New Digital Network : Laff Launches April 15

Broadcast Networks    TV 
     

       A new digital sub-channel network that was announced back in January ; Laff TV launches Apirl 15   on ABC  owned stations , Scripps Media stations, some Cox media stations, and some Meredith stations.  It is a comedy based network, hence the name.
   They will be airing comedy  Movies  from the  Disney, Miramax, and Sony , it will be airing off-network sitcoms of The Drew Carey Show , Ellen , Empty Nest, Grace Under Fire , and Spin City.

  We have their first day schedule  (note :this can change)
   
8AMET  My Mom's  New Boyfriend
10AMET   Empty Nest
10:30AMET   Empty  Nest
11AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
11:30AMET  Ellen (Sitcom)
12PMET  Vice Versa
2PMET  My Father, The  Hero
4PMET    Spin City
4:30PMET  Spin City
5PMET  Ellen  (sitcom)
5:30PM  Ellen   (sitcom)
6PMET   Grace Under Fire
6:30PMET  Grace Under Fire
7PMET   The Drew Carey Show
7:30PMET The Drew Carey  Show
8PMET   Spin City
8:30PMET  Spin City
9PMET The Drew Carey Show
9:30PMET  The Drew Carey Show
10pmet  So  I Married and Axe Murderer
`12AMET   The Drew Carey Show
12:30AMET  The Drew Carey Show
1AMET   Grace Under Fire
1:30AMET  Grace Under Fire
2AMET  Empty Nest
2:30AMET  Empty Nest
3AMET   The Apple Dumpling Gang
5AMET   Empty  Nest
5:30AMET Empty Nest
6AMET  Indian Summer


From looking ahead it looks as  though Movies will air from  Weekdays  6AMET-10AMET;  12-4PMET; 10pmet-12AMET  3-5AMET  (though some movies can go longer).  While Empty Nest will be on weekdays at 5AM ET (Back to Back) ; 10AMET (back to back) ; and 2AMET (back to back).  Ellen weekdays at 11AMET (back to Back) , and 5PMET (Back to Back).    Spin City Weekdays 4PMET (back to back)  and 8pmet   (back to back) . Drew Carey Show weekdays  at 7pmet (back to back ) ; 9PMET (Back to back) ; 12AMET (back to back).  Grace Under Fire  weekdays at  6PMET (back to back) ;  and 1AMET (back to back).

Weekends seem to include the same mixture of movies and sitcoms , and on Saturdays the mandated 3 hours of E/I programming.

To find out more about Laff visit their website   here.

New Face The Nation Anchor announced

CBS  Sunday Talk shows  CBS NEWS 

   On Wednesday, CBS' Bob Schieffer  announced that he is retiring and leaving "Face The Nation", Sunday  the replacement for him on "Face The Nation" has been announced, as John Dickerson  who will take over in the Summer.

BREAKING: John Dickerson will be the next host of @facethenation. pic.twitter.com/0J7BBYKENw
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 12, 2015

More from CBS News here 

The Lookback: Children's TV from Hasbro

The Flashback Children's TV

      In the era before the 1990's ,  there were 3 networks ,(or 4 after 1986) , but in many markets there were more than 3 Channels.    These other  channels were most likely unaffiliated  (or independent) of a network.  They may have been known for airing  movies in primetime and  you favorite classics.  (This is before everything got ruined) One thing they would air is Children's tv programs and the syndication market allowed programs that may have not been able to make to the NBC , CBS, or ABC line ups  but before there were Children's channel or before anyone cared about them.
  Our  look is at 3 programs from Hasbro (yes, the toy company) from the 1980's.
   Something about , Hasbro  wanted to make TV shows based off their  toys (you know to sell toys?)  so they hired  animation studio Sunbow  Entertainment   to make them cartoon like.  Hasbro would also distribute their own shows through their company, Claster  , who also created the 1950's series "Romper Room" (way before Hasbro Brought them) .

   The first series of our 3 series from Hasbro is "Jem" or "Jem and the Holagrams"   Jem was a production of Hasbro ,Marvel ,and  Sunbow.    Created by Christy Marx ,the program premiered in 1985 .  The show was   based on  a line of dolls , Hasbro made . Jem was  a mixture of hip music videos (cough MTV cough) , soap opera (love triangle , random drama),  action and adventure (including bad guys) ;  and Science Fiction.
   
   Even Sunday TV was fun ... now it's just infomercials
   
 One of things about this show was probably an influence of the MTV popularity at the time, so each episode had animated music videos  that related to stories by the time the show ended there was almost 200 music videos  and over 100 unique songs.
     There were about 3 produced songs per episodes  , all this was unique for a TV series especially an animated one.



   We are going to get  a song stuck in your head rather you want it to be or not

  The TV series itself was about  a woman named Jerrica Benton who inherits her Father's music company , though there was an evil man named  Eric Raymond (not everybody loves Raymond) who wanted to run the company (you know , he likes money).  Jerrica finds out that her Father also had bulit a system called synergy  that produces holograms ,and Jerria creates a persona called  Jem. She and her friends start  a music group that  competes against another called the Misfits ran by a rich girl  named Pizazz and later a group called the stingers.  Jerrica  a boy friend named Rio , who also may have a crush on  Jem ( checks , to make sure we aren't writing about soaps again)
   It was the most watched Children's program in Syndication in 1985  it ran the standard 65 episodes and ended in 1988.


Now stay tuned for G.I Joe : A real American Hero.
   Everyone knows, G.I Joe was a toy and a comic book (you know to read with your toy)  it was technically mini-series glomped together (why is that not word ,selfie is and that's an awful word) : "G.I Joe : A Real American Hero" ; "G.I Joe : The Revenge of the Cobra (that sounds like a Syfy original movie) , "G.I Joe: The Pyramid of Darkness ", and "G.I Joe Arise , Sepentor, Arise!" (sounds like the 3rd movie of a Cobra series of Syfy original movies).  The series started in  1983 in syndication and ran until 1986.

  yep that's it

Please stay tuned  after the jump

CBS' Bob Schieffer is retiring

CBS News  TV News 

It was announced tonight that Long time CBS News Anchor and host of their Sunday Show "Face The Nation", Bob Schieffer, is retiring.

CBS News' @bobschieffer announces @TCU #SchiefferSymposium that he will retire after 46 years @CBSNews and 24 hosting @FaceTheNation
— CBSNews Press Office (@CBSNewsPress) April 9, 2015

More from CBS News

Bob Schieffer, the anchor of CBS News' "Face the Nation," announced Wednesday that he will retire this summer after more than 50 years of working in journalism.
Schieffer, who is 78, has been with CBS News for 46 years. 2015 marked his 24th year anchoring "Face the Nation," which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
"Because this is where my professional career began, this is where I wanted all of you to be the first to know, this summer I am going to retire," he said at a symposium at Texas Christian University.
He has interviewed every president since Richard Nixon as well as most of those who sought the office. Schieffer most recently interviewed President Obama last November.
Schieffer also moderated three debates for the Presidential Commission on Debates in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
Prior to joining CBS in 1969, Schieffer was a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram where he was the first reporter from a Texas newspaper to report from Vietnam.
Schieffer has won virtually every award in broadcast journalism, including eight Emmys, the overseas Press Club Award, the Paul White Award presented by the TV News Directors Association, the Edward R. Murrow Award given by Murrow's alma mater Washington State University and in 2008 he was named a living legend by the Library of Congress. In 2013, he was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame along with CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, actor Ron Howard, sportscaster Al Michaels and writer/producer Dick Wolf.
In 2014, "Face the Nation" was the highest rated Sunday talk show for the third consecutive year and the broadcast won an Emmy for its show covering the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination in 2013. Schieffer also received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence from the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Writing from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) in the Network Radio and Television category for a CBS Radio News commentary about "the ghost of Congress future."
In 2005, his alma mater Texas Christian University named its journalism school in his honor and in 2013 named the College, in which the journalism school is located, the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. Schieffer is one of the few reporters in Washington to have covered all four of the major beats: the Pentagon, the White House, Congress and the State Department. He became the network's chief Washington correspondent in 1982 and was named the anchor and moderator of "Face the Nation", CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast, in 1991.
Schieffer anchored the Saturday edition of the "CBS Evening News" for 23 years. In March 2005, with the departure of Dan Rather, Schieffer served as interim anchor of "The CBS Evening News," until August 2006 - a period that saw a substantial increase in ratings.
Schieffer has written four books: The New York Times bestsellers "This Just in" and "Bob Schieffer's America" as well as "Face The Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-winning News Broadcast" and "The Acting President."
He was born in Austin, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth where he graduated from North Side High School and Texas Christian University. He served three years in the U.S. Air Force.

 
Also : From TV Newser a Memo from the President of CBS News , David Rhodes here 

The Lookback : The Charlie Brown Lookback : Snoopy's Getting Married ,Charlie Brown

The Flashback 

          This is our third installment of   our look back at Charlie Brown Specials  that are not holiday based specials. (A really long title)    As it is the 65th anniversary year of the first peanuts strip coming out.  We take a look back  this time at    Hey, there's a fly in my soup Charlie Brown,  No, it's  Snoopy's getting Married Charlie Brown. (Whaaaa?) .
 Note: as always  98% of spoilers. (So I still have a chance?)
        As with the other specials , it aired on CBS,  on March 20, 1985.
 
     Snoopy was working as a guard for Peppermint patty , when he sees a poodle  ( always a poodle)  named ,Genevieve.   He falls in love and  next, comes marriage,  (They called it puppy love)  This surprises everyone.  Snoopy ,gets asks his brother , Spike , to be his best man.
                                                           

                                                       "Hey waiter, this is white wine , I wanted Red"/copy right peanuts

      For Spike to get from Needles,  California  (Did you know they didn't make up a place?) he needs some money. He gets a job as  race dog  , but is fired for not being  a greyhound. (Maybe the Simpsons's dog can call in a tip ,either that or bet on a grey hound race?) Anyway ,  what does every wedding need? ( A Bride?)  Yes,  tuxedos.  Spike meanwhile has tough time trying to get to the wedding  (why couldn't Snoopy send some money?) , so he takes  train and finally makes his way to his brother.
      Now ,it's  bachelor party day and Snoopy is not feeling happy.
                                                         

    

                                                 Ummmmm..... / copyright Peanuts

       He even breaks down  into tears on his wedding day (who hasn't? , all of them)  that Charlie Brown has to drag him there. (humanely of course).  At the wedding we have Linus as the minister (he got ordained in dog marriages after he found out how much money there was in the job) ,  Sally as the singer, guess who plays Piano?  (ummm  Marice?) A  nervous Snoopy waits for the bride to come  , but then the news is given the she has left of with a golden retriever. (sigh, that always happens)  Everyone was then shocked about what about their own thing ,except for Charlie Brown , who was worried about poor Snoopy.
                                                         

                                                          When in pain ...  salad to reduce the cake's affects  /copyright Peanuts 

          And it ends with Snoopy happy eating cake and salad , and his brother going back home to his rather nice cactus house.
     Well that's the special.
 
     It is an interesting special  that should be watched if you have  chance , that is a charm that is all it's own.  Snoopy  is our key character here , but it's real nice to see Spike and the funny things he does to get to snoopy, plus his real snazzy house.
 
sources: watched it on an old VHS tape,  also  Wikipedia for the dates of the special , and some names.

The lookback: Kids Programs: NBC Saturday Mornings II

The Flashback  NBC  Children'sTV 

     When you have a one, you must have  two it's like a law of physics or something. So, Once again we look at NBC's Saturday Morning Children's  TV offerings from before , we talked about TNBC. So come with us as we take a journey back in time. ( No peanuts included, budget problems)

    1. The Addams Family (Not that one , or that one , unless you are thinking of this one)
        Our story starts with Scooby-Doo , the series "The New Scooby  Doo Movies" had an episode where they meet the Addams Family.  We get to see the Addams Family in color , and Hanna Barbera  animated style.   Someone obliviously liked it  so in 1973 NBC  had an animated version.  The series was much like the  60's live-action show with  characters  but instead of being in their mansion they were on the road. (In the 70's everyone was on the Road living in RV's  .... this is a lie)     It was kind of like the Addams Family on tour or something , one episode they would be in Nashville  another one they would be in New Orleans.   As fun as the show sounds it lasted more the average one season with 16 episodes.
   
    In Hannah and Barbera's world  bears  beg for food  instead of being bears

2.  Star  Trek : The Animated Series
     Something that always comes up is ... yes they made another animated version of a live-action show  this time  Star Trek.    Start Trek was a very popular series ,even in repeats (it ended in 1969, we are talking 1973 here) this was  a continuation of the live-action series  but in animated form.  (Makes sense) Filmation helped produce the series along with Paramount.  The Original idea was Filmation wanted to make a series as Star Trek but with kids  ( kind of like doing  , Golden Girls but with kids ) but that didn't happen.   It  had most of the original cast do voices ,except   Being animated it could more than  live-action , such has more real looking aliens (whatever that means)   and vivid pictures (when there weren't budget troubles).
 It ran  2 Seasons and 22 half hour episodes from 1973-1974.
 
   hmmm.... no comment....  just   Star Trek :The Animated Series/ CBS

3. Kissyfur
     A Father and Son bear who were in the circus  and one day the leave that life (stay with us please , stay with us ) anyway the end up in a swap (where bears do well)  and protect the inhabitants from two Alligators (messing up the food chain ,eh?) .
    This series was made by Dic , NBC productions , and Saban   and created by  created by Phil Mendez  (yes, the Charlie Brown specials guy) and ran on NBC from  1986 to 1990 , though only had 26 episodes  and two seasons.



 Kissyfur  yep .... NBC/Dic/Saban

4. Gravedale High
       The timing and network makes it sound like  a TNBC show , but this is an animated series from our old friends at Hanna and Barbera.  It was a show for Rick Moranis (you may remember from such films as,  Spaceballs , Brewster's Millions, Ghostbusters, and more) , he voiced a teacher named Max  Schneider, who takes a job at a high school for Monsters (though , isn't that most High Schools... teenagers!!!!)  mostly versions of Universal monsters.  So he's a human teacher who is there to teach monsters that are hard to teach (no other Monsters want to teach them, wait what?). We have characters like  a vampire named  Vinnie Stoker, who apparently can go out in daylight and watched to much "Happy Days" Frankentyke  , a Frankenstein's monster  who apparently ate Shaggy Rogers or 90's Bart Simpson. (Man) .   Apparently someone on this show watched too much "Happy Days" Reggie Moonshroud was  a  red haired geek ( have to have one )  , who is friends with the Fonz like kid.  Cleofatra  (voiced by Ricki Lake!!!! , but really Cleo FAT ra , why?) . who is a mummy.

  Ok then .... you want to me say something snide don't you    // HB and NBC

Any way , it ran one season  in 1990 with 13 episodes.

more after the Jump

It's a Charlie Brown look back : It Was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown

 The Flashback 

     Last month, we started a feature in a feature of  The Lookback , where we in 65th anniversary year of the "Peanuts" coming out and a new movie coming out this year, we take a lookback at Peanuts TV specials.    The One criteria was that it's a look back of specials   that aren't holiday based ones ( we made this hard on our selves for October-December).  This month we take a look at  "It's Luck of the Irish  , Charlie Brown" not really I was kidding , that's not real special.( Not yet )   It's the "It was My Best Birthday Ever, Charlie Brown"

Warning there are some spoilers.

      Take a look back at last month's piece  : It's A Charlie Brown lookback : It's Magic Charlie Brown 
 
    This special was direct to VHS (it was 1997, VHS was cool)  , and one of the last ones to run during Schultz's lifetime.
   This special is about Linus , he does a lot of roller skating  which leads him to girl ( of course )  named Mimi.

                                                         

                                         Hey  Linus you have something on your face , Linus! Linus! / copyright  Peanuts 

         It happens  that Mimi is visiting for a birthday party, she loves Birthday parties.  so conveniently his birthday is  in a couple days  (Hmmm Linus)   so he invites her. The special continues where  Linus hears her amazing singing in his head  for awhile. (He's high on love , or the inspiration for the Kylie Minogue song)

                                                             

                                                   see high on love  / copyright Peanuts
 On the day of the party  Linus waits for his new love to come to his party. (It's the great Mimi, Charlie Brown)  Everyone sings happy Birthday to  Linus (royalty free?)  and guess what ?  Mimi comes she was in the back of a car.  (apparently her family likes old cars ,or the peanuts takes place in 1932)  He's happy  and has a great party.

   That's  the special , you know it's  very simple in plot  line  not  alot going on  but yet a special that will give you a little laugh and  a happy feeling after watching it. (We got high on love too?)  It's not a bad one you should take a look at .  You may notice it looks different , that's because it was the first digital ink special,  Tune in next month ( how do you tune into a blog?) for more.

Fox Announces Summer TV premiere dates

FOX Summer TV 

     Fox has announced their summer TV premiere dates including the return of "Are You smarter than a Fifth grader?".

Here's a look via press release

FOX is announcing summer premiere dates for the returns of MASTERCHEF, ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5^TH GRADER? and the Season 12 premiere of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE; as well as the series premiere date for new series BOOM!. Host and award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot welcome judge Christina Tosi, renowned pastry chef, owner and founder of New York City’s Milk Bar, to Season Six of MASTERCHEF, when it premieres with a special two-hour event Wednesday, May 20 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). The culinary smash hit moves into its regular time period the following week on Wednesday, May 27 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The three celebrated food experts will put the latest group of contestants through a series of challenging elimination rounds, in order to turn one home cook into a culinary master. Popular quiz show ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5^th GRADER? returns for a brand-new season, beginning Tuesday, May 26 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Unlike the typical game show that measures intelligence, this show tests adults’ lack of knowledge – as revealed by how much they’ve forgotten since their grammar school days, proving that older doesn’t always mean wiser. Executive-produced by Mark Burnett, and featuring returning host Jeff Foxworthy, as well as a top-notch group of grade schoolers to assist the adult contestants, ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5^th GRADER? will include new twists and fun elements for a new generation of viewers. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE enters its 12^th season on a new night and with a new twist: the series will showcase America’s most talented dancers from the stage and the street, beginning with the audition rounds on Monday, June 1 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Hosted by Cat Deeley, and featuring returning judge Nigel Lythgoe and new judges Paula Abdul and Jason Derulo, the new season of the Emmy Award-nominated hit dance competition series once again will include awe-inspiring performances, as well as nail-biting eliminations, as the contestants compete to be named America’s Favorite Dancer.   -more- FOX SUMMER 2015 PREMIERES – Page 2 Combining high drama and high stakes with high comedy in a fun-filled, trivia-charged, slime-soaked, entertainment explosion, new quiz show BOOM!, hosted by comedian Tom Papa (“The Marriage Ref”), premieres Thursday, June 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). From Keshet DCP, BOOM! is a general knowledge quiz show that challenges teams of three players to defuse a series of ticking slime-bombs, by dramatically cutting the wires relating to the correct answers and leaving the wrong answers untouched. Get it right – and the players win big money. Get it wrong or run out of time – and, after a tense countdown, the players – and portions of the audience – are showered with anything from “guacamole” to “mashed potatoes,” forcing the players out of the game.   As previously announced, Thursday, May 14 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) marks Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX) and Fox International Channels’ global premiere of the 10-episode, intense psychological thriller WAYWARD PINES. The highly anticipated event series, based on Blake Crouch's international best-selling series of books and adapted for television by Chad Hodge (“Runaway,” “The Playboy Club”), is brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Signs”), and executive-produced by Shyamalan, Donald De Line, Hodge and Ashwin Rajan. The event series stars Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon (“Crash”) as a Secret Service agent on a mission to find two missing federal agents, whose investigation only turns up more questions. Debuting simultaneously in more than 125 countries, it will be the world's largest day-and-date launch for a scripted series ever. FOX finales include: BACKSTROM (Thursday, April 30; 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT),  GOTHAM (Monday, May 4; 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), NEW GIRL (Tuesday, May 5; 9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT), WEIRD LONERS (Tuesday, May 5; 9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT), AMERICAN IDOL XIV (Tuesday, May 12; 9:00-10:00 ET live/PT tape-delayed, and Wednesday, May 13; 8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), THE SIMPSONS (Sunday, May 17; 8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT), BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (Sunday, May 17; 8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT), FAMILY GUY (Sunday, May 17; 9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT), THE FOLLOWING (Monday, May 18; 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), BONES (Thursday, June 4; 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and HELL’S KITCHEN (Tuesday, June 9; 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). Additional finale dates, summer premiere dates and schedule information to be announced.  RECAP – FOX 2015 SUMMER PREMIERE DATES(All times ET/PT, except as noted) Thursday, May 14:                 9:00-10:00 PM                        WAYWARD PINES (Global Premiere) Wednesday, May 20:             8:00-10:00 PM                        MASTERCHEF (Two-Hour Season Premiere) Tuesday, May 26:8:00-9:00 PM                          ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5^TH GRADER? (Series Return)   9:00-10:00 PM                        HELL’S KITCHEN (Time Period Premiere)   -more-    FOX SUMMER 2015 PREMIERES – Page 3 Monday, June 1:8:00-10:00 PM                        SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Season Premiere) Thursday, June 25:                

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT               BOOM! (Series Premiere)