ABC EXPANDS 'WIPEOUT,' SETS 'HSM' FINALE, ENCORES & MORE

By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)


LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- ABC is giving viewers an extra minute of "Wipeout" while fellow newcomer "High School Musical: Get in the Picture" will wrap on a special night.

Said news was the first of many updates the network confirmed this weekend:

-- "Wipeout" will expand to 61 minutes effective immediately with "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" following at 9:01/8:01c. "Game Show" then will wrap its season with a two-hour finale on Tuesday, August 5 with back-to-back repeats of "Samantha Who?" filling the hour starting August 12.

-- "Primetime: The Outsiders" will conclude its three-week run on Tuesday, July 8 at 10:00/9:00c to be replaced by "Primetime: Family Secrets" from July 15 to 29 and subsequently "Primetime: Medical Mysteries" starting Tuesday, August 12.

-- On Monday, July 14 at 8:00/7:00c look for the one-hour special "The Bachelorette: Engagement Party."

-- And finally, "High School Musical: Get in the Picture" will air its two-hour finale on special night - Tuesday, September 16 at 8:00/7:00c. The series regularly airs Sundays at 8:00/7:00c (from July 20 through August 3) and Mondays at 8:00/7:00c (from July 21 through September 15). In addition, encores of the previous week's episode will air Sundays at 7:00/6:00c from August 3 through September 14.

From Sitcomsonline.com:

A half-hour fall preview special focusing on ABC Wednesday will air this summer:

ABC will be offering a 30 minute affiliate special that will focus on ABC’s Wednesday night line-up this fall. Whether you watch regularly or whether you have never seen ABC’s Pushing Daisies, Private Practice or Dirty Sexy Money, the ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit is everything you’ll need to get up to speed on three of the best dramas on television.

The ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit will introduce viewers to character descriptions, storylines and recaps of last season and provide a sneak peek at the new season ahead.

Check local listings and ABC cable networks for the ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit between August 15th through and including September 21st, 2008.

quote:

Originally posted by Zedman2:
From Sitcomsonline.com:

A half-hour fall preview special focusing on ABC Wednesday will air this summer:

ABC will be offering a 30 minute affiliate special that will focus on ABC’s Wednesday night line-up this fall. Whether you watch regularly or whether you have never seen ABC’s Pushing Daisies, Private Practice or Dirty Sexy Money, the ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit is everything you’ll need to get up to speed on three of the best dramas on television.

The ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit will introduce viewers to character descriptions, storylines and recaps of last season and provide a sneak peek at the new season ahead.

Check local listings and ABC cable networks for the ABC Wednesday Night Starter Kit between August 15th through and including September 21st, 2008.

Good, more advertising for Pushing Daisies.

Further programming updates from Sitcomsonline.com:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?p=3953814#post3953814

MONDAY, JULY 14 (8:00 - 9:00 PM)

PROGRAM CHANGE
"THE BACHELORETTE: Engagement Party" is no longer scheduled.
"THE BACHELOR: Where Are They Now (2)" (OAD: 3/10/08) will air instead but some new material will be included in this airing.
************

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?p=3953840#post3953840


More notes:

- The Wonderful World of Disney movie Peter Pan (animated classic) will now air on Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT (replaces two encores of High School Musical: Get in the Picture) instead of August 2.
“Wipeout” encores will now air on Saturday, August 2, 2008 in both the 8:00 & 9:00 PM ET/PT slots. The two repeats will be repeats of July 15 and July 22's episodes.

- ABC Friday Movie of the Week will start on Friday, August 1 after Dance Machine and Duel end on Friday, July 25:
August 1, 2008 - “Cellular” 8-10p
August 8, 2008 - "War of the Worlds" 8-11p (20/20 preempted at 10p)
August 15, 2008 - “Legally Blonde” 8-10p
August 22, 2008 - “Collateral” 8-10p

- ABC Saturday Movie of the Week:
August 9, 2008 - “Shark Tale” 8-10pm
August 16, 2008 - “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde” 8-10pm
August 23, 2008 - “Sahara” 8-11pm (Eli Stone encore preempted at 10p)

- “Private Practice” encores will air Thursdays, August 7, 14, 21 and September 11, 2008 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. Hopkins will end its 6 week run on Thursday, July 31.

- Stand Up to Cancer (three network special) will air Friday, September 5 from 8-9pm ET/PT, leading into an AFV repeat at 9pm.

- “The 42nd Annual CMA Awards” is scheduled to air on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 from 8:00-11:00 PM ET/PT.

quote:

Originally posted by Zedman2:

- “Private Practice” encores will air Thursdays, August 7, 14, 21 and September 11, 2008 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. Hopkins will end its 6 week run on Thursday, July 31.

Is ABC going to air Private Practice on Wednesdays at all before the new season starts, or are they just going to shove all their eggs into proping up Thursday?

quote:

Originally posted by Obveeus:

quote:

Originally posted by Zedman2:

- “Private Practice” encores will air Thursdays, August 7, 14, 21 and September 11, 2008 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. Hopkins will end its 6 week run on Thursday, July 31.

Is ABC going to air Private Practice on Wednesdays at all before the new season starts, or are they just going to shove all their eggs into proping up Thursday?

I've been saying it all along, ABC needs to move both Wife Swap and Supernanny to Fridays this summer and bring back the first season repeats of the three Wednesday shows and air them all in order again. They won't lose much in terms of ratings because Fridays could improve a bit with the two reality shows and Wednesdays will only drop about a million viewers or so. Besides its summer and ratings really don't matter. The same should be happening with Eli Stone if they want it to succeed and later on they need to move Boston Legal to Mondays. Primetime as far as I'm concerned can replace one of three encores: Ugly Betty, Greys, and Desperate Housewives (now Sundays at 10). Those three are established and don't need the repeats. Samantha Who could also use some summer rerunning on Mondays later on (perhaps about Olympic time when nothing will rate all that well).

I think ABC wants to treat Wed as "new" and relaunch in the fall. Not saying I agree with it, but that may be part of the reason for PP after Grey's. There is also the matter of chemistry between Grey's/PP when filling a Thu hole.

Programming Changes:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?p=3965473#post3965473


Dance Machine has been pulled effective immediately. So the last two episodes of the five-episode series will not air. America's Funniest Home Videos encores will air on Fridays, July 18 & July 25, 2008 at 8:00 PM ET/PT leading into "Duel" at 9:00PM ET/PT.

Also, Primetime “China Inside Out” will air on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 10:00PM ET/PT, Bob Woodruff reports.

More and more Wipeout is coming to ABC!

- On Tuesday, September 9, an all-new “Wipeout” will air in the 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT slot. “Wipeout” will still also air and be all-new in the 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT slot as well on that date.

- The season finale of High School Musical: Get in the Picture is now on Monday, September 15, 2008 in its normal 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT time period and not two-hours on a special night (Sept. 16) like previously reported.

- The “Wipeout” season finale is now scheduled to air as a 90-minute episode on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 from 8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT time period followed by the highly anticipated special “Primetime: UFO’s...Seeing is Believing” from 9:30-11:00 PM ET/PT.


Source: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=225051&page=6