Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Reelz Channel Acquires Larry Sanders Show; Episodic Reviews: New Girl - "Table 34" and The Mindy Project - "Harry and Mindy" Airing Tonight on Fox

ReelzChannel, TV About Movies, announced that all six seasons of the three-time Emmy Award® winning satirical sitcom The Larry Sanders Show will air on REELZ, premiering Monday, March 4 at 1pm ET/10am PT. New episodes will air back-to-back Monday-Thursday in one hour comedy blocks at 1pm ET/10am PT and again at 2am ET/11pm PT. It will replace an hour of Spin City at 1pm ET/10am PT. What will the rest of the schedule look like? We will let you know very soon, but right now among the comedies that air on Reelz are Wings, Becker and Spin City, as Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Coach have recently been dropped. Meanwhile, Larry Sanders is also seen weeknights on VH-1 Classic.
The show takes viewers behind the scenes of Sanders' late-night talk show revealing the comedic misadventures among the show's creators, crew and celebrity guests. The Larry Sanders Show stars Garry Shandling as host Larry Sanders and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) as his sidekick Hank. The show also stars Rip Torn as the show's executive producer, Artie, Penny Johnson as Sanders' assistant Beverly, Wallace Langham as the show's head writer Phil and Janeane Garofalo as talent booker Paula.

The Larry Sanders Show rivaled its real life late-night counterparts in many respects with guest lineups featuring the biggest names in entertainment including Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, Sally Field, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, William Shatner, Greg Kinnear, Jeff Goldblum, David Duchovny, Burt Reynolds, Bob Costas, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sharon Stone, Robin Williams, Rob Lowe, Courtney Cox, Julianna Margulies, Mandy Patinkin, Rosie O'Donnell, Nicollette Sheridan, Vince Vaughn, Suzanne Somers, Jim Belushi, Sting, Heidi Klum, Jerry Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Terry Bradshaw, John Ritter and many others. In addition to actors and athletes, viewers will recognize a number of their favorite TV luminaries who portrayed themselves on the show including David Letterman, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Ellen DeGeneres, Regis Philbin, Carol Burnett, Larry King, Sarah Silverman, Howard Stern, Alex Trebek and REELZ' own Sam Rubin. Stay with us for further updates on REELZ!


On the next...New Girl:
By: Todd

Fox's Tuesday adorkable sitcom starring Zooey Deschanel airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (Feb. 5). And we continue where we left off last week in "Cooler!" In the episode airing tonight, "Table 34," Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) both are reeling from their passionate late-night kiss. Unsure of her feelings and what the kiss meant, Jess spends the day with Cece (Hannah Simone) at an East Indian marriage convention. Seeking to escape his own conflicted feelings, Nick offers to help Schmidt (Max Greenfield) at another attempt to win back Cece, unknowingly putting himself directly in Jess' sightlines.

Tonight's episode is a continuation of last week's "Cooler" episode. Jess tells Cece about her first kiss with Nick. Cece has plans on attending an East Indian marriage convention to look for a husband. Schmidt also plans on going to the convention and tries to win back Cece by wearing proper attire. Winston describes him as looking like the fortune teller in Big. Nick talks to Winston about his kiss with Jess. Nick and Jess argue about if their kiss meant anything. Cece and Nick are assigned to Table 34 for those with no advance degrees and part time employment. Winston gets his mojo back and draws the attention of one of the staff members. Jess and Schmidt are placed at Table 7. A series of games, including trying to build a table out of newspapers, are then played to show their compatibility. Jess tells Sam what happened between her and Nick. Sam doesn't exactly take the news well. The convention ends with a big speech by one of the characters. Jess wants to listen to a Taylor Swift song alone, but Nick is there dancing. B-

This episode is on par with last week. There are some serious moments, but there are also many funny lines and scenes at the convention. There is a nice mix of pop culture references from movies and physical comedy, including Nick's panic moonwalking. Like last week's episode, it ends with a big story development. Will sparks fly again? Tune in tonight to find out.



On the next...The Mindy Project:
By: Skees

Fox's Tuesday night comedy starring Mindy Kaling airs Tuesday nights at 9:30pm immediately following New Girl and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (Feb. 5). Can men and women really be just friends? Dr. Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) attempts to find the answer to this age-old question. In the episode airing tonight, "Harry & Mindy," Mindy tries to solve Jaime's (guest star BJ Novak) best friend problem by pairing up Lucy (guest star Eva Amurri Martino) with Danny (Chris Messina) on a Valentine's Day double date. Meanwhile, Jeremy (Ed Weeks) helps Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) with his pickup skills.

Relationship drama is what this entire episode comes down to, and it is made even more interesting considering that the drama comes from Novak and Kaling, both of whom of course were always in relationship drama when they were in the cast of The Office. In this continuation of last week's episode, "Harry & Sally," we once again meet up with Jaime who can't seem to separate himself from his female friend Lucy, despite the fact that Mindy would like to have him for herself. The solution to the problem seems pretty simple: just find somebody to fix Lucy up with, and she manages to hook her up with Danny. But when the two couples double date, Danny and Lucy hit it off very quickly, making Mindy and Jaime's date a choking hazard (literally). Jaime tries to make it up to Mindy afterwards by going all the way (to the top of the Empire State Building), but this big event may turn into a disaster before it can even happen. All in all, it is great to see Kaling and Novak back together again as a couple on screen, and that makes this one of the more "special" episodes of the series thus far, but the plot of the episode leaves a lot more to be desired. The ending of the episode is a bit predictable, but it isn't done in a way that seems to leave a lot of opportunities for Novak to make any further appearances. The B-story in the episode, of Jeremy helping Morgan in his pick up skills, leaves even more to be desired. It really felt like more filler than anything substantial, and it was greatly overshadowed by the main story. B

The Mindy Project continues to march through the first season, and seems to be working on trying to figure out exactly what it is... much like Mindy's own character. The series continues to have high points and low points, but each time I watch it, I feel that it is slowly getting to a point where it is consistently good. It would be nice if we do see more of Novak after this episode, but only time will tell if and how much of his character we'll see (right now, it doesn't appear that there are any future plans). Fans of The Office should be watching this show, especially this particular episode.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, March 8

Family Guy - "Viewer DMs" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Griffin family retells "The Lord of the Rings," explains how the Griffins' ancestors arrived in Quahog and looks back at Quagmire's 1960s variety show.

Universal Basic Guys - "That Dog in You" (F Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark trains Hank to become a professional eater; Tammy joins Darren's video game squad.

American Dad! - "Powering Through" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Stan is determined to prove that there's no illness he can't power through, even if it ends up killing him and everyone else.

Family Guy - "Scent of a Woman" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Brian discovers his nose can detect diseases and smells that someone in the Griffin house has cancer.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 2)

Friday, March 6

  • Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Bradley Whitford (Perfect Harmony/Trophy Wife) - Bradley appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Joel McHale (Animal Control/The Great Indoors/Community) - Joel is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose talks about Broadway's Fallen Angels on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Robby Hoffman (Hacks) - Robby is part of Joy’s Comedy Corner (comedy special, “Robby Hoffman: Wake Up”) on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - NBC's Today catches up with Dennis in the 9am hour.
  • John Slattery (Maggie/Ed) - NBC's Today catches up with John in the 9am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew is joined by Valerie and UFC's Laura Sanko to hit the headlines at the news desk on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD) St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
09/30 - Touché Turtle and Dum Dum - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD)
10/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/28 - St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/04 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

03/07 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Scrubs Returns to Big Ratings; New Garfield Series Coming to Paramount+
03/06 - The Four Seasons Returns on May 28; More Details on I Suck at Girls
03/05 - COZI TV Pairs Up Al Bundy and Hondo at Last; ABC Renews Abbott Elementary for Season 6
03/04 - ABC's Scrubs Returns Big; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Renewed for Season 2
03/03 - Prime Video's Kevin Premieres April 20; Fox Renews Best Medicine
03/02 - Running Point Returns April 23 on Netflix; A Different World Sequel Starts Production
03/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 2, 2026)
02/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Warner Now Set to Merge with Paramount, Not Netflix; X-Files Reboot Given Greenlight
02/27 - The Comeback Returns for Final Season on March 22; Animal Control Renewed for Season 5; Remembering Lauren Chapin of Father Knows Best and Robert Carradine of Lizzie McGuire
02/26 - AspireTV Gets First Ever Original Sitcom; Sullivan's Crossing Returns for Season 4 in April on The CW
02/25 - Scrubs Returns Tonight, Sneak Peek at Title Sequence; Stranger Things: Tales From '85 Reveals Odessa A'zion as Nikki Baxter
02/24 - Netflix's Wednesday Season 3 Adds to Cast; Wonder Pets: In the City Returns March 20
02/23 - Celebrities for ABC's Celebrity Jeopardy! All-Stars; Hallmark's Mistletoe Murders Renewed for Season 3
02/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 23, 2026)
02/21 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Hulu Orders New Adult Animated Comedy From Creator of Bluey; Casting News for Upcoming CBS Comedy Regency
02/20 - ABC Wednesday Comedies Find Valentine's Magic; Netflix Announces Dang!
02/19 - The Golden Girls Coming to MeTV in March; Adult Swim Announces My Two Cars
02/18 - Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special Coming to Disney+; Fox Spring 2026 Schedule and Finale Dates
02/17 - New Animated Comedy from Big Mouth Creators Coming May 22; Scottish Comedy Returns to Hulu February 25
02/16 - Saturday Night Live Returns Following the Olympics on February 28; Fox Pays Tribute to James Van Der Beek on Wednesday
02/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 16, 2026)
02/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Trailer Released for Scrubs Reboot; Tubi to Add 100 Cartoon Series from Warner and Cartoon Network Library
02/13 - Remembering James Van Der Beek of Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23; The Way Home Returns for Final Season in April on Hallmark
02/12 - ABC's Scrubs Revival Trailer and Details; XO, Kitty Returns April 2 on Netflix
02/11 - The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins Gets Post Saturday Night Live Encore; Chris Fleming HBO Special
02/10 - Celebrity Jeopardy! All Stars Premiere Shifting by Two Weeks; Virgin River Season 7 Trailer
02/09 - Shoresy Returns with Season 5; HBO Max Acquires Schitt's Creek
02/08 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 9, 2026)
02/07 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Roku Adds New Channels for Bernie Mac, Blossom, and Cougar Town; Catchy Comedy Introduces Catchy Loves Lucy