SitcomsOnline Digest: First Cancellation of the New Season; CSI Season Cut Short; New Mill Creek DVDs

Saturday, October 25, 2014

SitcomsOnline Digest: First Cancellation of the New Season; CSI Season Cut Short; New Mill Creek DVDs

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We finally have news of the first cancellation of the season, new developments on the remake of Bewitched, news of more Mill Creek DVDs, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

This year, it took almost five weeks (unusually long by broadcast network standards) for the first new fall series to be canceled by one of the networks. The series receiving this distinction was ABC's Manhattan Love Story. (Entertainment Weekly)
CBS has decided to cut the current season of CSI down to 18 episodes, which already has some wondering if the long-running series may be reaching the end. (Deadline)
We mentioned last week that the classic TV series Bewitched was being eyed for a remake, and things have moved very fast... so fast, that it has finally been given a pilot production commitment at NBC following what is being described as an intense bidding war between NBC and ABC. (Deadline)
Fox is being sued by actor Frank Sivero over the use of The Simpsons mobster character Louie, because Sivero says that the character is a ripoff of his character from the movie Goodfellas. (People)
The debut of new episodes of American Dad was a huge success for TBS earlier this week. (TV By The Numbers)
Saturday Night Live is adding current writer Leslie Jones as a cast member, and given some of her cameo appearances on the series, it is certain to be a good thing for the series. (CBS News)
Another retro TV digital network is coming, and this time it is coming from CBS and Weigel Broadcasting. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Mill Creek is moving ahead once again with more Married... with Children on DVD as they prepare for January 6 releases of Married... with Children - Season Seven, Married... with Children - Season Eight, and Married... with Children - Seasons Seven and Eight.
Mill Creek also has more of The Cosby Show on the same date, with The Cosby Show - Season Five, The Cosby Show - Season Six, and The Cosby Show - Seasons Five and Six.

OCTOBER 28 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00KYCA4QY/ref=nosim/happydaysonline5-20

WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete Series (DVD, $139.99): One of the most anticipated series ever comes to DVD, and despite a few music licensing hiccups, a significant amount of the original music is intact on this excellent release of the series (much more than what Fox included on their season 1 release). We'll have a full review of this set very soon.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Dick Van Dyke (Twitter), "the barefoot prince of Malibu"

Claim to Fame: The legendary actor is, in fact, on Twitter. Of course, he started out on television in the 1950s as host of The Morning Show on CBS and quickly rose to fame, particularly in a lot of films on the 1960s. But at the same time, he also had just as much fame from his CBS sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show. The series ran for six years, and is now considered one of the greatest classic TV series of all time. After that series ended, he mostly stayed with films for a few years, until 1971 when he got a second chance with The New Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS. The second series struggled initially before picking up, but ultimately, it left the air after Carl Reiner walked away from the series in protest of a scene in an episode that CBS found to be too "family unfriendly" (despite the fact that the network was airing several sitcoms at the time that were even less family friendly). Following that, he went back into movies again and even tried his hand at a variety series, Van Dyke and Company. A third sitcom in the 80s, The Van Dyke Show, was an instant flop. He did find success again by 1993, though, with the long-running series Diagnosis Murder.

Pick of the Tweets: "Arlene is dragging me into the 21st century - This is a joint blog for my wife and I. We are inseparable! ... http://tmblr.co/Z1FiFm1TD_kcx" (October 15, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 22

Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.

Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.

The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.

Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.

The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.

Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)

Friday, December 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.