Saturday, February 08, 2014
SitcomsOnline Digest: New Amazon.com Pilots; New Donna Reed Show DVD Rumors; April Mill Creek DVD Releases
- Pilot season has returned to amazon.com! Once again, the website has introduced ten new pilots for potential Prime series that fans can watch, and ultimately choose which ones will be produced as new series to be streamed exclusively through the website. Last year, this introduced both Alpha House and Betas. Among the current batch, there are three comedy pilots, so check them out and let them know what you think. (New York Times)
- Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup is getting even bigger, and will soon include all of primetime hours as the start time for the lineup moves to 8 PM beginning March 31. The lineup launched in September 2001 with a start time of 11 PM and has slowly been adding time over the years. King of the Hill will kick off the lineup in the 8 PM hour, a role that it currently serves in the 9 PM hour. (Multichannel News)
- Last week was a great week for showrunner Chuck Lorre. Lorre, who has four primetime sitcoms that he can call his own on CBS, managed to have all four of his sitcoms land in the Nielsen Top 20 last week among adults last week, a feat that hasn't been accomplished by any showrunner since the introduction of electronic ratings measurement in 1991. (Deadline)
- Of course, not everybody is a fan of Chuck Lorre. Charlie Sheen, in particular, is not a fan of Lorre, nor is he a fan of Ashton Kutcher, who replaced him on Two and a Half Men. This week on Twitter, Sheen apologized to Kutcher for some of the things he has said about him on Twitter... but then followed up with another tweet that was a lot less pleasant. (Deadline)
- Good Times turns 40 years old today, and you can celebrate the anniversary with the 12 hour marathon airing today on Antenna TV. (SitcomsOnline)
HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
- We've posted plenty of very credible rumors about releases of The Donna Reed Show on DVD over the years (thanks to a poster on Home Theater Forum who has been regularly communicating with Mary Owen, Donna's daughter), and this week, it seems that this source has some new inside scoop regarding re-releases of the first three seasons. MPI is now working on plans to re-release the first three seasons, which were released by another studio and are now out-of-print, and fixing many of the technical problems that plagued those releases. Not all of the news is great, though. MPI has been trying to negotiate releasing the final three seasons of the series as well, and the rights for these seasons are held by Sony. Negotiations are still going on here and there really hasn't been any progress in getting this accomplished, but there seems to be some hope that something can be worked out in the future.
- Mill Creek has a few more re-releases in the horizon. On April 1, they will release The Cosby Show - Seasons 3 and 4, I Dream of Jeannie - Seasons 1 and 2, Married with Children - Seasons 3 and 4, and Newsradio - Seasons 1 and 2. Each will come at a $14.98 MSRP, but as usual, expect to find nice discounts on all of them.
- For those who didn't get the complete series release of Mama's Family (but would still like the series), Mama's Family - The Complete Fourth Season is on the way on June 24 from StarVista Entertainment. The four disc set will come at a $29.95 MSRP.
- Shout! Factory is already preparing to bring fans another season of L.A. Law, announcing it even before the upcoming release of L.A. Law - Season One. On May 20, L.A. Law - Season Two arrives on DVD at a $29.93 MSRP.
FEBRUARY 11 HOME MEDIA RELEASES
- Newhart - The Complete Second Season (DVD, $29.93): Shout! Factory puts together the second season of this classic Bob Newhart sitcom (review).
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, April 29
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Name Drop" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Marty and Courtney's baby name gets spread around because nobody can keep a secret; Dave is assigned the ever-complicated task of assembling the diaper changing table.
Bob Hearts Abishola - "Olu! I Popped!" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Bob and Abishola plan a trip to Las Vegas for Kemi’s wedding and Kemi and Chukwuemeka get into an argument over his mother.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 29)
Monday, April 29
- Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) - Watch Melanie on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about The Tattooist of Auschwitz on NBC's Today some time between 7-9am.
- Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She will also be on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Gayle Rankin (GLOW) - Gayle appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) - Caroline is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/The Ellen Show/Welcome to New York) - Jim stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) - Caroline is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Rachael Harris (Surviving Jack/In the Motherhood/Notes from the Underbelly) - Rachael appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Co-host Gayle King sits down with Drew on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
- Laura Benanti (Younger/The Detour/Go On/Starved) - NBC's Today catches up with Laura in the 9am hour.
- Rocky Carroll (Roc/Welcome to New York) - Rocky tells Sherri about the hit CBS show NCIS on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers/Frasier) - Bebe talks about Cabaret at the Kit Cat Club on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Nicole Ari Parker (And Just Like That.../Second Time Around) - Nicole discusses her Gymwrap sweat band line on Access Daily with Mario & Mit, so check your local listings.
- Seth Rogen (Platonic/Undeclared) - Seth is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Brandon Scott Jones (Ghosts/The Other Two/The Good Place) - Brandon talks about Ghosts on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
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