Thursday, March 07, 2013
Hallmark Shuffles Daytime Schedule Again; CW Reviving Whose Line Is It Anyway?
The Hallmark Channel continues tinkering with their daytime lifestyle block on the schedule. The sitcom reruns are doing fine but their original daytime lifestyle block has struggled. Beginning Monday, March 11, 2013, Home & Family will move from 8-10am to 10am-12pm once again, while Marie and Mad Hungry will move to 12-2pm again instead of 10-12am. The original daytime lifestyle block was airing 8am-12pm but now it will be back to 10am-2pm, so The Golden Girls daytime block is moving back to 8-10am rather than 12-2pm. Hallmark has struggled with the original block since it started with The Martha Stewart Show. Earlier this week they announced another new partnership anchored by an exclusive cable syndication agreement bringing award-winning lifestyle program The Better Show to Hallmark Channel's lineup of daytime lifestyle programming. The Better Show (aka Better TV) currently airs every weekday in more than 160 markets reaching 80 percent of U.S. television households, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia, the country's top four television markets. The Better Show consistently ranks No. 1 in its time period in many markets and, as a result of its continuing success, Meredith recently renewed The Better Show for a seventh season. Beginning this fall, The Better Show will air every weekday on the Hallmark Channel during its daytime programming block, which also includes Home & Family and Marie. Each episode will air on the Hallmark Channel a day following the original nationally syndicated show. It is the first cable network distribution agreement for Meredith Video Studios.
With the addition of The Better Show this Fall, it doesn't look like the daytime lifestyle block is going anywhere anytime soon, despite all this tinkering on the schedule. Back to the current schedule, no other changes will be made, so Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, Frasier, Cheers, and I Love Lucy will remain in their current time periods. Only the daytime block of The Golden Girls is moving earlier, as mentioned. As for stunts, look for an I Love Lucy 24-hour marathon on Saturday, April 20, 2013 starting bright and early at 6am! Stay with us for continued updates on The Hallmark Channel's schedule.
The CW is going for laughs this summer by ordering a new take on the hit improvisational comedy series, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, hosted this time by comedian Aisha Tyler (The Talk). Premiere information will be announced at a later time. The CW's Whose Line Is It Anyway? features the return of original improv stars Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, who along with a special guest each episode, must put their comedic skills to the test through a series of spontaneous improv games. Prompted only by random ideas supplied by the studio audience and host Aisha Tyler, our four performers must use the little information they have and their wild imaginations to depict different characters and an array of scenes, as well as perform songs. After each round of improvisation, Aisha will dole out points to our four performers and declare a winner at the end of every episode. Based on the wildly successful U.K. format, which also spawned a previous incarnation in the US that ran for eight seasons on ABC, Whose Line Is It Anyway? is executive produced by Dan Patterson, Mark Leveson, Jimmy Mulville, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady.
The original Whose Line Is It Anyway? on ABC was hosted by Drew Carey from 1998-2007 and also started as a summer show in August 1998. Last summer, ABC aired a similar series hosted by Fred Willard called Trust Us With Your Life, that had Wayne Brady and Colin Mochrie, but was canceled after 6 episodes. The CW has ordered 10 episodes of this revival of Whose Line Is It Anyway? We'll have premiere date news soon, but can it do better than last summer's Trust Us With Your Life?
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, July 24
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Baby Fight" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie and Mandy worry they’re not on the same page when they disagree about having another kid, and Mary, Jim and Audrey struggle to stay out of it.
Ghosts - "Halloween 4: The Witch" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The ghosts, seeking some excitement during a low-key Halloween, join Patience (Mary Holland) in putting Sam on a witch trial.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 21)
Thursday, July 24
- Fortune Feimster (FUBAR/Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune guest hosts on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) -
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) - Caroline is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Christopher McDonald (Hacks/Mr. Iglesias/Good Advice/Walter & Emily) - Christopher appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear/Girls) - Ebon talks about The Fantastic Four: First Steps on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Mark Consuelos (Alpha House/Hope & Faith) - Mark chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Leanne Morgan (Leanne) - Leanne talks about Netflix's Leanne on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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