The Golden Girls is shifting from long-time cable home Lifetime to the Hallmark Channel, effective early next year. The off-network sitcom has been a constant performer on Lifetime, drawing new generations of viewers that never saw the program during its original seven-season run on NBC (1985-92.) However, ratings have been declining over the years, and Lifetime felt the program has […]
A reminder: the new WMEU-CA, branded Me-Too is launching today at 5 a.m.The new channel is a spin-off of Me-TV (WWME-CA), which launched in 2005. WMEU is taking the place of ethnic-programmed WFBT-CA, which is switching to one of WCIU’s sub-channels. WMEU, WFBT, WWME, and WCIU are all owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Me-Too is available on broadcast analogchannel 48 (good […]
Weigel’s local outlet for classic TV, WWME-TV (or Me-TV for short) is honoring three individuals who passed away in the last week. Suzanne Pleshette, Allan Melvin, and Lois Nettleton will be honored by Me-TV this weekend with marathons of the programs they appeared in. All three lost their battle with cancer. – Pleshette will honored Saturday Night from 7-10 pm, […]
Suzanne Pleshette, the woman who co-starred with Bob Newhart on The Bob Newhart Show, died yesterday at the age of 70 from complications of lung cancer. Pleshette played Newhart’s wife Emily Hartley on the set-in-Chicago show, which ran on CBS from 1972 to 1978. She also made a memorable guest appearance on the series finale of Newhart (Bob Newhart’s second […]
Robert Feder has a column in the Sun-Times today about a new book that goes behind-the-scenes of Chicago’s horror TV shows, a staple of the tube from the 1950’s through the 1980’s. Titled Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theater To Svengoolie, the new book details the history of the shows, from their low-budget production values to their zany […]
Before the Charmin Bears and before the “roll-in-a-half” commercials of the 1980’s (shivers…), there was Mr. Whipple – always remind us not to squeeze the Charmin. Well, the actor who portayed him in those ads (Dick Wilson) passed away a few weeks ago, and Proctor & Gamble takes us back in time with this thoughtful tribute.
The play-by-play of last night’s Bears-Redskins game on the NFL Network (broadcast locally on My Network TV affiliate WPWR-TV) was about as bad as the play on the field. Bryant “Kermit the Frog” Gumbel was quite awful, as usual. Analyst Cris Collinsworth was sharp, and delivered the best line of the night, summing up the Bears: “There’s professional football and […]
An article written in the Sun-Times today (how come Feder didn’t get a chance to write this?), mentions four call letters you’d better get reacquainted with – WPWR. Of course, Fox-owned WPWR-TV (Channel 50), a former UPN affiliate now-turned My Network TV affiliate has the Bears-Redskins game Thursday night, which is carried on NFL Network, which of course, you can’t […]
ABC’s seventh airing of former CBS classic It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown rocked the ratings last night, notching a second-place 7.2 household rating and a first-place 3.8 adults 18-49 rating, which is up 46 percent from last year’s airing, which landed on a Friday, and posted significant ratings improvement over the sagging time period averages of Cavemen and Carpoolers. […]
That’s the question TVnewsday’s Steve Passwaiter is asking (registration may be required.) With the sitcom drought on the networks, the reliable comedies needed for stations not affiliated with the big three networks to fill non-prime time periods are fading away, and there is nothing coming in to replace them. Many stations are using the time slots that were once reserved […]
It is well known that one of the perks of living in Atlanta was getting first-run TBS shows for free – including My Boys, House of Payne, Ten Items or Less – not to mention World Premiere Movies. Well, now they will have to pay up like the rest of us. WTBS-TV the Turner/Time Warner-owned station in Atlanta, is becoming […]
That’s what Sorpranos creator David Chase basically said to its fans last night’s series finale as the screen went to black – in the middle of the final scene. Well, at least no one went to jail (Seinfeld), it wasn’t a figment of someone’s imagination (St. Elsewhere), and nobody woke up next to Suzanne Pleshette (Newhart – still the best […]
Best known for his long-running stint on The Match Game, Mr. Reilly passes at 76.
They’re back. But the new CBS Television Distribution is in the spirit of the old CBS Films, the syndication division of CBS before the government forced the big three networks to rid itself of the lucrative syndication business in 1970 via the financial interest and syndication rules, which ended in 1995. In 1971, CBS spun-off Viacom, and became a very […]
Two animation greats have passed on: Joseph Barbara and Chris Hayward (Rocky & Bullwinkle).
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