Digital Digest: More of The FBI from Warner Archive; Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad Complete Series Releases

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Digital Digest: More of The FBI from Warner Archive; Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad Complete Series Releases

Welcome to Digital Digest! As we mentioned last week, we're working on revamping this weekly feature into something new, and we hope to have that very soon! In the meantime, we're back with our abridged version of Digital Digest with all of your news, a preview of Tuesday's releases, and our Follow Me feature. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

Warner Archive seems to be one of our few sources of "good news" on the classic TV front lately, typically delivering the news on the date that the product ships... and this week, the "good news" from them came in the form of a new release of the series The FBI. On Tuesday, Warner Archive released The FBI - The Complete Sixth Season as an online exclusive. As has become a typical practice for the studio, of course, the MOD product has been released in a "limited" pressed DVD edition, so these are not DVD-R copies of this release. We hope to have a review of this release soon as part of our regular reviews.

Canadian studio VEI has been bringing us some great complete series releases in the past few years of abandoned series, and for the past year, they've been talking about releases of Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad. Of course, VEI has also never really been able to give much in terms of a firm release date on anything (likely due to being a smaller studio that has to deal with a lot of outside production), but this week, they finally announced that both of these releases will be ready to ship next week! On Tuesday, fans will see Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series. Both releases are also available to order on amazon.com, however the releases purchased on there are not expected to ship for another month, and come at a much higher price.

Speaking of earlier releases, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is coming to DVD in December, as we all know. But Shout! Factory is letting fans get those DVDs a month earlier if they order them directly from the Shout! Factory website. Expected to ship on or before November 5, you can get in on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - The Complete Series a month before everybody else does.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (October 22) is a light release date, with a trio of "best of" releases from MPI. The releases include The Doris Day Show - Best of Collection, Family Affair - Best of Collection, and The Mothers-in-Law - Best of Collection. Also, as we previously mentioned, VEI will begin shipping Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series on Tuesday.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Patricia Heaton (Twitter), "Actress, Wife and Mother to four incredible boys..."
Claim to Fame: Patricia Heaton started out as a stage actress and slowly evolved into television when she picked up a role on thirtysomething, where she appeared for six episodes. She followed up with roles in three very short-lived sitcoms, with stars including Linda Lavin and Delta Burke, but her big break came in 1996 when she was cast as Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. After that, she went on to the (mostly panned) Fox sitcom Back to You in 2007, but her fortunes increased once again when she was cast in the starring role on the ABC series The Middle, a role that she has comfortable held since 2009. While she is no stranger to controversy on Twitter
Pick of the Tweets: "I love that you can watch TV while you iron (yesterday it was Jane Eyre) and not feel like a couch potato." (July 16, 2013)

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

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, November 22

Happy's Place - "Happy's House" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Bobbie agrees to take Isabella to Happy's house in search of a connection to their late father, leading Bobbie to worry about what they may find; Gabby hopes to strike it rich by searching through Happy's penny collection looking for a rarity.

Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Orlando" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Rosie's spoiled nephew Orlando visits, Mayan sets out to expose Rosie's cultural gender bias; George wants to teach Chance the value of hard work, but, instead, helps him create a toxic work environment.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Whacking the Mole" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Abishola has a romantic dream about Bob, she tries to suppress her feelings for him and pays the price.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Ralph Lauren and Fish" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob and Abishola finally go on a proper date, which is interrupted by Dottie's medical emergency.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Tough Like a Laundromat Washing Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob hires Abishola to take care of Dottie in his home while she recovers; Dottie has a hard time dealing with her limitations and takes it out on Abishola.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Useless Potheads" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Abishola only helping part-time, Bob, Douglas and Christina struggle to take care of Dottie.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - "Wiz-Taken Identity" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Billie struggles with a spell, Roman says he could do it if he was a wizard: to prove him wrong, Billie uses a Power Glass to transfer her powers to Roman.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - " Ain't Gnome Party Like a Wizard Party" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Justin embraces mortality to live with his family; his new challenge arises when Alex introduces Billie, a wizard-in-training, seeking Justin's mentorship.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Friday, November 22

Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ariana Grande (Sam & Cat/Victorious) - Ariana appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Lopez vs Lopez/Search Party/Corporate) - Andy, Thomas and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her new book Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Drew is joined by the hilarious Andrew to celebrate all things Thanksgiving on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie tells Sherri about her new Apple TV+ psychological thriller Before on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Candace Cameron Bure (Fuller House/Full House) - Candace will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.