SitcomsOnline.com News Blog: Diagnosis Murder

Showing posts with label Diagnosis Murder. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 08, 2017

MeTV Network to Add The Facts of Life, TJ Hooker, & More; Showtime Fall 2017 Slate

MeTV is making some late summer changes to its Summer of Me lineup. The Facts of Life, Diagnosis Murder, T.J. Hooker, Hawaii Five-0 and Cannon are joining the lineup beginning Monday, August 21. Most of these are new to MeTV, such as The Facts of Life, while Hawaii Five-0 makes its return to MeTV. Effective Aug. 21, The Facts of Life will air weekdays at 6am. Diagnosis Murder will air weekdays at 11am. Early evenings will now be back-to-back dramas, T.J. Hooker at 5pm and Hawaii Five-0 at 6pm, as the sitcom block of Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days and The Odd Couple will be replaced. Cannon joins the late night line-up at 1am. With these changes and additions, the shows leaving for now are Mister Ed, Remington Steele, Gilligan's Island, Happy Days, The Odd Couple, Mayberry RFD and Ironside. View and discuss these MeTV Summer of Me changes.

Showtime

SHOWTIME has announced the premiere dates for its fall comedy slate, including two new half-hour comedy series and the return of the hit hour-long comedy Shameless. First up, White Famous - starring Jay Pharoah (Saturday Night Live) and based on the personal experiences of Academy Award(R) winner Jamie Foxx - will debut Sunday, October 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, airing after the hit drama series Ray Donovan. Then Smilf, - starring Frankie Shaw (Mr. Robot) and based on her Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winning short film of the same name - will launch Sunday, November 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, following the 9 p.m. ET/PT season eight premiere that night of the hit series Shameless. On November 5, White Famous will move to 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.

In White Famous, Jay Pharoah plays talented young comedian Floyd Mooney, whose star is rising, forcing him to navigate the treacherous waters of maintaining his credibility as he begins to cross over into the world of becoming "white famous." Jamie Foxx will executive produce and guest star in a recurring role. Utkarsh Ambudkar (The Mindy Project) plays Malcolm, Floyd's frustrated agent who wants his client to do whatever it takes to make it big. Cleopatra Coleman (The Last Man on Earth) plays Floyd's ex-girlfriend Sadie, the love of his life and the mother of his son, played by Lonnie Chavis (This is Us). Jacob Ming-Trent (Feed the Beast) stars as Ron Balls, Floyd's roommate - in the middle of the chaos, he remains the voice of reason. Stephen Tobolowsky (The Goldbergs) guest stars in the series' pilot. Additional guest stars this season will include Meagan Good, Jack Davenport, Michael Rapaport, Kendrick Sampson, Lyndon Smith and Natalie Zea. Smilf will take a raw and honest comedic look at a single, 20-something from Southie, Bridgette (Frankie Shaw), whose desires for relationships, sex, and a career collide with the realities of young, single motherhood. Adapting her Sundance Film Festival Jury award-winning short film, Shaw will star, write, produce and direct the semi-autobiographical comedy.

Monday, February 01, 2016

MeTV Winter 2016 Schedule with The Incredible Hulk; Disney XD Airing Sci-Fi Sitcom in Fall 2016

In early January, Mama's Family and The Patty Duke Show joined MeTV, and starting Monday, February 8, they welcome two more new additions: Diagnosis Murder and The Incredible Hulk! And that's not all, they've got a few other surprises in store for you, too, like the return of Kojak and The Twilight Zone. The legendary Dick Van Dyke stars in Diagnosis Murder as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor with sleuthing in his blood, and the series will air weekdays at 11am. In The Incredible Hulk, while researching the hidden human capacity for superhuman strength, Dr. David Banner subjects himself to a life-altering experiment, as the series will air Saturdays at 7pm following Batman, which moves to 6:30pm. The return of The Twilight Zone will be weeknights at 12:30AM and Kojak weeknights at 2AM.

We mentioned Batman is moving times, but so will a few other series. The Big Valley will air Monday-Saturday at 12PM. The Rockford Files moves to weeknights at 1AM. The MeTV Mystery Movie will air weeknights at 3AM. Welcome Back, Kotter will air Saturdays 4AM, 4:30AM, 6AM & 6:30AM, while The Alfred Hitchcock Hour airs Sundays at 3AM. And finally, Thriller moves to Sundays at 4AM. View the full schedule so you don't miss on any of your faves. That's Memorable, That's Me!

MECH-X4

Disney XD has ordered MECH-X4" formerly MTX!, a new live-action sci-fi adventure comedy series centered on a heroic team of four teenage boys who take on the responsibility of controlling a giant robot in order to protect their city from danger. Production is currently underway in Vancouver for a scheduled fall 2016 premiere on Disney XD. The series stars newcomer Nathaniel James Potvin as Ryan Walker, a freshman at Bay City High who has technopathy - the extraordinary ability to control technology with his mind. His talent mysteriously awakens MECH-X4, a giant 120-foot robot built by an elusive genius-in-hiding to defend their town against impending doom. Ryan recruits his two best friends and his older brother to help him operate MECH-X4. When monsters suddenly begin to descend upon their city, the four must quickly learn to work as a team in order to pilot the robot that is their only hope of saving their town, and ultimately the world, from mass destruction.

Also starring alongside Potvin are Kamran Lucas as Ryan's genius friend Harris and Pearce Joza (Lab Rats) as his quirky friend Spyder. Raymond Cham (Teen Beach 2) stars as Ryan's older brother Mark.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Digital Digest: More of The FBI from Warner Archive; Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad Complete Series Releases

Welcome to Digital Digest! As we mentioned last week, we're working on revamping this weekly feature into something new, and we hope to have that very soon! In the meantime, we're back with our abridged version of Digital Digest with all of your news, a preview of Tuesday's releases, and our Follow Me feature. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

Warner Archive seems to be one of our few sources of "good news" on the classic TV front lately, typically delivering the news on the date that the product ships... and this week, the "good news" from them came in the form of a new release of the series The FBI. On Tuesday, Warner Archive released The FBI - The Complete Sixth Season as an online exclusive. As has become a typical practice for the studio, of course, the MOD product has been released in a "limited" pressed DVD edition, so these are not DVD-R copies of this release. We hope to have a review of this release soon as part of our regular reviews.

Canadian studio VEI has been bringing us some great complete series releases in the past few years of abandoned series, and for the past year, they've been talking about releases of Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad. Of course, VEI has also never really been able to give much in terms of a firm release date on anything (likely due to being a smaller studio that has to deal with a lot of outside production), but this week, they finally announced that both of these releases will be ready to ship next week! On Tuesday, fans will see Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series. Both releases are also available to order on amazon.com, however the releases purchased on there are not expected to ship for another month, and come at a much higher price.

Speaking of earlier releases, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is coming to DVD in December, as we all know. But Shout! Factory is letting fans get those DVDs a month earlier if they order them directly from the Shout! Factory website. Expected to ship on or before November 5, you can get in on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - The Complete Series a month before everybody else does.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (October 22) is a light release date, with a trio of "best of" releases from MPI. The releases include The Doris Day Show - Best of Collection, Family Affair - Best of Collection, and The Mothers-in-Law - Best of Collection. Also, as we previously mentioned, VEI will begin shipping Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series on Tuesday.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Patricia Heaton (Twitter), "Actress, Wife and Mother to four incredible boys..."
Claim to Fame: Patricia Heaton started out as a stage actress and slowly evolved into television when she picked up a role on thirtysomething, where she appeared for six episodes. She followed up with roles in three very short-lived sitcoms, with stars including Linda Lavin and Delta Burke, but her big break came in 1996 when she was cast as Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. After that, she went on to the (mostly panned) Fox sitcom Back to You in 2007, but her fortunes increased once again when she was cast in the starring role on the ABC series The Middle, a role that she has comfortable held since 2009. While she is no stranger to controversy on Twitter
Pick of the Tweets: "I love that you can watch TV while you iron (yesterday it was Jane Eyre) and not feel like a couch potato." (July 16, 2013)

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Diagnosis Murder Heads To Encore Suspense; Smallville Moved To Early Mornings On TNT

The good doctor is back! The Dick Van Dyke '90s drama Diagnosis Murder, where he played Dr. Sloan, has now started airing on Encore Suspense. The series started airing weeknights at 10pm as of yesterday. It is airing back-to-back with The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, which airs at 11pm. This is now the second Encore network airing TV series. The first of course is Encore Westerns which airs Marshall Dillon, Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Laredo, and Lawman -- all weekdays from 2-8pm. Encore Westerns also airs Dead Man's Gun on weekends.
As for Diagnosis Murder, the series also stars Barry Van Dyke and Scott Baio. It was last seen on cable on The Hallmark Channel and previously also aired on PAX (and then on the later renamed ION Television). Hallmark Movie Channel recently aired the two-hour movies and two-part episodes, alongside Matlock and Murder, She Wrote, both of which still air on the network. Diagnosis Murder started on Encore Suspense with a New Year's Day marathon on Jan. 1.

After just three months, TNT has moved Smallville from weekdays at 12 noon to weekdays at 5am. This change started yesterday. The series began its run on TNT in October but it doesn't look like the ratings were that great. TNT will move up the two-hour block of Las Vegas to now 12-2pm instead of 1-3pm. TNT will now add a five-days-a-week slot for original series Leverage at 2pm leading into original series reruns of The Closer at 3pm. Supernatural will remain at 10am and 11am and the series will get a President's Day marathon on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012 from 9am-7pm.
As for Smallville, there is no word on if and when it will get another time period, but as for now at least it is airing. 5am is better than no airing at all. Smallville replaces a Law & Order airing, but that remains airing in the overnight at 3am and 4am (in addition to its 4pm-7pm block). Smallville had previously been in syndication on ABC Family from 2004-07.

New sitcom Work It premieres tonight at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hallmark Channel Revises Sundays in January; Fox Announces Idol Dates, Orders New Midseason Series

We gave you Hallmark Channel's January 2009 highlights last month, now we have some changes in store for Sundays! Sundays from 10am-3am has been changed totally! Effective Sunday, January 4, we will now get a block of 7th Heaven from 10am-3pm, that's five straight episodes of the Camden family on family day...Sunday! This will basically replace a movie, Diagnosis Murder movie, a Perry Mason movie, and a Matlock movie. Regular movies will now air from 3pm-1am, yes, five straight movies will air. These movies will basically replace the four Murder, She Wrote episodes in the evening. Finally, we get more I Love Lucy! As I Love Lucy will also air Sunday nights from 1-3am now replacing the Matlock movie. So to recap the times for I Love Lucy now...Saturdays 6-9am & 1-3am, Sundays 8:30am-10am & 1-3am, weekdays 8-9am and weekdays 4-5pm. Whole lotta Lucyyyyyyyy!

Fox has announced the American Idol schedule through March 10 (3/11-5/20 dates and times will be announced at a later date). As we know, Idol launches Jan. 13 and 14 with a two-night premiere from 8-10pm both nights. Then it will regularly air 8-9pm on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but there are times when it will be expanded to 8-10pm and two special Thursday airings will air on Jan. 29 and March 5. March 5 is the first night of March sweeps, as this year there is no February sweeps due to the transition to DTV on Feb. 17.
Why is this Idol schedule important? Because it looks like Bones will be preempted on Thursday, Jan. 29 now, since Idol is airing that night leading into the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen. Bones will return the following week (Feb. 5), though. Bones moves to the Thursdays at 8pm slot on Jan. 15 leading into the final two episodes of Kitchen Nightmares on Jan. 15 and 22.
Also, only 4 episodes of Fringe will air after American Idol through March 10 it seems. Fringe is slated to air for four weeks in a row on 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, and 2/10, then Idol expands to two-hours the next four weeks AT LEAST, so Fringe will probably not return until the end of March sweep. The news is better for new drama Lie to Me out of Idol, Idol will only be two-hours on a Wednesday on Feb. 11, so Lie to Me will air for three straight weeks then be preempted then air again for another three weeks at least, maybe more.
Meanwhile, Fox has ordered 13 episodes of Glee, an inspiring musical comedy series from Ryan Murphy. The one-hour series follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to transform the school's Glee Club and inspire a group of ragtag performers to make it to the biggest competition of them all: Nationals. The show will debut in 2009 and features a soundtrack of hit songs from past to present. It could be the perfect fit out of American Idol, so Fringe and Lie to Me need to do very well, if not then Glee will fit like a glove likely out of Idol.
View our previous story on Fox's 2009 midseason schedule for the rest of the schedules besides Tues-Thurs.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Day 44: WGA's Strike; ION, The N Schedule Updates; Wife Swap Reruns to Lifetime

It is day 44 of the writers' strike. As expected, Jimmy Kimmel will join Leno and Conan with new episodes on Jan. 2. New episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live return to air Wednesday, January 2 on ABC. "Though it makes me sick to do so without my writers, there are more than a hundred people whose financial well-being depends on our show. It is time to go back to work. I support my colleagues and friends in the WGA completely and hope this ends both fairly and soon," said host Jimmy Kimmel.
Meanwhile, NBC will air USA Network shows Monk and Psych Sunday nights beginning in March. No timeslots were announced as of yet. The episodes airing on NBC will be repurposed episodes from USA. If you all remember, Monk aired on ABC some years back in the summer as repeats.

We have some schedule notes! ION Television has made some minor changes. For tonight, Diagnosis Murder: "Murder Two" (Matlock cross-over) will air from 9-11pm rather than the holiday movie Mary Christmas. It seems this will the last scheduled airing for Diagnosis Murder, as it is no where to be found after this. Next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 25-27), ION will remove 48 Hours at 10pm and start Who's the Boss? a week early in its new time period from 10 and 10:30pm. Who's the Boss? will remain at 9-10pm on these three days as well!
Yesterday we gave you The N's new 24/7 launch schedule. We didn't mention when Saved by the Bell will air regularly, because we were not 100% sure. I guessed it would be sometime between 5-8pm and 10pm-1am...and guess what I am right. Weekdays 6-7pm and 11pm-12am! It will also air on weekends from 7-8pm and 11pm-12am. But before all that... six-hour marathon celebrating the best episodes from the hit series will air on Monday, January 14 from 6pm-12am. Everything is now updated with the full schedule and also highlights for the month...click HERE to view!

Marking the network's first ever major off-net reality acquisition, Lifetime Television has obtained the exclusive off-network rerun rights from Disney-ABC Domestic Television for the popular, critically acclaimed ABC series Wife Swap, beginning in October 2008.
Wife Swap, which premiered in 2004, takes viewers into the intimate heart of the American family home. Each week, two wives from two very different families exchange husbands and children (but not bedrooms) to experience another woman's life. The show will enter its fourth season on ABC this season (Wednesdays at 8 starting Jan. 2, 2008).

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Day 39: WGA's Strike; ION Television January Highlights; 65th Annual Golden Globes Nominees

Today is day 39 of the strike. Still no word on ABC's strike schedule/line-up. The day is not over yet, so if they release it, we will bring it to you. The WGA did announce today their nominations for the 60th WGA Awards. Among the nominees are The Sopranos (Drama), The Office (Comedy), Pushing Daisies (New Series), and Lost (Writing in Drama). View the full list of their nominations here.

ION Television released their January line-up today. To launch the new year, ION will party all night and give us a marathon of party episodes of its newest acquisition, The Drew Carey Show with a "Drew" Year's Eve Party Marathon! The marathon airs 7-10pm on Monday, December 31. After the marathon the show will air Mon-Thurs at 9:00 & 9:30PM as we announced before. So what will happen to Who's the Boss? since that show airs currently in that slot. ION will still air the show, but they will move it to Mon-Thurs at 10:00PM & 10:30PM, replacing two airings each of 48 Hours and Diagnosis Murder. Murder will be off the line-up again, but 48 Hours will move to Saturdays at 6:00PM replacing the NFL Game of the Week highlights, as the NFL season will be over by then. Other highlights include the weekend RHI Movies (Fri-Sun 7-11pm)...movies this month include Robert Ludlum's Apocalypse, Voyage of the Unicorn, Aftershock: Earthquake in New York, The Deliverance of Elaine, Dying to Love You and Journey To The Center Of The Earth.
As always, keep it with us for any changes or additions to the line-up. Click HERE to view the January schedule and highlights! Happy Drew Year!

The 65th Annual Golden Globes Awards nominees have been announced! HBO lead with 18 nominations. ABC lead the broadcast nominees with 11, followed by NBC with 6, Fox with 2 and CBS with just 1. The telecast airs Sunday, Jan. 13 on NBC. Here are the major nominees:

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock (NBC)
Californication (Showtime)
Entourage (HBO)
Extras (HBO)
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
COMMENTS: Ugly Betty and Weeds were in it last year, but snubbed this year.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (Showtime)
COMMENTS: No Housewives is surprising.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
David Duchovny, Californication (Showtime)
Ricky Gervais, Extras (HBO)
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
COMMENTS: The love for Pushing Daisies continues!

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Big Love (HBO)
Damages (FX)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
House (Fox)
Mad Men (AMC)
The Tudors (Showtime)
COMMENTS: Mad Men and The Tudors are a surprise. I would have went with Lost, Brothers & Sisters or Heroes.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Patricia Arquette, Medium (NBC)
Glenn Close, Damages (FX)
Minnie Driver, The Riches (FX)
Edie Falco, The Sopranos (HBO)
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace (TNT)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
COMMENTS: Cable rules here...just 2 of the 7 are from broadcast. Arquette doesn't even long on here. Hunter is a surprise.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors (Showtime)
Bill Paxton, Big Love (HBO)
COMMENTS: Again cable driven except for one nomination.

Since the nominees for supporting actors/actresses in Comedy and Drama are mixed in with TV movies, I won't give them all, but here are the TV players (see link below for full list):
Ross Bryne, Damages (FX)
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Katherine Heigl, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Jamie Pressly, My Name is Earl (NBC)
Ted Danson, Damages (FX)
Kevin Dillon, Entourage (HBO)
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)
William Shatner, Boston Legal (ABC)
Donald Sutherland, Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

For the FULL list of television nominees and to discuss this, click HERE.

Monday, October 29, 2007

More Nick at Nite Halloween Stunts, November Highlights; ION Brings Back Murder; TV Land Goes Frankenstein

All last week Nick at Nite had Halloween stunts 9-10pm with Home Improvement and various shows in the 11pm hour. They had actually a night of Halloween episodes last night from 9pm-12am, with Full House, Fresh Prince, Home Improvement, The Cosby Show, and a full-hour of Roseanne. On Halloween night this Wednesday they will have another block of Halloween episodes from 9pm-12am with Home Improvement, George Lopez, Fresh Prince, another Home Improvement, The Cosby Show & Roseanne.
That is a lot of Halloween episodes this year...very strange but good I guess. Spooky.
Anyway, moving on to November, we have a few stunts as well, as of now. On Sunday, November 18, it's a night of Family Secrets on Nick at Nite and all will be revealed eventually, even if that's not the plan! Did Theo get his ears pierced? Did Benny get a boob job? Find that all out on Nov. 18 from 9pm-12am. Shhhhhh!
Got nothing to be Thankful for? Now you do! Join Nick at Nite for a night of Thanksgiving themed episodes on Wednesday, November 21.
Finally, come join Nick at Nite for a night of family fun theatrical movies of all Rugrats from 9pm-1:30am!
For more on November and to discuss this, click HERE.

ION has made another minor change for November. Starting Tuesday, November 6, Diagnosis Murder will return at 10pm replacing Sue Thomas F.B.eye on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. 48 Hours will still air Monday and Thursdays at 10. Will Diagnosis Murder ever leave? It's been on and off forever on that channel, when it was PAX, i, and now ION.

TV Land is celebrating the Broadway opening of Mel Brooks' new musical Young Frankenstein with a series of events on-air, online and off-air. TVLand.com, the network's revamped website, is offering a trip to New York City to see the highly anticipated production and will feature original interviews with the Broadway cast including Megan Mullally, Andrea Martin and more. TV Land will also show the network premiere of the original 1974 comedic masterpiece, Young Frankenstein, as part of TV Land's Friday night programming block, Movieland, the network will air the classic Oscar-nominated movie Young Frankenstein on Friday, November 2 at 10PM ET/PT, with an encore on Saturday, November 3 at 1PM ET/PT.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Perfect Strangers Joins ION Television in October; Peachtree TV Launch Schedule; TV Land Schedule Changes, Includes Return of Night Court

It is schedules galore here on SitcomsOnline on a Friday! We have not one, not two, but three schedules to give you today! First up, we will start with ION Television! ION will FINALLY give us the show that I (and I know many other fans have been asking about)...Perfect Strangers! That's right Larry and Balki return to primetime and will air Mon-Thurs at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT starting October 1! And I'm not being ridiculous! You don't know how happy this makes me feel. This one is for you my good friend Linda (of PerfectStrangers.tv)!
Since Perfect Strangers will air at 8:30 p.m., that means Mama's Family will be shifted to 7:30 and 8pm, instead of 8-9pm. Designing Women, which was 7-8pm will now just be a half-hour at 7pm. Diagnosis Murder will be leaving the line-up and will be replaced by another old faithful...Doc, Mon-Fri at 6pm.
Then starting October 8, 48 Hours will join the line-up and will air Monday and Wednesday nights at 10PM. Tuesday nights will be Sue Thomas F.B.Eye and Thursday nights will be more Doc. This means starting Oct. 8 The Wonder Years will be off the line-up. Still no sign of the rescheduled Firebrand TV.
For complete details on the schedule, including the RHI movies for the month, click HERE!

Continuing our massive Friday of schedules, we move on Peachtree TV. Peachtree TV is of course the new WTBS in Atlanta. Their new call letters will be WPCH. Their launch schedule starts October 1 and will have sitcoms all day long! Among the highlights are Diff'rent Strokes from 8-9am, All in the Family from 9-10am, The Jeffersons from 11am-12pm, Sanford & Son from 12-1pm, and The Cosby Show from 2-3pm. New game show Temptation will air 10-11am, the only non-sitcom from 7am-8pm. Looking at that show's ratings, it will be gone soon anyway. In the Heat of the Night will air late nights and weekends, and America's Funniest Home Videos will air on weekends.
Atlanta just got a bit better! They are not close to Chicago's ME-TV yet, but this is a start! To view the FULL schedules, I urge you to click HERE!

Finally, the other day we told you the new regular schedule for TV Land November that was starting on Oct. 29. Guess what? It will start on Oct. 1 now! Everything will be the same as that schedule we gave you but the 8-10pm weekday marathons and Designing Women don't start until week of Oct. 15. And also Wednesday mornings 7-8am will be Night Court now instead of Gunsmoke! Until Designing Women comes, 11am will be an extra Green Acres and 1:45am will be an extra Three's Company.
I urge you to click here to see the revised October schedule that will go into November as well!

Friday, June 08, 2007

ION Television July: Designing Women and Who's the Boss? Join Line-Up; Still Standing Joins Atlanta TBS; Network Notes

ION Television has released its July schedule and they will be adding two new sitcoms and of course the RHI Entertainment programming on weekends (Fri-Sun) from 7-11pm. Joining the schedule on June 25 will be the Linda Bloodworth produced sitcom Designing Women! The show will air Mon-Thurs at 7:00 & 7:30 p.m. replacing Amen and Alice. Diagnosis Murder will air Mon-Sat at 6 p.m. starting June 25, replacing Moral Court on Mon-Fri. ION Life will replace Battlestar Galactica on Sundays at 6PM, while the RHI Entertainment Weekend will air 7-11PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. So, yes, Alice, Amen, Moral Court, and Battlesta Galactica are gone.
Later in July, veteran sitcom Who's the Boss? will join the line-up and air Mon-Thurs at 9:00 & 9:30 p.m. starting July 9, replacing Diagnosis Murder. Diagnosis Murder will still air at 6 p.m. Special baseball-themed episodes will kick-off Who's the Boss?, before the episodes go in order.
Among the RHI Entertainment movies and mini-series airing are: The mini-series, Lonesome Dove, which will air each Saturday in July at 9pm, Sundays will be epic night as four-hour mini-series such as Cleopatra will air. ION will debut the mini-series Killer Wave on July 22.
So what about Perfect Strangers? We were told it was coming in July, but as you can see, that is not the case here. I would expect it in August or for sure in the fall. We will let you know when we do!
We are planning on an interview with ION Television, so if all goes well, we will get a lot of answers, including if the hours will expand. Let's hope the interview will come about, as our AmericanLife TV interview this past Wednesday got a lot of praise. I will keep you all up to date on this. But for now, click HERE to view the full July highlights on ION!

A few days back we mentioned Diff'rent Strokes has joined the WTBS-17 in Atlanta line-up, airing weekdays from 2:30pm-4:00pm. Well, looks like that will just be for two weeks, as starting Monday, July 18, 3-4pm will be Still Standing. Diff'rent Strokes will still air at 2:30pm at least. Remember this is ONLY for the TBS in Atlanta (and in some cases Canada, since they can get that feed). Still Standing airs on Lifetime nationwide, as WTBS-17 is just a local channel.

Finally, some network notes. CBS will launch a new season of veteran reality series Big Brother on Thursday, July 5 at 8pm, shifting struggling new reality series Pirate Master to 9pm for this night. The move will just for this week, as starting Tuesday, July 10 at 10pm, Pirate Master will move to this slot until further notice. CSI repeats will still air Thursdays at 9. Big Brother will also air Sundays at 8 and Tuesdays at 9.
Fox will debut its comedy-reality hybrid Anchorwoman with a one-hour special at 8 p.m. Aug. 21. It will settle into its regular 8pm half-hour on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
The series follows the travails of buxom blonde Lauren Jones, a swimsuit model striving to transform herself into a hard-hitting news anchor on a small, low-rated Tyler, Texas, TV station. Jones makes her live debut on KYTX’s 5 p.m. newscast June 11.

Friday, May 11, 2007

SitcomsOnline.com 2007-08 Upfront Preview: The CW; TV Land July Highlights; ION Television June Highlights

With potentially 4 or 5 veteran series leaving, it will be up to The CW development slate to find some hits. Say goodbye to favorites 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Reba and possibly Veronica Mars. Smallville and America's Next Top Model will carry the network.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2007-08 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
New Series We Think That Are Almost Good To Go: Aliens in America (sitcom), Gossip Girl (drama), Reaper (drama), Spellbound (drama) and Wild at Heart (drama).
New Series Perhaps Picked-Up for Mid-Season: The World According to Barnes (drama) and Hell on Earth (sitcom).

OUR FALL 2007 PREDICTION:

Sundays
5:00PM Various Repeats
6:00PM Various Repeats
7:00PM America's Next Top Model Encore
8:00PM Supernatural
9:00PM Spellbound (NEW)

Mondays
8:00PM Everybody Hates Chris
8:30PM Aliens in America (NEW)
9:00PM Girlfriends
9:30PM The Game

Tuesdays
8:00PM Wild at Heart (NEW)
9:00PM One Tree Hill / Pussycat Dolls

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM Gossip Girl (NEW)

Thursdays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Reaper (NEW)

Fridays
8:00PM WWE Smackdown!

Comments: This is another tough prediction. Veronica Mars is probably dead and One Tree Hill & Supernatural will return I think. Mondays I think The CW will stick with the comedies, but add another single camera sitcom to go with Chris...possibly Aliens in America or the Kyla Pratt sitcom Hell on Earth. Girlfriends will probably have to come back to go with The Game, as both are traditional sitcoms, and CW has none in development. Tuesdays with Gilmore Girls out of the mix they could go with the Gossip Girl or Wild at Heart, I choose the latter and maybe One Tree Hill can move from Wednesday to Tuesday. Wednesday will of course have Next Top Model followed by Gossip Girl maybe. Thursday I put Reaper out of Smallville with Supernatural moving to Sundays leading into new drama Spellbound. You can say goodbye to favorites 7th Heaven, Gilmore Girls, Reba, All of Us and Veronica Mars. And shows like Runaway. Reality hit Beauty and the Geek will probably be back for mid-season in between Top Model cycles. Pussycat Girls could start for the fall and delay One Tree Hill a bit.

Remember, next Thursday (May 17) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2006-07 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!

TV Land announced its July highlights today. The summer marathons (we announced last week) which will air 10pm-4:30am starting June 4, will continue in July through July 22. Starting July 23 the regular scheduled shows from 10p-4:30a will return. The other July highlights include The Jeffersons Go to Hawaii 4-part episode airing on the 4th of July to-be-continued-free from 8-10pm. Friday movies include the premieres of The Negotiator, Dragnet, and the Elvis movie Speedway.
TV Land Confidential returns for a second season starting July 11 airing Wednesdays a 10! Just when you thought you heard it all. TV Land Confidential brings you the stories behind your favorite TV shows from the people who were there: the stars, producers, network executives and others in the know. Sure, you’ve seen the shows. You know all the characters. You know all the storylines, but here are the stories you haven’t heard. TV Land Confidential reveals all the behind-the-scenes secrets! Some of the topics that will be covered this season include: How did What's Happening!! get a second chance at life and why didn't Larry Hagman appear in the Jeannie reunion movies? And how did Balki come up with that crazy accent on Perfect Strangers?
And for you What's Happening Now!! fans, as of now no new episodes are scheduled for July. We will get the entire first season in June on TV Land. Let's hope we get more new episodes soon after.

ION Television has announced its June schedule. There are no changes to the regular line-up. Remember when we said they will air the series Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker the week of May 28 at 10pm? It is now confirmed that it is only a week-long series. The finale will air Saturday, June 2 from 8-11pm. Diagnosis Murder will return to the weekday line-up after a week off on June 4 in its regular 9pm slot, shifting The Wonder Years back to its 10pm slot after a week at 9pm.
ION weekend movies include Superman: The Movie and The Principal. Joining ION on June 29 every Friday through Sunday from 7-11PM will be programming from the RHI Entertainment library. Classic TV movies, mini-series and new original movies will be airing. The TV movies for this month include Broken Vows and Lonesome Dove.
You will want to come back next month when we announce the ION July line-up. There is expected to be changes to the line-up with some new additions, including possibly fan favorite Perfect Strangers! Don't be ridiculous! Great stuff! We will have more on July when announced, and of course more RHI programming will air with even original new movies.
But for now click HERE for the June highlights!

Finally, To celebrate Mother's Day - Princess Cruises is reuniting television's favorite mothers and daughters to christen its newest cruise ship, Emerald Princess: Florence Henderson & Susan Olsen of The Brady Bunch and Marion Ross & Erin Moran of Happy Days! The TV icons will crack the bottle of champagne to christen the ship in Athens, Greece -- the birthplace of Mother's Day -- on May 13. Gavin McLeod, former "Captain Stubing" of The Love Boat, will officiate.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Schedule Change For ION and Yet More Changes for Nick at Nite; AmericanLife May Highlights

Yesterday we brought you the ION upfront presentation release. We still don't have any details if more new shows like Perfect Strangers and A-Team are coming but I think June or July look good for new shows. Yesterday we did mention a minor change for Saturdays at 6pm with Diagnosis Murder coming to that slot starting May 26, as Saturdays will add an extra hour now. Today ION released a last week of May change. For at least May 28-31, The Wonder Years will move from 10 & 10:30 to 9 & 9:30pm, replacing Diagnosis Murder. Replacing Wonder Years at 10 is Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker. Yes, weird...it might be just for that week. Or maybe Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker is just a special week stunt holding the slot for a new show in June? We'll find out soon when ION releases its June line-up! Stay tuned! For now view the changes and discuss them here.

As for Nick at Nite, yes more changes to the schedule! Now they have decided they will not encore AFV three-hours later. So, that means Sun-Thurs 12am and Fri-Sat 1am is no more. Cosby Show has been reinstated to Sun-Thurs 12am and now the nightly marathons will be from 1-5am, which means Growing Pains is totally gone! Let's hope ION bring it back soon! Another change is Roseanne and Fresh Prince switching hours. This all takes in effect on Monday (May 7). Click here to view these changes and to discuss this.

AmericanLife TV Network, the only independent network devoted to the Baby Boomer generation, celebrates spring with a line-up of star-studded programming, including Jodi Foster on Kung Fu, John Travolta on Welcome Back, Kotter and Don Rickles on I Spy. It's going to be a star studded May! Highlights for the month of May include:

Special Kung Fu episodes:
Thursday, May 3
* Kung Fu (8-9 p.m. ET/PT): an 11-year-old Jodi Foster plays the title role of “Althea” in this tale of human integrity and healing.

Thursday. May 31
* Kung Fu (8-9 p.m. ET/PT): Barney Miller and Sanford & Son regular Gregory Sierra guests with Moses Gunn.

Special 77 Sunset Strip episodes:
Monday, May 7
* 77 Sunset Strip (9-10 p.m. ET/PT): Silent screen star Doris Kenyon made her last dramatic appearance playing an aging silent screen star, in this first-season episode, “All Our Yesterdays.” The show, also featuring fellow silent star Francis X. Bushman, captured a 1959 Directors Guild of America Award for Richard L. Bare, who later directed 168 consecutive episodes of Green Acres.

Monday, May 28
* 77 Sunset Strip (9-10 p.m. ET/PT): George Tobias, best known for playing neighbor Abner Kravitz on Bewitched, guests on tonight’s episode.

Comedies dominate Saturday and Sunday evenings on AmericanLife TV Network, featuring such classic sitcoms as The Color Honeymooners (Saturday 8 p.m. ET/PT), Welcome Back, Kotter (Saturday 10:30 p.m. ET/PT) and Mayberry RFD (Sunday 8:30 p.m. ET/PT).

Saturday, May 12
* The Color Honeymooners (8 p.m. ET): In a wacky episode, Ralph Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason, meets Art Carney (playing himself), while Ed Norton, played by Art Carney, meets Jackie Gleason (playing himself).
* Welcome Back, Kotter (Saturday 10:30 p.m. ET/PT): John Travolta returned for the fourth and final two-part season premiere, playing his recurring role of Vinnie Barbarino. Part two airs on Saturday, May 19.

Sunday, May 20
* Mayberry RFD (8:30-9 p.m. ET/PT): See how Goober (George Lindsey) and other Mayberry folk deal with “Sensitivity Training” as an encounter group visits the Andy Griffith Show spinoff.

Saturday, May 26
* Our Gang Comedies (5-5:30 p.m. ET): In one of today’s two shorts, “Aladdin’s Lantern,” Buckwheat and Porky provide an off-key rendition of the song “Strolling Through the Park One Day.”

Sunday, May 27
* The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (8-8:30 p.m. ET/PT): Guest is Vic Tayback, later to achieve cult status as diner owner Mel on the Alice sitcom.

Secret Agents lurk Wednesdays on AmericanLife TV, with such series as I Spy (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (9-10 p.m. ET/PT).

I Spy (8-9 p.m. ET/PT):
* May 9: More than a decade before Fantasy Island, Ricardo Montalban guest stars in this episode.
* May 16: Talk about typecasting! Don Rickles plays an obnoxious American comic on a “Night Train to Madrid .”
* May 23: Wally Cox (Mr. Peepers, The Hollywood Squares, Underdog) guests as a government file clerk wooed by a beautiful secret agent in “Casanova from Canarsie.”
* May 30: In his second acting role, former football star Jim Brown guests on “Cops and Robbers.”

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (10-11 p.m. ET/PT):
* May 16: Pernell Roberts, in his first role after leaving Bonanza, guests in “The Little John Doe Affair.”
* May 30: Future sitcom icon Tom Bosley (Happy Days) and former movie star Raymond Massey appear together in “The Faustus Affair.”

Thursday, May 03, 2007

ION Television's 1st Upfront Presentation, Perfect Strangers, A-Team Coming Soon?; The CW Ends 'Gilmore Girls'

ION Television had its first upfront presentation. They just released the press release to us and it is hot off the press! It doesn't go into detail on what shows and movies are coming actually, but the press release mentioned stars like Vicki Lawrence (Mama's Family), Tracey Gold (Growing Pains), and Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) were on hand at the presentation. While they didn't go ahead and mention any programming titles, it is safe to assume Perfect Strangers is coming to the network soon since Bronson was there! And maybe Growing Pains will return, since Tracey was there. The press release also mentioned The A-Team when touting its series, so maybe that is coming soon, too?
The press release states: The strength of classic programing series is demonstrated in strong audience growth – especially in adults ages 25-54, which experienced a 31 percent gain in Monday to Sunday primetime. And new programming deals are on the horizon. Stay tuned!
Hmmm new deals are on the horizon. Interesting. The press release didn't tell us whether the hours will expand from more than 6-11pm, but I think they will, they just haven't announced it yet.
The highlight of the upfront was of course the RHI deal, which will air Fri-Sun 7-11pm starting June 29. Explosive new programming partnership with RHI Entertainment, the award-winning producer and distributor of groundbreaking miniseries and movies for television. RHI's exciting lineup of programming for ION will include the creation of exclusive original programming as well as quality library titles & movies. The first of a promised 12 originals per year is Killer Wave, a political-thriller miniseries featuring a multi billion-dollar conspiracy that will have audiences at the edge of their seats.
Finally, the upfront included a sneak peek at ION’s partnership with Firebrand, a first-of-its-kind multi-platform experience that gives consumers interactive access to their favorite brands, products and promotions, set to launch in the fall airing weeknights from 11pm-12am. Firebrand programs only the best TV commercials as a reflection of pop culture in an environment rich with consumer touch points.
We will certainly have more news for you when we hear! Diagnosis Murder is also going to air Saturdays at 6PM, so an hour of expansion on Saturdays, as it was 7-11pm. This will start Saturday, May 26. For now, read the Upfront press release.

It looks like The CW's Gilmore Girls will end after its May 15 airing. The series will come to end with a proper series finale. The show started back in 2000 and was a high performer for The WB and still was one of the top shows on the new CW. The CW and Warner Bros. Television released this statement:
"Announcing the final season of Gilmore Girls is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television," statement read. "This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television's most memorable, lovable characters."

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Slight Change for ION on April 27; CBS Sitcom Summer Line-Up; GSN Honors the Late Kitty Carlisle

ION Television has made a slight change on Friday, April 27. This will be only for this day only, but the special A Concert for America will air at 8pm, followed by four episodes of The Wonder Years from 9-11pm. Mama's Family & Diagnosis Murder will not air on this date only. So what is A Concert for America? Singers, including Mary J. Blige, Kenny Chesney and Sting, raise awareness for the JC Penney Afterschool Fund that helps establish programs for kids who are left alone after the school day ends. Other performers include Andrea Bocelli; Jon Bon Jovi; Chris Botti; Kenny Chesney; Peter Cincotti; Sara Evans; John Legend; Martina McBride; Renee Olstead; Alejandro Sanz; and 3 Doors Down. Hosted by Phil and Robin McGraw.
No wonder they pre-empted Diagnosis Murder. Wonder Years would be more compatible to air after this special.

We mentioned yesterday that CBS will air new animated comedy Creature Comforts for the summer on Mondays at 8. So, this means encores of How I Met Your Mother will air at 9:30 in between Two and a Half Men and CSI: Miami encores. Maybe this means Mother will be renewed after all. 8:30 will be Old Christine, if you were wondering. No word if Rules of Engagement will encore in the summer yet, but you can catch back-to-back encores of the soon to conclude King of Queens on Wednesdays at 8-9pm all summer long!

GSN is honoring the life of Kitty Carlisle Hart, the beloved stage and film actress who appeared on TV game shows in six decades, in a special tribute late Sunday night April 22. Carlisle Hart, who died Wednesday at the age of 96 from pneumonia, was a frequent guest on To Tell The Truth beginning in the 50's and GSN is showcasing two landmark episodes of her work on that show. She was the only guest who appeared in every version of To Tell The Truth from its original format to its last in 2001. GSN is airing Carlisle's first appearance at 3am from 1957 and a special episode that featured Carlisle's son as one of the guest imposters at 3:30am from 1973.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

ION Television Soars in Ratings, Upfront Planned May 3; ABC Drops 'Dream Vote'

ION Television continues to deliver significant ratings gains in weekday primetime versus last year. According to the latest Nielsen Media Research data, ION Television’s weekday primetime average is up 30 percent for the season compared to the first two quarters of 2006.
The network will host an Upfront sales presentation for advertisers on Thursday, May 3, 2007 in New York City to unveil its programming strategy for the 2007-2008 season. RHI Entertainment, which will serve as ION Television’s exclusive programming supplier on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning June 29, will provide a sneak preview of some of the original titles debuting on ION later this year.
For the week ending March 25, ION Television delivered its best performance for a single program this season with its broadcast of The Cowboys, starring John Wayne, on Sunday, March 25 at 8 p.m. The movie posted a 0.9 HH rating (1,044,000), boosting the night’s primetime average to a 0.8 HH rating (932,000), the network’s highest single weekend night performance for the season.
Overall, ION Television’s weekend movies, currently featuring popular titles from the libraries of Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and NBC Universal, have improved their time period by over 50 percent in households compared to the first two quarters of 2006.
In addition, during the recently concluded February Sweep period, ION Television’s viewers proved they love their Mama, with Mama’s Family posting a 0.9 HH rating (1,008,000) on Thursday, February 15. The night, anchored by Diagnosis Murder at 9 p.m. and Charlie’s Angels at 10 p.m., delivered the network’s highest single weeknight performance for the season at a 0.7 HH rating (752,000).
Don't forget the new spring line-up starts April 2 with the additions of Moral Court, Alice, The Wonder Years and the return of Amen. Also, the classic Battlestar Galactica will air on Sundays.

Also in the news today, after just two airings (with just one in its regular time period of Wednesdays at 8), ABC will pull The Great American Dream Vote off the schedule starting next Wednesday, April 4. Reruns of George Lopez will fill the hour that week. April 11 and 18 will probably be reruns of George as well, because new episodes were slated to return April 25 when Dream Vote concluded. This is much better news, as many of us would much rather watch George!

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