ION Television December 2008 Highlights; CBS Picks-Up More Episodes for 'Gary', 'Worst', While NBC Adds More 'Medium'

Monday, November 17, 2008

ION Television December 2008 Highlights; CBS Picks-Up More Episodes for 'Gary', 'Worst', While NBC Adds More 'Medium'

ION Television has announced its December 2008 schedule and highlights, and there will be no regular changes to the line-up...but there will be plenty of holiday movies and holiday episodes! ION's holiday airings start on Friday, December 12 in the RHI block with the 2007 TV-Movie, A Grandpa for Christmas. Other RHI holiday movies in the weekend RHI block include Silent Night, Hogfather, Night They Saved Christmas, and more. ION will also have a holiday TV-movie week the week of December 22-25 from 4-6pm these four nights with more holiday fun such as the ION premieres of 2008 films My Santa My Dad and The Elf Who Didn't Believe. Four holiday episodes of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper will air Dec. 17-18 in its regular 6-7pm time slot and four M*A*S*H holiday episodes will air the weekend of Dec. 20-21 from 6-7pm. And during the week of December 22, you can catch two classic Boston Legal Christmas episodes, including "The Nutcracker." The Thursday Total Theatre Warner Bros. movies are not in yet, so we don't know what is airing there yet. We will update you on that and if any more things change on our message board as soon as we know. So view our ION Television December 2008 highlights.

CBS Wednesday comedy Gary Unmarried, starring Jay Mohr, will have an additional seven episodes at least this year, bringing the total from 13 to 20 episodes. Two additional scripts were also ordered, so if it does well, we could see up to 22 episodes this season. Meanwhile, CBS has ordered three more episodes of struggling Monday sitcom Worst Week from 13 episodes to 16 episodes. The untraditional sitcom is a critical darling but has not capitalized out of the #1 sitcom, Two and a Half Men. 4 scripts were ordered previously, so one more script has yet to turn into an episode order. CBS still has Rules of Engagement coming in midseason, so if Worst Week doesn't pick-up, you'll see Rules there by February or March. Remember February sweeps doesn't start until March 5 this year because of the transition to digital TV in mid-February.
NBC has ordered 6 additional episodes of Medium, its veteran supernatural drama starring Patricia Arquette. The order brings the total from 13 episodes to 19 episodes for its fifth season. NBC recently canceled Monday drama My Worst Own Enemy and Friday drama Lipstick Jungle, so both will be out of here in January, which is when Medium will more than likely launch. Originally the show was set to launch Sundays at 9PM after Sunday Night Football concludes, but now that will likely change. As soon as NBC announces its revised midseason schedule, we will let you know. I bet it will return to its original Monday at 10pm slot followed the sinking Heroes.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.