The plight of the sitcom

  What’s happening to the cherished genre these days isn’t funny as it could be reduced to nothing Seven weeks ago, CNN launched The History Of The Sitcom – an unnecessary eight-part documentary on a subject covered to death through books, PBS, and other media celebrating the form stretching from the days of I Love Lucy on your black-and-white mono […]

“The Good Fight” off to a good start

First test for new show heading to CBS’ premium service When CBS’ new All-Access service was wheeled out in 2014, many thought the first original series to be rolled out and marketed as a flagship brand for the service would be the new Star Trek series – a well-known brand name to draw in viewers. Unfortunately, the new Star Trek […]

CBS (finally) gets into the digital subchannel business

Chicago’s last digital subchannel holdout is about to convert. WBBM-TV owner CBS – who operates Chicago’s only TV station not operating a digital subchannel – is entering a new venture with Weigel Broadcasting in launching Decades, a new digital subchannel network scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2015 (in layman’s terms, next spring.) The channel has been cleared […]

The address is CBS for 2014-15 (or not)

CBS unveiled its 2014-15 primetime schedule at an upfront presentation in New York Wednesday and introduced eight new series to the world. Among the announcements made at the conference call was the (not-so-surprising) end to Two And A Half Men in May 2015 after twelve seasons – the longest running live-action sitcom since My Three Sons, which also lasted twelve […]

CBS drops-kick “We Are Men”

Remember the days when CBS Monday nights were comedy gold? You’d think I Love Lucy. The Andy Griffith Show. Here’s Lucy. M*A*S*H. Rhoda (before she left Joe.) Evening Shade. Newhart. Murphy Brown (well, maybe. Yours truly hated Murphy Brown.) Everybody Loves Raymond. Monday nights on CBS is where you’d usually find the best of the best in sitcoms. These days, […]

Andy Griffith dies

Fans are mourning the loss of television legend Andy Griffith, who died in his North Carolina home on Tuesday at the age of 86. His career spans multiple decades, several movies, and two long-running TV shows. Griffith was born in Mount Airy, N.C. – the town that provided the inspiration for fictional Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show. Griffith got […]

More NATPE News

– Twentieth Television has renewed The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet for a second season the Fox O&O’s, including WFLD-TV in Chicago. The program has done on many stations, especially in southern markets such as Birmingham (WBRC) and Greensboro, N.C. (WGHP). Other pickups include San Francisco (KTVU), Seattle (KCPQ-TV), and Portland, Ore. (KPTV). – Mighty Oak’s Whacked Out Sports […]

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 […]

Hallmark, CBS hook up

Hallmark Channel has snapped up the cable rights to several off-network programs owned by CBS Television Distribution. Among them include Cheers, I Love Lucy, and 7th Heaven. I Love Lucy and Cheers currently air on TV Land. Viacom owns TV Land and once owned the rights to Lucy and Cheers, but those went to CBS after the 2006 split that […]

Peachtree TV’s new schedule

As noted before, WPCH, or Peachtree TV will premiere on Oct. 1. in Atlanta, replacing WTBS. To see the new schedule, click here (note that the schedule may change.) WPCH will take over WTBS’ dial position over-the-air channel 17 and cable channel 7, while the national feed of TBS will become available for the first time in the Atlanta area […]