Spike TV Acquires Walker Texas Ranger, More Changes to July 2010; Denver's RTV Adds More Classic Series

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Spike TV Acquires Walker Texas Ranger, More Changes to July 2010; Denver's RTV Adds More Classic Series

Spike TV has acquired the cable rights to the Chuck Norris action series Walker, Texas Ranger. The series will start airing on Spike TV starting Tuesday, July 6, 2010. The series aired on CBS from 1993-2001 and has a cult following today due to Chuck and the campy nature of the show. It was an action series, police show, and a western all in one. Only Chuck Norris can pull that off!
The series will get a four-day marathon airing 9am-6pm from July 6-9. After the marathon, Chuck Norris and company will air weekdays from 3-6pm. This means the schedule will change for the rest of the day, too. CSI will no longer air all day in daytime, instead CSI will now be weekdays 9am-12pm. From 12pm-3pm will now be The Unit, which returns to the weekday line-up. From 6pm-1am there will be a mix of originals & movies and Entourage on Monday nights from 10pm-12am. In the late night there will be CSI at 1am, along with sporadic airings of Star Trek: Voyager, Unsolved Mysteries, Disorderly Conduct: Video on Patrol, and The Shield sometime between 2-4am.
On weekends, returning to Spike TV will be the sitcom Married...with Children! Al Bundy and the Bundy family will only air Sundays, though. Sunday mornings from 9am-11am starting Sunday, July 11. Married...with Children last aired on a Viacom network on Comedy Central. In fact, Comedy Central has scheduled a filler airing of the show on Saturday, June 26 at 8am.
Back to Walker, Texas Ranger, the series will continue to air on Universal owned-networks USA Network and Sleuth. USA doesn't have it on the schedule in July, but Sleuth will continue to air it in July in marathon blocks. Currently, USA Network is only airing it on Wednesday mornings. USA Network has aired the series since Aug. 1997, so that is almost 13 years! The Spike TV deal is happening because Hallmark Channel lost rights to the series. Hallmark obtained the series in Fall 2004 and shared it with USA Network, now Spike TV will share it with them. Hallmark last aired the series on weekends this past fall through end of December 2009.
And if you want even more Walker, Texas Ranger, another cable network will start airing it in September. Does this mean USA/Sleuth will lose rights by then? We're not sure, but we'll find out. Stay with us starting next month for all the cable network fall schedules!

KCDO in Denver is adding more classic TV to its line-up! They are a Retro Television affiliate, but will even expand on RTV's line-up by adding more classic series! Effective Monday, June 28, 2010, KCDO, which can be seen by OTA, Comcast, Dish, DirecTV in the Denver area, will a few of their own shows to mix in with the RTV lineup. KCDO's own purchases includes Get Smart, Hawaii Five-0, Streets of San Francisco, The Beverly Hillbillies and Mission: Impossible. It seems KCDO has a deal with CBS Paramount, as all of those are owned by Paramount. RTV's series are mostly owned by Universal, which include series like McHale's Navy, The Rockford Files, Quincy, Magnum P.I., and Emergency!
This is a good move by KDCO to add even more classic TV to a classic TV line-up. Hopefully more RTV stations follow. Maybe RTV will get the idea to acquire more series from other libraries.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, January 23

Shifting Gears - "Accommodations" (ABC, 9:02PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Matt joins Riley at Carter’s high school open house, where he’s unsettled to learn about the “accommodations” made for his grandson’s anxiety. Meanwhile, Riley reconnects with Caitlin, a former classmate, and sets her up with Gabriel.

Only Murders in the Building - "Sparring Partners" (ABC, 9:33PM ET/PT)
Closing in on the killer, Mabel takes her investigative talents into the ring; Oliver and Charles duke it out over a birdcage only to end up confronting their deepest paternal struggles.

Only Murders in the Building - "I Know Who Did It" (ABC, 10:12PM ET/PT)
The question of who did it remains, along with a few more questions that have been raised.

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "An Old Mustang" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie worries that he’s leaving Connor out of his new project with Jim. Meanwhile, Mandy and Audrey struggle to decorate CeeCee’s nursery without fighting.

Ghosts - "The Primary Source" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Sam’s book publisher requires source material for her biography on Isaac, she and Jay take a field trip to find a diary he claims he hid when he was alive.

Animal Control - "Baby Kangaroos and Chickens" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria compete to win Fiona's affections at the new kennels' fundraiser; Emily gets some very bad advice from Bettany on her speech; Patel and Shred find themselves facing the world's most charming squatter.

Going Dutch - "Korfball" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Everyone in town is talking about the upcoming Korfball match between the Americans and the Dutch; the colonel refuses to lose to the Dutch and Quinn brings out her high school alter ego "The Rocket" to make her dad proud.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Thursday, January 23

James Marsden (30 Rock) - Catch James on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Fortune Feimster (FUBAR/Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Denis Leary (Going Dutch/No Good Deed/Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/The Job) - Denis stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Nick appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Thomas, Paul and Joe are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Al Madrigal (Lopez vs Lopez/About a Boy/Gary Unmarried/Welcome to The Captain) - Al appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Jason Biggs (Outmatched/Mad Love/Drexell's Class) - Jason and his wife Jenny Mollen are telling Drew about their new show Dinner and a Movie that features an episode focusing on 50 First Dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.