Monday, February 11, 2008

Strike Update; ME-TV Coming to Milwaukee, Chicago to Launch ME-Too; RTN Coming to Illinois

Well we all know the strike is just about over. Yesterday I mentioned that they had a press conference. So what happened in it? They announced a vote will be held on Tuesday. A yes vote means they are voting to end the strike immediately; a no vote means they are voting to continue the strike during the ratification process.
So the strike has unofficially ended, but it won't be official until after this vote. It is widely expected that the WGA members will indeed vote yes on the new deal and the writers would return to work Wednesday.
So today is technically still day 99 of the strike. And tomorrow is day 100, the last day technically of the strike. How cool is it that this will all end officially on day 100. We will have more on the vote and more details this week.

You all know about ME-TV in Chicago. The local Chicago station (WWME-23) that airs classic TV, well now the same people will bring ME-TV in Milwaukee! ME-TV will launch in Milwaukee March 1 with a lineup that will include programs such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Dick Van Dyke Show and Lost in Space.
ME-TV in Milwaukee will be on a new digital subchannel on Channel 58.3 (WDJT). In addition to being available over the air at 58.3, it will have a spot on the Time Warner and Charter digital lineups. For the record, Channel 58's less-than-full power sister channel, WMLW-TV - Channel 41 over the air and Channel 7 on Time Warner Cable - airs at 58.2.
Stay tuned right here on the News Blog for the launch schedule for this new ME-TV station in Milwaukee! We will be the first to post it, I'm sure.

Sticking with ME-TV, ME-TV in Chicago is still going strong. It just launched its new Chill with Me winter line-up and added shows such as Gilligan's Island and My Favorite Martian. Now, WWME (ME-TV Chicago) has announced it intends to add classic reruns to WFBT-Ch. 48 and rename it WMEU-TV beginning March 1. WWME-23 has called itself ME-TV. WFBT-48 will call itself ME-Too.
Besides being broadcast and carried by some area cable providers, the channels also will be available on digital sub-channels belonging to sister station WCIU-Ch. 26, WCIU-DT 26.2 and 26.3 respectively.
Between ME-TV and ME-Too, more than 100 different series will be aired! Having ME-Too will allow development of targeted blocks of programming for different demographics. It also will create a classic program stream when sports preempts regularly scheduled shows.
Among the shows we will see will be a Saturday night "pajama party" lineup will feature sitcoms Square Pegs, Silver Spoons, Facts of Life, The Monkees, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. Also we can expect a Sunday "Noir at Night" block of Route 66, Naked City, 77 Sunset Strip and Boris Karloff's Thriller.
Let's hope ME-TV and ME-Too expand to more cities. It would be nice to have at least a ME-TV in most markets...Chicago and Milwaukee are very lucky! I hope we get one in New York!
As we said about ME-TV Milwaukee's launch schedule, stay tuned right here on the News Blog for the launch schedule for Chicago's ME-Too! We will be the first to post it, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, something similar to ME-TV is of course Retro Television Network. RTN is now well over in 50 different markets and growing each day! Retro Television Network announced that it will partner with GOCOM Media of Illinois to bring RTN programming to Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, IL. The network will launch early next year on one of the digital streams of WRSP/WBUI.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, July 12

Mind Your Business - "Love Child" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Alfonso and Aaliyah's world is flipped upside down when their mother's secret love child comes into town, while Mia tries to figure out who is sending her gifts every hour on the hour.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Friday, July 11

  • Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Fairview/Corporate) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Aparna and Whitney are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Malachi Barton (Stuck in the Middle) and Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) - Malachi and Meg discuss Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and perform on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. They will also be on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton talks about Black Coffee and Ice Water on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) and Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - CBS News contributor Lisa Ling talks with Margaret and Joel on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE sitdown with actress/director/author Krysten Ritter who recently released her new thriller/mystery novel Retreat, so check your local listings.
  • Maggie Q (Pivoting) - Maggie Q talks about Prime's Ballard on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Tisha Campbell (Act Your Age/Uncoupled/Outmatched/Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) and Wendy Raquel Robinson (Poppa's House/The Game/Here We Go Again/The Steve Harvey Show/Minor Adjustments) - Tisha and Wendy chat about their film Operation: Aunties on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings. They will also be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.
  • David Zayas (The Bear/Saint George) - David appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

07/11 - The Office Spinoff The Paper Premieres September 4; Upload Season 4 Returns August 25
07/10 - The Big Bang Theory's Stuart Spinoff Ordered by HBO Max; Long Story Short Premieres August 22 on Netflix
07/09 - New Girl Summer on Hulu; Vir Das Gets Brand New Netflix Special
07/08 - Tubi Comedy Series Demascus Premieres in August; LEGO Masters Jr. Lines Up Celebs for 4-Week Event
07/07 - Digman! Season Premiere Moved to July 23; Hulu's Reasonable Doubt Returns September 18
07/06 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of July 7, 2025)
07/05 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Comedy Central Delays South Park and Digman! Season Premieres; Jackée to Appear in Guest Role in Netflix Series
07/04 - Happy 4th of July; Antenna TV's McHale's Navy Red, White and Navy Independence Day Marathon
07/03 - The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Season 3 Premieres August 6; South Park New Season Moves by Two Weeks
07/02 - FETV Acquires The Rookies; Hulu Renews The Bear for Season 5
07/01 - Bert Kreischer Gets Netflix Sitcom; NBC Gets Into Survival Mode This Summer
06/30 - The Comeback Makes Another...Comeback; First Look at Black Rabbit at Netflix
06/29 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 30, 2025)
06/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Comeback Returning for a Third and Final Season; South Park to Remain on HBO Max
06/27 - The White Lotus Star Teams Up with Netflix; Remembering Bobby Sherman, Lynn Hamilton, and Rick Hurst
06/26 - The CW's Fall Movie of the Week; First Look at New York Comic Con 2025
06/25 - Netflix Renews Ransom Canyon for Season 2; My Life with the Walter Boys First Look for Season 2
06/24 - Marc Maron Gets Second HBO Comedy Special; Outlander Prequel Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere
06/23 - MeTV Summer Changes, Adds Adventures of Superman; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Summer Guest Hosts
06/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 23, 2025)
06/21 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Night Court Officially Dead After Not Finding New Home; Weigel Announces New WEST Network
06/20 - Great American Media Announces New Danica McKellar Movie; Jennifer Love Hewitt ID True Crime Series
06/19 - Bad Thoughts Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix; Zarna Garg Gets Hulu Special This July
06/18 - Weigel Broadcasting Announces WEST Network with Classic TV Westerns; Hulu's Season 2 of Such Brave Girls
06/17 - Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife on A&E Series; Digman! Returns July 9 on Comedy Central
06/16 - Hulu's Chad Powers Teaser; Prime Video's Jesse Williams Series
06/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 16, 2025)
06/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Mulls Airing The Paper on Primetime Lineup; Fox Revives Baywatch Reboot Talk
06/13 - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Renewed for 2 More Seasons; Hanna-Barbera Developing Adult Animated Series
06/12 - Comedy Superstar Jack Black Is the King of Comedy at Nickelodeon; Doc Adds Felicity Huffman
06/11 - Celebrities for Celebrity Family Feud Season 11; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Starts Production