ER Comes to ION Television in June 2008; BET Schedule Changes, Includes Diff'rent Strokes and Different World Memorial Day Marathon

Thursday, May 01, 2008

ER Comes to ION Television in June 2008; BET Schedule Changes, Includes Diff'rent Strokes and Different World Memorial Day Marathon

Today is ION Television's upfront! ION Television today announced a licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to air seasons 11-14 of the long-running hit series ER on ION Television. The medical drama, which has earned more Primetime Emmy Award nominations than any other program in history, will debut in primetime on the network beginning this June. The show will enter its 15th and final season on NBC next season. We will have more on ER and ION June 2008 in the next week or so, so stay tuned! We also still have the interview with them planned, and hopefully we will know when next week.

BET has made some more schedule changes. And again it is better than before. First off, fans of Diff'rent Strokes and Malcolm & Eddie take note that the episodes will not encore later in the day anymore...but now we will get two new hours each! This started yesterday, so you need to watch or tape both hours immediately. So, Diff'rent Strokes airing 9-10am will not encore 3-4pm later in the day, but that 3-4pm will be new episodes! The same for Malcolm & Eddie...10-11am and 4-5pm are both new episodes. So we get four episodes a day rather than two! So, watch or tape/DVR both hours now. That is good news, I think.
Then, starting this Saturday (May 3), BET has added a sitcom block on Saturdays from 9am-1pm! From 9-10am it will be The Parkers, the Nickelodeon sitcoms Just Jordan and Romeo! will move up an hour to 10-11am and 11am-12pm, and finally closing out the block is two episodes of Diff'rent Strokes from 12-1pm...and yes, they will be new episodes, so you'll need to watch or tape/DVR these as well! Also on Saturday, May 3, we told you A Different World will get a mini marathon block from 8:30-10pm last week, but now it has been extended to 8-10pm...so an extra episode. The show will get weekly Sunday evening airings, but the times vary as I stated last week.
BET has also added Girlfriends for this Saturday only from 10-11pm and 2-3am, while A Different World will encore this Saturday from 3-4am for one time only, preempting Sanford.
Starting next Saturday night (May 10), In Living Color will return and air Saturday nights from 3-4am, replacing Sanford. Sanford fans don't worry because the show will return again to Sundays 12-1pm replacing The Parkers starting May 18, as The Parkers is now Saturdays 9-10am. Remember there is a Thea Mother's Day marathon on May 11 from 12pm-5pm. The marathon episodes of that will be episodes where they left off in the regular run, so we will get (in production order): #11 "Birthday Girl," #12 "Mama I'm Full," #13 "Good Stock," #14 "A Christmas Story," #15 "Danesha's Project," #16 "Who's Zooming Who?," #17 "Of Fish and Men," #18 "T.C.B.," #19 "Call Me Thea," and #20 "The Pie Queen and the Loan Duck," all from 12pm-5pm. So it seems they have aired about every episode of Thea after this...I think just 1 or 2 haven't been aired, so hopefully we get those soon.
Finally, this Memorial Day (Monday, May 26), BET will present a 'different' (or is it spelled Diff'rent?) kind of marathon for viewers! It is the Diff'rent Strokes and A Different World marathon! Diff'rent Strokes will air from 9am-7pm and A Different World from 7pm-3am. We will have episode info for both marathons in a few weeks, so stay tuned for that!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 28

The Conners - "Mud Turtles, A Good Steak and One Man in a Tub" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Becky thinks that Jackie’s new friend Dawn (guest star Cheryl Hines), a restaurant supplier, is only cozying up to her to sell them things they can’t afford for the Lunch Box. Darlene is thrilled when Harris gets into Central Illinois State, but Harris might have found a better offer on her own. When Dan finds himself in an embarrassing situation nursing an injury, Louise (Katey Sagal) tries to help him out.

Bless This Mess - "The Letter of the Law" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Rio is bummed she can’t afford to go to Iceland for her best friend’s wedding, so the nuptials are moved and brought to the farm. Meanwhile, Rio is forced to take on Deb’s mail route after she quits, and Mike and Jacob help Rudy get over Constance.

mixed-ish - "True Colors" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Paul is shocked to hear from his estranged mother who wants to visit for Rainbow’s 13th birthday and soon learns more about why she abandoned him. Meanwhile, Rainbow sees turning 13 as a huge turning point in her life and wants a big birthday party, but Alicia wants to celebrate all the things Rainbow missed out on over the years while on the commune.

black-ish - "Adventure to Ventura" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Dre worries Diane and Jack don’t know how to fend for themselves and sends them out on an adventure, only to realize it’s his overbearing worries that hold the twins back. Meanwhile, Junior gets into a tricky situation at work when he befriends Josh in hopes of scoring a positive peer review.

Schitt's Creek - "Maid of Honour" (Pop, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Moira shares the newly released "Crows" movie trailer with the Jazzagals; Johnny and Roland find a suspicious bag of money at the new motel.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 27)

Tuesday, January 28

Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) - Catch Ben on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) - Ashton visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Tony Rock (Living Biblically/All of Us) - Tony is a panelist on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Miles Brown (black-ish) - Miles is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Fox's The Resident on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Hot in Cleveland/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about Disney Channel's The Owl House on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Life) - Nia talks about Poisoned Love on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Bill Pullman (1600 Penn) - Bill talks about The Sinner on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 12:15pm.
Janeane Garofalo (The Larry Sanders Show) and Grant Rosenmeyer (Oliver Beene) - Janeane and Grant are guests on the BUILD Series at 2pm.