Wednesday, May 01, 2013

ABC Family's Memorial Day Marathon Is Baby Daddy; Episodic Review: How to Live with Your Parents - "How to Run the Show" Airing Tonight on ABC



Grab your favorite blankie and cozy up on the couch for a Memorial Day Baby Daddy marathon on ABC Family. On Monday, May 27, viewers can catch up on all ten episodes from Season 1 that aired last summer of this freshman sitcom, airing in order from 2:00pm– 7:00pm ET/PT. And it's the perfect chance to do so because the second season of Baby Daddy premieres two nights later on Wednesday, May 29, at 8:30 pm ET/PT, following the season premiere of Melissa & Joey. The series is a multi-camera comedy that shoots in front of a live studio audience in Los Angeles. If you like shows like Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell, you'll certainly like this show, as it is hip and has a young cast. Look for our review of the first two episodes of the second season closer to the season premiere. Hint: Kyle XY star Matt Dallas will guest star on the season premiere, reuniting him with his former Kyle XY buddy Jean-Luc Bilodeau!

Baby Daddy, which launched as the network's #1 comedy series in ABC Family history, follows Ben (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), a young man in his early 20s living the life of a bachelor as a bartender in New York City with his buddy, Tucker (Tahj Mowry), and his brother, Danny (Derek Theler), a professional hockey player. Their lives are turned upside down when they come home one day to find a baby girl left on the doorstep by an ex-girlfriend of Ben's. After much deliberation, Ben decides to raise the baby with the help of his friends and his protective and sometimes over-bearing mother, Bonnie (Melissa Peterman), and his close female friend, Riley (Chelsea Kane), who has had a secret crush on him since childhood. Riley is hopeful that Ben will finally take notice, but she doesn't realize that Ben's brother, Danny, is harboring a secret crush on her.




On the next...How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life):
By: Skees

ABC's Comedy Wednesday sitcom starring Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett and airs Wednesday nights at 9:30pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (May 1). In the episode airing tonight, "How to Run the Show," Elaine (Elizabeth Perkins) and Max (Brad Garrett) encourage Polly (Sarah Chalke) to put her needs first, as they did when Polly was growing up, and offer to babysit Natalie (Rachel Eggleston) so Polly can spend time out with Scott (guest star Reid Scott). But they get a quick lesson in parenting the middle ground between letting kids run the show and ending up on a milk carton.

The episode begins with a typical parent-child struggle, where Polly and Natalie just can't seem to find common ground (specifically, Polly has no authority over her own daughter). The struggle ends with Polly taking Natalie to work after she refuses to go to soccer practice. But with Polly constantly putting Natalie first, this creates a problem when she wants to go on a date. Max and Elaine decide to put their own daughter first and agree to babysit Natalie so that Polly can go on the date, but the plans that they have truly do put the grandparents first. Meanwhile, Polly's surprise date with Scott turns out to be an even bigger surprise when she his kids tag along on the date, and they too are determined to have all of the control in the parent-child relationship.



I've been enjoying this series, but this episode isn't really one of the strongest ones that I've seen. It seems that the overall theme of the episode was just the battle of control between parents and children, but there didn't seem to be much explanation behind the battles (and this seems to actually be an on-going criticism that I have of the series, the lack of a full back-story). Polly's date introduced another battle (with different kids), but again, it just seemed to be parent vs. child without much of an explanation. Perhaps the best part of the episode, though, was the day that Natalie spent with Max and Elaine. As always, they have their own (somewhat irresponsible) views of raising children, and that irresponsibility results in a nightmare at the wine and jazz festival (the "family friendly" event that they take her to). As much as I like Polly, I feel that Max and Elaine have had some of the best moments in the series so far, and this episode is no exception. Unfortunately, though, I don't feel that the day of "family fun" at the wine and jazz festival was enough to make up for the shortcomings of this episode. C


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Scrubs - "My Return" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
John “J.D.” Dorian unexpectedly finds himself back at Sacred Heart, reuniting him with new and old faces.

Scrubs - "My 2nd First Day" (ABC, 8:32PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
J.D. navigates a new normal, while Elliot and Turk clash over the budget.

Family Guy - "Bringing Up Buddy" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Meg pursues an unlikely friendship with an NFL great; Stewie and Brian host a dinner party at a home furnishing store.

Universal Basic Guys - "Go Fund Mernft" (F Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark helps Mernft Man build the house of his dreams; Tammy's fundraising campaign reveals a surprising side of Mernft.

American Dad! - "The Flume Flume Room" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Stan struggles to appreciate Francine's niche interest in flume rides.

Family Guy - "Dear Francis" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Peter calls out the name "Francis" while making love with Lois, but she believes he meant his deceased father, leading to a round of therapy; things worsen when Lois discovers "Frances" is the name of the Clam's new, pretty waitress.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 23)

Friday, February 27

  • Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Nick is a musical guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Sam appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Guy Torry (Good News) - Guy is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael and director Ryan Coogler talk Oscar nomination with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Eva Marcille (Born Again Virign/Tyler Perry's House of Payne) - Eva talks about Lifetime's Pushed Off a Plane and Survived on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Courteney Cox (Shining Vale/Cougar Town/Friends/Family Ties) - Courteney talks about Scream 7 on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Tony Danza (Taxi/Who's the Boss?/Hudson Street/The Tony Danza Show) - It's a cooking flashback with Tony in the kitchen on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Tracy Morgan (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins/Crutch/The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - It's a little bit extra with from Drew's interview with the hilarious Tracy on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Dorian Missick (Zoe Ever After) - Dorian talks about Prime's 56 Days on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, 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

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
02/06 - Rooster Premieres March 8 on HBO; MGM+ Comedy American Classic Trailer
02/05 - NBC Unveils Trailer and Guest Stars for The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins; Adult Swim's Anime Series Rooster Fighter Premieres March 14
02/04 - Netflix Renews A Man on the Inside for Season 3; Apple TV Premiere Date for Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed
02/03 - NBC Renews St. Denis Medical and Happy's Place for Season 3; Pilot Orders for Comedy Projects on NBC
02/02 - Remembering Demond Wilson of Sanford and Son, Catherine O'Hara of Schitt's Creek, Yvonne Lime of Father Knows Best, and TV Director Bruce Bilson
02/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 2, 2026)
01/31 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Orders Pair of Comedy Pilots; Final Episode Airdate Announced for The Late Show
01/30 - Jury Duty Returns March 20 on Prime Video; Katt Williams 4th Netflix Special
01/29 - Season 4 of Ted Lasso Premieres This Summer; Shrinking Renewed for Season 4 as Season 3 Premieres
01/28 - Nikki Glaser's New Hulu Special Premieres April 24; HBO Announces Late-Night Series