SitcomsOnline Digest: SNL Looking to 40th Anniversary; New Mill Creek DVD Releases

Saturday, April 19, 2014

SitcomsOnline Digest: SNL Looking to 40th Anniversary; New Mill Creek DVD Releases

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! Today, we have news about SNL's 40th anniversary, the potential 2014-2015 pilots, and many new releases from Mill Creek. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Saturday Night Live is about to turn 40 (well, technically that is still another year and a half from now), but NBC is already planning a three hour 40th anniversary special for February 15, 2015. With planning and a date set this early, it should be a huge deal. (Variety)
Pilot season is about to turn into pickup season in just a few short weeks, and Deadline has a run down of what each network is looking at as they try to decide which series could lead the network into the next decade... or through mid-October 2014. (Deadline)
TV Land has given a cast-contingent pilot order to a comedy about a con man pretending to be a gay pastor, which seems to be one of the most unusual pilot ideas in a while. (Deadline)
Fox's Animation Domination High-Def lineup is officially dead, although the programs airing in it aren't necessarily dead... yet. The lineup will cease to exist at the end of June, but the programming will continue to air on other platforms. (Entertainment Weekly)
Sitcom writer Doris Kanter died this week at the age of 95. Wife of the late Hal Kanter, Doris' writing credits include Chico and the Man and Night Court, and she also designed the opening credits for her husband's sitcom, Julia. (Deadline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Mill Creek is showing absolutely no sign of slowing down on their Sony releases, which have seen at least a few released every month since January, and June is no exception. On June 24, the studio will release Bewitched - Seasons 3 and 4, The Larry Sanders Show - Seasons 1 and 2, and The Partridge Family - Seasons 1 and 2.
eOne Entertainment will release The Abbott & Costello Show - The Complete Second Season on May 20, but for those interested in the series it may make more sense to pick up their release of The Abbott & Costello Show - The Complete Series, which is currently a dollar cheaper.

RECENT REVIEWS ON SITCOMSONLINE.COM

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/starskyandhutchseason1millcreekdvdreview.html

Starsky & Hutch - Season 1 (Mill Creek): One of TV's favorite detective duos returns to DVD for this re-release on DVD that comes at a lower price (but without the special features of the original release).

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Twitter), "Actor, Musician, Poet, Writer, Director. At War with my Nice Guy complex right now so until further notice, beware..."

Claim to Fame: Once again, we're going on with our Cosby Show theme again this week with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played Theo. Like many other cast members of the series, he found great success after the series ended and didn't just fade away. Early appearances on TV included guest roles on Matt Houston and Fame, but it wasn't long until he was cast on The Cosby Show. After that, though, he didn't stop. In fact, he was immediately cast in the lead role of the series Here and Now (which didn't last long). In 1996, he did find some success with Malcolm and Eddie, which ran for four seasons. Most recently, he has had a recurring role on the NBC series Community.

Pick of the Tweets: "Tidbit: @BillCosby has never made us eat nor have I ever seen him eat Jell-o or a pudding pop. Ever. Now hoagies are a different story!" (January 19, 2013)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, February 19

The Goldbergs - "Dave Kim's Party" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A big party is being thrown at Dave Kim’s house and Pops has a plan to make Adam cool for the big event. Meanwhile, Beverly’s cookbook has made her “famous,” leading her to become out of control and fame-hungry, but eventually she learns an important lesson.

Schooled - "Moving On" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Wilma steps in to help CB move on from Lainey with help from Coach Mellor, while Lainey learns she has unresolved issues from her past when mentoring a student.

Modern Family - "Spuds" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Phil and Claire take Haley and Dylan to dinner to reassure them they are not bad parents. While out to dinner, they run into Mitch and Cam who are chaperoning Lily’s first date, as well as Jay and Gloria after attending Joe’s school play.

Single Parents - "Hip$ for Dolores" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After rent on the Winebrary goes up, the gang all chip in in their own ways to help solve Poppy’s new financial problem, each learning a valuable lesson in the process.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 17)

Wednesday, February 19

Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Chris on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. He will also be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Lil Rel Howery (Rel/The Carmichael Show) - Lil Rel appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
James Marsden (30 Rock) - James stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Lizzy Caplan (Party Down/The Class) - Lizzy is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Jane Levy (Suburgatory) - Jane visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Skylar Astin (Ground Floor) - Skylar appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - NeNe guest co-hosts The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Adam Pally (Indebted/Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam drops by The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jurnee Smollett-Bell (On Our Own) - Jurnee appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Da'Vine talks about High Fidelity on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Suzanne Somers (Step by Step/She's the Sheriff/Three's Company) - Suzanne is a guest on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Lauren Ash (Superstore/Super Fun Night) - Lauren appears on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Kelly is a guest on People Now at 12pm.
Lark Voorhies (Saved by the Bell/In the House) - The actress who portrayed Lisa Turtle on the iconic teen sitcom Saved by the Bell opens up about her mental health challenges and her reaction to being left out of the reboot of the show on The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.