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

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

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.