SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

TV Land Changes May Schedule; Adult Swim Acquires British The Office

Today we were supposed to give you TV Land June 2009, continuing our June week, but now TV Land has edited their May schedule. We will have to delay the June schedule until tomorrow or next week. So stay tuned for that. TV Land has changed their May schedule a bit starting May 4. Among the changes are more Gunsmoke & Bonanza on weekdays now extended from 2pm-6pm from Tues-Fri. This means the Monday block is now from 12pm-6pm. Evening sitcoms now start 6pm with Hogan's Heroes moving to the 6pm half-hour, followed by Green Acres at 6:30pm. The Beverly Hillbillies remains in the 7pm hour.
TV Land Goes West is added also on Saturdays from 1pm-7pm, just like how it airs on Sundays, with two Gunsmoke episodes followed by four episodes of Bonanza. This means the TV Land movie encores are now just Saturdays at 6am. The Brady Bunch on Saturday mornings is now 9am-11am, with Leave it to Beaver from 11am-1pm leading into the westerns block. Beaver also airs 7-8pm on Saturdays, followed by blocks of Andy Griffith from 8pm-11pm, M*A*S*H from 11pm-1am, and Three's Company from 1am-3am. Sundays has an extended Hillbillies from 10am-1pm leading into the westerns. Andy follows from 7-10pm, then M*A*S*H from 10pm-1am, Hillbillies from 1am-3am, and now only an hour of Brady Bunch (in the 3am hour).
It is not many changes, but this make schedule more of a regular schedule, especially on weekends with shows getting set time slots now. What does this mean for June? We will have to wait and see, but we know one thing, Roseanne is joining the TV Land PRIME line-up. But for now, view the full updated TV Land May 2009 schedule.

The Office, the BBC series that spawned the NBC comedy of the same name, is returning to American television on Adult Swim. The Turner-owned network, which shares channel space with Cartoon Network, has acquired both seasons of the British comedy, as well as The Office Christmas Special and will start airing them this summer.
Created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office is about the day-to-day lives of employees in the Slough, Bershire branch of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company. The series' main character, David Brent, as portrayed by Gervais, is familiar to office workers everywhere. As regional manager of the company, Brent fancies himself as a great team leader using humor to win the loyalty of his staff. In reality, he is belittling, smug, sexist, insensitive, patronizing and unthinkingly offensive.
Adult Swim also airs the BBC hit The Mighty Boosh, since March 29. They recently secured the rights to Look Around You.
The U.S. version of the series airs in repeats on sister station TBS.

AmericanLife TV June 2009 Sees Daily Strip Schedule; Me-Too Brings Classic TV Marathons in May

AmericanLife TV is the network that airs many many classic TV shows, but usually just once a week. Now starting in June 2009, they will have a regular weekday schedule instead of weekly series! Now that is good and bad. Why bad? A lot of series will have to be removed. And of course it is good because the shows that are airing will air everyday! All this starts Monday, June 1, 2009. From 10am-5pm weekdays will see AmericanLife Lifestyle/original/Boomer programming, such as Embassy Chefs and Dr. Bob Show. So Remington Steele is not airing at 10am anymore, which seemed out of place there since the other classic series didn't start until the evening. After the Lifestyle/original/Boomer shows, AmericanLife TV brings you classic TV! Starting at 5pm on weekdays, we get a two-hour comedy block with Bob Newhart, with The Bob Newhart Show at 5pm & 6pm and Newhart from 5:30pm & 6:30pm. Then from 7pm-10pm Mon-Thurs, we get the greatest dramas with LA Law, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, with encores from 10pm-1am. Weeknights at 1am will be the classic series Mission Impossible, and The Color Honeymooners closes the classic series block at 2am. 3am-10am is Paid Programming. On Fridays, we get the ALN Classic Movie from 7-9pm, followed by a double shot of Mission Impossible from 9pm-11pm, and another ALN Classic Movie from 11pm-1am. Everything else on Friday is the same as Mon-Thurs.
On weekends, Paid Programming is until 3pm still, followed by Lifestyle/original/Boomer programming such as This Food That Wine. Then at 5pm, on Saturdays we get two episodes of Mission Impossible until 7pm, and on Sundays we get the ALN Classic Movie. Then at 7pm, it is the opposite of 5pm, on Saturdays we get the ALN Classic Movie until 9pm, and on Sundays it is two episodes of Mission Impossible. The pattern continues from 9-11pm, with Mission Impossible on Saturday and the ALN Classic Movie on Sunday. From 11pm-1am on Saturday nights we get Primetime Hunting and on Sundays we get two more Mission Impossible episodes. Both nights from 1-3am will see the ALN Classic Movie and closing the weekend on both days is The Color Honeymooners at 3am.
So there you have it, the new AmericanLife TV schedule! It is simpler but lots of shows have to be removed. Unfortunately these shows are off the line-up for now: Batman, Burke's Law, Combat!, It's a Great Life, Land of the Giants, Lone Wolf, Lost in Space, Lou Grant, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Trapper John MD, Rat Patrol, Time Tunnel, Green Hornet, Twelve O'Clock High, Remington Steele, The Big Valley, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and WKRP in Cincinnati. Let's hope some of those return and get to air daily as well. But for now, enjoy them in May because in June they will be gone for now.

Chicago just gets better and better! Me-Too in Chicago is calling all Classic Television Lovers! Do you like TV? Do you like TV marathons? Then you'll love Me-Too in May! Over there at Me-Too they have enough classic TV shows for not just one marathon, they have enough for many, many marathons! So, beginning May 1, Me-Too will air a different 12-hour marathon each weekday, Monday through Friday, 10AM-10PM CT, all month long! One day you may be hanging with Lucy and Ethel, another 'Happy Day' you could cruise with the Fonz. How about exploring new galaxies with the original Star Trek crew or going to the moon with the Kramdens? And even laughing out loud with Norman Lear shows!
Kicking it off on Friday (May 1) is The Dick Van Dyke Show. The rest of the month in order are The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy, We Love Lucy, Lucy Show), The Honeymooners, Star Trek, Cheers, The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, Norman Lear Day (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, Sanford & Son, Good Times), Hooterville & Hillbillies (Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies), Leave it to Beaver, Three Stooges, Bewitched, Happy Days, Hogan's Heroes, Brady Bunch, Alfred Hitchcock, The Outer Limits, Dragnet, Benny, Burns & Allen (Jack Benny Show and Burns & Allen Show), and Sgt. Bilko: The Phil Silvers Show.
Me-Too Marathons, every weekday beginning May 1! It's Marathon-O-Riffic, Monday through Friday, 10AM-10PM CT!

TV One June 2009 Adds Two Sitcoms; Network Notes Includes Obama Address; Hogan Family Interview

The weather is getting warmer out there in most of the country, so we are going to look ahead all this week to the month of June! Yes, May is still on the horizon but we here at SitcomsOnline like to plan ahead, which I'm sure you all like! We start out our "June schedule week" with plans for TV One June 2009! And they will add two new sitcoms to its regular line-up! On Monday, June 8 at 7:30pm, a new comedy joins the TV One prime-time line-up. The Holly Robinson-Peete short-lived family sitcom Like Family takes over the weeknights at 7:30pm timeslot to add some fresh laughs in the comedy zone. Like Family (2003-04) is a sitcom about two families -- one black, one white -- who share the same house and work together to overcome their differences to create a home.
Also joining the line-up on Monday, June 8 will be the classic '70s sitcom That's My Mama! We told you previously the show will have a special Mother's Day marathon on May 10, but now it is ALSO joining the weekday line-up as well a few weeks later! Mama and her family will air weekdays at 5:00pm kicking off the early evening sitcom line-up.
Due to these two new additions, there are quite a few changes to the weekday line-up. In the weekdays at 6am hour we now get Divorce Court, replacing Amen. At 7am Living It Up with Patti LaBelle replaces an episode of All About the Andersons, but that slides to 7:30am replacing Comics Unleashed. In the 8am hour, we now get two episodes of Amen, replacing an episode each of Comics Unleashed and Sharp Talk with Al Sharpton. The 9am and 10am hours remain the same with original encores. Weekdays in the 11am hour will now be Half & Half replacing original encores. The daytime marathons continue from 12pm-3pm, while Divorce Court's afternoon airings are moved in the 3pm hour replacing Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes. The Tom Joyner Show will air in the 4pm hour replacing Divorce Court. Then the sitcom line-up starts at 5pm as we mentioned with That's My Mama replacing Good Times at 5pm, followed still by Sanford & Son at 5:30pm, and Good Times at 6pm. Not to worry, the 5pm Good Times is now at 6:30pm replacing Half & Half. All of Us replace Eve at 7pm, and the aforementioned Like Family launches at 7:30pm replacing another Half & Half. Then we still have Martin and Living Single in the 8pm hour, followed by another Living Single a 9pm, but now 9:30pm will be Half & Half instead of All of Us. Back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons remain in the 10pm hour, while Martin and Sanford & Son still share the 11pm hour. The late night schedule also gets a bit of a change, at 12 midnight we now have Eve instead of another Jeffersons, while at 12:30am we have Living Single instead of Good Times. 1-3am will still feature a movie. Then the really late schedule also gets changed, in the 3am hour will be The Jeffersons and Martin instead of back-to-back Living Single. At 4am Half & Half remains, but the 4:30am Half & Half is replaced with Martin! And finally the 5am hour will still have Get the Hookup. So that's the entire schedule! We still have highlights to give though.
On Saturday, June 20 beginning at 12 Noon (following the Saturday morning sitcom block from 6am-12pm) through 8pm (with an encore from 12am-6am), Our Music Month is in full effect as TV One presents the "Half & Half: Must Be the Music" marathon consisting of episodes of the sitcom with guest appearances from some of the music industry greats including DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Musiq Soulchild, Faith Evans, MC Lyte, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
On Sunday, June 21 beginning at 3pm through 8pm (encores from 2am-6am), TV One airs a Fathers Day tribute in the form of an "All of Us: Fathers Day" marathon consisting of episodes of the family sitcom dealing with father/son episodes and situations of characters Robert and his son Bobby.
Finally, yes this is in July, but technically it part of June for TV One. On Friday, July 3 beginning at 8pm, the zany antics of Martin Payne will keep viewers in stitches as TV One presents the "Martin: Independence Day" mega-thon, a 24-hour laugh-a-thon consisting of some of the funniest and most talked about episodes of the sitcom Martin featuring comedian Martin Lawrence in some of his classic best moments and alter-ego character.
It is certainly going to be fun in the sun this June on TV One!

We have a lot of network notes for you. We announced them all on our message board yesterday, but we want to put it all in one space in case you missed it. President Obama is having a news conference live on Wednesday at 8pm ET for an hour. This means yet again the networks have to scramble and juggle programming. ABC and CBS had to change the most, especially CBS. We'll start with ABC, though. In the eastern and central time zones, Scrubs and Better Off Ted have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal, including the 100th episode of Lost at 9/8 central. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Scrubs and Ted will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Scrubs and Ted will air at 8pm PT. Because of this change, ABC will move the planned new episodes of Scrubs and Ted to a special night of Tuesday, May 5 in the 8pm ET/PT hour replacing two episodes of According to Jim. Poor Jim has had so many preemptions already and won't get to air its finale in the season now. Four episodes got preempted so ABC will have to air those sometime in the summer. Jim is still airing tonight and as of now on May 12. I would just pull it on May 12 and bring it back in the summer for its final 6 episodes. We'll let you know what happens to Jim. View the changes in a list form.
Moving on to CBS, they will have more changes than anyone. They also will air the Presidential News Conference on Wednesday at 8pm ET. In the eastern and central time zones, special airing of Rules of Engagement and Old Christine at a special time, will have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal on this night. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Old Christine and Gary Unmarried will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Old Christine and Gary will air at 8pm PT. In other changes, CBS has pulled Harper's Island out of the Thursdays at 10pm slot effective immediately. A repeat of Criminal Minds will air this Thursday (April 30), followed by a repeat of CSI on May 7. And on May 14, the final Thursday of the regular season, will see the season finale of CSI NY on a special night! Programming for the 10pm hour for the summer season, effective May 21, is to be announced right now. As for Harper's Island, it will be still on the air...it will be moved to Saturdays at 9pm replacing crime repeats. The series will air from May 2 through July 11, except on May 16 a special Mentalist repeat will air. And because of the Obama news conference on April 29, the sitcoms get affected. The Rules of Engagement special night and time is now on May 13 at 8pm, followed by a new Old Christine at a special time of 8:30pm. Because of that the season finales of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, which were slated for May 13, will now be May 20 against American Idol. And the two-part Criminal Minds season finale on May 20 moves from 8-10pm to 9-11pm, since the CSI NY finale at 10pm has been moved to Thursday, May 14. Besides the Harper's Island changes, all of these changes are because of the news conference! View the changes in a list form.
NBC is not really affected by this. NBC will air the Presidential News Conference at 8PM ET this Wednesday (April 29). A Law & Order repeat was scheduled in that slot. In the Mountain and Pacific time zones they will get Dateline at 7pm MT and 8pm PT instead of the Law & Order repeat. Why not just air the repeat there? No big loss for NBC.
Fox announced it is NOT airing the news conference! They will have a little scroll on the bottom saying you can watch it on Fox News Channel or Fox Business Channel. They will air an all-new episode of Lie to Me as scheduled. This is the first time Obama's conferences have been not aired by one of the big four. But they are making some changes to Sundays. Effective this Sunday (May 2), new animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up is being banished to 7pm replacing the American Dad! encore, which moves to 7:30pm. So this means King of the Hill moves from 7:30 back to its old 8:30pm slot for new episodes! This is not good news at all for Sit Down, Shut Up, which only after two airings has not done well in the ratings. 3 more episodes are left, as Fox is only airing 5 of the 13 for some reason. View these changes in a list form.

It went through three names, two leading ladies, and two networks, yet The Hogan Family managed to last six seasons and is well remembered as one of the great family sitcoms of the '80s. Our good friend Eric is back with another retro interview on his wonderful interview website, JustMyShow.com! Listen to on and off camera insight as Eric hangs out with Mark Hogan himself, Jeremy Licht! For six seasons, Jeremy Licht played the role of Mark Hogan on The Hogan Family. His other credits include the ABC TV movie The Comeback Kid starring John Ritter and appearances on TV hits such as St. Elsewhere and Hotel. These days, he spends his time working as a financial advisor with his company JL Capital Management. It is a very fun interview and Eric also has a bonus clip of him asking Jeremy on when on earth the Hogan Family is coming to DVD?! Life is such a sweet insanity, indeed! Head on over to Just My Show to listen to this new great interview!

Remembering Bea Arthur, Kim Weiskopf; Hallmark Channel, WE tv, TV Land, Me-Too All To Air Tributes for Bea

Today we will cover everything Bea Arthur (with a tribute to Kim Weiskopf as well). As you all I'm sure know by now, Bea Arthur has died. Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows Maude and The Golden Girls and who won a Tony Award for the musical Mame, died Saturday (April 25). Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side. She had cancer but that is the only detail we know. Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series All in the Family as Edith Bunker's outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series, known of course as Maude. Maude scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977. The show ended in 1978, as Bea thought it was time for the show to end after six seasons. Then came The Golden Girls from 1985-1992, and it was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience. She played Dorothy Zbornak, one of four older friends living in Miami. The show moved to CBS in 1992-93 and was titled The Golden Palace, but Bea didn't sign on for it. Bea did guest star in a two-part episode. In 2003, Lifetime reunited the cast for the special The Golden Girls: Their Greatest Memories. And in 2008, the cast reunited again on the 2008 TV Land Awards accepting the Pop Culture Award.
Even before television, Bea had a major career in plays on Broadway. Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend in the musical "Mame," directed by Tony-winning director Gene Saks, who was also her husband of 28 years. They divorced in 1978. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the country in a one-woman show of songs and stories, ... And Then There's Bea.
In between Maude and The Golden Girls, Bea had a failed sitcom. In 1983, she starred in the ABC sitcom Amanda's, an Americanized version of John Cleese's hilarious Fawlty Towers. She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere 10 episodes, with three episodes unaired.
She was also in films. Among the movies she graced were That Kind of Woman (1959), Lovers and Other Strangers (1970), Mel Brooks' The History of the World: Part I (1981), For Better or Worse (1995). Her TV movies include the ABC TV movie My First Love in 1988 and the NBC TV movie P.O.P. in 1984.
Among her guest appearances on television are the The Golden Girls spin-off Empty Nest, Ellen, Beggars & Choosers, Dave's World, a.k.a. Pablo, Laugh-In, and she appeared on a rare special recap episode of Soap as an "angel." In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Futurama and Malcolm in the Middle. The latter was very popular.
Bea will certainly be missed by millions and millions fans around the world. TV Land has created a 30-second on-air and online promo remembering her. TV Land will air both of her appearances on All in the Family on Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am, the episodes "Cousin Maude's Visit" on Tuesday and the back-door "Maude" pilot that aired as an All in the Family episode on Wednesday. Too bad TV Land isn't airing regular Maude episodes as a tribute. Me-Too in Chicago will air Maude, though! All this week in the 9-10pm CT hour, Me-Too Chicago airs "Remembering Maude: A Tribute to Bea Arthur." View the episode schedule. Lucky fans in Chi-town.
Hallmark and WE tv air The Golden Girls regularly multiple times a day. Hallmark will pay tribute to Bea with a Memorial Day marathon and WE tv pays tribute to Bea tonight and Thursday, see below for more details on both. Watch a video celebration of her life and career. Bea lived a long life and was 86.

Hallmark Channel has announced it will pay tribute to legendary star Bea Arthur with an all-day Golden Girls "Memorial Day Marathon" on Monday, May 25 from 6:30am-2:30am, featuring episodes focusing on Arthur's character Dorothy Zbornak, a gruff, wise-cracking divorcée who shared her Miami home with her mother and two loopy friends. Golden Girls plays daily on Hallmark Channel: Monday-Friday, 8-10 a.m., 7-9 p.m., 12-2 a.m., Saturdays 6-9 a.m., and Sundays 8:30-10 a.m. View their press release. UPDATE: We get marathons SOONER now on Hallmark! At the Studio City, CA home of Hallmark Channel, fans of the classic comedy Golden Girls flooded the network's Viewer Services department today with parenthetical appreciation for the channel's announcement of a Memorial Day Tribute to Bea Arthur. The qualifier to the announcement included these sentiments: more, sooner, please. And now Hallmark has listened! Hallmark Channel responded by hand-selecting the "Best of the Dorothy Zbornak Episodes" which begin running Tuesday, April 28 (7-9pm) and continue, Wednesday, April 29 (7-9pm), and Thursday, April 30 (7-9pm) in the normal Golden Girls timeslots, but also on Sunday, May 3 (8:30am-3am) a full day event is planned! This is all in addition to the previously announced Memorial Day marathon on, Monday, May 25 (6:30am-2:30am.). We don't have episode info yet for the Memorial Day stunt, but Hallmark has released the 5 day stunt episodes for this week! Thank you for being a friend, Hallmark!
WE tv airs the show weeknights from 5-7pm ET, with primetime marathons from 6pm-12am on Monday nights, so that includes tonight. They also air the show sometimes on Thursday late nights. WE tv announced today two special nights of programming to honor Bea Arthur. "WE Remember Bea" will feature a marathon of favorite The Golden Girls episodes both Monday, April 27 from 5pm-12am ET and Thursday, April 30 from 9:30pm-1am ET. The acclaimed actress, known for her quick wit and willingness to embrace controversial issues was the centerpiece of the comedic series, which won more than 38 awards during its run. "WE Remember Bea" will be comprised of episodes which center on Bea Arthur's colorful character Dorothy Zbornak and key related storylines from the series. See the episode info for tonight's marathon.
WE tv already had a scheduled Golden Girls Memorial Day marathon from 10am-6am, so we have two networks airing a marathon on The Golden Girls on May 25.

We also have lost Kim Weiskopf, a TV comedy writer whose credits included Three's Company and Married...with Children, died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday (April 22) at his home in Encino. He launched his career in the early 1970s, with longtime writing partner Michael S. Baser, he wrote for series such as One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Melba, Carter Country, We Got It Made, and Good Times, the latter show leading to their first staff-writing position.
The writing duo went on to write and produce three seasons of ABC's Three's Company before being hired to create the TV series 9 to 5 for ABC, which was based on the movie. They then developed an updated, syndicated version of the '70s series What's Happening!! called What's Happening Now!!, though he had never worked with the original series.
Weiskopf's also wrote and produced for Rachel Gunn, R.N., Full House and Married...with Children, without Baser. Kim appeared in interviews for the E! True Hollywood Story episodes of both Three's Company and Married...with Children. He had an uncredited appearance on Married...with Children on an episode playing Lucky the Dog in a 1996 episode.
He is going to be missed, especially by fans of Three's Company and Married...with Children. Kim was 62.

Week 31 Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did

As we mentioned on our Twitter page yesterday, we are sad to report Bea Arthur (Maude, Golden Girls) has passed away at the age of 86 from cancer. Stay tuned tomorrow for our tribute to her. Rest in Peace, Bea.

Week 31 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: Fox 7.5/12.0; CBS 6.4/10.4; ABC 6.1/9.9; NBC 4.5/7.3; The CW 1.6/2.6; MNT 0.9/1.4.
Total Viewers: Fox 12.52 million; CBS 10.07 million; ABC 9.35 million; NBC 6.93 million; The CW 2.48 million; MNT 1.33 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox 4.2/11.3; CBS 2.7/7.4; ABC 2.7/7.3; NBC 2.6/6.9; The CW 1.1/3.1; MNT 0.4/1.1.

Analysis: Week 31 sees Fox with the lead for the first four nights. But as usual, they won't hang on in HH/viewers when it is all said and done. Through the first four days, Fox has the lead in all categories, with CBS in second in all categories, ABC is third with NBC of course in fourth.
Last week, CBS won in week 30 in HH/viewers, but Fox once again took 18-49 over CBS. Fox was second for the week in HH/viewers, with ABC third in all categories leaving NBC in fourth in all categories, though NBC did tie ABC in 18-49.
Monday it was ABC with the victory as Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate. ABC aired a 90-minute version of Dancing with the Stars at an impressive 20.53 million, up over a million from the previous week as the group dance did good. Team dances this week! After that, ABC aired episode three of Bob Saget's new sitcom Surviving Suburbia at 9.87 million, up some from the previous week. Sex themed episode tomorrow! A new episode of crime-romance drama Castle followed doing 8.21 million...up some from previous week. CBS was in repeats primarily, repeat of The Big Bang Theory did 7.59 million, followed by a repeat of How I Met Your Mother did only 6.6 million. A repeat of Two and a Half Men followed with 11.48 million, yet still the number one sitcom for the week. Rules of Engagement followed with a new episode (the only one for CBS this night) and closed the sitcom block with a decent 10.59 million, down a million from previous week when the lead-in was new. CBS closed the night with a special repeat of The Mentalist at 9.42 million, CSI: Miami repeats do better than that. Fox started with a new episode of Bones on a special night doing 8.57 million, which is nothing like the usual timeslot holder House, which will return tomorrow, then Fox had an all-new 24 doing 10.34 million, down some from previous week. NBC was next with its sluggish Monday. A new Chuck did 6.11 million, down a tad from previous week. The free-falling Heroes was next at just 6.45 million, down from previous week. Medium followed with 7.34 million for a new episode, also down from previous week. The CW was next with a new Gossip Girl doing 2.37 million and a new One Tree Hill did 2.45 million...both should be over 3 million easily. Repeats of George Lopez on Nick at Nite do more than this!
Tuesday it was Fox on top. Fox started with a 61 minute American Idol doing 23.96 million, down some from previous week. Fox then aired a new Fringe at 9.9 million, down some from previous week. CBS started with special repeats of sitcoms The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men doing an OK 5.86 and 6.6 million. Wonder why CBS did this? Are they thinking of comedies on Tuesdays next season? A repeat of NCIS at a special time of 9pm did 12.65 million, followed by a repeat of The Mentalist doing 12.46 million at a special time of 10pm. Without a Trace was preempted. ABC was next and started with According to Jim doing a brutal 3.37 and 3.35 million for two all-new episodes...down oer a million from previous week, as maybe the CBS comedies hurt it. Dancing with the Stars: The Results was next at 9pm doing 14.73 million, down some from previous week. ABC followed with a special airing of The Unusuals doing 5.81 million, Cupid returns this week. NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 9.26 million, up some from previous week. NBC finished the night with a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at 10pm doing just 7.04 million, but better than previous by some. The CW aired a new episode of Reaper and did 2.15 million, up a tad from previous week and a new 90210 followed with 1.88 million, down from previous week. That show is no 90210 from Fox.
Wednesday saw Fox dominate big. Fox was led by the results show of American Idol at 9pm doing 23.95 million, down a bit from previous week. New Fox drama Lie to Me was next doing just 7.97 million, as the previous week Bones did a much better 11.01 million. CBS started with repeat episodes of sitcoms Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, doing 5.07 and 5.41 million...both down from previous week. A repeat of Criminal Minds followed and did 9.84 million, down from previous week. CSI: NY was preempted for an all-new Criminal Minds at a special time doing 13.72 million, which is a major improvement in this timeslot. Is CBS thinking of moving this show to this slot next fall? ABC was next with a new Scrubs and a new episode of the new Better Off Ted doing 4.6 and 4.19 million...both down from previous week. That was the funniest half-hour I've seen this season, thanks to Better Off Ted! Shame on you for not watching! Season finale this week. A Lost Special followed at 9pm doing 6.75 million, look for the milestone episode number 100 this week! We get tons of answers. A new episode of The Unusuals at 10pm did 4.74 million, a series low. Hopefully it bounces back this week with Lost all-new. NBC opened the night with a repeat of Law & Order doing 5.7 million, up from previous week, a repeat of Law & Order: SVU followed and did 5.57 million, up from previous week. Law & Order followed at 10pm with another repeat and did 6.09 million, up some week-to-week. The CW was on the map with America's Next Top Model doing a nice 4.01 million, up some from previous week then The CW followed with an encore of what else--90210-- doing 1.14 million viewers, completely losing the lead-in...yet it was up from previous week.
Thursday saw CBS and ABC battle. CBS started with a new Survivor: Tocantis at once again a below normal 11.3 million, down from previous week. CSI was next with 14.64 million, down a million from previous week but only a 3.7 18-49 rating. And episode three of Harper's Island closed the night at 7.02 million, down from previous week even. ABC started with a repeat of Grey's Anatomy doing 4.97 million, which is a bit better than new episodes of In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? from previous week. An all-new Grey's Anatomy was next and did 13.51 million and a night best 5.0 18-49 rating. I told you it was great...I've see the next one too, and it is also AMAZING. A new Private Practice followed and did a first place 9.08 million at 10pm. Should be even higher this week with the season finale. Fox started with Bones at 8.42 million, off a bit from previous week again. An all-new Hell's Kitchen followed at 9pm did 6.8 million, down over a million from previous week. NBC started a new episode of My Name is Earl at 5.54 million at 8pm, up some from previous week. Then the new Parks and Recreation followed with a series low 5.26 million, ouch. These types of shows just don't generate big numbers I guess. The Office followed with a new episode doing 7.28 million, down over a million from previous week and 30 Rock followed with 6.3 million, down a million from previous week. NBC closed the night with a new episode of Southland doing 8.11 million and only a 2.4 18-49 rating, both series lows and on par with ER in viewers but not in 18-49. Smallville was new on The CW and did 3.1 million, which seems a bit below average followed by a new Supernatural at 2.7 million.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with repeat of Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, NUMBERS. ABC did good with a special two-hour 20/20 from 9-11pm. Prison Break did terrible for Fox, and NBC did nothing with a two-hour Dateline.
Saturday numbers were quiet, with CBS winning in viewers and Fox in 18-49. Saturdays get lower than ever from March-May when the weather gets better.
Tonight will be ABC and CBS battling. ABC will easily win in 18-49, but it will be close for HH/viewers. CBS has a new 60 Minutes followed by the Amazing Race 14, Cold Case & The Unit. ABC will have new episodes of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers & Sisters. Tonight's DH is said to be classic, tune in. NBC has a two-hour Dateline at 7pm and a two-hour Celebrity Apprentice, which is nothing it used to be. Fox has an all-new lineup of its animated comedies from 7:30-10, which includes dud Sit Down, Shut Up.
As for the week, CBS should win the week in HH/viewers, with Fox in 18-49. Fox will be second in HH/viewers, while ABC will take third in all categories. NBC will be fourth everywhere. As for the coming week...CBS has part one of NCIS back-door spin-off pilot called "Legend" this week. On Wednesday, a Presidential Address is slated for the 8pm hour, but we are not sure what that means yet. I hope Better Off Ted doesn't get affected. On that night at 9pm, Lost celebrates episode 100 with four spots for Flash Forward airing inside of it! The show launches THIS FALL! It's official! Ugly Betty returns this Thursday at 8 and Private Practice has its season finale at 10pm on that night on ABC!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of April 13-19, Week 30)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A new episode did an OK 6.58 million. Not doing that good this season.
• Sit Down, Shut Up (Fox) - The series premiere only mustered 5.19 million...not good and a worse 2.3 18-40 rating, dropping from the 3.1 its lead-in put up.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - Fox has moved the show to 7:30pm for all new episodes now, and the 250th episode only put up 3.39 million.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 7.34 million for a new episode...decent, but this show hasn't done that good this year as well.
• American Dad! (Fox) 2 episodes - 2.5 million for a repeat at 7pm was higher than previous week, and its regular 9:30pm slot was new and did 5.72 million.

Week 31 (April 20-26):
Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 7.59 million for a repeat...decent.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.6 million for a repeat is OK.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.48 million for a REPEAT.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 10.59 million for a new episode, down over a million from previous week. I just wanted to see some building from a repeat, but didn't happen.
• Surviving Suburbia (ABC) - 9.87 million for a new episode...up some from previous week.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 3.37 and 3.35 million for two new episodes...not good at all.
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A special repeat on a special night did 5.86 million. Nice to have Kaley back on Tuesdays at 8. Only for that week though.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A special repeat on a special night and time did even 6.6 million.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 5.07 million for a repeat...down from previous week.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 5.41 million for a repeat, built from the lead-in at least but down from previous week.
• Scrubs (ABC) - New showing did 4.6 million, down from previous week. Looks to be preempted this week by Obama.
• Better Off Ted (ABC) - 4.19 million for a new episode, down from previous week. Season finale is scheduled for this week, but looks like Obama will preempt it.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - New episode and did just 5.54 million, but up some from previous week.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - 5.26 million...series low.
• The Office (NBC) - 7.28 million, down over a million from previous week.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 6.3 million...also down a million week-to-week.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 1.79 million...up from previous week's repeat prelim numbers.
• The Game (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 1.89 million. Up from previous week's prelim repeat numbers.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox animated comedies from 7:30-10pm!

Summing it up. The Big Bang Theory Monday, Two and a Half Men Monday, Rules of Engagement & The Office were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (Surviving Suburbia, 30 Rock) or just plain old terrible (such as Parks & Recreation, According to Jim).

Blog DVD Review: The Real Ghostbusters - Volume 1

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly Blog DVD Reviews. Today week we take a look at Time Life's The Real Ghostbusters - Volume 1. The show was of course an animated follow-up of the blockbuster film! The animated series launched on ABC on Saturday mornings in Fall 1986 for 13 episodes then was also given a 65 episode deal for first-run syndication. See my Blog DVD Review of The Real Ghostbusters - Volume 1:

The Real Ghostbusters - Volume 1 (Time Life, $39.98) brings us the first 13 ABC episodes and the first 17 first-run syndication episodes! Plus in addition to the episodes, we get many special features!
The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman (voiced by Lorenzo Music), Dr. Egon Spengler (Maurice La Marche), Winston Zeddemore (Arsenio Hall), Dr. Ray Stantz (Frank Welker), their secretary Janine Melnitz (Laura Summer) and their mascot ghost Slimer (Frank Welker). The series aired from 1986-1991. The series aired on ABC Saturday mornings. We also had 65 first-run syndicated episodes in 1987. In total, the series had 134 episodes plus 13 Slimer episodes in 1988. Here on this first volume we get the first season from ABC (13 episodes) and the first 17 (of 65) from first-run syndication...so this is the first 30 episodes.
Let's now move on to the packaging. Now Time Life has already released the complete series, but that was never sent to us for review (and not many people have it). This first volume was just released individually. Time Life has plans to release the remaining for volumes individually as well. Anyway, if you have the complete series set, the packaging for this first volume one is the same as that. In case you don't have it, this first volume is a steelbook case. It is heavier than most cases and hard. The cover art has the gang walking the streets with their uniforms and proton packs with Slimer above them. The sky is purple it seems. The show logo is on top, with the mention of Volume 1 on the bottom. The back of the case has that ghost catcher thing from the proton pack, with the "no ghost" symbol about to be put in there. There is no info on the set here because remember this was part of the complete series set and this volume is being released separately. We do have an episode booklet. The front of that has the same artwork as the cover art, but no city background. This booklet is very detailed and handy. The front and back are in black, but the inside pages are all in green-slime color. The first page has a very nice series history from the DVD producer, Andy Mangels. He produced great special features, which we will detail later. Then we have episode details, all broken down disc-by-disc, with the episode number, title, production number, whether it was on ABC or syndication, synopsis, trivia, extras for the episode, and even a screenshot from the episode. Wow! Great job here on this. The last page inside has a full page of credits for this DVD. And the back page has what would normally be on the back of the case, info on the set and series, and a list of bonus features. As far as the discs itself go, the first four overlap with each other. This is the only negative here. Discs one and two are on the left panel. Discs three and four are in the middle on its own little holder. When we turn the page like you would in a book, you get to the right panel that holds disc five. The disc art is the same as the cover art, but has one face on each disc. Disc one has Peter and episodes 1-6. Disc two has Egon and episodes 7-13, which concludes the first ABC season. Disc three has Ray and episodes 14-20, which starts the syndication season. Disc four has Winston and episodes 21-27. And disc five has Slimer and episodes 28-30 along with the special features.
The menu screen is very cool. We start off with the ghost catcher (the thing you pull out of the proton pack when you catch a ghost) and out of that, the menu screen comes out! Cool! We have green slime on top with the show logo and disc number, video clips are playing in the middle with no sound, the main cast is surrounding the video, and the instrumental theme song is playing in the background! Who you gonna call? We have options for Play, Episodes, and Special Features. Play of course plays them all at once for that disc. When we select Episodes, Slimer pops up, then he slimes us and we are taken to the episode list where the episodes are listed. When we select an episode, we are taken to an episodes option screen, where we can view various items related to the episode such as an introduction from someone behind the scenes, visual commentary for the episode, musical track for effects, or of course play the episode. Only four episodes out of these 30 do not have any of this, so those four go right to the episode rather than this screen. Special Features menu lists all the extras on that disc, minus the intros and musical effects, which can only be viewed on an episode screen.
The video is decent, but nothing that great. In fact some episodes look terrible, such as "Slimer, Come Home." There are some that look very good, though. I guess Sony didn't remaster these for Time Life. They are watchable though. The audio is very good though. It was nice and loud and not low at all. The ABC episodes all ran about 23:40-23:55-ish. They were unedited and all. The syndication episodes of course run shorter, but nothing is edited here either. They run about 22:20-22:30. All of these episodes have those cool bumpers with the "no ghost logo," saying we'll be back in a moment or now back to the show. Each episode has 4 chapter stops.
As for special features, we have a WHOLE lot here. Disc five has the main extras, but each disc has something. We have 31 special on-camera episode introductions! Some even have two for an episode. Giving us these video intros we have Len Janson, Marsha Goodman, Everett Peck, Brad Rader, J. Michael Straczynski, Kevin Altieri, Michael C. Gross, Maurice LaMarche, Marc Scott Zicree, Laura Summer, Richard Mueller, David Gerrold, Kathryn Drennan, Dan Riba, Dennys McCoy and Pamela Hickey. We have 5 on-camera Visual Commentary tracks featuring producers, writers, etc., hosted by the DVD producer Andy Mangels. The episodes for these are "Ghosts R Us," "Slimer, Come Home," "Take Two," "Adventures in Slime & Space," and "Venkman's Ghost Repellers." Five episodes have also isolated Music & Effects tracks. We have no character audio, just the sound effects. It is interesting that there is music throughout the episode! We get these tracks for the episodes "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood," "Janine's Genie," "Knock, Knock," "Venkman's Ghost Repellers," and "Boo-Dunit." The rest of the special features are on disc five. We have a very nice featurette called "Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts: Creating...The Real Ghostbusters" that runs 25:05. This is a historical look at the origins of this show and how it was made. Everything is talked about here on how it started and everything. Interviewed are Joe Medjuck (executive producer), Michael C. Gross (executive producer), Len Jansen (writer), James Eatock (Cereal: Geek Magazine), Kevin Altieri (director/storyboard supervisor), Dan Riba (storyboard artist), J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Marsha Goodman (voice director/casting), Maurice LaMarche (Egon), Laura Summer (Janine #1), and Kath Soucie (Janine #2). Then we have an Image Gallery with lots of promotional artwork and we also have a Design Gallery for the episode "Night Game," giving us the blueprints of the episode. Then if you have a DVR-ROM on your computer you can look at scripts and storyboards in PDF format
I highly do recommend this set for any Ghostbuster franchise fan and classic animation fans in general. This is really a good show. I remember liking this a lot in the 80s and early 90s. The show is in the same style as Dennis the Menace and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Maybe because there were also by Japanese animators? But I loved all three shows! The video is not great, but everything else here is superb and deserves high praise. So get ready to call the Ghostbusters by buying this set. Get your proton packs (I actually had one growing up!) out and catch this DVD into that so you can watch the first 30 episodes! Hurry before the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man stops you! I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4.5/5 stars)

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ABC Family Pulls Sophie, Speeds Up Roommates; ABC Announces More Summer 2009 Series

After just five weeks on the air, ABC Family has pulled original single camera sitcom Sophie off the air completely. The show has failed to garner any ratings whatsoever on Mondays at 9:30pm. ABC Family still has 8 episodes left in the can, but no word yet if and when they will air at a later date. Sophie's lead-in is also an original sitcom. Roommates, a multi-camera sitcom, will still be on the air but it will be sped up. What do I mean? Well, now they will air four episodes a night so they can quickly finish the run. Roommates also hasn't gone well in the ratings, but is not worse than Sophie at least. This Monday (April 27) and the following Monday (May 4), Roommates will air from 9-11pm ET/PT, replacing a repeat of AFV in the 10pm hour for two weeks. 5 episodes have aired so far, and with this two four-episode block, all 13 will air. Then starting May 11, ABC Family will air movies in the Monday 9-11pm block through June 15 since June 22 ABC Family plans on launching new original drama Make It or Break It. Movies slated for May are Mean Girls, My Fake Fiance, and Legally Blonde.
We got the sense ABC Family was not happy with the performances publicly when they removed the Tuesday encores of both shows as we mentioned last week. These two were the first original sitcoms for ABC Family and they have two more coming this summer (10 Things I Hate About You on July 7 and Ruby & the Rockits on July 21). They are scheduled a bit better though. Those two will air in the 8pm hour on Tuesdays, which is better since they will have the sitcom block as its lead-in, such as My Wife & Kids (6-7pm) and That '70s Show (7-8pm) which both do very well. I think ABC Family should have had Roommates and Sophie in the 8pm hour and moved Greek to 9pm. That would have been better and made more sense. Sophie will for sure not be back for another season and Roommates is also likely not to return, unless it does a spike in the ratings in the next two weeks.
Roommates launched with 1.5 million viewers, but that was following the season finale of Secret Life of the American Teenager which did a strong 4.49 million. The premiere of Sophie only mustered 892,000 viewers. From there both shows saw even more declines. With Roommates dropping to 440,000 viewers by episode two and only 335,000 viewers for Sophie. They then hovered around those ratings for episodes 3-5, which is terrible numbers.

ABC has now announced more summer series news. Now we get more info on ABC News produced series for the summer along with some specials. We have completely new details on shows we haven't heard about yet. First, ABC will finally air the ABC News produced special Earth 2100 on Tuesday, June 2 from 9-11PM ET/PT. This special was previously set to air in early January. The special is hosted by Bob Woodruff, it takes viewers on a journey through what the next century could have in store and shows viewers what can be done to avoid disaster. Then on Sunday, June 21 and Sunday, June 28 from 9-11PM ET/PT on both nights we have the miniseries event Impact. We seem to have survived a catastrophic meteor storm...but something has changed and the moon is looming larger in the sky. What once was the most familiar object in the night now threatens to destroy all life on earth. A small band of international astronauts, scientists, and soldiers band together as our last best hope. David James Elliott, Natasha Henstridge, Steven Culp, and James Cromwell star in this highly anticipated miniseries.
Next up will be special Primetime series. Primetime: Family Secrets returns and will air Tuesdays at 10PM starting June 23 through and including July 21. Then starting July 28, Primetime: The Outsiders returns to air airing Tuesdays at 10PM through and including Sept. 8. Airing Wednesdays at 10PM starting June 24 will be Primetime: Crime and it will air through and including Sept. 9. ABC will also bring back the popular Primetime: What Would You Do? sometime in August, but no day and time has been set yet. Other ABC News specials are one-time specials on Wednesday, July 15 at 10PM for a special called Oil with Charles Gibson, preempting Primetime: Crime on this night. We also have an ABC News produced special called J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life airing the next night (Thursday, July 16) at 8PM.
So now we have most of the missing pieces for the ABC summer line-up. Still we need more schedules, but with the entertainment update we gave and now the ABC News update, we are almost set. ABC also announced it will air the CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock on Monday, August 30 from 8-11PM ET/PT. View more on all of this, including synopsis of all the Primetime series. And for a recap of all things ABC summer so far, please view that also.
CBS is just about the only network yet to announce any summer details, as ABC, NBC, Fox has already in different parts.

ABC Announces 12 Early Pick-Ups for 2009-2010, Returns Millionaire in Summer; GSN's Classic TV Airings

ABC has announced 12 early pick-ups for the 2009-2010 season for returning series. This doesn't mean all other shows not mentioned won't return, this is just the early pick-ups. The 12 early pick-ups for 2009-2010 season are America's Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Supernanny, Ugly Betty and Wife Swap. No surprises here. 20/20 is also of course a lock to return, with shows like Castle and Samantha Who? also likely to return. We won't know the rest of the returnees until upfront on May 19.
Meanwhile, Regis is back in ABC primetime! Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the smash hit Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? comes back to ABC this summer for a special two-week event. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? premieres Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 8:00PM ET/PT and will air for 11 nights from Sunday-Thursday at 8:00PM, with the finale on Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 8:00PM.
Can you believe it has been 10 years? The show launched on Aug. 16, 1999 at 8:30pm as a half-hour series and aired all seven days for two weeks. We will see an hour of course in this run and Sun-Thurs instead of all seven days. A few weeks ago I said ABC would do a two-week run like this in August, and I turned up being right. Now if this is a success, I can see ABC doing a similar two-week run in December. ABC usually airs repeats then and when hey air new episodes, they are usually lower anyway. So Millionaire would be a great option for December, especially following holiday specials. One week they can even have ABC stars playing for charity for the holidays. I would also schedule Millionaire once or twice a week in January and February, as ABC usually needs help then. But before we think that far ahead, right now this is just a two-week anniversary event in August.

Speaking of Millionaire, GSN is airing the classic TV edition from 2001 starting this weekend! If you've never seen this or need to record and save this, now is your chance! GSN will air all four nights of this edition on Sunday, April 26; Saturday, May 2; Sunday, May 3; and Saturday, May 9 all from 5-6PM ET. The classic TV stars appearing and playing for a million dollars for charity are Adam West (Batman), Kim Fields (The Facts of Life), Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch), Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley), Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie), Danny Bonaduce (The Partridge Family), Valerie Bertinelli (One Day at a Time), Marion Ross (Happy Days), Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons, Amen), and Ted Lange (The Love Boat).
Elsewhere on GSN, we have some other noteworthy specials. On Saturday, May 9 from 9-10PM we have a special Mother's Day themed episode from 2002 of Weakest Link with Classic TV Moms! Pat Crowley (Please Don't Eat the Daisies), Karen Grassle (Little House on the Prairie), June Lockhart (Lassie), Jo Marie Payton (Family Matters), Janet Hubert (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Carol Potter (Beverly Hills 90210), Beverly Garland (Lois & Clark), and Alley Mills (The Wonder Years).
On Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10) itself, GSN has a marathon of the Donny Osmond revival of Pyramid from 9am-4pm, and we have one episode from a Classic TV week in this marathon at 9:30am featuring Marion Ross and Erin Moran of Happy Days.

Sticking to our game show theme today, Chris Mann of Retroality.TV has posted a story on his take on Bob Barker's new book, Priceless Memories. See the real scoop on Bob and see video interviews with former Barker's Beauties models Holly Hallstrom and Dian Parkinson. It is quite an interesting read, and Chris has a book coming out on the drama behind the camera of the popular game show as well. We'll let you know more on that when available.
But for now, read his take on Barker's new book.

Lifetime Networks 2009 Upfront; Network Notes; Remembering Wendy Blair

Lifetime Networks unveiled its 2009-10 program slate that encompasses the most powerful line-up of original series and movies in Lifetime Television and Lifetime Movie Network's history, headlined by the sixth season of cable's hottest unscripted competition series, Project Runway.
Project Runway, featuring host Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, is set to make its long-awaited return to television on Thursday, August 20, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) with 14 hour-long episodes. The series, the highest-rated unscripted competition show on all of cable, will seamlessly lead into Models of the Runway at 11:00PM (ET/PT), beginning August 20, an all-new, half-hour companion series will center around the drama, anxiety, tears and joys of Project Runway's models as they compete for money and a major magazine cover shoot. In other unscripted news, new shows Cook Yourself Thin debuts on May 4 at 5:00 PM (ET/PT), and DietTribe is scheduled to return for its second season later this year.
As we mentioned, Lifetime's hit drama series Army Wives returns for its third season at 10:00 PM (ET/PT) on Sunday, June 7. Joining Army Wives this summer will be Drop Dead Diva, the spirited new comedic drama, starring newcomer Brooke Elliott (Hairspray, Wicked) and Margaret Cho (17 Again). It will air at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) starting Sunday, July 12. Lifetime has many original dramas in development. However, they have not been picked-up as series just yet. In development are: Mona Lisa Smile, based on the feature film of the same name; Mystic Pizza: Another Slice, a two-hour, back-door pilot based on the hit film; Marry Me, a limited-run anthology series that starts with a couple who meets in the pilot and concludes with a wedding in Episode 13; Queens of the Rodeo, a comedic drama with the exciting and dangerous rodeo circuit as the backdrop; The Fallen (working title), based on T. Jefferson Parker's novel of the same name; and Murder in Suburbia, formatted from the popular British series.
Rita Rocks, its first original comedy in a decade, stars Nicole Sullivan as an overworked wife and mother trying to find time for herself, will return for its second season in the Fall. Lifetime has three other original comedies in the works, but have not been picked-up as a series yet. In production for pilots are Sherri, loosely based on Sherri Shepherd's (The View) personal family experiences; The Valerie Bertinelli Project (working title) is about a newly divorced mother (Bertinelli) who must maintain a balance between her family and running her ex-husband's struggling hardware business; Alligator Point, is from Kelsey Grammar and stars Cybill Shepherd following the life and times of an eccentric group of Floridians whose lives change when a "Yankee" becomes part of their disjointed family. We will let you know if any of these three gets picked-up as a series joining Rita Rocks.
As for daily strip schedule, this fall Lifetime will begin airing two high-profile, off-net properties nightly, the popular dramas Grey's Anatomy and Medium. Currently, they both air once a week. They join a strong schedule that already features such top acquired product as Wife Swap, Desperate Housewives, Reba, Will & Grace and Frasier. Cybill joins the daytime line-up on May 4. Finally, in September 2010, Lifetime will also begin stripping the hit off-net comedy How I Met Your Mother, which currently fills one hour of the network's schedule per week on Mondays.
View more on Lifetime and LMN's upfront, which includes all the original movies they have in the works for 2009 and 2010.

We have a lot of network notes for you today. First off, ABC will air a repeat of Grey's Anatomy this Thursday (April 23) at 8pm leading into the return of all-new episodes at 9pm. The repeat will be the last original episode that aired, so fans can remember what happened, if they need refreshing. This means In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will not return to the slot now since yesterday we announced Ugly Betty was coming back a week earlier than planned (April 30). So updating my story from yesterday, Motherhood will now have three episodes still remaining to air, as it will have 4 of its 7 aired (though they had only planned to air 6 anyway). Samantha Who? looks like will only air 13 of its 20, with seven still left in the can, but ABC could certainly use those next season, which is more than likely to happen despite the ratings falter on Thursdays.
In other ABC notes, ABC has announced the celebs and athletes for the new summer series The Superstars! The eight athletes are Jennifer Capriati (tennis), Brandi Chastain (soccer), Robert Horry (basketball), Jeff Kent (baseball), Kristi Leskinen (X Games), Lisa Leslie (basketball), Bode Miller (skiing) and Terrell Owens (football). The eight celebrities are David Charvet (actor), Maksim Chmerkovskiy (Dancing with the Stars), Dan Cortese (host/actor), Paige Hemmis (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition), Julio Iglesias, Jr. (singer), Joanna Krupa (model), Ali Landry (model/actress) and Estella Warren (actress). The series is based on ABC's classic Wide World of Sports, which pitted athletes from all different sports against each other to determine the best athlete in the world. The Superstars pairs the celebrities with the athletes to compete in varying sporting events. Participants found out who their selected partners were only when they met for the first time at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The six-episode series premieres Tuesday, June 23 at 8:00PM on ABC. The team pairings for The Superstars will be Terrell Owens & Joanna Krupa; Jeff Kent & Ali Landry; Robert Horry & Estella Warren: Bode Miller & Paige Hemmis; Kristi Leskinen & Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Lisa Leslie & Dan Cortese; Jennifer Capriati & David Charvet; and Brandi Chastain & Julio Iglesias, Jr. Every week a team will be eliminated until one team is ultimately crowned the winner. Competitors' athletic prowess and strategy will be put to the test to excel in events including swimming, biking, running and kayaking, in addition to other head-to-head athletic challenges everyone must try to conquer. Find out more on the celebs and athletes.

Moving on to NBC, they have pulled drama Kings from Saturdays even after just one airing. Repeats of Law & Order: SVU will air instead at 8pm (it was at 9pm), with Southland encores moving to 9pm (from 10pm), and now Law & Order repeats will close out the night at 10pm. Then after May sweeps ends, Law & Order: Criminal Intent repeats will air for a few weeks at 8pm before Kings returns. 7 episodes of Kings remain and NBC promises to return the series on Saturday, June 13 at 8pm to finish them off. That date was originally the plan to end the series, now that will be the return date. The series will last through July 25, bearing any more changes of course.
Finally Fox has changed its summer schedule a bit again. New series Mental will now air Tuesdays at 9PM starting May 26 following summer repeats of House. Mental was previously scheduled to launch on Friday, May 29 at 9PM. It will still air Fridays, but now they will be encores of the Tuesday episodes. However, the Tuesday airings will only last through June 23. The Friday encores will become the new night for new episodes for Mental starting July 3 through August 14. Fox has also announced that it will return reality show The Moment of Truth on Wednesday, July 29 airing Wednesdays at 9PM, following So You Think You Can Dance. Dance ends its season in early August (Aug. 5 & 6), though, so Truth will then have repeats of Bones as its lead-in starting Aug. 19. August 12 will see two episodes of Moment of Truth from 8-10pm. View the complete Fox summer schedule.

Finally, we leave you today with some sad news. Wendy Blair died of cancer on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 in North Hollywood. Blair enjoyed a long career in the entertainment industry, having served as the first female junior executive at CBS Television City in the mid-1950s. Known for being analytical and extremely organized, she worked as an associate producer and producer on a number of popular television series. Among the series she worked on as an associate producer are Three's Company, and both of its spin-off series The Ropers and Three's a Crowd, as well as several variety shows and specials for companies including Dick Clark Productions and Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises, such as Dr. Shrinker.
Her other producer credits include pilots and series such as What a Country! in 1986, I Married Dora in 1987, Mutts in 1988, and Where's Rodney? in 1990. She later segued from working in production to serving as the manager of business operations for The Smothers Brothers and was active in this role until the beginning of 2009. Now, Joanne McCracken has taken over. Blair was a member of the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America and was a founding member of the Association of Associate Producers (which later merged with the PGA). Blair was devoted to her family and family traditions. She will be deeply missed, especially by Three's Company fans and The Smothers Brothers followers. She was only 70.

ABC Returns Ugly Betty 1 Week Earlier; YouTube Adds Full Episodes of Shows

Ugly Betty is now scheduled to return to the ABC schedule starting Thursday, April 30, 2009 and will continue through and including Thursday, May 14, 2009 in its 8:00-9:00PM ET/PT slot. Ugly Betty was previously scheduled to return on May 7, but now it will be a week earlier than planned, as ABC will preempt In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? In the Motherhood was planning on airing 6 of its 7 episode order, but now it will be 5 of the 7, so 2 episodes will remain leftover. It is unlikely the show will return for another season, but ABC could air those two episodes at a later date. As for Samantha Who?, the second season has a 20 episode order, but only 14 will have aired, so 6 will remain. ABC will likely hold them over for next season, which it is likely to return. Not sure what this means for the second season DVD that is slated to come out Aug. 25...will they have all 20 on there or just the 14 aired?
The two-hour season finale of Ugly Betty is still scheduled to air in the 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT slot on Thursday, May 21, 2009. So Ugly Betty will air all 24 of its hours this season, as previously it didn't match-up with just 23 hours.

YouTube has just recently added a "Shows" section where you can watch full episodes of TV shows! There are many genres of television shows you can watch, with of course Classic TV, Comedy, and Drama. YouTube has partnered with the likes of Sony's Crackle, CBS, MGM, Lionsgate and Starz and many others have made thousands of television episodes and hundreds of movies available for you to watch, comment on, favorite and share. This addition is one of many efforts underway to ensure that YouTube is offering you all the different kinds of video you want to see of full-length films and TV shows.
Get ready here is a list of just some of the stuff you'll see: The Addams Family, ALF, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, American Gladiators, Barney Miller, Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched, Burns and Allen, Dana Carvey Show, Dick Van Dyke Show, Dragnet, Fantasy Island, He-Man, I Dream of Jeannie, Jack Benny, Lucy Show, MacGyver, Make Room for Daddy, Married with Children, My Mother the Car, NewsRadio, Party of Five, Star Trek, T.J. Hooker, Three Stooges, Trouble with Father, and What's Happening!!
Current stuff will also be available such as episodes of Harper's Island and clips of Jimmy Kimmel Live. So head on over to YouTube to start watching!

Rodney Episodes on CMT; 2009 TV Land Awards Show Details; ABC Note

This coming weekend on CMT (Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26) is Rodney Carrington Weekend on CMT. Included in that weekend will be episodes of his sitcom Rodney, which aired on ABC for two seasons from 2004-2006 and lasted 44 episodes. There were six unaired episodes though, but unfortunately we still do not get to see any of them here. Instead, CMT will air six season one episodes. The episodes will premiere on CMT on Friday from 9pm-12am. Various encores of these episodes will air on Saturday from 5:30-7:30pm and Sunday from 8pm-11pm. The episodes airing are: "Teacher" with guest star Christine Lakin (Step by Step), "Halloween," "Dream Lover" with guest star Sofia Vergara, "It's Up It's Good," "Charity Ball," and "Rodney's Affair."
To kick off the weekend, Rodney Carrington will also host the CMT Top 20 Countdown on Friday, April 24 at 11:00am ET/PT. CMT will also air Rodney's one hour Comedy Central special Rodney Carrington Live at the Majestic at 12 midnight (ET/PT). On Sunday April 26, CMT will air the feature film Beer for My Horses starring both Rodney and Toby Keith at 6:00pm and 11:00lm (ET/PT).
Also, a DVD package consisting of all 22 episodes from the first season of Rodney, will be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart as of May 19. Hopefully that package will soon also be available as a regular DVD!

It was an unforgettable and star-studded evening as celebrities from television, film and music came out tonight for the taping of the 2009 TV Land Awards which will premiere on Sunday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME. Appearances included Will Ferrell (presenter for Pop Culture Award), Matthew McConaughey (presenter for Hero Award), Martin Sheen (presenter for Impact Award), Teri Hatcher (presenter for Future Classic Award), Amy Poehler (presenter for Legacy of Laughter Award), Jimmy Kimmel (presenter for Legend Award), Cyndi Lauper, Angela Bassett (presenter for Entertainer Award), Reba McEntire (presenter for Anniversary Award), Jamie Lee Curtis (presenter for Fan Favorite Award), Dr. Phil McGraw (presenter for Innovator Award) and more. This year's honorees included Don Rickles (Legend Award), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Lucille Ball Legacy of Laughter Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Married With Children (Innovator Award), ER, (Icon Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Sid and Marty Krofft (Pop Culture Award), Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award), and Earth, Wind & Fire (Entertainer Award).
An entertaining videotaped parody/show open by host Neil Patrick Harris which took him through his own version of The Twilight Zone, traveling through TV hits spanning from The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Love Boat, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Happy Days - featuring an appearance by Marion Ross, Baywatch and finally Survivor where he comes face to the show's host Jeff Probst.
There was also a heartwarming taped tribute to Don Rickles by close friend and fellow icon Bob Newhart. Neil Patrick Harris performed the song "I'll Take TV," written by acclaimed Academy Award-nominated composer Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Sleepless In Seattle).
Read more about the 2009 TV Land Awards, and tune in on Sunday (April 26) at 8PM!

As we mentioned on Friday on our message board and yesterday here on our ratings report, ABC will air two all-new episodes of the comedic cop show The Unusuals this week. ABC will air The Unusuals on a special night of Tuesday (April 21) at 10pm following Dancing with the Stars: The Results. That means new romantic comedy-drama Cupid will be preempted this week, but is slated to return the following Tuesday (April 28). The Unusuals will also air on its regular night of Wednesday this week at 10pm, following a Lost Special. The show has a 10 episode order, and thus far has aired two episodes--so after this week four will air in all. So it is slated to air through June 17, unless ABC decides to double up each week, if it does much better than Cupid. But for now, tune in this week! It is a well done show!

Week 30 Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 30 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: Fox 8.2/12.9; CBS 7.2/11.7; ABC 5.5/8.9; NBC 4.5/7.3; The CW 1.2/1.9; MNT 0.8/1.2.
Total Viewers: Fox 13.8 million; CBS 11.61 million; ABC 8.5 million; NBC 7.07 million; The CW 1.79 million; MNT 1.17 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox 4.8/12.9; CBS 3.1/8.4; NBC 2.6/7.2; ABC 2.4/6.5; The CW 0.8/2.2; MNT 0.3/0.9.

Analysis: Week 30 sees Fox with its biggest lead in a few weeks for the first four nights. Through the first four days, Fox has the lead in all categories, with CBS in second in all categories, ABC is third in HH/viewers, with NBC in fourth. NBC has a slim lead for third though in 18-49 for now.
Last week, CBS won in week 29 in HH/viewers, but Fox once again took 18-49 over CBS. Fox was second for the week in HH/viewers, with ABC third in all categories leaving NBC in fourth in all categories.
Monday it was ABC with the victory as Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate. ABC aired the a 90-minute version of Dancing with the Stars at an impressive 19.46 million, down some from the previous week. After that, ABC aired episode two of Bob Saget's new sitcom Surviving Suburbia at 9.71 million, down from the premiere. It needs to do a bit better. A new episode of crime-romance drama Castle followed doing 7.28 million...down a lot from previous week. CBS was all-new and started with comedies, The Big Bang Theory did 10.06 million, the first time it has gone over 10 million in weeks, followed by a new How I Met Your Mother doing 9.6 million, decent. Two and a Half Men followed with 15.03 million, just another day at the job. Rules of Engagement followed and closed the sitcom block with a decent 11.6 million. CBS closed the night with CSI: Miami at 13.39 million, which is a bit below normal. Fox started with a new episode of House and did 12.19 million, down over a million from previous week, then Fox had an all-new 24 doing 10.86 million, down just some from previous week. NBC was next with its sluggish Monday. A new Chuck did 6.21 million, but up a tad from previous week. The free-falling Heroes was next at just 6.83 million, but up some from its series low the previous week. Medium followed with 7.65 million for a new episode, up from previous week and quietly does decent on some nights. The CW was next with repeats (again) of Gossip Girl doing 900,00 viewers and One Tree Hill did 910,000 viewers.
Tuesday it was Fox on top. Fox started with a 64 minute American Idol doing 24.38 million, up two million from previous week. Yet again it goes overtime without notice. Fans DVRing/TiVoing are not happy. Then from 9:04pm to 10:03pm Fox aired a new Fringe at 10.15 million, up some from previous week. Viewers DVRing this also might be upset if they missed the final minutes thanks to the unscheduled Idol overrun. CBS started with a repeat of NCIS doing 13.56 million, followed by a repeat of The Mentalist doing 12.18 million. Without a Trace closed the night out with a new episode doing 13.23 million, up from previous week. As I said, when SVU is a repeat, this show goes up. This show is not a priority for fans of both shows. ABC was next and started with the return of According to Jim doing 4.52 and 4.13 million for two all-new episodes...could be better, but against Idol. Dancing with the Stars: The Results was next at 9pm doing 15.24 million, up from previous week as it only faced Idol for the first 4 minutes this time, which was still not planned. ABC followed with a new Cupid doing 6.1 million...up some from previous week, but ABC will not air it this week as they are airing two episodes of the comedic cop show The Unusuals on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 9.11 million, up a million from previous week. NBC finished the night with a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at 10pm doing just 6.49 million, as it usually repeats better than this. The CW aired a new episode of Reaper and did 2.05 million, down a tad from previous week and a new 90210 followed with 2.13 million, up some from previous week and finally built on the lead-in since its return.
Wednesday saw Fox dominate big. Fox was lead by the results show of American Idol at 9pm doing 24.11 million, up a lot from previous week. New Fox drama Lie to Me was preempted by a special all-new Bones doing 11.01 million, which is a big improvement. CBS started with repeat episodes of sitcoms Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, doing 5.57 and 5.76 million...not too bad for repeats. A repeat of Criminal Minds followed and did 10.58 million. CSI: NY followed with a new episode though doing 12.14 million, down some from previous week...but it did it on its own since the lead-in was a repeat. ABC was next with a new Scrubs and a new episode of the new Better Off Ted doing 5.06 and 4.62 million...both up from previous week. A good sign. Hopefully more people realize how funny Ted is. A new episode of Lost followed at 9pm doing 9.23 million, up from previous week. A new episode of The Unusuals at 10pm did 6.01 million, not bad and down some from previous week. Again this week it will air TWICE. Tuesday 10 and of course Wednesday at 10. NBC opened the night with a repeat of Law & Order doing 5.17 million, down some from previous week, a repeat of Law & Order: SVU followed and did 5.22 million, which is actually up from previous week when NBC aired the finale of Life. Law & Order followed at 10pm with another repeat and did 5.97 million, up week-to-week. The CW was on the map with America's Next Top Model doing a nice 3.78 million, up some from previous week then The CW followed with an encore of what else--90210-- doing 870,000 viewers.
Thursday saw CBS with the win. CBS started with a new Survivor: Tocantis at once again a below normal 11.64 million, but up from previous week. CSI was next with 15.72 million, down nearly a million from previous week but only a 3.8 18-49 rating again, the same as previous two weeks. And episode two of Harper's Island closed the night at 7.82 million, which was down nearly three million from the premiere...not good news at all for CBS. Fox started with Bones at 8.85 million, off a bit from previous week. An all-new Hell's Kitchen followed at 9pm did 8.11 million, up again from previous week. NBC started a new episode of My Name is Earl at 5.35 million at 8pm, what has happened? Then the new Parks and Recreation followed with 6.02 million, down some from the premiere. If it stays at 6 million or better, it'll be safe...anything lower is sayonara. The Office followed with a new episode doing 8.37 million, up some from previous week and 30 Rock followed with 7.32 million, up from previous week. NBC closed the night with a new episode of Southland doing 9.61 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, both down just a bit from the premiere...but can it do that this week when ABC is back all-new? ABC started with a new In the Motherhood doing 4.62 million, up some from previous week. An all-new Samantha Who? was next and did 4.84 million, on par really from previous week. A repeat of Grey's Anatomy was next and did 5.06 million, on par really from previous week. It returns this Thursday for new episodes the rest of the season. I've see the first two episodes back, and they are AMAZING. Good mix of drama and comedy even. Tune in. A repeat of Private Practice followed and did 4.23 million at 10pm, on par really from previous week. Smallville was a repeat on The CW and did 1.79 million followed by a repeat of Supernatural at 1.85 million, both down a bit week-to-week.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with repeat of Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, NUMBERS. ABC did below normal with 20/20. The Prison Break return for Fox was very low rated, and NBC did much better with a two-hour Dateline.
Saturday numbers were quiet, with CBS winning in viewers and Fox in 18-49, as NBC did terrible with a new Kings and repeats, including an encore of Southland.
Tonight ABC Sunday returns! Though ABC will have to battle with CBS for the viewer title, but ABC will easily win in 18-49. CBS has a new 60 Minutes followed by the Amazing Race 14, & Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie. ABC will have a new AFV, a repeat of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and the returns of new episodes of Desperate Housewives. and Brothers & Sisters. Once again, as I said last week, I've seen the Brothers & Sisters return and it is very well done! Cristian de la Fuente guest stars. NBC has the two-hour Miss USA Pageant at 7pm and a two-hour Celebrity Apprentice, which is nothing it used to be. Fox has an all-new lineup of its animated comedies from 7:30-10, which includes the premiere of Sit Down Shut Up.
As for the week, CBS should win the week in HH/viewers, with Fox in 18-49. Fox will be second in HH/viewers, while ABC will take third in all categories. NBC will be fourth everywhere. As for the coming week...ABC has two episodes of The Unusuals this week (Tuesday and Wednesday at 10). While as we mentioned before, special repeats for CBS on special nights will happen Mon-Wed this week. No House tomorrow on Fox, as a special Bones is airing, while no Lost this Wednesday but a special will air. And Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice return for ABC!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of April 6-12, Week 29)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 4.75 million.
• King of the Hill (Fox) 2 episodes - A repeat at 7:30 only did 3.01 million, though up some from the previous week. A repeat at 8:30 did 4.21 million. New episodes will now air at 7:30pm starting tonight.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 5.32 million for a repeat, lower than the previous week's repeat.
• American Dad! (Fox) 2 episodes - 1.96 million for a repeat at 7pm was lower than previous week, as its regular 9:30pm slot was also a repeat and did 4.5 million.

Week 30 (April 13-19):
Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 10.06 million for a new episode. Very good.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.6 million for a new episode..good.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.03 million for a new episode is #1 for all sitcoms.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 11.6 million for a new episode, again could be better still but decent.
• Surviving Suburbia (ABC) - 9.71 million for a new episode...down a million and a half from the premiere. Hopefully it goes back up tomorrow.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 4.52 and 4.13 million for two new episodes...the first one did acceptable at least.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 5.57 million for a repeat.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 5.76 million for a repeat, built from the lead-in at least.
• Scrubs (ABC) - New showing did 5.06 million, up from previous week, as part two of the Bahama story aired.
• Better Off Ted (ABC) - 4.62 million for a new episode, up from previous week. Hopefully this is a sign of growth.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Returned with a new episode and did just 5.35 million.
• In the Motherhood (ABC) - Just 4.62 million, but up some from previous week.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - 6.02 million, down from the premiere, but still built from the lead-in.
• Samantha Who? (ABC) - 4.84 million, on par from previous week. This show could see a huge jump this week as Grey's is back with new episodes.
• The Office (NBC) - 8.37 million, up from previous week.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 7.32 million...also up week-to-week.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - A repeat episode did a prelim 1.47 million...down a bit from previous week's prelim numbers.
• The Game (The CW) - A repeat episode did a prelim 1.31 million. Down from previous week's prelim numbers by a bit.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox animated comedies from 7:30-10pm!

Summing it up. The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement & The Office were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (Surviving Suburbia, Parks and Recreation) or just plain old terrible (such as In the Motherhood, According to Jim 8:30).

Blog DVD Review: Snoopy's Reunion - Remastered Deluxe Edition

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly Blog DVD Reviews. Today week we take a look at Warner Home Video's Snoopy's Reunion Remastered Deluxe Edition. This is a 1991 CBS special as Snoopy reunites with his beagle family! See my Blog DVD Review of Snoopy's Reunion Remastered Deluxe Edition:

Snoopy's Reunion - Remastered Deluxe Edition (Warner, $19.98) brings us the 1991 CBS special on DVD digitally remastered...and it is really worth it! Plus in addition to the Snoopy's Reunion special, we also get It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown, a 1984 CBS special that is also about Snoopy primarily.
The Snoopy's Reunion special starts off with flashbacks on how Charlie Brown got Snoopy from Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. Now it has been one year since Snoopy saw his beagle family. He gets to see his siblings Spike, Andy, Olaf, Marbles, Belle, Molly and Rover as well return to see Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. In the Flashbeagle special, it's break-dancing time for the gang! Totally '80s! Some find the dancing difficult like Linus, but it of course comes very easy to Snoopy, the fleet-footed flashbeagle!
Let's now move on to the packaging. Like all the previous sets, we have a thin outer box that holds a very thin case, that is movie style. I never understood the reason for the thin box that holds a thin case...what's the point? It doesn't need protection. Also, both the back and front of each are exactly the same, except the box is shinier. The cover art is red-orange in color, and has a shot of Snoopy with his siblings playing in a band. The title of the special is on the top, with a mention that this is a remastered deluxe edition on top of that! The bottom tells us we also get a bonus TV special (It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown). To the back we go, we get a nice synopsis of the Snoopy's Reunion special, along with a list of the special features below that. The back is also in red-orange in color with artwork of Snoopy and Charlie Brown greeting Spike. When we open the case, we get black background all over, very plain, but of course the disc is inside. The disc is in red-orange color and has artwork of Snoopy playing an instrument.
The menu screen has options of Features, Special Features, and Languages. We get that red-orange background again, with the theme song playing in the background. We also have the same artwork as the cover art with the garage band. Anyway back to the menu, for Languages, we can have either English or Japanese. For subtitles we have those two again and also French, Korean and Thai...wow! But no Espanol for either? The Features section has the two specials listed, we can also select Play All to play both back-to-back. Finally, Special Features lists the extra (more on that below) and Trailers.
The video and audio is tremendous once again. These specials are all so good. They have never looked better or sounded better ever. I am very impressed yet again; what more can I continue to say about these digitally remastered sets?. Warner continues to do a great job on this remastering of all these classic specials. Snoopy's Reunion special runs 23:13 and has 4 chapter stops, which you an use via your DVD remote. The Flashbeagle special runs 24:18 and has 5 chapter stops.
As for special features, we get a nice featurette! It is titled "Together Again: A Peanuts Voice-Cast Reunion" and runs 9:49. Some of the actors who have voiced these beloved characters over the years were reunited at ComicCon 2008. This is very neat to see how they look and more importantly, sound now. Interviewed and seen are Lee Mendelson, Peter Robbins, Sally Dryer, Chris DeFaria, Jason Mendelson, Gabrielle DeFaria Ritter, Hilary Momberger, and Robin Kohn Glazer. We also get Trailers from other Warner animation titles (Follow That Bird, Charlie Brown Valentine and Easter), which some also are auto-played before the main menu starts.
I once again highly do recommend this set for any Charlie Brown-Peanuts fan and classic animation in general. Snoopy shines here! There are many fans of Snoopy out there, and this special is truly all about him. There is no Charlie Brown in the title, which is very rare for a Peanuts special. Warner continues to do a wonderful job with the remastering and the behind the scenes extras of each special. Let's hope they continue to release more Peanuts specials and eventually we get them all remastered in our personal libraries! So reunite yourself with this DVD on your couch and then you can also break-dance as well!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Charlie Brown Official Page
Charlie Brown Specials