Monday, July 21, 2008
Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: NBC, Day 2; Remembering Dave Powers; Retroality.TV Officially Launches!
Today's docket has a session on the summer Olympics, Election 2008 with NBC News and MSNBC, NBC Executive Session (more on that below), on the panel with sophomore dramas Chuck, Life, & Lipstick Jungle, followed by panels of Deal or No Deal, Kath & Kim, Knight Rider, The Office, My Own Worst Enemy, Kings, and NBC Sunday Night Football/Super Bowl.
NBC has adjusted its primetime premiere schedule for Fall 2008.
Returning drama Life will follow Heroes on two special Monday broadcasts (10-11 pm. ET) in addition to its regularly scheduled timeslot on Fridays (10-11 pm. ET) giving Life four hours of originals in two weeks on September 29, October 3, October 6 and October 10.
After Life's two-week Monday trial, new drama My Own Worst Enemy will make its series debut on Monday, October 13 (10-11 p.m. ET) and remain in all originals in its regular timeslot (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) through December.
In other scheduling changes, new comedy Kath & Kim and 30 Rock will switch time periods on Thursday nights. Kath & Kim moves to 8:30 p.m. (ET) starting October 9 after My Name is Earl (8-8:30 p.m. ET), which will allow for a strong audience flow for these two compatible shows. 30 Rock will settle into the 9:30 p.m. (ET) starting with its season premiere after The Office on October 30. Remember SNL Thursday will air October 9, 16, and 23 at 9:30 p.m.
The Biggest Loser: Families premieres on Tuesday, September 16 (8-10 p.m. ET). Likewise, summer hit America's Got Talent returns after the Olympics on August 26 (8-10 p.m. ET) and runs through to its season finale on Wednesday, October 1 (9-10 p.m. ET).
Other series' premieres remain unchanged from NBC's original premiere announcement.
At the executive session, NBC did a copy cat of ABC by having Jay Leno impersonate a reporter asking a question about his future, just like Jimmy Kimmel did last week when Kimmel asked is ABC interested in Leno? Leno impersonated a bald reporter and asked: When is Leno's final show? Will he be paid for the rest of the year? Is it true you've offered Jay Leno a fifth hour of the Today show? Will Manimal come back? What about Brett Favre's retirement/unretirement? What if Jay changes his mind? Silveman answers, "Everyone's entitled to change their mind, but I imagine that puts management in an impossible situation."
If NBC is getting rid of Leno, why make him do that? So maybe they do have plans for him in some shape or form. NBC announced Leno's last night on the Tonight Show will be Friday, May 29, while Conan O'Brien takes over on Monday, June 1. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will launch first as online series before moving to 12:35am in March or April, so Conan's last night on Late Night will be before May 29.
Amy Poehler has officially signed on to star in a possible a new Thursday-night comedy series from Office exec producer Greg Daniels. Ben Silverman says however this will NOT be a spin-off of The Office. The spin-off is pretty much dead right now, but if it goes forward it will have "existing Office characters."
We'll be back with more...so keep coming back and refreshing!
We have some sad news to report. One of the best TV directors of all-time has passed away. Dave Powers passed away on July 3, 2008, in Rancho Mirage, CA, after a hard fought battle with skin cancer. He began his career in television in 1951, when he was employed by CBS as an usher at KNXT, working on the Dinah Shore Show. In 1956, while working in the cue card department on The Bob Crosby Show at CBS Television City, he was promoted to Stage Manager and joined the Director's Guild of America, where he would be a Guild member for the next fifty-seven years.
Dave got his biggest break when he became the director of The Carol Burnett Show in 1968. During that time, he was nominated eleven times by the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences and won four primetime Emmy Awards for "Best Director" in 1974, 1975, 1977 and 1978. In addition to directing The Carol Burnett Show for ten years he was also the director on Three's Company for six seasons starting in 1978 and Mama's Family for four years, reuniting himself with Vicki Lawrence (and Carol Burnett a few times).
We got word on July 9 of Dave's passing from my friend and author of Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to Three's Company (and now of Retroality.TV) Chris Mann, that Dave had passed away on July 3. It wasn't officially released until last Wednesday. Chris heard from Joyce DeWitt (Janet on Three's Company) who heard from Priscilla Barnes (Terri on Three's Company). Chris had some very nice things to say about Dave that I must share with you all, "He was a good man, very beloved and enormously talented. Not only is he responsible for so much of Three's Company's under-appreciated signature slapstick style, he was rightly hailed in the industry for his work with Carol Burnett and company. He was always a gentleman during his Three's Company book and DVD interviews, and he clearly loved the Three's Company "kids" -- John Ritter especially -- as much as they loved him."
Chris also said, "In his home office he displayed autographed photos of Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence and Suzanne Somers in a classic Chrissy pose. "Those are my three ladies," he told me proudly. Also, John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, Richard Kline, Don Knotts, Norman Fell, Audra Lindley et al always sang his praises. He will be deeply missed."
Dave also directed many episodes of both of the Three's Company spin-off shows, The Ropers and Three's a Crowd. After Mama's Family and a Carol Burnett Reunion Show, Dave retired from the business in the late '80s/early '90s. After retirement Dave and his wife Georgette made a fun and rewarding hobby of owning and restoring antique and classic wooden boats which they housed and used at their Big Bear Lake home.
A "Celebration of Life" will be held for Dave on August 2, 2008 at the Four Seasons Resort, Aviara, in Carlsbad, CA. He will be deeply missed as he directed the best comedic stars ever in Carol Burnett, John Ritter, Don Knotts, Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, and Vicki Lawrence. Dave was 75.
If you all recall in late May we made the announcement that Chris Mann had launched Retroality.TV. Now it has officially fully launched! Chris has interviewed '80s bombshell Heather Thomas (The Fall Guy, Zapped!) to lead off his site's official launch this month! Heather is the author of the hot new novel Trophies. Chris has an in-depth, provocative interview with Heather, who expresses her views on everything from being an '80s sex symbol-turned-writer to becoming a socio-political activist. Her controversial comments on the Bush administration, oil and 9/11 will surprise many. She'll be on NBC's Today show today, but Retroality and Chris Mann had her first!
Chris says, "So far we've featured retro stars about to make a very current media splash. Soon after we posted our May/June cover story on Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), CNN reported she found a dead body floating in a river. And after we posted our Q&A with the fun-loving Susan Olsen (Cindy of Brady Bunch), every media outlet in America reported that she almost threw up on live radio. Coincidence? Methinks not!"
And that's not all! Chris has much more than that on the website! The Heather Thomas interview is just the "cover story." Chris also has items such as an interview with the sexy Stacy Keibler that was published in this month's Muscle & Body. Chris also has a Muscle & Body cover-story on several Olympic hopefuls coming in August, along with an interview with gold medalist swimmer-turned-Celebrity Circus performer Janet Evans. Wow! What a busy guy Chris is! I'm so glad he is doing well because he is a good person and truly deserves it!
And he even gets busier! This week he'll be off interviewing Olivia Newton-John and Fran Drescher, both cancer awareness advocates, for future health magazine cover stories! What a lucky guy! Again head on over to Retroality.TV because it is one website that you should bookmark and visit because it will get bigger and bigger everyday and soon it will be a website everyone knows by name! It'll be like the Cheers of the internet!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
2008 TCA Awards Winners; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: NBC, Day 1
PROGRAM OF THE YEAR: Mad Men (AMC)
OUTSTANDING NEW PROGRAM: Mad Men (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: 30 Rock (NBC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Mad Men (AMC)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION: The War: A Film by Ken Burns & Lynn Novick (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING: WordGirl (PBS)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOVIES, MINI-SERIES & SPECIALS: John Adams (HBO)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN COMEDY: Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN DRAMA: Paul Giamatti, John Adams (HBO)
HERITAGE AWARD: The Wire (HBO)
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Lorne Michaels
Related:
2008 Nominees
2007 Winners
2006 Winners
We are nearing the end of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. NBC has the final two days including today. Today NBC will mainly showcase its cable networks while NBC itself will go tomorrow. NBC did have a few announcements to make today, however. Tuesday is a TCA set day visit, so nothing really will be covered then.
Up at the panel today were after lunch were Friday Night Lights (NBC/DirecTV), Tabatha's Salon Takeover (Bravo, The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo), Coolio's Rules (Bravo), qubo TV shows, then The Starter Wife (USA Network), Sanctuary (Sci Fi), Caprica (Sci Fi), and then closing it out were SNL (NBC) and America's Toughest Jobs (NBC).
NBC's popular game show Deal or No Deal and the all-new extreme reality competition series America's Toughest Jobs will premiere with four special Monday night episodes beginning August 25. Deal or No Deal will return with the exciting Million Dollar Mission from 8-9 p.m. (ET), and America's Toughest Jobs will air from 9-10 p.m. (ET) before moving to Fridays at 8 p.m. ET beginning September 19. Deal will debut its Wednesday and Friday night episodes in October.
Saturday Night Live will make an early return this fall to capitalize on the hotly contested Presidential race, extending its traditional 20-episode season to 22, in its 34th season to premiere on Saturday, September 13. In addition, after making a splash this spring during the Democratic primaries, Saturday Night Live will return to the air with 10 new live broadcasts this fall with a Presidential Bash special prior to Election Day, Monday, November 3 (9:30-11 p.m. ET). And as we announced already, SNL is ready for primetime with Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday. Three live primetime half-hours will air October 9, 16 and 23 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
In Plain Sight, USA Network's newest original scripted series, will return for a second season with series star Mary McCormack (The West Wing, Private Parts) returning. The series, created/written/executive produced by David Maples and executive produced by Paul Stupin, has been given a 16-episode order and will start production in October.
USA Network will advance the 'Characters Welcome' brand by inviting a CIA linguist, an inner city trauma surgeon and a salesman turned morgue investigator among others to join the ambitious development slate for the 2008-09 season. A slate of three new pilot scripts, Covert Affairs, Operating Instructions and Stiffs, were announced today.
USA's previously announced project Royal Pains (working title) is being produced as a pilot starring Mark Feuerstein and directed by Jace Alexander and White Collar (working title) is a cast-contingent pilot.
USA Network's award-winning hit series, Monk, will air its 100th episode this summer during its seventh season on the network. The special episode will feature an all-star guest-cast, including many who have previously appeared in some of the show's most memorable episodes. Guest-stars include Eric McCormack, John Turturro, Howie Mandel, Sarah Silverman, Andy Richter, Brooke Adams, Sharon Lawrence, Ricardo Chavira, Kathryn Joosten, Jarrad Paul, Tim Bagley, David Koechner and Angela Kinsey. The landmark episode will air on Friday, September 5 at 9/8c on USA Network.
The Emmy Award-winning hit original series, The Starter Wife, starring Debra Messing will return on Friday, October 10 at 10/9c for 10 episodes on USA Network as a series after premiering as a mini-series in 2007.
Moving on to Sci Fi Channel, this fall, Sci Fi Channel is the ultimate destination for all things Halloween, featuring all-new episodes of Ghost Hunters, the 3rd annual Ghost Hunters Live Halloween event and the all-new 31 Days of Halloween programming extravaganza! Beginning October 1, this marathon will serve up the spookiest fare that Halloween has to offer, concluding with Ghost Hunters Live on Halloween night. Speaking of Ghost Hunters, the series was renewed for a fifth season. 25 episodes of spine-tingling investigations will air when the show returns in 2009.
Sci Fi's original movie franchise promises more action, thrills, cataclysmic disasters and mythological adventures in 2009 with an unprecedented 36 original action movies - up from 2008's slate of 24. The Channel's high-octane, entertaining original movies have made Sci Fi Saturday: The Most Dangerous Night of Television a destination for viewers, bringing in an average of 1.8 million viewers so far in 2008. In addition to the Saturday offerings, Sci Fi will also present its original movie fare on Sunday evenings beginning next year. Movies include Hellhounds (directed by Rick Schroeder), Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon starring Shannen Doherty, and Lake Placid 3, sequel to Sci Fi's original movie Lake Placid 2. Also, Sci Fi Channel has greenlit Mirabilis, (working title) a 4-hour fantasy adventure miniseries where heroes battle the forces of darkness set against a backdrop of knights, sorcerers and dragons. Set to star in the movie are David James Elliott as protagonist John Serrogoth and Natassia Malthe as Perfidia.
Sci Fi Channel is also developing new series and mini-series. Projects include an original miniseries in development with Bryan Singer, a documentary drama called What If? as well as a slew of exciting alternative reality projects.
Sci Fi Channel has picked-up three original reality series for this fall. Six one hour episodes each that will premiere in November for Cash or Capture and Estate of Panic. Outer Space Astronauts will be a half-hour series and five episodes have been ordered, but no launch date as of yet.
Bravo announced a number of new and returning programs in the food, fashion, beauty, design and pop culture affinity groups, as well as various projects in development. From producer Sarah Jessica Parker, her production company Pretty Matches, comes American Artist (wt), an hour-long creative competition series in development between aspiring contemporary artists who will create and compete in a range of disciplines including sculpture, painting, photography and industrial design. Based on the British format and show of the same name comes Fashion House (wt), a creative competition series in development where teams of designers replicate the workings of the fashion business through a fashion house by designing an entire, cohesive line with the opportunity of having their line mass marketed. And Top Chef: Masters, a spin-off of the Emmy-nominated Top Chef produced by Magical Elves also in development, featuring world-renowned chefs competing against each other in a series of weekly challenges.
The network also unveiled a number of pick-ups for its returning series, and premiere dates for upcoming fall series and specials. Pick-ups include second season orders for Make Me A Supermodel and The Real Housewives of New York City, which boasts a new housewife for season two designer, model, author and fashion editor Kelly Bensimon. Additionally, the network announced that the upcoming fifth season of the No. 1 food show on cable, Top Chef, will be set in the culinary mecca of New York City.
The Rachel Zoe Project will premiere on September 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT following the finale of Date My Ex: Jo & Slade (which launches Monday, July 21 at 10 p.m.), before moving to its regular time period on September 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The Real Housewives of Atlanta will premiere on Tuesday, September 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and the special Tommy Hilfiger Presents: Ironic Iconic America will premiere on October 3 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Newly owned NBC Universal cable network Oxygen also announced programming. Oxygen brings dance, diet and divas together with the pick-up of the new reality competition series Dance Your Ass Off. In this unique show, talented, full-figured contestants who struggle with their weight will dance to unleash their inner thin. Scheduled to premiere on Oxygen in 2009.
Oxygen's hit series The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency will return for a dramatic and sizzling new season on Tuesday, August 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Oxygen has ordered a third season of The Bad Girls Club, the network's highest-rated original series ever to date. For the first time, the show's format has been expanded from half-hour to one-hour, giving new episodes even more drama, more conflict and more outrageous laughs.
Today felt like the TCA cable portion yet again with all of this cable stuff...tomorrow it will feel more like broadcast again when NBC has many panels tomorrow with their own shows and not their cable networks. So come on back tomorrow!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS/The CW, Day 2
The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (Universal Home Video, $14.98) tells the classic story of a child living in a new environment feeling homesick at Christmastime. The 1996 made-for-TV movie, based upon the classic TV series, begins with Eddie being bullied and picked on, because he is different. After all, he is a werewolf living among mortal children in Los Angeles. But the pain that Eddie feels becomes a bigger deal when it happens during the "most wonderful time of the year," so it is up to his family to do whatever it takes to cheer him up and get him in to the Christmas spirit. Everybody has their own ideas, from Lily's idea of getting Eddie involved in a Christmas decorating contest to Grandpa Munster's crazy experiments to Marilyn's plan to have a huge Munster family reunion just in time for Christmas. And to support it all, Herman is doing whatever he can do to make a buck, including nude modeling! In the end, it all comes together to create an old-fashioned Christmas that only a family from Transylvania could envision.
The video quality of the movie is fine for the most part, but the audio is very problematic. It is presented in full-screen, which is how it was presented when it originally aired. For some reason, the audio is out of sync with the video, so you see lips moving out of sync with the video. I don't know why this problem occurred on this DVD, as it is not a common problem wit h DVDs in my experience. It is somewhat obnoxious to see. The disc is lacking any special features, which isn't surprising, as this wasn't a big budget cinematic film or anything along those lines.
All in all, I think most observers wouldn't think of this is a great movie or anything like that, but rather just a mediocre movie based upon a great TV classic. It won't take too much of watching this movie to realize why it was a made-for-TV movie for Fox, as opposed to being a theatrical release or even one of the larger networks. There are some moments in the film that will SOMEWHAT remind fans of the hilarity of the original sitcom, but the overall plot of the movie is one of those plots that fans will find difficult to drag themselves into and fully enjoy. Still, if the DVD can be found cheap, fans may want to pick it up, just to check it out.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(3/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
The Munsters TV.com Page
The CW is up at the summer 2008 TCA press tour today as well as CBS's syndication division, CBS Television Distribution. Up at the panel for The CW this morning will be 90210, Privileged and Stylista, followed by the executive session. In the afternoon, we have the CBS Television Distribution series, starting off Inside Edition which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and new series The Doctors, and Judge Jeanine Pirro. Then tonight there is a WGA reception followed by the TCA Awards! We will give you the winners either tonight or tomorrow.
From The CW side, we learned that Shannen Doherty will return to the zip code that made her famous when she guest stars in multiple episodes of The CW's spin-off, 90210, premiering Tuesday, September 2. Doherty will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh, who was last seen headed to London to study acting. As previously announced, Jennie Garth returns as Kelly Taylor, now a West Beverly guidance counselor; Tori Spelling returns as Donna Martin, now owner of an upscale boutique, and Joe E. Tata returns as Nat, owner of The Peach Pit.
The CW announced premiere dates for their Mon-Fri schedule (and MRC Sunday block, below):
Monday, September 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl
9:00-10:00 p.m. One Tree Hill
Tuesday, September 2
8:00-10:00 p.m. 90210 (Two-Hour Premiere)
Wednesday, September 3
8:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Two-Hour Premiere)
Tuesday, September 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. Privileged
Thursday, September 18
8:00-9:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural
Friday, October 3
8:00-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
8:30-9:00 p.m. The Game
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (Encore Presentation)
Wednesday, October 29
9:00-10:00 p.m. Stylista
Couple of notes on these premiere dates: Wednesdays at 9pm until Stylista premieres on Oct. 29 will be encores of 90210. Mid-season premiere dates and times for The CW's returning drama Reaper and new reality series 13 - Fear Is Real will be announced at a later time.
As for Sundays, the MRC (Media Rights Capital) programming block will launch on September 21. The block will begin at 7pm and end at 10pm. Then starting November 2, the block will start at 6:30pm.
Laurie Metcalf (Easy Money), Judge Reinhold (Easy Money), Bob Saget (Surviving Suburbia), Jaime Murray (Valentine), Autumn Reeser (Valentine), Kristopher Polaha (Valentine) and Jeff Hephner (Easy Money) will star in this Sunday Night Block.
In the sitcom Surviving Suburbia, MRC is proud to announce the casting of Bob Saget. It follows Keith (Saget) and Anne Stevers, a seemingly normal couple who has been married for 20 years, have two children and a cookie cutter house in the idyllic suburbs. Full casting will be announced in the next several weeks.
Here are the premiere dates for this MRC (Media Rights Capital) block on The CW Sundays:
Effective Sunday, September 21
7:00-8:00 p.m. In Harm's Way (reality)
8:00-9:00 p.m. Valentine (romantic comedy/drama)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Easy Money (family crime drama)
Effective Sunday, November 2
(changes listed only)
6:30-7:30 p.m. In Harm's Way (New Timeslot)
7:30-8:00 p.m. Surviving Suburbia (sitcom)
Programming for the 5:00-6:30 p.m. time slots will be announced soon.
More coming ...check back keep and refreshing.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Schedules Galore - TV Land September '08, WGN Golden Oldies Week, BET Schedule Changes; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: CBS, Day 1
First up, as promised the TV Land September 2008 schedule. It's a funny bone emergency as TV Land welcomes the Emmy winning sitcom Scrubs to its roster with an 7-hour Labor Day marathon from 4pm-11pm. Then the show will air Mon-Sat back-to-back at 9:00pm & 9:30pm ET/PT starting September 2. The other changes starting Sept. 2 include M*A*S*H moving to 10pm-12am and the late night marathons are now from 1am-6am.
Then starting September 15, TV Land celebrates the arrival of The Cosby Show to the network with a week-long marathon featuring the best of Cosby wit and wisdom each night starting at 8pm thru 11pm (with an encore from 1-3am). The marathon shifts into high gear that weekend when TV Land programs 20 hours of fan favorite episodes giving viewers even more quality time with the Cos from 8pm-3am both nights. Then starting Sept. 22, Cosby Show will air Mon-Sat from 8-9pm and 12-1am ET/PT. More changes will come as Cheers, The Addams Family and The Munsters are expiring and will leave starting the week of Sept. 15. Other changes include time shifting, such as Andy Griffith Show going from 7-9pm to 6-8pm, and Hogan's Heroes and Hillbillies move up an hour to 4-5pm and 5-6pm. Hogan's and Hillbillies will also still air in the late night 1-2am and 2-3am, which means the late night marathons will be now down to 3-6am.
I suggest you see our TV Land September 2008 thread for the complete schedule. There is a Three's Company sighting as well, three airings back-to-back-to-back from 3:30am-5am on late Thursday, Sept. 11. It was originally planned for every Thursday late night. Also, Just Shoot Me and Murphy Brown will now be just weekend late nights, and not weeknight late nights, like originally planned. The Brady Bunch is off the line-up completely.
Other TV Land September highlights include many movie premieres such as Back to School, Sister Act 2, Overboard, The Right Stuff, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Again see our September 2008 thread for complete details and you can also ask questions and make comments there.
Next up is WGN America! For the past two months they have aired an Outta Sight Retro Nights marathon. In June they had a '70s week and earlier this month we had an '80s marathon. Now they will move to the Golden Oldies era! It's the Outta Sight Retro Nights Marathon: The Golden Oldies! The marathon will be a four night look at the '50s and '60s. The marathon will be from Monday, August 4 through Thursday, August 7, 2008 from 8-10pm ET (5-7pm PT) on WGN America (not in Chicago, sorry!). Up first is the all-time '50s hit The Honeymooners on that Monday with four classic episodes. Then we move to the '60s as we strike it rich with The Beverly Hillbillies, ya here? Then the next two nights will be two shows that don't regular air on WGN America! On that Wednesday we twitch our way to Samantha and Darrin's house in Bewitched! Finally, on that Thursday we make a wish for I Dream of Jeannie with four wishful episodes. What a week that will be for fans of the golden oldies era. Four classics indeed! For episode info visit our WGN America Golden Oldies episode listing.
We end our schedules galore with BET. BET will be making some sitcom changes. Next week (week of July 21), BET will have Diff'rent Strokes for four episodes in a row in the mornings. Its current 9-10am slot and 10-11am, replacing Malcolm & Eddie. Diff'rent Strokes has been preempted in its afternoon 3-4pm slot for weeks now and it will not be returning there now. It seems this morning change will be for the week of July 21 only. Because starting July 28, BET will turn the 9-11am block into rotating sitcoms. Mondays starting July 28 will be the short lived '90s sitcom Thea! Then Tuesdays starting the 29th it will be Diff'rent Strokes Tuesdays. On Wednesdays BET will showcase the UPN hit The Parkers. Thursdays spend mornings with your girlfriends while watching Girlfriends from 9-11am. And finally on Friday, end the work week with the hardest working man Fred Sanford in Sanford! So Thea and Sanford will return (remember they have a marathon this Sunday, July 20, too from 3-8pm), while Malcolm & Eddie gets the boot for now. We will keep you up to date if any more changes occur!
Future Outlook: This September BET has acquired reruns of Judge Hatchett and also repurposing rights to the upcoming new court series Judge Karen. More info will come soon.
Today is day one for the CBS portion of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. All of the CBS shows that are planned for the panel are actually all going today on the panel, with CW/CBS syndication for tomorrow. After the Executive Session this morning (details on that below after the summary), up at the panel were the CBS News division, followed by rookie sitcom Worst Week and new drama Eleventh Hour. Then after lunch, the afternoon sessions had all rookies again, new drama The Mentalist, and new Friday drama The Ex-List. Weird that no returning show was at the panel for CBS. New sitcom Gary Unmarried (previously known as Project Gary) was supposed to be doing a panel today in the afternoon, but star Jay Mohr is out of the country. Following CBS shows, CBS had premium cable network Showtime go up next late in the afternoon. They had their Executive Session followed by their Sho Stoppers Showcase session. Finally, in the evening CBS, Showtime, The CW and CBS Television Distribution presented their Stars Party with executives, talent and executive producers from CBS, Showtime, The CW and CBS Television Distribution.
From the CBS executive session we learned that William Petersen is indeed leaving CSI but they have planned new additions such as a serial killer type. Nina Tassler says CBS doesn't regret canceling Moonlight (ouch!). She also said Britney didn't save How I Met Your Mother and Sarah Chalke will return for multiple episodes next season.
From the CBS News session, Katie Couric said she will stay on with CBS Evening News despite the low ratings. There were rumors that CBS would give her the boot after the Election.
Moving on to Showtime, Edie Falco will return to television with the series Nurse Jackie. It will follow Falco's day-to-day life as a nurse with a drug problem. The series will begin production in the fall for a spring/early summer 2009 debut. The network also said it is developing a spin-off of The L Word, which is entering its final season. Meanwhile, comedy Weeds will get two more seasons for a total of 26 episodes. They also ordered six episodes of documentary series Lock 'N Load and a seventh season of Penn & Teller: Bull****! for 6 episodes, the longest-running series on the channel.
It seems we learned more about Showtime, than CBS today. Coming up tomorrow its CBS Day 2, but it will feature The CW and CBS Television Distribution (that's their syndication series).
Thursday, July 17, 2008
60th Annual Emmy Awards Nominations; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: ABC, Day 2
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Two and a Half Men (CBS)
30 Rock (NBC)
Entourage (HBO)
SURPRISE OMISSION: Pushing Daisies & Ugly Betty. I had them in my predictions, but Curb and Men made it instead.
BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None. I had this category all right!
BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Old Christine (CBS)
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds (Showtime)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
SURPRISE OMISSION: Ana Friel. I had her instead of Dreyfus.
BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Kevin Dillion, Entourage (HBO)
John Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Rainn Wilson, The Office (NBC)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None. I was all right again.
BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Amy Poehler, SNL (NBC)
Jean Smart, Samantha Who? (ABC)
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Holland Taylor, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
SURPRISE OMISSION: Surprising Poehler is in this category and no Jenna Fischer this year.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Lost (ABC)
House (Fox)
Damages (FX)
Boston Legal (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None really...no Grey's Anatomy though, I had that over Damages.
BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (FOX)
James Spader, Boston Legal (ABC)
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)
Gabriel Bryne, In Treatment (HBO)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None, maybe Denis Leary. 6 made it instead of 5.
BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Damages (FX)
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace (TNT)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None, maybe no Elizabeth Moss of Mad Men. Why Hargitay again?
BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Zeljko Ivanek, Damages (FX)
William Shatner, Boston Legal (ABC)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Ted Danson, Damages (FX)
Michael Emerson, Lost (ABC)
SURPRISE OMISSION: None. I had this all right, but I had T.R. Knight instead of Ivanek.
BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal (ABC)
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Diane Wiest, In Treatment (HBO)
SURPRISE OMISSION: I had this all right except for two...Oh and Wiest were in instead, but that is not a surprise.
View the full list of nominations by clicking HERE. The 60th Annual Emmy Awards air Sunday, September 21 at 8pm on ABC.
Today is day two of the ABC portion of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. More ABC shows will be on the panel today along with ABC Cable Networks such as ABC Family and Disney Channel. But first, I want to say a few things I missed yesterday on day one. Lost will still fulfill its final 48 episode order. Due to the strike this past season, only 14 aired, so ABC is likely to tack on an extra episode for the next two seasons so 48 episodes will be there. Also, this is Zach Braff's final season on Scrubs, no matter if ABC continues it in 2009-10. Braff did say if ABC were to bring it back for a second season on ABC, then he would guest star or direct some episodes.
Anyway, today up at the panel were the cast and producers of Disney Channel's movie The Cheetah Girls One World, ABC Family's mini-series Samurai Girl, and ABC Daytime's soap opera One Life to Live, celebrating its 40th anniversary. Then after lunch it was all ABC at the panel with a great session with ABC Showrunners Greg Berlanti (Dirty Sexy Money, Brothers & Sisters, Eli Stone), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof (Lost), Silvio Horta (Ugly Betty), and Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice). Then after that it was back to shows itself with the stars and producers of Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice, and Desperate Housewives. Finally, ABC's portion of the TCA tour concludes with the All-Star party with the stars of ABC, Disney Channel, ABC Family and SOAPnet.
As for some details, ABC Family has ordered 13 more episodes of the hit drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager making its season order to 23. The current batch of episodes will conclude on Sept. 9 and the new batch will air starting in January, possibly with the return of its other hit show Kyle XY for its third season. Samurai Girl is a mini-series for now, but it could be a series in the future...Sept. 5-7 is when this three-part event will air. ABC Family will launch the second season of Greek on Tuesday, Aug. 26 and the third season of Lincoln Heights on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The Disney-ABC first run syndicated series Wizard's First Rule will appear on local stations on weekends starting the weekend of November 1.
On the Showrunners panel, the big questions were for Shonda Rhimes about Katherine Heigl. No Heigl is not leaving the show. No Heigl is not going to get killed off. And no Shonda didn't think Heigl withdrawing her name out of Emmy contention was a slap to the face to the writers! End of story on that! The media needs to MOVE ON! In Desperate Housewives news from this panel, Marc Cherry said he thought of the idea of the jumping ahead 5 years during a baseball game he attended with Steve McPherson. Lost wise we learned that Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) will indeed appear this season "in some form" without revealing any details. Ugly Betty wise, it is all but confirmed that there will no Henry in the picture for Betty.
Following that there were panels I mentioned for Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice and Desperate Housewives. I can't believe some reporter asked Lucy Liu how will it feel turning 40 in January.
I think that is about all that was noteworthy from today. Stay tuned for CBS tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: ABC, Day 1; Our Emmy Picks
Friday, September 19
10:00-11:00 p.m. 20/20
Monday, September 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (special two-hour performance show premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. Boston Legal
Tuesday, September 23
8:00-9:00 p.m. Opportunity Knocks (new series debut)
9:00-11:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars (special performance show)
Wednesday, September 24
8:00-9:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars Results Show Special (special day and time)
9:00-11:00 p.m. David Blaine Special
Thursday, September 25
8:00-9:00 p.m. Ugly Betty
9:00-11:00 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (special two-hour season premiere)
Sunday, September 28
7:00-9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (two-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00-11:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters
Tuesday, September 30
9:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars Result Show (regular day and time period premiere)
Wednesday, October 1
8:00-9:00 p.m. Pushing Daisies
9:00-10:00 p.m. Private Practice
10:00-11:00 p.m. Dirty Sexy Money
Friday, October 3
8:00-9:00 p.m. Wife Swap
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernanny
Sunday, October 5
7:00-8:00 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00-9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (regular time period premiere)
Monday, October 6
9:30-10:00 p.m. Samantha Who?
Thursday, October 9
9:00-10:00 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (regular time period premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. Life on Mars (new series debut)
Tuesday, October 14
10:00-11:00 p.m. Eli Stone
Couple of notes on the premiere dates...there will be a Presidential Debate on Friday, Sept. 26 (that is why Wife Swap and Supernanny launch Oct. 3) and a Vice Presidential Debate on Thursday, October 2 (so Ugly Betty/Grey's Anatomy will premiere on Sept. 25 then take a week off on Oct. 2 before returning Oct. 9 to help launch Life on Mars). It is unclear still what will air Tuesday at 10pm on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, as Eli Stone won't premiere until October 14.
Now let's move on to the panels for today. The casts and crews of returning hits and upcoming series will be on hand to talk about their series. After the executive session (we will discuss that below), up at the panel were Eli Stone in the morning, followed by a CMA sponsored lunch (where Julianne Hough (Dancing with the Stars) sang and promoted the special CMA Music Festival: Country's Night To Rock she is hosting Sept. 8 on ABC), then after lunch up on the panel were Life on Mars, Scrubs, Opportunity Knocks, and dinner sponsored by Dancing with the Stars where they got to eat and dance with the likes of Kristi Yamaguchi and Drew Lachey.
At that executive session we found out that Katie Holmes will guest star on Eli Stone this season playing an attorney. She is slated for the second episode of the season (Oct. 21). And ABC President Stephen McPherson denied the stupid rumors about Katherine Heigl leaving Grey's Anatomy, "...she's absolutely staying with the show. There's an outstanding story for her this season." Earlier, "a reporter from Sarasota, FL" asked McPherson if ABC was 'actively courting' Jay Leno? The reporter was Jimmy Kimmel disguised in a t-shirt and baseball cap! Hilarious! McPherson said, "to me it's a question for NBC. I can't believe they're going to let this guy go at the top of his game." He added that any discussions with Leno would take place with Kimmel's knowledge and involvement, "I can't say enough about Jimmy. His show has just exploded this year."
Finally in regards to the mid-season in consideration pilots. Due to the strike, most of the shows in consideration if they had gotten picked-up would have launched in the fall, but now all of them are in consideration for mid-season. The pilots have began filming last month and some still have yet to be shot or shooting now. So, if picked-up, ABC will launch them in November, January or March. We will let you know when any gets picked-up.
Coming up tomorrow is Day 2 for ABC, where more ABC shows go on the panel along with ABC Cable Networks, like ABC Family.
Today we will give our preview of what we think the nominations for the Emmy's will look like. The real nominations will be announced tomorrow (Thursday) morning on Good Morning America at 8:30am ET, so we will give you those then. But for now...here are our predictions for the main acting categories for the 60th Annual Emmy Awards airing Sept. 22 on ABC:
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Pushing Daisies (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
Entourage (HBO)
MY THOUGHTS: 30 Rock won last year, but Pushing Daisies might win this year. Two and a Half Men, Weeds or Curb Your Enthusiasm could sneak in. It's a shame Desperate Housewives won't get in after a great season.
BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
MY THOUGHTS: Ricky Gervais won it last year, but who will win it this year? Will the love for Pushing Daisies continue and Lee Pace can win it? Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory could sneak in over Sheen maybe.
BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)
Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
MY THOUGHTS: Ferrera won last year. Mary-Louise Parker or Julia Louis-Dreyfus could sneak in over Cross. Personally I'd have Eva Longoria instead, as she was a riot this season....one of the F's will win, Ferrera, Fey or Friel.
BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Kevin Dillion, Entourage (HBO)
John Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Rainn Wilson, The Office (NBC)
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)
MY THOUGHTS: Jeremy Piven won it last year. This list will be relatively the same as last year, but I'm surprised Chi McBride of Pushing Daisies will be snubbed...he had the funniest lines.
BEST SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds (Showtime)
Jean Smart, Samantha Who? (ABC)
Kristin Chenoweth, Pushing Daisies (ABC)
Jenna Fischer, The Office (NBC)
MY THOUGHTS: Jamie Pressly won last year but will not be nominated this year. Chenoweth should win this, as her character is hysterical.
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Lost (ABC)
House (Fox)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Boston Legal (ABC)
Mad Men (AMC)
MY THOUGHTS: With The Sopranos out of the picture, a new winner will emerge this year. Damages could get in this list. Lost deserves to win it.
BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (FOX)
James Spader, Boston Legal (ABC)
Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Denis Leary, Rescue Me (FX)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
MY THOUGHTS: James Spader won it last year and will be the favorite once again, but personally I'd want Dempsey. Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights or Jon Hamm of Mad Men could make this cut, too. Matthew Fox deserves to be on this, but won't.
BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Glenn Close, Damages (FX)
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)
Minnie Driver, The Riches (FX)
Elizabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
MY THOUGHTS: Sally Field won it last year and will win it again I bet. Past nominees like Patricia Arquette and Mariska Hargitay could make the cut, but sadly Evangeline Lilly and Ellen Pompeo won't. Why do they keep going for cable stars instead of broadcast?
BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
T.R. Knight, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
William Shatner, Boston Legal (ABC)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Ted Danson, Damages (FX)
Michael Emerson, Lost (ABC)
MY THOUGHTS: Terry O'Quinn won it last year but it looks like he won't even make it this year, which is crazy. Naveen Andrews can sneak in this list I think, but I don't have him in the top 5. Danson, Shatner or Emerson are my bets for the win.
BEST SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)
Candice Bergen, Boston Legal (ABC)
Chandra Wilson, Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Rose Byrne, Damages (FX)
MY THOUGHTS: Katherine Heigl won it last year, but she removed herself from the running this season. I would have had Yunjin Kim in this race as she was excellent in the Lost season finale. Sandra Oh could sneak in. It's anyone's game as far as a winner is concerned, but give it to Chandra!
Nominations are announced tomorrow morning. Come on back here and we will give you the official nominations and you can compare those to our picks!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
TV Land Acquires 3rd Rock From the Sun; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: Fox, Day 2
3rd Rock From the Sun is about a group of aliens that have come to Earth to learn about its population, customs, etc. To avoid detection, they have taken on human form which gives them human emotions, physical needs etc. WITHOUT the understanding of what they mean or the inhibitions normally present in humans. Their leader takes the position of a college professor, their military expert as his sister, their intelligence expert, supposedly oldest of group takes form of his teenage son. The uninhibited reactions turn everyday events into unusual situations.
We will let you know more on 3rd Rock From the Sun coming to TV Land in the coming months. Speaking of TV Land, we will have their September line-up for you shortly...hopefully by the end of the week. As you all know, Scrubs is coming Sept. 1 and The Cosby Show fully moves to TV Land on Sept. 15. In other TV Land news, the second season of the original series TV Land Myths & Legends has been pushed back to October 8. It was originally slated to start August 27, as we mentioned in the TV Land August highlights. So after Family Foreman concludes after its August 20 finale, there is no original series on Wednesdays on TV Land until October 8.
It is the second and final day for the Fox portion of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. We have some tidbits from yesterday that we need to mention today. Fox will have two development seasons this year at least. The first one will happen in December. Kevin Reilly said about eight shows are in development for that period. Expect some announcements for pick-ups then. The regular development season in the spring will still happen also. As for the rumored Prison Break spin-off, Fox is still planning one. However, it doesn't seem it will be introduced within the show but rather as its own series. The plan is to call it Cherry Hill and it'll be about a women's prison. Fox also discussed a bit about the 24 prequel and upcoming season along with the planned Osbournes variety series. Finally, there is still no end in sight for The Simpsons, so it'll likely extend beyond next season, which will be its 20th season. Oh and Fox is going to move its upfront date next year from Thursday to Monday it seems. Today at the tour will be all FX really. FX only has the morning half. On the panel will be casts and crews of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Damages, Sons of Anarchy, and The Shield. Some FX notes...FX has placed a 13 episode order for the new half-hour comedy series Testees (working title) and will air Thursdays at 10:30pm following It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia starting October 9. Speaking of Sunny, FX intends to produce 39 more episodes in addition to the 13 currently in production. The series' fourth season premieres on Thursday, September 18 at 10 p.m. FX will order 19 additional episodes of Nip/Tuck and the series will end its historic run in early 2011. FX and Sony Pictures Television closed a deal with Michael J. Fox for a four-episode arc for the fifth season of Rescue Me. The 22-episode fifth season begins in the spring of 2009 and he will appear in the season five opener. Finally, Damages' second season starts in January 2009 with new cast members Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Timothy Olyphant. Ted Danson will return in season two for several episodes.
The rest of the day is a TCA day with lunch being sponsored by the new upcoming syndicated talk show The Bonnie Hunt Show followed by a set visit for AMC's Mad Men. After that it is the evening program with dinner and cocktails. The Championship Gaming Series (CGS) World Championship Kickoff Event for media will be held Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The CGS is the first global professional video gaming league where head-to-head competition is televised live and in HD on DIRECTV's 101 Network. They are sponsoring the evening program.
Coming up tomorrow is ABC Day 1!
Also coming up tomorrow on the blog is our annual Emmy Awards Preview with our predictions of the nominees. The actual Emmy nominees will be announced the following day, Thursday.
We will also have more news, so make sure you come back tomorrow! This is a big week!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: Fox, Day 1; Happy Days Duo Reunite for Possible New Series; MySpace Adds Krofft Classics
Today and tomorrow Fox and Fox cable networks are up. Today it is all about the Fox broadcast network. The cast and crew of many hit Fox series and upcoming series will be on hand today on the panel. They started today with a Prison Break themed breakfast called Prison Break-fast. Then it was on to the panels with casts and crews of many Fox shows and entities: So You Think You Can Dance, Fringe, Fox News, Do Not Disturb, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 24, Secret Millionaire, and a panel featuring producers of Fox's animated series.
As of this writing nothing new was really learned. Fox did say the 250th episode of King of the Hill will air in May 2009 and Erica Ash, Matt Braunger, Eric Price and Lauren Pritchard have joined MADtv for its 14th season. Earlier, we found out that Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Kevin Michael Richardson were joining the animated Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show. Keep checking back in this spot for new updates or for sure in tomorrow's Fox day 2 notes.
Don Most and Anson Williams, who of course starred as Ralph Malph and Potsie on the long-running sitcom, Happy Days, have reunited to produce a potential new series, Take 2. In addition to executive producing the series, the pair also star in the pilot episode.
"Each episode of Take 2 is like a short independent film," says Williams, "and will reunite different iconic duos of the present and past, but in all-new stories, as completely different characters. They'll still have the established on-screen chemistry that audiences know and love -- but I think people will be stunned when they see just how different they can be." "I thought about Lemmon and Mathau or Tracy and Hepburn. The reason they worked together over and over again was because they had chemistry on-screen. In our favorite TV shows growing up, you saw that same kind of chemistry -- Ralph and Potsie, Will and Grace, Laverne and Shirley. Why not utilize that already established chemistry -- bring together these beloved stars - in these provocative scripts that Frederick Stroppel had written?"
We will have more information on this series should it go forward and get picked-up for a series. Best of luck to them! Read the full press release. Check out clips on YouTube.
Sid and Marty Krofft's classic '70s shows are now on MySpaceTV! H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, Electra Woman & Dyna Girl, Lidsville, Sigmund & the Sea Monsters, Dr. Shrinker and The Bugaloos, will make their exclusive global home on the social-networking platform. The license extends to put condensed versions of Krofft-produced TV episodes as well as taped messages from the Kroffts themselves.
In addition to the condensed episodes, which they are calling "Kwikies," which run 3-5 minutes, the Kroffts are also making available highlight clips. MySpace subscribers will also make theme music from the shows available.
Too bad the whole episode won't be on MySpace, but it is better than nothing. Head on over to the Krofft section to watch these condensed episodes. This is similar to Sony's Minisode Network.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Summer Week 7 Sitcom Ratings; Coming Week Preview
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of June 30-July 6)
- 'Til Death (Fox) 2 episodes - Repeats of this show returned finally and will air Sundays 7-8pm. The first week it did just 2.47 and 2.43 million...ouch.
- The Simpsons (Fox) - 3.9 million for a repeat...not good, but built nicely from lead-in.
- Family Guy (Fox) - 4.17 million for an encore telecast, as usual the leader of the pack.
- American Dad! (Fox) - 3.41 million for a repeat...needs to hold a better number than this.
- Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - 1.16 million this week for a repeat, up from the below a million the week before.
- The Game (The CW) - 999,000 viewers for a repeat, down a tad from the previous week.
- Girlfriends (The CW) - 950,000 viewers for a repeat...up 10k from previous week.
Summer Week 7 (July 7-13)
Monday Sitcoms
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 5.45 million for a repeat...down a tad from the previous week.
- How I Met Your Mother
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 9.14 million for a repeat, up week to week.
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 6.93 million for a repeat on a special time ... on par from previous week's repeat of Rules.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- None...watch Wipeout on ABC, very funny show that is not a sitcom. There will be a Facts of Life reference soon.
- Under One Roof (MyNetworkTV) - Repeat did 830,000 viewers.
Thursday Sitcoms
- None.
Coming Week Preview (Summer Week 8) for Broadcast (With Some Cable Notes):
So what is new or notable this week that you might want to catch? Tonight CBS will air the premiere of an all-new season of Big Brother at 8pm out of a new 60 Minutes at 7pm. NBC will have a special called American Dream with Jim Cramer at 7pm then later in the evening from 9-11pm Miss Universe Pageant from 9-11pm. A pretty quite night and dare I say it boring? Cable is the way to go with Lifetime's Army Wives and USA's In Plain Sight at 10pm.
On Monday, ABC will be new with The Mole special at 9pm followed by a new The Mole at 10pm. NBC has American Gladiators at 8pm, followed by Nashville Star at 9pm and Dateline at 10pm. Quiet night...but cable again will be the best draw with the Home Run Derby on ESPN, while The Closer and Saving Grace return on TNT from 9-11pm.
On Tuesday Fox will be all-new with the MLB All-Star Game from Yankee Stadium. ABC has the hilarious new hit Wipeout, I Survived a Japanese Game Show & Primetime: The Outsiders from 8-11pm. NBC has Celebrity Family Feud at 8pm leading into the summer hit America's Got Talent which is now only an hour. And the Tuesday edition of Big Brother at 9pm on CBS. Cable wise ABC Family's Secret Life of an American Teenager is doing well. This is the best night of the summer, as Wipeout is the perfect show to air in the summer!
On Wednesday Fox will air a new two-hour episode of So You Think You Can Dance. NBC will have an all-new Baby Borrowers at 9pm following a repeat at 8pm and an all-new episode of the low-rated Celebrity Circus at 10. CBS has the Wednesday Big Brother at 8pm. ABC will be new at 10pm with Primetime: Crime. Maybe this is the worst night for the summer (not counting Friday/Saturday).
On Thursday ABC will air episode four of the well liked ABCNews' Hopkins series at 10pm. Fox will also be new all-night with Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? followed by So You Think You Can Dance-Thursday. CBS at 8pm has Greatest American Dog, which skews so old, and another episode of the summer scripted series Swingtown at 10pm. And NBC will air a new episode of the low-rated Last Comic Standing from 8-10pm followed by low rated drama Fear Itself at 10. On cable, TBS will air new episodes of sitcoms The Bill Engvall Show and My Boys from 9-10pm and USA's Burn Notice at 10pm.
On Friday, ABC will be all-new, all-night on Friday with Dance Machine at 8 followed by the addictive game show Duel and the news magazine 20/20 closes the night at 10pm. NBC will be new from 9-11pm with another edition of Dateline. CBS has the summer drama Flashpoint at 10pm. The CW of course will have WWE Smackdown.
Saturday will have Cops and AMW on Fox and 48 Hours on CBS at 10pm.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Book Review: People - Child Stars Then & Now
People - Child Stars Then & Now (Hardcover) (People, $29.95)
They starred in TV's The Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, Boy Meets World and The Wonder Years and in movies like Stand By Me, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles and more. Many got famous, and rich, before they got driver's licenses. What happened after that first -- and often fleeting -- burst of fame? Who got married? Who went to rehab? Who built a career behind the camera? Who's hawking hair products on infomercials? Who's delivering pizza? Find out what became of all of the kids who came of age in Hollywood in the '70s, '80s and '90s.
This book comes in two formats. The softcover version is available on newstands now until September 22. A more expensive hardcover version will be available on August 5. The front cover features 7 then photos and there are 7 now photos on the back cover. There are 144 pages and tons of photos from the past and present. A few of them get some pretty extensive updates spanning a few pages while others get only a short update. At the end of the book, there is a gone too soon section with some tributes to a few child stars that have passed away and an "I'm not a kid, but I played one on tv" section that provides no current updates.
Here is a list of who is featured (in alphabetical order):
Tatyana Ali - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Chad Allen - My Two Dads, Our House
Sean Astin - The Goonies
Christopher Atkins - The Blue Lagoon
Christian Bale - Empire of the Sun
Drew Barrymore - E.T.
Jason Bateman - Little House on the Prairie, Silver Spoons, The Hogan Family
Brice Beckham - Mr. Belvedere
Elizabeth Berkley - Saved by the Bell
Valerie Bertinelli - One Day at a Time
Mayim Bialik - Blossom
Peter Billingsley - A Christmas Story
Thora Birch - Monkey Trouble
Tempestt Bledsoe - The Cosby Show
Lisa Bonet (aka Lilakoi Moon) - The Cosby Show
Brian Bonsall - Family Ties
Jonathan Brandis - seaQuest DSV
Josh Brolin - The Goonies
Chris Burke - Life Goes On
Kirk Cameron - Growing Pains
Gabrielle Carteris - Beverly Hills, 90210
Max Casella - Doogie Howser, M.D.
Keisha Castle-Hughes - Whale Rider
Lacey Chabert - Party of Five
Anna Chlumsky - My Girl
Jeff Cohen - The Goonies
Jennifer Connelly - Labyrinth
Macaulay Culkin - Home Alone, Home Alone 2
Claire Danes - My So-Called Life
Stacey Dash - Clueless
Josie Davis - Charles in Charge
Dustin Diamond - Saved by the Bell
Leonard DiCaprio - Growing Pains, This Boy's Life
Elisa Donovan - Clueless
Hilary Duff - Lizzie McGuire
Kirsten Dunst - Interview with the Vampire
Nicole Eggert - Charles in Charge
Halie Kate Eisenberg - Pepsi commercials, Paulie
David Faustino - Married... with Children
Fergie - Kids Incorporated
Corey Feldman - The Lost Boys
Danielle Fishel - Boy Meets World
Michael Fishman - Roseanne
Jodie Foster - Taxi Driver
Jaimee Foxworth - Family Matters
Will Friedle - Boy Meets World
Soleil Moon Frye - Punky Brewster
Edward Furlong - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Sara Gilbert - Roseanne
Alicia (Lecy) Goranson - Roseanne
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 3rd Rock from the Sun
Mark-Paul Gosselaar - Saved by the Bell
Corey Haim - The Lost Boys
Jackie Earle Haley - The Bad News Bears
Anthony Michael Hall - Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science
Neil Patrick Harris - Doogie Howser, M.D.
Melissa Joan Hart - Clarissa Explains It All, Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Noah Hathaway - The Neverending Story
Justin Henry - Kramer vs. Kramer, Sixteen Candles
Jason Hervey - The Wonder Years
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Kids Incorporated, Party of Five
Gaby Hoffman - Field of Dreams
Ron Howard - The Music Man, The Andy Griffith Show
Scarlett Johansson - The Horse Whisperer
Stacy Keanan - My Two Dads, Steby by Step
Christopher Knight - The Brady Bunch
Charlie Korsmo - Dick Tracy, Can't Hardly Wait
A.J. Langer - My So-Called Life
Diane Lane - The Outsiders
Joey Lawrence - Gimme A Break!
Jared Leto - My So-Called Life
Emmanuel Lewis - Webster
Jenny Lewis - The Wizard
Jonathan Lipnicki - Jerry Maguire
Lindsay Lohan - The Parent Trap
Mario Lopez - Saved by the Bell
Ralph Macchio - The Karate Kid
Tobey Maguire - This Boy's Life, Deconstructing Harry
Tina Majorino - Andre
Kellie Martin - Life Goes On
Maureen McCormick - The Brady Bunch
Danica McKellar - The Wonder Years
Jeremy Miller - Growing Pains
Illan Mitchell-Smith - Weird Science
Tahj Mowry - Smart Guy
Tamera Mowry - Sister, Sister
Tia Mowry - Sister, Sister
Jerry O'Connell - Stand By Me
Olsen Twins - Full House
Amy O'Neill - Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Heather O'Rourke - Poltergeist
Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
Peter Ostrum - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Sarah Jessica Parker - Square Pegs
Luke Perry - Beverly Hills, 90210
River Phoenix - Standy By Me
Corky Pigeon - Silver Spoons
Danny Pintauro - Who's the Boss?
Dana Plato - Diff'rent Strokes
Eve Plumb - The Brady Bunch
Alexander Polinsky - Charles in Charge
Natalie Portman - The Professional
Jason Priestley - Beverly Hills 90210
Keshia Knight Pulliam - The Cosby Show
Aileen Quinn - Annie
Raven-Symoné - The Cosby Show
Brad Renfro - Sleepers, The Client
Alfonso Ribeiro - Silver Spoons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Christina Ricci - The Addams Family
Ariana Richards - Tremors, Jurassic Park
Molly Ringwald - The Facts of Life Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club
Brian Robbins - Head of the Class
Ben Savage - Boy Meets World
Fred Savage - The Wonder Years
Scott Schwartz - The Toy, A Christmas Story
Brooke Shields - Pretty Baby, The Blue Lagoon
Taran Noah Smith - Home Improvement
Rider Strong - Boy Meets World
Tiffani Thiessen - Saved by the Bell
Henry Thomas - E.T.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas - Home Improvement
Jenna von Oy - Blossom
Lark Voorhies - Saved by the Bell
Malcolm-Jamal Warner - The Cosby Show
Gedde Watanabe - Sixteen Candles
Wil Wheaton - Stand By Me, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Jaleel White - Family Matters
Kellie Williams - Family Matters
Elijah Wood - Avalon
Tina Yothers - Family Ties
Final Comments: This book had a lot of promise, but ultimately there are simply too many updates on people that are well-known to everybody. Who doesn't know what Christian Bale, Drew Barrymore, Josh Brolin, Jennifer Connelly, Leonard DiCaprio, Fergie, Jodie Foster, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ron Howard, Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan, Tobey Maguire, Sarah Jessica Parker, Natalie Portman, Christina Ricci, Brooke Shields or Elijah Wood are doing today? Also, they included no updates for the people in the actors who were not really child stars section. The photos included in the book are very nice and the updates do seem to be researched well, so if you are a fan of a number of the people profiled it would still probably be worth it to check it out. The softcover version that is out now is considerably cheaper than the hardcover version that will be released next month
This book simply needed more updates like they had for Corky Pigeon from Silver Spoons and Alexander Polinsky from Charles in Charge. It would have been nice to see updates for more people that are not as well-known and no longer in the public eye. I would love to see a book devoted to more child stars from the '70s-'90s that was a bit more in depth. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see updates on the actors from shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Gimme A Break!, The Hogan Family, Charles in Charge (first season cast), The Facts of Life, What's Happening!!, Head of the Class and Kate & Allie.
-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller
(3/5 stars)To purchase this book, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
Sneak Peek! Child Stars: Then & Now
Former Child Star Central
Friday, July 11, 2008
ION August 2008; Slight Nick at Nite Change; Summer 2008 TCA Press Tour: Cable Day 4
ION Television has announced its August 2008 higlights. There really are no changes to the regular line-up, but the RHI block is getting a bit of a twist. RHI programming airs Fri-Sun from 7-11pm, but now Fridays they will show Flash Gordon: The Series. That was a 2007 Sci-Fi Channel series produced by RHI and now ION will air the reruns to all 22 episodes airing in the 7pm hour on Fridays. ION will pair Flash Gordon: The Series with the 2000 mini-series The 10th Kingdom broken down into hour episodes airing in the 8pm hour on Fridays. I believe originally it was like 9 parts.
As far as the regular schedule Mon-Thurs, there are no changes and the line-up will remain Hangin 'with Mr. Cooper, Steve Harvey Show, Family Feud, Quantum Leap, The Dead Zone and ER from 5-11pm. The Drew Carey Show will get two filler airings on Thursdays at 10:30pm on Aug. 21 and Aug. 28 following the Total Theatre Movie. The sitcom is still slated to return regularly this September. August Total Theatre Thursday movies are Clear and Present Danger, Elvis: That's The Way It Is, Superman II, and Point of No Return.
And the RHI movies and mini-series for August include Rear Window, Noah's Ark, and more.
Check our our ION August 2008 highlights for complete details!
Yet more changes are happening on Nick at Nite. Starting Monday (July 14), Mon-Thurs 11:30pm will now be Family Matters, replacing Fresh Prince. So Family Matters will air for a full hour at 11pm now! It will also still air at 8:30pm Mon-Thurs. However, the 4-5am Mon-Thurs encores of Family Matters will be replaced by a third late night hour of Fresh Prince. So Fresh Prince will air from 2-5am Mon-Thurs. Also, Fridays at 12:30am Family Matters will now air for the full hour at 12am, replacing a half-hour Fresh Prince. It is great that the Winslows and the Urkeman have done so well already on Nick at Nite!
Check out the full schedule starting July 14.
Well it is the final day of the cable portion of the summer 2008 TCA press tour. The broadcast networks will start going next week and we will have updates from that, too, of course. Here is the schedule for the broadcast portion:
July 12-13: PBS; July 14: Fox; July 15: Fox/TCA; July 16-17: ABC; July 18: CBS; July 19: CBS/CW/Showtime/TCA Awards; July 20: NBC/TCA (possible set visits); July 21: NBC; July 22: TCA Set Visits
I don't think we will cover PBS, unless it is something very noteworthy. Remember cable stations that are owned by a broadcast channel (ABC: ABC Family, NBC: Sci-Fi, etc) will be also presenting during the broadcast portion of the press tour, so we will cover that as well.
Anyway, here is what happened today on the last day of the cable portion:
Turner Broadcasting kicked off the day. CNN was up first and they discussed their coverage plans for the 2008 election. The Best Political Team on Television discusses the 2008 presidential election and CNN's unrivaled coverage, with a behind-the-scenes preview of the summer conventions and the fall election. CNN also has a special coming July 23-24 titled CNN Presents Black in America. Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., CNN's Black in America series continues with two groundbreaking documentaries, Black Men and Black Women & Family, as well as a topical special co-produced with Essence magazine.
Cartoon Network was touting its original animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. From creator George Lucas, Star Wars: The Clone Wars combines the scope of the legendary Star Wars saga with state-of-the-art computer-generated animation.
TNT has two new dramas coming. The first one premieres September 1 at 10pm, Raising the Bar. This series follows the lives and cases of young attorneys who have been friends since law school but are now on opposing sides as defense and prosecution. Raising The Bar comes to TNT from ABC Studios and Steven Bochco. Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Jane Kaczmarek, and Gloria Reuben star. Then in December, they will launch Leverage. This series follows a team of thieves, hackers and grifters who act as modern-day Robin Hoods, taking revenge against those who use power and wealth to victimize others. Leverage comes to TNT from Electric Entertainment. Among off-network programming, Cold Case will be available to air five-days-a-week this October.
TBS will launch a second season of late night comedy Frank TV this October. This sketch comedy features Frank Caliendo, famous for his pitch-perfect takes on such personalitiesas John Madden, Dr. Phil, President Bush and Former President Clinton. When it debuted in November 2007, Frank TV delivered ad-supported cable's biggest young adult audience ever for a late-night series launch. Among off-network programming, Married...with Children joins the early morning line-up this September.
Then Fox Reality Channel stepped up and announced its August 2 premiere of Long Way Down, a ten-episode series. It features two close friends, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, on the ultimate motorcycle trip through distant lands, unique cultures and some of the most impressive natural wonders in the world, while raising over $1 million for charities including UNICEF, Riders for Health, and CHAS (Children's Hospice Association Scotland).
Starz was giving press about its new buzz filled drama Crash coming in October. Dennis Hopper stars. Set in Los Angeles, Crash explores the complexities of social tolerance in contemporary America by digging into the meaning of what it takes to reach the American dream. Characters will intertwine and crash into each other, coming face to face with the daily hurdles and obstacles that threaten to get in the way of achieving that dream. Based on the movie by the same name.
Then it was Lifetime's turn. They have announced a lot of original programming. How to Look Good Naked returns July 22 with its second season with Carson Kressley. As we mentioned before, Lifetime will have its own original sitcom to be paired with Reba reruns this Fall called Rita Rocks. Overworked wife and mother Rita is in the middle of a full-blown identity crisis. Trying to maintain romance with her husband Jay, juggling the demands of her nine-year-old daughter Shannon and disciplining her defiant, teenage daughter Hallie, Rita is at her wit's end. In search of "youthful" Rita, she dusts off her old guitar and forms a garage band with her nosy postal carrier Patty and unemployed neighbor Owen. Stars include Nicole Sullivan, Richard Ruccolo and Tisha Campbell—Martin. They will also have original movies, of course. The movie Coco Chanel premieres September 13. Coco Chanel follows the rags—to-riches story of influential and iconic French designer Coco Chanel from her humble beginnings in an orphanage outside Paris, through her meteoric rise to fame and success, revealing a fiery and ambitious woman and the significant relationships, both familial and romantic, that shaped and inspired her success. Stars Shirley MacLaine. Then they have Living Proof, Lifetime Television's Marquee Original Movie starring Harry Connick, Jr., Amanda Bynes, Angie Harmon, Swoosie Kurtz, Bernadette Peters, Jennifer Coolidge, Regina King, Tammy Blanchard, John Benjamin Hickey, Paula Cale and Trudie Styler. Living Proof will premiere in October 2008 on Lifetime Television, as part of the Network's Stop Breast Cancer for Life campaign during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is the moving true story of Dr. Dennis Slamon, the UCLA doctor who developed the revolutionary breast cancer drug, Herceptin, and his relentless battle to keep the drug trials afloat and save the lives of thousands of women. But before those two moves this Fall, they have a few movies coming in August as well! Ashley Benson and Jenna Dewan star in Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal, Valerie Bertinelli and Joanna Levesque star in True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet and Judy Reyes, A Martinez and Hector Bustamante star in Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story.
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, November 4
Scrubs - "My Story" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
J.D. and Elliot reconnect while managing a difficult parenting conversation; the interns grapple with work-life balance.
Abbott Elementary - "Courtney" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Gregory and Melissa come together to address an issue with a teacher; Janine spends time with Courtney.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 2)
Wednesday, November 4
- Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This/HouseBroken/Veep) - Watch Timothy on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Tracy Morgan (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins/Crutch/The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Tracy appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bill Hader (Barry) - Bill is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about The Cat in the Hat on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
- Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) and Niecy Nash-Betts (Reno 911!/Getting On/The Soul Man/Do Not Disturb) - Sarah, Niecy, Kim Kardashian and Naomi Watts talk about All's Fair on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Sarah will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Denise Richards (Blue Mountain State) - Denise talks about All's Fair on ABC's GMA3 at 1pm.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining the Drew's news desk to hit the headlines with Drew and Ross on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
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03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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