ION March 2008 Highlights; CW Announces Post-Strike Returns; CBS Renews 11 Shows for 2008-09 Season

Friday, February 15, 2008

ION March 2008 Highlights; CW Announces Post-Strike Returns; CBS Renews 11 Shows for 2008-09 Season

We told you before that Baywatch is coming to ION Television in March 2008, but we didn't have the full month's highlights yet. Now we do. There will be no other changes, so Baywatch will start March 3 at 10pm, airing Mon-Thurs. If anyone is wondering, they will be going in production order, but will be starting with Season 3...which is the first season with Nicole Eggert and Pamela Anderson. They will skip the two-part season premiere it seems, as they will start with the episode "Rookie of the Year." No other changes will be made to the line-up, as of now, so we can expect back-to-back Wayans Bros, Alice, Mama's Family and Drew Carey Show from 6-10pm Mon-Thurs leading into Baywatch at 10pm. RHI will continue to air Fri-Sun from 7-11pm with movies and mini-series such as Merlin, Arabian Nights, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
We will keep you up to date if anything changes, but for now click HERE for the March highlights where you can also discuss the programming.

The CW is now the third network (joining CBS and NBC) to officially announce plans of what series will return this season with new episodes following the end of the writers' strike. Everybody Hates Chris and Aliens in America already completed production before the strike started and still has episodes left over. So, they will launch first. Chris has 12 new episodes left (for a total of 22 this season), while Aliens has 8 left (for a total of 18 this season). Both will return Sunday, March 2. CW will return their highest rated sitcom The Game on March 23 with an expected 9 new episodes. Production will be underway soon. It is not good news however for long-running sitcom Girlfriends. The CW has announced it will not return, which the show will now end after 8 long seasons. CW could plan a series finale or a special for its final airing. One Tree Hill still has about 5 pre-strike episodes left still, but 6 new ones will be produced and will start on April 14, which is a Monday, so it seems the show will move to Mondays at 9. The current batch of new episodes, aka: the pre-strike episodes, will air Tuesdays at 9 still. Smallville will return Thursday, April 17 with 5 new episodes. I believe a few episodes before the strike also remain to air...the show will air a total of 20 episodes this season. Rookie drama Gossip Girl will return with 5 new episodes starting Monday, April 21. The show had been in repeats since early January because it ran out of episodes. Another rookie drama, Reaper will return to air on Tuesday, April 22 with 5 new episodes. The show has aired 9 so far and a few pre-strike episodes still remain and will air in its upcoming Thursday at 9 slot before moving to Tuesdays at 9 with post-strike episodes. Finally, Supernatural will return with 4 new episodes starting Thursday, April 24. This coming Thursday (Feb. 21) Supernatural will be all-new for its last pre-strike episode before goina on hiatus until April 24.
We will bring you ABC and Fox's plans as soon as they are "officially" announced.

Meanwhile, CBS has renewed 11 series for next season in a move that will return 10 hours of the network's primetime schedule and eight of the top twenty scripted series on television. Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and a Half Men, Without a Trace and the Freshman Comedy The Big Bang Theory join previously announced Survivor and The Amazing Race as series returning next season (2008-09).
The jury is still out on shows like How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Old Christine, Shark, The Unit, Moonlight, and Jericho for next season, but we could expect a few of these to indeed return.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, August 9

Last Man Standing - "Yours, Wine, and Ours" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a chat with Bonnie, Mike struggles to balance his need for "me time" and finding common hobbies with Vanessa.

Duncanville - "Witch Day" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The town celebrates its annual Witch Day, which involves pronouncing a mortified Duncan the "town virgin" for the big ceremony; Annie and Jack steal a dead woman's chili recipe.

The Simpsons - "Warrin' Priests" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Bode, a young charismatic new preacher, comes to town and shakes things up at church, Reverend Lovejoy investigates his mysterious past.

Bless the Harts - "Cremains of the Day" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Violet, David and Leonard take Wayne on a ghost hunt to cure his fear of ghosts; Jenny and Betty honor Jenny's late father on his favorite holiday.

Bob's Burgers - "Three Girls and a Little Wharfy" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Louise skeptically joins Jessica and fifth-grader Megan in their search for Wharfy, a mythical sea monster; Bob takes an online master class by a world-renowned chef.

Family Guy - "Absolutely Babulous" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Stewie receives a participation medal in his school's toddler games, he begins to question everything he has ever won; Peter causes a fight between Lois' parents and must repair the damage he caused.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 3)

Friday, August 7

Joel McHale (Community/The Great Indoors) - Joel guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Laura Benanti (The Detour/Go On) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Josh Gad (Avenue 5/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Wings) - Tony is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Regina King (227) - Regina appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Julie Bowen (Modern Family) - Julie is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Eva Marcille (Born Again Virgin) - Eva guest hosts a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Kim Fields (Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Kim is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia appears on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry is a guest on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - Dennis talks about his new podcast The Dennissance on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' Mr. Cooper/For Your Love) - Holly is a guest on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Christopher Meloni (Surviving Jack/The Fanelli Boys) - Christopher talks about Hulu's Maxxx on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Raven-Symoné (Raven's Home/That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné talks about her new album The Reintroduction on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.