Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Year's Eve 2009 and New Year's Day 2010 TV Marathons
December 31
First, let's start off with the marathons on TV today -- New Year's Eve (Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009). Most of the marathons don't start until after midnight tonight, but there are some that start during the day today. Bio TV has a classic Biography episodes marathon from 8am-5am today. Find out the stories on Ozzie & Harriet, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Aaron Spelling, Charlie's Angels, Farrah Fawcett, Alan Alda, Florence Henderson, The Brady Bunch, Cheers, Bea Arthur, Betty White, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Carol Burnett. As we mentioned before, WGN America will have a marathon of In the Heat of the Night movies today from 10am-8pm ET. TNT heads to Vegas with a Las Vegas marathon from 11am-7pm today. Syfy Channel has a two day marathon of the classic series The Twilight Zone that starts at 8am today and runs until 6am Saturday! In other marathons for today are: USA Network's Burn Notice from 6am-6am, Sleuth's Royal Pains marathon from 6am-8pm, ABC Family's America's Funniest Home Videos marathon from 3pm-11pm both today and tomorrow, Chiller TV's Wolf Lake marathon from 10am-7pm, GSN's 1 vs. 100 marathon from 9am-3pm, Nick's SpongeBob marathon from 9am-8pm, and TV One celebrates the life of Michael Jackson from 8pm-3am.
January 1
Then at midnight tonight when we ring in the new year, we get the best marathons! First off, WPIX in NYC will have its annual The Honeymooners marathon from 12am-6am and again from 9am-5pm. As mentioned above, Syfy has The Twilight Zone. It's not time to celebrate a new year without these two shows! WGN America has a marathon of Barney Miller from 8am-10pm on New Year's Day. TV Land has three classic movies from 9am-4:30pm, followed by Married...with Children from 4:30-9pm. In other sitcom marathons on New Year's Day, TV One has Martin from 9am-5:30am, WE tv has a Golden Girls marathon from 10am-7pm, Gospel Music Channel has an Amen marathon from 12:30am-2pm, and Disney Channel has a Sonny with a Chance marathon from 12pm-12am. And Nick at Nite has a George Lopez Lopez-olutions marathon, but that's all night on Jan. 2 and 3. Non-sitcom wise for New Year's Day, we have plenty of goodies! Logo starts their Buffy the Vampire airings wih a marathon from 6am-12am with a New Year's Slay, GSN has a Family Feud marathon from 9am-3pm, SOAPnet has One Tree Hill from 2pm-12am, style has Supernanny from 12pm-6pm, Sleuth has The Unit from 6am-6am, USA Network has Law & Order: SVU from 6am-6am then NCIS takes over on Jan. 2, A&E has Criminal Minds from 8am-4am, as well as ION from 4pm-11pm, TeenNick has Degrassi from 1pm-6am, and Looney Tunes will be on from 8am-7pm on Cartoon Network, while Tom & Jerry on Boomerang from 6am-6am! Looking for even more, American Idol on Fox Reality Channel from 12pm-9pm, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader on CMT from 2pm-9pm, and The Biggest Loser on Bravo from 8am-8pm
Movie wise, we have a Jennifer Aniston movies marathon on Lifetime from 11am-11pm, Chiller has Alfred Hitchcock movies from 8am-4am, Spike TV has a Lethal Weapon and Die Hard franchise marathons starting at 9am, AMC has The Matrix movies starting at 11am, and classic movie wise go with James Stewart films on TCM starting at 6:45am.
And of course we have sports today and tomorrow, mainly college football bowl games, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest tonight at 10pm ET and 11:35pm-2:05am on ABC! Everyone should be watching the latter as usual. On the networks in primetime, after the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day catch new episodes of sitcoms Better off Ted and Scrubs at 8:30pm ET/PT.
And that's our last post of 2009...see you in 2010!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
ION Television January 2010 Highlights; TBS 2009 Ratings Report
The lesson that "love hurts" is well learned by the characters who inhabit the eerie suburb of Durham County, when the second season of ION Television's critically acclaimed original primetime series launches with a two-hour premiere on Sunday, January 3 from 9:00–11:00 PM ET. A marathon of the series' first season will precede the season two launch, airing from 5:00–11:00 PM ET on Saturday, January 2. Durham County, which debuted this past fall, returns to the bleak and disturbing landscape of an alienated suburbia with a new star villain – Michelle Forbes, known for her intense portrayals on the hit HBO series True Blood and In Treatment this year. The show will be broadcast in its new regular timeslot at 10:00 PM ET on Sundays beginning Sunday, January 10.
Movie premieres for January 2010 has Death Wish V: The Face of Death (1994), Shanghai Noon (2000), Kickboxer (1989), A Trace of Danger (2009), Space Cowboys (2000), Running Scared (2006), The Transporter (2002), The Transporter 2 (2005), Bloodsport (1988), Phone Booth (2002), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). Movie encores for the month are Goodfellas (1990), Batman Returns (1992), Dealth Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987), and Tango & Cash (1989). ION airs moves Friday evenings and all day Saturdays & Sundays.
View the full schedule and highlights for ION Television January 2010. ION has been doing pretty well in th ratings with reruns of NCIS and Criminal Minds especially. In primetime, the network has averaged over 1 million viewers for the last four weeks and beat The CW last week.
TBS closes out 2009 with a banner year! In its first four weeks (Nov. 9-Dec. 3) on TBS, Lopez Tonight averaged 1.4 million viewers; 1 million households; 478,000 adults 18-34; and 869,000 adults 18-49. Lopez Tonight has delivered double-digit growth for TBS in the 11 p.m. hour, with viewers up 33%, households up 27%, adults 18-34 up 29% and adults 18-49 up 34% when compared to the same time period for the four weeks leading up to the premiere. A continuing hit with multicultural viewers, Lopez Tonight's audience is 32% Hispanic and 26% African-American. Lopez Tonight airs Mon-Thurs at 11pm.
Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns is ad-supported cable's #1 comedy of the year among viewers, households, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. TBS's telecasts of Family Guy rank it second to Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns among adults 18-49. TBS claims four of the top five comedies for the year-to-date among adults 25-54 with Meet the Browns, Family Guy, The Office and Tyler Perry's House of Payne. Meet the Browns is the #2 series on all of television among African Americans, behind only American Idol, in African-Americans 18-49 for the year-to-date. Meet the Browns airs Wednesdays at 10pm.
And finally, TBS's exclusive coverage of the MLB League Division Series led the network to its most-viewed week in the 33-year history of the network and garnered double-digit year-to-year increases in ratings, total viewers and households. Over the course of 13 League Division Series games, TBS averaged a 3.1 national household rating, up 11% when compared to the 2008 League Division Series. TBS's coverage also scored an 11% increase in total viewers.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Nick at Nite January 2010 Includes Lopez-olutions Marathon; Minor NBC Sked Changes
On New Year's Day itself, Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite will present an original movie titled Angus, Thongs and the Perfect Snogging from 8pm-10pm. Georgia Nicolson is fourteen, lives with nosey parents who don't understand her, an annoying three year old sister and has to wear a beret to school. She would, however, rather be blonde, have a smaller nose and a boyfriend. Revolving around her hilarious journal entries, prepare to be engulfed in the world of the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager.
Last Monday we told you that the overnight schedule from 2am-6am will be changing, and that starts late night on Dec. 31. No more Roseanne, as Cosby Show returns and an extra hour of Everybody Hates Chris and Family Matters are added. There are no other changes, as of now, to the regular Nick at Nite schedule.
Discuss and view more details on Nick at Nite January 2010.
NBC has made a few minor schedule changes for a few dates. On Friday, January 8, 2010 NBC will bump an original Law & Order episode for a two-hour Dateline special that includes an interview with David Goldman (NJ dad in the child custody battle in Brazil). That Law & Order episode will air sometime later now and was supposed to have guest star Samantha Bee. The series will resume with new episodes on Jan. 15.
And finally, NBC will present a full-hour of new episodes of 30 Rock on Thursday, Jan. 14 from 9-10p, bumping an original episode of The Office at 9pm. The Office will return the following week (Jan. 21) now. The special 9pm half-hour episode of 30 Rock will have guest star James Franco, but it will be opposite ABC's Grey's Anatomy-Private Practice crossover event. The 9:30pm episode will oddly be about Jenna auditioning for Gossip Girl.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on MTV Update; Goode Family Repeats Launches Next Monday on Comedy Central
I personally can't get enough of the John Ritter episode called "Ted." Can't wait to watch it again on Logo's marathon! You can watch Buffy online on TheWB.com also. Other shows available on TheWB.com include other Warner Bros. owned series like, Angel, Ben Stiller Show, Everwood, Firefly, Friends, George Carlin Show, Growing Pains, In Living Color, Lois & Clark, MADtv, Pushing Daisies, The Loop, V, What I Like About You, and Wonder Woman.
Comedy Central has just changed The Goode Family premiere date to Monday, Jan. 4, instead of Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Goode Family will air weekly on Monday nights at 10 pm ET. The Goode Family, the satirical animated series from Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, will air on Comedy Central beginning January 4, 2010 in a secondary run. The Goode Family, which first premiered in May 2009 on ABC, is produced by Media Rights Capital, Ternion Pictures and 3 Arts Entertainment.
The complete first season of The Goode Family with all 13 episodes will air on Comedy Central on Monday nights at 10:00 pm ET, giving vegans, lesbians, right-wing conservatives, Prius owners, Texas-rednecks and liberals-who-can-laugh-at-themselves a second chance to fall in love with the Goodes.
If the series does well in repeats, there is a chance Comedy Central can get the show back in production for a second season. So watch it, especially if you have never watched!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Week 14: How the Sitcoms Did In The TV Ratings
We are preempting our normal TV ratings and analysis this week, due to the holidays...but we will cover how the sitcoms did.
Week 14 How the Sitcoms Did
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 13 -- Dec. 14-20)
- Brothers (Fox) - preempted.
- The Simpsons (Fox) - 8.15 million for a repeat is over a million better than previous week when it was all-new. Why? Because it had a direct NFL lead-in.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - 5.9 million for a repeat, big drop from the lead-in. 2.8 18-49 rating is decent for a repeat, though.
- Family Guy (Fox) - 6.28 million for a repeat could be better.
- American Dad (Fox) - Only 5.08 million for a repeat. 2.5 18-49 rating is OK for a repeat.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 5.62 million, which is OK but CBS Monday sitcoms are usually better than this.
- Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) - 5.41 million for a repeat, but decent retention at least from the lead-in. And held 100% of the 18-49 rating lead-in of a 1.7
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 10.78 million for a repeat. Excellent. I just wonder once this show finishes what will happen to the rest of the CBS Monday comedies?
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat did a nice 10.0 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, best of the week for sitcoms. The lead-in certainly boosts the overall numbers, but the 18-49 rating is impressive.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Scrubs (ABC) - An all-new episode of the [Med School] edition did only 3.43 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, both down from previous week. Don't think it should have been new on this night due to the holiday season. Repeat this Tuesday.
- Better off Ted (ABC) - Only 2.77 million, even lower than previous week. It will be new again this Tuesday, too, but after a repeat of Scrubs this week...look for bad numbers.
- Old Christine (CBS) - preempted.
- Gary Unmarried (CBS) - preempted.
- The Middle (ABC) 2 episodes - 5.4 million for a repeat in its normal time, is up from previous week a bit. A special repeat at 9:30pm did 4.38 million.
- Modern Family (ABC) - A repeat did 5.58 million, up some from previous week's repeat.
- Cougar Town (ABC) 2 episodes - Two special repeats in the 10pm hour did 3.68 million and 3.34 million, could be better...but it did air in the 10pm hour. Don't forget ABC Comedy Wednesday returns Jan. 6 with Lisa Kudrow on Cougar Town!
Thursday Sitcoms
- Community (NBC) - preempted.
- Parks & Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
- The Office (NBC) - preempted.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - preempted.
- The Middle (ABC) - A Christmas episode repeat on Christmas Eve did 2.72 million in prelim numbers.
- Modern Family (ABC) - The Christmas episode repeat did a prelim 3.36 million on a special night.
- Cougar Town (ABC) - The Christmas episode repeat did a prelim 2.67 million on Christmas Eve.
Friday Sitcoms
- 'Til Death (Fox) 4 episodes - The show returned on Christmas night with NEW episodes. Ouch! Obviously the ratings were terrible. Prelim numbers of each are: 2.51 million, 2.4, 2.43, and 2.74 million.
Saturday Sitcoms
- None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) on Fox are repeats of animated comedies from 8-10pm tonight following two new episodes of Brothers at 7.
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory & Modern Family Wed 9pm repeats were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Middle Wed 8:30 repeat, Accidentally on Purpose) or just plain old terrible (such as Better off Ted, Scrubs, 'Til Death).
Saturday, December 26, 2009
In Memoriam: Sitcom Actor and Other Notable TV Deaths in 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas - Don't Forget To Join Us on Twitter and Facebook; Remembering Connie Hines
Tomorrow Todd will do his annual sitcom stars deaths for the past year right here on the blog, so you won't want to miss our tribute to every single sitcom star who passed away in 2009. As a lead-in (we like to throw in TV terms!) to that tomorrow, we will pay tribute today to Connie Hines. Connie passed away last Friday (Dec. 18, 2009) at her Beverly Hills home from complications of heart problems. She was best known for her role as Wilbur's (Alan Young) wife on the popular 1960s television sitcom Mister Ed. She has not acted since the early '70s, so many younger viewers probably don't know who she is, unless they caught an episode or two of Mister Ed on TV. She guest starred on series such as The Millionaire, The Untouchables, Bronco, Sea Hunt, Perry Mason, Bonanza, Love American Style, and The Mod Squad. As you can see, she was in a lot of dramas, but her regular role on the comedy Mister Ed is what everyone knows her for.
She will deeply be missed. Connie was 78.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
2009 Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Marathons/Movies on Television
For the 13th year in a row Turner will have its annual A Christmas Story (1983) 24-hour movie marathon on TBS from 8pm tonight through 8pm Christmas night! There are a lot of copycats on the other networks doing holiday movie marathons for large amount of encores. FX is planning to run the movie Night at the Museum for 24 hours, also from Christmas Eve evening to Christmas night. Last year FX had good numbers for a 24-hour marathon of the film Ice Age 2. Sister network Fox Movie Channel will have a 24-hour marathon of the classic Home Alone film. AMC will have two movie marathons. Tonight they will air the 1954 classic White Christmas and then all day tomorrow they will air the 1989 film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And as we mentioned before, Spike TV will spend Christmas Day being naughty all day with Bad Santa Don't forget your sandwiches! And finally, Disney Channel will air The Santa Clause trilogy starting at 4pm today.
Some of the other major TV stunts we mentioned already were ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas concluding today and tomorrow. That is our pick of course! BET's Sister Sister marathon today and The Game marathon tomorrow. TV Land's 10th Annual Merrython starts tonight and runs into tomorrow with classic holiday episodes of many TV series! TV One will also celebrate the holidays with holiday episodes all night tonight! And ABC has holiday episodes of their sitcoms tonight from 8-10pm!
Some of the stuff we have not mentioned are Boomerang's 24-Hour Extended Christmas Party starting at 9am today with many holiday animated classics! Comedy Central's 13 Days of Christmas continues tonight at 9pm and all day tomorrow with many movies and a short Scrubs marathon.
Other notable TV marathons include Bravo's West Wing Christmas episodes mini-marathon today and A&E's Criminal Minds marathon tomorrow. MTV will showcase Parental Control and Teen Mom stunts. VH-1 is reminding us not to eat too much this holiday season by airing a marathon of Celebrity Fit Club. CNBC will remind us not to overspend on this holiday with a marathon of Til Debt Do Us Part.
Check out the full holiday marathon list from our friends at TVTango.com!
Don't forget to leave out some cookies and milk for Santa tonight! Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
ABC Double Pumps Scrubs and Ted Through January; Hallmark Channel January and February 2010
First off, ABC has decided to air repeats of Scrubs next Tuesday (Dec. 29) at 9pm and Tuesday, January 12 at 8pm. The first two episodes of the season will repeat on these dates. Scrubs will remain all-new at 9pm on Jan. 12 and two new episodes will air Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 8pm & 9pm. Better off Ted will still be new whenever it airs (except for that Friday, Jan. 1 at 9:30 airing). So through Jan. 12 now, Scrubs and Better off Ted will each have 9 new episodes aired. Both Scrubs and Better off Ted will be two new episodes on Jan. 19 and one each on Jan. 26 (since the State of the Union address is likely on Jan. 26), so by then it will be 12 new episodes of each. And the final episode of each (episode 13) could be used in the 8-9pm hour on Feb. 9 leading into LOST? Remember President Obama will have his first State of the Union address likely on Tuesday, Jan. 26 from 9-11pm ET, so they can't double pump the comedies on that night and LOST has its season premiere the following week on Tuesday, Feb. 2 from 9-11pm, but a clip show airs at 8pm that night, so no Scrubs/Ted then. I'm just guessing how they will use Scrubs and Better off Ted on Jan. 19 and 26 (and possibly Feb. 9), because ABC has only announced episode info through Jan. 12 for Tuesdays. But I think I'm right with the guesses here and I can certainly see the finales of both on Feb. 9 at 8pm, since ABC can't encore the two-hour premiere of LOST the following week. Starting Feb. 16 in the 8pm hour though I bet we will see previous week's LOST episodes encoring in the hour until Dancing with the Stars: The Results returns in mid-March. This is not official yet, but seems like the likely scenario for Tuesdays at 8pm. Also, ABC has yet to announce what will air Fridays at 9pm starting Feb. 12, since Shark Tank will have its season finale on Feb. 5.
A few weeks ago ABC announced what they will air Thursdays at 8pm until FLASHFORWARD returns March 4. ABC announced the series premiere of new drama The Deep End, which brings to life the tragedies and triumphs of five earnest twenty-something first-year associates fighting to stay afloat in one of Los Angeles' top law firms. The series premieres on Thursday, January 21 at 8:00pm ET/PT and will air for 6 weeks (through and including Feb. 25). The series has a 7 episode order, so maybe a two-hour finale on Feb. 25? ABC will use Jan. 14 at 8pm to re-air the fall finale of Grey's Anatomy leading into the return of the series at 9pm.
So ABC still has a lot to announce for mid-season, including the return date of Wife Swap and new series dates for Romantically Challenged, Happy Town, and the new Jamie Oliver reality series. So stay with us for any news on these!
The Hallmark Channel will have a new schedule effective Monday, Jan. 4, 2010. Kicking off the morning schedule now will be back-to-back Little House on the Prairie from 9-11am, replacing Golden Girls. 7th Heaven will return to the schedule as well airing weekdays at 11am and 12pm, as the 11am hour replaces more Golden Girls and the 12pm hour replaces Touched by an Angel. Then at 1pm Hallmark Channel has acquired America's Funniest Home Videos and will air it weekdays. This is the Bob Saget version from the early '90s. A Golden Girls two-hour block will follow from 2-4pm, leading into another hour of AFV at 4p. M*A*S*H follows but from 5-7pm, instead of the usual 5-8pm, as another hour of AFV airs at 7pm. In primetime, it will now be three episodes of Touched by an Angel from 8-11pm, followed by The Golden Girls from 11pm-1am. On Fridays, a movie airs from 9-11pm. Cheers closes the schedule from 1-4am, as the 3am hour replaces paid programming.
On weekends, 6-8am will be Little House on the Prairie leading into Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures from 8am-11am. Movies will air the rest of the day from 11am-3am. So missing from the regular schedule are Walker Texas Ranger, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, and I Love Lucy.
As for stunts, there will be an I Love Lucy weekend marathon on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Sunday, Feb. 7 from 11am-3am on Feb. 6 and 11am-1am on Feb. 7. There will be a lot of Skating specials in January and February as well. Stay with us for further updates, if anything changes.
Tonight on ABC it is an expanded Comedy Wednesday with encores of your favorite ABC Comedy Wednesday comedies! It first starts off with the holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, followed by encores of The Middle, Modern Family, another The Middle, and back-to-back Cougar Town in the 10pm hour! And if that's not all, ABC Comedy Wednesday will air on Christmas Eve (Thursday, Dec. 24) as well! It will be an all holiday episode night starting with the animated special Disney Prep & Landing, then holiday episodes of The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town. If you have not seen these episodes, tune in! And if you have, watch them again...comedies are good! Laugh away the next two nights!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
CBS Announces Reality Plans for Midseason 2010; Fox Makes Changes to Two Nights in Midseason
In other CBS reality series news, two specials will air on Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Live for the Moment, a one-hour special from Emmy Award winners Jeff Probst and Mark Burnett, will be broadcast Thursday, Jan. 28 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Live for the Moment reveals how one person's life-changing event inspired them to live life to the fullest. Host Jeff Probst takes that person on a series of adventures and experiences that create special life moments with family and friends. This person shares their inspiring insights on how they live their lives differently and by doing so, possibly will change the way others live too. Surviving Survivor (working title), a one-hour special will air on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8:00 PM ET/PT, revisiting some of the greatest moments in Survivor history and following up on life after Survivor with some of the most memorable castaways. The special, executive produced by Susan Zirinsky for Eye2 Productions, contains fresh interviews with Survivor favorites, and offers a sneak peak at the new Survivor, which will launch on Feb. 11. Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the 20th edition of the franchise, premieres with a two-hour episode, Thursday, Feb. 11 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains will reunite some of the most memorable, heroic and controversial castaways from previous Survivor seasons. The series' best strategists will face off in their attempt to overcome - or embrace - the label placed upon them as they return for revenge or redemption. The series will air weekly in the 8:00 PM ET/PT hour, as always, starting Feb. 18.
CBS still has not announced premiere dates and information on any mid-season scripted series. Returning sitcom Rules of Engagement and new dramas Miami Medical and The Bridge have not yet been given premiere dates. I can see Rules and Miami Medical launching in March with The Bridge probably in the summer. Stay with us for details on these as soon as we get it.
Meanwhile at Fox, they have announced they will make some time changes for Wednesdays and Sundays. American Idol and new drama Human Target will have their times flipped starting Jan. 27. Idol will shift to 9pm, while Human Target moves to 8pm. Human Target will still have its Wednesday launch on Jan. 20 following Idol, but will then have to lead off the night starting Jan. 27. Human Target will still have its series premiere on Sunday, Jan. 17 following NFL Divisional Playoff coverage.
The other mid-season time change for Fox will be on Sundays, but not until March 14. New mid-season sitcom Sons of Tucson will now air Sundays at 9:30pm, rather than 8:30pm. This means The Cleveland Show will stay put at 8:30pm, as it was slated to move to 9:30pm. Fox has ordered 13 episodes oddly of Sons of Tuscon, but they will not be able to fit all 13 in this season, unless it gets additional airings elsewhere. No word on where American Dad! will go, but it is likely it will move to 7:30pm starting March 14 or at a later date (or maybe if Tucson bombs, it returns at 9:30pm a few weeks later?).
So we are just about set for all the networks for January and February. NBC and Fox has announced nearly all of their plans for the entire mid-season, but CBS and ABC still have some March dates to announce. ABC also has to announce what they plan to do on Tuesdays at 8:00pm starting Feb. 9 and Fridays at 9:00pm starting Feb. 12. Scrubs and Better off Ted are done with their seasons after Jan. 26, more on that tomorrow.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Nick at Nite Overnight Changes in January 2010; Remembering Alaina Reed Hall and Brittany Murphy
The reason for the change is because come January Roseanne might spill over past 2am at times on TV Land, mainly 3-4am, due to the addition of Home Improvement. The Cosby Show airs on TV Land weeknights in the 2am hour and the 3am half-hour, but that half-hour will likely be removed since it will be on sister network Nick at Nite at the same time.
Somehow I think we have not heard the last on both TV Land and Nick at Nite January 2010, so stay with us as we receive updates. In fact, we still have to give you Nick at Nite January 2010 highlights. Hopefully we can give you that by this week.
Alaina Reed Hall who is best remembered for her role as Rose from the '80s sitcom 227 has passed away. Alaina passed away on Thursday (Dec. 17, 2009) after a battle with breast cancer. Prior to landing the role of Rose on 227, Alaina played Olivia, Gordon's younger sister, on Sesame Street for 12 years from 1976-1988. 227 aired on NBC from 1985-1990 and was taped in Los Angeles, while Sesame Street was taped in New York, so Alaina decided to leave Sesame Street due to the cross-country travel.
Alaina also guest starred on many other TV series such as Baby I'm Back, Herman's Head, Reading Rainbow, A Different World, Blossom, Friends, The Drew Carey Show, Lois & Clark, Between Brothers, The Steve Harvey Show, NYPD Blue, Ally McBeal, NewsRadio, Any Day Now, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and ER. Alaina also had voice roles on two animated series, Sonic the Hedgehog and Where on Earth is Carmen San Diego? Alaina also was a co-star on a short lived sitcom for The WB in 1995 called Cleghorne! that also starred Ellen Clegorne, Garrett Morris and Sherri Shepherd. While she was known for her TV roles, she also appeared in a few big screen movies such as Death Becomes Her and Cruel Intentions.
Alaina will be deeply missed and I just wish 227 repeats were more prominent on television and DVD today. We had gotten word of her death on Friday from actor Shavar Ross, but were waiting on more details. Alaina was only 63.
And finally, as everyone probably knows already, Brittany Murphy has passed away. She was very young and the death is totally unexpected. She died in Los Angeles on Sunday (December 20, 2009) after suffering cardiac arrest in her bathroom, officials said. Brittany provided the voice of Luanne on the Fox animated series King of the Hill. While she was known more for her movie roles, Brittany got her start on television. She co-starred on the short-lived sitcom Drexell's Class in 1991-92. She also co-starred on the sitcom Almost Home in 1993, which was a follow-up series of The Torkelsons. Among her other TV roles were guest shots on Murphy Brown, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Blossom, Party of Five, Frasier, Sister Sister, Boy Meets World, The Marshal, seaQuest DSV, Murder One, Nash Bridges, and Clueless. She got her big break on the big screen movie Clueless, which lead to movies such as Drop Dead Gorgeous, Girl Interrupted, Don't Say a Word, 8 Mile, Just Married, Uptown Girls, Sin City, Happy Feet, and more. She has a few films still yet to be released. She is gone way too soon, and she will be missed dearly by her TV and movie fans. Brittany was only 32.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Week 13 TV Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did
Households: 1. CBS 8.8/14.5 (rating/share); 2. NBC 3.9/6.5; 3. Fox 3.7/5.9; 4. ABC 3.0/4.9; 5. The CW 1.0/1.5
Total Viewers: 1. CBS 14.29 million; 2. NBC 6.41 million; 3. Fox 5.89 million; 4. ABC 4.51 million; 5. The CW 1.49 million.
Adults 18-49: 1. CBS 3.7/10.4 (rating/share); 2. NBC 2.2/6.4; 3. Fox 2.0/5.7; 4. ABC 1.4/3.9; 5. The CW 0.6/1.8
Week 13 (Dec. 14-20) Analysis: For week 13, CBS was all new with regular airings of their series, thus they dominated against repeats and December filler programming. In a slow week for everyone but CBS, obviously CBS is first in all categories, NBC is in second in everything, while Fox third and ABC has to settle for fourth. Last week, week 12, CBS beat second place NBC in HH/viewers for a first place finish once again, while NBC prevailed in 18-49 barely. CBS was close behind for second in 18-49. ABC was third in HH/viewers, but fourth in 18-49, while Fox was the opposite of that (fourth in HH/viewers and third in 18-49).
On Monday it was CBS in total control with all-new episodes, as House was a repeat for Fox. CBS started with all-new episodes of its comedies and a new CSI: Miami. How I Met Your Mother started it off with doing 9.64 million, up sharply from previous week, while a new Accidentally on Purpose followed doing 8.82 million, also up from previous week with lesser competition. Two and a Half Men followed with a new showing doing 16.37 million, up nearly two million from previous week, and The Big Bang Theory followed with a new airing of its own doing 15.58 million, up from previous week and a series high in viewers. A series high of 5.6 18-49 rating is excellent and retained that from previous week. It skewed older this week as the viewers went up a lot, but 18-49 rating stayed the same. A new CSI: Miami did 14.18 million, also up a lot from previous week with no competition. Fox had repeats of House and Lie to Me doing 6.72 and 6.64 million, decent for repeats. ABC didn't do much with the new special Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home for Christmas doing just 5.6 million, down two million from previous week's timeslot holder. An all-new Find My Family did 5.44 million, up a bit from previous week but needs to do better. A repeat of Castle followed with 4.3 million. NBC started off with the new reality holiday filler Sing Off instead of the usual Heroes and Trauma doing 6.89 million for two-hours better than what those dramas usually, and an OK 2.3 A18-49 rating. The Jay Leno Show followed with only 4.75 million, but up a tad from previous week. The CW preempted One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl for a Vampire Diaries stunt that aired all week. Monday encores did 1.57 and 1.42 million, not bad.
On Tuesday, CBS dominated with everyone else in hibernation. CBS started with a new NCIS doing 20.69 million. Then spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles was next with a new showing of its own doing 17.5 million. And finally CBS aired a new The Good Wife doing a solid 14.17 million. NBC was next airing another two-hours of the holiday filler Sing Off doing a decent 6.86 million and a better 2.6 18-49 rating, but still it is no The Biggest Loser which returns Jan. 5. Then The Jay Leno Show tanked as usual to only 5.2 million. ABC was on the map at 8pm with the all-time classic A Charlie Brown Christmas and Charlie Brown Christmas Tales doing 6.5 million for the entire hour. Then it was an all-new episode of Scrubs [Med School] doing 4.22 million only and a 1.8 18-49 rating, both down from previous week. A new showing of Better off Ted did only 3.18 million, worse than previous week's premiere. At 10pm, the forgotten was a repeat and did only 3.34 million and just a 1.0 18-49 rating, both down from previous week's repeat. Fox aired So You Think You Can Dance and 6.34 million, up a tad from previous week, then the special Gordon Ramsay Cookalong Live bombed to only 3.99 million. The CW preempted 90210 and Melrose Place for Vampire Diaries repeats that did 1.23 million and 1.21 million, almost better than what a new Melrose Place would do.
Wednesday it was CBS on top again with all-new episodes. CBS started with all-new episodes of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried doing 7.64 and 7.76 million, both up week-to-week. Next CBS aired an all-new Criminal Minds doing a rock solid 14.68 million, up some from previous week. CSI: NY was also all-new and did 13.55 million, also up from previous week. The season finale of So You Think You Can Dance on Fox mustered only 7.09 million...the show needs to stay in summer only. ABC comedies were repeats, a repeat of the holiday special Prep & Landing did a decent 6.54 million. The Middle was a repeat and did 5.27 million. Modern Family was also a repeat and did 5.1 million, as that was like the fourth time that bicycle episode aired. Cougar Town was also a repeat and did only 4.48 million. The comedies will be all-new again on Jan. 6, with guest stars galore! Eastwick was all-new and very good in quality but only did 3.66 million. NBC aired night three of Sing Off doing 6.51 million, lower than the usual Mercy and Law & Order: SVU would do. At 10pm NBC aired The Jay Leno Show of course at just 5.49 million, but up a million week-to-week. The CW aired more repeats of Vampire Diaries doing 1.3 and 1.39 million.
Thursday it was CBS on top again with all-new episodes. CBS opened with Survivor: Samoa at a solid 12.46 million and a 3.9 A18-49 rating, but both down week-to-week as the season finale airs tonight on a special night. A new CSI followed with a solid 15.58 million, but also down from previous week. At 10pm The Mentalist was new and did a similar 15.77 million, and also down from previous week. ABC was all in repeats, as two Grey's Anatomy repeats did only 3.79 and 4.0 million. Private Practice followed with a repeat of its own doing only 3.07 million. Needless to say, these don't repeat well. They return with new showings Jan. 14. Fox was in repeats as well with Bones doing a below normal 6.15 million for a repeat and a Fringe repeat only did 3.12 million. NBC preempted Community, Parks & Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock for the all-new holiday special SNL: A Gilly Christmas that did a decent 7.79 million, better than what the sitcoms average. The Jay Leno Show closed the night with only 5.21 million, but up a tad week-to-week. The CW aired two more repeats of Vampire Diaries doing 1.89 and 1.9 million, as Supernatural was preempted.
Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available as usual, but NBC won Friday with a repeat of Law & Order and Dateline, but ABC and CBS tied for the 18-49 crown. ABC won 9 & 10pm with 20/20, and CBS did decent in the 8pm hour with Frosty the Snowman and the follow-up special.
Saturday numbers were very quiet and low, as Fox won with its usual line-up on a very slow night filled with holiday movies and repeats.
Tonight ABC has a repeat of AFV as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters are preempted for the network television premiere of The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. NBC has an NFL game tonight so they will still win the night though but Vikings/Panthers won't be a big game for them. CBS has the Survivor Samoa finale from 8-11pm. Fox has a NFL overrun and repeats of its animated comedies from 8-10. Look for CBS to easily win the week as they should since they aired new episodes of regular programming. NBC will take second for the week, especially since they have NFL tonight. Fox and ABC will battle for third, with Fox likely hanging on in HH/viewers, but Fox will clearly win third in 18-49. As for this coming week, look for a lot of repeats and holiday specials as Christmas is on Friday!
Week 13 How the Sitcoms Did
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 12 -- Dec. 7-13)
- Brothers (Fox) - Some of the country got the 7pm new episode that did only 1.46 million for 16 minutes, while the rest of the country joined in after NFL at 7:16pm and did only 2.08 million. Everyone got the 7:30pm episode on time and it only managed 2.62 million. Terrible!
- The Simpsons (Fox) - 6.97 million for an all-new episode...not bad, but could be better. No NFL lead-in so not as high.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - 6.53 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating. OK, but better than King of the Hill last season.
- Family Guy (Fox) - 7.66 million and a 3.8 18-49 rating is good, but below normal a bit for this show.
- American Dad (Fox) - 6.2 million and a 3.1 18-49 rating is decent, but needs to hold the numbers better from its lead-in.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A new episode did a solid 9.64 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating. No competition, so this is what I expected, though 18-49 could have been better.
- Accidentally on Purpose (CBS) - 8.82 million for a new episode is better than normal. A 3.2 18-49 rating is up, but still could be better given the competition and lead-in.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 16.37 million for a new episode, this is what I was expecting the previous week.
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A series high of 15.58 million and tied for a series high with a 5.6 18-49 rating, building on the lead-in's 5.2. Very good as usual, but it skewed older it seems than normal as viewers were up from previous week but 18-49 remained exactly the same. Still good!!
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Scrubs (ABC) - An all-new episode of the [Med School] edition did 4.22 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, both down from previous week. Whenever this show airs this season, it will be new. So watch!
- Better off Ted (ABC) - Only 3.18 million, even lower than the previous week's season premiere. As mentioned above, whenever this show airs this season it will be new. Even the next two Tuesdays in December...watch it, nothing else is on!
- Old Christine (CBS) - A new episode did a decent 7.64 million and an OK 2.3 18-49 rating, both seem to be season highs with lesser competition airing.
- Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 7.76 million for a new episode and a 2.5 18-49 rating, built from the lead-in in viewers for the first time in a long time. Season highs.
- The Middle (ABC) - 5.27 million for a repeat is decent.
- Modern Family (ABC) - A repeat did 5.1 million, but this was like the fourth time this episode aired.
- Cougar Town (ABC) - A repeat only mustered 4.48 million. Don't forget ABC Comedy Wednesday returns Jan. 6 with Lisa Kudrow on Cougar Town!
Thursday Sitcoms
- Community (NBC) - preempted.
- Parks & Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
- The Office (NBC) - preempted.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - preempted.
Friday Sitcoms
- None.
Saturday Sitcoms
- None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) on Fox are repeats of animated comedies from 8-10pm tonight following NFL action.
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Accidentally on Purpose, & Gary Unmarried were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Middle repeat, Old Christine) or just plain old terrible (such as Better off Ted, Brothers Sun from Week 12).
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, December 7
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 2)
Friday, December 6
- Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Watch Ralph on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Emily Osment (Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage/Young Sheldon/Young & Hungry/Hannah Montana), Tien Tran (How I Met Your Father) and Vinny Thomas (Platonic) - Emily, Tien and Vinny are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Hilary Swank (Camp Wilder) - NBC's Today catches up with Hilary in the 10am hour.
- The Cast of Sex Lives of College Girls - The Sex Lives of College Girls creator Mindy Kaling is joining Drew on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Then, the case of the show, Pauline Chalamet, Alyah Chanelle Scott, Amrit Kaur, Mia Rodgers and Gracie Lawrence are all chatting about the latest season of the hit show.
- Ryan Destiny (grown-ish) and Brian Tyree Henry (HouseBroken/Atlanta) - Ryan and Brian talk about their new film The Fire Inside on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Steve Howey (Reba) - Steve talks about NBC's Happy Place on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Krysten discusses her film Sonic 3 on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Melissa Joan Hart (Baby Daddy/Sabrina the Teenage Witch/Clarissa Explains It All) - Melissa is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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