WGN America and WPIX's 2009 Holiday Stunts; Classic Power Rangers Coming to ABC Kids

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

WGN America and WPIX's 2009 Holiday Stunts; Classic Power Rangers Coming to ABC Kids

We told you already about WGN America's Newhart Thanksgiving Day marathon, now we have the rest of the holiday specials for WGN America to close out 2009! Airing on Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24, 2009) will be Yogi's First Christmas (1980) from 2-4pm ET, followed by back-to-back holiday episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, Cheers, and Becker from 4pm-7pm ET. Then we have the special A Flintstone Christmas (1977) in the 7pm ET hour leading into WWE Superstars at 8pm ET followed by the primetime movie The Man Who Saved Christmas (2002) from 9pm-11pm ET. Then A Flintstone Christmas (1977) encores in the 11pm ET hour, followed by an encore of WWE Superstars at 12am ET. At 1am ET through 2:30am ET, Midnight Mass from Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago airs live. The Mass leads into holiday episodes of Barney Miller at 2:30am & 3am ET, followed by the Cosby Show Christmas episode at 3:30am ET, and then four holiday episodes of Coach from 4am-6am ET.
The following day, Christmas Day (Friday, December 25, 2009) starts off with the annual Yule Log from 8am-11am ET! Open your presents in the morning with this! Then from 11am-1pm ET the movie It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) airs. The Chicago local news airs at 1pm, followed by a local special called Dean's Holiday Movies & Memories, from WGN entertainment critic Dean Richards. Yogi's First Christmas (1980) encores from 2-4pm ET on this day, too. Finally, more holiday movies (Secret of Giving (1999) and The Wool Cap (2004)) cap off the day from 4pm-8pm ET.
Other holiday movies and episodes will air on their regular times such as Bewitched holiday episodes on weekdays, Outta Sight Retro Night (Sunday, Dec. 20) and movies such as Jingle All the Way (1996) and Home for the Holidays (1995).
And finally for WGN America, ring out 2009 and roll in 2010 with two special marathons! On New Year's Eve from 1am-6am ET close out 2009 and start your 2010 with South Park...with a night marathon! Then take a few hours of sleep and start 2010 fresh with the classic sitcom Barney Miller from 8am-10pm ET on Friday, January 1, 2010! That's 14 hours (28 episodes) of the classic '70s sitcom starring Hal Linden!

For you New York City readers, we have some WPIX (CW11) holiday specials to tell you! They usually do some nice specials as well. WPIX is owned by Tribune, the same company that owns cable network WGN America. On Saturday, Dec. 19 they will air the annual classic March of the Wooden Soldiers at 8pm ET. They will also encore it on Christmas Day as usual at 1pm ET. On Sunday, Dec. 20 from 1pm-5pm ET, WPIX will present a sitcom holiday episode stunt! Holiday episodes airings of Two and a Half Men, double shots of According to Jim, Frasier, and The Jeffersons, along with The Odd Couple will air!
On Christmas Eve, when the clock strikes midnight WPIX will present the Christmas Midnight Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York for 90 minutes. And of course on Christmas morning from 4-6am and again from 9am-1pm it's the annual WPIX Yule Log! I had to relay the classic stunts for you New Yorkers on WPIX since I mentioned WGN America!

The classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is scheduled to air in the 12:00PM & 12:30 PM ET (11:00 & 11:30 AM CT/PT; 10:00 & 10:30AM MT) time periods effective Saturday, January 2, 2010 on ABC's Saturday morning block called ABC Kids.
The classic episodes replace the current Power Rangers: RPM, which will have its last telecast on Saturday, December 26, 2009. In addition to the return to television, a new toy line will accompany the series and will appear in stores by the end of 2009.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers aired from 1993 to 1995 on Fox Kids, the longest running Power Rangers series, spanning three seasons. The series was about normal teens Jason (Red Ranger), Kimberly (Pink Ranger), Zack (Black Ranger), Trini (Yellow Ranger), and Billy (Blue Ranger), given the ability to morph into Power Rangers, including an arsenal of weapons at their disposal as well as large robotic machines called Zords, which can combine into the mighty Megazord. Later a new teen was added Tommy (Green Ranger). Zordon and Alpha 5 recruited them. The villains were Rita Repulsa (one of the ugliest TV characters ever!) and Lord Zedd. Sounds wacky...but it was pretty good and clearly the best version of Power Rangers, I think.
View the episode schedule for the classic episodes on ABC Kids! Go Go Power Rangers, You Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, October 13

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the new Normals" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Johnsons and Butlers face big changes and unexpected challenges as Tina discovers a new passion, Malcolm navigates work and family boundaries and Courtney takes a major step with Marty. Meanwhile, Dave’s tech experiment backfires and Gemma’s parenting plan goes awry.

DMV - "Pilot" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
East Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) driving examiner Colette pines for her coworker Noa while enduring teasing from colleagues Gregg, Vic and Ceci. Also, new manager Barb rallies the crew to save their branch from government shutdown.

TV We Love - "I Love Lucy" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A deep dive into "I Love Lucy," widely regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time; exploring the groundbreaking partnership of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, whose comedic brilliance and bold business moves forever changed television.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)

Monday, October 13

Kat Dennings (Shifting Gears/Dollface/2 Broke Girls/Raising Dad) - Watch Kat on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building/Mulaney/I'm a Big Girl Now/The Associates) and Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building/Wizards of Waverly Place) - Steve, Martin and Selena are guests on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Keanu Reaves (Swedish Dicks) - Keanu and Alex Winter are guests on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Jason appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Laverne Cox (Clean Slate) - Andy Cohen intervews Laverne on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Patricia Arquette (High Desert) - Patricia talks about Murdaugh: Death in the Family on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Bradley Whitford (Perfect Harmony/Trophy Wife) - Bradley talks about The Diplomat on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Colin Hanks (Life in Pieces) - Colin chats with the hosts about John Candy: I Like Me on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michael J. Fox (Family Ties/Spin City/The Michael J. Fox Show) - Michael discusses his new book Future Boy: Back to the Future and My Journey Through the Space-Time Continuum with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth/The Bear) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Ayo and Julia Roberts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Tim Meadows (DMV/Schooled/No Activity/Son of Zorn/Mr. Box Office/The Bill Engvall Show) - Tim talks about DMV on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Brian Baumgartner (The Office) - Brian talks about the We Need A Fourth podcast on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri talks about The Sunshine Queens on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel joins Sherri to talk about the new season of his hit game show Flip Side on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Vanessa Lachey (Truth Be Told/Dads) - Vanessa and Nick Lachey talk about Netflix's Love is Blind on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela talks about Netflix's Stay Classy on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is showing Drew how to make the perfect pumpkin spice meatballs on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.