SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

SitcomsOnline Digest: Casting Changes for Night Court; Bunk'd Coming to an End

 Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's a slow news week, but there are lots of things going on with programming lineups and marathons this weekend! Also, we're hearing about some Night Court casting changes and the end of a Disney Channel series. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• Kapil Talwalkar is not returning to Night Court for season 2, which fits in with the cast instability that the original series had in earlier seasons. (Deadline)
• The Disney Channel series Bunk'd is coming to an end. (Deadline)
• Unless you're willing to pay $2.99 a month (a fee that we're sure will rise as time goes on), Prime Video will soon start including commercials. (CNET)
• The network has still not commented on the change (other than to just change the lineup and modify the logo), but the new Dabl lineup has started. (Cord Cutters News)
• We are remembering some of the sitcom (and beyond) stars that we lost in 2023. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 30 - JANUARY 6)

• Dabl has rebranded, and the lineup is now nothing but old UPN series, The Parkers, Half & Half, Moesha, Girlfriends, One on One, Sister, Sister, and The Game.
• Another new digital network, The365, debuts on Monday, and will essentially give you another old UPN series as well as the WB sitcoms of the same era (and a few other things), including Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Eve, The Parent 'Hood, Roc, All of Us, In the House, For Your Love, and Are We There Yet?
• Outlaw, yet another new digital network set to launch on Monday, features series including F Troop, Kung Fu, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
• Catchy Comedy is doing short-lived sitcoms this weekend, with a binge of Bridget Loves Bernie today, followed by a binge of Fish tomorrow.
• It wouldn't be a new year without a Twilight Zone marathon. Syfy has you covered today through Monday, while Heroes & Icons will take care of Monday.
• NBC has a new season of Night Court, as well as the series premiere of Extended Family, on Tuesday.

SitcomsOnline Digest: Another Major Media Merger in the Works?; Digital Network Dabl Shifts Focus to Sitcoms

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're heading into Christmas week, but surprisingly, we have lots of news, including another possible media merger (that we imagine will face a lot of scrutiny), news about a programming format change for a digital broadcast network, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• It seems that there are talks to merge Warner Bros and Paramount, though it is likely to face a lot of scrutiny. (Deadline)
• In related news (and probably something that would be necessary if the two media companies were to merge), it looks like BET (and related assets, including VH1) may be up for sale again, with Byron Allen interested in purchasing. (Variety)
• If you liked Run the Burbs when it aired on The CW, you won't be losing the chance to see it, as Hulu has now picked it up in an unrelated deal. (Deadline)
• The reboots never stop, and this week, there are talks of one for The X-Files. (Deadline)
• The network has remained quiet and refused to comment on it, but a major schedule change is coming to digital TV network Dabl (will it even still be called Dabl?) next week, and it includes nothing but episodes of mostly old UPN (and a tiny bit of The WB/The CW) sitcoms, including The Parkers, Half & Half, Moesha, Girlfriends, One on One, Sister, Sister, and The Game. (Cord Cutters News)
• John Stamos is remembering Bob Saget as the anniversary of his death approaches. (Deadline)
• Since the approach that The CW was taking to air international sitcoms turned out to be a huge disaster, they're now turning to airing reruns of American broadcast network sitcoms that are still airing in primetime, or at least doing it in one case with The Conners. (SitcomsOnline)
• Three's Company is back on DVD again, and this time, it includes every episode of both spinoffs. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 23 - DECEMBER 29)

• Night Court begins season 2 in January, but if you can't wait for a new episode, NBC has a Christmas one tonight, along with a sneak preview of the new sitcom Extended Family.
• South Park: Not Suitable for Children is now streaming on Paramount+, and it really isn't suitable for children.
• Catchy Comedy has a "Christmas Carol" this weekend, with a binge of Carol Burnett and Friends.

Netflix Acquires Black Sitcoms from 1990s and 2000s; A 4 Sitcom Crossover Event Coming Soon to Netflix

TV One Fall 2012 Has Original Sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show; TBS Premieres New Series Wedding Band in November...On Saturdays

ABC Family Acquires The Middle For Fall 2013, Also In Local Syndication; TV One's March Sitcom Madness

TV One Fall 2011 Schedule; Hot in Cleveland Starts Production On Season 3, Schedule Notes for TV Land Comedies

TV One March 2011 Has Marathon of The Jeffersons; TV Land Adds CSI To Weekends In March

TV One January 2011 Schedule Changes; Me-TV Network's Green Hornet Marathon

TV One December 2010 Highlights; TV Land Orders Two More Sitcom Pilots

TV One November 2010 Schedule; Outlaw Is the Third New Series Canceled

TV One Fall 2010 Schedule; New Network from RTV to Focus on Kids and Baby Boomers

TV One June 2010; A&E Developing Series with David Hasselhoff, Bob Saget and Tony Danza

Beginning on Monday June 14, 2010, the TV One summer schedule settles into place! The weekday afternoon and primetime schedule has been adjusted a bit to fit with the summer season! The 2pm-4pm and 6-10pm hours all will change. The 2pm hour will now be back-to-back episodes of The PJ's, replacing The Jeffersons, but that show will remain in the weekday 7am hour. In the 3pm hour we will get the short-lived sitcom Where I Live followed by Cedric the Entertainer Presents, replacing an hour of The Hughleys. At 4pm, Divorce Court remains, as does Sanford & Son in the 5pm hour.
Then in the 6pm hour, back-to-back Good Times will be added replacing an hour of Cedric, but that is moving to 3:30pm, as I mentioned. In the 7pm hour, an episode each of Living Single and Eve will air replacing Martin and Good Times. During the 8pm hour, TV One will now air All of Us and the short-lived Tracy Morgan Show, replacing more Martin and Good Times. Remember The Tracy Morgan Show gets a Memorial Day (May 31) launch before joining the schedule on June 14. Anyway, back to the changes, during the 9pm & 12am hours, back-to-back episodes of Martin will air replacing Living Single and Half & Half. Everything else during weekdays remains the same, including A Different World in the 10pm & 1am hours.
The Saturday morning sitcom block will get a little change, too, starting Saturday, June 19. The Jeffersons moves into the 7am hour replacing The Hughleys, while That's My Mama returns to the schedule and will air in the 10am hour replacing The Jeffersons.
So, let's recap... The Tracy Morgan Show joins the schedule, while The PJs, Where I Live, Eve and That's My Mama return to the schedule. Leaving the regular schedule are The Hughleys and Half & Half.
Moving on to the stunts for June, on Saturday, June 26 beginning at 1pm through 8pm (select encores from 2am-6am), TV One's Our Music Month is in full effect as TV One presents the Half & Half: "Must Be the Music" marathon consisting of episodes of the sitcom with guest appearances from some of the music industry greats including DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Musiq Soulchild, Faith Evans, MC Lyte, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
Stay with us for any further updates on TV One June 2010!

A&E had their upfront yesterday and announced several original series. We won't cover them all, but there are new unscripted series featuring TV stars like David Hasselhoff, Bob Saget, and Tony Danza.
For the David Hasselhoff series, in between stints on TV (Knight Rider, Baywatch), starring roles on Broadway, live performances and business ventures that have taken him worldwide, David Hasselhoff is also a single dad, raising two teenage daughters, Taylor-Ann, 19, and Hayley, 17, who both are aspiring singers. The series will follow David as he steps in and out of the limelight, assumes the role of ultimate "stage dad" for his daughters as he tries to utilize his connections in order to help them break into the recording industry, and we'll find out ultimately who is running the show in "The Hoff" household. The series is set to premiere this Fall and will have 10 half-hour episodes.
Then next a series with Bob Saget (Full House, Surviving Suburbia)! Bob Saget takes his unflinching, comedic observations about offbeat lifestyles on the road in the new series Strange Days with Bob Saget. He'll immerse himself in cultures, practices, and occupations that few people have ever experienced, and always with hilarious and thought-provoking results. One week, Bob will be riding 1500 miles in a sidecar with some hardcore bikers, the next he will be deep inside the forest as part of mass expedition looking for Bigfoot, another week he will be living for a week as a fraternity brother at one of the nations most acclaimed universities. Through his firsthand encounters, viewers will get an intimate look at a wide variety of subcultures, and with Bob Saget's unique blend of heart and humor, this show will not only make us laugh but make us reevaluate our perceptions of why people do the things they do. The series will air later this year and will have 6 one-hour episodes.
And finally A&E will team up with Tony Danza (Taxi, Who's the Boss?)! After more than 30 years in entertainment as an actor, talk show host, Broadway star, cookbook author, pro boxer and song and dance man, Tony Danza faces his toughest audience to date - high school students - in the series Teach: Tony Danza. Long before the launch of Danza's showbiz career, he hoped to be a teacher and even earned a degree in history to pursue that dream. Teach: Tony Danza chronicles Danza's journey as he returns to his original dream and takes on the role of English teacher for a class of sophomore students at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. Danza must do some learning of his own as he adapts to the demands of teaching two back-to-back 45 minute periods and handling his diverse class of students of varying abilities. He must also learn to manage extra-curricular activities, charity events and to juggle his personal life throughout the school year. Viewers will experience the trials and tribulations of a first year teacher through the eyes of Danza, his peers, school administrators, and most importantly... his students. The series will air later this year and will have 7 one-hour episodes.
A&E has solidified its place as the fourth largest entertainment cable network among adults 18-49, continuing its phenomenal ratings growth behind the strength of the network's Real Life Drama brand and expansive slate of original series. Commitment to original programming targeting younger adult audiences has been paramount to A&E's success. Season-to-date, A&E has 55% original programs in primetime, significantly more than any other top-tier entertainment cable network - TBS (15%), TNT (14%), USA (12%) and FX (11%). In 2009, A&E's twelve original series returning in 2010 averaged a 40 median age, a remarkable 19 years younger than the median age of A&E's original series in 2003.

New TV One Daytime Schedule Starting Monday; Retroality.TV Stories on Suzanne Somers, Rod Roddy, and More!

Starting Monday (Nov. 16) TV One will be making last minute schedule changes to its daytime line-up. Short-lived sitcom For Your Love will now air for the full hour at 7am, rather than just the 7am half-hour, as original series Singletary Says is no longer scheduled at 7:30am. Sitcom Half & Half moves to the 8am hour, replacing an hour of original series. Original series will continue to air from 9am-12pm. Then at 12 noon, we now have an hour of Eve replacing short-lived comedies Where I Live and That's My Mama, which are now gone from the schedule totally. In the 1pm hour we now have another hour of Martin, replacing Amen and Like Family. This means Amen is totally gone from the regular schedule, but Like Family remains Saturdays in the 6am hour. In the 2pm hour, we now have back-to-back Living Single instead of Half & Half, since that moved to 8am. New York Undercover and Divorce Court remain in the 3pm and 4pm hours. The final change is to the 5pm hour with two episodes of All of Us replacing original series. Everything else will remain the same such as The Jeffersons in the 6pm hour.

Chris Mann has some very interesting reads up on his wonderful website Retroality.TV that you won't want to miss reading! As you all probably know, Suzanne Somers is much in the headlines these days about cancer and how chemo is not the answer. She has a new book titled Knockout, which boldly slams chemotherapy while promoting controversial treatments. Suzanne has gone back and forth this week with Gerald Posners in dueling blogs on The Daily Beast this week. Chris takes a look at this entire debacle and even has some interesting comments from her Three's Company co-star John Ritter about Suzanne Somers' breast cancer revelation and related liposuction debacle in 2001. Did Suzanne lie again? You won't want to miss this interesting investigative blog story titled "RETROALITY.TV EXCLUSIVE! John Ritter initially questioned if Suzanne Somers really had breast cancer: 'She lies,' he told me ...!"
Chris says he will have even more about this story later this month, so stay tuned! In other updates for Retroality.TV, the cover story is about Price is Right announcer Johnny Olson. GSN's new The Newlywed Game announcer Randy West wrote a great new book about his old friend and mentor Johnny. Chris has an exclusive interview with Randy.
Staying on the topic of The Price is Right, announcer Rod Roddy mysteriously wasn't visible on camera much as used to be in his final years. Why? Chris has an exclusive and interesting story on why from a former Barker's Beauty. Was Bob Barker responsible for this instead of the generic response given by FremantleMedia? Read Chris' very interesting story on Rod Roddy.
All of this is part of cancer month on Retroality.TV.
Also, later this month, he'll have an interview with Dick Van Patten regarding his new book Eighty is Enough. Retroality.TV just gets better and better! I suggest you read all of this, it is good stuff (I was especially interested in the Somers and Roddy blog stories!)!

TV One October (Fall) 2009 Schedule; Yet More Hallmark Changes

As we predicted on the TV One September 2009 schedule, the fall schedule changes will happen on TV One in October 2009! Beginning on Monday October 5, 2009, as the seasons change, the TV One fall schedule settles into place! Divorce Court starts the weekday schedule off from 6-7am. Then we have original programming from 7am-12pm with programs like Sharp Talk, TV One on One, and Comics Unleashed. At 12pm the series programming starts with short-lived comedies in the 12pm hour with the '90s comedy Where I Live followed by '70s comedy That's My Mama at 12:30pm. Amen now moves to 1pm being paired with the short-lived comedy Life Family. At 2pm we get back-to-back episodes of Half & Half. NY Undercover returns to the line-up airing weekdays at 3pm, while Divorce Court's afternoon airings move to the 4pm hour. In the 5pm hour will now be TV One original TV One Access. Returning to the regular schedule are The Jeffersons airing back-to-back in the 6pm hour. TV One staples Martin and Good Times now are airing in the 7pm hour. In primetime, we get blocks and movies. Mondays from 8-11pm will be Martin, Tuesdays will be Good Times, Wednesdays will be a movie followed by an hour of The Jeffersons at 10, Thursdays it is Sanford & Son and Fridays are more movies. At 11pm, Martin and Sanford & Son remain, as will Living Single and Eve in the 12am hour. At 1am it is a movie and 3am-5am will be abbreviated encores of the primetime marathon. And finally at 5am we get more original programming encores.
Saturday morning sitcoms will change a bit. All About the Andersons, Parent'hood and South Central will leave, as Life Family, The Hughleys, and The Jeffersons are now in. Airing from 6am-12pm are back-to-back episodes of Like Family, The Hughleys, All of Us, Good Times, The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son.
Moving on to stunts and marathons, on Saturday, October 24 beginning at 12 Noon, the hunks just keep coming as TV One presents the "Hottest Hunks" Sitcom Marathon showcasing episodes of favorite TV One sitcoms including All of Us, Half & Half, Eve, and Living Single that feature guest appearances by some of the hottest hunks in Hollywood including Boris Kodjoe, Will Smith, DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Tyson Beckford, Shemar Moore, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Blair Underwood.
On Saturday, October 31 beginning at 12 Noon, the ghouls and goblins are upon us as Halloween comes to TV One in the form of the TV One "Hallo-Scream" Marathon. TV One showcases Halloween-themed episodes of TV One sitcoms The Jeffersons, Martin, Living Single, Sanford & Son, and The Hughleys.

Effective Tuesday, Little House on the Prairie returns to the Hallmark Channel line-up airing weekdays from 2-5pm, replacing 7th Heaven, which is now gone again. Can they make up their mind already? That's not all the changes. Weekends starting Oct. 3 will see the acquistion of Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures airing Saturdays 6-9am and Sundays 8am-10am replacing Golden Girls. Golden Girls morning airings on weekends will move to Saturdays 9am-11am and Sundays 10am-11am. It will still air weekends 1-3am as well. And effective Monday, October 26, the Mon-Thurs 9-11pm airings of Touched by an Angel will be replaced by a movie. Touched will remain at 8pm weekdays, though. That's still over 7 weeks away, so don't worry yet Touched fans! Finally, there will be an I Love Lucy marathon on Sunday, Oct. 4 from 11am-3am. Lucy is not on the regular schedule right now, but October is a special month for Lucy since it launced in 1951 in that month. So I guess you can say Hallmark is celebrating the 58th birthday for Lucy.
As Hallmark keeps changing the schedule, stay with us for updates!

TV One August 2009 Highlights; Hallmark Extends Primetime Schedules for 1 More Week; Calling All Runners!

In August 2009 on TV One we get some changes! Beginning on Monday, August 3, the TV One primetime landscape gets a makeover on weeknights starting at 8pm. Mini-marathons of TV One viewer favorites will be showcased and will air as follows: "Martin Mondays showcases episodes of the sitcom Martin on Mondays from 8pm to 11pm; "Good Time Tuesdays showcases episodes of the sitcom Good Times on Tuesdays from 8pm to 11pm; "Wisecrackin' Wednesdays" showcases episodes of the sitcom Living Single on Wednesdays from 8pm to 11pm; "Thrifty Thursdays" showcases episodes of the sitcom Sanford & Son on Thursdays from 8pm to 10pm; and "Family Fridays" showcases episodes of the sitcom The Hughleys on Fridays from 8pm to 10pm. These marathons will preempt the regular 8-11pm primetime of Martin, two Living Single episodes, Half & Half, and back-to-back The Jeffersons. Also, these marathons will have select episodes same night encores from 3-5am, preempting the regular schedules of The Jeffersons, Martin, Half & Half, and another Martin. So this means The Jeffersons is off the regular schedule for now and Half & Half airs Tues-Fri in the 11am hour. These primetime marathons are probably just for August, so The Jeffersons will likely return to the regular schedule in September. Stay tuned.
Elsewhere on TV One August we have some stunts! On Saturday, August 15 beginning at 12pm and lasting through 8pm, the lazy days of summer are in full swing as TV One presents the "Operation: Summer Vacation Sitcom Marathon" featuring storylines of your favorite TV One sitcom characters on extended vacations including episodes from Martin, The Jeffersons, Sanford & Son, The Hughleys, and Living Single. Select episodes will also encore late night that night from 2am-6am. At least The Jeffersons will air on this special marathon!
Finally, TV One will close out summer on Saturday, Sept. 5. On Saturday, September 5 beginning at 12pm and lasting through 8pm, summer is ending and it's that time again as TV One gets ready for fall with a "Back to School" marathon consisting of an all-day sitcom marathon featuring school-related storylines including episodes from Good Times, The Parent'hood, Like Family, and All of Us. Select episodes will also encore late night that night from 2am-6am.

The Hallmark Channel is keeping the primetime schedule that aired this week for next week as well. It was scheduled to end last night, but will air tonight as well. So Touched by an Angel will air from 8-10pm, followed by The Golden Girls from 10pm-1am, and Cheers from 1am-2:30am. As of now, this primetime schedule will air through and including Thursday, July 23.
The original primetime schedule was Touched by an Angel at 8pm, a Movie from 9-11pm, Golden Girls from 11pm-2am, and then Cheers/I Love Lucy in the 2am hour. Will that return next Friday? We'll have to wait and see, but for now the primetime schedule that started last week will air next week as well.

Finally, The Fresh Air Fund is still looking for runners and sponsors to join The Fresh Air Fund-Racers team for the NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, August 16. This is a great way to participate in NYC's premier summer road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children. Last summer's NYC Half-Marathon was a huge success and the Fresh Air Fund-Racers raised more than $125,000. They are also still in need of Friendly Town hosts for next month. Host families open their hearts and home to a NYC child who would not otherwise have the opportunity to escape the hot, crowded city streets. WABC-7 in NYC will air a one-hour highlight show from 11:30pm through 12:30am on Sunday, Aug. 16 on television.
For more information, visit their website.

TV One June 2009 Adds Two Sitcoms; Network Notes Includes Obama Address; Hogan Family Interview

The weather is getting warmer out there in most of the country, so we are going to look ahead all this week to the month of June! Yes, May is still on the horizon but we here at SitcomsOnline like to plan ahead, which I'm sure you all like! We start out our "June schedule week" with plans for TV One June 2009! And they will add two new sitcoms to its regular line-up! On Monday, June 8 at 7:30pm, a new comedy joins the TV One prime-time line-up. The Holly Robinson-Peete short-lived family sitcom Like Family takes over the weeknights at 7:30pm timeslot to add some fresh laughs in the comedy zone. Like Family (2003-04) is a sitcom about two families -- one black, one white -- who share the same house and work together to overcome their differences to create a home.
Also joining the line-up on Monday, June 8 will be the classic '70s sitcom That's My Mama! We told you previously the show will have a special Mother's Day marathon on May 10, but now it is ALSO joining the weekday line-up as well a few weeks later! Mama and her family will air weekdays at 5:00pm kicking off the early evening sitcom line-up.
Due to these two new additions, there are quite a few changes to the weekday line-up. In the weekdays at 6am hour we now get Divorce Court, replacing Amen. At 7am Living It Up with Patti LaBelle replaces an episode of All About the Andersons, but that slides to 7:30am replacing Comics Unleashed. In the 8am hour, we now get two episodes of Amen, replacing an episode each of Comics Unleashed and Sharp Talk with Al Sharpton. The 9am and 10am hours remain the same with original encores. Weekdays in the 11am hour will now be Half & Half replacing original encores. The daytime marathons continue from 12pm-3pm, while Divorce Court's afternoon airings are moved in the 3pm hour replacing Bill Bellamy's Who's Got Jokes. The Tom Joyner Show will air in the 4pm hour replacing Divorce Court. Then the sitcom line-up starts at 5pm as we mentioned with That's My Mama replacing Good Times at 5pm, followed still by Sanford & Son at 5:30pm, and Good Times at 6pm. Not to worry, the 5pm Good Times is now at 6:30pm replacing Half & Half. All of Us replace Eve at 7pm, and the aforementioned Like Family launches at 7:30pm replacing another Half & Half. Then we still have Martin and Living Single in the 8pm hour, followed by another Living Single a 9pm, but now 9:30pm will be Half & Half instead of All of Us. Back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons remain in the 10pm hour, while Martin and Sanford & Son still share the 11pm hour. The late night schedule also gets a bit of a change, at 12 midnight we now have Eve instead of another Jeffersons, while at 12:30am we have Living Single instead of Good Times. 1-3am will still feature a movie. Then the really late schedule also gets changed, in the 3am hour will be The Jeffersons and Martin instead of back-to-back Living Single. At 4am Half & Half remains, but the 4:30am Half & Half is replaced with Martin! And finally the 5am hour will still have Get the Hookup. So that's the entire schedule! We still have highlights to give though.
On Saturday, June 20 beginning at 12 Noon (following the Saturday morning sitcom block from 6am-12pm) through 8pm (with an encore from 12am-6am), Our Music Month is in full effect as TV One presents the "Half & Half: Must Be the Music" marathon consisting of episodes of the sitcom with guest appearances from some of the music industry greats including DMX, Tyrese Gibson, Musiq Soulchild, Faith Evans, MC Lyte, Ginuwine, Eric Benet, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
On Sunday, June 21 beginning at 3pm through 8pm (encores from 2am-6am), TV One airs a Fathers Day tribute in the form of an "All of Us: Fathers Day" marathon consisting of episodes of the family sitcom dealing with father/son episodes and situations of characters Robert and his son Bobby.
Finally, yes this is in July, but technically it part of June for TV One. On Friday, July 3 beginning at 8pm, the zany antics of Martin Payne will keep viewers in stitches as TV One presents the "Martin: Independence Day" mega-thon, a 24-hour laugh-a-thon consisting of some of the funniest and most talked about episodes of the sitcom Martin featuring comedian Martin Lawrence in some of his classic best moments and alter-ego character.
It is certainly going to be fun in the sun this June on TV One!

We have a lot of network notes for you. We announced them all on our message board yesterday, but we want to put it all in one space in case you missed it. President Obama is having a news conference live on Wednesday at 8pm ET for an hour. This means yet again the networks have to scramble and juggle programming. ABC and CBS had to change the most, especially CBS. We'll start with ABC, though. In the eastern and central time zones, Scrubs and Better Off Ted have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal, including the 100th episode of Lost at 9/8 central. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Scrubs and Ted will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Scrubs and Ted will air at 8pm PT. Because of this change, ABC will move the planned new episodes of Scrubs and Ted to a special night of Tuesday, May 5 in the 8pm ET/PT hour replacing two episodes of According to Jim. Poor Jim has had so many preemptions already and won't get to air its finale in the season now. Four episodes got preempted so ABC will have to air those sometime in the summer. Jim is still airing tonight and as of now on May 12. I would just pull it on May 12 and bring it back in the summer for its final 6 episodes. We'll let you know what happens to Jim. View the changes in a list form.
Moving on to CBS, they will have more changes than anyone. They also will air the Presidential News Conference on Wednesday at 8pm ET. In the eastern and central time zones, special airing of Rules of Engagement and Old Christine at a special time, will have to be preempted because of the Obama news conference. Everything else will air as normal on this night. In the mountain time zone, the news conference is at 6pm MT, so that won't affect primetime programming. Old Christine and Gary Unmarried will follow at 7pm MT but will be repeats though since they are not airing in the east/central zones. Same goes for Pacific. Repeats of Old Christine and Gary will air at 8pm PT. In other changes, CBS has pulled Harper's Island out of the Thursdays at 10pm slot effective immediately. A repeat of Criminal Minds will air this Thursday (April 30), followed by a repeat of CSI on May 7. And on May 14, the final Thursday of the regular season, will see the season finale of CSI NY on a special night! Programming for the 10pm hour for the summer season, effective May 21, is to be announced right now. As for Harper's Island, it will be still on the air...it will be moved to Saturdays at 9pm replacing crime repeats. The series will air from May 2 through July 11, except on May 16 a special Mentalist repeat will air. And because of the Obama news conference on April 29, the sitcoms get affected. The Rules of Engagement special night and time is now on May 13 at 8pm, followed by a new Old Christine at a special time of 8:30pm. Because of that the season finales of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, which were slated for May 13, will now be May 20 against American Idol. And the two-part Criminal Minds season finale on May 20 moves from 8-10pm to 9-11pm, since the CSI NY finale at 10pm has been moved to Thursday, May 14. Besides the Harper's Island changes, all of these changes are because of the news conference! View the changes in a list form.
NBC is not really affected by this. NBC will air the Presidential News Conference at 8PM ET this Wednesday (April 29). A Law & Order repeat was scheduled in that slot. In the Mountain and Pacific time zones they will get Dateline at 7pm MT and 8pm PT instead of the Law & Order repeat. Why not just air the repeat there? No big loss for NBC.
Fox announced it is NOT airing the news conference! They will have a little scroll on the bottom saying you can watch it on Fox News Channel or Fox Business Channel. They will air an all-new episode of Lie to Me as scheduled. This is the first time Obama's conferences have been not aired by one of the big four. But they are making some changes to Sundays. Effective this Sunday (May 2), new animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up is being banished to 7pm replacing the American Dad! encore, which moves to 7:30pm. So this means King of the Hill moves from 7:30 back to its old 8:30pm slot for new episodes! This is not good news at all for Sit Down, Shut Up, which only after two airings has not done well in the ratings. 3 more episodes are left, as Fox is only airing 5 of the 13 for some reason. View these changes in a list form.

It went through three names, two leading ladies, and two networks, yet The Hogan Family managed to last six seasons and is well remembered as one of the great family sitcoms of the '80s. Our good friend Eric is back with another retro interview on his wonderful interview website, JustMyShow.com! Listen to on and off camera insight as Eric hangs out with Mark Hogan himself, Jeremy Licht! For six seasons, Jeremy Licht played the role of Mark Hogan on The Hogan Family. His other credits include the ABC TV movie The Comeback Kid starring John Ritter and appearances on TV hits such as St. Elsewhere and Hotel. These days, he spends his time working as a financial advisor with his company JL Capital Management. It is a very fun interview and Eric also has a bonus clip of him asking Jeremy on when on earth the Hogan Family is coming to DVD?! Life is such a sweet insanity, indeed! Head on over to Just My Show to listen to this new great interview!

TV One May 2009 Says That's My Mama; Rickles To Be Honored at TV Land; Ape-Reel Fool's on Boomerang; Sitcom Hint

Originally there was supposed to be an Easter marathon on TV One for the classic but short lived '70s sitcom That's My Mama, but then they decided to pull it. I had thought they pulled it because they wanted a better night for it like Mother's Day, and I was right...we will indeed get the marathon on Mother's Day now!
Beginning at 1pm on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10), the classic sitcom That's My Mama comes to the TV One airwaves with an all-day marathon. The classic sitcom which starred Theresa Merritt in the title role as Eloise "Mama" Curtis took place in Washington D.C. and centered around Clifton Curtis, Mama's son and young barber, he had inherited the family barbershop from his late father, Oscar Curtis. Mama wanted the best for her son and that meant a woman in his life, so she often tried finding him a mate even though he enjoyed bachelor life. The series also stars Clifton Davis and Jester Hairston (who both went on to star in another TV One favorite Amen), Ted Lange (who went on to star in The Love Boat), Lynn Moody (Roots), and Theodore Wilson (Sweet Daddy from TV One's Good Times). The marathon ends at 7pm...but after an original special at 7pm, we get more sitcom mom fun! Concluding the Mothers Day festivities, TV One airs a "Mothers Day Comedy Marathon" beginning at 8pm consisting of Mothers Day themed episodes of TV One sitcom favorites Living Single, Half & Half, and The Hughleys. It's good to see The Hughleys get some play, as the series has been off the regular schedule. The marathon runs until 1am, but encores until 6am. That's My Mama is not scheduled to join the regular line-up in May...hopefully it will at a later date. The Mama marathon is an hour shorter than the originally planned Easter marathon, though.
On Saturday, May 16 beginning at 12pm, TV One says Happy Birthday to a superstar as they offer their annual birthday tribute to Grammy Award winning entertainer Janet Jackson by airing an all-day marathon of "Good Times: The Janet Years," featuring episodes when a young Janet played the Evans neighbor, Penny who after being abused by a violent mother was eventually adopted by Willona. The marathon runs until 8pm, with select episodes encoring from 12am-6am.
TV One goes retro for Memorial Day weekend beginning on Saturday, May 23 with series, movies, and marathons that will take viewers on a trip back in time for a weekend full of laughs, romance, danger, and action. Movies will kick off on Saturday. Then on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 1pm to 7pm, TV One presents an action-packed marathon of the '80s crime drama series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role of the tough talking and street fighting Hawk. Keeping the retro theme going on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 8pm, TV One pays homage to actor/comedian John Witherspoon (who is the roastee at a TV One Celebrity Roast premiering the next night) with the airing of episodes of sitcoms Martin and Living Single as well as the Robert Townsend Tinseltown parody Hollywood Shuffle. On Memorial Day itself (Monday, May 25), beginning at 10am, closing out retro-weekend on TV One is a marathon of '70s sitcom Sanford & Son starring the late Redd Foxx as cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son Lamont who run a junk business in a Los Angeles Watts neighborhood. The marathon runs until 9pm and select episodes encore from 1am-6am.
As for regular schedule changes, beginning on Monday, May 4 and continuing until further notice, the TV One weeknight overnight sitcom block has changed and will now air the following line-up: 3:00am Half & Half (replacing Living Single), 3:30am Martin (replacing Living Single), 4:00am Half & Half and 4:30am Martin (replacing Half & Half).

It's April Fool's Day, so what better way to celebrate this day then to give you news about Don Rickles! Multi-talented Don Rickles, the world's most beloved "outrageous comic," actor and author will be bestowed the Legend Award at The 2009 TV Land Awards. The Legend Award is presented to an entertainer or a television show that has stood the test of time and ranks among the most memorable and celebrated in television and movie history. The 2009 TV Land Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris will tape on Sunday, April 19 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City to air on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT. Previous recipients of the Legend Award include The Carol Burnett Show, Cheers, Garry Marshall, The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
TV Land previously announced additional honorees for this year's show including Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Legacy of Laughter Award), Married with Children (Innovator Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award) and Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award).
View more on the awards and Don Rickles.

Spend a primate-packed day with Boomerang as the commercial-free network celebrates "Ape-Reel Fool's Day" today! The big star of the day is everyone's favorite fun-loving (and well-dressed) gorilla, Magilla. Debuting in 1964, The Magilla Gorilla Show chronicles Magilla's antics in Mr. Peeble's Pet Shop. This classic cartoon will air in three-hour blocks on Wednesday, April 1, at 9 a.m. (ET) and 5 p.m. (ET), and again overnight at 2 a.m. (ET). So, yes this story didn't publish until 1pm ET, but you have time to catch these encores!
But not all the animated apes are as amiable as Magilla, as Mojo Jojo of The Powerpuff Girls will prove. This most evil of apish villains will wreak havoc at 7 a.m. (ET), 2 p.m. (ET) and 10 p.m. (ET). Other classic cartoons--The Flinstones, Scooby Doo, Pink Panther, Dexter's Laboratory and Top Cat also will join in the fun with monkey-themed episodes and simian guest stars. On The Flintstones, a mix-up at the Bedrock pharmacy has Fred taking strange pills that don't help his allergy but turn him into an ape. Tune in today at 3pm ET and other encores like 9pm!

And no foolin' we have some sitcom acquisition news for the next two days. Stay tuned tomorrow to find out what sitcom ION Television has acquired and on Friday to find out what sitcom Lifetime has acquired. Both networks will start airing these sitcoms this May! What can they be? You'll have to join us the next two days!

TV One March 2009 Highlights; ION Finally Airs RHI Mini-Series That Was Slated for November 23

This March, TV One springs forward with more great programming! On Sunday, March 1 beginning at 12pm, TV One presents a throwback afternoon with a six-episode marathon of the classic private eye series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role. Then we have some schedule changes to the regular line-up happening on weekdays starting Monday, March 2. Sitcom Eve returns to the TV One weeknight comedy line-up airing weekdays at 7pm. This addition has caused a shift in the sitcom line-up which will now air as follows: 5:00pm Good Times, 5:30pm Sanford and Son (replaces The Parent'hood), 6:00pm Good Times, 6:30pm Half & Half (replaces The Hughleys), 7:00pm Eve (replaces Half & Half), 7:30pm Half & Half. So Parent'hood and The Hughleys are now off the line-up. Then beginning on Saturday, March 7, Sanford & Son will be added to the TV One Saturday morning comedies which will now air the following line-up: 6:00am All About the Andersons (two back-to-back episodes), 7:00am Where I Live (two back-to-back episodes), 8:00am All of Us (two back-to-back episodes replaces Cedric the Entertainer Presents), 9:00am Good Times (two back-to-back episodes), 10:00am The PJs (two back-to-back episodes), 11:00am Sanford & Son (two back-to-back episodes replaces All of Us). So Cedric the Entertainer Presents is now off the line-up. On Saturday, March 21 beginning at 12 Noon to 8pm, TV One celebrates L.A. Fashion Week with the "Eve-Diva Style Marathon", an all-day sitcom marathon showcasing episodes of Eve that focuses on the Diva Style fashion business run by main character Shelley Williams played by rapper/actress Eve and her two business partners Janie (Natalie Desselle-Reid) and Rita (Ali Landry). Finally, on Saturday, April 4 at midnight, the clues are in, the facts are adding up, and the players are exposed as TV One airs the one-hour shocking finale of the action series Day Break starring Taye Diggs. So there you have it, TV One March 2009. No other changes will be made to schedule. Before March, don't forget about February and the Feb. 22 marathon of South Central! ION Television, the "Positively Entertaining" general entertainment network available to over 94 million homes, and RHI Entertainment, the leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking movies, miniseries and series for television, announced the U.S. television premiere of The Color of Magic, a four-hour production premiering on ION Television on Sunday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET. This movie was rescheduled from November 23. Based on the first two books in best-selling author Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series, The Color of Magic stars Oscar nominee Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Toy Soldiers, Rudy), Emmy nominee Tim Curry (IT, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Kinsey) and David Jason (RHI's Hogfather). Additionally, Emmy Award-winning actor Brian Cox (Bourne trilogy, Running with Scissors) serves as the narrator and Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars Episodes II and III) takes on the vocal role of Death.

TV One January 2009 Highlights Sees Jeffersons, Sanford and Son Regular Slots; Remembering Beverly Garland and Nina Foch

Last month we gave you a sneak peek that The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son will join the regular TV One line-up on Monday, Jan. 5 after their marathons. Now we have details on when they will air starting Jan. 5! TV Land will continue to air the series, so not to worry, if you don't get TV One. Beginning on Monday, January 5, the TV One weeknight (Monday-Friday) comedy block has shifted with the addition of The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son and will look like this: Good Times remains at 5pm ET, but now Parent'Hood will shift to 5:30pm replacing The PJ's. Good Times remains anchoring the 6pm hour, but now at 6:30pm we will have The Hughleys replacing Parent'Hood. Half & Half will remain in the 7pm hour with two episodes, as we mentioned this starts Dec. 29. Martin and Living Single remain in the 8pm hour, while another Living Single remains at 9pm, but at 9:30pm All of Us replaces For Your Love. Then in the 10pm hour, back-to-back episodes of The Jeffersons replace All of Us and Eve. At 11:00pm Martin remains leading into the launch of Sanford & Son at 11:30pm replacing The Hughleys. At 12:00am we get another episode of The Jeffersons replacing Good Times, but Good Times will shift to 12:30am replacing The PJs. Everything else on weekdays is the same as December.
On Saturday mornings starting Jan. 10, the sitcom line-up has changed a bit. In the 7am hour will now be Where I Live, replacing Parent'hood. And in the 11am hour now will be All of Us instead of Where I Live. Where I Live will no longer air Sundays 6-7pm either, but at least it is still on...on Saturdays from 7-8am and all 21 episodes will air. Viewers will have another chance to unravel the mystery as the action drama series Day Break starring Taye Diggs returns to TV One airing Saturdays at 12 midnight beginning on Saturday, January 10. The series will have encore airings on Fridays at 11am and 2am starting Jan. 16. So, to recap, The Jeffersons (weeknights 10p, 10:30p, 12a) and Sanford & Son (weeknights 11:30p) are in, The PJs and For Your Love are out, Day Break is back and Eve is off the regular line-up but will remain Fridays from 12-4pm.
Other highlights include: On Saturday, January 17 beginning at 12 Noon thru 8pm (and again 2-6am), as the nation prepares for a new first couple to take residence in the White House, TV One salutes our own first couple of comedy Overton and Synclaire (John Henton and Kim Coles) from the sitcom Living Single with a marathon that showcases the couple's relationship, engagement, wedding, and honeymoon.
On Sunday, January 18 beginning at 1pm, TV One is solid as a Roc as they present a marathon to showcase characters from the urban sitcom Roc starring Charles S. Dutton as Roc Emerson, a city garbage collector who balances the pressures of work with the everyday crises of family life.
Finally, on Tuesday, January 20 beginning at 9am, TV One celebrates the election of the first African-American President of the United States with coverage of the Inauguration Barack Obama, the US' 44th President. Coverage of this historic Inauguration begins at 11am while post inaugural events and inaugural ball coverage begins at 8pm.

Beverly Garland, the actress who starred in 1950s movie cult hits like Swamp Women and Not of This Earth and who went on to play Fred MacMurray's TV wife on the family sitcom My Three Sons, has died. Garland died Friday at her Hollywood Hills home after a lengthy illness. She had a 50-year career that included 40 movies and dozens of television shows. She starred in the crime series Decoy in the late '50s as police woman Casey Jones. Garland showed her comedic chops as Bing Crosby's wife in the short-lived sitcom The Bing Crosby Show in the mid-'60s, which led her to be cast as the second wife of MacMurray's widower Steve Douglas during the last three seasons of the popular sitcom My Three Sons that aired from 1960 to 1972.
Her television credits also include playing her fair share of mothers in TV series. She was Stephanie Zimbalist's mom in the 80s series Remington Steele, Kate Jackson's mom in the 80's series Scarecrow and Mrs. King, and Teri Hatcher's in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the '90s. She also had MANY other TV credits to her name such as appearing on episodes of Hawaiian Eye, The Millionaire, Perry Mason, Rawhide, The Fugitive, Here's Lucy, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Love American Stle, Ironside, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Marcus Welby MD, Charlie's Angels, Trapper John MD, Hart to Hart, Magnum P.I., Hotel, Friends, Ellen, Diagnosis Murder, Teen Angel, and The Simple Life. She recurred on Mary Hartman Mary Hartman as Cookie LaRue, on the ABC soap Port Charles as Estelle Reese, and as Ginger Jackson on 7th Heaven, with her last episode in 2004, as her last role.
Her name may not be recognizable to many, but her face probably is. She appeared in so many TV series and movies, everyone had to have seen her once. She will be deeply missed and remembered. She was 82.

We also remember Nina Foch today. Nina Foch, the Dutch-born actress who often played cool, calculating women in films, theater and television and was a respected coach of aspiring actors and directors has died. Foch died Friday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of complications from the blood disorder myelodysplasia. She became ill last week while teaching at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Foch had taught at USC for 40 years.
What many people know about Nina is that she was the acting teacher for the late John Ritter when he attended USC from 1966-71. She taught John well and was one of her favorite students of all-time. She even worked with John on the big screen movie Blake Edwards' Skin Deep in 1989, in which John was the star. John had a supporting role in the movie Shadow of Doubt in 1998 and Nina also worked with John then. And you John Ritter fans know that Nina was interviewed in many John Ritter documentaries such as John Ritter's Biography episode.
Foch's career goes back all the way to the 40s. Her lengthy television credits include Prescription: Murder in 1968, which launched the popular Columbo detective series starring Peter Falk, the miniseries War and Remembrance in 1989 and episodes of Studio One, Rawhide, Route 66, I Spy, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Mod Squad, That Girl, Hawaii Five-0, Trapper John MD, Hunter, LA Law, Murder She Wrote, Just Shoot Me, Bull, Dharma & Greg, NCIS and most recently on The Closer. She earned an Emmy nomination for best supporting actress in a drama series in 1980 for her work on an episode of Lou Grant.
She was known for her film work as she earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in Executive Suite in 1954. But her dedication as an acting teacher at USC was her legacy and many actors and actresses have respect for Nina Foch. "Believe it or not, teaching is the most rewarding thing I do," Foch told United Press International in 1994. "It has been the most successful thing I've done in my life." She will be remembered for her work, her wonderful teachings, and for her support for the great John Ritter. Nina was 84 and never retired.

TV One December 2008, Acquires Jeffersons, Sanford & Son; ABC Schedules Season 5 Lost Premiere; More Network Notes

This December on TV One they are going all out in celebrating with holiday episodes of sitcoms and more, including the launch of Half & Half on Kwanza and classic sitcom The Jeffesons and Sanford & Son on New Year's Day. But first we have to talk about some schedule changes. The weekday 7-9am block has changed and will now be actual series programming rather than original repeats. Starting Monday, December 8 following Amen from 6-7am will be All About the Andersons at 7am, followed by back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed from 7:30-8:30am and the sitcom Good News at 8:30am. 9am-11am will continue to be originals, while 11am-4pm continues to be the daily marathons. Also on this date, TV One launches its HD channel TV One HD!
To the highlights we go, Saturday, December 13 is the beginning of the TV One "12 Days of Christmas" Promotion that features a mix of holiday series, movies, and specials to keep viewers filled with joy and Christmas spirit leading up to Christmas Day. First up is a Christmas Sitcom marathon on December 13 beginning at 7am through 10pm featuring Christmas-themed episodes of Amen, Martin, Roc, Wanda at Large, Living Single, Eve, The Hughleys, Good News, The PJs, All of Us, and Good Times.
On Sunday, December 14 from 3-6pm, you can catch a block of Amen Christmas episodes leading into the animated Christmas special Santa Baby at 6pm about a little girl who gets a wish for Christmas returns to TV One for the holidays and stars the voices of Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and Eartha Kitt. This special has an encore broadcast on Sunday, December 21 at 7pm (and Saturday, Dec. 20 in the daytime at 12pm).
From Monday, December 15 through Friday, December 19, TV One devotes the 8pm-12am timeblock exclusively to "The 12 Days of Christmas" themed programming including sitcom episodes of Martin, Living Single, Good Times, Amen, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, All of Us and For Your Love from 8-11pm, original Christmas specials at 11pm, and the holiday film The Kid Who Loved Christmas starring Sammy Davis Jr. premiering Friday, December 19 at 10pm.
On Saturday, December 20 beginning at 6am, the holiday fun starts bright and early as TV One continues the "12 Days of Christmas" programming with a holiday marathon mix of sitcoms, holiday specials, movies that will give viewers the warm and fuzzy feel of holiday time at TV One. Sitcoms airs from 6am-12pm, 2pm-7pm, and late nights from 3-6am. Catch holiday episodes of Where I Live, Amen, All of Us, Eve, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Good Times, The PJs, and Living Single on this day.
From Monday, December 22 through Wednesday, December 24, the TV One "12 Days of Christmas" themed programming begins each night at 5pm and continues all night with sitcoms, movies, and specials to keep viewers Christmas Cheer at a high level as we get closer to the biggest holiday of the year. Sitcom episodes airs from 5pm-1am these three days. Catch episodes of Good Times, Roc, The PJs, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, Wanda at Large, Parent'hood, Martin and Eve from 5-8pm, with blocks of All of Us (Mon), Good Times (Tues), and Martin (Wed) from 8-10pm. The fun continues from 10pm-1am with holiday showings of For Your Love, Cedric, Eve, Living Single, The Hughleys, Good Times, Roc, The PJs, and Martin.
On Thursday, December 25, TV One gives viewers 24 hours of Christmas on Christmas Day itself starting at 6am with themed movies, music, and specials keeping the holiday cheer at a high and then beginning at 5pm, the annual TV One sitcom Christmas Day Marathon closes out our "12 Days of Christmas" promotion with Christmas-themed episodes from sitcoms For Your Love, Roc, Martin, Good Times, Living Single, Parent'hood, Wanda At Large, Cedric, The PJs, All of Us, Eve, and The Hughleys.
TV One sure knows how to showcase sitcom Christmas episodes! I hope you all got that! One thing missing is Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, as it has left the line-up. It was airing Saturdays 7-8am but was replaced by Parent'hood on Dec. 6 and holiday specials/marathons for the rest of the month. No word on when it could return.
We're not done with TV One! Three shows will launch with big marathons! On Friday December 26 (Kwanza), beginning at 8pm, TV One introduces Half & Half to its sitcom lineup with a 24-hour Mega-thon that will keep viewers laughing all night long as they are introduced to the characters in the latest series added to the TV One sitcom landscape. Half & Half, starring Essence Atkins, Rachel True, Valarie Pettiford and Telma Hopkins, is a sitcom about two 20-something half-sisters who share the same father. They are completely unlike each other, but they live in the same apartment building, creating a situation of conflict and love especially with their often feuding mothers. Half & Half joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday, December 29 airing back to back episodes in the 7pm & 7:30pm timeslots Monday-Friday. It will replace an episode each of Martin and Eve. Half & Half will also air in the 4-5am hour replacing All of Us and Good Times in the hour.
As a sneak peak to January, TV One has acquired two classic '70s sitcoms: The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son! On New Year's Day, Thursday, January 1, beginning at 10am through 6am, the classic sitcom The Jeffersons makes its bow on TV One in a New Year's Day marathon taking viewers on a trip down memory lane with George & Weezy (Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford) and the hilarious cast of characters that will keep viewers laughing and reflecting all day long. The Jeffersons joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday January 5. More on that in our January highlights next month.
Finally, on Friday, January 2 beginning at 9pm through 9pm on Saturday, January 3, TV One premieres another classic sitcom Sanford and Son to its sitcom landscape in a 24-hour Mega-thon that introduces viewers to cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford (played by the late Redd Foxx) and his son Lamont (played by Demond Wilson) who run a junk business in a Los Angeles Watts neighborhood. Sanford & Son also joins the TV One weeknight lineup on Monday January 5 (more on that next month).
Recently President-Elect Barack Obama mixed up these two sitcoms by saying "I'm coming Weezie," when discussing McCain's Health Care plan. So maybe now Obama will know the line is "I'm coming to join you Elizabeth."
Both The Jeffersons and Sanford & Son are NOT exclusive to TV One, so TV Land will continue to air both series as well, but TV One will give them better timeslots obviously. Discuss all of TV One's December programming in our TV One December 2008 Highlights.

We were among the first to report the Lost season 5 premiere date and time on our message boards on Friday, but if you haven't heard, Lost will launch its fifth season on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 with an "all-night event." The first hour will be a recap one-hour clip show from 8-9pm ET/PT, followed by the two-hour season premiere from 9-11pm ET/PT. So, the promos that aired on Election Night on ABC were correct about the two-hour premiere.
Lost will then air Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT starting the following week, as the show returns to Wednesdays after moving to Thursdays last winter. ABC has not announced what it will do at 8pm and 10pm on Wednesdays yet, but adding Lost to anchor Wednesdays is a good move. I'm guessing Private Practice will follow Lost, with new docudrama Border Security USA could lead off the night. Dirty Sexy Money is possibly on the move to another night and the jury's still out on Pushing Daisies. ABC is expected to announce their midseason winter schedule this week. We will bring it to you first either here or on the message board...depending on the timing. So keep checking back!

In other network news, NBC has picked-up the back nine episodes of sophomore crime drama series Life, giving it a full 22 episodes, despite low ratings. Life joins Kath & Kim and Knight Rider in surprising NBC full season orders. Life moved back to Wednesdays last week, but this time at 9pm, after disappointing in its Friday at 10pm slot. Speaking of Knight Rider, NBC is looking to change the direction of the series and we will get the direction back to the style of the '80s series...making it a show about a man and his car going out and helping regular people. Finally! This new style was dumb and a disgrace to the franchise I thought, and it is no wonder the ratings are bad. NBC is expected to start the changes on episode ten, which will be part one of a two-part episode. Episode ten will air in January (possibly after an NFL game), with episode nine as the fall finale on Nov. 26 (good riddance to this new style). Due to this change, three major stars, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Yancey Arias and Bruce Davison are leaving the show after 13 episodes. There are no immediate plans to add new regulars to the show, as now the show will focus on the five remaining characters: Mike (Justin Bruening), Sarah (Deanna Russo), Billy (Paul Campbell), Zoe (Smith Cho) and of course K.I.T.T. The producers also are looking to do stunt guest castings. Maybe more Hoff? Could this save this revival series?
Meanwhile, Fox has ordered a full season of the Family Guy spin-off series The Cleveland Show...and it hasn't even premiered yet. The show will now launch in Fall 2009 rather than this coming Spring. No reason was given for the delay in airing, but my guess is it would be better to launch in the fall. No word on what will happen to the other Fox animated series that was set to come, Sit Down, Shut Up. I would think that is still slated for this Spring. We'll let you know, as soon as we do.