Potpourri of TV News; Anchor Bay March TV DVDs

Friday, October 28, 2005

Potpourri of TV News; Anchor Bay March TV DVDs

We have a lot of news today! First off, please read yesterday's news if you are a big fan of the sitcom Alice. As you can make a difference on what episodes will be on DVD in a best of type set. TV Land has an interesting original series in the works for 2006. TV Land has ordered six half-hours that take a "Before They Were Stars" approach to a celebrity's first big break in showbiz in My Big Break. The first episode of My Big Break centers on the career kick-offs of Katey Sagal (8 Simple Rules) and Jim Belushi (According to Jim). Sagal had a role on The Mary Tyler Moore spin-off Mary while Belushi made his debut on the short-lived Garry Marshall sitcom Who's Watching the Kids. The series should debut sometime in 2006 in the Wednesday 10 p.m. hour. I just hope TV Land airs episodes of the series that the stars caught their first break. It would be nice to see an episode or two of Mary and Who's Watching the Kids again.
Meanwhile, Nickelodeon will air the Nick@Nite sitcom Full House Mon-Thurs at 8:30 p.m. starting Tuesday, November 1. That will of course lead-in to Nick@Nite, which you guessed it, starts off with Full House at 9 p.m.
In related Viacom news, Comedy Central has grabbed reruns of the animated comedy Futurama, which stars the voice of Katey Sagal. Comedy Central will start airing the series in January 2008. Currently reruns can be seen on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Their deal lasts through the end of December 2007.
Finally, ABC will bring back Dancing with the Stars for a second season starting January 5. It will for eight weeks at 8 p.m. on Thursday nights. Hopefully they can grab a sitcom star or two. Look what John O'Hurley did last season!

Now for your DVD news of the day. Anchor Bay Entertainment has announced their March 2006 TV DVD plans to us. We of course knew Three's Company Season 6 was coming in March, but I sort of kept quiet on the actual date. You can expect season 6 on March 7. See my Three's Company page for more details on the DVDs and don't forget to pick up your copy of season five in a few weeks! And on March 21, Anchor Bay will release season 3 of Roseanne and season 5 of 21 Jump Street. Don't forget you can get season 4 of 21 Jump Street this coming Tuesday and Roseanne Season 2 in early December. Anchor Bay is going very fast on nearly all of their TV DVDs, which is very good. Unfortunately, The Commish is the only odd one out. I guess the sales of the first two seasons were not good and maybe the best of set for season one that followed also didn't sell well. That is too bad as it was an underrared series starring a great actor (Michael Chiklis).

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, March 12

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Big Birthday and Tequila Shots" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy struggles to celebrate Georgie’s 21st birthday after hitting a rough patch in her career.

Ghosts - "St. Hetty’s Day 2: The Help" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
A St. Patrick’s Day staffing emergency gives Hetty the chance to step into an unlikely role at the restaurant as she regains her once-a-year ability to be seen and heard by the living. Meanwhile, Kyle returns to watch over the ghosts and finds himself caught in an amusing supernatural dynamic.

Animal Control - "Squirrels and Fat Cats" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank uncovers Emily and Shred's secret romance during a break-in at city supply; Victoria and Patel confront his daughter's school bully.

Going Dutch - "Tinker, Tailor, Colonel, Spy" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Rick takes a sabbatical from the CIA and returns to the base, hoping to rekindle his strained relationship with Capt. Maggie; paranoia runs high when a mole is suspected to be operating inside the base.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 9)

Thursday, March 12

Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - Catch Will on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Minnie Driver (Emily in Paris/Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Robert Smigel (Let's Be Real) - Robert stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Kristin Chenoweth (Stumble/Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jennifer Tilly (Out of Practice) - Andy Cohen interviews Jennifer on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan talks about Broadway's Death of a Salesman with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Ariana DeBose (Schmigadoon!) - Ariana joins Tamron to talk about her fashion evolution and her role in the all-star cast of the new series Scarpetta on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Lauren Graham (The Z-Suite/M.Y.O.B./Conrad Bloom/Townies/Good Company) - Lauren talks about Reminders of Him on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - NBC's Today catches up with Valerie in the 10am hour.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil and Lily Rosenthal join Drew for a taste test of weird foods and talk about their children's book Just Try It! Someplace New! (A Phil & Lil Book) on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.