SitcomsOnline Digest: Marcia Wallace Tribute on The Simpsons; Flo Arrives on DVD

Saturday, November 02, 2013

SitcomsOnline Digest: Marcia Wallace Tribute on The Simpsons; Flo Arrives on DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest, our new weekly feature here on SitcomsOnline! We've created this new feature in response to the changing dynamics of home media limiting the news we were able to bring you in our previous Saturday feature, Digital Digest, and also to allow us to bring you other pieces of news relating to sitcoms in general that we did not have the opportunity to cover earlier in the week. Don't worry, we'll still have all of your favorite components of Digital Digest each week (in a reorganized and easier to read format), but we'll also have more! So let's get started on this inaugural edition of SitcomsOnline Digest!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

We reported on the death of actress Marcia Wallace earlier this week, and now on Sunday night at 7:30 PM ET/PT, Fox will pay tribute to her by airing a classic third season episode "Bart the Lover," which garnered an Emmy Award for the actress in 1992. They will also conclude the new episode airing at 8 PM ET/PT with a tribute card to the actress from the producers. (Entertainment Weekly)
How I Met Your Mother is set to come to an end in May on CBS, but could a How I Met Your Father be in the works? It appears that CBS is in talks with 20th Century Fox to create some sort of spinoff, but it appears that it would include a new cast if it were to happen... although they would be introduced in the current series. (TV Guide)
Speaking of spinoffs and remakes, a journalist at Zap2it has observed that of the 250-plus projects in development for the five major networks for the 2014-2015 TV season, about 20% of them are spinoffs or remakes of series that we've seen before, including updated versions of Charmed and even Murder, She Wrote. Of course, a very small number of these projects will actually make it to air, but even so, is this the direction that TV is headed? (Zap2it)
Bret McKenzie, best known for his work with Jermaine Clement as part of the duo Flight of the Conchords, could be joining the ranks of Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane on the Fox Animation Domination lineup. It is far from a done deal, but Fox has given a script and presentation order for McKenzie to produce, according to TV Guide, "(an) untitled workplace comedy (that) follows the exploits of a group of employees toiling away at an almost-obsolete NASA space center in Boulder, Colorado." (TV Guide)
The Greatest Event in Television History, a sporadically appearing (as in once every few months) series that airs on Adult Swim featuring Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation and others doing shot-for-shot recreations of classic TV series opening credits, has a third installment coming up on November 7th at midnight ET/PT. The newest installment is said to be a recreation of the opening credits of a "not-so-classic" sitcom... we think we know which one, but we'll let you decide what you think. (Entertainment Weekly)
Actress Mary Carver, best known for her role as Cecilia Simon on the series Simon & Simon, passed away this week at the age of 89. In addition to her role on Simon & Simon, she also appeared in roles on The Donna Reed Show, The Twilight Zone, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Mannix, Lou Grant, and other series. (The Hollywood Reporter)
In case you missed it, check out our Seven Questions interview with Masiela Lusha, who played Carmen on George Lopez, from earlier this week. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

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Warner Archive has been steadily releasing seasons of the classic sitcom Alice, and this week they took things a bit further by announcing a release of spinoff series Flo. Flo - The Complete Series will begin shipping from Warner Archive.
Halloween may have already passed by us two days ago, but Nickelodeon gave fans of Are You Afraid of the Dark? a treat in their bag this week with their release of Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Volume 1. Not too many details are known about this release, but it can be owned for under $15.
Fans of the TNT series Dallas get a chance to say goodbye to J.R. in Warner Home Video's release of Dallas - The Complete Second Season. It'll be available to own on February 11.

NOVEMBER 5 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Boy Meets World - The Complete Collection ($99.98): Lionsgate has released every season of this series, but now they've got every single one compiled in one release.
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.
Flo - The Complete Series ($29.95): Warner Archive brings fans all 29 episodes of the grit kissin' Alice spinoff on DVD.
I Love Lucy - Colorized Christmas ($16.99): This single-disc release brings fans three classic episodes of the series (including, of course, the Christmas episode) in full color.
Naked City - The Complete Series ($179.98): Despite never having any proper season releases of the series, RLJ Entertainment has every episode of this classic police drama on DVD on this set.
Saved by the Bell - The Complete Collection ($49.98): Lionsgate brings together all of the episodes of the classic Saturday morning teen comedy in this set.
Seinfeld - The Complete Series ($149.98): In case you missed out on the classic series about nothing on the now out-of-print complete series set, a re-release is now available at a slightly lower price.
Weeds - The Complete Collection (Blu-ray) ($119.98): Lionsgate brings all of the episodes of the Showtime series that follows a woman that goes from neighborhood soccer mom to the FBI's most wanted in this release, along with some new special features.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Adam Scott (Twitter), "dancer, poet."

Claim to Fame: Adam Scott began his sitcom career several years ago in the role of Griff, the high school bully, on the series Boy Meets World. He followed up with many movie roles and roles in HBO series Tell Me You Love Me and the Starz series Party Down (the latter of which he tends to poke fun of himself for doing, but still appreciates the fans). Most recently, he has played the role of Ben Wyatt on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, and, as we mentioned in today's SitcomsOnline Digest, the irregularly occurring The Greatest Event in Television History opening credit recreations that air on Adult Swim.

Pick of the Tweets: "Party Down Season 2 on DVD today. Join the dozens who already love the show and pick up a copy! Or just find it for free on the internet!" (September 28, 2010)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 28

The Conners - "Mud Turtles, A Good Steak and One Man in a Tub" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Becky thinks that Jackie’s new friend Dawn (guest star Cheryl Hines), a restaurant supplier, is only cozying up to her to sell them things they can’t afford for the Lunch Box. Darlene is thrilled when Harris gets into Central Illinois State, but Harris might have found a better offer on her own. When Dan finds himself in an embarrassing situation nursing an injury, Louise (Katey Sagal) tries to help him out.

Bless This Mess - "The Letter of the Law" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Rio is bummed she can’t afford to go to Iceland for her best friend’s wedding, so the nuptials are moved and brought to the farm. Meanwhile, Rio is forced to take on Deb’s mail route after she quits, and Mike and Jacob help Rudy get over Constance.

mixed-ish - "True Colors" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Paul is shocked to hear from his estranged mother who wants to visit for Rainbow’s 13th birthday and soon learns more about why she abandoned him. Meanwhile, Rainbow sees turning 13 as a huge turning point in her life and wants a big birthday party, but Alicia wants to celebrate all the things Rainbow missed out on over the years while on the commune.

black-ish - "Adventure to Ventura" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Dre worries Diane and Jack don’t know how to fend for themselves and sends them out on an adventure, only to realize it’s his overbearing worries that hold the twins back. Meanwhile, Junior gets into a tricky situation at work when he befriends Josh in hopes of scoring a positive peer review.

Schitt's Creek - "Maid of Honour" (Pop, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Moira shares the newly released "Crows" movie trailer with the Jazzagals; Johnny and Roland find a suspicious bag of money at the new motel.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 27)

Tuesday, January 28

Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation) - Catch Ben on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) - William drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) - Ashton visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Tony Rock (Living Biblically/All of Us) - Tony is a panelist on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Miles Brown (black-ish) - Miles is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Fox's The Resident on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Hot in Cleveland/Jake in Progress/Just Shoot Me!) - Wendie talks about Disney Channel's The Owl House on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Life) - Nia talks about Poisoned Love on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Bill Pullman (1600 Penn) - Bill talks about The Sinner on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on the BUILD Series at 12:15pm.
Janeane Garofalo (The Larry Sanders Show) and Grant Rosenmeyer (Oliver Beene) - Janeane and Grant are guests on the BUILD Series at 2pm.