Fox Delays 'Til Death's New Slot for Reality Quiz Show; ABC's 10th Season of 'The Bachelor', Other Notes

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Fox Delays 'Til Death's New Slot for Reality Quiz Show; ABC's 10th Season of 'The Bachelor', Other Notes

Rookie sitcom 'Til Death was slated to move to Wednesdays at 9:30pm in late February (with a special two-night premiere following American Idol on Tues., Feb. 27 and Wed., Feb. 28 at 9:30pm), but Fox has decided to go with the new Mark Burnett reality-quiz show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? for those two nights (Feb. 27 and 28). Wednesday, March 7 Fox will have a special preview (as we mentioned before) of new drama The Wedding Bells following American Idol, so the earliest 'Til Death can premiere in its Wednesday at 9:30pm slot will be March 14 now.
As for Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, after those two special half-hour episode previews, it will move to Thursdays for its other four episodes. Episode three and on will be 1-hour episodes. Episodes 3 and 4 airs Thursday, March 1 and Thursday, March 8 at 9pm, following special Thursday editions of American Idol. The final two episodes will be on its own and will air March 15 and 22 at 8pm.

ABC will bring back The Bachelor back for its second installment of the season this April, and tenth installment overall. The series will air 90-minutes now on Mondays at 9:30PM-11:00PM, following the 90-minute performance show of the mega-hit Dancing with the Stars. This could be just what The Bachelor needs, a big boost, as the ratings have gone down but still did respectable. The premiere is set for Monday, April 2 and the official title for this installment is The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. So, what happens to the current ABC Monday series (Wife Swap, Supernanny, and What About Brian)? Well, What About Brian will finish its 19-episode season on March 26 with a two-hour Dancing with the Stars performance show as its lead-in. The season premiere of Dancing with the Stars on March 19 will also lead into What About Brian. ABC is very keen on Brian, and they seem to want to bring it back next season. I don't blame hem, it is a very hot show. I'm not sure yet if Wife Swap and Supernanny will also finish their seasons in March or not, but I think Wife Swap probably will. Supernanny just started in January, so it might be heading to another night, possibly Tuesdays at 8?
With all this news, it looks like new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly will probably not air at all now. If it does, it'll probably be in the Wednesday comedy block, but it wouldn't fit in there because they are mostly male and family oriented. No news yet on Traveler or October Road, but I'm certain they will debut in March or April. Oprah's first reality project could be Tuesdays at 8 if Supernanny doesn't get that. Interesting stuff.
Also, ABC made some changes to its Feb. sweep Saturday plans. Feb. 10 from 9-11pm was the movie Legally Blonde 2, but now will be the movie Bringing Down the House, which was originally slated for Feb. 17. Feb. 17 is now an encore of Castaway from 8-11pm, replacing a Blooper special and Bringing Down the House.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 23

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Vote" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dave gathers everyone for a lengthy ballot-palooza party to discuss the merits of every candidate and prop on each of their election ballots. Also, Gemma is determined to run a tight ship as their local precinct captain when polls open at Walcott Academy.

Poppa's House - "Sleepover" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dr. Ivy Reed joins Poppa’s family for dinner, she begins scrutinizing Nina and Junior’s relationship for potential catastrophe. Junior spends the night at his dad’s house while Nina and Ivy devise a plan over a bottle of wine.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Black Ice" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
On Valentine's Day, when it comes to showing affection, Bob and Abishola have to find a way to meet each other in the middle.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Where's Your Other Wives, Tunde?" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dottie, Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde must find a way to reconcile when they're forced to eat dinner together; Bob and Abishola have differing opinions on the progress of their relationship.

The Conners - "Rage Against the Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dan gets injured while covering D.J.'s vending machine route, the decision to sue the company could cost D.J. his job; Jackie is appalled when Becky seeks life coaching from her nemesis.

The Conners - "Smoking Penguins and Santa on Santa Action" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan is disappointed when everyone but Becky forgets about his birthday; Darlene faces another issue; Dan excludes Jackie from the family Christmas Santa photo for mistreating Louise.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 23)

Monday, December 23

John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Watch John on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Linda Cardellini (No Good Deed/Dead to Me/Guys Like Us) - Linda is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Sabrina appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Brandon Kyle Goodman (Human Resources) - Brandon is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana appears on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Megan Hilty (Sean Saves the World) - Megan appears on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - James chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today has The 70 Club with Tony in the 9am hour.
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Shaky Ground) - Jennifer talks about Lifetime's The Holiday Junkie on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Alexa PenaVega (Ruby & the Rockits) - Alexa talks about Great American Family's Love at the Kettle on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.