Thursday, July 31, 2008

WGN America Fall 2008 Schedule Sees Lots of New Shows; TV Land Changes for August

Today we will reveal WGN America's Fall 2008 schedule! They will be adding a lot of new and returning series, but there will be a few series expiring/leaving as well. The other day we mentioned Coach marathons on August 29 and August 30, and we hinted the series would also join the line-up this fall. We will get to Coach's slots in a bit, but first we want to tell you all the new or returning series! You'll see Moesha, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, In The Heat of The Night, 7th Heaven, Jury Duty, NewsRadio, Coach, The Bob and Tom Show, and the new syndicated weekend series Legend of the Seeker! Of course, since new stuff is coming or returning, there will be shows leaving and expiring as well. Those departing are Happy Days, Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, 24, American Idol Rewind, Soul Train, and DaVinci's InQuest.
Now let's get to the schedule. The new weekday line-up primarily will start Monday, September 8. The first change will occur September 1 though, with Happy Days' contract expiring, so its slot of 4:30am and 5am ET will be replaced by Sister, Sister and Moesha, which returns after a year off on hiatus. Then starting Sept. 8, the bulk of the changes are happening on weekdays, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie join the WGN America line-up airing weekdays at 9 and 9:30am ET, as Matlock will slide to 10am ET. The 11am ET slot will be Nash Bridges, but it will change a week later on Sept. 15, as WGN America brings back In The Heat of the Night after a three year absence, as the show is reacquired. Nash Bridges will air at 12 noon starting Sept. 8, followed by the WGN News at Noon at 1pm ET. Homicide: Life on the Street will slide to 2pm ET starting Sept. 8, followed by back-to-back The Cosby Show episodes at 3pm and Funniest Pets & People from 4-5pm. America's Funniest Home Videos will move to 5pm ET replacing Sister, Sister which will now be airing in the overnight from 4-5am ET, as we mentioned (more on this a bit later). At 6pm and 7pm, WGN America brings back family drama 7th Heaven for two back-to-back hours a night as WGN America welcomes back the Camdens! Primetime will remain the same as it is now until later in the month when Tuesdays from 8-10pm will be Nash Bridges starting Sept. 30 instead of a block of Funniest Pets & People. In the late nights, we mentioned already the Sister, Sister and Moesha slots starting Sept. 1, but Even Stevens/Lizzie McGuire was sharing the 4am slot, and now it will be another Sister, Sister starting Sept. 15, as those series are expiring.
Weekends will not see any real changes until after baseball season is over. So, starting Saturday, October 4, weekends will get a major overhaul--for the good, too! Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie will also air on weekends now. Bewitched will air Saturdays 12-1pm and Sundays 11am-12pm, while I Dream of Jeannie will air from 1-2pm on Saturdays and 12-1pm on Sundays. Great to see classic TV! After two movies on Saturdays, we head to the new 6-8pm Saturday block, where you'll see two new sitcoms! Back-to-back episodes of NewsRadio from 6-7pm on Saturdays followed by the aforementioned Coach from 7-8pm on Saturdays, starting Oct. 4. The rest of Saturday is basically intact, but 24 will be leaving and will be replaced by a movie and Matlock will be added to late night. On Sundays after Bewitched and Jeannie, there aren't many changes. The Outta Sight Retro Night featuring WKRP, Newhart and The Honeymooners will remain intact from 7-10pm ET. In the late nights, some shows are expiring like American Idol Rewind and DaVinci's Inquest, so two Matlock episodes will replace them at 3am and 4am.
Then the week of October 6, WGN America will change their weeknight late night line-up a bit. Corner Gas and Becker will slide to 1-2am ET on Sun-Thurs starting Oct. 6. The Friday late night line-up will be back-to-back Reno 911 at 1am ET and back-to-back Chappelle's Show at 2am ET. Reno 911 will also air Saturdays from 11pm-12:30am ET.
Finally, the last change for the fall is the first-run new syndicated series from Disney/ABC Television Group called Legend of the Seeker. WGN America will air it Saturdays at 4 and 5pm starting November 1 and also Wednesdays at 9pm ET starting Nov. 5, replacing Corner Gas/Becker.
Wow, that is A LOT of changes! I think many will be happier than before with these changes. I advise you to see the full WGN America Fall 2008 line-up on our message boards, where you can also discuss the line-up. Remember this is the national WGN schedule, and not the Chicago local line-up.
Future Outlook: You can expect Classic TV marathons on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve/Day, and New Year's Eve/Day. We will tell you more about that in the coming months, as it is way too early to talk about that. It is not even August yet!

TV Land has made some last minute changes for August starting Monday, August 4. First off, the primetime marathons will now be 9-11pm rather than 9pm-12am. The Tuesday marathon of The Beverly Hillbillies will now be The Jeffersons from 9-11pm, leading into two encores of Family Foreman at midnight. And as we told you yesterday about The Cosby Show being used to be wrapped around Family Foreman, now TV Land has confirmed it will air The Cosby Show every Wednesday from 8-10pm and 11pm-1am ET/PT leading in and leading out of Family Formeman. Because the primetime marathons are now 9-11pm, M*A*S*H moves from 12-2am to 11pm-1am weeknights (well except Wednesdays and Fridays). TV Land has removed the 2-5am marathons, thus we get more variety in the late nights. From Sun-Fri, TV Land will now air back-to-back episodes of Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons and The Beverly Hillbillies from 1-4am, and at 4am Three's Company returns followed by another returnee in The Brady Bunch at 4:30am! So nice to see those two return!
Check out our TV Land August 2008 thread for updates and to discuss this.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, September 2

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 1)

Tuesday, September 2

  • Sabrina Impacciatore (The Paper) - Catch Sabrina on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Domhnall Gleeson (The Paper) - Domhnall stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ramona Young (The Paper/Santa Clarita Diet/Man Seeking Woman/The Real O'Neals) - Ramona is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa talks about One of Them Days on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) and Bobby Cannavale (Angie Tribeca/Will & Grace) - Neil and Bobby talk about Art on Broadway on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
  • Kathy Bates (Disjointed) - Kathy chats with Drew on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local lisitngs.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

09/02 - Hulu's Chad Powers Trailer; BET's The Hospital Premieres September 10
09/01 - TV Marathons on Labor Day 2025 Include Archie Bunker's Place and George Lopez
08/31 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 1, 2025)
08/30 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Saturday Night Live Cast Changes Loom; NBC Renews Password for Third Season
08/29 - HBO's Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television; Adult Swim Slates Two Series for October
08/28 - NBC's Password Renewed for Season 3 for 2026; Pluto TV Streaming CBS Shows Ahead of Fall Season
08/27 - Hulu's Deli Boys Renewed for Season 2 with Fred Armisen; HBO's I Love LA Premieres November 2
08/26 - English Teacher Returns on FX for Season 2; Jesse Williams Prime Video Series Trailer
08/25 - Doc Season 2 Trailer for Fox; Remembering David Ketchum and Jerry Adler
08/24 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 25, 2025)
08/23 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Home Improvement Cast Members to Reunite on Shifting Gears; The Paper to Have Binge Drop
08/22 - Hulu's Futurama Season 13 Trailer; A Man on the Inside Returns November 20 on Netflix
08/21 - George Lopez Coming to COZI TV; The Morning Show Season 4 Trailer
08/20 - Welcome Back, Kotter 50th Anniversary Marathon on Rewind TV; Apple TV+ Palm Royale Season 2 Premieres November 12
08/19 - Antenna TV's Archie Bunker's Place Labor Day Marathon; Larry the Cable Guy Prime Video Special
08/18 - Nobody Wants This Season 2 Premieres October 23; HGTV and Retta Continue Partnership
08/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 18, 2025)
08/16 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Paramount Plans Retool of Cable Networks; King of the Hill Revival Scores Big Ratings
08/15 - Catchy Comedy Acquires Hot in Cleveland; Netflix's Animated Comedy Strip Law Premieres in 2026
08/14 - Dan Levy's Netflix Comedy Series Cast; Betty la Fea: La Historia ContinĂșa Season 2 Premieres Friday
08/13 - Remembering Danielle Spencer of What's Happening!!; Trailer for Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building
08/12 - Netflix's Comedy Kiss or Die Premieres September 9; Lori Harvey Joins Reasonable Doubt
08/11 - Roku Originals Books a Return Trip with Season 2 Renewal of Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross; Netflix's Fixed Trailer
08/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 11, 2025)
08/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Trailer Released for The Paper; ABC Gives Pilot Order to Do You Want Kids?
08/08 - Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 2 Premieres September 12; The Paper Trailer for Peacock
08/07 - Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 4 Celebs; Sweetpea Season 2 Stars
08/06 - Molly Shannon Joins Will Ferrell Golf Comedy Series; Netflix's Season 2 of My Life with the Walter Boys
08/05 - Disney+ Musical Comedy Electric Bloom Premieres; NBC Renews American Ninja Warrior for Season 18
08/04 - Remembering Loni Anderson of WKRP in Cincinnati; And Just Like That... to End After 3 Seasons
08/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 4, 2025)
08/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Family Guy Specials Coming to Hulu; Jimmy Kimmel Rooting for Emmy for Stephen Colbert