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
Friday, December 8
CBS announced the new entertainment special Norman Lear: A Life on Television, to air tonight - Friday, Dec. 8 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs). Presented by Entertainment Tonight, this one-hour special features new interviews with stars of the long-running comedies Lear created, including Jimmie Walker from Good Times and Mackenzie Phillips from One Day at a Time, in addition to never-before-seen interviews from the ET vault. Also included with this new footage and interviews is an in-depth sit-down interview with Lear that ET host Kevin Frazier conducted when Lear celebrated his 100th birthday, in which he reflected on his lengthy, groundbreaking career.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 4)
Friday, December 8
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- John Caponera (The Good Life) - John is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Robert Smigel (Let's Be Real) - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog aka Robert Smigel chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Noah Galvin (The Real O'Neals) and Molly Gordon (Ramy) - Noah and Molly talk about Theater Camp on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Eric Stonestreet (The Santa Clauses/Modern Family) - Eric talks about The Santa Clauses on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan sits down with Sherri to talk about his new book, When I Was Your Age, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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