SitcomsOnline Digest: Bill Cosby Hoping to Return to Primetime; Busy January for Mill Creek

Saturday, November 09, 2013

SitcomsOnline Digest: Bill Cosby Hoping to Return to Primetime; Busy January for Mill Creek

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're settling in for our second week of our new feature around here, and this week, we've got news about sitcoms in development, several new re-releases from Mill Creek, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

A lot of TV stars that we loved in the '70s and '80s have been making primetime comebacks recently, and now it seems that Bill Cosby wants to give it a shot too. Recently, he has re-teamed with The Cosby Show producer Tom Werner in hopes of developing a new family comedy that will focus on older children and their relationship with their parents. It isn't even close to being a done deal, but nonetheless, it is great to see that his career is far from finished. (TV Guide)
Just when it seemed that Fox was heading into the direction of maintaining a Sunday night lineup with only one Seth MacFarlane animated comedy (as American Dad moves to TBS and The Cleveland Show was canceled), things may be changing, as they announced that they picked up 13 episodes of a new animated series from the creator, Bordertown, which is about two families living in a southwest desert town on the border of the United States and Mexico. It will premiere next season (Entertainment Weekly).
Meanwhile, on the sitcom development front at ABC, The Neighbors creator Dan Fogelman and George Lopez co-creator Robert Borden think that America is ready to see The Golden Girls again... but this time, a male version. (Deadline)
TV Guide recently interviewed Ed Asner about his upcoming appearance on The Crazy Ones, and has a little bit to say about how the guys at WJM were snubbed in the recent reunion of The Mary Tyler Moore Show cast on Hot in Cleveland. (TV Guide)
E! used to air plenty of sitcoms years ago, but it has been a while since they've done it. But now they're airing a sitcom once again, with their addition of Saved by the Bell. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

We mentioned several weeks ago that Mill Creek would be re-releasing several DVDs that Sony released years ago, and it appears that a great flood of these releases will be coming on January 22. Among these are Bewitched - Season 1, Bewitched - Season 2, Bewitched - Season 1 and 2, Charlie's Angels - Season 1, Good Times - Season 1, Good Times - Season 2, Good Times - Season 1 and 2, Just Shoot Me - Season 1, Just Shoot Me - Season 2, Just Shoot Me - Season 1 and 2, Married... with Children - Season 1, Married... with Children - Season 2, and Married... with Children - Season 1 and 2! That's a huge list! The single season releases will come at a $9.98 MSRP, while the double season releases will come at $14.98. By the way, according to TVShowsOnDVD.com, the first two seasons of Married... with Children will include the original theme song, although it is likely that the remaining seasons will be as they were when originally released... but we'll let you know when those seasons come.
Those releases aren't all for Mill Creek on January 22! They've also got a release of a series from CBS and a new one from the Carsey-Werner library Wings - Season 3 and 4, The Cosby Show - Season 1, The Cosby Show - Season 2, and The Cosby Show - Season 1 and 2. The runtime of the The Cosby Show - Season 1 set suggests that these will, in fact, be the unedited episodes.
Shout! Factory announced the release of a classic sitcom that seemed to be abandoned this week with their announcement of Newhart - The Complete Second Season. Uncomfirmed rumors (from reliable sources) indicate that we'll be seeing a few more abandoned classic series from the Fox library from Shout! Factory over the next year.
Shout! also announced that L.A. Law - Season One will be released on February 25. This marks the first time that the series has been released in the United States (although a region-free version was made available in the United Kingdom a few years ago).

NOVEMBER 12 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00EC9UI0C/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20

Family Ties - The Complete Series ($220.98): CBS brings all of the episodes of this classic series together in one collection, along with extra bonus material not included on the previous season release.
My Mother the Car - The Series ($24.96): TGG brings together every episode (or so we think, we're still not entirely certain since the list in the official amazon.com description is missing an episode) of the classic series that is loved by many, despite having the reputation of being one of the worst series of all time.
MADtv - The Complete Fourth Season ($29.93): Shout! Factory continues with another season of the late-night sketch comedy series that aired on Fox that competed with Saturday Night Live for several years.
The Mod Squad - The Complete Series ($269.99) and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series (gift set) ($180): The classic series makes it to DVD as a complete series for the first time (and inexplicably, with a deluxe version that costs much less than the regular version).

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Donal Logue (Twitter), "Canadian born to Irish Parents & raised on the Mexican border (Nogales & El Centro). Currently rolling with #SOA #CopperTV & #Vikings peeps."

Claim to Fame: Donal Logue was best known for his movie roles in the '90s, but his claim to fame for sitcom fans came in 2001, with the Fox (and later The WB) series Grounded for Life. Since then, he has appeared in several episodes of ER and the short-lived ABC sitcom, The Knights of Prosperity. Currently, he appears in the BBC America series, Copper.

Pick of the Tweets: "Judging by CSI: Miami, Dade County is loaded. Must have spent millions on hologram computer monitors and Hummers alone." (March 17, 2013)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, August 21

The Goldbergs - "The Wedding Singer" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barry and Lainey’s wedding date is right around the corner, and Beverly is in her element as she tries to make everything perfect for her schmoopie’s big day. Geoff is concerned about Adam’s shortcomings as a wedding videographer. Meanwhile, Barry begins to have second thoughts.

Schooled - "Be Like Mike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
It’s 1990-something, and since Lainey still hasn’t achieved rock ‘n’ roll greatness, she returns to William Penn Academy as the new music teacher. Lainey has a hard time adjusting to being an authority figure, but she realizes she might not be so bad at it when she discovers a kindred spirit in Principal Glascott’s niece, Felicia. Meanwhile, Coach Mellor struggles with Michael Jordan’s influence on modern-day basketball.

Modern Family - "The Wild" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mitch, Cam and Phil crash Jay’s annual hiking trip to find an elusive bald eagle after Gloria asks them to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Gloria, Alex, Claire and Haley get together to plan her baby shower.

Single Parents - "Pilot" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Will Cooper has been so focused on raising his daughter, Sophie, he’s lost sight of who he is as a man and has headed deep into the parental vortex. When the other single parents – Angie, Douglas, Poppy and Miggy – at his daughter’s school see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses Will has gone, they band together to get him out in the world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn’t mean sacrificing everything about your own identity.

Younger - "It's All About the Money, Honey" (TV Land, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Liza is shocked to see an unexpected costar in her Infinitely 21 ad campaign. Kelsey and Charles head to Chicago with a plan. Josh considers his options beyond Inkburg.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 19)

Wednesday, August 21

Donald Glover (Atlanta/Community) - Watch on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place/Barry) - D'Arcy appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) - Selena is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Joe Namath (The Waverly Wonders) - Joe appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Fred Savage (What Just Happened??! with Fred Savage/Friends from College/The Grinder/Working/The Wonder Years) - Fred is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) - Jane drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men/Partners/The Famous Teddy Z) - Jon is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Kevin Hart (The Big House/Undeclared) - Kevin stops by LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Jennifer appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Iain Armitage (Young Sheldon) - Iain is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Brian Austin Green (Anger Management/Freddie) - Brian talks about BH90210 on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Melissa Peterman (Reba/Working Class/Baby Daddy) - Melissa guest co-hosts Access Live, so check your local listings.
Justine Lupe (Cristela) - Justine will be on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Queen Latifah (Living Single) - Queen Latifah opens up about how she balances her personal and professional life and her latest mission to combat the stigma of mental health on a repeat of The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie talks about Kids Baking Championship on the BUILD Series at 2pm.