Programming Archive:
Returning: Jamie at Home
Jamie Oliver will replace Neighbours later this month, when the show rests for the summer season.
Repeats of Jamie at Home begin at 6:30pm Monday December 15. The cooking series will be sandwiched in between The Bold and the Beautiful and repeats of Friends.
Jamie Oliver is doing what he does best - cooking, at home. He explains how easy it is to grow your own produce; sometimes in weird and wonderful ways. Also, how simple it is to make something around only one primary ingredient.
Sex and the sequel
Do you still want more Sex and the City? You could be gettin’ it.
Sarah Jessica Parker says shooting on the Sex and the City: The Movie sequel will start next summer (US).
SJP says, “I think shooting next summer is a realistic timetable. That’s when we’d start shooting to be out in 2010. But that means we need to figure this out in the next couple of months.”
Parker also revealed the main hurdle in getting the movie off the ground is finding a realistic premise for the plot.
“We’ve had very general conversations …
TEN moves Bold & Beautiful to primetime
Here’s a bold (but how beautiful?) programming move by TEN. The network has just announced some significant changes to its summer scheduling.
Afternoon US soap The Bold and The Beautiful is officially moving to primetime, winning a new 6pm timeslot from Monday December 1st. It will be replaced by Judge Judy at 4:30pm.
TEN has also bitten the bullet on its under-performing Will and Grace episodes, axed for the return of Friends at 7pm. It returns with S6E12 “The One With The Joke.”
The timeslot has been a crazy game of musical chairs recently, …
TEN failing 7pm test
This will come as no surprise to any reader of this site. But it’s good to hear the problem being addressed publicly.
TEN’s chief programmer has conceded it is in the doldrums due mostly to the 7pm timeslot.
“Where the problem is for us - and it’s the elephant in the room - is 7pm and there’s no question it’s our biggest challenge,” Mott told the Daily Telegraph. “It’s hurting us and we have to bring people back . . . at 7pm.”
TEN has cycled through Friends, Taken Out, Friends (again) and …
Packered by the Rafters
It was the week the Packer family parted ways with Nine causing David Gyngell to vow to prove James Packer wrong, TEN announced a new channel, Pay TV launched another three, Minister Stephen Conroy signalled support for increased ABC & SBS funding, commercial networks (briefly) found a conscience but upset David Leckie, WIN sat down at the gambling table, Kath & Kim (US) got a greenlight for a full season, Andrew Denton announced the end of Enough Rope, David Tennant set his exit from his iconic role, Rove visited …
The dumping ground of television
It’s become one of the stories of the 2008 television year: dumping shows ad infinitum. This month we’ve lost Fringe, Cold Case, Wipeout, Battlefronts, Kitchen Nightmares USA, Kath & Kim (US), 90210, Bondi Rescue: Bali and even a repeat series of Friends. Dropping shows isn’t new, but its rapidity is increasing, confusing audiences and disintegrating trust between viewers and networks.
Nine’s Head of Acquisitions, Daytime and HD programming Les Sampson spoke to TV Tonight about the challenges and ramifications of scheduling.
As we all know, delivering demographics to advertisers is an artform. Programming …
Friends move out for Will & Grace
TEN has now sent through details of its plans to replace Friends with Will and Grace from 7pm next Monday.
It will begin with Series Two, episode one “Guess Who’s Not Coming to Dinner.”
Formerly a Seven Network sitcom, and currently airing on Pay TV, this is the first time the comedy will air on TEN.
The comedy starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally ran from 1998 - 2006. As a “millennial Odd Couple” it began as something of a response to the political and social climate of Clinton’s ‘Don’t …
Bumped: Californication, The Office.
Another fastracked US series has taken a hit, with Network TEN indicating it will push Californication back an hour beginning this Sunday.
Instead it will squeeze a repeat of NCIS into 9:40pm with a repeat of “Hometown Hero.”
Californication will start an hour later.
Sadly, this means The Office won’t start until 11:20pm either, which is very late for a school night. That’s likely to anger fans who have been waiting for months for the show to return. Some even suggested it would get better ratings at 7pm than Friends. But TEN treats the …
111 Hits will target 24-54’s.
111 HITS, which launches on November 1st will be aimed squarely at the lucrative advertiser-friendly 25-54 demographic, as a move to compete with the new standard definition digital channels by commercial networks.
It will program US hits primarily from the Warner Bros, Disney and 20th Century Fox studios, including Friends, Will & Grace, Ally McBeal, The Wonder Years, That 70s Show, ER, Murphy Brown, Alf, Lost, 24 and Baywatch.
The schedule from 6.30pm each weeknight begins with Murphy Brown, The King of Queens, That 70s Show, Dharma & Greg, Friends and Will & …
ABC beats TEN as Seven wins
It was the week that American critics began to knife Kath & Kim (officially), ABC told staff it would cut up to 35 production jobs, Nine denied having a contract with the wife of a convicted crim, an actor lambasted his former soap, Today Tonight announced its next host would be a sports presenter and said its film crew helped -not hounded- an interviewee, Seven ’streamlined’ its Lotto results, buyers eyed a key production company, the Imparja / Nine Darwin deal fell apart, a TV critic died, and suddenly so did …
Taken Out taken out of 7pm slot
Channel TEN has moved on its under-performing new dating show, Taken Out.
It will move from 7pm to 6pm immediately, with Friends moving back to the 7:00 slot.
Taken Out has been on air for two weeks now, with disappointing figures. It premiered to 851,000 but dropped to 581,000 on Friday.
The show hosted by James Kerley pits 30 contestants for a date with one single, so far only girls have comprised the group. 30 guys will get their turn for a date with a single female next week.
Of most concern for TEN is …
Returning: The Simpsons
New episodes of The Simpsons are back on TEN from September 9th at 7:30pm.
“N for Nerder” is one of seven more remaining episodes in the 19th season.
It aired in the US in March.
It will be followed by a repeat of “Treehouse of Horror #17.”
Meanwhile repeats of The Simpsons remain at 6pm when Taken Out premieres at 7pm Monday September 1st.
Friends will be out of schedule after next week.
Kindly link to …