SitcomsOnline.com News Blog: August 2011

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

TV Land Fall 2011 Schedule, Part II; ION Television and PMC Launch Entertainment News TV

We gave you TV Land's September 2011 schedule a few weeks ago (and then also the change to it) and that was the first part of their fall schedule. The second part will start in October 2011. But first, TV Land has quietly changed their morning line-up in lieu of these changes. Bewitched has returned to the schedule as of Monday. It is airing weekdays at approx. 9:30am and 10am. Kicking off the morning schedule is The Jeffersons at 8am, followed by Good Times at 8:30am, then I Dream of Jeannie at 9am leading into the double Bewitched. Then Sanford & Son airs at approx. 10:30am and 11am, followed by All in the Family at approx. 11:30am (usually with all the commercials, it doesn't start 'til 12 noon!). The rest of the line-up is as it was announced, which includes Gunsmoke expiring and leaving the schedule starting tomorrow, as Bonanza will now air weekdays at approx. 12pm-5pm.
So what about October? Well these morning changes will carry over, except for one show. All in the Family's contract expires on Sept. 30, and it seems they are not renewing it because it isn't on the October schedule, as of now. So the morning schedule effective Monday, Oct. 3 will shift a bit. I Dream of Jeannie gets a second episode, so it will air for a full hour at approx. 9-10am and then Bewitched and Sanford & Son follow a half-hour later than it is now. Replacing All in the Family in its weeknights from 7-8pm hour will be a second hour of Sanford & Son, so that comedy will now air from approx. 6-8pm every weekday. On Saturdays starting Oct. 1, the Three's Company block will extend through 7pm, so it gets the 6pm hour now replacing Sanford & Son and will now air Saturdays from 2-7pm. Sanford & Son will slide over to 7-9pm, replacing All in the Family from 7:30pm-9pm. On Sundays starting Oct. 2, Sanford & Son will take over the 7pm hour for All in the Family, so it will be extended to 6-8pm.
There are no other changes to the line-up from part one of the fall schedule which starts tomorrow. Stunts wise, join TV Land this Halloween for the most spooktacular party around during Roseanne's Wicked Halloween Bash beginning at 11pm on Sunday, Oct. 30 and also at 11pm on Monday, Oct. 31, through 3am both nights. The Conners were master pranksters who never missed a chance to celebrate Halloween in all its gory glory. The night kicks off with the first Roseanne Halloween episode featuring the infamous "Tunnel of Terror" and continues through each Halloween episode ever produced including Roseanne's night at the Lobo Lounge dressed as a lumberjack, Roseanne's visit from the ghosts of Halloween past, present and future, and the arrival of baby Jerry Garcia Conner. The event culminates with the final Roseanne Halloween episode which spoofed Rosemary's Baby and guest starred Marlo Thomas, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (AbFab). Elsewhere, the October movie schedule has The Terminator on Sept. 30, but titles for the rest of October are not in yet. TV Land airs movies every Friday night at 9pm.
View the TV Land October 2011 schedule. Stay with us to see if anything else ends up being changed but it looks like All in the Family will not be renewed, but they can renew and bring it back before this schedule starts...so I guess, stay tuned.

PMC and ION Television announced the launch of Entertainment News Television (ENTV), an original multi-platform breaking news service. ENTV will leverage the exclusive breaking news reporting power of PMC's core entertainment brands, including Nikki Finke's Deadline.com, Bonnie Fuller's HollywoodLife.com, Michael Ausiello's TVLine.com, and Movieline.com, to deliver breaking entertainment and celebrity news on the top 10 ranked network ION Television and the web, simultaneously.
The partnership between PMC and ION Television is the first time that leading online brands and a national television network will release daily content concurrently, merging PMC's trusted entertainment news brands with ION's national television distribution strength and growing audience of nearly 100 million households. With daily hosted video segments, ENTV will bring viewers top breaking entertainment stories first, before any of the traditional entertainment TV outlets -- and
directly from PMC's leading sources and reporters in the entertainment field.
PMC is a leading digital media company founded by Jay Penske in 2004. PMC owns a unique and growing portfolio of lifestyle brands that provide the web's best original content in categories including entertainment, sports, breaking news, media, finance, tech, health, shopping, fashion, beauty, and automotive. Deadline, Hollywoodlife, HollyBaby, Movieline, TVLine, BGR, OnCars, Young Hollywood Awards, Hollywood Style Awards, and Breakthrough of the Year Awards are all part of the expanding PMC portfolio. For more information on PMC and its brands, please visit PMC.com or its digital properties directly:

HollywoodLife.com, Deadline.com, TVLine.com, Movieline.com, BGR.com, HollyBaby.com, OnCars.com, India.com, YHawards.com, StyleAwards.com.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

New York City Local Stations Fall 2011 Schedules; Dancing with the Stars Season 13 Cast

It's that time of year again...fall 2011 schedules for New York City stations! I have for you the full schedules for WABC, WNBC WNYW, WWOR and WPIX. Unfortunately, I couldn't obtain the schedules for WCBS and independent WLNY at press time, but WCBS rarely make changes. We cannot cover every market's local schedules, so we will give you an idea what to expect by giving you the #1 market in the country: New York. And it helps because I live in the market!

We'll start with WNYW's (Fox5) Fall 2011 schedule. New series this fall are sitcoms The Big Bang Theory airing 7:30pm & 11:30pm starting Sept. 19 and 30 Rock will air Sun-Fri 11:30pm & 12am also starting Sept. 19. New to WNYW this fall will be Inside Edition, airing weekdays at 12 noon starting Sept. 12, as it comes from WPIX, and also new to New York will be Better TV, weekdays at 3am starting Sept. 12. Everything else is will not be new, but we do have some time changes. Judge Alex will come from sister station WWOR and air on WNYW weekdays 1-2pm, replacing Swift Justice. And The Simpsons will now be down to two airings (from three), airing weeknights at 7pm and 12:30am. The Office will be moving to sister station WWOR, but it will air still air on WNYW on weekedays: Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 11pm. Judge Jeanine Pirro was canceled, so it will leave the line-up after this week. True Hollywood Story leaves Sundays at 1am, as TMZ Weekend moves from Saturdays at 12:30pm to Sundays at 1am.

Sister network WWOR (My9) will be making more changes than WNYW in Fall 2011, as usual. New series this fall are Excused weekdays at 11pm starting Sept. 12, Jeremy Kyle Show weekdays at 4pm starting Sept. 19, Law & Order: Criminal Intent weekdays at 1pm starting Sept. 19, Law & Order weekends at 10pm starting Sept. 19 and The Big Bang Theory weekend play on Sundays from 8-10pm starting Sept. 25. 'Til Death was set to join WWOR, but it has now been pulled. It was slated for weeknights at 2:30am and Saturdays 12:30am & 1am, but WWOR will air paid in all those slots now. New E/I series are Big World Fridays at 7a starting Sept. 9 and Live, Life & Win Wednesdays at 7a starting Sept. 21. Joining the schedule from sister network WNYW will be The Office airing weeknights at 10:30pm & 11:30pm starting Sept. 19. Punk'd and The Hills will join WWOR and share the 2am half-hour Tues-Fri starting Sept. 12. Among the series leaving are My Wife & Kids, America's Funniest Home Videos, Don't Forget the Lyrics, Law & Order: SVU, Deadliest Catch, Dog Tales, and Mystery Hunters. All of those series are leaving broadcast syndication. Current series moving to new timeslots are That '70s Show and Everybody Hates Chris weekdays at 7:30am & 8am starting Sept. 19; a House of Payne airing weekdays at 8:30am starting Sept. 19, Divorce Court moves to 12 noon starting Sept. 12 as Judge Alex moves to WNYW. Weekdays at 11am will be Swift Justice starting Sept. 12, which comes from WNYW. Family Feud moves from 1pm to 2pm starting Sept. 19. The Wendy Williams Show will move to weekdays at 3pm starting Sept. 19, as Everybody Loves Raymond moves to 5-6pm leading into The King of Queens from 6-7pm and How I Met Your Mother from 7-8pm. In late nights, we mentioned The Office and Excused starting at 10:30pm, but My Name is Earl will air at 1am starting week of Sept. 19, as House of Payne moves to 12am. Meet the Browns follows at 12:30pm, pushing South Park to 1:30am. As for weekends, we mentioned The Big Bang Theory on Sundays in primetime, but you can still expect dramas Bones, House, The Unit and The Closer to join new addition Law & Order. & 9pm starting Sept. 18 and Bones will air on weekends at 10pm. Sitcoms on weekends include House of Payne, Meet the Browns, Chris, Raymond, King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother and That '70s Show.

Moving on to WPIX's (CW11) Fall 2011 schedule. New series this fall are Bill Cunningham Show weekdays at 1pm starting Sept. 19, Anderson weekdays at 4pm starting Sept. 12, POX News at 5P weeknights at 5pm starting Sept. 19, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Mon-Fri nights at 2am starting Sept. 19 and Saturdays 11pm-12am, American Dad! weeknights at 2:30am starting Sept. 19 and Sundays 4-5pm, Last Shot with Judge Gunn weeknights at 3am starting Sept. 26, and Futurama Saturdays 4-5pm and 12-1am starting Sept. 24. New on Saturdays in late night is Live from Daryl's House from 1-2am starting Sept. 24. CW Daytime is will replace Best of Tyra Banks with new series Dr. Drew's Lifechangers, weekdays at 3pm starting Sept. 19. New from WNBC will be America's Court With Judge Ross, weeknights at 3:30am starting Sept. 12. Among the series leaving are Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, George Lopez, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Scrubs, The Odd Couple, Judge Karen, Tyra, Inside Edition, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, Smash Cuts, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe and The Honeymooners. Current series moving to new times are Judge Mathis to weekdays at 2pm, and Friends moves to 12-1am, Saturdays 9-10pm & Sundays 8-9pm.

Elsewhere, WABC (ABC7), which is #1 in NY and the most watched station in the nation, will add Scrubs to weeknights at 1am, followed by a second run of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire at 1:30am replacing Oprah starting Sept. 12. Scrubs comes from WPIX. It is so nice to see a sitcom on WABC! The Chew of course takes over for All My Children on ABC Daytime at 1pm starting Sept. 26, while ABC Kids on Saturday mornings is leaving and will be replaced by Litton Weekend Adventure series from 10am-1pm starting Sept. 2. Brothers & Sisters will remain Saturdays on late nights and Grey's Anatomy remains on WABC Sunday nights at 11:35am & 12:35am. For WCBS (CBS2), we do not have any updates, so we apologize for that. Nothing is likely changing, though.
And WNBC (NBC4) will make the most drastic changes of the big three stations, with new court series We the People With Gloria Allred airing at 12:30pm starting Sept. 5. Among schedule changes, The Nate Berkus Show will now air at 2pm leading into lifestyle series New York Live at 3pm, which is being moved here due to the return of news at 5pm on WNBC, which started yesterday. That's all we know for WNBC, because we do not have any weekend updates. As we mentioned, we don't have any details yet on independent WLNY-55.
View the FULL Fall 20011 schedules for WABC, WNYW, WWOR, and WPIX in New York City! And view the full list of new series coming to local syndication. Stay tuned for updates, if any. From New York, goodnight!

A dynamic lineup of stars – including a U.S. veteran, an NBA champion, a film and TV star, a TV host and journalist, a Grammy-nominated singer, a supermodel, a reality TV star, a showbiz legacy and activist, and a World Cup star -- will take the stage for the new season of Dancing with the Stars, beginning Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 from 8-10pm ET/PT on ABC.
All 12 couples will dance for the first time on live national television on Monfday, Sept. 19, either performing the Cha Cha Cha or The Viennese Waltz. Airing on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 8:00 p.m., ET., a live, one-hour special, Dancing with the Stars: Meet the Cast, will feature the most exciting moments from Monday night's season premiere performances, with commentary from the judges and never-before-seen footage from the teams' first weeks of training. Then, on the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars the Results Show, at 9:00pm, ET, the couple with the lowest combined judges' scores and public votes for their performance will be sent home in the season's first elimination.
And the new cast is... Ricki Lake, Ron Artest, Kristin Cavallari, Chynna Phillips, David Arquette, Carson Kressley, Nancy Grace, J.R. Martinez, Hope Solo, Rob Kardashian, Elisabetta Canalis, and Chaz Bono. Read more about them.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Nick at Nite Fall 2011 Schedule Has Friends; TBS Orders Sitcom Pilot From Breckin Meyer

Today we will reveal Nick at Nite's Fall 2011 schedule. They are adding Friends to the line-up, as we have told you many times already, but now we have the timeslots and the entire fall schedule! Friends joins the Nick at Nite line-up beginning next week with week-long marathon. The 236-episode catalogue kicks off with a 10-hour marathon each weeknight, beginning Monday (Sept. 5), through Sunday (Sept. 11), from 8pm to 6am (all times ET/PT), except on Friday and Saturday it will be from 10pm-6am. The series will regularly air weeknights from 10-11pm and encore from 1-2am with two back-to-back episodes. On weekends, the series will air in 10pm-12am ET/PT block. To get ready for the Friends marathon, Nick at Nite will air a four-night That '70s Show marathon from Wednesday, Sept. 1 to Sunday, Sept. 4 basically from 8pm-5am.
Nick at Nite's "Best of Friends" marathon will highlight a different cast member each night of the week with themed episodes centering on either Rachel, Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Chandler or Monica. Throughout the week, Facebook friends of Friends will be able to vote for their favorite episodes on the official Facebook TV show page, which will culminate with their top ten picks airing on Sunday, Sept. 11 beginning at 8pm. If you recall, Warner Bros. Domestic Cable sold Friends to Nick at Nite in a shared window with TBS that begins this fall, a deal that will harvest $200 million in license fees and advertising. It was reported that Nick at Nite will pay about $500,000 an episode for the right to carry the series post-6 p.m. (meaning 6pm-6am rights) for a six-year term lasting until fall 2017. TBS, which renewed the series, will have the 6am-6pm rights this fall, however for 2011-12 only it can air the series in the 6pm hour.
Moving on to the actual Nick at Nite Fall 2011 schedule, the original game show Family Brainsurge will air Mon-Thurs at 8pm, followed by My Wife & Kids at 8:30pm, which remains in its timeslot. The 9pm hour will still feature back-to-back episodes of the Nick at Nite hit George Lopez every weekday. Friends will follow every night at 10-11pm, pushing That '70s Show to the weeknights at 11pm hour. The 12am hour will feature an encore of George Lopez, followed by an encore of Friends at 1am. Back-to-back Everybody Hates Chris will air in the 2am hour, followed by an encore of That '70s Show at 3am. The 4am hour will feature a full hour of My Wife & Kids, followed by a half-hour of Family Matters around 5:30am. And finally, weekdays from 6-7am will be The Nanny now. Now, Nick at Nite will still be off-the-clock, so all times are approximate after 11:30pm.
On weekends, there are some variations. Friends will air a block from 10pm-12am on both nights, followed by That '70s Show at midnight and My Wife & Kids at 1am. Family Matters will only air Mon-Sat at 5:30am now, while Home Improvement is totally gone and The Nanny is now weekdays 6-7am and Sunday nights 2-3am. And as of now, there is no sign of a return for Married...with Children to Nick at Nite, which was removed in early August.
View the FULL Nick at Nite Fall 2011 schedule. Of course, stay with us for any further updates.

Moving on, TBS has ordered a sitcom pilot titled Men at Work from Sony Pictures Television. The pilot will be a multi-camera sitcom from executive producers Jamie Tarses and Breckin Meyer. If it gets picked-up to series, the series will be the third non-Tyler Perry sitcom for TBS after My Boys and The Bill Engvall Show, both of which are not airing anymore. Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns and House of Payne and Ice Cube's Are We There Yet are not original TBS series, but they air new episodes through syndication. Casting for the Men at Work pilot has not been announced yet.
In the pilot, when Milo is thrust into single life after discovering his girlfriend has been cheating, he finds comfort in three best friends who help reinvent his manhood with the promise of sex, alcohol and some serious bromance. This half-hour series is written and executive-produced by Breckin Meyer (TNT's Franklin & Bash).
Stay with us for further updates and if this series will get picked-up for a series order.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Summer Week 13 Sitcom Ratings; New Episodes of Sitcoms On Basic Cable

It's now the dog days of summer, but not to fret we will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still continue to have our regular how the sitcoms did all for the rest of this summer! Here are our summer ratings:

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Summer Week 12, week of Aug. 15-21)

American Dad! (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did 1.71 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, which was down a bit from the previous week. The regular 9:30pm was preempted by the new summer series In the Flow...which isn't doing much in the ratings.
Bob's Burgers (Fox) - A repeat did just 2.06 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, up some actually from previous week.
The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 2.93 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, which was off some from previous week.
The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A repeat did 2.63 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, just about holding all of its lead-in's ratings.
Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat did 3.69 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, as the latter is among the leaders for repeats of comedies in the summer.

Summer Week 13 (August 22-28)

Monday Sitcoms

How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 2 airings - 3.57 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat at 8pm was down a tad from the previous week. A second repeat followed and delivered 3.88 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, also down some from previous week.
Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 5.45 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9pm is on par week-to-week, but this show usually does better in the summer.
Mike & Molly (CBS) - 5.34 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9:30pm was again on par really with the previous week.

Tuesday Sitcoms

Raising Hope (Fox) - A repeat at 9:30pm only mustered 1.98 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, in its first airing in weeks.

Wednesday Sitcoms

The Middle (ABC) - A repeat at 8pm did 4.23 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week.
Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 4.81 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, up some from the previous week and a good summer showing, tied for the best for the week in sitcoms. A repeat at 8:30pm also probably helped doing 4.53 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, is again up some from the previous week.
Happy Endings (ABC) - A NEW episode at 9:30pm did 2.98 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, up some from the repeat the previous week. Not bad for summer and no promotion, but wish it was higher. ABC Family will air a marathon on Friday, Sept. 16 from 5-11pm, so if you missed any watch then before the new season starts on Sept. 28!

Thursday Sitcoms

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat did 7.37 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, which was up some from the previous week and tied for best among sitcoms this week with Modern Family.
Rules of Engagement (CBS) - A repeat of this comedy followed at 8:30pm with 5.54 million and 1.6 18-49 rating, which was down a lick from the previous week, despite the lead-in going up.
Community (NBC) - A repeat only did 2.03 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, on par with the previous week.
Parks & Recreation (NBC) - A repeat in its 8:30pm slot did only 1.7 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, but actually up a tenth from previous week.
The Office (NBC) - A repeat at 9pm did 2.5 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, best of the low rated block again and also on par with the previous week.
30 Rock (NBC) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 2.09 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, down some from previous week.

Friday Sitcoms

Friends with Benefits (NBC) 2 episodes - Final ratings will tell us how it actually did since NFL preempted some NBC markets, as last week the series only did a 0.5 18-49 rating again. This week, with those NFL numbers in there, it did a prelim 0.7 and 0.6 18-49 rating, but that will drop once finals are in...so don't really look at that.

Saturday Sitcoms

American Dad! (Fox) - numbers not in at press time.
The Cleveland Show (Fox) - numbers not in at press time.

Tonight you can catch encores of Fox's animated comedies from 7-9:30pm tonight as the new sketch comedy show airs at 9:30pm.

Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, Modern Family repeats, and week 12's Family Guy were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of Mike & Molly, Two and a Half Men) or just plain old terrible (such as Raising Hope, and the very low rated NBC Thursday repeats especially, Community).

Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable all this summer, with the season finale of Hot in Cleveland on Wednesday at 10pm. Also catch Comedy Wednesday on ABC Family this Wednesday with an all-new one-hour Melissa & Joey from 8-9pm, as the series will be all-new for one-hour until its season finale on Sept. 14! Also of course House of Payne and Meet the Browns are on TBS Wednesdays. New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer repeat blues! Watch them! And on premium cable, it is of course Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weeds, and Entourage among the entrees.

[Source: Nielsen NTI Ratings. View Travis Yanan's Ratings Website].

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Digital Digest: No Ordinary Family - The Complete First Season DVD Review; Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season DVD Review

Welcome back once again to Digital Digest, your source for all things digital as it relates to sitcoms and other TV series! Hurricane Irene may be coming through on the east coast, so if you need to take shelter (and you have electricity, of course), why not take this time to enjoy some sitcoms through DVDs or websites such as Hulu? (But please, don't take this to mean that you should get so involved in your viewing habits in lieu of staying safe; our lawyers would have made us say that if we had an extensive legal team.) In any event, we are here with more news (another slow week, though!) and we're getting into our steady storm of DVD releases, with reviews of No Ordinary Family - The Complete First Season and Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season this week. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

The Monkees is coming to DVD--again--as we have reported several times. Both The Monkees - Season One and The Monkees - Season Two will once again arrive on DVD on September 26. But how will these sets be different from the previously released Rhino sets? Well, according to TVShowsOnDVD.com, they won't be any different, except for new packaging. The article goes into a bit of depth about a few issues that those sets had (we have not previously reviewed the series as it was released before we even began to truly acknowledge TV-on-DVD). As a side note, the MSRP has been adjusted on the set, and is almost half of what it was originally reported to be. The correct MSRP on each of these sets is $39.98, which is much more affordable than the near $70 MSRP that was originally reported.

Fans of the Nicktoon Rocko's Modern Life were happy when Rocko's Modern Life - Season One was released a few months ago, and although the set did have a few flaws, it finally brought the series to pressed DVD. But like one of those cheesy products that Rocko himself may have bought from TV, "wait, there's more!" Apparently, Shout! Factory is getting in gear to release the second season, and creator Joe Murray is going to be involved this time. At the moment, his role is limited to working on the packaging (which means we should actually see some creative new "modern" art on the package), but he is trying to get some more creative features on the set. We'll let you know when we know more.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 30) brings several dramas to DVD, including Brothers & Sister - The Fifth and Final Season, The Event - The Complete Series, and Off the Map - The Complete Series. We should have reviews of Brothers & Sisters and Off the Map soon in Digital Digest, but today we have Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season

BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

The Powells are about to go from ordinary to extraordinary! See how that comes about when you watch the very fun series No Ordinary Family! The family obtains powers that are unheard of for humans, but many questions still need to be answered. Michael Chiklis stars! Here is our review of No Ordinary Family - The Complete First Season.

DVD Review: No Ordinary Family - The Complete First Season
by Pavan

No Ordinary Family - The Complete First Season (Lionsgate, $29.98) brings all 20 extraordinary episodes from very fun series to DVD on Sept. 6! The Powell family are about to go from ordinary to extraordinary. After 16 years of marriage, Jim (Michael Chiklis) feels disconnected from his workaholic wife, Stephanie (Julie Benz), and two teenage children, Daphne (Kay Panabaker) and JJ (Jimmy Bennett. To encourage family bonding time, Jim decides the family will join Stephanie on her business trip to South America. When their plane crashes into the Amazon River, they barely enjoy a moment to celebrate their survival before returning to the grind of everyday life. But they will soon realize that their lives have been forever changed. Each member of the family starts to show signs of new, unique and distinct super powers. Will their newfound abilities finally bring them together or push them further apart? Autumn Reeser, Romany Malco and Stephen Collins also star in this star-studded series!

All 20 episodes are very fun starting with the pilot. The series goes to an amazing level around episode 7 and on. This was one of my favorite series of this past season. The ratings started strong and were decent for the rest of the fall but it could have been better if it weren't airing opposite Glee and NCIS. The ratings didn't pick-up in the winter and spring and ABC decided not to pick up the series for a second season, unfortunately. Even though the DVD says The Complete First Season, it really is The Complete Series. I'm so sad that it won't get to continue, but we have 20 "no ordinary" episodes here! Among the memorable episodes are of course the "Pilot," where it all begins! "No Ordinary Visitors," when a series of home invasions breaks out at the same time as Stephanie's parents (guest stars Cybill Shepherd and Bruce McGill) unexpectedly visit. In "No Ordinary Accident," Jim's enemy, a group of carjackers, crash into Mr. Litchfield, JJ's math teacher, and pierces Litchfield's aorta, prompting Stephanie and JJ to operate on him. In the fall finale, "No Ordinary Sidekick," George mistakenly receives credit for stopping a robbery that Jim actually stopped, while Katie's new boyfriend Will isn't who he says he is. In "No Ordinary Friends," the family deals with Daphne's sudden memory loss but are able to retrieve it using her powers to see other people's minds through touch and the family befriends the Cottens after Jim saves Dave Cotten (guest star Rick Schroder) from an accident but soon realizes that not all is as it seems with the Cotten family when the trail of mysterious art-thefts lead back to them.
In "No Ordinary Powell," Dr. King uses Victoria to infiltrate the Powell family and find out the reasons behind the permanence of their abilities but her plans are soon thwarted by Jim when he discovers her real identity and purpose, while Stephanie finds out that Dr. King is the one who assigned Victoria to kill her husband and decides to do some infiltration of her by playing a larger role in his human experiments. In "No Ordinary Love," Katie tries to distract herself to take her mind off Joshua, while Jim and Stephanie's marriage is threatened when George's new lady friend, Sophie, uses both Jim and George to destroy Global Tech using the power to make them fall in love with her. In "No Ordinary Future," after witnessing the downfall of her family upon running into space/time slit that took her into the future, Stephanie must do everything she can to alter a chain of events in the present that will expose the Powell's superpowers to the world. On the thrilling season finale, "No Ordinary Beginning," the Powells must join together to save JJ, who's been kidnapped by Mrs. X and forced to solve an enigma that could lead to the permanence of the trillsettum's effects.

Here are the episodes with the runtimes on this disc:

Disc 1:
1. No Ordinary Pilot (42:59)
2. No Ordinary Marriage (42:49)
3. No Ordinary Ring (43:00)
4. No Ordinary Vigilante (43:01)
5. No Ordinary Quake (42:59)

Disc 2:
6. No Ordinary Visitors (42:59)
7. No Ordinary Mobster (42:56)
8. No Ordinary Accident (42:54)
9. No Ordinary Anniversary (42:59)
10. No Ordinary Sidekick (42:57)

Disc 3:
11. No Ordinary Friends (43:02)
12. No Ordinary Brother (43:01)
13. No Ordinary Detention (43:01)
14. No Ordinary Double Standard (43:02)
15. No Ordinary Powell (43:02)

Disc 4:
16. No Ordinary Proposal (43:02)
17. No Ordinary Love (42:59)
18. No Ordinary Animal (43:00)
19. No Ordinary Future (42:51)
20. No Ordinary Beginning (42:59)

The packaging is a simple keepcase. The cover art has the Powell family front and center with a ray of blue light surrounding them. The color scheme is blue. The show logo is in the middle, with "The Complete First Season" mention on the top and the "New Powers. Instructions Not Included" phrase below the logo. The back of the case has info on the series and set, a nice shot of the family running. We also have four small episodic photos, below the main photo. When we open the case, we have two plastic holders holding the discs. The plastic holders are like pages in a book and you can flip them. The first holder has disc one in the front and disc two in the back. The second holder is similar and has disc three in the front and disc four in the back. The disc art has the same artwork as the cover art, but the family is separated. Jim is on disc one. Stephanie is on disc two. Daphne is on disc three. And JJ is on disc four. The same type of background from the cover art are on the disc background as well. Finally, there is no artwork or anything on the panels itself, it is just a plain black background.

The menu screen is very cool. We start off with the show logo and then Jim Powell comes and pushes the logo away and we see the rest of the family. Each disc features the character on the disc art. So after this sequence, we get video clips of Jim Powell on the main menu on disc one. Disc two has Stephanie, while disc three has Daphne and disc four has JJ. It's very nicely done! The closing theme plays in the background as well and the background is similar to the cover art in blue. Submenus have background music from the series playing in the background. The main menu options are: Play All, Episode Selection, and Bonus Features. The latter is only on disc four, though. Episode Selection takes us to a submenu with episode # and title. It is simple and it works with cool artwork.

The video is excellent. It's not Blu-ray quality, but it is a nice widescreen format. And if your DVD player upconverts to HD, it almost looks like it is in real HD like you would see on ABC HD. The audio is a very good English 5.1 Digital Dolby. There is nothing to complain about and everything is how it is supposed to be for a new series like this. The episodes are around 43 minutes, so everything is unedited like how we saw on ABC. And we get 6 chapter stops per episode, so it is easier to go through an episode, if you are looking for anything in particular.

As far as bonus material, we have two items here! It's too bad a new series like this only get two items, but it is better than nothing at all! The bonus features are only on disc four. First up, we have "No Ordinary Bloopers" (3:18). This of course shows all the flubs and mistakes the cast make, but of course it is all in fun! You can tell this cast gelled with each other. And the final extra is "Deleted Scenes" (8:09). We get 9 deleted scenes from various episodes and these are nice to see. I just wish we knew what episodes they belong to. Other than that, I love the deleted scenes! I wish we had some interviews or audio commentaries as well, as I'm sure there is something already out there for this in terms of interviews, so they didn't even have to produce anything.

I urge fans to buy this set. And if you didn't watch the show on TV, now is your chance because it is really fun. If you missed any episodes, now is your chance to catch-up! There are 20 episodes, so you could finish this set in a day or two. I wish we had more bonus features, but other than that, this DVD is well-done. Lionsgate and ABC Studios did a good job with it and the show of course is excellent, too. It's pure family fun and I wish we had a chance to experience more this coming season. So get this DVD and watch the Powells with their new powers! You don't have to have new powers to watch, so buy today!

(4.5/5 stars)

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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

Crime dramas have been a major part of television history. One of ABC's latest attempts at this genre, Detroit 1-8-7 was ABC's most recent attempt at this genre. Originally slated to be a crime "mockumentary," the series quickly evolved into a standard crime drama following detectives trying to solve the most heinous crimes in the city of Detroit. Though canceled after one season by ABC, the series has garnered enough interest that it may potentially be revived on cable in the near future. Here is our review of Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season.

DVD Review: Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season
by Pavan

Detroit 1-8-7 - The Complete First Season (Lionsgate, $29.98) brings all 18 gritty first season episodes from gutsy series to DVD this Tuesday (Aug. 30)! What does it take to be a detective in one of America's toughest cities? Follow one homicide unit as Detroit's finest reveal the crisis and revelation, heartbreak and heroism that characterize these inner city cops in Season 1 of Detroit 1-8-7. Headed by Lieutenant Maureen Mason (Aisha Hinds), a strong-willed single mom struggling to balance home and work, the team is made up of quite the firing squad. There's the damaged but driven Detective Louis Fitch (series star Michael Imperioli) along with his new partner, Detective Damon Washington (Jon Michael Hill). Detective Ariana Sanchez (Natalie Martinez) is the sexy and beautiful rising star in the department who teams up with narcotics undercover cop John Stone (D.J. Cotrona). Last but not least, Sergeant Jesse Longford (James McDaniel) is the 30-year veteran who forms an amusing match of experience and enthusiasm with his partner, Detective Vikram Mahajan (Shaun Majumder), a fully Americanized son of Indian immigrants. Erin Cummings also appears as Dr. Abbey Ward, the Wayne County Medical Examiner.

All 18 episodes are very gritty starting with the pilot. The series from start to the end of the season never lets up and you are invested in these detectives. This was also one of my favorite series of this past season. The ratings were decent in the fall following Dancing with the Stars, but struggled in the winter without it. Thus, ABC decided not to pick up the series for a second season, unfortunately. The DVD says The Complete First Season and not The Complete Series because the producers are pitching the series to cable networks so it can continue. It's a long shot, but I hope it does happen! Among the memorable episodes are of course the "Pilot," where it all begins as Detective Louis Fitch helps his new partner Detective Washington fit in to the homicide division while investigating a double homicide at a pharmacy, while Sergeant Longford and Detective Mahajan investigate the murder of a lawyer found in a train yard. When forensics connect the cases they realize they have a serial killer seeking revenge on those whom he believes stole his family from him and Detective John Stone is re-assigned from narcotics to homicide. In "Nobody's Home/Unknown Soldier," Detectives Fitch and Washington investigate who murdered an elderly woman in her home, even though the victim was not allowed to live in the house then connecting a big-time real estate developer, possibly behind the murder, while Sanchez and Stone try to find who murdered a teenage boy and victimized his father by luring them with a vintage car ad. In "Royal Bubbles/Needle Drop," Detectives Fitch, Washington, Stone, and Sanchez investigate the murder of a car-wash owner and they discover that the owner of the carwash was laundering money for a local drug dealer and that his wife has the bank statements and receipts to prove it, while Longford and Mahajan investigate the slaying of a rising hip-hop star who is found on the street in front of a record store. In "Shelter," two bodies are found in an abandoned shelter and Longford's father, to everyone's surprise is able to help with this investigation, while Fitch, Washington, Stone and Sanchez investigate the murder of a Latina. In "Key to the City," Sgt. Longford's surprise retirement party is overshadowed by news of the murder of an assistant prosecutor in the parking lot of the courthouse.
In one of the best episodes, "Road to Nowhere," Detective Fitch is the prime suspect in the murder of Henry Malloy, a prominent philanthropist who had just been given the key to the city, while Lt. Mason is not at all pleased when Jess Harkins, an FBI agent from Chicago, is brought in to lead the investigation just because Mr. Malloy was the subject of a federal investigation. In "Stone Cold," Detective Stone again crosses paths with Pup Clemmons, a drug dealer he knew from his days working undercover narcotics, when he investigates the murder of a college girl, as the episode ends in a shocker. In "Motor City Blues," after a tragedy the detectives deal with it in their own ways, as Detective Fitch attempts to once again be a father to his twelve year old son Bobby (guest star Vadim Imperioli) when his ex-wife brings him from New York for a visit. In the season finale, "Blackout," Sgt. Longford reconsiders his retirement but gets told that it is not that simple to undo and Detective Fitch's time with his son Bobby (Vadim Imperioli) is interrupted by the arrival of 'Big Al' Stram (Tommy Flanagan) from New York.

Here are the episodes with the runtimes on this disc:

Disc 1:
1. Pilot (41:26)
2. Local Hero/Overboard (42:59)
3. Nobody's Home/Unknown Soldier (42:59)
4. Royal Bubbles/Needle Drop (43:02)
5. Murder in Greektown/High School Confidential (42:54)

Disc 2:
6. Lost Child/Murder 101 (43:03)
7. Broken Engagement/Trashman (43:00)
8. Dejavu/All In (42:59)
9. Home Invasion/Drive-By (42:46)
10. Shelter (43:00)

Disc 3:
11. Ice Man/Malibu (43:02)
12. Key To The City (42:58)
13. Road To Nowhere (42:59)
14. Beaten/Cover Letter (43:00)

Disc 4:
15. Legacy/Drag City (43:02)
16. Stone Cold (42:40)
17. Motor City Blues (43:02)
18. Blackout (43:02)

The packaging is simple keepcase. The cover art has Fitch in the center with the other cast members surrounding him in the background. We have a nice shot of the Detroit skyline. The color scheme is black. The show logo is below Fitch, with "The Complete First Season" mention below that. The back of the case has info on the series and set, with a nice big episodic image featuring Fitch and Mahajan on the top. We also have four smaller episodic photos, below the main photo. When we open the case, we have two plastic holders holding the discs. The plastic holders are like pages in a book and you can flip them. The first holder has disc one in the front and disc two in the back. The second holder is similar and has disc three in the front and disc four in the back. The disc art has the same artwork as the cover art, but the cast is separated. Fitch is on disc one. Mahajan and Lt. Mason are on disc two. Stone and Washington are on disc three. And Sgt. Jesse Longford and Sanchez are on disc four. The same type of background from the cover art are on the disc background's as well with the Detroit skyline. Finally, there is no artwork or anything on the panels itself, it is just a plain black background.

The menu screen is cool, but not as good as the No Ordinary Family set, which we reviewed above. We have the same artwork from the cover art as the image on the main menu. The closing theme plays in the background and the background is similar to the cover art in black. The main menu options are: Play All and Episode Selection. Episode Selection takes us to a submenu with episode # and title. It is simple and it works with cool artwork. Nothing flashy on this set, though.

The video is excellent. Like the No Ordinary Family set, it's not Blu-ray quality, but it is a nice widescreen format. And if your DVD player upconverts to HD, it almost looks like it is in real HD like you would see on ABC HD. The audio is a very good English 5.1 Digital Dolby. There is nothing to complain about and everything is how it is supposed to be for a new series like this. The episodes are around 43 minutes, so everything is unedited like how we saw on ABC. And we get 6 or 7 chapter stops per episode, so it is easier to go through an episode, if you are looking for anything in particular.

As far as bonus material, we have none here. It's a shame because the No Ordinary Family set had some. Oh well, I'll take no bonus materials if we get the series back in production for a second season! Someone pick the show up so we can see more Fitch and the gang!

I urge fans to buy this set. And if you didn't watch the show on TV, now is your chance because it is really gritty and the best true cop series since NYPD Blue. It's a nice throwback to cop series of the past but with a new angle, if that makes sense. If you missed any episodes, now is your chance to catch-up! There are 18 episodes, so you could finish this set in a day or two. I wish we had some bonus features, but other than that, this DVD is well-done and nothing too flashy, but it works. Lionsgate and ABC Studios did a good job with it and the show of course is excellent, too. It's gutsy and represents Detroit well. I wish we had a chance to experience more this coming season. So get this DVD and watch Fitch do his job, even though it may be a bit strange or peculiar...he does it well! And it's always nice to look at Det. Sanchez, too! Get in on the gusty allure of Detroit 1-8-7!

(4/5 stars)

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CLICK OF THE WEEK

Former Child Star Central (www.fcscentral.com) - The first thing that one may notice about this page is that it is a top-level domain, but it is hosted on a Tripod server. It is a very low-frills website as well. But this website is your go-to place to find out all about your favorite child stars from television (as well as other media). Here, you can find details about former child stars, where they are now, reported sightings of former child stars (like they're aliens!), essays about former child stars, and current news about former child stars. In short, it is like a who's who about all of the child stars.

Though the site no longer maintains active database updates (and hasn't for years, though all of what was posted is still there) on sightings and minor details, it is still actively posting new essays and news about former child stars. You can head to this site and find out the latest on Gary Coleman, for instance--that's right, there is more to be said about him and a legal battle involving him over a year after his death. Wonder what happened to Brandon Call of Step by Step? He may just be working at your local auto repair shop if you live in California. The only unfortunate downfall of the site is that, as mentioned, active sightings are no longer being reported, but it still remains a good source to find information on our former child stars.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Breaking In Uncanceled, Returns in Spring 2012 on Fox; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 29, 2011)

We got your back! Fox has renewed the comedy series Breaking In for a 13-episode second season to return to the network's schedule in Spring 2012. The series was canceled in May but now Fox has changed their mind and will bring it back. The sitcom will likely air on Tuesdays in the spring, when Glee goes on a 6 week hiatus and Fox goes to four sitcoms on Tuesday nights. But this is still a long way away, so right now the focus is that the show is returning! The sitcom aired seven episodes this past spring and welcomed guest stars such as Alyssa Milano and Ted McGinley.
Created by Adam F. Goldberg and Seth Gordon, Breaking In is a workplace comedy about a high-tech security firm that takes extreme - and often questionable - measures to sell their protection services. The series centers on a team of uniquely skilled oddball geniuses hand-picked to work for Oz, a manipulative mastermind played by Christian Slater. The series also stars Bret Harrison, Alphonso McAuley and Odette Annable (pictured above).

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, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of August 29 - September 2, 2011, 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, August 29, 2011

Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Aziz on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) - Catch Mr. Shatner on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) - Joseph is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Jennifer visits LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) - Catch Alec on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move) - Jason is a guest on a repeat of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11pm.
Atticus Shaffer (The Middle) - The young and talented Atticus appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Bryan chats with the ladies on a repeat of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory/Roseanne) - Tune in to see Johnny on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Kevin James (The King of Queens) - Kevin visits LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
Allison Janney (Mr. Sunshine) - Allison chats on The Gayle King Show at 10am on OWN.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Catch Aubrey on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
Allison Janney (Mr. Sunshine) - Allison stops by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jay Mohr (Gary Unmarried/Action) - Jay is a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/The Golden Girls/The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Tune in to see Betty on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
Jim Gaffigan (My Boys/Welcome to New York) - Jim visits Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
Josh Krasinski (The Office) - Watch Josh on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move) - Watch Jason on a repeat of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Catch Jamie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Kathy drops by Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
Suzanne Somers (Three's Company/Step by Step/She's the Sheriff) - Suzanne guest co-hosts a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Cheers) - Kelsey stops by The Wendy Williams Show at 2am on BET or on your local stations.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Joel McHale (Community) - Watch Joel on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved by the Bell) - Catch Mark-Paul on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Jami Gertz (Still Standing/Square Pegs) - Jami is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
David Alan Grier (Life with Bonnie/DAG) - David appears on The Wendy Williams Show at 2am on BET or on your local stations.

Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

TeenNick Fall 2011 Schedule; Bounce TV Launches With The Wiz

TeenNick will not have many changes it its fall line-up, except an hour of "The '90s Are All That" block will change. TeenNick stokes fan demand for more '90s shows with the addition of two new series to the network's buzzworthy "The '90s Are All That" two-hour programming block. The new lineup of iconic Nickelodeon '90s shows kicks off Monday, Sept. 5, with back-to back episodes of the popular animated series Rocko's Modern Life and Hey Arnold! at 12 a.m. and 1 a.m., respectively (all times ET). Added by viewers' request, Rocko and Hey Arnold! will regularly join All That and Kenan & Kel starting Tuesday, Sept. 6, in the block's 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. timeslots, replacing Clarissa Explains It All and Doug, which will be the off the schedule for now. The block also features deeply integrated, fan-driven social media components on Facebook and at www.90sAreAllThat.com. "The '90s Are All That" airs Monday-Friday 12-2 a.m. with replays 2-4 a.m. on TeenNick.
Elsewhere on TeenNick Fall 2011, catch up on all of the excitement of Degrassi: Now or Never before they are gone for good, on Labor Day from 9am-12am leading into the new 90's block premieres! And immerse yourself in House of Anubis, the juicy soap opera filled with mystery and dark secrets weekdays at 5pm starting September 26 on TeenNick! The rest of the regular schedule will remain as it is now, with sitcoms such as Malcolm in the Middle and What I Like About You starting at 10pm leading into the '90s block.

Bounce TV, the country's first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African-Americans, will launch with a special presentation of The Wiz on Monday, September 26 at 12 Noon (ET). Toyota USA will be the signature sponsor of the network's inaugural on-air schedule. After kicking off the network, the popular 1978 musical starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor will be followed by Sidney Poitier headlining the classic drama A Raisin in the Sun at 3:00 p.m. Bounce TV's first week of prime time television then begins later that evening with part one of a two night double feature of one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of our generation, Spike Lee. Bounce TV will premiere Lee's Academy Award® -nominated Do the Right Thing at 8:00 p.m. Acclaimed as one of the greatest films of our generation, Do The Right Thing stars Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Lee himself and also features the theatrical film debuts of Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez (Also 10:00 p.m.) Then on Tues. Sept. 27, Bounce TV presents School Daze, Lee's 1988 musical-drama starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell-Martin, based in part on Lee's experiences at Atlanta's Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University (8:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.). On Wednesday night Sept. 28, Bounce TV presents its first football game from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation's largest African American athletic conference, as the top-rated Bulldogs of Bowie St. visit rival Virginia Union. On Thursday night, Sept. 29, Bounce TV will premiere the 1998 Denzel Washington - Bruce Willis action thriller The Siege (8:00 pm, 10:30 pm) and highlights of the network's first week of prime time wraps on Friday, Sept. 30 with the 2003 action comedy The Rundown starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann William Scott (8:00 pm, 10:30 pm).
Bounce's first weekend on the air is highlighted by the multiple Oscar® - nominated Far From Heaven (Sat. Oct. 1, 10:00 p.m.), 2002's textured story of race, gender and class starring Dennis Haysbert, Julianne Moore (Oscar® nominee) and Dennis Quaid. Sunday night, Oct. 2, Bounce TV will premiere Denzel Washington's Academy Award®-winning performance in the civil war epic Glory (8:00 p.m.). There will be a Richard Pryor Week (Oct. 3-7): The legendary comedian stars in a six-pack of his blockbuster movies including: His classic pairings with Gene Wilder in Stir Crazy (Oct. 3), Silver Streak (Oct. 4) and Another You (Oct. 6); The Wiz (Oct. 5); Bingo Long and the Traveling All Stars (Oct. 6) and Bustin' Loose (Oct. 7). Other major stars featured on Bounce TV's initial schedule include James Earl Jones in Summer's End (Oct. 12), Cuba Gooding Jr. in Hero Wanted (Oct. 16) and Samuel L. Jackson in Caveman's Valentine (Oct. 24).
And as we mentioned, Soul Train, one of the longest-running series in television history rides again as Bounce TV showcases the most popular performers and episodes of the legendary series. Bounce TV's web site (http://bouncetv.com) will have complete programming schedule and local Bounce TV channel locations available beginning Sept. 1. But we already gave you the schedule earlier this month. It's just unfortunate that there are no sitcoms on the schedule, but we have hope that eventually we will get one. If they do add some, we'll let you know.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2011 Network Fall Preview Specials; Remembering Uncle Frank from Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Pretty soon it will be that time of year again...the start of the new TV season. So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2010 preview from last year.

First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2011 preview special is titled The ABC Fall Preview Special. It starts airing on local ABC affiliates this coming weekend (Aug. 27-28). It can be aired between August 27-Sept. 18, 2011 on local stations, so check your local listings (WABC in NYC hasn't scheduled it yet). No word yet if ABC will air these specials nationally, as they did last year on Sunday afternoon. The preview spotlights ABC's four new one hour fall dramas: Charlie's Angels, Once Upon A Time, and two 10PM dramas Pan Am and Revenge. Also, the special features a preview of ABC's returning Fall dramas, direct from beautiful Miami, FL, home to ABC's Charlie's Angels and the host, Ramon Rodriquez, also known as "Bosley." I'm sure they will highlight the new comedies as well like Last Man Standing, Suburgatory and Man Up! The special usually airs on ABC-owned cable networks as well, but as of now networks like ABC Family have not scheduled it. And also as of now, it isn't on abc.com like it was last year...but it is still early.

Next is CBS. The CBS Fall 2011 preview special, simply titled again CBS Fall Preview will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of The Big Bang Theory - Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar - will be broadcast on Thursday, Sept. 8 from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT nationally on the CBS Television Network following an encore of The Big Bang Theory. The preview will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series Unforgettable, Person Of Interest, and A Gifted Man, and the comedy series 2 Broke Girls and How To Be A Gentleman. The hosts, appearing as themselves, will introduce the video previews for each new series while interjecting some fun, character-related jokes about one-another. CBS.com doesn't usually post the preview, so you'll have to watch it on-air or if you miss that, your local CBS might air it on a weekend in the daytime.

Moving on to NBC, the NBC Fall 2011 preview special (titled once again The NBC Primetime Preview) has started airing on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates (such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, Xfinity, E! Entertainment Television, mun2, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband) since Aug. 8 and will continue to run through Sept. 25 (in NYC it is on next on WNBC Sun Sept. 4 at 1pm). Whitney Cummings - star of the upcoming NBC comedy Whitney -- hosts the fast-paced program. Joining Cummings as co-host of the preview will be Chris D'Elia, her Whitney co-star. It will spotlight exclusive views of various series to be delivered across a wide horizon of NBC Universal media platforms. The program is estimated to be transmitted more than 500 times over broadcast, digital and cable entities. The entertainment special will focus on NBC's new shows for the fall, including the dramas The Playboy Club, Prime Suspect and Grimm, while the new comedies are Up All Night, Free Agents and Whitney. Viewers will also get a first look at Smash, the musical drama set for mid-season that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire -- to be a "Smash." In addition, returning favorites to be included are Parenthood, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Harry's Law, Chuck (for its fifth and final season of 13 episodes), Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office and 30 Rock. Among next season's returning alternative series are The Voice, The Sing-Off and The Biggest Loser. Sunday Night Football also will be included in the show.
Watch the special right now.

Onto Fox, the Fox Fall 2011 preview special starts airing on local Fox affiliates this weekend (in NY WNYW Sun Aug. 28 at 4:30pm) and is simply titled Fox Fall Preview Special. It will only run on local Fox affiliates again and not on Fox in primetime. No information is available as of this writing on who is hosting and what the special features, but it will of course feature their new programs: The X Factor, Terra Nova, New Girl, and I Hate My Teenage Daughter. No idea yet also if it will be on fox.com, but check your local Fox listings for on-air showtimes.

And finally we conclude with The CW. The CW's Fall 2011 TV preview special called The 2011 CW Fall Preview Special is airing on local CW affiliates (such as NY's WPIX on this Sunday, Aug. 28 at 4:30pm)! It will also air nationally on The CW on Monday, September 12 from 9:15–10:00pm ET. Series featured will be Ringer, The Secret Circle, Hart of Dixie, and H8er. The affiliate special is a half-hour, so we have fifteen more minutes in primetime. The special will be hosted by Nikita star Maggie Q and Ringer star Kristoffer Polaha. Watch the special right now.

We have some sad news to report. Although he wasn't involved with sitcoms, we here at Sitcoms Online were big fans of him and his comedy. Frank Potenza, known as Uncle Frank on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, died Tuesday morning (August 23) at the age of 77. Jimmy Kimmel's real-life uncle worked as a security guard and was a cast member on the show since the show debuted in 2003. ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! said in a statement that Potenza was "beloved by his co-workers and considered an uncle to all." It also said that "his kindness and humor will be missed by everyone he touched." Uncle Frank is the second member of the security guard staff and "The Worst Team on Television" to die. Veatrice Rice (Miss V), who played the quiet but foul-mouthed on-air security guard, died on January 21, 2009, after a battle with cancer.

Uncle Frank was a Brooklyn, NY native and Korean War veteran. He worked as a New York City police officer for twenty years, ten years as a private security guard in Las Vegas, and seven years as an usher at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. When his nephew Jimmy Kimmel got his own show in 2003, he was asked to move to Los Angeles to work with him. He appeared in many comedy bits and was a regular sidekick over the years. His ex-wife, Conchetta "Chippy" Potenza, appears semi-regularly on the show and did a series of segments with him called "Uncle Frank and Aunt Chippy's Adventures." In late 2009, he suffered a stroke and didn't appear on the show from December 2009 through March 2010 (except for the seventh anniversary show on January 26, 2010). He would appear less frequently when he returned.

You can tell he loved being part of the show and the crew enjoyed having him around. He always had a smile on his face and made us smile with the humor he brought in his appearances. Mr. Potenza is survived by his three daughters and a newborn granddaughter. The show is in repeats for the next couple weeks. I'm sure they will have an on-air tribute when they return on September 6. He will be deeply missed on the show.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Cloo Acquires 'Til Death, Fall 2011 Marathons; USA Network Fall 2011 Original Series

Cloo, previously known as Sleuth, will have a lot of marathons this fall! But first, in something very strange, they will be airing the sitcom 'Til Death, which will premiere this fall on Spike TV, WGN America and local syndication already. Cloo will air the series Sundays from 6-7am starting Oct. 2. As of now, it is not on any other Universal-owned network like USA or Universal HD. Very strange. Like nearly all of Universal-owned networks, Cloo airs programs in huge blocks and marathons. In September, for Labor Day weekend, catch a marathon of The Unit and Burn Notice on Saturday, Sept. 3 starting at 6am and running all day. Then on Sunday, Sept. 4, Cloo presents a marathon of Law & Order: Criminal Intent all day starting at 6am. On Labor Day itself, they will air a marathon of Law & Order: SVU from 6am-10pm.
On Saturday, Sept. 10, it is Old School Saturday with a 24-hour marathon of Charlie's Angels, which regularly airs on sister network Universal HD. The following day on Sunday, Sept. 11 it is "Doctors in the House" marathon with episodes of House and Royal Pains airing all day starting at 6am. It seems like every weekend there is a marathon, as on Saturday, Sept. 17 it is Law & Order: SVU and on Sunday, Sept. 18 it is In Plain Sight. Saturday, Sept. 24 will feature another marathon of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
Moving on to October, it is more Law & Order: SVU on Saturday, Oct. 1. Burn Notice has Sunday marathons all month long (Oct. 2, 9, 16 and 23), followed by another marathon on Saturday, Oct. 8. Columbus Day has the Bond Columbus Day movie marathon featuring Goldfinger (1964) starring Sean Connery from 7p-9:30p ET and Die Another Day" (2002) starring Pierce Brosnan from 9:30p-12:30a ET on Sunday and License to Kill (1989) starring Timothy Dalton from 6p-9p ET and Man with the Golden Gun (1974) starring Roger Moore from 9p-12a ET on Monday. Saturday, Oct. 15 features a Law & Order: Criminal Intent marathon. The following week, Oct. 22, has a Psych marathon featuring Halloween episodes. The final Saturday of the month, Oct. 29, features a Covert Affairs marathon to promote the USA Network season premiere on Tuesday, Nov. 1. And finally on Sunday, Oct. 30, it's a House "Supernatural" marathon from 12pm-6am.
During the week you can catch House, Monk, The Dead Zone, Walker Texas Ranger, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, JAG, NCIS, CSI, Psych, and of course movies on the Cloo! Killer Instinct, CLOO's new original series and Dateline on CLOO airs Saturdays at 9pm.
Come on back as we still have fall 2011 schedules for Nick at Nite, TeenNick, MeTV Network, ReelzChannel, Lifetime, NYC Local Stations and more to come. We are just waiting for the final word. Antenna TV will have some changes to its original fall schedule that we showed you last month and we will bring that to you as soon as we can.

We gave you USA Network's Fall 2011 schedule a couple weeks back, but now USA Network has announced return dates for three of its original series. We broke the news of the return date for the second half of season two for Covert Affairs on Saturday, but now it is official--it will return Nov. 1! Christopher Gorham, who plays Auggie on the hit series, even acknowledged us on Twitter! First up, fan favorite and USA's longest running original series on-air, Psych returns for its sixth season on Wednesday, October 12 at 10/9c featuring all-new episodes of Santa Barbara's favorite crime psychic team. Nine episodes will air this fall and the remaining seven episodes of season six will air sometime in 2012.
Meanwhile, the second half of the sophomore season of Covert Affairs resumes Tuesday, November 1 at 10/9c with six all-new episodes to wrap-up its sixteen episode season. The series stars Golden Globe(R)-nominated Piper Perabo as Annie Walker, a young CIA operative whose exceptional linguistic skills make her invaluable to the Agency. The summer's mid-season finale was left with Annie finally forced to confess the truth of her job to her sister, Danielle (Anne Dudek), forever changing the balance of their relationship and threatening Annie's hope of living a "pseudo-normal" personal life outside the agency. With Jai's (Sendhil Ramamurthy) position in the DPD in flux, we're left to question where his true loyalties lie. As the season returns, Annie continues to transform into a seasoned operative with more high-octane adventures spanning the globe. The series also stars Christopher Gorham, Kari Matchett and Peter Gallagher. Guest stars include Oded Fehr, Gregory Itzin, Devin Kelly and Santiago Cabrera.
And finally, Burn Notice turns up the heat this fall with the remaining six episodes of the fifth season, starting Thursday, November 3 at 10/9c to finish up its eighteen episode season. The hit series stars Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a blacklisted spy banished to sun-soaked Miami. Guest stars include Lauren Stamile, Jere Burns, Indigo, Andre Holland, Ian Anthony Dale, Carlo Gallo and Ptolemy Slocum. The series is still airing its summer run through Sept. 8, so fans will only have to wait two months for these six new episodes!

Monday, August 22, 2011

TV Land Edits September 2011 Schedule As Andy Griffith & Beaver Leave; Disney Sitcom Gets Second Season With Special Guest Stars

TV Land has made some small adjustments to its September 2011 schedule that we announced a few weeks back, mainly on weekends, but it affects two series and they will be off the line-up totally. Effective Saturday, September 3, 2011, Leave it to Beaver and The Andy Griffith Show will be leaving the line-up. They were already supposed to be preempted next weekend (Aug. 27 and 28) for a Hot in Cleveland marathon, so this past weekend was their last airings for now. Replacing both of them will be a block of Three's Company from 2pm-6pm on weekends, as two-hour blocks of Beaver and Andy will be no more. It is unclear if and when these two will return to the schedule, but we do know that Andy Griffith's contract is up at the end of December. Three's Company had only been airing in the overnights in recent years, but it has always done well in the ratings.
The only other change is that movies have been added to the schedule on Friday nights at 9pm beginning Friday, Sept. 9. The September movie schedule has the TV Land premieres of The Matrix, Batman Returns, and Batman Forever from Sept. 9 to 23. TV Land has not released what they will air Sept. 30 yet. As a result of these movies on Friday nights, Everybody Loves Raymond will not air in this Friday block anymore, so TV Land will add an hour each to the Raymond blocks on Saturday and Sunday nights, so Raymond will now air on Saturdays from 9pm-1am and Sundays from 10pm-1am.
View the UPDATED TV Land September 2011 schedule with these changes. Will there be any more changes? You'll have to stay with us, because we can't image them airing Bonanza weekdays 12pm-5pm for that long, but as of now, that is scheduled all September long! As we mentioned, TV Land might make changes in October, as All in the Family's contract expires at the end of September... will they renew? We shall see. So stay tuned.

The season premiere of Shake It Up, the hit dance themed multi-camera comedy series that has ranked No. 1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens since its 2010 premiere, will have its second season premiere on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET/PT on Disney Channel. In the one hour season opener, CeCe and Rocky risk being booted from "Shake It Up, Chicago" -- and learn a lesson about friendship and judgment - when, on a group bus trip, they make a detour to a reality show audition. The second season will include a guest appearance by the soon-to-be-announced winner of "Make Your Mark: Ultimate Dance Off - 'Shake It Up' Edition," plus the dance troop Instant Noodles (America's Best Dance Crew), among others. Sixteen new songs, including "Up, Up, & Away" by the international singing group Blush, will be featured in the episodes.
Among the other guest stars are Atticus Shaffer (The Middle) who plays Zane, a neighbor Flynn suspects is an alien; Ben Savage (Boy Meets World) as Andy, a famous blogger who is not a fan of "Shake It Up, Chicago," and Tony Award winner Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray) as Miss Nancy, CeCe and Rocky's former dance teacher.
The series stars Bella Thorne and Zendaya as CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue, Davis Cleveland as Flynn Jones, Roshon Fegan as Ty Blue, Adam Irigoyen as Deuce Martinez, Kenton Duty as Gunther Hessenheffer and Caroline Sunshine as Tinka Hessenheffer. Recurring are R. Brandon Johnson as Gary Wilde and Anita Barone as Georgia Jones.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Summer Week 12 Sitcom Ratings; New Episodes of Sitcoms On Basic Cable

American Dad! (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did 2.08 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, which was up from the previous week. The regular 9:30pm was preempted by the new summer series In the Flow...
Bob's Burgers (Fox) - A repeat did just 1.84 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, losing its 7pm lead-in's ratings. That is sad.
The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 2.99 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, as the latter is decent for summer.
The Cleveland Show (Fox) - preempted.
Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at a special time of 8:30pm did 3.54 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, as the latter is among the leaders for repeats of comedies in the summer. Regular 9pm airing was preempted.

Summer Week 12 (August 15-21)

Monday Sitcoms

How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 2 airings - 3.65 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating for a repeat at 8pm was up a lick from the previous week among A18-49. A second repeat followed and delivered 4.06 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, also up a tick from previous week.
Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 5.31 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9pm is down some week-to-week, despite a better lead-in.
Mike & Molly (CBS) - 5.01 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9:30pm was on par really with the previous week.

Tuesday Sitcoms

Raising Hope (Fox) - preempted.

Wednesday Sitcoms

The Middle (ABC) - A repeat at 8pm did 4.43 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, up a good among from previous week. Up and down it goes this summer, but does decent enough for summer repeats.
Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 4.77 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, up some from the previous week and a good showing. A repeat at 8:30pm also probably helped doing 4.62 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, up some from the previous week.
Happy Endings (ABC) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 2.86 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, up a tenth from the previous week. A new episode will air this week to promote the new season and the upcoming season one DVD. So watch it! ABC Family will air a marathon as well on Friday, Sept. 16 from 5-11pm. Get hooked!

Thursday Sitcoms

The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat did 6.79 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, which was down a tad from the previous week but there were preemptions in many markets due to NFL again.
Rules of Engagement (CBS) - A repeat of this comedy followed at 8:30pm with 5.91 million and 1.7 18-49 rating, which was up from the previous week and held 100% of its lead-in.
Community (NBC) - A repeat only did 1.92 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, is low but still up some from the previous week where it was possibly a historic low in the half-hour for NBC.
Parks & Recreation (NBC) - A repeat in its 8:30pm slot did only 1.71 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, but actually up a tad from previous week.
The Office (NBC) - A repeat at 9pm did 2.47 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, best of the low rated block again and up slightly from the previous week.
30 Rock (NBC) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 2.41 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, up some from previous week.

Friday Sitcoms

Friends with Benefits (NBC) 2 episodes - Final ratings will tell us how it actually did since NFL preempted some NBC markets, as last week the series only did a 0.5 18-49 rating. This week, with those NFL numbers in there, it did a prelim 0.9 18-49 rating, but that will drop once finals are in...so don't really look at that 0.9.

Saturday Sitcoms

American Dad! (Fox) - For the third straight day, NFL pre-season preemptions has affected primetime, and prelim ratings show 2.45 million and a prelim 0.9 18-49 rating. Look for this to go down once the finals come.
The Cleveland Show (Fox) - Same goes true for this airing, prelim 2.37 million and a prelim 0.8 18-49 rating. Last week the half-hours did a 0.7 and 0.6 in finals and under 2 million.

Tonight you can catch encores of Fox's animated comedies from 7-9:30pm tonight as the new sketch comedy show airs at 9:30pm.

Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, Modern Family repeats, and week 11's Family Guy were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of Mike & Molly, Happy Endings) or just plain old terrible (such as Friends with Benefits, and the very low rated NBC Thursday repeats especially, Community).

Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable all this summer, with the great Hot in Cleveland on Wednesday at 10pm, as we near the season finale on Aug. 31. Also catch the new Comedy Wednesday on ABC Family this Wednesday with an all-new one-hour Melissa & Joey from 8-9pm! Also of course House of Payne and Meet the Browns are on TBS Wednesdays. New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer repeat blues! Watch them! And on premium cable, it is of course Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weeds, and Entourage among the entrees. But the pick of the week is on BROADCAST on ABC: a new episode of Happy Endings at 9:30pm on Wednesday! Watch it!

[Source: Nielsen NTI Ratings. View Travis Yanan's Ratings Website].

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Digital Digest: Parenthood - Season Two DVD Review

Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly home for news of all things digital! It's another slow news week, but this week we begin getting into our very busy period of reviews of the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray sets of the 2010-2011 TV season! We have our very first review of the previous TV season this week with our review of Parenthood - Season Two. Let's get rolling.

DIGITAL NEWS

As we are talking about the 2010-2011 TV season, there is one series for which we hadn't heard anything about a DVD release, but now there is some news for 30 Rock! On November 29, just before the season premiere (the series will begin midseason for the upcoming season), 30 Rock - Season Five will debut on DVD. However, no Blu-ray release is in the works for the time being (there haven't been any for 30 Rock).

Hulu has consistently been a great source for fans of vintage TV to watch some of their favorite shows, and starting Monday, you can go back to the 60s for a rarely seen series hosted by Joan Rivers! That Show, which aired in the late 60s and early 70s on NBC, was one of Rivers' first ventures into television, and starting Monday, you'll be able to see the first 65 episodes of the series on Hulu, remastered from the original sources.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 23) begins the "awakening" of the 2010-2011 season (OK, I'll admit, I'm overdramatizing this), but is still a light day for releases. For Tuesday, we have Brothers & Sisters - The Complete Fifth and Final Season and Off the Map - The Complete Series. We are currently awaiting review copies of these sets and hope to have reviews soon.

BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

Family dramas are a long-standing and time-tested genre in television, and the Braverman family is no exception. The current NBC series, Parenthood, is a second attempt (after a poorly received sitcom in the early 90s) at recreating the very popular movie from producer Ron Howard. Following the Braverman family through different generations and the good and the bad, here is our review of Parenthood - Season Two.

DVD Review - Parenthood - Season Two
by skees53

Parenthood - Season Two (Universal, $59.98) collects all 22 episodes from the second season of the NBC family drama in a five disc collection. The series, based loosely upon the 1989 film starring Steve Martin, follows the trials and tribulations of different generations of the Braverman family, through the good and the bad.

The second season begins with "I Hear You, I See You," where Crosby tries to cope with his long-distance relationship with his son Jabbar. Crosby is asked to pick up Jabbar in "Date Night," but all might not go so well as Crosby has just had a work party where he has had a little too much to drink. Max decides to face his Halloween fears in "Orange Alert." Adam has difficulty when he is forced to fire seven employees in "Seven Names." In "If This Boat Is a Rockin'," somebody calls Max "retarded," and it isn't sitting too well for Adam, at all.

In "Happy Thanksgiving," Sarah invites her new boss to Thanksgiving dinner, which wouldn't be a huge deal, except did we mention that he is Adam's boss? In "Meet the New Boss," Adam has a new boss, who just happens to be a 20-something stoner. Haddie has had enough with her parents and moves out in "A House Divided." In "Do Not Sleep with Your Autistic Nephew's Therapist," Crosby's one night stand has consequences that rock the entire household. Adam and Kristina struggle to explain Max's Asperger's to him in "Qualities and Difficulties." In "New Plan," everybody is planning for the next stage in life, but how will Amber explain to her mom that she didn't get in to college? Amber's life spirals out of control in "Slipping Away." The season ends with a surprise that'll blow everyone away in "Hard Times Come Again No More."

The episodes on the set appear to be mostly as they aired on NBC, but there is one very obvious change in the DVD version that was seen in the previous set: the theme song has been changed due to music rights reasons. Not to worry too much, however, because the replacement theme is the same one seen in international airings and online, and fits the series very well. It isn't a cheap replacement theme as we see in some DVD sets, but works very well for the series. Runtimes for the episodes are as follows.

Disc 1:
1. "I Hear You, I See You" (42:02)
2. "No Good Deed" (43:08)
3. "I'm Cooler Than You Think" (42:29)
4. "Date Night" (42:28)

Disc 2:
5. "The Booth Job" (43:05)
6. "Orange Alert" (42:54)
7. "Seven Names" (43:03)
8. "If This Boat Is a Rockin'" (43:09)
9. "Put Yourself Out There" (43:08)

Disc 3:
10. "Happy Thanksgiving" (42:51)
11. "Damage Control" (43:08)
12. "Meet the New Boss" (43:06)
13. "Opening Night" (42:24)
14. "A House Divided" (43:07)

Disc 4:
15. "Just Go Home" (42:52)
16. "Amazing Andy and His Wonderful World of Bugs" (43:04)
17. "Do Not Sleep with Your Autistic Nephew's Therapist" (43:01)
18. "Qualities and Difficulties" (43:04)

Disc 5:
19. "Taking the Leap" (42:50)
20. "New Plan" (43:06)
21. "Slipping Away" (42:36)
22. "Hard Times Come Again No More" (43:10)

Like many Universal DVD sets (and unlike many other studios these days), the set comes packaged in a digipak. On the cover, we have four photos of each of Zeek and Camille's children's family, with a green color scheme in the background. On the back, there are a few more snapshots, along with one giant photo of the entire family. Inside, we have the digipak, which has three panels (there are two discs in each of the first two panels and one in the third panel). Behind the discs, there is one large panoramic photo of the whole family in one of those bounce houses (which was actually originally supposed to be featured as the cover art). On the other side of the digipak, there is a listing of all of the episodes with descriptions. Discs 1, 4, and 5 contain four episodes each, while Discs 2 and 3 contain five episodes each. As for the disc artwork, it is simply the series logo on a silver background for each disc.

The menus on the set are relatively simple, with different photos of the family and options of Play All, Episode Index, Bonus, and Setup. The closing theme plays in the background of the main menu, and loops forever--it actually gets annoying after a while. Episode Index takes you to a menu that shows all of the episodes, along with a snapshot from the episode. You can also select any commentaries or deleted scenes from here. The episode plays immediately upon selecting it, and there are chapters within the episodes. Bonus allows you to select the special features contained on that disc. And finally, Setup is just a place to turn on English subtitles (I wonder why they don't just call it that?).

The video and audio quality of the set is about what you would come to expect from a series that just aired months ago on TV--essentially flawless. The video is crisp and doesn't seem to suffer from any real issues, and the series has a rather nice Dolby Digital 5.1 sound that is loud and clear. Each episode contains English subtitles.

The set isn't exactly loaded with special features, but there are several included on here. First, there are three episodes with commentaries. These include "If This Boat Is a Rockin'" (Peter Krause and Allison Liddi-Brown), "Just Go Home" (Lauren Graham and Lawrence Trilling), and "Do Not Sleep With Your Autistic Nephew's Therapist" (Executive Producer Jason Katims). There are also a few deleted scenes from some episodes, including "The Booth Job" (1:42), "A House Divided" (1:55), "Do Not Sleep With Your Autistic Nephew's Therapist" (2:07), "New Plan" (1:11), and "Hard Times Come Again No More" (1:30). Finally, the special feature "From Page to Screen" (14:30) is a behind-the-scenes look with the cast and crew of taking the series from the script phase to actually producing the episode.

When the series premiered on NBC, it was hoped to be something like NBC's "white knight," but it hasn't really lived up to those expectations. Still, it has earned it's place on NBC, and is actually one of the few good family dramas that I've seen in recent years. The series doesn't really go for the outrageous or extreme, but is a very down to earth series that blends comedy and family drama rather well. This DVD set is another great set (even with the replaced theme song, which really isn't a huge deal with this series), and I'm only more anxious to see what the third season of the series holds now.

(4/5 stars)

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Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Parenthood TV.com Page

CLICK OF THE WEEK

The Simpsons Archive (www.snpp.org) - Like we said last week, when we talked about the website Bundyology, we only like to include series specific websites when they stand out above the rest. And The Simpsons Archive is another shining example of a website for a TV series. On the main page, the website claims to be "the Internet's clearinghouse of Simpsons guides, news, and information," and they aren't kidding at all when they say this. You can truly find everything that you want to find about the series here, from the basics to the nitty gritty details.

The site, of course, gives you all of the basic information about all of the episodes, tells you about upcoming episodes, and gives news about the series, but that isn't even scratching into the heart of what you can find on the site. Want to know what couch gag was used on a specific episode? You can find it there. Looking for information about Simpsons games, CDs, DVDs, and virtually all other merchandise relating to the series? It's there. How about a complete listing of every song included in every single episode? It's there. Chalkboard gags? Prank calls to Moe? Thorough reviews of every episode? Quotes from every episode? It's all there. And so much more is there, too. It is hard to list everything that you can find on this website, so you should head on over there yourself to check it out!

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, December 23

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Vote" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dave gathers everyone for a lengthy ballot-palooza party to discuss the merits of every candidate and prop on each of their election ballots. Also, Gemma is determined to run a tight ship as their local precinct captain when polls open at Walcott Academy.

Poppa's House - "Sleepover" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dr. Ivy Reed joins Poppa’s family for dinner, she begins scrutinizing Nina and Junior’s relationship for potential catastrophe. Junior spends the night at his dad’s house while Nina and Ivy devise a plan over a bottle of wine.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Black Ice" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
On Valentine's Day, when it comes to showing affection, Bob and Abishola have to find a way to meet each other in the middle.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Where's Your Other Wives, Tunde?" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dottie, Auntie Olu and Uncle Tunde must find a way to reconcile when they're forced to eat dinner together; Bob and Abishola have differing opinions on the progress of their relationship.

The Conners - "Rage Against the Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Dan gets injured while covering D.J.'s vending machine route, the decision to sue the company could cost D.J. his job; Jackie is appalled when Becky seeks life coaching from her nemesis.

The Conners - "Smoking Penguins and Santa on Santa Action" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan is disappointed when everyone but Becky forgets about his birthday; Darlene faces another issue; Dan excludes Jackie from the family Christmas Santa photo for mistreating Louise.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 23)

Monday, December 23

John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Watch John on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Linda Cardellini (No Good Deed/Dead to Me/Guys Like Us) - Linda is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Sabrina appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Brandon Kyle Goodman (Human Resources) - Brandon is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana appears on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Megan Hilty (Sean Saves the World) - Megan appears on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - James chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today has The 70 Club with Tony in the 9am hour.
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Shaky Ground) - Jennifer talks about Lifetime's The Holiday Junkie on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Alexa PenaVega (Ruby & the Rockits) - Alexa talks about Great American Family's Love at the Kettle on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.