ABC Picks Up 9 Series for Next Season; ION Picks Up M*A*S*H; ABC Family March Changes

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

ABC Picks Up 9 Series for Next Season; ION Picks Up MAS*H; ABC Family March Changes

The strike will most likely officially end today after the vote...no doubts. We will keep you up to date on it certainly. Today is day 100.
ABC Entertainment announced pickups for nine of its most popular shows, returning broadcast television's most successful fall series. ABC Entertainment ordered episodes of Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty.
On average during Fall 2007 (10 complete weeks: 9/24-12/2/07), ABC was the No. 1 network among Adults 18-49 (3.9/10), delivering the top position in the key young adult sales demo on 7 of the first 10 weeks of the season and ranking No. 1 during the November Sweep for the third consecutive year. In addition, ABC claimed eight of the Top 20 highest-rated TV shows among young adults during the fall, including five of the Top 10 freshman series.
Now these 9 are not the only ones returning, these 9 are just the early pick-ups. Missing are Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor, America's Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Women's Murder Club, among others. Most of those, if not all, could also be back next season. Cavemen, Carpoolers, Notes from the Underbelly, October Road, Big Shots are in danger...and possibly Cashmere Mafia. Jury is still out on Eli Stone, but it needs to pick up in the ratings more.

ION Media Networks, Inc. today announced it has entered into an agreement with Twentieth Television to air the television series, M*A*S*H, on ION Television starting this Fall. The agreement marks the latest addition of programming to the ION network's primetime lineup. This comedic drama melds humor, social, political commentary and often heart-wrenching plotlines to provide ION's broad audience with a perennial favorite that redefined the boundaries of television programming.
More details will come closer to the premiere, but it is not certain yet if local broadcast channels will lose rights to the show this fall when ION launches it, since ION is technically a broadcast channel. TV Land and Hallmark Channel air the show on cable and will continue to do so, as this deal is not exclusive.

Since Family Matters' contract is expiring at the end of this month on ABC Family (it will move to Nick at Nite in June), they will make changes to ther March line-up. Sister, Sister will move to both Family Matters hours (Mon-Sun 7-8am and Mon-Fri 1-2pm). Sabrina, the Teenage Witch will lose its weekdays 2-3pm slot and move to every morning 8-9am. Step by Step will return to afternoons and air weekdays 2-3pm, which will be in addition to its 9am slot. And finally, weekends from 10am-12pm will be a block of Grounded for Life, with sometimes early movies in there.
To view these changes and to discuss this, click HERE!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, August 8

Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.

Happy's Place - "Dear Jack" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Bobbie catches Isabella doing a slow-fade breakup with her long-distance boyfriend, she convinces her to send a Dear John letter; Steve brings in a review praising Chef Emmett's cooking and acknowledging the tavern's bartender, "Abby."

Electric Bloom - "How It All Came Out in the Wash" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jade and Posey experience opposite feelings about their first crushes. Meanwhile, Tulip discovers an exciting new talent.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 4)

Friday, August 8

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Renée Rapp (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Renée appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) and Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) - Gillian and Paul are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Steve Buscemi (Miracle Workers) - Steve talks about Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - Kelsey talks about his book Karen: A Brother Remembers on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
The Jonas Brothers (Jonas/Jonas LA) - The Jonas Brothers perform in the Citi Concert Series on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Christopher Lloyd (Taxi/Stacked) - NBC's Today catches up with Christopher in the 9am hour.
Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Sketch on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) - Oliver is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack talks about HGTV's Zillow Gone Wild on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.