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ION Adds M*A*S*H To Weekdays; ION Announces New Deals With Studios

ION Television was scheduled to re-add M*A*S*H as a regular next month on Saturday afternoons (3-4pm), that is still going to happen, but starting next week (Monday, Feb. 22) it will also return to the weekday schedule! M*A*S*H will air weekdays at 4:00pm & 4:30pm replacing court show Texas Justice, which will be off the line-up aleady. Texas Justice didn't do too well in the ratings and will be leaving after just three full weeks on the air. It launched on Feb. 1. No word yet if and when it will return, but stay with us for any info on that.

ION also recently announced deals with various studios. Reflecting its continued commitment to the acquisition of high profile, 'positively entertaining' programming for its primetime schedule, ION Television has inked multiple deals to acquire close to 35 major feature films and television series. The deals are with leading Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures Worldwide Television Distribution, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD).
The television series acquired from Twentieth Television include the critically acclaimed crime drama Shark (Seasons 1-2; 38 episodes), starring James Woods that we first announced would be coming, and Texas Justice (Seasons 1-4; 572 half-hour episodes) is also part of the deal.
ION Television acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to the award-winning original TV series, The Guard from Lionsgate. In addition, the network secured all U.S. television, digital media rights, internet streaming and video-on-demand rights. The series premieres for the first time to the U.S. audience with a two-hour block of back-to-back episodes on Saturday, March 13, 2010 at 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM, ET. Following its debut, The Guard will continue to air on ION Television in the same time two-hour period with back-to-back episodes each Saturday night, as we mentioned.
The Paramount Pictures Worldwide Television Distribution package includes 15 film titles and features all three titles in The Godfather trilogy, starring Al Pacino, Death Wish and Death Wish IV: The Crackdown starring Charles Bronson and Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise.
ION has also acquired over a dozen releases from Warner Bros Domestic Television Distribution, including top films such as The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones; GoodFellas, starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci; and The Outlaw Josey Wales and Space Cowboys, both directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.

View the updated ION Television February 2010 schedule, with the addition of M*A*S*H to weekdays. And also check out the updated March 2010 schedule.