Memorial Day 2008 Marathons; Remembering Dick Martin

Monday, May 26, 2008

Memorial Day 2008 Marathons; Remembering Dick Martin

Happy Memorial Day! Let's take some time to remember the troops past and present. Let's celebrate their courage by relaxing and having fun. Whether it be indoors or outdoors. If you are indoors and want to catch some marathons, there is something for everyone today. BET has a huge "Different Laugh Attack" (as we mentioned previously) with Diff'rent Strokes from 9am-7pm then A Different World from 7pm-3am. Wow! That is my bet for the day.
Other marathons include TV Land's I Love Lucy marathon from 8am-7pm, USA Network will celebrate with a NCIS marathon from 6am-7pm, while MTV tries to bring some life back to NBC's new American Gladiators with a marathon from 9am-8pm.
It wouldn't be a holiday without a Law & Order or CSI marathon would it? Law & Order will get a marathon on TNT from 10am-11pm while CSI gets its holiday marathon on Spike TV from 9am-9pm. Spin-off CSI: Miami is airing on A&E from 8am-9pm. Sorry no marathon for CSI: NY on Spike, since CSI is getting one.
FX will head back to the '70s with a marathon of the sitcom That '70s Show from 9am-8pm. Sticking to the '70s, the classic game show Match Game will get a marathon on GSN from 9am-3pm. It will feature contestants from America's Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Star celebrity panelists Joyce Bulifant, Bill Cullen, Richard Dawson, Fred Grandy, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Walker, Charles Nelson Reilly, Brett Somers and the late Dick Martin (see our story below), among others.
And if you're in Los Angeles, KTLA will have a Graduation Marathon with lots of classic sitcoms, as I mentioned before...such as Balki graduating on Perfect Strangers and Alex on Family Ties. Sha-la-la-la!
Relive the same day over and over again on the addictive drama Day Break on TV One from 8am-6am.
Various movie marathons are on TBS, Lifetime, Hallmark Channel and other cable channels.
Other marathons include History's MonsterQuest from 8am-8pm and G4's 11am-1am Cops marathon.

Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. Mr. Martin died Saturday night just after 6 p.m. of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica.
Laugh-In became an instant hit for NBC in 1968 with its anarchic energy, vaudevillian schtick and eccentric performances. Laugh-In forever changed the variety show format and heavily influenced later programs such as Saturday Night Live. The show lasted through 1973.
After Laugh-In, he went on to become one of television's busiest directors after splitting with Dan Rowan in the late 1970s. He still acted on series before and after Laugh-In though...he guest starred on series such as The Lucy Show, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Coach, Blossom, Baywatch, Diagnosis Murder and Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. But directing was his big trademark after Laugh-In. He directed episodes of various series including The Bob Newhart Show, Archie Bunker's Place, Flo, Family Ties, Mama's Family, Newhart, The Bradys, Bob, and In The Heat of Night. So, he directed Bob Newhart in all of his series. He was also a staple of game shows such as Password Plus, Super Password, Tattletales, Celebrity Sweepstakes, and Match Game.
We hope TV Land or another network honors him with a tribute marathon of Laugh-In or his best directorial work on The Bob Newhart Show. I'm sure GSN will put together a game show tribute marathon for him. We will let you know if whatever happens.
He will certainly be missed. He was 86.

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.