TCA Winter 2009 Press Tour: Fox - Prison Break Canceled; Bush Farewell Speech in Primetime on Thursday; Remembering Cheryl Holdridge

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

TCA Winter 2009 Press Tour: Fox - Prison Break Canceled; Bush Farewell Speech in Primetime on Thursday; Remembering Cheryl Holdridge

Fox is up today at the TCA winter 2009 press tour. They started with a Simpsons 20th anniversary themed breakfast! Big pink donuts! Cool! The Executive Session followed and we found out some stuff. The biggest news is that Fox's Prison Break is being canceled after this season. The series will come to an end and will likely have stories wrapped-up with a true finale. However, the series will be moved to the graveyard...airing Fridays at 8:00PM starting Friday, April 17, replacing the likely also canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Six episodes are in the can to air for Prison, but Fox could shoot two more to wrap things up for good. Looks like no mention of a spin-off, too. Fox also has scheduled its Mitch Hurwitz animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up on Sunday, April 19 at 8:30PM, replacing King of the Hill. It seems we have seen the last of King of the Hill, as Fox is labeling its last airing on Sunday, April 12 a "series finale," which is odd because many episodes still remain in the can despite Fox canceling the series a few months back. Could the series be moved to ABC after all? We shall see. Fox also has game show The Moment of Truth ready to go, but hasn't scheduled it. Perhaps it could air in the summer. And it seems it is true that sitcom 'Til Death has been renewed for NEXT season (2009-10) for another 22 episodes. Sony gave Fox a cheap deal they couldn't resist. Fox only has aired four episodes from this season's 24 episode order. Fox did air three leftovers from last season as well, so seven episodes in all have aired this year before Fox pulled the series in early October due to low ratings. My guess is the 20 that remain for this season will be burned off in the summer, as it seems Fox wouldn't waste their in-season schedule for this series again. This is clearly a financial deal, as the series would have enough episodes for syndication. In other news, medical procedual House will celebrate its 100th episode on Feb. 2. That was fast.
Panels for Lie to Me and 24 followed. The upcoming Sunday animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up followed with a lunch presentation. After the lunch, panels for American Idol, Osbournes: Reloaded Variety Series, Dollhouse, FX's Rescue Me, House, and the upcoming musical drama Glee followed.
It is still early...we will have constant updates here, if anything major is announced. So keep checking back multiple times a day this whole week!

And in a scheduling note, President Bush is scheduled to have a 15 minute farewell speech in primetime on Thursday (Jan. 15) at 8PM ET. So because of this Fox will move the season premiere of Bones back a week to January 22 to 8PM and airing a second episode at 9PM. It is unclear still what will air following Bush's short speech this Thursday. However, Kitchen Nightmares will still air and be all-new this Thursday, but will be preempted next Thursday for Bones' two-hour stunt.
CBS will be on 15-minute delay for East/Central stations. So, a repeat of CSI will start at 8:15/7:15c, a new CSI won't start until 9:15/8:15c and Eleventh Hour won't start until 10:15/9:15c. In Mountain and Pacific time zones, the shows will air in their normal timeslots. As of this writing, the other networks have not announced what they will do yet. Keep checking back though.

Cheryl Holdridge, the beautiful blond actress who first gained fame as a Mouseketeer on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s, has died. Holdridge died Tuesday (January 6) at her home in Santa Monica after a two-year battle with lung cancer. After The Mickey Mouse Club, the actress played Julie Foster, Wally's girlfriend, on Leave it to Beaver and guest starred on series such as The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The Donna Reed Show, Dr. Kildare, The Rifleman, Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, Bewitched, Dennis the Menace, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Wagon Train, and reprised her role as Julie Foster on the '80s revival of Leave it to Beaver called Still the Beaver.
Cheryl hasn't acted much since the '60s, but will be remembered for her work on these '50s and '60s TV series from classic TV fans. She will be missed. She was only 64.

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.