SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

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.

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!