Friday, October 19, 2007

Remembering Joey Bishop; CBS Orders Full Season for Big Bang; Sony's Minisode Network and TubeTime Adds New Sitcoms

Yesterday we got word that the great Joey Bishop has passed away. Joey Bishop is of courser the stone-faced comedian who found success in nightclubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack. He was the group's last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998. Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach.
On television he had his own sitcom in the '60s titled The Joey Bishop Show that ran from 1961-1965 on NBC then ABC. He had a talk show by the same name, which was more popular, that aired on ABC and the announcer was Regis Philbin! Regis had this to day about Mr. Bishop: "It was the thrill of my life to be chosen by Joey as the announcer for his talk show on ABC back in the '60s. It was my introduction to the highly competitive late night show world. It was also an introduction to a show business I had never known: the Rat Pack era, the amazing talents of those performers who I probably never would have befriended without Joey. We walked every day before the show up Vine Street to Hollywood Boulevard and back to our studio for nearly three years. I learned a lot about the business of making people laugh. He was a master comedian and a great teacher and I will never forget those days or him."
Bishop has guest starred on TV series such as Chico and the Man, Get Smart, Trapper John M.D., and Murder, She Wrote. He has also filled-in many times for Johnny Carson as guest host on The Tonight Show.
He was a legend and will truly be missed by many. Mr. Bishop was 89.

CBS has given full season orders to its freshman comedy The Big Bang Theory and the drama The Unit. The Big Bang Theory becomes the first new comedy to receive a full season pickup. The new sitcom, a key newcomer to CBS's Monday comedy block, is averaging 8.97 million viewers, 4.3/10 in adults 25-54 and 3.6/09 in adults 18-49 in its Monday (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) time period. The Big Bang Theory has built on its How I Met Your Mother lead-in by +8% in households, +10% in adults 25-54, +9% in adults 18-49 and +10% in viewers. Veteran drama The Unit had only a 13 episode order coming into the season, but CBS has decided to give it the full 22 episode order after delivering its best ratings since February this past Tuesday.
ABC has given a full season pick-up to the Grey's Anatomy spin-off, Private Practice. Practice is the season's top new show in 18-49 and second in total viewers (to Samantha Who?, which only has aired one episode thus far).

Finally, Sony has announced a few things today. First, The Monkees is now on Comcast OnDemand's Tubetime service, joining other Sony classics such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, What's Happening!!, and Who's the Boss?
In other Sony news, this time we move over to the online area. As you all know, MySpace.com has a Minisode Network featuring classic Sony shows in a different way. The minisodes are not excerpts or clip jobs; they are edited in a way that compresses the story lines and enables the viewers to follow the plots from beginning to end in 4-6 minutes, rather than 30-60 minutes.
Starting on Monday, the mini-episodes will become available on a channel on Crackle, a Sony Web site, that will be sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. A 15-second ad for Pepsi-Cola will appear before each minisode. The channel is part of a campaign for a retro-look design for Pepsi packages, to go on sale next month, that will celebrate the venerable logos, slogans and commercial jingles for the brand. Bewitched will join the Minisode Network lineup as of Monday, along with shortened episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and The Jeffersons. Sony Pictures Television will also expand the network to two Web sites, AOL and Joost, where the minisodes will be sponsored by Honda. The bite-size shows also will begin running — without commercials, for now — on V Cast, the mobile video service from Verizon Wireless.
So will it still be on MySpace? Not sure, but my guess is, yes. So these three shows will join shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, What's Happening!!, The Facts of Life, Who's the Boss?, Charlie's Angels and even Ricki Lake.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Saturday, June 10

Act Your Age - "Bahama Drama" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Angela and Keisha's differences come to a head as a storm threatens their tranquil Bahamian vacation; back at the penthouse, Olivia's alone time with Jacob is interrupted by an invited guest.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 5)

Friday, June 9

  • Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Watch Marc on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Martin Short (Mulaney/The Martin Short Show) - Martin is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi is a musical guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Sandra Bullock (Working Girl) - Sandra appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Zach Braff (Scrubs/Alex, Inc.) - Zach is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris guest co-hosts a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Jay Ellis (Insecure/The Game) - Jay discusses the motivation behind their new true-crime podcast Freeway Phantom on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Tig Notaro (One Mississippi) - Tig is telling Drew about working with Reese Witherspoon on their new film and the latest season of The Morning Show on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso will be on a repeat of The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese) - Daniel talks about his role on the Disney+ series American Born Chinese on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
  • Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) and Jason Alexander (Listen Up!/Bob Patterson/Seinfeld/Everything's Relative/ E/R) - Eric and Jason talk about The Cottage on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Reba McEntire (Reba/Malibu Country) - Reba will be on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
  • Geena Davis (The Geena Davis Show/Sara/Buffalo Bill) - NBC's Today catches up with Geena in the 9am hour.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-June)

Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI) Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI) Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series

01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/04 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/18 - Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series (Blu-ray)
04/25 - Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
05/23 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Eleven / The Complete Season Twelve
05/23 - Go On - The Complete Series
05/23 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (Universal)
05/29 - Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/29 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/30 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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06/09 - Apple TV+ Comedy The Afterparty Returns July 12; Abbott Elementary Season 2 Dominated Across All Platforms
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06/07 - Hallmark's Christmas in July Programming; The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Launches July 6
06/06 - New Superman Animated Series Coming to Adult Swim; TV Stars Come Together in Netflix Film
06/05 - Shout! TV's ALF Reunion; Hulu's This Fool Season Two Premieres July 28
06/04 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 5, 2023)
06/03 - SitcomsOnline Digest: ABC Declares Rating Victories for 22-23 Season; Australian Version of The Office in the Works
06/02 - HBO Renews Somebody Somewhere for a Third Season; Remembering Marlene Clark of Sanford and Son and Other Sitcom Stars We Recently Lost
06/01 - MeTV's Marry Me Block on June 4; TBS Sets Miracle Workers: End Times Premiere Date for July 10
05/31 - Amazon Freevee's Jury Duty Gets Special Release; Stars on Mars Fan Experience
05/30 - 75th Emmy Awards Nominations on July 12; Final Season of HBO's How to with John Wilson
05/29 - Memorial Day 2023 TV Sitcom Marathons
05/28 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 29, 2023)
05/27 - SitcomsOnline Digest: CBS Wins 2022-2023 Ratings Game; Netflix Ends Sharing of Passwords
05/26 - Prime Video Renews Priyanka Chopra Series; Sex and the City 25th Anniversary Event in NYC
05/25 - Brady Bunch House on the Market; The Family Stallone Gets 2nd Season
05/24 - Antenna TV's Father Knows Best Father's Day Fest Marathon; Netflix Gets Glamorous This June
05/23 - CBS Summer 2023 Reality Schedule; Apple TV+ Announces Peanuts Programming
05/22 - More Details on Zoey 102; New Lifetime Movie Series Coming July 8
05/21 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 22, 2023)
05/20 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Showtime Looking to Bring Back Two Old Favorites; Disney+ Removing Content
05/19 - Futurama Triumphantly Returns July 24; Final Season of Physical Drops August 2; Primo Premieres May 19 on Amazon Freevee
05/18 - The CW Upfront 2023-24: Fall 2023 Schedule; Netflix Upfront 2023
05/17 - Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2023; Sarah Silverman HBO Special Premieres May 27
05/16 - ABC Upfront 2023-24: Fall 2023 Schedule; FX's Summer 2023 Slate
05/15 - FOX Announces 2023-24 Programming Slate; iCarly Season 3 Premieres June 1
05/14 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 15, 2023)
05/13 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Night Court Season Finale Brings Back a Familiar Face; Comedy Central Renews Digman! for Second Season
05/12 - NBC Upfront 2023-24: Fall 2023 Schedule; Hulu Orders Deli Boys from Onyx Collective
05/11 - CBS Upfront 2023-24: Fall 2023 Schedule; The CW Summer Lineup Has Comedies
05/10 - Minx Returns in July on STARZ; Never Have I Ever Final Episodes Premieres June 8, Trailer Drops