SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The Golden Girls on WE tv Details; TNT's The Closer Heads to Broadcast Syndication in Fall 2010

Happy President's Day! Last President's Day we gave you good news about many Sony sitcoms (Sanford, Thea, Diff'rent Strokes, and Malcolm & Eddie) coming to BET, now today we continue that tradition somewhat with moe TV sitcom scheduling news!
We gave you the details on The Golden Girls on The Hallmark Channel already, now we have details on The Golden Girls on WE tv. We were the first ones to announce last year that the series would also come to WE tv when it comes to Hallmark and leaves Lifetime. Now we finally have the details on WE tv's timeslots for the show!
The hit '80s sitcom premieres Monday, March 16, on WE tv from 5pm to 7pm, with four back-to-back episodes that will air every weeknight thereafter as well from 5pm to 7pm. So Hallmark will air it on weekdays 9-10am, 4-5pm and 12-2am, and we can now add 5-7pm for WE tv. If my math is correct, that is six combined hours between the two. This is just weekdays, too! In addition, an all-day marathon has been scheduled from 10am-5pm on Saturday, March 21 on WE tv. We don't know yet if WE tv will air the series yet on weekends, but Hallmark is airing it in the mornings (Saturdays 6-9am and Sundays 8:30am-10am). Stay tuned, as they say in the TV world.
The series of course is about four previously married women living together in Miami, sharing their various experiences together and enjoying themselves despite hard times. We will have more on this for sure in the coming days, as we are not yet sure if WE tv will make any other schedule changes, as they air other sitcoms as well (Hope & Faith, Dharma & Greg, and Girlfriends). But for now head on over to WE tv's The Golden Girls section! Thank you for being a friend!

The Closer, basic cable's highest-rated program, will premiere on TV stations in reruns in fall 2010 and is sold through 2012. The show is sold to the Fox Television Stations in 16 markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
It's also been cleared with the following groups: CBS, Raycom, Capitol Broadcasting, Local TV, Hearst-Argyle Television, Tribune, Young, LIN TV, Turner, Newport Television, Weigel Broadcasting, Post-Newsweek Stations, Four Points Media Group, Meredith, Cox Television, Grant Television, Gannett Broadcasting, McKinnon Broadcasting, Freedom Communications, ComCorp, Bonten Media Group, Barrington Broadcasting Group, Hubbard Broadcasting and ACME Television. This covers about 85% of the country so far.
The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Kyra Sedgwick stars as Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, who is involved in cracking tough and high-profile murder cases in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has sold the third syndication cycle of Without a Trace to stations representing 85% of the country, renewing the hit drama series in reruns through the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons on the CBS Television Stations in 18 markets, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as to stations owned by Sinclair, Tribune, Raycom, Meredith, Newport, Post-Newsweek, Four Points, Media General, Belo, Freedom, New Vision, Barrington, Bonten Media Group, McKinnon, Dispatch, Weigel, Journal, Allbritton, Grey, ACME and Hearst-Argyle. The series is still airing on broadcast in originals on CBS in its seventh season and is likely to return for an eighth season in 2009-2010.

Week 21 (First Four Nights) Numbers; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 21 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: CBS: 8.6/13.6; Fox: 8.5/13.0; ABC: 5.3/8.3; NBC: 4.9/7.8; The CW: 1.1/1.7; MNT: 0.6/1.0.
Total Viewers: Fox: 14.84 million; CBS: 13.95 million; ABC: 8.32 million; NBC: 7.69 million; The CW: 1.64 million; MNT: 1.01 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.5/13.8; CBS: 3.6/9.2; ABC: 3.2/8.1; NBC: 2.9/7.3; The CW: 0.7/1.8; MNT: 0.3/0.8.

Analysis: Week 21 has CBS in the lead in HH edging Fox by a hair through the first four days. Through the first four day, as mentioned CBS has the lead in HH, though Fox has the edge in viewers and has a commanding lead in 18-49. CBS is second in viewers and 18-49, while ABC is third in all categories and NBC in fourth.
Last week, CBS won week 20 in HH and viewers, while Fox took first in 18-49. Fox was second in HH/viewers, while CBS was second in 18-49. ABC was third in everything, and of course NBC back in fourth. No NFL, means a given fourth place for NBC.
Monday President Obama has a special news conference at 8pm, causing the networks to move stuff, delay stuff, etc. A big mess. ABC's coverage of the event was first place, but the conference doesn't count in the ratings. CBS had to move The Big Bang Theory to 9:30pm this week, while How I Met Your Mother was preempted. #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men aired in its normal time and and did a below normal 15.0 million for a new episode, down over 1.5 million from previous week. The finale of Worst Week was moved to tomorrow thanks to Obama, so CBS aired The Big Bang Theory at a special time and did an excellent 12.72 million, for of course a series high. At 10pm a new episode of CSI: Miami did 13.81 million, which was way down from the previous week...nearly three million below previous week. Fox had to preempt House because of Obama, so that cost them big time. However 24 still aired but at 10.61 million, down from previous week. ABC was ahead of Fox on this atypical Monday, with a two-hour episode of The Bachelor at a special time of 9-11pm out east and it did an excellent 11.59 million for week six...and yes up once again. It has gone up in all telecasts...it is doing excellent. Because of Obama, True Beauty was preempted and moved to the following night. NBC had to preempt Chuck because of Obama and that could end up hurting this series as it just returned the previous week. Heroes still struggled and did 7.9 million, down from previous week and Medium followed with 7.89 million, also down from previous week. The CW was next with a repeat of Gossip Girl doing 1.67 million and a repeat of One Tree Hill did 1.38 million.
Tuesday that show called American Idol dominated, but CBS nearly won the night in viewers still but did in HH. Fox started with Idol, doing 24.94 million, down a million or so from previous week. Fringe followed with just 9.83 million, down nearly three million from previous week, ouch...now the show is on hiatus for a month or so as Idol expands to two-hours. CBS was next as NCIS started the night off with doing 18.03 million...but the question is, how? New drama The Mentalist was finally new and returned with 19.7 million, building on its lead-in by a lot this time. At 10pm, Without a Trace was new and did 14.31 million, up nearly two million week-to-week, as it had a much bigger lead-in this week. NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser at 9.25 million, but down over a million from previous week. NBC followed at 10pm with a special Dateline on the octuplet mom preempting Law & Order: SVU doing slightly better than that at 11.26 million. ABC was next and started with a the classic 1975 special Be My Valentine Charlie Brown and the 2002 special A Charlie Brown Valentine at a below normal 4.81 million, as Homeland Security USA does better than that. Two all-new Scrubs episodes followed with 4.56 and 4.22 million, which was both down a bit from previous week once again. ABC preempted Primetime: What Would You Do at 10pm and aired True Beauty on a special night because of Obama and looks like viewers did not find it or know about it because it did just 3.69 million. The CW aired a new 90210 and did 2.38 million, down a bit week-to-week and a new Privileged only did 1.4 million, also down some from previous week.
Wednesday saw you know who dominate. Fox aired a two-hour American Idol doing 24.82 million, down two million from the previous week and that was just one our. New Fox drama Lie to Me was preempted, but Fox didn't mind. CBS started with new episodes of sitcom Old Christine at an OK 6.67 million and an episode of Gary Unmarried at an almost similar 6.54 million. These are iffy for CBS. A new episode of Criminal Minds followed and did 12.48 million, seems below normal. CSI: NY followed with a new showing also at a below normal 11.94 million. ABC was next with an enhanced encore of Lost at 8pm doing 4.31 million, down some from previous week, followed by an all-new Lost doing 9.82 million, down over a million from previous week thanks to Idol but still a solid 4.4 18-49 rating. A new Life on Mars did 4.63 million, down over a million from previous week as well. NBC opened the night with Knight Rider doing 5.48 million, up some from previous, a new episode of the dud Life followed and did just 4.59 million, down over two million from its return the previous week when it had lesser competition thanks to Katie Couric on CBS. Law & Order followed at 10pm doing only 7.44 million, down well over a million from previous week, it's time for NBC to put this show to rest. The CW aired another repeat of Privileged at 8pm at just 1.02 million, but up some actually from previous week, and a repeat of 90210 followed with only 880,000 viewers, down slightly from previous week.
Thursday saw CBS win in HH/viewers and ABC win the night in 18-49. ABC started with a new Ugly Betty doing 7.4 million, up slightly from previous week, a new Grey's Anatomy was next and did 15.16 million and a 5.9 18-49 rating, on par week-to-week. A new Private Practice followed and did a a great 14.1 million at 10pm, and a series high of 5.7 18-49 rating! The episode was a crossover with its parent and delivered big time in quality and the ratings. The conclusion is this coming week! CBS started with the return of Survivor: Tocantis doing 13.63 million, followed by a new CSI at 17.94 million and a new Eleventh Hour followed with 10.94 million. NBC was third with an all-new line-up, too...My Name is Earl did 6.4 million, up slightly from previous week a new Kath & Kim followed with 5.51 million, up from previous week. A new The Office did 9.0 million, up from previous week, followed by a highly promoted new 30 Rock at 7.68 million, up over a million this week. ER was next and did just 7.24 million, the second lowest ever. Fox had to take a back seat as Bones and Hell's Kitchen were preempted for te 40th Annual NAACP Awards doing just 4.2 million. Smallville was a repeat on The CW and did 2.41 million, followed by a repeat of Supernatural at 1.99 million.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with a new Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, NUMB3RS as usual. However, ABC finished second but won the 10pm hour with 20/20 and also an above average Supernanny at 9pm did solid. NBC saw more declines for Howdie Do It at 8pm. And Fox was off the map with the return of Sarah Connor Chronicles but did a bit better with the series premiere of Dollhouse.
Saturday numbers were so low it was not funny. Valentine's Day affected the night badly, as no network went above 4 million.
Tonight will be CBS and ABC battling for the win. CBS with its usual lineup and the season premiere of The Amazing Race and ABC with its Sunday combination of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. NBC has a two-hour Dateline and the conclusion of the mini-series XIII, which did terrible last Sunday. Fox has returns its animation with finally an all-night new line-up.
As for the week, CBS should hang on for the win in HH/viewers, while Fox in 18-49. Fox should be second in HH/viewers and ABC could be 2nd in 18-49, if CBS does lower than ABC tonight. ABC will be third in HH/viewers, while NBC should be fourth across the board. What to look for this week...the conclusion of the crossover on ABC Thursday with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice! The CW will be in repeats the entire week and they will lose to MNT because of it. The week ends in a bang with the Oscars on ABC, so ABC will win the week this coming week.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Feb. 2-8, Week 20)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat episode did just 4.75 million.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - A new episode did just 4.75 million, but its lead in was a repeat.
• Family Guy (Fox) - Yet another repeat of this show did 5.56 million...not too bad though. This show is FINALLY new tonight.
• American Dad (Fox) - A repeat did just 4.6 million.

Week 21:

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 12.72 million for a new episode...series high...but it aired at 9:30pm this week thanks to Obama.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - preempted thanks to Obama.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.0 million for our sitcom leader...but down well over a million from previous week.
• Worst Week (CBS) - preempted thanks to Obama. Series...I mean season... finale tomorrow.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Scrubs (ABC) 2 episodes - Two all-new episodes did 4.56 and 4.22 million only and a 2.0 18-49 rating. Now repeats until its move to Wednesdays at 8 starting March 18.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - 6.67 million vs. Idol, not too good but not that bad.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - 6.54 million but the show did build from its lead-in in 18-49 a bit.
• Under One Roof (MNT) 2 episodes - Two repeats did 620,000 and 590,000 viewers...ouch. Looks Flavor Flav needs to find some more love on VH1.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 6.4 million for a new episode...not too good but up a bit week-to-week.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - 5.51 million, it actually went up.
• The Office (NBC) - 9.0 million for a new episode, finally cracked 9 million. Now a repeat this week. Bad timing for NBC.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 7.68 million for a new episode...up from previous week as a guest star had to drive it up.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - 1.36 prelim million for a new episode.
• The Game (The CW) - 1.53 prelim million for a new episode. Why not move this to Wednesdays at 9??

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox's animated comedies from 8-10pm.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Old Christine, Gary Unmarried) or just plain old terrible (such as Under One Roof, Scrubs).

Blog DVD Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly Blog DVD Reviews. This week we take a look at Paramount Home Entertainment's Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk. Yes we know today is Valentine's Day but we here at SitcomsOnline like to look ahead, as you all know, and we are focusing today on Easter! This set features the special "The Easter Chipmunk" along with four other episodes from the series! See my Blog DVD Reviews of Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk:

Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk (Paramount, $16.99) brings the 1995 TV special "The Easter Chipmunk" on DVD along with four episodes from the TV series! In "The Easter Chipmunk," Alvin finds out that his Grandpa was the original Easter Chipmunk, and tries to sue Mr. Hoppity, the Easter Bunny for the rights. What will happen? You'll have to watch!
We have had many Chipmunk sets, some even re-released. Basically, we have had Chipmunks Go To The Movies sets (which featured episodes like "Daytona Jones and the Pearl of Wisdom," "Robomunk," "Star Wreck," "Batmunk," and "Funny...We Shrunk the Adults"). We have also had holiday themed sets such as Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials releases. Paramount has also released the Chipmunk Adventure feature film from 1987. We also had episodes featuring The Chipettes from the original series 1983-87 series. And my personal favorite was the Alvinnn! Edition, which was the first set to have episodes from the original 1983-87 series. 14 of them!
This set has the 1995 Easter special along with episodes from the series. The original 1983-87 series and the 1988-89 Chipmunks series had two 11-minute episodes or so in a half-hour. So as with the other DVDs, we don't get the actual "full episodes," but one 11-12 minute episode from a full episode. The Easter special runs 21:35 with four chapter stops. The other four episodes are from the original series or the 1988 Chipmunks series. In "Snow Wrong," the Chipmunks and Chipettes audition to be in a Snow White play. The episode is from the original 1983-87 series and runs around 12:24 and we also get the opening and closing credits, but no episode title card. The next three episodes are from The Chipmunks years. In "Special Kind of Champion," Alvin is upset that he can't seem to keep up with the rest of his track race team. Being that so, the coach decides to let him become a trainer for one of the athletes of the Special Olympics. This episode runs 11:59 and has the opening and closing credits. The next episode is "Thinking Cap Trap," Simon is frustrated being the smartest member of the family. He invents a cap that helps Dave and his brothers become smarter. Simon is so confident with his family's new smarts that he signs them up to be on a genius game show. But before he can give his family another boost of the thinking cap, he loses it. This episode runs 13:02 and has the opening and closing credits. The final episode on this set is "Luck O' the Chipmunks," Micky, a new Irish boy at school, claims that he has his very own leprechaun. The Chipmunks are keen to investigate. This one runs 13:08 and also has the opening and closing credits. Weird that only one episode (the Easter special) has to deal with Easter. The rest seem random, though nice to have. The St. Patrick's Irish themed episode fits, I guess since that holiday is on the horizon.
Packaging is simple and in the same line as the previous sets--a nice simple case with the discs inside, and as with last time, there is NO insert for Chipmunks.com once again. Cover art features the Alvin, Simon, & Theodore with the Easter Chipmunk looking. Back of the case we have info on the set and the episodes, with Alvin with rabbit ears and lots of Easter eggs below him. We get a little yellow box listing the episode titles for the set. Disc art has the same artwork as the cover art, but just Alvin and the Easter Chipmunk this time. All the artwork seems to be from the post-1987 version, and not the original series artwork for some reason. This is been the case for all the sets it seems. Oh well.
The menu screen has the same artwork has cover art. Options are Play All, Episode Selection and Previews. An auto-trailer for Alvin sets come before the main menu starts and also the same trailer can be found in the Previews option on the main menu. At least we don't get any other trailers. The Episode Selection list the episode titles. Simple yet effective.
The video and audio are OK at best, some episodes look good (not great though), some don't. If you have any of the other sets, you'll know what I mean. They are certainly not remastered or anything, like I have mentioned before. They are watchable, though. So it is worth the buy, especially since this series is not on television anymore. The copies are a bit better than VHS that you may have recorded from the original run or 90s syndication. The Easter special is newer, so that looks better.
I highly do recommend any fan to pick up this set. We are now getting episodes of the classic series from 1983-87, as this is the third set to feature them...though we only get one episode from that here. Those are the best and most memorable episodes. And once again I reiterate, I just wish they start giving us season sets. It isn't that hard, is it? They obviously have the rights to the original episodes now since they were not releasing them at first. Though I hope if and when they make season sets, they remaster and clean up the episodes a bit for the fans. I really want a complete first season or at least break them up into half seasons and release them. I want to see "The C Team" episode on DVD! Mr. T in animation! Anyway, I know today is Valentine's Day but this episode features the upcoming holidays of St. Patrick's Day and Easter...so we like to look ahead! So grab your bunny ears and buy this set while eating your Easter eggs or your Valentine's chocolate...whatever! Let's get to the bottom of this scrambled caper!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Alvin & the Chipmunks TV.com Page
Chipmunks.com

BET Premieres The Game One Week Earlier, Adds Sitcom Marathons in March; TVLandPRIME.com Adds High School Reunion Content; Boomerang News

We were the first ones to announce that BET had acquired sitcom The Game to its lineup starting Feb. 23, now BET will move up the premiere up a week to Feb. 16...that is this Monday! They will launch the series now with a marathon, too. The President's Day The Game marathon will air from 9am-6pm on Monday (Feb. 16) featuring the first 18 episodes of the series. It will also start airing in the regular line-up the following day (Tuesday, Feb. 17) airing weekdays 12-1pm and Thursdays 10-11pm. The weekdays 12-1pm hour will replace The Steve Harvey Show, which now goes off the line-up. Originally The Game was going to air 1-2pm, but now that is not happening, and Hell Date will remain 1-2pm. The Game will also have a block on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 1pm-4pm. Then starting Monday, Feb. 23, The Game will also air weekdays 5-6pm in addition to its 12-1pm slot, so cutting Smart Guy's late afternoon block in half to just 4-5pm. The Game was originally going to air 11pm-12am, but Judge Hatchett will now remain in that slot.
Starting February 28, BET will have sitcom marathons all March long on weekends! On Saturday, Feb. 28 from 9am-8pm we will have an all-day One on One marathon! For the following weekend (March 7-8), we will have Family Matters! Sister station Nick at Nite's series returns to BET for another marathon airing. The marathon airs Saturday, March 7 from 12pm-8pm, following the Proud Family block and Proud Family Movie. Family Matters will also air Sunday, March 8 from 12pm-4pm. The weekend after that (March 14-15), we get more Urkel and company with Family Matters once again on Saturday, March 14 from 2pm-5pm and Sunday, March 15 from 12-2pm. So a shorter block that weekend, but still a whole lotta Urkel on BET. Next, the weekend of March 21-22, will feature another sitcom from sister station Nick at Nite! This time catch Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Saturday, March 21 from 4pm-10pm and again on Sunday, March 22 from 4pm-8pm. The final weekend in March (March 28-29), will have yet more Fresh Prince! This time just on that Saturday (March 28) from 6pm-10pm.
So that's BET's sitcom update for you! Of course, as usual, this is subject to change. We will keep you up to date on further developments and we will also provide episode info for those weekend sitcom marathons in March on our message board thread for this. So stay tuned!

TVLandPRIME.com kicks off the second season of TV Land's hit reality series High School Reunion, from Warner Horizon Television, with exclusive and exciting content for the program, which premieres on Wednesday, February 18, 2009, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The TV Land original eight-part reality series premieres on TV Land PRIME, TV Land's new primetime programming destination designed to appeal to the attitudes, life stage and interests of people in their 40s.
The High School Reunion microsite is jam-packed with interesting features this season, such as a user-generated "Digital Yearbook," extended and deleted scenes from the show, behind-the-scenes video taken by the cast, personal photo galleries, video cast bios and weekly blogs from cast members revealing juicy gossip from the reunion. Additionally, visitors will be able to enjoy full streaming episodes online the day after they premiere on-air, as well as streaming '80s radio and '80s trivia.
View more information about this, the new cast, and more.

Boomerang will ring-in Valentine's Day with a network premiere of It's Valentine's Day, Johnny Bravo on Saturday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. (ET). The half-hour animated special follows a six-hour marathon of dating-themed episodes of Johnny Bravo, one of the first three original series created by Cartoon Network in 1997.
Johnny Bravo is a buff, girl-chasing-mama's-boy who can't seem to get a date in spite of his good looks and an even better hairdo. On Saturday, February 14, (Valentine's Day), Johnny Bravo's funniest dating disasters will be showcased in a six and a half-hour marathon beginning at 2 p.m. (ET) on the commercial-free Boomerang network. The marathon will culminate with the network premiere of the special, It's Valentine's Day, Johnny Bravo at 8 p.m. (ET).
In this very special episode, we learn that Valentine's Day is in fact Johnny Bravo's birthday also, which might explain his penchant for amorous antics. He yet again strikes out with the ladies until his "mama," Bunny Bravo, sets him up on a blind date with a real "knock-out"-literally. Meeting the girl of his dreams turns out to be a true nightmare during what should be the most romantic night of the year. A plethora of guest stars appearing in It's Valentine's Day, Johnny Bravo include former Saturday Night Live cast member Molly Shannon, "New Kids on the Block" heartthrob Joey McIntyre, The Brady Bunch's Maureen McCormick and former teen idol Donny Osmond.

ION Adds More Boston Legal, Reduces Harvey, Feud; Dancing with the Stars Professional Pairings Announced

ION Television will be making a schedule change starting Monday, Feb. 23. The line-up will be altered between 6-8pm, leading into primetime. Currently we had an hour of The Steve Harvey Show at 6 followed by back-to-back Family Feud at 7pm. Well, those two shows will now be cut to one episode each and air in the 6pm hour Monday through Thursday. So Harvey at 6pm followed by Feud at 6:30pm. So what about the 7pm hour now? On Mondays it will be an episode of ER, which will lead into an episode of ER at 8pm. So we get two ER episodes a week now. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we get another episode of Boston Legal at 7pm. This means Boston Legal will air Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7-11pm on both nights. That's eight episodes! Denny Crane indeed! On Thursdays, the Total Theatre Thursday Movies will air from 7-9pm and 9-11pm. There will be no other encores and such anymore on other days. RHI Entertainment movies will continue Fridays through Sundays from 7-11pm, however there will be times it will be preempted, such as last Sunday when M*A*S*H aired instead and again this Friday when ION launches the big screen movie Solider (1998) with a double airings from 7-9pm and 9-11pm.
We're not sure yet of the March schedule, but one could assume these changes will head on over to March as well. We'll let you know as soon as we can! But for now, view the updated ION Television February 2009 line-up.

On Sunday the cast of the new season of Dancing with the Stars was announced. Today the professional partners of each celebrity was revealed. We already knew Denise Richards was paired with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Chuck Wicks was paired with his girlfriend Julianne Hough. Now we get the rest! Jonathan Roberts, Kym Johnson, Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Lacey Schwimmer, Edyta Sliwinska, and Karina Smirnoff all return for another season. We have two newcomers, too! 2006 U.S. National finalist Dmitry Chaplin and 10 Dance Youth National champion Chelsie Hightower make heir debuts.
View the full list of professional partners with their celebs!

Hallmark Channel March 2009 Schedule Revised; Pushing Daisies and Valentine's Themed Episodes Come to TheWB.com

Early last week we gave you the Hallmark Channel March 2009 schedule, but then later in the week we told you some changes were being made to February with I Love Lucy being reduced a lot. Now as a result, some of those February changes will be in effect or alter March.
So, we won't have I Love Lucy airing weekdays 3-4pm in March, Little House on the Prairie will remain in that slot, but it will still lose its 4pm hour to The Golden Girls starting March 2. Weeknights from 11pm-3am will be altered, too. Murder, She Wrote will remain weekdays at 11pm now and will not leave the schedule, so Golden Girls won't air 11pm-1am, but will air 12am-2am now. Originally I Love Lucy was airing in the 1am hour, but now it will air 2am, cutting the return of Cheers to just 2:30am, when it was originally slated for 2-3am.
Saturdays 6-9am will now be The Golden Girls, as the original plan was Lucy 6-7:30a and Golden Girls 7:30-9a. Then late night on Saturdays from 1-3am will remain Murder, She Wrote and won't be I Love Lucy. In February, the block was Walker, Texas Ranger.
As for Sundays, 8:30am-10am was originally supposed to be I Love Lucy, now it will be The Golden Girls. The Golden Girls was slated for 10am-12pm originally, but now 7th Heaven will air 10am-12pm. Then late night on Sundays from 1-3am will once again remain Murder, She Wrote and won't be I Love Lucy. In February, the block was Walker, Texas Ranger.
Confused? View the full edited Hallmark Channel March 2009 schedule. So originally Murder, She Wrote was leaving, now it will remain and air weeknights at 11pm and Saturday & Sunday nights from 1-3am. But The Waltons is still leaving. As for the sitcom recap, The Golden Girls will air weekdays 9-10am, 4-5pm, and 12-2am, Saturdays 6-9am, and Sundays 8:30am-10am. I Love Lucy is just weekdays now, airing weekdays 8-9am and 2am. Cheers will air weeknights a 2:30am. And of course, M*A*S*H remains weekdays 5-7pm. View the full schedule above link for more!

TheWB.com announced that the destination site will help fans get in the mood for love by featuring Valentine's Day and relationship-themed programming during the week of February 9–17, followed by a "Love Hangover" week from February 18–March 1. TheWB.com is also giving Pushing Daisies fans a reason to rejoice, as it will now feature full episodes of the critically acclaimed romantic comedy created by Bryan Fuller.
Re-live the ups and downs of the romance of Ross and Rachel (David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston) with 10 Friends episodes, including the two-part series finale. Valentine's Day episodes of hit series Smallville, Gilmore Girls, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Everwood, Veronica Mars and The O.C. will be available from Feb. 9-17. TheWB.com will premiere the first five episodes of acclaimed series Pushing Daisies, starring Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Ellen Greene, with Swoosie Kurtz and Kristin Chenoweth in that time frame as well.
Then Feb. 18-March 1, for those feeling a little ill from all of that saccharine Valentine's Day activity, TheWB.com offers Janice (Maggie Wheeler) from Friends to squash any leftover amorous feelings, with 10 Friends episodes featuring the shrill love interest of Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry). Break-ups and other bumps in the romantic road on special episodes of One Tree Hill, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Gilmore Girls will also be available in that time frame.
This seasonally themed programming and content adds to TheWB.com's already robust collection of new and classic programming available on the site. The month of February also features new episodes of TheWB.com's latest original series, Pushed, a thriller from Jeremy Littman and Morgan Gendel. Additionally, viewers can watch full episodes of acclaimed action/comedy series Chuck, from co-creator/executive producer Josh Schwartz. Schwartz fans can also log on to www.rockvilleca.com to see the trailer for Rockville, CA, his highly anticipated original digital series coming to TheWB.com March 17. The scripted romantic comedy will also feature performances by a number of acclaimed indie music artists, including Kaiser Chiefs, Phantom Planet, Travis, Lykke Li, Anya Marina, The Kooks and many more.
As for Pushing Daisies fans, word is the final three episodes will air on ABC in the summer as they are obligated to air it. The second season DVD should be coming out that time as well from Warner Home Video.

TV One March 2009 Highlights; ION Finally Airs RHI Mini-Series That Was Slated for November 23

This March, TV One springs forward with more great programming! On Sunday, March 1 beginning at 12pm, TV One presents a throwback afternoon with a six-episode marathon of the classic private eye series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role. Then we have some schedule changes to the regular line-up happening on weekdays starting Monday, March 2. Sitcom Eve returns to the TV One weeknight comedy line-up airing weekdays at 7pm. This addition has caused a shift in the sitcom line-up which will now air as follows: 5:00pm Good Times, 5:30pm Sanford and Son (replaces The Parent'hood), 6:00pm Good Times, 6:30pm Half & Half (replaces The Hughleys), 7:00pm Eve (replaces Half & Half), 7:30pm Half & Half. So Parent'hood and The Hughleys are now off the line-up. Then beginning on Saturday, March 7, Sanford & Son will be added to the TV One Saturday morning comedies which will now air the following line-up: 6:00am All About the Andersons (two back-to-back episodes), 7:00am Where I Live (two back-to-back episodes), 8:00am All of Us (two back-to-back episodes replaces Cedric the Entertainer Presents), 9:00am Good Times (two back-to-back episodes), 10:00am The PJs (two back-to-back episodes), 11:00am Sanford & Son (two back-to-back episodes replaces All of Us). So Cedric the Entertainer Presents is now off the line-up. On Saturday, March 21 beginning at 12 Noon to 8pm, TV One celebrates L.A. Fashion Week with the "Eve-Diva Style Marathon", an all-day sitcom marathon showcasing episodes of Eve that focuses on the Diva Style fashion business run by main character Shelley Williams played by rapper/actress Eve and her two business partners Janie (Natalie Desselle-Reid) and Rita (Ali Landry). Finally, on Saturday, April 4 at midnight, the clues are in, the facts are adding up, and the players are exposed as TV One airs the one-hour shocking finale of the action series Day Break starring Taye Diggs. So there you have it, TV One March 2009. No other changes will be made to schedule. Before March, don't forget about February and the Feb. 22 marathon of South Central! ION Television, the "Positively Entertaining" general entertainment network available to over 94 million homes, and RHI Entertainment, the leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking movies, miniseries and series for television, announced the U.S. television premiere of The Color of Magic, a four-hour production premiering on ION Television on Sunday, March 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET. This movie was rescheduled from November 23. Based on the first two books in best-selling author Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series, The Color of Magic stars Oscar nominee Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Toy Soldiers, Rudy), Emmy nominee Tim Curry (IT, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Kinsey) and David Jason (RHI's Hogfather). Additionally, Emmy Award-winning actor Brian Cox (Bourne trilogy, Running with Scissors) serves as the narrator and Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars Episodes II and III) takes on the vocal role of Death.

Dancing with the Stars Season 8 Cast; Remembering James Whitmore; WGA Awards Winners

An all-new cast of celebrities hits the dance floor on ABC's Dancing with the Stars with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere on Monday, March 9, 2009 from 8:00-10:02 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Season Eight introduces us to 13 new stars, including the youngest competitor to date, an NFL legend, a computer icon, a female rapper, three music artists and a "Wildboy."
Additionally, "love is a battlefield" when, for the first time, three real life couples take the ballroom floor. Husband and wife Ty Murray and Jewel compete for bragging rights, while newly engaged professional dancers Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff go head to head. To top it off, country crooner Chuck Wicks teams with girlfriend and two-time Dancing with the Stars champ Julianne Hough. And in an exciting new twist, the bottom two couples facing elimination will "Dance Off" to determine who is dismissed in the first weeks of competition.
Among the stars this upcoming season are David Alan Grier (Life with Bonnie, In Living Color), Gilles Marini (Sex and the City movie), Denise Richards (Wild Things, Spin City), and Nancy O'Dell (Access Hollywood, Scream 2 and 3).
View the full cast and details on each star. As for pairings with professionals, we know Julianne Hough will be with Chuck Wicks as per the press release and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will be with Denise Richards as per Good Morning America. The full professional partnering will be announced on Thursday, February 12.

James Whitmore, the many-faceted character actor who delivered strong performances in movies, television and especially the theater with his popular one-man shows about Harry Truman, Will Rogers and Theodore Roosevelt, has died. The Emmy and Tony winning actor was diagnosed with lung cancer the week before Thanksgiving and died Friday afternoon (Feb. 6) at his Malibu home. Now he wasn't known really for TV sitcoms, but he did appear on quite a few. In fact, one of his ex-wives was a sitcom star. Mr. Whitmore was married to Audra Lindley of Three's Company fame in the '70s. Even after they divorced in 1979, they remained friends and appeared with each other in the big screen movies Zoo Ship in 1985 and The Relic in 1997. When they were married, they appeared in the TV movie The Canterville Ghost in 1974 and such plays as The Magnificent Yankee, On Golden Pond, The Visit, Foxfire and Love Letters, among others.
In the early '70s he starred on the sitcom Temperatures Rising. Set at the Capital General Hospital in Washington D.C., follows the adventures of the no-nonsense chief of surgery Dr. Vincent Campanelli (James Whitmore) and his all-nonsense staff. He guest starred on the sitcom A Minute With Stan Hooper in 2003. Among his other credits include series regular in dramas The Law and Mr. Jones, Mister Sterling, and My Friend Tony. In 2000 he won an Emmy for outstanding guest actor in a dramatic series for The Practice. Among his other guest appearances include CSI, Burke's Law, Riptide, The White Shadow, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Big Valley, Rawhide, Dr. Kildare, Route 66, Twilight Zone, Ben Casey, and more. His other big screen credits include The Shawshank Redemption, The Majestic, Give 'em Hell, Harry, and Battleground. The latter saw him earn Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.
Mr. Whitmore will certainly be missed. His legacy continues with his children and grandchildren, among them are grandson Matty Whitmore who was on Survivor: Gabon. Mr. Whitemore was 87.

Finally, we leave you today with the winners for the 61st Annual WGA Awards. Comedy wise, 30 Rock was the big winner for their writing work. While Mad Men took home the win for writing for dramas. Among the other categories, Breaking Bad won for best new series.
View the full TV portion winners.

Week 20 (First Four Nights) Numbers; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 20 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: Fox: 8.9/13.6; CBS: 6.8/10.7; ABC: 5.4/8.4; NBC: 5.1/8.0; The CW: 1.5/2.3; MNT: 0.8/1.3.
Total Viewers: Fox: 15.47 million; CBS: 10.73 million; ABC: 8.52 million; NBC: 8.1 million; The CW: 2.3 million; MNT: 1.27 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.7/14.3; ABC: 3.3/8.3; NBC: 3.0/7.6; CBS: 2.8/7.1; The CW: 1.0/2.6; MNT: 0.4/1.0.

Analysis: Week 20 has Fox in the clear lead thanks to Idol, but they are down a full point in HH/18-49 rating and 2 million viewers from the four nights the previous week because there was no third night of Idol this week. Through the first four day, Fox has the lead in all categories obviously, with CBS second in HH/viewers but 4th in 18-49, ABC nipping NBC for third in HH/viewers but ABC is 2nd in 18-49, while NBC is 3rd in 18-49 but fourth in HH/viewers.
Last week, NBC won week 19 in all categories obviously with the Super Bowl which did a record 98.73 million, even with all that NBC barely got a 10.0 HH rating for the week...ouch. Fox was second in everything, while CBS was third ABC was fourth in everything, though CBS barely nipped ABC in 18-49.
Monday Fox and CBS's Monday line-ups battled for overall spot. CBS started with new episodes of their comedies then ended with a new CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did 10.84 million for a new showing, very good. A new episode of How I Met Your Mother followed with 10.3 million, but it did build from its lead in 18-49. #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed with 16.55 million for a new episode, while the penultimate episode of Worst Week did 9.92 million...season finale has been moved to Feb. 16 now thanks to Obama. At 10pm a new episode of CSI: Miami did 16.1 million, not bad but could be better for this show. Fox started with House and it did 14.87 million (and a night best of 5.6 rating in 18-49), but both down from previous week, Fox then followed with 24 doing a solid 11.34 million, but nearly dropping a million from the previous week. ABC was next with a two-hour episode of The Bachelor with a solid 11.02 million for week five, it has gone up in all telecasts...it is doing excellent. Then the new True Beauty at 10pm did 6.77 million, down a bit from previous week, but did a very solid 3.0 18-49 rating, which is its strength. NBC was next with the return of their Monday dramas...Chuck returned with a 3D episode that was heavily promoted the previous night on the Super Bowl but didn't get much of a bump as it did 8.45 million, a slight bump from its usual numbers. Heroes returned as well and still struggled and did 8.55 million and the season premiere of Medium followed with 8.56 million. Not great, but an OK night for NBC. They just have to continue that but knowing the trend of these dramas, they will go down some tomorrow. The CW was next with a new Gossip Girl doing 2.31 million, seems lower than usual, and a new One Tree Hill did 2.65 million.
Tuesday that show called American Idol dominated. Fox started with Idol, doing 26.6 million, up a million or so from previous week. Fringe followed with 12.78 million, also up a million from previous week, at least this show went up the same numbers as Idol. CBS was next as NCIS started the night off with a repeat doing 13.85 million, still good. New drama The Mentalist was a repeat again and it did 14.44 million, but very good again. At 10pm, Without a Trace was new and did 12.16 million, down nearly a million week-to-week. NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser at 10.35 million, down some from previous week. NBC followed at 10pm with a new episode of Law & Order: SVU at just 10.34 million, which is good but this show has fallen from its usual numbers. ABC was next and started with a new Homeland Security USA doing 5.61 million, on par with previous week, two all-new Scrubs episodes did 4.82 and 4.68 million, which was down a bit from previous week, and Primetime: What Would You Do closed the night at 10pm with a below normal 5.86 million at 10pm. Look for True Beauty on a special night at 10pm this Tuesday due to Obama's speech tomorrow, while at 8pm ABC will air Be My Valentine Charlie Brown/A Charlie Brown Valentine. The CW aired a new 90210 and did 2.49 million and a new Privileged only did 1.65 million. Needs to do 2 million at least.
Wednesday saw you know who dominate. Fox started with American Idol at 8pm doing 26.38 million, down a million from the previous week. At 9pm, new Fox drama Lie to Me did 12.99 million, but up a bit from previous week so bit of good news since its lead-in was down from previous week. CBS started with a repeat of Criminal Minds at special time doing 8.38 million, which is better than then usual sitcoms in this hour. CBS aired a Katie Couric Grammy Special and it only did 6.55 million, why CBS? CSI: NY followed with a repeat at a below normal 7.53 million, you can thank Ms. Couric. ABC was next with an enhanced encore of Lost at 8pm doing 4.7 million, down from previous week, followed by an all-new Lost doing 11.01 million, down a bit from previous week but a first place 4.7 18-49 rating. A new Life on Mars on a new night did 5.76 million, down some from previous week. This is the episode they should have aired the previous week since it was the conclusion from the last episode in the fall. NBC opened the night with Knight Rider doing 5.0 million, down over a million from previous, the return Life followed and limped to 6.73 million, just barely nipping Couric. Law & Order followed at 10pm doing only 8.64 million, down a bit from previous week but should have been better since NY was a repeat on CBS. The CW aired another repeat of Privileged at 8pm at just 960,000 viewers, down some from previous week, and a repeat of 90210 followed with only 990,000 viewers, but up slightly from previous week.
Thursday saw ABC win the night thanks to a crossover set-up. ABC started with a new Ugly Betty doing 7.26 million, which seems below normal, but a new Grey's Anatomy was next and did 15.27 million and a 5.8 18-49 rating. A new Private Practice followed and did a a great 12.91 million at 10pm, and a series high of 5.3 18-49 rating! The episode was a set-up to a crossover happening the next two weeks. So expect these shows to go even up from here. Fox was actually next with a new Bones doing 10.86 million, a quiet hit, and a new Hell's Kitchen was next and did 7.71 million, down three million from previous week when it had Idol as its lead-in, but the drop was expected. CBS started with repeats of Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother doing 6.1 and 5.83 million, low for this hour, followed by a repeat of CSI at 11.78million and a repeat of Eleventh Hour followed with 8.14 million. NBC was fourth with an all-new line-up, too...My Name is Earl did 6.28 million, a new Kath & Kim followed with a terrible 4.75 million. A new The Office did a normal 8.48 million, so the post-Super Bowl airing gave it no such bump, followed by a new 30 Rock at 6.39 million, as this show is now no where near its ratings high in the fall. ER was next and did just 7.25 million. Smallville was new on The CW and did 3.93 million, down week-to-week, followed by a new Supernatural at 3.37 million, down a bit week-to-week.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with a new Ghost Whisperer, a repeat of Flashpoint, and a new NUMB3RS as usual. ABC finished second thanks to 20/20 and an above average Supernanny at 9pm. NBC saw more declines for Howdie Do It at 8pm.
Saturday numbers are not available yet, but Fox will probably win this slow night but thanks to NASCAR as its usual Saturday lineup aired on Friday and did not do as well as Saturday.
Tonight will be CBS and ABC battling for the win. CBS with the Grammy Awards and ABC with its Sunday combination of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters and sprinkled in with Dancing with the Stars season 8 contestants name dropping during commercials. NBC has the Pro Bowl conclusion, Dateline and the new mini-series XIII, which will conclude next Sunday. Fox has animation, but two of the bigger hits are repeats.
As for the week, Fox should hang on for the win in all categories, while CBS should be second in HH/viewers but ABC could be 2nd in 18-49. NBC should be fourth across the board. What to look for this week...the real crossover starts on ABC Thursday with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice! Obama will mess up tomorrow in primetime, so be on the look out for that.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1)

• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat episode opposite the Super Bowl did just 2.48 million, but expected.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - preempted.
• Family Guy (Fox) - Yet another repeat of this show did 3.8 million...not too bad vs. the big game. This show is still NOT new tonight, too.
• American Dad (Fox) 2 episodes - Special repeat at 8:30 did just 2.29 million but a repeat in its normal time of 9:30 did 3.28 million.
• The Office (NBC) - The special post-Super Bowl episode clearly gave this series a series high but lagged historically from other post-Super Bowl shows. 22.91 million tuned in. Nothing compared to House, Criminal Minds and Grey's Anatomy the three previous years. NBC made a mistake airing this.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 10.84 million for a new episode...very solid.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 10.3 million for a new episode.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 16.55 million for our sitcom leader. Just another day on the job.
• Worst Week (CBS) - 9.92 million...needs better retention than that.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Scrubs (ABC) 2 episodes - Two all-new episodes did 4.82 and 4.68 million only and a 2.0/2.2 18-49 rating. Needs to pick it up.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - preempted.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - preempted.
• Under One Roof (MNT) 2 episodes - Two repeats did 780,000 and 610,000 viewers..ouch.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 6.28 million for a new episode...not too good.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - 4.75 million, as we wind down to possibly the final episodes ever.
• The Office (NBC) - 8.48 million for a new episode and the Super Bowl did not help it go up at all. Same numbers!
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 6.39 million for a new episode...needs to do better. Does it have more awards than viewers?
• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - Only 6.1 million for a special Thursday repeat, as this hour expects more.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Special Thursday repeat did just 5.83 million.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - 1.9 prelim million for a new episode...up from usual a bit.
• The Game (The CW) - 1.91 prelim million for a new episode, also up from usual a bit and built slightly from its lead-in.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are a mix of new and repeat of Fox's animated comedies from 8-10pm.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, The Office, How I Met Your Mother, were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as 30 Rock, Worst Week) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of Kath & Kim, Scrubs).

Blog DVD Review: Route 66 - Producer's Picks (2/10)

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for the weekly Blog DVD Review! Today we take a look at Infinty/Roxbury Entertainment's Route 66 - Producer's Picks. Route 66 ran from 1960-1964 and starred Martin Milner, George Maharis (1960-1963) and Glenn Corbett (1963-1964). See skees53's Blog DVD Review of Route 66 - Producer's Picks:

Route 66 - Producer's Picks (Infinity, $19.98) gives viewers a chance to get their kicks on Route 66 with eleven of the best episodes of the 1960s anthology series. The two-disc DVD set features episodes from each of the four seasons of the drama that starred Martin Milner and George Maharis (later replaced with Glen Corbett) traveling the open road in a Corvette, trying to solve every type of problem that everybody faced in America.
There are many great episodes in this set. In "Play it Glissando," the guys have to protect a woman from her husband, a jazz musician. A gambler (Walter Matthau) may have the ability to save the town in "Eleven, the Hard Way" The son of Tod and Buz's employer of the week (played by Robert Redford) is accused of murder in "First Class Mouliak." Suzanne Phleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) guest stars in "The Strengthening Angels." The guys have to save a heroin addict (played by Robert Duvall) in "Birdcage on My Foot." Martin Sheen is the leader of a gang in "And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon."
Peter Graves guest stars in "You Never Had it So Good," where Buz may be able to get off the road with his new executive career. It is a reunion of horror movie stars in "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing," where Lon Chaney, Jr., Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorne play themselves. Leslie Nielsen guest stars in "Poor Little Kangaroo Rat." Alan Alda (M*A*S*H) and Tom Bosley (Happy Days) guest star in "Soda Pop and Paper Flags," where a man may have brought a fatal disease to a small town. Tod and Linc are inadvertently holding stolen cash in "A Cage in Search of a Bird."
The packaging and menus on the set are very basic, and when I say very basic, I mean VERY basic. The case is just the standard Amaray style DVD case with discs on both sides inside the case and a very simple series logo on a black background as the artwork. Inside, there are two discs that have artwork similar to the cover art: a black background with the series logo on it. Disc 1 contains six episodes and Disc 2 contains 5 episodes. As far as the menus, there is just one main menu that lists all of the episodes on the disc in white text with a Route 66 road sign in the background. Underneath each episode is a listing of guest stars for that episode, and the theme song plays in the background. So obviously, they went very simple on this set.
This DVD set doesn't contain a laundry list of bonus features, but it includes on really nice bonus that you basically NEVER see on DVD sets--many of the original commercials are left intact! This isn't the case for every episode (some only have a few commercials left intact, and a few have none at all), but in any event, this is a very rare and nice thing to see on a DVD set! There is one particularly humorous commercial left intact on many episodes for Phillip's Milk of Magnesia (one of the original sponsors) that probably didn't seem quite so funny at the time about a little girl needing a laxative. Exact runtimes for each of the episodes are as follows:

Disc 1:
Episode 14: Play it Glissando (55:01)
Episode 22: Eleven, the Hard Way (57:37)
Episode 35: First Class Mouliak (51:13)
Episode 5: The Strengthening Angels (57:37)
Episode 34: Birdcage on My Foot (51:39)
Episode 42: And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon (54:20)

Disc 2:
Episode 50: You Never Had it So Good (53:22)
Episode 68: Lizard's Leg and Owlets Wing (52:53)
Episode 72: Poor Little Kangaroo Rat (49:04)
Episode 93: Soda Pop and Paper Flags (54:03)
Episode 103: A Cage in Search of a Bird (49:46)

The video and audio quality on the set is fascinating considering the age of the series and the fact that it is being released by an independent studio. The black and white pictures is clean and crisp with only a few minor issues here and there, and the audio, presented in mono, is pretty loud and clear. The only drawback is that the episodes contained on the set are neither closed-captioned nor subtitled. Oh well.
This is a great DVD set for fans of classic TV series to own, especially fans of anthology TV series. Seeing this series on DVD was my first experience with watching the series, and I have been thoroughly impressed with the series. There are a lot of great story lines and a lot of great guest stars in the episodes! This set is probably a good starting point for those that have never seen the series, and fans that enjoy this set would want to consider picking up the season sets that Infinity has been releasing as well. So where can you get your kicks? Why, on Route 66, of course!

Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
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Hallmark Channel Reduces I Love Lucy in February; Obama Preempts Programming

Earlier this week we gave you Hallmark Channel's March line-up, now Hallmark has edited February a bit. We are not sure if this will affect March yet, but I think it will. As of now, we don't have details on if March will be altered, but we do have what will happen starting Monday.
They have made last minute changes to be started on Monday (Feb. 9). Weekdays 4-5pm ET/PT will now be another episode of Little House on the Prairie replacing I Love Lucy. Lucy will remain weekdays 8-9am, though. The rest of the changes are on weekends. Saturdays 6-9am ET/PT will now be three episodes of Little House on the Prairie replacing the three-hour block of I Love Lucy. And that's not all on Saturdays...Saturdays 1-3am will now be back-to-back episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger replacing more I Love Lucy. Get the pattern yet? If not, keep reading. Sundays from 9-10am will now be another extra episode of 7th Heaven, so that series will air from 9am-3pm now on Sundays. The 9am hour will replace two episodes of I Love Lucy. However, all is not lost for Lucy on Sunday mornings, it will remain at 8:30am. And finally Sunday nights from 1-3am will now be more Walker, Texas Ranger replacing... you guessed it, I Love Lucy. So if you're keeping score, I Love Lucy now will only air weekdays 8-9am and Sundays at 8:30am...ouch.
So what will this mean for the March schedule we announced earlier this week? Not sure yet. If I were to guess, some of these changes happening Monday will be carried over to March (I doubt Lucy will air 3pm in March), but we'll let you know as soon we know! So for now, the March schedule we announced is still happening...but expect I Love Lucy to be reduced from the original March plan. The Hallmark sitcom curse continues...can The Golden Girls break that in March?

President Obama is planning a Presidential News Conference on Monday (Feb. 9) at 8PM ET/5PM PT. So this will affect the Eastern/Central time zones programming on network TV. The press conference is expected to last between 40-60 minutes. So in the eastern and central time zones, the 8pm hour will be different. At 8PM ET on CBS, the all-new episode of The Big Bang Theory will be moved to 9:30PM ET/PT for the entire nation, replacing Worst Week's season finale. That season finale will now be on Feb. 16 at 9:30pm ET/PT. How I Met Your Mother was also slated to be all-new at 8:30pm, but since the press conference will be between 40-60 minutes, CBS will air a repeat of Mother instead, joined in progress if the press conference ends before 9pm. Out west at 8pm PT (7pm MT), a repeat of Old Christine will air on a special night, followed by a repeat of How I Met Your Mother at 8:30pm PT/7:30pm MT.
Over at NBC, they will also air the press conference. They will have to preempt an all-new episode of Chuck at 8pm ET. If the press conference ends before 9pm ET, then they will air a Heroes repeat joined in progress. Out west, a repeat of Heroes will air in its entirety at 8pm PT.
ABC will devote the full 8pm ET/5pm PT hour to the press conference. In east/central, The Bachelor will air an hour later from 9-11pm ET (8-10pm CT), as True Beauty will be preempted. Out west, The Bachelor will air in its normal time of 8-10pm PT (7-9pm MT), followed by a repeat of True Beauty at 10pm PT/9pm MT. The regularly scheduled new episode of True Beauty will air on a special night of Tuesday at 10pm ET/PT, preempting Primetime: What Would You Do? for the week. Fox will preempt an all-new episode of House on Monday and move it to the following Monday in its normal time (another Obama address pending), while a 24 repeat from the previous week will air at 8pm PT/7pm MT out west.
That is not all for Obama. He is also planning a Presidential Address to Congress on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9pm ET/6pm PT. All the networks have committed to that. ABC will preempt two Scrubs repeats on that night to air the Presidential Address to Congress from 9-10pm ET. That will air 6-7pm PT, so ABC will likely air those Scrubs repeats out west. NBC will cut The Biggest Loser in half that night and will air the second hour the following night at 8pm, no idea what NBC will air out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT yet. CBS will preempt a scheduled The Mentalist repeat at 9pm ET that night to accommodate the address but it will air out west. Fox will make the most drastic change for this night. A Bones repeat will air at 8pm ET leading into the Presidential Address to Congress at 9pm ET. Not sure what is airing out west at 9pm PT/8pm MT, but I would guess another Bones repeat. Since American Idol was scheduled to air two-hours that Tuesday night, Fox will move those two-hours to Wednesday from 8-10pm ET/PT. So Lie to Me is totally preempted that week (Wednesday Feb. 25). The second night of American Idol will be shifted to Thursday that week at 8pm ET/PT, preempting Bones. Idol will lead into an all-new Hell's Kitchen.
And believe it or not, Obama also plans a short address on Monday, Feb. 16 as well. So far no networks have committed to that one. We will keep you up to date of everything on this, so keep checking back.

Sci Fi Launches Early Edition, Highlander; Vivica A. Fox Hosts The Cougar On TV Land

Last year we announced Sci Fi Channel had struck a deal with CBS Paramount to air stuff from their library. So far we have seen Seven Days and Star Trek: The Next Generation air the most in regular airings with marathons/blocks of The Sentinel, Friday the 13th: The Series, and Mork & Mindy. Now coming in March will be two other series from the deal: Early Edition and Highlander. Early Edition will air weekdays at 4:00pm ET/PT starting Monday, March 9, while Highlander will get an all-day marathon on Thursday, March 19 from 8am-1am. The 2007 movie Highlander: The Source will air from 9-11pm that night. Though I am getting reports the Highlander marathon has been delayed to a future date, if that is the case we will let you know...but Early Edition is a firm go to air weekdays at 4pm starting March 9.
Early Edition followed the adventures of a man (Kyle Chandler) who mysteriously receives each Chicago Sun-Times newspaper the day before it is actually published, and who uses this knowledge to prevent terrible events each day. The series aired from 1996-2000 on CBS.
Highlander is based on the movies of the same name. The series aired from 1992-1998. Short-lived spinoff Highlander: The Raven followed from 1998-99 and Sci Fi has the rights to air that, too, but hasn't scheduled it yet. Among the other series from the CBS Paramount deal that have yet to appear on Sci Fi are Charmed, The Invaders and Ghost Whisperer, but the latter can't launch until fall 2009.
Let's hope Mork & Mindy returns at some point for another block or better yet...the regular schedule. Friday the 13th: The Series and The Sentinel usually air once a month in the daytime rotation (8am-4pm).

TV Land announced that film and television actress Vivica A. Fox will host the upcoming TV Land original series The Cougar, a one-hour elimination dating series set to premiere April 15 on TV Land PRIME. Executive produced by Mike Fleiss (The Bachelor) and Warner Horizon Television, The Cougar is an eight-episode series in which an accomplished, beautiful and sexy woman hunts for love from a pool of eligible younger men.
Also in 2009, Fox returns as Larry David's new houseguest in HBO's hit comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm and also co-stars with Jessica Simpson, Cheri Oteri and Steve Guttenberg in the upcoming feature comedy Major Movie Star.
The Cougar will air Wednesdays at 10:00PM ET/PT starting April 15 following the run of High School Reunion from Feb. 18-April 8. The season finale of The Cougar is slated for Wednesday, June 3. After that, TV Land will launch a second season of She's Got the Look, continuing the search for the next great Supermodel that is 35 or over! Once again eight episodes will air, just like High School Reunion and The Cougar.
And finally, the TV Land Awards are back to April. Last year they aired in June and were scheduled to air June 14 this year, too. But they have been rescheduled for April. The awards will premiere on Sunday, April 26 in TV Land PRIME.

ABC Picks Up Bob Saget Sitcom Surviving Suburbia; Me-TV Milwaukee Adds Brady Bunch, Gomer

ABC has announced it has picked-up Surviving Suburbia from Media Rights Capital! The series was slated to air on The CW Sunday nights in March, but The CW terminated the MRC-driven night late fall due to low ratings, so this show never got a chance to premiere. The premiere of this new half-hour multi-camera comedy series starring Bob Saget (Full House) and Cynthia Stevenson (MEN IN TREES) will be on Monday, April 6 at 9:30pm ET/PT following Dancing with the Stars only on ABC. In the family-centered tradition of Roseanne and Home Improvement, Surviving Suburbia opens the curtain to follow Saget and Stevenson as Steve and Anne Patterson, a seemingly normal couple who have been married for 20 years, have two children and a cookie cutter house in the idyllic suburbs. But Steve maintains a rather cynical point of view on family, friends, neighbors, society -- pretty much everyone and everything -- as he tries to survive suburban life. Surviving Suburbia takes a contemporary look at family life and the reasons one might have to question the system -- How does exchanging keys with a neighbor for emergencies result in house sitting? Why do kids' classroom projects inevitably become the parents' responsibility? When did we start needing mediators to handle disagreements between adults? -- all of which goes to prove that it's never just another sunny day in the suburbs. Also starring in the half-hour comedy series are Jared Kuznitz and G Hannelius as the Patterson kids. Jere Burns and Dan Cortese are recurring guest stars. Surviving Suburbia is produced by Media Rights Capital. Thirteen episodes have been shot. At least about 7 will air this season on ABC, unless it is pushed into the summer, too. If it does well and is picked-up for a second year, ABC could use those remaining episodes next year. Me-TV in Milwaukee has finally made some changes to its schedule. It's not much, but they will make some minor changes to their weekday line-up starting Monday, Feb. 9. They have acquired the rights to The Brady Bunch and will air it weekdays at 6:30pm, replacing Bewitched. Bewitched will still remain in its timeslots on weekends. Me-TV Milwaukee will also air Gomer Pyle, USMC weekday mornings at 5:30am, sliding The Beverly Hillbillies to 6am, which replaces Green Acres. Green Acres will still remain in its timeslots on weekends, like Bewitched. Now this is what I like...adding two shows without removing anything totally! Nice job Me-TV Milwaukee! Lucky people in Milwaukee!

TV Land and ION Schedule Special Brady, M*A*S*H Marathons; CW, ABC Family Announcements

TV Land has scheduled a marathon of The Brady Bunch on President's Day (Monday, Feb. 16) from 10am-2pm ET/PT. Who needs George Washington and Abraham Lincoln when you have Marcia Brady! Watch episodes such as Greg and Marcia both running for student body president. The hiding of the school goat and a hair tonic turns Greg's hair orange. View the episodes airing in this special marathon.
ION Television has pulled the movie The Diplomat for this Sunday (Sunday, Feb. 8), and replaced it with a special M*A*S*H block from 7-11pm ET/PT instead. M*A*S*H will also air in its regular 6-7pm airings on this date as well, so it is an all M*A*S*H night on ION from 6-11pm. Among the episodes airing is the two-part episode "Our Finest Hour," when newscaster Clete Roberts, reprising an earlier interview appearance, returns to update Korean War conditions when he conducts a series of television interviews with the leading characters of the 4077th. View the full schedule for this date.

The CW is making a few changes to its midseason schedule. Beginning Tuesday, March 3, freshman drama 90210 moves to a new timeslot on Tuesday nights, with encore episodes through March 24. The series will move up an hour to 9:00pm ET/PT from 8pm ET/PT. Then eight consecutive original episodes will air from March 31 through the season finale on May 19. Since 90210 is moving to 9pm, the second-season premiere date of the devilish dramedy Reaper moves up to Tuesday, March 3 (8:00-9:00 p.m. ET). All 13 original episodes will air consecutively through the season finale on May 26.
Finally, the season finale of the critically acclaimed freshman drama Privileged will air on Tuesday, February 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. Encore episodes of Privileged will continue to air on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT from January 28 through February 18. Then the new season of America's Next Top Model will premiere on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET.

ABC Family announced the pick-up of three pilots: the one-hour scripted drama Perfect 10, the single camera half-hour 10 things I Hate About You, based on the 1999 hit film, and the multi-camera half-hour Ruby and The Rockits. Each has been given a 10-episode order.
In addition, original series Greek and Lincoln Heights will return in summer 2009 for a third and fourth season respectively. However, Kyle XY will NOT return for a fourth season and the show will end its run in March. The network also has two original movies, Au Pair 3 Adventure in Paradise, (as we mentioned in our March highlights) starring Gregory Harrison and Heidi Saban, and another as-yet-titled original movie starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, both to debut in early 2009.
Perfect 10, is a one-hour scripted drama, created and written by Holly Sorensen, who also serves as executive producer. The pilot was directed by Steve Miner. Set in the world of competitive gymnastics, Perfect 10 follows a group of teen Olympic hopefuls as they train and prepare for their day in the spotlight. The cast includes Chelsea Hobbs as gymnastic newcomer 'Emily Kmetko,' Ayla Kell as top gymnast 'Payson Keeler,' Josie Loren as the beautiful gymnast 'Kaylie Cruz,' and Zachary Burr Abel as the gym's resident hottie, 'Carter Anderson.' Peri Gilpin returns to series television in the role of 'Kim Keeler,' the mother of one of the female gymnasts.
10 Things I Hate About You is a half-hour, single-cam series with director Gil Junger (who also directed the 1996 feature film) and executive producer and writer Carter Covington. Based on the hit movie, the Stratford sisters, Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin) and Kat (Lindsey Shaw), are two very different people, which is evident as they start at their new high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly whose only concern is that she is popular, at any cost. As they both start a bumpy year at Padua High, can each girl get what she wants in the end, as they navigate the popular crowd, boys and their over-protective Dad? The original series will also star Larry Miller, who reprises his film role as the girls' father, and Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory Peck) has been cast in the role of 'Patrick" (portrayed by Heath Ledger in the film).
Ruby and The Rockits is an ABC Studios half-hour multi-cam comedy series executive-produced by Shaun Cassidy and Marsh McCall. Ruby and The Rockits follows Patrick Gallagher, a former teen idol who has chosen to lead a quiet life with his wife and two sons. But when his former Rockits band mate and brother, David, shows up unexpectedly with his new-found teenage daughter in tow, the Gallagher family's life becomes anything but normal. David, who refuses to give up his past glory days, comes to Patrick for help raising Ruby while he continues to perform. Patrick must now put the past with David behind them in order to help raise Ruby and keep order within the rest of the Gallagher clan. Ruby and The Rockits was written by Shaun Cassidy and Ed Yeager, with teleplay by Ed Yeager (the pilot was directed by Ted Wass). Alexa Vega, Austin Butler, Patrick Cassidy, and former teen idol David Cassidy star.
No time frames for these have been announced yet, but don't forget the first two original sitcoms launch on ABC Family this March!

Hallmark Channel March 2009, Timeslots for Golden Girls, Cheers Returns; ER Returns to ION

We were the first to let you know that The Golden Girls was acquired by The Hallmark Channel and WE tv for play starting in March 2009, now we will be the first to let you know the launch date and complete days and times for The Golden Girls on The Hallmark Channel!
Beatrice Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White and Estelle Getty star as four South Florida seniors sharing a house, their dreams and a whole lot of cheesecake. Bright, provocative, clueless, and hilarious, these lovely mismatched ladies form the perfect circle of friends. Experience an entire day of laugh-packed episodes from this landmark television series as The Hallmark Channel launches with an all-day marathon on Sunday, March 1 from 8:30am-3:00am ET/PT! Then the show will air Monday-Friday starting March 2 from 9am-10am (replacing The Waltons), 4pm-5pm (moving I Love Lucy to 3-4pm) and 11pm-1am (replacing Murder, She Wrote). The show will air on weekends as well...Saturdays starting March 7 from 7:30am-9am (cutting I Love Lucy's block in half) and Sundays starting March 8 from 10am-12pm (cutting 7th Heaven's block in half). So The Waltons and Murder, She Wrote seem to have left the regular line-up totally. But since those two are leaving and The Golden Girls is coming, one other show will return as well! Cheers returns to the Hallmark Channel line-up airing weeknights 2am-3am replacing an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger. Walker's 1am airing will be replaced by a double shot of I Love Lucy as well from 1am-2am weeknights. Don't worry Walker fans, the show will still air weeknights at 7pm and 8pm, but now from 11pm-3am weeknights on Hallmark are all sitcoms (Golden Girls, I Love Lucy, Cheers)! We still don't have WE tv's March schedule, as soon as we do we'll let you know when Golden Girls is airing over there and other changes they might have.
View the full Hallmark Channel March 2009 line-up!

Meanwhile over on ION Television, they also will have a returning series. ER returns to ION next week starting on Monday, Feb. 9 airing Monday nights at 8:00pm ET/PT replacing one airing of NCIS. NCIS will still air Mondays from 9-11pm. ER didn't do so well on ION and was replaced quickly last fall. Now the series is back for another try. NCIS and Boston Legal have done very well for ION and ION hopes ER can do similar numbers. ER will start with the season 12 episode "No Place to Hide" and go in order from there.
In other ION news, NBC's recent miniseries Last Templar (2009) will air on ION on Saturday, Feb. 7 and Sunday, Feb. 15 from 7-11pm on both nights. The two-part mini-series starring Mira Sorvino and Victor Garber did so-so for NBC doing average in viewers but not so good in 18-49.
If you forgot the rest of ION February 2009, head on over to our thread for more details.

Week 19 (First Four Nights) Numbers; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 19 numbers (first four nights final averages, Mon-Thurs):

Households: Fox: 9.9/14.8; CBS: 7.4/11.5; NBC: 4.7/7.2; ABC: 4.6/7.2; The CW: 1.2/1.8; MNT: 0.8/1.2.
Total Viewers: Fox: 17.57 million; CBS: 11.83 million; NBC: 7.37 million; ABC: 7.09 million; The CW: 1.82 million; MNT: 1.23 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 6.7/16.5; CBS: 2.9/7.3; ABC: 2.6/6.6; NBC: 2.4/5.9; The CW: 0.8/1.9; MNT: 0.4/1.0.

Analysis: Week 19 has Fox with a commanding lead thanks to three nights of Idol, but any other week that would be enough for a win but the Super Bowl is tonight and NBC will do 80 someodd million likely and of course win the week, otherwise they would be in 4th place. Fox leads through the first four days in all categories, with a bigger lead than the previous week thanks to extra Idol. Through the first four day, Fox has the lead in all categories obviously, with CBS second, NBC nipping ABC for third in HH/viewers but ABC is 3rd in 18-49.
Last week, CBS won week 18 in HH and viewers, but Fox took the 18-49 crown this week. Fox was second in HH/viewers, while ABC was third in HH/viewers but second in 18-49 leaving CBS in third for 18-49 and NBC was fourth in everything.
Monday Fox's new Monday line-up won the night. Fox started with House and it did 15.69 million (and a night best of 6.0 rating in 18-49), both up from previous week, Fox then followed with 24 doing a solid 12.22 million, up a bit from the previous week. ABC was next with a two-hour episode of The Bachelor with a solid 10.57 million for week four, it has gone up in all telecasts...this is a big player this season. Then the new True Beauty at 10pm did 6.95 million, up over a million from previous week, as this is doing very solid in 18-49, which is the strength of this show. CBS was in repeat mode and was stuck in third place and started with repeats of their comedies then ended with an encore of CSI: Miami. The Big Bang Theory did 9.21 million, very good for a repeat. A repeat of How I Met Your Mother followed with 8.08 million, but didn't do as well, but still solid as this show draws more 18-49 viewers percentage. #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed with 12.78 million for a repeat, and that still is the best of any sitcom, while a repeat of Worst Week only did just 7.13 million...this was its last repeat, only two new episodes remain until it is gone effective Feb. 16. At 10pm a repeat of CSI: Miami did 9.19 million, seems way below normal for a repeat for this show. NBC was next with the first ever only one-hour episode of dud Superstars of Dance, and this was its finale, at only 6.8 million, but up a bit from previous week. Part 2 of the mini-series Last Templar was next from 9-11pm at 8.32 million, but skewing older. The CW was next with a repeat of Gossip Girl doing 1.61 million and a repeat of One Tree Hill did 1.41 million.
Tuesday that show called American Idol dominated. Fox started with Idol, doing 25.54 million, up over 3 from previous week, which was against the Obama ball coverage. Fringe followed with 11.62 million, down a bit from previous week and Idol was up 3 million this week...so even worse news for this show. CBS has two new episodes sandwiched by a repeat. NCIS started the night off with a new showing doing 19.2 million, wow. New drama The Mentalist was a repeat again and it did 15.23 million, but very good. At 10pm, Without a Trace was new and did 13.0 million, not bad but SVU was a repeat on NBC. NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser at 11.08 million, up from previous week...and built heavily in the 9pm hour when there was no Idol once again. This series and The Bachelor are the biggest surprises this winter. NBC followed at 10pm with a repeat of Law & Order: SVU at just 7.14 million. ABC was next, as its regular line-up returned after Obama coverage last week lifted them to second for the night. A new Homeland Security USA started with 5.65 million, two all-new Scrubs episodes did 5.07 and 4.99 million, which was disappointing, and Primetime: What Would You Do closed the night at 10pm with a below normal 6.35 million at 10pm. The CW aired a repeat of 90210 and did 1.04 million and a repeat episode of Privileged only did 850,000 viewers.
Wednesday saw you know who dominate. Fox started with American Idol at 8pm doing 27.36 million, up nearly 2 million from the previous week. At 9pm, new Fox drama Lie to Me did 12.21 million, down slightly from previous week and lost to Lost head-to-head in 18-49. Once again Idol was up on Wednesday from Tuesday for the third straight week, which is odd...historically Tuesday does better. CBS started with a special primetime special of The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric doing only 6.03 million and a worse 1.1 18-49 rating, next Old Christine aired a repeat at 8:30pm instead of Gary Unmarried and did just 4.52 million, ouch... blame Katie. Criminal Minds and CSI: NY followed with repeats as well at 10.23 and 9.35 million, a bit below normal for both for repeats I'd say. ABC was next with an enhanced encore of Lost at 8pm doing 5.19 million followed by an all-new Lost doing 11.23 million, basically on par with previous week and a first place 4.9 18-49 rating. The return of Life on Mars on a new night did 6.22 million, about 2 million off from its average. This was its eight airing but the producers played a switcharoo and aired the 11th episode instead so new fans can come on board as that was a stand-alone episode. Fans from the fall, you'll see the show where it left off in this fall this coming week, when the actual 8th episode airs, but it is the 9th one airing. NBC opened the night with Knight Rider doing 6.23 million, wow up over a million from previous as no CBS sitcoms helped, a repeat of Law & Order: SVU did 6.38 million, also up from previous week. Law & Order followed at 10pm doing only 8.96 million, up a bit from previous week but should have been better since NY was a repeat on CBS. The CW aired another repeat of Privileged at 8pm at just 1.05 million and a repeat of 90210 followed with only 830,000 viewers, but if you can believe that was up slightly from previous week.
Thursday saw Fox win as Idol migrated on the night for this week. Fox aired a special Thursday American Idol and did 24.61 million, lowest of the three airings this week, but still the third highest rated show so far this week. Bones returns this coming week, Idol lead into the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen at 10.86 million. Let's see how it does without Idol this coming week. CBS started with a repeat of Criminal Minds doing 8.84 million, followed by an all-new CSI at 20.15 million, up nearly 3 million from previous week, as there was no new Grey's on ABC. A new episode of Eleventh Hour followed with 12.74 million, up a bit week-to-week, but barely won the hour in 18-49, with that big lead-in. ABC was next with a repeat of Ugly Betty doing just 3.95 million against Idol. A repeat of Grey's Anatomy was next and did 5.59 million. A new Private Practice followed and did a solid 7.74 million at 10pm, down two million from previous week but it has no lead-in this week and did this on its own. NBC was fourth, as it had all repeats...My Name is Earl did 4.91 million, a repeat of Kath & Kim followed with a terrible 3.29 million. A repeat of The Office did 5.82 million, followed by a repeat of 30 Rock at 5.05 million. ER was next and was a repeat and did just 4.35 million. Smallville was new on The CW and did 4.21 million, up week-to-week, followed by a new Supernatural at 3.56 million, also up week-to-week.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with repeats of Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, and NUMB3RS as usual. ABC finished second thanks to a two-hour 20/20. NBC saw more declines for Howdie Do It at 8pm.
Saturday numbers are not available yet, but Fox will probably win this slow night again.
Tonight will be uh the Super Bowl with the win. Any idiot can tell you that. The question is, who will be 2nd? ABC is the only other network competing with some new programming as Wipeout will be new during halftime of the game and immediately following the game. So tune in for that for some fun! ABC's AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters return next week. CBS will likely be third and Fox in fourth tonight.
As for the week, NBC will win the week in HH, viewers and 18-49, and why wouldn't they with that Super Bowl? It'll be a boring game though and won't do record numbers like last year. Fox or CBS will finish second for the week, ABC should be fourth (but could be 3rd in 18-49). What to look for this week...let's see how Chuck and Heroes respond to their returns tomorrow on NBC. Medium and Life also return for NBC. But the biggest event of the week is the first of a three-week cross-over event on ABC Thursday with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice! Looks good!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Jan. 19-25)

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - 5.74 million tuned in for a new episode at 8, which is OK...but below normal. A special repeat at 8:30 did 5.45 million.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - preempted.
• Family Guy (Fox) - Yet another repeat of this show did 6.57 million...decent.
• American Dad (Fox) - 5.72 million for a new episode..couldn't build on the lead-in and that was a repeat!
  

Monday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 9.21 million for a repeat...very solid.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.08 million for a repeat is good, but not as good as its lead-in.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 12.78 million for our sitcom leader. And this was a repeat, too.
• Worst Week (CBS) - 7.13 million only for a repeat. You're coming off 12.78 million and only get 7.13 million? Not good.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Scrubs (ABC) 2 episodes - Two all-new episodes did 5.07 and 4.99 million only and a 2.2 18-49 rating. While that 2.2 is better than last year for ABC on Tuesdays in January, it is below normal for this show.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Old Christine (CBS) - A repeat at 8:30 only did 4.52 million out of a Katie Couric news special.
• Gary Unmarried (CBS) - preempted.
• Under One Roof (MNT) - Only 670,000 viewers..ouch.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 4.91 million for a repeat, not too good...but against Idol.
• Kath & Kim (NBC) - 3.29 million only for a repeat.
• The Office (NBC) - 5.82 million for a repeat...not bad.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - 5.05 million for a repeat.

Friday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - 1.9 prelim million for a new episode...up from usual a bit.
• The Game (The CW) - 1.91 prelim million for a new episode, also up from usual a bit and built slightly from its lead-in.

Saturday Sitcoms

• None.
  

Airing tonight (Sunday) are a mix of new and repeat of Fox's animated comedies from 8-10pm.

Summing it up. Repeats of Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of The Office, Worst Week) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of Kath & Kim, Old Christine).