NBC Announces 2008-09 Season Schedules; RTN Announces 3 More Affiliates, Launches Official Website

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

NBC Announces 2008-09 Season Schedules; RTN Announces 3 More Affiliates, Launches Official Website

NBC today unveiled its new lineup for the 2008-09 television season, introducing a schedule earlier than ever. All the other networks will continue announcing the schedule in the annual upfronts in mid-May, but NBC has decided to break that tradition and announce the schedule 6 weeks earlier than normal. Also, they have actually made actual timeslots for the entire year, going with a 52-week schedule. Among the series they have picked-up for the fall are sitcom Kath & Kim, and new dramas Knight Rider, My Own Worst Enemy and Crusoe. Coming in mid-season are The Office spin-off, new dramas The Philanthropist, Merlin and Kings.
Returning to the NBC schedule next season will be ER, the most-nominated series in Emmy Award history, returning for its 15th and final season on NBC's Thursday night lineup, and the acclaimed Friday Night Lights, slated to re-join the Friday schedule in February as part of a unique broadcast partnership between NBC and DIRECTV. NBC would begin broadcasting the Season 3 episodes on Fridays (9-10 p.m. ET), starting soon after NBC's telecast of the Super Bowl in 2009. DIRECTV would have exclusive rights to the season's 13 new episodes beginning Wednesday, October 1 on DIRECTV's entertainment channel "The 101."
NBC also announced today that the post Super Bowl slot, will be used to launch a spinoff of the network's hit comedy series, The Office. Immediately following NBC Sports' coverage of Super Bowl XLIII, the network will first present an original episode of The Office, followed by the debut of the new Greg Daniels comedy.
Also, a surprise on the schedule is the return of Lipstick Jungle, which will move to Wednesdays now. Law & Order will return in the winter for an all-new season. No sign of Scrubs returning, so it could be very well moving to ABC next season.
Here are the schedules:

Fall 2008
(New programs in CAPS, except ER)
MONDAY
8-9 p.m. Chuck
9-10 p.m. Heroes
10-11 p.m. MY OWN WORST ENEMY
TUESDAY
8- 9:30 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Families
9:30-10 p.m. KATH & KIM
10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. KNIGHT RIDER
9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal
10-11 p.m. Lipstick Jungle
THURSDAY
8- 8:30 p.m. My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 p.m. 30 Rock
9- 9:30 p.m. The Office
9:30-10 p.m. The Office/ SNL THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE
10-11 p.m. ER
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. CRUSOE
9-10 p.m. Deal or No Deal
10-11 p.m. Life
SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. Dateline NBC
9-10 p.m. KNIGHT RIDER (Encores)
10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)
SUNDAY
7- 8:20 p.m. Football Night in America
8:20-11 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

For the winter and summer 2009 schedules, and more on all these new series, I advise you to click HERE! You wanna bet we will see changes to the winter and summer 2009 right? Maybe even Fall 2008 will see changes. It makes no sense to release winter and summer 2009 already.

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Citadel Communications Company to launch RTN programming in three markets. The new affiliates will air on the digital streams of WOI-TV (Des Moines-Ames, IA), KLKN-TV (Lincoln, NE) and WHBF-TV (Davenport, IA/Rock Island-Moline, IL).
Meanwhile, their official website is now up! RetroTelevision.net is their website. The website has details on RTN, their programming, shows, affiliates, how to advertise and how to contact them. It's 'primetime all the time' has now hit the web! The Fonz, Mr. T, Andy, Lucy, Matlock and the rest of RTN's finest are now online! Take a peek...it is pretty well designed, too!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, December 11

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Bitin’, Spankin’ and a Load of Yankee Psychobabble" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie and Mandy get upset when Audrey disciplines CeeCee without their permission.

Ghosts - "The Life and Times of Esther Greene" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Now a successful podcaster, Todd Pearlman returns to profile Sam and Isaac’s book, but becomes obsessed with Jay. Meanwhile, Pete tries to get to the bottom of why Alberta changed her name, forcing her to admit a hidden truth.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 8)

Thursday, December 11

Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Catch Jamie Lee on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Rachel Sennott (I Love LA/Call Your Mother) - Rachel appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Elon Gold (Stacked/In-Laws) - Elon is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Andy Cohen interviews Zooey on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo. She also talks about Merv on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings) and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris) - Lucien talks about Emily in Paris on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother/Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kyra and Kevin talk about The Best You Can with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Loretta Devine (Family Reunion/The Carmichael Show) and Lela Rochon (The Wayans Bros.) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon, original cast of Waiting to Exhale, on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea talks about Broadway's Chess on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am. She also performs in the 10am hour.
Daryl McCormack (Bad Sisters - NBC's Today catches up with Daryl in the 9am hour.
Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Mila tells Drew about her role in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) - Emily tells Drew about what to expect in season five of Emily in Paris on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey McIntyre (Return of the Mac/The McCarthys) - Joey talks about Roku's Jingle Bell Wedding on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.