A look back at The Great Talk Show Rush Of 1995

  The few, the proud: the fallen heroes of The Great Talk Show Rush Of 1995. The video above explains it all.  On Monday, three new syndicated talk shows debut in syndication, with new hosts Katie Couric, Jeff Probst, and the return of Ricki Lake. Along with Steve Harvey (whose show debuted Sept. 4) and Trisha Goddard (debuting Sept. 17), […]

Retro Friday Time Machine: Al Franken returns to “SNL”

http://www.hulu.com/watch/271485 (Editor’s Note: Advertising may appear before video. T Dog Media does not endorse any service or product. If you don’t see the above video on your screen, you can view it by clicking here. – T.H.) If you think NBC got grief for its fall 2012 lineup and its recent Olympic coverage, let me take you back to the […]

Chicago syndie schedules get dramatic makeover

Local stations, syndicators shuffle the deck As we enter year two in the post-Oprah era, things are finally changing in the syndication marketplace, as five new syndicated talk shows – the most in 17 years – make their debut. As for off-network sitcoms, the pickings are rather slim – just two new entries this year, compared to five in 2011. […]

ESPN re-ups with Major League Baseball

(Editor’s note: the wrong draft of this article was posted earlier. This is the correct version. -T.H.) It’s been the mantra for the last couple of years now: whatever ESPN wants, ESPN gets. I guess there are some benefits to being The Worldwide Leader in B.S. ESPN announced on Tuesday a renewal deal with Major League Baseball, with the sports […]

Winning With “Anger”

Oh Oh. Charlie Sheen’s “winning” again. FX and Debmar-Mercury announced on Wednesday the ninety-episode pickup of  Sheen’s new sitcom Anger Management, with production beginning in September and new shows airing in January. With the pickup, the series is now being prepped for an off-network broadcast syndication debut for 2014. In order to get the ninety-episode pickup, Management had to meet […]

T Dog’s Six Pack: Topsy turvy

The Six Pack is back, but this edition is straight out of bizarro world: perennial loser NBC in the winner’s circle while top-ranked WLS-TV is in loserland? As Vince Lombardi would say, “What’s going on here?” Well, WIQI is the loser’s circle again, so it’s all not that unusual… the week’s winners and losers: Winners – NBC. Belated congrats to […]

Retro Friday Time Machine: WFLD news’ silver anniversary

Chicago News and Weather | FOX Chicago News We have a new name for Retro Friday – its now The Retro Friday Time Machine (Retro Friday was a temporary name… and Michael Schneider’s Franklin Ave. blog already was using it.) In this week’s edition, we celebrate WFLD’s 25th anniversary in the news business – going back to August 1987 when […]

Chicago TV sinks to a new low – they hire Mancow

Chicago’s worst-run television duopoly meets Chicago’s worst radio personality. Confirming news that was speculated since July, local Fox executives have signed radio personality Erich “Mancow” Mueller to a deal, simulcasting two hours of his nationally syndicated radio show on WPWR-TV every weekday from 6 to 8 a.m., in a story first reported by Robert Channick in the Chicago Tribune. Specifics […]

Let the late-night fights begin

Jimmy Kimmel Live gets upgraded to 10:35 p.m. Central to take on Leno and Letterman; Nightline to move an hour later It’s on. Jimmy Kimmel – once known for co-hosting a show featuring women jumping up and down on trampolines – has landed the plum post-late local news slot on ABC effective January 8, replacing Nightline, which has held the […]

T Dog’s Grab Bag: “Closer” finale draws 9.1 million able bodies

We’ve got items on The Closer, NBC’s ratings results for its fall preview shows, and more: – According to Chicagoland Radio & Media, WJYS-TV’s new late night talk show strip Seven On Ridge has now nailed down a temporary location while it searches for a permanent home in the downtown Chicago area – the Genesis Convention Center in Gary, Ind. […]

Retro Friday: Good Grief! Charlie Brown’s selling bread AND insurance

Yes, yours truly is a huge Peanuts fan. And Snoopy and the gang are back on television as spokesmen for MetLife, a relationship that’s been strong for with for 27 years. But before then, did you know Charlie Brown and company appeared in ads for Ford, Dolly Madison, McDonalds, Cheerios, and Butternut bread? Yes, Snoopy’s getting paid, people! First, here […]

WBBM-TV restores weekend morning newscasts

WBBM-TV (CBS 2) announced the return of weekend morning newscasts to the station after a three-year hiatus. The announcement was made during a meeting in the CBS-owned station’s newsroom with General Manager Bruno Cohen and News Director Jeff Kierman. Beginning on September 22, WBBM plans to air an hour of local news on Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and from Sundays […]

Joss Whedon to work on new Marvel TV show

…oh, and he’s set to direct the Avengers sequel too You think there was be any doubt there would be an Avengers sequel? After amassing more than $1 billion in box office receipts globally and nabbing the biggest opening weekend haul in North American film history, Marvel announced it’s planning a sequel to the film, scheduled to be released in […]

Going for the ratings gold

Chicago ranks 25th in Olympic ratings When it comes to the Summer Olympics, Chicagoans haven’t really been too excited about the games (perhaps we still have a hangover from losing the 2016 Olympics bid to Rio?) The games of the XXX Olympiad from across the pond in London has drawn an average of 32.8 million viewers in primetime for the […]