CSI

Thunderbirds to be revived

Classic children’s series Thunderbirds looks set to be resurrected with news that creator Gerry Anderson is planning a new version. Anderson announced yesterday: “I am going to make a new series of Thunderbirds. And that’s official.” The news comes at the same time as a range of Thunderbirds stamps are released to mark the 50th anniversary of the series.

Modern Family leads Director’s Guild awards

Modern Family leads the comedy nominations for the Director’s Guild of America Awards with two nods alongside the likes of Entourage, 30 Rock and Glee. Boardwalk Empire leads the drama categories with two nominations and will go up against the likes of Mad Men, Lost and The Walking Dead for the awards.

Sheen causes Two and a Half Men to shutdown

Producers behind sitcom Two and a Half Men are reportedly shutting down production on the show temporarily after a series of indiscretions on the part of Charlie Sheen. CBS and Warner Bros are concerned about the well-being of Sheen following a string of news stories regarding the actor and drug and alcohol binges.

Cast departs Law & order: Los Angeles

Three major cast members have departed Law & Order: Los Angeles in Skeet Ulrich, Regina Hall and Megan Boone. The trio are leaving as part of a major revamp to the show with a new set of actors coming in to fill the gaps.

Cowell denies Will Smith X Factor link

Simon Cowell has rubbished reports that Will Smith will be a judge on the American version of The X Factor, which premieres this year. Cowell says he has no idea where the story came from as he has never approached Smith for the role.

Grey’s producers planning real-time episode

Producers of Grey’s Anatomy are planning a real-time episode which will follow Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) for the full 60 minutes as she tries to run the emergency room by herself. The episode is said to be titled ‘Golden Hour’ which refers to the medical term for the vital first hour after a patient has suffered trauma.

Bieber to return to CSI

Justin Bieber is set to reprise his role on crime series CSI this year, after making his acting debut last September on the series in the US. The singer will play the same teenage character as he did last year.

Nine programming details for the two weeks Jan 16 – Jan 29, 2011.

Cricket – The One Day Series between Australia and England kicks off with the fist of seven matches, live from the MCG from 2pm Sunday Jan 16.

Match 2 is on Friday Jan 21, live from Bellerive Oval in Hobart from 2pm.

Match 3 Sunday Jan 23, live from the SCG from 2pm.

Match 4 Australia Day Wednesday Jan 26, live from the Adelaide Oval, also from 2pm.

UPDATED – Nine have brought the 7pm return of Two and a Half Men froward one week, to restart Jan 17.

Two and a Half Men repeats return to 7pm weeknights from Monday Jan 17, except for Wed Jan 26 when the cricket is on.

Monday nights remain unchanged, with Two and a Half Men at 7.30, The Middle at 8.00, The Mentalist at 8.30 and CSI repeats at 9.30.

Tuesday nights continue to include The Big Bang Theory at 7.30, Top Gear at 8.00 with 20-1 at 9.30.

New CSI: Miami and CSI: New York remain on Wednesday Jan 19, with Two and a Half Men at 7.30 and Customs at 8pm.

Thursday Jan 20 sees an Australia Day special of Getaway Summer series at 7.30pm, followed by NEW CSI: NY (so we get two in that week). A CSI repeat follows at 9.30.

Thursday Jan 27 features the 2011 return of Getaway at 7.30pm. New CSI: NY follows, then CSI repeat and Cold Case repeat.

Keeping the Two and a Half Men count per week to Nine’s standards, is an extra episode on Friday Jan 28 at 7.30pm. That is followed by Motorway Patrol, then a yet to be named movie.

All information correct at time of posting, but is subject to change.

Nine have had yet another re-think about 7pm.

Two and a Half Men will remain at 7pm weeknights – apart from a few nights the cricket is on at that time (excluding WA) until at least Christmas Eve.

The Middle was slated for 7pm, then Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Daily Edition. At this stage, Videos remains after Christmas.

Two and a Half Men also remains on Nine at 7.30 Mondays and 7.30 Wednesdays, as well as a number of slots on GO!

From Saturday Jan 1, Celebrity Singing Bee will be replaced by UK games show the Cube which offers contestants the chance to win the top prize of GBP 250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4x4x4 metre cube. Hosted by Phillip Schofield.

The Cube premieres at 7.30, Sat Jan 1, 2011.

Also that night, CSI and the movie Acolytes are out, replaced by A Few Good Men, followed by Any Which Way You Can.

All of Nine’s three channels are subject to some degree of last minute programming changes as they realise that all three of Seven’s channels are whipping them in the ratings so far in summer. Yes, it’s non-ratings but they still have to make money from advertising which pays by how well shows do.

Some of these changes include tonight Mon Dec 13. Printed guides may as well head straight for recycling!

Here is the summary.

Nine

From Tue Dec 21, Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Daily Edition replaces Two and a Half Men and the Middle as the weeknight 7pm strip on Nine.

From Mon Dec 13, Monday night movies on Nine are out. Instead, the Mentalist airs from 8.30pm, CSI at 9.30 and Embarrassing Bodies at 10.30pm. The Mentalist is now two nights a week on Nine plus one on GEM.

From Sun Dec 12 (I know – yesterday! – but does effect Sundays from now on), RBT replaces Motorway Patrol at 7pm, while Chase goes into double episodes from 9.30pm. Without a Trace disappears again.

From Wed Dec 15, Better With You is replaced with Customs. So much for giving new shows a go over summer? New episodes of CSI Miami move into 8.30pm, replacing Cold Case. New CSI: NY follows at 9.30, with a CSI: Miami repeat at 10.30. A bit of a mixed up CSI night here, but at least some new episodes.

From Thur Dec 16, Two extra episodes of Two and a Half Men become a regular fixture. They follow Warnie at 9.30 on Wed Dec 16, pushing the movie Ocean’s Eleven back to 10.30pm. On Thur Dec 23, they air from 8.30 (8.40 in QLD) and 8.40 on Thur Dec 30, after Top Gear.

That’s just about every night changed.

GO!

From Tue Dec 14, Community drops to 1 episode per week and moves to 9pm, with the movie Man About Town to follow at 9.30. Dec 21 there will be two episodes of Community, but from Tue Dec 28, onwards it is one only.

 On Thur Dec 16, Big Bangs are out in favour of a movie starting at 7.30pm. No news on subsequent Thursdays yet. More details at the GO Guide.

GEM

Mon Dec 13, 8.30pm The movie The Fugitive will air instead of Rizzoli & Isles which is now out of the schedule and Law and Order goes back to one episode per week – Tuesday nights 8.30pm only. As a result, Southland moves back to a 11.15 start and subsequent programming like Friends also moves back. Friends from 12.10am.

Amendments for subsequent Mondays on GEM are yet to be issued, but looks like movies on GEM in stead of Nine on Monday nights from now on.

First it was GO, then GEM, now Nine to have a ratings inspired programming change.

This time, the victim is Rescue Special Ops repeats that Nine were scheduling at 10.30 Wednesday nights.

Last Wednesday, Rescue Special Ops managed just 245,000, and was easily beaten by the second repeat episode of City Homicide on Seven and Ten Late News.

From next Wednesday, Dec 8, Rescue Special Ops will be replaced with CSI: Miami repeats which takes off from season 5, episode 17.

Yesterday, GEM replaced Wednesday night CSI repeats with The Mentalist, while GO added six Big Bang Theory episodes to this week’s schedule.

Now – for those trying to keep track of what CSI is on where and when, here is the quintessential CSI Nine-GEM summary as at Dec 3, 11.30am. Subject to change, of course.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeats, Nine, 8.30pm Sat.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation repeat, GEM, 8.30pm Wed (Dec 8 only).

CSI: Miami repeats, Nine, 10.30pm Wed.
CSI: Miami repeats, GEM, 9.30pm Sat.

CSI: NY NEW episodes, Nine, 9.30 Wed.
CSI: NY repeats, GEM, 10.30pm Sat.

Or put another way:

Wed

8.30 CSI GEM (Dec 8 only)
9.30 CSI: NY new Nine
10.30 CSI: Miami

Sat

8.30 CSI Nine
9.30 CSI: Miami GEM
10.30 CSI: NY GEM.

I’ll say it again: subject to change.

Done – for now.

GEM’s turn to get a ratings inspired amendment during … non-ratings.

CSI on Wednesday nights at 8.30pm, from Wed Dec 15, has been replaced with The Mentalist.

Initially, The Mentalist was on GEM as an encore to the new episodes on Nine on MOnday nights. Now it will air on both channels on two different nights. At least on GEM you can see The Mentalist in HD.

The Dec 15 episode on GEM is season 1, ep 2, and on Dec 22, it is season 1, ep 3.

The Mentalist also airs on Nine at 8.30pm Sundays.

The Mentalist joins shows like Two and a Half Men, Top Gear and The Big Bang Theory as shows that air on two of Nine’s channels at regular times each week.

8:30pm – Thursday, November 18 on Channel Nine

When a college student ends up dead after a “Walking with Dinosaurs” show, the CSI’s must determine if his death was murder.

Nine have released details that fill in all the blanks for their programming for the first week of summer, the week commencing Sunday November 28.

Repeats of the Mentalist move to Sunday night, The Middle moves from GO back to Nine, and new series for summer include Chase and Better With You – both new US titles for season 2010/11. Returning are new episodes of Without a Trace and Cold Case.

Here’s the summary:

Sunday Nov 28
6.30 The Enforcers – new
7.00 Hot Pursuit – new
7.30 Best of 60 Minutes
8.30 The Mentalist
9.30 Chase – new
10.30 Without a Trace – new

Monday Nov 29
7.30 Two and a Half Men
8.00 The Middle – from the start
8.30 Movie: Miss Congeniality
10.45 Embarrassing Bodies

Tuesday Nov 30
7.30 Top Gear
8.40 Richard Hammonds Invisible Worlds – new
9.40 Survivor Nicaragua – new
10.40 Ramsays’ Kitchen Nightmares

Wednesday Dec 1
7.30 Two and a Half Men
8.00 Better With You – new
8.30 Cold Case – new
9.30 Cold Case
10.30 Rescue Special Ops S2E1

Thursday Dec 2
7.30 Top Gear (not the Australian version as orginally planned)
8.30 Warnie – new, new regular time.
9.30 Movie: S.W.A.T

Friday Dec 3
7.30 Movie: Elf
9.30 Movie The Bodyguard – which was only recently on GEM.

Saturday Dec 4
6.30 Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Summer Edition – new
7.30 Celebrity Singing Bee – new
8.30 CSI – This means there will be CSI on Nine as well as CSI: NY and CSI: Miami on GEM on the same night from 9.30. A CSI triple over two channels.
9.30 Movie: Cactus

All repeats unless otherwise specified

New shows:

Chase:
From Emmy Award–winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Chase is a lightning-fast-paced drama that drops viewers smack into the middle of a game of cat and mouse as a team of U.S. marshals hunts down America’s most dangerous fugitives. U.S. Marshal Annie Frost and her partner Jimmy Godfrey investigate a case involving a serial killer robbing safes and killing the families who own them.

Better With You:
Hilarious new comedy about the relationships among three couples from the one family. Maddie is distressed to learn her younger sister, Mia is engaged to a guy she’s only known a short while. Stars Joanna Garcia, Jennifer Finnigan, Josh Cooke and Jake Lacy

GEM: First week of summer, Week 49 (Nov 28 – Dec 4), 2010.

One of those missing promised titles from the Nine network shows up on GEM in the first week of summer TV fro 2010/2011 – Southland. The second season of Hotel Babylon premieres on GEM, while some classic UK comedy on Sunday nights goes up against 7TWO’s new British Sunday.

New episodes of The Big C and Weeds continue, while another first run show – Rizzoli and Isles premieres on Monday Nov 29. The Nanny, Friends and The Zoo remain stripped weeknights from 6pm – 7.30pm.

HD simulcasts of test cricket continue, with the first test wrapping up on Monday Nov 29, and the second test of The Ashes starting on Friday Dec 3. All test cricket is played during the day, from 10.30am AEDT.

Here’s the summary:

Sunday Nov 28
6.00 The Nanny
6.30 Birds of a Feather
7.10 Bless This House
7.45 ‘Allo ‘Allo
8.30 Movie: In The Line of Fire (HD)
11.05 Movie: Firecreek (HD)

Monday Nov 29
6.00 The Nanny
6.30 Friends
7.00 The Zoo
7.30 Animal Emergency
8.00 Airport
8.30 Law & Order (now on two nights, HD)
9.30 Rizzoli & Isles (Premiere, HD)
10.30 Southland (Premiere, HD)
11.30 Friends
12.00 Law & Order replay
1.00 Rizzoli & Isles replay

Tuesday Nov 30
7.30 Secret Millionaire
8.30 Law & Order (HD)
9.30 The Closer (HD)
10.30 The Big C (encore, HD)
11.00 Weeds (encore, HD)
11.30 Friends
12.00 The Nanny
12.30 Law & Order replay
1.00 Alive and Cooking

Wednesday Dec 1
7.30 The Truth About Food
8.30 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (HD)
9.30 The Big C (HD)
10.00 Weeds (HD)
10.30 Hotel Babylon (new season, HD)
11.30 Conan
12.30 Friends
1.00 The Closer replay from Tue (HD)

Thursday Dec 2
7.30 Neighbours at War
8.00 How Clean is Your House
8.30 Mary Queen of Shops
9.30 Amazing Medical Stories
10.30 Embarrassing Bodies
11.30 Conan
12.30 Friends
1.00 Mary Queen of Shops replay

Friday Dec 3
7.30 Movie: Oliver! (HD)
10.30 Movie: City of Angels
12.45 Conan
1.45 Oliver! Replay

Saturday Dec 4
6.00 The Nanny
6.30 David Attenborough’s Life of Mammels
7.30 Wild Caribbean
8.30 Secrets of the Humback Whale
9.30 CSI: Miami (HD)
10.30 CSI: New York (HD)
11.30 Conan
12.30 Movie: Butterfield 8

Next week on one of the Australia’s most watched television programs CSI, the Tyrannosaurus Rex from WALKING WITH DINOSAURS is part of a special investigation following the death of a young man with dinosaur like bite marks on his body.

Roy and Hodges enlist the help of the show Tour Manager in photographing and cataloguing the mouths of all of the dinosaurs and the plot thickens when they find blood on the T-Rex’s teeth.

This very special episode of CSI, which features WALKING WITH DINOSAURS, was filmed at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles in September this year.

WALKING WITH DINOSAURS – THE ARENA SPECTACULAR has played to 6.5 million people worldwide since it started in Australia in 2007. In 2009, Pollstar named Walking with Dinosaurs No.4 in the Top 100 Worldwide Tours behind U2, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen.

WALKING WITH DINOSAURS – The Arena Spectacular, based on the award-winning BBC Television Series, will return to Australia for a national tour this April.  The tour will see the Dinosaurs roam arenas in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle.