Monday, February 28, 2011
Lifetime Alters March 2011 Schedule; Second Dallas Marathon on CMT
A couple of weeks ago we gave you the Lifetime March 2011 schedule that will start on March 7, but now they have really changed the schedule and it will start a week earlier, TODAY (Feb. 28)! First off, Frasier is still expiring but it will air this week only. It will remain in the 9am hour this week then Grey's Anatomy will replace it starting next week (March 7). Frasier will also air in the 1am hour this week and then will be replaced by Will & Grace starting March 7. Also as a reminder, Frasier will be leaving national broadcast syndication starting the week of March 7, but local stations can still buy the show separately...it is just not available nationally anymore and is a library product now instead of regular syndication.
Back to Lifetime, the entire schedule is basically changed. Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy will now be only weekday mornings at 8am and 9am. The Friday airings will still be repurposed episodes from ABC's current episode. Then from 10am-2pm, it is now a sitcom block of back-to-back Will & Grace and triple shots of Old Christine and How I Met Your Mother. Maybe afternoon airings will be better suited for the latter two, as they have struggled. Wife Swap is now off of the schedule. From 2pm-9pm we have a mix of crime reality and reality. American Justice and Cold Case Files joins the schedule at 2pm & 3pm leading into Unsolved Mysteries at 4pm & 5pm. Then at 6pm, it is Intervention leading into thee return of Pawn Stars in the 7pm hour. The 8pm hour will be a mix of American Justice and American Pickers on Tuesday and Wednesday (movies on Monday), but on Thursday and Friday nights we have Reba. From 9-11pm will also be mixed everyday, with a movie on Monday, American Pickers/One Born Every Minute on Tuesday, original specials on Wednesday and more Reba on Thursdays & Fridays. How I Met Your Mother remains in the11pm hour, but will now lead into back-to-back The New Adventures of Old Christine instead of Frasier. Back-to-back Will & Grace will air in the 1am hour leading into a half-hour of Reba at 2am.
View the updated Lifetime March 2011 schedule.
On January 1, CMT had a 10-episode Dallas marathon. Now in a last minute schedule move, they have scheduled a 6-hour marathon for today from 12pm-6pm ET. I know this is short notice, but CMT literally made the change last minute. Airing today are the last two episodes of season three and the first four episodes of season four. You'll see the historic Who Shot J.R.? episode and the stories leading in and leading out! Tune in to CMT today from 12pm-6pm!
Back to Lifetime, the entire schedule is basically changed. Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy will now be only weekday mornings at 8am and 9am. The Friday airings will still be repurposed episodes from ABC's current episode. Then from 10am-2pm, it is now a sitcom block of back-to-back Will & Grace and triple shots of Old Christine and How I Met Your Mother. Maybe afternoon airings will be better suited for the latter two, as they have struggled. Wife Swap is now off of the schedule. From 2pm-9pm we have a mix of crime reality and reality. American Justice and Cold Case Files joins the schedule at 2pm & 3pm leading into Unsolved Mysteries at 4pm & 5pm. Then at 6pm, it is Intervention leading into thee return of Pawn Stars in the 7pm hour. The 8pm hour will be a mix of American Justice and American Pickers on Tuesday and Wednesday (movies on Monday), but on Thursday and Friday nights we have Reba. From 9-11pm will also be mixed everyday, with a movie on Monday, American Pickers/One Born Every Minute on Tuesday, original specials on Wednesday and more Reba on Thursdays & Fridays. How I Met Your Mother remains in the11pm hour, but will now lead into back-to-back The New Adventures of Old Christine instead of Frasier. Back-to-back Will & Grace will air in the 1am hour leading into a half-hour of Reba at 2am.
View the updated Lifetime March 2011 schedule.
On January 1, CMT had a 10-episode Dallas marathon. Now in a last minute schedule move, they have scheduled a 6-hour marathon for today from 12pm-6pm ET. I know this is short notice, but CMT literally made the change last minute. Airing today are the last two episodes of season three and the first four episodes of season four. You'll see the historic Who Shot J.R.? episode and the stories leading in and leading out! Tune in to CMT today from 12pm-6pm!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Week 23 TV Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did
2010-11 Week 23 TV Ratings (first four nights averages, Mon-Thu):
Households: N/A
Total Viewers: N/A
Adults 18-49: N/A
Week 23 (Feb. 21-27) Analysis: Week 23 has again CBS and Fox battling again in HH/viewers with it being very close, but Fox of course having a more comfortable lead in 18-49. The first four nights network averages were not made available again to us in time for this post, but we can once again project CBS or Fox is up in HH/viewers, but Fox is winning in 18-49. CBS is in second in 18-49. ABC and NBC are in third and fourth across the board, respectively like previous week. ABC will likely threaten Fox this week in 18-49 thanks to the Oscars tonight. It will be interesting. Last week, week 22, had CBS win the week over Fox in HH/viewers but it was Fox who was a full point ahead in 18-49 over CBS. ABC was third across the board. And NBC had a terrible week again in fourth place.
Monday saw ABC with the win edging CBS. ABC started with The Bachelor doing 10.41 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, for a season high. Could be higher tomorrow night as the finale comes closer and the cast of Dancing with the Stars Season 12 will be announced. At 10pm ABC started a special two-part Castle with part one doing 8.99 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, up from previous week. The thrilling conclusion is tomorrow night. CBS was almost all-new with its comedies and Hawaii Five-0. At 8pm, a new How I Met Your Mother started it off with 9.33 million and a 3.5 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from previous week. At 8:30, new series Mad Love did 7.99 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, down some from the premiere and lower than any Rules of Engagement airing in the slot this season. Two and a Half Men followed with a REPEAT, as it will be repeats for the rest of the season now thanks to Charlie Sheen's antics, doing 11.54 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, which is great for a repeat. But can this continue for the rest of the season? At 9:30, Mike & Molly was new and did 11.2 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which was down from previous week obviously. Will this show suffer now? A new Hawaii Five-0 at 10pm did 10.45 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, on par really with previous week. Fox was all-new with House doing 10.41 million and a 3.5 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. A new Chicago Code followed at 9pm with 7.87 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week. Fox will take these numbers if it remains here. NBC started its night with a new Chuck doing 5.48 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week again. At 9pm, the struggling The Cape did 4.15 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, on par also from previous week. At 10pm, a new Harry's Law did 8.75 million and just a 1.7 18-49 rating, but that was on par with previous week again. The CW was new with 90210 doing 1.52 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. Gossip Girl followed with a new episode doing 1.57 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week.
Tuesday had CBS dominate with its dramas in viewers and even beat Fox in 18-49. CBS started with a new NCIS and did 21.32 million and a 4.4 18-49 rating, up big from previous week. NCIS: Los Angeles followed with a new episode and did 18.69 million and a 3.9 18-49 rating, also up big from previous week. The Good Wife did well in total viewers with 11.85 million but only a 2.0 18-49 rating, on par with previous week despite the other two dramas up big time. For ABC, No Ordinary Family was all-new in the 8pm hour doing 4.77 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. It's too bad. At 9, V was new and did 5.14 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, on par with from previous week. Detroit 1-8-7 was preempted for a special What Would You Do? How Would You Do It? special new with 4.14 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, up a few tenths from previous week. Fox had a new Glee on Tuesday and it did 10.58 million and a 4.4 18-49 rating, which was up a bit from previous week. Next Fox disappointed with Raising Hope and did 6.0 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, but up from previous week's season low. Episode three of new comedy Traffic Light saw a yellow light this week with 3.99 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, up a bit week-to-week. NBC aired a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 7.58 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, which was on par with previous week. Then at 10pm, Parenthood did 5.53 million but a first place 2.1 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. It's a weak hour indeed. The CW was new with One Tree Hill doing 2.01 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week again. Next at 9pm was a new episode of Hellcats and that did 1.64 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week.
Wednesday had American Idol expand to two-hours again so it easily won the night. Idol did 22.72 million and a 7.9 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week. CBS started the night off with Survivor: Redemption Island doing 10.93 million and a 3.1 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from previous week. Veteran drama Criminal Minds was next with a new episode doing 13.15 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 10pm, week two of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior dropped to 9.81 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, down nearly a full point from the premiere. ABC had its Laugh On comedy block and had a new The Middle open the night with a solid 7.96 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. Then at 8:30, a new Better With You did 5.73 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was on par with previous week, but could be better. Then ABC aired a new Modern Family at 9pm doing 10.17 million and a 4.1 18-49 rating, which is down a bit from previous week as it faced Idol head-to-head again this week. Then at 9:30, Mr. Sunshine was new with 6.12 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down from previous week as Idol killed it. If it is in the 2.6-3.0 range this coming week (not against it), it should be fine. Once again, Cougar Town will return with a special airing on Monday, April 18, and then return to Wednesdays starting April 20. At 10pm, a new episode of new drama Off the Map aired and did 4.84 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, up some from previous week, despite the lead-in going down. NBC aired a two-hour all-new Minute to Win It and did just 3.62 million and tied a series low at a 1.0 18-49 rating again. At 10pm, Law & Order: SVU was next with an all-new episode doing 8.02 million and a 2.5 18-49 rating, up from previous week and won its hour actually. The CW had the season premiere of America's Next Top Model starting it off at 8pm doing 2.25 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, which is not a good premiere. At 9pm series premiere of new reality series Shedding for the Wedding did only 1.07 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating, if it sheds any more ratings, it will be shedding itself soon.
Thursday saw once again Fox win the night, as Idol was expanded to two-hours. ABC opened the night with an all-new Wipeout doing 7.12 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, up from previous week which was preempted for some reason in 3% of the country. Then Grey's Anatomy was next with a new episode doing 9.13 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, down some from previous week as it faced Idol. At 10pm, Private Practice was also new and did 6.44 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. CBS opened with a new The Big Bang Theory and it did 12.35 million and a 3.8 A18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. Then the Thursday premiere of Rules of Engagement was on par with of $#*! My Dad Says doing 9.45 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, Idol affects this show more, I guess. Next, CSI was new too and did 12.41 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, down some from previous week. A new The Mentalist did 14.79 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, also down some from previous week. OK so onto Fox, it was all American Idol as a two-hour airing did 21.76 million and a 7.2 18-49 rating, down some from previous week which was an hour only. Fox preempted Bones this week. NBC was all-new new with its comedies but struggled again, as Community did 3.79 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. Then new comedy Perfect Couples did only 2.89 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 9pm The Office was new and did 6.12 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which is down some again from previous week. At 9:30pm, a new Parks and Recreation was at 4.59 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up some from previous week. At 10, NBC started with 30 Rock doing 4.5 million and a 2.3 18-49, up from previous week's low showing. At 10:30, Outsourced did only 3.27 million and 1.4 18-49 rating, for another series low. The CW was next with a new Vampire Diaries doing 2.98 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week. Then a new Nikita did 2.14 million and just a 0.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week.
Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available as usual, but Friday had Fox and CBS tie in 18-49 for first but at a very low rating. Kitchen Nightmares and Fringe helped Fox tie for the win. Saturday had Fox easily win with its normal crime reality series with everyone else way behind in 18-49. In fact, Fox did much better on Saturday than Friday.
Tonight ABC is all-new but its regular Sunday of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters are preempted for the Oscars that will easily win the night and do 40 million+ in the ratings. NBC has three repeats of Minute to Win It starting at 8 following Dateline at 7. CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by a new The Amazing Race at 8 and then a repeat and new episode of Undercover Boss & CSI: Miami from 9-11pm. Fox is in repeats with Animation Domination starting at 7pm.
As for the week (week 23), ABC could win the week in HH/viewers but probably won' t catch up to Fox in 18-49 this week. But it will be close. What we know is that NBC will be in fourth. And for the coming week (week 24), has February sweeps coming to an end on Wednesday, but the big story of the week is the Charlie Sheen interview on ABC Tuesday night at 10pm that could do big.
Week 23 How the Sitcoms Did
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 22 -- Feb. 14-20)
- American Dad! (Fox) - A new episode did 4.25 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week and the 18-49 rating is not too bad at 7:30.
- The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - A new episode did an improved 6.24 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, up a bit week-to-week. Earlier, a repeat at 7pm did 3.8 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, up from previous week.
- Bob's Burgers (Fox) - A new episode only mustered 4.87 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, but up a lick from previous week.
- Family Guy (Fox) - An all-new episode did 6.57 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - Closing the night out, a new episode did 5.43 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, like everything else, up some from previous week.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A new episode did 9.33 million and a 3.5 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from previous week again...but still good.
- Mad Love (CBS) - 7.99 million for week two and a 2.8 18-49 rating is down some from previous week's premiere and lower than any Rules of Engagement airing in this slot.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 11.54 million for a repeat and a 3.0 18-49 rating. As Sheen says, people worship this drivel. Will it go down a lot tomorrow after Sheen's antics this past week? Repeats for the rest of the season, so what will CBS do?
- Mike & Molly (CBS) - 11.2 million for a new episode and a 18-49 rating of 3.2 is decent, drop was expected as its lead-in was a repeat. It needs to settle here, though...nothing less or CBS might be in trouble with Dancing with the Stars looming.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Raising Hope (Fox) - A new episode only 6.0 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. Could be better still.
- Traffic Light (Fox) - The third episode only did 3.99 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, but actually up a lick from episode two.
- The Middle (ABC) - A new episode of this sitcom did 7.96 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. Again, too bad vs. Idol.
- Better with You (ABC) - A new episode of this series did 5.73 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was on par with previous week. It is the weak link of the block right now with Idol airing.
- Modern Family (ABC) - A new episode did 10.17 million and a 4.1 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week as it went ahead face-to-face with Idol again.
- Mr. Sunshine (ABC) - A new episode did 6.12 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating once against the final half-hour of Idol. This was down from previous week, but this week it won't face Idol. It needs to go up then.
Thursday Sitcoms
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A new episode did 12.35 million and a 3.8 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
- Rules of Engagement (CBS) - The Thursday premiere did 9.45 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, up a tad in 18-49 from $#*! My Dad Says the previous week but down some in viewers. This was a season low, though.
- Community (NBC) - A new episode did only 3.79 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week in 18-49.
- Perfect Couples (NBC) - A new episode did 2.89 million again and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is down a bit from previous week in viewers but on par in 18-49. This is still not going to cut it.
- The Office (NBC) - A new episode did 6.12 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which is down once again from previous week...after the big return on Jan. 20, it has dropped each week. This week it faced Idol, though.
- Parks and Recreation (NBC) - A new showing did 4.59 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating...up a tenth from previous week.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - At 10pm, a new episode did 4.5 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, up from previous week. The biggest climb of the block this week.
- Outsourced (NBC) - At 10:30pm, a new episode of this show was lost again at 10:30 doing just 3.27 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is a series low again. Chances are now that this show will not be back next fall.
Friday Sitcoms
- None.
Saturday Sitcoms
- None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox's animated comedies from 7-10pm, but in repeats.
Summing it up. Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly, Two and a Half Men (R) were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as 30 Rock, Raising Hope) or just plain old terrible (such as Outsourced, Traffic Light, Perfect Couples).
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Digital Digest: Jabberjaw - The Complete Series DVD Review
Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly dose of all things related to home media! Charlie Sheen calls this weekly feature "drivel... pukefest that everyone worships" (OK, not really), but this week isn't the most exciting week of news... but we're here anyway! This week, in addition to our regular news, we've got a review of Jabberjaw - The Complete Series. Let's get going!
DIGITAL NEWS
News in the world of DVDs has been slow this week, but we do have an announcement for American Dad - Volume 6. Scheduled to be released on April 19, the three disc set will contain 18 episodes at a $39.98 MSRP, along with plenty of commentaries.
We now step into the non-physical realm of home media and into Amazon.com. Amazon Prime has been available for some time now, but there is now a new feature included with this that is certain to please movie (and especially) TV fans everywhere: the ability to watch programs on-demand for free with your paid annual subscription. According to the press release,
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (March 1) is a very disappointing day for releases, with the only release of note being Leave it to Beaver - Season Six. We will have a review of this set posted soon on our Main DVD Reviews Page.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
There are many obscure Hanna-Barbera series out there, and Warner Archive has been bringing us many of these as manufacture-on-demand titles over the past few months. We brought you a review of Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series last week, and this week, we have a review of another series, Jabberjaw, a series about a 15-foot tall talking shark from the future who plays in a rock-and-roll band and also manages to find time on the side to solve crimes with his teenage rock group. It's a series that only Saturday morning TV in the 1970s could have brought you, and now all 18 episodes are available on DVD in Jabberjaw - The Complete Series.
DVD Review: Jabberjaw - The Complete Series
by Greg Brobeck
Jabberjaw - The Complete Series (Warner Archive, $29.95) Wowee-wow-wow-wow! Warner Archive has released all 16 episodes of Jabberjaw in a four-disc set. Jabberjaw is one of many Scooby-Doo clones that came along in the 1970s, each featuring a group of "meddling teenagers" and some sort of talking animal or other inanimate object. This time, the teenagers are a rock group called "The Neptunes" who live underwater with their talking 15-foot white shark named Jabberjaw (whose voice and mannerisms resemble Curly of The Three Stooges) in the year 2076. The Neptunes must thwart evil villains while traveling their undersea civilization performing concerts. Somehow or another, Jabberjaw always manages to save the day. Each show also features one or two songs sung by the Neptune.
If you ask me, the show is a bit too silly. The plots tend to go a little on the ridiculous side, and Jabberjaw himself can be a bit annoying at times. Also annoying is the 1970s cartoon laugh track which seems to play at inappropriate times.
Jabberjaw lasted only one short season on ABC from 1976 to 1977, but did air in Sunday morning reruns for another season. Among the notable episodes in this set: in the premiere, "Dr. Lo Has Got to Go," the gang must keep the evil Dr. Lo from unleashing his Gorgon onto the city of Aquahama. In "There's No Place Like Outer Space," the gang must stop an alien invasion. And in "The Bermuda Triangle Tangle," the gang is taken captive after traveling through the Bermuda Triangle.
The set is from Warner Archive and is, therefore, a manufacture-on-demand set on DVD-R's. There's a small chance the discs won't play on certain DVD players or drives, but I had no problem with any of the discs. The 16 episodes seem to be uncut, but run a little fast and may be sourced from overseas prints sped up to the PAL standard. I don't think anything is edited from the shows, but I could be wrong. Runtimes from all the episodes are below:
Disc 1:
1. Dr. Lo Has Got to Go (21:40)
2. There's No Place Like Outer Space (20:54)
3. Atlantis Get Lost (20:49)
4. Run, Jabber, Run (20:48)
Disc 2:
5. The Sourpuss Octopus (20:51)
6. Hang On to Your Hat, Jabber (20:49)
7. The Great White Shark Switch (20:53)
8. Claim-Jumped Jabber (20:45)
Disc 3:
9. Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves (20:48)
10. Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp (20:44)
11. The Helpin' the Sculpin (20:45)
12. The Bermuda Triangle Tangle (20:44)
Disc 4:
13. Malice in Aqualand (20:48)
14. The Fast Paced Chase Race (20:47)
15. The Pirhana Plot (20:51)
16. There's No Heel like El Eel (20:48)
The discs are stored in a clear multi-disc Amaray case, with moving pages holding the discs. These are the cases that are of a thinner and cheaper plastic, but my set seems to be holding up. The front cover features a shot of all the characters and the Jabberjaw logo, along with "Hanna Barbera Classic Collection." Disc artwork features a shot of Jabberjaw and a listing of which episodes can be found on the disc.
We're treated to another actual menu screen as opposed to a generic one like have been on some previous Warner Archive sets. The menu is the title card from the Jabberjaw opening credits, and you can choose Play All, or an episode number. Episode titles are not provided on the menu, though they are listed on the discs themselves, it's kind of inconvenient to either have to look at the disc and know which number you want to watch beforehand, or to have to remove the disc to figure out which show you want to watch. There are no closed captions or subtitles. Chapter marks are placed at the 10 and 20 minute marks within the episodes. I don't find this very useful, and think the chapter marks would have been better placed at commercial breaks.
Video and audio quality are mostly good. As this is a MOD set, no remastering work was done. As many of the episodes are sped up overseas prints, the video at times is very bad. Audio mixing doesn't seem like it's always quite right. Music sometimes seems louder than dialogue or the lyrics being sung.
Again, no special features. None of the Hanna-Barbera sets released through the Warner Archive have had any, so this should come as no surprise.
Overall, Jabberjaw is an OK show, but definitely one of its time. I'm not a huge fan of Scooby-Doo clones, and this one really tends to go on the ridiculous side, but if you like this sort of show, or if you're a huge Hanna-Barbera fan, I can definitely recommend this set. If not, then you might be better off skipping it. The set does have its problems, not the least of which being the episode length issues. Jabber up!
(4/5 stars)
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Warner Archive
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Main DVD Reviews Page
Jabberjaw TV.com page
LOOKING AHEAD
Hopefully better weeks are ahead, but we've been saying that for a while and the studios have been disappointing us! Frankly, the news has been slow because of "the turds who are currently in place... can you imagine going back into the sludge-pit with those knuckleheads at this point? It would go bad quickly." (OK, I promise, no more Charlie Sheen next week). We will go a little north of the border with a review of an upcoming release of The Red Green Show soon, and hopefully have more feature stories for you. Until then, keep it digital!
DIGITAL NEWS
News in the world of DVDs has been slow this week, but we do have an announcement for American Dad - Volume 6. Scheduled to be released on April 19, the three disc set will contain 18 episodes at a $39.98 MSRP, along with plenty of commentaries.
We now step into the non-physical realm of home media and into Amazon.com. Amazon Prime has been available for some time now, but there is now a new feature included with this that is certain to please movie (and especially) TV fans everywhere: the ability to watch programs on-demand for free with your paid annual subscription. According to the press release,
Movies and TV shows included with an Amazon Prime membership can be watched instantly on Macs, PCs and nearly 200 models of Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that are compatible with Amazon Instant Video. The selection of videos available for instant streaming currently includes movies, such as "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy, "Amadeus," "Syriana," and "Chariots of Fire," noted documentaries such as "Food Inc.," "March of the Penguins" and "Ken Burns' National Parks," plus TV shows, such as "Doctor Who," "Farscape," "Fawlty Towers" and children's shows, such as "Arthur," "Caillou," "Super Why!" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."It seems to be a bit lacking on the sitcom front of now, but if you have Netflix, there is even better news! With just a basic $7.99 streaming-only subscription, you can get tons of movies and TV series, but a new deal with CBS Corporation means that you'll be able to watch many of your favorite TV series from the CBS library, including many sitcoms. According to the press release:
Content covered under the new deal includes the long-running drama, "Medium" and the summer season favorite, "Flashpoint." Also covered under the agreement are episodes from some of television's most iconic franchises. Full seasons of sitcom greats "Frasier," "Family Ties" and "Cheers" will be streaming instantly from Netflix. Episodes from the original "Hawaii Five-0" are included in the package, as are episodes from all generations of the definitive sci-fi series, "Star Trek," and the cult favorite, "Twin Peaks." Installments of '60s classics, "The Twilight Zone" and "The Andy Griffith Show," will be available as well.Full seasons of the series sounds very promising, hopefully these will extend beyond just what is available to own on DVD already.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (March 1) is a very disappointing day for releases, with the only release of note being Leave it to Beaver - Season Six. We will have a review of this set posted soon on our Main DVD Reviews Page.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
There are many obscure Hanna-Barbera series out there, and Warner Archive has been bringing us many of these as manufacture-on-demand titles over the past few months. We brought you a review of Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series last week, and this week, we have a review of another series, Jabberjaw, a series about a 15-foot tall talking shark from the future who plays in a rock-and-roll band and also manages to find time on the side to solve crimes with his teenage rock group. It's a series that only Saturday morning TV in the 1970s could have brought you, and now all 18 episodes are available on DVD in Jabberjaw - The Complete Series.
DVD Review: Jabberjaw - The Complete Series
by Greg Brobeck
Jabberjaw - The Complete Series (Warner Archive, $29.95) Wowee-wow-wow-wow! Warner Archive has released all 16 episodes of Jabberjaw in a four-disc set. Jabberjaw is one of many Scooby-Doo clones that came along in the 1970s, each featuring a group of "meddling teenagers" and some sort of talking animal or other inanimate object. This time, the teenagers are a rock group called "The Neptunes" who live underwater with their talking 15-foot white shark named Jabberjaw (whose voice and mannerisms resemble Curly of The Three Stooges) in the year 2076. The Neptunes must thwart evil villains while traveling their undersea civilization performing concerts. Somehow or another, Jabberjaw always manages to save the day. Each show also features one or two songs sung by the Neptune.
If you ask me, the show is a bit too silly. The plots tend to go a little on the ridiculous side, and Jabberjaw himself can be a bit annoying at times. Also annoying is the 1970s cartoon laugh track which seems to play at inappropriate times.
Jabberjaw lasted only one short season on ABC from 1976 to 1977, but did air in Sunday morning reruns for another season. Among the notable episodes in this set: in the premiere, "Dr. Lo Has Got to Go," the gang must keep the evil Dr. Lo from unleashing his Gorgon onto the city of Aquahama. In "There's No Place Like Outer Space," the gang must stop an alien invasion. And in "The Bermuda Triangle Tangle," the gang is taken captive after traveling through the Bermuda Triangle.
The set is from Warner Archive and is, therefore, a manufacture-on-demand set on DVD-R's. There's a small chance the discs won't play on certain DVD players or drives, but I had no problem with any of the discs. The 16 episodes seem to be uncut, but run a little fast and may be sourced from overseas prints sped up to the PAL standard. I don't think anything is edited from the shows, but I could be wrong. Runtimes from all the episodes are below:
Disc 1:
1. Dr. Lo Has Got to Go (21:40)
2. There's No Place Like Outer Space (20:54)
3. Atlantis Get Lost (20:49)
4. Run, Jabber, Run (20:48)
Disc 2:
5. The Sourpuss Octopus (20:51)
6. Hang On to Your Hat, Jabber (20:49)
7. The Great White Shark Switch (20:53)
8. Claim-Jumped Jabber (20:45)
Disc 3:
9. Ali Jabber and the Secret Thieves (20:48)
10. Help, Help, It's the Phantom of the Kelp (20:44)
11. The Helpin' the Sculpin (20:45)
12. The Bermuda Triangle Tangle (20:44)
Disc 4:
13. Malice in Aqualand (20:48)
14. The Fast Paced Chase Race (20:47)
15. The Pirhana Plot (20:51)
16. There's No Heel like El Eel (20:48)
The discs are stored in a clear multi-disc Amaray case, with moving pages holding the discs. These are the cases that are of a thinner and cheaper plastic, but my set seems to be holding up. The front cover features a shot of all the characters and the Jabberjaw logo, along with "Hanna Barbera Classic Collection." Disc artwork features a shot of Jabberjaw and a listing of which episodes can be found on the disc.
We're treated to another actual menu screen as opposed to a generic one like have been on some previous Warner Archive sets. The menu is the title card from the Jabberjaw opening credits, and you can choose Play All, or an episode number. Episode titles are not provided on the menu, though they are listed on the discs themselves, it's kind of inconvenient to either have to look at the disc and know which number you want to watch beforehand, or to have to remove the disc to figure out which show you want to watch. There are no closed captions or subtitles. Chapter marks are placed at the 10 and 20 minute marks within the episodes. I don't find this very useful, and think the chapter marks would have been better placed at commercial breaks.
Video and audio quality are mostly good. As this is a MOD set, no remastering work was done. As many of the episodes are sped up overseas prints, the video at times is very bad. Audio mixing doesn't seem like it's always quite right. Music sometimes seems louder than dialogue or the lyrics being sung.
Again, no special features. None of the Hanna-Barbera sets released through the Warner Archive have had any, so this should come as no surprise.
Overall, Jabberjaw is an OK show, but definitely one of its time. I'm not a huge fan of Scooby-Doo clones, and this one really tends to go on the ridiculous side, but if you like this sort of show, or if you're a huge Hanna-Barbera fan, I can definitely recommend this set. If not, then you might be better off skipping it. The set does have its problems, not the least of which being the episode length issues. Jabber up!
(4/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Warner Archive
Related links:
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LOOKING AHEAD
Hopefully better weeks are ahead, but we've been saying that for a while and the studios have been disappointing us! Frankly, the news has been slow because of "the turds who are currently in place... can you imagine going back into the sludge-pit with those knuckleheads at this point? It would go bad quickly." (OK, I promise, no more Charlie Sheen next week). We will go a little north of the border with a review of an upcoming release of The Red Green Show soon, and hopefully have more feature stories for you. Until then, keep it digital!
Friday, February 25, 2011
CBS/Warner Bros Cancel Production on Two and a Half Men For Rest of Season; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 28, 2011)
As you all know by now, Charlie Sheen ranted on the Alex Jones radio program yesterday (from the Bahamas) about Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre (with vulgar words and even referred to him by his Jewish name). Shortly after that, CBS and Warner Bros. released this short statement:
After CBS and Warner Bros. released that statement, Sheen went off even more and released a letter to TMZ. Sheen will later go on to release that he has an HBO show coming out that will pay him $5 million an episode, which HBO later denies. And then this morning he told Good Morning America that he plans on going to the Men set next week anyway for work. Wow. What drama. Sheen is now making up in his head that he has a deal with HBO? And he wants to go back on his sitcom set when no one will be there and after he said all this? I hate to be mean, but he needs help...and fast. Stay with us for updates on the CBS schedule (we won't cover the gossip any further).
In other news (but more peacheful news), join The Hub for a special episode of the original animated series Dan Vs. featuring actor Henry Winkler. Winkler, of course best known for his role as Fonzie on the classic sitcom Happy Days (which can be seen on The Hub Mon-Thurs at 8), will lend his voice to character Helicopter Hall in the upcoming episode, "Traffic."
Dan Vs. is The Hub's half-hour animated series featuring Dan, a loveable misanthrope who takes on different adversaries with his pal Chris, on a ceaseless quest for justice in various misadventures. Winkler's cameo will complement the current Dan Vs.” cast including Curtis Armstong (Revenge of the Nerds), Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall) and Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds). Watch the episode on Saturday, February 26 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on The Hub!
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Feb. 28-March 4, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, February 28, 2011
"Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBSThat means the series will not return to tape the four episodes that they were going to tape, which was set to start next week. They originally had a 24 episode order, but since Sheen was in rehab in January, they had to make the episode order at 20 episodes due to lack of time. Now it will remain at 16 episodes and we won't have any more new episodes this season. CBS aired a repeat of Two and a Half Men this past Monday (Feb. 14) and has scheduled repeats to air for the foreseeable future. But now with no more new episodes taping, CBS could change the schedule a bit. But how much and is it worth it this late in the season? One quick change they could do is to move How I Met Your Mother to 9pm and move the repeats of Two and a Half Men to 8pm. I doubt they would do that until May sweeps, though. I don't think they will move back The Big Bang Theory to Mondays this season. CBS already ordered two extra episodes each of Rules of Engagement and Mike & Molly (26 episodes each), so maybe they will be used at some point at Monday 9pm. Stay tuned for updates!
and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of Two
and a Half Men for the remainder of the season."
After CBS and Warner Bros. released that statement, Sheen went off even more and released a letter to TMZ. Sheen will later go on to release that he has an HBO show coming out that will pay him $5 million an episode, which HBO later denies. And then this morning he told Good Morning America that he plans on going to the Men set next week anyway for work. Wow. What drama. Sheen is now making up in his head that he has a deal with HBO? And he wants to go back on his sitcom set when no one will be there and after he said all this? I hate to be mean, but he needs help...and fast. Stay with us for updates on the CBS schedule (we won't cover the gossip any further).
In other news (but more peacheful news), join The Hub for a special episode of the original animated series Dan Vs. featuring actor Henry Winkler. Winkler, of course best known for his role as Fonzie on the classic sitcom Happy Days (which can be seen on The Hub Mon-Thurs at 8), will lend his voice to character Helicopter Hall in the upcoming episode, "Traffic."
Dan Vs. is The Hub's half-hour animated series featuring Dan, a loveable misanthrope who takes on different adversaries with his pal Chris, on a ceaseless quest for justice in various misadventures. Winkler's cameo will complement the current Dan Vs.” cast including Curtis Armstong (Revenge of the Nerds), Dave Foley (The Kids in the Hall) and Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds). Watch the episode on Saturday, February 26 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on The Hub!
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Feb. 28-March 4, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, February 28, 2011
- Judy Greer (Mad Love/Miss Guided) - Watch Judy on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Christina Applegate (Married with Children/Samantha Who/Jesse) - Watch Christina on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Topher Grace (That '70s Show) - Catch Topher on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check listings, then in late nght on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC at 12:37am.
- Mackenzie Phillips (One Day at a Time) - Watch Mack on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/Golden Girls/Mary Tyler Moore Show) - See Betty on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Matthew Perry (Mr. Sunshine/Friends) - Catch Matthew on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Meredith Baxter (Family Ties) - Watch the classic TV mom on TODAY on NBC sometime between 7-9am.
- John O'Hurley (Seinfeld) - Watch John on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Nick on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am only on ABC.
- Matthew Perry (Mr. Sunshine/Friends) - Watch Matthew on ABC's The View at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jane Leeves (Hot in Cleveland/Frasier) - Jane visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Meredith Baxter (Family Ties) - Watch Meredith on The Oprah Show, so check your listings and then later on The Joy Behar Show at 9pm on HLN.
- Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld) - Watch Jerry on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser) - Watch Doogie...err Neil on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Topher Grace (That '70s Show) - Watch Topher on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, check listings, then in late night on Lopez Tonight at 12am on TBS.
- Meredith Baxter (Family Ties) - Meredith returns for a second day on NBC's TODAY, probably in the 9am or 10am hour.
- Carolyn Hennesy (Cougar Town) - Watch Barb herself on The Mo'nique Show on BET at 11pm.
- Terry Crews (Are We There Yet/Everybody Hates Chris) - Watch Terry bake crumb cake on The Martha Stewart Show at 10am on Hallmark Channel.
- None.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Black History Month Closes with Cosby Show, 227 Marathons; ivi TV Shuts Down?
While our pick of this weekend is Saturday's Empty Nest premiere marathon on The Hallmark Channel, there are other options for marathon viewing as well. This weekend will close out February, which is of course Black History Month, and Centric and GMC will showcase marathons of The Cosby Show and 227! Both series air regularly on the networks, but it is still good to have a marathon. The Cosby Show has its marathon on Saturday, Feb. 26 from 11am-10pm followed by the Centric premiere of the two-hour retrospective The Cosby Show: A Look Back from 10pm-12am. The marathon episodes are going in order with episodes 33-54 airing. Those are classic episodes! View the episode titles and times.
GMC will have a 227 marathon on Sunday, February 27 from 10am-1am on Oscar Sunday! And it's also 2-27, get it? The episodes won't go in order, but will indeed start with the premiere episode "Honesty" and will feature many guest stars again as well such as LaWanda Page, Benard Ighner, John Houseman, Mary Wilson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Florence Griffith Joyner, Willie Amakye, Ray Combs, Gene Wood, Cuba Gooding Jr., Johnny Gilbert, Joan Rivers and Gary Coleman. Select episodes from all five seasons will air. View the episode titles and times. The day before on Saturday, Feb. 26, GMC premieres the World Premiere Original Gospel Stage Play Movie The Ideal Husband at 7pm that stars 227's Jackee Harry, Clifton Powell, Darrin Henson, Shanti Lowry, Shirley Murdock and Ginuwine. A couple is joyously expecting their first child, but a secret from the husband's past threatens to destroy their happiness. Tracey, soon to be a new mother, is overjoyed at finally being able to have a child and prepares for a visit from her family for a big celebration. Her husband Devin, sidelined from the NFL due to a football injury, is also elated while physically working to build up his strength to return to the game. Their world, despite their financial hardships, is a happy one until Tracey receives a visitor at her beauty shop that reveals a past indiscretion that makes her question, if her world is as happy and stable as she believes. Leading into the movie will be regularly scheduled airings of Jackee's TV series: Sister, Sister from 10am-2pm and 227 from 2pm-7pm.
ivi TV, the online cable system, was forced to shutdown. Don't know what ivi is? Read our story from December. On Tuesday, February 22, 2011 the Southern District Court of New York granted a preliminary injunction in the case 1:10-cv-07415-NRB. ivi TV will be appealing the decision in the second circuit but in the interim they must shut-down most of their broadcast channel offerings.
They believe the court made an error in the ruling and will be appealing the decision supported by many public interest groups. But they cannot do it alone. In return, they ask that you support them. If you can, visit Public Knowledge and/or EFF to leave a donation.
In the interim they are suspending invoicing for ivi Air and ivi Pro, so it is not necessary to cancel subscriptions. As soon as they can restore the channels they will resume the subscriptions from that point forward.
They will continue to carry a number of channels and will be adding channels from broadcasters and content providers as they grow. Stay tuned for further updates.
GMC will have a 227 marathon on Sunday, February 27 from 10am-1am on Oscar Sunday! And it's also 2-27, get it? The episodes won't go in order, but will indeed start with the premiere episode "Honesty" and will feature many guest stars again as well such as LaWanda Page, Benard Ighner, John Houseman, Mary Wilson, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Florence Griffith Joyner, Willie Amakye, Ray Combs, Gene Wood, Cuba Gooding Jr., Johnny Gilbert, Joan Rivers and Gary Coleman. Select episodes from all five seasons will air. View the episode titles and times. The day before on Saturday, Feb. 26, GMC premieres the World Premiere Original Gospel Stage Play Movie The Ideal Husband at 7pm that stars 227's Jackee Harry, Clifton Powell, Darrin Henson, Shanti Lowry, Shirley Murdock and Ginuwine. A couple is joyously expecting their first child, but a secret from the husband's past threatens to destroy their happiness. Tracey, soon to be a new mother, is overjoyed at finally being able to have a child and prepares for a visit from her family for a big celebration. Her husband Devin, sidelined from the NFL due to a football injury, is also elated while physically working to build up his strength to return to the game. Their world, despite their financial hardships, is a happy one until Tracey receives a visitor at her beauty shop that reveals a past indiscretion that makes her question, if her world is as happy and stable as she believes. Leading into the movie will be regularly scheduled airings of Jackee's TV series: Sister, Sister from 10am-2pm and 227 from 2pm-7pm.
ivi TV, the online cable system, was forced to shutdown. Don't know what ivi is? Read our story from December. On Tuesday, February 22, 2011 the Southern District Court of New York granted a preliminary injunction in the case 1:10-cv-07415-NRB. ivi TV will be appealing the decision in the second circuit but in the interim they must shut-down most of their broadcast channel offerings.
They believe the court made an error in the ruling and will be appealing the decision supported by many public interest groups. But they cannot do it alone. In return, they ask that you support them. If you can, visit Public Knowledge and/or EFF to leave a donation.
In the interim they are suspending invoicing for ivi Air and ivi Pro, so it is not necessary to cancel subscriptions. As soon as they can restore the channels they will resume the subscriptions from that point forward.
They will continue to carry a number of channels and will be adding channels from broadcasters and content providers as they grow. Stay tuned for further updates.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Seinfeld Moving In Many Markets In March; Network Notes
Seinfeld will be starting its fourth broadcast syndication cycle during the week of March 20, 2011. That is pretty rare these days to have such big clearances for a fourth term. Seinfeld has been in broadcast syndication for 15 years now (since Sept. 1995) and this fourth cycle will have it last through March 2015. Seinfeld will be moving in many markets to other stations, though starting March 20. Tribune Broadcasting has gotten the sitcom back in at least three markets from Fox: New York (WPIX), Dallas (KDAF) and Washington (WDCW). It was airing on the local Fox stations in those three markets for the last 10 years. In Seattle, Tribune's KZJO (MyNetwork affiliate) will get the show now after airing on CBS-owned KSTW (CW affiliate). Other non-Tribune stations will also get the show, such as in Boston, Seinfeld leaves Fox's WFXT for CBS-owned independent WSBK. In Chicago it will go from the Fox-owned station WFLD to Weigel-owned independent WCIU. It is remaining on Fox-owned KTTV in Los Angeles because they renewed it. It is best that you check your local listings for the week of March 20, 2011 to see if Seinfeld has moved to another station in your market that we haven't mentioned here.
As for WPIX in NYC, we have the full details of Seinfeld's timeslots and the changes being made as a result on WNYW/WWOR! Seinfeld will start on WPIX on Sunday, March 20 at 9pm & 9:30pm with the very first two episodes. Then it will start weekdays the very next day on Monday, March 21 at 11pm & 11:30pm. Best-of episodes will be airing, so it isn't in any order. The Sunday airings will be going in order, though. As a result of Seinfeld joining the WPIX schedule, some changes will be made on three stations. Essentially WNYW is replacing Seinfeld with a third Simpsons airing at 11:30pm and a third TMZ on TV airing at 12:30am. The weekend airing will be replaced by an airing of Everybody Loves Raymond on Sundays at 11:30pm. Sister network WWOR aired the show Sundays at 7:30pm, but now they will add a second run of The Deadliest Catch. WPIX of course has made the most changes. On Sundays, they will split up Ugly Betty. It was airing 7pm and 8pm, now it will be 1pm and 7pm, with Friends moving into the 8pm hour since Seinfeld is coming at 9pm. For weekdays, Old Christine is getting the late night treatment and being reduced to just a half-hour going from 5-6pm to 1:30am. Family Guy will now air weekdays in the 6pm hour instead of 7:30pm and 1am, while Two and a Half Men gets the 7pm hour now since Seinfeld has taken the full 11pm hour. Seinfeld will lead into Curb Your Enthusiasm at 12am, to try and boost that series' ratings. And finally, Frasier is leaving local broadcast syndication nationwide before the start of the week of March 7. So, March 5 or March 6 will be the last airings. In New York, it is on WPIX and it is only airing Friday and Saturday late nights (early Saturday and Sunday mornings), but it seems American Dad! isn't doing well in the ratings as its primetime Saturday 9pm & 9:30pm airings is going to being moved to 4:30am & 5am. Ouch. It will remain in the Saturday 12am hour, though.
View the full list of changes in New York as a result of Seinfeld moving and Frasier leaving broadcast syndication.
We have some network notes for you today as well. NBC issued pickups for three returning alternative series in 2011-12 in The Biggest Loser, Who Do You Think You Are? and the singing competition series The Sing-Off. Missing from this list is Minute to Win It, which has done OK in the ratings but suffers a lot against heavy competition. Also missing is The Apprentice, but the celebrity version starts on Sunday, March 6.
Syfy has acquired both seasons (31 episodes) of the acclaimed fan-favorite Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. With the movie Terminator 3 as the lead-in, the series will join the Syfy line-up on Thursday, April 7 with two episodes from 9-11PM (ET/PT). The regular time slot will be Thursdays from 7-11PM (ET/PT). Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ran for two seasons (2007-09) on Fox and Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, Brian Austin Green, Garret Dillahunt, Shirley Manson, Leven Rambin and Richard T. Jones starred in the series. Elsewhere on Syfy April 2011, there is a Mork & Mindy sighting on Thursday, April 1, 2011 at 8am--no foolin' either! This is in addition to the March sightings. Monday, April 11, at 11am will see a filler airing of short-lived drama Moonlight. And Thursday nights (early Friday mornings) at 5am will see drama Early Edition air all month starting April 7.
And finally, CSI gets yet another airing removed on USA Network. Another episode of NCIS will replace CSI on Fridays at 9pm starting Friday, March 4, 2011. NCIS will now air on Fridays from 7pm-10pm, while CSI will air from 10pm-12am.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Cheers Airing on ReelzChannel TV; ABC Family Picks-Up Another Original Series
Another sitcom has joined the ReelzChannel TV line-up. Lost in the shuffle was Cheers coming to the network on Monday, Jan. 31, 2011. We're sorry we didn't get to tell you in advance, but Cheers airs on the ReelzChannel TV programming lineup seven days a week with back-to-back episodes airing at 10am ET and 10:30am ET. Weekdays also features an encore of Cheers in late nights at 1am ET and 1:30am ET.
"As one of the most acclaimed television shows ever, Cheers has a tremendous fan base who will appreciate being able to watch the series every day of the week on ReelzChannel and both seasoned and new viewers will have the opportunity to watch the series from the beginning," said Mike Smith SVP of ReelzChannel Programming.
Cheers is a top-rated, 28-time Emmy-winning half-hour comedy series centering on the colorful characters who frequent a Boston bar owned by former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson). It joins a line-up with other sitcoms as well including Ted Danson's other sitcom Becker, NewsRadio and 3rd Rock from the Sun. With the addition of the sitcom, some of the timings changed on Jan. 31, so we'll recap the series schedule for you. The weekday series line-up has Carson's Comedy Classics still at 8am ET, followed still by Becker at 9am ET, with Cheers now at 10am ET, and NewsRadio rounds out the morning schedule at 11am ET. Jumping to 2pm ET, an encore of NewsRadio airs, followed by back-to-back hours of comedic law series Ally McBeal at 3pm and 4pm ET. In the evening line-up, an encore of Becker airs in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. A primetime movie airs at 8pm ET leading into family drama Brothers & Sisters at 10pm ET. Then another movie airs at 11pm ET leading into the Cheers encore at 1am ET. On Saturdays, Becker is still at 9am ET and is Cheers at 10am ET, with an encore of Becker in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. All of that is the same as weekdays. The Sunday line-up for series has Becker at 9am ET and Cheers at 10am ET again. There is also back-to-back episodes of family drama Brothers & Sisters at 12 noon ET and 1pm ET. And Becker encore is once again in the 6pm ET hour.
Cheers on the ReelzChannel schedule is a nice addition and we hope some more sitcoms join the line-up soon as well. Cheers can also still be seen weekday afternoons on WGN America, weekday mornings on HDnet and late nights every week night on the Hallmark Channel. ReelzChannel TV is carried via satellite on DIRECTV (Channel 238) and DISH Network (Channel 299). Local cable channel information is available on the website's home page through a zip code look-up. The network is the exclusive home for the upcoming eight-part mini-series The Kennedys (starring Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Tom Wilkinson), with the world premiere on Sunday, April 3, 2011.
In addition to the two drama and sitcom pick-ups a few weeks ago, ABC Family has picked-up one more drama. ABC Family has picked up The Lying Game. The series follows Emma, a kind-hearted foster kid who learns she has an identical twin sister, Sutton. Sutton, unlike Emma, was adopted by wealthy parents and is seemingly living an ideal life. After their initial meeting, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues a lead on the mysterious identity of their birth mother. After Sutton inexplicably fails to return to the girls' designated meeting place, Emma must decide whether to come clean about her identity and risk her own safety in the hope of uncovering her twin sister's whereabouts, along with the truth about why they were separated in the first place.
The Lying Game stars Alexandra Chando (As The World Turns) as Emma/Sutton; Andy Buckley (The Office) as Ted; Helen Slater as Kristin; Blair Redford (90210) as Garrett; Sharon Pierre-Louis (Lincoln Heights) as Nisha; Kirsten Prout (Kyle XY) as Char; Alice Greczyn (Lincoln Heights) as Mads; and Allie Gonino (10 Things I Hate About You) as Laurel.
Charles Pratt, Jr. (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) serves as executive producer and writer; Leslie Morgenstein (Pretty Little Liars, The Nine Lives of Chloe King) and Gina Girolamo will serve as executive producers. Produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television, the series is based on the novel by author Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars).
The drama joins a roster of other new series, including the one-hour dramas The Nine Lives of Chloe King and Switched at Birth, and the half-hour multi-cam comedy series, The Great State of Georgia. This drama would work well paired-up with ABC Family's hit series Pretty Little Liars, which is also based on a novel by Sara Shepard. It is unclear how many episodes have been ordered and when the series will premiere this year. Pretty Little Liars is returning with its second season in the summer (likely June), as its first season wraps up on March 21.
"As one of the most acclaimed television shows ever, Cheers has a tremendous fan base who will appreciate being able to watch the series every day of the week on ReelzChannel and both seasoned and new viewers will have the opportunity to watch the series from the beginning," said Mike Smith SVP of ReelzChannel Programming.
Cheers is a top-rated, 28-time Emmy-winning half-hour comedy series centering on the colorful characters who frequent a Boston bar owned by former Red Sox pitcher Sam Malone (Ted Danson). It joins a line-up with other sitcoms as well including Ted Danson's other sitcom Becker, NewsRadio and 3rd Rock from the Sun. With the addition of the sitcom, some of the timings changed on Jan. 31, so we'll recap the series schedule for you. The weekday series line-up has Carson's Comedy Classics still at 8am ET, followed still by Becker at 9am ET, with Cheers now at 10am ET, and NewsRadio rounds out the morning schedule at 11am ET. Jumping to 2pm ET, an encore of NewsRadio airs, followed by back-to-back hours of comedic law series Ally McBeal at 3pm and 4pm ET. In the evening line-up, an encore of Becker airs in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. A primetime movie airs at 8pm ET leading into family drama Brothers & Sisters at 10pm ET. Then another movie airs at 11pm ET leading into the Cheers encore at 1am ET. On Saturdays, Becker is still at 9am ET and is Cheers at 10am ET, with an encore of Becker in the 6pm ET hour leading into an hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun. All of that is the same as weekdays. The Sunday line-up for series has Becker at 9am ET and Cheers at 10am ET again. There is also back-to-back episodes of family drama Brothers & Sisters at 12 noon ET and 1pm ET. And Becker encore is once again in the 6pm ET hour.
Cheers on the ReelzChannel schedule is a nice addition and we hope some more sitcoms join the line-up soon as well. Cheers can also still be seen weekday afternoons on WGN America, weekday mornings on HDnet and late nights every week night on the Hallmark Channel. ReelzChannel TV is carried via satellite on DIRECTV (Channel 238) and DISH Network (Channel 299). Local cable channel information is available on the website's home page through a zip code look-up. The network is the exclusive home for the upcoming eight-part mini-series The Kennedys (starring Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper, Katie Holmes, and Tom Wilkinson), with the world premiere on Sunday, April 3, 2011.
In addition to the two drama and sitcom pick-ups a few weeks ago, ABC Family has picked-up one more drama. ABC Family has picked up The Lying Game. The series follows Emma, a kind-hearted foster kid who learns she has an identical twin sister, Sutton. Sutton, unlike Emma, was adopted by wealthy parents and is seemingly living an ideal life. After their initial meeting, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues a lead on the mysterious identity of their birth mother. After Sutton inexplicably fails to return to the girls' designated meeting place, Emma must decide whether to come clean about her identity and risk her own safety in the hope of uncovering her twin sister's whereabouts, along with the truth about why they were separated in the first place.
The Lying Game stars Alexandra Chando (As The World Turns) as Emma/Sutton; Andy Buckley (The Office) as Ted; Helen Slater as Kristin; Blair Redford (90210) as Garrett; Sharon Pierre-Louis (Lincoln Heights) as Nisha; Kirsten Prout (Kyle XY) as Char; Alice Greczyn (Lincoln Heights) as Mads; and Allie Gonino (10 Things I Hate About You) as Laurel.
Charles Pratt, Jr. (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) serves as executive producer and writer; Leslie Morgenstein (Pretty Little Liars, The Nine Lives of Chloe King) and Gina Girolamo will serve as executive producers. Produced by Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television, the series is based on the novel by author Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars).
The drama joins a roster of other new series, including the one-hour dramas The Nine Lives of Chloe King and Switched at Birth, and the half-hour multi-cam comedy series, The Great State of Georgia. This drama would work well paired-up with ABC Family's hit series Pretty Little Liars, which is also based on a novel by Sara Shepard. It is unclear how many episodes have been ordered and when the series will premiere this year. Pretty Little Liars is returning with its second season in the summer (likely June), as its first season wraps up on March 21.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Hallmark Channel March 2011 Marathons; Fox Gets Mobbed on March 31
A couple of weeks ago we told you about Empty Nest getting a marathon on Saturday, Feb. 26 on the Hallmark Channel, now we have the episode info for the marathon. We broke the news on our message board on Friday that the complete first season will air (all 22 episodes), with each episode being encored (the first four episodes will air three times, though). View the episode schedule for the Empty Nest marathon this coming Saturday.
We also have the updated March 2011 schedule for Hallmark. And it seems Empty Nest is NOT being added to the regular schedule just yet. So, for now, it will be only the marathon on Saturday, Feb. 26. I'm sure if the marathon does well in the ratings it will be added soon...so don't give up hope yet. Just make sure you WATCH most or all of the episodes!
As we mentioned previously, there will be plenty of 24-hour marathons on Hallmark in March. In addition to Empty Nest and The Golden Girls this coming weekend (Feb. 26-27), Hallmark has added more sitcom marathons! The Little House on the Prairie marathon that was scheduled for Saturday, March 5 will now be a 24-hour marathon of Who's the Boss? starting at 6am! Then the very next day on Sunday, March 6, Hallmark will present a 24-hour marathon of another '80s classic...Cheers, again starting at 6am (but this one is through 4am). The weekend of March 12-13 will actually be two days worth of I Love Lucy! It's all Lucy, all weekend long! This means the scheduled Touched by an Angel stunt on March 13 is no longer happening. And the final marathon for March will be a 24-hour marathon of drama Little House on the Prairie on Saturday, March 26 starting at 6am!
View the updated March 2011 marathons and the full schedule. Stay with us for more as we will keep you up to date on Empty Nest scheduling info and the upcoming April schedule with Frasier being added.
Finally, Fox is getting mobbed on Thursday, March 31 at 9pm. The new unscripted special Mobbed will premiere Thursday, March 31 at 9:00 PM ET/PT following American Idol on Fox (Bones will be preempted for a week). Host Howie Mandel puts a hidden-camera spin on the "flash mob" concept. Mandel and hundreds of strangers will help special guests plan extraordinary surprises for friends, family members, loved ones or co-workers. These unknowing participants will be shocked and stunned by surprise performances that lead up to fantastic reveals that include a husband learning that his wife is pregnant, an applicant finding out that she got the job and a marriage proposal, among others.
This will be the only scheduled airing of this series, as of now. Mobbed replaces the previously announced preview of the Untitled Jamie Foxx/Affion Crocket Project (wt), which will still premiere this June. It is likely Mobbed, could be paired with this in the summer. Stay tuned.
We also have the updated March 2011 schedule for Hallmark. And it seems Empty Nest is NOT being added to the regular schedule just yet. So, for now, it will be only the marathon on Saturday, Feb. 26. I'm sure if the marathon does well in the ratings it will be added soon...so don't give up hope yet. Just make sure you WATCH most or all of the episodes!
As we mentioned previously, there will be plenty of 24-hour marathons on Hallmark in March. In addition to Empty Nest and The Golden Girls this coming weekend (Feb. 26-27), Hallmark has added more sitcom marathons! The Little House on the Prairie marathon that was scheduled for Saturday, March 5 will now be a 24-hour marathon of Who's the Boss? starting at 6am! Then the very next day on Sunday, March 6, Hallmark will present a 24-hour marathon of another '80s classic...Cheers, again starting at 6am (but this one is through 4am). The weekend of March 12-13 will actually be two days worth of I Love Lucy! It's all Lucy, all weekend long! This means the scheduled Touched by an Angel stunt on March 13 is no longer happening. And the final marathon for March will be a 24-hour marathon of drama Little House on the Prairie on Saturday, March 26 starting at 6am!
View the updated March 2011 marathons and the full schedule. Stay with us for more as we will keep you up to date on Empty Nest scheduling info and the upcoming April schedule with Frasier being added.
Finally, Fox is getting mobbed on Thursday, March 31 at 9pm. The new unscripted special Mobbed will premiere Thursday, March 31 at 9:00 PM ET/PT following American Idol on Fox (Bones will be preempted for a week). Host Howie Mandel puts a hidden-camera spin on the "flash mob" concept. Mandel and hundreds of strangers will help special guests plan extraordinary surprises for friends, family members, loved ones or co-workers. These unknowing participants will be shocked and stunned by surprise performances that lead up to fantastic reveals that include a husband learning that his wife is pregnant, an applicant finding out that she got the job and a marriage proposal, among others.
This will be the only scheduled airing of this series, as of now. Mobbed replaces the previously announced preview of the Untitled Jamie Foxx/Affion Crocket Project (wt), which will still premiere this June. It is likely Mobbed, could be paired with this in the summer. Stay tuned.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Week 22 TV Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did
2010-11 Week 22 TV Ratings (first four nights averages, Mon-Thu):
Households: N/A
Total Viewers: N/A
Adults 18-49: N/A
Week 22 (Feb. 14-20) Analysis: Week 22 has CBS and Fox battling again in HH/viewers with it being very close, but Fox having a more comfortable lead in 18-49. The first four nights network averages were not made available to us in time for this post, but we can predict CBS or Fox is up in HH/viewers, but Fox is winning in 18-49. CBS is in second in 18-49. ABC and NBC are in third and fourth across the board, respectively like previous week. Fox will likely win the week in 18-49 but CBS could take HH/viewers. Last week, week 21, had CBS win the week over Fox with a last minute push thanks to the Grammy. Fox was in second place across the board and ABC was third. And NBC had a terrible week in the way back fourth place.
Monday saw CBS with the win, with Fox and ABC tied for second. ABC started with The Bachelor doing 9.32 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, down some from previous week on this Valentine's Day night that saw lots of declines from previous week everywhere. At 10pm ABC aired a new Castle and did 8.75 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down from previous week. CBS was all-new with its comedies and Hawaii Five-0. At 8pm, a new How I Met Your Mother started it off with 9.51 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, which was down a tick from previous week. At 8:30, the series premiere of Mad Love did 8.64 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, down some from an episode of Rules of Engagement the week prior. Two and a Half Men followed with a new airing of its own doing 14.51 million and a 4.2 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from previous week. Repeats coming now due to no more new episodes left because of Sheen in rehab. At 9:30, Mike & Molly was new too and did 12.92 million and a 3.8 18-49 rating, which was the only series to buck the trend from this night and up from previous week. A new Hawaii Five-0 at 10pm did 10.73 million and a 2.8 18-49 rating, on par really with previous week. Fox was all-new with House doing 9.86 million and a 3.4 18-49 rating, down a lot from previous week. The second episode of Chicago Code followed at 9pm with 7.35 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down from previous week. Fox will take these numbers if it remains here, but if not...Lie to Me is a better option. NBC started its night with a new Chuck doing 5.47 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which is on par with previous week. At 9pm, the struggling The Cape did 4.07 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, as it keeps going down every single week. At 10pm, a new Harry's Law saw a drop again with 8.51 million and just a 1.7 18-49 rating, but that was on par with previous week. The CW was new with 90210 doing 1.37 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, down from previous week. Gossip Girl followed with a new episode doing 1.32 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, down some from previous week.
Tuesday had CBS dominate with its dramas in viewers but Fox tied them in 18-49. CBS started with a new NCIS and did 19.39 million and a 3.6 18-49 rating, down a lot from previous week. What is going on with TV ratings since last Thursday? Almost everything has been down. NCIS: Los Angeles followed with a new episode and did 16.8 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, also down from previous week. The Good Wife did well in total viewers with 11.43 million but only a 2.0 18-49 rating, down from previous week. For ABC, No Ordinary Family was all-new in the 8pm hour doing 5.03 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. At 9, V was new and did 5.43 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week and one of the few that has gone up this week. Detroit 1-8-7 was new with 5.2 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down some from previous week. Fox had a new Glee on Tuesday and it did 10.53 million and a 4.2 18-49 rating, which was down from previous week. Concerning, but still number one in the slot. Next Fox disappointed with Raising Hope and did 5.36 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating...a season low. Episode two of new comedy Traffic Light saw a red light with only 3.49 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating. This week will make or break the series. Anything lower than a 1.4 will make Fox pull it, I think. NBC aired a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 7.7 million and a 2.7 18-49 rating, which was down from previous week. Then at 10pm, Parenthood did a third place 5.11 million but a second place 1.9 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. The CW was new with One Tree Hill doing 1.64 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. Next at 9pm was a new episode of Hellcats and that did 1.58 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week.
Wednesday had American Idol expand to two-hours so it easily won the night. Idol did 23.2 million and a 8.2 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week when it was only an hour. CBS started the night off with the season premiere of Survivor: Redemption Island doing 11.15 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which is good but its lowest premiere ever. Veteran drama Criminal Minds was next with a new episode doing 12.85 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, down from previous week. At 10pm, the series premiere of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior got off to a promising start with 13.06 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, much better than Blue Bloods. ABC had its Laugh On comedy block and had a new The Middle open the night with a solid 7.85 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, but down some from previous week. Then at 8:30, a new Better With You did 5.88 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which for the first time (minus the Thanksgiving Eve airing) went below a 2. It needs to climb back up this week. Then ABC aired a new Modern Family at 9pm doing 10.57 million and a 4.3 18-49 rating, which is great buy down from previous week's series high as it faced Idol head-to-head this week. Then at 9:30, Mr. Sunshine was new with 6.93 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, down a lot from the premiere but it faced the last half-hour of Idol. If it stays in the 2.6-3.0 range against it, it should be fine. Cougar Town will return with a special airing on Monday, April 18, and then on Wednesdays starting April 20. At 10pm, a new episode of new drama Off the Map aired and did 4.33 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, for a series low. After the past few weeks were consistent, this week it went way down. NBC aired a two-hour all-new Minute to Win It and did just 3.64 million and a series low 1.0 18-49 rating. Idol killed it and that blockbuster will be two-hours every week until end of March. Uh oh for NBC. At 10pm, Law & Order: SVU was next with an all-new episode doing 7.31 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down from previous week and second place now. The CW had repeats, this time with Nikita starting it off at 8pm doing 1.3 million and a 0.3 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week. At 9pm a repeat of Vampire Diaries did only 770,000 viewers and a 0.3 18-49 rating, on par with previous week.
Thursday saw once again Fox win the night, on a night of lower than usual ratings once again. ABC opened the night with an all-new Wipeout doing 6.02 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, down some from previous week...but for some reason it was preempted in 3% of the country. Then Grey's Anatomy was next with a new episode doing 10.24 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, also down some from previous week. At 10pm, Private Practice was also new and did 6.73 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, down from previous week. Declines continued on other nets as well, as CBS opened with a new The Big Bang Theory and it did 12.41 million and a 3.7 A18-49 rating, down some from previous week. Then the season finale of $#*! My Dad Says followed with 9.7 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week. Next, CSI was new too and did 13.29 million and a 2.9 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week's season low. A new The Mentalist did 15.01 million and a 3.0 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week in 18-49. OK so onto Fox, at 8pm a new American Idol did 22.18 million and a 7.6 18-49 rating, which was up some from previous week. A new episode of Bones followed at 9pm and did 9.84 million and 3.3 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. NBC was all-new new with its comedies but struggled, as Community did 4.11 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. Then new comedy Perfect Couples did only 3.03 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week. At 9pm The Office was new and did 6.41 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, which is down some again from previous week. At 9:30pm, a new Parks and Recreation was at 4.33 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, for a season low. At 10, NBC started with 30 Rock doing 4.07 million and a 2.0 18-49, down from previous week and its lowest showing at 10. At 10:30, Outsourced did only 3.2 million and 1.5 18-49 rating, for another series low. The CW was next with a new Vampire Diaries doing 3.07 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, up a bit from previous week. Then a new Nikita did 2.1 million and just a 0.8 18-49 rating, also up a tad from previous week.
Now, final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available as usual, but Friday had lower ratings again. Kitchen Nightmares and Fringe helped Fox tie for the win, despite the latter being third in its slot. ABC's Primetime: What Would You Do? did second place in 18-49 a bit behind CBS drama CSI: NY. The Friday return of Blue Bloods was soft. Saturday had Fox win with its normal crime reality series with everyone else way behind in 18-49.
Tonight ABC is all-new with its regular Sunday of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters that should be way up from previous week when they faced the Grammys. NBC has a repeat of SNL at 8 then a new special from 9-11pm that should do decent at best, while Dateline will start the night off at 7. CBS has a new 60 Minutes, followed by the season premiere of The Amazing Race at 8 and new episodes of Undercover Boss & CSI: Miami from 9-11pm. Fox is all-new with Animation Domination starting at 7:30pm that should be up from previous week's episodes vs. the Grammys.
As for the week (week 22), CBS will likely win the week in HH/viewers but probably won' t catch up to Fox in 18-49 this week. So, Fox will likely be in second in HH/viewers, with ABC third everywhere and NBC in fourth. And for the coming week (week 23), has February sweeps continuing and it will be interesting to see if the ratings will go up after over a week of lower ratings generally.
Week 22 How the Sitcoms Did
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week 21 -- Feb. 7-13)
- American Dad! (Fox) - A new episode only did 3.39 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating. 18-49 rating is not too bad at 7:30.
- The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - A new episode opposite the Grammys took a hit with 5.49 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating. Earlier, a repeat at 7pm did only 2.94 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating.
- Bob's Burgers (Fox) - A new episode only mustered 4.15 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating for its lowest ratings yet, but it was on opposite the Grammy Awards on CBS.
- Family Guy (Fox) - An all-new episode did a below normal 5.97 million and a 3.2 18-49 rating, which was still good enough for the best of the block.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - Closing the night out, a new episode did 4.75 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A new episode did 9.51 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from previous week...but still good.
- Mad Love (CBS) - 8.74 million for the series premiere is solid and the 3.0 18-49 rating is solid, too but it was down from previous week's Rules of Engagement airing. It needs to maintain or build on these tomorrow.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.51 million for a new episode is outstanding, but 18-49 is what really counts and the show did a 4.2 18-49 rating, good for second among all sitcoms this week. This was the last new episode for a while as repeats will now air until further notice.
- Mike & Molly (CBS) - 12.92 million for a new episode and a 18-49 rating of 3.8 is great and the only series from the block to go up from previous week. How will it fare tomorrow with its lead-in being a repeat? A drop is expected, but will it be minimal?
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Raising Hope (Fox) - A new episode only did 5.36 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating, down a good number from previous week.
- Traffic Light (Fox) - The second episode only did 3.49 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating. Red light is coming soon if it doesn't go up this week...
- The Middle (ABC) - A new episode of this sitcom did 7.85 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which was down from previous week. Still not too bad vs. Idol.
- Better with You (ABC) - A new episode of this series did 5.88 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was down the same percentage as its lead-in. But it needs to be above a 2.
- Modern Family (ABC) - A new episode did 10.57 million and a 4.3 18-49 rating. Despite the sizeable drop from previous week, it is still the top scripted series for the week in 18-49.
- Mr. Sunshine (ABC) - Episode two of this series followed with a 6.93 million and a decent 2.6 18-49 rating, against the final half-hour of Idol. It needs to stay at or above this.
Thursday Sitcoms
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A new episode did 12.41 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating, down a bit from previous week.
- S#*! My Dad Says (CBS) - The season finale did 9.7 million and a 2.6 18-49 rating, down a tad from previous week again. Will this be enough for a return next season?
- Community (NBC) - A new episode did only 4.11 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week.
- Perfect Couples (NBC) - A new episode did 3.03 million again and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is down a bit from previous week. This is not going to cut it. Surprised it is still scheduled.
- The Office (NBC) - A new episode did 6.41 million and a 3.3 18-49 rating, which is down once again from previous week...after the big return on Jan. 20, it has dropped each week.
- Parks and Recreation (NBC) - A new showing did 4.33 million and a 2.2 18-49 rating...down from previous week.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - At 10pm, a new episode did 4.07 million and a 2.0 18-49 rating, down from previous week.
- Outsourced (NBC) - At 10:30pm, a new episode of this show was lost again at 10:30 doing just 3.2 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, which is a series low again. This night was NBC's worst Thursday performance from 8-11pm ever with new programming.
Friday Sitcoms
- None.
Saturday Sitcoms
- None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox's animated comedies from 7-10pm, with new episodes starting at 7:30pm.
Summing it up. Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Mike & Molly were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as $#*! My Dad Says, The Middle) or just plain old terrible (such as Outsourced, Traffic Light, Perfect Couples).
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Digital Digest: Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series DVD Review; A Look Into the Public Domain
Welcome to this week's edition of Digital Digest! We've got a busy news week this week, plus we've got a review of the Warner Archive DVD set Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch and a blog feature article (yes, we've finally got one of these after many weeks of not having them!) about public domain DVDs. Let's get going!
DIGITAL NEWS
Shout! Factory has been very quiet when it comes to announcing new releases on DVD in recent weeks, but this week, the figurative dam has burst and several releases are flowing through! We'll start with the continuing releases from Shout! Factory. As you may remember, a few weeks ago, we mentioned some discussion regarding special features on a "potential" season eight release of All in the Family. Well, now, that release has gone from "potential" to announced. All in the Family - The Complete Eighth Season is scheduled for May 17 at a $29.93 MSRP.
What may be even more surprising, though, is Shout! Factory's quick turnaround on the series Webster. Webster - Season Two is on the calendar for May 10 at a $29.93 MSRP.
We've also mentioned in the past that Father Knows Best - Season Six would be coming sometime soon, and now we have a date for it! It will, of course, be a Shout! Select title, and is not available for pre-order yet, but it is set to be released on April 19.
Now, that concludes the news on the continuing stuff from Shout! Factory... so let's delve into the new stuff! First up is an announcement on a series that another studio has started, but Shout! is picking up... it is none other than Hazel! Sony released the first season a few years ago, but now Shout! Factory has picked up the rights to it and will be releasing the second season (and hopefully the rest). No details are known on this set just yet.
The other news from Shout! Factory is regarding a current series on ABC Family, the original sitcom Melissa & Joey. The original series, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, comes to DVD on May 24 in Melissa & Joey - Season One, Part One. It comes at a $29.97 MSRP.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (February 22) brings us a trio of releases from Lionsgate, including Weeds - Season Six (DVD and Blu-ray Disc), Nurse Jackie - Season Two (DVD and Blu-ray Disc), and House of Payne - Volume 6. We have a review of Weeds here and a review of Nurse Jackie here. Look for House of Payne in the upcoming days on our main review page.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Many Hanna-Barbera series have come and gone over the years, and thanks to the folks at Warner Archive, we are finally seeing many of these rare and lost series on DVD. In the short-lived series Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, we get to see Wheelie, a stunt racing car, and his girlfriend Rota Ree outsmart the motorcycle gang. It's a quirky and weird premise for a series (like many cartoons of the early '70s), but now you can see all 13 episodes on DVD in Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series.
DVD Review: Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series
by Greg Brobeck
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series (Warner Archive, $24.95) Charge!! All 13 episodes of Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch arrive on DVD from the Warner Archive in a new 3-disc set. Wheelie is a red Volkswagen Beetle who is also a professional racing car. He communicates via honks and words displayed on his windshield (despite the fact that all the other characters in the series can talk). His girlfriend, a yellow convertible, is Rota Ree (a pun on rotary engine and actress Ruta Lee).
Wheelie's nemeses are the Chopper Bunch, a gang of motorcycles including Chopper, Revs, Hi-Riser, and Scrambles. Episode plots usually involve the Chopper Bunch trying to cause some sort of trouble for Wheelie, typically trying to steal Rota Ree away from him. However, Wheelie always wins out and Rota's affections never waiver.
The series ran on NBC from 1974-1975 and the episodes are actually pretty cute. It's nice to see a Hanna-Barbera series from that time period that doesn't involve crime-fighting/mystery-solving teenagers and is instead just good old-fashioned fun. It's a shame the series only lasted 13 episodes, but it faced fierce competition from The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS and ultimately bombed in the ratings as a result. The set is from Warner Archive and is, therefore, a manufacture-on-demand set on DVD-R's. There's a small chance the discs won't play on certain DVD players or drives, but I had no problem with any of the discs.
Each of the thirteen episodes is comprised of three shorts which last around 7 minutes each. Episodes are very cute and have easy to follow and easy to get involved in plots. Some of the funnier episodes: In "Get a Doctor" the Chopper Bunch tries to trick Wheelie into thinking he's sick—even going as far as tampering with his medical test results! In "Our Hero," Wheelie joins the volunteer rescue squad and goes in search of a little girl (a scooter) who is lost... but will Chopper show him up and get there first? In "Wheelie in Paris," Wheelie enters the Grand Prix race in Paris, but so does Chopper and tries to beat him to the finish line. And finally, in "Wheelie's Clean Sweep," Wheelie becomes a street sweeper in order to give Rota's father the day off. Here are all the episodes with the runtimes for each episode on the DVD-R's:
Disc 1:
1. Double Cross Country/The Infiltrator/The Stunt Show (22:05)
2. Get a Doctor/A Day at the Beach/Ghost Riders (22:18)
3. Razzle-Dazzle Paint Job/The Autolympics/The Delivery Service (22:18)
4. Big Bumper/Surprise Party/On the Town (22:16)
Disc 2:
5. Black Belt Fuji/Our Hero/Wheelie Goes Hawaiian (22:16)
6. Inspection/The Old Timer/The Copter Caper (22:08)
7. Dr. Crankenstein/Bulldozer Buddy/Happy Birthday Wheelie (22:13)
8. Wheelie, the Super Star/Down on the Farm/Roadeo (22:18)
Disc 3:
9. Carfucious Says/Mighty Wheelie/Camping With Go-Go (22:30)
10. Lennie Van Limosine/Snow Foolin'/Wheelie in Paris (22:16)
11. Dragster Net/Dragula/Boot Camp (22:11)
12. Dr. Cykll and Mr. Ryde/Johnny Crash/Wheelie, the Smoke Eater (22:15)
13. Friday the Thirteenth/Wings for Wheelie/Wheelie's Clean Sweep (22:08)
The set comes in a black multi-disc Amaray case with one moving page to store the disc. Previous sets from the Warner Archive have come in clear cases with much thinner plastic that is susceptible to breaking. I can gladly say the quality of the actual case has improved with this set. The case features a nice shot of all the characters in the series along with the show logo and "Hanna Barbera Classic Collection." The back has some more shots of the cast and some information on the series. The discs themselves have the show's logo and a picture of Wheelie.
As was not the case with other Hanna-Barbera sets from the Warner Archive, this one features an actual menu screen instead of a generic one. It's a simple one-screen menu with the same picture of the characters as on the DVD case, and options to choose an episode. Unfortunately, you can only choose an episode by number. Episode titles are not provided on the menu or anywhere in the set. There are no audio or subtitle options and there are no closed captions. Chapter marks are better placed in this set as well, with one after the main title, and one after each segment. This makes navigating through the episodes very easy.
The video and audio qualities are mostly good. As this is a MOD set, no remastering work was done. The video is a little on the soft side, but colors are still vibrant and the episodes are very watchable. Audio is clear, if not very dynamic. It is as good as it can be expected. There are no special features, unfortunately...but no one was expecting any, I'm sure.
In general, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was a cute mid-70s Hanna-Barbera show about talking cars and motorcycles. As this show is rarely rerun on Cartoon Network or Boomerang, I had never actually seen the show prior to getting this set, and considering how bland some of H-B's product was at the time, my expectations weren't that high. However, I was impressed with the writing and the overall cute factor of the show. It's too bad it didn't last longer. I can wholeheartedly recommend the show to both families and animation enthusiasts. It's cute!
(4/5 stars)
To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Warner Archive
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch TV.com page
BLOG FEATURE STORY:
A Look Into the Public Domain
by skees53
We've all seen them everywhere; if we go into virtually any store, such as a dollar store, bookstore, various websites, a grocery store, or even big box retailers like Best Buy or Target, we see cheap DVDs (sometimes as cheap as a buck), usually of series that are from the 1960s or earlier, that have been put out by some studio that we've never heard of. Commonly, we'll see series such as The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, The Lucy Show, and many others among these "value selections." So why are these DVDs so cheap? It's because they are in the public domain. In other words, they are episodes of these series that have fallen out of copyright protection.
We rarely review such series here (although we have on occasion). One major problem is that there are an infinite amount of these releases out there released by studios that seemingly pop up every day (and often vanish after the release), and we can't even keep track of what is coming out because public domain DVDs are rarely released with any publicity. Another problem is that so many of these DVDs contain material that has already available from several other studios releasing the same public domain set. And quality is another issue--many of these sets are among the worst looking DVDs that you'll see out there. So why are we doing a story about this? Because sometimes you can find treasures among these DVD sets that you can not find elsewhere.
One great example of these "treasures" would be the classic series from the 1950s that Betty White starred in, Life With Elizabeth and Date With the Angels. No studio has ever released any "official" set of either series, so for these series, our only option is to go with a public domain release. None of the offerings out there are stellar quality, but they do provide us with a rare opportunity to see the series. We've even reviewed two of these sets, which you can see our reviews for here and here. Neither were great sets, but nonetheless offered a rare opportunity to see the series.
Recently, I stumbled upon a DVD called Lucy's Really Lost Moments for just $2 at Big Lots. I picked it up totally on a whim, but I was very pleasantly surprised with what I found on the set. Essentially, it was a single disc collection of material that could be considered "special features" on an I Love Lucy set (although much of it actually is on the officially released DVD sets). But this DVD stood out, because it contained both black and white AND colorized versions of all of the material on it. This truly was one of the best public domain releases that I ever found.
Another great public domain set is one that I've seen time and time again at the bricks and mortar retailer Half Price Books. It is Mill Creek's collection of one hundred (yes, one 1 and two 0's) episodes of the series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. Now, it isn't exactly the prettiest looking set out there, but when I was able to pick up a used copy from the clearance rack for $10 (although the new price is still a very reasonable $20), I had to take advantage of that opportunity. This set is about the only way that you can see most of the episodes on DVD, as many releases of the series are scattered and only contain a handful of episodes.
With all that being said, before buying any public domain DVD, remember the phrase "let the buyer beware." For the most part, none of these are perfect and will have technical flaws, and are almost always missing original music or other elements. But for just a few bucks, it is money that you can often afford to burn.
LOOKING AHEAD
We'll be back next week with more news and reviews, and hopefully we'll have more feature articles in the weeks ahead.We have a review of Jabberjaw, another classic Hanna-Barbera series from the Warner Archive collection in the upcoming weeks, as well as a review of an upcoming release of the classic Canadian comedy series (which has aired on PBS in the United States), The Red Green Show. Until then, keep it digital!
DIGITAL NEWS
Shout! Factory has been very quiet when it comes to announcing new releases on DVD in recent weeks, but this week, the figurative dam has burst and several releases are flowing through! We'll start with the continuing releases from Shout! Factory. As you may remember, a few weeks ago, we mentioned some discussion regarding special features on a "potential" season eight release of All in the Family. Well, now, that release has gone from "potential" to announced. All in the Family - The Complete Eighth Season is scheduled for May 17 at a $29.93 MSRP.
What may be even more surprising, though, is Shout! Factory's quick turnaround on the series Webster. Webster - Season Two is on the calendar for May 10 at a $29.93 MSRP.
We've also mentioned in the past that Father Knows Best - Season Six would be coming sometime soon, and now we have a date for it! It will, of course, be a Shout! Select title, and is not available for pre-order yet, but it is set to be released on April 19.
Now, that concludes the news on the continuing stuff from Shout! Factory... so let's delve into the new stuff! First up is an announcement on a series that another studio has started, but Shout! is picking up... it is none other than Hazel! Sony released the first season a few years ago, but now Shout! Factory has picked up the rights to it and will be releasing the second season (and hopefully the rest). No details are known on this set just yet.
The other news from Shout! Factory is regarding a current series on ABC Family, the original sitcom Melissa & Joey. The original series, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, comes to DVD on May 24 in Melissa & Joey - Season One, Part One. It comes at a $29.97 MSRP.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (February 22) brings us a trio of releases from Lionsgate, including Weeds - Season Six (DVD and Blu-ray Disc), Nurse Jackie - Season Two (DVD and Blu-ray Disc), and House of Payne - Volume 6. We have a review of Weeds here and a review of Nurse Jackie here. Look for House of Payne in the upcoming days on our main review page.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Many Hanna-Barbera series have come and gone over the years, and thanks to the folks at Warner Archive, we are finally seeing many of these rare and lost series on DVD. In the short-lived series Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, we get to see Wheelie, a stunt racing car, and his girlfriend Rota Ree outsmart the motorcycle gang. It's a quirky and weird premise for a series (like many cartoons of the early '70s), but now you can see all 13 episodes on DVD in Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series.
DVD Review: Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series
by Greg Brobeck
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch - The Complete Series (Warner Archive, $24.95) Charge!! All 13 episodes of Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch arrive on DVD from the Warner Archive in a new 3-disc set. Wheelie is a red Volkswagen Beetle who is also a professional racing car. He communicates via honks and words displayed on his windshield (despite the fact that all the other characters in the series can talk). His girlfriend, a yellow convertible, is Rota Ree (a pun on rotary engine and actress Ruta Lee).
Wheelie's nemeses are the Chopper Bunch, a gang of motorcycles including Chopper, Revs, Hi-Riser, and Scrambles. Episode plots usually involve the Chopper Bunch trying to cause some sort of trouble for Wheelie, typically trying to steal Rota Ree away from him. However, Wheelie always wins out and Rota's affections never waiver.
The series ran on NBC from 1974-1975 and the episodes are actually pretty cute. It's nice to see a Hanna-Barbera series from that time period that doesn't involve crime-fighting/mystery-solving teenagers and is instead just good old-fashioned fun. It's a shame the series only lasted 13 episodes, but it faced fierce competition from The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS and ultimately bombed in the ratings as a result. The set is from Warner Archive and is, therefore, a manufacture-on-demand set on DVD-R's. There's a small chance the discs won't play on certain DVD players or drives, but I had no problem with any of the discs.
Each of the thirteen episodes is comprised of three shorts which last around 7 minutes each. Episodes are very cute and have easy to follow and easy to get involved in plots. Some of the funnier episodes: In "Get a Doctor" the Chopper Bunch tries to trick Wheelie into thinking he's sick—even going as far as tampering with his medical test results! In "Our Hero," Wheelie joins the volunteer rescue squad and goes in search of a little girl (a scooter) who is lost... but will Chopper show him up and get there first? In "Wheelie in Paris," Wheelie enters the Grand Prix race in Paris, but so does Chopper and tries to beat him to the finish line. And finally, in "Wheelie's Clean Sweep," Wheelie becomes a street sweeper in order to give Rota's father the day off. Here are all the episodes with the runtimes for each episode on the DVD-R's:
Disc 1:
1. Double Cross Country/The Infiltrator/The Stunt Show (22:05)
2. Get a Doctor/A Day at the Beach/Ghost Riders (22:18)
3. Razzle-Dazzle Paint Job/The Autolympics/The Delivery Service (22:18)
4. Big Bumper/Surprise Party/On the Town (22:16)
Disc 2:
5. Black Belt Fuji/Our Hero/Wheelie Goes Hawaiian (22:16)
6. Inspection/The Old Timer/The Copter Caper (22:08)
7. Dr. Crankenstein/Bulldozer Buddy/Happy Birthday Wheelie (22:13)
8. Wheelie, the Super Star/Down on the Farm/Roadeo (22:18)
Disc 3:
9. Carfucious Says/Mighty Wheelie/Camping With Go-Go (22:30)
10. Lennie Van Limosine/Snow Foolin'/Wheelie in Paris (22:16)
11. Dragster Net/Dragula/Boot Camp (22:11)
12. Dr. Cykll and Mr. Ryde/Johnny Crash/Wheelie, the Smoke Eater (22:15)
13. Friday the Thirteenth/Wings for Wheelie/Wheelie's Clean Sweep (22:08)
The set comes in a black multi-disc Amaray case with one moving page to store the disc. Previous sets from the Warner Archive have come in clear cases with much thinner plastic that is susceptible to breaking. I can gladly say the quality of the actual case has improved with this set. The case features a nice shot of all the characters in the series along with the show logo and "Hanna Barbera Classic Collection." The back has some more shots of the cast and some information on the series. The discs themselves have the show's logo and a picture of Wheelie.
As was not the case with other Hanna-Barbera sets from the Warner Archive, this one features an actual menu screen instead of a generic one. It's a simple one-screen menu with the same picture of the characters as on the DVD case, and options to choose an episode. Unfortunately, you can only choose an episode by number. Episode titles are not provided on the menu or anywhere in the set. There are no audio or subtitle options and there are no closed captions. Chapter marks are better placed in this set as well, with one after the main title, and one after each segment. This makes navigating through the episodes very easy.
The video and audio qualities are mostly good. As this is a MOD set, no remastering work was done. The video is a little on the soft side, but colors are still vibrant and the episodes are very watchable. Audio is clear, if not very dynamic. It is as good as it can be expected. There are no special features, unfortunately...but no one was expecting any, I'm sure.
In general, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was a cute mid-70s Hanna-Barbera show about talking cars and motorcycles. As this show is rarely rerun on Cartoon Network or Boomerang, I had never actually seen the show prior to getting this set, and considering how bland some of H-B's product was at the time, my expectations weren't that high. However, I was impressed with the writing and the overall cute factor of the show. It's too bad it didn't last longer. I can wholeheartedly recommend the show to both families and animation enthusiasts. It's cute!
(4/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Warner Archive
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch TV.com page
BLOG FEATURE STORY:
A Look Into the Public Domain
by skees53
We've all seen them everywhere; if we go into virtually any store, such as a dollar store, bookstore, various websites, a grocery store, or even big box retailers like Best Buy or Target, we see cheap DVDs (sometimes as cheap as a buck), usually of series that are from the 1960s or earlier, that have been put out by some studio that we've never heard of. Commonly, we'll see series such as The Beverly Hillbillies, The Andy Griffith Show, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, The Lucy Show, and many others among these "value selections." So why are these DVDs so cheap? It's because they are in the public domain. In other words, they are episodes of these series that have fallen out of copyright protection.
We rarely review such series here (although we have on occasion). One major problem is that there are an infinite amount of these releases out there released by studios that seemingly pop up every day (and often vanish after the release), and we can't even keep track of what is coming out because public domain DVDs are rarely released with any publicity. Another problem is that so many of these DVDs contain material that has already available from several other studios releasing the same public domain set. And quality is another issue--many of these sets are among the worst looking DVDs that you'll see out there. So why are we doing a story about this? Because sometimes you can find treasures among these DVD sets that you can not find elsewhere.
One great example of these "treasures" would be the classic series from the 1950s that Betty White starred in, Life With Elizabeth and Date With the Angels. No studio has ever released any "official" set of either series, so for these series, our only option is to go with a public domain release. None of the offerings out there are stellar quality, but they do provide us with a rare opportunity to see the series. We've even reviewed two of these sets, which you can see our reviews for here and here. Neither were great sets, but nonetheless offered a rare opportunity to see the series.
Recently, I stumbled upon a DVD called Lucy's Really Lost Moments for just $2 at Big Lots. I picked it up totally on a whim, but I was very pleasantly surprised with what I found on the set. Essentially, it was a single disc collection of material that could be considered "special features" on an I Love Lucy set (although much of it actually is on the officially released DVD sets). But this DVD stood out, because it contained both black and white AND colorized versions of all of the material on it. This truly was one of the best public domain releases that I ever found.
Another great public domain set is one that I've seen time and time again at the bricks and mortar retailer Half Price Books. It is Mill Creek's collection of one hundred (yes, one 1 and two 0's) episodes of the series The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. Now, it isn't exactly the prettiest looking set out there, but when I was able to pick up a used copy from the clearance rack for $10 (although the new price is still a very reasonable $20), I had to take advantage of that opportunity. This set is about the only way that you can see most of the episodes on DVD, as many releases of the series are scattered and only contain a handful of episodes.
With all that being said, before buying any public domain DVD, remember the phrase "let the buyer beware." For the most part, none of these are perfect and will have technical flaws, and are almost always missing original music or other elements. But for just a few bucks, it is money that you can often afford to burn.
LOOKING AHEAD
We'll be back next week with more news and reviews, and hopefully we'll have more feature articles in the weeks ahead.We have a review of Jabberjaw, another classic Hanna-Barbera series from the Warner Archive collection in the upcoming weeks, as well as a review of an upcoming release of the classic Canadian comedy series (which has aired on PBS in the United States), The Red Green Show. Until then, keep it digital!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Martin Coming To MTV2, President's Day 2011 TV Marathons; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 21, 2011)
In a surprise move, MTV2 has acquired the '90s sitcom Martin! Detroit radio personality Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) tries to juggle a job he loves, the girl he loves and whole cast of characters - from his wacky neighbor Shenehneh to "Brotha Man" from the fifth floor - in the hit '90s sitcom, Martin. The sitcom will launch this weekend - on President's Day weekend - with a marathon on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 from 1:30pm-11pm, with the first 19 episodes airing. The series will then regularly air weekdays from 9am-12pm starting Monday, Feb. 21 (President's Day). Martin is the only scripted series airing on MTV2. It seems MTV has gotten into the scripted game in the last year or two, with series like Grounded for Life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and That '70s Show airing recently. Only That '70 Show remains on MTV's line-up, though. It is unclear if Martin will have any special airings on the main MTV network, but enjoy it while you can on MTV2. Let's hope this means more sitcoms will make their way to MTV and MTV2. I guess WKRP in Cincinnati might be too old for MTV or MTV2 to try, though.
Martin of course also airs on cable network TV One every weeknight in the 8pm and 11pm hours. Martin has been airing on TV One since October 2004 and will continue to do so.
We also want to give you a heads up on the 2011 President's Day marathons. President's Day of course is this coming Monday (Feb. 21, 2011). Among the marathons on Monday are an all-day Pretty Little Liars marathon on ABC Family leading into an all-new episode at 8pm. Sitcom wise, there is a Sister Sister marathon on Centric from 8am-10pm. TeenNick has a True Jackson, VP marathon starting at 8am. And CMT will air a marathon of its original comedy Working Class starting at 7:30pm.
Drama wise, there are plenty of choices as usual. In addition to Pretty Little Liars, there is a Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman marathon on GMC starting at 10am. Hallmark Movie Channel will air a series marathon of Murder, She Wrote for 24-hours straight beginning at 6am. Sleuth has an interesting set-up called "Mt. Rushmore Marathon" with four seres airing in six-hour blocks starting at 6am: TJ Hooker, Monk, Walker Texas Ranger and Nash Bridges. ION Television has another Criminal Minds marathon from 3pm-1am. TNT goes into the Supernatural world with a marathon of the drama from 9am-7pm. And USA Network has a marathon of NCIS starting at 6am.
Animation wise, we have a Smurfs marathon on Boomerang from 8am-4pm. There are also plenty of reality options as usual such as a Fear Factor marathon on Chiller, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on CMT starting at noon, and a Jersey Shore marathon (sadly) on MTV2. And finally, for you movie buffs there are also plenty of options. Universal HD had "All the President's Men" movie stunt with movies like Mayday, Time Bomb, and Hostage airing. Spike TV also has a movie marathon beginning at 9am with movies like Swordfish, The Fugitive, and Die Hard. BET will air movies all day as well such as Barbershop. AMC will honor the holiday with Pearl Harbor in primetime. And Lifetime will be airing movies all-day leading into their new original movie premiere of Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial In Italy.
If you're looking for more viewing options, then you should check out these 217 Movies, Marathons and Specials that air during President's Day Weekend from our friends at TV Tango.
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Feb. 21-25, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Martin of course also airs on cable network TV One every weeknight in the 8pm and 11pm hours. Martin has been airing on TV One since October 2004 and will continue to do so.
We also want to give you a heads up on the 2011 President's Day marathons. President's Day of course is this coming Monday (Feb. 21, 2011). Among the marathons on Monday are an all-day Pretty Little Liars marathon on ABC Family leading into an all-new episode at 8pm. Sitcom wise, there is a Sister Sister marathon on Centric from 8am-10pm. TeenNick has a True Jackson, VP marathon starting at 8am. And CMT will air a marathon of its original comedy Working Class starting at 7:30pm.
Drama wise, there are plenty of choices as usual. In addition to Pretty Little Liars, there is a Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman marathon on GMC starting at 10am. Hallmark Movie Channel will air a series marathon of Murder, She Wrote for 24-hours straight beginning at 6am. Sleuth has an interesting set-up called "Mt. Rushmore Marathon" with four seres airing in six-hour blocks starting at 6am: TJ Hooker, Monk, Walker Texas Ranger and Nash Bridges. ION Television has another Criminal Minds marathon from 3pm-1am. TNT goes into the Supernatural world with a marathon of the drama from 9am-7pm. And USA Network has a marathon of NCIS starting at 6am.
Animation wise, we have a Smurfs marathon on Boomerang from 8am-4pm. There are also plenty of reality options as usual such as a Fear Factor marathon on Chiller, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on CMT starting at noon, and a Jersey Shore marathon (sadly) on MTV2. And finally, for you movie buffs there are also plenty of options. Universal HD had "All the President's Men" movie stunt with movies like Mayday, Time Bomb, and Hostage airing. Spike TV also has a movie marathon beginning at 9am with movies like Swordfish, The Fugitive, and Die Hard. BET will air movies all day as well such as Barbershop. AMC will honor the holiday with Pearl Harbor in primetime. And Lifetime will be airing movies all-day leading into their new original movie premiere of Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial In Italy.
If you're looking for more viewing options, then you should check out these 217 Movies, Marathons and Specials that air during President's Day Weekend from our friends at TV Tango.
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Feb. 21-25, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, February 21, 2011
- Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) - Watch Cobie on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Matthew Perry (Mr. Sunshine/Friends) - Watch Matthew on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
- Ed Helms (The Office) - Catch the funnyman on Conan on TBS at 11pm.
- Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Watch Sofia on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Sara Rue (Less than Perfect) - Watch Sara on The Talk as well at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT on CBS.
- David Spade (Rules of Engagement/8 Simple Rules/Just Shoot Me!) - Watch David on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly so check local listings.
- Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) - See Amy on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Matthew Perry (Mr. Sunshine/Friends) - Catch Matthew on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Martin Lawrence (Martin) - Watch Martin on Lopez Tonight on TBS at 12am.
- Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) - Watch Flo on CBS daytime on The Talk at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Oliver Hudson (Rules of Engagement) - Oliver is also on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/Golden Girls/Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Betty will appear on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
- Christina Applegate (Samantha Who/Married...with Children/Jesse) - Watch Christina in her first appearance since the birth of her baby on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Rainn Wilson (The Office) - Watch Rainn on Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm only on CBS.
- Henry Winkler (Happy Days/Out of Practice/Arrested Development) - Watch Henry on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am.
- Joel McHale (Community) - Joel visits Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS at 12:37am.
- Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Amy on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly so check your listings.
- Judy Greer (Mad Love/Miss Guided) - Watch Judy on Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:37am on NBC.
- Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Watch the beauty on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
- Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) - Watch Yvette on The Nate Berkus Show so check your listings.
- Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser) - Catch Neil on the Ellen DeGeneres Show so check your listings.
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, November 21
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "The 6:10 to Lubbock" (CBS, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie and Mandy get fed up staying with her parents and reconsider their living situation after a fight with Mandy’s mom, Audrey.
Ghosts - "Man of Your Dreams" (CBS, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam learns that one of the ghosts’ powers is to enter the dreams of the livings and influence their decisions. Also, two of the ghosts think they’ve learned the secret to moving on.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)
Thursday, November 21
- Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/The Ellen Show/Welcome to New York) - Catch Jim on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Justine Lupe (Nobody Wants This/Cristela), Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) and Timothy Simons (HouseBroken/Veep) - Justine, Jackie and Timothy are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Maura Tierney (NewsRadio/The Van Dyke Show) - Maura is in the studio to discuss the neww season of Law and Order on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Paul Reiser (Mad About You/Red Oaks/Married/My Two Dads) - Paul is telling Drew about his huge return to comedy after thirty years with his standup special, Life, Death and Rice Pudding, and his new movie The Gutter on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- John O'Hurley (Seinfeld/Over the Top/The Mullets) - John will be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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