Debmar-Mercury switches ad sales for "South Park"

Cartman. A Twentieth Television Production. Debmar-Mercury has replaced Tribune Entertainment with Twentieth Television as national advertising representative for syndicated reruns of South Park, meaning Twentieth will now sell the national barter ad time for Cartman and friends, effective immediately. Tribune helped clear the off-Comedy Central sitcom in several markets in 2004 and 2005. But the ironic thing here is, South […]

Can you tell them apart?

Cartman and J.R. Ewing. Separated at birth? Television has a rich history of evil TV characters fans love to hate. From J.R. Ewing to Montgomery Burns, their scheming ways have made memorable storylines. So what happens when you combine J.R. and Burns and toss in a little Archie Bunker, and what do you get? The perfect heel character in Eric […]

It’s King of this Hill

While the other animated comedies have been hit-or-miss this season (quite often on the miss side), there is one under-the-radar show that has been consistent. Fox’s King of the Hill is coming back for its thirteenth season with thirteen episodes. All the show’s principals are returning, including creator Mike Judge. Hill doesn’t garner the same type of attention The Simpsons, […]

Tribune hires Compton for new TV post

Another hiring to report (now that’s more like it…) The Tribune Co. has hired radio veteran Sean Compton to senior VP of programming and entertainment for the 23-station Tribune group, which includes WGN-TV. Compton replaces Marc Schacher, who is stepping down after 29 years with the company. Schacher was behind the Tribune group purchases of programs such as Friends, Two […]

And another thing…

And on a personal note: The comments section in the Tribune over the Channel 2 layoffs has turned into a free-for-all, with yours truly joining in the fray (scroll way down. Flame war, baby!) Don’t know how Family Guy and Adult Swim came up in all of this… but if yours truly is one of those responsible for sending the […]

"Rachael Ray" out at WABC? (updated 2)

The New York ABC-owned station is considering axing the program from its 10 a.m. time slot due to mediocre ratings, according to this article in the New York Post. Or is it because ABC parent Disney wants to reclaim the time period for its own fare (remember Wayne Brady’s and Tony Danza’s talk shows? Works of masterpiece right there.) If […]

Oprah’s Big Give gets big ratings

Oprah Winfrey’s new prime-time reality show on ABC was a big hit last night, with the program finishing first in total viewers, adults 18-49, and in households, despite the fact critics ultimately panned the show (so much for that extra promotion – but does the queen of daytime TV really even need them?) Meanwhile, Fox’s The Simpsons scored the highest […]

"Gladiators" smashes competition

The return of American Gladiators was a huge ratings success story, drawing a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC, according to Nielsen. The two-hour premiere even drew numbers that it never achieved in its syndication run (1989-95). It also drew the highest-rated program for any new show this season. Gladiators will move to regular day and time tonight (8 […]

The Most Bankable Stars in Syndication in 2008

Oprah No. 1; Family Guy and Two and a Half Men tie for No. 10; CBS dominates list TV Week’s annual 10 Most Bankable Syndication Stars issue is out this week, and it boasts a few surprises: – Oprah Winfrey’s star power continues to shine as she repeats at No. 1. (well, that’s not a surprise), thanks to her public […]

Score big with Bender

He’s not Devin Hester (that’s for sure), but his return is a touchdown for long-suffering Futurama fans. Futurama is back with the equivalent of four all-new episodes in stores today on DVD titled Bender’s Big Score. Taking the same tack Family Guy used to thank its fans for helping bring back the show to network television two years ago (in […]

Take that, Stewie!

Yes, it’s true – Eric Cartman introduced the Colorado Buffaloes during a college football game airing on ABC this weekend (pretty funny stuff.) Next thing you know, Bart Simpson will introduce the Chicago Bears on next week’s Fox telecast against the New York Giants (I would have said Homer, but he would just mess up the names… D’Oh!)

Fox rocks on Sunday

Its’ hot Sunday night lineup trumped the American Music Awards on ABC and the New England Patriots-whatever team lost to them on NBC (however, the AMAs scored its highest ratings in three years, no doubt owing its success to female viewers, who are the biggest mainstream music fans.) Fox’s Sunday night lineup in up 23 percent in adults 18-49 from […]

Fox to proceed without McFarlane for new "Family Guy" episodes

Get your jet skis ready, because there’s gonna be a show. Fox is apparently proceeding with the production of new Family Guy episodes, without the input of creator Seth MacFarlane, who is on strike with the rest of the Writer’s Guild, and has refused to work on the series. The first of those “strike affected” episodes will air, starting this […]

A dark horse in the off-network race

While Two and a Half Men tied the weekly CSI: Miami for top off-network show, there is a surprise strong performer in the race: Warner Bros.’ other new off-net sitcom, The George Lopez Show. The sitcom, which aired on ABC until this past season, averaged a season-high 2.7 household rating in the latest Nielsen report. Lopez’s performance is strong thanks […]