Monday, June 23, 2014
Amazon to Launch New Comedy Starring Sarah Chalke, Jay Chandrasekhar; 4th Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards Winners
Amazon Studios announced it will debut the half-hour dramatic single-camera comedy pilot Really from Jay Chandrasekhar, Main Street Films' Craig Chang and Harrison Kordestani, and Executive Producer Jamie Tarses (Happy Endings) as part of its third pilot season debuting later this year on Amazon Instant Video. Customers will once again be invited to watch and provide feedback on the shows they want to see turned into full series, which will then become available on Prime Instant Video. Written, created and directed by Chandrasekhar, Really is a funny, extremely honest behind-the-curtain look at the psychological and emotional complexities of marriage, and the charged dynamics of a tight-knit group of friends.
Really is about four hard-charging suburban Chicago couples trying to grasp on to their dwindling youth. At the center are the happily but messily married couple "Jed," played by Chandrasekhar, and "Lori," played by Sarah Chalke. When Jed is faced with the choice of keeping his pal's secret or destroying his friend group, he winds up digging himself into a very deep hole. Really explores marriage, friendship and the stifling peculiarities of suburban Chicago life. The pilot also stars Selma Blair, Travis Schuldt, Hayes MacArthur, Collette Wolfe, Luka Jones, Lindsay Sloane and Rob Delaney. Stay with us for more on this as it still has a ways to go. Your feedback will be key!
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) announced the winners of The 4th Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards. Seventeen of the best series in television were honored at the Beverly Hilton Hotel at a star-studded gala awards show, which was broadcast live on The CW on Thursday night (June 19). Actor/comedian Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire) hosted. FX was the most awarded network with five wins, followed by HBO with four wins. Fargo (FX) and Orange Is the New Black (Netflix) tied as most honored series with three wins each. Allison Janney was the only actor to receive two performance awards: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Mom, tied with Kate Mulgrew in Orange Is the New Black, as well as Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series for Masters of Sex.
Breaking Bad won for Best Drama Series, while Orange Is the New Black won as Best Comedy Series. Matthew McConaughey and Jim Parsons won Best Actor in a Drama Series for True Detective and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for The Big Bang Theory, respectively. Tatiana Maslany was honored as Best Actress in a Drama Series for Orphan Black, while Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Veep, both for the second year in a row. Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul was awarded Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Andre Braugher was awarded Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series; and Scandal's Bellamy Young was named Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Uzo Aduba was named Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series for her role in Orange Is the New Black.
Fargo was awarded Best Mini-Series, and its stars Billy Bob Thornton and Allison Tolman were honored as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series, respectively. Jessica Lange won Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series for her performance in American Horror Story: Coven, while Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey took home awards for Best Reality Series and Best Reality Host, Neil DeGrasse Tyson. The Best Reality Series-Competition category went to Shark Tank. Finally, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon won the Best Talk Show category, and Archer won for Best Animated Series.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and 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)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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