Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Comcast onDemand Adds Classic Warner Bros Channel; BET Adds Fresh Prince Marathon to Holiday Slate

Back in September we told you Warner Bros. has partnered with Comcast to have some of their shows stream online for free on Fancast.com and that they were going to develop an onDemand service by 4th quarter. Well it is now 4th quarter obviously, and they have added that onDemand service on Comcast cable systems! The onDemand channel is called "TheWB" under TV Entertainment on Comcast onDemand. As of now get the first 5 or 6 episodes of urban sitcoms Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Martin, All of Us, and short-lived drama Jack & Bobby. We don't have a list at press time of what other series they will be adding in the future, but given their vast library, you can expect about anything, especially what is on Fancast.com, which I will tell you in a bit. I'll keep you up to date on any happenings. Hopefully we get more classics on the onDemand service, though. Wouldn't it be nice to have series such as The Hogan Family, Perfect Strangers, Gilligan's Island and the drama Life Goes On at our leisure anytime on TV?
Comcast's Fancast.com has added a lot of Warner Bros. owned series to their website since we last reported. Back in September they only had more current stuff like Smallville, One Tree Hill, and Friends, but now we also get the classics! It seems Warner/AOL's In2TV doesn't really work anymore, so Fancast.com is now the place to go for classic Warner Bros. TV. They have added about 17 series with many episodes of each to their Classic Warner Bros. TV slate. Among the series are Perfect Strangers, Gilligan's Island, Head of the Class, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Growing Pains, Mama's Family, Welcome Back Kotter, CHiPs, Eight is Enough, Lois & Clark, and Wonder Woman! All these have been on In2TV, so it is nothing really new, but still nice to have! These episodes on Fancast.com are not in any order and are random episodes...most of them have Christmas themed episodes among their listings, so catch Balki trying to give Mr. Gorpley the Christmas spirit on Perfect Strangers.
One more way to watch Warner Bros. TV is through TheWB.com, but that is mainly for more current series though they do have a few classics in there like In Living Color, as we have told you in the past. Original web series are also on TheWB.com.

Late last week we gave you details on BET's sitcom marathons this week (hope you're enjoying Family Matters today!), but now they have announced one more marathon! The marathon will be on Monday, December 29 and will be the sitcom ... The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! How is that possible? As with Family Matters, they have borrowed it from sister Viacom station Nick at Nite, and this the series is NOT joining the line-up. It is just for this marathon. The marathon airs from 4pm-10pm, since Viacom doesn't have access to air the series in daytime, due to TBS owning that period for the series. The marathon will encore from 11pm-4am. In other BET week of December 29 news, One on One will lead into the Fresh Prince marathon in the daytime from 1pm-4pm. One on One will also have a mini-block on Tuesday, December 30 from 1pm-6pm. Hell Date returns to the schedule airing in the late night from 3-4am on weekdays. Nickelodeon series Romeo! and Just Jordan return on Saturday, Jan. 3 with back-to-back episodes from 9-11am leading into a six-episode block of The Proud Family from 11am-2pm and then One on One from 2-5pm.
Stay tuned early next week when we give you BET's January schedule (starts 1/5) which will feature The Proud Family, as we mentioned, and also another series...this a long-running talk show that is no longer airing! Find out what that is next week!
For now, once again view the BET Classic Sitcom Holiday marathon episodes list, which now featured Fresh Prince.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, November 21

Happy's Place - "Straw Man" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Gabby asks Bobbie to help vet men to be her potential donor, Bobbie is happy to participate until she discovers Gabby is considering Emmett for the donation; Isabella is asked to be the guest speaker for Takoda's daughter's class.

Stumble - "In Sync" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
It's back to school for Heådltston State JC, which means in addition to her coaching, Courteney must get her kids settled into the dorms and begin classes; when the girls' periods sync up, Courteney's doesn't and she worries she may be pregnant.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 17)

Friday, November 21

  • Ms. Pat (The Ms. Pat Show) - Watch Ms. Pat on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Sydney Sweeney (Everything Sucks!) - Sydney is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Matthew Broderick (Better Things) - Matthew appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) - Dave appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Jason talks about Zootopia 2 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian talks about his comedy special It Ain't Right on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

11/20 - The CW Midseason 2026 Schedule; Sarah Sherman HBO Max Special
11/19 - Tubi's Comedy Mo' Waffles Premieres December 19; 78th Emmy Awards Set for September 14, 2026
11/18 - CBS Midseason 2026 Schedule; SNL Closes Out 2025 with 3 Episodes in December
11/17 - NBC's Christmas in Rockefeller Center Lineup; Prime Video Gets Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson for Sports Talk Show
11/16 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 17, 2025)
11/15 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Orders Pilot From Brooklyn Nine-Nine Team; FX Cancels English Teacher
11/14 - Disney's Hulu's Family Guy's Hallmark Channel's Lifetime's Familiar Holiday Movie; Mad Men Coming to HBO Max in 4K
11/13 - Antenna TV Re-Acquires One Day at a Time and Sanford and Son; Season 2 of the Wild Series It's Florida, Man
11/12 - Fox Midseason 2026 Schedule; Hulu's Tell Me Lies Season 3 Premiere Date
11/11 - Cast Announced for Netflix's A Different World Sequel; Hulu's Sebastian Maniscalco Special Trailer
11/10 - ABC's New Game Show The Greatest Average American; Prime Video Christmas Movie
11/09 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 10, 2025)
11/08 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox and Sony Developing Reimagined Bewitched; Samsung TV Plus Launching AFV Channel
11/07 - TBS and TNT Holiday Schedule; Hulu's Back 'Four' More Reasonable Doubt; Remembering Diane Ladd of Alice
11/06 - Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas 2025 Schedule; Single Drunk Female Star Gets Hulu Film
11/05 - ABC 2025 Holiday Specials; Netflix Renews Nobody Wants This for Season 3
11/04 - Fox's Best Medicine Premieres January 2026; Final Season of Bel-Air Trailer
11/03 - Apple TV Holiday Schedule; Another Week and Dancing with the Stars Rises Again
11/02 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 3, 2025)
11/01 - SitcomsOnline Digest: King of the Hill Renewed for Two More Seasons on Hulu; MTV Cancels Ridiculousness
10/31 - Hulu Renews King of the Hill for Seasons 16 and 17; FX Renews Adults for Season 2; Remembering June Lockhart
10/30 - ABC's The Golden Girls 40th Anniversary Special on November 11; NBC 2025 Holiday Specials
10/29 - ABC Midseason 2026 Schedule; Hulu Renews Only Murders in the Building for Season 6, Now in London
10/28 - Hulu Debuts Trailer for Original Holiday Film; Sidelined Returns for Sequel on Tubi
10/27 - Netflix Grabs Victorious Spinoff Hollywood Arts; Dancing with the Stars Up for 5th Straight Week
10/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of October 27, 2025)
10/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Frankie Muniz Shares Photo Outside Studio for Malcolm in the Middle Reboot; Warner Bros. Discovery Still Looking for New Owner
10/24 - USA Network Renews The Rainmaker; Reba Hosting Christmas in Rockefeller Center
10/23 - The CW Holiday Specials Schedule; Apple TV Fraggle Rock Special
10/22 - Apple TV's Shrinking Returns in January 2026; Season 2 of Idris Elba Series Also Returns in January 2026
10/21 - FETV Acquires Here Come the Brides; Netflix's Mo Amer Special Trailer
10/20 - SNL November Guests Lineup; It's a Wonderful Lifetime 2025 Schedule