Saturday, February 08, 2014
SitcomsOnline Digest: New Amazon.com Pilots; New Donna Reed Show DVD Rumors; April Mill Creek DVD Releases
Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This weekend, we've got news about new pilots on amazon.com, expansion of the Adult Swim lineup on Cartoon Network, and some more (credible) rumors about The Donna Reed Show on DVD. Let's get going!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB
- 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).
Who to Follow: Dave Coulier (Twitter),
"I yam what I yam."
Claim to Fame: After last week's big week for the Full House, we realized that there was one more adult star of the series that we had yet to feature here as a "Follow Me," so it is only natural to remember Uncle Joey this week. Coulier got his start as a stand-up comedian (something he often brought to his role on Full House) and doing cartoon voices, but of course, he is best known for playing the role of Joey on Full House.
Pick of the Tweets: "Thank you @jimmyfallon for the Mr. Woodchuck. You're the greatest guy I know - Ranger Joe http://www.whosay.com/l/npK7HKG" (January 30, 2014)
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, February 24
St. Denis Medical - "You're in His Bubble Space" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ron and Matt try to convince a child to get his shot; Alex helps Joyce with wedding planning; Bruce and Serena butt heads over Matt.
St. Denis Medical - "Nod and Agree" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ron tries to wrap up a perfect visit from his son, Michael; Alex questions Val's return from jury duty; Bruce feels iced out of a juicy business opportunity.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 23)
Tuesday, February 24
- Courteney Cox (Shining Vale/Cougar Town/Friends/Family Ties) - Catch Courteney on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Deon Cole (grown-ish/Angie Tribeca/black-ish) and Alec Mapa (The Villains of Valley View/Half & Half) - Deon and Alec are guests on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
- Daveed Diggs (Central Park/black-ish) - Daveed talks about In the Blink of an Eye on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Sterling K. Brown (Starved) - Sterling discusses Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - NBC's Today catches up with Sofia in the 9am hour.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - NBC's Today catches up with Stanley in the 9am hour. TODAY Food: Pizza with Stanley will be in the 10am hour.
- Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle joins the chat on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Oliver Hudson (Splitting Up Together/Rules of Engagement/My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star) and Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - It's Drew's News flashbacks featuring Oliver and Tiffany on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- The Cast of Hot in Cleveland - It's a little bit extra with the cast of Hot in Cleveland surprising Valerie Bertinelli and reminiscing about working with the iconic Betty White on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Sherry Cola (Nobody Wants This) and D'Arcy Carden (Barry/The Good Place) - Sherry and D'Arcy talk about HGTV's Wild Vacation Rentals on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Tatyana Ali (Second Generation Wayans/Love That Girl!/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Tatyana is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.
- Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:45am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
09/30 - Touché Turtle and Dum Dum - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD)
10/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/28 - St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/04 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
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