Home » Film & TV » American Television » Schedule Changes As Easy As A-B-C

Schedule Changes As Easy As A-B-C

© F. Colin Kingston

Thanks in large part to its hugely successful WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? ABC had the most total viewers of any network - 14,980,000 - for the seventh straight week. NBC came in second with 13,500,000, while CBS finished third with 12,950,000. The February "sweeps" are the period when ratings determine the advertising prices networks charge for the following quarter.

The better a network does in the "sweeps", the more it can charge for commercial time. Because of this, ABC has announced it will air a fourth night of WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? to round out "sweeps" weeks. The popular game show, hosted by Regis Philbin, will air nine nights over the last ten days of sweeps.

ABC is making other changes to its schedule as well. Beginning in March three new series will join the ABC lineup. Three existing series, SPORTS NIGHT, NORM and 20/20 DOWNTOWN will be placed on hiatus. The low-rated, but critically acclaimed, SPORTS NIGHT is rumored to be on the verge of being canceled and may only return in reruns if it returns at all.

The new ABC series are THEN CAME YOU, WONDERLAND and MAKING THE BAND. THEN CAME YOU is a romantic comedy and is scheduled to debut on March 22nd. It replaces NORM. WONDERLAND, a hospital drama, premieres on March 30th and temporarily replaces 20/20 DOWNTOWN. MAKING THE BAND, a show about an all boy band, similar to THE BACKSTREET BOYS, debuts on March 31st.

TALK SHOW RATINGS:The latest ratings for daytime talk shows are out. It should come as no surprise that THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW leads the pack. The remaining talk shows, in order of popularity, are: JERRY SPRINGER, THE ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW, LIVE WITH REGIS AND KATHIE LEE, MONTEL WILLIAMS, SALLY JESSY RAPHAEL, MAURY POVICH, RICKI LAKE, and, last but not least, THE JENNY JONES SHOW.

Here are my television viewing recommendations for the week beginning February 26th. Enjoy.

Saturday, February 26th

THE PRETENDER, NBC, 8:00 - 9:00 p.m., PST
Jarod goes undercover to infiltrate a racist organization.

MURDER IN MEMPHIS, The History Channel, 9:00 - 10:00 p.m., PST
This fact-based documentary examines the evidence in the assassination of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday, February 27th

FREEDOM SONG, TNT, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m., PST
Veteran film star Danny Glover produced and stars in this civil rights drama which opens in the segregated Mississippi of 1951.

THE BEACH BOYS: AN AMERICAN FAMILY, Part 1, ABC, 9:00 - 11:00 p.m., PST