Nick@Nite/TV Land in February; Here Come the Brides and Dinosaurs May Be Coming to DVD in 2006; Vincent Schiavelli Dies; End of An Era on ABC

Monday, December 26, 2005

Nick@Nite/TV Land in February; Here Come the Brides and Dinosaurs May Be Coming to DVD in 2006; Vincent Schiavelli Dies; End of An Era on ABC

Pavan has posted the schedule for Nick@Nite in February. The regular schedule will remain the same as January with some specials and marathons airing. Click here to view the Nick at Nite's February schedule.

TV Land's regular schedule in February will remain the same as January. TV Land Originals will air as encores on Saturday mornings. A TV Romances Marathon and Top 10 Greatest TV Romances will air on Thursday, February 9. There's Sam & Diane, Mike & Gloria... and who could forget David and Maddie's Moonlighting? Who'll make the list? Tune in to find out as TV Land takes a look at the most-loved television couplings in the hour long original, Top Ten: TV Couples. TV Land honors Black History Month with the debut of the original special "That's What I'm Talking About", a three-part, 1-hour series featuring celebrities from all fields discussing and debating who made the greatest contributions to African-American pop culture in a free-wheeling, fast-paced, quick-witted show. It will air Wednesdays at 10PM ET/PT on February 1, 8, and 15. Click here to view TV Land's February schedule. In March, they will have the 4th Annual TV Land Awards Show and new Living in TV Land episodes.

TV Land has made some changes to their Wednesday, December 28 and Wednesday, January 4 schedules. Click here to view them.

Our friends at TVShowsonDVD.com have reported on two sitcoms that may be coming to DVD in 2006. Here Come the Brides was a comedy/adventure one-hour series that aired on ABC for two seasons in 1968-1970. I'm not sure if it was really a true sitcom. It might be what we now call a dramedy. Bobby Sherman and David Soul became pop stars due to the popularity of the series. Click here to read their full news item.

Their news item on Dinosaurs seems a bit more definite. Dinosaurs aired for four seasons on ABC from 1991-1994. A total of 65 episodes were produced. Industry sources have told them it is headed to DVD sometime in 2006, possibly in the second quarter. We may see the first and second seasons released as one set as the first season had only 5 episodes.

Character actor Vincent Schiavelli has died at age 57 of lung cancer. He had a very recognizable gloomy, droopy-eyed look. He appeared in some 150 film and television productions. You might know him best as Mr. Vargas in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He would reprise the role in the 1986 sitcom Fast Times. His other sitcom appearances included The Corner Bar, WKRP in Cincinnati, Taxi, Night Court, Who's the Boss?, Head of the Class, Married People, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Dharma & Greg, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Click here to view his Internet Movie Database entry.

The party is over for Monday Night Football on ABC. Tonight's New England Patriots at New York Jets game is the 555th and final broadcast. After 36 seasons on ABC, it moves to ESPN next season. Al Michaels will do the play-by-play with Joe Theismann doing the commentary. ESPN is paying $1.1 billion per year in an eight-year-deal. It will be interesting to see what kind of ratings they get on ESPN as they are available in far fewer homes. ESPN NFL Primetime will move from Sundays to Mondays.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, December 13

Happy's Place - "Dear Jack" (NBC, 9:15PM ET/PT)
When Bobbie catches Isabella doing a slow-fade breakup with her long-distance boyfriend, she convinces her to send a Dear John letter; Steve brings in a review praising Chef Emmett's cooking and acknowledging the tavern's bartender, "Abby."

Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Dateline" (NBC, 9:45PM ET/PT)
When George's controversial new appliance turns up dead, he mounts a true-crime investigation; Chance tests the bounds of honesty with his family.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Splitting the Hairs" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob, Douglas and Christina try to get Dottie to make a will; Abishola and Kemi's friendship is tested after Abishola catches Kemi in a lie.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "There's My Nigerians" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While Bob and Abishola struggle to pull Dottie out of her depression, Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde come over to lift her spirits.

Children Ruin Everything - "Bedtime" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When James finds an old game console, he and Astrid attempt to find free time to play; but a bedtime routine threatens to eat up all the time between when the kids are supposed to be in bed and when Astrid and James have to go to bed themselves.

Children Ruin Everything - "Drama" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Astrid and James struggle to hold onto their identities while raising their two young children in the city.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 9)

Friday, December 13

Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy appears on repeats of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC and on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Milana Vayntrub (Other Space), Jessica Lowe (Wrecked) and Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) - Milana, Jessica and Jason are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Spin City/Mad About You) and Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - NBC's Today catches up with Richard and Fred in the 9am hour.
Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia talks about Laid on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Christian Slater (Breaking In) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Christian and Sarah are sitting down with Drew to talk all about working together on Dexter: Original Sin on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Lisa Kudrow (No Good Deed/HouseBroken/Web Therapy/The Comeback/Friends/Mad About You) - Lisa talks about chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Tom Selleck (The Closer) and Donnie Wahlberg (Return of the Mac) - Tom and Donnie discuss the series finale of Blue Bloods on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Nancy McKeon (The Facts of Life/Can't Hurry Love) - Nancy will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.