SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

TNT Fall 2008 Schedule; Remembering Isaac Hayes and Bernie Brillstein

I'm back after a quick vacation and I will continue with more fall schedules this week! Upcoming fall schedules will include ION Television, SOAPnet, Canada cable networks, and New York City locals. Today we will cover TNT's Fall 2008 schedule.
The Closer, the #1 series basic in cable history concludes its riveting season on TNT on Sept. 15. The transfixing, critically acclaimed, original drama stars Golden Globe® winner Kyra Sedgwick as a complicated, unique, and confident LAPD interrogator, lacking a few social graces, whose unusual interrogation tactics solve high profile murder cases. The summer finale will air Monday, Sept. 15 at 9pm. There will also be a Labor Day marathon on Sept. 1 for The Closer from 9am-8pm leading into a new episode. That day will also feature a new series launch. Raising the Bar stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Jane Kaczmarek in a smart, highly charged drama that takes a revealing look inside the legal system through the eyes of young, passionate and idealistic attorneys. Attempting to maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives, while confronted by challenging, emotional and even morally questionable cases these eager attorneys pour their hearts into each case, stopping at nothing to see justice served. Representing both sides of the law, Raising the Bar, examines the harsh truth that the system is not always fair and a client's fate is often at the hands of those who work within the system, regardless of his guilt or innocence. Raising the Bar will air Mondays at 10pm until Sept. 15 then will move to Mondays at 9pm starting Sept. 22. The season finale will be on Monday, Oct. 27 and will be two-hours.
So what about the actual regular schedule? The new fall schedule for TNT will start Monday, September 29. There will not be many changes, though. Cold Case was supposed to join the lineup airing weekdays at 12 noon ET, but they will not do that now. So, Cold Case will remain in late night marathon blocks. Instead now TNT will add an extra episode of Las Vegas to its daytime line-up. As for Cold Case, it will air late nights as I said, with Without a Trace late night blocks. TNT will also do a few X-Files and Judging Amy late night blocks in October as well. The NBA season gets underway on Tuesday, Oct. 28, but TNT will of course air Thursday night doubleheaders starting Oct. 30. TNT will also showcase a few pre-season games.
Check out the full TNT Fall 2008 line-up and you may also discuss it.

We have lost two more celebrities this weekend. First we reported Bernie Mac now Isaac Hayes and Bernie Brillstein. Isaac Hayes, the baldheaded, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose "Theme From Shaft" won both Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon in Memphis after he collapsed near a treadmill. Hayes was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis an hour after he was found by a family member. The cause of death was not immediately known. Hayes was about to begin work on a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped build to legendary status. And he had recently finished work on a movie called Soul Men in which he played himself, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday. While he was primarily a player in the music industry, Isaac had many TV roles. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show South Park. Isaac also did voice-over work for Nick at Nite's sitcom lineup in 2001 and 2002. Isaac guest starred on series such as The A-Team, The Rockford Files, Hunter, Miami Vice, Tales from the Crypt, Sliders, Stargate: SG-1, Fastlane, Education of Max Bickford, and sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Hugleys, Veronica's Closet, Girlfriends, Bernie Mac, and That '70s Show.
He was in several movies, including It Could Happen to You with Nicolas Cage, Ninth Street with Martin Sheen, Reindeer Games starring Ben Affleck and the blaxploitation parody I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka. His voice will certainly be missed. Mr. Hayes was 65.

Now we remember Bernie Brillstein. Bernie Brillstein, pioneering manager and producer whose keen eye for talent led him to steer the careers of such stars as John Belushi and Jim Henson, died Thursday (Aug. 7). Brillstein had been suffering from complications stemming from double-bypass heart surgery in February.
In the 1980s, the Brillstein Co. was among the first contempo talent rep shingles to branch out into TV production in a significant way with shows packaged around clients, a list that included ALF, It's Garry Shandling's Show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and The Slap Maxwell Story.
In late 1991, when Brillstein partnered with Brad Grey, who had joined Brillstein Co. in the mid-1980s as a manager, the company further expanded the scope of its film and TV operations. Brillstein-Grey Television fielded such noteworthy skeins as The Sopranos, Just Shoot Me, NewsRadio, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher and The Larry Sanders Show. Brillstein-Grey Entertainment features included Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore, Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy and The Replacement Killers.
Early in his career he produced popular movies such as The Blues Brothers, Ghost Busters, and Dragnet. He also produced the critically acclaimed series Buffalo Bill early in his career. Read more on Bernie Brillsteein. He will be deeply missed. He was 77.