Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Network TV Fall Preview Specials for 2009; Scooby-Doo Turns 40!

Pretty soon it will be that time of year again...the start of the new TV season. So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2008 preview from last year.

First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2009 preview special has been titled ABC Fall Preview Open House. It will premiere this weekend on local ABC affiliates (NY: WABC Sun Sept. 6 at 2:30pm). It can be aired between September 5-20, 2009 (affiliate exclusive clearance window is September 5-6, then it will air on ABC cable networks after Sept. 6). The fall preview special is about ABC's new Wednesday night comedies and the most talked about new drama this season, Flash Forward. The special will also include material about the two new 10pm dramas: Eastwick and The Forgotten as well as the returning hit drama, Castle. This fall preview special will introduce viewers to character descriptions, storylines and recaps of last season and provide a sneak peek at the new season ahead! ABC: Start here! The special will be available on abc.com soon as well, if you miss it on your local ABC station or an ABC-owned cable network.
The CBS Fall 2009 preview special, simply titled CBS Fall Preview will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of the hit comedy series How I Met Your Mother, will be broadcast tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 2 from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Three Rivers, and Medium and the comedy series Accidentally on Purpose. Hosts Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Neil Patrick Harris, Alyson Hannigan and Cobie Smulders exchange humorous banter throughout the special, which was taped on their series' sets, in the midst of introducing various video previews. They also utilize comical means to drive home the point that How I Met Your Mother is moving to 8:00 PM on Mondays.
The NBC Fall 2009 preview special (titled The NBC Primetime Preview) has aired on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates (in NY on WNBC Sun Sept. 6 at 12:30pm) and is also available online on nbc.com, but as of now it will air on NBC itself. Joel McHale, star of the all-new NBC Thursday comedy Community, hosts a special preview of NBC's new upcoming season. The lively 30-minute cavalcade will feature exclusive, behind-the-scenes views to be delivered across a wide gamut of NBC Universal media platforms beginning August 8 through September 27. The program will run an estimated 306 times over broadcast and cable platforms. The annual Fall program will be offered to NBC's 232 television stations (check local listings) as well as other channel entities such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband (search "NBC Fall Preview" on TVGuide.com). NBC stations can also run it on their websites while NBC.com is also running it as well. In addition, the program will be screened on selected American Airlines flights (estimated to be shown on approximately 11,000 flights). Watch now online.
The Fox Fall 2009 preview special has already started airing on local Fox affiliates (in NY WNYW Sat Sept. 5 at 3pm). It will only run on local Fox affiliates this year and not on Fox in primetime. Actress Jane Lynch hosts a comprehensive look at the upcoming shows on Fox's fall schedule, including returning favorites like House and American Idol, new shows like Brothers, and the highly acclaimed comedy series Glee.
The CW aired its Fall 2009 TV preview special called The CW Fall 2009 Preview Special this past Sunday (Aug. 30) at 6:30pm, but your local CW affiliates (in NY WPIX Sun Sept. 6 at 1pm) are still airing encores this week...so be on the look out (search "CW Fall Preview" on TVGuide.com)! From the set of The CW's new drama, Melrose Place, returning stars Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro gives viewers a sneak peek into the world of vixens, vampires, models and more. New series featured include Melrose Place, The Vampire Diaries, The Beautiful Life and the midseason drama, Life UneXpected.
In addition, The TV Guide Network will run the Fox and CW primetime fall preview specials starting Sept. 14 at 7:30pm with Fox on Monday and The CW on Tuesday.

Looking quite remarkable for his age in dog-years (approx. 280!), Scooby-Doo will celebrate his 40th Birthday with a two-day Labor Day Weekend marathon on Boomerang. Saturday and Sunday will each feature seven hours of classic Scooby-Doo episodes from two of the earliest animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (1969) and The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972).
When Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? premiered on broadcast television (CBS) Saturday morning, Sept. 13, 1969, television audiences took their first journey on what would become literally hundreds of mystery-solving comedy capers featuring a teenage gang of amateur detectives and their cowardly, yet beloved great Dane. Today, having recruited generations of fans young and old across the globe, Scooby-Doo will celebrate his milestone 40th birthday over Labor Day Weekend on the commercial-free Boomerang network with two seven-hour marathons, 2-9 p.m. (ET), Saturday, Sept. 5 and Sunday, Sept. 6, as we mentioned on the Boomerang Fall 2009 schedule.
To commemorate the special event, Scooby and the gang--Freddy, Daphne, Velma and Shaggy--on Saturday will solve 17 classic supernatural mysteries, including their very first from the original premiere episode, "What a Night for a Knight." Then on Sunday, Boomerang will devote another seven-hour marathon, 2-9 p.m., to showcase The New Scooby-Doo Movies, the second series in the Scooby-Doo canon and the only series to feature hour-long episodes. The hallmark of this series is its animated celebrity guests, and during the special presentation, Scooby and the gang meet the casts of other great Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as Josie and the Pussycats and the Harlem Globetrotters.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, January 22

Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.

Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Wednesday, January 22

  • Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

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


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