Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Dancing with the Stars Season 18 Cast Has Sitcom Stars; Episodic Reviews: The Goldbergs - "Goldbergs Never Say Die" Airing Tonight on ABC and Brooklyn Nine-Nine - "Tactical Village Day" Airing Tonight on Fox
ABC has announced the stellar new cast of Dancing with the Stars. Season 18's dynamic lineup of stars includes plenty of sitcom actors, two Olympic Gold Medalists, a game show host, a swimming legend and a teen pop star. The two-hour season premiere will air on Monday, March 17 at 8:00-10:01 p.m. on ABC.
Sitcom stars appearing this season will be Candace Cameron Bure (Full House), Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show, The Price Is Right), NeNe Leakes (The New Normal, The Real Housewives of Atlanta), James Maslow (Big Time Rush) and Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years). Other celebrities include former pro hockey player Sean Avery, Olympic Gold Medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White, swimming legend Diana Nyad, Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy, pop star singer Cody Simpson and actor Billy Dee Williams.
In a first for Dancing with the Stars, the competition will feature a new game changing twist called The Switch Up. This season, America will be given the power to vote and change celebrities and professional dance pairings. This new rule will affect all couples as they will be required to switch partners at a point in the season. Never before have dance partnerships been split up during the course of competition.
Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday nights during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the Dancing with the Stars broadcast in each time zone. Online voting at www.ABC.com and on Facebook at https://apps.facebook.com/votedwts/ is open for 24 hours, beginning from the start of each episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT on Tuesday evenings. For the final week, on Monday, May 19, online voting will open for 15 hours, beginning from the start of the episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m., ET/5:00 p.m., PT and closing at 11:00 a.m., ET/8:00 a.m., PT the next day. A custom Facebook app lets fans vote, share whom they voted for and say why, as well as see whom friends voted for.
On the next...The Goldbergs:
By: Pavan
ABC's Tuesday freshman comedy anchor set in the '80s, airs Tuesday nights at 9:00pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (March 4). In the episode airing tonight, "Goldbergs Never Say Die," Adam (Sean Giambrone) is obsessed with the movie The Goonies and when Beverly's (Wendi McLendon-Covey) mother's jewelry goes missing, he bands together Erica (Hayley Orrantia), Barry (Troy Gentile) and his friends Emmy Mirksy (Stephanie Katherine Grant), Dana Caldwell (Natalie Alyn Lind) and Chad Kremp (Jacob Hopkins) to look for the missing treasure, just like the film.
The Goldbergs is a hilarious show that keeps getting better and better. Sometimes you even forget we are back in 1980-something. We're really invested in this family and the series might be set in the '80s but this family is still very relatable in 2014. Tonight's episode shows us why this family is special. The kids, parents and granpda are all just so essential to this show and each one of them were vital to tonight's plot. The episode centers around a comical spoof of the hit movie The Goonies when Adam assembles a group of his friends, both of his siblings and even a random guy Adam doesn't know that well named Dave Kim to play "Data." It's so funny! They are trying to find some missing jewelry that belonged to Beverly's mom and leave it to Adam to try to find it. It's a fun adventure and you'll be saying "Goldbergs Never Say Die!" I mean there are no pirates or anything here, but we get a cool treasure map!
This is such a gem of a show. It has quietly become one of the best family comedies on television right now, right up there in the same league as Modern Family and The Middle. The show is consistently funny and you can tell the family loves each other. They might call each other "morons" or "putz" but that is what makes this family so real (and funny in the process). If there is no yelling at each other, then there is no Goldbergs frankly. ABC has found a treasure of a show in The Goldbergs. Never Say Die, because this show is going to be around for quite some time (and even Nielsen is beginning to think that). B+
On the next...Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 9:30pm):
By: Vincent
Fox's new Tuesday police comedy starring an ensemble cast airs Tuesdays at 9:30pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (March 4). In the episode airing tonight, "Tactical Village Day," a mandatory training course in which all the regional precincts compete. While at the course, Amy (Melissa Fumero) runs into Teddy (guest star Kyle Bornheimer, Worst Week, Romantically Challenged), a fellow officer whom she used to date. Meanwhile, Holt (Andre Braugher) becomes addicted to a game on his phone and Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) is angry with Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) for not inviting her to his wedding.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has established itself over the course of its first season as being a very well-constructed sitcom. From nearly the very first episode, the show functioned like a well-oiled machine – its characters were solidly established and relatable, its actors gelled together to form a genuine ensemble, and the writing was clever and frequently hilarious. These are all hallmarks of a truly great sitcom, and most shows don't hit this kind of balance until much later in their first seasons. Because it started off so well, Brooklyn Nine-Nine could've easily coasted from there on out and remained an enjoyable show. And in fact, there are times when I sort of feel like the show is coasting a little bit. Over the back half of the season, there have been several episodes that felt like the show was on auto-pilot, hitting its familiar beats well but never eclipsing them. Luckily, Brooklyn Nine-Nine's beats are funny enough that this still made for a pretty great show, but it was a bit dismaying to see the show not pushing itself.
Luckily, the past few episodes have been really promising step forwards for the show, and tonight's episode is a strong contender for the shows' best episode yet. Aside from a hilarious plotline featuring Gina and Captain Holt that sees Holt getting addicted to a Candy Crush-esque game on his cell phone, "Tactical Village" puts most of its cast in the same location – a 'tactical village' training program that requires the officers to act out a hostage simulation. This, predictably, leads to many extremely funny sequences, but what was most interesting was the way the show used the simulation to expose some of the feelings the precinct members are hiding from each other. Without spoiling anything, there's some very interesting character moments between both Jake and Amy and Rosa and Boyle, and – for the first time in this show – the episode ends on a bit of a somber, uncertain note for both pairings. The shows' handling of Rosa and Boyle, in particular, feels very well-done, in the show is focusing on the effects that Boyle's past feelings for Rosa is having on their friendship, rather than being caught up in relationship drama. I'm genuinely curious to see what's next for these characters, and I'm excited that the show seems to be pulling off an intriguing endgame for the end of its first season. A-
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Thursday, June 8
Young Sheldon - "Pancake Sunday and Textbook Flirting" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mary struggles to make new friends while Mandy pushes Georgie to date another woman.
Ghosts - "Alberta's Descendant" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Alberta is thrilled when a living relative, Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley), visits Woodstone to learn more about her, but things take a turn when she hits it off with Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez Stoll), Sam’s podcast co-host. Also, Nigel uses his knowledge of Trevor and Hetty’s secret tryst to try to blackmail Hetty.
Animal Control - "Dogs and Geese" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dispatch radios a report of a goose on the loose; the precinct hosts an adoption day.
Animal Control - "Pigs and Minks" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The team welcomes back Patel even though he is still on suspension; Shred and Victoria are called into the principal's office on a school visit; Rick heads back into the field with Frank.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 5)
Thursday, June 8
- Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules/Ladies Man) - Catch Kaley on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Lea Michele (The Mayor/Scream Queens) - Lea is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Janelle James (Abbott Elementary) - Janelle appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Chris Messina (The Mindy Project) - Chris will be on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Laurie Metcalf (The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/The Norm Show) - Laurie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Boris Kodjoe (The Last Man on Earth/Second Time Around) - Boris is a guest on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) - Maitreyi talks about Never Have I Ever Live with Kelly and Mark, (check your listings) and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Eva Longoria (Telenovela) - Eva appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus joins the Tam Fam to discuss the final season of grown-ish on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Nia Long (Uncle Buck/The Cleveland Show/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) - Nia appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Lauren London (The Game) - Lauren is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Fortune Feimster (Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune appears on a repeat of The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings. She also talks about FUBAR on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Cheers) - Kelsey is telling Rachael about his recent movie, the Frasier revival and what he's got going on next on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
- Marilu Henner (Evening Shade/Taxi) - Marilu talks about Hallmark's Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted by Murder on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Vivica A. Fox (Mr. Box Office/Getting Personal/Arsenio/Out All Night) - Vivica stops by to discuss her involvement with the Tony Awards and her Fox Soul talk show Cocktails with Queens on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Marsha Warfield (Night Court/Empty Nest) - Marsha drops by to talk about her iconic comedy career, her The Book of Marsha comedy tour and finally sees the green room at Sherri that was inspired by her, so check your local listings.
- Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City/Square Pegs) - Sarah will be on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-June)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/04 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/18 - Blondie - The Complete 1957 Television Series (Blu-ray)
04/25 - Cheers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
05/23 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Eleven / The Complete Season Twelve
05/23 - Go On - The Complete Series
05/23 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (Universal)
05/29 - Gimme a Break! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/29 - Kate & Allie - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/30 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
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