SitcomsOnline.com News Blog (original) (raw)

TCA Winter 2010 Press Tour: Fox; TBS Makes Schedule Changes

Fox is up today at the TCA winter press tour. First up there was a buffet breakfast with the Bones cast and crew at 9am PT. On hand were stars Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, and John Francis Daley along with executive producers Hart Hanson, Barry Josephson, Stephen Nathan and Ian Toynton. After that there was a session for the upcoming series Human Target at 9:45am PT. At the panel were stars Mark Valley, Chi McBride, and Jackie Earle Haley, along with executive producers McG, Jonathan E. Steinberg and Peter Johnson. Then at 10:30am PT, we have the cast of the upcoming summer scripted drama Code 58 (wt) at the panel. Stars Bradley Whitford, Colin Hanks, Diana Maria Riva, and Jenny Wade were at the panel along with executive producers Matt Nix and Mikkel Bondesen. Then the last session of the morning was at 11:15am PT with the upcoming midseason sitcom Sons of Tuscon. On hand at the panel were stars Tyler Labine, Matthew Levy, Frank Dolce, and Benjamin Stockham along with executive producers Matthew Carlson, Justin Berfield, Todd Holland and creators Tommy Dewey & Greg Bratman.

The executive session was held at 12pm PT with Peter Rice (chairman of Fox) and Kevin Reilly (entertainment president of Fox) and that is why our blog was delayed today (more on the delay of this session in a bit). Among the announcements are that Glee has been given an early pick up for 2010-2011 season. And prior to the second season premiere, there will be a multi-part reality special on the show to find three new cast members. Fox has picked-up The X Factor to air starting Fall 2011. Simon Cowell, who created and launched The X Factor in the U.K. in 2004, will serve as both executive producer and judge on the U.S. version, which will be produced by Syco Television and FremantleMedia North America. He signed the contract right on stage, hence the reason for the delay of this session! Cowell will however leave American Idol at the end of the current season that starts tomorrow, so he can focus on this show fully. Fox has committed to American Idol for at least three more years. And will Paula Abdul join The X Factor? Cowell says, "I've gone on record, I adore Paula. Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some capacity..." No judges info has been announced yet for this show.
Upcoming summer drama Code 58 starring Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks will premiere on Wednesday, May 12 at 8pm and will also air May 19 at 8pm before moving to Mondays at 9pm in the summer starting June 7. The series has an order for 13 episodes. The Simpsons reached a milestone episode last night with episode 450, now America's Most Wanted will reach its 1000th episode on Saturday, March 6, followed by episode 100 of Bones on Thursday, April 8, while Family Guy will reach episode 150 on Sunday, May 2.
Reilly mentioned Fox wants to do a comedy night that is non-animated. Perhaps Tuesdays next fall?

After the executive session we have a lunch break and writing break sponsored by Animation Domination from 12:45pm-2:15pm PT. Then Fox will have more panels of their series. At 2:15pm PT the panel is handed over to upcoming new midseason drama Past Life. On hand are stars Kelli Giddish, Nicholas Bishop, and Ravi Patel, along with executive producers David Hudgins & Lout Pitt. At 3pm PT there is a break sponsored by America's Most Wanted's 1000th episode, and host/executive producer John Walsh will be available for interviews (along with co-exec producer Steve Katz). Then at 3:30pm PT the final panel of the day belongs to 24. On hand will be stars Kiefer Sutherland, Cherry Jones, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Annie Wersching, Freddie Prinze Jr., Katee Sackhoff, Mykelti Williamson, Chris Diamantopoulos, and John Boyd along with co-executive producer Howard Gordon. Then later tonight from 7-10 PT it is the Fox Winter 2010 All-Star Party at the Villa Sorriso in Pasadena!

To recap Fox's midseason, Human Target launches this coming Sunday at 8pm and then will air Wednesday at 9pm for episode two before moving to Wednesdays at 8pm starting Jan. 27. 24 launches its season also on Sunday from 9-11pm and two more hours on Monday from 9-11pm before settling into its regular Mondays at 8pm slot. A new season of Kitchen Nightmares starts Friday, Jan. 29 at 9pm. New drama Past Life premieres Thursday, Feb. 11 from 8-10pm before moving to its regular 9m slot the following week. Fringe will then return on Thursday, April 1 at 9pm. New sitcom Sons Tucson launches Sunday, March 14 and will air at 9:30pm on Sundays, as American Dad! goes on hiatus. As of now, Glee will return on a new night of Tuesday starting April 13 at 9pm, but this was before Our Little Genius was pulled, so who knows it might return a week or two earlier than planned. Fox hasn't announced what will air Tuesdays at 9pm starting in February. Lie to Me still doesn't have a return date, so that night could be possible, but in the exec session, Reiley says it could return in spring.

Moving to regular news, TBS has made some time shifts to their schedule that started today. Due to the TCA press tour, we couldn't get this out to you a bit earlier, so we apologize. Like Hallmark's changes that began today, TBS won't be removing anything...just shifting timeslots. The biggest change is My Name is Earl leaving early evenings from 7-8pm and will move to late nights from 12-1am. Seinfeld is once again back in the 7pm hour. According to Jim and House of Payne will not have full hours anymore in the afternoons, but one airing will remain in the afternoon as the other airings of each move to mornings. The Office remains at 6:30pm, the only sitcom that launched this past fall that will remain in its slot. There are more time shifts as well, such as Raymond and King of Queens back to late afternoons/early evenings and a third airing of Fresh Prince in the mornings. Just what we need, right?
View the full TBS schedule, along with stunts, that starts TODAY!

Labels: According to Jim, Fox, House of Payne, My Name is Earl, Seinfeld, Sons of Tucson, TBS, TCA Winter Tour

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Happy Thanksgiving! - TV Marathons On This Holiday Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We thank you for visiting us on this special day and every other day, all-year. We also are very thankful that you all will continue to visit every single day and making this blog a continued huge success. We get thousands of visitors every day (even on weekends). So, we thank you for the growth each year! It is simply amazing and I can't believe it has been nearly 5 years (OK almost 4 1/2 years) of posting on this blog every single day no matter what! No days off!

Before we let you all go back to your families (or special friends), we want to let you know the marathons on TV you and your family might want to watch during the day and after Thanksgiving dinner. We love TV marathons and you all come here on each holiday to see what marathons are airing, so as always we will do that today, too!
We have told you about many of the sitcom related marathons already. We were the first ones to tell you about them, too. WGN America has their second annual Newhart marathon on Thanksgiving Day from 2:30pm-8pm ET. TV Land has its annual Overstuffed Weekend with Brady Bunch and Little House on the Prairie on Thanksgiving Day and Night, with many other sitcoms from Friday-Sunday. Nick at Nite continues their George Lopez Thanksgiving Week marathon all night tonight and tomorrow night. TV One has a Living Single and Martin marathon starting at 11:30am. So yeah we told you about all these already many moons ago. But there are of course more as usual!
Other sitcom related marathons include TBS's Seinfeld marathon, but that is tomorrow (Friday) from 11:30am-4pm. Also on Friday, BET airs an Everybody Hates Chris marathon from 10am-6pm, while WE tv has a Golden Girls marathon on Friday from 12pm-7pm and FX goes back to the '70s with That '70s Show starting at 8am om Friday. On Saturday, BET airs a marathon of The Game from 9am-7:30pm, while TV Land has its weekly Saturday Married...with Children marathon from 8am-6pm this week.
Non-sitcom wise, USA Network will have a House marathon today starting at 7am, while The Closer marathon airs on TNT from 10am-6pm. Other notables for Thursday include a Home Alone movie marathon on FX, Deal or No Deal on GSN, Supernanny on Style, Band of Brothers on Spike TV, and many many movies marathons on networks like Disney Channel, Sleuth, Hallmark, G4, Comedy Central, and Syfy's Bond Movies marathon. On Friday we get Criminal Minds on A&E, Law & Order on TNT, Beverly Hills 90210 on SOAPnet, NCIS/White Collar on USA, and America's Next Top Model on Oxygen, and on Saturday Top Model will also have a marathon on Bravo.
And don't forget my pick of the night, tonight at 8pm on ABC the holiday classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It's an annual tradition to watch! Can't get enough of old Chuck! If you haven't see it already, view our 2009 Network TV Holiday Specials and Movies Guide, so you don't miss anything on network TV this holiday season. Also our ABC Family 25 Days of Christmas schedule, because that is the place to be as always during the holiday season with classics like Mickey's Christmas Carol, A Garfield Christmas and Winnie the Pooh & Christmas Too!

Labels: BET, Brady Bunch, Everybody Hates Chris, FX, George Lopez, Golden Girls, Married with Children, Newhart, Nick at Nite, Seinfeld, TBS, That '70s Show, The Game, WE tv, WGN

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Good Ratings for Wednesday's High School Reunion for TV Land; Network Notes Includes Seinfeld Reunion on Curb?

TV Land's original series High School Reunion averaged nearly 1 million total viewers for this past Wednesday's 10 p.m. telecast, making it the most-watched episode of the season to date, according to Nielsen Media Research. The telecast also gave TV Land double-digit gains over previous week's airing across the network's target demo, Adults 25-54, and among the network's core audience of Adults 40-54.
Wednesday's installment -- the third episode of the new season of High School Reunion -- posted a 0.6 rating and 592,000 viewers among A25-54, up 30% in rating and 32% in viewers over previous week in the 25-54 demo. Among the network's core A40-54 audience, the episode posted a 0.8 rating and 452,000 viewers, up a whopping 82% in rating and 81% in viewers over previous week in the core 40-54 demo. It also scored double digit gains among total viewers with nearly 1 million (954,000 total viewers), up 38% over previous week, with a median age of 48.
The telecast posted huge gains with Men 25-54 and Women 25-54 over previous week. Among M25-54, it scored a 0.5 rating and 271,000 viewers, up 49% in rating and 48% in viewers over previous week's episode in M25-54. Among W25-54, it posted a 0.6 rating and 321,000 viewers, up 20% in rating and viewers versus last week in W25-54. Adding those two up, you get the 592,000 viewers among Adults 25-54.

It's time for a round of network notes! Multi-platinum singer/songwriter Jewel and Access Hollywood host Nancy O'Dell have withdrawn from Season Eight of ABC's Dancing with the Stars citing injuries. Jewel was diagnosed with a fractured tibia in both legs, O'Dell a torn meniscus. The injuries were sustained while training for the competition.
Jewel and O'Dell will appear on the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, this Monday (March 9) at 8:00 p.m., ET/PT to address their injuries. The women were paired with professional dancers Tony Dovolani and Dmitry Chaplin, respectively. Additional changes to the cast will also be announced during Monday's premiere...so watch it LIIIIVE (as Tom Bergeron would say)!
ABC is ending Life on Mars after it finishes its 17 episode run on April 1. No fooling. The show hasn't done too well in the ratings since the move to Wednesdays following Lost. The show did a bit better in the fall on Thursdays after Grey's Anatomy, but maybe the hiatus between the two was the downfall for the show, as it was off the air for two months. It is too bad, because the show is wonderful and has top-notch actors.
The show is based on a British series of the same name. What's more, the U.S. version will end up more closely resembling its British predecessor, which lasted for 16 episodes and also was a close-ended series. While the British series spawned a sequel of sorts, called Ashes to Ashes, no such plans are in the works Stateside.
Ensuring a definitive ending for Life on Mars might also make it easier to promote the show's 17-episode run as a DVD release or, possibly on a cable network should the series land an off-net run in reruns. ABC also had an actual ending on the series Day Break a few years ago and since then it has been released on DVD and also airs weekly in reruns on TV One. So Life on Mars will go out properly, as producers will be able to write and shoot a definitive ending to the saga. Groovy!
Finally, the four main stars of the hit '90s NBC comedy Seinfeld will appear together, playing themselves, in a multi-episode arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm alongside creator Larry David, who created both series. Yes, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards all reunite! The episodes are part of Curb's upcoming seventh season. 10 episodes have been ordered for the seventh season but there is no premiere date yet or how many episodes they will appear in.

Labels: ABC, Dancing with the Stars, High School Reunion, Life on Mars, Seinfeld, TV Land

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Seinfeld To Produce Comedy-Reality Series for NBC; Fox Orders Two More Seasons Simpsons, CBS Orders Two More Editions of Survivor

NBC is proud to announce a new comedy-reality series created by superstar comedian and producer Jerry Seinfeld's Columbus 81 Productions. Mr. Seinfeld has partnered with Ellen Rakieten, a 23-year veteran of The Oprah Winfrey Show on this project. This marks Jerry Seinfeld's first regular TV venture since starring in the sitcom Seinfeld.
This new series titled The Marriage Ref (working title) will feature opinionated celebrities, comedians and sports stars who will candidly comment, judge and offer different strategies for real-life couples in the midst of a classic marital dispute.
No word yet when it will air exactly, but look for it sometime in the 2009-2010 season. More info will come soon, such as how many episodes were ordered. As of now, Jerry will create and produce the series, and not appear on it...but don't be surprised if he appears on it once or twice.

Fox has ordered two additional seasons of The Simpsons, which will bring the longest-running series in primetime television history through its 22nd season. The 44-episode pickup ensures the series will reach an astounding 493 episodes.
Since its debut on January 14, 1990, The Simpsons immediately struck a chord with viewers across the country as it poked fun of itself and everything in its wake. With its subversive humor and delightful wit, the series has made an indelible imprint on American pop culture and has become one of television's most iconic families.
"Best. 20 Years. Ever.," a year-long global celebration honoring all things The Simpsons, launched in January 2009 and will culminate on January 14, 2010, the 20th anniversary of the series' debut.
CBS has ordered two more editions of Survivor to be broadcast during the 2009-2010 season. These will mark the 19th and 20th editions of broadcast television's longest-running reality competition series. Jeff Probst, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Series, will continue as host. The groundbreaking reality series, which premiered in May 2000, has aired Thursdays at 8pm since February 2001.

Labels: CBS, Fox, NBC, Seinfeld, The Simpsons

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SOAPnet September Fall 2008 Schedule; Bernie Mac Tribute on Larry King Live TONIGHT; Slight Nick at Nite Change; Sony's Cross-Country Seinfeld Tour

This September on SOAPnet, two shows will be expiring while we get two marathons. First, the shows expiring are Dallas and Melrose Place. Dallas was airing weeknights at 4:00am, and it will be replaced by I Wanna Be A Soap Star effective September 1. Melrose Place was airing weekdays at 11am and 12 noon, and it will be leaving effective Sept. 15 being replaced by more Beverly Hills 90210. Melrose Place joined the SOAPnet line-up in September 2004, so its four-year term was up and SOAPnet did not renew.
As for other schedule changes...there isn't much. An extra One Tree Hill will be added on Saturday mornings at 7am, so it will air back-to-back from 7-9am on Saturdays now. And on Sundays two more back-to-back episodes will air from 10am-12pm replacing a Movie.
As for September stunts, on Labor Day, SOAPnet will have a 24-hour marathon of Beverly Hills 90210 titled "The BFF's of BH." The marathon starts Sunday, Aug. 31 at 11:59pm and runs until 11:59pm on Monday, Sept. 1! SOAPnet will air the ABC fall preview special a few times as well. The special focuses on ABC's Wednesday night dramas (Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money) and is titled ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit. We will have more details on that special in our yearly Fall Previews Special post in the coming weeks. Airings on SOAPnet are Saturday, Sept. 13 at 4:30pm and Friday, September 26 at 5:00am.
Finally, SOAPnet will air all 10 first season episodes of the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money on Saturday, September 27 from 9am-7pm. The marathon is just in time for the second season premiere on ABC on Wednesday, October 1 at 10pm ET/PT. This is a must see series as The Darlings family is today's version of The Carringtons or the Ewings...so if you have not seen an episode yet, this is your chance to catch up since it is only 10 episodes and get ready to watch season two on ABC!
View the full SOAPnet September 2008 fall line-up.

The "Original Kings of Comedy" remember the late Bernie Mac tonight on Larry King Live at 9pm ET on CNN. D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey come together to pay tribute to the comedian only on Larry King Live. It will encore at 12 midnight ET, if you miss it.

Late yesterday afternoon Nick at Nite announced the Mon-Thurs 8:30pm slot would go back to Nickelodeon effective immediately. As a result, Family Matters will not air in that slot anymore, and the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh will air instead. Sorry we couldn't give you notice yesterday, but we did post it on our message boards. Family Matters is doing very well on Nick at Nite and will continue in its other time slots.

Today Sony Pictures Television (SPT) will set out on a 26-city, 10,000 mile "Seinfeld Campus Tour" in a 60-foot long Seinfeld branded, bio-diesel fueled bus experience designed to integrate the show directly into the digital, on-the-move, multi-tasking lifestyle of college students and members of the 70 million plus millennial demographic.
In addition to numerous tailored promotional events during the "The Seinfeld Campus Tour," participants coast-to-coast will have access the fully-equipped tour bus, wherein they can enjoy Seinfeld_-inspired snacks and engage in a wide-variety of Seinfeld_-themed experiences.
In its current season in syndication, Seinfeld consistently ranks as the #1 off-network comedy across all key men and adult demographics, and still stands as one of the highest rated of any off-net sitcom on television with airings on both broadcast stations and TBS. It airs in 197 markets, covering 99% of the country. Seinfeld has been renewed for a third cycle by its stations and second cycle in cable, keeping the show on the air through 2011.
View more information on this **Seinfeld Campus** tour!

Labels: Bernie Mac, Beverly Hills 90210, Dallas, Dirty Sexy Money, Family Matters, Melrose Place, Nick at Nite, One Tree Hill, Seinfeld, SOAPnet, Sony Pictures

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TBS Fall 2008 Line-Up; RTN's New Slogan

A little over a month ago we told you Married...with Children is coming to TBS this September airing weekdays from 6-7am and sometimes between 4-6am as well. TBS only has rights to air the show between 2-7am, so they cannot give it a better slot, unfortunately. However, we also stated Spike TV has gotten the rights from 7am-2am starting September as well. We gave you two updates on that, one for the original story and the other with the schedules times. We will have more on Spike TV's part tomorrow in our Spike TV Fall schedule. But sticking with TBS, they are not really making any changes this fall. For Labor Day weekend they will have two marathons...on Sunday, August 31 from 8am-1pm they will showcase the hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for a marathon leading into their Sunday MLB Baseball Game of the Week. Then on Labor Day itself, (Monday, Sept. 1), TBS will showcase the number one sitcom of all-time for basic cable Tyler Perry's House of Payne with a marathon from 10am-8pm, leading into the Family Guy Monday block. They will air the premiere episode of TNT's original drama Raising the Bar on Tuesday, Sept. 2 at 11pm following two episodes of The Office. We will have more on TNT's fall line-up in the coming days. Then Tuesdays at 11pm, Frank TV is back with a second season as the late night comedy is back starting Sept. 9! Teen drama Dawson's Creek had been airing on some early morning slots on some days, and its last airing will be late Monday, Sept. 8 at 4:30am ET, as it is no longer scheduled in any other slot through the end of October, so I am not 100% sure, but it seems it might have expired.
Effective Monday, Sept. 15 Married...with Children joins the TBS morning line-up airing weekdays at 6:00am & 6:30am ET. The MLB Playoffs start on TBS on Wednesday, Oct. 1 airing in the afternoon and primetime, so the morning/early afternoon lineup will be a bit altered each day...so when the playoffs are on, you'll have to check your listings to see when the TBS sitcoms are airing. But starting Monday, Sept. 29, TBS will swap Seinfeld and Everybody Loves Raymond's slot. So, Seinfeld will move from 5-6pm to 7-8pm, while Raymond goes from 6:30-8pm to 5-6:30pm, which means Friends is now 6:30pm starting Sept. 29. Also, the primetime blocks are altered a tad as well. Starting Monday, Oct. 20 everything will be back to normal as the MLB Playoffs are over and Fox will do the MLB World Series.
Check out the full TBS Fall 2008 line-up in a list form, and you can also discuss what you think.

Today RTN (Retro Television Network) announced its new slogan "Classic Television Hits All Day, Live Talk all Night." According to RTN spokesman Neal Ardman, RTN will begin to phase out paid programming over the next few months. The goal, said Ardman, is to provide the viewer with compelling programming 24 hours a day. RTN will begin inserting live news, general entertainment, and sports talk shows in the late night and overnight hours beginning in September. Not to worry, Classic TV will still air in the mornings, afternoons, evening and primetime!
Robin Leach has been tapped to produce and host one such, as yet unnamed, show to be produced LIVE in Las Vegas. Another show, Unreliable Sources, a news/talk show with viewer calls, already airs in over 30 markets and is produced at the RTN studios.
RTN is currently sold in 72 markets and last week went on the air in Washington, D.C. on WJLA-DT. RTN is the only network that is customized for each market.

Labels: Everybody Loves Raymond, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, House of Payne, Married with Children, Retro Television Network, Seinfeld, TBS

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SitcomsOnline.com Exclusive: Interview with Retro Television Network and a RTN T-Shirt Contest; TV Land's The 50 Greatest TV Icons

It is now day 10 of the writers' strike. Nothing really new to report as of now, so I won't talk much about it today because we have a very exciting interview for you today. As always with our interviews, it is in Seven Questions form! In addition to today's interview, stay tuned in the coming days, as we might have a "Seven Questions" interview with Willie Aames (Buddy from Charles in Charge), just in time for the Charles in Charge second season DVD out next week. Look for our review of that set later this week and don't forget to enter our contest by clicking HERE. And now to today's interview...

We have had the pleasure to interview Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik of Retro Television Network (RTN)! RTN is a new television network that provides each affiliate a customized feed with classic hit shows, in addition to local programming including news, weather and sports. RTN is specifically designed to go on a broadcast digital channel and provides local broadcasters with a way to get ratings and successfully monetize their digital spectrum.

Mark Dvornik has been very good and helpful to us, so we thank him in making this happen. Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik sat down with me with their TV Dinners watching RTN (Retro Television Network) in another installment of SitcomsOnline's Seven Questions Series.

"Seven Questions with Retro Television Network's Neal Ardman and Mark Dvornik"

SitcomsOnline: Hi Neal and Mark, this is Pavan from SitcomsOnline.com. Thanks for this opportunity. We are loving what Retro Television Network (RTN) is doing. We know what the network is and have promoted the news and details to our readers, but maybe you can explain how you guys work a bit better. So, what is RTN and how can we get it? How did it start?
RTN: Mark turns to Neal and says, "Tell the folks that story of how RTN came to be." Neal says, Well Mark, I was out hunting near my cabin when I missed fired a shot, it hit the ground, and all of a sudden a crude format of a network came out of the ground! (They both laugh at the TV reference to an opening of a classic hit show.) That was 2005, and the first RTN was born on KKYK-TV in Little Rock, AR. Mark adds, Call your favorite local television station, ask for the program director, and tell them you would like for them to put RTN on their digital channel.

SitcomsOnline: So RTN has gone national, right? We read it was going to in July, but we didn't start to see any news until late August. We got lots of e-mails asking when RTN was going national and if their cities would get it.
RTN: Mark says, RTN is the first customized local network, and we are signing on markets one city at a time. Neal adds, RTN is one of the most cutting edge broadcaster out there. We are broadcasting now in MPEG4!

SitcomsOnline: What is the coverage goal for the network? I don't think there were any announcements for RTN stations in the top markets, like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Are we close to having RTN's in those markets? WPIX-DT would be good in NY I think, since the Tube Music Network is now gone. That would be a major step!
RTN: Mark says, The coverage goal is National. We will not comment on any discussions going on in any markets. However, as I stated earlier that if you would like to see RTN on your market, you should contact your local station and request that they pick up RTN on their local digital channel.

SitcomsOnline: Right now we see classics from the CBS/Paramount and Universal libraries. Can we expect shows from other studios soon? And for the CBS/Paramount and Universal libraries, are you able to choose any TV show or is there some sort of system? Personally, I've been missing shows like Webster, Dear John (both Paramount), and Out of this World (Universal) and would love to see those on RTNs. But I still like the shows you already air like Happy Days, Family Ties and The A-Team!
RTN: Neal says, We love all the shows that you listed, too. As they say, stay tuned...

SitcomsOnline: So does the local affiliate get full rights to choose what shows they want to air, or does RTN help as well?
RTN: Neal is chuckling as he says, We can not answer any questions of a legal nature, without consulting our attorney Perry Mason. We will have to get back to you...

SitcomsOnline: Where can fans call or e-mail the network? Does RTN have a website that is live? I know there used to be one, but that doesn't seem to be working right now.
RTN: Mark says, The fans of RTN in each local market should let the local station know via e-mail how much they like that they have RTN on the air. Neal adds, Our new wonderful website is under construction. We did a focus group and found that our Etch-A-Sketch was not refreshing the page quick enough!

SitcomsOnline: So, we heard that your network has a mascot?
RTN: Neal says, His name is Beau, and he is a chocolate lab. He can be seen in promos with SIT, STAY, WATCH, which we also have on t-shirts. Mark adds, Pavan has secured some t-shirts for a lucky few. He will unveil how you can win one later in this interview. Neal concludes with, Beau is everything you want in a network mascot. First he is loyal to RTN. He only wags his tail at our shows. He brings us the morning trades so we can stay up on the goings on. And he has not accidents like the other network mascots.

SitcomsOnline: Well, thanks once again for taking some time out for us in your busy schedules! And much success to RTN!
RTN: Mark says, We are honored that you asked for us to speak to your readers, we love television and bringing these great shows to you. Thanks for watching us, and contact your local station if we are not on in your market yet. RTN is adding markets each week, and Pavan is doing an excellent job keeping you all informed on the progress.

Our thanks to to Neal and Mark of RTN, and best wishes to them in making RTN a big success! Some great humor even in their responses! Our apologies to Matt Damon, we ran out of time. For more information on Retro Television Network, continue to stay with us for info and don't forget to log-on to their website when it goes up at http://www.retrotelevision.net. So, stay tuned right here on the blog for news updates for this wonderful network! We seem to be getting new affiliates each week! Fast growing indeed!

And as Mark mentioned in the interview we have a contest for you RTN fans! We have 10 RTN T-shirts to give away with Beau the mascot. The contest starts today (Nov. 14) and ends Dec. 13...so hopefully you'll get your RTN T-Shirt in time for Christmas! That is our gift to you! Before you enter, please make sure you read the rules and regulations. So, without further adieu click HERE to enter our RTN T-Shirt Contest!

Legendary Johnny Carson -- the "King of Late Night TV" -- is ranked the number one TV icon in Entertainment Weekly and TV Land Present: The 50 Greatest TV Icons, premiering on Friday, November 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The two-hour TV Land special looks at individuals like Carson in addition to the great Lucille Ball and the hilarious Jerry Seinfeld, who have all made their indelible mark in TV history. The complete list will be revealed in the TV Land Original special and in Entertainment Weekly's annual DVD issue on stands that day. The magazine feature celebrates each icon's contribution to television along with DVD recommendations from each of the icons' work. The TV special is produced by Gay Rosenthal Productions.
For more info on this two-hour special and the complete top 50 list, click HERE (if you want to be spoiled).
The list they made is actually a top 100 list, but the TV special will only cover the top 50. 100-51 is listed on the TV Land website, if you want to take a look at that.

Labels: Charles in Charge, Lucille Ball, Retro Television Network, Seinfeld, TV Land

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ION Adds Perfect Strangers Halloween Stunt; Seinfeld Viewers Choice; Network Notes

Yesterday many Perfect Strangers fans did the "dance of joy" when finding out that the series is finally coming to DVD in February, now we have some more news on the show. ION Television, which is airing the show Mon-Thurs at 8:30 p.m., has added a two-night Halloween stunt! The stunt will air Monday, October 29 and Tuesday, October 30 with back-to-back episodes each night starting at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. Join Larry and Balki as they battle The Grim Reaper, the touch of death, a ghost, and some Halloween late night horror movies! For the episode details, click HERE.
We will have ION Television's November schedule highlights shortly. As of now, they have only announced through November 11 and there are no changes. Could we see some changes week of November 12? Will we see a Thanksgiving stunt? We shall find out soon! Come on back!

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) -- with help from the 197 affiliates in 99% of the country carrying the highly-rated Seinfeld sitcom in syndication -- will ask fans to vote for their favorite "Seinfeld Viewers Choice" episodes and have their selections subsequently air in national syndication during the November sweep.
Beginning Monday, October 15, through Monday, November 5, 2007, "Seinfeld Viewers Choice" clips from 35 of the most popular episodes will be showcased as streaming content on Yahoo! TV (or go to Yahoo! and search for "Seinfeld Top 10") where viewers will be asked to select their 10 favorite episodes. Votes will be tabulated on Monday, November 5, and the resulting 10 favorite episodes will air as part of two "Viewers Choice" theme weeks beginning November 12 and November 19.
Also, a random prize drawing from all of the online entrants will include a grand prize consisting of a $4,500 shopping spree from Overstock.com and a Seinfeld fan package that includes the soon-to-be-released Seinfeld: The Complete Ninth Season DVDs (on shelves 11/6/07), a Seinfeld hat, T-Shirt and mug. Throughout the entry period, voters will be eligible to enter daily for a chance to win the grand prize, or one of ten first prizes.
In its current season in syndication, Seinfeld consistently ranks as the #1 off-network comedy across all key men and adult demographics and still stands as one of the highest rated of any off-net sitcom on television with airings on both broadcast stations and TBS. Seinfeld has been renewed for a third cycle by its stations and second cycle in cable, keeping the show on the air through 2011.

Some network notes time. Fox serves up another order of Kitchen Nightmares and picks up the show for a second season. The show is airing Wednesdays at 9 on Fox.
The CW has canceled Online Nation. The show has been doing anemic ratings in its Sundays at 7:30 p.m. slot. Replacing the series will be encores of The CW's new sitcom Aliens in America. I wonder if that will do any better? The CW is keeping the equally bad CW Now for now at least. That series airs at 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Tonight in sitcom land it is NBC's Comedy Done Right block starting with an all-new My Name is Earl, followed by an all-new 30 Rock and another new one-hour The Office. The smart laughs start at 8/7 central on NBC.

Labels: Aliens in America, Fox, ION Television, Perfect Strangers, Seinfeld, TBS, The CW

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RTN Added in Green Bay, Adds Hip Hop Harry to Weekends; Seinfeld Last Season DVD and Complete Series DVD; Price and Wheel News

Retro Television Network (RTN) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to launch an RTN affiliate in Green Bay, adding more than 430,000 households to the network's viewing area. The new affiliate will launch Oct. 1 on WBAY-TV/DT, a digital stream of Young Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WBAY-TV.
"Our new agreement with RTN will allow WBAY-TV to provide the Green Bay market with a new viewing option that will be a complementary blend of the station's local programming and news with RTN's Prime Time all the Time classic hit show format," said Deb McDermott, President of Young Broadcasting.
Meanwhile, RTN announced today that it has acquired the over-the-air broadcast rights for weekend mornings for the Emmy-nominated children's show Hip Hop Harry. Under the terms of the agreement, the network will air the program on Saturday mornings in all RTN markets, beginning in mid-September. Hip Hop Harry is produced by C to the B Productions and is a musically-based, live action program designed to entertain, educate and inform pre-school aged children.

As we first announced this morning on our message board, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the final season of Seinfeld on DVD on November 6 along with a huge complete series set featuring all nine seasons.
Seinfeld: Season 9 is a four-disc boxed set including all 24 episodes from the ninth and final season of the long-running series, including the finale that drew viewership numbers of over 75 million and hours of exclusive, never-before-seen bonus footage. The holiday must-have of the year, Seinfeld: The Complete Series, offers the ultimate and most comprehensive Seinfeld experience ever. The 32-disc, two-volume set offers 180 unforgettable episodes of the multiple Emmy® Award-winning show along with "The Official Coffee Table Book," a 226-page, bound anthology filled with photos, quotes, trivia from every episode, and personal reflections from Jerry. The collectible book also includes a bonus disc featuring "The Roundtable," an exciting hour-long round table discussion among the four cast and creator Larry David reminiscing about the award-winning show's run on air. A total of 104 hours of bonus features are included with Seinfeld: The Complete Series. also on Nov. 6. Sounds good! Read more about it and discuss here.

We end today with some classic game show news. CBS's Emmy-Award winning The Price is Right, with new host Drew Carey, will have its 36th season premiere on Monday, October 15 (11:00 AM-12:00 Noon, ET; 10:00-11:00 AM, PT), on the CBS Television Network. Carey was recently named host of television's long-running game show, succeeding former host Bob Barker, who retired in June after 35 years on the show.
The new season will start out with some exciting wins, as several contestants make some lucky spins on the big Wheel. Others have the chance to win some of the most expensive cars ever given away on the show, as well as trips to exotic locations and more amazing prizes. In addition, the familiar set has been refreshed to give it an updated look while keeping the recognizable Price is Right theme and appearance.
Meanwhile, Wheel of Fortune, which has ranked as television's #1 syndicated series every year since its premiere, marks its historic 25th season with all new shows beginning on Monday, September 10, 2007.

Labels: Price is Right, Retro Television Network, Seinfeld, Sony Pictures

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TBS September 2007 Schedule, The Office on Tuesdays, 'Sex' All Week-Long; My Boys Scores on TBS

TBS has released its September 2007 schedule and it will feature some changes. The week of September 3 has some minor changes, which are just filler until the new line-up that starts on September 10. Let's start with the filler stuff. Sept. 4, 5, 6 and 7 NewsRadio returns for 4 days in the noon slot followed by The Cosby Show at 12:30pm. The other filler stuff is very minor, and you can take a look at that in our link at the end of this story.
Let's move on to the September 10 line-up. The Steve Harvey Show is moving from its afternoon slots to 6 & 6:30am, replacing The Cosby Show which will now move to the dreaded approx. 5:30am slot, where it will not air everyday. Saved by the Bell continues to air its two-hour block from 7-9am. The morning movie will move from 10am-12pm to 9am-11am now. Dawson's Creek which was at 9am will move to the dreaded approx. 4:30am slot, which like Cosby Show, will not be everyday. Home Improvement will get a two-hour block from 11am-1pm. Yes, Dear moves from late afternoon to early afternoon at 1-2pm. Just Shoot Me, which premieres August 6, will move from 1-2pm to 2-3pm. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air moves to an hour later at 3-4pm. The King of Queens will take over the 4-5pm slot followed by an hour of Seinfeld at 5-6pm. Friends will air at 6pm followed by a triple shot of Everybody Loves Raymond from 6:30pm-8pm.
Primetime will also be changing. Friends will kick-off Mondays and Thursdays with back-to-back episodes from 8-9pm. On Mondays it will lead into Family Guy from 9-11pm and on Thursdays a movie from 9-11pm. Tuesdays will see a Family Guy block from 8-10pm and then starting September 18 The Office will air Tuesdays 10-11pm. Wednesdays will see a House of Payne marathon from 8-10pm followed by back-to-back Family Guy episodes 10-11pm. Finally, Fridays will have Everybody Loves Raymond kick-off the night leading into Dinner and a Movie.
Effective week of September 17, you can now catch Sex and the City five nights a week on TBS at 11 & 11:30PM! Seinfeld will get the late Tuesday slot of 11:59PM and 12:30AM, while movies will air the rest of the week. Other notes: Parent'hood is missing from the schedule because its contract has expired. Drew Carey Show has also expired, as we noted in the August changes.
No word yet if this is indeed the Fall schedule or not, as usually TBS launches its fall schedule in October. We shall find out and when we do, we will let you know. So for now click HERE to view a list of these changes!

Sticking with TBS, the season premiere of original sitcom My Boys scored well for TBS last night. Continuing to ride a wave of comedy success, TBS has triumphed once again on the original comedy series front. Last night's return of the critically acclaimed sitcom My Boys scored extremely well with young adults, garnering a median age of 29. The show also outdelivered the series' November 2006 series premiere among adults 18-34 and scored an extraordinary 43% growth in that demographic when compared to the show's 2006 13-episode average. Last night's episodes averaged more than 1.6 million viewers, nearly half of them among the key adults 18-34 demographic. My Boys airs Mondays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), exclusively on TBS.
Other ratings highlights for the return of My Boys on TBS:
- Combined, last night’s back-to-back episodes averaged 801,000 adults 18-34, a 43% jump over last year's 559,000 premiere average for the first 13 episodes in that demographic. Last night's episodes also averaged 1,176,000 adults 18-49, up 12% vs. premiere telecasts of the show in 2006 (1,052,000).
- Demonstrating the successful strategy of stacking episodes to provide stronger flow, the 10:30 p.m. episode of My Boys last night showed growth over its lead-in 10 p.m. episode, with adults 18-34 up 4% and adults 18-49 up 6%.
- With My Boys joining the list, TBS now claims ad-supported cable's Top 8 sitcoms for the year to date among adults 18-49, with Tyler Perry's House of Payne ranking #1, The Bill Engvall Show ranking #2 and My Boys ranking #6. Rounding out the list are Friends (#3), Seinfeld (#4), Everybody Loves Raymond (#5), King of Queens (#7) and Sex and the City (#8).

Labels: Cosby Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Home Improvement, Just Shoot Me, King of Queens, My Boys, Seinfeld, Sex and the City, Steve Harvey Show, TBS, The Office

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GMA Remembers Joel Siegel on Monday; Just My Show Interviews Seinfeld's Uncle Leo

ABC News' Good Morning America will celebrate the life and career of its dear friend and colleague, Joel Siegel, with a special edition of the broadcast on Monday, July 9, 2007. That day, the entire second hour of GMA will be dedicated to the incredible work and great contributions to life, art and the fight against cancer Siegel made throughout his life. GMA family members past and present, including former anchors Charlie Gibson, David Hartman and Joan Lunden, and weatherman Spencer Christian, will join the morning program. Various Hollywood stars and filmmakers will also share their thoughts and contribute special messages regarding Siegel and his work.

Eric's JustMyShow.com has just put up the first edition of a new feature called "Recurring Character Central." More than 40 years after his start in television, Len Lesser landed his best known role as Uncle Leo on Seinfeld. Lesser's other TV credits include Get Smart, All in The Family, and another recurring run on Everybody Loves Raymond. Listen as Uncle Leo drops in to talk about Seinfeld's surprise success, his crime of passion and lots more.

http://www.justmyshow.com/UncleLeo.html

Labels: ABC, JustMyShow.com, Len Lesser, Seinfeld

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Mini-DVD Review: CHiPs - The Complete First Season (June 5); Seinfeld - Season 9 Coming to DVD in November

Attention All Units: CHiPs roars onto DVD on June 5! Welcome to another edition of mini-DVD reviews. This week we take a look at Warner Home Video's CHiPs - The Complete First Season. CHiPs is the exciting action series which aired for six seasons from 1977-1983 on NBC and starred Erik Estrada ("Frank 'Ponch' Poncharello"), Larry Wilcox ("Jon Baker") and Robert Pine ("Sgt. Joseph Getraer") and had its fair share of multiple car pile-ups, high speed chases, hijacker plots and of course 1970s nostalgia. This six-disc collection includes all 22 episodes and all-new bonus features. See my mini-DVD review of CHiPs - The Complete First Season:

CHiPs - The Complete First Season (Warner Home Video, $39.98)

License and Registration, Please: The Kick-Start of the Six-Season Series!

Where the rubber meets the road and the bad guys meet the badge -- that's where you'll find California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers Jon (Larry Wilcox) and Ponch (Erik Estrada).

Set in the sun-drenched sprawl of Los Angeles, CHiPs combines action, heroics and fun in 22 Season One episodes whose event-packed storylines range from freeway gridlock (let's use a circus elephant to tow that broken-axled truck!) to wild roadway pursuits (who's that beautiful woman lead-footing a Rolls Royce?), from spilled onions (crying time, fellas) to pure venom (an overturned van loaded with....sssnakes!).

CHiPs, an acronym for California Highway Patrol, premiered on September 15, 1977 on NBC. A total of 139 episodes were produced over the show's six seasons. Other season one cast members included Paul Linke as Officer Arthur Grossman, Lew Saunders as Officer Gene Fritz and Brodie Greer as Officer Barry Baricza. Notable first season guest stars included Jim Backus, Richard Deacon, Broderick Crawford, Vito Scotti, Florence Halop, Gerald McRaney, Alice Ghostley, Ellen Travolta, Robbie Rist, Herb Edelman, Phyllis Diller, Gary Sandy, Edward James Olmos and Joe Penny.

The cover art features a photo of Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada. The "CHiPs" logo is in orange down the side. I'm not a big fan of the arrows all over the packaging. On the back of the box, there are 3 more photos of Estrada and Wilcox, a synopsis of the set, a listing of the special features and the DVD specs. There are 3 slim cases inside the outer cardboard box. Each slim case holds two discs and has two photos each on the front and back cover. Episode titles, writing and directing credits, original airdates and short summaries are provided on the front and back of the slim cases. There's a "P" next to the episodes that have the short introductions by Erik Estrada. Inside the slim cases, there are large photos of Estrada and Wilcox. Embedded plastic holders hold the discs. Discs 1, 3 and 5 feature Estrada and 2, 4, 6 have Wilcox on them.

The main menus feature the same photo and the CHiPs logo as the cover art. The unforgettable CHiPs theme plays in the background and then loops. This is the first season theme and not the updated disco theme they started to use in the second season. There are options for for Play (Play All), Episodes and Language. When you select Episodes, it takes you to another menu where there is another shot of Ponch and Jon. Episode titles are listed vertically in blue text. Next to select episodes, there is a microphone which you push to see the introductions by Erik Estrada. The Languages menu features Ponch and Jon and the Special Features menu on Disc 4 features Ponch, Jon and Gertraer. Chapter stops are available within the episodes, but there are no separate menus for scene selections.

It is hard to believe that CHiPs premiered nearly 30 years ago. The video and audio quality is about what you would expect given the show's age. I would say the episodes look about the same or a bit better than what I saw on TNT and TBS during the 1990's. Since the show was shot on film, there is a lot of dirt and debris and other video artifacts. While all the episodes are certainly watchable and enjoyable, I think they probably could have been cleaned up a bit more. All of the episodes appear to be unedited, running around 47-48 minutes in length. The total running time for the set is 1056 minutes. They are presented in their original broadcast order. For the closing logo enthusiasts, there is the Rosner Television logo embedded on the credits followed by the M-G-M lion. The audio is your basic 1970's mono track. I didn't notice any major problems. The episodes are closed-captioned and subtitles are available in Portuguese and Spanish. No closed-captioning or subtitles are available for the special features.

With this being the 30th Anniversary of CHiPs, I was hoping for many more special features. Unfortunately, the only cast member involved with these extras is Erik Estrada. "Ponch's Police Tips" are all-new introductions with special trivia and his reminiscences on 13 episodes. These run between 1-2 minutes in length. He is standing up in front of the California Highway Patrol center, on a motorcycle or inside the center. One of the most interesting bits of trivia he mentions is that the actor he beat out for the role was in one of the episodes. I think it would be great if they included these intros on all of the episodes and if they were a bit more detailed with trivia bits. The other special feature, "CHiPs: The Ride Out of Spanish Harlem," is found on the sixth disc. This feature runs 11 minutes, 44 seconds. This "ride" down memory lane includes all-new interviews with Author and Media Historian Herbie J Pilato and Erik Estrada. Erik talks about growing up in New York City and his decision of becoming an actor. He talks about how he auditioned for the part after losing out on some other pilots. Other topics include the on-screen chemistry between Erik and Larry, Erik's groundbreaking role for Latinos, the show's realism, and the legacy of CHiPs. While this is a nicely produced and edited feature, there probably won't be anything new for the die-hard fan.

It is a treat to have CHiPs finally available on DVD. I was never a big fan of Starsky & Hutch or The Dukes of Hazzard, but there was something about that CHiPs that drew it to me. It had just the right mix of action, drama and comedy. Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox had great on-screen chemistry and the supporting cast was excellent. If you were like me, you probably watched it religously on TNT and TBS during the 1990's. CHiPs Online was one of the first sites I ever visited on the internet and the inspiration for my own sites. Watching the episodes on DVD, it is like an all-new show to me. It has been been awhile since it's been on, so the episodes aren't really that fresh in my mind. There are a good 4-5 minutes of scenes per episode that were cut in syndication that are on the DVD. I don't think the first season was one of the best of the series, which is typical for many shows. There were better stories and the music of Alan Silvestri starting in the second season. Warner Home Video has done a decent job with the first season, but I'm hoping for bigger and better things for the future seasons. I'm sure Larry Wilcox and the rest of the cast and crew would love to reminiscence about the show. With a new film version starring Wilmer Valderrama set to begin production this year, CHiPs is sure to become a fan favorite of new generations. Be sure to support the first season release so we can get the remaining five seasons soon!

Happy 30th Anniversary to CHiPs!

-- Reviewed by Todd
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

As we first reported in our Seinfeld - Season 8 Review, the ninth and final season will be coming in November! If Sony's previous release pattern holds, the date will be Tuesday, November 20.

Click here to see the insert included with Season 8 that shows the cover art for Season 9.

Don't forget Seinfeld - Season 8 is coming on June 5th. It is jam-packed as usual with approximately 13 hours of extras and classic episodes including "The English Patient," "The Yada Yada" and "The Muffin Tops."

Labels: CHiPs, Mini-DVD Reviews, Seinfeld

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