Monday, October 20, 2008

ION Television Goes HD; Steve Harvey Gets Exposure on TBS; Fox Surprisingly Picks Up Sarah Connor For Full Season

ION Media Networks, Inc., owner and operator of the nation's largest television station group, today announced plans to launch its suite of networks – ION Television, qubo, and ION Life – in high definition in 2009. ION Television, the Company's flagship general entertainment network, will be available in high definition (HD) as ION Television HD beginning the first quarter of 2009. The HD simulcast of the newly branded "Positively Entertaining" network will serve to fully enhance consumers' overall viewing experience.
Viewers can look forward to a mix of compelling television series, theatrical and made-for-television movies and specials on ION Television HD. The newly rebranded ION Television network features hit programs from CBS Television, NBC Universal, RHI Entertainment, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros., among others. The network's fall 2008 lineup is led by off-network hits including NCIS, Boston Legal, and ER. Critically acclaimed miniseries and original productions from RHI Entertainment will be made available in high quality HD, as will blockbuster theatrical movies such as Batman Returns, GoodFellas, Analyze This, and You've Got Mail.
ION Television in HD will be launched from its newly designed, state-of-the-art transmission platform via expanded satellite transponder capacity. That national distribution will then be delivered over-the-air via DTV broadcast, cable, telco-TV and satellite. The network will feature native and up-converted HD programming, and will be carried on all 60 of ION Media Network's television stations around the country.
Now you can watch Denny Crane and the gang in HD like it is supposed to be!

On Saturday night if you were expecting to watch Game 6 of the MLB ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays on TBS at 8PM ET, you missed the beginning because of an outage. TBS had technical difficulties that prevented it from showing the first 20 minutes of the game and also the end of the pregame show before it. In place of the game, TBS showed an episode of sitcom The Steve Harvey Show. A crawl on the screen ran repeatedly, saying: "We are experiencing technical difficulties." The game started at 8:08 p.m., but the broadcast didn't begin until 8:28 p.m., when Carlos Pena, the seventh batter of the game, walked in the bottom of the first inning. TBS then showed a replay of a home run by B.J. Upton, the previous batter, that put the Rays ahead 1-0.
So what happened: TBS had experienced router failure in Atlanta (their headquarters), which caused transmission problems. Steve Harvey Show wasn't the only filler TBS used while trying to restore its feed, lost toward the end of the pregame broadcast. At that time, TBS ran an abbreviated episode of Dick Clark's Bloopers special (with Elise Neal of The Hughleys) from 1999. I saw that and it was very funny and featured lots of flubs from newscasts and TV stations (how appropriate for TBS today!), but turned it off when Harvey came on. I personally didn't get back into the game until the third inning, thanks to this flub.
But at least sitcoms got more exposure! We'll let you know the ratings, if we get them for Harvey.

Second season action series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been picked-up for nine more episodes, giving it a full twenty-two episode order for the season. This was a surprise move by Fox, because the show has gone down in the ratings by a lot this season averaging just under 6 million viewers and in the low 2's in the 18-49 demo. The show does get a little boost in the seven-day DVR ratings, giving it just under 7 million viewers, but still a far cry what it did last year. The show launched out of huge Cowboys-Giants NFL playoff game that drew 40 million, for its series premiere last winter. The series did 18 million for its premiere. The show then obviously dropped after that to just above 8 million on average, but did much better than it is doing now.
The show could be used with American Idol or the return of 24 in January to help bring it back to life. But Fox would give a better slot to Fringe and the upcoming new series Dollhouse probably instead. No word on Prison Break, but this will likely be its last season.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, October 16

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Tie Breaker and a Huge Mistake" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Tensions rise in the tire store when new co-owners Georgie and Ruben realize they can’t agree on anything, and Jim struggles to find his purpose now that he’s retired.

Ghosts - "Soul Custody" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Sam, Jay and the ghosts attempt to extricate Jay from his deal with Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh), the devil. Also, Isaac helps Patience (Mary Holland) through a crisis of confidence and Pete and Alberta navigate the fallout from their kiss.

English Teacher - "Lock In" (FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The teachers oversee the school's overnight lock-in.

English Teacher - "Graduation" (FX, 9:30PM ET/PT)
The teachers try to prevent a student prank from ruining graduation.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)

Thursday, October 16

  • Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Forever/Up All Night) - Catch Maya on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Roy Wood Jr. (Sullivan & Son) - Roy is a guest Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick appers on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. NBC's Today catches up with Nick in the 9am hour. He also talks about Little Woodchucks with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Billy Gardell (Bob Hearts Abishola/Mike & Molly/Yes, Dear) - Billy is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Bette Midler (Bette) - Andy Cohen interviews Bette on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
  • Laurence Fishburne (black-ish) - Laurence talks about The Witcher with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Jeremy on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Janet Hubert (Demascus/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Janet discusses her new Tubi series Demascus on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Lil Rel Howery (Rel/The Carmichael Show) - Lil Rel and Tabitha Brown discuss their film Unexpected Christmas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Aziz tells Drew about his new movie Good Fortune on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

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) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

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)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

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


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