Tuesday, March 10, 2009

ION Television April 2009; Nick at Nite Changes Mind; SOAPnet Gets Gilmore Girls

This April on ION will see a schedule change! The 6pm hour on weekdays is changing starting Monday, March 30. The Steve Harvey Show and Family Feud is being cut from the line-up and being replaced by M*A*S*H, which returns to weekdays after only airing weekends the last few months. M*A*S*H will also air sometimes in the 7pm hour on Thursdays, if the Thursday movie doesn't start earlier than 8pm. As for movies, ION is really showing us more big screen movies and seems to be preempting the RHI movies more in April. The big screen premieres for April are Jurassic Park III, Malice, Keeping the Faith, Deep Blue Sea, The American President, You've Got Mail, and The Negotiator. And the premieres of most of these are on Thursday, but there are a few that will be on a special Wednesday or Sunday airing as well. Some of these movies will run until 10:30pm only, so a filler episode of M*A*S*H will air...and in one case the movie ends at 10pm, so there is a 48 Hours Mystery sighting (April 23)!
RHI movies include movies from the Jane Doe, Mystery Woman, and McBride movie franchises, and movies such as Shapeshifter, In the Beginning and Bloodknot.
View the full ION Television April 2009 highlights with everything you need to know!

Nick at Nite has changed their mind! And it hasn't been even a week yet! The new schedule that was originally was supposed to be for a week (week of Feb. 23), was extended to March 2 and beyond...but now after just two weeks, the schedule prior to the Feb. 23 change returns! So, Home Improvement is back at 9pm and George Lopez's second airing is back at 10:30pm. This schedule returned last night and we only knew about it hours in advance, so we couldn't post it on the blog yesterday. So no more George Lopez at 9pm and a third Family Matters at 10:30pm. George is back to two episodes in the same hour, 10-11pm and Family Mattters is back to two episodes only from 11pm-12am, while Home Improvement gets it second airing back as it was only airing at 9:30pm, now it is 9-10pm again.

SOAPnet has also acquired all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. This acquisition is shared with sister network ABC Family, which has been airing the show for a few years now. Gilmore Girls will begin airing on Saturday, April 4, at 9PM and 10PM. The series will also air on Sundays from 6-8PM. Gilmore Girls revolves around single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her daughter, and best friend in the world, "Rory" (Alexis Bledel). Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated with an eclectic mix of everyday folks and lovable lunatics, Gilmore Girls is a humorous multigenerational series about friendship, family and the ties that bind. The series was created by Amy Sherman-Palladino. There will be some changes to weekends as a result, The O.C. moves to 8am (Sat & Sun). One Tree Hill moves to 9 & 10am (Sat). Beverly Hills, 90210 moves to 11am-3pm (Sat) and 9am-1pm (Sun). And the General Hospital Marathon moves to 1-6pm (Sun). There will be no changes to weekdays.
Meanwhile, SOAPnet has also acquired more movies and is producing original series. The theatrical titles the network has acquired from Twentieth Television are How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Brokedown Palace, Object of My Affection and The Fabulous Baker Boys. The titles from Disney ABC Domestic Television include While You Were Sleeping, Tuck Everlasting, Bounce, Three Men and a Baby, Three Men and a Little Lady, Miami Rhapsody and Adventures in Babysitting. The movies will begin airing in March.
As for originals, Holidate is a reality special that takes two women who are looking for love but having no luck with the suitors in their individual cities and transports them into each other’s lives. The women will temporarily trade homes, spend time in each other's cities and date the men in each other's lives. They'll be able to communicate with each other throughout the journey. Holidate begins production in March and will premiere this Fall. In addition to Holidate, the other reality series in development from ABC Media Productions is Mother/Daughter Project (working title). In the series, celebrity mother-daughter pairs with huge relationship issues are brought together to work out their problems under the guidance of a renowned therapist. The format is from Outline Television and will be produced in association with ABC Media Productions.
The scripted series in development are Julia's Tango and Santa Monica. Julia's Tango is a one hour scripted series set in Buenos Aires. Despite her great job and devoted boyfriend, Julia feels stifled by a life of endless routine. On an impromptu trip to her hometown of Buenos Aires, she abandons it all to turn her family home into a bed & breakfast. With the help of her girlfriends, Julia embarks on an unpredictable detour she didn't know she needed. The format of the series is from Endemol. SOAPnet will produce the series in conjunction with Endemol. Santa Monica is a one-hour dramedy about four twenty-something best friends living together and embarking on adulthood. The series follows their journeys as they cope with obstacles in love lives, family lives and careers. Whether they're dealing with a broken heart or a career setback, they take comfort in the fact that they always have each other.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, July 28

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Vote" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dave gathers everyone for a lengthy ballot-palooza party to discuss the merits of every candidate and prop on each of their election ballots. Also, Gemma is determined to run a tight ship as their local precinct captain when polls open at Walcott Academy. Kevin Pollak guest stars as Lamar.

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Great Beyond" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Marty and Courtney prepare for Daphne’s christening. Meanwhile, Malcolm is dating someone new and Tina is delighted to meet her.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 28)

Monday, July 28

  • Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) and Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Watch Matt and Bowen on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Sandra Oh (Arli$$) - Sandra appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class), Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) and Riki Lindhome (Another Period/Enlightened) - Jason, Skylar and Riki are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee talks about Freakier Friday on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Eddie Murphy (The PJs), Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) and Pete Davidson (Bupkis) - Eddie, Keke and Pete talk about The Pickup on NBC's Today in the 9am hour. Eddie will also be on sometime between 7-9am.
  • Julia Butters (American Housewife) and Sophia Hammons (Up Here) - Julia and Sophia talk about Freakier Friday on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul talks about Marvel's Fantastic Four: First Steps on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Kathy Bates (Disjointed) - Kathy talks about Matlock on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


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)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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