MTV Acquires Grounded for Life; CW Vampire Week, CBS Sunday Timeslot Changes

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

MTV Acquires Grounded for Life; CW Vampire Week, CBS Sunday Timeslot Changes

MTV has quietly acquired the sitcom Grounded for Life. The sitcom started on the cable network yesterday (Nov. 16) and they are airing it weeknights at 7:00pm & 7:30pm and also next day encores in the mornings at 9:00am & 9:30am. The sitcom is about a thirty-something Irish Catholic couple (Sean and Claudia) that deal with their three children as well as Sean's judgmental father and his carefree brother. Donal Logue and Megyn Price star in this 2001-2005 sitcom that aired on Fox and later The WB. On cable, ABC Family has been airing the series on and off since fall 2005, and they will continue to air it weekdays at 4:00pm & 4:30pm even with MTV acquiring the series.
Grounded for Life joins repeats of South Park (from sister network Comedy Central), which recently started airing on MTV at 8:00pm & 8:30pm. MTV also airs TeenNick's Degrassi: The Next Generation weekdays at 10:00am & 10:30am. It seems MTV is going with more scripted stuff rather than music now? Grounded for Life is the first sitcom airing on MTV that is not borrowed from another Viacom-owned network. Scrubs aired this past summer, but that was borrowed from Comedy Central/TV Land. They have been airing movies, too, such as Addams Family, Not Another Teen Movie, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Halloween: Resurrection, Scream 3, Phone Booth, and airing soon will be movies such as Bad Santa, Addams Family Values, Men in Black II & Dawn of the Dead.
Another scripted series is coming soon to MTV and we will let you know very soon! Hint: It is a classic '90s teen drama. And it is not on other Viacom-owned networks. Stay with us for more news!

The CW Network has announced plans for a special Vampire Diaries Marathon starting on Monday, December 14. This week-long event offers fans the opportunity to relive The Vampire Diaries saga from the very beginning and allows the uninitiated the chance to get into one of TV's breakout hits.
Airing two episodes each night from Monday, Dec. 14 through Friday, Dec. 18 (8:00-10:00p.m. ET/PT) beginning with the season premiere episode, The CW will rebroadcast every episode to date of its smash hit The Vampire Diaries in consecutive order across its entire primetime schedule that week. After just 10 episodes, The Vampire Diaries has become The CW's most-watched and highest-rated series among adults 18-34 this season.
And finally, CBS has swapped the timeslots for Sunday dramas Three Rivers and Cold Case. Three Rivers moves from 9pm to 10pm, while Cold Case goes from 10pm to 9pm. Both will be moved to their new timeslots for this coming Sunday (Nov. 22). As of now, it is only for one week, but the following week (Nov. 29), CBS has a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie airing. If the timeslots improve, I'm sure CBS will keep these new timeslots for both series. Both series have had sluggish ratings this season, especially first year drama Three Rivers.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 28

The Conners - "Mud Turtles, A Good Steak and One Man in a Tub" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Becky thinks that Jackie’s new friend Dawn (guest star Cheryl Hines), a restaurant supplier, is only cozying up to her to sell them things they can’t afford for the Lunch Box. Darlene is thrilled when Harris gets into Central Illinois State, but Harris might have found a better offer on her own. When Dan finds himself in an embarrassing situation nursing an injury, Louise (Katey Sagal) tries to help him out.

Bless This Mess - "The Letter of the Law" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Rio is bummed she can’t afford to go to Iceland for her best friend’s wedding, so the nuptials are moved and brought to the farm. Meanwhile, Rio is forced to take on Deb’s mail route after she quits, and Mike and Jacob help Rudy get over Constance.

mixed-ish - "True Colors" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Paul is shocked to hear from his estranged mother who wants to visit for Rainbow’s 13th birthday and soon learns more about why she abandoned him. Meanwhile, Rainbow sees turning 13 as a huge turning point in her life and wants a big birthday party, but Alicia wants to celebrate all the things Rainbow missed out on over the years while on the commune.

black-ish - "Adventure to Ventura" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Dre worries Diane and Jack don’t know how to fend for themselves and sends them out on an adventure, only to realize it’s his overbearing worries that hold the twins back. Meanwhile, Junior gets into a tricky situation at work when he befriends Josh in hopes of scoring a positive peer review.

Schitt's Creek - "Maid of Honour" (Pop, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Moira shares the newly released "Crows" movie trailer with the Jazzagals; Johnny and Roland find a suspicious bag of money at the new motel.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 27)

Tuesday, January 28

Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) - Catch Ben on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) - Ashton visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Tony Rock (Living Biblically/All of Us) - Tony is a panelist on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Miles Brown (black-ish) - Miles is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Fox's The Resident on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Hot in Cleveland/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about Disney Channel's The Owl House on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Life) - Nia talks about Poisoned Love on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Bill Pullman (1600 Penn) - Bill talks about The Sinner on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 12:15pm.
Janeane Garofalo (The Larry Sanders Show) and Grant Rosenmeyer (Oliver Beene) - Janeane and Grant are guests on the BUILD Series at 2pm.