Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Hallmark Channel and WE TV Acquire The Golden Girls; George Lopez Marathon Scores for Nick at Nite

The Hallmark Channel and WE tv have acquired the cable rights to The Golden Girls starting in March 2009 in a shared cable deal. This means the durable sitcom will leave its home of Lifetime Television of 12 years at the end of February 2009. The show has been on the Lifetime since March 1, 1997 (it was renewed a few times) and was one of its highest rated series in the history of the network.
We mentioned a few months back that The Hallmark Channel also has gotten rights to sitcoms Cheers (Fall 2008) and I Love Lucy (January 2009), so they are slowly building towards a sitcom line-up, after having just dramas for many years. It is not certain yet if Cheers and I Love Lucy will also air on TV Land still when Hallmark starts them, but both show's current contracts expire when Hallmark starts airing them.
As for Golden Girls, Lifetime said this in a statement regarding the sitcom moving to Hallmark Channel and WE tv :
"The 'classic' series will depart our schedule after a 12-year run to make room for our next generation of off-net comedies such as the very popular Reba, Still Standing and Will & Grace, as well as numerous original comedies in development, along with the return of the smash hit Army Wives. We wish Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia all the best of luck in their new homes."
We don't have full details yet on WE tv, but it will likely also start when The Golden Girls comes to Hallmark. WE tv currently airs sitcoms in the daytime. Sitcoms that air are Hope & Faith, Kate & Allie and Dharma & Greg. That's a lot of ampersands! They need to get Laverne & Shirley just for the ampersand! Anyway, we will let you know what WE tv says when we find out.
For now discuss the news of Golden Girls leaving Lifetime and coming to Hallmark/WE tv in March 2009 by clicking HERE! Thank you for bein' a friend!

Last week Nick at Nite had its seven night George Lopez "Luck o' the Lopez Marathon" and the marathon helped Nick at Nite all the way to 3rd in cable ratings for all of cable. The marathon aired March 17-23 from 9pm-6am on Sun-Thurs and 10pm-6am on Fri-Sat, so the marathon was all that Nick at Nite aired that week. Nick at Nite had its best week ever as it averaged 2.17 million viewers for the week (approx. 64% higher than the same week last year) and a 1.7 HH rating. The only cable networks that were higher that week were USA Network at a 2.2 HH rating and The Disney Channel at a 1.9 HH rating. Nick at Nite was #1 for the week on cable in the following demos: Teens 12 to 17 and adults 25 to 54; adults 18 to 34 and 18 to 49; and women 18 to 34, 18 to 49 and 25 to 54. George Lopez was all that Nick at Nite aired last week, so it was all George that did this! "I Got This!" In fact, as many as five episodes in the marathon had well over 3 million viewers, which is unheard of for Nick at Nite. Woooopah, as George would say! The previous two weeks, Nick at Nite finished 6th in cable network ratings. The show regularly airs every night at 10:00pm & 10:30pm ET/PT with an encore later in the evening. People are watching, so if you haven't watched yet...check it out because it is actually very funny.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, March 31

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Signature Service Loyalty Rewards Program" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Malcom receives an unexpected call from USC’s athletic director about a baseball head coach vacancy. Meanwhile, Calvin and Marty start a new signature loyalty rewards program at The Fuse Box.

Poppa's House - "Say Wha?!" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Junior’s fundraising effort for his film takes a dramatic turn when he discovers Poppa’s flea market purchase is worth a fortune. Vivica A. Fox guest stars as “Judge SayWha.”

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Monday, March 31

  • Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - Watch Jennifer on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Jay Ellis (Running Point/Insecure/The Game) - Jay talks about Running Point and Freaky Tales on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Sara Gilbert (The Conners/Bad Teacher/The Big Bang Theory/The Class/Roseanne) - Sara chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about The Conners on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle talks about Survival of the Thickest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) - Michael talks about Sacramento on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/CafĂ© Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross to hit the headlines in an all-new Drew's News on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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


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