Wednesday, April 03, 2013

BET/Centric 2013 Upfront Notes, Adds Malcolm & Eddie; Episodic Review: The Middle - "The Bachelor" Airing Tonight on ABC

The Game

BET and Centric held its upfront presentation yesterday and we had some sitcom worthy announcements. First up, BET has picked-up a seventh season of its hit comedy The Game. As you know, The Game on BET is a record-breaking, history-making phenomenon, with 7.7 million viewers on premiere night in 2011, making BET the home of the #1 sitcom debut in the history of cable TV. In 2013, players come and go but The Game goes on, with Lauren London and Jay Ellis joining the cast in season six. Brandy returns in her expanded role as Chardonnay, aka Mrs. Jason Pitts, along with series favorites Hosea Chanchez, Coby Bell and Wendy Raquel Robinson. Season 7 promises to deliver more sexy dramedy as the cast negotiates the ups and downs of love and football. Look for The Game season seven to premiere in early 2014. Also returning will be multi-camera comedy Let's Stay Together. Looking back, in 2011 the premiere of Let's Stay Together debuted at #2 right behind The Game, making it a certified smash hit. This fun, flirtatious comedy about two couples and one sexy single is back for a fourth season of laughs and love lessons. Audiences adore and relate to this cast. Averaging nearly 3 million viewers in its first season, the series debut ranks among the top 3 Tuesday sitcom premieres over the past 10 years. Making relationships work is easier said than done, but Season 4 is sure to be filled with juicy new plot twists that will continue to keep Let's Stay Together on viewers' must-watch list. This comedy will also return in early 2014. Currently, both comedies just started their current seasons last Tuesday and are airing through May 21.

Malcolm & Eddie

Moving on to sister network Centric, they have announced a few acquisitions. First, they will be airing episodes of current first-run syndicated sitcoms The First Family and Mr. Box Office. Both sitcoms were originally planned to launch in the fall, as we mentioned, but the deals didn't go through and they will start on Friday, April 19. The First Family will air Fridays at 8pm and 9pm, while Mr. Box Office will air Fridays at 8:30pm & 9:30pm. They both air on weekends in local broadcast syndication, so check your local listings. They will encore between 2-4am on Friday nights as well. Also, Centric has added reruns of the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie as of April 1. The series was airing on and off on sister network MTV2. The Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Eddie Griffin sitcom is airing weekdays 2-3pm, replacing Everybody Hates Chris. Both of Malcolm-Jamal Warner's comedies will air in a Sunday night block as well, with Malcolm & Eddie from 9-10pm leading into his earlier series The Cosby Show from 10-11pm. That's about it that was sitcom/scripted TV series related in BET/Centric's upfront. In scheduling news, 227 will get a stunt on Centric on Saturday, April 13 from 4-9pm, while Everybody Hates Chris gets one on Saturday, April 27 from 11am-7pm. Both series are currently not on the regular line-up. On BET, we have a marathon of The Jamie Foxx Show on Saturday, April 13 from 8am-6pm, another series currently not on the regular line-up. One other note, recent addition Family Matters will get a marathon on Saturday, May 25 from 8am-7:30pm, kicking off Memorial Day weekend. Stay with us for continued updates.



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 (April 3). The episode features The Bachelor host Chris Harrison in a voice-over. In the episode airing tonight, "The Bachelor," Frankie (Patrica Heaton) can't hide her disappointment over whom The Bachelor chooses to marry and ends up moping around the house for days about it; Mike (Neil Flynn) tries to toughen Sue (Eden Sher) up when she joins the school's tennis team and continually compliments her opponents during their matches; and Axl (Charlie McDermott) and Cassidy (guest star Galadriel Stineman) try to figure out where their relationship stands after their big fight.

Spring is in the air! As the season changes, lots of things are happening in the Heck household: The Bachelor season has ended and Frankie is upset, Sue plays tennis while Mike helps, Axl and Cassidy go through a rough patch, and Brick surprises with a new "obsession." The Axl-Cassidy storyline is a continuation from the previous episode where we see Cassidy and her ex-boyfriend holding hands while Axl sees that from far away. They confront each other about that incident and what Axl saw, wasn't really what he thought he saw. Cassidy gets upset and Axl tries to win her back, but how will it go? I hope it is a happy ending, because these two are good for each other. The best storyline once again goes to Sue. She accidentally gets on the tennis team (yeah, only in Sue's world this can happen) and is ecstatic. She goes to practice and Mike is helping and he realizes Sue is actually good! However, when Sue plans an actual game she is just full of compliments...for the opponents. Mike tries to get her out of that habit and hilarity happens when she plays her next match. I'll just say, if only the entire world is nice and positive like Sue Heck then everyone would be living in peace. And the final storyline is the main storyline about Frankie watching The Bachelor and she doesn't pay attention to anything around her (and also has a Roseanne-style laugh). While watching the finale, she is upset at The Bachelor's decision in picking his fiance. She wanted Alyssa, but he went with Kendall! This causes Frankie to lose it for about six days and she is just obsessively upset. She'll get a boost from an unexpected source at the end that is hilarious.



"There's not a thing that I would change... 'cause The Middle is amazing. Just the way it is." We get a nice Bruno Mars song at the end of the episode and it can be reworded to fit this show, just like above. This episode perfectly shows us the talent and greatness of this series. It has the laughs, the emotional moments, and Sue Heck. Everyone shines in this episode, like usual. Sue Heck shines the most because she brings it to yet another level in this episode. I don't think I have ever seen anyone as nice and positive like that, especially playing a game or sport. Everyone wants to be competitive, but Sue just roots everyone on. She stole the episode. Not to say everything else wasn't great, it was, but Sue was just perfection. You'll want to tune in tonight for another great episode of this sitcom. B


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, May 30

Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.

Happy's Place - "Fish Fry Monday" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett sees Bobbie drowning in work, he devises a clever ruse to give her a much-needed day off fishing, all under the guise of reviving the tavern's Fish Fry Mondays; Isabella dives into the world of bartending with Gabby.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 26)

Friday, May 30

  • Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal/The Curse) - Watch Nathan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Paula Poundstone (Home Movies) - Paula performs stand-up comedy on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Ralph swings by for a chat about Karate Kid: Legends on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) - Justina chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about Broadway's Real Women Have Curves: The Musical on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is telling Drew about the new venture she's taking on, where she's currently at with dating and more on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Don Darryl Rivera (Only Murders in the Building) - Don talks about Broadway's Aladdin on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

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


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