SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Throwback ABC Studios Shows Head to ABC App; The Hoff's Birthday Marathon on El Rey

ION Television and WE tv October 2008 Schedules; Mel Brooks Interview on TVTimeMachine.com

This October on ION Television they will expand Boston Legal to air more than once a week! Currently the show is airing Mondays at 8:00PM but beginning Monday, September 29, the show will air Mon-Thurs at 8:00PM ET/PT and also Wednesdays at 9:00PM. However, a few Thursdays, it will be preempted for the Thursday movie. When it isn't, the Thursday movie will air 9-11PM. All of the additional Boston Legal airings will replace ER airings, except Thursdays. ER will still remain in its Mon-Wed at 10:00PM ET/PT timeslot. Boston Legal and especially NCIS are off to great starts for the network. Thursday night (Total Theatre Thursday) movie titles weren't available at press time, but when the movie starts at 8PM this month, Drew Carey Show will be on at 10:30PM!
As for RHI programming, Flash Gordon continues to air Fridays at 7:00PM. The 10th Kingdom wraps up its 10 episode run on October 10. Today ION announced the U.S. television premiere of Archangel, debuting Friday, October 24 at 8:00 p.m. ET. The three-hour mystery-thriller stars Daniel Craig, best known for his title role as the fictional secret agent James Bond in Casino Royale and in the soon-to-be-released 22nd Bond movie Quantum of Solace. Archangel also stars Gabriel Macht and Harry Ditson. The project, which was filmed on location in Russia and Latvia, also features an all-star Russian cast. Other RHI titles include Virtual Obsession and Legend Of Sleepy Hollow on Halloween night. Speaking of Halloween, during Halloween week, you'll see Halloween themed episodes of Boston Legal, NCIS, and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper!
Check out the complete ION Television October 2008 schedule and highlights.

Moving on to WE tv October, as we mentioned previously, WE tv has gotten the rights to air the last three seasons of Girlfriends. The show will start Monday, October 6 airing weekdays at 12 noon and 12:30pm, shifting Hope & Faith back to its old 10am & 10:30am timeslot, which means Kate & Allie will be removed from the schedule at this time. Dharma & Greg will remain in its 11am & 11:30am timeslot.
Girlfriends will also air Mondays on an eight episode block from 6pm-10pm and on Sundays from 3-6pm with a six episode block. On Halloween, catch Halloween episodes of Hope & Faith and Dharma & Greg in their regular timeslots.

Mel Brooks talks about his TV career in a one-hour interview on the Internet radio show TV Time Machine (http://www.tvtimemachine.com), hosted by TV historian Jim Benson.
On TV Time Machine, Mel Brooks gives his most comprehensive interview ever about his fifty-year contribution to television. Among other topics, Mr. Brooks talks about working with comedy legends Sid Caesar, Neil Simon and Woody Allen on the classic 1950's TV series, Your Show of Shows, and how he created the classic TV spy spoof Get Smart with Buck Henry, the basis for the 2008 film starring Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway.
Mel Brooks also discusses his personal life and experiences on TV Time Machine, including his service in World War II as a Combat Engineer (where his job consisted of de-activating German land mines). Brooks reminisces about growing up in Brooklyn, New York, and watching musicals on Broadway as a young boy, which ultimately inspired him to bring The Producers and Young Frankenstein to the stage, nearly seventy-years later.
TV Time Machine is a unique Internet radio show that explores classic TV and its influence over the past five decades. TV Time Machine is more than a nostalgia trip. It also spotlights TV's impact on our culture and society, and explores how present day television and its movers and shakers are still influenced by the stories, programs, and characters of television's past.
So, head on over to http://www.tvtimemachine.com for the Mel Brooks interview!

USA Network Fall 2008 Schedule; Lionsgate To Release Many ABC Studios DVDs

Continuing our look at the fall 2008 cable schedules, we now take a look at USA Network's September 2008 fall schedule. They have been airing Navy NCIS and House once a week, but now they both will be available for daily play on the network. House will launch first with a marathon on Saturday, Sept. 6 from 9am-11pm and Sunday, Sept. 7 from 3pm-4am. House will air weeknights at 8pm, except on Tuesdays it will air9 and 10pm. Then NCIS will get a three day launch marathon the next three days, Sept. 8-10 from 6am-7pm ET/PT. USA Network will have a lot of marathons the first few weeks of September, as other ones are the countdown to the 100th episode of Monk continues, from Sept. 1-5, as the 100th episode airs on Sept. 5. A marathon of Burn Notice will air on Thursday, Sept. 11 from 6am-6pm, followed by a stack of House from 6pm-10pm leading into a new episode of Burn Notice. A Psych marathon will air on Friday, Sept. 12 from 6am-4pm leading into another House stack from 4-9pm which will lead into the season finales of Monk and Psych. The next day on Saturday, Sept. 13 a NCIS marathon will air from 4-11pm and a House stack again on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 7p-12a.
Then starting Monday, Sept. 15 the regular schedule finally begins. Changes include the 8am airing of JAG being replaced by Monk, as Walker Texas Ranger moves to 9am. Monk's afternoon airing is now 2pm, followed by back to back Law & Order: Criminal Intent at 3 and 4pm. Navy NCIS will air weeknights at 5 and 6pm, followed by Law & Order: SVU at 7pm. SVU will also air Tuesdays at 8pm, while House will air weeknights at 8pm except Tuesdays at 9pm, as we mentioned.
View the full USA Network September 2008 fall line-up and also discuss it.

Lionsgate, the leading independent filmed entertainment studio, and Disney-ABC Domestic Television have entered into an agreement where Lionsgate obtains the home entertainment distribution rights (DVD rights) to select primetime series and library titles from ABC Studios.
The first programs to be released under the new agreement – popular current ABC sitcom According to Jim: Season One, starring Jim Belushi and Courtney Thorne-Smith and one-hour current The CW series Reaper: Season One – will be available on DVD on October 21 and November 4, respectively. The agreement also encompasses other popular sitcoms and dramas including Hope & Faith (Kelly Ripa, Faith Ford), 8 Simple Rules...for Dating My Teenage Daughter (John Ritter, Katey Sagal, David Spade), Boy Meets World (Ben Savage, Rider Strong), October Road (Tom Berenger, Bryan Greenberg), Kevin Hill (Taye Diggs), My Wife & Kids (Damon Wayans), Six Degrees (Jay Hernandez, Bridget Moynahan, Erika Christensen), and more.
So what does this all mean? Well, first of all let me explain what ABC Studios is. ABC Studios is the studio that produces Touchstone Television/Buena Vista television shows, so it is not necessarily all ABC network shows. Reaper is produced by ABC Studios but airs on The CW. Kevin Hill was a drama on UPN but was produced by ABC Studios. Lionsgate has reached a deal for select ABC Studios series for DVD rights. No, that does not mean ABC Studios/Buena Vista Home Entertainment will not release any more DVDs, as they will still continue to release well over 40 ABC Studios series each year such as Desperate Housewives, Lost, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Samantha Who, Scrubs and many others. Lionsgate primarily will release the series that are not in production anymore, but of course a few are going to be released that are in production (like the aforementioned According to Jim & Reaper).
I don't have a full list of shows yet that Lionsgate acquired for DVD rights from ABC Studios other than those listed above like 8 Simple Rules, October Road and Boy Meets World. Speaking of those three, I am told Lionsgate will continue where Buena Vista Home Entertainment left off, so 8 Simple Rules & October Road will start with Season 2 and Boy Meets World with Season 4. I am hoping Lionsgate also acquired classic ABC Studios series not on DVD such as Empty Nest, Nurses, Blossom, and short lived stuff like The Golden Palace, Thunder Alley and The Sinbad Show. Notice most of those were not on ABC but they were produced by ABC Studios (Touchstone Television). Once I have a full list of what Lionsgate has acquired, I will let you all know, unless TVShowsonDVD.com posts it first. So stay tuned to us and/or TVShowsonDVD.com for details. Just to reiterate...if a show aired on ABC in the past like Family Matters or Step by Step, which were both produced by Warner Bros., that will not be available for Lionsgate because they were NOT produced by ABC Studios...only those series produced by ABC Studios/Touchstone Television could be available.

Sitcom Time Changes on WE tv; Programming Reminders for This Weekend

Starting this Monday (May 12), WE tv will switch the timeslots for sitcoms Kate & Allie and Hope & Faith. Kate & Allie was airing weekdays from 12-1pm (sometimes it would be extended a bit longer, too) and will now move to 10-11am weekdays where Hope & Faith was airing. And yes, Hope & Faith will move to 12-1pm (and sometimes it will be extended a bit beyond that, too). Dharma & Greg will remain in the middle from 11am-12pm.
Remember WE tv also has reruns of Girlfriends, Golden Girls and Ghost Whisperer coming in 2009.

Yes, MTV Networks (TV Land, Nick at Nite, etc) had their upfront yesterday, but as of now, still no press releases or anything from TV Land. I do know that Chris Rock was on hand at the upfront for Everybody Hates Chris, which comes to Nick at Nite in 2009.
At its 2008 upfront presentation, MTV Networks united its leadership, talent and marketing partners to showcase innovative partnerships, programming and platforms across its brands. The presentation highlighted "return on innovation" -- the value for marketers in MTVN's reinvention of how audiences experience content and advertising on every screen. The event was highlighted by special guest appearances by some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Justin Timberlake, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Ashanti, Taylor Swift, Lauren Conrad, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, George Foreman, Dr. Drew Pinsky, as well as exclusive musical performances by John Legend, Sarah Silverman, JabbaWockeeZ from MTV's Randy Jackson Presents: America's Best Dance Crew and the cast of hit Broadway musical Legally Blonde.
Yeah, nothing major at all. We will let you know if there is anything announced today or whenever.

This weekend has a lot of nice programming for everyone. We have mentioned all of these already, but we are going to remind you again. Tonight ABC will air the two-hour special TV's All-Time Funniest...sitcoms of the past and present are featured from Married with Children to I Love Lucy to The Office. Tune in from 8-10pm ET/PT on ABC! Must see for sitcoms fans.
Then we mentioned a few Mother's Day stunts. They will all of course air on Mother's Day, this Sunday (May 11). Airing on BET from 12pm-5pm is a sitcom marathon of Thea. The short-lived ABC sitcom starring Thea Vidale and Brandy Norwood. Watch Thea take care of her four kids and work two jobs...how does she do it? Tune in! On Boomerang this Sunday from 12pm-7pm, there will be Wilma themed episodes of animated sitcom The Flintstones. Finally, Nick at Nite has a nice primetime block featuring "Hot Moms." Tune in starting at 9pm for "Hot Moms" like Jill Taylor, Angie Lopez and Vivian Banks! The marathon will be hosted by one of the hot moms themselves, Constance Marie (Angie on George Lopez)!