Friday, February 06, 2009
Hallmark Channel Reduces I Love Lucy in February; Obama Preempts Programming
They have made last minute changes to be started on Monday (Feb. 9). Weekdays 4-5pm ET/PT will now be another episode of Little House on the Prairie replacing I Love Lucy. Lucy will remain weekdays 8-9am, though. The rest of the changes are on weekends. Saturdays 6-9am ET/PT will now be three episodes of Little House on the Prairie replacing the three-hour block of I Love Lucy. And that's not all on Saturdays...Saturdays 1-3am will now be back-to-back episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger replacing more I Love Lucy. Get the pattern yet? If not, keep reading. Sundays from 9-10am will now be another extra episode of 7th Heaven, so that series will air from 9am-3pm now on Sundays. The 9am hour will replace two episodes of I Love Lucy. However, all is not lost for Lucy on Sunday mornings, it will remain at 8:30am. And finally Sunday nights from 1-3am will now be more Walker, Texas Ranger replacing... you guessed it, I Love Lucy. So if you're keeping score, I Love Lucy now will only air weekdays 8-9am and Sundays at 8:30am...ouch.
So what will this mean for the March schedule we announced earlier this week? Not sure yet. If I were to guess, some of these changes happening Monday will be carried over to March (I doubt Lucy will air 3pm in March), but we'll let you know as soon we know! So for now, the March schedule we announced is still happening...but expect I Love Lucy to be reduced from the original March plan. The Hallmark sitcom curse continues...can The Golden Girls break that in March?
President Obama is planning a Presidential News Conference on Monday (Feb. 9) at 8PM ET/5PM PT. So this will affect the Eastern/Central time zones programming on network TV. The press conference is expected to last between 40-60 minutes. So in the eastern and central time zones, the 8pm hour will be different. At 8PM ET on CBS, the all-new episode of The Big Bang Theory will be moved to 9:30PM ET/PT for the entire nation, replacing Worst Week's season finale. That season finale will now be on Feb. 16 at 9:30pm ET/PT. How I Met Your Mother was also slated to be all-new at 8:30pm, but since the press conference will be between 40-60 minutes, CBS will air a repeat of Mother instead, joined in progress if the press conference ends before 9pm. Out west at 8pm PT (7pm MT), a repeat of Old Christine will air on a special night, followed by a repeat of How I Met Your Mother at 8:30pm PT/7:30pm MT.
Over at NBC, they will also air the press conference. They will have to preempt an all-new episode of Chuck at 8pm ET. If the press conference ends before 9pm ET, then they will air a Heroes repeat joined in progress. Out west, a repeat of Heroes will air in its entirety at 8pm PT.
ABC will devote the full 8pm ET/5pm PT hour to the press conference. In east/central, The Bachelor will air an hour later from 9-11pm ET (8-10pm CT), as True Beauty will be preempted. Out west, The Bachelor will air in its normal time of 8-10pm PT (7-9pm MT), followed by a repeat of True Beauty at 10pm PT/9pm MT. The regularly scheduled new episode of True Beauty will air on a special night of Tuesday at 10pm ET/PT, preempting Primetime: What Would You Do? for the week. Fox will preempt an all-new episode of House on Monday and move it to the following Monday in its normal time (another Obama address pending), while a 24 repeat from the previous week will air at 8pm PT/7pm MT out west.
That is not all for Obama. He is also planning a Presidential Address to Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. All the networks have committed to that. ABC will preempt two Scrubs repeats on that night to air the Presidential Address to Congress from 9-10pm ET. That will air 6-7pm PT, so ABC will likely air those Scrubs repeats out west. NBC will cut The Biggest Loser in half that night and will air the second hour the following night at 8pm, no idea what NBC will air out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT yet. CBS will preempt a scheduled The Mentalist repeat at 9pm ET that night to accommodate the address but it will air out west. Fox will make the most drastic change for this night. A Bones repeat will air at 8pm ET leading into the Presidential Address to Congress at 9pm ET. Not sure what is airing out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT, but I would guess another Bones repeat. Since American Idol was scheduled to air two-hours that Tuesday night, Fox will move those two-hours to Wednesday from 8-10pm ET/PT. So Lie to Me is totally preempted that week (Wednesday Feb. 25). The second night of American Idol will be shifted to Thursday that week at 8pm ET/PT, preempting Bones. Idol will lead into an all-new Hell's Kitchen.
And believe it or not, Obama also plans a short address on Monday, Feb. 16 as well. So far no networks have committed to that one. We will keep you up to date of everything on this, so keep checking back.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Sunday, April 20
The Simpsons - "Desperately Seeking Lisa" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Lisa has a misadventure in the dark world of Capital City's downtown art scene.
Family Guy - "Drunk With Power" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Peter swaps lives with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and is forced to make a ruling on the constitutionality of gay marriage, meanwhile, Brett tries to become friends with Quagmire, Cleveland and Joe.
Krapopolis - "John Fate Comes A-Knockin'" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Deliria's clairvoyant ex comes to town and gives the family some bad news.
The Great North - "The Prince of Hides Adventure" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Wolf fulfills the Tobin dream of going on a survival show; Honeybee introduces Aunt Dirt to margaritas.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 14)
Friday, April 18
- David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical/Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Cool Kids/The Carmichael Show/Bad Teacher/Life with Bonnie/DAG) - Watch David on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody takes "The Colbert Questionert" on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of 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 a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Bobby Moynihan (Mr. Mayor/Me, Myself & I), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Mary Eliabeth Ellis (Santa Clarita Diet/The Grinder/Perfect Couples/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Bobby, Thomas and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Étoile on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross Mathews to hit the headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh is telling Drew about the thrilling new series Happy Face based on a real life serial killer on The Drew Barrymroe Show, so check your local listings.
- Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) and Delroy Lindo (UNPrisoned) - Michael, Delroy and others tell Sherri about their highly anticipated new film Sinners on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel talks about Bravo's Love Hotel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
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