Thursday, March 12, 2009
WGN America Spring Changes Includes Bullwinkle, WWE Superstars; ION Schedule Change
Then the week of April 13 is when the majority of the changes start! The weeknight 1am ET rotating hour will now have Funniest Pets & People on both Monday and Tuesday nights replacing AFV and Star Trek: TNG respectively. Reno 911's Thursday 1am airings migrate to Wednesday nights replacing ALF. ALF will still remain on Sundays on Outta Sight Retro Night, though. ALF has suffered a bit of a ratings let-down, but they are still keeping it on Sundays at least. The big change on WGN America will be the WWE Superstars series airing every Thursday on WGN America at 8pm ET and encoring at 11pm ET starting April 16. Thursdays in primetime will also see the series Around the World For Free at 9pm ET and 12am ET right after WWE Superstars. So what is Around the World for Free? Alex Boylan (winner of The Amazing Race, Season 2) attempts the impossible: he strips himself of all monetary funds, and with only a backpack and the help of an online community, sets off on a mission to circumnavigate the globe. So on Thursdays at 1am ET we will see Scrubs because its Thursday 11pm ET airings are preempted and at 4am ET Bob & Tom Show will air since its 12 am ET slot is preempted on Thursdays. This is bad news for Moesha fans because now the show will only air once a week at 5am ET on late Thursday nights (early Friday mornings). And for more bad news, Moesha will be gone after the end of June and will be replaced by more Funniest Pets & People. At least Moesha will still be on The N.
Moving to weekends, on Saturdays... Hollywood and Dine is going national. The local Cleveland produced food show on WJW, hosted by David "Mossman" Moss, will be syndicated on WGN America starting Saturday, April 18 at 12 noon ET and airing every Saturday at noon ET. Following Hollywood and Dine at 12:30pm ET will be Cultivating Life with Sean Conway. Both will replace an airing of Star Trek: TNG, so that series will only be in primetime on Tuesday nights by then. An episode of Boston Legal will follow at 1pm ET replacing a Bob & Tom Show airing, but that Bob & Tom airing will be moved to a Sunday slot of 11am ET. More on Sunday in a bit, but back to Saturday. The Saturday evening Boston Legal still remains in its slot. And the biggest news for us is that the classic '60s animated comedy The Bullwinkle Show is coming to WGN America on Saturday nights starting April 18! It will air Saturdays at 12 midnight ET (9pm PT) replacing an airing of The Honeymooners. Bullwinkle will follow two Scrubs episodes at 11 & 11:30pm ET. I'm still trying to find out what package of Bullwinkle this is, but I'm guessing it is the 98 episode package from The Program Exchange. It would be cool if it were all 130 episodes, though, including the Rocky episodes. And of course The Honeymooners will still air on the Outta Sight Retro Night on Sunday evenings, so the half-hour removal on Saturday nights is not a problem. So back to Sundays, we said Bob & Tom Show is in a Sunday slot of 11am ET, replacing Whacked Out Videos, which moves to Sunday nights at 3am ET replacing one of the Homicide: Life on the Street episodes, but that will still remain at 4am ET. The other Sunday change is at 12 noon ET with an encore of WWE Superstars replacing that Boston Legal airing, so both of its airings are on Saturdays starting April 18.
That's all for now, but Sean Compton of WGN America promises us that we will see more sitcom themed weeks this summer as we did last summer! Also, they will change up the Outta Sight Retro Night on Sundays in September a bit...so that will be cool to see what they add. So just because not much is added this spring, doesn't mean anything. WGN America is working on lots of classic TV stuff, and Bullwinkle is not a bad idea! Yes, ALF did well for them but it has weakened, but they are still airing it on Sundays at least. Stay tuned and keep it with us for all WGN America news!
Just a few days ago we gave you ION's April 2009 schedule saying that M*A*S*H would return to weekdays starting March 30. Well that is still happening...but two weeks earlier now! M*A*S*H will take over the 6pm hour on weekdays starting this Monday now (March 16). And in a twist, Family Feud will move to the 7pm hour from Mon-Thurs! Feud was supposed to be totally off the line-up by March 30, but ION is indeed keeping it! Feud will replace an airing of ER on Mondays and an airing of Boston Legal on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and a scheduled M*A*S*H hour or movie on Thursdays. So the only thing leaving is Steve Harvey Show...and two weeks earlier than planned. So tonight is the last night actually. This is tough news because BET removed it as well a few weeks back. Everything else we reported for April is intact, including the movies.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, June 25
Children Ruin Everything - "Connection" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
With work keeping him busy, James feels even more disconnected from Felix; when Felix shares a personal secret with Astrid, James goes too far trying to learn the secret himself.
Children Ruin Everything - "Adulthood" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When James finally pays off his student loans, he celebrates by buying an expensive chair; the kids threaten to ruin it with their stain-inducing activities; Astrid discovers that someone from her past has taken out a peace bond against her.
Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "House of Second Chances" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Curtis and Floyd must navigate the intricacies of business, while Jazmine grapples with her rollercoaster of emotions.
Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Diamond in the Rough" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Cora has a new romantic suitor, which causes a rift between her and Mr. Brown; everyone celebrates Philip for his recent academic achievements, and he receives an unexpected gift.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 23)
Wednesday, June 25
- Abby Elliott (The Bear/Indebted/Odd Mom Out) - Watch Abby on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about The Bear on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Brandy Norwood (Zoe Ever After/The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy and Monica are guests on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe) and Tim Bagley (The Great North/Teachers/Grace and Frankie/Web Therapy/Stril Mall) - Andy and Tim are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Frankie Grande (Henry Danger/Danger Force) - Frankie talks about Rhythm of Love on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Luna Blaise (Fresh Off the Boat) - NBC's Today catches up with Luna in the 9am hour.
- Dulcé Sloan (The Great North) - Dulcé joins Tamron Hall (repeat) for a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE as she serves laughs and looks from her brand-new tour, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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