New syndicated programs. Juggled lineups. Even a few new locally produced shows.
It's all part of what the local commercial broadcasting stations are doing to spruce up their schedules as we begin the 1996-97 television season.Here's a look at what to expect:
KUTV-Ch. 2
There aren't a lot of changes at Ch. 2 this fall - just a few new shows.
(And a good number of those are from Eyemark Entertainment - CBS's syndication unit. And Ch. 2, of course, is owned by CBS.)
The one new, locally produced show is a half-hour "High School Sports Report," which will air Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. beginning this week.
The reality series "Real TV" will be seen weekdays at 2:30 p.m. beginning Monday. "Real TV" features video footage - from crimes to high-drama rescues to movie and TV outtakes - from around the world.
Also beginning Monday, Ch. 2 makes a few switches in late night.
- A repeat of KUTV's late news will be seen at 12:37 a.m.
- The syndicated talk show "Gordon Elliott" (which is distributed by Eyemark) comes over from Ch. 13 into the 1:07 a.m. time slot.
- And "Hard Copy" moves to 2:07 a.m.
Saturdays will also feature several changes, effective Sept. 14:
- "News for Kids" (from Eyemark) on Saturdays at 11 a.m.
- "The Psi-Factor" (a reality/-paranormal series from Eyemark, with Dan Aykroyd) at 10:35 p.m.
- "HBO Comedy Hour" at 11:35 p.m.
- A late-news rerun at 12:35 a.m.
- And the syndicated "Save Our Streets" at 1:05 a.m.
KTVX-Ch. 4
The big news at Ch. 4 involves the addition of a local newscast and the shuffling of ABC daytime and late-night programs.
On Monday, Sept. 23, Ch. 4 will add a "non-traditional" newscast - titled "Utah Living" - weekdays at 11 a.m. It's KTVX's first venture into midday news.
Also on that date, Ch. 4 will begin airing the ABC soap "The City" weekdays at 11:30 a.m. And the addition of the news and "The City" will cause the other three ABC soaps to each slide back an hour.
As of Sept. 23, "All My Children" moves to noon; "One Life to Live" moves to 1 p.m.; and "General Hospital" moves to 2 p.m.
Two weeks earlier - this coming Monday - Ch. 4 moves "Nightline" up an hour. The ABC News program will be seen weeknights at 10:35 p.m., right after KTVX's late news.
That will push "Inside Edition" back to 11:05 p.m. and "American Journal" to 11:35 p.m.
Also beginning Monday, Ch. 4 will add "Strange Universe" weeknights at 12:05 a.m. The hourlong show, hosted by Dana Adams, investigates paranormal experiences. (And it's produced by the syndication unit of the company that owns Ch. 4.)
Ch. 4 also has a number of changes on the weekends:
- A pair of syndicated action series join the schedule - "Viper" on Saturdays at 10:35 p.m. beginning Sept. 14 and "FX" on Sundays at 4 p.m. beginning Sept. 15.
- The reality series "Fire Rescue" debuts Saturdays at 5 p.m. on Oct. 5.
- A pair of kids' shows join the Sunday-morning schedule - "PE-TV" at 7 a.m. beginning Sept. 22 and "Ghostwriter" at 7:30 a.m. beginning Sept. 29.
- A pair of home-and-garden shows also join the Sunday-morning schedule - "Rebecca's Garden" at 8 a.m. beginning Oct. 6 and "This Old House" at 8:30 a.m. beginning Sept. 22.
"Rebecca's Garden," by the way, returns a familiar face to Utah. It's hosted by Rebecca Reheis, the former Ch. 2 and Ch. 4 weathercaster.
("This Old House" and "Rebecca's Garden" will move to Saturdays at 4 and 4:30 p.m., respectively, in December - when ABC's college football coverage ends for the season.)
KSL-Ch. 5
Ch. 5 revamps its weekday schedule, adds a locally produced show and brings on a number of syndicated programs.
The weekday changes will looklike this, effective Monday, Sept. 16:
- "M.A.S.H." will be double-run at 9 and 9:30 a.m.
- "Murphy Brown" moves to 10 a.m.
- "Who's the Boss?" moves to 10:30 a.m.
- The NBC soap "Days of Our Lives" moves back an hour to 2 p.m.
- Syndicated reruns of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" take over the 3 p.m. time slot.
- Syndicated reruns of "Mad About You" move into the 4 p.m. time slot. (The show will also air weeknights at 11:35 p.m. - between "Tonight" and "Late Night" - as well as Saturdays at 6:30 p.m.)
- And the new syndicated half hour "Access Hollywood" - and entertainment news show - will be seen at 4:30 p.m.
The locally produced show is "Fit Kids" - a kids exercise and health show. It will air Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. beginning Sept. 14.
And "Inside Utah Golf" moves to Saturdays at 4 p.m. on that same day.
KSL is adding a syndicated show to its late-night schedule on Sunday. "The Cape," an hourlong ensemble drama (headed by Corbin Bernsen of "L.A. Law") will be seen Sundays at 12:30 a.m. beginning Sept. 27. The two-hour series premiere airs as Ch. 5's 11:30 p.m. Saturday movie on Sept. 21.
KSTU-Ch. 13
The Fox-owned station has some new game shows, some new kids shows, a different "Star Trek" and more Tim Allen than ever.
What's already caused some consternation among Trekkers is that, as of Sept. 30, instead of airing syndicated reruns of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" weeknights at 10 p.m., Ch. 13 will be airing syndicated reruns of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine."
However, it's a temporary move. Ch. 13 has already promised that "Next Gen" will return after getting a rest. And, beginning in January, Fox is going to air a five-nights-a-week soap opera at 10 p.m. - so Ch. 13 won't be able to air any "Trek" in the time slot.
(And if you're really in need of a "Trek" fix, KSTU will start airing reruns of the original show weekdays at 5 a.m. on Sept. 16.)
On Sept. 9, Ch. 13 adds a pair of new game shows to its weekday slate. Well, a pair of updated old game shows - "The Dating Game" at 9 a.m. and "The Newlywed Game" at 9:30 a.m.
"Extra," which aired on Ch. 2 for much of last season, returned on Ch. 13 this week at 1 p.m. And it brought with it a couple of familiar faces - the anchors are former Ch. 13 anchorwoman Libby Wea-ver and former Ch. 4 morning news anchor Brad Goode.
(Ch. 13 will also air a repeat of "Extra" the following weekday morn-ing at 6:30 a.m.)
The other weekday changes are a matter of shuffling shows that are already on the station:
- "Dinosaurs" moves to 6 a.m. on Monday.
- "Blossom" moved to 9 a.m. this week.
- "Golden Girls" moved to 9:30 a.m. this week.
- "Bananas in Pajamas" moves to 1:30 p.m. on Monday.
- And "Home Improvement" begins airing twice a night on Monday - at both 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
("Full House" will be seen Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. only, beginning Oct. 5.)
KJZZ-Ch. 14
The local UPN affiliate has got a bunch of new syndicated series, a couple new talk shows, a number of schedule shifts, and lots and lots of kids shows.
KJZZ picked up three new syndicated action/-adventures hours, two of which feature old heroes:
- "The Adventures of Sinbad" will be seen Tuesdays at 7 p.m. beginning Sept. 17.
- "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures" will be seen Saturdays at 7 p.m. beginning Sept. 28.
- And "Two," a drama about a man who is framed for murder by his evil twin, will be seen Thursdays at 7 p.m. beginning Sept. 12.
Action hours switching time slots include "Baywatch Nights," which moved to Mondays at 9 p.m. last month; "Babylon 5," which moved to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. last month (with a rerun Saturdays at 6 p.m.); "Batwatch," which moves to Fridays at 7 p.m. on Sept. 27; "Flipper," which moves to Saturdays at 2 p.m. this week; "Kung Fu," which moves to Saturdays at 6 p.m. on Sept. 28; and "The Highlander," which moves over from Ch. 5 to Saturdays at 10 p.m. on Sept. 28.
Ch. 14 is also adding three talk shows to its weekday schedule:
- "Scoop with Sam and Dorothy" is a talk/-gossip show that debuts Monday at 10 a.m.
- "The Bradshaw Difference," a show hosted by author John Bradshaw that promises to focus on solutions to problems, will debuts Monday, Sept. 16 at 11 a.m.
- And "Jenny Jones," which was dropped by Ch. 4, comes to Ch. 14 on Monday at 2 p.m. (It will also be rebroadcast weekday mornings at 2 a.m.)
KJZZ has added the syndicated reality series "America's Dumbest Criminals" - which is exactly what it sounds like - on Sundays at 10 p.m. beginning Sept. 15.
Ch. 14 is also adding a whole slew of children's programs. Here's a quick rundown on weekday changes:
- "Amazin' Adventures" at 6 a.m. (begins Monday)
- "Masked Riders" at 6:30 a.m. (begins Monday)
- "Samurai Pizza Cats" at 7 a.m. (begins Monday)
- "The Mask" at 7:30 a.m. (began this week)
- "Darkwing Duck" at 8:30 a.m. (begins Sept. 23)
And the Saturday changes, which are all effective Sept. 14, include:
- "Field Trip" at 6:30 a.m.
- "Why Why Family" at 7 a.m.
- "Dragonflies" at 7:30 a.m.
- "Princess Gwenevere" at 8 a.m.
- "Sky Surfer Strike Force" at 8:30 a.m.
- "Captain Simeon & the Space Monkeys" at 9:30 a.m.
- And "Amazin' Adventures" at 10 a.m.
Sunday additions include:
- "Oliver Twist" at 6:30 a.m. (begins Sept. 15)
- "Dragon Ball Z" at 7 a.m. (begins Sept. 15)
- "Eagle Riders" at 7:30 a.m. (begins Sept. 15)
- "Jumanji" at 8 a.m. (begins Sept. 8)
- "The Monster and the Mouse" at 8:30 a.m. (begins Sept. 8)
- "Incredible Hulk" at 9 a.m. (begins Sept. 8)
- "B.A.D." at 9:30 a.m. (begins Sept. 8)
Also on Sundays, "Dinobabies" moves to 6 a.m. on Sept. 22; "Bill Nye the Science Guy" moves to 10 a.m. on Sept. 15; "Sweet Valley High" moves to 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 15; "New Horizons" moves to 11 a.m. on Sept. 15; and "American Gladiators" moves to midnight on Sept. 8.
KOOG-Ch. 30
Just a few changes at the WB affiliate in Ogden this fall, all of which are effective Monday, Sept. 15.
Four syndicated shows will be stripped Monday-Friday:
- "Judge Judy" (6 p.m.) features Judge Judy Sheindlin presiding over various cases.
- "Real Stories of the Highway Patrol" (6:30 p.m.) moves over from Ch. 14.
- The made-for-cable anthology series "The Hitchhiker" (9 p.m.) moves into syndication.
- And "Night Stand" will be seen at 10:30 p.m.
KOOG is also adding the syndicated reality series "Beach Patrol," which follows the exploits of real-life lifeguards, on Thursdays at 8 p.m. (with a second run Saturdays at 10 p.m.).
And late Sunday afternoon becomes a wildlife/outdoor lineup with "American Outdoor Journal" at 4:30 p.m., "Northwest Hunter" at 5 p.m. and "Wild About Animals" at 5:30 p.m.