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

Wednesday, July 9

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Volunteers" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don’t go as planned.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Months after the Gang visited, Abbott's Principal Ava walks viewers through some of the unseen footage of the Gang's volunteerism and reveals their true intentions.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Frank Is in a Coma" (FXX and FX, 9:33PM ET/PT)
The five stages of grief set in for Dee as Frank lies on his deathbed; the Guys plot their new path forward by pitching their business ventures to Philadelphia's elite.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Wednesday, July 9

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Salma Hayek Pinault (The Sinbad Show) - Watch Salma on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Richie Moriarty (Ghosts), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Richie, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela chats about her film Superman on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Anna and Justin discuss their film Nuked on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Simon talks about Peacock's Poker Face on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.