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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, April 20

The Neighorhood - "Welcome to Purse Dog" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin reluctantly agrees to dog-sit a glamorous little companion, only to face an awkward twist when someone else lays claim to it. Meanwhile, a joint celebration prompts Malcolm to question whether he and Mercedes are moving too fast. Amber Stevens West guest stars as Mercedes, Malcolm's Girlfriend.

DMV - "Drive-ory Tower" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Colette tries to bridge a growing divide at the office by bringing the driving examiners and counter clerks together. Meanwhile, Vic stubbornly avoids seeing a doctor after an unusual injury, forcing Barb to get creative to help him.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 20)

Monday, April 20

Kal Penn (The Santa Clauses/Sunnyside/We Are Men) - Watch Kal on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Don is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Hazardous History with Henry Winkler on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Aaron Tveit (Schmigadoon!) - Aaron is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
B.J. Novak (The Office) and Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Andy Cohen interviews B.J. and Jim on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
William Stanford Harris (Abbott Elementary) - William talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ramy Youssef (#1 Happy Family USA/Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Laurie Metcalf (Big Mistakes/The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/The Norm Show) - Laurie talks about Big Mistakes on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) - NBC's Today catches up with Jane in the 9am hour.
Christopher Briney (Hacks) - Christopher talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair tells Sherri about his new memoir A Soldier's Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Phoebe Dynevor (Younger) - Phoebe is telling Drew about her new movie Thrash on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Dan Bucatinsky (The Comeback/Marry Me/Web Therapy) - Dan appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.