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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, April 24

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "TV Money" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy tries to prove she’s financially responsible after Jim and Georgie call out her poor spending habits, and Connor’s new girlfriend needs a place to stay.

Ghosts - "I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Sam and Jay host a fundraiser for the mayor to earn a favor for Jay’s restaurant, they learn of his bizarre connection to one of Woodstone’s ghosts. Odessa Adlon returns as Stephanie, the ghost who died on her prom night.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Thursday, April 24

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Catch Da'Vine on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones/The Unicorn/Vice Principals) - Walton appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Sasheer and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - E! News has an interview with Will at 11pm on E!.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael swings by the studio on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones/Vice Principals/Partners) - Edi chats about The Righteous Gemstones on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ernest Lee Thomas (Everybody Hates Chris/What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) and Haywood Nelson (What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) - Ernest and Haywood talk about the 49th Anniversary of What's Happening!! on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Cheech Marin (Rob/The Golden Palace) and Tommy Chong (That '90s Show/That '70s Show) - Cheech and Tommy talk about Cheech & Chong's Last Movie on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) - Casey talks about The Great American Baking Show on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle is telling Drew about her show Survival of the Thickest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Dating expert Damona Hoffman is joining Drew and Valerie for a Q & A about first dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris tells Sherri about the new season of Watson on CBS, so check your local listings.