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

Wednesday, May 13

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 11)

Wednesday, May 13

  • Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Watch Jim on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Jill Kargman (Odd Mom Out) - Jill appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso swings by the studio for a chat about ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Geena Davis (The Geena Davis Show/Sara/Buffalo Bill) - Geena talks about The Boroughs on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She will also be on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Martha Plimpton (Sprung/The Real O'Neals/Raising Hope) - Martha tells Drew about her show Task on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew, Ross and Valerie cover the latest headlines on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl) - Lamorne talks about Spider-Noir on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Marco Calvani (The Four Seasons) and Erika Henningsen (The Four Seasons/Girl5eva) - Marco and Erika talk about Netflix's The Four Seasons 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

05/12 - ABC Upfront 2026-27: Fall 2026 Schedule; ABC Summer 2026 Schedule
05/11 - NBC Upfront 2026-27: Fall 2026 Schedule; Fox Upfront 2026-27: Fall 2026 Schedule
05/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 11, 2026)
05/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Picks Up The Rockford Files and Two Comedies; King of the Hill Season 15 Premiere Date Set
05/08 - Hulu's Hannah Berner: None of My Business Special; Survival of the Thickest Returns July 2
05/07 - Highway to Heaven Reboot Coming to Fox in 2027-28; Hulu's Deli Boys Trailer
05/06 - King of the Hill Season 15 Premieres July 20; The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins Renewed for Season 2
05/05 - Son of a Critch Renewed for Final Season; The Four Seasons Trailer for Season 2
05/04 - Hulu's Lisa Ann Walter: It Was An Accident Trailer; Netflix Announces Season 2 of Bad Thoughts
05/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 4, 2026)
05/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Cancels Stumble; Do You Want Kids? Not Going Forward at ABC
05/01 - ABC Renews Shifting Gears and Scrubs for 2026-27; AMC Upfront 2026
04/30 - Apple TV Season 5 of Trying; Netflix Announces Dad's House
04/29 - Ted Lasso Season 4 Premieres August 5; Heads Will Roll to Return on Audible
04/28 - The Big Bang Theory Spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Premieres in July on HBO Max; The CW Revives Private Eyes
04/27 - Hulu's Alice and Steve Premieres June 8; Prime Video Renews Hazbin Hotel for a Fifth and Final Season
04/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 27, 2026)
04/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: First Look at Scooby-Doo: Origins; Clueless Sequel Series Not Going Forward at Peacock
04/24 - A Different World Sequel Wraps Production and Adds More Cast Members; Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro Coming to ABC and Hulu in July
04/23 - Antenna TV's One Day at a Time and Rewind TV's 227 Mother's Day Marathons; Valerie Bertinelli's Lifetime Movie Love, Again Premieres May 9
04/22 - Stavros Halkias Returns to Netflix; CNN to Air Matt Friend Comedy Special Friday
04/21 - COZI TV Acquires Two and a Half Men and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper This May; Deli Boys Season 2 First Look
04/20 - Pluto TV Spring Slate Includes My Wife and Kids; Hulu Adding Podcasts with New Girl, Prison Break and This Is Us Stars
04/19 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 20, 2026)
04/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Law & Order: Organized Crime Ending After Five Seasons; Price Is Right to Get Live Primetime Episode in December
04/17 - Great Entertainment Television Acquires Community; Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Stars Reuniting
04/16 - CBS Fall 2026-27 Schedule; The White Lotus Season 4 Filming Commences
04/15 - Audible Series with Kevin Hart This Father's Day; Pop Culture Jeopardy! Returns May 11
04/14 - Peacock Renews The 'Burbs; ABC's Drama Hits Get 2026-27 Renewals
04/13 - FETV Acquires Car 54, Where Are You?; Hacks Events Ahead of Final Season
04/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 13, 2026)