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SitcomsOnline.com 2008-09 Upfront Preview: The CW; Family Matters Coming To Nick at Nite June 29, More Nickat Nite News; CW Daytime Adds Wayans, Jamie

The CW is dying for some shows that do well, with one of their best shows actually in WWE Smackdown! leaving, they will need to find something that does 4 million. Their development slate seems to be very weak this season...the strike could be to blame, as there are actually no sitcoms ordered to pilot. Will America's Next Top Model rebound in the fall after a slow spring?
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2008-09 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: 90210 (drama), How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls (drama), and Styledome (reality).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: Austin Golden Hour (drama) and Fashion Magazine Assistants (reality).

OUR FALL 2008 PREDICTION:

Sundays
5:00PM Various Repeats
6:00PM Various Repeats
7:00PM America's Next Top Model Encores
8:00PM Styledome (NEW!)
9:00PM The Game
9:30PM The Game Encores

Mondays
8:00PM 90210 (NEW!)
9:00PM Gossip Girl

Tuesdays
8:00PM One Tree Hill
9:00PM Reaper

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Fridays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM Everybody Hates Chris Encores
9:00PM Reaper Encores

Comments: The CW has barely anything in production. Whatever they have ordered to pilot will be picked-up...that's how bad it is. The strike might be the reason, as they also have no sitcom pilots ordered to pilot. They have a script order for a Sherri Shephard sitcom, that would work well with The Game, so they should order it to pilot ASAP so it can be ready for mid-season. 90210 remake is their best shot at new success, and it would do well leading off Mondays and possibly can give Gossip Girl a bit of a bump...maybe over 3 million? Tuesdays should have One Tree Hill and Reaper, because they are both actually decent performers, as Reaper has proved itself this spring airing in multiple slots. Wednesday will of course have Next Top Model followed by How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls maybe. How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls would also fit with One Tree Hill, I think. Thursday with Smallville and Supernatural shouldn't be changed, as it does decent enough. Fridays will be changed and of course I don't think they can replace the 4 million that Smackdown! got. I would just double pump on Everybody Hates Chris and maybe encore Reaper on the night. Aliens in America would do terrible on this night, so I don't think The CW will bring it back. Repeats of Chris would do better...maybe for mid-season, they can develop another single camera comedy to pair with Chris. Or maybe by midseason Chris will be back to Sundays anyway. As for Sundays, maybe a reality show (Styledome) would be best to start at 8pm out of an encore of Top Model? This would lead into back-to-back episodes of sitcom The Game. Once Styledome wraps, they could always move Chris to 8-9pm if the Friday airings are bad. As for mid-season they could bring in a drama like Austin Golden Hour which is a medical drama, if anything fails... and the Fashion Magazine Assistants reality show maybe in between cycles of Top Model? Beauty & the Geek and Pussycat Dolls don't deserve to return.
You can say goodbye to the following shows Aliens in America, Beauty & the Geek, Girlfriends, Life is Wild, Pussycat Dolls, CW Now, Online Nation and Farmer Wants a Wife.
The CW needs help for sure, I think they should start each weeknight with a proven show (One Tree Hill, Top Model, Smallville, Chris) and 90210 would probably fall into those shows once it airs. Sophomore shows such as Gossip Girl and Reaper will be brought back to prove itself and grow. But without any new sitcoms, they are in a mess.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own by clicking HERE!

Remember, next Tuesday (May 13) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2008-09 season. So, come on back next Tuesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for our preview of CBS' upfront.
And as a reminder, stay tuned next week for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!

Finally Family Matters has been officially announced for Nick at Nite! A press release just came out! Nick at Nite will add Family Matters, a laugh-out-loud hit series for the whole family, to its sitcom line-up this summer, launching the show with a seven–hour marathon on Sunday, June 29 from 9:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., before it lands in its regular time period, Sunday through Thursday at 8:30 p.m. & 11:00 p.m.; and Friday & Saturday at 12 a.m. (all times ET/PT). Family Matters ran for nine seasons (1989-98) and 215 episodes on broadcast networks ABC (first eight seasons) and CBS (for its last season), catapulted Jaleel White's archetypal nerd-next-door, Steve Urkel, into the pop culture, and the actor captured three Image Awards for his portrayal. In this long-running comedy – a spinoff of Perfect Strangers via wisecracking elevator operator Harriette Winslow – nosy, good-hearted Steve Urkel pesters and wreaks havoc on his neighbors, the Winslows of suburban Chicago. Starring Reginald VelJohnson, Jo Marie Payton, Darius McCrary, Kelly Shanygne Williams, Jaimee Foxworth, Rosetta LeNoire, Bryton McClure, with Telma Hopkins, and Jaleel White.
There will be no other changes to the June line-up. So, everything else will remain the same. Family Matters will replace a Nickelodeon airing at 8:30 on Sun-Thurs and a Fresh Prince airing at 11pm on Sun-Thurs...on Fri-Sat it will air at 12am replacing a Fresh Prince airing on Friday & a Home Improvement airing on Saturday. The only other change that will happen is at 6am, Full House will air Mon-Thurs replacing a Nickelodeon airing. Now this could be just a rough schedule...we shall know more soon when we announce Nick at Nite June in the coming weeks...so come on back!
In other Nick at Nite news, they will revive the classic Nickelodeon game show GUTS, with a family twist. GUTS, the groundbreaking, original hit game show from the '90s, is being recreated for a new generation of families as Nick at Nite greenlights My Family's Got GUTS, a new extreme sports competition series. Nick at Nite will commence production on two 10-episode tournaments, (20 new half-hour episodes and two hour-long specials), created and executive produced by the digital entertainment studio Worldwide Biggies. The series will be shot on location at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., beginning in August and is scheduled to premiere in prime time on Nick at Nite in fall 2008 with the finale on the Worldwide Day of Play. The original GUTS was hosted by Mike O'Malley (Yes, Dear, Get the Picture) and aired on Nickelodeon from September 28, 1992, until October 1995. A spin-off was created called Global GUTS.
Finally, Nick at Nite is going to the dogs...literally! For the first time ever, Nick at Nite will give dog owners everywhere the chance to showcase the unique charms of their canine companions by entering them online as contestants for The First Annual Worldwide Fido Awards premiering on Sunday, July 27, and Monday, July 28, 9-10 p.m. (ET/PT). The competition kicks off on May 19, when viewers can upload videos of their dogs to the popular online dog video community site www.WorldwideFido.com, created by digital entertainment studio Worldwide Biggies, to compete in six categories and vote online for their top picks. The contest culminates in a two-night television event that will reveal the winners in each category and ultimately the 2008 Worldwide Fido Award for best in show. The pooch fest will also feature canine friendly celebrities and their four-legged best friends. The categories include "Cutest Dog," "Best Dressed," "Best Voice," "Most Outrageous," "Best Trick" and "Dog/Owner Look-Alike."

The CW Television Network is teaming up with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution to create a daily two-hour afternoon programming block that will bring a new court television series from Telepictures Productions and two hit comedies from Warner Bros. Television to The CW from 3:00–5:00 p.m. each weekday.
Judge Jeanine Pirro, a new original one-hour court program featuring Jeanine Pirro – regular contributor to Fox News Channel, former Westchester County (N.Y.) District Attorney and County Judge, nationally known legal commentator and author – as the presiding jurist will air Monday–Friday back-to-back at 3:00 p.m., followed by a one-hour comedy block of classic urban 90s sitcoms The Wayans Bros. at 4:00 p.m. and The Jamie Foxx Show at 4:30 p.m. The new programming schedule will debut Monday, September 22, 2008.
These shows will replace the current CW Daytime block of All of Us, What I Like About You and back-to-back Reba episodes.
Eventually, The CW would like to have two full hours of first-run product, rather than one, in the block by next year. Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Television and The CW originally discussed doing that immediately, but decided to just start with one hour for now. So this block will be fully Warner Bros. owned shows, and not other studios. They have aired shows from other studios before such as ABC Studios' 8 Simple Rules, 20th Century Fox's Reba and CBS Paramount's All of Us, with Warner owned shows in the mix as well such as ER and What I Like About You.