SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Day 46: WGA's Strike; SAG Awards Nominations; TV Land's New Year's Marathon

Well it is day 46 of the strike, and we have a lot of news to report...no nothing on the strike ending unfortunately. First, CBS has announced that the 34th Annual People's Choice Awards "will go on" on Tuesday, January 8, 2008, but it will NOT be live, instead it will be taped. Winners will make their thank-you speeches and then answer questions from fans in pre-shot segments. Queen Latifah, who already was on board to host, will be a part of the new format.
David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company said it will have a meeting Friday with the WGA to pursue a side deal that would allow his company's two late-night CBS shows, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, to return to the air Jan. 2 WITH writers. Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel's shows will return on the air Jan. 2 but WITHOUT writers. More to come on Letterman, I'm sure.
Yesterday NBC announced they have moved the premiere of Celebrity Apprentice to Jan. 10, now ABC has counteracted. ABC will move to series premiere of Cashmere Mafia out of the Thursday, Jan. 3 10pm slot to Sunday, January 6 at 10pm following the last pre-strike episode of Desperate Housewives, in which we will find out the outcome of the tragic tornado. The all-new Brothers & Sisters originally slated for this night will be moved to Jan. 13...and after that only two new pre-strike episodes will remain, and they will likely air Jan. 20 and Jan. 27 all following special two-hour episodes of reality hit Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. After its special Sunday premiere, Mafia will then still move to its regular night of Wednesdays at 10 starting Jan. 9. As for Jan. 3, ABC still has the last new pre-strike episode of Grey's Anatomy scheduled, but they could move it to Jan. 10 instead. ABC has already pulled a new episode of Ugly Betty for Jan. 3 in favor of a repeat and also have put a Desperate Housewives repeat that night at 10pm...which will be the tornado episode, so viewers can get ready for the conclusion on Sunday. The new Ugly Betty previously planned for Jan. 3 will air Jan. 10 now. After that airing only two pre-strike episodes will be left for Betty, and will likely air Jan. 17 and 24 because on Jan. 31 ABC has slotted a Lost clip show leading into the season premiere of Lost at 9pm on Jan. 31. Also, ABC has announced the last Women's Murder Club pre-strike episode will air Friday, Jan. 4 at 9pm, instead of the previously announced Cashmere Mafia pilot encore. Desperate Housewives encores looks like will air for the rest of the month on Fridays at 9, following Grey's Anatomy repeats at 8.

The 14th Annual Screen Actor Guild Awards (SAG) nominees were announced today. Leading the pack were The Sopranos, Ugly Betty and 30 Rock with 3 nominations each. Among the networks, ABC lead with 11 nominations. The awards will air Sunday, Jan. 27, on TNT and TBS at 8 PM ET/PT.
Here are the main TV nominees:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
JAMES GANDOLFINI / Tony Soprano – The Sopranos (HBO)
MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan – Dexter (Showtime)
JON HAMM / Don Draper – Mad Men (AMC)
HUGH LAURIE / Dr. Gregory House – House (FOX)
JAMES SPADER / Alan Shore – Boston Legal (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
GLENN CLOSE / Patty Hewes – Damages (FX)
EDIE FALCO / Carmela Soprano – The Sopranos (HBO)
SALLY FIELD / Nora Walker – Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
HOLLY HUNTER / Grace Hanadarko – Saving Grace (TNT)
KYRA SEDGWICK / Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson – The Closer (TNT)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy – 30 Rock (NBC)
STEVE CARELL / Michael Scott – The Office (NBC)
RICKY GERVAIS / Andy Millman – Extras (HBO)
JEREMY PIVEN / Ari Gold – Entourage (HBO)
TONY SHALHOUB / Adrian Monk – Monk (USA)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
CHRISTINA APPLEGATE / Samantha Newly – Samantha Who? (ABC)
AMERICA FERRERA / Betty Suarez – Ugly Betty (ABC)
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon – 30 Rock (NBC)
MARY-LOUISE PARKER / Nancy Botwin – Weeds (Showtime)
VANESSA WILLIAMS / Wilhelmina Slater – Ugly Betty (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Boston Legal, ABC
The Closer, TNT
Grey's Anatomy, ABC
Mad Men, AMC
The Sopranos, HBO

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 Rock, NBC
Desperate Housewives, ABC
Entourage, HBO
The Office, NBC
Ugly Betty, ABC

For the complete TV portion nominees and to discuss the nominees, click HERE!

TV Land has formally announced The Beverly Hillbillies' Best Dang New Year's Marathon. TV Land rings in 2008 with 27 hours of non-stop Clampett wackiness and Granny's unforgettable colloquialisms during "The Beverly Hillbillies Best Dang New Year's Marathon" beginning Monday, December 31, at 6:00PM (all times ET/PT). Viewers will be "happier than a cat at a fish fry" with episodes like "Jethro Goes to School" in which Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro) also plays Jethro's twin sister, Jethrine, in drag, and an appearance by the late Sharon Tate in "Possum Day" as Miss Hathaway's dark- headed assistant at the Commerce Bank.
As part of this celebration, TVLand.com will stream full episodes starting December 31, with weekly updates. The website will feature character bios, a comprehensive episode guide, and photo gallery.
TVLand.com visitors will also be able to test their 'hill-folk' knowledge with The Beverly Hillbillies trivia game. Schedule can be found here.
We will post TV Land February shortly, we are just awaiting some details on a President's Day Weekend event that looks like will be pretty good...it will be called "Big '80s Weekend" and it looks like will have '80s TV Shows and '80s Movies! Details hopefully by tomorrow. Come on back.