SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

'Mama's Family' Launch Marathon on i; WGN Fall 2006 Schedule

On Friday we mentioned that the i network will be adding Green Acres and Mama's Family on Monday, August 14. Now they have made it official that Mama's Family will launch with a three-hour marathon on Saturday, August 12 from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT! Click here for episode info.
UPDATE: We also have gotten word they will give Green Acres a Saturday marathon, too! The Green Acres marathon will be on Saturday, August 26 from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT! Click here for episode info.

WGN has announced its fall 2006 schedule. They will be adding Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, Scrubs, Homicide: Life on the Street, among others. Sadly, Happy Days will be off the line-up, but not to fear they still have rights to it. The Cosby Show is only going to air late nights (early mornings, actually). And The Beverly Hillbillies, Home Improvement & Moesha will still be on twice a weekday! To see the full line-up click here. You can also discuss that line-up there, too.
Tomorrow we will release ABC Family's September schedule and highlights. They are getting rid of Jetix (the morning animation block), so you will see sitcoms replace it! Could there be a Hogan Family sighting? Come tomorrow to find out!

So what will ABC air 9 and 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays? ABC will air more According to Jim at both 9 p.m & 9:30 p.m. Sorry to fans of Rodney and Less than Perfect...I guess we will either have to wait for syndication or DVDs to see unaired episodes of those shows. Jim will now air 4 times each Tuesday until Sept. 12, when Dancing with the Stars takes over.

Fall Schedules for Cable Coming Soon; Summer Week 9 Sitcom Ratings

Just a little heads up, we will be releasing fall cable schedules starting this coming week. ABC Family, TBS, WGN are among the networks we will release. We have already released Lifetime (their fall schedule starts in August), TV Land and Nick@Nite. TV Land might edit it a little more, like usual. So this August will be a huge month on the blog and you might want to come on every single day as we post information on cable network's fall lineups!

Dog days of summer continue. I think 7 weeks left until the season starts! Week 9 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.99 million...up again from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.63 million...also again up from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 8.9 million...down actually from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 7.14 million, also down again.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were down from last week ranging from 1.64-2.00 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - Down a bit from last week, with 5.07 and 5.01 million.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of Eve, Cuts...9-10pm did 1.18 and 1.2 million--down from last week.
• George Lopez (ABC) - A last minute schedule change added this and only did 2.89 million at 9 p.m. -- next week it will be back to 8pm and also 8:30pm.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - A last minute airing did 3.12 million. And I thought this was gone for good?
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down from last week to 5.12 million. I think Earl might be lost this fall in this new slot.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Slightly down from previous week, 4.35 million.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.41 million at 8 p.m. and 4.24 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.16 million and the others ranged from 1.46-1.55 million.
  

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. We are just weeks away from this ratings hell leaving.
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

ABC Schedules Sitcoms In Place of 'The One'; My YouTube Videos!

ABC canceled reality dud The One on Thursday a day after horrendous ratings for a second straight week. In its place, ABC has scheduled sitcoms. The One was airing Tuesdays at 9 and Wednesdays at 8 -- Tuesdays at 9 will be replaced by two TBD sitcoms (more on that later). Wednesdays at 8 will be back-to-back repeats of sitcom George Lopez. George Lopez was slated for Tuesdays at 8:30 because of The One, but now it will be back to Wednesdays, with two According to Jim sitcom repeats now Tuesdays at 8.
So what will air Tuesdays at 9? It'll probably be Less Than Perfect and/or Rodney. Less than Perfect still has 8 unaired episodes remaining, while Rodney has 6 unaired episodes remaining. Other long shots include the sitcoms Crumbs (8 unaired episodes remaining), Jake in Progress (unconfirmed but could be at least 8 unaired ones), Emily's Reasons Why Not (6 unaired episodes remaining), and Sons & Daughters (one unaired episode remaining). ABC has scheduled repeats of their ABC 50th Anniversary Bloopers specials from 2003 on Saturdays, Aug. 5 and 12 from 8-9 p.m. They are repeating the Celebrity Debut special (hosted by Brian Austin Green) from earlier this season this Saturday at 8 p.m. They should have aired two sitcom airings instead--they could have aired Rodney for those three Saturdays and been done with it. Hopefully they air unaired sitcom episodes for future Saturdays, because they have so many unaired episodes. They aired The Evidence's unaired episodes earlier this summer, so why not the sitcoms, too?
In other ABC news, they have pulled the return of Extreme Makeover. Another Grey's Anatomy repeat will air instead Thursdays at 8 p.m. I'm guessing they are saving the original Extreme Makeover for something else ... possibly in early 2007.

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I have gotten into the YouTube game lately! I have posted classic ABC promos, commercials, and a movie trailer even. Mainly promos, though. The promos you will see are for Three's Company, Growing Pains, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Who's the Boss?, many TGIF promos and much much more. You can even watch ABC slogan promos such as 1988's "Something's Happening on ABC" and 1990's "America's Watching ABC." See your favorite stars from Perfect Strangers, Head of the Class, Mr. Belvedere, Doogie Howser, Family Matters, and more star in these classic network promos! There are rare promos for short lived shows such as Baby Talk, Three's a Crowd, Joe's Life, Where I Live, Sibs, Room for Two, etc.
I even have a rare commercial from 1991 that The Odd Couple stars Tony Randall and Jack Klugman did for Eagle Snacks. There is even a movie trailer for the hilarious 1992 film Noises Off...,which had an all-star cast starring Michael Caine, John Ritter, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, Mark Linn-Baker, Nicollette Sheridan, and more!
I hope you all enjoy these as I go through the archives! So, head on over to MY YouTube videos to watch all these interesting things from the past! What better way to spend your Saturday night!

i Network's New Line-Up; Nick@Nite Greenlights Sitcom Pilot

Today is the day, as I promised the i Independent Network is announcing their new schedule today. As I mentioned, they will not start off by changing everything. So here we go...
Starting Monday, August 14 from the Sony deal we can expect the classic '60s sitcom Green Acres weeknights at 7 p.m. And from the Warner Bros. deal we can expect back-to-back episodes of Mama's Family Mon-Thurs at 8 and 8:30 p.m.
Green Acres is replacing Shop 'Til You Drop and Mama's Family is replacing Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, which will move to Sundays at 6 p.m. replacing a Bonanza airing (that will stillair Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 6 p.m.).
And the explanation on why they didn't program new shows for their entire 6-11 p.m. block is because their existing audience and fan base is important to them, and they are not looking to make an abrupt change to the network schedule overnight. Their goal is to gradually transition the new programs, which will continue to appeal to their core audience while bringing in new fans who are coming to the network for the first time to watch their favorite shows! Thereafter they will phase in one or two shows at a time, with most of the hours switched out with new product by November.
Paid Programming will slowly be phased out I think, they have a kids block coming in mid-September, that is likely to air either in mid-afternoons (3-5pm?) or mornings (7-9am?). We will have details on that, too, along with the additional changes coming in the next few months. It looks to be a bright and better future for the i Network. Keep it right here for additional news!

Nick@Nite is moving forward even more in its original series. They have greenlit production on the series pilot Tim Stack's Family Vacation, a sitcom starring writer-actor Timothy Stack as the patriarch of an RV-bound family going on a cross-country road trip. The show falls square into Nick@Nite's development mantra: fun, family-friendly and familiar. It will be both partially scripted and improvised. If you liked the movie National Lampoon's Family Vacation, then you will like this. Shooting on Family Vacation is set to begin next month.
The half-hour pilot is the second to emerge at Nick@Nite, which last partnered with Seinfeld writer Carol Leifer on the original sitcom pilot Darlene Westgor (Daily Variety, April 19), a Roseanne-style laffer still up for contention at the cabler.
So, we will let you know if Nick@Nite buys episodes of these series to actually air. If bought, they would likely air in the Tuesday original slot, where shows like Fatherhood and Hi-Jinks have aired. As soon as (or if) they buy any or both of these series, we will post it here!

'Arrested Development' Reruns to Internet, Basic Cable, & Hi-Def TV; i Network Update; And More!

We reported over a week ago that reruns of the single camera sitcom Arrested Development were coming soon to the high definition channel HDnet. Now, that is official and the show is also coming to MSN.com for internet plays for free and on the cable network G4, which airs other cult hits like Star Trek. All three will have a 3-year deal starting this fall. Here are the specs:
Fox Entertainment Group, MSN, HDNet and G4 announced that America's funniest dysfunctional family will get a second shot at enduring fame with the complete three-seasons (53 episodes) of the award-winning comedy, Arrested Development available soon online, on hi-def TV and on basic cable.
MSN will have the exclusive portal rights to syndicate the show for a three-year term, making this critically acclaimed series available to the masses for the first time online. As part of the pact, MSN will produce and launch a new range of interactive entertainment elements to build a community for Bluth family fans, who are ferocious in their devotion to the hilarious, suddenly penniless and equally clueless clan. Later this year, all episodes of Arrested Development will be streamed on MSN(R) Video and available on demand at no cost to MSN customers. Advertising opportunities associated with the online syndication of the series include display and streaming video plus sponsorship packages incorporating MSN media and in-content integration.
HDNet will have exclusive HD television access to the series for three years. The leader in high definition television, HDNet will begin airing Arrested Development episodes in September on its network, which is available through both cable and satellite platforms. HDNet produces a slate of original series and has licensing deals with a number of entertainment providers as well.
G4, the fastest growing network for 2006 and the number one podcasted network in the country, targets the male 18-34 audience. It has acquired the basic cable rights for the series for three years which it will begin airing in October 2006.
For more details and to discuss this news, click here.

The i Independent Television Network will announce their changes to their schedule TOMORROW. Be sure to come here tomorrow to view the changes--it will be exclusive to us FIRST. As I said yesterday, the changes will launch on Monday, August 14, but the entire 6 to 11 p.m. block will not be the new shows from Warner Bros. and Sony. It will only be a few series at start, then early in the fall we will get additional series and by maybe November the entire block will be these shows. And many have asked what they will do for Aug 1 to 13? Well they will continue their current schedule.
So, why are they only putting some shows for the Aug. 14 schedule? And when will they expand the hours from 6 to 11 p.m. to something more? We will try to answer all that tomorrow! It should be a fun Friday! TGIF!

If there is any more news from today, we will post it. So try and come on back later today.

'Brady' Wedding Scores on VH-1; Short-Lived '60s Sitcom to DVD?; i Network Schedule Update

And they said it wouldn't last... Sunday night's season finale of VH-1's My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married! was the highest rated episode of the series ever. The season finale scored an impressive 1.5 rating in the key 18-49 demo as more than 2 million total (P2+) viewers and 1.6 million P18-49 viewers watched sweethearts Chris Knight and Adrianne Curry say their "I Dos." The season finale was 25 percent higher than last season's finale in which Christopher and Adrianne got engaged.
The 90-minute special tied with TNT's Cradle 2 The Grave for the highest-rated program in its time period of 9:00 - 10:30 PM on all of basic cable television among viewers 18-49. My Fair Brady: The Wedding Special was also the top-rated regularly scheduled program on all of basic cable for the day, Sunday, July 23.
In attendance were former Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams (Greg Brady), Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady) and Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), as well as their The Surreal Life 4 co-star Joannie "Chyna" Laurer. Barry Williams even serenaded the happy couple as a special surprise!

Jack Chertok Television is looking to release short lived '60s sitcom My Living Doll, Starring Julie Newmar on DVD. Most of the key film elements have now been located and the show is about to be restored. No one has been contracted to release it yet, however.
They are also behind My Favorite Martian Season 3, which is being released by Rhino. They said to expect it after October. A bonus disc will be added and they found never before seen making of footage and a whole bunch of just amazing extras.
Did you know their is an un-aired pilot for My Favorite Martian, with all kinds of new footage and different characters. If you have seen the gold key comic number one it is pretty close to the story used for this un-seen show. And the music is slightly different as well.
They also found the Kellogs and Papermate spot that were made using the sets and actors from the show, they even have special Martian music on them adapted from the score, the other fun part is that in every case they follow the premise of the episode, in fact even adding punch lines to the story. They always come in on break four just before the wind up and end credits.
Interesting stuff indeed! Martian S3 looks like it will be a winner! And hopefully they can license My Living Doll to a studio, too. We will keep you up to date.

The i independent television network (AKA: PAX-TV) are not announcing the schedule today. So it will be either tomorrow or Friday, so keep coming back. I will however tell you the changes will "start" happening on August 14. Meaning the 6-11 p.m. i network line-up will only have a few shows from the Sony/Warner library. They will gradually add shows in the fall and hopefully by later in the fall the entire block will be shows from Sony/Warner. Come on back because this will be the first place where the news and schedules will be posted!

TCA Tour Fox: Day 2; Warner Bros. Shows to iTunes; 'Different World' S2 Explanation; And More Notes!

Nothing really from Fox on day two from its tour. They had sessions with the cast and crew of Justice, Happy Hour, So You Think You Can Dance, Talk Show with Spike Feresten, and AMW. Wow, what a BORING day for Fox. Fox will have an inside look at their new fall schedule on Sunday, August 13 from 7 to 7:30 p.m. This half-hour special features exclusive clips from both new and returning shows, including powerhouse dramas House and Prison Break, and on-set interviews with cast members from FOX's hottest series. Catch never-before-seen footage from the hot new shows 'TIL DEATH, VANISHED and STANDOFF, among others, and find out what's in store for the fall.
Press tour is over! Unless you want to count PBS, which is up tomorrow.

Warner Bros. is now getting in on the iTunes craze. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Apple(R) today announced that classic hit programming from Warner Bros.' vast television library is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes(R) Music Store (http://www.itunes.com). The new content features favorites such as the hugely popular sitcom Friends, sci-fi epic Babylon 5 and some of the most popular sketches from MADtv, as well as animated classics including The Jetsons and The Flintstones. iTunes offers over 150 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod(R). Also available is the never-before-seen pilot episode of Aquaman -- a grounded, contemporary reinterpretation of DC Comics' Aquaman mythology from the acclaimed writing/producing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville).

So the other day we announced that it seems UrbanWorks' A Different World Season 2 DVD had been delayed from 7/11 to 9/12. So what is the explanation? A Different World S2 was put on hold due to the sell of UrbanWorks' parent company Ventura. Now, under the First Look Studios umbrella, UrbanWorks' and First Look are in negotiations with Carsey-Werner to keep both A Different World and The Cosby Show DVDs with UrbanWorks. So, by the looks of that, I doubt A Different World S2 would be even ready to be released by Sept. 12. If UrbanWorks can't reach a deal, maybe Anchor Bay can release these two shows, since they release other Carsey-Werner shows. And maybe Anchor Bay can even re-release season one of both shows, since they were edited the first time around? Just my opinion. We will keep you up to date on the UrbanWorks-First Look negotiation with Carsey-Werner.

Finally, we have some other notes to tell you. Monk is coming to local syndication in fall 2008! WNBC, KNBC are among the locals who bought the one-hour mystery comedy/drama for weekend play. The show is basic cable's highest original series ever. USA Network airs the show, and they will have access to air the show in the day starting in fall 2008. Yes, they got reruns of their own show!
ABC has made some minor changes for this week. An extra According to Jim will air tonight at 8:30 p.m., replacing George Lopez. This is so ABC can have a better lead-in for The One tonight. And for tomorrow night they have replaced the summer Lost repeat with the crossover episode of George Lopez and Freddie. So if you have not seen that yet, watch it. It is part of TV history.
TV Land will re-air Pee Wee's Big Adventure on Saturday night (early Sunday morning) from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. and again on Sunday afternoon from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Why? Who knows.
Many have asked, so I will answer it right here. i independent network (AKA: PAX-TV) will announce their schedule sometime this week. It could be today, tomorrow or whenever. So you will just have to keep coming back here to check. We WILL be the first ones to post it, i'm sure. So come on back multiple times a day!

TCA Awards, TCA Tour Fox: Day 1; 'Grey's Anatomy' Reruns to Lifetime, Not Oxygen/TNT

And the winners for this year's TCA Awards are...

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: My Name Is Earl (NBC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Lost (ABC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: The Office (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: Frontline (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: High School Musical (Disney Channel)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: American Masters: Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home (PBS)
HERITAGE AWARD: The West Wing (NBC)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Carol Burnett

Meanwhile today Fox was up for their first of two days at the TCA tour. Not much news, but they have renewed So You Think You Can Dance and Hell's Kitchen for next summer. They announced the guest stars for The Simpsons this season which includes Betty White, Jon Lovitz, Richard Lewis, Harry Hamlin, Fran Drescher, and Keifer Sutherland. They also announced talent or whatever for the reality show Duets, which premieres later on this summer. And they explained why The O.C. has only 16 episodes this season--they said it is because of the heavy competition in the time-slot, so they will air the 16 episodes with limited repeats, which means the season (or series) probably in March. As for the panel, they had question-answer session with the casts and crew of Vanished, 'Til Death, Standoff, and Prison Break (which introduced new co-star William Fichtner of Invasion).
Fox's fall season actually begins August 21, as we mentioned before.

On July 12, the trades reported speculation that Grey's Anatomy reruns would be shared with TNT and Oxygen starting in fall 2009. It looks like that deal fell through, because now Lifetime has made it official they will be the exclusive cable home for the hit drama starting in Fall 2009, but they also can air episodes once a week starting this January! It is reported that Lifetime will pay $1.2 million an episode. They are currently paying $1.3 million for Medium and will pay $500,000 an episode for Desperate Housewives, which starts its once a week airing next August, before airing everyday starting fall 2008. Here is Lifetime's release:
The doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital will soon begin making house calls at Lifetime Television! Continuing its acquisition of high-profile broadcast hits, Lifetime Television today announced that it has acquired the exclusive basic cable rights from Buena Vista Television for the popular Emmy Award(R) nominated series Grey's Anatomy, beginning in fall 2009. Lifetime will begin airing episodes from the first season once a week, starting in January 2007.

SitcomsOnline.com Mini-DVD Reviews; Summer Week 8 Sitcom Ratings

We are now launching yet another feature--mini-DVD reviews! Mini-DVD reviews will be posted right here on the blog on some Saturdays or when we have a slow news day. They basically will be short reviews, like you see on TV Guide Magazine or EW, of non-sitcoms--stretching from animated series to select dramas. We will of course continue to do our very popular full DVD reviews of EVERY sitcom and select dramas. The select dramas that we think fit our website well, will be given full reviews, while some other dramas that do not fit the site well, will get the mini-DVD review treatment. I have wanted to review so many sets I have gotten in the past, but they just didn't fit our site, like DuckTales, Garfield & Friends, He-Man, Inspector Gadget, and so many more. Primetime animated comedies (Simpsons, Flintstones, etc) will continue to get full reviews.
Todd and I will be doing the bulk of these "mini-DVD reviews." You should start seeing them pop-up here on the blog in the coming weeks. Expect mini-DVD reviews in the coming weeks of TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Dungeons and Dragons, Dick Tracy, and maybe even a drama or two, like JAG. So, now we will be your home for basically most TV-DVD reviews! If you have not read any of our full reviews yet (shame on you!), please do visit our DVD Reviews Page.

And now back to our regularly scheduled Sunday program (the ratings)...
Dog days of summer continue. I think 8 weeks left until the season starts! Week 8 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.85 million...up from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.21 million...also up from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.33 million...trend continues of up from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - The trend stopped, 7.69 million only tuned in, drop from last week.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were up from last week ranging from 1.89-2.18 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - 5.35 million, down just a bit from last week's 8pm airing.
• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.89 million in its new Tuesday summer home.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of Eve, Cuts...9-10pm did 1.18 and 1.2 million--down from last week.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Up slightly from last week to 5.71 million.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Slightly up from previous week, 4.41 million.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.57 million at 8 p.m. and 4.17 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.55 million and the others ranged from 1.5-1.95 million.
  

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. When will they air movies or something instead?
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

Tonight at the TCA tour the TCA Awards! We will have the winners posted tomorrow morning hopefully. Tomorrow is also day one for Fox at the tour.

TCA Tour NBC: Day 2; Boomerang's 10 Classic Characters 10-Day Marathon; Remembering Jack Warden

NBC is on their second day at the TCA summer tour. No real news on this day except for questions and answers from the casts of Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, Heroes, etc. Yesterday the casts of Twenty Good Years, America's Got Talent (which will be back in January), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, etc. were up. NBC has confirmed that Windfall, the summer drama, will not be back. Tomorrow at the tour the TCA Awards! Then Fox is up for its first day on Monday. They already announced their premiere dates well before the TCA tour started...that is just like Fox, doing everything their own way.

Boasting more stars than there are in the cartoon heavens, Boomerang has blocked out ten consecutive days to showcase ten 24-hour tributes to top stars within its esteemed vaults of classic cartoon characters. The commercial-free all-animation network will feature characters representing the full spectrum of classic cartoons-from hand-painted theatrical shorts of the golden 1940s and '50s era, to first generation stars of 1960s and '70s television; from dramatic superheroes representing the very best of modern animated action-adventure, to more recent treasured favorites of the 1980s and '90s. The mammoth marathon will begin at 6 a.m. on Friday, July 21 and will conclude at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 31.
Yes, I know the marathon has started already...boy you only just missed Duck Dodgers. The lineup is as follows:
Friday, July 21-Daffy Duck in Duck Dodgers
Saturday, July 22-The Pink Panther: Boomerang will present selections from more than 90 fully re-mastered, classic theatrical shorts produced from 1964-1977-including the Oscar*-winning "The Pink Phink"-as well as 84 animated episodes produced for television sporadically from 1978-1995.
Sunday, July 23-Tom of Tom and Jerry
Monday, July 24-Dexter of Dexter's Laboratory
Tuesday, July 25-Lu of Mike, Lu & Og
Wednesday, July 26-Wednesday of The Addams Family
Thursday, July 27-Richie Rich
Friday, July 28-Baby Bugs Bunny of Baby Looney Tunes
Saturday, July 29-Scooby-Doo of What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Sunday, July 30-Batman of Justice League

What no Fred Flintstone?? No animated marathon would be complete without The Flintstones!

Veteran TV and film actor Jack Warden has passed away. He passed away in New York on Wednesday. The Newark, NJ product had heart and kidney problems over the years. He was nominated for a few Oscars for a few films and won an Emmy Award for the TV-Movie Brian's Song in 1971. He started his career way back in the early '50s. He moved to NY after serving in the Army and Navy during World War II. His first major break however was in 1952 when got the role of the Coach in the sitcom Mr. Peepers. He had quite a handful of films in the '50s, too. He was in another short lived sitcom in 1955 called Norby. He did a lot of guest spots in the '50s and '60s, too, such as Bewitched, Route 66, 77 Sunset Strip, Bonanza. He also starred in the ABC drama N.Y.P.D. which lasted from 1967-69. The '70s he became a star of film and TV movies, notching Oscar nominations and an Emmy award. Later in the decade he starred in the TV comedy The Bad News Bears for CBS, but just lasted one season, 1979-80. Also, that year he tried to revive the classic sitcom Topper, but it didn't make it on-air. The '80s saw more films and TV movies, and also two TV series--a funny crime drama Crazy Like a Fox from 1984-86 (which got him two more Emmy nominations) and the sitcom Knight & Dave in 1989. In the '90s he starred in more TV-movies and films, including the popular Problem Child movies starring John Ritter, playing Big Ben Healy. Some of his last films include Bullworth, Dirty Work, and The Replacements in 2000. So he had been retired from the business for the last 6 years or so. Mr. Warden will be missed greatly. He was 85.

TCA Tour NBC: Day 1; 'A Different World' Season 2 DVD Delayed

After a day off, the TCA tour is back! NBC has just announced its fall premiere dates:

Monday, September 18
8:00PM-10:00PM Deal or No Deal (special two-hour edition)
10:00PM Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Tuesday, September 19
9:00PM Law & Order: Criminal Intent
10:00PM Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Wednesday, September 20
8:00PM-10:00PM The Biggest Loser" (two-hour premiere)
10:00PM Kidnapped

Thursday, September 21
8:00PM My Name Is Earl
8:30PM The Office
9:00PM Deal or No Deal
10:00PM ER

Friday, September 22
10:00PM Law & Order

Monday, September 25
9:00PM Heroes

Tuesday, October 3
8:00PM Friday Night Lights

Wednesday, October 4
8:00PM-9:00PM Twenty Good Years (one-hour premiere)

Wednesday, October 11
8:30PM 30 Rock

Friday, October 20
8:00PM Crossing Jordan
9:00PM Las Vegas

Deal or No Deal looks like it will air Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 8pm and Friday, Sept. 20 at 8pm during premiere week in addition to its regular Monday and Thursday slot. NBC could opt to bring back Deal or No Deal for a third appearance each week if a new show fails, saying it would be used on a “stunt basis” two to three times per week. So we now have fall premiere dates for each network (ABC, NBC, Fox, CW) except...CBS.
In other NBC news...after its success on YouTube.com, NBC has ordered six episodes of failed pilot Nobody’s Watching from creators Bill Lawrence, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan. NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly says the network took a serious look at the show, which began as a pilot for The WB and started picking up tremendous buzz when it went on the Web, because it is produced by NBC Universal Television Studio. The network plans to put videos on the Web featuring the series’ characters, two sitcom fans taking part in a reality show, Reilly told the Television Critics Assn. press tour Friday in Pasadena, Calif. Reilly acknowledged being “very surprised” by the reaction the pilot got on YouTube and said NBC has nothing to do with putting it there. He began receiving emails about it while sailing in Mexico. NBC’s move to bring back a dead pilot passed on by another network is almost unheard of in Hollywood. It has initially attempted to clamp down on YouTube but now sees the Web site to as a way to promote some shows.

Various sources have mentioned that A Different World Season 2 DVD which was supposed to come out July 11 has been pushed back two months to September 12. We don't have any further details, but many have asked what happened to this set. I'm not sure why UrbanWorks moved it. They originally planned the set for May 30, but quickly changed it to July 11...and now that isn't happening. Fans could watch the show every Wednesday night now on Nick@Nite from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and weekends at 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. ET/PT.

More Last Minute TV Land Schedule Changes; 'Hee Haw' Coming to CMT

The TCA press tour is on a break today, as the critics head on to the sets of various series. We'll be back tomorrow with Day 1 of NBC!

Now to today's news...TV Land has made yet another last minute schedule change. This change will be starting on Monday (July 24). They are revamping their 5-8pm line-up and early morning line-up 4-5:30am. Two episodes of Good Times will replace All in the Family/Sanford & Son from 5-6pm, while Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith move up an hour from 7-8pm to 6-7pm, replacing The Munsters/Green Acres hour--which didn't do so well. Ratings hit Little House on the Prairie will air at 7pm now and will continue to air in its regular 8pm slot as well--so back to back episodes. As for early mornings, TV Land will encore the 11p-12a Three's Company episodes from 4-5a replacing Dick Van Dyke/I Love Lucy. Lucy will move to 5am replacing The Munsters. Three's Company is a ratings smash for the network. Dick Van Dyke is expiring after August and will only be down to one slot now. The Munsters is expiring at the end of October, and from the looks of these changes, it doesn't look like they will renew it. Finally, The Munsters mini-marathon on Saturday nights for the summer will be replaced by Murphy Brown, which comes over from Nick@Nite. You can view the full list of changes for the July 24 line-up HERE.

Hee Haw, the classic country comedy series, makes its triumphant return to television for the first time in almost 10 years on CMT. Featuring some of country music's biggest stars, the episodes cover the show's entire run from 1969 through 1991. One of the most popular and longest-running variety shows in television history, Hee Haw is as iconic as its longtime co-hosts, Buck Owens and Roy Clark. From the infamous cornfield jokes to the donkey's wild lines, Hee Haw solidified its place in American culture, reveling in its Southern twang and humor. Tune in Saturday, July 29 from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and you'll even see Reba McEntire before she had her own sitcom! Episodes airing are:
5:00PM George Strait / Statler Brothers 1983
6:00PM George Jones and Tammy Wynette 1974
7:00PM Connie Smith/Hank Williams, Jr. 1978
8:00PM Reba McEntire/Lyle Lovett 1989
9:00PM Garth Brooks/Suzy Bogguss 1990
10:00PM Willie Nelson/Jim Stafford 1985
11:00PM Conway Twitty/John Anderson 1983
12:00AM George Jones and Tammy Wynette 1974 (repeat)
1:00AM Willie Nelson/Jim Stafford 1985 (repeat)

TCA Tour ABC: Day 2; In2TV Spanish Channel

ABC is up again today at the press tour. Yesterday they announced the fall premiere dates along with an executive question-answer session, and questions-answers with new series from the cast and crew of: Six Degrees, Help Me Help You, Ugly Betty, Day Break, Big Day and The Nine. During lunch hour Jimmy Kimmel hosted a "BBQ Lunch," which we hear he served double-decker veggie burgers! Critics are really digging ABC's shows, especially Six Degrees, Ugly Betty and Day Break. Some more notes from yesterday:
ABC could take a second look at Patricia Heaton's sitcom project, the Everybody Loves Raymond actress who had a pilot the network declined to pick up. ABC is in discussions with producers of the pilot about redeveloping the project, which McPherson said "didn't come together." McPherson on Grey's Anatomy moving: "We definitely think 'Grey's' is a self-starter," McPherson said. "We really believe in these comedies (Big Day and Notes from the Underbelly). It's the first time we're really going to go full bore against Thursday nights." And now that J.J. Abrams has moved from Touchstone to Warner Bros., he will still play huge roles on Lost, Six Degrees and What About Brian. Abrams is expected to direct select episodes of Lost and be in the writing room as well, McPherson said. Lost, as mentioned yesterday, will air for 6 episodes in the fall before returning in early winter for the rest of the season, which could be anywhere between 16-18 weeks. He mentioned that Lost likely will create supplementary content, though not broadband episodes, to sate viewer appetites when Lost takes a midseason break.
McPherson also issued a vote of confidence for Desperate Housewives, which critics carped suffered from a creative malaise in its second season (the beginning of it at least). The network likes what it sees from early scripts and descriptions of seasonlong story lines coming from creator and executive producer Marc Cherry, who has the reins to himself now that Tom Spezialy has left the show.
McPherson also aired some regrets over the failure of Commander in Chief, adding that if he could do it over again he would have launched later in the season to avoid overwhelming executive producer Rod Lurie, who was removed from the series because of production delays.
"I think if we had gotten way out ahead, we would have had a much better chance of being able to deliver a show week to week," McPherson said. And he mentioned Invasion as well, "We just could not get a large audience off of it. We really believed in it. It came down to the wire. It was a very tough call for us." He also said, the cast for the next Dancing with the Stars is "almost set."
As for today, ABC had a session with ABC News, effective TODAY ABC will officially change the name of World News Tonight with Charles Gibson to World News With Charles Gibson. So they are removing the word "tonight." Why? ABC News President David Westin says: “The program we air each night remains our flagship broadcast, but it has evolved well beyond thirty minutes on television,” said Mr. Westin. “With an afternoon webcast downloaded by millions, and updated content available throughout the day on ABCNEWS.com, ‘World News’ is always on. We are committed to expanding ABC News and ‘World News’ into the 24-hour space created by the digital world, and it makes sense for that reality to be reflected in the title of the broadcast.” Also, injured ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is "recovering rather miraculously" and has spent the last two afternoons in the ABC newsroom in New York after morning physical therapy sessions, according to ABC News spokesperson Jeffrey Schneider. Wonderful news and we wish Bob the best of luck in a speedy recovery!
And finally, the rest of the day will be devoted to ABC's other new series/specials: The Knights of Prosperity, Notes from the Underbelly, MEN IN TREES, Brothers & Sisters, and The Path to 9/11.

We mentioned a few weeks back on our In2TV July post, that a few series will be getting Spanish episodes also. We said Jesse, Presidio Med, Animaniacs were getting that treatment. So we sort of were the first to release that because today they officially announced details on the Spanish episodes. They have created an all-new channel with episodes in Spanish! The channel is called "In2TV En Espanol," and launches today! In2TV En Espanol showcases fan favorites from Babylon 5 to Wonder Woman to Perfect Strangers, and many more. According to weekly tracking by AOL, these are among the most popular shows on In2TV, the new broadband network with the largest offering of popular television series available online for free. This new Spanish-language channel will expose an entire online community to television programs that have previously only been seen in their original English broadcast format.
The following are all the shows that are currently on this channel and the episodes for the sitcoms in parenthesis: Growing Pains ("Jealousy," "Carol's Article," "Mike's Madonna Story"), Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Lois & Clark, Babylon 5, Pinky & the Brain, Wonder Woman, Jesse ("Live Nude Girl," "Boo! He's Back," The Best Deal Possible"), Animaniacs, Freddy's Nightmares, The Fugitive, Spenser: Fore Hire, People's Court, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper ("Call Me Irresponsible," "My Bodyguard," "Matinee"), Freakazoid!, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Beetlejuice, Falcon Crest, V: The Series, Max Headroom, Presidio Med, New Adventures of Batman, Sisters, Dark Justice, and The FBI. Their press release mentioned Head of the Class and Perfect Strangers, but I don't see them listed for this month. Head of the Class doesn't even have new episodes in the regular English this month either. I'm surprised Chico and the Man is not in Spanish yet!
Finally, in related news, the blog [itvt] had an interview with Eric Frankel, President Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution. The interview is all about In2TV, so you should go read it. It is quite good! Click here to read it.

TCA Tour ABC: Day 1; Nick@Nite September Highlights

ABC is up now at the TCA summer press tour and they have just announced their fall premiere dates! Here is your first look at them:

Friday, September 8
9:00-11:00 p.m. 20/20 (two-hour season premiere)

Tuesday, September 12
8:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (two-hour season premiere; two-hour episode also airs on Sept. 19)

Wednesday, September 13
8:00-9:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars Results Show

Monday, September 18
8:00-9:00 p.m. Wife Swap

Thursday, September 21
9:00-10:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy
10:00-11:00 p.m. Six Degrees

Friday, September 22
8:00-9:00 p.m. Ugly Betty
9:00-10:00 p.m. Men in Trees

Sunday, September 24
7:00-9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (two-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00-11:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters

Tuesday, September 26
9:30-10:00 p.m. Help Me Help You
10:00-11:00 p.m. Boston Legal
Note: 90-minute Dancing with the Stars airs tonight and the next two weeks)

Sunday, October 1
7:00-8:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos

Monday, October 2
9:00-11:00 p.m. The Bachelor: Rome (two-hour season premiere)

Wednesday, October 4
9:00-10:00 p.m. Lost
10:00-11:00 p.m. The Nine

Thursday, October 5
8:00-8:30 p.m. Big Day
8:30-9:00 p.m. Notes From the Underbelly

Monday, October 9
10:00-11:00 p.m. What About Brian

Tuesday, October 17
9:00-9:30 p.m. The Knights of Prosperity

Wednesday, November 15
9:00-10:00 p.m. Day Break
Note: Lost will air for 6 straight weeks of new episodes in the fall before coming back in early February (or late January) for the rest of the season (16 additional episodes at least).

ABC, the first English language broadcast network to provide all regular primetime entertainment programming in Spanish via a combination of closed-captioning and dubbing, has increased the number of programs dubbed into Spanish, Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment has announced. Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Dancing with the Stars, George Lopez and Latino television phenomenon Ugly Betty will be dubbed into Spanish, with the remainder of the network’s regular primetime entertainment lineup available with Spanish language subtitles. In addition, select specials will also be dubbed into Spanish.
Spanish subtitled versions of the shows will be found on Closed Caption 2 channel (CC2), and viewers will be able to access the programs dubbed in Spanish via the SAP (Second Audio Program) option on their televisions. ABC was the first English language broadcast network to make such a large portion of its programming available in Spanish.
We will be back later if any other ABC news occurs at the press tour.

Nick@Nite in September will air its newest shows (Different World, NewsRadio) 7 days a week. A Different World will air every night at 10 p.m., while NewsRadio will air at 4 a.m. Nick@Nite will also encore the latest batch of Hi-Jinks episodes Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. They have A Different World Dwayne and Whitley marathon on Sept. 17 and one lucky viewer will get to choose the episodes for A Different World, Cosby Show, Roseanne, Fresh Prince on Sept. 23! For more on September, click here.

Cable Reruns of 'Two & a Half Men' to FX in 2010, 'Arrested Development' to HDnet?; TCA Tour The CW

As we have reported previously of Two & a Half Men heading to Tribune locals in fall 2007, now Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution has sold the show to cable! FX is the surprise winner and will start airing the show in a 4 year deal starting in 2010. It is reported to be for $750,000 an episode. That is only behind Seinfeld's $1 million deal an episode for TBS. So, this is a historic deal. It was predicted to come to TBS, like most hit sitcoms do, but FX surprisingly picked it up. FX will also be able to air episodes online, just like the local channels deal. FX will air the show up to 12 times a week, that includes twice on weekends--so if I do the math, twice a weekday and once each day on the weekend? Two & a Half Men airs on CBS Monday nights at 9 p.m. and is currently the highest rated sitcom on television.

Mark Cuban has yet another surprise. First he brings in Dan Rather to host a news show for his HDnet channel, now he has reportedly picked-up reruns of Arrested Development, TV Week reports!
The series, which was shot in high definition, will join a roster of recently canceled prime-time series on HDnet's schedule. Mr. Cuban acquired former CBS drama Joan of Arcadia and former Showtime series Dead Like Me in April. The deal for Arrested Development was being completed last week, days after Mr. Cuban stole the spotlight from exponentially bigger networks at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual cable press tour with an announcement that veteran former CBS newsman Mr. Rather will join HDNet, which is available in about 3 million homes. (Fully distributed cable networks are available in more than 90 million homes.)

Today The CW (the new combined The WB/UPN channel) is up at the press tour. They have announced their fall premiere dates! See below:

Wednesday, September 20
8:00-10:00 p.m. Special Two-Hour Premiere of America's Next Top Model

Friday, September 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. Friday Night Smackdown!

Monday, September 25
8:00-9:00 p.m. 7th Heaven
9:00-10:00 p.m. Runaway

Tuesday, September 26
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gilmore Girls

Wednesday, September 27
9:00-10:00 p.m One Tree Hill

Thursday, September 28
8:00-9:00 p.m Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural

Sunday, October 1
7:00-7:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
7:30-8:00 p.m. All of Us
8:00-8:30 p.m. Girlfriends
8:30-9:00 p.m. The Game
9:00-10:00 p.m America's Next Top Model (Encore Presentation)

Tuesday, October 3
9:00-10:00 p.m. Veronica Mars

The CW Network welcomes superstar Whoopi Goldberg in a guest appearance on the critically acclaimed comedy series Everybody Hates Chris. The announcement was made today at the network's Summer 2006 Television Critics Association Press Tour. Goldberg will appear in two episodes of Everybody Hates Chris, which premieres October 1 (7:00-7:30 p.m. ET). She will play Louise, a woman from Queens who moves in next door to Chris' (Tyler James Williams) family, and whose granddaughter is the latest object of Chris' affections.
If The CW has anything more interesting from the TCA tour, we will post it. Keep checking back, and tomorrow will mark the first of two days at the TCA tour with ABC.

Summer Week 7 Sitcom Ratings; TCA Tour CBS: Day 2

Dog days of summer continue. I think 9 weeks left until the season starts! Week 7 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.35 million...nice job.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 5.58 million...it will now hold this slot in the fall.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.15 million...of course the highest rated sitcom.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - CBS is trying to lure new viewers, 8.13 million tuned in for a second episode of the night.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were ranging from 1.68-1.84 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes -Decent job...5.42 and 5.79 million.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.53 million...next week, the show will move to Tuesdays at 8:30 for the rest of the summer, and will do better I think.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 3.63 million tuned in for the last ever airing on ABC.
• UPN Comedies: Special OTO airings of Eve, Cuts...9-10pm did 1.4 and 1.37 million.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) 2 episodes - Aired at 8 week and did good with 5.5 million. 9pm just did 4.62 million, not helping the Results Show of America's Got Talent at 9:30.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 4.16 million tuned in at 8:30.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 2.99 million at 8 p.m. and 4 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.59 million and the others ranged from 1.38-1.72 million.
  

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. When will they air movies or something instead?
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

CBS Day 2 so far hasn't had any real news, just question and answers from new CBS shows like Shark. CBS however hinted at maybe another sitcom night for mid-season. They may launch a second comedy night outside of Monday midseason with the debuts of King of Queens, Rules of Engagement and the animated Creature Comforts. Maybe Saturdays? Even though yesterday they said they are not looking for original programming then. The only other night I could think of is Wednesdays, and I doubt that now. Still no premiere dates for the new shows and returning series. I hate when the TCA tour is on weekends, not much news comes. Hopefully we have more updates on CBS tomorrow, but The CW is up tomorrow.

Upcoming TCA schedule:
Monday, July 17 will mark the first tour for The CW. ABC has Tuesday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 19. NBC is up on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22. The TCA Awards will be on Sunday, July 23. Fox is up on Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25. Then PBS will be on hand for the final days.

TCA Tour CBS: Day 1

It was day one of the broadcast TCA tour, and CBS's first of two days. Today was basically an executive session. No real news just reporters asking executive Nina Tassler some questions. She said CSI is expected to take a hit from Grey's Anatomy and is calling CSI an "underdog." However, two hit shows can be successful in one time-slot, and there have been many numerous examples of that, like American Idol and Lost last season, Without a Trace and ER, and the list goes on and on. The change in its previously announced Monday schedule, with debut comedy The Class flipping with sophomore comedy How I Met Your Mother at 8 p.m. (ET), was designed to keep Mother in the same time period it was in this past season and allow the show "to bask in the halo from promo of The Class." CBS has no plans to bring back original programming to Saturdays, Ms. Tassler said. "Our Saturday night does fine," she said. "We're certainly open to it if the show presented itself, but we are going to be stet on Saturday." And finally, I don't know if this is true, but Now Playing Magazine says they got a report that CBS will be advertising on eggs this fall, as well. Yes, eggs! Some of the slogans on the eggs include: CBS Monday - Leave the Yolks to Us; CSI - Crack the Case on CBS; The Class - New Grade-A CBS Comedy. Hilarious! Read that column here. Who knows if it is true, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
We hope CBS announces fall premiere dates tomorrow. If they do, we will be announcing it here, along with our weekly ratings report.

TV Land September Highlights, Include Jeffersons Launch and Three's Company Weekend W/Spinoffs and Unaired Pilot; TCA Tour Cable: Day 5

TV Land will give viewers loads of stunts and specials this September, along with a schedule change! First, TV Land will launch their newest show The Jeffersons, with a 72-hour Labor Day Weekends marathon Sept. 2-4. The Jeffersons will air in the new TV Land line-up starting Sept. 5 airing weekdays at 12:30 p.m. and every night at 10:30 p.m. & 1:30 a.m. ET/PT. The mini-marathons from 12-4a and 11a-2p are both gone, which means sitcoms are back during those time periods! Shows like 227, What's Happening!!, and Night Court get regular airings again. TV Land also will air Daniel Boone for four afternoons Sept. 5-8 at 2 p.m. They will also have a 48-hour marathon of the show Aug. 26-27 on-air and it will premiere with three uncut episodes each week on TVLand.com for four weeks.
Stunts include a Three's Company weekend the weekend of Sept. 16-17, that will include both spin-offs--The Ropers & Three's a Crowd, along with an unaired pilot of Three's Company, for the first time on TV Land or on television! TV Land also will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the night Star Trek premiered on Sept. 8 with three classic episodes. And remember Star Trek joins TV Land and TVLand.com starting in November! Like last year, TV Land will encourage families to eat together with a CASA Family Night marathon on Sunday, Sept. 24 from 9-11 p.m., and the following day they will pre-empt programming from 6-7 p.m. to encourage families to eat at that time together. Finally, TV Land will debut its newest original, Generation Boom, a four-part special airing 10-11 p.m. from Sept. 26-29. Baby boomers will for sure want to tune in for that!
For more on the stunts and the regular schedule changes, click here for all the September info!

Now to some TCA news, A&E Network kicks off its exclusive cable television presentation of CSI: Miami with a Labor Day Marathon, on Monday, September 4, 2006 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET/PT, it was announced today by Bob DeBitetto, Executive Vice President and General Manager, A&E Network. The critically acclaimed series will run on A&E every weeknight at 8pm ET/PT, beginning that evening.
Court TV, acquired in full by Time Warner in May, takes the first step in maximizing the resources of its new corporate parent Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. by building on its movie line up with Most Wanted Movies(SM), premiering Thursday, August 17, at 8 P.M. ET/PT. Every Thursday at 8 P.M., Court TV will air a recently-produced feature film in the crime and investigation genre from Turner's vast library, with a line-up that includes action, drama and comedy. Scheduling of the films was closely coordinated between all the Turner networks to maximize audience. Most films will run two hours in duration and will feature commercial breaks. Films longer than two hours will air at 7 P.M. ET/PT. The network's selections for Most Wanted Movies(SM) include such films as "Seven" (8/24); "In the Line of Fire" (8/31); "A Few Good Men"; "The Client"; "Runaway Jury"; "Pelican Brief"; "Analyze This"; "Donnie Brasco" and the August 17 premiere, "Bad Boys," starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence among many others.
USA Network has acquired the cable television rights from Buena Vista Television to the record-breaking #1 movie in America, Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Taking in more than $135 million in its opening weekend, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest shattered the record for the biggest three-day weekend ever beating the previous record-holder Spider-Man by almost $21 million. In addition, USA will build on the pirate fever currently sweeping the nation with the basic cable premiere of Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl this Saturday, July 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the start of the broadcast version of the TCA summer tour, starting with CBS Day 1!

TCA Tour Cable: Day 4; SitcomsOnline Remembers Three TV Veterans

We are at day four of the cable portion of the TCA! Today is the big day for TV Land and Nick@Nite. TV Land announced that it will launch its first broadband video player for its TVLand.com on Thursday, Aug. 24. The site will feature full-length episodes of new programs each month, episodes and clips from TV Land’s original programming and classic TV shows, the "retromercials" that run on the linear network, recent and classic promos, celebrity interviews. Uncut Episodes of '60s western Daniel Boone will kick off the online channel in August. Then Three's Company clips, outtakes, bloopers and more (possibly episodes of the spin-offs, The Ropers and Three's a Crowd?) will be the main feature in September. October will see the premiere of TV Land's original Mr. T series I Pity the Fool. November has episodes of the pop culture hit Star Trek and in December viewers can watch the work of Marlo Thomas with the special Free to Be You and Me and episodes of That Girl! I was excited about this online channel, and it certainly is not disappointing! We will certainly have more updates on this. We might see Daniel Boone on the TV Land network itself in September, but it premieres first on TV Land Online on Aug. 24. Star Trek and I Pity the Fool will both be offered online and on-air. Not sure yet about That Girl. For the complete press release, click here.
I Pity the Fool debuts on-air on TV Land on October 11 at 10 p.m. Nick@Nite hyped its new series A Different World, which will air on Wednesday nights this summer from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and on weekends at 10 p.m., before airing every night at 10 p.m. starting in September.
Other networks also went:
FX will create a mini-episode of gritty cop series The Shield to air on-demand and on video-broadband platforms prior to the show's sixth-season premiere in early 2007. The show, which will be dubbed The Shield 5.5, is similar to the Rescue Me 2.5 video short released in May prior to the third-season premiere of the network's popular Denis Leary-produced firefighter series. That show, which featured Leary and the show's cast, drew 1.5 million viewers through cable video-on-demand and on the Internet via AOL, network officials said. FX also announced Wednesday the renewal of Rescue Me for a fourth season.
The Discovery Channel name opened more doors of interview subjects internationally than did the name ABC News, journalist Ted Koppel told television critics. Koppel lavished praise on the network when he was asked what it is like doing important news on a "smaller platform" than ABC. He noted that his reporting could reach millions of people internationally through Discovery's more than 160 affiliates. Koppel said he hopes the channel's international cache will help him and his crew to get into Iran in the fall so that he can report on that nation's growing nuclear program and its distrust of America.
Can't wait to see the next episode of HBO’s The Wire and Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam? The network will premiere each episode of the urban drama and the standup-comedy series via its subscription-video-on-demand service one week before it airs on the premium service, Multichannel News says. HBO On Demand will debut the fourth season of The Wire, as well as the first episode of Def Comedy Jam -- returning to HBO after a 10-year hiatus -- Sept. 4, three days before they air on the network.
Keep checking back for further updates!

Today, SitcomsOnline.com mourns the deaths of three TV veterans: Amzie Strickland, Barnard Hughes, and Kasey Rogers. Amzie Strickland was best known for her guest starring roles on classic TV shows, but she also had a recurring role on short lived shows such as Carter Country and Full Circle. Among her many guest roles include a few characters on The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy, My Favorite Martian, The Donna Reed Show, Gomer Pyle, F Troop, Petticoat Junction, The Doris Day Show, Happy Days, The Bob Newhart Show, Flo, Three's Company, The Golden Girls, ALF, Murphy Brown, Empty Nest, Full House, Sister Sister, Roseanne, Ned & Stacey, Wings, Ellen and many many more! Ms. Strickland suffered from Alzheimer's disease and had not acted in 5 years. She passed away on July 5 at the age of 87.
Barnard Hughes was best known for his roles on Doc (70s version), Blossom, The Cavanaughs, and the short lived sitcom Mr. Merlin. He received an Emmy Award in 1978 for a guest appearance on Lou Grant, and began appearing on television in the 1950s in shows such as Kraft Television Theatre and The U.S. Steel Hour. He appeared on other series as a guest such as All in the Family, Hawaii Five-0, Bob Newhart Show, The Love Boat, Hotel, and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. He later had stints on the soap operas The Guiding Light, The Secret Storm and As the World Turns. He had a Broadway career dating back to 1935 and has won Tony Awards. Mr. Hughes died Tuesday after a brief illness, he was 90.
And finally, Kasey Rogers has also passed away. Rogers was best known probably for her role as Louise Tate on the hit sitcom Bewitched. She was a series regular on Peyton Place. She has guest starred on series such as Perry Mason, Marcus Welby, Maverick, Hawaiian Eye, Adam-12, Wyatt Earp, and Cheyenne. She had basically stoped acting in recent years, but she did interviews for The E! True Hollywood Story: Bewitched and TV Land Confidential. Ms. Rogers died of a stroke and was 79.

TCA Tour Cable: Day 3; 'Grey's Anatomy' Reruns to TNT & Oxygen?

We are now at day 3 of the cable portion of the TCA summer tour. E!, style, The Weather Channel are among the channels today:
E! is looking to boost its comedy profile with the launch of celebrity claymation series Starveillance, which will debut in January 2007. The show, from Celebrity Deathmatch mastermind Eric Fogel, will offer up celebrities who have more than just feet of clay, including Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, and Ashlee Simpson.
E! has had a ratings growth in recent months. The ratings growth is thanks in part to strong ratings from The Simple Life's fourth season, which premiered on the network in June. E! has ordered a fifth season of the show. Joining The Simple Life on the schedule in October will be new reality series House of Carters, which chronicles the lives of Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter and his four siblings living under one roof.
Style Network is giving the greenlight to two series for fall premieres and has linked in a multi-tiered partnership with Beyonce Knowles and her mother, Tina.
On Sept. 4, the network will premiere half-hour weekly series Style Her Famous, in which America's Next Top Model mentor Jay Manuel helps young women tap into their personal style. In October, the network will roll out eight-part unscripted series Split Ends, in which two hairdressers from different salons swap places. Style has partnered with Beyonce and Tina Knowles to feature a show showcasing the singer's clothing line, "House of Dereon," throughout the third and fourth quarter of 2006. That includes hour-long special Uncut: House of Dereon Featuring Beyonce & Tina Knowles, a half-hour special on the line's fashion-show footage, and an "Everyday Runway" sweepstakes in which a fan will get to meet Beyonce and Tina and win the entire clothing line.
The Weather Channel wants to educate us on global warming. The network will launch a multiplatform content initiative under the umbrella term Climate Watch to delve into the issue, TWC Cos. president Debra Wilson said at the network's Television Critics Association Tour presentation. TWC will debut The Climate Code with Dr. Heidi Cullen, a weekly series premiering in October that will explore the issues surrounding the earth's warming and its eventual effects.
Keep checking back with us for updates on other channels. TV Land and Nick@Nite are tomorrow!

Oxygen and TNT are closing in on shared cable rights to the ABC hit series Grey's Anatomy, The Hollywood Reporter said. Buena Vista Television will hand over off-net rights to Oxygen for the post-6 p.m. window, while TNT will get off-net daytime rights. In addition, Oxygen will get a second window starting earlier than the off-net rights that gives the channel a weekly repeat of an episode from earlier seasons. Oxygen is expected to begin airing repeat episodes from earlier seasons as early as January. The official Grey's off-net window would begin in Fall 2009; by then, the series likely will have cleared 100 episodes (36 hours have aired to date over two seasons) and be in its fifth season.
Buena Vista has yet to sell Grey's Anatomy to local stations.

TCA Tour Cable: Day 2; CBS Swaps Two Fall Monday Comedies Time-Slots

HDnet made its official announcement today for Dan Rather coming to the channel for his own news show. Read the official press release here.
In addition to ABC Family, sister network Disney Channel also went yesterday and they made some announcements. The channel filmed The Cheetah Girls 2, setting the tweener girl's film in Barcelona. Raven-Symone will executive produce. Disney Channel ordered a second season of its preschooler series, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. A computer-generated animation series for preschoolers, Handpy Manny, will debut Sept. 16. Wilmer Valderrama (That 70s Show) will voice the title character in the multicultural series. Short-form series Johnny and the Sprites, featuring Tony Award-winning puppeteer John Tartaglia (Avenue Q), will be expanded to a half-hour series, debuting in the “Playhouse Disney” block early next year. A new action/adventure/comedy series, Yin Yang Yo!, will take over Toon Disney all through Labor Day before settling into its weeknight slot during the “Jetix” block on the channel. The stars are two "hyperkinetic tween rabbits" who battle evil. The series is available for preview now on the Jetix Web site. Production has begun on a new animated comedy series, Phineas and Ferb. The title characters are stepbrothers who entertain themselves by building things like a backyard roller coaster.
Women’s network WE tv has added two original shows to its roster. The half-hour series Unwrapping Macy’s, which will give viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the workings of Macy’s department store, premieres Sept. 30. And in November, the network will debut the one-hour documentary special Women at War: Coming Home, a look at four female soldiers who served in Iraq.
Starz announced two original documentaries: Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, interviewing filmmakers and fans of that controversial movie segment; and Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film.
GSN, the network for games, and Scott Sternberg Productions are bringing the highly-rated international show, That's The Question, to American audiences in the fall with 20 episodes of the specially-produced U.S. version of the fast-paced word game featuring host Bob Goen.
The N announced the launch date for its new acquisition Dawson's Creek. It launches with a night marathon from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Aug. 14 and then will air every night at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. starting the next night. Read the press release here.

CBS is flipping its previously announced Monday time periods for the freshman comedy The Class and sophomore comedy How I Met Your Mother.
The Class will now lead off CBS's Monday comedy block (8:00-8:30 p.m., ET/PT) while How I Met Your Mother will return for its second season in its current Monday (8:30-9:00 p.m., ET/PT) time period. More details, including when this will launch will most likely revealed when CBS is up at the TCA tour.

NBC Improv Comedy Series This Fall; TCA Tour Cable: Day 1

NBC stations are set to air an improv comedy series called Sports Action Team following the network's Sunday night telecasts of NFL games starting in the fall, the Hollywood Reporter reports. Improv actors and comedians will play a hapless team of sports reporters. Every week, they will interact with real-world professional and amateur athletes, managers, fans and celebrities. The series stars Kevin Fleming, Steven Fleming, Niki Lindgren, Antoine McKay, Katie Nahnsen and Al Samuels. Chicago-based production company Towers Productions Inc., which developed the show in association with NBC owned WMAQ in Chicago, said on Friday it will produce 17 half-hour episodes. The show will air via NBC's West Coast and Rocky Mountain feeds as well as on other NBC-owned outlets and affiliates. It will all have online features including outtakes, bonus materials, blogs and video blogs -- set to be available at http://www.sportsactionteam.com and on NBC station Web sites.

Today was the first day of the TCA Summer tour for cable. We have four more days to go before broadcast takes over for the next two weeks. ABC Family and HDnet both so far have announced information. ABC Family is counting on a slate of new series to bring back the family drama, including the heavily promoted Kyle XY (8 p.m. Monday), about the anatomically incorrect teenage boy who is given a home by a social worker and her family and soon displays extraordinary abilities.
Fallen, a new high quality TV-movie makes its debut July 23 at 8 p.m. Based on the teen thriller books of veteran comic book writer Tom Sniegoski (Batman, Hellboy), Fallen involves a teenager who discovers he is a fallen angel and becomes involved in a war between angels both good and evil. Fallen airs as a two-hour movie but ABC Family is already confident it can build a franchise. It has committed to another four hours next summer and, to bridge the gap between segments, it will create an alternative reality game online. The game will be heavily promoted at the end of the two-hour film, including clues for how to play it.
Three Moons Over Milford, debuting 8 p.m., Aug. 6, stars Elizabeth McGovern, Nora Dunn and Rob Boltin in the tale of how the town's residents respond when faced with a cosmic crisis: An explosion has split the moon into three pieces, perhaps portending the world's demise. They decide to live like there's no tomorrow, quitting their jobs and indulging their whims (or vices).
Other original shows airing on ABC Family are the racehorse saga Wildfire, starting production on its third season, and Falcon Beach (9 p.m. Monday), a soap opera about locals vs. rich kids in a New England summer resort town.
Coming in early 2007 is the channel's boldest bet, Lincoln Heights, about a black lawman who returns to his crime-filled neighborhood. He's determined to make a difference but his family is put under stress by the move. Russell Hornsby and Nicki Micheaux star in the drama from executive producers Kevin Hooks and Kathleen McGhee Anderson. Black family dramas are rare on TV. ABC Family says the show fits with the channel's goal of putting on "high-quality shows about today's families, not yesterday's." Series with Hispanic characters are in development. Its "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas," packaged holiday programming, are an ongoing part of the schedule and will continue this year, too. They also have reruns of Everwood coming this fall, to join 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls, which do very well for the network.
As for HDnet, they officially announced that they have brought in Dan Rather from CBS! Rather just left CBS three weeks ago and now he will be coming to HDnet for his own show. A formal announcement of the show, to be called Dan Rather Reports, was planned for Tuesday at the TCA tour in Pasadena, California. The press release is not out yet. Rather's program will debut in October but HDnet declined to give further details before a presentation expected to be attended by Rather and billionaire media investor Mark Cuban, who owns HDNet and professional basketball's Dallas Mavericks.
We will have more on today's news from the tour tomorrow, along with updates from tomorrow's portion. This is a fun week! Fun three weeks, I should say!

TV Land and Nick@Nite go on Thursday--I got a lot of questions on when they go.

Summer Week 6 Sitcom Ratings; TCA July Tour Preview

Dog days of summer have begun. Week 6 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 5.11 million, good for first in its slot, but down 2 million from last week...4th of July holiday is the reason.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 4.67 million, down from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 6.56 million tuned in for an encore on this 4th of July long weekend.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 5.32 million, down from its normal numbers, thanks to the holiday.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were ranging from 1.42-1.67 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 4 episodes -4th of July marathon...3.33, 3.16, 3.16, and 3.35 million...not bad for 4th of July itself.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.63 million...up from previous week. By July 18, the show will move to Tuesdays at 8:30 for the rest of the summer.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 3.66 million, just a few morning airings to go, starting the 19th it is gone.
• UPN Comedies: Special OTO airings of One on One, All of Us, Eve, Cuts...were better than last week, in the 1.67-1.87 million range.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Aired at 8 week and did good with 5.59 million.
  
• The Office (NBC) 3 episodes - Struggled to keep the pace from 8 p.m., with 4.2, 3.67, and 3.82 million from 8:30-10.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.4 million at 8 p.m. and 4.17 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.54 million and the others ranged from 1.48-1.85 million.
  

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.
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

The annual TCA summer tour is starting this week. It will be from July 10-28, with cable going this week then broadcast the next two weeks. The TCA has two tours a year, one in the winter (January) and one in the summer (July).
July 10-14 will be cable networks such as TV Land, Nick@Nite, ABC Family, Showtime, etc. TV Land will announce details on its new full episode streaming broadband player that will feature many shows and even shows NOT on TV Land. So, you will want to come back here this week to find out what they are. Mr. T will be on hand to promote his series I Pity the Fool, coming later this year on TV Land. Over 30 cable channels will be presenting.
And then comes the broadcast networks. Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16 CBS will be up. Monday, July 17 will mark the first tour for The CW. ABC has Tuesday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 19. NBC is up on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22. The TCA Awards will be on Sunday, July 23. Fox is up on Monday, July 24 and Tuesday, July 25. Then PBS will be on hand for the final days.
We hope you come here for the best news from this TCA Tour! It should be a fun three weeks! Beat the heat with us!

'Paul Goebel Show' Podcast; More DVD News

"The King of TV" (Paul Goebel) has started a podcast and he would like you to give a listen. You can click the link here or go directly to the show and subscribe or feel free to subscribe with your favorite service. If you like what you hear, please go to iTunes and write him a review. You'll hear stuff like his interview with Andy Richter (Andy Richter Controls the Universe) and Matt Besser. The podcast premiered on June 15 and currently has four episodes. Best of luck to him and we wish his show much success!

We don't have any sitcom DVD news to report today, but we have two popular shows to report on. The '80s drama Riptide, from Stephen J. Cannell Productions has been licensed to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, the production company reports. They have penciled in a release date of Sept. 26 for the first season DVD. The show aired on NBC and starred Joe Penny and Perry King. For more details on this show, click here. And Sony will make it official probably by a week from this Monday, so sit back tight until then. TVShowsonDVD.com will have the announcement.
The popular Fox Sci-Fi/thriller Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction from 1997-2002 is heading to DVD it seems. The show is from Dick Clark Productions and someone contacted them and asked about the status of the show on DVD...and it looks like it could happen in 6 months or so! Apparently the masters were just taken out for the licensing. Not much else is known right now, including no details on what studio Dick Clark Productions licensed it to. We'll let you know if we hear anything more. You can discuss this news here.