Thursday, December 04, 2008

WGN America's 2008 Holiday Programming; NBC Announces More Midseason 2009 Changes; ABC Update

WGN America has announced its holiday schedule for 2008! They are airing holiday movies all month long such as the 1985 movie Santa Claus: The Movie on Saturday night, I'll Be Home for Christmas starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas & Jessica Biel, and It's a Very Muppet Christmas Movie. But what about their stunt on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day itself? On Christmas Eve, you can catch Christmas episodes of regularly scheduled timeslot series Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Matlock, In the Heat of the Night, and Nash Bridges from 8am to 1pm ET. Then after the WGN News at 1pm ET, Christmas episodes of The Cosby Show will air at a special time of 2-3pm ET (instead of the usual Homicide) followed by the classic 1977 Christmas special A Flintstone Christmas from 3-4pm ET and the 1980 Yogi Bear classic Yogi's First Christmas from 4-6pm ET. A Flintstone Christmas will also air Monday, Dec. 22 in primetime from 8-9pm ET, while Yogi's First Christmas will also air in primetime on Friday, Dec. 19 from 8-10pm ET. Back to Christmas Eve, WGN America will then reair the movie Santa Claus: The Movie from 6-8pm ET. Then in primetime, WGN America will spend the holidays with The Honeymooners from 8-9pm ET, includes the classic Christmas episode, leading into the Yule Log from 9pm-6am! Who needs a fireplace when you have the classic Yule Log playing classic Christmas songs from the Golden Age of Radio!
On Christmas Day itself, WGN America will air Midnight Mass from Chicago at 8am ET and Midnight Mass from New York at 9:30am ET, with Feed the Children at 11am ET before regular programming starts at 12pm ET with a holiday movie marathon until 10:30pm ET, with stars in movies such as Peter Falk, William H. Macy, Don Rickles, Patricia Heaton, Valerie Bertinelli, and Katey Sagal. At 10:30pm ET WGN will air a half-hour special called WGN News Holiday Special.
Now originally the plan was for some sitcom holiday episodes during the day on both days, but that is not happening. It was supposed to be from 2pm-6pm ET on Christmas Eve with holiday showings of Cosby Show, Coach, Becker, NewsRadio, Bewitched, WKRP and two episodes of Beverly Hillbillies leading into A Flintstone Christmas and Yogi's Fist Christmas. The Yule Log was originally slated for Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning from 1:30am-6am and again 8am-11am ET followed by a sitcom marathon from 11am-4pm ET of Beverly Hillbillies, Coach, Sister Sister, Cosby Show, Becker, NewsRadio, WKRP, Bewitched and more Coach & Hillbillies leading into three movies. It is too bad this isn't happening, but still WGN is giving us some goodies at least with the animated classic specials. NewsRadio fans might be happy though, as that series is airing as a filler now at times on Fridays at 10:30pm ET, and its holiday episode will air on Dec. 26! Make note of it!
So what does WGN America have in store for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? We can tell you it is a sitcom marathon! We will announce it next week...so stay tuned! Come on back!

NBC has announced its plans for their post Super Bowl schedule starting Feb. 2. We gave you their January schedule, now they have announced their February and March plans. Immediately following Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, February 1, NBC will broadcast an original, hour-long episode of The Office from approx. 10:30-11:30 p.m. ET (airing simultaneously to all time zones). Then starting the next day, February 2, Monday nights will feature the returns of Chuck (8-9 p.m. ET), the latest volume of Heroes (9-10 p.m. ET) and the season premiere of Medium (10-11 p.m. ET), back in its old slot. Tuesdays will remain the same as they did in January with The Biggest Loser: Couples and Law & Order: SVU. Wednesdays will have the return of Life starting Feb. 4 in between Knight Rider and Law & Order. Speaking of Knight Rider, NBC has cut its episode for the series from the full 22 episodes to 17 episodes due to declining ratings. Knight Rider will now have its season finale on Feb. 25, with a new show launching March 4, but NBC has not announced what yet. Thursdays will stay the same until mid-March, when ER has its two-hour series finale on March 12 from 9-11pm. NBC has ordered an extra ER episode, giving it 20 for this final season. The following week NBC will launch new series Kings with a two-hour premiere on March 19 from 9-11pm, before settling to its new timeslot of 10pm on March 26. I just don't get why NBC is not launching this earlier when they have the Super Bowl platform. Kings is a riveting new drama about a modern-day monarchy. It is a contemporary retelling of the timeless tale of David and Goliath. This series is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances -- and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom. I don't know if the ER audience will stick for something like this. Anyway, Fridays will remain the same in February & March as January with Howdie Do It, Friday Night Lights, and Dateline. Saturdays will continue to have more Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU encores. While Sundays will continue the event specials with the new miniseries XIII airing a week after the Super Bowl from 9-11pm on Feb. 8 and concluding on the week after on Feb. 15 from 9-11pm. XIII is a high-stakes cat-and-mouse thriller starring Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff, Stephen McHattie and Jessalyn Gilsig, as the first female U.S. president is shot dead by a sniper during her Veterans Day speech. Three months later, a wounded man is found tattered in a forest with no memory of his identity. The only clue is a tattoo on his neck -- XIII. NBC has not announced what will air 7-9pm on Sundays, but it will likely be Dateline or possibly the missing Deal or No Deal. NBC has not announced what special is airing on Feb. 22, but starting March 1, Celebrity Apprentice will air Sundays from 9-11pm.
NBC says premieres for additional midseason shows such as The Untitled Amy Poehler Comedy and The Philanthropist, will be announced at a future date.
View the NBC Feb-March 2009 press release for more details on these shows.

Yesterday we mentioned we thought ABC would air the docudrama Border Security USA as a lead-in to Lost starting Jan. 28. Now ABC has announced it has renamed the series to Homeland Security USA and will launch it instead on Tuesdays at 8pm starting Jan. 6 as a lead-in to the ABC premiere of Scrubs, a week before Idol comes. So this means According to Jim will not move to that slot on that date. Promos for Homeland started airing last night. However, it seems ABC is only airing 5 of the 11 episodes right now for Homeland Security USA as According to Jim is listed in returning on Feb. 10, though that could change. Looks like ABC wants to do better vs. Idol and give Scrubs a better lead-in. ABC still has not announced what will air as a lead-in to Lost...could it possibly be repeats of Lost? We will keep you up to date on this. But it seems the According to Jim holiday episodes in December will be it for awhile, so watch it all this month Tuesdays 9-10pm! Meanwhile, ABC has cut the episode order for upcoming new series Cupid from 13 to 9 episodes, as it is launching pretty late in the season...on March 24. ABC already cut The Unusuals and Castle from 13 to 10 episodes due to so many series, so this is nothing against Cupid.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, August 29

Happy's Place - "The Doctor Is Out" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Bobbie praises Steve's progress with his OCD, he decides he's finally ready to quit therapy; Gabby embarks on a side hustle enlisting ambassadors to sell bracelets for a third party.

Happy's Place - "Alarm Bells" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Isabella requests Emmett's help getting a security system installed, Bobbie claims she can protect her sister better than any alarm or man, leading to Bobbie and Emmett having a competition over who's the better protector.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 25)

Friday, August 29

  • Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Timothy Olyphant (Stick/Santa Clarita Diet) - Watch Timothy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Austin Butler (Ruby & the Rockits/Zoey 101/Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide) - Austin is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Jenna Ortega (Stuck in the Middle/Richie Rich) - Jenna appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Clifton Davis (Amen/That's My Mama) - Clifton makes a special appearance on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Sabrina on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Danielle Pinnock (Ghosts/Young Sheldon) - Danielle talks about Ghosts on a repeat on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • David Zayas (The Bear) - David talks about The Bear and Paramount+'s Dexter: Resurrection on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Regina King (The Boondocks/Leap of Faith/227) - Regina talks about Caught Stealing on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) - NBC's Today catches up with Kel in the 9am hour. He will also be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.


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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08/28 - NBC's Password Renewed for Season 3 for 2026; Pluto TV Streaming CBS Shows Ahead of Fall Season
08/27 - Hulu's Deli Boys Renewed for Season 2 with Fred Armisen; HBO's I Love LA Premieres November 2
08/26 - English Teacher Returns on FX for Season 2; Jesse Williams Prime Video Series Trailer
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
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08/18 - Nobody Wants This Season 2 Premieres October 23; HGTV and Retta Continue Partnership
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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