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Cleveland TV Comedy Blocks

C

CleveFan

I was just thinking after posting in the Coming This Fall board that comedy blocks have changed from the 70's through a few years ago. 8, 19, 43, 55 and 61 used to have killer blocks that viewers would stick around for hours.

Which station do you think had (or even has) the best comedy block of all-time?

My pick is WOIO/19 around 1991-94, when shows like "Mama's Family," "Married...With Children," "Roseanne," "Full House" and "Family Matters" were part of the 5-8PM block before the big CBS/FOX switch of '94.

WUAB/43 did have a pretty good block during the 80's into the early 90's and then from 1994-2001. That station had a morning, late afternoon/early evening and late night block during this period.

WJW/8 also had a cool comedy block between 1 and 3PM around 1996-98 or '99. I remember seeing "The Jeffersons," "Murphy Brown and "All in the Family" in that lineup. Way better than all the talk shows they had at one point.
 
When 8 first flipped to Fox in the mid-90s, they had about a 3 hour afternoon block of sitcoms (mix of old and new) leading up to the 5 p.m. news. Then Judge Judy debuted, and soon after everybody and their uncle started their own judge shows, and now they're all over the place (as well as more and more talk shows).

These days, even traditional sitcom slots are being taken over by talk shows (see WUAB).

Only 55 currently has the traditional nightly 5-8 p.m. sitcom block, featuring a mix of Tyler Perry/TBS shows and stuff like "Rules of Engagement" and "The Office".

43 and 55 are both stocked with sitcoms in the late night hours, which is the only time they go head to head in the "sitcom wars".
 
CleveRadioInsider said:
Channel 43 was a great station back in the 1980s and 1990s. I hardly recognize it now.
Click to expand...

That's because since it became a duopoly with WOIO, there's been no bones made about the fact that 19 "wears the pants" in that arrangement, and 43 is a flanker.
 
CleveFan said:
I was just thinking after posting in the Coming This Fall board that comedy blocks have changed from the 70's through a few years ago. 8, 19, 43, 55 and 61 used to have killer blocks that viewers would stick around for hours.

Which station do you think had (or even has) the best comedy block of all-time?

My pick is WOIO/19 around 1991-94, when shows like "Mama's Family," "Married...With Children," "Roseanne," "Full House" and "Family Matters" were part of the 5-8PM block before the big CBS/FOX switch of '94.

WUAB/43 did have a pretty good block during the 80's into the early 90's and then from 1994-2001. That station had a morning, late afternoon/early evening and late night block during this period.

WJW/8 also had a cool comedy block between 1 and 3PM around 1996-98 or '99. I remember seeing "The Jeffersons," "Murphy Brown and "All in the Family" in that lineup. Way better than all the talk shows they had at one point.
Click to expand...

I also remember WJW once then first went to fox having TOP COPS, reruns of the CBS Drama from 1990-1993, America's Funniest Home videos (Bob Saget edition, at the time distributed by MTM,then fox television, now disney), and real stories of the highway patrol which for its first year was on WUAB. In the case of Real stories of the highway patrol, the program was produced and distributed by New world Communications who owned WJW and after the flip to FOX, it moved to ch 8. CH 8 also ran some Canadian drama (E.N.G or street legal?)weekday's at 1 PM for a short time as well as the sitcoms did not come until the fall of 1995 a full year after going to fox. They also had reruns of beverly hills 90210 on the weekends and they picked up baywatch from WOIO

I also remember that Murphy Brown reruns ran before the flip to fox at 11:30 preempting David Letterman and they also aired Lauren Hutton and.. . By 1997 Fox had taken full control of ch 8 and thanks to their deep pockets and group buying power they added many talk shows that would not last past one year. such as Richard Perez,Gabrielle Carteris, Tempestt Bledsoe , and Carnie Wilson talk shows as in the mid 90's tanks to the success of Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, and Jenny Jones studios were trying to cash in on the talk show craze.

The funny thing is when judge judy first came on the air it was on WBNX,then in its second year, in 1997 it moved to WOIO the moved to Fox 8 around 1999 or 2000 as I remember seeing Judy on both 55 and 19 before it was on ch 8.
 
CleveFan said:
I was just thinking after posting in the Coming This Fall board that comedy blocks have changed from the 70's through a few years ago. 8, 19, 43, 55 and 61 used to have killer blocks that viewers would stick around for hours.

Which station do you think had (or even has) the best comedy block of all-time?

My pick is WOIO/19 around 1991-94, when shows like "Mama's Family," "Married...With Children," "Roseanne," "Full House" and "Family Matters" were part of the 5-8PM block before the big CBS/FOX switch of '94.

WUAB/43 did have a pretty good block during the 80's into the early 90's and then from 1994-2001. That station had a morning, late afternoon/early evening and late night block during this period.

WJW/8 also had a cool comedy block between 1 and 3PM around 1996-98 or '99. I remember seeing "The Jeffersons," "Murphy Brown and "All in the Family" in that lineup. Way better than all the talk shows they had at one point.
Click to expand...

What is strange is since the big switch of 1994, Cleveland has been lacking a good strong ind station as once WJW went to FOX many programs went uncleared in the Cleveland DMA. That has alot to do with the fact that ch 8 runs a lot of local programming as compared to other FOX stations across the country hence a distributor has no where to go when it comes to clearing a syndicated TV show.

Currently in the Cleveland market here are current syndicated shows that do not get cleared on the big 6:

American Dad (20th television)
futurama weekends (20th television)
South park 3rd cycle (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Family Feud WITH CLEVELAND'S OWN STEVE HARVEY (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Cash cab gets cleared on Cleveland rimshot WMFD Mansfield (MGM)
Access Hollywood LIVE! (NBCU)
Cheaters weekday and weekend

Also many shows such as family guy,It's always sunny,30 rock,law and order CI, America Funniest home videos,COPS,TMZ get cleared in better time slots as it seems like despite being a top 20 market, Cleveland seems to be missing a station as most markets there is at least 3 stations running these types of shows and at any given time Cleveland has 1 maybe 2 as it seems the Cleveland market is more hyper news driven.
 
mavtv said:
CleveFan said:
I was just thinking after posting in the Coming This Fall board that comedy blocks have changed from the 70's through a few years ago. 8, 19, 43, 55 and 61 used to have killer blocks that viewers would stick around for hours.

Which station do you think had (or even has) the best comedy block of all-time?

My pick is WOIO/19 around 1991-94, when shows like "Mama's Family," "Married...With Children," "Roseanne," "Full House" and "Family Matters" were part of the 5-8PM block before the big CBS/FOX switch of '94.

WUAB/43 did have a pretty good block during the 80's into the early 90's and then from 1994-2001. That station had a morning, late afternoon/early evening and late night block during this period.

WJW/8 also had a cool comedy block between 1 and 3PM around 1996-98 or '99. I remember seeing "The Jeffersons," "Murphy Brown and "All in the Family" in that lineup. Way better than all the talk shows they had at one point.
Click to expand...

What is strange is since the big switch of 1994, Cleveland has been lacking a good strong ind station as once WJW went to FOX many programs went uncleared in the Cleveland DMA. That has alot to do with the fact that ch 8 runs a lot of local programming as compared to other FOX stations across the country hence a distributor has no where to go when it comes to clearing a syndicated TV show.

Currently in the Cleveland market here are current syndicated shows that do not get cleared on the big 6:

American Dad (20th television)
futurama weekends (20th television)
South park 3rd cycle (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Family Feud WITH CLEVELAND'S OWN STEVE HARVEY (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Cash cab gets cleared on Cleveland rimshot WMFD Mansfield (MGM)
Access Hollywood LIVE! (NBCU)
Cheaters weekday and weekend

Also many shows such as family guy,It's always sunny,30 rock,law and order CI, America Funniest home videos,COPS,TMZ get cleared in better time slots as it seems like despite being a top 20 market, Cleveland seems to be missing a station as most markets there is at least 3 stations running these types of shows and at any given time Cleveland has 1 maybe 2 as it seems the Cleveland market is more hyper news driven.
Click to expand...

In most towns similar to Cleveland, the local Fox affiliate has a lot of the shows you mentioned in their lineups as they don't have nearly the amount of local news that channel 8 does.

They probably have the 10:00 news, and maybe like a 2 hour morning show, but that's it.

Local news (and lots of it) has always been part of WJW's m.o. (even as a CBS station).

Just as an example, most Fox affiliates have a pretty standard sitcom laden lineup from 5-8 p.m. Here in Cleveland, WJW has news from 5-7:30 (with "Big Bang Theory" filling out the last 1/2 hour). That skews things big time.

Fox 8 is not your cookie cutter midwest market Fox station.

Add to that that WUAB 43 has loaded up on talk shows until 7 p.m. (a lot of them hand-me-downs from sister station WOIO) and that knocks things out of whack even more.
 
With more comedies coming in the fall, I wouldn't be surprised if 8, 43 and 55 revamp their sitcom line-ups. Plus, 8 has Arsenio Hall's new show, so it will be interesting to see how he fits in and what shows would have to change slots, move to another station or even leave the market.
 
vjm said:
mavtv said:
CleveFan said:
I was just thinking after posting in the Coming This Fall board that comedy blocks have changed from the 70's through a few years ago. 8, 19, 43, 55 and 61 used to have killer blocks that viewers would stick around for hours.

Which station do you think had (or even has) the best comedy block of all-time?

My pick is WOIO/19 around 1991-94, when shows like "Mama's Family," "Married...With Children," "Roseanne," "Full House" and "Family Matters" were part of the 5-8PM block before the big CBS/FOX switch of '94.

WUAB/43 did have a pretty good block during the 80's into the early 90's and then from 1994-2001. That station had a morning, late afternoon/early evening and late night block during this period.

WJW/8 also had a cool comedy block between 1 and 3PM around 1996-98 or '99. I remember seeing "The Jeffersons," "Murphy Brown and "All in the Family" in that lineup. Way better than all the talk shows they had at one point.
Click to expand...

What is strange is since the big switch of 1994, Cleveland has been lacking a good strong ind station as once WJW went to FOX many programs went uncleared in the Cleveland DMA. That has alot to do with the fact that ch 8 runs a lot of local programming as compared to other FOX stations across the country hence a distributor has no where to go when it comes to clearing a syndicated TV show.

Currently in the Cleveland market here are current syndicated shows that do not get cleared on the big 6:

American Dad (20th television)
futurama weekends (20th television)
South park 3rd cycle (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Family Feud WITH CLEVELAND'S OWN STEVE HARVEY (20th television/Delrmar Mercury)
Cash cab gets cleared on Cleveland rimshot WMFD Mansfield (MGM)
Access Hollywood LIVE! (NBCU)
Cheaters weekday and weekend

Also many shows such as family guy,It's always sunny,30 rock,law and order CI, America Funniest home videos,COPS,TMZ get cleared in better time slots as it seems like despite being a top 20 market, Cleveland seems to be missing a station as most markets there is at least 3 stations running these types of shows and at any given time Cleveland has 1 maybe 2 as it seems the Cleveland market is more hyper news driven.
Click to expand...

In most towns similar to Cleveland, the local Fox affiliate has a lot of the shows you mentioned in their lineups as they don't have nearly the amount of local news that channel 8 does.

They probably have the 10:00 news, and maybe like a 2 hour morning show, but that's it.

Local news (and lots of it) has always been part of WJW's m.o. (even as a CBS station).

Just as an example, most Fox affiliates have a pretty standard sitcom laden lineup from 5-8 p.m. Here in Cleveland, WJW has news from 5-7:30 (with "Big Bang Theory" filling out the last 1/2 hour). That skews things big time.

Fox 8 is not your cookie cutter midwest market Fox station.

Add to that that WUAB 43 has loaded up on talk shows until 7 p.m. (a lot of them hand-me-downs from sister station WOIO) and that knocks things out of whack even more.
Click to expand...

That is very true as most fox stations outside of the old New World group (Detroit,Atlanta) are not hyper local news as most air little news. In Pittsburgh out side of a 10 PM news produced by WPXI-11, WPGH has no local news just a typical lineup of talk,court, and sitcoms similar to an old school fox station. With WOIO wanting to make ch 43 a dumping ground of its used and low rated content, Cleveland does not have a typical top 20 market station lineup where 2-3 stations are non local programming.

That is why I like ch 8 as they are committed to local content and they are somewhat of a trendsetter as most fox stations air very little local content and us in NE Ohio have a truly local station.

I do remember towards the end of ch 8's day's as a CBS station, they preempted CBS this morning, pushed Letterman back till 12 AM, preempted cartoons on Saturday, never aired the CBS late night which instead aired on what is now WRLM 47 (WOAC 67) and before that WCLQ 61 of course until they went home shopping and all still being one of the strongest CBS stations in the country.
 
mavtv said:
That is very true as most fox stations outside of the old New World group (Detroit,Atlanta) are not hyper local news as most air little news. In Pittsburgh out side of a 10 PM news produced by WPXI-11, WPGH has no local news just a typical lineup of talk,court, and sitcoms similar to an old school fox station. With WOIO wanting to make ch 43 a dumping ground of its used and low rated content, Cleveland does not have a typical top 20 market station lineup where 2-3 stations are non local programming.

That is why I like ch 8 as they are committed to local content and they are somewhat of a trendsetter as most fox stations air very little local content and us in NE Ohio have a truly local station.

I do remember towards the end of ch 8's day's as a CBS station, they preempted CBS this morning, pushed Letterman back till 12 AM, preempted cartoons on Saturday, never aired the CBS late night which instead aired on what is now WRLM 47 (WOAC 67) and before that WCLQ 61 of course until they went home shopping and all still being one of the strongest CBS stations in the country.
Click to expand...

WPGH is a Sinclair station. And Sinclair has never been known for aggressive spending on their news departments. Quite a few of their stations try to get by on as little as possible. And their FOX affiliate in Buffalo even bucked the network and airs NO news programming.

The former FOX-owned stations now owned by Local TV, on the other hand, are pretty aggressive. WITI in Milwaukee also has a lot of news programming and a strong local presence (like WJW, they're a former CBS affiliate that went FOX during the whole New World shakeup in the 90s).

As far as Cleveland and syndicated clearances are concerned, I think a lot of it has to do with the ownership of the stations. WOIO uses WUAB as a dumping ground for miscellaneous shows and infomercials. Ch. 55's owner is a very religious conservative, so I don't see "South Park" appearing there. The rest have network affiliations.
 
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