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

Tuesday, August 26

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 25)

Tuesday, August 26

  • Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Andy Samberg (Digman!/Brooklyn Nine-Nine) - Catch Andy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Harvey GuillĂ©n (What We Do in the Shadows/The Thundermans) - Harvey appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) and Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Matt and Bowen are guests on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Sandra Oh (Arli$$) - Sandra appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) and Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) - Nicole and Sasheer are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) and Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Amanda and Olivia chat with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Erika Alexander (Run the World/Living Single/The Cosby Show) - Erika talks about Invasion on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Austin Butler (Ruby & the Rockits/Zoey 101/Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide) - Austin talks about Caught Stealing on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City) - Lea is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Shakira Ja'nai Paye (Demascus) - Shakira is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series 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)

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)

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


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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08/25 - Doc Season 2 Trailer for Fox; Remembering David Ketchum and Jerry Adler
08/24 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 25, 2025)
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08/22 - Hulu's Futurama Season 13 Trailer; A Man on the Inside Returns November 20 on Netflix
08/21 - George Lopez Coming to COZI TV; The Morning Show Season 4 Trailer
08/20 - Welcome Back, Kotter 50th Anniversary Marathon on Rewind TV; Apple TV+ Palm Royale Season 2 Premieres November 12
08/19 - Antenna TV's Archie Bunker's Place Labor Day Marathon; Larry the Cable Guy Prime Video Special
08/18 - Nobody Wants This Season 2 Premieres October 23; HGTV and Retta Continue Partnership
08/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 18, 2025)
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08/15 - Catchy Comedy Acquires Hot in Cleveland; Netflix's Animated Comedy Strip Law Premieres in 2026
08/14 - Dan Levy's Netflix Comedy Series Cast; Betty la Fea: La Historia ContinĂșa Season 2 Premieres Friday
08/13 - Remembering Danielle Spencer of What's Happening!!; Trailer for Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building
08/12 - Netflix's Comedy Kiss or Die Premieres September 9; Lori Harvey Joins Reasonable Doubt
08/11 - Roku Originals Books a Return Trip with Season 2 Renewal of Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross; Netflix's Fixed Trailer
08/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 11, 2025)
08/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Trailer Released for The Paper; ABC Gives Pilot Order to Do You Want Kids?
08/08 - Wizards Beyond Waverly Place Season 2 Premieres September 12; The Paper Trailer for Peacock
08/07 - Special Forces: World's Toughest Test Season 4 Celebs; Sweetpea Season 2 Stars
08/06 - Molly Shannon Joins Will Ferrell Golf Comedy Series; Netflix's Season 2 of My Life with the Walter Boys
08/05 - Disney+ Musical Comedy Electric Bloom Premieres; NBC Renews American Ninja Warrior for Season 18
08/04 - Remembering Loni Anderson of WKRP in Cincinnati; And Just Like That... to End After 3 Seasons
08/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of August 4, 2025)
08/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Family Guy Specials Coming to Hulu; Jimmy Kimmel Rooting for Emmy for Stephen Colbert
08/01 - Long Story Short Gets Season 2 Ahead of Premiere; Netflix's Wayward Premieres September 25
07/31 - Solar Opposites Final Season on Hulu; Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical
07/30 - FETV Acquires The Jeffersons, Uncut; BET+ Comedy Churchy Returns August 21, BET Greenlights Sketch Comedy Series
07/29 - NBC Fall 2025 Premiere Dates; Fox Fall 2025 Premiere Dates
07/28 - Events Planned for The Golden Girls 40th Anniversary; Family Guy Holiday Specials Return to Hulu
07/27 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of July 28, 2025)
07/26 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Paramount/Skydance Merger Approved; CBS Orders New Comedy From Producers of Ghosts