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 […]
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 […]
Despite their mostly sub-par performance, all three of its daily courtroom strips – Judge Alex, Divorce Court, and Cristina’s Court have been renewed for the 2008-09 season. (i.e. the move keeps other syndicators at bay with their upcoming courtroom shows – Sony introduced Judge Karen last week.)
Note: If you didn’t see this show, don’t click on the link, as it contains a major spoiler. All right, Stewie didn’t kill Lois. But somebody did die on another show on Fox’s Sunday night animation block.
It looks like Family Guy has succeeded where The Simpsons succeeded. According to numbers supplied by Twentieth Television (from a banner ad that appeared on TV Week’s website), Family Guy’s airing at 10 p.m. on WGN-TV finished number one in the time period between Sept. 17 and Sept. 21 among men 18-34 (2.2) and women 18-34 (2.6). It beat not […]
In what may be encouraging signs for Warner Bros. Two and a Half Men and Twentieth Television’s Family Guy, ratings for both off-network programs in syndication are up from the previous week in metered markets, ever so slightly. Both look like they’re keepers. Law & Order: Criminal Intent scored a 1.0/3 as a strip in off-network syndication in its first […]
Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth McFarlane, who is doing Family Guy Live at the Chicago Theater tomorrow night, is interviewed by both the Tribune and Sun-Times and talks about Family Guy (of course), the FCC, and South Park’s recent zing (in “Cartoon Wars”) at his show, and comparisons to The Simpsons. Family Guy Live! is playing at the […]
WMOR-TV in Tampa adds Family Guy to schedule Walt Belcher in the Tampa Tribune is reporting Hearst-Argyle’s WMOR-TV in Tampa-St. Petersburg is adding Family Guy this fall in addition to Reno 911 and Law & Order: Criminal Intent and is also adding The Office in the fall of 2009. The independent station, once known as WTMV and (former WB affiliate) […]
The full fall schedule isn’t out yet, but WGN-TV in Chicago has announced that new-to- syndication repeats of Family Guy and Two and a Half Men will air in prime access starting Sept. 10. Family Guy will air at 6:30 and at 10, replacing Everybody Loves Raymond and Sex and the City, respectively. The Family Guy slotting at 10 is […]
Twelve 7-Eleven convenience stores – including one here in Chicago – have converted themselves into “Kwik-E-Marts” – the real-life prototype of the store Apu runs on The Simpsons. In the stores you will find prototypes of products that are seen on the animated show, including Buzz Cola, Krusty O’s, and Squishees (really Slurpees). But you won’t find four week-old hot […]
Twentieth Television has cleared Family Guy in 90% of the country for syndication this fall, with 150 markets on board and 24 of the top 25 markets. Outside of the core Tribune group, recent markets cleared included San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cleveland, Orlando, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City. (The press release misidentified one of the Orlando stations. […]
Here is the latest from the NATPE convention in Las Vegas: – The Fox O&Os, as it has been spectacled for the last few weeks, has acquired Warner Bros. new magazine strip, TMZ, for next fall. The program will air locally on both WFLD-TV and WPWR-TV this September. The show is based on the wildly popular entertainment website TMZ.com, which […]
Twentieth Television is bringing back the old game show Sale of the Century — but with a different name. Twentieth cleared Temptation– a new program based on the ’80’s daytime game show on its 10 MyNetworkTv stations covering 24 percent of the country (including WPWR here in Chicago.) The program is produced by FremantleMedia, which owns the rights to the […]
The ax has fallen on Geraldo at Large, the Twentieth Television-syndicated newsmagazine show that replaced the failed revival of A Current Affair last year. Hosted by Fox News Channel personality and former daytime talk-show host Geraldo Rivera, At Large did well in a few markets like New York, but in many other places, like here in Chicago, the program ran […]
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