Gimme a Break! Marathon on TV One; Megan Mullally to Host 4th Annual TV Land Awards; And Warner Home Video Needs Your Help for Full House

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Gimme a Break! Marathon on TV One; Megan Mullally to Host 4th Annual TV Land Awards; And Warner Home Video Needs Your Help for Full House

Gimme A Break, now I know what it takes. I'm putting a new face on the old one. Ready for anything. Playing with fate, not a moment too late. I'm showing the whole world. Nothing can get me down. Woo woo hoo! Gimme A Break, Yeah yeah! Gimme A Break! 'Cause I sure need one!...
Oh sorry, had that stuck in my head while writing up this story! Well, as you can tell this is about the hit '80s sitcom Gimme a Break! starring the late great Nell Carter. To celebrate the first season coming to DVD (on Feb. 14), cable network TV One will air a nice ten-hour marathon of the series' best episodes. Tune in on Saturday, February 11, 2006 from 12 noon to 10 p.m. for some Gimme a Break! They will re-air most of the episodes from 12 midnight to 6 a.m., if you miss any during the day. The series has not been on cable lately, as it last aired on USA Network in the mid-late '90s. TV One has not made any plans yet to air the series as a regular, but hopefully this marathon does well for them and they add it to their regular line-up very soon. So WATCH IT! TV One airs great African American sitcoms such as Amen, 227, Good Times, Martin, Roc and In the House. Gimme a Break! would be a nice addition to the line-up if they decide to add it. But first let's get through the marathon on Feb. 11. To see which episodes are airing, click here. And buy the complete first season on DVD from Universal Home Video on Feb. 14, just days after the marathon.

And TV Land has announced that Will & Grace co-star Megan Mullally will be hosting the 4th Annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV airing March 22 on TV Land and Nick@Nite. The previous hosts include John Ritter, Brad Garrett, and Cedric the Entertainer. Personally, the hosts have gone down hill every year. John Ritter was the only classic TV star. Click here for details.

Finally, we leave you today with some DVD news! Warner Home Video has come knocking on our door for yet another round of your top 10 episodes. This time they are asking fans of Full House to post their top 10 episodes and they will select 6 of those for an upcoming TV Favorites set, that is right now in consideration. There is no set date yet or anything, but they are "considering" a best of set just for the fans. AND NO, THIS DOES NOT MEAN SEASON SETS WILL STOP. The season sets are selling very well for them and will continue with season three in April and subsequent seasons to follow. This set will be just for the fans, that consists of six memorable episodes from the series. So, let's help them out again and you will be rewarded with episodes that you actually want instead of episodes that they randomly pick.
This process was very popular the two previous times we helped them--for Alice and for Perfect Strangers. Both got an overwhelming response from the fans and WHV was very pleased, especially with Perfect Strangers. Click HERE to post your top 10 Full House episodes. You can even use episodes from seasons one and two, if you want.

They have also filled me in on the June TV Favorites set. Alice, Step by Step and Perfect Strangers are being worked for June, but it is not confirmed yet. Family Matters will for sure not be in June, as they have some issues right now for that and hopefully it can be resolved at a later date. Stay tuned!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Friday, July 3

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Now in Living Color! - (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
CBS will honor the memory of legendary actor, producer, director, writer, comedian and Emmy Award winner Carl Reiner with THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW – NOW IN LIVING COLOR! A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO CARL REINER, featuring two colorized back-to-back classic episodes of the beloved 1960s series, Friday, July 3 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. As series creator and co-star, Carl Reiner personally supervised the original colorization of the episodes.

The special features “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” which ranked #8 on TV Guide’s list of the “100 Greatest TV Episodes of All-Time,” and “October Eve,” which Mr. Reiner considered to be one of the series’ funniest episodes. Both were written by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff.

In “Coast to Coast Big Mouth,” Laura Petrie blurts out a top secret on a national television quiz show, revealing that comedian Alan Brady wears a toupee. The episode, which was the show’s fifth and final season premiere, was originally broadcast on Sept. 15, 1965. “Coast to Coast Big Mouth” won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 1966.

In “October Eve,” a painting of Laura returns to haunt her when, despite her having posed fully clothed, the artist (played by Carl Reiner) takes the liberty of “undraping” her. The episode was first presented on April 8, 1964, during season three.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 29)

Friday, July 3

Kevin Hart (The Big House/Undeclared) - Watch Kevin on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12:35am on ABC.
Tina Fey (30 Rock) - Tina appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Mark Duplass (Togetherness/The Mindy Project/The League) - Mark appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa guest hosts a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Brett Gelman (Camping/Fleabag/Love/Married/Go On) - Brett appears on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/The Game) - Tika talks about the season finale of mixed-ish and her latest project helping new moms on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Peter Gallagher (Grace and Frankie/The Secret Lives of Men) - Peter talks about Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and Grace and Frankie on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.