SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The WB Will End in a Big Bang; More 4th of July Weekend Stunts

The WB will sign off the air forever on Sunday, Sept. 17, by rebroadcasting the pilot episodes of several of its signature series. In addition to the pilots, The WB plans to fill its final night with a bevy of classic promos and image campaigns from The WB's 11-year history. There'll also be a final tribute reel featuring the hundreds of actores/actresses who've appeared on WB series over the years. Because the final bow will take place on a Sunday -- a night on which The WB airs programming from 5-10 p.m. -- their blowout bye-bye will be a full five hours:

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2006
The WB's Final Bow
Pilot Episodes From Classic WB Series
5:00 p.m. Felicity
6:00 p.m. Angel
7:00 p.m. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2 hours)
9:00 p.m. Dawson's Creek

Some shows that would seem a natural for the last night -- such as Smallville and 7th Heaven -- won't appear because they'll live on at the merged WB-UPN, which is called the CW. The CW premieres September 18.
Discuss this final tribute here. Some of the hot topics are why they're not airing Charmed.

So far we have given you the following 4th of July marathon details: TV One, FX, TNT, TBS, Boomerang, and ABC. If you missed those, browse through our June 2006 archives. Today we will dulge out a few more! We gave you details a few months back I believe that Nick@Nite will have an all-night Roseanne "cookout" on Sunday, July 2--so that is another reminder for you.
Probably the best and biggest marathon this holiday weekend will go to the Sci-Fi Channel. They will shelve out a 3-day marathon of the classic Twilight Zone! Tune in starting Sunday, July 2 at 9 a.m. through 6 a.m., then the next day from 8 a.m. to 4 a.m. and on the 4th of July from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Now that is a marathon! Another marathon this 4th of July is USA Network's Monk marathon July 4 itself! Catch the goode detective from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Hallmark Channel will head to the sunset as they go back west with Bonanza and Rawhide. Bonanza will air on July 3 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Rawhide on July 4 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ABC Family will celebrate the holiday tomorrow (July 1) with a Grounded for Life marathon. Celebrate your 4th of July weekend with the “Proud to be a Finnerty” Grounded for Life marathon by reliving all the fireworks, fun and Finnerty family moments, Saturday, July 1 (12:00PM-12:00AM ET/PT). Follow Sean and Claudia’s unique problem solving methods and parenting skills as the Finnerty’s discover that too large a dose of family pride can prove to be beneficial and detrimental.
Before I get any emails, no, TV Land will not have any marathons this holiday weekend. But you can get ready for its new show 227 weekday afternoons at 12:30 p.m. starting July 3!
Tomorrow we will give info on G4, Style, Bravo and even BET. So come on back and join us before your family cookout!

Fox, Warner Shows, MTV Network Shows, etc. on iTunes, Peer Impact, Guba; 3 Pieces on 'The Office'

Video-sharing site Guba has paired with Warner Bros. to distribute licensed Warner Bros. content online. The site, through its "Guba Premium" section, has begun offering more than 200 Warner Bros. movie titles including Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck, as well as the TV programs Babylon 5, The Dukes of Hazard, The Flintstones, and The Jetsons. The content can be downloaded and played on computers, streamed to a TV or loaded to portable video devices. The price starts at $1.99 per movie title for unlimited viewing within 24 hours. They can also be bought. Older movies will go for $9.99 and new movies, released the same day as their DVDs hit stores, will go for $19.99. TV shows will go for $1.79 an episode. For more information on Guba, click here.

Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. will make select movies and TV shows available for download through a peer-to-peer content delivery network run by Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based Wurld Media Inc. Peer Impact's video offering, launched today, is the availability of television episodes for rental from both the Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. libraries. This unprecedented model allows consumers to download television shows such as The Loop, Firefly, The Dukes Of Hazzard and Babylon 5 for a full 24-hour viewing period with prices as low as 99 cents per episode. Movie rentals are also available and include current and library titles for $2.99 to $3.99 through the service's new version of software platform, known as Peer Impact 3.0, which adds a video component to the already diverse content offering previously available. For more information and to download Peer Impact 3.0, click here.

MTV Networks and Apple(R) today announced that new television programming from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV and The N is now available on the iTunes(R) Music Store (http://www.itunes.com). iTunes now offers over 150 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod(R). MTV Networks' programming has been a huge success on iTunes since debuting earlier this year, with Comedy Central's South Park alone selling over one million episodes.
Following are some of the shows that will be available:
TV Land: Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, hosted by legendary comedian, producer and director David Steinberg, is a one-on-one comedy forum where celebrated performers including Larry David, Martin Short, Bob Newhart, Jon Lovitz and George Lopez open up about their personal lives and careers.
Nick at Nite: Fatherhood, the animated comedy series based on Bill Cosby's best-selling book of the same name; Hi-Jinks, the hit hidden-camera series where adults play good-natured pranks on kids of all ages.
Spike TV: Blade: The Series, the network's first original scripted action-adventure/drama, builds upon New Line Television/Marvel Studio's successful movie trilogy and brings the main character into new story lines. The two-hour premiere episode will be offered for free, exclusively on iTunes today through July 11. TNA: iMPACT, the wrestling alternative that delivers high-risk athletic entertainment, integrating well-known superstars with the best up- and-coming talent. Disorderly Conduct, an adrenaline-packed series with outrageous video footage pulled from police precincts across the country.

And in more iTunes news, USA Network will get in the game, too. USA Network, in partnership with Lionsgate, the industry's leading independent film entertainment studio, have made available episodes of The Dead Zone for purchase on iTunes. This is the first of myriad platforms being considered jointly for electronic sell-through opportunities around the hit series, which debuted its fifth season Sunday, June 18. The show's season five episodes will be made available for purchase on iTunes the day after their broadcast premieres.

NBC's hit comedy The Office (Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:00 p.m. ET, moving to 8:30-9:00 p.m. ET in the fall) goes digital when the first of 10, original stand-alone webisodes premieres on NBC.com on Thursday, July 13. The serialized, weekly arc will star the accounting staff of the Dunder Mifflin paper company in an edge-of-your-ergonomically-designed-seat whodunit. In the first of 10 webisodes, each about two-three minutes, the Dunder Mifflin accountants -- Angela (Angela Kinsey), Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) and Oscar (Oscar Nuez) -- discover that $3000 is missing from the Scranton office, and no one is above suspicion as the crack team of numbers crunchers tries to solve the mystery -- before turning on each other. Rainn Wilson, Melora Hardin, Phyllis Smith, Kate Flannery, Leslie David Baker and David Denman also star.

NBC and YouTube, Inc. announced a strategic partnership that will combine NBC's quality programming with YouTube's vast audience to enhance the entertainment experience on YouTube while engaging viewers in innovative new ways to promote NBC's Fall program lineup and other preferred shows over the next year. The agreement also includes an integrated, cross-promotional advertising relationship on the YouTube service and significant on-air promotion provided by NBC. Under the terms of the agreement, NBC will create an official NBC Channel on YouTube to house its Fall Preview area with exclusive clips to promote NBC's The Office. In addition, over the next year, NBC will upload several video presentations and longform promos per week to the NBC Channel on YouTube from primetime and late-night programs like Saturday Night Live, The Office, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. YouTube will also promote NBC's videos throughout the site.
Additionally, NBC will launch a contest for its hit comedy The Office where people can submit their own creative 20-second promotional videos to NBC's YouTube Group (www.youtube.com/theoffice). NBC will publicize the campaign on air regularly during the first three weeks of the contest, encouraging YouTube users to enter. User-generated videos must be compelling and entertaining and create interest for potential viewers to watch The Office. Examples can be seen in the NBC YouTube Group. The contest runs June 26 through July 21. The winning video will air within the network broadcast of The Office during the month of August. NBC will also offer a "how-to" video featuring writer-producer Bill Lowery, who normally writes and produces all the network's promos for The Office.

Yes, even more news The Office...well, sort of. The French have their own version, Variety reports. But Gallic paybox Canal Plus is taking its cue from the BBC for its first fictional exploration of the workplace. It has adapted Brit cult comedy The Office by helmer-scribe duo Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Gervais stars in the Brit version as David Brent, the oily boss of a firm that sells paper in a dreary suburb. With Gallic workers' aversion to authority and readiness to strike, French labor relations seem rich with comic possibilities. Le Bureau began airing May 25 in a 10:50 p.m. slot, and has garnered respectable, if not sensational, numbers. It will reach a wider audience when the paybox moves it to a Sunday 8:30 p.m. unencrypted slot this summer. Film subsid Studio Canal will release a DVD of the six-episode series in August. A half-season of three episodes based on original French material is slated to shoot in November.

Nick@Nite Loves 'Roseanne' Even More; More on i network's Warner Bros. Deal

Are you a Roseanne fan? I hope you are because Monday and Thursday nights will be all Roseanne basically on Nick@Nite. Starting tomorrow the 11:30 p.m. slot of The Cosby Show will be Roseanne on Monday and Thursday, the other nights it still will be Cosby Show. So, this now means you can watch Roseanne non-stop from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on these two nights. This change will last until July 17, which is when Nick@Nite's annual summer marathons start. Nick@Nite July discussion is here.

Yesterday we mentioned at least 10 Warner Bros. owned series coming to the i Network (AKA: PAX TV). Today we have learned that there will be at least a dozen series...in fact it is a little over a dozen. I don't know the remaining shows, Warner Bros./i network will not reveal those. At launch time this August, the 10 initial series mentioned will not all premiere. I'm guessing two or three will be left off the line-up for a later date. What about the time periods? Initially it looks like the i Network will air the classic series from 6 to 11 p.m. weekdays. I guess if the ratings are good they will finally cut back on paid programming, which airs 12am-6pm, and expand the hours. The Warner Bros. owned movies will air on weekends in primetime. They will release the launch schedule for these Warner Bros. shows in about two weeks (mid-July)--and we will be the first ones I'm sure letting you know. So, come on back...but also head on over to our message board where it seems this story has been the talk of the town!

"i" Acquires Classic Warner Bros. Shows Starting in August, to Include Perfect Strangers, Mama's Family, and More!; TV Land Honors Aaron Spelling

The channel formerly known as PAX-TV, which of course is now known as "i", just announced they have struck a MAJOR television deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution! Starting this August, they have rights to many classic TV series. They have the broadcast rights to a number of Warner Bros.' most popular television series and movies. Series include classic shows such as Welcome Back, Kotter, Chico and the Man, Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Mama's Family, Alice and Wonder Woman, and more recent hits including The Wonder Years, Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers and The Wayans Bros, among others.
'i" will kick off its Warner Bros. movie schedule with Superman III on Saturday, July 1, coinciding with the weekend's motion picture release of Superman Returns. "i" will begin scheduling the Warner Bros. television product in August. We will have complete details on this line-up when it is available. So you HAVE to keep coming back, because we will hunt it down for you. To discuss this WONDERFUL (and quite frankly, shocking) news, click here.

Meanwhile, TV Land announced it will pay tribute to the late Aaron Spelling both on-air and online. The on-air tribute will consist of an I Love Lucy episode which he guest starred, airing Friday morning at 9:30am and 4:30am. Also, they will air the TV Land original TV Land Moguls: The '70s from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, July 1. That original showcases Spelling's classic shows from that decade.
The online tribute at tvland.com will have a lot of clips. Clips from the TV Land Awards, TV Land Moguls, I Love Lucy, and an interview TV Land did in 2005. For complete details on the tribute click here.

TV One's 4th of July Marathon, New Schedule; Jim Belushi's New Book!

TV One will celebrate the 4th of July with four different marathons. On Saturday, July 1, you'll see a classic Shaft movies marathon. Then on Sunday, July 2 head back to the church with Deacon Frye and company in the '80s sitcom Amen! Get some Monday laughs and laugh the day away with the many faces of Martin. Catch Martin all-day on Monday, July 3 starting at 10am. Then TV one launches new acquisition Wanda at Large on Independence Day itself! Wanda Sykes stars as a comic turned TV reporter, with the marathon starting at 10am.
Then starting July 5, TV One brings you a schedule change with new shows from their Warner Bros. deal. All the shows will not be premiering at once, but you'll get a taste with Wanda at Large, For Your Love, Fastlane and the short-lived sitcom Minor Adjustments. Taking a seat this month are Roc, Boston Public, and City of Angels. Roc was renewed, so fans of that show do not need to worry--it'll be back soon. For COMPLETE details on these schedule changes, including a new Saturday evening sitcom block, click here.


Actor Jim Belushi now has a book titled Real Men Don't Apologize. SitcomsOnline.com had a chance to receive a copy and boy we sure are happy we got it! It is a HILARIOUS read. It is a quick 272-page read and the list price is just $21.95. This book has all what Jim probably can't say on TV on his hit sitcom According to Jim. The book is like his sitcom and much more though. He talks about his late brother John Belushi in detail. The book is divided into three "books" -- Book 1: How to be a Man, According to Jim; Book 2: Dating, According to Jim; and Book 3: The Book of Love, According to Jim. Each "book" has 5 chapters each. Oh, yes Jim says his editor said he needed a conclusion, which he titles "My Editor Says I Need One of These." You'll love Jim's Sex Glossary at the end of Book 2. Well...maybe Marv Albert, Woody Allen and Bill Clinton won't love it. Here are some excerpts from the book I just loved:
- "Making love is what you do with your wife while you're thinking about CNN's Heidi Collins."
- Number one rule of seduction: "Call the smart ones pretty, and the pretty ones smart."
- "If you think she's cheating on you, then she is-and she'll never admit it."
I'd show you more great excerpts, but we don't use language like that here. Well, anyway, this book is a must have for all men I think. Women you can buy it, too, to see how us men think. You'll be amazed how much this book will teach you about women. This book is like his TV show According to Jim, I think. Of course, with more tips and to the point.
Publishers Weekly says, he frequently refers to his and his friends' failings, advising readers not to make the same mistakes, and while this isn't the pinnacle of relationship-and-lifestyle books, Belushi offers more worthwhile advice than you'd think.
Be sure to order your copy today--because you're missing out on a great read if you haven't read it already. You'll laugh and be very interested because...well, Jim is 100% correct in what he is saying! Visit www.JimBelushi.ws for more info on the book.
And don't forget to catch Jim Belushi in the According to Jim marathon tomorrow from 8 to 10 p.m. on ABC and another mini-marathon on Tuesday, July 4 from 8 to 10 p.m. on ABC! You can catch Jim in its regular 8-9 p.m. slot on ABC Tuesdays all summer long starting July 11.

Summer Week 4 Sitcom Ratings

Dog days of summer have begun. Week 4 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.99 million, good for first in its slot--up a bit from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 5.96 million, down from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 8.05 million tuned for an encore, down from last week.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 7.13 million, down over 1 million viewers from last week's repeat.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were all under 2 million this week, while last week they were all over.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - Aired before the NBA game in most markets, but after the game out west. Did 4.62 million last week, only 3.97 million this week. Get ready for a four-episode marathon this Tuesday featuring classic episodes!
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 5.08 million, up a bit from previous week.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 4.21 million, slightly up from last week.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) 2 episodes - Aired at 8 and 9, both did decent enough with 5.35 and 5.21 million.
  
• The Office (NBC) 2 episodes - Struggled at 8:30 and 9:30 with 4.3 and 4.06 million, down a lot from lead-in.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.59 million at 8 p.m., but jumped to 4.42 million at 8:30, as it beat The Office.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.62 million and the others ranged from 1.66-1.86 million--ouch, though that was up from last week's range.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. It is sad when repeats of 24 beat you, as they have never repeated well at all.
  
• Hope & Faith (ABC) - Two episodes averaged only 2.8/5 rating...next week it is replaced by dram Kyle XY--tune in for something original!

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8, Fox with Malcolm in the Middle at 7 followed by the animated comdies from 7:30 to 9:30 and a Fox airing of the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 9:30.

SitcomsOnline Remembers TV Legend Aaron Spelling; DVD News Regarding Sony and VEI

Mr. Aaron Spelling, the amazing producer, passed away yesterday at his home after suffering a stroke on Sunday. Mr. Spelling has produced over 200 movies and TV shows. He is probably one of the greatest TV producers of all time, if not the greatest. He got his first major hit in 1963 for the ABC crime drama Burke's Law. Then the hits kept rolling with Daniel Boone and The Mod Squad. The Mod Squad was the first series in the Danny Thomas/Aaron Spelling umbrella. Unfortuantely they didn't have another hit in that production company. They made some TV movies, though. Then the '70s began and Aaron Spelling was just about to become a giant. He signed an exclusive contract with ABC. He joined Leonard Goldberg to form Spelling-Goldberg Productions. They produced a lot of TV movies for ABC. Hit shows they produced were The Rookies, SWAT, Starsky & Hutch and Family. In 1976 they made two big hits, the TV series Charlie's Angels and the big TV movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble starring John Travolta. Then more ABC hit TV shows came a long such as The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. By then it was like whatever they produced was a hit. Next came Vega$. They finally found two series that didn't work Friends (no, not that one!) in 1979 and The San Pedro Beach Bums in 1978. But they quickly rebounded with a hit called Hart to Hart. His ABC success continued in 1981 with the primetime soap Dynasty. More hits rolled-in as T.J. Hooker with William Shatner and Heather Locklear came along, along with Matt Houston. He tried to produce their first sitcom in 1983 called At Ease, but it didn't work. But he produced another hit drama that year for ABC called Hotel. In 1984 he didn't find success with Glitter and Finders of Lost Love--both lasted one season. Dynasty continued to do well and 1985 they spun-off The Colbys. In 1986 he tried again to do a sitcom and brought in TV legend Lucille Ball to star in Life with Lucy. It also didn't last. With Dynasty ending and Spelling couldn't find any more hits, as Nightingales failed in 1989, he tried movies, such as Soapdish. Then he found success on another network, Fox, in Beverly Hills, 90210...a teen drama. At the same an era of his hits for ABC ended, a new one was born with teen dramas. In 1992 he found another hit for Fox called Melrose Place. That same year he launched three other dramas, but they all didn't last. In 1994, he tried to relaunch Burke's Law on CBS, but it only lasted a season. That same year he launched two other dramas, such as Models Inc., but they didn't last. With Melrose and 90210 still going strong, Spelling still had two hits at least. University Hospital also didn't work. In 1996 he pitched two dramas for the new WB network. Savannah and 7th Heaven. 7th Heaven became a hit, while Savannah was gone. Also that year he launched a drama for NBC called Malibu Shores and Kindred for Fox but they didn't last. It seemed like he was having a lot of failed dramas...something unheard of for him, but at least a lot of his shows made it on the air! He tried his game on an NBC daytime soap next called Sunset Beach. It was pretty popular and lasted 2 years. He tried to launch other hits such as a revival of The Love Boat, this time on UPN, but it lasted just a season. Pacific Palisades, Buddy Faro, Rescue 77 and Safe Harbor didn't work either. Over the years he produced big screen movies for his past shows such as Charlie's Angels and The Mod Squad. He procuded many reunion movies for Hart to Hart. He found his next hit in 1998 with Charmed. After that he tried a lot of series that didn't work in the ratings: Titans, All Souls, Deep Cover, Kingpin, 10-8, Summerland, Queens Supreme, and Clubhouse. Yes, the man was made of magic. It is unheard of to have all these shows even make it on the air. It seemed in the the 70s and 80s all his shows that made it on the air were hits. In the 90s and now he had his fair share of hits, too. He still has 7th Heaven on the air, but Charmed ended its run this past season. Let's hope TV Land pays tribute to him in someway. He even guest starred on an episode of Burke's Law back in 1964 on the episode "Who Killed Julian Buck?" That would be nice to see. He was also on a 1955 episode of I Love Lucy, so TV Land could air that, too. He wrote the episode of The Rookies titled "Blue Christmas." TV Land should air that, too. So, if I were them I'd air that episode of Burke's Law, I Love Lucy, The Rookies...along with his major hits that are not on TV: Starsky & Hutch, The Mod Squad, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Vega$, Hart to Hart, Matt Houston, Hotel, SWAT, TJ Hooker, Family...maybe an episode of the short-lived Life with Lucy to go along with I Love Lucy. And maybe throw in the TV-movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. They should do a nice 24-hour tribute at least. I think I came up with 18 hours right there. I will certainly let you know if TV Land or any other network do tributes. Mr. Spelling will certainly be missed and his shows will live on forever on TV and DVD. He was 83. Moving on to DVD news. Sony Pictures Home Enterainment will release two shows starring Meredith Baxter on Sept. 5. The one year wonder Bridget Loves Bernie. The sitcom starred Meredith Baxter, David Birney and Audra Lindley. Also, they will release the first two seasons of the family drama Family, which of course was produced by Aaron Spelling. Full details will be out on TVShowsonDVD.com on Monday when Sony officially announces it. Also, VEI, the Canadian home entertainment company, has told us they have delayed The Stockard Channing Show set to the fall at the earliest. Why? Because they are working on bringing us better masters. That is a good reason and should be worth the wait. They have also let me know they are working on season 2 of the sitcom Gimme a Break! It should be out before year's end! And maybe shortly after that they will bring us season 3 of Kate & Allie! No idea if Universal will release these before VEI, but VEI seems like they will release them. Stay tuned for further updates.

'Two & a Half Men' Sold To Locals For Reruns in 2007; 'Futurama' Back For New Episodes; Remembering Richard Stahl

Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. Domestic TV Distribution has taken the first step toward harvesting a smashing $3 million per episode from Two & a Half Men by selling rerun rights to the Tribune Broadcasting TV stations. The Tribune stations, led by WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles and WGN (local) Chicago, will be able to start running the half-hour episodes of "Men" in the fall of 2007, as many as 12 times a week (during the first three years of the contract).
As we mentioned before, Warner will let each Tribune station stream five episodes of the sitcom on its Web site each week as a freebie to Internet surfers. The revenues from any advertising time within these Internet runs will be split between Warner and Tribune, and other material will be added to the episodes, like outtakes and bloopers. The Tribune locals are losing rights to Everybody Loves Raymond in March 2008 to the Fox-owned channels, so this is a major acquisition for Tribune.
The Tribune local stations will have exclusive streaming-video rights to Men for three years, and then they'll have to share the run with whichever cable network buys the rights. We think TBS is the likely buyer because it has cable rights to most of the major sitcoms (Raymond, Friends, Seinfeld, Family Guy). The cable deal would start in fall 2010, sharing it with TV stations in syndication. We'll keep you up to date on the cable buying for this popular sitcom.

As we reported back in October 2005, Comedy Central has bought reruns of the animated comedy Futurama starting in January 2008 for a 5-year deal. All 72 episodes were bought. But guess what? That is NOT all. Katey Sagal, one of the stars from the show, was on Craig Ferguson on Tuesday night and confirmed that new episodes will be made and will air in 2008 on Comedy Central! She was saying 13 or 16 episodes will be made. Variety reported last night that this is indeed true. They confirm it is a 13 episode deal and will start in 2008. Click here for details.

Richard Stahl, an actor whose more than 40-year career stretched from New York theater to film and television comedies such as Laverne & Shirley, has died. Stahl died Sunday at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's health center in Woodland Hills after a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease, his wife, actress Kathryn Ish, said Wednesday. Stahl guest starred on many sitcoms such as Empty Nest, Living Single, Married...with Children, Hudson Street, The Golden Girls, Good Grief, Night Court, Newhart, Who's the Boss?, Family Ties, The Facts of Life, Barney Miller, Love Sidney, Benson, What's Happening!!, House Calls, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Happy Days, On the Rocks, Maude, That's My Mama, Good Times, Archie Bunker's Place, The Tom Show, The Partridge Family, Harry and the Hendersons, All in the Family, That Girl, Love American Style and Soap. Was that enough for you? He also was a series regular on the '80s sitcom It's a Living and short lived sitcoms Turnabout starring Sharon Gless and Struck by Lightning. And had recurring roles on The Odd Couple and Laverne & Shirley. Mr. Stahl will certainly be missed as his face has been seen on various TV shows over the past 40 years. Mr. Stahl was 74.

Stay tuned tomorrow for DVD news regarding The Stockard Channing Show and Gimme a Break!

Romano On HBO Single-Camera Sitcom?; TVGuide Buys JumptheShark.com

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Everybody Loves Raymond star Ray Romano could be back on a sitcom soon--this time on HBO and on a single-camera sitcom, rather than the traditonal kind. Romano is looking to return to television as the lead in an HBO limited comedy series from Joel Surnow and Bob Cochran (both are creators of 24). Talks are under way for the 10-episode single-camera project, now in early stages, that would star Romano as a fortysomething billionaire who has six months to live. The character rings close to Romano's real-life status as a fortysomething who has amassed a fortune from acting on his hit CBS series as well as from his ownership stake in the show, which continues its successful run in syndication. We will keep you up to date on this news.

B&C is reporting that Gemstar-TV Guide has purchased the television Website www.jumptheshark.com, which made its mark by chronicling when TV shows have hit their peak. The term “Jump the Shark” comes from the Happy Days episode where Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while on water-skis, which is looked upon as the beginning of the end for the hit show. Gemstar-TV Guide will develop and promote the content across its media platforms, and site creator John Hein will lend his editorial voice to TV Guide’s magazine, cable network and Website. Does this mean that JumptheShark.com has "jumped the shark?" Only time will tell...

Stay tuned in the coming days for some DVD news, a book review (from According to Jim star Jim Belushi), more 4th of July marathon weekend updates, a French version of The Office, and so much more! So, don't forget to visit us tomorrow and this weekend!

'Three's Company' Nights Marathon On TV Land Now a 48-Hour Marathon; Fox Announces Fall 2006 Premiere Dates

We have yet more good news for fans of Three's Company! TV Land has now expanded the "nights" marathon this weekend to a full throttle 48-hour marathon! So join Jack, Janet, Chrissy, Cindy, Terri, The Ropers, Mr. Furley and Larry for some zany action! Also, Three's Company Friday night marathons will now be 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting June 30. They are replacing the Friday 11:30 p.m. Benson episode, so they can air Three's Company non-stop from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. This Friday (June 23), the marathon will be from 12 to 4 a.m., with the regular 11 p.m. airing, too. Three's Company is back in a big way on TV Land after a 7 month hiatus from the regular line-up! For the marathon line-up and all the upcoming episodes on TV Land, check out my Three's Company page and click on the On TV: TV Land section!

Fox again will start all their series before the actual fall premiere week (which this year is the week of Sept. 18). They will start on August 21 with the season premiere of Prison Break, followed by the series premiere of Vanished. The two new sitcoms 'Til Death and Happy Hour debut on Thursdays on Sept. 7. Only two fall series will join the fall line-up after the official fall premiere week, they are The O.C. and Trading Spouses. Spouses will get its Friday birth on October 6 when the summer reality show Duets ends. While The O.C. will premiere after baseball ends I guess starting Thursday, November 2. For the full fall premiere dates list for Fox, click here.

'Three's Company' Back On TV Land Line-Up; Screech Needs Your Help!

Three's Company will be knocking on TV Land's door again starting tomorrow. It will return to the line-up airing every night at 11 p.m. Benson shifts to 11:30 p.m. replacing All in the Family, which will still air in its other slots. Three's Company also will air Friday nights from 12-4AM, replacing Miami Vice, who will now be on hiatus. And don't forget TV Land's "Three's Company Nights" marathon this weekend from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday!
Three's Company had always done well on both Nick@Nite and TV Land, and had to take a break because they were running low on airplays per episode. Now it is back for more action and could be better than ever! Tune in starting tomorrow night, only on TV Land! For more information and to discuss this last minute change, click here.

I'm sure many of you already know, but I had to cover this whole Screech story because it is sitcom related, I guess. Dustin Diamond, best known as geeky Screech Powers from Saved by the Bell, is selling T-shirts with his photo on them to try to raise $250,000 so he doesn't lose his gray two-story house under a foreclosure order, according to the Associated Press.
Diamond, 29, is trying to sell nearly 30,000 shirts at $15 or $20 (autographed) each to supplement the income he makes as a standup comic so he doesn't have to move from his Port Washington home, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee.
The T-shirt has a photo of Diamond holding a sign that says, "Save My House." The back of the shirt reads, "I paid $15.00 to save Screeech's house." The third "e" was added to get around copyright laws, he said.
He's selling the shirts on his Web site: http://www.getdshirts.com. If you're a fan of him or the show, I guess you can help him out.

TV Land & Nick@Nite August 2006 Highlights; YouTube.com With Unaired Sitcom Pilot, Nice 'Perfect Strangers' Clips

TV Land and Nick@Nite have released their August highlights to us today. For TV Land, the season finale of My First Time will air on August 2, featuring Mr. T and Cybill Shepherd. The Friday Night Movie block comes to an end in August with movies airing on August 4 and 18, both will be followed by a special Happy Days episode. And TV Land has two more new episodes of TV Land Top 10 in August featuring the top 10 musical moments and the 10 cops. The Top 10 Cops episode will have a special themed block right after it with episodes of Andy Griffith and Night Court. That will be the only way to see Night Court after July 1, pending any last minite changes. For all the details on TV Land August click here. A reminder that The Jeffersons are coming to TV Land with a Labor Day Weekend launch. We will have more on that later.
As for Nick@Nite in August, they will continue their annual summer marathons until August 25 (it starts July 17). Three more new Hi-Jinks episodes will air on Tuesdays. And Nick@Nite will head back to school on August 20 with a six episode marathon featuring shows such as Cosby Show, A Different World and Mad About You. As soon as the summer marathons are over, the following Monday Nick@Nite will formally launch A Different World with a five-night marathon. What better way to start the school year than with A Different World! For episode info and more on Nick@Nite August, click here.
We might have more on TV Land (and perhaps Nick@Nite) tomorrow, so come on back. Don't know what yet, but something maybe.

The New York Post is reporting that YouTube.com has the pilot episode of Nobody's Watching - a clever 'Truman Show - like sitcom from the creator of Scrubs and two writers from Family Guy that never made it onto NBC or The WB in 2005. It unexpectedly turned up last week on YouTube, the Web video site on which homemade movies and video clips are posted every day. The show tells the story of a pair of sitcom junkies from Ohio who are drafted by The WB to write a sitcom while living on a sitcom set on a studio lot.
The show was originally written for NBC, which turned it down, and later filmed for The WB, which also eventually turned the pilot down. After that, Nobody's Watching was sent to the rubbish pile...where no one would be um ...watching.
Besides Nobody's Watching, there are scores of pilot episodes hidden on YouTube, including copies of Charmed, Zoey 101 and even an unaired Munsters revival from 1988. You can watch the pilot for Nobody's Watching by clicking here. NBC and The WB probably thought that nobody was ever going to watch it, but they're wrong!

Speaking of YouTube, a huge Perfect Strangers fan named Linda Kay has put up three very good clip packages for the show. Linda has been a fan of the show since the show's original run on ABC from 1986-93 and owns every episode on tape from ABC. She ran the fan club back then, too. And she has a whole lot of cool related stuff from the show. She plans to make a website for the show and I personally can't wait for her to do it! I am very impressed by the clips and by her knowledge of the show. You can view the clip packages here: Package 1. Package 2. Package 3.
And she says she made two more during the original run that she will put on YouTube very soon, too. The clips are very entertaining and match the music very well. It is a must see!

Summer Week 3 Sitcom Ratings

Dog days of summer have begun. Week 3 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.64 million, good for first in its slot.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.45 million, up from previous two repeats by a lot.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.87 million tuned for an encore, more than two million more from last week.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 8.18 million, down 500,000 viewers from last week's repeat.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were all over 2 million. Nice job this week.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - Aired before the NBA game in most markets, but after the game out west Did 4.62 million.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.4 million, down a bit from previous week.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 4.05 million, slightly down from last week.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 5.46 million, down from all the episodes that aired last week.
• The Office (NBC) - 4.98 million for a rebroadcast.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.25 million at 8 p.m., but jumped to 4.33 million at 8:30, as viewers were probably waiting for So You Think You Can Dance or the NBA Finals.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.58 million and the others ranged from 1.24-1.6 million--ouch.

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. The rest are canceled shows scoring a 1.0 and 1.1 rating.
  
• Hope & Faith (ABC) - Two episodes averaged only 2.7/5 rating, good for second in its slot, though as Fox is dead with repeats of 24 and NBC keeps repeating Windfall like everyday.

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8, Fox with Malcolm in the Middle at 7 followed by the animated comdies from 7:30 to 9:30 and a Fox airing of the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 9:30.

Celebrating Father's Day: What Top 60 TV Dads Earn!

Ever wondered how much TV dads earn? CNN Money and Salary.com have now calculated what the top 60 paid TV dads would earn today. When it comes to being a favorite father on the small screen, the paycheck and glamour factor of a character's job has increased over time, according to Salary.com, which released its TV Dad Salary Analysis in honor of Father's Day. Today's TV dads average salaries of $195,000 after adjusting for inflation, according to Salary.com. By contrast, the favorite TV fathers of the 1950s made an average of about $75,000 a year in today's dollars. Two dads from TV primetime soaps--Blake Carrington of Dynasty and J.R. Ewing of Dallas top the list. But are they really known as TV dads? At #3 is Diff'rent Strokes dad Philip Drummond at over 720,000 a year as President of his company. George Jefferson of The Jeffersons is at #5 and Dr. Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show is at #12. I never would have thought that George made more than Cliff. Some other famous TV dads over $100,000 a year include: Walter Findley of Maude, Tim Taylor of Home Improvement, Jason Seaver of Growing Pains, and Danny Tanner of Full House. At the "high" middle class level we have Home Simpson at $65,000 a year--who knew he made that much! Others include Andy Taylor of The Andy Griffith Show, Darrin Stevens of Bewitched, and Henry Mitchell of Dennis the Menace all over $50,000, but less than $100,000 a year. At the regular middle class level (about 40-$50,000 a year) we have Howard Cunningham of Happy Days, Carl Winslow of Family Matters, Herman Munster of The Munsters, Ray Barone of Everybody Loves Raymond, Ward Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver, Archie Bunker of All in the Family, Mike Brady of The Brady Bunch, and Steve Keaton of Family Ties. At below middle class we have Fred G. Sanford of Sanford & Son, Al Bundy of Married...with Children, Tony Micelli of Who's the Boss?, all less than $30,000 a year. At the bottom of the list is the unemployed James Evans, Sr. of Good Times making...well, nothing at all.
See the article and the entire top 60 TV dad salary list here.

TV One Weddings Marathon; 'Family Ties' Marathon in Philly

TV Land just had a three night wedding marathon in primetime, now TV One will have a whole day on weddings! TV One salutes June brides with weddings from Amen, 227, Martin, Good Times and In The House in the "Marry Me" Marathon on Saturday, June 17 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. only on TV One! See Florida tie the knot again on Good Times, old Rolly marrying on Amen, Thelma marrying Rueben on Amen, and will Sandra marry Brenda's math teacher on 227? Find all that and much much more on TV One's "Marry Me" Marathon!
The following is the full line-up:

12:00pm/12:00am Good Times Episode 601, Florida's Homecoming
12:30pm/12:30am Good Times Episode 602, Florida's Homecoming Pt.2
1:00pm /1:00am Good Times Episode 603, Florida's Homecoming, Pt. 3
1:30pm 1:30am Good Times Episode 604, Florida's Homecoming, Pt. 4
2:00pm Amen Episode 8709, Rolly's Proposal
2:30pm Amen Episode 8710, Rolly's Wedding
3:00pm 227 Episode 315, Teach Me Tonight, Pt. I
3:30pm 227 Episode 316, Teach Me Tonight, Pt. II
4:00pm Martin Episode 326, The Wedding Bell Blues Pt.1
4:30pm Martin Episode 327, The Wedding Bell Blues Pt.2
5:00pm /2:00am In the House Episode 422, My Pest Friend's Wedding
5:30pm/2:30am Amen Episode 8902, The Engagement
6:00pm /3:00am Amen Episode 8907, Thelma Says "I Do"
6:30pm /3:30am Amen Episode 8914, The Wedding
7:00pm/4:00am 227 Episode 519, Do Not Pass Go, Pt. I
7:30pm /4:30am 227 Episode 520, Do Not Pass Go, Pt. II
8:00pm/5:00am Amen Episode 8720, A Slight Case Of Murder, Pt. 1
8:30pm /5:30am Amen Episode 8721, A Slight Case Of Murder, Pt. 2
9:00pm Martin Episode 326, The Wedding Bell Blues Pt.1
9:30pm Martin Episode 327, The Wedding Bell Blues Pt.2

In Philadelphia? Well, if you are you can catch a special Family Ties marathon on WPSG-57! Remember Reaganomics? Head back to the 80s with Michael J. Fox, Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross and Justine Bateman for the Family Ties Marathon, Saturday June 17, beginning at 2 PM through 10 PM on WPSG-57 on Father's Day Weekend! Sixteen episodes of the 1982-89 sitcom air, beginning with I Never Killed for My Father, in which a visit from Steven's father prompts a predictable confrontation between the two. The rest of the episodes are: Margin of Error, Diary of a Young Girl, Anniversary Waltz, Lost Weekend, Keaton and Son, Cry Baby, Nothing but a Man, Mrs. Wrong (1), Mrs. Wrong (2), Battle of the Sexes (1), Battle of the Sexes (2), My Buddy, Heartstrings (1), Heartstrings (2), Heartstrings (3). The latter is a touching tale when Steven suffers a heart attack, and his son Alex begins to ponder his own morality. It is a must marathon to watch if you are in Philly!

Turner Networks on 4th of July; Remembering Robert Donner

Continuing our look at the 4th of July marathons, today we will give you info on the Turner networks! TBS will be doing a mini-movie marathon from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. TNT brings you a fireworks display of Law & Order all day long this July 4th from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Celebrate the holiday with your favorite episodes of this critically-acclaimed crime drama. While Boomerang will show classic episodes of Tom & Jerry all-day...which means 6am to 6am! Episodes in the marathon range from 1942 to 1956. We will continue to give you information on all the networks that do marathons on America's birthday. So come on back!

Also of note, Nick@Nite will end their 12-4am marathons on July 16, as I expected. On July 17, their annual summer block will begin. TV Land's 12-4am block will continue until atleast the end of August.

Robert Donner, who made more than 100 TV and film appearances over a 40-year career, died of a heart attack on June 8 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He had recurring roles as Exidor on the Robin Williams ABC sitcom Mork and Mindy and Yancy Tucker on the CBS drama The Waltons. He appeared on dozens of series as a guest, including Bonanza, Columbo, Big Valley, Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, Murder, She Wrote, Fame, MacGyver, Married...with Children, Hearts Afire, Dharma & Greg and Matlock. His most recent appearance was on the canceled CBS sitcom Center of the Universe starring John Goodman. The episode never made it on the air, but you can watch that on In2TV online. That would be a good way to pay tribute to him. He was in the episode "The Break-In."
He is survived by his wife Jill and two brothers. Mr. Donner was 75.

TV Land Cancels Rest of TV Land Wedding Week, Changes to Sunday Mornings; VH1 Revisits The '70s!

TV Land Wedding Week has been cut short now. Tonight will be the last airing for weddings week (Good Times and TV Land Top 10 Weddings Special). Tomorrow and Friday's programming will go back to regular programming (Little House, Andy Griffith and Sanford & Son from 8-10p). For more details click here.
In other TV Land news, the Better Living Through Television, which returns on Sundays 9a-12p starting July 2, will be changed a bit starting July 9. It will just be some time shifting and Addams Family and Andy Griffith will basically replace Happy Days and Brady Bunch, who will only be on for that one time (July 2). Details are here.

The '70s are back on VH1! VH1 is unleashing a programming heat wave with I Love The 70's Volume 2 premiering Monday to Friday, July 10 through 14 with new episodes airing each night at 8 and 9 PM ET/PT back to back and The World Series Of Pop Culture premiering Monday to Friday, July 10 through 14 at 10 PM ET/PT.
Here is VH1 in their own words on these two series:
VH1 breaks out its leisure suits and disco ball to celebrate the era that was truly "Dy-no-mite." We gave the sequel treatment to the 80s and 90s and now it's the 70s turn to feel the love. A groovy 10-hour, five-night flashback, I Love the '70s Volume 2 remembers the truth about the decade of disco, big collars and polyester. Celebrities weigh in on what was cool, bizarre, beautiful, puzzling and pretentious about the people, music, movies, TV shows, products, fashions, fads, trends and major events that defined pop culture during the decade. In this all-new VH1 special, I Love the 70s Volume 2, premieres two episodes per evening tapping our collective memories to cover the sublime, the ridiculous, and everything in between.
VH1 and Entertainment Weekly test the country's pop culture savvy with the new original series The World Series of Pop Culture. From the executive producer of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, The World Series of Pop Culture is the ultimate pop culture competition designed for teams from across the country to display their astounding range of knowledge about everything music, television and film in pursuit of a $250,000 grand prize, provided by Alltel Wireless. NY1 News anchor Pat Kiernan and Lisa Guerrero host.

TV Land's 12-4AM Marathons to Air Through August; More on 'Grey's' Thursdays

Last night TV Land and Nick@Nite started their 12-4AM marathon blocks. We have just learned that TV Land will do the marathons until at least through the end of August. We are not sure about Nick@Nite yet, but I would think it will last until their annual summer block starts (July 17), but for sure they will air these 12-4AM marathons until the end of June. TV Land will expand the 12-4AM marathons to seven days a week starting July 1. Saturdays will go to The Munsters and Sundays will be Leave it to Beaver. Which would mean starting July 3, Night Court would be off the line-up, as 227 takes the afternoon slot and the weekend 12-4AM will have taken the 12:30 am and 3:00 am slots.
You may have tuned in last night to Nick@Nite and/or TV Land and saw that the marathon blocks were airing "off the clock." Well, that is because they are only airing seven airings of these shows. 12-4AM would equal eight airings for a sitcom, but they seem to have added an extra 30 minutes of commercials. For example the 1:00AM "scheduled" Benson episode last night started around 1:15 a.m. Strange, but slick. The Miami Vice block on Fridays will actually be from 12:00AM to 4:30AM, but again an extra 30 minutes of commercials will be squeezed in.
We will have more on TV Land and Nick@Nite very soon as they will be releasing the August highlights--as I said, expect the 12-4AM marathons to continue on TV Land through the end of August.

Yesterday we told you ABC pulled the Thursday Grey's Anatomy slot for June 29, well now they have told us that they will start the Thursday slot on July 6, with a two-hour launch. Repeats of season one are slated. For the time being, the Sunday 10 p.m. slot will remain as well. Grey's Anatomy will officially move to Thursdays at 9 this fall when season three premieres.

Cable Deals for 'Two and a Half Men' & 'Grey's Anatomy' Will Be Done Soon; 'Grey's' Thursday Summer Slot Delayed

Warner Bros. Domestic Cable TV Distribution is seeking Two and a Half Men reruns for cable, according to Broadcasting & Cable. The show will be going to local channels (and their websites!) in fall 2007, but Warner Bros. was also trying to sell it to cable the same year. That looks like won't happen, instead we will see the show on cable around fall 2010 (the normal fourth year cable deal). TBS seems to be the front-runner in acquiring the sitcom. USA Network could also be interested. Viacom nets Comedy Central and Nick@Nite are also in the run. Comedy Central (and WGN) starts reruns of Scrubs this fall. Meanwhile, Buena Vista Television is seeking a cable network buyer for the red hot ABC show Grey's Anatomy. They have added a repurposing window to Grey’s Anatomy that, starting in January, will allow the Touchstone hit drama to run on cable a few days after its ABC run. The syndication deal would start in 2009, with the repurposed episodes obviously airing sooner than that--Touchstone could get between $700,000 to 1 million per episode. Desperate Housewives recently went to Lifetime for a 2008 start at $500,000 per episode. Buena Vista is also looking for a cable deal for the short three-season sitcom Hope & Faith. No cable or local channels on Lost yet, but TNT would be so perfect for that show. Frontrunner to get cable rights for Grey's Anatomy right now is TNT. But USA Network, ABC Family and Oxygen are also in the running. It would be interesting if Lifetime tries to get this show, too, as they already have Desperate Housewives. Let the bidding begin!

In other Grey's Anatomy news, ABC has quietly taken the Thursday at 9 p.m. season one airings off the line-up "for now." It was slated to air repeats starting June 29, but a special Primetime will air in that slot instead. No idea yet when GA will make the move to its new Thursday slot, but it looks like it won't happen until August or early September.

Summer Week 2 Sitcom Ratings

Dog days of summer have just begun. Week 2 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.052 million this week...down from last week's 6.52 million.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Slightly better than last week's 4.9 million with 5.34 million.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Big drop from last week's impressive repeat airing of 10.61 million to just 7.97 million...guess people were watching the Deal or No Deal finale.
• George Lopez (ABC) - Special repeat airing at 9 p.m. as a lead-in to the ALMA Awards didn't do too well...3.48 million.
  
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 8.23 million this week, down from last week's 9.09 million, but built on from lead-in.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms did all under 2 million again, but steady.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 8 pm did better this week with 4.96 mil, up from last week's 4.93 million, but 9pm did worse from last week's 5.2 million to this week's 4.24 million.
  
• Rodney (ABC) - All-new burn off episode dropped from lead-in and did 4.22 million, down from last week's burn-off episode of 4.89 million.
  
• Less than Perfect (ABC) - All-new burn off episode did 3.97 million, down from last week's 4.67 million, not good...
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.84 million is better than last week's 3.93 million.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - Repeat at 4.14 million did better than last week's 3.74 million.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) 4 episodes - Did decent for the summer, 4 episodes did better than The Office last week: 5.85, 6.69, 6.42, and 6.14 million. (Office did: 4.61, 4.75, 4.82, and 4.65 million).
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well and that is why it will be the only one returning next fall.

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. The rest are canceled shows.
  
• Hope & Faith (ABC) - Two episodes averaged only 2.5/5 rating, down from last week's 2.8 rating.

Want to Write Your Own Sitcom? You Can For FX!

Think you can write a better sitcom than FX’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia? You have your chance says Multichannel News.
In collaboration with social Web site Myspace.com, FX is proffering $50,000 and a future slot on its schedule to the user who posts the best idea for an original series, according to president of entertainment John Landgraf, who touts the sitcom contest in a comedic promo currently airing on the service.
FX joins cable outlets like Food Network and Travel Channel, which are affording viewers a voice in shaping on-air content. FX executive vice president of marketing Stephanie Gibbons said the move is also a nod to the popularity of viewer-generated content on Web sites like myspace.com, which like FX is owned by News Corp., and youtube.com.
The winning pilot will air during the final episode of the sophomore series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, whose producer, Rob McElhenny, made his show’s pilot for $200.
After narrowing down the field, the network, which is running the promotion through June 19, will air the top five user-generated clips between breaks during Sunny’s second-season premiere on June 29. The following week, FX will choose the winner. Pilot segments are slated to air during Sunny’s season finale.

In2TV Creating 'Superman' Channel on June 12; FX 4th of July Weekend Marathons

We have yet more In2TV Month 3 (that's June 2006) news! In anticipation of the June 28 release of Superman Returns, director Bryan Singer and acclaimed documentary filmmaker Kevin Burns team on Look, Up In the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman, a multi-million dollar special on the Superman legacy, which debuts first Monday from 8 to 10 p.m. on A&E.
This feature-length documentary is narrated by Superman Returns star Kevin Spacey and shows behind-the-scenes clips of the cast from the upcoming movie including Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth. Guest stars include Superman director Richard Donner and producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind; comic book legend Stan Lee; Superman fans Jerry Seinfeld and Mark Hamill; Lois & Clark's Dean Cain; Smallville's Annette O'Toole; Jack Larson and Noel Neil, TV's Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane; and many others.
So what does this have to do with AOL's In2TV? After one airing on A&E, this feature length documentary gets its Internet debut exclusively on In2TV beginning June 13 through the end of July. In2TV will create an all-new channel just for Superman called It's A Bird. It's A Plane. It's A Superman Channel.

Additionally the channel will feature:

* The groundbreaking, quintessential Superman TV series, The Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves.
* Before Smallville there was Superboy, the TV series that focuses on a young Clark Kent, from the producers of the Superman movies.
* Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman starring Desperate Housewives' Teri Hatcher and Dean Cain. The series has been on In2TV since launch (back in March).
* Plus classic Superman cartoons from Max Fleischer of Popeye and Betty Boop fame.

It looks to be a fun month on In2TV. This is in addition to all the cool stuff we mentioned the other day and last week. In2TV is certainly an interesting concept and is probably the best thing out there for classic TV!

We will slowly give you details on all of the 4th of July marathons. Today, we will tell you that FX has planned a King of the Hill marathon on Monday, July 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Then on July 4th they will air Cops from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. ET/PT. There are tons of marathons on channels this weekend, and we will tell you about most, if not all, in the coming weeks. So, come on back like usual!

Nick@Nite and TV Land Add Late Night Mini-Marathons; Nick@Nite Movie on July 7

Both TV Land and Nick@Nite made some last minute moves and both will air mini-marathons from 12am-4am starting this Monday (June 12). TV Land will air its marathons Mon-Fri, while Nick@Nite will air them every night. Nick@Nite's will probably last until their summer marathons start, TV Land's will probably last a while, I think. But for sure both will last until the end of June. TV Land will air Benson on Monday nights, Sanford & Son on Tuesday nights, Good Times on Wednesday nights, All in the Family on Thursday nights and Miami Vice on Friday nights. TV Land airs marathons on weekends, but that will stop on July 1, and the regular line-up will return then. View the changes in a list format here.
As for Nick@Nite, they will have Roseanne on Monday nights, The Cosby Show on Tuesday nights, Fresh Prince on Wednesday nights, another Roseanne block on Thursday nights, Full House on Friday nights, another Cosby Show block on Saturday nights, and another Fresh Prince block on Sunday nights. View the changes in a list format here.

Benson did very well for TV Land this past weekend. I'm glad because it is an underrated show, well written and not overplayed. And I'm glad it will get Monday marathons now, too, since it only airs once a night. Nick@Nite is already airing the movie Kangaroo Jack this month, now they have announced they will air another movie. This time in July. On July 7 from 10p-12a they will air What a Girl Wants starring Amanda Bynes. You all should tune in to TV Land instead, as they will start their Friday night summer movie block that night. For more on What a Girl Wants, click here.

More on Month Three for AOL's In2TV; WHV Chat Recap, 'Ellen' S4 DVD

A few days ago we gave you a first look at In2TV's third month. They have given us more info now and the third month episodes have officially launched today! We told you that they were adding Max Headroom and The Ben Stiller Show. Well, that is not all! They will be adding two new channels and a lot of shows will be on these two channels. The new channels are "Get Real TV" - a channel focusing on reality TV series and "Gone But Not Forgotten TV" - a channel showcasing short-lived series, with some unaired episodes FINALLY airing!
The list of new shows launching today are: Elimidate, Change of Heart, Moral Court,
People's Court, and The Will (Get Real TV); Max Headroom, The George Carlin Show, The Ben Stiller Show, Wanda at Large, Center of the Universe, and The Michael Richards Show (Gone But Not Forgotten TV).

They will also celebrate Father's Day with classic themed episodes from their series. The Father's Day episodes are: Chico and the Man ("Chico's Padre"), Eight is Enough ("The Boyfriend"), Growing Pains ("Weekend Fantasy"), George Carlin Show ("George Likes a Good War"), All About the Andersons ("Time Bandit") and Lois & Clark ("Requiem for a Superhero").

Please visit our In2TV third month page from a few days back, because we have edited the entry to showcase these changes and the episode info for the new sitcoms that were added (All About the Andersons, Center of the Universe, George Carlin Show, Michael Richards Show, and we will call Wanda at Large and The Ben Stiller Show sitcoms, too). We also finally got the fifth new episode each for Perfect Strangers, Head of the Class and F Troop for month three. So, head on back over there!

Last night Warner Home Video came by at HTF for its annual TV chat. We really didn't learn much, but we can expect season sets of Mama's Family "later this year" and Two and a Half Men "in 2007." We can expect complete series box sets possibly for Friends and The West Wing. Other series they said they are evaluating (Perfect Strangers) or have no plans at this time (Our House). You can read the full chat transcript (which includes the crazy Everwood fans asking repeatedly about that show) here.
And a little birdie tells me we can expect season four of Ellen from A&E Home Video on Aug. 29!

Lifetime August Sees 'Reba', 'Still Standing'; ALF Season 4 DVD; Warner Bros. TV DVD Chat TONIGHT!

Lifetime will be adding off-network reruns of Reba and Still Standing starting August 7. As I mentioned before, Desperate Housewives season one episodes will air weekly on Saturdays at 11 p.m. starting August 5. As for the two sitcoms, they will have four airings a day (not sure if they will be just 2 episodes with 2 repeats yet). Reba will air weekdays 1-2pm and 6-7pm, while Still Standing has landed the 12pm-1pm and 5-6pm slots. Designing Women will be off the line-up when these two sitcoms join, but not to worry as that sitcom will be joining Nick@Nite this October! Golden Girls fans will not be pleased as the show will only have three airings now--9-10am and 1am; a far cry from its current 7 airings a day. For more on Lifetime's August changes, click here.

Lionsgate has just let me know that they will release the fourth and final season of ALF on September 5! After long waits for previous seasons, for this season we will only have to wait three months, as season 3 just came out last week (May 29). No idea yet if they will release more animated sets (you know, ALFTales and ALF: Animated Adventures) that same day. Hopefully they release the Project: ALF movie as well. In other Lionsgate news, they will release Volume 5 of the original animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on August 29. Cowabunga dude! That joins the fifth season of Will & Grace on DVD that same day.

Sticking with DVD news, Warner Home Video will have another chat with fans at HTF. You can ask them anything about TV related stuff regarding DVDs. The chat is TONIGHT (Tues., June 6) from 8-11pm ET. There will be about 5 Warner executives on hand, including Rosemary Markson, the VP of TV marketing. Now this is your chance to ask about some Warner TV series that you REALLY want to see on DVD, such as Perfect Strangers, Hogan Family, Our House, Sisters, My Sister Sam, Just the Ten of Us, Family Matters, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, etc. Is that enough? Click here for more info.

'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' Coming to Adult Swim; Disney Channel Sitcoms Now Online

First Adult Swim aired Saved by the Bell for two weeks, now it has acquired every episode of the classic '80s Saturday morning TV show Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Yes, Paul Reubens' immortal character Pee-Wee Herman and the Emmy Award-winning series Pee-Wee's Playhouse is coming to Adult Swim at 11 p.m. Mon-Thurs starting July 10! Adult Swim will air all 45 original episodes along with Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, providing young adults today a chance to enjoy a truly remarkable and memorable series that hasn't been seen on television in nearly 15 years!
Pee-wee's Playhouse originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS, beginning on Sept. 13, 1986. The cast includes Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne, S. Epatha Merkerson and Natasha Lyonne. The series won a remarkable 22 Emmy Awards during its original run. Since then, Pee-wee's Playhouse has attained iconic status. Now you can relive it again on the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network! Now only if they would pick-up Small Wonder and Mr. Belvedere, I'd be very happy! Family Guy makes fun of those all the time--it would be ideal for them to air those! For more on Pee-Wee, click here.

Multiplatform seems to be the new thing! And I'm liking it so much. ABC's Free Episodes, CBS's inntetube, NBC's DotComedy, In2TV, etc. are all great examples. Disney Channel launched its new broadband player on DisneyChannel.com on Friday, offering more than a dozen free, full-length episodes of original series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, That's So Raven and Kim Possible. In addition, the Web site hosts two never-before-aired episodes of The Suite Life. One was Webcast at 2 p.m., prior to its on-air premiere at 6:30. Second episode, Going for Gold, lives exclusively online, since 7 p.m. for a week.

Coming tomorrow, Lifetime TV'a August schedules that includes the time periods for Still Standing and Reba! Come on back!

Summer Week 1 Sitcom Ratings; Preview of Sony TV DVD Releases

It is summer time! Which means repeats, but there will be some originals. This summer we will just look at the sitcoms, but we will be back in the fall with our normal weekly reports.

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.52 million for the first summer repeat airing.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 4.9 million, a bit of a concern.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Even in the summer scoring in double figures, 10.61 million
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 9.09 million for a repeats is very good.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms did all under 2 million, but steady.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 8 pm did 4.93 million, but 9pm did a bit better with 5.2 million.
  
• Rodney (ABC) - All-new burn off episode dropped from lead-in and did 4.89 million.
  
• Less than Perfect (ABC) - All-new burn off episode did 4.67 million, not good...
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Only 3.93 million.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - The unaired pilot episode finally aired...no one really watched, just 3.74 million.

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) 4 episodes - Did decent for the summer, 4 episodes did: 4.61, 4.75, 4.82, and 4.65 million.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well and that is why it will be the only one returning next fall.

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. The rest are canceled shows.
  
• Hope & Faith (ABC) - The encore of the one-hour season premiere didn't do so well; 2.8 rating.

And tomorrow Sony will officially announce that The Jeffersons Season 5 and The Flying Nun Season 2 will be out on DVD on August 15. I guess those were the sitcoms that they hinted to us last week. I was expecting Seinfeld or maybe some of those "Ladies Night" sitcoms (Maude, One Day at a Time, etc.) but these are good, too, especially Jeffersons!

Remembering Robert Sterling of 'Topper'; Benson TV Land Weekend

Robert Sterling was best known for the 1953-1956 TV series Topper, based on the Thorne Smith novel, and the 1937 film starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. He appeared with his wife Anne Jeffreys in the television series. He died this past Tuesday of natural causes at his home in the Brentwood area of L.A. Sterling and Jeffreys played George and Marion Kirby, a fun-loving couple killed in an accident but returned as ghosts to haunt the new occupant of their home, a banker named Cosmo Topper. Sterling appeared as a guest star in series such as Love American Style, Nanny & the Professor, Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Murder She Wrote, Hotel, Simon & Simon, and Fantasy Island. He will be missed greatly. Topper is a rare TV series these days. I remember it aired on WABC here in the NYC market a few years back once a week like at 4 a.m. Too bad I never caught it. Mr. Sterling was 88.

I hope you are all watching Benson this weekend on TV Land. I know I am! I'm enjoying every minute of it. Finally a TV series that has not been aired much in recent years. The show is not even on DVD, so no one can complain that this is another series that is everywhere. I do hope however that Benson gets on DVD very soon. Benson is a spin-off of Soap...now only if TV Land would air that, too. I'm glad that is on DVD already, though. Watch Benson all this weekend and weeknights at 11 p.m. ET/PT starting Monday on TV Land! Well, I better get back to Benson before someone else dies or is dying!

In2TV Third Month Episodes for Sitcoms; 'What I Like About' Reruns Coming to Daytime WB

It's time to change some episodes for In2TV! The way it works is that they'll have 10 total episodes available each month. Every month, 5 of the 10 will be replaced with new 5 new episodes--so make sure you watch the 10 episodes each month, because you never know which 5 episodes they will replace the following month. This month they will be adding two new channels -- Get Real TV and Gone But Not Forgotten TV. The latter will have short-lived sitcoms! More info on that below.
Here are the list of the 5 new episodes for each sitcom for the third month, which will be launching very soon on In2TV:

Perfect Strangers Month 3 Episodes
#32 "Taking Stock" 24:19
#33 "Better Shop Around" 24:22
#38 "Future Shock" 24:21
#40 "The Break-In" 24:22
#45 "Pipe Dreams" 24:22

Welcome Back, Kotter Month 3 Episodes
#24 "Inherit the Halibut" 25:08
#27 "The Museum" 25:10
#33 "Sweathog Clinic for the Cure of Smoking" 25:11
#37 "Sweatgate Scandal" 25:11
#42 "The Littlest Sweathog" 25:11

Growing Pains Month 3 Episodes
#22 "Extra Lap" 23:44 *
#43 "The Long Goodbye" 24:00 *
#57 "A Reason to Live" 24:31 *
#116 "Weekend at Mike's" 23:19
#131 "The World According to Chrissy" 23:06
#135 "Eddie, We Hardly New Ye" *
#162 "The Truck Stops Here" 23:45
#165/166 "The Last Picture Show" 47:19
* considered NEW for the month

Chico and the Man Month 3 Episodes
#19 "The Doctor Story" 25:05
#20 "The Giveaway" 25:38
#21 "Louie's Retirement" 25:18
#23 "The Paint Job" 24:08
#26 "Play Gypsy" 24:33

Hangin' With Mr. Cooper Month 3 Episodes
#69 "R.O.T.C." 21:44
#70 "E.R." 21:44
#67 "I Remember Grandpa" 21:45
#75 "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." 21:44
#76 "The Great Pretender" 21:44

Alice Month 3 Episodes
#8 "Big Daddy Dawson's Coming" 25:33
#9 "Good Night, Sweet Vera" 25:01
#11 "Who Killed Bugs Bunny?" 25:29
#10 "The Dilemma" 25:38
#14 "Vera's Mortician" 25:32

F Troop Month 3 Episodes
#9 "Me Heap Big Injun" 25:32
#10 "She's Only a Build in a Girdled Cage" 25:32
#11 "A Gift from the Chief" 25:32
#42 "The Ballot of Corporal Agarn"
#43 "Did Your Father Come from Ireland?" 25:24

Head of the Class Month 3 Episodes
#17 "The Russians Are Coming!"23:34
#20 "Priviledge" 23:27
#21 "Crimes of the Heart" 23:34
#23 "Science Fair Weather Friends" 21:41
#67 "Back to School" 23:29


NEW Sitcoms launching this month on Gone But Not Forgotten TV:

All About the Andersons (2003-04 series, 16 total episodes in its run)
#5 "Golden Child" 21:54
#6 "My Hero" 21:23
#8 "Everyone Plays" 21:07
#9 "Joe's Big Break" 21:43
#12 "One Flew Over The Kai-Kai's Nest" 21:59
#14 "Time Bandit" 21:48
#15 "Into the Woods" 21:57

The Ben Stiller Show (1992-93 series, 13 total episodes in its run)
#4 Episode #104 23:02

Center of the Universe (2004-05 series, 15 total episodes in its run)
#1 "Pilot" 21:34
#2 "The Lake House" 20:56
#4 "Good Parent, Bad Parent" 20:26
#5 "Art's Heart" 21:33
#8 "The Work of Art" 21:35
#9 "If You Love Something Leave It Alone" 21:35
#11 "The Principle of the Thing" 21:35 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#12 "Oh Brother, What the Hell Were You Thinking" 21:33 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#13 "The Break In" 21:27 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#15 "Independence Day" 20:07 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)

The George Carlin Show (1994-95 series, 27 total episodes in its run)
#1 "When Unexpected Things Happen to George (Pilot)" 24:03
#2 "George Sees an Airplane" 22:54
#3 "George Goes on a Date - Part 1" 22:54
#4 "George Goes on a Date - Part 2" 22:55
#5 "George Helps Sydney" 21:54
#6 "George Expresses Himself" 22:14
#9 "George Loses His Thermos" 22:54
#11 "George Looks Down the Wrong End of a .38" 22:24
#22 "George Does a Bad Thing" 22:05
#25 "George Likes a Good War" 22:04

The Michael Richards Show (2000 series, 9 total episodes in its run)
#1 "Mr. Irresistible" 21:40
#2 "Simplification" 21:41
#5 "Nursing Home" 21:26
#6 "It's Only Personal" 20:58
#7 "USA Toy" 21:41
#8 "The Consultant" 21:18
#9 "The First Show" 21:43 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)

Wanda at Large (2003 series, 19 total episodes in its run)
#1 "Pilot" 30:31
#2 "King Rat" 21:46
#3 "Wanda & Bradley" 20:18
#4 "Wanda's Party" 21:57
#5 "Death of a Councilman" 20:46
#6 "Alma Matter" 21:57
#8 "Where's Roger" 21:14
#16 "'Twas the Knife Before Christmas" 21:10 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#17 "The Un-Natural" 21:47 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#19 "Plane Trip" 21:58 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)

Note: Remember, five episodes from the previous month will remain, so that is how there will be ten episodes available each month. We do not know which five of each will remain, so it is up to you to watch them all.
GROWING PAINS SEEMS TO HAVE 4 NEW ONES THIS MONTH, BUT THERE ARE MORE THAN THAT, WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHY THEY ARE LISTED!

Criteria for the episodes:
-- "Starchives" - Episodes featuring stars before they were stars, including Brad Pitt on Growing Pains, and Jay Leno on Alice
-- "Classic Creme de la Creme" - Showcase of the most memorable episodes of a given series
-- "StarFavs" - Stars' favorite episodes

And I'm sure the rest are randomly picked.


Remember these are just the sitcom episodes. The rest of the series for month three are: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Babylon 5, Beetlejuice, Dark Justice, Eight is Enough, The F.B.I., Falcon Crest, Freakazoid, Freddy's Nightmares, The Fugitive, Histeria!, Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Maverick, The New Adventures of Batman, Pinky and the Brain, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Sisters, Spenser: For Hire, V, Wonder Woman. New series joining In2TV this month are Elimidate, Change of Heart, Moral Court, People's Court, and The Will (Get Real TV); Max Headroom, The George Carlin Show, The Ben Stiller Show, Wanda at Large, Center of the Universe, and The Michael Richards Show (Gone But Not Forgotten TV)!

Currently, there are thirty classic series on In2TV. There will be hundreds more very soon. Some of the shows we can for sure expect sometime this year are: My Sister Sam, The Hogan Family, The Jamie Foxx Show (LOL TV); Bret Maverick, Freedom, Guns of Paradise, High Performance, Hunter, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, O'Hara, Pointman, Profiles from the Front Line, Pros & Cons, The Flash, Young Maverick (Rush TV); Flamingo Road, Our House, The Yellow Rose (Dramarama TV); Animaniacs, Taz-Mania, The Zeta Project (Toontopia TV); Crusade, Night Visions, Prey, Superboy, Time Trax, Wizards & Warriors (Heroes & Horrors TV). All of these will not join all at once of course, they will be brought in slowly, but all these are expected at some point during this year.

Features on In2TV's third month include "Betcha Didn't Know" (great facts on Kate Jackson of Scarecrow & Mrs. King); "Where Are They Now?" (what are your fave In2TV stars up to now like Linda Lavin); and "Starplay" (clips of stars before they were stars such as Jeffrey Tambor on Max Headroom, Seth Green on Spenser: For Hire, Jodi Foster on Kung Fu, Burt Reynolds on The F.B.I., and Andy Dick on The Ben Stiller Show).

Daytime WB is replacing veteran drama ER starting Monday, June 5 with two back-to-back episodes of the recently canceled sitcom What I Like About You from 3 to 4 p.m. Reruns of What I Like About You will join reruns of 8 Simple Rules in the block that runs from 3 to 5 p.m. Reba reruns will start this fall. It is unclear what it will replace, but it will air at 4-5 p.m. that is for sure. I guess it depends on what does better this summer...Like or Rules.