SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Thursday Night Reaching New Lows; Writers of Classic American Series Looking to China

Saturday, November 30, 2013

SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Thursday Night Reaching New Lows; Writers of Classic American Series Looking to China

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, and welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's a slow week for us this week due to the holiday, but we've got all of your regular features as usual. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

NBC is facing a serious dilemma with their Thursday night lineup, as the historically top-rated lineup came in at a historically low sixth place in the ratings race last week, falling behind even The CW in key demographics last week. Could it be time for a major shakeup in this lineup? (LA Times)
Many TV writers of the 70's, 80's, and 90's still interested in working just aren't finding work on today's networks in line with their style, but as it turns out, China may be the perfect place to develop new series like the ones they wrote for in the past. Sitcom writers such as Marilyn Anderson (Murphy Brown and The Jeffersons) and Michael Elias (Head of the Class and The Bill Cosby Show) are just a few among thousands of other writers of past American hit series working with a Chinese production company to bring high quality productions to a nation that is claimed to be lacking in great stories for television. (The Hollywood Reporter)
On Sunday's episode of Family Guy, fans were given one of the most shocking deaths to ever occur in an animated series as one of the major characters was killed off. This has caused quite an outrage from fans on the internet, even inspiring one of the largest online petitions ever revolving around the plot of a TV series. But is it all real, or a complicated publicity stunt to spike ratings? (LA Times)
Actor Jay Leggett, who appeared as a cast member on the final season of In Living Color, died this week at the age of 50. (TV Guide)
MeTV is adding a pair of classic Sid & Marty Krofft series to their Saturday morning lineup beginning December 29, with the addition of H.R. Pufnstuf and Land of the Lost. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Just before the April premiere of the sixth season of the Showtime series, Lionsgate is set to release Nurse Jackie - Season Five on DVD and Blu-ray on February 18. As usual, the set will contain plenty of special features.
eOne Entertainment is prepared to bring a somewhat forgotten '80s syndicated gem to DVD with their release of Monsters - The Complete Series. For those unfamiliar with the series, it was a horror anthology series from the same producer who previously brought fans the syndicated series Tales from the Darkside.

RECENT HOME MEDIA REVIEWS ON SITCOMSONLINE

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00E0FW054/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20

Family Guy - Volume Eleven: The three-disc set brings all 23 episodes of the 2011-2012 season of the animated Fox series to DVD, along with a few nice special features.
MADtv - The Complete Fourth Season: Shout! Factory's latest release of the late night Fox series that ran for 15 seasons brings fans one of the greatest seasons of the series.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Kunal Nayyar (Twitter), "I play Raj on the Big Bang Theory. I love playing Ping Pong, and long walks on the beach. Thats about all I like doing, especially on the sand."

Claim to Fame: Nayyar was born in London and raised in New Delhi, but came to the United States in 1999 to pursue a degree in finance. While in college, he appeared in a few stage performances and found that was what he really loved, and by 2007, the relatively unknown actor found huge success when he was cast as Raj Koothrappali in the CBS series The Big Bang Theory.

Pick of the Tweets: "FAQ- I can talk to women without alcohol now. On the show as well." (September 26, 2013)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 25

Abbott Elementary - "Student Transfer" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
After a negative teacher review, Janine gets a confidence boost when a student gets transferred from Melissa’s class into hers, but it turns out the student proves to be too much to handle. While trying to forge a friendship with an uninterested Gregory, it is revealed that Jacob is constantly getting roasted by his students. The two bond after Gregory unintentionally gives Jacob the idea to incorporate the roasts in an educational way.

black-ish - "Hoop Dreams" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Jack gets a job as the locker room attendant for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Dre and Bow feel like they need to step in before letting the job get to his head. Meanwhile, Pops and Ruby realize their daily routine has gotten boring and heed advice from Junior and Olivia.

American Auto - "Commercial" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Katherine and the team reshoot a commercial to make it more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community.

Grand Crew - "Wine & Pie" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Noah's dad is in a funk, so he asks Fay to make his favorite pie; Sherm teaches Anthony to play chess; Wyatt introduces the crew to his brother.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 24)

Tuesday, January 25

Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Catch Kristen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Thomas Middleditch (B Positive/Silicon Valley) - Thomas will be on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jim Belushi (According to Jim) - Jim is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Mike Schur (The Office/Creator of Parks and Recreation/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/The Good Place/Rutherford Falls) - Mike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. NBC's Today catches up with Mike in the 9am hour.
Francia Raisa (How I Met Your Father/growni-ish) - Francia appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect) - Sherri guest hosts The Wendy Williams Show.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous) - Jay guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings.
Autumn Reeser (Complete Savages/Grounded for Life) - Autumn appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Marsai Martin (black-ish)- Marsai talks about her new Discovery+ series Remix My Space! on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Kevin James (The Crew/Kevin Can Wait/The King of Queens) - Kevin talks about Home Team on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy) - Ming-Na talks about The Book of Boba Fett on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.