SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

ABC Pulls 'Emergency's' Last Airing; Other Updates; NBC Summer Update

ABC has pulled the last airing of In Case of Emergency for April 18. ABC has aired 12 episodes so far and a 13th will not air. The last episode they aired on April 11 was the actual season finale, so we did see how it ends, they just decided not to air one episode. Repeats of Lost will air in the 9pm hour a week earlier than planned now. The repeats of Lost will lead-in to all-new episode of Lost 10. If you missed this week's Lost, you must watch it this Wednesday at 9...it was GREAT! According to Jim will settle into its new timeslot of Wednesdays at 8pm starting this Wednesday followed by Notes from the Underbelly which premiered to decent numbers last night on a special premiere night and time. George Lopez will move to Tuesdays from 8 to 9 p.m. It was scheduled to move on Tuesday, April 17, but ABC has decided to air another Dancing with the Stars Recap Show leading into the Live Results Show of Dancing with the Stars. So, George will move on April 24 for three weeks (April 24, May 1 and May 8) of new episodes airing back-to-back. Look for guest stars galore with Mario Lopez, Oscar de la Hoya, and Jerry Springer returns.

Meanwhile, Disney-ABC Television Group announced that it will add the remaining unaired episodes of new drama Six Degrees to ABC.com's broadband player.
The first unaired episode of Six Degrees will be added to ABC.com on Friday, April 27, with a new episode added every Friday for four consecutive weeks (five episodes total). Look for sitcom star Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) to appear in an episode.

NBC announced the premieres for its original alternative programs in Summer 2007 that feature the return of last summer's hit America's Got Talent (with new host Jerry Springer) on May 29 (9-11pm, regular airings Tuesdays 8-9pm) as well as an updated edition of the hit series Last Comic Standing (with new host Bill Bellamy) on June 13 (9-11pm, regular airings 9-10pm) and the launch of Age of Love reality dating series (with host Mark Consuelos) on June 18 (10-11pm). In addition, NBC will reprise the popular weight-loss series The Biggest Loser (with new host Alison Sweeney from NBC's Days of our Lives) in late summer.

ABC Changes 'Underbelly' Regular Slot Again, Pulls 'Degrees'; Fox Halts 'Wedding'; CBS Salutes Bob Barker in Primetime

ABC has once again altered the timeslot for yet to premiere new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly. Notes will still premiere with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, April 12 following a Grey's Anatomy special, but after that the show will move to Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. starting April 18. It will follow According to Jim. Jim is expected to air at 8 and 9 (new and a repeat) on April 18, with the season finale of In Case of Emergency wrapping up at 9:30 on April 18. Jim will be moving to 8pm because starting April 25, Lost encores from the previous week will air at 9 p.m. leading into an all-new episode. George Lopez will be airing new episodes in back-to-back slots on Wednesday, April 4 & 11 and also on Tuesday, April 17 (its new night). Guest stars all over the place with Barbara Eden, Jerry Springer, and Mario Lopez. Andy Garcia also directed one of the episodes. George will move and stay in the Tuesday 8-9pm slot for the rest of the season. For more on the Wednesday sitcom schedule and this Tuesday note, click HERE.
October Road was slated to only air four episodes this season, but since it has done very well, ABC will air the last two episodes of its season order April 19 and April 26 following all-new episodes of Grey's Anatomy! No idea yet what will air after Grey's on May 10 and 17, but May 3 will be the backdoor spin-off pilot for Grey's Anatomy starring Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, and Tim Daly.
Finally, ABC is pulling Six Degrees from the Friday line-up effective this Friday after a series low last week. The show has just aired two episodes since returning from hiatus. The show heated up in the episode this past Friday, but unfortunately the temperature didn't rise in 'degrees' in the ratings. No word yet if and when the remaining episodes will air or if it will air on abc.com. Repeats of Wife Swap will temporary air at 9 on Fridays. And no word yet if Men in Trees will return. All bets are that the remaining five episodes for Trees will be held over until next season.

David E. Kelly Drama The Wedding Bells is halting production after just seven episodes produced. Which means the show will at most air for another three weeks. The show has been going down in the ratings each Friday at 9 for Fox. The last episode will air (if it actually airs) April 20 (the last Friday before May sweeps starts).

Emmy Award winner Bob Barker will be honored with two final primetime specials this May on CBS, paying tribute to his 50 years in show business and his upcoming retirement after 35 years of hosting The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in television history. The specials will be broadcast Wednesday, May 16 and Thursday, May 17 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS.
On Wednesday, May 16, CBS will present The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, Barker's final appearance in prime time hosting the show he has led since 1972. In this special primetime edition, contestants will have the opportunity to win bigger prizes and the chance to spin the wheel for $1 million.
On Thursday, May 17, Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television will include Barker's reminiscences about his 50 year career on television and his 35 years on The Price Is Right, in addition to highlighting some classic games from the long-running show.
CBS will air 15-second viewer tributes to retiring host Bob Barker. Viewer tributes will air during the Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television" special.
The user-generated video tributes are a continuation of CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" campaign, where viewers post their 15-second messages on YouTube, and CBS Interactive then chooses the best viewer-videos to be broadcast on the Network.
Viewers can submit their 15-second taped message now on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/15seconds. The videos need to be a 15-second tribute to Bob Barker. Every two weeks, CBS Interactive will select five videos from the "15 Seconds on CBS" YouTube Group and post them on CBS.com. From those "favorites," CBS Interactive will select the videos for broadcast. Viewers submitting videos must be 16 years of age or older and must abide by YouTube's Community Guidelines at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines. No profanity or nudity will be accepted. Rules and details regarding CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" community campaign can be found on CBS.com at http://www.cbs.com/originals/15_seconds.
Bob Barker's last The Price is Right regular episode will air in June only on CBS daytime!

Jeannie and Springer on 'George Lopez' This Week; CBS Announces Season Finale Dates; NBC Pull 'Donnellys' Early

ABC will now air two new episodes of George Lopez this Wednesday rather than repeats. Both episodes will feature a special guest star. The first episode has Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie at 8:00 followed by Jerry Springer at 8:30. These two episodes were scheduled for April 25 but ABC has decided to air them this week instead leading into a baseball themed episode of According to Jim and a new In Case of Emergency.
Eden's episode plot line: Much to Benny's dismay, George and Angie hire a maid (guest starring Barbara Eden as Ruth) who quickly cooks and cleans her way into George's heart.
Springer's episode plot line: When the love of Benny's life (guest starring Jerry Springer as Wayne Hill) returns to town, George builds a web of lies to keep them from reuniting.

CBS has announced season finale dates for most of its series. CBS in May will feature the unpredictable finales of the network's hit series along with a royal farewell to long-running sitcom The King of Queens when the comedy ends its nine-year, 200-plus episode run with a special one-hour finale.
Also in May, the winner of Survivor: Fiji will be crowned in a special two-hour broadcast on a special night (Sunday), and the final three teams dash to the finish line and the $1 million prize in The Amazing Race: All Stars.
Also of note, hit drama Without a Trace will air its season finale in its old home Thursday at 10 on May 10!
For the CBS season finale dates, click HERE.

NBC has announced it has scheduled new reality series The Real Wedding Crashers, from Ashton Kutcher and inspired by the movie Wedding Crashers, Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting April 23 for 6 weeks. The show will air following the return of Heroes on April 23.
In the six outrageous, one-hour episodes, wedding couples team up with five "crashers" to create the most memorable wedding weekend their guests will never forget! The crash team consists of five quick-thinking, hilarious improv performers who've made it their mission to infiltrate a wedding, going undercover as wedding staff and guests to save them from run-of-the-mill boredom. The bride and groom are in on the fun as they assist the "crashers" to take on outrageous characters and personalities to pull off some fun and outlandish pranks.
Because of this move The Black Donnellys will be either homeless or moved to another night and time. Personally, I think it will be homeless. So far only five have aired and 3 more expected to air including tonight. I think about 5 will be left unaired unless NBC reschedules.

ABC Sitcom 'Notes' To Premiere After 'Anatomy'; JustMyShow.com Interviews; Nick at Nite Weekend Change for This Weekend

ABC will be revising its 'notes' after 'anatomy' class starting April 12. ABC will debut new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly on Thursday, April 12 at 10 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes following a Grey's Anatomy Clip Show. It is almost unheard of for a sitcom to air in the 10 p.m. hour so this will be interesting. ABC plans on airing Notes for three weeks (that's six half-hour episodes) in the slot. Previously Notes was supposed to replace In Case of Emergency on Wednesdays at 9:30 starting April 11, but that will not happen now, which means all 13 of In Case of Emergency's episodes will now air, instead of just 11. So that means Wednesdays at 9:30 will be vacant starting April 25...maybe Knights of Prosperity will return for its last four episodes of the season?
ABC was planning on returning Men in Trees to the Thursday at 10 slot starting April 12, but that is not happening. It is still unclear what ABC will do with the five remaining Trees episodes. It is possible that they could move the show to Fridays at 8 starting April 13 for 5 weeks or hold-off on the remaining five episodes for next season, where it could air for at least 27 new episodes next season, something Boston Legal & Grey's Anatomy did their first seasons.
Now, Notes from the Underbelly is just airing for three weeks on Thursdays, but what about after that? That is also sort of still unclear, but this is what will look like happen: April 12, 19, & 26 will be Notes from the Underbelly; May 3 will be the special two-part episode of Grey's Anatomy introducing the spin-off; and May 10 & 17 is unclear but it looks like ABC will bring back October Road for episodes five and six, rather than ending after episode four on April 5. That show has impressed thus far.
We will keep you up to date if anything is concrete later today or in the coming days. Keep checking back!

Our good friend Eric from JustMyShow.com has a new episode up on his website. This time he chats with Tom Wopat from The Dukes of Hazzard and Alan Spencer, creator of the cult sitcom Sledge Hammer. This episode is the series' 13th episode. Congrats Eric! That is more than many of the TV series these days! Anyway, click HERE to listen to this episode. As usual, Eric is on top of his game and knows his stuff. Great preparation.

Finally, Nick at Nite will edit this weekend's schedule. Like last weekend, it will be all Fresh Prince. Though last weekend the first three half-hours were Full House because of that Jesse marathon, but not this weekend. This Saturday and Sunday it is all Will Smith all the time. Saturday from 10-6am and Sunday from 9pm-6am only on Nick at Nite.
Will Fresh Prince weekend be a weekly thing? Who knows.