SitcomsOnline Digest: Betas Debuts on Amazon Prime; Hill Street Blues and Here's Lucy Complete Series DVD Releases

Saturday, November 23, 2013

SitcomsOnline Digest: Betas Debuts on Amazon Prime; Hill Street Blues and Here's Lucy Complete Series DVD Releases

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, Amazon Prime is back in the news with their latest series, and we've also got news about upcoming complete series releases (including one series that was abandoned by a studio several years ago). Let's get started!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Last week, we told you about the debut of the new Amazon Prime comedy Alpha House (a new episode is available this week, by the way), and this week, another comedy debuted on Amazon Prime with Betas (for the record, there won't be a comedy with the word Gamma in the title coming next week), a series about making it big in the mobile app development world. The first three episodes are available to everybody for free right now, and new episodes will be released each week for Amazon Prime members. (PC Magazine)
Carol Burnett is in the spotlight this weekend on PBS. In October, the actress won the Mark Twain Prize for Humor, and the award ceremony featuring celebrities including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Martin Short, and Vicki Lawrence will be broadcast by PBS on Sunday night. Most stations will air it at 8 PM ET/PT, but check local listings due to variations in PBS scheduling. (NPR).
If you were a fan of the classic final episode of Newhart, then you'll love the "alternate ending" from the special features of Breaking Bad - The Final Season that has leaked onto the internet. We'll give you a hint: somebody wakes up in a bed next to his wife... but it isn't who you'd expect. (Mediaite)
If you think NCIS airs a lot in the United States, think again. In Japan, Fox Japan is prepared to go all out with NCIS (and in the meantime, shatter a world record) by airing an 11 day marathon featuring every episode from the first ten seasons of the series back-to-back. (TV Guide)
The networks of ENCORE have been airing a few classic TV series for years, particularly westerns, but now as they prepare to rebrand two of their networks, they'll be adding sitcom favorites, including Diff'rent Strokes, Murphy Brown, Night Court, Amen, and more. (SitcomsOnline)
We can't count how many times we've heard the Simpson family say "The Simpsons are going to..." on the series The Simpsons, which usually ends in something like Africa or New York, but now we can finally (after two long decades) say "The Simpsons are going to cable," as FXX becomes the first cable home for the long-running animated series. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

We hinted several weeks ago that more "surprises" from the Fox library were in the works at Shout! Factory, but we weren't prepared to let the cat out of the bag just yet. Now, it appears that Hill Street Blues - The Complete Series (one of the series we heard rumors regarding) IS on the way! We're still awaiting confirmation on the continuation at least one other Fox series (a classic '70s sitcom... hopefully this is a huge hint) that is believed to also be in the works from Shout!, and we'll let you know more when we have something more solid.
MPI has a tendency to release complete series of a lot of series once they finish the individual season releases, and now Here's Lucy - The Complete Series is in the works for a March 25 release. If previous complete series releases from MPI are any indication, it will likely just be all of the individual seasons (which had plenty of special features) in one package.
The ABC series The Middle seemed to be stuck in DVD purgatory in 2012 when the fourth season debuted, with no sign of season 3 DVDs in sight, but those eventually came... and now, it seems that The Middle - The Complete Fourth Season will be coming soon as well. It is set for a February 25 release from Warner Home Video.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Linda Lavin (Twitter), "Actress, SingerWife, Step Mother, Grandmother Cook"

Claim to Fame: Lavin began her career on stage, but that all changed in 1975 when she was cast in a recurring role on Barney Miller. It didn't take long for her to grow out of that role, though, as she moved on to the sitcom role of her live a year later with the sitcom Alice, which ran for nearly a decade on CBS. Following that series, she returned to stage acting (winning a few awards this time) and had a few more attempts at sitcoms that weren't as successful. She recently Twitter a few months ago, and her current role is playing the mother of the title character in NBC's Sean Saves the World.

Pick of the Tweets: "My gracious neighbors baked an apple pie for our @SeanSavesWorld premiere viewing party tonight. How lucky am I? #SSTW" (October 3, 2013)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, December 1

Young Sheldon - "Four Hundred Cartons of Undeclared Cigarettes and a Niblingo" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
George Sr. bails Meemaw and Georgie out of jail. Also, Sheldon and Missy meet Mandy (Emily Osment), and Mary feels unwelcome at church.

Ghosts - "Possession" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Hetty accidentally possesses Jay’s body just as he and Sam are to about show Woodstone Mansion to a renowned wedding planner.

Welcome to Flatch - "Open House" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barb's first open house in Flatch draws all kinds of attention; Mandy displaces Father Joe as the Flatch advice giver; Kelley rises to the occasion as an up-and-coming real estate agent.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Fancy Puffenstuff" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Kat's murder mystery-themed friendsgiving dinner isn't a crowdpleaser; Phil has a romantic dilemma; Kat tries to encourage Max's career ambitions, but she worries that he has a bigger problem.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 28)

Thursday, December 1

Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Catch Don on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke makes a special guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
John Krasinski (The Office) - John is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
David Duchovny (Californication) - David appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Sarah is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Sally Field (Gidget/The Flying Nun/The Girl with Something Extra) - Sally appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy talks new book imprint on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Alfred Molina (Angie Tribeca/Laides Man) - Alfred will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Keshia Knight Pulliam (Tyler Perry's House of Payne/The Cosby Show) and Brad James (Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse) - Keshia and her husband Brad discuss how they met on set, their decision to share freezing Keshia's eggs and being reunited on their new Lifetime film, Noel in New Orleans, on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Punky Brewster/Freddie) - Freddie is a guest on E! News on E! at 11:30pm.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) and Kate Flannery (The Office) - Jane and Kate discuss their Christmas cabaret tour and participate in a holiday-themed quiz on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Tom Everett Scott (I'm Sorry) - Tom talks about NBC's Dolly Parton's Magic Mountian Christmas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.