Last week, Comic-Con descended on San Diego for four days for non-stop fanboy (and fangirl) fun. Last Saturday (July 14) was the busiest day of the convention, with a lot of TV, movie, and video game panels. While yours truly won’t be able to go through all of them due to time and space constraints, here’s a quick (and snarky) […]
In a sale that could alter the power structure among which station groups purchase off-net sitcoms – and other programming in the future, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has sold CBS Monday night comedies Mike & Molly and 2 Broke Girls to Weigel broadcasting’s WCIU in Chicago and to thirteen non-CBS affiliated stations owned by CBS Corporation for fall 2014 […]
NBC renews four shows for next season; ABC renews ten In the “this doesn’t come as a surprise” department, Fox has renewed Family Guy and American Dad for two more seasons through 2014. However, no decision has been made on The Cleveland Show past 2013. All three shows are part of Fox’s Animation Domination Sunday night block. The moves come […]
Ho, Ho, Ho! It’s Terry Claus about to deliver you a special Christmas edition of The Grab Bag! I got special presents from the world of media that will make you happy – or cringe. Let’s start handing out the gifts! Ho! Ho! Ho! – WGN-TV has extra good reasons to cheer this holiday season – the Tribune-owned CW affiliate’s […]
The much-hyped premiere of ABC’s new airline drama Pan Am took off on Sunday with respected sampling. Now the challenge is not to crash in the ratings and not have their membership in the mile-high club revoked. The drama – about a group of stewardess who work for the now-defunct airline in the 1960’s (which filed for bankruptcy and ceased […]
Cops slides on Saturdays; American Dad on two stations in Chicago at the same time? Here’s a brief synopsis on last Friday’s and Saturday’s night ratings in prime-time during premiere week: – CBS’ premiere of new drama A Gifted Man on Friday night wasn’t so gifted with a 1.4 adult demo (18-49) rating and a 5 share and 9.45 million […]
Fox released its 2011-12 schedule this morning in advance of its upfront presentation, which took place in New York this afternoon. Usually, Fox has two sets of schedules: one of fall, the other in midseason to accommodate the return of American Idol. And here is their lineup (new series are in CAPS; all times Central) Fall 2011 lineup: Monday 7:00 […]
“Futurama” syndie clearances reach 90% Serving up burgers in a restaurant is just as hard as serving up laughs – but Bob’s Burgers may have made it work. In a surprise move, Fox has picked up thirteen more episodes of Burgers for its second season, which is likely to commence early next year. While ratings for the series does lag […]
Planet Express is now making weekend deliveries. In a deal that seemingly came together overnight, Twentieth Television has secured clearances to run Futurama on WCIU in Chicago and several Tribune-owned stations as an one-hour, all-barter block on weekends in the fall of 2011. While WCIU has acquired Futurama in Chicago to air, Tribune stations signing on include WPIX in New […]
Last week, A memo Tribune CEO Randy Michaels sent through WGN-AM News Director Charlie Meyerson, had a list of 119 words and phrases his employees at WGN should not say on the air in order to “improve the product”. And if they say any of these “forbidden” words, other employees can “rat them out” by noting the precise date and […]
The deals made by Tribune, Fox, and Weigel’s WCIU for Family Guy last week showed a return of cash into the syndication marketplace, something that has lacking for the past year or so. But hold the bubbly; in fact, you might have to take the bottle of champagne back to the store. It turns out Tribune paid less to renew […]
Soon, “Family Guy” will have TWO places to call home in Chicago. In a rather odd twist to a renewal deal, Tribune-owned WGN-TV has renewed syndicated repeats of Family Guy for a second cycle in a new four-year deal through 2015, which kicks in on September 12, 2011. But as a part of the deal, Weigel-owned independent station WCIU-TV […]
The new Family Guy spin-off got some good sampling last night. Fox’s premiere of The Cleveland Show, featuring the next-door neighbor of The Griffins who moved to Virginia to start a new life drew 9.4 million viewers and a 4.9 rating in adults 18-49, growing 17% from its Simpsons lead-in. The premiere of Cleveland coincided with the season premieres of […]
The answer is yes for one, maybe for the other. A decision will be made soon on when Warner Bros. The New Adventures of Old Christine and Twentieth Century Fox’s American Dad. This comes as the recession practically froze the market to sell anything in syndication for the last few months. Christine is currently in trouble – the Julia-Louis Dreyfus […]
After a run of fourteen seasons, King of the Hill is stepping down from its throne. Fox officials confirmed the venerable animated series will end its long run during the 2009-10 season, which it is scheduled for thirteen episodes. The program, created by Mike Judge, was about a propane salesman living in Texas with his wife Peggy and his son […]
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