Wednesday, March 12, 2014
CBS Summer 2014 Schedule; Remembering Sheila MacRae of The Honeymooners and Producer Ted Bergmann of Three's Company
CBS has announced premiere dates for its summer 2014 slate of original programming, which includes the event series Under the Dome and Extant, the new steamy legal drama Reckless, the police drama Unforgettable and the return of the summer reality hit Big Brother. Together, CBS will present approximately 90 hours of first-run series programming this summer. It all starts with Big Brother, hosted by Julie Chen, which will debut early for the second straight summer, beginning Wednesday, June 25 at 8:00PM ET/PT with the first of its three weekly broadcasts. The Thursday edition, featuring the live eviction show, premieres June 26 at 9:00 PM with the first eviction the following week (July 3). The Sunday broadcast premieres June 29 at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Beginning June 29, Sundays will feature a three-hour block of all original entertainment programming with the aforementioned Big Brother at 8:00 PM ET/PT, leading into new drama Reckless at 9:00PM ET/PT and followed by the third season of Unforgettable at 10:00PM ET/PT. As previously announced, Under the Dome, last summer's #1 program, returns for its sophomore season on Monday, June 30 at 10:00PM ET/PT. The premiere episode will be written by Stephen King, on whose bestselling novel the series is based. The summer event series Extant, starring Academy Award winner Halle Berry, will now premiere Wednesday, July 9 at 9:00PM ET/PT instead of its previously announced July 2 debut.
Actress Sheila MacRae, who starred as Alice Kramden in The Jackie Gleason Show, has died. She died on March 6 at the Lillian Booth Actor's Home in Englewood, New Jersey. She suffered from dementia but was otherwise in good health and died of natural causes. Ms. MacRae was 92.
MacRae's early television credits included Search for Tomorrow, I Love Lucy (as herself), Lux Video Theatre, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Trials of O'Brien. She played Alice Kramden in around 50 episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show (aka The Color Honeymooners) from 1966-1970. She later co-hosted The Sheila MacRae show in 1971. Her other guest appearances included The Love Boat, General Hospital and Murder, She Wrote. In 1990, she played Marilyn Buckman in the NBC dramedy Parenthood.
Survivors include her children Heather and William "Gar" MacRae, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Her daughter Meredith (actress in My Three Sons and Petticoat Junction) died in 2000 and son Robert in 2010. She was a beautiful, talented and funny woman. She will be deeply missed.
Television producer Ted Bergmann, who worked as an executive producer for Three's Company and its spinoffs, has died. He died on March 2 following surgery at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Mr. Bergmann was 93.
Bergmann worked at the Dumont Television Network beginning in 1947. He sold commercial time to clients for such early Dumont TV shows such as The Original Amateur Hour, Fashions on Parade, Captain Video and His Video Rangers, The Arthur Murray Party, Cavalcade of Stars and Life Is Worth Living. He later worked as a producer of the Grammy Awards for seven years.
He was an executive in charge of production for Three's Company for all eight seasons on ABC from 1976-1984. He worked in the same capacity on its spinoff series The Ropers and Three's a Crowd. In 1998, he was interviewed for the E! True Hollywood Story on Three's Company.
The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on March 17, 2004. Survivors include his wife Beverly, six children, two stepsons, 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. We thank him for the entertainment he brought us over the years. He will be greatly missed.
Note: There are two people with credits that are mistakenly combined on IMDB and Wikipedia. Ted Bergmann is the executive producer born in 1920. Ted Bergman is a writer who worked on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Sanford and Son, What's Happening!!, Sanford, Gimme a Break!, What's Happening Now!!, Small Wonder, Out of This World, The Munsters Today and It's Garry Shandling's Show. We posted a behind-the-scenes article about Sanford and Son written by him last June. Writer Ted Bergman was born in 1940 and is still living. His website is Dogs and Cats Go Hollywood.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, October 23
Abbott Elementary - "Class Pet" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Janine gets a budget for class pets, but Melissa is resistant to taking on the added work and responsibility for her room’s guinea pig. An IT rep from the school district arrives to set up new computers.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Bullies" (Comedy Central, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Chris gets a gig DJ-ing at a drag ball and develops drag queen eyes.
Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Career Tests" (Comedy Central, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Chris and Greg tape over a porno rented from Caruso and must replace it.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 21)
Wednesday, October 23
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Watch Billy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Anna appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Matty Matheson (The Bear) - Matty stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - NBC's Today catches up with Olivia some time between 7-9am.
- Bridget Everett (Somebody Somewhere) - Bridget talks about Somebody Somewhere on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place/Wizards of Waverly Place/How I Met Your Mother/The Pitts) - David discusses Wizards Beyond Waverly Place on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings. One or two Wizards Beyond Waverly Place cast members will be on New York Living at 10:05am.
- Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about Before on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Billy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Mariska Hargitay (Can't Hurry Love) - Mariska talks about the greatest thing sheĆ¢€™s learned since turning 60 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell) - Dexter talks about Peacock's Fight Night; The Million Dollar Heist on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Essence talks about Poppa's House on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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