Wednesday, May 17

RACE GOES TO SUNDAY;
DANCING GOES TUES-WED;
NBC MAKES TWO DEALS
     CBS, taking a risk in the midst of declining ratings, will move The Amazing Race to Sunday nights for the 2006-07 season.
     The Phil Keoghan-hosted three-time Emmy-winner took a tailspin this season with a fall family edition and a subsequent move to 10 p.m. Tuesdays.
     A spring switch to Wednesdays at 8 (two-hour season finale scheduled tonight) sank the series even lower, particularly against the onslaught of NBC's Deal or No Deal.
     Race will air Sundays at 8 as the lead-out for 60 Minutes and going head-to-head with NBC's new Sunday night NFL franchise and ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
     The move coincides with CBS's decision to abandon its 20-year Sunday night movie franchise. The network is moving Cold Case to 9 p.m. (EDT) and switching Without a Trace to Sundays at 10.
     CBS will keep Survivor in its traditional Thursday at 8 slot for its Cook Islands competition beginning in September.

DANCING GOES TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
     The expected rematch between Survivor and ABC's Dancing with the Stars will not play out in the fall.
     In an attempt to shore up two troubled nights in the 8 p.m. hour, Dancing---getting a September instead of last year's January start---will go in the Tuesday-Wednesday rotation.
     The hour-long Tuesday night ballroom battle will go 8-9. Tom Bergeron will preside over the subsequent results half-hour the following evening.
     Some analysts were surprised at ABC's decision not to continue challenging Survivor head-on on Thursdays, where the celebrity dancers won four out of five weeks in total viewers in February and early March. The network is introducing two new half-hours as lead-ins to its hits Grey's Anatomy, which moves to Thursdays at 9.

NBC MAKES ROOM FOR TWO NIGHTS OF DEAL
     NBC did not resist the temptation to keep Deal or No Deal as a multi-weekly show for 2006-07.
     The network's biggest hit of the current season will return on Mondays and Fridays at 8 after a summer hiatus.
     Deal continues to dominate all three weekly hours in which it is airing during the May sweeps. An expanded edition won its early hour Monday night and scored a 10.8/15 in a respectable second to ABC's special edition of Grey's Anatomy from 9-10.
     NBC has not announced an air date for its recently-purchased 1 vs. 100, envisioned as a companion show to Deal. The network, which will premiere Regis Philbin's new America's Got Talent May 31, is intending to bring the Simon Cowell-created series back as a midseason replacement.
     The Apprentice, which received an early renewal for a Los Angeles competition next year, will be held as a midyear entry.

Monday, May 15

REGIS, LENO INVADE
EXPANDED DEAL
OR NO DEAL
     Regis Philbin's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was not just burned out in prime time from overexposure. The endless parade of celebrities playing the game killed the beauty of the concept of average people winning life-changing money.
     NBC's Deal or No Deal has a better idea: using stars for cameo appearances to encourage the contestants. Monday night, both Philbin and The Tonight Show host Jay Leno showed up during an expanded version of the game.
     Philbin, who just signed to host a Simon Cowell-created NBC summer talent show, appeared on cue when Deal host Howie Mandel asked contestant Lauren Potter for her "final answer" on an offer from The Banker to end the game.
     "Hey, Howie" was heard from Philbin as he crossed over the glass steps. "Howie, you are Deal or No Deal. I'm 'final answer'," proclaimed Philbin to the delight of the audience.
     Leno showed up in the hallowed black-and-white checkerboard hall of NBC Burbank riding atop a new Harley-Davidson as part of a deal eventually rejected by contestant Renee Stokes.
     Potter and Stokes were both a bit greedy and extended their games arguably one case too many. Potter, a New York City waitress, saw her bank offers go into the six figures before she lost her big money onstage.
     She blew a $97,000 offer and ultimately settled for $44,000. Then, to her dismay, she discovered the original case she chose from the models housed $200,000.
     Marine wife Renee Stokes found more of a surprise than her eventual crash in the game. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Jason Stokes, appeared via satellite with his unit from Fallujah, Iraq.
     Late in her game, Renee was still holding onto hope of $500,000 and $750,000 cases onstage. A Harley enthusiast, Renee rejected a package deal of $99,000 in cash and the $18,000 motorcycle.
     She later gambled away a major six-figure cash offer and blew both of her megabucks opportunities. Sgt. Stokes strongly urged his wife to take the $28,000 deal. Good move: she had only a two-figure case of her own.
     The episode, scheduled for a two-hour block, was scaled back to 95 minutes to make room for President Bush's 8 o'clock speech.

ABC, Fox Buy Game Shows from Endemol
Alex Trebek Wins Fourth Daytime Emmy
NBC Picks Up Endemol's 1 vs. 100
Schoenle Becomes NBC's 4th-Biggest Winner Ever
Jeopardy! Wins 2006 Daytime Emmy Award
Mark Itkin to Receive GSC Ralph Edwards Award
Vanna Receives Star on Walk of Fame
Deal to Receive Summer Rest from NBC
Friedman to Develop New Hour-Long Game Show Block
Peter Marshall to Receive GSC Bill Cullen Award
Meredith Vieira to Stay with Millionaire
Lingo Begins Nationwide Contestant Search
John O'Hurley to Replace Richard Karn on Family Feud
Peter Tomarken, Wife Killed in Plane Crash
Philippines Hit with Biggest Game Show Tragedy in History
Michael Davies Signs with Sony

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