ER

Cameron Diaz to film Man vs Wild episode

Following the news Jake Gyllenhaal had filmed an episode of Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls, it’s been announced that Cameron Diaz will film an episode also. Grylls confirmed in a recent interview: “She’s agreed to it, which is great. So we’re going to do it in due course.”

Guest stars confirmed for new Gervais comedy

Sting, Steve Carell and Johnny Depp have all been officially confirmed to appear in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s new comedy series Life’s Too Short. The trio will appear in cameo roles on the sitcom that centres on the life of dwarf actor Warwick Davis.

Project Runway guest judges announced

Kim Kardashian, Christina Ricci, Zoe Saldana and Malin Akerman have all been confirmed to make guest judging appearances on the new season of Project Runway. 

Smallville actor jailed

A former Smallville and ER actor has been sentenced to one year in prison for his role in a drug ring. Sam Jones III pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell large quantities of the painkiller Oxycodone.

111 HITS celebrates one of the highest-rating drama series in television history with ER: A Retrospective premiering on Wednesday April 6 at 8.30pm, before screening the subscription television premiere of ER’s two-hour finale at 9.30pm.

ER: A Retrospective pays tribute to the doctors, residents and medical students who graced the halls of Chicago’s County General Hospital.  The producers and cast look back on a medical series like no other.

Then, relive the highly acclaimed drama from the beginning as 111 HITS presents the two-hour pilot on Thursday April 7 at the special time of 9.30pm.  From April 8, ER continues weeknights at 10.30pm.

ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital – Chicago County General Hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room.

A winner of the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, ER also earned 22 Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series, and 122 Emmy® Award nominations, making it the most nominated show in any genre. 

Running for an incredible 15 seasons, ER made stars of George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Julianna Marguilies, Jorja Fox and Anthony Edwards.

                        ER: A Retrospective – Wednesday April 6 at 8.30pm
                        Australian Television Premiere

                        ER Two-hour Finale – Wednesday April 6 at 9.30pm
                        Subscription Television Premiere

                        ER Series 1 Two- Hour Pilot – Thursday April 7 at Special time of 9.30pm
                        Then the series continues weeknights at 10.30pm

With so many changes to GO programming lately, here is the summary as to what is going on.

Nip/Tuck has been moved from 10.30pm Mondays to 11.30pm Monday from June 28.

Hell’s Kitchen has been moved from Monday to Tuesdays 10.30pm, from June 29.

Monday night from 9.30 will feature a movie. At 9.30pm June 28 is the movie Date Night, and Epic Movie is on July 5.

The one off CSI: Miami inserted at 8.30 Tuesday night is gone, replaced with double episodes of Seinfeld from 8.30 June 29.

The Bachelor remains (so far) on Tuesdays 7.30pm, while the Bachelorette is on Wednesdays at 8.30pm. Chuck now can be seen at 10.30pm Wednesday nights.

ER remains at 9.35 Thursday, with the final ever episode on Thursday July 8. The final is a two hour episode. Gossip Girl remains on at 10.30 Thursday June 24 and July 1, but is not on July 8, thanks to the ER finale. Gossip Girl should return for its final episodes of season 2 Thursday July 15.

The final three episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles can be seen over two Saturdays. Two eps will play at 10.30 Saturday July 3, followed by the final episode at 11pm Saturday July 10.

Finally, don’t forget the Footy Show (AFL) will be seen at midnight June 24 and July 1 in place of midnight prime time repeats. Something to keep in mind if you watch or record shows from the repeat timeslots.

Wow – it has certainly been an ordeal to keep up with ER. Since its demise on Nine to its resurrection on GO, ER must have had more timeslot changes and double episode additions then any show in history.

In its hay day, ER used to be one of the top rating shows on Nine, featuring prominently in prime time. Then, as ratings fell, and Nine itself went through a period of management transformation – which ultimately resulted in the network losing its long held position as Australia’s Number One television network – ER was relegated to late night timeslots, then taken off altogether with almost no notice to fans.

Midway in its 13^th season at the time, ER was held off until summer of 2008/2009 where, by playing double episodes late Thursday nights, Nine managed to get through the full 13^th season, ending with episode 1 of season 14. As the 2009 ratings year began, ER disappeared once again, not to be seen until Nine gave it another chance in October that year, only for ER to be off again in time for summer before being given a chance on GO! from January 2010.

Meanwhile, in the US, the 15^th and final season came to an end in April 2009. Stars from former seasons of ER including George Clooney and Julianna Margulies (now seen on Ten’s The Good Wife) had returned to the final episodes of the series, setting the show up for a remarkable climax and conclusion that would leave viewers satisfied. US talk shows at the time such as Ellen and the View featured many discussions about ER’s ending.

Late 2009, ER turned up on Nine, 10.30 Thursday nights before being taken off again after playing just seven episodes. The 300^th episode – originally to air on Nine on December 17, 2009 had a huge write up in TV Week even though it did not air then.

Then, on January 7, 2010, ER came to GO! For many, the move seemed a little strange for a channel supposedly focussing on “youth” but for ER fans, it would hopefully be the much needed reprieve to finally see the rest of the show.

ER on GO started with season 14, episode 9 at 10.30pm Thursday Jan 7. Then moved to 9.30pm for episode 300 (season 14, ep 10) the following week. A few weeks later, ER was on at 8.30 with double episodes – without warning. Then back to a single at 9.30, then doubles again from 8.30. The double episodes stopped in March, leaving ER at 9.30pm Thursdays. Then, from time to time, an extra episode would be added at 10.30pm, again resulting in doubles.

Now, it looks like ER is finishing its run with the last few episodes of ER remaining at 9.30pm Thursdays. The ER finale (a two hour episode) will air at 9.30pm, Thursday July 8, 2010 on GO!

The conclusion of ER on GO means that seasons 14 and 15 can be played on cable – 111 Hits so far have played seasons 9-13, and further means the DVDs can be released. Season 14 is already available.

Despite something like 20 programming changes to ER on Nine then GO, somehow, I managed to see every episode played over the past few years, and look forward to seeing the conclusion on July 8.

Gossip Girl is not on GO again tonight. The episode that was meant to air tonight has been held over, to make way for another episode of ER.

While that may be good news for ER fans, it must surely be driving Gossip Girl fans nuts (or at least those who rely on free to air to see it).

The double ER tonight from 9.35pm means the finale next month comes one week sooner.

As for Gossip Girl, the schedule for next week shows it will be on GO, but don’t bet on it actaully airing. Gossip Girl also only has a few more eps to go before its season two finale on GO.

Can someone at channel Nine or GO please explain how they really benefit from these sorts of absolute last minute changes? The extra 100,000 or so that watch ER over Gossip Girl may be the reason – an extra 0.1% in ratings say – but the last minute change will only stand to annoy fans of both shows who will once again have to adjust their viewing or recording plan for the night at the last minute.

Spare a thought for those who will not know what is on until actually watching GO at 10.30 – or those who program their PVRs while they are at work, out or away for the day or night. Both ER eps are repeated from 12.30am.

While we are at it, and still with the same network, Nine have inserted an extra episode of Two and a Half Men on Tuesday night after Top Gear at around 9pm. Australian Druglords and all subsequent programming for the night will be pushed back by half an hour. 30 Years of Origin will be seen at 10.30 in NSW and QLD, while Kitchen Nightmares will air SA, WA, and VIC. Australian Families of Crime will not be seen.

Men will help keep a larger number of Top Gear viewers, but only for half an hour before they drift to the other channels. Prediction Nine will be third again on Tuesday night, but they won’t care because they will win the week thanks to State of Origin.

Chuck is coming to GO – but sooner than you might think!

The network most famous for last minute programming changes has announced that Chuck will air at 7.30 Wednesdays, from next Wednesday May 12. Chuck seasons one and two has previously aired on pay TV’s FOX8, but on GO, Chuck will be a free to air first.

GO will be starting from the first episodes of the first season – where he accidentally downloads an email subliminally encoded with government secrets which become embedded into his mind – thus making up the premise of the show. Chuck, who works in the “Nerd Herd” department of a store called “Buy More” now finds himself working for the CIA being used to “flash” on the information embedded into his brain.

Season three has aired in the US, but is yet to air here on FOX8. So far, US’s NBC network have not ordered a fourth season of Chuck. Hopefully, whether it gets a fourth season or not, they allow the series to wrap up.

GO is also changing Tuesday nights from 7.30 – 8.30 with the Middle airing at 7.30 followed by the New Adventures of Old Christine. Both shows have previously aired on Nine.

Both of these changes have been made too late for printed TV guides to reflect, and some internet guides may take time to show these changes as well. These changes replace the very tired Seinfeld / Frasier combination that has been gradually reduced from the 7.30 – 8.30pm timeslot (in fact Tuesday and Wednesday were the only two days left).

One more change from GO – from next Thursday, May 13, ER will be in double episodes from 9.35pm. Gossip Girl is out.

Source: TV Tonight.

Yep, they are at it again.

Even though the Big Bang Theory Marathon rated well for GO last Thursday, they have ditched the idea this week, and made another last minute programming change which sees the timing of ER changed for the fifth time.

When ER came to GO, it was scheduled for 10.30pm. The next week, it moved to 9.30pm. Then they had a double with ER on at 8.30 and 9.30. Then, last week, they dumped the 8.30 and left ER only on at 9.30. This week, the 8.30 is back, and the 9.30 remains.

Next week? At this stage is planned as a double as well, but who knows what will happen between now and then?

The GO website and internet TV guides are yet to be updated.

In conclusion: ER for Thursday Feb 18 is on at 8.30pm and 9.30pm on GO! This is also the plan for Thursday Feb 25.

Programming information from TV Tonight.

1. Yet again, the network most famous for last minute programming changes – Nine – have made a change to their line up for the week at the last minute. On Thursday night, Feb 11, CSI: NY will be one episode instead of two, with a repeat of the Mentalist replacing it at 9.30. The 10.30 CSI: NY is also a repeat.

2. The second season of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles will air on GO from Wed Feb 24 at 9.30pm. It will be the 1^st of 22 eps in the 2^nd season.

3. While we are on GO, for those trying to keep track, ER will only be on at 9.30pm this Thursday Feb 11. The 8.30 episode was a one off. Also – Big Bang Theory fans get 4 episodes in a row from 7.30 Thursday Feb 11. Subject to change.

4. Over at Ten, for those who haven’t noticed, the Simpsons are back on at 6pm weeknights, while repeats of the Biggest Loser are now airing at 3pm weekdays in an attempt to gain more viewers. So far, this year, Loser has not done well in the ratings. Also, the 7PM Project can now only be seen at 7pm, with its late night repeats ditched. The move so far has helped ratings at 7pm.

Another day, another programming change from GO! with Curb Your Enthusiasm now out of the schedule, effective immediately. Instead, the movie that usually airs at 11pm will be brought forward to 10.30pm. This Sunday (Feb 7) the movie is Police Academy 3, with the 4th one following on Feb 14. The four Police Academy movies have already aired on GO a few months ago.

So far, no alternative timeslot for Curb has been advised. With only 5 episodes to go, why don’t they just play them out is a marathon one night nistead of old movies?

Next change: Thursday Feb 11 will see four episodes of Big Bang Theory from 7.30 – 9.30. That, of course, also means ER will only be the one episode at 9.30 that Thursday (I have already said enough of all these changes and how are ER fans supposed to keep up).

And finally: Go will soon screen the reaily series The City which is a spin off of the Hills. Given the number of timeslots and programming changes the Hills has endured, what hope will there be for the new one?

And lets finish of with a quote that I always remember from school: “Rolling stones gather no moss” – which in TV land translates to: “Keep changing your schedule every week and you will not succeed in ratings”.

Sure – GO is the number one multi channel, but 7TWO are at their doorstep. If they (GO) keep on messing with the program and letting down fans of various shows by not showing complete seasons, then GO will faulter. 7TWO will take over as number one.

Programming info: www.tvtonight.com.au

The Nine networks’ department of “let’s keep on changing program times at the last minute to see how many viewers we can annoy” has struck again with the network indicating that there will be a double episode of ER THIS Thursday (Feb 4) from 8.30 – 10.30 and Side Order of Life being bumped out of the schedule for the week altogether.

While I am happy for new episodes of ER to be on TV again, the show just a few weeks ago started with a 10.30 timeslot, then moved to 9.30, and now will be on at 8.30. All of these changes have come with only days notice – which prompts me to ask – how the hell can the fans keep up – especially those who rely on printed TV guides? How annoying will it be for anyone NOT aware of the change to 8.30 to start watching ER at 9.30 only to realise the opening scenes “previously on ER” have scenes from the episode they JUST MISSED at 8.30 because THEY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!!!

And, fans of Side Order of Life will be equally as annoyed when they see that their show has been bumped out altogether.

Then there is the simple matter of what will happen next week – will ER be on at 8.30? 9.30 or both? And will we know more than a few days in advance?

Another programming change from Nine sees Cold Case (Wed 8.30) have two new episodes this week and next instead of a new followed by a repeat episode.

Also: Adults only 20-1 airs on Nine Thursdays, 8.30pm. Sounds like it continues during the Winter Olympics as well.

Source: www.Tvtonight.com