ABC and The CW 2008-09 Upfronts: Fall 2008 Schedules; Fans Create Save Back to You Campaign

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

ABC and The CW 2008-09 Upfronts: Fall 2008 Schedules; Fans Create Save Back to You Campaign

Your FIRST look at ABC's official line-up!

ABC 2008-09

Fall 2008

Sundays
7:00PM America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00PM Brothers & Sisters

Mondays
8:00PM Dancing with the Stars
9:30PM Samantha Who?
10:00PM Boston Legal

Tuesdays
8:00PM Opportunity Knocks (NEW!)
9:00PM Dancing with the Stars: The Results
10:00PM Eli Stone

Wednesdays
8:00PM Pushing Daisies
9:00PM Private Practice
10:00PM Dirty Sexy Money

Thursdays
8:00PM Ugly Betty
9:00PM Grey's Anatomy
10:00PM Life on Mars (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Wife Swap
9:00PM Supernanny
10:00PM 20/20

Saturdays
8:00PM College Football

Mid-Season:

New series for midseason include Scrubs (Tuesdays at 9 in January), The Goode Family (Tuesdays at 9:30 in January) and Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Reality Project (Mondays at 8 in January).
More new mid-season series will be announced at a later date, likely in July during the TCA Tour.
Other returning series include According to Jim, The Bachelor, Lost and ABC News' Primetime: What Would You Do?
5:30PM UPDATE: So, I just watched the actual ABC Upfront Presentation. Good stuff. Clips of Opportunity Knocks, Life on Mars, The Goode Family, were shown. View my thoughts here, which includes an outline of what happened in the presentation that started at 4:08pm and lasted through 5:17pm ET.
Other Notes: This is Boston Legal's last season and the series will have 13 episodes. Series finale will be two-hours in early December. Oprah's Big Give would have been back, but Oprah decided one season was enough. Another Oprah project is in the works still. Here Come the Newlyweds and Dance War will likely return for second seasons either in mid-season or next summer. For those wondering, According to Jim joins Scrubs with 18 episode seasons, as mentioned Scrubs will air Tuesdays at 9 starting in January. During the upfront Steve McPherson stated that ABC has 17 shows in development for mid-season. So the mid-season will be like a fall season this year, as we could see a handful of those make it on air. The shows in development are: Sitcoms - Bad Mother's Handbook, Five Year Plan, Never Better, Roman's Empire, This Might Hurt, Fourplay, Single With Parents (previously My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemmas), with Alyssa Milano) and In the Motherhood (based on an internet series). Clips of Fourplay and In the Motherhood were shown at upfront, though nothing from the actual pilots, since they are not shot yet. Dramas - Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas, Castle, Cupid, Finnegan, Good Behavior, Prince of Motor City, Untitled David Hemingson Project, The Unusuals and Section 8.

Discuss ABC's 2008-09 line-up here and also you can view complete program information.

The CW 2008-09

Fall 2008

Sundays
7:00-11:00PM MRC Block (NEW!) (TBA at a later date)

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM One Tree Hill

Tuesdays
8:00PM 90210 (NEW!)
9:00PM Surviving the Filthy Rich (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM Stylista (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM The Game
9:00PM America's Top Model Encore

Mid-Season:

Reaper will return air on Thursdays in mid-season replacing Smallville, which will end its run by then.

Discuss The CW's 2008-09 line-up here and also you can view complete program information.

Fox has canceled freshman sitcom Back to You, as we reported a few days ago, and now fans right here at SitcomsOnline.com have created a campaign to bring back the show! While I'm certainly not a fan of the show, I'm always willing to help to save a show needed to be saved, especially a sitcom. And the way fans think of how to save a show is the most important thing. Sure, an online petition is a good way to gather fans, but I know for a fact that they don't really help. Online petitions are usually ignored by networks. However, really creative ideas do work. We all know that because CBS executives last year canceled freshman drama Jericho after one season, and fans were outraged and they sent "nuts" to the CBS offices. To make a long story short, CBS was pleased how the fans reacted and brought the series back from the dead...but it didn't really help as the show is once again canceled after this season do to low ratings. I don't think nuts will work again.
Fans of Back to You on our message boards were outraged by the cancelation and created a petition. I told them that wouldn't really work...something more creative is needed. So I suggested they come up with one. We recently were all for a fan campaign to bring back October Road, a personal favorite of mine. Some fans from abc.com's message boards contacted me and I was very intrigued by their campaign that I even did a story on it right here on the blog. Basically that campaign was going to help local libraries, which is always a good cause. There was also another campaign to save MEN IN TREES, where fans helped to plant trees to save trees. Another good cause. They don't always work though, as both of those series have been canned, but it is better than not trying.
Well, anyway, the fans took my suggestion and brainstormed a few ideas and came up with a pretty funny (and good) one. Their idea is to send Fox (or even CBS) bottled water! Why bottled water? Because on the last episode that aired, fan TJL (who came up with this idea) says, "as part of the new station manager's cost cutting initiative, she eliminated some things, parking spaces, vacations, and free bottled water in the fridge." So what better way to save costs for Fox (since they canceled Back to You to save costs), then to give free bottled water to Fox.
A leader has emerged on this fan campaign and her name is Julie Somoski. She is big fan obviously and posts on our message boards daily. She has created a webpage for this campaign and you can find all the details there, such as where to send the bottled water and what note to put on it so they know what this is for. So check out her web campaign. She has an address for CBS but not Fox (she should add it on there I think)...I think fans should send bottled water to BOTH networks. CBS should get actual water filled bottles (since fans are trying to persaude them to buy the series), while Fox gets empty water bottles just for canceling the show...since they don't deserve free water! Don't forget to include the note, because I doubt CBS would know what this means, since the show is not on their network. A local Pittsburgh newspaper also published this campaign.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, October 16

The Goldbergs - "Animal House" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Barry decides to rush a fraternity, but it doesn’t quite work out as he expects. Meanwhile, Beverly and Murray find themselves getting closer to being empty nesters, which means more hobbies and activities for Beverly and more TV for Murray.

Schooled - "Kick Like a Girl" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Hoping to improve the football team’s chances at winning the title, Coach Mellor and Principal Glascott recruit star soccer player Felicia to kick field goals. But soon, she is treated like one of the guys, which affects her relationship with fellow player Reza. Meanwhile, CB chaperones an overnight ski trip and hopes to get in some quality time with Lainey but is constantly thwarted by socially awkward Tom Scott.

Modern Family - "Pool Party" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mitch and Cam help Lily overcome her insecurities about wearing a bathing suit to a pool party but discover their own. Meanwhile, now that Gloria’s new internship is taking up so much of her time, Jay is feeling particularly neglected.

Single Parents - "Big Widow Wives" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a house incident leaves Graham in fear of staying in his and Angie’s home, Angie enlists Will to help her get the house back together; however, there is a hiccup in the plan as Angie discovers a possum on the loose that she has to deal with. Meanwhile, Poppy discovers that Douglas is lying to her about a weekly poker game he must attend, as he participates in a weekly widow’s support group instead, causing Poppy to get a little jealous of his emotional vulnerability with the women in his support group.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Chokes" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Annoyed that the gang failed to react as he nearly choked to death on an appetizer, Frank decides the waiter, his savior, is the only person who has his back.

Family Time - "Age Ain't Nothin' But a Number" (Bounce TV, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Devin starts dating an older woman, which has Tony and Lisa concerned; Ebony's school project inspires her to go vegan.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 14)

Wednesday, October 16

Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Watch Jennifer on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Dane Cook (Maybe This Time) - Dane appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi) - Whoopi is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
John Goodman (The Conners/Roseanne/Center of the Universe/Normal, Ohio) - John appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ed Helms (The Office) - Ed is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie/Burning Love/Players) - June appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Thomas and Whitney are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa chats with the ladies of The View about her book Project Middle School (Alyssa Milano’s Hope #1) on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa visits The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Rapaport (Awkward/The War at Home) - Michael stops by The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules) - Kaley is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Paul Rudd (Living with Yourself/Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later/Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp/Wild Oats) - Paul talks about Netflix's Living with Yourself on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.
Ali Wong (American Housewife/Are You There, Chelsea?) - Ali talks about Dear Girls on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William talks about The Good Place on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Angela Kinsey (The Office/Haters Back Off/Your Family or Mine) and Jenna Fischer (Splitting Up Together/The Office) - Angela and Jenna talk about the Office Ladies Podcast on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 2pm.
Julie Andrews (Julie) - Julie talks about her book Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years on the BUILD Series at 5pm.