ABC Upfront 2006-07; Nick@Nite Summer Marathons, TV Land Schedule Change

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

ABC Upfront 2006-07; Nick@Nite Summer Marathons, TV Land Schedule Change

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

ABC 2006-07

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

Mondays
8:00PM Wife Swap
9:00PM The Bachelor / Supernanny (midseason)
10:00PM What About Brian

Tuesdays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars / Set for the Rest of Your Life
9:00PM Let's Rob... (NEW)
9:30PM Help Me Help You (NEW)
10:00PM Boston Legal

Wednesdays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results / George Lopez & According to Jim
9:00PM Lost
10:00PM The Nine (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Big Day (NEW)
8:30PM Notes from the Underbelly (NEW)
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Six Degrees (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM Betty The Ugly (NEW)
9:00PM Men in Trees (NEW)
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM ABC Saturday Night College Football

Mid-Season:

Additionally to Supernanny & Set for Your Life, ABC will add the following to mid-season: new sitcom In Case of Emergency; new dramas Day Break, Traveler; and new reality entries Just For Laughs, Greg Behrendt's Wake-Up Call. ABC will air returning sitcoms George Lopez & According to Jim after the first installment of Dancing with the Stars' season is over in December or January.
Lost is expected to air in two big chunks without repeats. So, maybe one new drama for January will air for 6 weeks or so in its time-slot until it returns (as of now, Day Break is scheduled).
Discuss the ABC line-up here.

For the third year in a row, I had a pleasure to watch ABC's upfront presentation live today from 4-6pm ET. It was interesting and the clips for most of the shows look promising. The sitcoms all look smart and well written (all single camera). The dramas look like they can become big hits, especially Six Degrees, Brothers & Sisters and The Nine. William Shatner was on hand mocking last year's Marc Cherry dance at the upfront. Then all the men stars of ABC from Matthew Fox, Tom Bergeron, Jim Belushi and more came by. Shatner introduced the comedies portion of ABC's roster. Then Jimmy Kimmel came by and was hilarious. He introduced the alternative series ABC has. There was a bet between Kimmel and ABC head Steve McPherson on which Dancing with the Star would be booted first--Kenny Mayne or Master P? McPherson lost, so he had to do a dance with Edyta (professional dancer) live on stage. Then the cast of Grey's Anatomy introduced the dramas portion of ABC's roster. And finally the six ladies of Desperate Housewives closed the presentation.
Some answers to some questions: Yes, Commander in Chief is canceled, but ABC could bring back the show in two-hour movie format with the entire cast. Invasion is canceled, and ABC said they loved the show so much and it is too bad it never caught on in the ratings. The CW could still pick it up, so fans of the show still have some life. And mid-season drama What About Brian will return next fall. The show is from J.J. Abrams, who will have three shows on the fall lineup for ABC, but the series didn't do too well in the ratings (it did grow in each outing its last three airings). Though, a right lead-in was not provided. In the fall The Bachelor will be the lead-in, so that will help a bit. Reality show American Inventor will be back sometime next season.

Nick@Nite is adding NewsRadio and A Different World to its line-up in July. Both will not get Nick@Nite-type launch marathons, because they will be incorporated right into their annual summer marathons. NewsRadio will air Monday nights from 2-6am and A Different World will air Wednesdays from 10pm-2am. They also will get regular airings on weekends, Different at 10 p.m. and NewsRadio at 4am (ouch). The rest of the summer marathon line-up can be found here and details of reality original series Hi-Jinks' second season is there, too.
Meanwhile, sister station TV Land has not yet announced its July line-up (only change expected is 227 joining the line-up), but they made some huge schedule changes that will start this coming Monday (May 22)! The weekday line-up from 8am-2pm is completely different, as is the evening 5-8pm line-up, and some other slots later in the night. The Munsters & Green Acres get the best out of these changes, as both will have three airings. This schedule will be in effect in June too, but Benson will be the only change on June 5 as it joins the line-up at 11 p.m. You can view ALL the May 22 schedule changes by clicking here.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 29

St. Denis Medical - "This Place Is Our Everything" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A storm causes chaos in the Emergency Department; Alex is torn between an obligation to her husband and her co-workers' needs; Joyce goes on a spending spree with found money.

Night Court - "Blood Moonstruck" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
On the night of the blood moon, Abby and Gurgs help Julianne with a surprising romantic prospect; Wyatt finds himself in hot water when he fills in as Dan's replacement.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Adjust Your Crown, Sis" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Ella sponsors the membership of the new wife of a longtime dea-con into her social club, Incomparable Crowns, she begins to suspect something may be going on behind closed doors in the new marriage.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Ay-Bay-Bay" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Leah wants to try for another baby, but when Jeremy plays hard to get, Leah hatches a plan to seduce him; Mr. Brown has to babysit Kimberly's grandson who appears to be the perfect angel, until he reveals himself to be a mischievous handful.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 28)

Tuesday, April 29

Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Watching Ellie/Seinfeld/Day by Day) - Catch Julia on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Mo Amer (Mo/Ramy) - Mo is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Mary Lynn Rajskub (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/How to Be a Gentleman/Veronica's Closet/The Larry Sanders Show) - Mary appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tina Fey (The Four Seasons/Only Murders in the Building/30 Rock) - Tina stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Tim Bagley (The Great North/Teachers/Grace and Frankie/Web Therapy/Stril Mall) and Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Tim and Andy are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Paul Feig (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/The Louie Show/The Jackie Thomas Show/Dirty Dancing) - Paul talks about Another Simple Favor on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda talks about the Wanda Sykes: Please & Thank You Tour on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) - Ed talks about SNAFU: The Definitive Guide to History’s Greatest Screwups on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. He will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Essence joins Tamron Hall for a candid conversation on everything from her recent abstinence journey to her career longevity as a working mom, so check your local listings.
Bill Bellamy (Mr. Box Office/Men, Women & Dogs/Cousin Skeeter) - Bill will be on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley drops by Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel talks about his CBS game show, Flip Side, and shares stories from his memoir, Growing Up Urkel, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Erika Alexander (Run the World/Living Single/The Cosby Show) and Kim Coles (Living Single/The Geena Davis Show) - Erika and Kim join Sherri to discuss their latest projects, so check your local listings.
Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - NBC's Today catches up with Joe in the 9am hour.
Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) and Erika Henningsen (The Four Seasons) - Will and Erika talk about The Four Seasons on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Harry Hamlin (Movie Stars) - Harry appears on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.