“Murphy Brown” rises from the dead

The latest in reboot fever Get ready… she’s going to be firing secretaries again. CBS and Warner Bros. Television announced Wednesday a thirteen-episode order of Murphy Brown featuring the woman who played her, Candice Bergen. According to the press release, Bergen reprises her role “set in a world of cable news, social media, fake news, and a very different political […]

Bears bomb on field and in ratings

  If you thought the Chicago White Sox had a bad season…you ain’t seen nothing yet Maybe we should send Chris Sale to cut up some Bears jerseys in the locker room. Monday night certainly wasn’t football night for Bears fans as the team put up the worst performance in at least two seasons as the team was blown out […]

Syndication 2016: Yawn.

Outside of Harry Connick Jr., there’s practically nothing on the market Looking for something new for the fall of 2016 in syndication? Good luck. That’s the consensus as the 2016 market has come to a crawl. Outside of NBCUniversal, who is marketing Harry Connick Jr.’s show this fall and Entertainment Studios pushing a new one-hour panel talk show, syndicators are […]

The return of Arsenio Hall

Bethenny, The Test also make their debuts in syndication today When Arsenio Hall debuted his late-night show in syndication on January 3, 1989, consider this: Johnny Carson was still the king of late-night at NBC; David Letterman still appealed to a cult audience; CBS was about to debut Pat Sajak as a late night talk show host; and ABC and […]

Fallon to succeed Leno as host of “The Tonight Show”

Here we go again. After weeks of speculation, NBC made it official last week: it was handing the hosting duties of The Tonight Show to Jimmy Fallon, replacing Jay Leno in the role. In addition, NBC is moving production of The Tonight Show to New York City, returning to the Big Apple for the first time in 42 years. Excluding […]

Arsenio Hall mulling late-night return

Get ready to woof again: there’s a possibility Arsenio Hall may return to late-night television with a new version of his talk show. According to Broadcasting & Cable, CBS Television Distribution and Tribune Broadcasting are looking to bring the Cleveland native and recent Celebrity Apprentice winner back into the fold, with an eye toward a September 2013 launch. CBS and […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues

It all began on January 7, when a website reported that NBC had canceled The Jay Leno Show. It ended on January 22, with Conan O’Brien leaving The Tonight Show. Welcome to The Late Shift 2: The Screwjob Continues. Based on New York Times writer Bill Carter’s book (and later HBO movie), this is a sequel to the mid 1990s […]

Ed McMahon dies

One of television’s most recognizable faces – and voices – has left us. Ed McMahon, best known as Johnny Carson’s sidekick for more than thirty years on The Tonight Show passed away this morning at the age of 86. McMahon’s entertainment career spanned more than fifty years, including stints as a game show host, announcer, actor, and commercial pitchman. Aside […]

"Conan" is ready to go (Updated)

Now that the Jay Leno era has come to a close, it’s time for Conan O’Brien to step in. Beginning tonight, Conan O’Brien becomes the fifth host to front The Tonight Show in the program’s 55-year history, following Steve Allen (and Ernie Kovacs, who hosted the Monday and Tuesday episodes of “Tonight” during the Allen era), Johnny Carson, and Jay […]

WHDH to Leno: Get lost

In a move that could put its fourteen-year NBC affiliation at risk, WHDH-TV in Boston has told NBC it plans not to run Jay Leno’s new weeknight show at 10 p.m. (ET) but instead run a prime-time newscast. Leno got the 10 p.m. time slot after losing his longtime 11:35 p.m. Tonight Show slot to Conan O’Brien. Leno leaves Tonight […]

Jay Leno to stay with NBC – at 9 p.m. Central

And that’s 9 p.m. every weeknight. In a stunning and historic announcement, NBC is keeping Jay Leno by giving him a hour a night – in primetime. Leno is expected to take over the 9 p.m. time slot (that’s 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific) every weeknight as a strip beginning next fall. Excluding special events (and My Network TV’s short-lived […]

WVON program director quits – on the air

It’s not every day that somebody quits on-air – it happened once in 1960 when Jack Paar shocked everyone when he quit The Tonight Show – in the middle of the broadcast – after NBC cut out a joke he made regarding the initials W.C. being confused for a water closet instead of a wayside chapel the previous night (hey, […]