Wednesday, February 27, 2019
The Monkees Joins MeTV Network Sunday Lineup; NBC Renews All Three "Chicago" Dramas

Starting Sunday, March 3rd, television viewers and Monkees fans can relive the iconic music and psychedelic hijinks of the Emmy Award-winning series from its very first episode, now on MeTV, America's #1 classic television network. Following an overwhelming response to MeTV's Peter Tork tribute this past Sunday (The Monkees were up +74% Persons 2+ at 5:00pm and up +78% Persons 2+ at 5:30pm vs. last February's time period*), The Monkees quartet will join MeTV's groovy counterparts, The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island, on the network's Sunday afternoon lineup, airing at 5pm and 5:30pm ET/PT.
The Monkees originally aired from 1966-1968, employing avant-garde film techniques such as improvisation, jump cuts and breaking the "fourth wall," and earned two Emmy Awards in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Inspired by The Beatles' classic films A Hard Day's Night and Help!, the made-for-TV pop/rock band soon rose to international stardom. The beloved cast included the late Peter Tork, who passed last Thursday, as the band's "loveable goof", keyboardist, bass guitarist and eventually songwriter. To round out the foursome, Micky Dolenz was cast as the "funny" drummer, Michael Nesmith as the "deadpan" guitarist and former child actor Davy Jones was the resident "teen heartthrob" and lead vocalist.
"The Monkees is a truly memorable series, the first TV comedy of the 1960s to showcase musician characters with original popular music that charted, combined with zany comedy and the teen heartthrob phenomenon," said Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. "Our recent tribute to Peter Tork sparked a significant amount of positive viewer feedback and delivered a very large national audience. Adding The Monkees as part of our Sunday afternoon line up alongside The Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island gives our MeTV audience even more to cheer about."
In spite of being dismissed by critics for their "Hollywood" beginnings, The Monkees music struck a chord with the emerging youth culture, catapulting the group into one of the most influential bands of the decade and birthed "Monkeemania," – a flurry of merchandising, record sales, and even world tours opened by a young Jimi Hendrix. In 1967, the band sold 35 million albums, reportedly twice as many as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined, and songs Daydream Believer, I'm a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville, all reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
In the late 1980s, The Monkees experienced a resurgence in popular culture and embarked on several reunion tours. After the 2012 death of Davy Jones, the surviving members released Good Times! in 2016 and earned their first Top 20 album in 25 years. Overall, The Monkees have sold over 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the bestselling groups of all time.
Viewers can see the complete schedule and find out where to watch by visiting MeTV.com.
Following the huge success of its all-"Chicago" Wednesday night lineup, NBC has renewed all three of its Windy City dramas - Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. - for the 2019-20 season.
The announcement was made by Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Co-Presidents of Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment.
"We remain in awe of the job Dick Wolf, our producers, casts and crews do in creating some of the most compelling television today," Katz and Pakosta said. "The 'Chicago' franchise is a lynchpin of our schedule and we're thrilled that audiences have embraced our Wednesdays with such incredible passion for these shows and characters."
So far this season, NBC's Wednesday lineup of "Chicago" dramas is undefeated on the night in total viewers, winning 15 of 15 Wednesday nights when in originals. That's elevated NBC to the Wednesday lead at this point in the season for the first in 16 years, despite competition this season from such potent rivals as Empire, Survivor, The Masked Singer and Modern Family. All three "Chicago" dramas are delivering their most-watched seasons ever, with Chicago Med averaging a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49 and 11.4 million viewers overall in "live plus seven day" averages from Nielsen Media Research, Chicago Fire at a 2.1 in 18-49 and 11.7 million viewers and Chicago P.D. earning a 2.1 in 18-49 and 11.1 million viewers.
Chicago Med, currently in its fourth season, is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Diane Frolov, Andrew Schneider, Michael Waxman, Matt Olmstead, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski.
Chicago Fire, currently in its seventh season, is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Derek Haas, Todd Arnow, Andrea Newman, Michael Gilvary, Michael Brandt, Arthur W. Forney and Peter Jankowski.
Chicago P.D., currently in its sixth season, is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Rick Eid, Peter Jankowski, Derek Haas, Arthur W. Forney and Eriq La Salle are executive producers.
Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. are produced by Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, May 9
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 5)
Friday, May 9
- Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Watch Paul on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Matt appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Asif Ali (Deli Boys) and Saagar Shaikh (Deli Boys) - Asif and Saagar are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Busy Philipps (Girls5eva/Vice Principals/Cougar Town/Love, Inc.) - Busy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about Nine Perfect Strangers on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Like Family/Love, Inc.) - Holly swings by for a chat about her new film Hats Off to Love on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother/Free Spirit) - NBC's Today catches up with Sarah and Alyson in the 9am hour.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - In this a little bit extra episode Drew shares more of her conversation with Brooke at the news desk on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel joins Sherri to talk about starring in the new film Juliet & Romeo, so check your local listings.
- Terri J. Vaughn (She the People/Mann & Wife/Meet the Browns/All of Us/The Steve Harvey Show) - Terri talks about starring in the new Netflix series She the People on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Julia Sweeney (Shrill/Work in Progress/Maybe It's Me/George and Leo) and Marsha Mason (Grace and Frankie/The Middle/Sibs) - Julia and Marsha talk about My First Ex-Husband on PIX11 Morinng News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
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)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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