Thursday, July 31, 2008
WGN America Fall 2008 Schedule Sees Lots of New Shows; TV Land Changes for August
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
Wednesday, June 18
Shifting Gears - "Restoration" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Matt, the widowed owner of a classic car restoration shop, is confronted with his most unexpected and challenging project yet when his estranged daughter, Riley, and her adolescent children come crashing back into his life.
Shifting Gears - "Accommodations" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Matt joins Riley at Carter’s high school open house, where he’s unsettled to learn about the “accommodations” made for his grandson’s anxiety. Meanwhile, Riley reconnects with Caitlin, a former classmate, and sets her up with Gabriel.
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Shifting Gears - "Grief" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Riley discovers a closet filled with her late mother’s clothes, she insists Matt hasn’t processed her death and urges him to see a grief counselor. Meanwhile, Gabriel faces a crisis of confidence when he’s put in charge of the shop for a day.
Children Ruin Everything - "Emergencies" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
During a family emergency, with both James and Astrid busy at work, they need to rethink their childcare plan.
Children Ruin Everything - "Sex" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Astrid and James get some much-needed adult time when they convince Nisha to take the kids for the night; their night gets complicated however, when a small lie grows out of control.
Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "House of Probation" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin and Laura are met with unexpected news, while Curtis and Glo join forces against Mrs. Wellington; Calvin and Miranda must navigate the complexities of co-parenting.
Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "It Takes a Village" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Vinny attempts to take matters into his own hands with the armed crimes around the neighborhood; the facility is in an uproar regarding their safety after the armed crimes around the neighborhood.
The Ms. Pat Show - "The Graduation Party" (BET, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Janelle has a big confession to make at her high school graduation party; Brandon's surprise decision sparks a huge fight with Ashley.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 16)
Wednesday, June 18
- Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Luis) - Watch Charlie on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Annie Murphy (Kevin Can F**k Himself/Schitt's Creek) - Annie appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison drops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Reid Scott (Veep/My Boys/It's All Relative) - Reid is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - E! News has an interview with Keke at 11pm on E!.
- Retta (Parks and Recreation) - NBC's Today catches up with Retta in the 9am hour.
- Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Cynthia Nixon (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Cynthia talks about The Gilded Age on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Fortune Feimster (FUBAR/Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune is sharing her hilarious take on the hottest headlines of the day and telling Drew about her latest Netflix standup special on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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