Thursday, June 01, 2006

TV Land's 'My First Time' Episode Info Released; SitcomsOnline.com Exclusive: Comparing U.S. & Canadian 'Kate & Allie', 'Gimme a Break' DVDs!

TV Land will revisit the first major career milestones of some of America's favorite TV stars with the premiere of My First Time. The six-part series, produced for TV Land by Scott Sternberg Productions, will debut on Wednesday, June 28 in its regularly scheduled timeslot of 10 p.m. ET/PT and will air through August 2. Renown actor, producer and director Henry Winkler (Happy Days, Hollywood Squares) and actress Katey Sagal (Married...with Children, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter) are featured in the first episode.
Bolstered by original interviews with each star profiled, every 30-minute episode will trace the first "big break" of some of the biggest and brightest talents in Hollywood. Fellow cast members, producers, agents, directors and others who were part of making that first moment happen will also be interviewed for the series. Additionally, each show will contain rare footage from performances that many fans -- and maybe the stars themselves - forgot existed... and some clips that these performers would probably rather forget. My First Time also gives an intimate look at the stars' lives as they were then, their hopes for that first part and how they feel looking back at that moment in time.

The series rollout is as follows (Wednesdays at 10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET/PT):
Wednesday, June 28: Henry Winkler and Katey Sagal
Wednesday, July 5: Ted Danson and John O'Hurley
Wednesday, July 12: Jim Belushi and Sarah Gilbert
Wednesday, July 19: John Schneider and Dean Cain
Wednesday, July 26: Cheryl Ladd and Glenn Campbell
Wednesday, August 2: Mr. T and Cybil Shepherd

For more details click here.

We have yet another exclusive for you. We recently obtained the Canadian DVDs for Gimme a Break! and Kate & Allie from VEI. I'm sure most of you saw the Canadian Gimme a Break! review last week. It is very similar to the U.S. one from Universal Home Video, content wise. So, it is up to you which one you want to buy. I'd buy both if I were a huge fan. Some might like the packaging better on the VEI set over the Universal set, or vice versa.
Last night we put our review up of the VEI Kate & Allie release. The Universal version only contains season one, and that has 3 of the 6 episodes edited. The VEI version has the first two seasons in a similar price. So, most fans were waiting to buy this version, rather than Universal's. I do have some disappointing news to report. It seems there are syndicated versions of episodes on this set, too. I don't think it is VEI's fault at all. Looks like distributor FremantleMedia gave them the episodes that way. In fact the same season one episodes on the Universal set that are edited, are edited on VEI's. There are a few more from season two that are edited, too. What I don't understand is how Universal would get edited episodes, because they distribute the show in the U.S., while FremantleMedia does it internationally. I'm sure many fans are bummed out, but I would still buy VEI's version of this set because it is nearly the same price and it contains two seasons, rather than just one. You can read our review of the Canadian version of the Kate & Allie DVD here.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, March 30

The Neighorhood - "Welcome to the Things We Do for Love" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Marty meets Courtney’s intimidating father to ask for his blessing, but Clancy’s (Anthony Anderson) cryptic response sends Calvin and Tina digging for answers. Meanwhile, Gemma and Dave are stunned by Grover’s tattoo.

DMV - "Gilbert" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Colette and Gregg convince Vic to foster a dog and help him clean up his act to meet the dog rescuer Howie’s (Thomas Lennon) high standards. Meanwhile, Ceci tries to repay Barb by boosting Noa’s processing time, mainly by toning down his hotness.

St. Denis Medical - "Here a Righteous Woman Comes" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Joyce hosts a ribbon-cutting for the birthing center; Matt and Serena take on an awkward assignment; Ron tries to knock out a quick physical before his fishing trip.

The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins - "The World Is Full of Beaks" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Tobin tries to keep his personal life separate from the documentary, but Reggie doesn't make it easy for him; Monica helps Brina with her music career.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 30)

Monday, March 30