Second High School Reunion Episode Scores for TV Land; Steve Harvey Now Host of Family Feud; State of the Union Airs Jan. 27

Friday, January 22, 2010

Second High School Reunion Episode Scores for TV Land; Steve Harvey Now Host of Family Feud; State of the Union Airs Jan. 27

Wednesday night's (Jan. 20) second episode premiere of TV Land's original series High School Reunion scored impressive, double-digit gains across key demos over last week's season premiere (Jan. 13), building momentum for the popular series.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the second episode's installment of High School Reunion posted a 0.5 A25-54 rating (532,000 viewers among A25-54), up 56% in rating and 55% in viewers 25-54 over the season premiere (Jan. 13). Among the network's core A40-54 audience, the episode posted a 0.6 rating (322,000 viewers 40-54) increasing 54% in rating and 55% in viewers 40-54 over last week. The network averaged 788,000 total viewers for the second episode, up 38% versus the season premiere, with a median age of 44.
The eight-episode season from Next Entertainment and Warner Horizon Television is set on the beautiful island of Kauai and reunites former classmates from Las Vegas, Nevada’s Chaparral High School Class of 1989. This season makes High School Reunion history with three marriage proposals and an unforgettable wedding set against a beautiful Hawaiian backdrop. Yet with all the love in the air, old rivalries lurk in the shadows and some of the classmates have come to the reunion to settle scores with their high school nemeses, reveal secrets about their past, seek acceptance from their peers and hear long-sought-after apologies from their former classmates. The season finale will air Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

Family Feud is getting yet another new host. Current host John O'Hurley will be leaving at the end of the season. O'Hurley has been host since fall 2006. O'Hurley said in a statement that he decided to focus on his role in the touring production of the musical Chicago and a variety of business ventures. Replacing O'Hurley now will be former sitcom star Steve Harvey! He will take over starting Fall 2010, the 12th season of the revival.
Harvey, one of "The Original Kings of Comedy," is perhaps best known to audiences from his time starring in The Steve Harvey Show, which aired on The WB from 1996 to 2002. Harvey also hosts The Steve Harvey Morning Show, a nationally syndicated radio program that is heard daily by more than seven million listeners in more than 64 markets nationwide. He is also a special contributor to ABC's Good Morning America.
Family Feud returned to first-run syndication in Fall 1999 with host Louie Anderson. He was fired because he was bored and was replaced by Richard Karn in 2002. Karn left the show in 2006, replaced by O'Hurley, who will leave at the end of this season. Of course the original run of the series was hosted by the great Richard Dawson from 1976-85 on ABC. Then the series was revived once again from 1988-95, with the late Ray Combs as host for CBS and also syndication. Combs was fired in 1994, so Richard Dawson was brought back to host the 94-95 season. Combs committed suicide in 1996. And that's the history of Family Feud for you! They should have Dawson guest host a few times at least in 2010-11.

We wanted to cover the State of the Union plans for the networks today, but Fox and NBC still hasn't given us the plans for Mountain and Pacific timezones, so we will hold off until Monday for our report on that. View ABC and CBS's plans though for each time zone, that we posted on our message board. Stay with us on Monday for a full report right here.
President Obama's first State of the Union airs live on Wednesday (Jan. 27) from 9-10:30pm ET/6-7:30pm PT.