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Remembering Dixie Carter; Hallmark Channel Changes Starting April 14; Me-TV and Me-Too (Chicago) Updates

We have some sad news to bring you today. Television, film and stage actress Dixie Carter has died. She died on Saturday, April 10 in Houston, TX of complications of endometrial cancer, her publicist Steve Rohr said. She is probably best known for her role as interior decorator Julia Sugarbaker on the 1986-1993 CBS sitcom Designing Women. The series also starred Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Jean Smart, Meschach Taylor, Julia Duffy, Jan Hooks and Judith Ivey.
Carter was born in McLemoresville, TN on May 25, 1939. She made her professional stage debut in a Memphis production of Carousel in 1960. In 1963, she moved to New York City and got a part in a production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. After taking a break from acting, she had a role on One Life to Live in 1974. From 1974-1976, she appeared on the daytime soap opera The Edge of Night as Assistant District Attorney Olivia Brandeis Henderson. Her first sitcom role was in On Our Own from 1977-1978 on CBS. The series also starred Lynnie Greene, Bess Armstrong and Gretchen Wyler. Later she appeared on the short-lived ABC sitcom Out of the Blue which lasted for 8 episodes. In 1982-1983, she appeared as Carlotta Beck on the CBS sitcom Filthy Rich. One of her co-stars was Delta Burke. The series was created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason who went on to create Designing Women and cast her in that. Her next major role was as Maggie McKinney, the girlfriend and later the wife of Philip Drummond, on Diff'rent Strokes for 28 episodes from 1984-1985. When the show moved to ABC for the final season in 1985-1986, she was replaced by Mary Ann Mobley. In 1986, the long-running Designing Women began and produced 163 episodes over 7 seasons. Her real-life husband, Hal Holbrook, had a recurring role as her boyfriend, Reese Watson, on the show. They were married on May 27, 1984.
She had several other television roles after the series ended. In 1999-2000, she appeared as Peaches in 9 episodes of Ladies Man with Alfred Molina, Sharon Lawrence and Betty White. From 1999-2002, she played Randy King on the legal drama Family Law. Her last major TV role was as Gloria Hodge, the surly mother-in-law to Marcia Cross's Bree and mother of Kyle MacLachlan's Orson on Desperate Housewives. She was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her seven-episode stint in 2007. Some of her other television credits included Cassie & Co., Bret Maverick, Best of the West, Quincy, M.E., The Greatest American Hero, Lou Grant, Crazy Like a Fox, Christy, Diagnosis: Murder, Fired Up and Hope & Faith.
In addition to her television series roles, she also appeared in some television movies and theatrical films. She met her husband Hal Holbrook while making the TV movie The Killing of Randy Webster. Some of her other credits included Going Beserk, Gambler V: Playing for Keeps, The Big Day and Comfort and Joy. Her final project was the 2009 independent film That Evening Sun, which was filmed on location with Holbrook in East Tennessee in the summer of 2008. In 2006, she published a memoir titled Trying to Get to Heaven, in which she talked about her life with Holbrook and working on Designing Women. She also appeared in commercials for The Real Yellow Pages and Coffeemate.
Besides Holbrook, Carter is survived by daughters Mary Dixie and Ginna, a sister, Melba Helen Heath and several nephews and nieces. We will miss her unmistakable Southern accent, style and grace. She was a classy lady. Ms. Carter was 70. Please share your memories and condolences here. You can also visit her official website for more information on her life and career. We will let you know if any marathons or on-air tributes are planned. Unfortunately, Designing Women isn't airing nationally at the moment.

As we reported last month, The Hallmark Channel added some Martha Stewart programming at the end of March. Now the weekday schedule is getting another makeover starting Wednesday. A number of shows will be shuffled to different times. Little House on the Prairie and Touched By An Angel will be returning to the lineup.

Effective Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Weekdays
9:00am From Martha's Kitchen (replaces The Golden Girls)
9:30am From Martha's Kitchen (replaces The Golden Girls)
10:00am From Martha's Garden (replaces The Golden Girls)
10:30am From Martha's Home (replaces The Golden Girls)
11:00am Touched By An Angel (replaces From Martha's Kitchen 2x)
12:00pm Little House on the Prairie (replaces From Martha's Kitchen/From Martha's Garden)
1:00pm Little House on the Prairie (replaces From Martha's Garden/From Martha's Home)
2:00pm Little House on the Prairie (replaces From Martha's Home/From Martha's Kitchen)
3:00pm 7th Heaven (replaces From Martha's Kitchen 2x)
4:00pm 7th Heaven (replaces From Martha's Garden 2x)
5:00pm 7th Heaven (replaces From Martha's Home 2x)
6:00pm The Golden Girls (replaces 7th Heaven)
6:30pm The Golden Girls (replaces 7th Heaven cont.)
7:00pm The Golden Girls (replaces 7th Heaven)
7:30pm The Golden Girls (replaces 7th Heaven cont.)
8:00pm Touched By An Angel (replaces 7th Heaven)
9:00pm-4:00am is the same as it is now.

Discuss the Hallmark Channel April schedule here.

Me-TV Chicago and Me-Too Chicago are giving their schedules a spring makeover starting April 12. Joining or returning to Me-TV's classic weekday lineup are My Three Sons, Petticoat Junction, One Day at a Time, Maude, The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, Barney Miller, Hogan's Heroes, Gilligan's Island, Frasier, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family, The Bernie Mac Show, Burns and Allen, The Jack Benny Show, McHale's Navy, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.. Joining or returning to the weekend schedule starting April 17 are Who's the Boss?, Square Pegs, Diff'rent Strokes, The Three Stooges, Get Smart, My Favorite Martian, The Bullwinkle Show, The Underdog Show, The Brady Bunch, Family Affair, Eight Is Enough and The Odd Couple. Leaving the schedule completely will be The Monkees, Reba, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Married with Children, That '70s Show, Laverne & Shirley, The Patty Duke Show, Amen, The Jeffersons, Good Times and That's My Mama.

Me-Too (WMEU) is all drama (except for Saved by the Bell and The Courtship of Eddie's Father)! The schedule is the same except for one minor change on Saturdays. Classic favorites airing on the weekday schedule include Cagney and Lacey, Perry Mason, In the Heat of the Night, Hawaii Five-O, The Streets of San Francisco, Bonanza, Police Woman, Charlie's Angels, The Rockford Files, Dragnet, The Adventures of Superman, The Rifleman, The Wild Wild West, Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Twilight Zone, Naked City and Route 66. Some notables airing on the weekend schedule include Knight Rider, The A-Team, T.J. Hooker, Friday the 13th: The Series, Batman, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Little House on the Prairie, Hart to Hart and many more.

View and discuss the complete April Me-TV and Me-Too schedule.