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

Sunday, August 30

The Simpsons - "Guess Who's Coming to Skinner" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Principal Skinner discovers that one of his students is a runaway who has been living in the school library, he has to take the snarky, difficult kid into his home and is forced into a role he never expected or wanted -- being a parent.

Animal Control - "Squirrels and Fat Cats" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Frank uncovers Emily and Shred's secret romance during a break-in at city supply; Victoria and Patel confront his daughter's school bully.

Universal Basic Guys - "Down the Shore" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Hoagies go down the shore; Tammy tries to make amends with her estranged sister.

Grimsburg - "Crystal Ball" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Flute goes for surgery to have a second testicle put in, he finds an unexpected side effect.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 24)

Saturday, August 29 and August 30

Amy Poehler (Duncanville/Parks and Recreation) and Will Ferrell (The Hawk/The Office) - Amy and Will bond over their box office bomb on a repeat of The Weekend View on ABC News Live at 7:30am.

New on DVD and Blu-ray