ABC Slates Specials for Top 3 Shows; VH1 Sitcom Starts Slow

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

ABC Slates Specials for Top 3 Shows; VH1 Sitcom Starts Slow

ABC has booked three new specials for Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Lost for the end of April. The specials will take a look back at the current season for each show in clip format. All three specials will air in the regular time periods. The specials are: Desperate Housewives: The More You Know, The Jucier It Gets airing Sunday, April 23; Grey's Anatomy: Under Pressure airing also on Sunday, April 23; and Lost: Reckoning airing Wednesday, April 26. After these specials the shows will be all-new for May sweeps, wrapping up the season.

VH1's first ever sitcom So noTORIous starring Tori Spelling drew 1.1 million viewers overall at 10 p.m. for its debut episode and another 823,000 viewers tuned in for the second episode at 10:30 p.m. The numbers are pale in comparison with those of recent VH1 hits like Flavor of Love, which wrapped its season to 6 million viewers last month and ranked as the first quarter's No. 1 nonsports basic cable show in adults 18-49 Variety reports. So noTORIous also lost steam from its lead-ins -- new episodes of Surreal Life at 9 and Hogan Knows Best at 9:30 -- which each drew 2.1 million viewers. On the flip side, So noTORIous posted a 0.4/1 in 18-49, up 50% over VH1's current primetime average in the 18-49 demo. 10 p.m. competition from ABC's Grey's Anatomy (22 million viewers overall, 9.9 national rating/24 share in 18-49) seems to have overwhelmed the debut.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, January 1

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Tie Breaker and a Huge Mistake" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tensions rise in the tire store when new co-owners Georgie and Ruben realize they can’t agree on anything, and Jim struggles to find his purpose now that he’s retired.

Ghosts - "Ghostfellas" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jay angers a local restaurateur when he uses a recipe at his restaurant that was given to him by Pete. Series star Rose McIver directed the episode.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 29)

Thursday, January 1

Will Arnett (Murderville/Arrested Development/Flaked/The Millers/Up All Night/Running Wilde) - Catch Will on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale/God's Favorite Idiot/American Housewife/The Odd Couple/About a Boy) - Leslie appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kristin Chenoweth (Stumble/Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - George talks Jay Kelly with Michael Strahan on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.