SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Nick@Nite, Boomerang, i Network September Changes; Friday Notes

Nick@Nite, Boomerang and the i Network have made changes to its September line-ups. Nick@Nite will now air marathons 12-4am starting Sept. 4. The summer marathons end Sept. 3. 12-4AM Marathons are: Fresh Prince (Sun, Mon), Roseanne (Tues, Sat), A Different World (Wed), The Cosby Show (Thurs), and Full House (Fri). The Jeffersons and Three's Company on Nick@Nite were just for the last two weeks of the summer marathons. Murphy Brown will return to Nick@Nite airing Saturday nights (early Sundays) at 5 a.m. It will continue to air on TV Land every night at 10 p.m. Other changes include Mad About You every night at 4:30 a.m. and NewsRadio just Sunday nights (early Mondays) at 5:30 a.m. For the complete changes on September, click here.
Last week we mentioned Boomerang will return Heathcliff & Marmaduke on Sept. 4, looks like that is not happening anymore. Garfield & Friends is still slated to come every night at 8 p.m. starting Sept. 18. They have also announced the returns of Jonny Quest, The Fantastic Four, and Wait Til Your Father Gets Home. All three will be airing in a late night block. They will also air the '60s animated cartoon Batfink on weekends at 12 noon. Due to popular demand, here is the full schedule.
The i Network will be making some changes in early September. Starting September 4, Family Feud and Doc will leave the weekday line-up. Another episode of Green Acres will replace Family Feud at 7:30 p.m. weekdays, while Mon-Thurs at 9 p.m. another episode of Diagnosis Murder will replace Doc. Doc will still air Fridays at 10 p.m. The new NBC kids block premieres Saturday, Sept. 9 on NBC. The i network will re-air that block on Friday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. starting Friday, September 15. Shows like Veggie Tales, Dragon, and Babar are airing. There are no other changes yet, but hopefully we will get some more later in September. I do know that Saturday marathons are being planned. So far we know Green Acres is having one on Aug. 26 and Sue Thomas F.B.Eye is having one on Sept. 2. Bonanza is being planned for Sept. 9 and Doc on Sept. 16. Hopefully they air some marathons from shows from the Sony/Warner library after that. And let's hope we get some changes later in September with more new shows.
Speaking of the i Network, last week's Mama's Family launch marathon did very well for i. The six episodes averaged 830,000 viewers, peaking at over 1 million for 10 p.m. In comparison the rest of the week averaged just 650,000 viewers. Hopefully they will realize now that these reruns will do well for them. I will keep you posted if there are any other changes on the i Network.

Well, today is Friday and I want to wrap the work-week in style. So, let's get to "the chase" (think Carmen Sandiego's fast 'chase' round) in the Friday notes! Former Ally McBeal co-star Jane Krakowski (or as Regis would call her "Krackow"), is joining NBC's new sitcom 30 Rock this fall. Krakowski will be playing the star of The Girlie Show, a network variety show that serves as the backdrop for the workplace comedy. 30 Rock debuts on October 11 and will air on Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
Scrubs stars are now playing golf while they wait for their series to come back for new episodes in mid-season! Five of the show's stars will take part in the The Big Break All Star Challenge, a one-hour special airing Tuesday, Aug. 22 on The Golf Channel. The show will feature actors Ken Jenkins (Doctor Kelso), Robert Maschio (The Todd), Neil Flynn (Janitor), Judy Reyes (Nurse Carla) and Johnny Kastl (Doug) participating in a golf event to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The network’s Stephanie Sparks will serve as host. The event features the actors taking part in golf challenges, including breaking glass with golf balls and a long-drive competition, competitions that are a regular part of the network’s Big Break reality series, which launches its sixth season September 26.
Actor Bruno Kirby passed away on Monday. He was battling leukemia. Kirby was best remembered for his movie roles in City Slickers, Harry Met Sally, and The Godfather: Part II, but he was also on TV. He guest starred on sitcoms such as M*A*S*H, Room 222, Detective School, Frasier, Mad About You, and It's Garry Shandling's Show. He was last seen this past season on an episode of HBO's Entourage. Mr. Kirby was only 57.

Stay tuned tomorrow for our first anniversary special!

'Punky Brewster' E! True Hollywood Story; ABC's 'MEN IN TREES' To Premiere After 'Dancing'

E! True Hollywood Story is gearing up for an all-new episode (episode 414) this Sunday (August 20) at 8 p.m. ET/PT. This time they will profile the '80s sitcom Punky Brewster. The 60-minute episode focuses on the sweet little orphan with an awesome wardrobe, who touched the lives of children of the '80s. See what happened to the girl with the magical name after the Punky era... Details here.

ABC has tweaked their fall schedule just a little bit and moved the series premiere of MEN IN TREES to Tuesday, September 12 at 10 p.m. following the two-hour season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. MEN IN TREES was slated to premiere on Friday, September 22 at 9 p.m. The series' second episode will air on Friday, September 15 at 9 p.m., following an encore of the pilot episode at 8 p.m. I think this is an excellent move. This will get MEN IN TREES some heavy exposure that it deserves. I've seen the pilot and it is very fun and light. It reminds me of Northern Exposure. Anne Heche is very good in it. And also, the premiere and the second episode will both air a week before the fall season officially starts, so that is another plus. Sitcom fans might want to tune in as Good Times star John Amos has a supporting role. To view more info and to discuss this news, click here.

Nick@Nite Trims 'A Different World' Week-Long Marathon; CBS Adds Full Episodes to innertube

Nick@Nite today announced that they have trimmed the week-long A Different World Marathon, titled "Hillman College Reunion Week" from 10pm-2am for five nights to 10pm-12am for five nights. The five night event starts Monday, August 28 and ends Friday, September 1. No reason for the change, but it might have to do with the summer marathons now continuing that week. The summer marathons are slated to run until Sunday, September 3. A new schedule will start September 4, with 12-4am marathons each night. We will reveal that to you shortly. For all the details on the marathon trimming and the summer marathons for that week, click here.

CBS now will use its online broadband channel innertube to air shows a day after they premiere on CBS. 7 shows will be offered this way starting this fall! All three CSI series, NCIS, NUMB3RS, Survivor and Jericho. The latter two will have archived episodes for the entire season (if Jericho lasts that long, that is). The other five series will be available for four weeks after they broadcast on TV. Launched in May, innertube features a mix of short original programming, content related to the network's shows and full episodes of the reality show Big Brother: All-Stars. innertube is looking for the the same success as ABC's full episode streaming program that was a success this past May and June. It would be nice if a sitcom or two would pop-up, though. NBC is going to release information on its broadband channel DotComedy very soon. DotComedy.com is going to have episodes of classicNBC/Universal-owned sitcoms for free. I'd guess Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, among others would be on it, but we shall see. I don't think NBC has plans as of yet to put some of its current shows online like CBS and ABC.

Minor Lifetime Schedule Change; Network Fall Preview Specials

Effective yesterday Lifetime made a few minor changes to its line-up. Most notably it removed Unsolved Mysteries off the line-up. It was airing at 2 p.m. now the afternoon movie will start then. The movie was airing 3 to 5 p.m., so now it will be 2-4 p.m. They have now added an extra hour of The Golden Girls in the 4 p.m. hour. Everything else is the same as the schedule that started August 7.

We are almost a month away from the official start of the fall season. The networks are or have been airing half-hour fall preview specials. Fox aired its fall primetime preview special on Sunday at 7 p.m., but if you missed it, your local Fox affiliates are airing it again this weekend. Check your local Fox listings for exact times. Tonight, My NetworkTV will have two half-hour specials on Desire and Fashion House--check your local listings for the times in your area. They also will have a launch special on Sept. 4 from 8 to 10 p.m. The CW Premiere Special premieres this weekend on your local CW affiliate. Keep checking your CW affiliate's weekends listings for the next few weekends, so you can see it. NBC has been airing its fall preview specials on local NBC affiliates already, but they will have one to the full NBC network on Saturday, September 2 at 8 p.m. You can also catch it on USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo, and your local NBC affiliates at various other times, again check your local listings. CBS will have its fall preview special on Saturday, September 2 at 9:30 p.m. following a special 90-minute Museum of Television & Radio special. Finally, ABC will have two half-hour specials on Desperate Housewives & Grey's Anatomy. Both will also have previews of other shows, so make sure to tune in. They will air on your local ABC affiliates in the coming weeks, so check your listings for the time and day. If you can't find it, it will air on the ABC Family Channel on Friday, Sept. 15 in the 4 p.m. hour. I hope you are all ready for the fall! Watch all these primetime preview specials and I'm sure you will be even more ready!

Former Sitcom Stars to Compete on ABC's Dancing with the Stars Season 3; Fall 2006 Syndication

ABC announced this morning on Good Morning America the celebrities for the next installment of the mega-hit Dancing with the Stars. We are proud to mention that a few former sitcom stars will compete, too! Mario Lopez of Saved by the Bell fame will be competing. Mario played Slater on the teen sitcom. Former child star Joe Lawrence (AKA Joey Lawrence) will also be in it. Joe starred in sitcoms such as Gimme a Break! and Blossom. He was also on Half & Half recently. other stars include L.A. Law's Harry Hamlin, TV/movie star Vivica A. Fox, reality TV star Shanna Moakler, TV talk show host Jerry Springer and NFL great Emmitt Smith. To view the full list of 11 celebs, click here. Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. starting Set. 12 on ABC.

Pretty soon the fall will start and that means we will all be browsing TVGuide or TitanTV to see what our local channels are doing. Some locals will start changing on Sept. 5, but many will make their changes the weeks of Sept. 11 and 18. Sitcom wise, premiering Sept. 11 on locals are reruns of Still Standing; premiering September 18 on locals are reruns of According to Jim, Scrubs, One on One and Reba. Then there are the weekly drama/reality shows, like CSI: Miami, American Idol, The Shield and Without a Trace. They all will air once or twice a week on weekends. Then there are the new talk shows and court shows. Premiering the week of Sept. 11 are Dr. Keith Ablow, The Greg Behrendt Show, Judge Maria Lopez and Cristina's Court. Week of Sept. 18 will see Rachel Ray and Megan Mullally. I have posted most of the NYC info on all these shows. Click here to view this. You too can post info on your locals on that thread. I have posted WPIX's full fall line-up, and soon will have WWOR and WNYW. So keep checking!

Summer Week 11 Sitcom Ratings

Dog days of summer continue...but we are almost finished! I think 5 weeks left until the season starts! Week 11 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Men has replaced Queens to start the night, and a big jump happened this week with 8.25 million, compared to Queens' 6.76 million last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 7.25 million, way up from previous week thanks to the new lead-in.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A second helping did 10.4 million...up from last week.
• The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - It is back and did 7.95 million, down a bit from Mother's 8.01 million last week.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were up on par from last week ranging from 1.64-2.22 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 4 episodes - Did decent...5.11, 5.37, 4.9, and 5.1 million each. The second hour was a bit down from last week, but first hour was on par from last week.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of All of Us and Half & Half...9-10pm did 1.37 and 1.36 million--up from last week.
• George Lopez (ABC) 2 episodes - ABC scheduled 2 episodes this week--4.23 and 4.09 million. 5 million would have been more respectable.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - I don't have final numbers in millions for this night, but I think it didn't do as good as last week. It did a 4.0/7 houdehold rating good for third place behind CBS and ABC.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 3.2/6 rating, probably lower than last week in total viewers.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well...the rest were anemic.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. The WB should air just Reba for the next few weeks.
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) is Fox just animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30. Fox Fall Preview special airs tonight at 7.

Mini-DVD Review: The Best of Mr. Bean (August 29)

Last week's mini-DVD review was Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's The Boondocks. This week we take a look at A&E Home Video's The Best of Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean is of course the classic British comedy starring Rowan Atkinson. See my mini-DVD review of The Best of Mr. Bean:

The Best of Mr. Bean (A&E, $14.95) brings the best episodes from the classic British comedy series to DVD. This best-of collection is available on a single disc that contains five classic half hours (which each half hour containing three or four mini episodes). The episodes on this set are: Pilot: "Mr. Bean" (24:37), "The Return of Mr. Bean" (25:06), "The Curse of Mr. Bean" (24:44), "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean" (25:46), and "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean" (25:26). The set even has special features. "The Story of Bean" runs 49 minutes and is produced by Universal and has clips and interviews. A&E has also included two text special features with information on Rowan Atkinson's Biography and Filmography. The menu screen has the episodes listed with Mr. Bean's theme playing (doesn't loop) and little Mr. Beans in the background. Now, the complete series came out on DVD three years ago, but this set is also a good buy because it has five of the best episodes and I think fans who don't own that set, should buy this set to see the best episodes for a cheap price. Long live the hilarious Mr. Bean!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
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Mr. Bean TV.com Page

Next week is our first anniversary! We will be celebrating it next Saturday and you can be a part of it! To find out how, click here. Also, next Saturday we will still most likely have a mini-DVD review or two, so don't worry! Expect the following sets to get mini-DVD reviews in the coming weeks: Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, Alvin & the Chipmunks Halloween, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, Dick Tracy, and Pee-Wee. We also could bring you a special mini-review of a TV movie on the classic '80s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes which will premiere on NBC on Sept. 4, but we might bring you a review of it before that, if all goes well.

Remembering TV Talk Show Legend Mike Douglas; Boomerang Fall; 'My Name is Earl' MySpace

Today we lost another TV legend. This time legendary TV talk show Mike Douglas. He died today on his birthday of all days in Palm Beach, Florida. He of course hosted the popular talk show The Mike Douglas Show from 1961-1982. It was probably the most popular daytime talk show in the '70s. Thousands and thousands of celebrities and guests appeared on the show, like Barbra Streisand, and sitcom greats such as Lucille Ball, John Ritter, Richard Mulligan, Danny Thomas and so many more. He even appeared as himself on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Greatest American Hero, and Ringo. Douglas started his career as a teen singer at supper clubs and on radio programs, joined the Navy during World War II, had two hit singles during the 1950s, then ultimately hosted The Mike Douglas Show, which he always maintained was more about music than talk.
He will be missed and I'm sure current talk show hosts such as David Letterman and Regis Philbin will honor him. Mr. Douglas turned 81 today.

Boomerang, the classic Cartoon Network animation spin-off channel, will be adding Garfield & Friends this September! Starting September 18, Sun-Fri at 8 p.m. They also will return Heathcliff & Marmaduke on Sept. 4 and air it weekdays at 11:30 a.m. No real other changes to their line-up besides these two additions. Boomerang airs classic series such as The Jetsons, The Flintstones, The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, Pink Panther and Tom & Jerry. They also air newer stuff like Pokemon and Duck Dodgers, but mainly it is classic stuff.

In a first-of-its-kind promotion, NBC and 20th Century Fox Television will partner with MySpace.com -- the leading online social community --to offer users an opportunity to submit a photo and have a chance to see their mug featured as a "Friend of Earl" in one of the first three episodes of My Name Is Earl (Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET). At the end of each episode, the series' production credits normally conclude with the "Amigos de Garcia" ("Friends of Garcia") logo the executive producer Greg Garcia's production company slate that normally features friends of the show's creator. Winners will now have a chance to be featured as one of the "Amigos." The first "Friend of Earl" winner will appear in the season premiere of My Name Is Earl on Thursday, September 21 (8-8:30 p.m. ET) and two other winners in two subsequent episodes. In addition, the MySpace community will offer user-generated content, sneak previews of Earl's first season DVD and soundtrack, "Earl" content for cell phones and other 'Earl'-Licensed merchandise.
For more details click here.

Lifetime Real Women Network Fall Schedule; Sue Thomas F.B.Eye Labor Day Weekend

The Lifetime Real Women network airs sitcoms seven days a week from 2 to 5 p.m. currently. Back-to-back episodes of Caroline in the City, Laverne & Shirley, and Suddenly Susan. Real Women is one of two spinoff channels from Lifetime, with the other being the Lifetime Movie Network. Fans of Caroline in the City take note that Sunday, August 27 is the last day for the show on the network. I believe the show is expiring. They will replace it with original series Who Knows Best? As for Suddenly Susan, that is also expiring. Sunday, September 3 will be its last day. Another hour of Laverne & Shirley will replace that. So L&S will air every afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. starting Sept. 4. There are no other changes which means dramas like Providence will still air.

The i Network will be giving a three-hour marathon to original series Sue Thomas F.B.Eye on Saturday, September 2. Fans will get a chance to vote on what episodes they can air. You can vote by clicking here. Voting ends August 27. I think this might be a farewell marathon? I doubt it will be around in September when more shows from Warner/Sony hopefully join the line-up. Don't forget the Mama's Family marathon this Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. That and Green Acres will join the line-up, as we mentioned a ton, on Monday.
We will let you know their September line-up as soon as we find out!

Come on back later today if we have anything else to share.

Nick@Nite Schedule Change Starting Saturday, Includes 'Jeffersons', 'Three's Company; ABC and NBC Notes

Yesterday we gave you the latest TV Land schedule change. Today Nick@Nite has officially announced its schedule changes. It was quite obvious looking at yesterday's TV Land changes that Nick@Nite would most likely change their schedule a bit, too, since Cosby Show & Murphy Brown are going to air every night on TV Land. So, my guess and hunch was correct (though I thought they would announce it yesterday with TV Land, but I was wrong about that)! The Nick@Nite official website is even reporting this change, so it is official (much how like TV Land's official website reported yesterday's changes). So, Nick@Nite will be replacing Full House Sun-Thurs with A Different World at 9 p.m., which seems to be doing very well for them. Full House will now only air weekday mornings at 5:30 a.m. because its Friday marathons from 10pm-2am will now be The Jeffersons! Other changes include Mad About You only on Saturday nights (Sunday morning) at 5:30 a.m. and NewsRadio only on Sunday nights (Monday morning) at 5:30 a.m. They both have lost their summer marathon spots. Roseanne has taken NewsRadio's Monday night marathon spot (2-5:30am) and Three's Company is back on Nick@Nite and will take Mad About You's 2-5:30am slot on Thursday nights. Finally, the weekend schedule has all been replaced by Roseanne (10p-5a) and Fresh Prince (10:30p-5:30a) on Sundays.
So, let's recap what shows are both on TV Land and Nick@Nite now. The Jeffersons, Three's Company and The Cosby Show are now airing on both channels. While Murphy Brown has made the move to TV Land (it is not on the Nick@Nite line-up anymore). NewsRadio and Mad About You are just once a week now and Full House is just on five times a week at 5:30a.m. The Nick@Nite new schedule, like TV Land's, is at least through the end of the month. No idea just yet what will happen in September. Nick@Nite will have A Different World marathon the week of August 28, so my hunch is that the Nick@Nite schedule is through at least August 27.
To view ALL these changes and to discuss this click here.

ABC has announced it will air George Lopez in the 9 p.m. hour next Wednesday. So, that will be four straight episodes that night. They haven't announced what will air in that hour for the rest of the summer thus yet, but I would bet on more George or maybe Primetime: Medical Mysteries, which is on tonight from 9 to 11 p.m. The season finale of that show will be on Sept. 6. Meanwhile, ABC has removed repeats of Boston Legal on Tuesday nights for another interesting Primetime series of specials. The specials will be titled Primetime: The Outsiders and will air through September 12. Boston Legal will return Sept. 19 with an all-new season. I have to admit Medical Mysteries is quite interesting. Repeats of Supernanny will replace that summer reality crap One Ocean View or whatever Mondays at 10 p.m., with Wife Swap now airing 8 to 10 p.m.
Elsewhere, NBC is looking to burn off episodes of the canceled sitcom Joey according to their official website. So when will they? They haven't said, but frankly I don't think they will actually air it. It is not listed yet at all in the next two weeks.

TV Land and Nick@Nite Changes Schedule Starting On Saturday, Cosby Show, Jeffersons, Murphy Brown to TV Land; ABC Moves 'Ugly Betty' to Thursdays

TV Land has just almost totally revamped its schedule. Starting August 12 (this Saturday), TV Land will air The Cosby Show from sister station Nick@Nite, add The Jeffersons earlier than expected, and expand Murphy Brown to everynight. But that's not all! The weekday morning mini-marathons will now be split into two blocks, 10a-12p and 12p-2p. The 10a-12p will be focused on '50s and '60s (with the likes of Beaver, Addams Family, & Munsters), while the 12p-2p is focused on the '70s and '80s (with the likes of Benson, Jeffersons, & Good Times). The weekday 12a-4a marathons have changed a bit, too (Jeffersons replaced All in the Family; Good Times and Sanford & Son switched nights). On weekends, the Saturday morning original block and the Sunday Better Living Through Television block have both been cut from 9a-12p to 10a-12p--9am hour on both days will feature '80s sitcoms (Cheers, Wings on Sat; 227, Night Court on Sun). Andy Griffith will get the Sunay 12a-4a marathon, replacing Beaver.
So, new acquisition The Jeffersons will start earlier than expected, it will air every night at 9:30pm, weekdays 7-8pm, Thursday nights 12a-4a, and Fridays 12p-2p.
There are A LOT of changes, and I suggest you click here to view them all so you won't forget when your favorite shows are on. These changes will be at least in effect until end of August, but I expect these to be in September, too, with minor edits here and there.

ABC will move highly anticipated comedy-drama Ugly Betty to Thursdays this fall, instead of Fridays. The show will have its series premiere on Thursday, September 28 and will air at 8 p.m. ABC has said the two new sitcoms (Big Day, Notes from the Underbelly) slated for that slot originally, will now debut later in the fall, after Dancing with the Stars completes its run. Betty was slated for Fridays at 8, and now ABC will air reruns (and sometimes original episodes) of AFV instead. Men in Trees is still slated for Fridays at 9 p.m. I hope that show doesn't get lost, because the pilot was very good. But ABC Thursday has become even stronger now. Discuss and view these changes here.

'Ellen' Season 4 DVD Now Sept. 26; Comedy Central Fall Details, 'Diff'rent Strokes' Movie

We just got word that the Ellen Season 4 DVD will now be released on Sept. 26, rather than Aug. 29. No idea on the change, but A&E Home Video will also release Benny Hill - Set 5 that day.

We told you before Scrubs is coming to Comedy Central (along with WGN and local channels) this fall and will be airing weeknights 7 and 7:30 p.m. ET/PT, now we have the rest of their fall line-up. Scrubs debuts Sept. 18. Scrubs will also air Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but on Sept. 23 there will be a special Scrubs-athon from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. As if twenty-hour shifts at the hospital weren’t enough, on Saturday, Sept. 23, Comedy Central is making the staff of Sacred Heart work the weekend. In celebration of Scrubs coming to Comedy Central, tune in for fifteen episodes from the critically acclaimed first season. Relive JD’s fruitless attempt to become Dr. Cox’s protégé, Turk’s conquest of Carla, and Elliot’s first battle with the sexist Dr. Kelso.
There are no other real changes to the line-up, which means we still have MADTV, South Park and the rest. South Park will debut its 10th season on Oct. 4.

NBC has finally announced it will air that behind-the-scenes Diff'rent Strokes movie. It is slated to air this Labor Day, Monday, September 4, from 8 to 10 p.m. ET/PT. NBC will re-visit one of television's most popular comedy series -- Diff'rent Strokes -- with a movie that serves as a powerful cautionary tale about the tragedies and challenges facing the child stars of the sitcom as well as all child stars in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Diff'rent Strokes.' Original cast members Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges participated in the movie and will also appear in on-camera interviews. The movie not only takes viewers behind the scenes of the popular sitcom, but also follows the lives of Coleman, Bridges and fellow star Dana Plato in the years after the series went off the air as their personal lives spiraled downward. In addition, it also examines the pitfalls of child stardom. Bobb'e J Thompson (The Tracy Morgan Show) plays the young Coleman while Verda Bridges, Todd Bridges' real-life sister, portrays Bridges' mother.

Summer Week 10 Sitcom Ratings

Dog days of summer continue...but we are almost finished! I think 6 weeks left until the season starts! Week 10 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.76 million...down a bit from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.5 million...also down from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 10.08 million...up well over a million from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.01 million, up from last week, but a big drop from its lead-in.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were up from last week ranging from 1.94-2.10 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 4 episodes - 4 episode marathon for the next 6 weeks! Did decent...5.17, 5.32, 5.44, and 5.2 million each.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of All of Us and Half & Half...9-10pm did 1.2 and 1.28 million--up from last week's Eve and Cuts.
• George Lopez (ABC) 4 episodes - ABC scheduled 4 episodes this week--didn't do as good as Jim from day before, but decent enough for repeats. 4.3, 4.17, 4.28 and 4.4 million from 8 to 10. Starting this week, ABC will only air George from 8 to 9 and have another Primetime Medical Mysteries at 9.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Up from last week to 5.52 million, good for third behind CBS and ABC.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 4.42 million tuned in for a repeat.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.25 million at 8 p.m. and 4.33 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.42 million and the others ranged from 1.07-1.48 million--why not air 4 Chris' instead of canceled stuff?
  

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. The WB should air just Reba for the next few weeks.
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) is Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

Our First Mini-DVD Review Is....'The Boondocks'!

A week or two ago we mentioned we will be starting to do mini-DVD reviews on most Saturdays now and we will launch that TODAY! Today's review is from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment's The Boondocks. The series is an animated comedy that airs on The Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. The first season DVD came out on July 25 and if you haven't bought it yet, it looks like you are missing out. See skees53's mini-DVD review of The Boondocks:

The Boondocks: The Complete First Season - Uncut and Uncensored (Sony, $49.95) brings one of the most interesting (and controversial) comic strips from the newspaper to the small screen. The Adult Swim hit is available on a three-disc set that contains all 15 unedited (and totally uncensored... even some animated nudity can be found) episodes of the first season. The episodes are presented in 1.78:1 widescreen mode and looks and sounds absolutely amazing on DVD. The set is loaded with special features (a VERY dramatic change from most Sony DVD sets) including two video commentaries (where you can actually watch the commentators while they talk about the episodes; but you can also just listen to the audio of the commentaries too), three crew audio commentaries, two Uncle Ruckus commentaries (where Uncle Ruckus does commentaries, in character), a 21 minute Behind-the-Scenes Featurette featuring series creator Aaron McGruder, 10 minutes of animatics, 4 minutes of deleted scenes, 4 minutes of unaired promos for the series from Adult Swim, and printable storyboards for five episodes that you can view using Adobe Reader on your PC or Mac. -- Reviewed by skees53
(5/5 stars!)

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Stay tuned for more mini-DVD reviews on most Saturdays and we hope you continue to read our full DVD reviews on every upcoming sitcom DVD! Coming in two weeks...the blog's first anniversary celebration!

In2TV Month Five Episodes for Sitcoms

It's time to change some episodes for In2TV! The way it works is that they'll have 10 total episodes available each month. Every month, 5 of the 10 will be replaced with new 5 new episodes--so make sure you watch the 10 episodes each month, because you never know which 5 episodes they will replace the following month. This month they will be adding Off Centre, New York Daze, Thieves and Our Gang Comedies. More info on that below.
Here are the list of the 5 new episodes for each sitcom for the fourth month, which will be launching very soon on In2TV:

Perfect Strangers Month 5 Episodes
#58 "College Bound" 21:52
#59 "The Gift of the Mypiot" 21:52
#60 "Maid to Order" 21:52
#62 "Crime Busters" 21:53
#63 "Games People Play" 21:53
En Espanol: "Future Shock," "Better Shop Around," "Dog Gone Blues," "The Rent Strike," "The Break In," "Can I Get a Witness?"

Welcome Back, Kotter Month 5 Episodes
#52 "The Deprogramming of Horshack" 25:12
#61 "Sweatwork" 25:14
#63 "Angie" 25:11
#64 "Epstein's Term Paper" 25:10
#69 "Horshack and Madame X" 25:07


Growing Pains Month 5 Episodes
#49 "Michaelgate" 24:31
#99 "Coughing Boy" 24:05
#127 "Let's Go to Europe - Part 1" 23:33
#128 "Let's Go to Europe - Part 2" 23:31
#129 "Let's Go to Europe - Part 3" 23:44
En Espanol: "Weekend Fantasy," "Carol's Crush," "Love Song of M. Aaron Seaver"

Chico and the Man Month 5 Episodes
#43 "Too Many Crooks" 25:23
#45 "Della Moves In" 24:32
#63 "Gregory Peck Is a Rooster" 24:36

Hangin' With Mr. Cooper Month 5 Episodes
#87 "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" 21:42
#88 "Will She Or Won't She?" 21:39
#89 "The Ring" 21:16
#90 "Please Don't Go" 21:13
#92 "Security" 24:26
En Espanol: "House Guest," "Instant Replay," "Mo Money"

Alice Month 5 Episodes
#19 "The Pain of No Return" 25:29
#20 "The Odd Couple" 25:34
#21 "A Night to Remember" 25:05
#22 "Mel's Cup" 25:21
#81 "Cabin Fever" 24:47

F Troop Month 5 Episodes
#15 "Here Comes the Tribe" 25:33
#16 "Iron Horse Go Home" 25:34
#17 "Our Hero, What's His Name?" 25:28
#46 "La Dolce Courage" 25:23
#47 "Wilton the Kid" 25:23

Head of the Class Month 5 Episodes
No new episodes this month.

The Jamie Foxx Show Month 5 Episodes
#34 "Super Face Off" 22:39
#35 "Soulmate to Cellmate" 22:34
#37 "Convent-ional Gifts" 22:39
#39 "Ain't Nothin' Happenin', Cap'n" 22:35
#61 "Uncle Junior's Cabin" 22:34


Sitcoms on Gone But Not Forgotten TV:

All About the Andersons (2003-04 series, 16 total episodes in its run)
No new episodes this month.

The Ben Stiller Show (1992-93 series, 13 total episodes in its run)
No new episodes this month.

Center of the Universe (2004-05 series, 15 total episodes in its run)
No new episodes this month.

The George Carlin Show (1994-95 series, 27 total episodes in its run)
#21 "George Shoots Himself in the Foot" 22:41
#23 "George Puts on a Happy Face" 22:32
#26 "George Helps a Friend" 22:34


Jesse (1998-2000 series, 42 total episodes in its run)
#38 "Jesse's Coat A Useful Crutch, Diego's Kitchen Not So Much" 21:30
#41 "First Blood" 20:56
En Espanol: "My Casual Friend's Wedding," "Finders Keepers," "The Mischievous Elf"

The Michael Richards Show (2000 series, 9 total episodes in its run)
No new episodes this month.

Tom (1994 series, 12 total episodes in its run)
#1 "Pilot" 23:40
#5 "Slow Runnings" 23:38
#6 "Daddyshack" 23:39
#7 "Tom's Thumb" 22:39
#8 "Mike's Excellent Adventure" 23:41
#9 "He's Heavy, He's My Brother" 23:41
#10 "Dump Dog Day Afternoon" 23:44

Wanda at Large (2003 series, 19 total episodes in its run)
No new episodes this month.

New York Daze (AKA Too Something, 1995-96 series, 22 total episodes in its run) - NEW!
#2 "Maria Moves In" 22:36
#4 "The Precipice" 22:08
#5 "Maria Cooks" 22:19
#7 "Evelyn's Blouse" 22:02
#9 "Eric's Book" 22:33
#10 "Rebound Guy" 22:16 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#11 "The Jacket" 22:33 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#12 "Eric's Sister Zoe" 22:32 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#13 "Football Story" 22:14 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)
#14 "The Car" 22:16 (PREMIERE! Was unaired in original run)

Off Centre (2001-02 series, 30 total episodes in its run) - NEW!
#1 "Let's Meet Mike and Euan" 22:03
#2 "Feeling Shellfish" 22:04
#3 "A Stroke of Genius" 22:04
#4 "Trust Me or Don't Trust Me" 22:03
#7 "Swing Time" 22:04
#8 "Money or Brother Can You Spare a Ski Trip" 22:03
#9 "Marathon Man" 22:04
#10 "Guys Gone Wild" 22:04
#11 "The Good, The Bad, and The Lazy" 22:05

Our Gang shorts (The Little Rascals) - NEW!
Party Fever 9:37, Dog Daze 10:39, Clown Princess 10:35, Joy Scouts 10:32, Cousin Wilbur 10:30, Football Romeo 10:26, Duel Personalities 9:56, Alfalfa's Aunt 10:43, Men In Fright 10:34, Aladdin's Lantern 10:10.

Note: Remember, five episodes from the previous month will remain, so that is how there will be ten episodes available each month. We do not know which five of each will remain, so it is up to you to watch them all.

Criteria for the episodes:
-- "Starchives" - Episodes featuring stars before they were stars, including Brad Pitt on Growing Pains, and Jay Leno on Alice
-- "Classic Creme de la Creme" - Showcase of the most memorable episodes of a given series
-- "StarFavs" - Stars' favorite episodes

And I'm sure the rest are randomly picked.
Remember these are just the sitcom episodes. The rest of the series for month five are: Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Babylon 5, Beetlejuice, Dark Justice, Eight is Enough, The F.B.I., Falcon Crest, Freakazoid, Freddy's Nightmares, The Fugitive, Histeria!, Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Maverick, The New Adventures of Batman, Pinky and the Brain, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Sisters, Spenser: For Hire, V, Wonder Woman. Recently In2TV added Elimidate, Change of Heart, Moral Court, People's Court, and The Will (Get Real TV); Max Headroom, (Gone But Not Forgotten TV), and Adventures of Superman, Superboy (Superman TV)! In2TV added Presidio Med, Against the Grain, Prince Street and Monkey'd Minutes last month! New series joining In2TV this month are New York Daze, Thieves, Off Centre and Our Gang comedies.

Currently, there are well over thirty classic series on In2TV. There will be hundreds more very soon. Some of the shows we can for sure expect sometime this year are: My Sister Sam, The Hogan Family (LOL TV); Bret Maverick, Freedom, Guns of Paradise, High Performance, Hunter, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, O'Hara, Pointman, Profiles from the Front Line, Pros & Cons, The Flash, Young Maverick (Rush TV); Flamingo Road, Our House, The Yellow Rose (Dramarama TV); Taz-Mania, The Zeta Project (Toontopia TV); Crusade, Night Visions, Prey, Time Trax, Wizards & Warriors (Heroes & Horrors TV). All of these will not join all at once of course, they will be brought in slowly, but all these are expected at some point during this year.

Features on In2TV's fifth month include "In2TV Star Play" (William Shatner of Kung Fu, Robert Blake of Our Gang, James Caan of The F.B.I., Jamie Foxx of The Jamie Foxx Show, Ashley Judd of Sisters, Don Johnson of Kung Fu, Diane Keaton of the The F.B.I.); "In2TV Star Favs" (Ron Palillo of Welcome Back, Kotter and Robert Hegyes of Welcome Back, Kotter); "Life on the Set: How I Got the Gig" (David Carradine of Kung Fu); "Where Are they Now: Child Stars" (Adam Rich of Eight is Enough, Robin Givens of Head of the Class, Phillip McKeon of Alice); "Betcha Didn't Know" (Bronson Pinchot of Perfect Strangers).

TBS September 2006 Line-Up, Includes Return of 'Bosom Buddies', TV Land Ponders 'To Benson or Not To Benson'

TBS has unveiled their September 2006 line-up to us. It is not officially their fall line-up, because their fall line-up will start in October when The King of Queens joins the line-up airing weeknights at 5 and 5:30 p.m. ET/PT starting October 2. In September, they will bring back Bosom Buddies on Saturday mornings from 6-7 a.m. and Parent'hood also will return to every morning at 5:00 a.m. Becker will regain the 12 noon hour in September, but word is that it will not be on at all in October. Becker will air 12-1pm and 5:30 a.m. in September before it leaves by October. Drew Carey will only be airing at 6:30 a.m., with Yes, Dear taking its slot and airing four times in a row, at least for September, it will not in October (see below). And of course Mama's Family is expiring and will be gone.
We will have details on the new fall lineup (which starts October 2) very soon, including "possibly" more new sitcoms for the channel in their mid-day block (12p-3p). All I know is 12-3p will be shuffled a bit (since Becker is leaving) and Home Improvement will be going to 3-4 p.m. since King of Queens is coming--Yes, Dear will remain 4-5 p.m. And we can expect another Parent'hood at 5:30 a.m. in October replacing Becker. So, basically that is everything to expect in October. I will have FULL details in the coming weeks, so please make sure you read it. For now, click here to discuss the Septemeber changes and to view them, too.

As the famous quote goes, "to be or not to be..." I think it fits the Benson situation on TV Land very well. We can almost call it, "to Benson or not to Benson." Benson started on TV Land in early June with a nice 48-hour marathon and was airing at 11 p.m. and also a Monday late night marathon (12-4am) each Monday. Then with the overall schedule not doing as good as it did earlier in the year, they brought back ratings hit Three's Company at 11 p.m. and put Benson at 11:30 p.m. That didn't last long and Benson was then just moved to Friday late night marathons (12-4am). The problem with that was TV Land started the Friday Movie block in July and Benson would sometimes not start until 12:30am or 1am. The airings got worse last week, when they decided to encore the Friday movie right after its first airing, meaning Benson would get almost pre-empted each Friday. It didn't air at all last Friday night. And the plan this Friday was to have Benson just at 3:30 a.m., and then they replaced it with Three's Company, and then they decided to bring it back (for two episodes). And as of this writing, that is still the plan. That is why I'm calling it "to Benson or to to Benson." At least Shakespeare would be proud of TV Land, but many fans are certainly not. Especially since TiVo or any other service or listings can't keep up with TV Land. I think I'm just about the only one who can. So, you might want to tune in here and on our message boards for the latest saga of TV Land's "To Benson or Not to Benson." Let me recap for you, as of now (and I'm sure this will change a lot): Benson is slated for late night August 4 from approx. 2:55am to 4:05 a.m. (that's two episodes); it is actually on 12-4am on August 11 since there is no movie, August 18 it is pre-empted again for the movie and the movie's encore airing, and August 25/September 1 we can expect Benson from 12-4am. In September, Benson is slated for everynight at 3:30am. I think most of this will change soon, but what else is new in this saga? Maybe Benson can persuade the Governor to close down the government. If TV Land does something to Benson, fans might be happy to hear that many local channels will begin picking up Benson as well starting in September. Keep it right here for all the changes.

CBS Finally Announces Fall 2006 Premiere Dates; Sci-Fi Renews 'Twilight Zone', Gets More!

As all the other networks announced their fall premiere dates during the TCA tour (well Fox announced it well before), CBS has now finally announced its premiere dates. There are no surprises here as mainly everything will start during the official fall premiere week (Sept. 18-24) and no special two-hour or one-hour premieres besides the 90-minute Amazing Race premiere. Without further talk, here are their premiere dates:

Thursday, September 14
8:00 p.m. Survivor: Cook Islands

Sunday, September 17
8:30 p.m. The Amazing Race 10 (90-minute premiere)

Monday, September 18
8:00 p.m. The Class
8:30 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men
9:30 p.m. The New Adventures of Old Christine
10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami

Tuesday, September 19
8:00 p.m. Navy NCIS
9:00 p.m. The Unit
10:00 p.m. Smith

Wednesday, September 20
8:00 p.m. Jericho
9:00 p.m. Criminal Minds
10:00 p.m. CSI: NY

Thursday, September 21
9:00 p.m. CSI
10:00 p.m. Shark

Friday, September 22
8:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer
9:00 p.m. Close to Home
10:00 p.m. NUMB3RS

Saturday, September 23
8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Crime Repeats
10:00 p.m. 48 Hours Mystery

Sunday, September 24
7:00 p.m. 60 Minutes
8:00 p.m. The Amazing Race 10 (time period premiere)
9:00 p.m. Cold Case
10:00 p.m. Without a Trace

The Sci-Fi Channel announced a major deal with CBS Paramount to acquire a number of series. They have renewed their rights to the classic Twilight Zone and Sci-Fi will continue to have exclusive rights! Other series they have acquired: Star Trek: Enterprise, the Star Trek prequel series starring Scott Bakula and Jolene Blalock; the series Tales from the Darkside; two Stephen King miniseries and another mini-series; five made-for-TV movies, including Primal Force" and Trilogy of Terror II; and eight other TV series: Wolf Lake, Kindred the Embraced, All Souls, Level 9, Special Unit 2, Haunted, Jake 2.0 and last fall's Threshold. Haunted stars a pre-Lost Matthew Fox. It is likely the short lived stuff will get daytime rotation marathons. Daytime rotation marathons airs weekdays from 8am-4pm ET. Series such as Kingdom Hospital have gotten that treatment.

'The Hogan Family' Returns to ABC Family This Fall, Rest of ABC Family Fall; ABC Schedules 'Lopez' For 4 Slots on Wednesday

After over 5 months off (and just a week of airing in early April), '80s sitcom The Hogan Family will return to ABC Family Channel's line-up in September! It will air weekday mornings at 8 and 8:30 a.m. ET/PT starting Sept. 25. ABC Family is removing the Jetix animation block (weekdays 7-9am and weekends 7am-12 noon). And they will replace it with mainly sitcoms. Weekends will have back-to-back episodes of Dukes of Hazzard, Full House, Boy Meets World, & Grounded for Life. Weekday mornings will have movies at start and then will be replaced by back-to-back Family Matters & Hogan Family! ABC Family will also debut its newest acquisition Everwood on October 2, airing it weekdays at 6 p.m., replacing one of the 7th Heaven airings. Not much info on October is known yet, so that is all I can say for now. As for September, they have a lot of marathons including ones for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny & Wife Swap. There are no other changes to the regular line-up, which means from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays we will see Step by Step, Gilmore Girls, Full House, Family Matters, Boy Meets World, Full House, Grounded for Life, Gilmore Girls, and 7th Heaven. The Dukes of Hazzard will also remain at midnight on Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri nights. I think they should air Step by Step on weekends as well from 8-9am, since Dukes of Hazzard is already airing at 7 a.m. Oh well, it is nice to see The Hogan Family back in a more "relaxed" time-slot. For details on all this and more, visit the ABC Family Fall 2006 thread.

ABC has made another change. George Lopez will now air at 9 and 9:30 p.m. as well on Wednesday, replacing a repeat of Lost. It is unclear if this will be every week, but if it is it will be like According to Jim, which is airing four times each Tuesday for the next six weeks. As of now, ABC has said Lopez will air four times on Wednesday for this week only. Hopefully they put Less than Perfect or Rodney at least a few times.

As I promised, here are the marathon episodes for the Mama's Family "mamathon" on the i network for August 12. We will let you know the Green Acres marathon episodes shortly.

'Mama's Family' Launch Marathon on i; WGN Fall 2006 Schedule

On Friday we mentioned that the i network will be adding Green Acres and Mama's Family on Monday, August 14. Now they have made it official that Mama's Family will launch with a three-hour marathon on Saturday, August 12 from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT! Click here for episode info.
UPDATE: We also have gotten word they will give Green Acres a Saturday marathon, too! The Green Acres marathon will be on Saturday, August 26 from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT! Click here for episode info.

WGN has announced its fall 2006 schedule. They will be adding Even Stevens, Lizzie McGuire, Scrubs, Homicide: Life on the Street, among others. Sadly, Happy Days will be off the line-up, but not to fear they still have rights to it. The Cosby Show is only going to air late nights (early mornings, actually). And The Beverly Hillbillies, Home Improvement & Moesha will still be on twice a weekday! To see the full line-up click here. You can also discuss that line-up there, too.
Tomorrow we will release ABC Family's September schedule and highlights. They are getting rid of Jetix (the morning animation block), so you will see sitcoms replace it! Could there be a Hogan Family sighting? Come tomorrow to find out!

So what will ABC air 9 and 9:30 p.m. on Tuesdays? ABC will air more According to Jim at both 9 p.m & 9:30 p.m. Sorry to fans of Rodney and Less than Perfect...I guess we will either have to wait for syndication or DVDs to see unaired episodes of those shows. Jim will now air 4 times each Tuesday until Sept. 12, when Dancing with the Stars takes over.

Fall Schedules for Cable Coming Soon; Summer Week 9 Sitcom Ratings

Just a little heads up, we will be releasing fall cable schedules starting this coming week. ABC Family, TBS, WGN are among the networks we will release. We have already released Lifetime (their fall schedule starts in August), TV Land and Nick@Nite. TV Land might edit it a little more, like usual. So this August will be a huge month on the blog and you might want to come on every single day as we post information on cable network's fall lineups!

Dog days of summer continue. I think 7 weeks left until the season starts! Week 9 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.99 million...up again from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.63 million...also again up from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 8.9 million...down actually from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 7.14 million, also down again.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were down from last week ranging from 1.64-2.00 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - Down a bit from last week, with 5.07 and 5.01 million.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of Eve, Cuts...9-10pm did 1.18 and 1.2 million--down from last week.
• George Lopez (ABC) - A last minute schedule change added this and only did 2.89 million at 9 p.m. -- next week it will be back to 8pm and also 8:30pm.
  
• Freddie (ABC) - A last minute airing did 3.12 million. And I thought this was gone for good?
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down from last week to 5.12 million. I think Earl might be lost this fall in this new slot.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Slightly down from previous week, 4.35 million.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.41 million at 8 p.m. and 4.24 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.16 million and the others ranged from 1.46-1.55 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. We are just weeks away from this ratings hell leaving.
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

ABC Schedules Sitcoms In Place of 'The One'; My YouTube Videos!

ABC canceled reality dud The One on Thursday a day after horrendous ratings for a second straight week. In its place, ABC has scheduled sitcoms. The One was airing Tuesdays at 9 and Wednesdays at 8 -- Tuesdays at 9 will be replaced by two TBD sitcoms (more on that later). Wednesdays at 8 will be back-to-back repeats of sitcom George Lopez. George Lopez was slated for Tuesdays at 8:30 because of The One, but now it will be back to Wednesdays, with two According to Jim sitcom repeats now Tuesdays at 8.
So what will air Tuesdays at 9? It'll probably be Less Than Perfect and/or Rodney. Less than Perfect still has 8 unaired episodes remaining, while Rodney has 6 unaired episodes remaining. Other long shots include the sitcoms Crumbs (8 unaired episodes remaining), Jake in Progress (unconfirmed but could be at least 8 unaired ones), Emily's Reasons Why Not (6 unaired episodes remaining), and Sons & Daughters (one unaired episode remaining). ABC has scheduled repeats of their ABC 50th Anniversary Bloopers specials from 2003 on Saturdays, Aug. 5 and 12 from 8-9 p.m. They are repeating the Celebrity Debut special (hosted by Brian Austin Green) from earlier this season this Saturday at 8 p.m. They should have aired two sitcom airings instead--they could have aired Rodney for those three Saturdays and been done with it. Hopefully they air unaired sitcom episodes for future Saturdays, because they have so many unaired episodes. They aired The Evidence's unaired episodes earlier this summer, so why not the sitcoms, too?
In other ABC news, they have pulled the return of Extreme Makeover. Another Grey's Anatomy repeat will air instead Thursdays at 8 p.m. I'm guessing they are saving the original Extreme Makeover for something else ... possibly in early 2007.

I don't know if any of you have noticed, but I have gotten into the YouTube game lately! I have posted classic ABC promos, commercials, and a movie trailer even. Mainly promos, though. The promos you will see are for Three's Company, Growing Pains, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Who's the Boss?, many TGIF promos and much much more. You can even watch ABC slogan promos such as 1988's "Something's Happening on ABC" and 1990's "America's Watching ABC." See your favorite stars from Perfect Strangers, Head of the Class, Mr. Belvedere, Doogie Howser, Family Matters, and more star in these classic network promos! There are rare promos for short lived shows such as Baby Talk, Three's a Crowd, Joe's Life, Where I Live, Sibs, Room for Two, etc.
I even have a rare commercial from 1991 that The Odd Couple stars Tony Randall and Jack Klugman did for Eagle Snacks. There is even a movie trailer for the hilarious 1992 film Noises Off...,which had an all-star cast starring Michael Caine, John Ritter, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, Mark Linn-Baker, Nicollette Sheridan, and more!
I hope you all enjoy these as I go through the archives! So, head on over to MY YouTube videos to watch all these interesting things from the past! What better way to spend your Saturday night!

i Network's New Line-Up; Nick@Nite Greenlights Sitcom Pilot

Today is the day, as I promised the i Independent Network is announcing their new schedule today. As I mentioned, they will not start off by changing everything. So here we go...
Starting Monday, August 14 from the Sony deal we can expect the classic '60s sitcom Green Acres weeknights at 7 p.m. And from the Warner Bros. deal we can expect back-to-back episodes of Mama's Family Mon-Thurs at 8 and 8:30 p.m.
Green Acres is replacing Shop 'Til You Drop and Mama's Family is replacing Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, which will move to Sundays at 6 p.m. replacing a Bonanza airing (that will stillair Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 6 p.m.).
And the explanation on why they didn't program new shows for their entire 6-11 p.m. block is because their existing audience and fan base is important to them, and they are not looking to make an abrupt change to the network schedule overnight. Their goal is to gradually transition the new programs, which will continue to appeal to their core audience while bringing in new fans who are coming to the network for the first time to watch their favorite shows! Thereafter they will phase in one or two shows at a time, with most of the hours switched out with new product by November.
Paid Programming will slowly be phased out I think, they have a kids block coming in mid-September, that is likely to air either in mid-afternoons (3-5pm?) or mornings (7-9am?). We will have details on that, too, along with the additional changes coming in the next few months. It looks to be a bright and better future for the i Network. Keep it right here for additional news!

Nick@Nite is moving forward even more in its original series. They have greenlit production on the series pilot Tim Stack's Family Vacation, a sitcom starring writer-actor Timothy Stack as the patriarch of an RV-bound family going on a cross-country road trip. The show falls square into Nick@Nite's development mantra: fun, family-friendly and familiar. It will be both partially scripted and improvised. If you liked the movie National Lampoon's Family Vacation, then you will like this. Shooting on Family Vacation is set to begin next month.
The half-hour pilot is the second to emerge at Nick@Nite, which last partnered with Seinfeld writer Carol Leifer on the original sitcom pilot Darlene Westgor (Daily Variety, April 19), a Roseanne-style laffer still up for contention at the cabler.
So, we will let you know if Nick@Nite buys episodes of these series to actually air. If bought, they would likely air in the Tuesday original slot, where shows like Fatherhood and Hi-Jinks have aired. As soon as (or if) they buy any or both of these series, we will post it here!

'Arrested Development' Reruns to Internet, Basic Cable, & Hi-Def TV; i Network Update; And More!

We reported over a week ago that reruns of the single camera sitcom Arrested Development were coming soon to the high definition channel HDnet. Now, that is official and the show is also coming to MSN.com for internet plays for free and on the cable network G4, which airs other cult hits like Star Trek. All three will have a 3-year deal starting this fall. Here are the specs:
Fox Entertainment Group, MSN, HDNet and G4 announced that America's funniest dysfunctional family will get a second shot at enduring fame with the complete three-seasons (53 episodes) of the award-winning comedy, Arrested Development available soon online, on hi-def TV and on basic cable.
MSN will have the exclusive portal rights to syndicate the show for a three-year term, making this critically acclaimed series available to the masses for the first time online. As part of the pact, MSN will produce and launch a new range of interactive entertainment elements to build a community for Bluth family fans, who are ferocious in their devotion to the hilarious, suddenly penniless and equally clueless clan. Later this year, all episodes of Arrested Development will be streamed on MSN(R) Video and available on demand at no cost to MSN customers. Advertising opportunities associated with the online syndication of the series include display and streaming video plus sponsorship packages incorporating MSN media and in-content integration.
HDNet will have exclusive HD television access to the series for three years. The leader in high definition television, HDNet will begin airing Arrested Development episodes in September on its network, which is available through both cable and satellite platforms. HDNet produces a slate of original series and has licensing deals with a number of entertainment providers as well.
G4, the fastest growing network for 2006 and the number one podcasted network in the country, targets the male 18-34 audience. It has acquired the basic cable rights for the series for three years which it will begin airing in October 2006.
For more details and to discuss this news, click here.

The i Independent Television Network will announce their changes to their schedule TOMORROW. Be sure to come here tomorrow to view the changes--it will be exclusive to us FIRST. As I said yesterday, the changes will launch on Monday, August 14, but the entire 6 to 11 p.m. block will not be the new shows from Warner Bros. and Sony. It will only be a few series at start, then early in the fall we will get additional series and by maybe November the entire block will be these shows. And many have asked what they will do for Aug 1 to 13? Well they will continue their current schedule.
So, why are they only putting some shows for the Aug. 14 schedule? And when will they expand the hours from 6 to 11 p.m. to something more? We will try to answer all that tomorrow! It should be a fun Friday! TGIF!

If there is any more news from today, we will post it. So try and come on back later today.

'Brady' Wedding Scores on VH-1; Short-Lived '60s Sitcom to DVD?; i Network Schedule Update

And they said it wouldn't last... Sunday night's season finale of VH-1's My Fair Brady: We're Getting Married! was the highest rated episode of the series ever. The season finale scored an impressive 1.5 rating in the key 18-49 demo as more than 2 million total (P2+) viewers and 1.6 million P18-49 viewers watched sweethearts Chris Knight and Adrianne Curry say their "I Dos." The season finale was 25 percent higher than last season's finale in which Christopher and Adrianne got engaged.
The 90-minute special tied with TNT's Cradle 2 The Grave for the highest-rated program in its time period of 9:00 - 10:30 PM on all of basic cable television among viewers 18-49. My Fair Brady: The Wedding Special was also the top-rated regularly scheduled program on all of basic cable for the day, Sunday, July 23.
In attendance were former Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams (Greg Brady), Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady) and Mike Lookinland (Bobby Brady), as well as their The Surreal Life 4 co-star Joannie "Chyna" Laurer. Barry Williams even serenaded the happy couple as a special surprise!

Jack Chertok Television is looking to release short lived '60s sitcom My Living Doll, Starring Julie Newmar on DVD. Most of the key film elements have now been located and the show is about to be restored. No one has been contracted to release it yet, however.
They are also behind My Favorite Martian Season 3, which is being released by Rhino. They said to expect it after October. A bonus disc will be added and they found never before seen making of footage and a whole bunch of just amazing extras.
Did you know their is an un-aired pilot for My Favorite Martian, with all kinds of new footage and different characters. If you have seen the gold key comic number one it is pretty close to the story used for this un-seen show. And the music is slightly different as well.
They also found the Kellogs and Papermate spot that were made using the sets and actors from the show, they even have special Martian music on them adapted from the score, the other fun part is that in every case they follow the premise of the episode, in fact even adding punch lines to the story. They always come in on break four just before the wind up and end credits.
Interesting stuff indeed! Martian S3 looks like it will be a winner! And hopefully they can license My Living Doll to a studio, too. We will keep you up to date.

The i independent television network (AKA: PAX-TV) are not announcing the schedule today. So it will be either tomorrow or Friday, so keep coming back. I will however tell you the changes will "start" happening on August 14. Meaning the 6-11 p.m. i network line-up will only have a few shows from the Sony/Warner library. They will gradually add shows in the fall and hopefully by later in the fall the entire block will be shows from Sony/Warner. Come on back because this will be the first place where the news and schedules will be posted!

TCA Tour Fox: Day 2; Warner Bros. Shows to iTunes; 'Different World' S2 Explanation; And More Notes!

Nothing really from Fox on day two from its tour. They had sessions with the cast and crew of Justice, Happy Hour, So You Think You Can Dance, Talk Show with Spike Feresten, and AMW. Wow, what a BORING day for Fox. Fox will have an inside look at their new fall schedule on Sunday, August 13 from 7 to 7:30 p.m. This half-hour special features exclusive clips from both new and returning shows, including powerhouse dramas House and Prison Break, and on-set interviews with cast members from FOX's hottest series. Catch never-before-seen footage from the hot new shows 'TIL DEATH, VANISHED and STANDOFF, among others, and find out what's in store for the fall.
Press tour is over! Unless you want to count PBS, which is up tomorrow.

Warner Bros. is now getting in on the iTunes craze. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and Apple(R) today announced that classic hit programming from Warner Bros.' vast television library is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes(R) Music Store (http://www.itunes.com). The new content features favorites such as the hugely popular sitcom Friends, sci-fi epic Babylon 5 and some of the most popular sketches from MADtv, as well as animated classics including The Jetsons and The Flintstones. iTunes offers over 150 TV shows for $1.99 per episode for viewing on a computer or iPod(R). Also available is the never-before-seen pilot episode of Aquaman -- a grounded, contemporary reinterpretation of DC Comics' Aquaman mythology from the acclaimed writing/producing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (Smallville).

So the other day we announced that it seems UrbanWorks' A Different World Season 2 DVD had been delayed from 7/11 to 9/12. So what is the explanation? A Different World S2 was put on hold due to the sell of UrbanWorks' parent company Ventura. Now, under the First Look Studios umbrella, UrbanWorks' and First Look are in negotiations with Carsey-Werner to keep both A Different World and The Cosby Show DVDs with UrbanWorks. So, by the looks of that, I doubt A Different World S2 would be even ready to be released by Sept. 12. If UrbanWorks can't reach a deal, maybe Anchor Bay can release these two shows, since they release other Carsey-Werner shows. And maybe Anchor Bay can even re-release season one of both shows, since they were edited the first time around? Just my opinion. We will keep you up to date on the UrbanWorks-First Look negotiation with Carsey-Werner.

Finally, we have some other notes to tell you. Monk is coming to local syndication in fall 2008! WNBC, KNBC are among the locals who bought the one-hour mystery comedy/drama for weekend play. The show is basic cable's highest original series ever. USA Network airs the show, and they will have access to air the show in the day starting in fall 2008. Yes, they got reruns of their own show!
ABC has made some minor changes for this week. An extra According to Jim will air tonight at 8:30 p.m., replacing George Lopez. This is so ABC can have a better lead-in for The One tonight. And for tomorrow night they have replaced the summer Lost repeat with the crossover episode of George Lopez and Freddie. So if you have not seen that yet, watch it. It is part of TV history.
TV Land will re-air Pee Wee's Big Adventure on Saturday night (early Sunday morning) from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. and again on Sunday afternoon from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Why? Who knows.
Many have asked, so I will answer it right here. i independent network (AKA: PAX-TV) will announce their schedule sometime this week. It could be today, tomorrow or whenever. So you will just have to keep coming back here to check. We WILL be the first ones to post it, i'm sure. So come on back multiple times a day!

TCA Awards, TCA Tour Fox: Day 1; 'Grey's Anatomy' Reruns to Lifetime, Not Oxygen/TNT

And the winners for this year's TCA Awards are...

PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: My Name Is Earl (NBC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Lost (ABC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: The Office (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: Frontline (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: High School Musical (Disney Channel)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: American Masters: Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home (PBS)
HERITAGE AWARD: The West Wing (NBC)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Carol Burnett

Meanwhile today Fox was up for their first of two days at the TCA tour. Not much news, but they have renewed So You Think You Can Dance and Hell's Kitchen for next summer. They announced the guest stars for The Simpsons this season which includes Betty White, Jon Lovitz, Richard Lewis, Harry Hamlin, Fran Drescher, and Keifer Sutherland. They also announced talent or whatever for the reality show Duets, which premieres later on this summer. And they explained why The O.C. has only 16 episodes this season--they said it is because of the heavy competition in the time-slot, so they will air the 16 episodes with limited repeats, which means the season (or series) probably in March. As for the panel, they had question-answer session with the casts and crew of Vanished, 'Til Death, Standoff, and Prison Break (which introduced new co-star William Fichtner of Invasion).
Fox's fall season actually begins August 21, as we mentioned before.

On July 12, the trades reported speculation that Grey's Anatomy reruns would be shared with TNT and Oxygen starting in fall 2009. It looks like that deal fell through, because now Lifetime has made it official they will be the exclusive cable home for the hit drama starting in Fall 2009, but they also can air episodes once a week starting this January! It is reported that Lifetime will pay $1.2 million an episode. They are currently paying $1.3 million for Medium and will pay $500,000 an episode for Desperate Housewives, which starts its once a week airing next August, before airing everyday starting fall 2008. Here is Lifetime's release:
The doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital will soon begin making house calls at Lifetime Television! Continuing its acquisition of high-profile broadcast hits, Lifetime Television today announced that it has acquired the exclusive basic cable rights from Buena Vista Television for the popular Emmy Award(R) nominated series Grey's Anatomy, beginning in fall 2009. Lifetime will begin airing episodes from the first season once a week, starting in January 2007.

SitcomsOnline.com Mini-DVD Reviews; Summer Week 8 Sitcom Ratings

We are now launching yet another feature--mini-DVD reviews! Mini-DVD reviews will be posted right here on the blog on some Saturdays or when we have a slow news day. They basically will be short reviews, like you see on TV Guide Magazine or EW, of non-sitcoms--stretching from animated series to select dramas. We will of course continue to do our very popular full DVD reviews of EVERY sitcom and select dramas. The select dramas that we think fit our website well, will be given full reviews, while some other dramas that do not fit the site well, will get the mini-DVD review treatment. I have wanted to review so many sets I have gotten in the past, but they just didn't fit our site, like DuckTales, Garfield & Friends, He-Man, Inspector Gadget, and so many more. Primetime animated comedies (Simpsons, Flintstones, etc) will continue to get full reviews.
Todd and I will be doing the bulk of these "mini-DVD reviews." You should start seeing them pop-up here on the blog in the coming weeks. Expect mini-DVD reviews in the coming weeks of TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck, Dungeons and Dragons, Dick Tracy, and maybe even a drama or two, like JAG. So, now we will be your home for basically most TV-DVD reviews! If you have not read any of our full reviews yet (shame on you!), please do visit our DVD Reviews Page.

And now back to our regularly scheduled Sunday program (the ratings)...
Dog days of summer continue. I think 8 weeks left until the season starts! Week 8 Summer Ratings: Sitcom Edition:

Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 6.85 million...up from last week.
  
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.21 million...also up from previous week.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.33 million...trend continues of up from last week.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - The trend stopped, 7.69 million only tuned in, drop from last week.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends, Half & Half (UPN) - Repeats of these sitcoms were up from last week ranging from 1.89-2.18 million.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - 5.35 million, down just a bit from last week's 8pm airing.
• George Lopez (ABC) - 4.89 million in its new Tuesday summer home.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• UPN Comedies: Special airings of Eve, Cuts...9-10pm did 1.18 and 1.2 million--down from last week.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Up slightly from last week to 5.71 million.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Slightly up from previous week, 4.41 million.
  
• That '70s Show (Fox) 2 eps - 3.57 million at 8 p.m. and 4.17 million at 8:30.
  
• Everybody Hates Chris, Love Inc, Eve, Cuts (UPN) - Chris only did well with 2.55 million and the others ranged from 1.5-1.95 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• What I Like About You, Twins, Reba, Living with Fran (The WB) - All dead last place. Reba was the highest rated one obviously. When will they air movies or something instead?
  

Sitcoms tonight (Sunday) are...two more Reba episodes on The WB from 7 to 8 and Fox with Malcolm at 7, animated comedies from 7:30-9:30 and The War at Home at 9:30.

Tonight at the TCA tour the TCA Awards! We will have the winners posted tomorrow morning hopefully. Tomorrow is also day one for Fox at the tour.