2008 Network TV Holiday Specials; TV Land Schedule Changes Includes Paid Programming?; NBC Kills Crusoe to Saturdays

Monday, November 24, 2008

2008 Network TV Holiday Specials; TV Land Schedule Changes Includes Paid Programming?; NBC Kills Crusoe to Saturdays

Can you believe the holiday season is nearing? Thanksgiving is this week, which means Christmas is right around the corner! And then it will be 2009 a week after that. Time flies! Anyway as I mentioned, I have put together our annual network television (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, MyNetwork TV) holiday specials list that we all like to watch every year like Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas, new classics like Shrek the Halls and we even get some new specials this year like A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Sure the network holiday line-ups are not as detailed as some cable networks like ABC Family, but the main holiday specials are still on network television! These are just actual holiday related specials and movies, not movies or specials airing during the holiday season on broadcast network television:

ABC
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers
Thursday, Nov. 27, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving/This is America Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers ENCORE
Friday, Nov. 28, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: The Polar Express
Monday, Dec. 1, 8-9pm: Shrek the Halls and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated)
Tuesday, Dec. 2, 8-9pm: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-10pm: ABC Friday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (live-action)
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-9pm: America's Funniest Home Videos Christmas Special ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 13, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Surviving Christmas
Sunday, Dec. 14, 8-10pm: ABC Sunday Movie of the Week: The Santa Clause 2
Monday, Dec. 15, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-9pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-9pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown ENCORE
Saturday, Dec. 20, 9-11pm: ABC Saturday Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-8:30pm: Shrek the Halls ENCORE
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated, expanded edition)
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 8-9:30pm: Happy New Year, Charlie Brown and Rudolph's Shiny New Year
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on ABC, view our schedule.

CBS:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns
Friday, Dec. 12, 9-10pm: The Flight Before Christmas (NEW!)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 8-10pm: CBS Saturday Movie: Elf
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-9pm: 10th Annual Home for the Holidays with Faith Hill
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on CBS, view our schedule.

NBC:
Wednesday, Dec. 3, 8-9pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-9pm: Little Spirit: A New York Christmas
Friday, Dec. 12, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Saturday, Dec. 13, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-9pm: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (NEW!)
Friday, Dec. 19, 8-10pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: TV & Film Countdown and Greatest Holiday Moments: Songs of the Season Countdown
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-9pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
Tuesday, Dec. 24, 8-11pm: NBC Movie of the Week: It's a Wonderful Life
Wednesday, Dec. 25, 10-11pm: Greatest Holiday Moments: Hilarious Home Video Countdown
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on NBC, view our schedule.

Fox:
None
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on Fox, view our schedule.

The CW:
Friday, Dec. 5, 8-9pm: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Friday, Dec. 5, 9-10pm: The Story of Santa Claus
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on The CW, view our schedule.

MyNetwork TV:
Saturday, Dec. 6, 8-10pm: MySaturday Night Movie: Miracle on 34th Street
Monday, Dec. 8, 8-10pm: MyMonday Night Movie: Blizzard
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 8-10pm: Olive the Other Reindeer and Santa's Funniest Moments
Wednesday, Dec. 10, 8-10pm: MyWednesday Night Movie: Home Alone
Tuesday, Dec. 16, 8-10pm: Soul of Christmas
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 8-10pm: Christmas is Here Again and Santa's Funniest Moments
Thursday, Dec. 18, 8-9pm: Wrestlemania Holiday Special
Monday, Dec. 22, 8-10pm: The Spirit of Christmas
Tuesday, Dec. 23, 8-10pm: MyTuesday Night Movie: Babes in Toyland
For other non-holiday related movies and specials airing during the holiday season on MyNetwork TV, view our schedule.

TV Land has edited their line-up a bit effective immediately. I announced the changes on Saturday on our message board, but in case you didn't see that...they are adding Paid Programming from 5am-7am on weekday mornings. It started today. No reason was given and it will last at least until the end of December. So, this means Star Trek is off the regular schedule, but it will air sometimes on Thursdays at 7am. M*A*S*H will air every other weekday in the 7am hour, followed now by a full-hour of Night Court at 8am. Back-to-back sitcom episodes will last until 1pm with Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times and I Love Lucy from 9am-1pm. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be indeed staying at 1pm on weekday afternoons. The other changes are in primetime. After The Cosby Show block from 8-10pm, we now will get Scrubs from 10-11pm as 3rd Rock from the Sun moves to 11pm-1am, with a four episode block now. M*A*S*H will assume the 1am hour now while Three's Company moves up an hour to 2-3am. The 4-6am block of Designing Women, Mad About You, Murphy Brown and Just Shoot Me will all move up an hour to 3-5am, as mentioned Paid Programming will assume the 5-7am hours now.
Weekends will not see many changes, but I advise you to view our one-time-only schedule dates for November and December. You can see the full list of changes starting Nov. 24 in the November highlights, too.
The Beverly Hillbillies only airs on weekends now, primarily on Sundays from 12-4am...view our highlights for details. And yes, there is NO paid programming on Saturdays and Sundays. Paid Programming is just weekdays. If you notice on the December highlights, the last three days of December, the paid programming will be 6-9am instead of 5-7am. Not sure if that will continue into January or not, but we'll let you know soon.
In the November schedule highlights, you'll notice the Thanksgiving marathon has been edited a bit, with CSI now included in the marathon this Saturday and Sunday night in primetime. CSI was originally supposed to air this week in the 11pm-1am hours, as it did last week, but TV Land has decided to air them in holiday weekend marathon block instead. After that, CSI will not be scheduled on TV Land in the near future, unless another schedule change happens.

Effective Saturday, December 6, struggling Friday drama Crusoe will move to Saturdays at 8:00pm ET/PT. It aired its last Friday airing this past Friday at 9pm and it continued to bomb for NBC. Six episodes still remain, so NBC will have to deal with more bad ratings until then, unless they pull it. It'll of course do worse on Saturdays, but NBC was airing low-rated Knight Rider repeats in the Saturday slot anyway, so expectations are lower.
Because of the change, Fridays will see newsmagazine Dateline added, but not in Crusoe's slot. Dateline will air Fridays at 10pm against ABC's 20/20, while current 10pm slot holder Lipstick Jungle moves to Fridays at 9pm. Don't understand that move. Dateline would be better at 9pm, as Lipstick Jungle is also doing terrible and is on its last four episodes, so that series will air its last episode on Jan. 9. NBC has not announced what will happen to Fridays after that. In fact, NBC will likely see many changes in January and the rest of midseason, and we'll let you know as soon as we do. The schedule NBC announced last April for this winter is of course going to change, so I don't understand why NBC announced it last April in the first place.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 22

Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.

Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.

The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.

Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.

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

Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)

Friday, December 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.