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

Sunday, January 26

Bob's Burgers - "They Slug Horses, Don't They?" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tina and Louise get into an argument.

Krapopolis - "Ice Week" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis struggles to keep his cool when he gets the hots for a visiting reporter; Shlub is paid a visit by an old friend; Hippocampus and Stupendous risk missing the festivities altogether.

The Simpsons - "The Yellow Lotus" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Simpsons encounter death on vacation at a high-end resort.

Universal Basic Guys - "Bird Cage" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mark buys himself a Superbowl ring and leverages it to get special treatment at the Eagles game; Hank has an adventure with cutting-edge mascot technology.

The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.

Krapopolis - "Thor" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis' little hunting mishap brings the Norse gods to Olympus; the family is forced to deal with the hunky Thor, the mischievous Loki, and some nasty bridge trolls.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Friday, January 24

  • Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Watch Bill on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Pauline Chalamet (The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Pauline appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Lucy talks about her film Presence on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Topher Grace (Home Economics/That '70s Show) - Topher talks about Flight Risk on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Broad City/Baby Boom) - Drew is chatting with best friend duo Susie and Joy Behar on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also doing an audience Q & A about love.
  • Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Drew is chatting with Morris about starring in Watson on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Martin Lawrence (Partners/Martin/What's Happening Now!!) - Martin stops by to talk about his new standup tour on Sherri, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

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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