Throng

1. Two and a Half Men. Double Episodes of Two and a Half Men are set to return to Tuesday nights from October 20 with Nine shceduling the new fast tracked episodes of their favourite sitcom at 8.30pm Tuesday nights, followed by a repeat at 9pm. That means they will have an hour of Two and a Half Men up against both Ten's and Seven's biggest shows of the week - NCIS and Packed to the rafters respectively.

The return of the Tuesday hour of Two and a Half Men means that we are back to having 10 episodes on per week (or 5 if you are regional): Mon - Fri 7pm, Mon, Wed and Fri 7.30pm and Tue 8.30 and 9pm.

2. Aussie Ladette To Lady. At 9.30 Tuesdays from October 20, the second season of Aussie Ladette to Lady will air. The previous series did not do as well as Nine had hoped yet they were quick to sign up a second series.

3. Spider Man 3. This Tuesday October 13, the movie Spider Man 3 will be seen on Nine.

Last night, Wednesday Oct 7, I decided to record the Hey Hey Reunion to watch back later in the night so I could fast forward through any bits I did not want or need to see - such as musical performances or when they tell you what prizes you can win on games like Plucka Duck, and the like.

At our house, we also wanted to see Celebrity Master chef , Border Security, City Homicide and United States of Tara. And that’s not including a few shows on Foxtel that needed to be recorded to watch later as well. This was pretty much the same position as Wednesday Sept 30 where we decided not to record Hey Hey Reunion as it was originally scheduled to air an encore on the Saturday night - which, as we now know, did not happen.

In 2009 we have seen numerous examples of bad programming decisions from channel 9 but what happened last night - Monday Sept 28 - simply takes the cake!

Channel Nine would have known well in advance, that after 3 months of hype, Seven’s FlashForward would win the 8.30 Monday time slot. They have chosen to put the Mentalist on at the same time - which is not a bad decision considering the Mentalist tends to skew a different more female demographic to what FlashForward does. There was not enough promotion of the Mentalist in comparison. In fact, from what I saw, there was more hype around the premiere of the Vampire Diaries on GO at the same time as there was for the Mentalist. And the debut of the Apprentice Australia warranted so much attention that it had water marks during the Mentalist and was to be aired on GO at the same time as it was on Nine.

Channel 9 has completely re-arranged their programming for the week commencing September 27. Rather than go through and edit the posts I have written about all their shows in that week so far, I thought it best to sum up here. Therefore, any other post prior to this one WILL be incorrect. [Updated: The Apprentice Australia added]

So, here we go.

1. Despite HUGE promotions, media releases and calls for participants, the two Hey Hey its Saturday reunion specials that were originally slated to air on Tuesday nights Sept 29 and Oct 6 have been moved to Wednesday nights Sept 30 and Oct 7. Both nights, the Hey Hey reunions will start at 7.30 and go right through until 10pm.

Well it is official. Channel 9 will fast track the new series of Two and a Half Men, from Monday September 28. This will be the 7th season of the sitcom but, rather than replacing a repeat episode with the new season, 9 have opted to add an extra episode into the weekly mix.

The new episodes of Two and a Half Men will ait at 8pm Monday nights, replacing Big Bang Theory - which itself only has a few episodes to go in its current season. At least Big Bang fans can see the show on GO, but it has been doing quite well at 8pm Mondays.

That does mean, though, that on Monday nights, there will be 3 episodes of Two and a Half Men in a row. Two repeats and one new one. And if it wasn’t for Hey Hey Its Saturday on Tuesday being on the Tuesday night that week as well as the one after, that would make 10 or 11 episodes of the show on 9 per week in capital city markets.

Here are some important dates for some channel 9 shows.

1. Domestic Blitz - which only returned a few weeks ago - will have its season finale on Sunday Sept 13 at 6.30pm.

2. The Farmer Wants A Wife will finish with a special two hour finale on Monday September 14 at 8.30pm. That means, for the east coast, that Drop Dead Diva will not be seen that week (and Adelaide and Perth - Mentalist repeats will be off that week).

No doubt the two hour finale is in a bid to both finish the show off as it has not done that well this season as well as attract a better share of the ratings that night.

The conclusion of Domestic Blitz and Farmer Wants a Wife means that there will be two openings in 9’s schedule for the week commencing September 20. One of those times - my guess would be Monday 8.30 - will be the Apprentice Australian Version.

Here is your latest update to channel 9 programming in coming weeks.

1. Tuesday August 25. Tuesday nights gain are set to change at channel 9. At least this change has been made in ample time for the majority of printed TV guides to have the correct information in them. 20-1 will remain at 7.30pm, and the so called adults only double Two and a Half Men will sit there at 8.30. Following on at 9.30 is the movie Talledega nights.

2. Tuesday September 1. The 9.30 movie slated for that night is Blades of Glory. Check your local guides closer to the date.

If channel 9 have the intention of keeping as many viewers away from their network on Tuesday nights, then they are doing a GREAT job of it.

Their Tuesday night line up has changed AGAIN, and at very short notice AGAIN.

Two weeks ago, they had Dance Your Ass Off at 7.30pm. That show was axed a few days later. Last week, they had Two and a Half Men on at 7.30, then the New Adventures of Old Christine at 8, followed by 20-1 at 8.30, then CSI: NY at 9.30 and 10.30.

This line up failed and gave 9 the worst Tuesday night ratings that I can remember. WHY? Simple: noone knew what was on. Printed guides wrong. EPGs updated sometime over the weekend. And out of those who did know what was on, many would have chosen not to watch any of the shows knowing full well that it is unlikely the same show will be on the following week.

Channel 9 has again changed their Tuesday night line up after the worst performance this year on a Tuesday night so far. This week, Tuesday night (August 4) is as follows: at 7.30 is 20-1, which is followed by a double episode of Two and a Half Men at 8.30. Then after that, is Commercial Breakdown at 9.30, followed by Ramsays’ kitchen Nightmares at 10.15.

On Sunday August 2, the last Random Acts of Kindness Airs. That will be replaced by the return of Domestic Blitz at 6.30, August 9. Also on Sunday August 2, 9’s new locally produced police drama Rescue Special Ops airs at 8.30.

On Wednesday August 12th, 9’s factual series on organ donation called the Gift returns at 9pm. RPA is still on at 8.30 but drops back to being a half hour show.

1. Channel 9’s Tuesday Nights.

Channel 9 have made some sudden programming changes off the back of the failure of Dance Your Ass Off. Their Tuesday night line up will change once again, but there is nothing their to tempt significant numbers of viewers away from 7 and 10’s well performing Tuesday nights.

From next Tuesday, July 28, at 7.30 will be another episode of Two and a Half Men. That will be followed by The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8pm.

At 8.30, will be a new episode of 20-1, which will be followed by CSI:NY at 9.30 and 10.30. Little Britain is gone from the schedule. The two CSI episodes are new. From the following Tuesday (Aug 4) the CSI episode at 10.30 will be a repeat.

2. Return of Farmer Wants A Wife to Mondays

Every week, like most other TV networks, channel 9 send out a press release to media outlets like Throng informing them as to the programs that are coming up on their network. Usually the press release will be for programming two or three weeks into the future, and will contain both scheduling information as well as descriptions of what episodes are being shown of certain shows. The intent is that the media will use this information to promote what is going on with each network.

This morning, we received the programming press release for channel 9 for the week starting Sunday August 2. I thought it would contain a wealth of information worthy of passing onto throng’s readers as to what will be on channel 9 that week.

Unfortunately, that was not the case with Sunday night after 8.30, Monday night after 8.30, and Saturday night after 7.30 all showing “TBA”.

*** Updated ***

9 has reverted back to Cold Case being on at 9.30 Wednesday. Therefore CSI: Miami is out again, possibly on hold for a return to Sunday nights should they change their mind about movies. We are talking about ch 9 here, so expect more updates on this one.

As difficult as it can be at time, the following is a guide to what’s coming up on channel 9 in the next few weeks. Even since their own press release sent out yesterday, the programming has changed - just as well I didn’t instantly react to it, and use the press release as the basis for this post.

Here’s the summary, in no particular order.

1. Tuesday July 21.

7.30pm. NEW SHOW - Dance Your Ass Off. Basically the show seems to be a cross between the Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance where 12 plus sized contestants dance off for a $100,000 prize while trying to lose weight at the same time.

Are Sunday night Movies coming back to channel 9? Could this be the full circle in Sunday night programming?

Yes, I know, yet another channel 9 story, but it all needs to be said. I guess that is the consequence of regular program changes.

In viewing future programming for ch 9, there was a “TBA” slated for 8.30pm Sunday July 5, ending at 10.45pm when the Wimbledon Men’s final airs. I guessed it may be CSI repeats, but that turns out to be wrong.

Given that on Sunday June 28, the current season of CSI concludes, and the fact that CSI has not been performing too well in the ratings, 9 have opted to premiere a movie instead. The movie to air on July 5 at 8.30pm will be “Music and Lyrics” starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, theatrically released in 2007.
Read more

Here is the problem of reporting channel 9 programming too far in advance. It changes.

Further to my recent post entitled Channel 9 programming into July, the line up has changed again.

On Mondays, You Saved My Life at 8pm has been replaced with Big Bang Theory.

Which means - on Tuesdays at 9pm, where Big Bang Theory was going to air, Two and a Half Men is there. No, that does not mean three Two and a Half Men’s in a row as the 9.30 Two and a Half Men reported is now - wait for it - 20-1 (new episode). Just when we thought that 20-1- would be rested at last for a while.

So - Monday nights become:

7.30 Two and a Half Men, 8.00 Big Bang Theory, 8.30 Sea Patrol.

While Tuesdays become (from June 30):

7.30 HomeMADE (with the final on July 7), 8.30 Double Two and a Half Men, 9.30 20-1. In AFL states on June 30, there is the special EJ Whitten game on, but “normal” programming returns July 7.

This may have to be a regular segment to keep everyone up to date as to what is happening each week with channel 9. Many changes that 9 make to their programming line up is too late for printed guides, meaning that they are out of date by the time they hit lounges and coffee tables on Sundays.

Here are 3 changes that have been announced in the past few days.

1. Next Monday (June 8th - public holiday for all but WA), Eddy McGuire’s Hot Seat will be seen at 8pm as well, replacing You Save My Life. On the following Monday, June 15th, You Saved my Life is back on 8pm.

This would suggest that 9 are going to see how the show goes in the prime time time slot, but without adequate notice, it is unlikely to attract anymore viewers with many assuming You Saved My Life will still be on and most likely tuning out. The figures will tell.