Warner Bros. and AOL Team-Up for All-New Channel on the INTERNET!

Monday, November 14, 2005

Warner Bros. and AOL Team-Up for All-New Channel on the INTERNET!

Ever wanted a TV channel on the internet showcasing your favorite shows? Well, you are in luck starting in January! Warner Bros. and AOL have teamed up for an all-new channel available only on the internet. If you are a high speed user, this is great news for you! AOL.com will bring you 30 classic TV series with 10 episodes each at start in January. They want to expand to over 100 series by the end of 2006, that is over 3400 hours worth of programming! So you miss Alice, Perfect Strangers, Lois & Clark, Head of the Class, Growing Pains, on TV? Not to fear you can start watching them again in January on the internet whenever you want to! We hope if the downloads for the most popular ones that are not on DVD, such as Perfect Strangers and Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, are popular enough to warrant their own DVD season sets. All in all, this is just wonderful news. The service will be called "In2TV" -- these series will be offered in a new DVD quality video format called "AOL Hi-Q." This new technology, which builds upon AOL's industry-leading online video experience, enables high resolution, full-screen viewing. It will be made available free to any broadband user (along with standard-quality streaming). AOL.com is the first major portal to offer this kind of high quality video experience to consumers.

In2TV will provide AOL's advertisers with compelling video inventory for instream broadband advertising as well as opportunities for sponsorships and accompanying banner ads. Video ads, 15-second and 30-second spots, will be limited to a total of 1-2 minutes within each 30-minute episode as compared to 8 minutes of advertising on broadcast television.

They will create six channels. Here they are with details:

LOL TV: Laugh out Loud with this channel that will feature Welcome Back Kotter, the Emmy-nominated series that launched the career of John Travolta and outperformed The Mary Tyler Moore Show and 60 Minutes. Even its theme song by John Sebastian climbed to #1. Fans will also find Chico and the Man, where Freddie Prinze broke new ground for Latinos on TV alongside Emmy-winner Jack Albertson, as well as Perfect Strangers, featuring the foibles of cousins Balki and Larry, in a show that helped to establish ABC's "TGIF" lineup and ranked #1 in every time period it aired. Plus, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, an ABC hit which ranked #1 in its time period on Tuesdays and again when it moved to Fridays, as well as Head of the Class, which debuted on ABC as a Top 10 sitcom.
Dramarama TV: This channel will showcase great dramatic series ranging from the five-time Emmy-nominated Sisters, starring Emmy winner Sela Ward, to Falcon Crest, one of primetime's juiciest soaps that was a Friday night staple on CBS for nine seasons. Drama fans will also find Scarecrow and Mrs. King, the Golden Globe-nominated and Emmy-winning series co-starring Bruce Boxleitner and former "Angel" Kate Jackson, along with TV icon Robert Urich in Spenser: For Hire, which was so beloved by fans that it spun off four made-for-cable movies. Plus, Eight is Enough, the Emmy-nominated series starring Dick Van Patten that ranked in ABC's Top 10 for season after successful season.

Toontopia TV: Top-rated animation comes to life with Beetlejuice, the animated adaptation of Tim Burton's hit movie that ran successfully for multiple seasons on both Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. The channel will also feature animated favorites such as Daytime Emmy-winning Freakazoid, as well as fellow Daytime Emmy-winners Pinky and the Brain and Histeria!, both executive produced by the legendary Steven Spielberg. Plus, there's The New Adventures of Batman, featuring the voices of Adam West and Burt Ward from the live action series.
Heroes and Horrors TV: Sci-fi and horror fans will be riveted by this channel that includes Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which was a Top 10 program on ABC for three seasons, starring Dean Cain and Golden Globe-winner Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives, along with every episode of Babylon 5, the Emmy Award-winning syndicated science fiction series so popular that stations aired it twice a day. Plus, there's Freddy's Nightmares hosted by the maniacal Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), the star of the hit film series "Nightmare on Elm Street," and the adventures of Wonder Woman starring Lynda Carter, which was consistently a Top 20 series across two networks, airing on both ABC and then on CBS. Plus V, where resistance fighters must stop "Visitors" from invading Earth.

Rush TV: This channel will feature action-adventure favorites such as La Femme Nikita, which enjoyed an enormous cult following as witnessed by over 300 websites dedicated to its star, Peta Wilson, and the show. Fans will also find the Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated series Kung Fu, which dominated Thursday nights in its broadcast run catapulting ABC to #1 in the time period with key demos. In addition, fans can re-discover The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, a fan favorite that built its time period on FOX and went on to be a Top 10 series on TNT for three consecutive seasons. Other series in Rush TV will include 2001's The Fugitive, Dark Justice and more.

Vintage TV: This channel will feature Growing Pains, the Emmy-winning sitcom that lasted an incredible seven seasons, turning Kirk Cameron into a teenage heartthrob (receiving 10,000 fan letters a month) and featuring a young actor by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio. Plus, there's Alice, which ranks among an elite group of sitcoms to air for nine successful seasons. Honored with multiple Golden Globe Awards, it consistently ranked as a Top 10 network series on broadcast and attracted a broad audience of both men and women. Plus, fans will also find F Troop, which became a top rated hit on Nick@Nite after a successful run on ABC, as well as Emmy-nominated Maverick, which was voted "The Best Western of the 1950s" by TV Guide. Other Vintage TV series will include fan favorite The F.B.I.

Read the entire press release, FULL list of the 30 initial shows, and what Warner/AOL have planned for these shows HERE. This is one of those must reads.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 30

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Goes to a Dog Track" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank attempts to win big with an old business associate at a West Virginia dog track; Dennis and Dee lose more than their shirts to gambling addiction; Mac and Charlie learn about a simpler way of life.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 28)

Wednesday, July 30

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about comedy special Marc Maron: Panicked on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) and Alison Brie (Community/GLOW) - Dave and Alison on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm. They also talk about Together on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about The Gilded Age on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Sam talks about The Bad Guys 2 on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - NBC's Today catches up with James in the 9am hour.
Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand) - Liza talks about The Naked Gun on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) - Manny talks about Freakier Friday on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie opens up about her healthy lifestyle journey and prioritizing mental health on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Blossom/Brotherly Love/Run of the House/Melissa & Joey), Matthew Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Drexell's Class/Walter & Emily/Brotherly Love/Boy Meets World) and Andy Lawrence (Tom/Brotherly Love/Oliver Beene) - The Lawrence brothers talk about their Brotherly Love Podcast Live event in Las Vegas on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.