SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

As with the rest of the world, we are waiting to see what will happen to Charlie Sheen and Two and a Half Men. Will the sitcom continue is the question. They certainly need it as we have seen CBS Monday falter without it. .
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com CBS 2011-12 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
Already Renewed Returning Series: The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, & Survivor.
Likely Returning Series: 48 Hours Mystery, 60 Minutes, Criminal Minds, CSI, CSI: NY, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rules of Engagement, and Two and a Half Men (in some form).
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Chaos, The Defenders, Mad Love, $#*! My Dad Says, Medium, Live to Dance, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, and Three Rivers.
Likely New Series Pick-Ups: Untitled Susannah Grant Project (drama), Person of Interest (drama), The Rookies (drama), How To Be a Gentleman (sitcom), Two Broke Girls (sitcom), Ringer (drama for mid-season), and Herd Mentality (mid-season sitcom).

OUR FALL 2011 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM The Amazing Race
9:00PM Untitled Susannah Grant Project (NEW!)
10:00PM The Good Wife

Mondays
8:00PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30PM Mike & Molly
9:00PM Two and a Half Men
9:30PM How To Be a Gentleman (NEW!)
10:00PM Hawaii Five-0

Tuesdays
8:00PM NCIS
9:00PM Person of Interest (NEW!)
10:00PM NCIS: Los Angeles

Wednesdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM Criminal Minds
10:00PM CSI

Thursdays
8:00PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30PM Two Broke Girls (NEW!)
9:00PM The Rookies (NEW!)
10:00PM The Mentalist

Fridays
8:00PM Undercover Boss
9:00PM CSI: NY
10:00PM Blue Bloods

Saturdays
8:00PM Crime Repeats
9:00PM Crime Repeats
10:00PM 48 Hours Mystery

Comments: CBS will really need to find out ASAP on what is happening with Two and a Half Men as it is renewed through 2012 but as you all know Charlie Sheen was fired. Will he be back or will this show continue without him is still the question. CBS Monday depends a lot on what happens here. I'm thinking it will return in some form. If no Sheen, I think the show will have to stay on Mondays because without Sheen it could falter on another night. Anyway, on to some analysis, for Mondays How I Met Your Mother will continue to lead off the night but at 8:30pm possibly Mike & Molly could be moved there. Mad Love isn't expected to return. Two and a Half Men is penciled in at 9pm, if it comes back. The comedy could lead into something like How To Be a Gentleman which seems like a good fit at 9:30pm. At 10pm, Hawaii Five-0 should return in this hour.
As for Tuesday, veteran NCIS will of course remain at 8. However, I think the 9pm hour will be different this time, with NCIS: LA moving to 10pm, so the new drama Person of Interest could be sandwiched in between at 9pm. J.J. Abrams produced that pilot with Michael Emerson among the stars. The Good Wife is probably on the move to another night as its ratings have gone pretty low in 18-49. For Wednesdays, CBS will likely remain with Survivor leading into Criminal Minds at 9pm. At 10pm, I think a change will be needed again. Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior was a bit soft for spin-off. Perhaps CBS goes with a veteran series like the original CSI moving to a new night and time?
CBS Thursdays will likely have The Big Bang Theory leading off, but that still depends on what happens with Two and a Half Men. At 8:30pm, Rules of Engagement will likely be saved for mid-season (for either Monday or Thursday), to make room for new comedy Two Broke Girls. CBS will likely make a chance at 9pm, but what? CSI is likely on the move, so perhaps new drama The Rookies (which will be renamed, we hear) will get this time period? The Mentalist could move to 9pm also, but I think it will remain at 10pm to close the night.
Fridays will probably start off differently, as the 8pm slot has been soft for the network since Ghost Whisperer was canceled. Perhaps they move Undercover Boss to this night and time to help start off the night better? From 9-11pm, CSI: NY and Blue Bloods should remain but there is always a chance CSI: NY could be canned, but I think it will remain.
Saturdays would still have crime repeats and 48 Hours Mystery at 10pm. No surprises here I think. And as for Sundays, CBS reality series Undercover Boss has faltered this season, especially in the spring, so they might be doing something different at 9pm. But first, Amazing Race at 8pm should remain out of 60 Minutes. Perhaps at 9pm they can air the Susannah Grant medical series project starring Julie Benz? At 10pm they should move The Good Wife to this night out of a better fitted lead-in. If there is NFL, these two dramas should be good counter programming. It'll be interesting if CBS brings back CSI: Miami or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was gone or back. It could go either way for Horatio Caine and company.
CBS needs to fix a few time periods but the main issue is about Two and a Half Men, as we have seen the entire Monday line-up for CBS falter. Before picking-up any new pilots, they need to make sure what is going on with this series first as that will make or break the schedule. Anyway, the CBS comedy pilots don't seem too strong this season and the drama pilots are a bit disappointing with two of their bigger ones like Ringer and Person of Interest not testing that well. I think both will be picked-up anyway. Well, at least one. If Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar is picked-up, I would hold it for mid-season to air repeat free as it is not your normal CBS series and would repeat horribly.

Remember, next Wednesday (May 18) is the actual date when we will find out CBS's plans for the 2011-12 season. So, come on back next Wednesday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned tomorrow for our last preview, a preview on The CW's upfront.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!


There has been many reports since last night about Fox ordering new pilots and canceling series. As of now, Fox has ordered four more new series to join Terra Nova and the two mid-season animated comedies. Fox has ordered the drama Alcatraz from JJ Abrams and the Bones spin-off series The Finder. More drama pick-ups will be on the way with possibly one or two more being picked-up such as Exit Strategy and The Touch. Comedy wise, so far two pilots have been picked-up--The New Girl starring Zooey Deschanel and I Hate My Teenage Daughter. The latter is multi-camera, which Fox has faltered in recent memory, stars Jamie Pressly. It is expected another comedy pilot or two will be ordered soon, such as Family Album. I think Fox will order a total of 6-8 pilots to series, so right now we have four. Stay tuned for more updates.
To make room for these pilots, Fox has canceled comedies Traffic Light and Breaking In along with dramas The Chicago Code, Lie to Me and Human Target. With The X-Factor taking two nights of the schedule, there wasn't really any room for these series. Stay with us for further details, as upfronts are 5 days away!

More of television's most beloved and iconic stars will be honored at the 2011 TV Land Awards. The wildly popular '80s comedy series The Facts of Life will receive the Pop Culture Award at the annual awards show which tapes for the very first time in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Sunday, April 10 and airs on TV Land on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Additionally, Mr. Kotter himself, Gabe Kaplan, and Robert Hegyes, "Sweathog" Juan Epstein, will join the rest of the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter as the show receives the 35th Anniversary Award with every main cast member. They will join Golden Globe-winner and two-time Academy Award-nominee John Travolta (Vinny Barbarino), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington), Ron Palillo (Arnold Horshack) and Marcia Strassman (Mrs. Julie Kotter).
As for The Facts of Life, Mindy Cohn (Natalie), Kim Fields (Tootie), Nancy McKeon (Jo), Lisa Whelchel (Blair) and the beloved Mrs. Garrett, Charlotte Rae, will reunite for the first time in over 20 years to accept the Pop Culture Award for The Facts of Life, a coming-of-age sitcom that ran on NBC from 1979-1988. Set in Peekskill, NY, The Facts of Life ran for nine seasons and was a spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes featuring the Drummonds' housekeeper Edna Garrett (Charlotte Rae) as she becomes a housemother at Eastland School, a prestigious all-female boarding school.
To recap, here are the awards recipients so far:

* Legend Award - Regis Philbin
* Fan Favorite Award - Family Ties
* Impact Award - The Cosby Show
* Anniversary Award - Welcome Back, Kotter (35th Anniversary)
* Pop Culture Award - The Facts of Life

Stay with us for further information! As we take the good and take the bad, and there we have the news of television!

Fox has announced its summer 2011 schedule and it will feature original programming Mon-Thurs, mainly in the 8pm hour. Back for an eighth season this summer, So You Think You Can Dance kicks off with a two-hour premiere on the first day of the summer season, Thursday, May 26 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. Once the auditions conclude, weekly two-hour performance shows will air Wednesdays from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT, and weekly results shows will air Thursdays in the 8:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed hour, followed by encore episodes of Glee at 9:00 PM ET/PT in a special summer slot.
World-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot return to challenge a new batch of hopefuls on the second season of the culinary competition series Masterchef beginning Monday, June 6 in the 8:00PM ET/PT hour. This season, America's best amateur cooks from all walks of life will compete two nights a week (rather than one) for the coveted white apron Mondays at 8:00 PM ET/PT and also Tuesdays at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Encores of House will at a special summer time of 9:00 PM ET/PT on Mondays. Encores of comedies Raising Hope and Traffic Light will air on Tuesdays in the 9:00 PM ET/PT hour from June 7-July 5. The MLB 2011 All-Star Game airs live on Tuesday, July 12.
Chef Ramsay takes over the entire Tuesday line-up when Hell's Kitchen starts cooking Tuesday, July 19 at 9:00 PM ET/PT following all-new episodes of Masterchef. So that is it for Fox, as of now, in terms of original programming for summer. The Untitled Jamie Foxx/Affion Crockett Project previously scheduled to premiere Thursday, June 9 at 9:00 PM, will now air at a later date.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will be encore programming. Starting Friday, June 3, Fox Fridays leads off with encores of Bones at 8:00 PM ET/PT in a new summer encore night, followed by encores of Lie to Me at 9:00 PM ET/PT, also in a new summer encore night. A mixture of all-new and encore episodes of Cops (8:00 and 8:30 PM ET/PT) followed by all-new episodes of America's Most Wanted at 9:00 PM ET/PT) will air until their season finales on Saturday, June 18. Then stepping up to the plate will be encores of compelling new police drama The Chicago Code beginning Saturday, June 25 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. That is very rare that Fox is resting repeats of America's Most Wanted even in the summer! And finally on Sundays, feature everyone's favorite animated families with encores all summer long of The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad! and Bob's Burgers somewhere in the 7:00-10:00 PM ET/PT block.
View and discuss the Fox Summer 2011 schedule.

Yesterday we told you about CSI joining the weekend line-up on TV Land for the rest of March, now we have the TV Land April 2011 schedule for you. As of now, CSI is not on the April schedule, however this April schedule was made before the changes made yesterday to weekends in March with CSI. This means the regular weekend schedule will return in April, for now at least. Stay with us for further updates.
TV Land is excited to air ENCORES of the second season of smash hit original sitcom Hot in Cleveland starting March 30 every Wednesday back-to-back in the 10pm hour. The mid-season finale is March 23. The rest of April remains the same but we do have some awards shows. We mentioned in the March highlights that on April 2, TV Land will air The Best of the American Comedy Awards: A Retrospective of Past Award Shows from 1987-2001, but there is more. The first The Comedy Awards will air on Sunday, April 10 from 9-11pm ET on many Viacom networks. Laugh out loud with TV Land as they simulcast The Comedy Awards in partnership with Comedy Central and sister networks Spike TV, VH1, CMT, Logo, and Nick at Nite! The inaugural award show is set to honor all things humor, recognizing some of the funniest names in film and television today. Hot in Cleveland star Betty White is just one of the hilarious and talented nominees selected by The Comedy Board of Directors, a hysterical group that includes Ray Romano, Joan Rivers, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, and Don Rickles among others. And of course there is the annual TV Land Awards. Start spreading the news: This year the TV Land Awards are on the move to fabulous New York City! For the first time in the show's history the red carpet will roll out in the greatest city in the world, with honorees including New York native Regis Philbin, as well as reunions of the casts of both The Cosby Show and Family Ties. A Welcome Back, Kotter reunion will also be featured with John Travolta on hand even. A special one-hour block of Everybody Loves Raymond kicks off the festivities at 8pm on Sunday, April 17. Then join TV Land as they take a bite out of the Big Apple at 9pm and then be sure to stay tuned for the TV Land Awards 2011: All Access post-show at 10:30pm, only on TV Land! The TV Land Awards will encore Monday, April 18 at 9pm and Sunday, April 24 at 9am as well.
Other than that, it is quiet at TV Land in April 2011. View our TV Land April 2011 schedule and highlights, and remember to stay tuned if CSI is indeed inserted into April as well.

We have Fox's season finale dates for you. Fox has not announced these officially, but this is our scoop! Fringe wraps up its season on Friday, May 6 at 9pm. Repeats of Kitchen Nightmares will take over the slot the following two weeks at least. The Cleveland Show wraps up its season on Sunday, May 15 at 9:30pm. New cop show The Chicago Code ends its run on Monday, May 16 at 9pm. House will end a week later on Monday, May 23, leading into the first special preview of Terra Nova. Fox's Tuesday comedies end on Tuesday, May 17 with Glee, Raising Hope and Traffic Light. The final Tuesday of the season, May 24, will have American Idol on a special night for its final performance show at 8pm leading into the second special preview of Terra Nova. Fox's Wednesday comedy Breaking In, which premieres on April 6, will end its season on Wednesday, May 18 at 9:30pm. Bones ends its season on the final Thursday of the season at 9pm on Thursday, May 19. The final Sunday of the season will have the Animation Domination comedies end starting at 7:30pm with American Dad!, followed by The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and a one-hour Family Guy at 9pm. The final night of the TV season will have a new American Idol crowned on Wednesday, May 25 from 8-10pm.
View the Fox season finale dates for Spring 2011.

NBC announced its premiere dates officially on Tuesday. We didn't get a chance to blog about it, but if you missed it...we have it for you! The first finale will be Harry's Law on Monday April 4 at 10pm, wrapping up its 12 episode season. Originally NBC had it scheduled through May 9, but now repeats won't be mixing in, so it will air repeat free through April 4. Law & Order: Los Angeles takes the slot the following week through June 27. Friday reality series Who Do You Think You Are? ends its season on April 8 at 8pm, as Friday Night Lights takes over the following week. New reality series America's Next Great Restaurant wraps up its season on Sunday, May 1 at 8pm. It is unclear on what will air May 8, 15 and 22 in the slot. However, Celebrity Apprentice wraps up its season on Sunday, May 22 from 9-11pm. The Thursday comedies end on different dates. Thursday, May 5 will have the season finale of Perfect Couples at 8:30pm and 30 Rock at 10pm. Community wraps its season the following week with a special one-hour episode from 8-9pm on May 12. Outsourced will wrap up its season later that night at 10:30pm following two all-new episodes of Parks and Recreation, which will end with two more episodes the following week on May 19 but from 10-11pm. The Office will ends its season with a one-hour episode as well on May 19 from 9-10pm.
Elsewhere, Chuck wraps up its season on Monday, May 16 at 8pm, while The Event wraps up on Monday, May 23 at 9pm. It is unclear what will air on May 23 at 8pm. Law & Order: SVU wraps up on Wednesday, May 18 at 10pm, a week before the season ends. And The Biggest Loser wraps up its season on Tuesday, May 24 from 9-11pm.
In addition, NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy 30 Rock (Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET) celebrates its 100th episode with a special one-hour edition on Thursday, April 21 from 10-11 p.m. ET. 30 Rock celebrates its 100th episode as "TGS," the show-within-the-show, faces the prospect that its 100th episode may be its last. A new corporate boss, a star in hiding, and a mind-altering gas leak may doom America's fourth-favorite Friday night sketch comedy show. Also, Steve Carrell says goodbye on The Office on Thursday, April 28 at 9 p.m. ET.
View the NBC season finale dates for Spring 2011.

Traffic Light - Tuesdays at 9:30PM ET/PT on Fox
Premieres Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 9:30PM ET/PT

By skees53

Love and friendship can be full of red lights, yellow lights, and green lights, and that is exactly what you get in Fox's newest sitcom, Traffic Light, premiering Tuesday on Fox. The series takes three guys who were friends since college into their young adulthood, much like the drama thirtysomething did decades ago, but with a light-hearted and much more comedic approach. Mike (David Denman) finds himself spending his free time in his man cave (his car) watching DVDs to avoid the responsibilities that come with adulthood. Adam (Nelson Franklin) has just moved in with his girlfriend, and is finding that things may be changing in his life, much faster than he'd like. And Ethan (Kris Marshall) is just trying to keep his life straightened out as he moves from one girl to the next every week. The lives of these three guys always come to a stop light at the same intersection in Traffic Light.

Cast Details:

* David Denman as Mike
* Nelson Franklin as Adam
* Kris Marshall as Ethan
* Aya Cash as Callie
* Liza Lapira as Lisa

David Denman (Mike) plays the married father who finds it almost impossible to get time for himself. Denman's best-known role is perhaps his recurring role on the NBC series The Office, where he played Roy Anderson, Pam's ex-fiance who could never commit to marriage. He has also played in many other series, including guest roles on Brothers & Sisters, Grey's Anatomy, Gary Unmarried, C.S.I.: Miami, Angel, Bones, and Drop Dead Diva. He received formal training in acting through the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, as well as by earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from Julliard.

Nelson Franklin (Adam) plays the guy who is just starting to settle down into a stable relationship, and moving in with his girlfriend. Much like Denman, Franklin is also known for a recurring role that he had on The Office, as "Nick the IT Guy" (who ended up leaving the series to because the character took a job through Teach for America). He has also had guest roles on the short-lived Fox series Dollhouse, as well as a number of smaller independent productions.

Kris Marshall (Ethan) is the British guy in the trio who can't seem to find any stability at all in his life. Marshall guest-starred in an episode of Human Target on Fox, but much of his fame comes from his roles that he is played in Great Britain, including his role of Nick Harper in the UK sitcom My Family, produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions. He has also had significant roles in the UK series Murder City and Funland. He grew up all around the world, though he currently lives in Windsor, Berkshire.

Aya Cash (Callie) plays the girl that Adam just recently moved in with. Much of her fame comes from the stage, but she has had guest roles in series such as Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Mercy, and Brotherhood. She is an alumna of the San Francisco School of Arts.

Liza Lapira (Lisa) is Mike's wife and the mother of his son. The Filipino-American actress is best-known for her role in the film 21 and as Special Agent Michelle Lee in the CBS series NCIS. Her first major role was in the Showtime series Huff. She has also appeared in series including Dollhouse, Dexter, and Grey's Anatomy, among many other series. The Queens-born actress also had many roles on stage in New York prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2004.


Pilot Plot:

The first four episodes of the series were made available for review, so we were able to get a good grasp for the direction that the series is going in at the beginning.

The first episode of the series, "Pilot" (airing February 8) introduces us to the three college buddies, Mike (the married guy always seeking free time), Adam (the single guy who just moved in with his girlfriend), and Ethan (the perpetually single British guy). In the "Pilot" episode, Adam has just moved in with Callie, and is quickly discovering that his fun times with his buddies may come to a crashing end very quickly, and that he is no longer just Adam, but now "Adam and Callie." Meanwhile, Mike, who only seems to find time to talk to his friends while driving, is dealing with having to drive Lisa to work everyday and trying to avoid talking to his friends while she is in the car with him, naturally raising her suspicions.

The second episode, "En Fuego" (airing February 15), it is discovered that Adam is hanging on to a stuffed dog that he won as a carnival prize, and Ethan and Mike are determined to get rid of it for him. Unfortunately, Adam and Callie see this stuffed dog as a good luck charm, and Adam is determined to go through any means necessary to get a replacement for the dog, mostly just to satisfy Callie. Meanwhile, Lisa is paired with Ethan's ex-girlfriend in a charity tennis match, which is a recipe for awkwardness.

"All the Precedent's Men" (airing February 22) puts the guys in tough positions when Lisa encourages Mike to meet up with a younger female colleague, who seems to have quite a bit more in common with Mike than he expects, leading to quite a bit of meetings between the two. Adam's free time in the car is constantly being disrupted by Callie calling him every time during his morning commute for the most useless things, such as to inform him that she has run in to a traffic light. And Ethan is getting involved in a relationship that may very well break his three-week streak of being involved with women.

"Credit Balance" (airdate TBD) causes Mike to have to rise up to his paternal duties by having to take care of son Tommy in the morning, but he quickly finds that being the "coffee mom" is pretty awesome, and finds a new group of friends in other mothers. Callie is in serious debt financially, and explains to Adam (while the two take a bath together) what brought on the situation, leading Adam to worry if her debt will cause trouble in the relationship. And Ethan's new girlfriend is making it virtually impossible for him to break off the relationship.


Analysis:

Unlike many series that I have seen lately, I feel that this one does have some real potential if it finds an audience. I really liked how the series tried to focus on all three main characters as much as possible and create a story for each of them in every episode, although it seems that the character of Ethan could be used a little bit more. Mike and Adam seem to have much more depth and the major plots seem to focus on them, with Ethan as the other guy. But they could really step up his character to a more meaningful role, and hopefully they will do that in later episodes.

Unlike virtually ever other sitcom that Fox has ever aired--good and bad ones--the series doesn't really seem to jump into absurdities and outlandish plots. Everything on the series is down-to-Earth and "normal" for a sitcom. In a sense, I kind of like to see that in a sitcom. There's nothing that is done in the series to obtain any kind of shock value, or any big surprises. That can be a double-edged sword at times (that does, after all, make a series interesting), but I think that it works for this series, as it attempts to be a more "normal" series. Of course, as a result of this, there really weren't any laugh-out-loud moments in any of the episodes, which is somewhat disappointing, but it does offer room for the writers to focus on the actual plot development.

I found it rather interesting to see David Denman in the role as Mike, who was the responsible one that was settled down, married, had a child, and had a career. This is quite a change from his role on The Office as Roy, the blue-collared warehouse employee who was engaged to Pam for several seasons (before Jim got in the middle of that relationship, of course, and eventually married Pam) but could never settle down to the idea of marriage. But it is also nice to see that he hasn't been typecast into that type of role and can explore a bit of diversity in his roles.


Conclusion:

This isn't a bad series, the main struggle that it will have throughout the beginning (just like any new series) is finding an audience. It could be tough to do on Fox, as many (live-action) sitcoms that air on Fox indeed do not find an audience, and though they have mostly produced some bad sitcoms in the past few years, there have been a few gems along the way that just couldn't find an audience. The reality is that in the entire history of the network, there have really only been a handful of live-action sitcoms that have had any level of success on Fox, and really none in the past decade. The series really doesn't feel like a Fox sitcom at all, and perhaps that will work in its favor in drawing in a new audience. I think only time will tell where this series will go, and hopefully there will be some "kinks" in the relationships along the way to make the series more interesting (perhaps some continuing storylines), but I'd say that the series has a green light, for now anyway.


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 3/5
Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, February 8 on our message board.

Preview:



Related Links:

Fox.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Traffic Light Photo Gallery

Moving on the some news, we have some very cool news for The Hallmark Channel! They have added a 24-hour marathon for the 1988-1995 sitcom Empty Nest on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011! The sitcom was a spin-off of The Golden Girls, which also airs on Hallmark. The show revolves around pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (Richard Mulligan), whose life is turned upside down when his wife, Libby, dies, and two of his adult daughters (Dinah Manoff and Kristy McNichol) move back into the family home in Miami. The series has not aired on U.S. television since local broadcast stations returned airing it between 1999-2001. The series was also last seen on cable briefly on TBS in 1996 and WGN stopped it in 1999. It never did well in the ratings in syndication, but it has never aired on the same network in reruns with The Golden Girls. The sitcom originally followed The Golden Girls on the NBC Saturday night schedule, so there is a chance Hallmark will re-create that.
The series is expected to join the regular schedule, but as of this writing, they have not released an updated March schedule with the timings. For now, enjoy the 24-hour marathon beginning at 6am ET on Saturday, Feb. 26! Episode info is not available just yet for the marathon. Empty Nest had a spin-off series as well titled Nurses, that lasted three seasons from 1991-94. Hopefully Hallmark can get that also, as that hasn't been seen since the mid-90s on Lifetime (in fact, it left the schedule in 1997 when Lifetime started airing The Golden Girls). There will be plenty of other 24-hour marathons on Hallmark this month and next month. But before we get to that, effective next Tuesday (Feb. 15), Touched by an Angel returns to the schedule! The series will replace the primetime airing of Little House on the Prairie at 8pm and the Hallmark movie from 9-11pm, so we get a three-episode block of Touched by an Angel in primetime. Little House on the Prairie will still remain in the afternoons from 3-6pm. Touched by an Angel gets a 24-hour marathon on Saturday, Feb. 19 starting at 6am ET to celebrate its return. We also have a 24-hour (actually 22) marathon of The Golden Girls on Sunday, Feb. 27 from 6am-4am, the day after the Empty Nest marathon. Every Sunday night at 4am, Hallmark will now air an ice skating special.
The March 2011 schedule is now tentative because we will likely be seeing Empty Nest added to the schedule, but they do have a 24-hour Little House on the Prairie marathon scheduled on Saturday, March 5 beginning at 6am. And the only other stunt, as of now, in March is a Touched by an Angel marathon on Sunday, March 13 from 9am-11pm. Looking further ahead, Hallmark Channel has already began airing promos for Frasier, which will air on the network starting in April. What does that mean for Lifetime, which currently airs the show? Stay with us later this week for info on that. And we will also have more on Frasier on Hallmark in the near future as well.
For now, view the UPDATED Hallmark Channel February 2011 schedule. And stay with us for details on when Empty Nest will be airing on the regular schedule.