Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Comedy Central Fall 2013 Schedule with Community; TCA Summer 2013 Press Tour: The CW

Community

We continue our look at the fall 2013 cable and digital TV schedules today with Comedy Central. They will be adding reruns of Community to its line-up, as we all know. We now have the premiere date and airtimes. The comedy will launch on Comedy Central with a marathon on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 12pm-5pm. Its regular airings will begin on Friday, Sept. 20 with a block from 9-11pm starting with season one. It will air Tuesdays-Fridays as well starting with season three episodes at 4:30pm beginning Sept. 24, replacing one airing of Futurama. So, Tues-Fri at 4:30pm and Fridays 9-11pm. On late Sunday nights (early Monday mornings), Community will air from 3-4am (a replay of one of the Friday hours). Community will also be airing on local broadcast syndication this fall, so check your listings. Leading up to the premiere of Community, Comedy Central will air "Community Fridays" with themed shows and movies. On Friday, Sept. 6, there will be a block of South Park and on Sept. 13 the film Hot Tub Time Machine will air.

Elsewhere, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny and Philadelphia, South Park and Futurama are among the series that air during weekdays. The network no long is airing Scrubs and 30 Rock has been relegated to just Thursdays from 11:30am-1pm. Originals wise, The Comedy Central Roast of James Franco special will premiere on Monday, Sept. 2 at 10. Tosh.0 and Brickleberry will air new episodes on Tuesdays beginning Sept. 3 at 10. Key & Peele will have its third season premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 10:30pm. Comedy Central will present a 21-hour South Park marathon beginning at 9pm on Saturday, Sept. 21 and ending at 9pm on Sunday, Sept. 22 (there is only a break from 5-8am). The marathon is to promote the season 17 premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 10pm.

Discuss the Comedy Central Fall 2013 schedule on our message board.


The TCA Summer 2013 press tour continues and The CW was up yesterday, so we will give you a recap of their announcements. The CW Network has shifted some premiere dates of its 2013 fall season schedule, allowing for additional exposure and time to launch. The series premiere of The Originals will now debut on a special night and time on Thursday, October 3 at 9:00pm ET. The Originals series premiere will follow the season premiere of The Vampire Diaries, which is now bowing one week earlier than previously announced, now on Thursday, October 3 at 8:00pm ET giving The Originals the additional exposure of premiering behind the network's highest-rated series. The following week, The Originals will then move to its regularly scheduled night and time Tuesday, October 8 at 8:00pm ET, followed by the 9th season premiere of Supernatural at 9:00pm ET, also a week earlier than previously announced. An encore of The Originals second episode will air Thursday, October 10 at 9:00pm ET, again following an original episode of The Vampire Diaries. The CW will launch the highly anticipated premiere of its Mary, Queen of Scots drama, Reign, on Thursday, October 17 at 9:00pm ET, a week later than previously announced, allowing for even more time and opportunity to promote the series. In other news, The CW will keep the laughs coming, giving its hit improvisational comedy series, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, a second season order of 24 all-new, half-hour episodes. The premiere date and time for the second season will be announced at a later date. The series returned to the airwaves with a bang this summer, with its premiere delivering The CW's most watched show (2.9 million viewers) in its time period (Tuesday, 8 pm) in nearly five years, and was the network's most watched unscripted series premiere in six years.

There were show panels with the casts and producers of the following series: Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Reign, The Originals, , and The Tomorrow People. Today there will be set visits and Hulu is presenting. The broadcast portion continues tomorrow with Fox up.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

USA Network Fall 2013 Schedule with Modern Family, NCIS: LA; TCA Summer 2013 Press Tour: CBS

Modern Family

We continue our look at the fall 2013 cable and digital TV schedules today with USA Network. Of course their big acquisition is Modern Family, but they also have NCIS: LA coming as more than just repurpose plays. We of course announced both sometime back (Modern Family back in 2010 and NCIS: LA back in 2010). At the 2013 USA Network upfront, the premiere date and time was announced for Modern Family reruns on USA (Sept. 24 8|7c), but we have the complete information now. It will actually launch on Sunday, Sept. 22 from 8-11pm with a mini-marathon. Modern Family will air regularly back-to-back in primetime during the 8pm hour every Tuesday-Friday, with the Tuesday episodes extended through full primetime until 11pm and Friday episodes extended to 10pm. On Sundays, Modern Family will air in a block from 9-11pm. To get ready for Modern Family on USA, the network will air "Modern Family" NCIS and Law & Order: SVU marathons on Saturday, Sept. 7 and Sunday, Sept. 8. On Sunday, Sept. 29 from 4-9pm, Law & Order: SVU episodes featuring guest appearances by Modern Family stars like Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell & Sarah Hyland, will lead into the regular Sunday stack of Modern Family. And just like The Middle ABC Family update yesterday, Modern Family will also premiere on local broadcast syndication this fall. It will premiere Sept. 23, so check your local listings (in NYC it will be on WNYW).

On to NCIS: Los Angeles, the regular plays begin the week of Sept. 23 and it will air regularly Mondays, Wednesdays-Fridays at 5pm & 7pm, along with a block on Wednesdays in primetime from 9pm-11pm and on Thursdays at 11pm. There will also be plenty of "launch marathons" for the series on Monday, Sept. 23 from 6am-8pm and then 11:05pm-2:05am following WWE Raw. There will also be marathons on Wednesday, Sept. 25 from 6am-6pm & 9pm-4am and also on Saturday, Sept. 28 from 9am-2am. Other series USA Network airs includes Law & Order: SVU, NCIS, House and filler airings of Cheers. After Sept. 20 there is no sign of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on the schedule, but that could return in October. Like ABC Family's fall schedule, the original primetime series will all be over before the new reruns start. Burn Notice will have its series finale on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 9pm leading into the season finale of Graceland at 10pm. Royal Pains will have its season ender on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9pm. And finally, the Tuesday series will have their mid-season finales on Tuesday, Sept. 17 with Covert Affairs at 9 and Suits at 10. The back 6 episodes will return in fourth quarter (Covert Affairs) and January (Suits), but the dates and times are not announced yet. And finally, movie wise, the network television premiere of Bridesmaids (2011) will be on USA Network. The film starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rebel Wilson and Melissa McCarthy will premiere on Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21 at 8pm and Sunday, Sept. 22 at 5:30pm leading into the Modern Family marathon.

Discuss the USA Network Fall 2013 schedule on our message board.


The TCA Summer 2013 press tour continues and CBS was up yesterday, so we will give you a recap of their announcements. First up, CBS will launch its premiere Thursday now with a one hour episode of The Big Bang Theory on Sept. 26 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT. The back-to-back original episodes will lead into the series premiere of The Crazy Ones starring Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. As a result, CBS's new comedy The Millers will now premiere a week later on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8:30PM ET/PT. Meanwhile, new drama Under the Dome, which is television's #1 summer series in viewers and key demographics, will return in summer 2014 with 13 all-new episodes for its second season. Stephen King, whose bestselling novel is the basis for the series, will write the premiere episode of the second season.

There were show panels with the casts and producers of the following series: The Millers, Hostages, We Are Men, The Crazy Ones, upcoming syndicated entry The Arsenio Hall Show, The Good Wife, Mom and the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards. Right before the Hostages panel, there was a research briefing. What qualifies as a programming success in today's digital world? What are the multi-platform trends you need to be aware of? The CBS researcher quantified how non-linear viewing via DVR, Video-on-Demand and online streaming - adds to a show's total audience. Also shared was research on social media's relationship with television, what aging boomers mean to the 18-49 demographic and other audience trends.

The CW will continue the broadcast portion today, so come on back for a recap tomorrow on the blog for any notable highlights. We got a notice of some premiere date changes along with some other information, so we will highlight all that for you tomorrow. Come on back!

Monday, July 29, 2013

ABC Family Fall 2013 Schedule with The Middle; TCA Summer 2013 Press Tour: Cable Day 3 and NBC

The Middle

Welcome to the 2013 edition of our annual look at the fall schedules for cable and digital TV! We are launching this schedule barrage with ABC Family! As we all know, they will be adding reruns of The Middle to its line-up. Now we know when and what times! The network will launch the comedy on Monday, September 16, 2013 with a marathon from 11am-7pm. It will regularly air weekdays from 5-7pm during family time (though at times, the 6pm hour could be preempted for a long movie or original encore). On weekends, it will air in the mornings from 7-8am. The Middle will also be coming to local broadcast syndication on Sept. 16, so check your local listings (such as in NY on WPIX) and in March 2014 The Hallmark Channel will also run the series. The series premiered in fall 2009 on ABC (Wednesdays at 8PM) and is currently entering its fifth season on ABC. The Middle stars Patricia Heaton as Frankie, Neil Flynn as Mike, Charlie McDermott as Axl, Eden Sher as Sue, Atticus Shaffer as Brick and Chris Kattan as Bob. It is created and is executive produced by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.

Elsewhere on ABC Family September 2013, there will be many other schedule changes during the day starting Sept. 16. A couple sitcoms will return (8 Simple Rules and 10 Things I Hate About You), while one (Full House) will be off the schedule. Boy Meets World will move to afternoons, as the series moves out of the mornings and to 2-4pm, replacing Reba. That sitcom will slide into the 4pm hour and will be leading into The Middle. The afternoon staple That '70s Show will now move to mornings from 7:30am-9:30am, since Reba/The Middle will air late afternoon/early evening. AFV is off the line-up completely, as it was airing at 6pm. Leading off at 8am will be an episode of the ABC Family original sitcom 10 Things I Hate About You. This could be airing just temporary, since the series didn't have many episodes. After the 700 Club programming, Gilmore Girls remains at 11am. At noon, an hour of Reba will be added replacing Full House, while from 1-2pm the John Ritter comedy 8 Simple Rules returns to the schedule, also replacing Full House, as that series will be off the line-up.

In primetime, there will be no original series to start the fall, but more news on original series will come soon. Movies will air from 7-11pm each weeknight until then starting Sept. 16. Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy will have their mid-season finales on Wednesday, Sept. 4 from 8-9pm and will return likely in early 2014 or late 2013 for the remaining episodes of their season. A Melissa & Joey Labor Day marathon will air on Sept. 2 from 12pm-4:30pm and a mini-marathon on finale day on Sept. 4 from 6-8pm. Baby Daddy will have a marathon on Sept. 4 from 12-6pm. Other September original finales are The Vineyard on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 and Spell-Mageddon on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9. In late night, 700 Club is at 11 leading into The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air at 12 midnight. Starting Sept. 30, Fresh Prince will expand to two-hours airing from 12-2am. That's all for now, stay tuned if anything changes in October and any news on original series. We know that Pretty Little Liars will have its annual Halloween special in October, so stay tuned for a date on that along with the premiere of the spin-off series Ravenswood.

View the full ABC Family September 2013 schedule with The Middle.


The TCA Summer 2013 press tour continued this weekend, so we will give you a recap of what you missed. On Friday it was the third and final day for the cable portion, while on Saturday it was the first day of broadcast with NBC up first. For cable, NickMom announced that this fall they will premiere Instant Mom, its first original scripted comedy series, starring and produced by Tia Mowry-Hardrict (Sister, Sister). The half-hour, multi-camera series features Mowry-Hardrict as Stephanie, a party girl who trades in Cosmos for carpools when she marries Charlie (Michael Boatman, Spin City), who already has three kids. The series is picked up for 13 episodes and will premiere in the primetime NickMom block on the Nick Jr. channel, with encore episodes airing on Nick at Nite. No official premiere date and time has been announced just yet. Moving on to Lifetime, the witching hour is coming...get ready to meet the Beauchamps, the Witches of East End... Lifetime's newest drama, Witches of East End, featuring an all-star-cast headlined by Emmy Award-winner Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin, Mad Men), Mädchen Amick (Mad Men, Damages), Jenna Dewan Tatum (American Horror Story) and Rachel Boston (In Plain Sight) as a family of witches living in the secluded seaside town of East Haven, will cast its spell beginning Sunday, October 6, at 10:00pm ET/PT following the season finale of Devious Maids in late September. Also set to star are Eric Winter (The Mentalist), Daniel DiTomasso (CSI), Jason George (Mistresses, Grey's Anatomy) and Oscar and Golden Globe Award nominee Virginia Madsen (Sideways, Anna Nicole).

Onto NBC, in ramping up its commitment to long-form and event limited series programming along the lines of A.D.: After the Bible, which was announced last month (but won't premiere until the 2014-15 season), NBC is in early development on a handful of new projects, including a behind-the-scenes look at Hillary Rodham Clinton, an updated retelling of Rosemary's Baby, Stephen King's Tommyknockers and Plymouth, based on the epic story of the Mayflower's landing in America. The four-hour miniseries titled Hillary, based on the life of former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, stars Diane Lane and will be written and directed by Oscar nominee Courtney Hunt. Rosemary's Baby is a four-hour updated retelling of the bestselling novel by Ira Levin that was later adapted as a feature film about devil worship and the complex relationship between a young husband and wife. Stephen King's Tommyknockers is based on the renown author's chilling 1987 novel about how the residents of a small Maine town deal with what they believe is an alien spacecraft that has landed nearby. Limited series Plymouth, which examines the challenges and drama of the Pilgrims' journey across the Atlantic and the difficulties of settling in a new country, will be executive produced by Mark Burnett and Anne Thomopolous of Mark Burnett Productions, and Gina Matthews and Grant Sharbo. And finally for NBC, NBC Sports Group announced a new documentary on former Olympic figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding featuring an exclusive interview of Kerrigan that will air during its Sochi Winter Olympics coverage.

Yesterday had a full day for Reelz TV, but we aren't covering it. CBS will continue the broadcast portion today, so come on back for a recap tomorrow on the blog for any notable highlights.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Summer Week 9 Sitcom Ratings; New Sitcoms On TV This Summer

We're in the dog days of summer, but there are still sitcom airings, new and repeats. We will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:

Summer Week 9 (July 22-28) How the Network Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of July 15-21)
  • The Simpsons (Fox) 2 airings - A summer repeat at 8pm did 3.22 million and a 1.39 18-49 rating, which is up tenths in 18-49 from previous week. A 7:30pm repeat leading in did 2.07 million and a 0.91 18-49 rating, but down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • The Cleveland Show (Fox) - preempted.
  • Bob's Burgers (Fox) - An encore airing at 8:30pm did 2.74 million and a 1.31 18-49 rating, back up three tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at 9 posted 3.3 million and a 1.55 18-49 rating, up about a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • American Dad! (Fox) - 9:30pm was preempted for the Fox Animation HD preview that only did 2.42 million and a 1.08 18-49 rating, which is down three tenths in 18-49 from previous week's Dad! encore. A repeat of American Dad! aired at 7pm and did 1.41 million and a 0.65 18-49 rating, down about a tenth in 18-49 with previous week's Cleveland Show airing in the time period.
Monday Sitcoms
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat at 8pm did 4.12 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, down again one tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Raising Hope (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 8pm did 2.22 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week. The 8:30pm repeat did 1.86 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • 2 Broke Girls (CBS) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 4.84 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, up one tenth in 18-49 from previous week. A repeat leading in at 8:30pm did 4.01 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week's Mike & Molly repeat in the slot.
  • New Girl (Fox) - A repeat at 9 did only 1.66 million and just a 0.7 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. It doesn't repeat well for an anchor at all. 
  • Mike & Molly (CBS) - The regular 9:30pm encore did 5.18 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 week-to-week.
  • The Mindy Project (Fox) - A repeat on Fox did 1.6 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating at 9:30pm, but up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
Tuesday Sitcoms
  • None.
Wednesday Sitcoms
  • The Middle (ABC) - A summer repeat did 3.58 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Suburgatory (ABC) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 2.47 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Modern Family (ABC) - At 9pm, a summer repeat did 3.1 million and a 0.9 rating, up one tenth in 18-49 from previous week. It hasn't repeated that well the last few weeks it seems.
  • The Neighbors (ABC) - A summer repeat did 2.3 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating at 9:30pm, on par in 18-49 with previous week. Good exposure for the fall when it moves to Fridays.
Thursday Sitcoms
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat at 8 did 8.06 million and a 2.0 rating, back up three tenths in 18-49 from previous week and a clear leader in sitcoms for the week.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 6.79 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
  • The Office (NBC) - preempted. 
  • Parks and Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
Friday Sitcoms
  • None.
Saturday Sitcoms
  • None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Fox Animation Domination from 7-10pm.

Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory & Two and a Half Men was impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of New Girl and The Mindy Project).



Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on TV this summer. Some highlights include: On cable, Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy are all-new this Wednesday beginning at 8pm. TV Land has all-new episodes of the summer season of Hot in Cleveland this Wednesday at 10pm, followed by a new The Exes at 10:30pm and a brand new The Soul Man at 11pm only on TV Land. BET has a new episode of The Game on Tuesday at 10pm. TBS airs an all-new episode of Sullivan & Son Thursday at 10. Nick at Nite has the Scott Baio sitcom See Dad Run every Sunday at 8pm but a repeat is tonight, while Wendell & Vinnie airs at 8:30pm with a repeat this week. New episodes of Sam & Cat air every Saturday at 8 on Nick! FX's Charlie Sheen sitcom Anger Management airs Thursdays at 9:30pm and is brand new this week. New sitcom airings are the perfect way to beat the summer blues! Look for our daily rundown of what sitcoms are airing each night every day at the bottom of the blog story so you don't miss anything!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Digital Digest: Something Old Becomes Something New on Blu Ray; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 2, Volume 2 DVD Review


Welcome to Digital Digest! We have a lot of "Blu" news this week, along with a review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 2, Volume 2. Let's get started!

DIGITAL NEWS

The "greatest" news this week is blue... with an announcement from CBS this week regarding The Honeymooners coming to Blu-ray. Unbelievably, it has almost a decade since CBS released The Honeymooners - Classic 39 Episodes on DVD, and that was an improvement upon what Fox had released in 1996 with their VHS set of the complete series. Now, CBS moves one step further with The Honeymooners - Classic 39 Episodes on Blu-ray. Amazon.com gives a list price of $107.99, but we're not quite sure that is correct.

Another piece of Blu-ray news came in on TVShowsOnDVD.com on Friday, but this one seems a little odd. Apparently, Dennis Haskins stated on Twitter recorded some special features for some Saved by the Bell Blu-rays that are (according to him) in the works. It seems a little unusual that the series would be released in the format (it wasn't exactly a high production quality series), but it is important to keep in mind that Lionsgate (the studio that originally released the DVDs of the series) has been pretty big on releasing Blu-ray releases for a lot of newer series. When and if we hear more, we'll let you know!

CBS is offering some new (well, old) streaming series online this summer for free. As part of Second Look on CBS.com, you can now enjoy the entire run (as short as they were) of Jericho, Swingtown, and Wolf Lake. All of these aired on CBS for a season (or two in the case of Jericho), and were quickly canceled. But now, you can enjoy them all from beginning to end online.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (July 30) is another slow day for releases, but Shout! Factory has Angry Beavers - The Complete Series for those interested in that series.



BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
 


Blog DVD Review: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 2, Volume 2 (Shout! Factory, $19.93)
by Pavan

Back to the Command Center we go! Following its debut in 1993 (hence why the MSRP is $19.93!), Saban's iconic live-action pop culture series, Power Rangers quickly became the most watched children's television program in North America and Shout! Factory is releasing each season in two volumes each on DVD. We are now into second half of season two and we have the remaining 26 episodes from that season.
In season two, tired of Rita Repulsa's failure to dominate the Earth her boss Lord Zedd steps in to take matters into his own hands. Determined to rid the universe of the Power Rangers once and for all Zedd has at his disposal an entire arsenal of monsters created with his own personal touch and inspired by Earthly plants and animals. To battle this new villain who is twice the evil tyrant Rita was the Power Rangers are imbued with new and greater powers along with new Zords modeled after mythological creatures - the Thunderzords. The Power Rangers are joined by new friends and new Rangers including the powerful White Ranger a ferocious hero armed with Saba the talking sword and the mighty White Tigerzord.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Season Three 4-DVD set is was released on July 2, 2013 and that wasn't released in two volumes, since the episode count was much less in season three. We hope to have a review of that very soon.

Starring Steve Cardenas as Rocky the Red Ranger, Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam the Black Ranger, Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly the Pink Ranger, Karan Ashley as Aisha the Yellow Ranger, David Yost as Billy the Blue Ranger and Jason David Frank as Tommy the Green Ranger. Among the most memorable episodes from the second half of the second season include the two-part episode, "The Power Transfer," where Jason, Trini, and Zack have been chosen as the three teens from Angel Grove to attend the World Teen Peace Summit in Switzerland. In part two, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha manage to free themselves and destroy the Putties and the sleeping device. In "Lights, Camera, Action," The Power Rangers take the special message of the power of education to the airwaves, but Zedd tries to stop the show by changing a TV camera into the evil Showbiz Monster. In "Forever Friends," Goldar kidnaps Kimberly and Aisha's best friend Shawna,. while our heroes plan to rescue their friends, Zedd sends the Jaws of Destruction to battle them. In the two-part episode, "Rangers Back in Time," Lord Zedd casts a spell that turns back the hands of time and turns the Power Rangers into kids and then unleashes the Photomare monster that traps them in a photograph. In "Blue Ranger Gone Bad," Billy makes a special project for art class as this catches the eye of one of his female classmates, Violet, who makes a perfect likeness of Billy, while Rita casts a spell on it to make it real to take his place while the others are preoccupied by the Putties. In the two-part season finale, "Wild West Rangers," The Rangers teleport to the Command Center, but Kimberly ends up going through a time hole.

Each episode on this set is just around 19-20 minutes on average, which seems on the short side but this is how it was originally. However, there are no "Today on Power Rangers" 30-second previews before each episode. So it is missing that, but everything else is unedited and there (not much to edit, if anything, since the episodes are already 20 minutes). Runtimes are as follows:

Disc 4:
27. "The Power Transfer, Part I" (19:45)
28. "The Power Transfer, Part II" (20:15)
29. "Goldar's Vice-Versa" (20:15)
30. "Mirror of Regret" (20:16)
31. "When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?" (20:15)
32. "Rocky Just Wants to Have Fun" (20:14)
33. "Lights, Camera, Action" (20:16)
34. "Where There's Smoke, There's Fire" (20:15)
35. "Scavenger Hunt" (20:16)

Disc 5:
36. "The Great Bookala Escape" (20:16)
37. "Forever Friends" (20:14)
38. "A Reel Fish Story" (19:25)
39. "Rangers Back in Time, Part I" (19:25)
40. "Rangers Back in Time, Part II" (20:06)
41. "The Wedding, Part I" (20:17)
42. "The Wedding, Part II" (19:57)
43. "The Wedding, Part III" (20:17)
44. "Return of the Green Ranger, Part I" (20:17)

Disc 6:
45. "Return of the Green Ranger, Part II" (20:15)
46. "Return of the Green Ranger, Part III" (20:15)
47. "Best Man for the Job" (20:05)
48. "Storybook Rangers, Part I" (19:35)
49. "Storybook Rangers, Part I" (20:05)
50. "Wild West Rangers, Part I" (20:06)
51. "Wild West Rangers, Part II" (20:06)
52. "Blue Ranger Gone Bad" (20:05)

Packaging is a snap case holding the discs inside, similar to the previous releases. The cover art of this first volume has all of the Power Rangers (Black, Yellow, Red, Pink, Blue and...White) with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers logo above them. The color scheme is blue for this volume. The back of the case has a synopsis of the show, the set, and technical information. We also have a shot of Lord Zedd and another one of the White & Pink Rangers, similar to volume one. Inside the case, there is a disc-by-disc breakdown on the left panel, listing every episode on this set. The background is in blue. We just get episode titles, though. The discs don't overlap each other, which is great. We have a plastic holder in the middle. Discs four (the number is continued from volume one) and five are on that plastic holder, while disc six is on the right panel itself. Artwork on the discs is in that blue color scheme, with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers logo and whatever disc number it is on the disc. This is all similar to previous releases. The disc-by-disc breakdown is available in the above section in episode runtimes, but basically we have about 8-9 episodes on each disc. That might be a lot per disc, but I feel they should have released all 52 second season episodes on one set on a six-disc set, since they are cramming about 9 episodes on each disc.

As for the menus, the main menu is very cool and similarly designed to previous sets. It is identical to season two, volume one. We have the addicting theme song playing in the background, and we have the logo then we enter the Command Center! Instead of where we see Zordon, we have clips playing in the background! Very cool! The main menu options are: Play All and Select Episode. No subtitles, but the DVD is closed-captioned. When we select the Select Episode option, we have a cool transition into that submenu with the alarm sound for the command center playing in the background. The episode number and titles are listed inside that option. Pretty easy to navigate and nicely designed, I think. It's basic but cool.

The video quality is decent and on par with the previous season sets. It's not great, but not terrible either. It is certainly better than VHS and any episode you might have recorded originally on Fox Kids or in reruns. The audio quality is also good, that is crisp and clear. No problems here at all once again. The series had to be pretty cheap to produce as it looks very cheap, but hey, everyone loved watching it! There are once again 6 chapter stops for every episode, counting the opening and closing credits stops. All of the multiple part episodes have the "To Be Continued" line at the end of each episode, but once again we don't have any of those "Previously on Power Rangers" recap at the start of the next episode, just like we don't have the "Today on Power Rangers" preview on every other episode. I always liked those, so I'm disappointed.

We have zero special features once again. The complete seasons 1-3 release has special features from Time Life. I hope we get them eventually on the individual releases that Shout! releases, too, but I doubt it. But so far, we haven't gotten any from Shout! On the complete set, as mentioned before, we get new interviews with the cast, casting director, fans, plus all the direct to video specials that were released. I don't think the original pilot episodes is included, which is a shame. In 1999, Fox Kids aired an original unaired pilot episode hosted by Austin St. John (Jason the Red Ranger) and Walter Emanuel Jones (Zack the Black Ranger). It is on YouTube even, as we mentioned last time. This pilot had a different yellow ranger and some other plot changes. We also had another unaired pilot episode but it has never been seen, so that would have been nice, too.

It's great Shout! is releasing these original seasons quickly. The third season is already out but we haven't gotten it yet. The second season was very cool with a lot of changes and the second half of the season shows that. I think I like the second season episodes the best, but the first half I thought was a bit better. I highly do recommend any fan of the show to pick-up this set, because the episodes are so good and addictive. It's cheesy fun. If you've never watched it, then please do try it, especially if you watch the new series. The only thing missing are the previews before each episode, but that's not a big deal. Everything else is pretty well done on this set. My only other gripe again was no bonus features, but that is probably exclusive for the complete series set from Time Life. I hope we do get those on a regular season volume later on. Anyway, it's Morphin Time with new Red, Black and Yellow rangers...and no need for us to go to the Command Center and buy this DVD because we have a link below for you to order. Hurry before Lord Zedd chokes you so hard that you'll start seeing Red, Black Green/White, Yellow, Pink, and Blue.

(4/5 stars)

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FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Dennis Haskins (Twitter), "Still chasing the dream!"
Claim to Fame: Haskins literally skyrocketed to fame (and kept riding that fame) with one role: his role as Principal Richard Belding on the classic teen sitcom Saved by the Bell. While he has had other minor roles in movies and TV series, this is the role that he will always be remembered for (and it doesn't seem to bother him a bit).
Why You Should Follow Him: We mentioned Haskins in our news today, and to be honest, it never dawned on us that he would have a Twitter account... but nonetheless, thanks to TVShowsOnDVD.com's news, we know that he in fact does and is still very much out there. He certainly still seems to connect to his Saved by the Bell past, even using the Twitter handle @mrbelding. In fact, he even has his own karaoke album if you're interested in that... with school themed tunes. In any event, we're glad to see that he takes his role as principal of Bayside High as seriously in real life as he did on the show, and is still (as he says in his tagline" "chasing the dream!"
Pick of the Tweets: "I just had the privilege of "reading" with @abarbeau ! What a gift today! ;)" (May 15, 2013)

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Friday, July 26, 2013

TCA Summer 2013 Press Tour: Cable Day 2; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 29, 2013)

Yesterday was day two for cable for the TCA Summer 2013 press tour. The networks that presented were BBC America, TLC, Discovery, OWN and HBO. Among the key highlights were a new comedy for HBO. In his first lead role in a comedy series, Stephen Merchant (Golden Globe winner as writer-executive producer of The Office UK and HBO's Extras) stars as Stuart in Hello Ladies, which begins its eight-episode season on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 10:30pm ET/PT, exclusively on HBO, immediately following the season premiere of Eastbound & Down. The rest of the cast includes Christine Woods, Nate Torrence and Kevin Weisman, while guests include Crista Flanagan, Jenny Slate, Sean Wing and Sarah Wright. Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) announced programming premieres including the OWN premiere of Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse season three starting Wednesday, Sept. 18 with back-to-back half-hour episodes at 9 and 9:30pm. OWN also announced that on Sunday, August 18 at 9, Oprah and actress Lindsay Lohan come together for an exclusive highly anticipated in-depth conversation in Oprah's Next Chapter.

The final day for the cable portion will be today (which will include Lifetime promoting new drama The Witches of East End) before broadcast takes over tomorrow. First up on broadcast will be NBC on Saturday, CBS on Monday, The CW on Tuesday, Fox on Thursday, and ABC a week from Sunday.


It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of July 29-Aug. 2, 2013, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVRs (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, July 29, 2013
  • Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Watch Neil on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • David Duchovny (Californication) - David appears on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
  • Lisa Kudrow (Web Therapy/The Comeback/Friends) - Lisa is part of the guest panel on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
  • Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) - Eric visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • Jim Rash (Community) - Jim chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Anthony Anderson (Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
  • Sheryl Lee Ralph (It's a Living) - From the original Broadway musical Dreamgirls and author of Redefining Diva, Sheryl takes you behind the scenes of Dreamgirls and explains how she stayed true to herself in the entertainment industry on Marie at 12pm on Hallmark Channel.
  • Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - Eric talks about getting trapped in an elevator with his co-stars on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse appears on a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
  • Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Catch Bryan on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Josh Gad (1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Larry is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Henry Winkler (Happy Days/Arrested Development) - Henry stops by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Free Agents) - Hank guests on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
  • Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) - Rob appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
  • Maya Rudolph (Up All Night) and Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Maya and Mindy make us laugh on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
  • Jane Leeves (Hot in Cleveland/Frasier) - Watch Jane on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Hank Azaria (The Simpsons/Free Agents) - Hank visits Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11pm.
  • Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Jennifer is part of the guest panel on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
  • Kevin Nealon (Weeds/Champs) - Kevin drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
  • NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - NeNe appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
  • Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Tune in to see Jenny on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
  • Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) - A super fan surprise for one lucky viewer who gets a New Girl makeover by celebrity stylist Brad Goreski and the chance to meet her idol, Zooey Deschanel, on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
  • Kym Whitley (The Parkers/Sparks) - See inside the real Modern Family home, come along for Kym's wild Hollywood home tour on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
  • Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) - Yvette guest co-hosts The Chew on ABC at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
  • Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) - Catch Selena on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Georgia King (The New Normal) - Georgia visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Jennifer guests on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
  • Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Bryan continues to make the rounds on The Colbert Report at 11:30pm on Comedy Central. He will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
  • Felicity Huffman (Sports Night) - Felicity appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
  • Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Kathy is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
  • Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) - On the Academy Awards® edition of Marie, TV mom from the hit 70’s show The Partridge Family, Oscar® Winner Shirley Jones sits down to talk about her amazing career, famous family and her upcoming memoir on a repeat at 12pm on Hallmark Channel.
  • George Lopez (George Lopez) - George talks about his divorce and kidney transplant on Katie, so check your local listings.
  • Brandy (The Game/Moesha) - Brandy guest co-hosts a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
Friday, August 2, 2013
  • Lisa Kudrow (Web Therapy/The Comeback/Friends) - Watch Lisa on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Bryan wraps up his appearances this week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
  • Ed Helms (The Office) - Ed chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Patricia Heaton (The Middle/Everybody Loves Raymond), Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory/Curb Your Enthusiasm), Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) and Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show/Cosby) - Favorite TV moms appear on a repeat of Katie, so check your local listings.
Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

TCA Summer 2013 Press Tour: Cable Day 1 - Hallmark Channel, TV One, Adult Swim, NatGeo

The TCA Summer 2013 press tour has begun and yesterday was day one for cable networks. First up were Nat Geo, Hallmark, ESPN, TV One, and Turner networks. We'll cover the notable news information from day one today. Hallmark Channel announced a lot of movies and even some original series productions. A privileged society lady is a true pioneer woman in the World Premiere of When Calls the Heart, a Hallmark Channel Original Primetime Series, premiering October 5 at 9pm ET/PT with a two-hour special extended pilot of Hallmark Channel's second original primetime series, premiering January 2014. Based on Janette Oke's bestselling Canadian West book series, the two-hour pilot stars three-time Emmy(R) Award-winner Jean Smart (Designing Women), Lori Loughlin (Full House), Maggie Grace (Lost), Stephen Amel, Daniel Sharman and newcomer Poppy Drayton. Erin Krakow (Army Wives) and Daniel Lissing (Last Resort) star in the original primetime series set to premiere January 2014. Smart and Loughlin have the possibility to reprise their roles when the series returns in January. Another possible series: Two best friends and unlikely business partners team up, using their talent for detection and unorthodox ways to solve crimes in Hallmark Channel's The Mystery Cruise. The World Premiere of the two-hour backdoor pilot and the network's newest potential primetime series, is Saturday, October 19 at 9pm ET/PT and will air on the network in 2014, should the pilot be greenlit to series.

Then, a whole bunch of Hallmark Channel movies were announced with many stars on board. Some movies include: Tricia Helfer stars as a single mother who finds Christmas romance when an online home exchange brings a new man into her life in the World Premiere of Christmas Share, a Hallmark Channel Original Movie premiering Holiday 2013. Sarah Lancaster (Chuck) stars as a marketing exec turned reluctant Christmas tree peddler in Fir Crazy, a Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere for Holiday 2013. Eric Johnson (Rookie Blue) and Colin Mochrie also star in this holiday film, part of Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas, the #1 most treasured holiday destination by television viewers. Next, an ambitious development executive is sent from sunny Arizona to frigid Maine to overhaul a charming old lodge, never expecting a warm Christmas welcome will melt away her frosty attitude in the World Premiere of Let It Snow, a Hallmark Channel Original Movie premiering Holiday 2013. The film stars Candace Cameron Bure (Full House), Emmy(R) nominee Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) and Jesse Hutch. There will be many other movies to air as well that we are not listing that has stars like Victor Garber, James Brolin, Chyler Leigh and Catherine Bell.

NatGeo highlighted the upcoming Killing Kennedy movie they are doing, airing in November. Starring Rob Lowe as JFK, Ginnifer Goodwin as Jacqueline Kennedy, Will Rothhaar as Lee Harvey Oswald and Michelle Trachtenberg as Marina. TV One will go into the morning news game with News One Now starting in September, hosted by Roland S. Martin. And for Turner, it was Adult Swim presenting giving reporters a preview of its new animated comedy Rick and Morty, set to premiere in December. The show was created by Justin Rioland and Dan Harmon (Community). Rick and Morty is a show about a sociopathic scientist who drags his unintelligent grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. Spencer Grammer (Greek) and voice actress Kari Wahlgren star.

And that's a wrap for day one, stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow for day two.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Kirstie Alley TV Land Sitcom Premieres December 4, John Travolta Guests; Holliston Marathon on FEARnet

Kirstie

TV Land's new sitcom Kirstie now has a premiere date! But first, we have some news on a major special guest star! Golden Globe® winner and two-time Academy Award® nominee John Travolta makes this rare guest star return to television on TV Land's new upcoming original sitcom Kirstie. During this guest star appearance, Travolta and his former on-screen flame, series star and executive producer Kirstie Alley, will be teaming up for an unforgettable reunion. The duo is best remembered for their on-screen romance in the hit movie franchise Look Who's Talking. Set to shoot early next month, Travolta will play a stagehand on "Maddie's" (Kirstie Alley) Broadway show. After a one-night stand together, Maddie is surprised to find that her fling refuses to be flung. Kirstie will debut on TV Land on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, and Travolta's episode will air later in the season. 12 episodes of the sitcom have been ordered. The show centers around Broadway star Madison Banks (Alley) whose life turns upside down when Arlo (Eric Petersen), the son she gave up at birth, suddenly appears, hoping to connect after his adoptive parents have died. Rhea Perlman (Cheers) co-stars as Maddie's assistant and best friend alongside Michael Richards (Seinfeld) as Maddie's outlandish driver.


Holliston

FEARnet is giving fans the chance to relive all 20 episodes of its hit original comedy, Holliston, in an all-day marathon on Monday, August 5, at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT. Starting with the series' pilot episode and running through to the ninth episode of the second season, the marathon will whet fans' appetites and get them caught up on all the Holliston hijinks, just in time for the season two finale on Tuesday, August 6. As an added bonus, FEARnet will also be unveiling the world premiere of series character Lance Rockett's (Twisted Sister's Dee Snider) first music video. Fans can get a behind-the-scenes look at the music video exclusively on FEARnet, on Friday, August 2. The music video will run again during the Holliston marathon on Monday, August 5, with a portion of the video debuting in the Season 2 finale on Tuesday, August 6, at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The original song, itself, "Love It Down Your Throat," will be made available for purchase on iTunes right after the season finale airs.

The brainchild of lifelong genre fan-turned-filmmaker Adam Green, Holliston is an irreverent take on the traditional multi-camera situational comedy, aimed at lovers of true horror, sci-fi and pop culture. Starring Green and Joe Lynch, Holliston is set in Green's real life hometown of Holliston, Massachusetts, and follows the daily exploits of Adam and Joe--two aspiring horror filmmakers, dealing with the struggles of post-college life and relationships, while trying to make their big break in the business. The talented ensemble cast includes Corri English, Laura Ortiz, Dave Brockie, and Dee Snider. Highlights of the marathon include a terrifying encounter with a hard-partying Tony Todd; ill-fated run-ins with Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, and John Landis at a horror convention; a Christmas Special with a madman on the loose; an animated episode that sees the town attacked by a giant blob; a RINGU-inspired J-Horror episode; a Found Footage episode; and appearances from genre stars such as Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, David Naughton, and Bailee Madison.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

FXX Launches Sept. 2, with Comedy Premieres on Sept. 4; Rita Moreno to Receive 50th SAG Life Achievement Award

FXX

FXX has set the premiere date of Wednesday, September 4 for its flagship comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League, and the late night comedy show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell -- all three will be moving from FX to FXX. Of course, FXX, the new entertainment basic cable channel from FX Networks, launches on Monday, September 2 at 7:00 AM ET/PT and will be carried in 72 million homes at launch. The comedy smash hit It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns for its 9th season on September 4, at 10:00 PM ET/PT, and airing for 13 episodes on Wednesday nights. This season Sunny will celebrate the telecast its 100th episode on Wednesday, October 9 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. The critically-acclaimed comedy series The League returns for its 5th season on September 4 at 10:30 PM ET/PT, also airing 13 episodes on Wednesday nights. The ensemble cast features Mark Duplass, Stephen Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Katie Aselton and Jon Lajoie. And the acclaimed late night comedy show Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell is expanding to five nights a week, also beginning September 4, airing Monday through Thursday nights at 11:00 PM ET/PT, with Best of the Week compilation episodes Sunday nights at 11:00 PM ET/PT. The half-hour show stars standup comedian W. Kamau Bell as he hilariously dissects politics, pop culture, race, religion, sex and the media from his own unique point of view. Bell, Chris Rock, Chuck Sklar and Keri Smith Esguia are Executive Producers. The show is shot in New York City before a live studio audience.

FXX will also have Legit move to the network in 2014, but no premiere date yet. Chozen, a new animated comedy will launch in first quarter 2014. In terms of reruns, Parks & Recreation will air on the network and will help launch the network with a Labor Day marathon. The network will also air reruns of How I Met Your Mother, Sports Night, Freaks & Geeks, Rescue Me and Arrested Development, as we mentioned. However, more older sitcoms will also air in the mornings and we will announce those very soon! Also, FX will add a couple of older series to its line-up, including a sitcom. We will announce both FX and FXX's full fall schedules very soon as we make our way around the horn for all fall schedules for cable.


Rita Moreno

Groundbreaking actor, singer, dancer, author and educator Rita Moreno has been named the 50th recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute – the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment. Given annually to an actor who fosters the "finest ideals of the acting profession," the SAG Life Achievement Award will join Moreno's rare catalog of preeminent industry and public honors, which also includes an Oscar®, two Emmys®, a Tony®, a Grammy®, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of the Arts. Moreno will be presented the performers union's top accolade at the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, at 8pm (ET), 7pm (CT), 6pm (MT) and 5pm (PT). At 81, Rita Moreno continues to embody the creative diversity that has been the hallmark of her nearly 70-year career. One of only 11 artists and the only Hispanic performer to have won the entertainment industry's four top competitive awards, she earned her Oscar in 1962 for her iconic portrayal of saucy Anita in West Side Story, a role which drew on memories of the racial taunts she endured as a young Puerto Rican immigrant living in a Bronx "barrio." Her 1972 Grammy honored her performance on The Electric Company Album, based on the long-running PBS children's literacy television series on which Moreno played multiple roles in a memorable cast that included Bill Cosby and Morgan Freeman.

Moreno's current role as Fran Drescher's mother in TV Land's Happily Divorced, is the latest in a long roster of television performances dating back to a panoply of television anthologies in the early 1950s and continuing throughout her career with numerous guest roles between films and stage appearances. In 1982-83, she starred in her own TV series based on the film 9 to 5. Additionally, she played opposite Burt Reynolds in B.L. Stryker and was a series regular with Bill Cosby on NBC's The Cosby Mysteries. And in 2007, she starred in the CBS series Cane.

Monday, July 22, 2013

TV Land Extends The Exes For More Episodes; Last Week's Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy Hit Season Highs on ABC Family

The Exes

TV Land announced that it has ordered an additional 10 episodes of its original sitcom The Exes to air later this year after airing just four episodes so far from the first batch of episodes. The series stars critically-acclaimed actors Donald Faison (Scrubs), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld), David Alan Basche (The Starter Wife), Kelly Stables (Two and a Half Men) and Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From The Sun). The Exes currently airs on TV Land every Wednesday at 10:30pm ET/PT and it will have its mid-season finale on Wednesday, Aug. 28 before returning later this year (likely end of November paired with Hot in Cleveland once again). To date, season three of The Exes is pacing +9% above its prior season average, and up +130% versus TV Land's primetime average among its key demo of Adults 25-54, according to Nielsen (Most Current data, 6/19/13-7/10/13). Guest stars this season include Tyler Posey, Stacey Dash (Clueless), Cat Deeley (So You Think You Can Dance), Lisa Ann Walter, Leslie Jordan (Will & Grace), Grant Show (Devious Maids), Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show) and more.

TV Land has still not announced the fate of Happily Divorced, which hasn't aired since February after finishing its second season. TV Land has also not said anything yet if they will order more episodes of The Soul Man, which is currently airing Wednesdays at 11 through August 28. The Exes revolves around the unlikely trio of Phil (Faison), Haskell (Knight) and Stuart (Basche), three roommates and divorces who have finally found bromance after initially being forced to live together by their divorce attorney and landlord, Holly (Johnston). Stuart, a dentist, has finally started dating again, Phil's client list is ever-expanding as he becomes one of the top sports agents at his firm, and Haskell, a former homebody, is getting his game back. Meanwhile, Holly's just trying to find Mr. Right and her assistant, Eden (Stables), is never short on advice.


Melissa & Joey Baby Daddy

Last week's (July 17) episodes of Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy soared to season highs in the ratings, ranking as cable TV's #1 original telecast in their time periods in target demos. Wednesday's all new Melissa & Joey hit season highs in Adults 18-34 (430,000 impressions and a 0.6 rating), Women 18-34 (303,000 impressions and a 0.9 rating) and Viewers 12-34 (500,000 impressions and a 0.5 rating), ranking as cable TV's #1 original telecast at 8 o'clock in the key measures, as well as among Adults 18-49 (636,000 impressions and a 0.5 rating), Women 18-49 (399,000 impressions and a 0.6 rating) and Females 12-34 (366,000 impressions and a 0.8 rating). Compared to its summer season launch to-date, Melissa & Joey improved by solid margins in key demos in impressions, including by 23% in Adults 18-34 (430,000 vs. the 351,000 average) and by 17% in Women 18-34 (303,000 vs. the 258,000 average).

At 8:30 pm, an all new Baby Daddy soared to season highs across-the-board and built on its lead-in: Total Viewers (1.02 million), Adults 18-34 (484,000 impressions and a 0.7 rating), Women 18-34 (359,000/1.1 rating), Adults 18-49 (648,000 impressions and a 0.5 rating), Women 18-49 (462,000 impressions and a 0.7 rating), Viewers 12-34 (570,000 impressions and a 0.6 rating) and Females 12-34 (443,000 impressions and a 1.0 rating). Competitively, Baby Daddy stood as cable TV's #1 original telecast in the half hour in Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Women 18-49 and target Millennials. Versus its summer season launch to-date, Baby Daddy surged by double digits across key categories in impressions, including by 18% in Total Viewers (1.02 million vs. the 862,000 average), by 54% in Adults 18-34 (484,000 vs. the 314,000 average), by 22% in Adults 18-49 (648,000 vs. the 529,000 average) and by 32% in Viewers 12-34 (570,000 vs. the 431,000 average). All-new episodes continue all summer long for both ABC Family sitcoms through Wednesday, September 4 when they finish their first half of the season (15 episodes). The second half will likely return later in the 2013-14 season. Stay with us for further information on that!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Summer Week 8 Sitcom Ratings; New Sitcoms On TV This Summer

We're in the dog days of summer, but there are still sitcom airings, new and repeats. We will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:

Summer Week 8 (July 15-21) How the Network Sitcoms Did

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of July 8-14)
  • The Simpsons (Fox) 2 airings - A summer repeat at 8pm did 2.82 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, which is up down tenths in 18-49 from previous week. A 7:30pm repeat leading in did 2.17 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, but up two tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
  • The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did only 1.87 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, again up one tenth in 18-49 with previous week.
  • Bob's Burgers (Fox) - An encore airing at 8:30pm did 2.38 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, down three tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at 9 posted 3.4 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, back down two tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
  • American Dad! (Fox) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 3.1 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which is back down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
Monday Sitcoms
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat at 8pm did 4.17 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down again one tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • Raising Hope (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 8pm did 1.83 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 with previous week. The 8:30pm repeat did 1.58 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, also on par in 18-49 with previous week.
  • Mike & Molly (CBS) 2 airings - A repeat at 8:30pm did 4.33 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, down a tenth in 18-49 from previous week's 2 Broke Girls repeat in the time period. The regular 9:30pm encore did 5.3 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 week-to-week.
  • 2 Broke Girls (CBS) - A repeat at 9pm did 4.86 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down one tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
  • New Girl (Fox) - A repeat at 9 did only 1.29 million and just a 0.6 18-49 rating, up a tenth in 18-49 from previous week. It doesn't repeat well for an anchor at all.
  • The Mindy Project (Fox) - A repeat on Fox did 1.18 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating at 9:30pm, down one tenth in 18-49 from previous week.
Tuesday Sitcoms
  • None.
Wednesday Sitcoms
  • The Middle (ABC) - A summer repeat did 3.23 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, on par in 18-49 with previous week.
  • Suburgatory (ABC) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 2.3 million and a 0.5 18-49 rating, down two tenths in 18-49 from previous week's Family Tools finale.
  • Modern Family (ABC) - At 9pm, a summer repeat did 2.65 million and a 0.8 rating, down one tenth in 18-49 from previous week. It hasn't repeated that well the last few weeks it seems.
  • The Neighbors (ABC) - A summer repeat did 2.09 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating at 9:30pm, on par in 18-49 with previous week. Good exposure for the fall when it moves to Fridays.
Thursday Sitcoms
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat at 8 did 7.23 million and a 1.7 rating, down three tenths in 18-49 from previous week but a clear leader in sitcoms for the week.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 6.16 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, down a tenth from previous week.
  • The Office (NBC) - preempted. 
  • Parks and Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
Friday Sitcoms
  • None.
Saturday Sitcoms
  • None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Fox Animation Domination from 7-10pm.

Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory & Two and a Half Men was impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of New Girl and The Mindy Project).



Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on TV this summer. Some highlights include: On cable, Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy are all-new this Wednesday beginning at 8pm. TV Land has all-new episodes of the summer season of Hot in Cleveland this Wednesday at 10pm, followed by a new The Exes at 10:30pm and a brand new The Soul Man at 11pm only on TV Land. BET has a new episode of The Game on Tuesday at 10pm. TBS airs an all-new episode of Sullivan & Son Thursday at 10. Nick at Nite has the Scott Baio sitcom See Dad Run every Sunday at 8pm but a repeat is tonight, while Wendell & Vinnie airs at 8:30pm with a repeat this week. New episodes of Sam & Cat air every Saturday at 8 on Nick! FX's Charlie Sheen sitcom Anger Management airs Thursdays at 9:30pm and is brand new this week. New sitcom airings are the perfect way to beat the summer blues! Look for our daily rundown of what sitcoms are airing each night every day at the bottom of the blog story so you don't miss anything!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Digital Digest: More Complete Series from Sony; Dynasty - The Seventh Season DVD Review


Welcome to Digital Digest! This week, we have news of some new complete series sets (of old releases) on the way from Sony, a few updates on releases of 2012-2013 seasons of your favorites series, and finally, a review of Dynasty - The Seventh Season. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

Sony, a studio that we haven't heard a whole lot from on the classic TV front in recent years, announced several complete series sets of classic TV series in value-priced re-releases this week. Among those are Bewitched - The Complete Series, I Dream of Jeannie - The Complete Series, and The Partridge Family - The Complete Series. Of course, all of these have had all of their individual seasons released, but if you want all of them at a value price, you'll have that chance when these are released on October 15. Our guess is that these will be those typical "black spindle" releases.

Sony isn't the only one with complete series releases, though. Universal (which, by the way, has been known to use more traditional packaging for their complete series sets) announced one that we're honestly surprised wasn't released long ago: Magnum, P.I. - The Complete Series. It is unclear, though, if this set will be exactly like the previous season sets. In particular, a Simon & Simon crossover episode was originally included on one of the season sets, but when that season was re-released as a single-sided release, the Simon & Simon crossover was nixed. In any event, that entire series has been released anyway, but Magnum will be coming on October 1.

Finally, TVShowsOnDVD.com has confirmed release dates for some releases of a few current fan favorites. First, for September 24, Modern Family returns with Modern Family - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD/Blu-ray). Then, on October 1, we'll see the release of New Girl - Season 2. We'll have much more on these as the release dates approach.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (July 23) only has one release of note to us, with Shout! Factory's release of The Jack Benny Program - The Lost Episodes (review).



BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
 
 

Blog DVD Review: Dynasty - The Seventh Season, Volumes 1 and 2 (CBS DVD, $36.98 each)
by Pavan

After another year-long wait, it's back on DVD! The addictive, primetime soap opera that quickly became a 1980s hit and lives on in popular cult status returns to DVD with Dynasty: The Seventh Season, Volume One & Volume Two. Each volume includes episodes of all the over-the-top glamour and drama from the series' seventh season. Explore the conflicts, passions, drives, and tensions of the Carringtons, a rich and powerful oil family, as they struggle to maintain their status of wealth and influence. This two-volume set brings all 28 episodes of season seven in two volumes, and like seasons five & six, they come out on the same date so we don't have to wait for the second half later on! Still, they are actually two different volumes, that you could buy separately, but there is a two-pack available if you want that instead! We get all 28 episodes on seven discs (down from the eight in season six).
John Forsythe, Linda Evans, and Joan Collins star and we leave off where the sixth season left off -- the fire. This is the season where ratings started to decline and for the first time since season two, it was out of the top 10. Seasons 3-6 all were in the time of the height of the popularity, with season five hitting being the peak. The series lasted 9 seasons on ABC, from 1981-89. We get the the entire seventh season (1986-87) on this two-pack set. I'm just glad we don't have to wait for the conclusion of the seventh season, but they are still splitting the seasons in half. For the last few releases, it's just that they are out on the same day! Anyway, the drama in Denver continues whether it is at the mansion or the LaMirage hotel.

Diahann Carroll and Heather Locklear are also back this season, while Ted McGinley is now a regular. The seventh season begins with "The Victory," as the sixth season cliffhanger is revealed as Michael Culhane returns to the fold to rescue Amanda from the La Mirage fire, but tragically Claudia dies in it, while Alexis immediately begins another plot to destroy Blake even further. In "Focus," Krystle is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a limo crash, while Dominique offers financial help to Blake and Alexis puts pressure on the district attorney to charge Blake with arson. In "The Letter," a dying Emily Fallmont gives Blake a letter that will clear his name and expose Alexis and Ben of all their schemes, but after Alexis makes threats to expose him, Michael confesses and finds himself out of favor with Blake, as upon leaving Denver, Caress makes peace with Alexis and warns her about the sinister Ben. In the two-part episode "A Love Remembered," at the last second, Ben decides to save his brother, but at the hospital, Alexis decides to take advantage of Blake's memory loss by feigning a picture of them as a happily married couple. In the conclusion, Krystle and Dex arrive in Hong Kong to search for Blake, Alexis & Ben, while back in Denver, Sammy Jo and Steven grow closer over their troubling situations, as Alexis exposes her own deceitfulness to Blake at the hospital and reunites him with Krystle. In "The Mothers," Krystle extends an invite to Leslie to move into the mansion and she accepts and Ben sees this as a chance to reconcile with his daughter, while Blake and Krystle desperately search for a donor for Krystina, Dex and Dominique offer a sliver of hope. In "The Sublet," a kidnapped Krystina is terrified while being held captive by an unstable Sarah, who has convinced herself that Krystina is her own deceased daughter, Kathy, while Dominique receives a marriage proposal from Nick and Adam self-destructs. In "The Affair," Jackie returns to Denver with plans of reuniting her parents, Dominique and Garrett and she confronts Nick and tells him to stay away from Dominique, while Krystle continues to help Sarah through the grieving process and plans for Adam and Dana's wedding go back into full swing. And finally on the season finale, "Shadow Play," Krystle senses danger on the eve of Adam and Dana's wedding, both Clay Fallmont and Ben Carrington decide to leave Denver, amid scandal about Clay's paternity, while the festivities of the wedding make Alexis emotionally vulnerable, and her car goes into a river. Krystle's premonition of danger is realized when the entire Carrington family is held hostage at the mansion by a face from the past: Matthew Blaisdel.

Each episode on this set is just around 46-47 minutes on average, though some lower, which could be suspicious. Nearly every CBS DVD has a disclaimer on the back of the box saying, "Some episodes maybe be edited from their original network versions." So there is a chance something could be edited, but I didn't see anything, but some runtimes in the 44-45 minute range are suspicious.  Runtimes are as follows:

Volume 1

Disc 1:
1. "The Victory" (45:49)
2. "Sideswiped" (46:44)
3. "Focus" (46:39)
4. "Reward" (46:38)

Disc 2:
5. "The Arraignment" (46:44)
6. "Romance" (46:24)
7. "The Mission" (46:45)
8. "The Choice" (46:02)

Disc 3:
9. "The Secret" (45:50)
10. "The Letter" (46:49)
11. "The Ball" (46:38)
12. "Fear" (46:33)

Disc 4:
13. "The Rig" (46:25)
14. "A Love Remembered - Part 1" (46:44)
15. "A Love Remembered - Part 2" (46:39)
16. "The Portrait" (46:30)

Volume 2

Disc 1:
1. "The Birthday" (45:50)
2. "The Test" (46:02)
3. "The Mothers" (46:49)
4. "The Surgery" (46:19)

Disc 2:
5. "The Garage" (46:12)
6. "The Shower" (46:26)
7. "The Dress" (46:53)
8. "Valez" (45:25)

Disc 3:
9. "The Sublet" (46:01)
10. "The Confession" (46:40)
11. "The Affair" (45:54)
12. "Shadow Play" (45:57)

Packaging for both volumes once again is a snap case holding the discs inside, similar to previous sets. Again the discs don't overlap each other, which is great. We have two plastic holders on the first volume. Discs one and two are in the first plastic holder, while discs three and four are in the second plastic holder. That little holder is cheap, but I guess it works. The second volume only has one plastic holder, holding discs one and two, while disc three is on the right panel itself. The cover art of the first volume has Blake, Krystal Alexis with the Dynasty logo below them. Volume two's cover art has Blake and the men in similar style. The color schemes are red for both volumes. The back of the case's on both volumes has a synopsis of the show, the set, and technical information. We also have four episodic photos and a promotional cast photo. Back inside the cases, there is a disc-by-disc breakdown on the left and right panel for every episode on this set. We get episode titles and a synopsis of each episode. Like the last few seasons, it seems like they removed the original airdates for some reason...anyway, don't be reading it before watching the episode now! Artwork on the discs is just plain again. It is plain silver for each one. Dynasty logo and whatever disc number it is on the disc, and episode titles are listed on the disc. Disc-by-disc breakdown is available above in episode runtimes, but basically we have 4 episodes on each disc (4 episodes X 7 discs = 28 episodes). There is nothing different about the packaging here, except volume two has three discs, rather than four. This section is always consistent, it seems...and that is a good thing, I guess. We know what to expect.

And the consistency continues again for the menus. CBS DVD is terrible in menus, as you all probably know. Each menu has different artwork but it is so plain again. The episodes are listed right on the main menu once again. Subtitles option is also available below the list of episodes, but it is only English again. Main menu artwork has three shots of the same image. For volume one, disc one's main menu has three shots of Blake, disc two has three shots of Alexis, disc three has three shots of Krystal and disc four has three shots of Blake & Alexis together. For volume two, disc one's main menu has three shots of Steven, disc two has three shots of Sammy Jo, and disc three has three shots Dominique. It is very similar to the previous sets. No theme music or any music in the background once again. Before the main menu on both disc one's, there is an option for previews...we get previews such as The Good Wife S2 DVD and Melrose Place S3 DVD...yet AGAIN. But you can skip to the main menu if you wish.

The video is on par with the previous season and it looks good. Like previous sets, just some debris here and there in the opening credits, like flashing black dots, but it is still good quality. It isn't in widescreen, obviously. The audio is decent, a nice sounding mono...that is crisp and clear. No problems here at all. It seems the video and audio get better as the seasons go on, which makes sense. There are 6 chapter stops once again each for every episode, counting the opening and closing credits stops. This is all consistent again from previous sets. We don't have a two-hour episode on this set, like last season. We only have a two-part episode and it is in 2-parts, like it originally was.

We have zero special features, like the last set. On season five, volume two we got one special feature actually. As a recap, the second season had a little family tree thing, which was something at least and the first season was done by 20th Century Fox, and they did a decent job with some featurettes and commentaries, but CBS DVD has done basically nothing...which is typical. But on the second volume of season five we did get something archival! It was a clip from Entertainment Tonight in 1985 as Leeza Gibbons interviews guest star Rock Hudson and we also have Linda Evans talking about Rock. I wish they cleared more archival stuff like this for season seven, instead we are getting nothing here like on season six. Disappointing, but expected.

Season seven is a wrap and all in one day, just like the fifth & sixth season releases, and no waiting for months to continue! We just have to wait a year in between releases it seems. I highly do recommend any fan of the show to pick-up these two volumes (in a two-pack set!), because the episodes are so good and addictive and you'll want to see the conclusion of La Mirage cliffhanger from season six. We have great episodes on this set, and yet another cliffhanger on the seventh season finale. I cannot stop watching whenever I put the DVD in. This is the mother of all primetime soaps (sorry never was big into Dallas, but the new TNT series is great)! If you have the first six seasons, then you have to get this to continue your collection of course because it wouldn't make sense if you didn't continue. If you haven't gotten those yet, what are you waiting for? It won't make sense buying these two volumes for your first buy of this series, as the episodes are heavily serialized and you'll be VERY lost. I hope CBS reconsiders and gives us the ENTIRE eight season instead in one volume instead of splitting it up into two volumes. Season 8 only has 22 episodes, so it would make sense for them to give us one set in like six or seven discs. It's just expensive to get two volumes, as the MSPR is $72.99 sold together. That's a lot for 28 episodes and no special features. Still, I urge fans to buy it so we finish this series on DVD. CBS DVD is at least consistent with their sets. They are very predictable as the sets are nearly identical to each other (it makes the reviews boring). But like I said last time (and the time before that), complain to CBS DVD for the lack of extras and splitting the seasons in half. Anyway, you're going to get glued in this seventh season and you'll want to see the season premiere to see what happens after the wedding on the season finale! I'm not giving away what the cliffhanger is, so watch! The war between the Carringtons and Colbys continue!

(4/5 stars)

To purchase Dynasty - The Seventh Season, Volume 1, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

To purchase Dynasty - The Seventh Season, Volume 2, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

To purchase Dynasty - The Seventh Season, Volumes 1 and 2, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Dynasty on TV.com


FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Joan Collins (Twitter), "Actress, Writer, Producer, Wife, Mother, Grandmother. Much travelled. Exhausted"
Claim to Fame: While Collins has had a very distinguished career, she became best known to American audiences in her role as Alexis Colby (along with several other last names) on the prime time soap opera Dynasty.
Why You Should Follow Her: Despite what Charlotte Rae would want you to believe (Google that one...), Joan Collins is actually not a whole lot like her character on Dynasty, and seems to be much more personable in real life. She still seems to be a very privileged person (after all, she does carry the title OBE on her name), no doubt, but she is humble about it and seems to love her fans so much. In fact, she even has a tendency to retweet things at the request of her fans. You'll find that her Twitter feed is very much British-centric, as that is where much of her success has been, but she loves all of her fans worldwide.
Pick of the Tweets: "Maid didn't show up again so did some light housework --Miracles do happen!" (May 20, 2013)

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Fox Animation Domination HD Reviews: Axe Cop and High School USA - Premieres July 21; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22, 2013)

The Goodwin Games

Axe Cop & High School USA - Saturdays at 11:30PM ET/PT on Fox
Premieres Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 9:30PM ET/PT


by Vincent

Fox's Animation Domination Hi-Def is a new late-night line-up of animated series that's set to air on Saturday nights from 11:00 PM to 11:30 PM. The line-up consists of two new animated comedies - Axe Cop and High School USA. The first, Axe Cop, is an irreverent cop show spoof starring the voice of Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation, 21 Jump Street) and Ken Marino (Children's Hospital, Party Down), while High School USA is a satirical teen-centric cartoon helmed by Community's Dino Stamatopoulus. Both shows have a fast-paced, erratic sensibility to them, clearly influenced by similar late-night cartoons on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and meant to put Fox back in the late-night game - a game they've more or less retired from since canceling MAD TV and Talkshow with Spike Feresten in 2009. The shows will be getting a special preview this Sunday, July 21 at 9:30 PM before moving to their regular timeslot next Saturday (July 27).

Cast Details:

Axe Cop:
Nick Offerman as Axe Cop
Ken Marino as Flute cop
Rob Heubel as Grey Diamond
Giancarlo Espositio as Army Chihuahua
Tyler the Creator as Liborg

Nick Offerman (Axe Cop) has spent the last several years playing the beloved Ron Swanson on NBC's Parks & Recreation. He has also appeared in a number of comedy films, most recently including 21 Jump Street and The Kings of Summer. He has appeared in guest roles on shows such as Deadwood, George Lopez, and Children's Hospital.

Ken Marino (Flute Cop) is currently starring as Dr. Glenn Richie on Adult Swim's Children's Hospital. He also starred as Ron Donald in the Starz cult classic Party Down. He has appeared in guest roles in shows such as Veronica Mars, Charmed, and Reno 911.

Rob Heubel (Grey Diamond) can currently be seen on Adult Swim's Children's Hospital as Dr. Owen Maestro. He is also known for his sketch comedy work on MTV's Human Giant, as well as guest appearances on shows such as Arrested Development, The Office, and 30 Rock.

Giancarlo Esposito (Army Chihuahua) can currently be seen as Tom Neville in NBC's Revolution. He is perhaps best known for his role as Gus in AMC's critically acclaimed drama Breaking Bad. He has also appeared in guest roles on shows such as Bones, Once Upon a Time, and Community.

Tyler the Creator (Liborg) is a rapper who broke into the music scene in 2009 with his debut album Bastard. He won Best New Artist at the 2011 Video Music Awards following the release of his sophomore album Wolf. His previous television work includes guest spots on the comedies Workaholics and The Mindy Project.


High School USA:
Vincnet Kartheisher as Marsh Merriwether
Mandy Moore as Cassandra

Vincent Karteisher (Marsh Merriwether) is best known for his acclaimed role as Pete Campbell on AMC's Mad Men. He also has a number of film credits, appearing in films such as Another Day in Paradise and Crime and Punishment in Suburbia.

Mandy Moore (Cassandra) is an actress as well as a recording artist. She was known for hit singles such as "Candy" and "So Real," and has appeared in hit films such as The Princess Diaries and A Walk to Remember. Her previous television work includes guest appearances on The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother, and Grey's Anatomy.


Pilot Plot:

In the first episode of Axe Cop, entitled "Night Mission: Stealing Friends Back", badass crime fighter Axe Cop heads out on a special night mission after fellow superhero Bat Warthog Man's friends go missing. He assembles a team of rag-tag assistants to rescue Bat Warthog Man's friends and save the day.

In High School USA's "Bullies," upbeat teen Marsh Merriwether learns a valuable lesson when his best friend is accused of bullying, as Cassandra and her friends prepare for the "It Gets Better After High School" high school dance.


Analysis:

First off, I think it's a pretty interesting idea that Fox is using Adult Swim-esque animated comedies to try and get back in the late night game. It's fairly obvious they are looking to capture some of that late night, young male audience that Adult Swim has coveted, and why shouldn't they? It was re-runs of Fox shows such as Futurama and Family Guy that put that network on the map and, no doubt, helps to keep it running today. So if fans of Fox shows are watching Fox on Adult Swim, why wouldn't they watch Adult Swim on Fox? Plus, it's great to see the Fox animation brand branching out and trying new things, instead of just repeating the same Seth MacFarlane formula over and over again. If this works out, it's an interesting step for Fox's brand, and perhaps for network TV in general. But are the shows any good? For the most part, I'd say a cautionary "yes." I wouldn't call either of these episodes perfect, but there's clearly a lot of craft and talent behind them, and they seem like they could certainly score Fox the dedicated following they seem to want with them.

Let's start with Axe Cop, which I thought was clearly the stronger of the two shows. Like most late night animated comedies, there's very little rhyme or reason to anything that happens on this show - it's, more or less, a bunch of loosely tied animated sketches bound together by a vague sense of plot. These kinds of shows pretty much live or die by their humor - if they're hilarious, then they're some of the absolute funniest stuff on TV. If they fall flat, they feel cloying and completely pointless. Axe Cop isn't exactly hilarious to the point where I was laughing out loud constantly, but I was extremely amused the entire way through by the show's irreverent sensibility and pitch-perfect comedic dialogue. Like every show ever, it'll probably need a few episodes to find itself - but when that happens, it's not at all hard to see Axe Cop turning into something hysterically funny. The show aims to be sort of a loving spoof of the classic superhero movie, and it does a great job subtly but surely creating a satirical world that nails all of the elements of that type of story. From the look and feel of the show to the way the characters talk, it's a really great send-up of the tried-and-true superhero formula. And yet, it doesn't beat you over the head with it. It's subtle enough that you know what it's getting at, but you're not constantly being bombarded with "hey, look, see what we're doing here?!"

And that's what makes Axe Cop a stronger offering than High School USA, which I liked to an extent, but felt a little overwhelmed by the obvious satire of it. High School USA is aiming to be a satire of teen life and, more specifically, teen television. Obviously, pretty much everyone has taken a potshot on things like teen soaps and high school movies, so for High School USA to succeed, it has to try and say something new. To its credit, it kind of does - the show takes the popular "bullying" topic and puts a funny, fresh spin on it. But it felt a lot like the show spent the entire time saying "see how funny and FRESH all of this is?! Most teen shows would do this plotline like this, but WE'RE doing it like THIS!". The satire was really overbearing, and on a show like this, overbearing satire gets extremely old really fast. Having said that, High School USA is a show I can see getting better with time if it tones down its "this is SATIRE!" angle a bit. It has a strong comic voice, coming from Dino Stamatopoulos of Community fame, and it had a handful of lines that I laughed out loud at. It just feels like it's a bit too clever for its good - especially compared to the more subtle satirical bite of Axe Cop. There's a good show somewhere in there - let's hope that someone finds it at some point.


Conclusion:

Fox's head-first dive into late-night animated comedy is a risky move that could either pay off brilliantly or go down in flames. I can't tell you which one it'll be - but I can tell you that these shows are good enough to root for the first option. Axe Cop, in particular, is a show that I could really see turning into a cult hit in the way that the most successful of Adult Swim's shows have - it's very funny, it's already established a great comic world, and it has an excellent voice cast. I'm less sold on High School USA, but I think there's potential in it for it to find itself and turn into something quite good. At the very least, both of these shows should be commended for bringing a fresh new voice to the face of network television - there's really nothing like them anywhere on the major networks, and the fact that Fox is willing to give shows like this a try is really refreshing. This is certainly an interesting pair of shows, and if you have any interest at all in the alternative, edgier side of comedy, they're worth checking out.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Axe Cop:
Watchability: 4.5/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

High School USA:
Watchability: 3/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3/5

Overall Block Rating: 3.5/5

Discuss both shows after you watch them on Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 9:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

Axe Cop
  • Axe Cop Official Site
  • TV.com
  • epguides.com
  • Internet Movie Database
  • Wikipedia
  • Axe Cop Photo Gallery

    High School USA
  • High School USA Official Site
  • TV.com
  • epguides.com
  • Internet Movie Database
  • Wikipedia
  • High School USA Photo Gallery

    Previews:






  • It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
    For the week of July 22-26, 2013, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVRs (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

    Monday, July 22, 2013

    • Jim Rash (Community) and Nat Faxon (Ben and Kate) - Watch Jim and Nat on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Louis C.K. (Louie) - Louie guests on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart at 11pm.
    • Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Lisa chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She will also be on NBC's Today between 7-9am.
    • Ricky Schroder (Silver Spoons) - Ricky is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
    • Ross Lynch (Austin & Ally) - Ross talks about about his new movie Teen Beach Movie on Marie at 12pm on Hallmark Channel.
    • Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Tune in to see Whitney on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
    • Max Greenfield (New Girl) - Max appears on a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • Melissa Joan Hart (Melissa & Joey/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - Melissa talks about losing her baby weight on Katie, so check your local listings.
    Tuesday, July 23, 2013
    • Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Catch Lisa on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
    • Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Anna Camp (The Mindy Project) - Tune in to see Anna on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
    • Louis C.K. (Louie) - Louie visits Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
    • Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey is a guest on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
    • Rob Lowe (Parks and Recreation) - Rob stops by The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
    • Michael J. Fox (The Michael J. Fox Show/Spin City/Family Ties) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
    • Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen) - Ellen takes over Ask Steve! on The Steve Harvey Show, so check your local listings.
    • Vicki Lawrence (Mama's Family) - Vicki appears with Carol Burnett and Tim Conway on a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • The Cast of Hot in Cleveland - The ladies of Hot in Cleveland dish on upcoming guest stars, on-set antics and aging in Hollywood on Katie, so check your local listings.
    Wednesday, July 24, 2013
    • Ashton Kutcher (Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) - Watch Ashton on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Teri Polo (Man Up!/I'm with Her) - Teri visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
    • Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - Eric appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
    • Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) - Melissa is a guest on a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • Yvette Nicole Brown (Communnity) - Yvette guest co-hosts a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family) - Shirley Jones has a revealing interview on love, sex, family and relationships on Katie, so check your local listings. She will also be on New York Live at 12:30pm on WNBC.
    Thursday, July 25, 2013
    • Kevin Nealon (Weeds/Champs) - Catch Kevin on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
    • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) - Margaret guest co-hosts The View on Thursday and Friday on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
    • Anthony Anderson (Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony visits The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
    • Fran Drescher (Happily Divorced/The Nanny) - Fran appears on a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Lisa drops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
    • Marilu Henner (Taxi) - Marilu guest co-hosts a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    Friday, July 26, 2013
    • Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Watch Lisa on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
    • Anthony Anderson (Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony stops by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
    • Selana Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena guests on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
    • Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Kathy guest co-hosts a repeat of Anderson Live, so check your local listings.
    • Scott Baio (See Dad Run/Charles in Charge/Happy Days) - Scott meets three fans on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
    • Ricky Schroder (Silver Spoons) and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) - All-time favorite Hollywood hunks of TV, film and music from the '80s and '90s! Catch up and get the latest scoop on the lives of Ian Ziering, Ricky Schroder, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Dean Cain and Christopher Atkins on Katie, so check your local listings.
    Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!


    Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

    Tuesday, March 19

    Night Court - "The Duke's a Hazard" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
    When Gurgs' royal boyfriend pays a surprise visit, she questions their compatibility; Dan defends his family's honor after he discovers a feud that dates back centuries.

    Extended Family - "The Consequences of Being Irish" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
    When Jim learns of Trey's St. Patrick's Day fundraiser plans, he offers his expertise in an effort to save Trey and the Celtics from embarrassment.

    Complete TV Listings


    Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 18)

    Tuesday, March 19

    • Tracy Morgan (The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Catch Tracy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale/God's Favorite Idiot/American Housewife/The Odd Couple/About a Boy) - Leslie appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
    • Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso), Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) and Zainab Johnson (Upload) - Brendan, Marc and Zainab are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
    • Hilary Swank (Camp Wilder) - NBC's Today catches up with Hilary in the 10am hour.
    • The cast of Girls5eva) - Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Sara Bareilles are guests on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
    • Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse talks about his podcast Dinner's On Me on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
    • Annie Potts (Young Sheldon/Over the Top/Love & War/Designing Women/Goodtime Girls) - Annie talks about her legendary career and new film, Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire, on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
    • Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Joe stops by Tamron hall to chat about hosting the new Deal or No Deal Island, so check your local listings.


    New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

    Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Father Knows Best - The Complete Series The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

    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
    12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
    12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
    12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
    01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
    01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
    02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
    02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
    03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
    03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
    03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

    That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

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