Thursday, October 28, 2010

ION Television November/December 2010 Schedule, New Movie Deals; Halloween 2010 Specials and Marathons on TV

This November and December on ION Television, the regular schedule will of course remain the same, but there will be a few stunts and lots of holiday movies in time for the holidays! The regular weekday schedule remains intact with a mix of Ghost Whisperer, Without a Trace and Criminal Minds every weekday from 3pm-1am. With these series, ION Television delivered its best season ever, growing faster year-over-year than any other broadcast or cable network, according to Nielsen Media Research. Propelled by crime dramas Criminal Minds and Without a Trace, ION has posted growth across all key demos, including A25-54, W25-54, A18-49 and W18-49. ION's ratings success, from October 2009 through September 2010, registered record triple and double-digit growth in sales prime, with a 72% increase in total viewers (1,011,000 vs. 588,000).
Back to November and December 2010, we get a few marathons in time for the holidays. On Black Friday, Friday, November 26, ION Television presents a full-day marathon of Criminal Minds from 3pm-1am. We get another Criminal Minds marathon on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24 from 3pm-1am. The following week, on Friday, December 31, we close out 2010 with a full-day marathon of Without a Trace from 3pm-1am.
Weekends have movies mainly from 1pm-1am, with some filler airings of My Name is Earl and/or M*A*S*H kicking it off. Movie premieres for November and December are: Under Siege, The Quick and the Dead, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Troy, My Dog Skip, and Gridiron Gang. We also get some encore airings of Scarface, Another 48 Hours, The Negotiator, Courage Under Fire, Point Break, Pay it Forward, The Family Stone, When Harry Met Sally, In Her Shoes, Blood Work, and The Fugitive. The holiday movies kick-off Sunday, November 28 with movies A Golden Christmas, Christmas Town, and The Christmas Clause airing throughout December.

In other ION Television updates, part of the network's commitment to expand its schedule with high profile, 'positively entertaining' programming, ION Television has inked multiple deals this month to acquire over 85 feature films. The deals are with leading Hollywood studios including Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, and Sony Pictures Television - making it the network's largest movie buy to date. The newly acquired theatrical titles begin airing this month and will continue to roll out on ION Television's schedule through 2012.
ION Television's largest studio deal is with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution with 44 films. Highlights of the premier package include comedy Starsky & Hutch, with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson; the sea-faring film The Perfect Storm starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg; The Guardian starring Kevin Costner; and Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro.
The movie titles acquired from Twentieth Century Fox include the critically acclaimed and Academy Award® winning movie for Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire with Dev Patel and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring award-winning actor Russell Crowe.
The Sony Pictures Television package includes 16 film titles and features Ali, the biographical film of boxing icon Muhammad Ali; the political action thriller Vantage Point starring Dennis Quaid and LOST's Matthew Fox; and the crime drama We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg.
ION Television also acquires over a dozen titles from MGM including top films such as Be Cool, starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman; romantic comedy A Guy Thing starring My Name is Earl's Jason Lee; and Into the Blue, starring Paul Walker and Jessica Alba.
The theatrical acquisitions will be part of ION Television's new expanded daypart and late night schedule, now airing from 1PM-1AM on weekends. Additionally, the new titles will build upon network's thriving Big Movie Weekend, which has seen +48% ratings growth from last season.

Halloween is coming upon us this weekend and we need to let you know of any specials or marathons airing. Last night of course featured Halloween episodes of ABC's Laugh On Wednesday with spooky episodes of The Middle, Better With You, Modern Family, and Cougar Town. The prelim ratings for all four were great reaching season or series highs in either total viewers and/or 18-49.
We have mentioned some of these items already in past blog posts, but of course you have the 13 Nights of Halloween continuing on ABC Family, the classic Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airing tonight (and tomorrow) at 8pm on ABC, and the new special Scared Shrekless airing tonight at 8 on NBC. They also have Halloween episodes of Community, The Office and Outsourced following the all-new special. Classic sitcom wise, The Hub has Halloween episodes of Doogie Howser, M.D., Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley tonight starting at 9:30pm. As we mentioned, Nick at Nite has a Halloween episode of Glenn Martin, DDS tomorrow at 10pm and a Halloween episodes stunt on Saturday featuring George Lopez, Everybody Hates Chris, Home Improvement, and Family Matters. TV Land has Roseanne Halloween episodes airing Saturday night from 2-4am and more on Halloween Sunday from 12am-3am. WE tv sees ghosts with Ghost Whisperer on Saturday from 10pm-4am
Our friends at TV Tango has your FULL guide to Halloween hauntings on TV for entire month of October, including marathons, specials, TV movies, episodes, and anything else we could find that might scare you or make you want to carve a pumpkin. Head on over to TVTango as always for your holiday listings!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, April 3

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Goddess of the Music Store" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie helps Connor impress his new crush, while Mandy, Audrey and Jim struggle to butt out of Connor’s love life.

Ghosts - "His Girl Shiki" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Pete makes good on his promise to find someone for Sasappis by bringing in a wisecracking 1940s screenwriter who also has the ability to roam.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Thursday, April 3

  • Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Catch Jenny on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She also talks about Dying for Sex on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Bill appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Keanu Reaves (Swedish Dicks) - E! News has interviews with Kate and Keanu at 11pm on E!.
  • Rami Malek (The War at Home) - Rami talks about The Amateur on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Laurence Fishburne (black-ish) - Laurence chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Judy Greer (Kidding/Married/Mad Love/Miss Guided/Arrested Development) - Judy talks about Eric LaRue on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia talks about Your Friends and Neighbors on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and co-hosts in the 10am hour.
  • Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin talks about The Bondsman on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti talks about The Queens Tour: 4 Legends, 1 Stage, featuring Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, and Stephanie Mills, kicking off this May in Las Vegas on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike is joining Drew and sharing what it was like working with co-stars Seth Rogen and Kathryn Hahn on their comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Giancarlo Esposito (Bakersfield P.D.) - Giancarlo talks about Netflix's The Residence on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela is a guest on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Abby Quinn (Mad About You - Abby appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 8:5am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

04/02 - Rick and Morty Season 8 Premieres May 25; Netflix's Tires Returns June 5
04/01 - Disney Renews Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for Season 2; Prime Video Details Final Season of The Summer I Turned Pretty
03/31 - Prime Video's Dance-World Comedy Étoile; Netflix's Tom Segura Dark Comedy Bad Thoughts
03/30 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 31, 2025)
03/29 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Netflix Gives Pilot Order to A Different World Sequel; Malcolm in the Middle Reboot Recasts Role of Dewey
03/28 - Pat Sajak's Final Spin on Wheel and Return of Jeopardy! Masters; Remembering George Foreman and Wings Hauser
03/27 - IFC Renews SisterS for Season 2; Netflix Orders Live-Action Scooby-Doo Series
03/26 - Hulu Spring 2025 Slate; The Making of The Americas Special Narrated by Tom Hanks on NBC
03/25 - Deli Boys Now Streaming All Episodes on Hulu; Heartland Season 18 on UP Faith & Family
03/24 - Peacock April Highlights Include Three's Company; Antenna TV's 50 Years on the Beat Barney Miller Anniversary Marathon
03/23 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 24, 2025)
03/22 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* Coming to DVD; American Dad! Moving Back to Fox
03/21 - Big Mouth Final Season; The Four Seasons Premieres in May on Netflix
03/20 - HBO's Brett Goldstein Comedy Special; Disney+ Adds The Simpsons 24/7 Stream
03/19 - Solar Opposites Final Season This Fall; NBC to Move Grosse Pointe Garden Society to Fridays
03/18 - Game Show Network New Shows Launch April 14; NBC Picks Up 3rd Comedy Pilot, While Bobby Moynihan Joins Tracy Morgan Pilot
03/17 - It's True! Ted Lasso Renewed for Season 4; Jane Goodall Returns for Jane Season 3
03/16 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 17, 2025)
03/15 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Neighborhood Renewed for Eighth and Final Season; NBC Picks Up New Cheerleading Comedy
03/14 - NBC Comedy Pilots Wheeling & Dealing; Hulu's Got to Get Out
03/13 - Prime Video Comedy Series Overcompensating Premiere Date; Eric Stonestreet Joins Dexter: Resurrection
03/12 - Hacks Season 4 Premieres April 10; Nickelodeon Orders Wylde Pak
03/11 - The Neighborhood Renewed for Final Season; Max's The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast
03/10 - Netflix Renews Running Point for Season 2; Apple TV+ Trailer for The Studio
03/09 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 10, 2025)
03/08 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Tracy Morgan to Star in NBC Pilot from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock; Nobody Wants This Returning for Second Season
03/07 - Trailer for Apple TV+ Comedy Government Cheese; Remembering Saved by the Bell and TV Producer Peter Engel
03/06 - The CW Spring Premiere Dates; Henry Winkler Heads to HISTORY Channel
03/05 - Hacks Brings Out the Stars in Season 4; NBC Orders Pilot with Tracy Morgan
03/04 - Apple TV+ Side Quest Launches March 26; Krysten Ritter Joins Dexter: Resurrection
03/03 - HBO's The Rehearsal Returns April 20; Sharon Horgan Signs Deal for HBO Comedy Series
03/02 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 3, 2025)