Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Love Is In the Air on the MeTV Sunday Showcase; Episodic Review: The Middle - "The Friend" Airing Tonight on ABC
With Valentine's Day about three weeks away, The MeTV Network is getting ready as love is in the air on the MeTV Sunday Showcase! That's of course a weekly block of various themes, stunts, and marathons every Sunday from 3-7PM ET. The Valentine's stunt will be airing on Sunday, Feb. 10 from 3-7PM with various comedies showcasing episodes dealing with love and romance. Kicking it off will be an episode of The Honeymooners, where The Kramdens and Nortons visit the Wedemeyers and the wives believe their husbands are neglecting them. Following that will be an episode of Make Room for Daddy, where Terry thinks that Danny and Kathy's marriage has lost its spark, so she advises each of them to be more romantic toward the other. Then it's The Dick Van Dyke Show, as Laura and Rob plan to see a play but she gets locked in a bathroom at their hotel. Other series airing in this stunt are The Mothers-In-Law, Love American Style, I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch and The Bob Newhart Show. It's a classic Brady Bunch episode where Mike and Carol switch roles for a day in order to prove a day with the opposite sex involves much less work, as Carol must help the boys with baseball practice and Mike must help Marcia with a cooking badge. Classic!
And the week prior, on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 3), The MeTV Sunday Showcase will feature a four-hour marathon of The Donna Reed Show! That's a nice way to showcase the comedy since it airs early mornings on weekdays. Keep it right here for further updates on MeTV!
On the next...The Middle:
By: Pavan
ABC's Comedy Wednesday sitcom starring Patrica Heaton airs Wednesday nights at 8:00pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (Jan. 23). The episode features The Heck family doing what they do the best, being a real family. In the episode airing tonight, "The Friend," Mike (Neil Flynn) is upset with Frankie (Patrica Heaton) when he discovers that she set him up on an adult playdate with a new neighbor (guest star David Koechner) who shares the same interests. Meanwhile, when the school cheerleaders announce that they're taking over cheering for the wrestlers - thus putting Sue (Eden Sher) and her Wrestlerettes out of business - a determined Sue demands a cheer off; and Brick (Atticus Shaffer) makes a lovesick Axl (Charlie McDermott) begin to question whether he's intellectually stimulating enough for his smart, new girlfriend.
On this hilarious all-new episode, we are presented three different storylines. And as usual, The Heck family rocks it! A couple of weeks ago the episode "Life Skills" showscased the show perfectly and this is once again one of those episode that just works very well and clicks on all cylinders. The good thing about this show is that it just feels so real. The main plot of this episode is about Frankie meeting a new couple that has moved into the neighborhood, and we all know Frankie always means well but she can be kind of meddling. She sees the husband is just a fun guy and she realizes well Mike is not. She secretly sets up a "play date" between the two and of course Mike finds out. The two get along really well, so you'll have to see what happens next! As for the kids, Sue's job as a Wrestlerette is in jeopardy when the school cheerleaders announce they will do triple duty and are now also cheering on the wrestlers because they are supposed to do well. Sue Heck is just a breath of fresh air and won't let anything stand in her way, no matter what everything thinks. She is like a perfect role model for teenage girls these days and that you don't need to be popular to have a great outlook on life. Anyway, in the end it's a cheer off when the cheerleaders battle the Wrestlerettes on who will cheer on the wrestling team. It's hilarious but also so well done! "Remember my name!" And the storyline with Brick and Axl also is fun and factual. Axl is dating a smart girl and Brick notices that all they have is a physical attraction and they don't talk, so he questions Axl saying that she might get bored soon because they don't have a friendship and intellectual stimulation. Yeah, Brick's been reading Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. He thought it was going to be a science fiction book, ha. Anyway, Axl takes Brick's advice and we get to see Axl try to have a conversation with Cassidy. How will it go? It's going to be fun, that's for sure! B+
The Middle as always is on its game. Even in its fourth season, the plots are fresh and its such a real-take on families in America, especially in middle America. I think America can really relate to the Heck family and that's why it does so well and audiences embrace it. I just wish it gets more props when everyone mentions their best current comedies. It's just as good as any comedy out there today. The Hecks are like the modern day Brady Bunch and like that show, it will be a part of pop-culture for years to come. Each member of the family is vital to the show and I always look forward every Wednesday to see what topic they deal with next, because you can always relate to something from the episode. The character of Sue Heck might go down in TV history as the most positive TV character of all-time. She may have a clueless exterior, but she knows what she is doing and that's why she's always so happy. Anyway, tune in tonight for another fine episode that we all have come to expect from this show for the last four years. The Middle is not in the middle class of comedies, it's in the high class. It's definitely deserving to be on the top 5 lists of everyone's top 5 lists for not only TV comedies, but of all TV shows on television today! Go Hecks!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, April 17
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Two Idiots on a Dirt Bike" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie’s attempt to break up Missy and her new boyfriend backfires. Young Sheldon stars Zoe Perry (Mary) and Raegan Revord (Missy) return.
Ghosts - "Pinkus Returns" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Trevor’s former co-worker, Pinkus (Richie Keen), and his daughter, Abby (Gideon Adlon), show up at Woodstone Mansion, Trevor gets the surprise of his afterlife.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 14)
Thursday, April 17
- Jon Bernthal (The Class) - Catch Jon on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Asif Ali (Deli Boys) and Saagar Shaikh (Deli Boys) - Asif and Saagar are guests on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Joe stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Will Forte (HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - Will is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Conner O'Malley (Shrill) - Conner appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Gillian Jacobs (Love/Community) - Gillian is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- James Brolin (Life in Pieces) - James talks about Ransom Canyon on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Lake Bell (Bless This Mess/How to Make it in America/Childrens Hospital) - Lake talks about All About Brains: A Book About People on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - It's Drew's spring cleaning show and Valerie is joining her for a special edition of Drew's News with cleaning headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa talks about the latest season of her hit television show Abbott Elementary on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Mike Epps (The Upshaws/Uncle Buck/Survivor's Remorse) - Mike chats about his We Them Ones Comedy Tour on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
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