Thursday, May 01, 2014

2014 Upfronts: Hulu and Crackle; Episodic Review: Surviving Jack - "She Drives Me Crazy" Airing Tonight on Fox

Hulu

Well, it's actually called a "NewFront" for Hulu and Crackle, but both had their annual presentations yesterday. For Hulu, among the new series is The Hotwives of Orlando, a Hulu Original Series, that will premiere on Tuesday, July 15. From Paramount Digital Entertainment, Hotwives is produced by Emmy© award-winning producer Jonathan Stern and Emmy© nominated producer Paul Scheer. Paramount Digital Entertainment is the studio behind the outrageous Emmy© nominated comedy Burning Love. All episodes will be available on Hulu Plus on July 15; the first two episodes will be available on Hulu.com, with a new episode releasing each week after that. The series is a laugh-out-loud parody of the phenomenon that is reality housewives shows. With an all-star cast that includes the Hotwives Casey Wilson as The Trophy Wife (Happy Endings), Angela Kinsey as The Religious Zealot (The Office), Kristen Schaal as The Drug Addled Former Child Star (Flight of the Conchords), Tymberlee Hill as The Entrepreneur (Drunk History), Danielle Schneider as The Bankrupt Overspender (Upright Citizens Brigade) and Andrea Savage as The Cougar (Step Brothers). With special guest stars including Kate Walsh, Weird Al Yankovic, Joey McIntyre, Stephen Tobolowsky, Paul Scheer and Paul Scheer (The League) who plays the Enthusiastic TV producer Matty Green.

Crackle

Crackle, the multi-platform digital entertainment network, released an exciting line-up of new original programming and returning series yesterday at the Digital Content NewFronts in New York City. Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle, Breaking Bad), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage), and sportscaster Dan Patrick were all on hand alongside Sony Pictures Television executives for Crackle's second year at the annual NewFronts presentations. The new line-up features more than 100 episodes of original programming including exciting new productions and returning hits across a variety of genres such as sports, comedy, thrillers, and music involving some of Hollywood's most sought-after talent including Jerry Seinfeld, Robert Downey Jr. Bryan Cranston, Jeremy Renner and Dan Patrick. New series includes a comedy titled Tightrope. Emmy(R)-Award winner Bryan Cranston returns to his comedic roots to executive produce this series that will replace a character from a classic detective series with a modern-day actor. The show juxtaposes the modern character, with irreverent comic sensibilities and also with older characters from another era to reshape the stories into contemporary comedy. A new drama Sequestered was also announced for a 12 episode run scheduled to premiere on Crackle in August. A sophisticated, intense thriller, starring Jesse Bradford, Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagemen), and Bruce Davison about a jury sequestered in a hotel while deliberating a court case with massive implications. Series is produced by Lifeboat Productions and created by Aaron Tracy.




On the next...Surviving Jack (Fox, Thursday 9:30pm):
By: Vincent

Fox's new comedy starring Christopher Meloni airs Thursdays at 9:30pm and we have just watched the next episode that airs tonight (May 1). In the episode airing tonight, "She Drives Me Crazy," Jack (Christopher Meloni) gets Rachel (Claudia Lee) a spot on the wrestling team, much to the chagrin of the wrestling coach (guest star Neil Flynn, The Middle, Scrubs). Meanwhile, Joanne (Rachael Harris) realizes that Frankie (Connor Buckley) is now too embarrassed to be seen with her during their annual mother-son trip.

When I watch Surviving Jack, the best word I can come up with is "competent." This is a show that knows what it's doing and does it pretty well. It's a nostalgia-based family sitcom (although the '90s references are increasingly becoming less prevalent) that wants to get some decent laughs out of you while getting you invested in some fairly well drawn, if slightly stereotypical, characters. It wants to make you think of your own childhood or adolescence with a smile, and it wants you to go "aww" at its sweet message of family togetherness it brings through at the end. And it does all of this quite well! In fact, unlike many family sitcoms, the "aww" moments feel genuinely earned here, because the characters feel like more than just archetypes. It's good, solid family sitcom stuff.



The problem is that we've had many "good, solid family sitcoms" over the years, and there's not much that makes Surviving Jack stand out in the crowd. The show is funny enough, but there are far funnier shows on television. The characters are pretty well-drawn, but they're not unique in the way that, say, the Heck kids (from The Middle) are unique. The shows' genuine sweetness is perhaps its best selling point, but it's not groundbreaking enough to really make Surviving Jack worth going out of your way for. This is probably why the show has sort of failed to gather traction – as good as everything here is, it's just good, and there isn't much of an effort to be anything more than "just good." There are elements here that could eventually make a genuinely great family sitcom, but the show may be taking too long to properly utilize them. Surviving Jack is not a bad way to spend a half hour, but with so many great comedies on TV, "not a bad way to spend a half hour" just isn't enough. B-


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, March 22

The Conners - "Of Missing Minds and Missing Fries" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
It’s Thanksgiving at the Conners and Jackie must come to terms with her mother, Beverly, becoming ill. Meanwhile, Darlene is on the job hunt which proves to be more difficult than anticipated.

The Conners - "Crumbs and Couch Surfers" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene, Ben, Becky and Beverly Rose move into the new house, where Darlene implements a new set of rules. Meanwhile, Harris welcomes a guest at Dan and Louise’s.

Abbott Elementary - "Fight" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During a day of touchdowns and missed plays, the Abbott Elementary faculty find themselves learning lessons in teamwork. Two of Janine’s students aren’t getting along in class, leading her to seek advice from her colleagues on how to help repair their friendship. Meanwhile, Melissa and Ava plot to bring down Mr. Johnson in fantasy football.

Not Dead Yet - "Pilot" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Nell attempts to restart her life in a new place with a new job and a new roommate. She begins writing obituaries at the local paper and starts getting life advice from an unlikely source.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Like New Money" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Curtis suspects his food truck was blown up intentionally, and he starts investigating the incident; Calvin must get to the bottom of Calvin Jr.'s mischievous deeds.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "I Believe" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Philip learns about being accountable for one's actions and putting life's obstacles in perspective; Reginald must pick himself up out of his slump and find the strength to believe in love again.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 20)

Wednesday, March 22

  • Molly Shannon (I Love That for You/The Other Two/Divorce/Kath & Kim) - Watch Molly on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Giancarlo Esposito (Bakersfield P.D.) - Giancarlo is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Al Franken (LateLine) - Al guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Jennifer chats about the highly anticipated sequel Murder Mystery 2 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
  • Mae Whitman (Up Here) - Mae catches up with the hosts to talk about her role in the upcoming Hulu series Up Here on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
  • Zach Braff (Scrubs/Alex, Inc.) - Zach chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) - Jameela chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Do Not Disturb/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry will be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Coco Jones (Good Luck Charlie) and Skai Jackson (Bunk'd/Jessie) - Coco and Skai are guests on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
  • Max Greenfield (The Neighborhood/New Girl/Modern Men) - Max talks about his children's book on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
  • Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Drew discusses the mystery of menopause on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) - Melanie talks about Yellowjackets on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Kelly Hu (In Case of Emergency) - Kelly discusses her roles on two television series BMF on Starz and East New York on CBS on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra discusses the film Space Oddity on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Reboot/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Keegan-Michael talks about The Super Mario Bros. Movie on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am. Keegan-Michael and Cecily Strong talk about Schmigadoon! in the 9am hour.
  • Sophia Hammons (Up Here) - Sophia talks about Hulu's Up Here on WPIX in New York at 8:50am.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Ghosts - Season One Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Ten Growing Pains - The Complete Series

11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


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