Thursday, October 13, 2011
ABC Family's 2011 Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas Schedule; The CW Picks Up Full Seasons For All 3 New Dramas, Including Ringer
We know it isn't even Halloween yet, but we like to look ahead and Christmas, believe it or not, is right around the corner! ABC Family will kick off the holiday season with 36 days of festive, family-friendly programming starting with the annual "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" from November 20-30, 2011, and then the actual "25 Days of Christmas" from December 1-25, 2011. The highly-anticipated annual programming event will include all-new original Christmas-themed movies, as well as the return of holiday favorites. On-air and online, viewers can enjoy the best time of the year with "25 Days of Christmas" exclusives, such as an original theme song and video from hit country music artists, The Band Perry; two holly, jolly sweepstakes; and many other very merry digital treats.
This year, "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" will feature the ABC Family original movie premiere of Desperately Seeking Santa on Sunday, November 27 (8:00–10:00 PM ET/PT). Laura Vandervoort (V) stars as an ambitious young marketing executive who dreams up the ticket to Christmas sales: a sexy Santa contest. Teenage girls and their moms flock to her mall when the gorgeous winner of the contest becomes a local hero, sending sales through the roof. She counted on this new Santa to win her a promotion - not win her heart, complicate her life and question everything she ever wanted. In addition, ABC Family is proud to bring the wooftastic holiday movie The Search for Santa Paws to television for the first time on Monday, November 21 (9:00–11:00 PM ET/PT). Triple platinum artists, The Band Perry, who are currently nominated for three AMA and a total of five CMA Awards, have written and recorded an original holiday song for "25 Days of Christmas" and will shoot a music video for the song, which will be part of the network's on-air and online campaign. Viewers will get an exclusive 60-second sneak peek of the music video during the November 20 (8:00–10:00 PM ET/PT) airing of the ABC Family movie Holiday in Handcuffs starring Melissa Joan Hart & Mario Lopez, and the entire video will be available immediately afterward online at ABCFamily.com/25Days.
The rest of the "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" will have movies such as Santa Baby, Once Upon a Christmas, Christmas Cupid, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish, Home Alone 2, and the premiere of Surf's Up. As for the actual "25 Days of Christmas," it is the biggest cable programming event of the year, and ABC Family delivers the gift of holiday cheer with the world premiere of the original movie, 12 Dates of Christmas, starring Amy Smart and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Premiering Sunday, December 11 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), 12 Dates of Christmas follows a young woman who re-lives the same first date on Christmas Eve over and over again until she learns to open up her world to new things and stop living in the past. "25 Days of Christmas" also brings the basic cable premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Sunday, December 4, 8:30 PM – 12:00 AM ET/PT), which headlines the network's annual Harry Potter movie marathon running on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. The marathon also includes the first five installments of the Harry Potter film franchise. Viewers can also ring in the holidays with the television premiere of the Pink Panther animated short A Very Pink Christmas, on Wednesday, December 7 (6:00 – 6:30 PM ET/PT) and the network premiere broadcasts of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, on Wednesday, December 7 (9:00 – 11:00 PM ET/PT), and Disney∙Pixar's Up on Friday, December 16 (9:00–11:00 PM ET/PT). More details on the specials and movies will come soon.
View the full Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas schedule (Nov. 20-30). We will have the full schedule for the actual 25 Days of Christmas (Dec. 1-25) in the coming weeks, so come on back!
The CW Network gave full season orders to its three freshmen drama series Hart of Dixie, Ringer and The Secret Circle. Hart of Dixie airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET , while Ringer airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET and The Secret Circle airs Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. All three series have done decently in the ratings for The CW, but not great. All three series received nine extra episodes, for a total of 22 episodes each. The fate of all of the new CW series have now been revealed, as they canceled reality entry H8R already. The three CW dramas join previous new series picked-up for the full season on other networks: New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, Up All Night and Whitney. Full season pick-ups are expected for series like Suburgatory, Revenge and Person of Interest. A few others are in contention as well, but nothing concrete yet. New comedy Last Man Standing had a strong series debut and is likely for a pick-up if it can stay close to those numbers. We will keep you up to date what has been picked-up or canceled, so as always, stay with us!
This year, "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" will feature the ABC Family original movie premiere of Desperately Seeking Santa on Sunday, November 27 (8:00–10:00 PM ET/PT). Laura Vandervoort (V) stars as an ambitious young marketing executive who dreams up the ticket to Christmas sales: a sexy Santa contest. Teenage girls and their moms flock to her mall when the gorgeous winner of the contest becomes a local hero, sending sales through the roof. She counted on this new Santa to win her a promotion - not win her heart, complicate her life and question everything she ever wanted. In addition, ABC Family is proud to bring the wooftastic holiday movie The Search for Santa Paws to television for the first time on Monday, November 21 (9:00–11:00 PM ET/PT). Triple platinum artists, The Band Perry, who are currently nominated for three AMA and a total of five CMA Awards, have written and recorded an original holiday song for "25 Days of Christmas" and will shoot a music video for the song, which will be part of the network's on-air and online campaign. Viewers will get an exclusive 60-second sneak peek of the music video during the November 20 (8:00–10:00 PM ET/PT) airing of the ABC Family movie Holiday in Handcuffs starring Melissa Joan Hart & Mario Lopez, and the entire video will be available immediately afterward online at ABCFamily.com/25Days.
The rest of the "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" will have movies such as Santa Baby, Once Upon a Christmas, Christmas Cupid, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish, Home Alone 2, and the premiere of Surf's Up. As for the actual "25 Days of Christmas," it is the biggest cable programming event of the year, and ABC Family delivers the gift of holiday cheer with the world premiere of the original movie, 12 Dates of Christmas, starring Amy Smart and Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Premiering Sunday, December 11 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), 12 Dates of Christmas follows a young woman who re-lives the same first date on Christmas Eve over and over again until she learns to open up her world to new things and stop living in the past. "25 Days of Christmas" also brings the basic cable premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Sunday, December 4, 8:30 PM – 12:00 AM ET/PT), which headlines the network's annual Harry Potter movie marathon running on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4. The marathon also includes the first five installments of the Harry Potter film franchise. Viewers can also ring in the holidays with the television premiere of the Pink Panther animated short A Very Pink Christmas, on Wednesday, December 7 (6:00 – 6:30 PM ET/PT) and the network premiere broadcasts of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, on Wednesday, December 7 (9:00 – 11:00 PM ET/PT), and Disney∙Pixar's Up on Friday, December 16 (9:00–11:00 PM ET/PT). More details on the specials and movies will come soon.
View the full Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas schedule (Nov. 20-30). We will have the full schedule for the actual 25 Days of Christmas (Dec. 1-25) in the coming weeks, so come on back!
The CW Network gave full season orders to its three freshmen drama series Hart of Dixie, Ringer and The Secret Circle. Hart of Dixie airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET , while Ringer airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET and The Secret Circle airs Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. All three series have done decently in the ratings for The CW, but not great. All three series received nine extra episodes, for a total of 22 episodes each. The fate of all of the new CW series have now been revealed, as they canceled reality entry H8R already. The three CW dramas join previous new series picked-up for the full season on other networks: New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, Up All Night and Whitney. Full season pick-ups are expected for series like Suburgatory, Revenge and Person of Interest. A few others are in contention as well, but nothing concrete yet. New comedy Last Man Standing had a strong series debut and is likely for a pick-up if it can stay close to those numbers. We will keep you up to date what has been picked-up or canceled, so as always, stay with us!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, October 12
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Guys Have a Sleepover" (FX and FXX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Blinded from LASIK surgery, Dee pleads for the guys to spend the night to keep her safe from neighborhood crime, but they listen to the wolves inside themselves and opt for a dudes-only sleepover of their own.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 12)
Monday, October 12
- William Shatner ($h*! My Dad Says) - Watch William on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Leonard Ouzts (Abby's) - Leonard is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Natasha Leggero (Broke/Dice/Another Period/Free Agents) and Tommy Davidson (The Varnell Hill Show/The Proud Family/Malcolm & Eddie/Between Brothers) - Natasha and Tommy will be on a repeat of Funny You Should Ask at 12:37am on CBS.
- Peter Krause (Sports Night/Cybill) - Andy Cohen interviews Peter on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Keri Russell (Running Wilde/Daddy's Girls) - Keri talks about The Dropout on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Co-host Gayle King talks with Billy on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am. He chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Marilu Henner (Taxi/Evening Shade) - Marilu talks about The Ask on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Christopher Jackson (And Just Like That...) - NBC's Today catches up with Christopher in the 9am hour.
- Mikey Day (Kath & Kim) - Mikey talks about Is it Cake? on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Joe Manganiello (Mythic Quest/How I Met Your Mother) - Joe talks about Bloodlines: A Memoir on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/20/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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
Sitcoms Online Main Page
Contact Us