SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The Hallmark Channel will add more programming hours to its line-up this October starting Monday, Sept. 27, 2010! Everyday from 4-6am, paid programming will be removed and we get two additional hours of sitcom airings! Airing seven days a week in the 4-6am hours will be more Who's the Boss? starting Sept. 27. It will also remain in its weekdays 6-8pm slot as well (the 4-6am airings are encores of the weekday 6-8pm airings), and this will be the first time Hallmark will air the sitcom on weekends as a regular, too (even though it is only early mornings). The weekend airings from 4-6am will start from the first episode and be a separate rotation from the weekday airings. No other changes will be made to the regular schedule in October, so as a recap, for weekdays we have paid programming from 6-8am, The Golden Girls 8-10am, Martha Stewart's "Home" block from 10am-6pm, Who's the Boss? from 6-8pm, Little House on the Prairie at 8pm, the Hallmark Movie at 9pm, more The Golden Girls from 11pm-1am, Cheers from 1am-4am, and more Who's the Boss? from 4am-6am. And on weekends we have I Love Lucy from 6-9am, then a bunch of movies the rest of the day, followed by more I Love Lucy from 1am-4am and Who's the Boss? from 4am-6am. It's too bad I Love Lucy is not on weekdays, too, but at least it is airing unlike other series like The Partridge Family, M*A*S*H and Touched by an Angel.
We also have some interesting marathon news for you! First up, on Saturday, October 2, 2010 there will be a 24-hour marathon of Little House on the Prairie starting at 6am! Since there is no more paid programming from 5-6am, this is now possible! Then later in the month on Halloween (Sunday, October 31, 2010), join Hallmark with two classic sitcom marathons and a classic movie! A family of friendly monsters have misadventures never quite realising why people react to them so strangely. Join the Hallmark Channel for a Halloween Marathon at 1313 Mockingbird Lane with classic episodes of The Munsters from 6am-4pm. Then at 4pm, the movie Mad Monster Party? (1967) will air. The movie is about when Dr. Frankenstein decides to retire from the monster-making business, he calls an international roster of monsters to a creepy convention to elect his successor. Stars the voices of Boris Karloff and Phyllis Diller. But wait, after that movie, another sitcom marathon will air from 6pm-3am. It's another '60s classic sitcom, The Addams Family, the misadventures of a blissfully macabre family. Join the Hallmark Channel for a creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky, Halloween marathon. After these marathons, will The Munsters and The Addams Family join the Hallmark regular schedule? It doesn't seem like it, but if they do, we will let you know of course. These shows usually get Halloween marathons over the years, such as on WGN America, but they never join the regular schedule.
One other note, on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 8pm, the new special Tricking and Treating with Martha Stewart will air. Looking for some sensationally spooky ways to decorate your home for Halloween? Martha shares her tips on making this Halloween come alive. Brendan Fraser guest stars.
View the UPDATED Hallmark Channel Fall 2010 schedule with the addition of these October updates.

TNT and TBS are going into production on four series pilots, including projects from such successful producers and writers as Dean Devlin (TNT's Leverage and The Librarian movie trilogy); Marco Schnabel (TNT's The Librarian movie trilogy); Kenneth Biller and Mike Sussman (Star Trek: Voyager); Allan Loeb (The Switch, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps); and Cynthia Cidre (The Mambo Kings, A Killing in a Small Town). TNT has lined up pilots for a pair of unique crime procedural pilots, Perception (working title) and an untitled Allan Loeb project. The network is also moving forward on a pilot for Dallas, an updated version of the classic TV series. Meanwhile, TBS has a pilot in the works for Brain Trust (working title), a comedic detective series.
These are just pilot orders, so it doesn't mean they will be picked-up to series. If they do, we will let you know. Here is info on the two pilots that are geared for us really: Dallas is from executive producer Cynthia Cidre, writer of the acclaimed film The Mambo Kings and creator/executive producer of the TV series Cane, has crafted an update of the long-running series about the Ewings of Southfork, whose betrayals, jealousies and passions have made them famous. The story focuses on the offspring of bitter rivals and brothers JR and Bobby Ewing, who clash over the future of the Ewing dynasty while the fate of Southfork itself weighs in the balance. This project, based upon the iconic series created by David Jacobs, comes to TNT from Warner Horizon Television.
As for TBS's Brain Trust (working title), Dean Devlin, executive producer of TNT's hit series Leverage, is teaming up with Marco Schnabel for this pilot about Detective Billy Doyle, whose career and life have hit rock bottom after he accidentally ends his partner's career. Doyle's life gets turned around, however, when a recent murder case gets unexpected and unconventional help from three hyper-smart geniuses from a private think tank. If Doyle can survive the chaos and keep these new partners in line, they just may be the antidote to resurrect his career and, ultimately, his life. Brain Trust (working title) is being produced for TBS by Devlin's Electric Entertainment.