this coming year will have ABC trying to build on those even more with their mega hits like Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, and Grey's Anatomy. Hopefully there isn't an actors strike to mess the TV landscape again.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own, by clicking HERE!

Remember, next Tuesday (May 13) is the actual date when we will find out ABC's plans for the 2008-09 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on The CW's upfront.


Turning to the news, Ghost Whisperer was acquired by ION Television starting in September 2009 for broadcast rights, but now the show has been sold to cable as well! Both Sci Fi Channel and WE tv will share the show in a joint contract. Sci Fi Channel will air the show in four hour marathon blocks once a week, while WE tv will air it daily, similar to ION. We will have more on WE tv's part soon, but Sci Fi has already announced their plans this morning.
SCI FI Channel has secured off-network cable rights to CBS's Emmy-nominated series, Ghost Whisperer, from CBS Television Distribution. SCI FI will launch the series in the fall of 2009.
In addition, SCI FI will have access to shows in the CBS-Paramount library, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, which will premiere Monday June 2, 2008 on SCI FI, Charmed, Early Edition, Highlander, Highlander: The Raven, Seven Days, The Sentinel, The Invaders, Friday the Thirteenth: The Series and the classic Robin Williams sitcom Mork & Mindy, among others.
We will have more details on those classic series later, but we know Star Trek: The Next Generation starts Monday, June 2 and will air Mondays from 7-11pm. SCI FI likes to air shows in marathon blocks, so they have something fresh each day. Look for the classic series to be rotated into their morning daytime rotation slots. Nice to have a sitcom on SCI FI! Maybe they can get Webster from CBS-Paramount as well? We all know Webster was secretly an alien...just kidding! Seriously, they should get more sitcoms of this nature from other studios like Debmar-Mercury's ALF, 20th Century Fox's Small Wonder and Universal's Out of this World...just my suggestions and thoughts. Mork & Mindy is a nice start, though! We will keep you up to date on these library shows. Yes, the Charmed deal will be shared with TNT ... so SCI and TNT can air it.
In other news, WE tv has also secured rights to the last three seasons of the sitcom Girlfriends! BET will have rights to the other seasons still. We will have more on this shortly. We already mentioned WE tv has acquired The Golden Girls for March 2009, in a shared deal with Hallmark, so it seems WE Tv is loading up more on off-net programming. Meanwhile, SCI FI will launch Lost this fall, as we stated previously.

ABC 2007-08 Upfront: Fall 2007 Schedule; CBS Returning Series News; CW and Fox Upfront Update

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

ABC 2007-08

Fall 2007

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

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
9:30PM Sam I Am (NEW)
10:00PM The Bachelor

Tuesdays
8:00PM Cavemen (NEW)
8:30PM Carpoolers (NEW)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Boston Legal

Wednesdays
8:00PM Pushing Daisies (NEW)
9:00PM Private Practice (NEW)
10:00PM Dirty Sexy Money (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Ugly Betty
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Big Shots (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM Men in Trees
9:00PM Women's Murder Club (NEW)
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football


Mid-Season:

Cashmere Mafia, Notes from the Underbelly and October Road will premiere after Dancing with the Stars and The Bachelor conclude their fall seasons.
Coming later in the year is the return of Lost for 16 straight episodes, new sitcom Miss/Guided, new drama Eli Stone, the alternative series Oprah's Big Give, and the returns of Supernanny & Wife Swap.

Discuss ABC's 2007-08 line-up here.


Tomorrow is CBS's turn at the upfronts. We will have the schedule for you in the morning, but first we have just found out that Jericho and Close to Home will NOT be picked-up now. They were both reportedly picked-up for at least 13 episodes, but now that will not happen. The Class was officially canceled, which is no surprise. Other on the bubble series How I Met Your Mother, The Unit, Rules of Engagement and The New Adventures of Old Christine will return next season, the latter for mid-season. And they made these obvious renewals official: Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Shark and NUMB3RS joining previous renewals.

Meanwhile, The CW has announced that it is very likely that Veronica Mars will NOT return. Fans will be upset, but it makes sense because the ratings have not been good. The CW confirmed that All of Us will not return, but Smallville, The Game, Girlfriends, Supernatural and One Tree Hill were renewed an you'll see them this fall, joining the already renewed Everybody Hates Chris, America's Next Top Model, and WWE Smackdown! Among the new series pick-ups, we have dramas Gossip Girl, The Reaper, Wild at Heart and the sitcom Aliens in America. The CW has also confirmed that they will air unscripted series Sundays at 7, called Online Nation (AFV type show featuring online videos) and CW Now (ET type show on pop-culture).
Fox has renewed 24 through the end of the 2008-09 season, so you will get more Jack! More on Fox's actual pick-ups tomorrow.

More Upfront Rumbling; Week 34 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

In addition to our updates yesterday, here are some more rumblings: New NBC sitcom The I.T. Crowd has been picked up for mid-season. Also, Law & Order: Criminal Intent has been picked-up, but will now premiere episodes on USA Network and a few days later they will be broadcast on NBC, with Saturdays a likely option on the NBC front. NBC also has picked-up another season of the original Law & Order.
Fox will not pick up new drama The Apostles now. Canterbury's Law was picked-up. No word yet on Nurses, but will likely be picked-up for at least mid-season. The War at Home will not return for a third season...no surprise.
Nothing new to report on ABC, as most of their projects were picked-up. The Middle and Football Wives have shots, but the latter might not get picked-up at all now due to expense issues. Sigh!
CBS is closer to bringing back Close to Home for 13 episodes for at least mid-season. Jericho might return and be slotted for the fall for 13 weeks with new drama Babylon Fields now for mid-season. Finally, The CW is still negotiating with Veronica Mars, but as of now, it doesn't look good for a return.

Come on back for NBC's official fall line-up maybe by later tonight or for sure by tomorrow morning before 9am!


Week 34 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox: 9.2/14.9; CBS: 8.2/13.5; ABC: 7.6/12.4; NBC: 4.9/8.1; The CW: 2.1/3.4; MNT: 0.6/0.9.
Total Viewers: Fox: 15.22 million; CBS: 12.62 million; ABC: 11.42 million; NBC: 7.52 million; The CW: 3.17 million; MNT: 0.84 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.6/15.9; ABC: 3.8/10.5; CBS: 3.7/10.3; NBC: 2.9/8.0; The CW: 1.4/4.0; MNT: 0.3/1.0.

Analysis: The 34th week saw Fox in front again with the usual leader American Idol. Through the first four nights, Fox has the lead, followed by CBS and ABC battling for second in HH, viewers and 18-49. NBC still remains a distant 4th place in all categories. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. Tonight has ABC airing all-new episodes and CBS is also all new with the finale of Survivor, the battle will be with them for viewers with ABC in command for 18-49. Fox's comedies are also all-new (except 7p & 8:30) and NBC has yet another Dateline followed by the movie Shrek and for some reason an encore of Thank God You're Here. I am afraid to look at NBC's numbers for this night. Expect ABC to win.
On Monday Dancing with the Stars continued to rule Mondays for ABC. 19.44 million, slightly up from the previous week...it should be even higher tomorrow for the semifinals! CBS's CSI: Miami was all-new at 10pm and did 17.18 million, down a bit from last week and the 100th episode of NBC's Deal or No Deal was way down against Stars, with 10.43 million, down from last week by nearly two million. 8-9pm sitcoms were hurt the most for CBS, doing 7.69 and 7.22 million, up a bit from last week...they have been going up, so a good sign. Two and a Half Men rose from those numbers and did 13.27 million, down slightly from last week, followed by an all-new King of Queens doing 13.42 million, up from last week. Fox aired a repeat of House doing 7.48 million (on par with last week), followed by 24 with 10.92 million, also on par from last week. ABC aired The Bachelor from 9:30-11 and did a decent 10.39 million, up from last week, and NBC aired hit Heroes at 9 with 11.14 million (down from the numbers from last week), followed by The Real Wedding Crashers at just 4.77 million, NBC has pulled the show now. The CW's comedies are still under performing on this night, with Chris at just 2.48 million.
Tuesday was Fox's night. American Idol did 25.47 million at 8 (down from last week) and House did 21.36 million, slightly up from last week. ABC was on the map thanks to Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 16.86 million at 9 (slightly up from last week), with the one-hour finale of George Lopez episodes preceding it with 4.6 million. Boston Legal at 10 was at its normal levels with 9.98 million. CBS was third with new episodes of NCIS, The Unit from 8-10 (13.88 and 10.74 million, both up from last week), and an encore of Without a Trace aired at 10 with 8.15 million. NBC was fourth for for the night with both Law & Order spin-offs doing 6.94 and 10.94 million from 9-11pm (both keep going down each week), with another Dateline kicking the night off with 4.98 million. The CW aired a new Gilmore Girls (3.99 million) and Veronica Mars (1.85 million). The latter needs to go!
Wednesday again Fox got the boost from that show called American Idol, doing 28.2 million at 9pm, down slightly from last week. Bones preceded with 10.23 million at 8 for pre-Idol tune-in. CBS was second for the night with the Jericho finale doing just 7.72 million (down from last week) followed by a new Criminal Minds and a new CSI: NY doing 12.92 and 12.83 million, both slightly down from previous week. ABC followed with According to Jim & Notes from the Underbelly doing OK to open up the night with 6.35 and 5.7 million (both slightly down from last week), followed by According to Jim & George Lopez encores doing 4.55 and 4.22 million better than last week's 4.02 million of a Lost encore and an all-new Lost closed the night off with a solid 12.11 million. NBC was again fourth for the night with a new Thank God You're Here doing 5.27 million (down a million from last week), Crossing Jordan followed with just 5.34 million for a new episode, down from last week. A new Medium followed built on the lead-in with 7.91 million, up from last week. The CW was in the game at 8 with America's Next Top Model doing a solid 4.92 million, followed by One Tree Hill doing 2.95 million.
On Thursday we saw CBS and ABC take control. Grey's Anatomy for ABC at 9pm did 19.58 million, down from last week. A new Ugly Betty opened the night off with 9.63 million, also down from last week. A special preview of Traveler aired at 10pm and did just 8.61 million...if it can do 6-8 million for its summer airings, that should be good enough. CBS's Survivor: Fiji was first at 8 with 13.77 million, slightly up from last week. A new CSI and a special night & time season finale of Without a Trace followed with 18.75 and 14.31 million. Fox was third with two-hours of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? with 9.32 million and 8.7 million. NBC was fourth in viewers with all-new episodes of its comedies and an all-new ER, which just did 9.39 million, but up from last week's series low. And CW aired new episodes of its Thursday dramas doing 3.43 and 2.9 million, both again down from last week.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS win the night with its dramas, but not as much as they were doing in the fall and early winter. NBC did much better from 8-10 with Dateline and it looks like that is helping Law & Order at 10. ABC aired a repeat of Grey's Anatomy from Thursday and was third followed by a two-hour 20/20. The CW did decent for its WWE coverage, but it is not doing as well as in the winter, though up from last week for fourth place. Fox aired a movie for fifth.
Saturday ratings saw CBS (for viewers) and ABC (for 18-49) do decent, with Fox and NBC trailing. ABC saw so-so numbers for an NBA Playoff game. Fox's NASCAR did slightly worse. As for tonight, ABC will win with its normal line-up. As for this week in general, it should be like last week as series continue to go up in anticipation of season finales!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of April 30-May 6)

• King of the Hill (Fox) 2 episodes - 3.09 million for a repeat and 4.19 million for a new episode, new episode was up slightly from previous week.
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - 7.77 million for a new episode followed by a repeat at 8.08 million...new was up a bit from previous week and the repeat was down a bit from previous week.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 7.95 million for a new episode, slightly down from lead-in for a second straight week, but up in other categories such as HH and 18-49.
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 6.31 million, down from last week a bit.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A new episode did 7.69 million...up from previous week.
  
• Old Christine (CBS) - 7.82 million, up 1/2 million from last week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 13.27 million...down about 1/2 million from last week.
• King of Queens (CBS) - 13.42 million ... up nearly 1/2 million from last week.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends. All-new episode of Chris started it off with 2.48 million, followed by a new episode of All of Us at 2.29 million, and the one-hour finale of Girlfriends did 2.89 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - One-hour finale did 4.6 million...not too good.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - New episode did 6.35 million, slightly down from last week.
  
• Notes from the Underbelly (ABC) - 5.7 million, slightly down from last week's 6.0 million, but down still from three weeks ago's 6.26 million.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 6.94 million for another expanded episode thru 8:42, down from last week.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 7.17 million and a 3.9 18-49 rating for an expanded episode through 9:23. Both a bit up from last week.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - 5.31 million for an expanded episode that started at 9:23 thru 10:01, up slightly from last week.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, Old Christine, and King of Queens were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office, My Name is Earl) or just plain old terrible (George Lopez, All of Us).

Remember to come join us all this week, for the official fall 2007 schedules for the networks, in edition to our news!

Upfront Rumblings; Mini-DVD Review: The Chipmunks Go to the Movies (May 22)

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

ABC:
Drama Pick-Ups: Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, Cashmere Mafia, Big Shots (aka Perfect Gentlemen), Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Women's Murder Club.
Sitcom Pick-Ups: Sam I Am, Cavemen, and Carpoolers.
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Football Wives
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: The Middle, The Hill, Miss/Guided
No Shot: Marlowe
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Notes from the Underbelly (13 episodes), Knights of Prosperity (9 episodes), October Road (TBD episodes)
Comments: There have been some expense issues for some series like Football Wives & Marlowe. Women's Murder Club will be very cheap to produce so ABC will pick that up over Marlowe. Football Wives could still get picked-up as it could be a key series for ABC next season. They can premiere it in January or even after the Dancing with the Stars season finale in mid-November. Sitcom wise, ABC's only sure thing was Sam I Am...rumor was The Middle and Miss/Guided were going to be picked-up for the fall, but now they decided to pick-up Cavemen and Carpoolers instead, but both most likely will be for mid-season. ABC can still pick up The Middle and a traditional sitcom like The Hill. As for the current series, look for Underbelly and October Road to be renewed and their is an outside chance that The Knights of Prosperity will return with 9 new episodes to go along with the few unaired episodes from this season. Mix reports so far for George Lopez...some sources say it is canceled and some say it will return mid-season. According to Jim has a less of a chance to return. And What About Brian looks like will not return for a third season.

CBS:
Drama Pick-Ups: Swingtown, Viva Laughlin, Cane (AKA: Los Duques), Babylon Fields.
Sitcom Pick-Ups: None.
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: The Man
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: 1321 Clover
No Shot: I'm in Hell
Possible On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Jericho (13 episodes), Close to Home (13 episodes), The Unit
Comments: CBS might not pick up a sitcom for the fall as the slate has been weak and they might be forced to bring back New Adventures of Old Christine in the fall rather than mid-season. 1321 Clover is the only sitcom in contention now, with series like The Big Bang Theory far behind. There is word that Jericho will be back for 13 episodes and same goes for Close to Home. Both will probably not be part of fall though. The Unit might also not be, as The Man has gotten closer to a pick-up, CBS might try that on Tuesdays for the fall. The Jason Biggs comedy I'm in Hell is dead and has no shot really of a pick-up...and The Class has no shot of a second season really. The Amazing Race will likely return in January or March.

NBC:
Drama Pick-Ups: Chuck, Life, Journeyman, Bionic Woman, Lipstick Jungle.
Sitcom Pick-Ups: None.
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: None.
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Business Crowd, I.T. Crowd, Lipshitz Saves the World
No Shot: Mastersons of Manhattan
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: Friday Night Lights, Scrubs (18 episodes)
Comments: As for NBC, so far no sitcom pick-ups but word is Business Crowd or I.T. Crowd will be picked-up for the fall while the other is saved for mid-season. Lipshitz Saves the World is also in consideration. On the drama front, there is word that Lipstick Jungle has been picked-up, but for mid-season. So NBC could potentially have two series that starts with "Lip"...odd. NBC has announced that Scrubs will indeed return to the network for one final season for 18 episodes...maybe for the fall or another January start. Still no word on Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but Crossing Jordan is about as good as dead right now it seems.

FOX:
Drama Pick-Ups: Sarah Connor Chronicles, New Amsterdam, K-Ville
Sitcom Pick-Ups: Back To You, The Return of Jezebel James, Rules for Starting Over
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Nurses, The Apostle, Them, Canterbury's Law, Company Man
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Animals
No Shot: Supreme Courtships
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: 'Til Death
Comments: Fox has picked-up three sitcoms so far and three dramas. They are in contention to pick-up a few more dramas even and maybe an animated sitcom. It looks like Kirstie Allie's sitcom is dead and the drama Supreme Courtships was written off days ago. Fox will bring back 'Til Death for a second season to join the three new comedies on the new Wednesday comedy block with Bones either moving to Thursdays or Fridays.

The CW:
Drama Pick-Ups: Gossip Girls, Reaper
Sitcom Pick-Ups: None
Still Could Be Picked Up Dramas: Wild at Heart, World According to Barnes
Still Could Be Picked Up Sitcoms: Aliens in America, Hell on Earth, Eight Days a Week
No Shot: Spellbound
On the Bubble Current Series Renewals: One Tree Hill, Supernatural
Comments: No Veronica Mars has not been picked-up yet! I don't think it will be either. So far no sitcoms have been picked up but Aliens in America, Hell on Earth are close to...one will be for the fall, one will be for mid-season. It seems Girlfriends and The Game will return. Two new dramas so far have been officially picked-up, with two more possibly to follow. Look for Supernatural and One Tree Hill to return but with new nights. Everybody Hates Chris, America's Next Top Model and Smallville will be the only locks to stay in their current positions...and well WWE Smackdown!

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

Join us all next week (May 14-17) bright and early for the fall schedules. I assure you we will be among the first ones to post the fall line-ups for each network.

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog programming:

Welcome to another edition of mini-DVD reviews. This week we take a look at Paramount Home Entertainment's The Chipmunks Go to the Movies. The Chipmunks Go to the Movies is a continuation of Alvin and the Chipmunks from 1990 where the Chipmunks re-enact your favorite classic movies like Star Trek, Batman and Honey I Shrunk the Kids! See my mini-DVD review of The Chipmunks Go to the Movies:

Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Chipmunks Go to the Movies (Paramount, $14.99) brings three episodes from the short-lived 13 episode series. This is the fourth set from Paramount featuring the Chipmunks series. The last set was the Valentine's set set. Previously we had the Halloween and Christmas specials releases. Paramount has also released the Chipmunk feature film from 1987 on a separate set...so five sets really. This set has three episodes from the 1990 series featuring spoofs on Batman, Star Trek & Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The episode titles are "Star Wreck," "Batmunk," and "Funny...We Shrunk the Adults." Why not just bring all 13 on two discs or something? It doesn't make sense to me why just three episodes. Each episode runs 21:30 or so, but there are NO closing credits! Very strange! No chapter stops like previous Chipmunk sets. Packaging is simple and in the same line as the previous sets--a nice simple case with the disc inside with an insert for Chipmunks.com. The menu screen has Play All and Episode Selection. The video and audio are decent and very watchable.
I highly do recommend any fan to pick up this set. New fans might also want to see this hilarious take on popular films, but I am hoping Paramount (or any other studio) releases the series on DVD in order with the classic episodes, and not just select episodes from The Chipmunks years. I like the old style animation the series had on NBC from 1983-87...why aren't they coming to DVD first?? I want to see The C-Team episode with Mr. T again! So, hopefully we get the series on DVD from the start next, but for now go out and buy this set and watch Alvin as The Joker and more!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Alvin & the Chipmunks TV.com Page
Chipmunks.com

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: The CW; TV Land July Highlights; ION Television June Highlights

With potentially 4 or 5 veteran series leaving, it will be up to The CW development slate to find some hits. Say goodbye to favorites 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Reba and possibly Veronica Mars. Smallville and America's Next Top Model will carry the network.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Aliens in America (sitcom), Gossip Girl (drama), Reaper (drama), Spellbound (drama) and Wild at Heart (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: The World According to Barnes (drama) and Hell on Earth (sitcom).

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
5:00PM Various Repeats
6:00PM Various Repeats
7:00PM America's Next Top Model Encore
8:00PM Supernatural
9:00PM Spellbound (NEW)

Mondays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM Aliens in America (NEW)
9:00PM Girlfriends
9:30PM The Game

Tuesdays
8:00PM Wild at Heart (NEW)
9:00PM One Tree Hill / Pussycat Dolls

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM Gossip Girl (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Reaper (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM WWE Smackdown!

Comments: This is another tough prediction. Veronica Mars is probably dead and One Tree Hill & Supernatural will return I think. Mondays I think The CW will stick with the comedies, but add another single camera sitcom to go with Chris...possibly Aliens in America or the Kyla Pratt sitcom Hell on Earth. Girlfriends will probably have to come back to go with The Game, as both are traditional sitcoms, and CW has none in development. Tuesdays with Gilmore Girls out of the mix they could go with the Gossip Girl or Wild at Heart, I choose the latter and maybe One Tree Hill can move from Wednesday to Tuesday. Wednesday will of course have Next Top Model followed by Gossip Girl maybe. Thursday I put Reaper out of Smallville with Supernatural moving to Sundays leading into new drama Spellbound. You can say goodbye to favorites 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Reba, All of Us and Veronica Mars. And shows like Runaway. Reality hit Beauty and the Geek will probably be back for mid-season in between Top Model cycles. Pussycat Girls could start for the fall and delay One Tree Hill a bit.

Remember, next Thursday (May 17) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2006-07 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!

TV Land announced its July highlights today. The summer marathons (we announced last week) which will air 10pm-4:30am starting June 4, will continue in July through July 22. Starting July 23 the regular scheduled shows from 10p-4:30a will return. The other July highlights include The Jeffersons Go to Hawaii 4-part episode airing on the 4th of July to-be-continued-free from 8-10pm. Friday movies include the premieres of The Negotiator, Dragnet, and the Elvis movie Speedway.
TV Land Confidential returns for a second season starting July 11 airing Wednesdays a 10! Just when you thought you heard it all. TV Land Confidential brings you the stories behind your favorite TV shows from the people who were there: the stars, producers, network executives and others in the know. Sure, you’ve seen the shows. You know all the characters. You know all the storylines, but here are the stories you haven’t heard. TV Land Confidential reveals all the behind-the-scenes secrets! Some of the topics that will be covered this season include: How did What's Happening!! get a second chance at life and why didn't Larry Hagman appear in the Jeannie reunion movies? And how did Balki come up with that crazy accent on Perfect Strangers?
And for you What's Happening Now!! fans, as of now no new episodes are scheduled for July. We will get the entire first season in June on TV Land. Let's hope we get more new episodes soon after.

ION Television has announced its June schedule. There are no changes to the regular line-up. Remember when we said they will air the series Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker the week of May 28 at 10pm? It is now confirmed that it is only a week-long series. The finale will air Saturday, June 2 from 8-11pm. Diagnosis Murder will return to the weekday line-up after a week off on June 4 in its regular 9pm slot, shifting The Wonder Years back to its 10pm slot after a week at 9pm.
ION weekend movies include Superman: The Movie and The Principal. Joining ION on June 29 every Friday through Sunday from 7-11PM will be programming from the RHI Entertainment library. Classic TV movies, mini-series and new original movies will be airing. The TV movies for this month include Broken Vows and Lonesome Dove.
You will want to come back next month when we announce the ION July line-up. There is expected to be changes to the line-up with some new additions, including possibly fan favorite Perfect Strangers! Don't be ridiculous! Great stuff! We will have more on July when announced, and of course more RHI programming will air with even original new movies.
But for now click HERE for the June highlights!

Finally, To celebrate Mother's Day - Princess Cruises is reuniting television's favorite mothers and daughters to christen its newest cruise ship, Emerald Princess: Florence Henderson & Susan Olsen of The Brady Bunch and Marion Ross & Erin Moran of Happy Days! The TV icons will crack the bottle of champagne to christen the ship in Athens, Greece -- the birthplace of Mother's Day -- on May 13. Gavin McLeod, former "Captain Stubing" of The Love Boat, will officiate.

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: Fox; NBC Renews 'Lights', Picks-Up Four New Series

Fox still has the strongest show in television right now but it doesn't premiere in January. But we just got late word that they might ask the creators of American Idol to do a show about the search for the next American Band that will start in August or so and I'd guess go until November. This makes things more complicated to predict for Fox fall.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Back to You (sitcom)
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Minister of Divine (sitcom), The Return of Jezbel James (sitcom), The Life & Times of Tim (animated sitcom), The Apostles (drama), K-Ville (drama), The Sarah Connor Chronicles (drama)
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Company Man (drama), Nurses (drama) and Animals (animated sitcom)

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun / Animated Encores
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM The Life & Times of Tim (NEW)
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad

Mondays
8:00PM The Sarah Connor Chronicles (NEW)
9:00PM Prison Break

Tuesdays
8:00PM American Band (wt) (NEW!) / K-Ville (NEW)
9:00PM House

Wednesdays
8:00PM Back to You (NEW)
8:30PM 'Til Death
9:00PM American Band Results Show (NEW) / Minister of Divine (NEW)
9:30PM The Return of Jezbel James (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9:00PM Trading Spouses

Fridays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM The Apostles (NEW)

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
8:30PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Comments: Fox is once again tough to figure out. Besides pre-empting regular series for the baseball playoffs and World Series in October, they will probably launch some shows in mid-August, like their Monday dramas and now with word that they will do an American Idol type show for the fall featuring a search for bands, it makes things more complex. Of course 24 and American Idol itself will come back in January. 24 will probably be aired with the mid-season drama Company Man, while Sarah Connor and Prison Break take a break..if Sarah is a hit, who knows maybe they will move it or even keep it in the same slot. Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be tough now with the Band series coming. I think it will inherit the Idol slots (Tuesdays at 8 and Wednesdays at 9...if it even has a results show, but most likely it will). House will probably stay put Tuesdays at 9 with all-comedies on Wednesday. I think Bones will be either benched until mid-season or put to Fridays...I went with the latter. Thursdays I think Fox will remain with the same line-up of 5th Grader and Trading Spouses, or maybe they try a drama at 9...even though it is a death slot against the two highest rated dramas. And so many series are goners: Drive, Happy Hour, Justice, The O.C., Vanished, The Rich List, Wedding Bells, The Winner, & War at Home. I think Nanny 911 will return at some point. Like when anything fails fast. As for mid-season, maybe House can take a 6-week break or something so they can try the new drama Nurses after Idol in January or March? I don't think King of the Hill will really be needed but they will probably bring it back in January or so for the 7-8pm hour and Fox will also try the Adam Sandler animated comedy Animals for mid-season. Fox is the most hardest to predict I think with the many schedule "blocks" of months they have.

Remember, next Thursday (May 17) is the actual date when we will find out Fox's plans for the 2007-08 season. So, come on back next Thursday 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 The CW's upfront.

Monday we gave our prediction on NBC's upfront. We had Friday Night Lights on our schedule and sure enough NBC made it official today that the show will return to NBC for a second season. No word yet if it will be for the fall or January. NBC also announced it has picked-up at least four new dramas to air for the 2007-08 season: Journeyman, Bionic Woman, Chuck and Life. I'm sure two of them at least will be for the fall.

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.

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: ABC; Some ABC, NBC Notes; DVD News AND MUCH MORE!

The network with the most talked about pilots will be once again ABC! Again dramas will rule but the one comedy probably getting the most buzz is actually on ABC this year. Will ABC bring back any of their returning comedies? We shall see...
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com ABC 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Private Practice (drama, GA spin-off), Dirty Sexy Money (drama), Perfect Gentlemen (drama), Pushing Daisies (drama), Football Wives (drama), Marlowe (drama), Sam I Am (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Cashmere Mafia (drama), Eli Stone (drama), Cavemen (sitcom) and Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office (sitcom)

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00PM Perfect Gentlemen (NEW)

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
9:30PM Sam I Am (NEW!)
10:00PM Brothers & Sisters

Tuesdays
8:00PM Marlowe (NEW)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Dirty Sexy Money (NEW)

Wednesdays
8:00PM October Road
9:00PM Private Practice (NEW)
10:00PM Pushing Daisies (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Ugly Betty
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Football Wives (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM Men in Trees
9:00PM Boston Legal
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football

Comments: For the fall ABC is not likely to have a lot of sitcoms. One at most I think, and that is the most buzzed sitcom probably, Sam I Am, starring Christina Applegate. It will probably not debut until a few weeks after the season starts as ABC is likely to run a few two-hour Dancing with the Stars episodes...I think Brothers & Sisters would do well on this night after Stars those few weeks. I think ABC should keep Stars Mondays at 8 ad Tuesdays at 9, and launch a procedural Tuesday at 8. I would have preferred Women's Murder Club, but it doesn't look like that pilot will make it and Marlowe will. Tuesdays at 10 is what ABC should go after. Boston Legal is declining and I think a Friday move would be ideal...it would draw there, as ABC can make headways in the Tuesday at 10 slot with a high power project, so it is worth the risk. Maybe Dirty Sexy Money could take the hour away from the once unstoppable Law & Order: SVU. Wednesday will also be big if Private Practice does at least 75% of GA's numbers. Lost will return in February most likely for 16 straight weeks, maybe Wednesday at 8 would be good. ABC is likely going to air repeat free for most of its shows, so they can test new mid-season shows more than usual. Hope to see Cashmere Mafia, Eli Stone, etc. Will ABC get Scrubs? And do they really need it? The only thing I can see is Wednesdays at 8, followed by something like Knights of Prosperity or the new Cavemen, then Lost and then maybe Private Practice moving to 10PM for the rest of the season to avoid Idol? I guess ABC will worry about that when the time comes, first priority is the fall. Look for Football Wives to do big...they have to pick it up, I guarantee it will be a BIG hit. Series that will be canceled or are ending include: What About Brian, Six Degrees, The Nine, According to Jim, Show Me the Money, Day Break, The Great American Dream Vote, Big Day, In Case of Emergency, George Lopez and Help Me Help You. I will bring back on the bubble sitcoms Notes from the Underbelly & The Knights of Prosperity and try them somewhere. The Bachelor, Wife Swap & Supernanny will all return for mid-season or maybe December. Looking at the fall line-up, ABC has at least one strong show each night (such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy...their 9pm shows are very strong and they anchor the nights well) and hopefully they can build or maintain ratings with new shows such as Dirty Sexy Money and Perfect Gentlemen. It should be another ratings plus for ABC in the fall. They just have to find a way to maintain it for that little lull from December to February. I think they have a plan and will do well, by airing alternate series, movies, and specials in December and January.
Anyway, this season ABC had some decent hits like Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters and to some extent Men in Trees and October Road. But this coming year will be bigger I think. I see Private Practice, Football Wives and Dirty Sexy Money breaking out big time...maybe the way Lost, Desperate Housewives & Grey's Anatomy did in 2004-05 season and Perfect Gentleman will be also pretty big maybe.
Click here to see our detailed information on all of ABC's sitcom pilots. And here for ABC's drama pilots.

Remember, next Tuesday (May 15) is the actual date when we will find out ABC's plans for the 2007-08 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for a preview on CBS's upfront.

As for some network news, as we mentioned up top, ABC has decided to air 16 episodes next season of Lost. The series will end in May 2010, so ABC will air three more seasons of 16 straight episodes...that's the final 48 episodes. Everything will be answered and it will not just end without anyone knowing. There is a planned ending. Can't wait, but I surely want the time to go slow so we can enjoy it!
Meanwhile, NBC has picked up Medium for 2007-08, which is no surprise. And in immediate news, NBC has pulled The Real Wedding Crashers from Mondays at 10 and will move Law & Order: Criminal Intent there for its final two episodes of the season. Its current Tuesday at 9 slot will be encores now. So maybe it looks good for that show to return next season and the original will be on the bubble?

Warner Home Video had their annual chat last night at HTF. While there were no definite news on sitcoms, series such as Perfect Strangers & Family Matters are being evaluated for a release in 2008. Finally! Warner will consider season two's of Night Court, Growing Pains, but there are no plans yet. And they flat out said nothing in the works for sitcoms such as Hogan Family & Head of the Class. You can read the full chat transcript here. TVShowsonDVD.com has a good highlight item, if you want to read that instead.

Mother's Day is on Sunday, but the Biography Channel is celebrating the day all-week with bios on your favorite TV moms past and present! The week-long stunt started last night actually with a Biography on Julia Louise-Dreyfus, the mom on The New Adventures of Old Christine. The Bios air all week at 8pm ET/9pm PT: Tonight it is Carolyn Jones from The Addams Family; Wednesday it is Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched; Patrica Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond is Thursday; and Donna Reed of The Donna Reed Show is on Friday.

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: NBC; TV Land June Change

For NBC it will be all about starting the night off with a reality/game show to set up the dramas. NBC's Thursday comedy block is not what it used to be, but it has a cult audience and maybe another one of those shows will be launched this fall. NBC is looking for a drama hit as some of the older series are running out of gas.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com NBC 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Lipstick Jungle (drama), Journeyman (drama), Fort Pit (drama), and The I.T. Crowd (sitcom).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: The Mastersons of Manhattan (sitcom), Life (drama), and Bionic Woman (drama)

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

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

Mondays
8:00PM Deal or No Deal
9:00PM Heroes
10:00PM Journeyman (NEW)

Tuesdays
8:00PM 1 vs. 100
9:00PM Fort Pit (NEW)
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Wednesdays
8:00PM Thank God You're Here
9:00PM Medium
10:00PM Lipstick Jungle (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM My Name is Earl
8:30PM The I.T. Crowd (NEW)
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM 30 Rock
10:00PM ER

Fridays
8:00PM Deal or No Deal
9:00PM Friday Night Lights
10:00PM Las Vegas

Saturdays
8:00PM Dateline NBC
9:00PM Drama Repeats
10:00PM Drama Repeats

Comments: So what about Crossing Jordan, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order? I say they will be benched until January after the NFL ends and they will bring them to Sundays for a repeat free season...but maybe one will be a goner. The Apprentice might not be back until next winter either...I wish that would just die already. The Black Donnellys, Studio 60, Kidnapped, Identity, Raines, 20 Good Years, Andy Barker, and Real Wedding Crashers are all (or will be) canceled or ended. I really think NBC will only go with one comedy night once again, as we saw what happened to Wednesdays 8-9pm last year. Scrubs is probably gone from NBC, and on the way to ABC for next winter. There is a good chance that The Office will be an anchor show on Thursdays at 9, but I don't think it will do as well as it did at 8:30, but they have to move it to 9pm to try and launch another similar sitcom, as 30 Rock is not a strong show to anchor an hour. So NBC will be multi-camera sitcom-less in the fall, but I have them picking up The Mastersons of Manhattan for mid-season. Life and Bionic Woman could get orders for mid-season. Maybe another drama called Chuck could get in. NBC only has a total of eight drama projects, so that means maybe 1/2 or more could get picked up. NBC had a dismal season once again, but Heroes was a bright spot, as the high power project Studio 60 was a bust. Friday Night Lights was not a good either, but I see them bringing it back to try again. They can use Deal or No Deal on Fridays again as Sundays will be Football, and have 1 vs. 100 on another night, say Tuesday. Will NBC revamp the schedule they released at upfront once again after releasing it, like it did last year? We shall see.

Remember, next Monday (May 14) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's plans for the 2007-08 season. So, come on back next Monday 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 ABC's upfront.

TV Land has announced that it has changed its late night schedule starting for June. Starting June 4, each weeknight starting at 10pm will have three nightly mini-marathons lasting until 4:30am. Each marathon will consist of four episodes. Mondays will be The Cosby Show, Three's Company & Good Times; Tuesdays will be M*A*S*H, Sanford & Son, & The Jeffersons; Wednesdays will be Sanford & Son, M*A*S*H, & All in the Family; Thursdays will be The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy & Leave it to Beaver; and Fridays will be the Friday Movie, M*A*S*H & Star Trek. Other changes include all Andy Griffith Saturday from 9pm-1:10am with a reairing on Sundays from 7-10pm. So, this means the current 10pm-4:30am line-up will only be on Sundays. The only other change is at 4:30am everynight with The Jeffersons taking over for Sanford & Son. There are no other changes in the daytime and will remain the same as it is now.
What's Happening Now!!, which is airing weekdays at 7am, will get more new episodes starting May 29, but we will let you know when we learn more.
For now click HERE for the list of changes for this nightly marathon changes.

We shall be back with more news, if any.