Friday, November 21, 2008
ABC January 2009 Midseason Plans; The CW Cancels MRC Sundays, Tyra Banks Show Heads to CW Daytime Next Fall
The news is not good for Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone, as ABC has announced they will not order more episodes than the 13 episodes from the original order. The word cancelation is not used, but all of them will likely not return next season, but...as of now, all 13 episodes of each will air.
Elsewhere, ABC has announced Scrubs will have its eighth season premiere on Tuesday, January 6 with two back-to-back episodes from at 9:00pm & 9:30pm ET/PT, replacing According to Jim. Jim will slide down into the 8:00pm & 8:30pm ET/PT slots, after airing in the 9pm hour starting in December. Scrubs will also air for the full-hour on Tuesday, January 13, opposite the same night of American Idol's two-hour season premiere. Then starting January 20, Scrubs will be followed by the new midseason animated comedy The Goode Family more than likely. ABC has not yet announced plans for Tuesdays at 10 following the comedies and Wednesdays at 8 leading into Lost. One option for either slot is Border Security USA, the new docudrama 11 episode series. My guess is Wednesdays at 8.
Keep checking back right here because the day is not over and we could have more announcements! Busy busy day!
The CW has canceled the MRC (Media Rights Capital group) programming block completely and will take over programming of the night effective Sunday, Nov. 30 due to very low ratings. So this coming Sunday (Nov. 23) is the last of MRC on The CW. MRC was programming The CW's Sunday night programming from 5-10pm, with an hour of 4Real at 5pm, Valentine encores at 6pm, In Harm's Way at 7pm, Valentine at 8pm, and Easy Money at 9pm.
Effective Sunday, Nov. 30, The CW will air encores of Everybody Hates Chris and The Game in the 5pm hour. Then in the 6pm hour they will go into the vaults of Warner Bros. and air back-to-back episodes of '90s sitcom The Drew Carey Show. At 7pm The CW will use its CBS Paramount library and air the short-lived drama Jericho, which aired on CBS for two seasons. And finally at 8pm, they will air Movies from MGM. So it looks like The CW is putting good use of their CBS-Warner libraries, hence the name The CW. Will this do any better than the MRC block? It remains to be seen, but if it does...expect more library programming on the night, as The CW plans to air this for the rest of the season before coming up with a new strategy next season.
So what will happen to the shows that were slated to come to the MRC block in midseason? One of them was the Bob Saget multicamera sitcom Surviving Suburbia. That sitcom has taped many episodes and still is scheduled to tape episodes in December and January. They last taped an episode last night before taking next week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. I am not sure what will happen to this sitcom. MRC could shop the sitcom for another network or perhaps The CW would pick it up for another night, possibly Fridays with the other comedies?
Meanwhile, first-run syndicated talk show The Tyra Banks Show from Warner Bros. Television is moving to The CW next fall (Sept. 2009) for its fifth season. How? Well, it will air daily on The CW Daytime back-to-back at 3PM (classic episode) and 4PM (all-new episode)! Which means the talk show will leave syndication and air exclusively on The CW! So this means both Tyra Banks' shows The Tyra Banks Show and America's Next Top Model will air on the same network starting in the fall...one in the daytime and one in primetime.
Currently airing on The CW Daytime is rookie Warner Bros. court show Judge Jeanine Pirro from 3-4pm, now that show will leave CW Daytime next fall and will be moving to first-run syndication! Let the bidding begin. From 4-5pm currently are sitcoms The Wayans Bros. and The Jamie Foxx Show, and they will be off the line-up, obviously. Who knows if the new CW Sunday is successful, maybe these will move to Sundays next fall somewhere between 5-7pm.
I know I promised the network holiday specials dates today, but because of this unusually busy Friday, I will give them to you on Monday...no matter what happens. So stay tuned for that!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, October 8
Shifting Gears - "Date" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Matt and Eve go on their first date but have different ideas of what it should entail. Riley befriends the mom of Georgia’s new friend while Carter mediates a tiff between Gabe and Stitch. LA Dodger Mookie Betts and Lilly Singh guest star.
Abbott Elementary - "Cheating" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Melissa tries to outsmart her students; Tariq causes chaos in Janine’s class, and a new guidance counselor joins the school.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 6)
Wednesday, October 8
- Tim Allen (Shifting Gears/Last Man Standing/Home Improvement) - Watch Tim on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place/Wizards of Waverly Place/How I Met Your Mother/The Pitts) and Janice Leann Brown (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place) - David and Janice talk about Wizards Beyond Waverly Place on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey talks about Luna and the Witch Throw a Halloween Party on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan stops by for a talk with the hosts about John Candy: I Like Me on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Tom Papa (Come to Papa) - NBC's Today catches up with Tom in the 9am hour.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - The Drew Crew team is sharing their best pro tips including newest Drew Crewer Amirah Kassem sharing how to make the perfect party dish and easy ways to level up hosting on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Tom Arnold (Roseanne/The Jackie Thomas Show/Tom/The Tom Show) - Tom is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and 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)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
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