CBS Fall Premieres

CBS has released its fall premiere schedule and, unlike Fox and The CW, will generally begin airing their new eps during the traditional September premiere week. Current premiere dates are:

• Thursday, September 17 - Survivor: Samoa
• Monday, September 21 - How I Met Your Mother, Accidentally on Purpose, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami
• Tuesday, September 22 - NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife
• Wednesday, September 23 - The New Adventures of Old Christine, Gary Unmarried, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY
• Thursday, September 24 - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Mentalist
• Friday, September 25 - Ghost Whisperer, Medium, Numb3rs
• Saturday, September 26 - Crimetime Saturdayi48 Hours Mystery
• Sunday, September 27 - 60 Minutes, The Amazing Race, Cold Case
• Sunday, October 4 - Three Rivers

[Hollywood Reporter]

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Walter Cronkite, "The Most Trusted Man in America," Ill

Legendary journalist and former CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite is reported to be very ill. The 92-year-old turned the CBS nightly news into one of the most respected news shows in the country. He was known for ending each broadcast with his signature phrase, "And that's the way it is."

Over the course of his career, Cronkite covered events ranging from the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. to man's first steps on the moon.

Watch a brief clip of Cronkite discussing his experience covering the first lunar landing:

[Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

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Emmys Date Moves Again

After announcing earlier this month that the Emmys were moving to September 13, the TV Academy and CBS have now moved the award show back to its original September 20th date.

The academy and CBS didn't realize that the 13th put the Emmys in conflict with the MTV Video Music Awards, which were scheduled for that same night.

Said Jack Sussman, CBS' executive vice president of specials, music and live events, "After we announced plans for Sept. 13, MTV informed us they were locked into the same day for the Video Music Awards, with venue and sponsorship agreements in place. We had the flexibility to move; they didn't. It's best for the industry and the audience that these events not compete against each other." [Variety]

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TV News: Emmys Coming Early, More Hannah on the Way

- The Emmys will air on September 13 (8:00-11:00PM, live ET/delayed PT) this year, one week earlier than the orignally announced date. A spokesman for CBS cited the possibility of broadcast delays on the orignal award show date due to an NFL doubleheader airing on The Eye that Sunday. The original date for the Emmys was set before the NFL released their 2009 television schedule. This year's Primetime Emmy nominees will be announced July 16 at 5:40AM. [Emmys.tv]

-Disney Channel has ordered a fourth season of its franchise-generating hit show Hannah Montana. Tween queen Miley Cyrus will return as the titular character, though "goodbyes will be will be an ongoing theme in an arc that will see Cyrus' character and her family leave their beachfront Malibu enclave." The Mouse also renewed the freshman comedy series Sonny With a Chance, which stars another tween darling, Demi Lovato. [Variety]

- Brian Austin Green (of the recently cancelled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) is in talks to join the cast of The CW's One Tree Hill. The hour-long drama faces big changes going into its seventh year after last season's departure of two of the show's original leads, Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton. If Green comes aboard, he would be a series regular -- a "brash sports agent" who is also "enjoying the spoils that come from being a wealthy, handsome single guy." Sounds like Green would be moving back toward his 90210 roots with this character. [Hollywood Reporter]

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TV News: CBS Announces Fall Lineup

CBS has unveiled its fall schedule, which sees the network's new hit show The Mentalist moving to a primo Thursday spot following CSI. The network is also rearranging its Monday comedy lineup and, as was expected, is integrating Medium (which, as reported earlier, was dropped by NBC) into its schedule to complement Ghost Whisperer and Numbers.

Without a Trace and Worst Week were added to the roster of shows CBS is cutting. For more details on CBS' new fall lineup, click here. [Variety]

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TV News: ABC announces fall lineup, The Unit and My Name Is Earl canceled...

- ABC has presented its fall lineup, which will include returning shows like Grey's Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars. There will also be a Wednesday night, two-hour block of comedies (including Cougar Town). Scrubs and Better Off Ted are supposed to appear midseason. For more about the network's fall lineup, go here. [The Hollywood Reporter]

- Meanwhile, NBC has decided to cancel My Name Is Earl, but 20th Century executives are speaking to FOX and ABC about picking it up. The peacock network has also passed on ordering another season of Medium, but those rumors that show owner CBS could pick it up are still alive and kicking. Meanwhile, CBS has decided not to pick up The Unit. [Entertainment Weekly]

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TV News: Renewals and Cancellations as of May 18, 2009

We've been posting sporadic news about recent TV renewals and cancellations since last week, and I just posted my thoughts about the Sarah Connor cancellation here earlier today. But since we've all got day jobs here at Pop Wenches, it's tough to post each and every bit of TV scheduling news that's come out today.

So here's a little rundown of the fall line-ups so far:

- FOX announced its line-up of shows today, confirming the cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and stating that an abbreviated season of Dollhouse will (still) be airing on Friday nights. Fringe will move to Thursday night, while other established hits like House will stay in their current time slots (which means House will be on Monday nights). For a more comprehensive look at FOX's fall schedule, go here. [THR.com]
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- Meanwhile, it looks like ABC has decided to cancel Samantha Who? But executives have renewed Castle, meaning Nathan Fillion is finally on a series — not including Two Guys and a Girl — that hasn't been canceled only 10 or so episodes into its first season. Better Off Ted, which is actually pretty quirky/funny, has also been renewed. And as posted this weekend, Scrubs is coming back...[Entertainment Weekly Link 1; Link 2]

- CBS has picked up four new dramas, including an NCIS spin-off starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, alongside a Jenna Elfman comedy. For more information on that go here. [Entertainment Weekly]

- As posted this weekend, NBC decided to renew Chuck and has renewed established shows like Heroes as well.

For a final tally of all the shows that are getting renewed and canceled, you can always visit this cheat sheet by Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. It's a little messy, but gives you a good idea of his predictions and final outcomes for each major network's TV line-up.

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