Remembering Ed McMahon; WGN Pulls Hillbillies; TNT Adds CSI NY

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Remembering Ed McMahon; WGN Pulls Hillbillies; TNT Adds CSI NY

Ed McMahon, a fixture on U.S. late-night television for 30 years as the full-throated announcer and sidekick for the late Johnny Carson on NBC's The Tonight Show, has died this morning (Tuesday, June 23, 2009).
The veteran TV personality, best known for his nightly introduction of Carson in a deep, booming voice with the drawn-out line, "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" died at a Los Angeles-area hospital early this morning with his wife and loved ones by his side. McMahon had been battling pneumonia and other illnesses for about the past month. Ed and Johnny first worked together in 1957 as announcer and host on the daytime game show Who Do You Trust? The duo moved to the Tonight Show in 1962 when Carson succeeded Jack Paar for three decades, stopping in 1992 when Carson retired as host. Ed was also famous for his "Hi-oooooh!" line.
Among his other roles, he was with Dick Clark on the TV series and specials TV Bloopers And Practical Jokes on NBC from 1982 until 1998. He was also host of the successful weekly syndicated series Star Search, which began in 1983 and ended in 1995.
He has appeared on many sitcoms as himself over the years such as Here's Lucy, ALF, Full House, Who's the Boss?, Roseanne, Living Single, Malcolm & Eddie, The Simpsons, Suddenly Susan, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Popular, That '80s Show, Family Guy, It's All Relative, and Scrubs.
He has also appeared on TV series as a character as well, such as an earlier episode of Here's Lucy, Ellen Queen, Newhart, Burke's Law, Nurses, and Baywatch. He had a regular role on the short-lived comedy called The Tom Show starring Tom Arnold on The WB in the 1997-98 season.
In recent years was co-host for TV Land's ALF Hit Talk Show and co-host in 2003 for a handful of episodes for Jimmy Kimmel Live!. And last summer he and his family appeared on Celebrity Family Feud battling the The Kardashians, Deion & Pilar Sanders, Tiki Barber's families.
Ed will certainly be missed by everyone. He was a familiar face and had a familiar voice that everyone knew. He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and five children. Ed was 86. Share your memories of Ed on our message board.

Back to our regular news, WGN America is pulling The Beverly Hillbillies from its line-up starting Monday (June 29). They will replace it with another airing of America's Funniest Videos in the 8am weekday hour. WGN America has not lost rights to air Hillbillies, so it WILL return soon to a better timeslot I'm told. I think it would have returned anyway since it doesn't expire until Fall 2011. Ya'll come back now ya here, indeed! And remember when we promised something for classic TV this summer on WGN America? Well we will soon announce what that is! So we won't have to wait until the fall to see more classic TV! Keep checking back for that and the return of Hillbillies (and maybe more)!

TNT has acquired the crime drama CSI: NY for its "we know drama" line-up starting Friday, July 3. They will share the series with Spike TV, which currently airs the reruns. TNT has the primetime rights starting in July, so Spike TV will be only airing it in the daytime (1-3pm) and early evening (5-7pm) starting in July as we mentioned. TNT will launch CSI: NY with a block on Friday, July 3 from 7pm-11pm. Then the series will air weeknights at 7pm and Wed-Fri at 8pm as well. The regular schedule will see some time changes due to this addition on TNT. Here is how the schedule will look: 6-8am Angel, 8am-11am Charmed, 11am ER, 12pm-2pm Las Vegas, 2pm Charmed, 3pm-5pm Law & Order, 5pm-7pm Bones, and 7pm CSI: NY. 8pm will have The Closer encore on Monday, Bones on Tuesday, and CSI: NY Wed-Fri. With original series the rest of the time on weeknights. 1am-6am late nights sees a mix of blocks of Cold Case, Without a Trace, and Law & Order. Movies air in late night on Fridays and sometimes on Thursdays. No signs of NYPD Blue, X-Files, and Alias, but they are airing LAPD: Life on the Street as a filler.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, August 3

The Goldbergs - "Alligator Schwartz" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Erica fears that Geoff has moved on from their breakup and started dating someone else. Meanwhile, Adam decides to find Dave Kim a date to prom, once he remembers his pact with Dave that they won’t go to prom if they both don’t have dates.

Home Economics - "Bounce Hospital Rental, $250" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Connor invites all the cousins over for an epic sleepover to cheer up his daughter, Gretchen. Meanwhile, Tom is determined to prove he can be a fun uncle too.

The Conners - "A Cold Mom, a Brother Daddy and a Prison Baby" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ben’s mom, Barb, arrives in town after an unexpected death and unveils shocking information from the past. Meanwhile, Becky and Emilio spend more time together.

black-ish - "Snitches Get Boundaries" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After one of Dre’s secrets with Pops is spilled to Ruby, he realizes that his relationships with each of his parents have changed since they got married and he no longer knows in whom to confide. Meanwhile, Bow surprises Jack and Diane with a brand-new car and tries to teach the twins how to drive.

Miracle Workers - "Oregon Trail: What Happens in Branchwater" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
The wagon train stops in the sinful town of Branchwater, luring Ezekiel into a night of debauchery and temptation; Benny finds his favorite saloon has transformed into an inauthentic tourist trap.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 2)

Tuesday, August 3

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Catch Christian on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen/The Ellen Show) - Ellen is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) and Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Kristen and Dax chat with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
John Corbett (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/United States of Tara/Lucky/Sex and the City) - John appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Mr. Corman/3rd Rock from the Sun) - Joseph talks about his role in the new series Mr. Corman on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Kat Dennings (Dollface/2 Broke Girls/Raising Dad) - Kat appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Pooch Hall (The Game/Accidentally on Purpose) - Pooch is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Tisha Campell (Outmatched/Dr. Ken/My Wife and Kids/Martin) and Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) - A repeat of Tamron Hall celebrates the power of friendships with actresses and childhood friends Tisha Campell and Tichina Arnold, who co-starred in the classic sitcom Martin and are now working on a new talk show, so check your local lisitngs.
Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Allison appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Laura Prepon (Are You There, Chelsea?/That '70s Show) - Laura talks about the joys and challenges of being a new mother of two, and makes a quick and easy Mediterranean salad on Access Daily, so check your local listings.