SitcomsOnline Digest: Alpha House Makes Online Debut; More Seasons of In the Heat of the Night on DVD

Saturday, November 16, 2013

SitcomsOnline Digest: Alpha House Makes Online Debut; More Seasons of In the Heat of the Night on DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got news about new (as in brand new to everybody) series on amazon.com, more on even more series in development, news of new In the Heat of the Night DVDs, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Netflix has had a lot of luck with some of their own original series lately, and now amazon.com has officially gotten in on the competition as well with their own original series, available exclusively to their Prime subscribers. Even though the pilot was presented in April, one of the first series that fans chose to air is the comedy series Alpha House, a political comedy starring John Goodman. Two new episodes debuted yesterday, and there will be new episodes added each Friday. (CNET)
It looks like the proposed How I Met Your Mother is one step closer to becoming a reality. This week, CBS has announced it has ordered a pilot for How I Met Your Dad. (Deadline).
Comcast is prepared to compete with amazon.com and iTunes by beginning to sell a few hundred movies and TV series to their Xfinity customers by the end of the year. Unlike more conventional cable on-demand services, customers will purchase access to these series to view on tablets, phones, and other devices outside of their home, and will maintain permanent access to these series, even if they cancel their cable subscription. (Deadline)
NBC is desperately seeking new opportunities to bring in viewers, and now they've ordered a pilot for a Maya Rudolph variety show that could air after the Winter Olympics (if they are pleased with the results). Rudolph will serve as executive producer alongside well-known veteran producer Lorne Michaels. (LA Times)
Here we go again with the reboots! This time, it is The CW and a proposed reboot of the syndicated '80s horror anthology series Tales From the Darkside. The project is still very early in the development stage, but if it becomes a reality, as Entertainment Weekly reports, we should likely expect "plenty of ridiculously hot young characters being menaced by supernatural forces." (Entertainment Weekly)
Despite ratings that haven't been all that impressive, NBC has "saved" freshman comedy Sean Saves the World, at least for a five additional episodes. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

It seems very rare that we hear about a big surprise release of a lesser known classic TV series from one of the major studios, but CBS did just that this week with their announcement of Joanie Loves Chachi - The Complete Series. Every single episode of the Happy Days spinoff will be available on DVD on February 4.
Joanie Loves Chachi isn't the only Happy Days spinoff headed to DVD on February 4. On the same date, fans will also see more of a well-known Happy Days spinoff with Laverne & Shirley - The Seventh Season.
TGG has been releasing a lot of episodes of the series In the Heat of the Night on DVD in various forms, and now after releasing the first season, a "best of" release from seasons 2-7, and the eighth season (in that order), they are now skipping around yet again to release In the Heat of the Night - Season 4 and In the Heat of the Night - Season 5. However, neither of these are complete seasons, as season four will be missing two episodes and season five will be missing three episodes (both due to clearance reasons, likely involving music). Still, the releases are better than nothing.

RECENT HOME MEDIA REVIEWS ON SITCOMSONLINE

http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3848399-10811526?sid=&URL=http://www.wbshop.com/product/code/1000446138.do

The Carol Burnett Show - Christmas with Carol: Another collection of two episodes of The Carol Burnett Show that aired with Christmas sketches is certain to please diehard fans of the series.
Flo - The Complete Series: Warner Archive's latest sitcom release gives fans of the spinoff of the classic sitcom Alice a fan to see Flo on her own.
Heathcliff - Season One, Volume Two: Mill Creek's latest release of the '80s cartoon cat provides a great value for fans, old and new.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Alfonso Ribeiro (Twitter), "Actor, Director, Host, & Singer."

Claim to Fame: Alfonso Ribeiro's "breakout" role in which Americans were first introduced to him came in the form of dancing, a skill which eventually landed him in a famous Pepsi commercial with Michael Jackson, but his first exposure to sitcom fans came in 1984 when he was cast as Alfonso Spears in the NBC (and later syndicated) sitcom Silver Spoons. After that series ended, he didn't do a whole lot for three years, until 1990 when he gained what has become his most iconic acting role, playing Carlton Banks on the NBC series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Lately, he has become known as a game show host, hosting Catch 21 on GSN and Spell-Mageddon on ABC Family, and recently became a father (again) to Alfonso Jr.

Pick of the Tweets: "First shoot day on Let's Stay Together. And off to a good start. Gonna work with my Fresh Prince mom Daphne Maxwell-Reid. Good old days." (April 4, 2013)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, January 22

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Will and a Dead Man’s Wife" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie’s not ready for his mother to start dating again. Meanwhile, Jim and Audrey struggle to make their wills.

Ghosts - "Kyle" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam and Jay’s relationship is tested when Kyle (Ben Feldman), a handsome living who shares Sam’s ability to see ghosts, arrives at Woodstone B&B.

Animal Control - "Dragons and Dognappers" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rob Gronkowski returns and asks the team for help rehoming a zebra; Emily and Shred's first date goes awry when they unexpectedly run into Daisy and Patel on their night out; Frank must defend Templeton when Templeton is accused of dognapping.

Going Dutch - "Farmer's Mark-tet Offensive" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a messy breakup, the Colonel and Katja find themselves going to war between the town and the base; Capt. Maggie tries to de-escalate the tension between the two ex-lovers and negotiate a truce.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 19)

Thursday, January 22

Mike Epps (The Upshaws/Uncle Buck/Survivor's Remorse) - Catch Mike on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. NBC's Today catches up with Anthony in the 10am hour.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - Sean is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jessica Williams (Shrinking/Love Life/Just for Kicks) - Jessica talks about Shrinking on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael talks about Shrinking on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Craig Robinson (Killing It/Ghosted/Mr. Robinson/The Office/Lucky) - Craig talks about Broadway' All Out on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Deon Cole (grown-ish/Angie Tribeca/black-ish) - Deon joins Sherri to discuss hosting this year's NAACP Image Awards on BET on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Heidi Gardner (Shrinking) - Heidi tells Sherri about her star turn in the new Broadway comedy All Out: Comedy About Ambition on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kyle MacLachlan (Carol's Second Act/Sex and the City) - Kyle tells Drew about the latest season of his thrilling hit show Fallout and plays a round of memory bank dishing on his biggest moments and roles revealing which Sex and the City character he identifies most with on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jackson White (Mrs. Fletcher) - Jackson tells Drew about the newest season of the hit show Tell Me Lies, how he started dating co-star Grace Van Patten, growing up on set with his actress mom and more on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - Howie talks about Netflix's Best Guess Live on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.