'Pushing Daisies'
Barack Obama's presidential campaign has opted against going for a complete broadcast road block on Wednesday night.
Insiders confirm that ABC offered to sell the campaign the 8 p.m. slot, where it has already purchased time from NBC, CBS, Fox and Univision. But the Obama camp passed.
That means ABC will run an original episode of "Pushing Daisies," as planned. (The CW also wasn't part of the buy, and will run its normally scheduled show, "America's Next Top Model.")
Alphabet could see a ratings boost for the struggling "Daisies" as a result, now that the show will serve as counterprogramming for viewers not interested in the Obama informercial.
Meanwhile, the half-hour Obama spesh provided some unusual scheduling changes to the nets' Wednesday night lineups. At NBC (which, interestingly, lists the Obama ad on its website as an "all-new" episode of "Barack Obama: American Stories"), the net has expanded 9 p.m. gamer "Deal or No Deal" to 90 minutes, starting at 8:30. CBS, meanwhile, will push 8 p.m. laffer "The New Adventures of Old Christine" to 8:30 p.m. -- temporarily displacing "Gary Unmarried," which earned a special Monday berth this week anyway.
Over on Fox, should a sixth game of the World Series be unnecessary -- which may be the case, if the Phillies win it all Monday night -- the net will air a "Bones" repeat at 8:30 p.m., followed by a "Til Death" repeat at 9:30 p.m.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com