Watch Local Stations from NYC, LA, Seattle and Now Chicago Online on ivi TV; NBC Previews Upcoming Sitcom Perfect Couples Tonight

Monday, December 20, 2010

Watch Local Stations from NYC, LA, Seattle and Now Chicago Online on ivi TV; NBC Previews Upcoming Sitcom Perfect Couples Tonight

ivi TV, the online cable system, has announced that it has added Chicago to its Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles broadcast channel offerings. The addition of 12 stations from the Chicago market brings the total number of OTA (over-the-air) channels available on ivi TV to an impressive 65, excluding international offerings ranging from Sport Italia to English-language news from China on CCTV9, among others.
ivi TV offers more content than Hulu and the ability to legally watch live major broadcast channels anywhere there's an Internet connection, including hit shows and popular sports programming from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW, PBS, and others from a growing number of local affiliates, all available from a downloadable app at ivi TV.
Consumers who live in other parts of the country can watch live local programming from their hometown or favorite city. People with no conventional cable access or left adrift by the shift to DTV can watch TV with ivi TV. As ivi TV rolls out new markets (Philadelphia might be next), the channels it includes from each respective market are available to all ivi TV subscribers, regardless of where they presently reside within the U.S.
After spending a week in Washington, D.C. meeting with lawmakers and the FCC to vocalize concerns over the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger and its likelihood to leave consumers with less high quality programming and higher rates, ivi TV keeps rolling out new markets to offer an affordable cable subscription with more choice and flexibility. A growing number of voices are rising in opposition to the Comcast-NBCU merger. ivi TV simply wants a level playing field and is calling on Congress and the FCC to ensure consumers don't become the ultimate victims in Comcast's conquests. ivi TV delivers what consumers have wanted for a long time -- the ability to watch live broadcast television on the Internet. For only $4.99 a month, consumers can watch popular TV programming from all the major stations anytime and anywhere they want. And the first month is FREE!
Among the cool stations you can watch are KTLA, WGN-TV (local Chicago), WPIX, national Me-TV Network, Me-Too (Chicago), RTV (Seattle affiliate), and the big guns like WABC. This is very cool and I wish this was around back in the '90s when local broadcast stations were better with lots of cool sitcoms. But ivi TV is certainly worth the buy if you aren't in Chicago (for Me-TV and Me-Too) or don't have a RTV affiliate. Me-TV Network is now a national network, but as of now Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Bend are the only markets carrying it, so now is your chance to preview Me-TV and if you like it, you should request it to your local affiliates to add it to their digital stations! Antenna TV launches on Jan. 1, and perhaps we will get it on ivi TV, as all four ivi TV markets will have an Antenna TV affiliate, so there is a good chance we will have one on ivi TV. If that is the case and you don't have Antenna TV scheduled to come to your market, like Me-TV, try it on ivi TV and request it to your local affiliate that they add it!

Try and test ivi TV out for a month at least, it is free for the first month and you can cancel at anytime. I don't think you should watch your favorite primetime network shows on here, but it is a good service with decent (but not great) video quality if you want to test something like Me-TV and Antenna TV, especially if your markets are not carrying them. I certainly enjoyed testing out Me-TV Network this weekend and watching cool local fare on Me-Too Chicago (like Gilligan's Island) and KTLA Los Angeles (like Dennis the Menace on the Antenna TV preview on KTLA).

NBC is previewing upcoming mid-season single-camera sitcom Perfect Couples tonight (Dec. 20) with a special airing after the finale of The Sing-Off, which airs from 8-10pm. NBC will not air the pilot of the sitcom, instead a later episode (titled "Perfect Tens") will air. The series will still premiere with the pilot episode on its actual premiere date on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 8:30pm. Tonight NBC is just going to have viewers "sample" the series. The sampling preview airs tonight at 10pm on NBC. A repeat of The Office will follow at 10:29pm.
Perfect Couples depicts the misadventures of three engaging couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal relationship -- and how to maintain it through humorous trial-and-error. The series explores their heroic journey in search of the perfect relationship without destroying each other in the process.
Dave (Kyle Bornheimer, Worst Week, Romantically Challenged) and Julia (Christine Woods, FLASHFORWARD) are the relatable, normal couple, but Julia's hope of remaining the cool, low-maintenance chick is tested by Dave's attempts to keep both his wife and his needy best friend Vance (David Walton, 100 Questions) equally happy. Vance, along with the neurotic Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), are the high-passion, high-drama couple who bring out the best and worst in each other. The third duo features Rex (Hayes MacArthur, She's Out of My League), a reformed party guy, and, and his wife, Leigh (Olivia Munn, Attack of the Show), who considers herself as the group's mother hen. Believing that they are relationship experts, Rex and Leigh have attended every class and seminar on relationships -- and regard themselves as the "perfect couple."
On tonight's episode, after Dave (Kyle Bornheimer) is disappointed that Julia (Christine Woods) dresses down for him, they both decide to be "perfect 10s" and live it up with a night out. Meanwhile, an infestation of bed bugs misleads Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) into thinking that Vance (David Walton) is not ready to commit to her, while Rex (Hayes MacArthur) and Leigh (Olivia Munn) plan an Italian vacation and struggle trying to adjust to the time difference.
We did not get a review copy of this episode, but we will have a review of the pilot episode closer to series launch on Jan. 20. So stay tuned! Sample if you want tonight, but people who have seen the pilot and an additional episode (not tonight's episode), haven't been too kind to this series. Our review will cover those two episodes (and we might give our thoughts on tonight's episode in that review, too).

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, February 20

Young Sheldon - "Pasadena" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Sheldon visits CalTech for the very first time. Also, Georgie is furious when Mary listens in on a phone call with his girlfriend, and Meemaw tries to cheer up a jealous Missy.

The Unicorn - "The Client" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Wade lands a job for Denny (Donal Logue), a newly divorced, wealthy client, he realizes Denny is only interested in using Wade to meet women. Also, Meg (Nicole Byer) applies her expertise as an accountant to get Wade’s finances on track, and Forrest and Delia attempt to clear the tension between them by having an argument.

Mom - "Judy Garland and a Sexy Troll Doll" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Bonnie helps Christy gain perspective as she considers a life-changing decision. Also, Jill fears she’s running out of time to have a baby and consults a fertility doctor.

Carol's Second Act - "Carol's Crush" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After Carol’s patient’s transplant surgery is deemed a success, the interns tease her mercilessly about her obvious crush on the surgeon, Dr. Lewis (Patrick Fabian).

Last Man Standing - "Baked Sale" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mike's offer to help Jen with her school's bake sale goes up in smoke; Kyle finds unlikely advice from Joe on where he should enroll in college.

Outmatched - "Dating" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Nicole invites a boy over who isn't ideal boyfriend material, Kay tries to make sure her daughter doesn't end up with a broken heart; Mike attempts to understand Marc's strange crush.

Superstore - "Employee App" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Cloud 9 employees experience unforeseen problems with the new Zephra app. Dina's texts lead to animosity, Glenn struggles to deal with a teen craze, and Jonah attempts to prank Garrett to teach him a lesson.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - "The Jimmy Jab Games II" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Competitive juices are flowing as Jake and the squad compete in the second Jimmy Jab Games.

Will & Grace - "Accidentally on Porpoise" (NBC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Despite her history of transgressions, Grace and her neighbor, James (guest star Matt Letscher), decide to give their relationship one more shot. But when James invites Grace to his job at the aquarium, she endangers his job and a species. In order to help Will deal with his anxiety about becoming a father, Jack takes him to an unexpected place to blow off steam – church. Karen finds herself in a confessional booth, and a visit from Smitty (guest star Charles C. Stevenson, Jr.) makes her reconsider their entire relationship.

Indebted - "Everybody's Talking About the Mental Load" (NBC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After Rebecca tells Dave she carries the emotional labor, aka the “mental load” of the family, he tries to prove otherwise by having her take care of just Deb and Stew for a few days. They both realize they’ve bit off more than they can chew, especially when Dave enlists his mom to help with Rebecca’s mental load.

grown-ish - "Real Life S**t" (Freeform, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Aaron's student loan troubles come to a head when he looks for a job at the Cal U job fair, prompting him to ask Zoey for help; Sky struggles to come to terms with her recent discovery about Rodney; Jillian tries to bond with Zoey.

Everything's Gonna Be Okay - "Blue Death-Feigning Beetles" (Freeform, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Matilda's whole life forks between success and obscurity on the most important night of her life; Nicholas juggles a house full of people and Penny on screen from her hospital bed in Australia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 17)

Thursday, February 20

Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Catch Will on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Scott Bakula (Murphy Brown/Eisenhower and Lutz/Gung Ho) - Scott stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Jenny Slate (Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement) - Oliver and his sister Kate are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine visits The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Nick Kroll (The League/Cavemen) - Nick appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jane Levy (Suburgatory) - Jane talks about Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) - Edie talks about Tommy on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Emeril Lagasse (Emeril) - Emeril gives a cooking lesson to a culinary student who fought back after having a stroke on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine talks about High Fidelity on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.