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
Sunday, December 3
Krapopolis - "Ty's Tail Tale" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Tyrannis is possessed by his deceased grandfather who rules with fear and a large scorpion tail, Shlub must fight to bring back the old Tyrannis; Hippocampus and Stupendous bring a pregnant pegasus home.
The Simpsons - "AE Bonny Romance" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Groundskeeper Willie is kidnapped to Scotland, Bart and the Simpsons follow, only to be faced with Homer's worst nightmare.
Bob's Burgers - "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A documentary film profiling world-class archer Louise Belcher is interrupted by unexpected visitors.
Family Guy - "Baking Sad" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Meg discovers her tears produce delicious cookies; Peter and the guys launch a male talk show.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 27)
Friday, December 1
- Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Watch Henry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Ms. Pat (The Ms. Pat Show) - Ms. Pat appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Angela Means (Cousin Skeeter) - Angela is a guest on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - NBC's Today catches up with Kelsey in the 9am hour.
- Brandy Norwood (Zoe Ever After/The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy chats and performs on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Patrick sits down with to chat about his book Making It So on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus tells Sherri about his coming-of-age film, How I Learned to Fly, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Chris Redd (Bust Down/Kenan/Disjointed) - Chris discusses his upcoming film Candy Cane Lane on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell/Alexa & Katie/Good Morning, Miami/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Tiffani discusses her latest cookbook, Here We Go Again: Recipes and Inspiration to Level Up Your Leftovers, and cooks on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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