A look back : Children's programming blocks: Discovery Kids on NBC

The Flash Black | Children's  TV 
       This  must really be a series now .... we take another look back at children's television on broadcast TV from the past. This time we go back to obscurity.  Discovery Kids on NBC.
    NBC in 2002 , deiced  to hop  back into having children's programming on a Saturday Morning   and end it's long running T-NBC ( Teen NBC)  block.    This block was self-serving for both sides it gave Discovery's children's channel , Discovery Kids,  more exposure and gave NBC 3 hours of E/I mandated children's programming.  Discovery Kids had launched in 1996 , as the beginning of Discovery's expansion into digital cable networks but it didn't have a lot of people able to watch it.  2002 ,was an interesting year for children's programming blocks  where cable network programming was added more to broadcast tv,
Nick on CBS,  Disney Channel programs on ABC Kids,  some cartoon network programs on Kids WB.
 

Discovery Kids Ident - Sound Design and Mix from Richard Spooner - Sound Designer on Vimeo.
  So  anyway what kind of programs did this Saturday Morning 3 hour long block air on  NBC ?  Many of the programs from Discovery Kids , is the short answer. The first year , 2002, they aired programs that were about nature and science targeted towards kids, a new reality program called "Endurance", which was playing upon the popularity of survivor,  but instead of Adults it was kids. The Final hour was a couple dramas by Discovery Kids.   In  2003, the block added cartoons (yay!  Cartoons) Discovery had a way of making interesting yet educational cartoons.
     "Kenny the Shark" was one of those programs that was introduced.  It was about a girl named Kat, she adopts a shark (Kenny) that apparently got tired of living in the water (which should scare us all)  and  he has to learn to live in our world ( he gets yelled at lot for doing shark things...because you know he's a shark!)  the program also inserted facts about sharks (mostly tiger sharks)  in subtle but noticeable ways.  Other programs were Tuntenstien , about a mummy king kid, who was brought back to life, has to deal with our time and living(?) in a museum.  And a kids version of the popular reality show "Trading spaces".   Some wildlife /science shows were returned for a short time in 2005 , but in fall cartoons return to lead the block.
A new program "Time Warp Trio" started in 2005 it was about 3 boys who had a time traveling book  , they go to different times in history and one case we meet the secondary characters  ,their 3 grand children , who sometimes are included  in the travels. The series fit E/I because it did teach historical facts (except the 2105 episode) with some twists. Others included Comedy-drama  "Darcy's wild Life"  and "Flight 29 Down" , which was  following the popularity of  "Lost" but instead it was teens (because who wouldn't want some teens stuck on Island?).


Time Warp Trio/ WGBH/  Youtube

   Well 4 years flies fast , doesn't it ? In May 2006 , NBC Universal announced they were partnering with Ion Media, Scholastic , and Classic Media to create a new children's block called QUBO. So that mean that after 4 years  Discovery  Kids on NBC was to end .  So September 2nd  , the block did one last run and it ended.    Discovery Kids, the Channel, continued it did introduce a couple more series but it lost some of it's drive  after the NBC block was ended. The Network died 10-10-2010  after earlier deal was made by Discovery to sell 50% to toy maker, Hasbro, to create the  Hub Network.
      Kind of wishing there was more that could be said about Discovery Kids on NBC, it aired some good programs  kind of wonder how it would be if it was still running now.

Prime time Emmy nominations 2014

Primetime TV   Emmys 

      It's that time of the year again...the Prime time emmy's nominees have been announced.  They will be airing August 25th at  8pmet on NBC

Outstanding Comedy Series
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Louie"
"Modern Family"
"Orange is the New Black"
"Silicon Valley"
"Veep"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Lena Dunham, "Girls"
Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"
Melissa McCarthy, "Mike & Molly"
Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"
Taylor Schilling, "Orange is the New Black"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Louie C.K., "Louie"
Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"
Ricky Gervais, "Derek"
Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"
William H. Macy, "Shameless"
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik, "The Big Bang Theory"
Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"
Anna Chlumsky, "Veep"
Allison Janney, "Mom"
Kate Mulgrew, "Orange is the New Black"
Kate McKinnon, "Saturday Night Live"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Fred Armisen, "Portlandia"
Andre Braugher, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"
Adam Driver, "Girls"
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, "Modern Family"
Tony Hale, "Veep"

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Steve Buscemi, "Portlandia"
Louie C.K., "Saturday Night Live"
Gary Cole, "Veep"
Jimmy Fallon, "Saturday Night Live"
Nathan Lane, "Modern Family"
Bob Newhart, "The Big Bang Theory"

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, "Orange is the New Black"
Laverne Cox, "Orange is the New Black"
Joan Cusack, "Shameless"
Tina Fey, "Saturday Night Live"
Natasha Lyonne, "Orange is the New Black"
Melissa McCarthy, "Saturday Night Live"

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
"Episodes" -- "Episode 305" (David Crane)
"Louie" -- "So Did The Fat Lady" (Louie C.K.)
"Orange Is the New Black" -- "I Wasn't Ready" (Jenji Kohan and Liz Friedman)
"Silicon Valley" -- "Optimal Tip-To-Tip Efficiency" (Alec Berg)
"Veep" -- "Special Relationship" (Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and Armando Iannucci)

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
"Episodes" -- "Episode 309" (Iain B. MacDonald)
"Glee" -- "100" (Paris Barclay)
"Louie" -- "Elevator, Part 6" (Louie C.K.)
"Modern Family" -- "Vegas" (Gail Mancuso)
"Orange Is the New Black" -- "Lesbian Request Denied" (Jodie Foster)
"Silicon Valley" -- Minimum Viable Product" (Mike Judge)

Outstanding Drama Series
"Breaking Bad"
"Downton Abbey"
"Game of Thrones"
"House of Cards"
"Mad Men"
"True Detective"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Lizzy Caplan, "Masters of Sex"
Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Kerry Washington, "Scandal"
Robin Wright, "House of Cards"

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Woody Harrelson, "True Detective"
Matthew McConaughey, "True Detective"
Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christine Baranski, "The Good Wife"
Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey"
Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad"
Lena Headey, "Game of Thrones"
Christina Hendricks, "Mad Men"
Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jim Carter, "Downton Abbey"
Josh Charles, "The Good Wife"
Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"
Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland"
Aaron Paul, "Breaking Bad"
Jon Voight, "Ray Donovan"

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Dylan Baker, "The Good Wife"
Beau Bridges, "Masters of Sex"
Reg E. Cathey, "House of Cards"
Paul Giamatti, "Downton Abbey"
Robert Morse, "Mad Men"
Joe Morton, "Scandal"

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Kate Burton, "Scandal"
Jane Fonda, "The Newsroom"
Allison Janney, "Masters of Sex"
Kate Mara, "House of Cards"
Margo Martindale, "The Americans"
Diane Rigg, "Game of Thrones"

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
"Breaking Bad" -- "Ozymandias" (Moira Walley-Beckett)
"Breaking Bad" -- Felina" (Vince Gilligan)
"Game of Thrones" -- "The Children" (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss)
"House of Cards" -- "Chapter 14" (Beau Willimon)
"True Detective" -- "The Secret Fate of All Life" (Nic Pizzolatto)

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
"Boardwalk Empire" -- Farewell Daddy Blues" (Tim Van Patten)
"Breaking Bad' -- "Felina" (Vince Gilligan)
"Downton Abbey" -- "Episode 1" (David Evans)
"Game Of Thrones" -- "The Watchers on the Wall" (Neil Marshall)
"House Of Cards" -- "Chapter 14" (Carl Franklin)
"True Detective" -- "Who Goes There" (Cary Joji Fukunaga)

News about TV stories for July 7th , 2014

TV NEWS 
    Here are some news stories about things going on in the TV World.

1."Blossom"Reruns : If you were a fan of the the early 90's TV series , it will be making it's reruns premiere  on the Hub Network starting tonight (7/7) .  it will be airing Mondays-Fridays at 10pm/7pt. Due to this they have made some schedule changes.  Movies move from 8PMET to 7PMET,  "Sister, Sister" moves to 9PMET,  "Step by Step" moves to 11PMET. "Family Ties" is off now.
   There will also be a "Blossom" Marathon Friday at 9pm/6pt until  6am/3am pt.


Where is the Hub ? click here 

2.  Biography Channel  closes down : The Network closes down tonight after being on the air 15 years, it was originally a space to air A&E hit program "Biography" , when A&E changed direction ... it became home to many of the programs A&E used to air , for the past 2 years it's been floating around. Last year it was announced it will be replaced by  a new life style network called FYi . Bio will live on as a website , with the original purpose of biographies.

FYI official site  

3. Hallmark Movie  Channel to get a new name.   Hallmark  Channel's sister Network , is getting a new name come October , Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.  The network has been airing mystery shows and movies along with other movies since 2010  , so it's a re branding of what it was already doing.
more about that here 


4.Aussie soap  coming to America:  Hulu is inquiring the US rights to Australian soap "Neighbours" starting  July 14th, episodes air 4 weeks after original broadcast in Australia . Mondays-Fridays.
 more about this story here       more about the show here 

Looking Back : Disney's One Saturday Morning and ABC Kids

The Flash Back Kids Programming  
    Written by Skyler
                  I guess this is a series with-in a series  , we take another look at Children's programming blocks on network TV in the past.As their eventual death is coming.    This week , we look at Disney's One Saturday Morning, Disney's One Too and ABC Kids.

So how did this this block start ?  In 1995 Walt Disney Company announced they were acquiring  Capital Cities /ABC   so this means they finally owned a network.   Disney had worked in broadcast tv for a long time , they had "The Wonderful world of Disney"  Disney Afternoon  Syndicated block and  some programs on CBS.  So they announced a  new 2 hour block on ABC's Saturday morning  to encompass the 5 hour block of programming geared toward children.   "Disney's One Saturday Morning " started September 13th ,1997.  It was a block of New Disney Original programming  : Doug ,Which Disney bought from Nickelodeon  and made new episodes of,  "PepperAnn" and "Recess".  It also had to follow the  Children's Television ACT (E/I)   so there was some educational element to the block  and the 5 hours as a whole.

                         
                            An intro to start the block makes in special / Youtube
        Outside of the 2 hour   block with in a block there was more "One  Saturday Morning " with  The Bugs  Bunny and Tweety show  interesting thing about this  : It was pretty much the classic Bugs Bunny and Tweety shorts  airing in a 1hour block , it wasn't by Disney , and wasn't educational .  Disney's Jungle Cubs , "The New  Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" , and Science Court ( renamed Squigglevision in 1998).
What is Science Court ? It sounds like some sort of show  where Judge Judy teaches kids about science.  (Wait that would fun).   No, it was animated series  that taught kids about science but it was shown as trail. It was an entertainment educational show  to fit into the new TV rules.   Looked like this .
     The  line up stayed the same pretty much for 2 years  , with some show swapping  Hercules! , an animated series replaced 101 Dalmatians  animated series, then 101 came back.
 The Weekenders premised in 1999 : the Novel thing about this children's series was that it pretty much only took place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ( the Only days that Matter)  , the opposite of "Disney's Recess" really.  Sabrina the Animated series was another series , made by DIC (now owned by DHX Media)  made during the popularity of the ABC TGIF series about the teenage witch, though she was 12 in the cartoon . As the Bugs and Tweety show wasn't really educational it was shortened to 30  minutes for it's final Big 3 Network season.  Note : Don't confused that Sabrina with the 1970'S series.
                         
                             Is she cool ? Is she Lame?  ....    Disney/ Youtube
       In 2000,  everything was change  , besides checkbooks that had the 19_  still there so you would cross out the 19 and add a 20  in anger ( sorry got distracted) . Well , the block didn't change to much ... stop! We forgot something;  the programs that aired between programs. (Interstitials)
    Mrs.Munger's Class  was about a teacher and her class done in a year book form.
                            
                           Odd isn't it? ...  Simmer, Simmer you,.... sorry     Youtube /ABC
How Things Werk (No that is how it is spelled) which taught (see learning)  the viewers about how things worked. In a fun comic book way.
             
                     
                      Yay America!!!!!                 Youtube/ABC

 There were others too ... now back to our normal blog post.

In 2000 , Bugs and Tweety were sent packing  , they were still airing on Cartoon Network ( thanks Ted Turner),   New series "Teacher's Pet" about a dog who disguised himself as a human  to go to school with his human. (Yay Learning).   And "Buzz Light year: star Command" where we see Buzz Lightyear and his squadron fight space crime.
 
 We are going to stop there and change channels a second . To UPN .
    Wait , UPN?  Why are we going to UPN?  Disney Never owned UPN?! UPN?!

Well no, they didn't own UPN  but they did program Children's programming  , a block called "Disney's One Too" (See what they did there?)  UPN and Disney in 1998 agreed to let Disney do Children's programming for them .  It aired Sunday Mornings and Weekday afternoons.  The Block debuted  September 5th 1999, It had the same series that aired on ABC on Saturday Mornings.
                          
                            Youtube/ UPN/Disney
Instead of  interstitial breaks  it had "gags" done by the tv series that aired in the block  so feautring Sabrina, Recess,  Doug, and the Rest.  The  Disney's One too name lasted until 2002 ( We will say why that is later), and in 2003 it was killed off completely  , and a few years later UPN died.

We have more after the jump

Looking Back : NICK on CBS

TV look back  Children's TV 
        As the final  traditional  children's television Saturday Morning block ends in October , here at
Joshuaonline we are taking a look a different Children's television blocks on network tv from the past.

The first one we look at is Nick On CBS.
 Nick on CBS started in 2000 as Nick Jr. on CBS then became Nick on CBS , then became  Nick Jr. on CBS (again) .  Why was Nickelodeon  programming a block on CBS?
  3 easy reasons    1.) Viacom who owned/owns Nickelodeon merged with CBS  in 1999 (they divorced in 2005 )  so why not put Nick Jr/Nick programming on  CBS's kids slot  to pretty much promote Nickelodeon?  2.  Children's Television Act of 1996 mandated 3 hours of educational /informational children's television per week. What's more educational than 3 hours of Nick Jr. programming ?  3. It's easier than making  programs yourself or buying them from somewhere.

The Original line up with Nick Jr. had  pre-school programs that were airing on the weekday (there was no 24- hour Nick Jr.  or is it 20 hours?)  on Nickelodeon. "Little Bear", "Little Bill" , "Dora the Explorer " and more .    So for the first couple years  Nick Jr. was on CBS .
 
video from youtube

 When it started in 2000 , the competition was  Disney on ABC ( Disney owned ABC so why not?) ,  Kids WB ( on the WB ) , Fox Kids ( on Fox)  , and the hip and cool T-NBC for Teens . Preschoolers had PBS' preschool programs though many PBS stations air quilting , cooking , etc. on Saturday Mornings.   Eventually though a switch came ,  in 2002 CBS and Nickelodeon switched to Nickelodeon's programming because ... why not ?  
   In 2002,  ABC's Saturday Morning block was renamed ABC Kids when the Disney Channel programming that was added was shown to be popular , either that or a great way to promote  a channel some of that audience didn't get.    So why not have some Nickelodeon programs compete ?
   Now if you don't remember this block or were to old to care.  You maybe thinking the block aired Spongebob Squarepants  alot  because the show was hot and kids loved it.  Well.. No  you see ,  Spongebob  Squarepants was only aired a few times as a special occasion.  Why?  was  Nickeloden being selfish and telling kids to badger their parents to buy cable to watch Nick to watch Spongebob ?  While that sounds like a great idea  it's something more simple ... the program was not educational and informational ,neither was the other flagship show  "Rugrats", which also aired on special occasions. Though it did air "Rugrats" spinoff "All grown up" (which are the Rugrats as boring teenagers) as a regular scheduled program.  You could say both shows taught imagination is good or something.    A funny thing (scary?) is that "Hannah Montana" was considered E/I.
 
from youtube . see no Spongebob / Rugrats in the block promoted
So the block included   4 nickelodeon shows that were considered E/I  all of toons too ,and 2 Nick Jr. shows lingered  "Dora the Explorer" and "Blue's  Clues"   (They are educational)
  Shows were swapped and changed around to keep things fresh  for the next 3 years ... then in 2005  it reverted back to Nick Jr. Programming  and that's how it died in September 2006.


from youtube

 So why did the block end ? Was it because all the children hated it ? , Was it because Nickelodeon wanted to be selfish?  It wasn't educational enough ?  Well no...  Viacom  and CBS decided that their marriage wasn't working anymore so they split, the Old Viacom became CBS corp and owned CBS and UPN (later half of the CW. the C half of the CW.    The New Viacom owns Nick , VH1 , MTV etc...  the block continued for 9 months after the break up and was then replaced by  KOL Secret Slumber Party ( that's a name?)

 The block was  not that memorable  as  many post 2000 children's broadcast TV blocks aren't ( besides 4 KIDS ) . It aired popular shows from Nick Jr / Nickelodeon so it didn't have any programs that make it memorable  because those are Nickeloden Programs so  the memory goes to Nick.

CW announces Fall premiere dates and times

CW  FALL 2014 

   The CW has announced the fall premiere dates for it's fall season
                                  
 The Official start is October 2nd ,  On  September 29 and 30th they will be airing the I Heart Radio Festival

Thursday, October 2nd
8PMET   The Vampire Diaries  (new season)
9PMET    Reign (New Season )

Monday , October 6th
8PMET   The Originals ( new season)
9PMET     Supernatural - Retrospective special

Tuesday, October 7th
8PMET  The Flash  (Series Premieres )
9PMET   Supernatural ( Season Premiere )

Wednesday , October 8th
8PMET     Arrow ( Season Premiere )
9pmet      The Flash  (Premiere replay )

Monday, October 13th
9PMET   Jane the Virgin (Series Premiere )

Wednesday , October  15th
9PMET  The Flash ( Episode two Replay)

Friday, October 17th
9PMET  America's Next top Model*

Wednesday , October 22nd
9PMET   The 100 (Season Premiere)

*America's Next top Model starts  August 22nd , Whose Line is it anyway continues from Summer . Fridays  Starting October 3rd at 8pmet

CBS announces fall Premiere dates

CBS  FALL TV 2014 

   Last Month CBS announced it's fall line up , now today they have announced the premiere dates for the fall.

Update 9/25: CBS has delayed "Mom" premiere from  Monday September 29th to October 30th  at 8:30pm ET, "The Millers"  was moved to Mondays at 8:30PMET starting October 20th   . "2 Broke Girls"  still  premieres its new season October 27th .
 Following changes have been made in this post.

Thursday, September 11th
 Thursday Night Football premieres with Pittsburgh Steelers  vs Baltimore Ravens  Pre game at 7:30PMET /4:30PM PT   and Kick of f at 8:20PMET/5:20PT

Sunday ,September 21st
 7PMET  60 Minutes (Season Premiere)
8PMET   Madam Secretary  (Series Premiere )
9PMET  The Good Wife  ( Season Premiere)

Monday, September 22nd
8PMET  The Big Bang Theory ( Season Premiere )
8:30PMET  The Big Bang  Theory (New episode)
9PMET   Scorpion  (new series)
10PMET   Under the Dome (season finale)

Tuesday ,September 23rd
8PMET  NCIS (New season)
9PMET   NCIS :New Orleans (New Series)
10PMET   Person of Interest ( new Season)

Wednesday, September 24th
8PMET  Survivor (new season)
9PMET   Extant (Season finale )

Friday , September 26th
8PMET   The Amazing Race (new season )
9PMET  Hawaii Five-O  (New Season )
10PMET  Blue Bloods (new season )

Saturday, September 27th
10PMET  48 HOURS (new season)

Monday , September 29th
8:30PMET   Mom (new season )
10PMET   NCIS :LA (New season )

Wednesday, October 1st
9PMET Criminal Minds (new season)
10PMET  Stalker (new series)

Monday, October 20th
8:30PMET  The Millers (new season)

Monday, October 27th
8PMET  2 Broke Girls (new season)

Thursday , October 30th
8PMET  Big Bang Theory (regular time slot)
8:30PMET  The  Millers (new season)  Mom  (new season)
9PMET  Two and  Half Men (new season )
9:30PMET  The McCarthys  (new series)
10pmet   Elementary (new season)



source: http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/releases/view?id=40134

source : http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/os-cbs-delays-return-of-mom-20140925,0,4336909.post

My Network TV fall 2014-15 line up announced :adds Walking Dead and Mentalist

My Network TV   TVlook Fall 2014 

 Written By C. Wells  in for Skyler
         My Network TV has announced it's new fall line up  it will be airing the "Walking Dead" and "The Mentalist".  

 Mondays will still be Law and Order :SVU   at 8/7c and 9/8c  (in most markets)
Tuesdays is Law and Order CI   at 8/7c and 9/8c  (in most markets)
Wednesdays will be The Walking Dead at 8/7c and 9/8c (in most markets)
Thursdays   will the Mentalist   at 8/7c and 9/8c  (in most markets)
Fridays   will be   Bones   at 8/7c and 9/8c  (in most markets)

"House " and "Monk" will be leaving in the fall.
 
This schedule will start September 29th


source: http://www.mynetworktv.com/schedule_fall2014.php