Day 59: WGA's Strike; Fox Shuffles Mid-Season Schedule

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Day 59: WGA's Strike; Fox Shuffles Mid-Season Schedule

It is day 59 of the strike. Today is the big day that the late night talk shows go back on the air! Letterman and Ferguson will have writers, so they will have an advantage. But I'm sure viewers will sample Leno, Kimmel and O'Brien to see how they will be like without writers. The guests for tonight are:
Letterman: Robin Williams, Lupe Fiasco, Hilary Clinton
Leno: Gov. Mike Huckabee, Chingy
Kimmel: Helio Castroneves, Andy Dick, Kid Rock
O'Brien: Bob Saget, Dwayne Perkins, Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding
Ferguson: No guests
Carson Daly will be repeat. Comedy Central's Stewart and Colbert will return Monday without writers.

Fox has announced some changes to its mid-season lineup that will start in February. Due to the President's State of Union address on January 28, Fox will shift the pre-strike season finale of Prison Break from Feb. 11 to Feb. 18. Other changes include two "sneak preview" airings of the new drama New Amsterdam following American Idol on Tuesday, March 4 and Thursday, March 6 at 9:00PM. The series will then move to its regular night on Monday, March 10 at 9:00PM. Fox will give new sitcom The Return of Jezebel James a post-Idol preview also, airing Wednesday, March 12 at 9:30PM before settling into is normal night and time of Fridays at 8:30PM. Tired of post-Idol shows yet? Well we have more. Back to You returns with its finale two new pre-strike episodes Tuesday, Feb. 26 and Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 9:30PM (following Idol) before settling into its Wednesday 9:30PM time slot March 19 (also post-Idol, but as of now those will be repeats because of the strike). Yet more post-Idol preview slots include special airings of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (Thurs, Feb. 21 at 9pm) and Don't Forget the Lyrics! (Thurs, Feb. 28 at 9PM). And regular shows like Moment of Truth and Hell's Kitchen will air after Idol somewhat regularly. New drama Canterbury's Law will not get any Idol treatment, and will air Mondays at 9 starting April 14. While it is smart to have all these post-Idol previews...viewers will get confused I think. The schedule is so confusing. The following are the changes:

• MONDAY
Monday, Feb. 18:
8:00PM Prison Break (season finale)
9:00PM Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Monday, Feb. 25:
8:00PM The Moment of Truth
9:00PM Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Monday, March 3:
8-10:00PM: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (two-hour season finale)

Mondays, beginning March 10:
8:00PM House (time-period premiere)
9:00PM New Amsterdam (series premiere)

Monday, April 7:
8-10:00PM New Amsterdam (two-hour season finale)

Mondays, beginning April 14:
8:00PM House
9:00PM Canterbury's Law (series premiere)

• TUESDAY
Tuesday, Feb. 26 and March 25:
8-9:30PM American Idol
9:30PM Back to You

Tuesday, March 4:
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM New Amsterdam (series preview)

Tuesday, March 11 and 18:
8-10:00PM American Idol

Tuesdays, beginning April 1:
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Hell's Kitchen (season premiere)

• WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, Feb. 27:
8-9:30PM American Idol
9:30PM Back to You

Wednesday, March 12:
8:00PM The Moment of Truth
9:00PM American Idol (time-period premiere)
9:30PM The Return of Jezebel James (series preview)

Wednesdays, beginning March 19:
8:00PM The Moment of Truth
9:00PM American Idol
9:30PM Back to You (time-period premiere)

• THURSDAY
Thursday, Feb. 21:
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Thursday, Feb. 28:
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM Don't Forget the Lyrics

Thursday, March 6:
8:00PM American Idol
9:00PM New Amsterdam (series preview)

Thursdays, beginning March 13:
8:00PM Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?
9:00PM Don't Forget the Lyrics

• FRIDAY
Fridays, Feb. 22 and 29 and March 7:
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM House

Fridays, beginning March 14:
8:00PM 'Til Death (time-period premiere)
8:30PM The Return of Jezebel James (series premiere)
9:00PM Bones (time-period premiere)

• SATURDAY
As previously announced, no changes

• SUNDAY
As previously announced, no changes

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 17

Abbott Elementary - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible educators may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don’t love the school district’s less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.

Abbott Elementary - "Work Family" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Jacob reveals a detail about his personal life, Janine realizes she doesn’t know the other teachers as well as she thought. Meanwhile, as Gregory’s stern teaching approach is causing his whole class to underperform, Barbara and Melissa teach him how to relax and make his lessons more fun.

Abbott Elementary - "Step Class" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Janine is thrilled when Ava asks to help her teach the after-school step class, but the two don’t see eye to eye on how to run the program. Later, when Barbara, Melissa and Jacob plan an “eat-off” to decide who makes the best pizza in Philadelphia, Gregory is forced to reveal a secret.

Abbott Elementary - "Desking" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the students start participating in a new online trend that causes disruption to the school, the teachers band together to put an end to it. Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson provides comforting life advice to Gregory; and later, the teachers finally meet Jacob’s boyfriend, Zach, who joins in to help stop the students “desking”.

Wellington Paranormal - "Mobots" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Officer Minogue meets Officer O'Leary's mom when they use her house for a stakeout to investigate why a mass quantity of obsolete electronics goes missing.

Wellington Paranormal - "The Invisible Fiend" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Minogue and O'Leary investigate a mysterious home invasion with no visible signs of entry, managing to arrest an invisible creature and bring it back to the station for questioning.

grown-ish - "You Don't Know Me" (Freeform, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The girls enlist Junior's help to find their shady roommate, Lauryn, who has a habit of mysteriously disappearing; Junior wonders if Annika is starting to catch feelings for him; Aaron suspects that Doug isn't being honest with him.

Everything's Trash - "Rom-Coms Are Mostly Trash" (Freeform, 10:30PM ET/PT)
After Phoebe suddenly sees Michael in a new light, she attempts to set him up with Malika, who already has her eye on an old flame; Jayden worries that he and Jessie have lost their spark, so they decide to spice things up.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 15)

Wednesday, August 17

Alison Brie (GLOW/Community) - Watch Alison Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke) - Sasheer appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi co-hosts The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Simu chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Susan Walters (Dear John/The War Next Door) - Susan is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Blair Underwood (The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - Kel appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Josh Peck (Grandfathered/Drake & Josh) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers/Pearl/Kirstie) - Josh and Rhea talk about Netflix's 13: The Musical on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Murray Bartlett (Physical/Looking) - Murry talks about White Lotus on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.