Tuesday, February 12, 2008
ABC Picks Up 9 Series for Next Season; ION Picks Up M*A*S*H; ABC Family March Changes
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, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest
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