Day 74: WGA's Strike; ION Initiative for African-American Programming

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Day 74: WGA's Strike; ION Initiative for African-American Programming

Welcome to day 74 of the strike. I can't believe I said welcome. Welcome to hell would be more like it. The Directors Guild of America just sealed their deal with producers already! The current deal was set to expire at the end of June. But after just five days of formal negotiations the Directors Guild of America has reached agreement with the producers on a new three-year contract. The deal turns the spotlight again on the striking film and TV writers who must now examine the directors' deal and decide if they will accept a similar contract. Let's hope! Screen Actors Guild's current contract expires at the end of June, so that is another deal let's hope that gets resolved.

ION Media Networks, Inc. in collaboration with African-American TV syndicator Star Media and Omnicom's OMG Entertainment & Sports unit, announced today a strategic partnership for the creation and exhibition of African-American programming on the ION Television Network. The initiative already has backing from major charter sponsors McDonald’s, State Farm and P&G, with others expected to follow.
Initially, the partnership will use the syndication marketplace and TV libraries of Warner Bros. and other major television studios to program urban and diverse content. The longer term goal is to reinvest net proceeds from this enterprise into an original programming fund that can help create new African-American and diverse content to be aired on ION Television. The initiative launched on Monday, January 14 in the 6-7 p.m. ET timeslot on ION Television, with the return of The Wayans Bros. to broadcast television. Warner Bros. Domestic Television is the programming partner for this series.
This might be some good news. Since initially they will use reruns, maybe they will expand the hours a bit, say the daytime, and we could get more shows in. Hopefully shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Hangin' with Mr Cooper, Webster could air and maybe Amen can return once again. To discuss this news, head on over to the ION January thread.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 15

St. Denis Medical - "A Waste of Time and Marble" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
With the threat of a nurse walkout, Alex is caught between her colleagues and Joyce; Ron and Bruce go above and beyond to help an unexpected patient.

The Paper - "Churnalism" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Ned takes over Esmeralda's advertorials and assigns the staff to test products themselves, but Esmeralda retaliates and covers one of Ned's stories and finds a scandal; Ken turns Adam into a lab rat; Oscar and Adelola compare pain tolerances.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 15)

Monday, December 15

Simu Liu (Kim's Convenience) - Watch Simu on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about The Copenhagen Test on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Andy Cohen interviews Kerry on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 11pm on Bravo.
Odessa A'zion (I Love LA/Fam) - Odessa talks about Marty Supreme on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti treats us to an EXCLUSIVE festive performance of It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Kate Hudson (Running Point) - Kate talks about Song Sung Blue on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Brockmire/Free Agents/Herman's Head) - Hank and The EZ Street Band stop by for a chat and performance on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/People of Earth/Lady Dynamite/Suburgatory) - NBC's Today catches up with Ana in the 10am hour.
Connie Britton (SMILF/Lost at Home/The Fighting Fitzgeralds/Spin City) - Connie tells Sherri about starring in The Family McMullen, the sequel to The Brothers McMullen, on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris/Only Murders in the Building/Girls5eva/Nightcap) - Ashley talks about the highly-anticipated fifth season of Emily in Paris on Netflix on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Glen talks about The Running Man on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
William H. Macy (Sports Night) - William talks about Netflix's Train Dreams on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) - Andy talks about ABC's Dancing with the Stars on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.