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SitcomsOnline Digest: Will and Grace to Air in Fall; Rhoda Season 5 to Arrive on DVD in August

• As much as we've been talking about it, it still feels weird to say that the new season of Will and Grace will air this fall on NBC, something that was indirectly confirmed this week. (New York Daily News)
• It literally went down to the very last second (and even a little bit beyond), but the great looming threat of a strike of the WGA was averted, meaning that your favorite TV shows will go on without interruption. (LA Times) 
• The cast of Happy Days (minus Henry Winkler) reunited this week for the memorial of Erin Moran. (Us Weekly)
• After an extensive search, Kelly Ripa finally got a new co-host, Ryan Seacrest, for the newly titled Live with Kelly and Ryan on Monday, just coincidentally in time for sweeps. (Variety)
• Speaking of Ryan Seacrest, we knew that American Idol wasn't gone for good when Fox aired the "final season" just over a year ago, and while we last heard that NBC may be the one reviving it, it now looks very likely that ABC will be the network that brings it back. (Variety)
• Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy have been renewed (along with the contracts of their respective hosts) through 2020. (Hollywood Reporter)
• As we've mentioned before, specifically in regards to the NBC series This is Us (which performed very well in the first season), it's very important for TV series writers and producers to find ways to maintain those viewers and not just assume they'll stick around, and Fox is learning that as the audience for series Empire continues to erode and reach new ratings lows seemingly every week. (Deadline)
• MeTV brings back their annual "Summer of Me" lineup beginning May 29, and a highlight of that lineup is ALF. (SitcomsOnline)  

• It seemed unlikely that it would ever happen, but this week, Shout! Factory announced that the fifth season of Rhoda would arrive on DVD on August 15 with the release of Rhoda - The Final Season. This leaves only one season of Lou Grant (which had been announced but temporarily pulled from the Shout! Factory schedule) and both seasons of Phyllis as the only unreleased items from The Mary Tyler Moore Show chronology.
• Another surprise announcement from Shout! Factory this week was the announcement of Just Shoot Me - The Complete Series, which will arrive on August 22.

• ALF - The Complete DVD Collection (DVD, $54.98): While it is essentially just a repackaging of the previously released DVDs from Lionsgate, fans who didn't pick up these DVDs before can pick them up now in this release.
• Mannix - The Complete Series (DVD, $129.98): The classic Mike Connors series comes together in one set on this release.
• Orange is the New Black - Season 4 (DVD, $34.98; Blu-ray, $34.97): The fourth season of the Netflix series arrives in this release, just weeks before the debut of the fifth season.
• The Streets of San Francisco - The Complete Series (DVD, $89.98): The classic Karl Malden and Michael Douglas series arrives in one complete set with this release.
• The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Second Season (DVD, $29.99): With the first season released over a decade ago by Warner Home Video, Warner Archive (finally) brings this series back to DVD with the second season.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:00 PM

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Labels: ALF, American Idol, Happy Days, Just Shoot Me, Rhoda, SitcomsOnline Digest, WGA, Will and Grace