SitcomsOnline Digest: How I Met Your Dad Casting News; The Wonder Years to Arrive on DVD

Saturday, February 15, 2014

SitcomsOnline Digest: How I Met Your Dad Casting News; The Wonder Years to Arrive on DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! Today, we've got some developments in pilots for series that could make it to air on CBS and NBC, developments on The Wonder Years on DVD, news on some Family Matters DVD issues, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

With How I Met Your Mother coming to an end on CBS next month, the producers of the series and CBS are hoping to find success towards the potential spinoff, How I Met Your Dad. This week, indie film actress Greta Gerwig was cast in the lead role for the pilot of this series. (New York Times)
NBC has ordered a pilot for Feed Me, a sitcom produced by Witt/Thomas Productions (a production team that has been around in the sitcom world for almost four decades, and part of the team that brought us hit series such as Soap, Benson, and The Golden Girls, among others) and starring Mary-Louise Parker (previously of Weeds). The pilot is described as "a comedic exploration of adult intimacy and desire that centers on a dysfunctional family bound by love and the restaurant they run together." It's still very early in the development phase, and many pilots never even make it to air, but we'll be keeping an eye on it! (Deadline)
When Saturday Night Live returns after the Olympics, the host of the first new show will be one that sitcom fans are sure to appreciate: Jim Parsons of The Big Bang Theory. (Zap2it)
Ralph Waite, best known for playing family patriarch John Walton on the series The Waltons, died this week at the age of 85. (Los Angeles Times)
NBC is on track to go another season with no new sitcom successes, as both of their new sitcoms from fall 2013 (Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show) have now been canceled. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Time-Life tends to announce one big DVD release per year, with past "big announcements" including Get Smart, The Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family, China Beach, and others. This week, they announced that they'll be releasing the complete series of another sitcom favorite on DVD: The Wonder Years. No firm details are known about the set yet, other than the fact that it will include most of the original music from the series (something that has been lost in online streaming versions of the series). Keep checking back with us and WonderYearsDVDs.com (the official release website) for more details as they progress!
Warner Home Video released Family Matters - The Complete Fourth Season on February 4, but it seems that they made a huge mistake on this release. Instead of releasing unedited episodes, it turns out that the entire season consisted of syndicated versions of the episodes. But there is good news in this story: the studio is replacing these "bad" releases in stores, and is making a disc replacement program available to customers who have already purchased the release. You can read more about this in the coverage provided by TVShowsOnDVD.com.
The Dick Van Dyke Show wrapped up on DVD years ago, and if you're a devoted fan of the series and would like to own it on DVD, you may want to pick that DVD up as soon as possible. According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, a new episodes only re-release of the series is on the way, which assuming it follows the lead of The Twilight Zone, means that the original special features loaded DVDs will fall out of print (although the Blu-ray releases will maintain those features for the time being).

RECENT HOME MEDIA REVIEWS ON SITCOMSONLINE

The Jimmy Stewart Show - The Complete Series: Warner Archive puts together a great looking release of the complete series of this lost gem from the early 70s starring Jimmy Stewart.

FEBRUARY 18 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00GWJIDFW/ref=nosim/happydaysonline5-20

Nurse Jackie - Season Five (DVD, $39.98; Blu-ray, $39.97): The Showtime series about the nurse dealing with problems much bigger than what is going on at work returns to DVD for another season.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Jodie Sweetin (Twitter), "Actress, wife and mom to two beautiful girls! My life is beautiful and full of so many blessings, I am grateful to be where I am today!"

Claim to Fame: We've covered so many of the Full House stars here over the past few weeks in our Follow Me, and this week, we had Jodie Sweetin to this list. She made her sitcom debut not in Full House, but actually in a 1987 episode of the Valerie Harper series Valerie (better known today by the syndication title The Hogan Family). Of course, her greatest claim to fame came from her role of Stephanie Tanner on Full House, a role that she held for eight long seasons. Currently she is making a return to the small screen by playing roles in TV movies after several years of being out of the spotlight.

Pick of the Tweets: "Fun times last night with some of the Full House Family! http://www.whosay.com/l/kCl7Esf " (January 22, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, January 22

The Goldbergs - "Game Night" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Geoff struggles to keep his living arrangement with Erica and Barry a secret from Beverly during game night, while Adam goes to his guidance teacher for a lesson in being cool so he can get closer to a new girl in chemistry class.

Schooled - "FeMellor" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Principal Glascott and Lainey struggle to agree on what is an appropriate dress code, while Coach Mellor struggles with his relationship with Julie as she does not enjoy sports like he does.

Modern Family - "Dead on a Rival" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Mitchell learns a valuable life lesson when Murray (Paul Dooley), a former resident of the house, shows up unexpectedly. Meanwhile, the Dunphy’s old neighbor-turned-tech-titan, Kenneth (Josh Gad), comes to visit with a big surprise for Phil. Then, Manny’s dad, Javier (Benjamin Bratt), shows up with a big opportunity for his son.

Single Parents - "Chunkies" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After Angie decides it’s finally time for Graham to meet his dad, Derek (Adam Brody), sickness overtakes the household. Derek is forced to either step in and help or head back out to his van. Meanwhile, when Sophie overhears some big news about Will and Tracy, she takes it upon herself to intervene; and the twins face their first professional failure.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Wednesday, January 22

John Mulaney (Mulaney) - Watch John on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Fortune Feimster (Bless the Harts/Life in Pieces/Champions) - Fortune visits The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She will also be on Watch What Happens: Live at 9pm on Bravo.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on the BUILD Series at 12pm.
Charlie Hunnam (Undeclared) - Charlie is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse drops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Steve Buscemi (Miracle Workers) - Steve appears on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Patrick chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. He also talks about Star Trek: Picard on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.
Ashley Tisdale (Carol's Second Act/Merry Happy Whatever/Clipped/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Ashley appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Finesse is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana drops by The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jackée Harry (Tyler Perry's The Paynes/The First Family/Sister, Sister/227) - Jackée appears on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Boris Kodjoe (The Last Man on Earth/Second Time Around) - Boris gives the hosts a workout on E!'s Daily Pop at 12pm.
Erinn Hayes (Medical Police/Kevin Can Wait/Guys with Kids/Worst Week) - Erinn is a guest on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
BD Wong (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens/All-American Girl) and Lori Tann Chinn (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens) - BD and Lori will be on the BUILD Series at 1pm.
Abby Elliott (Indebted/Odd Mom Out) and Jessy Hodges (Indebted) - Abby and Jessy are guests on the BUILD Series at 5pm.