In the wake of the terrorist attacks, the networks are continuing to preempt programming and shift primetime plans.
CBS has announced it will again be preempting its primetime lineup tonight to carry CBS News' ongoing coverage of Tuesday's terrorist attacks. CBS was scheduled to air the second installment of new reality series The Amazing Race and the premiere of new drama Wolf Lake. CBS executives say no decisions have been made yet on new air dates for either show.
Fox has pulled all promotional spots for its new action series 24 and it is unclear if the show will launch on schedule.
The series stars Kiefer Sutherland as the head of a counter terrorist unit attempting to stave off an assassination plot on a Presidential candidate. The first episode features a bomb going off in a major commercial airliner. "It would be insensitive to continue to run those promos in light of what's happened," said a Fox spokesman.
Radio spots for 24 were still on the air Wednesday morning in a number of markets, but the spokesman said they are trying to get all the ads pulled as "quickly as possible." The show is scheduled to debut Oct. 30 after Fox's coverage of Major League Baseball's World Series, but Fox executives are still determining if they will hold off on it's debut. "There are a lot of variables that we need to find out the answers to before we can move forward," the Fox spokesman said. As for Fox's primetime schedule over the next several days, there are a number of changes taking place.
On Wednesday night, Fox will again replace its primetime schedule with coverage from Fox News. Thursday (Sept. 13) Fox programmers have scheduled back-to-back repeats of King of the Hill, followed by The Simpsons and Family Guy. On Friday, Fox has pulled The X-Files Movie off and is instead airing the film 9 Months,/i>.
On Saturday, John Walsh is producing a two-hour original episode of America's Most Wanted,/i> that will focus on Tuesday's terrorist activities. Sunday, Fox will air a repeat of That `70s Show at 7 p.m. ET/PT and film Mrs. Doubtfire in place of previously scheduled film Independence Day. On Monday, Sept 17, the network will air film The Nutty Professor in place of original film The Rats.
The WB is going forward with the premiere of three new sitcoms on Friday night.
Network executives announced that "after much deliberation," that they are moving forward with the premieres of comedies Maybe I'm Adopted, Reba and Raising Dad on Friday, as well as the season premiere of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch on Sept. 14.
The network is also sending out its Kids WB! block today and will resume entertainment programming in primetime tonight. On Tuesday, The WB offered co-owned CNN's live feed to its affiliates in primetime. Network executives are pre-empting tonight's scheduled movie The Craft and replacing it with it with repeats of 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls.
UPN is planning to resume its regularly scheduled lineup tonight.
A night after running co-owned CBS' national news feed in primetime, UPN will air repeats of Star Trek: Voyager at 8 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday and Special Unit 2 at 9 p.m. Network programmers are still determining whether any changes will be made in terms of the roll-out of their fall lineup or scheduling of any inappropriate films or shows in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
A UPN spokeswoman said, "We are sort of in a wait-and-see mode, we are going to see if any of the other networks decide to push back the premiere of their shows and at which point will asses whether or not it is necessary to push back ours."
UPN launched its Monday night comedy lineup on Sept. 3 and its next season premiere was scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 26, with the launch of Enterprise. Buffy The Vampire Slayer is slated to debut on UPN on Oct. 2.
- Joe Schlosser
