SitcomsOnline Digest: Undateable Renewed for Second Season; Facts of Life Complete Series Coming to DVD

Saturday, August 02, 2014

SitcomsOnline Digest: Undateable Renewed for Second Season; Facts of Life Complete Series Coming to DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got news of a late renewal for an NBC series, a cancellation for a TV Land series, news about The Facts of Life on DVD, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Summer premieres for a sitcom are usually seen as a dumping ground, and even Undateable executive producer Bill Lawrence acknowledged that before the show premiered. However, it was renewed. (Deadline)
The TV Land original sitcom Kirstie has been canceled after just one season. (TVLine)
This is our third week reporting it, and The Big Bang Theory cast still hasn't signed new contracts, but it looks like there is a good chance that will be taken care of by Sunday night. (Boston Herald)
A critic at The New York Times shared his negative views on retro TV this week in an opinion piece this week, and we think you'll disagree (as we do). (New York Times)
Musicals seems to be one of the latest trends in specialty programming for the broadcast networks, but NBC and Kathie Lee Gifford may be taking that a bit too far with their musical version of Today, which will actually air on the morning show sometime later this year.. (Huffington Post)
Bewitched is almost 50 years old, and Antenna TV will mark that anniversary with a 50 hour marathon in September. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Shout! Factory dropped a huge surprise last week, when they announced that they would be releasing The Facts of Life - The Complete Series on DVD sometime next year.
It seems like we can't go more than one week without an update on new special features for The Wonder Years - The Complete Series, and this week, TVShowsOnDVD.com announced a few more.
Mill Creek has a pair of complete series releases in store for November 11, including Highway to Heaven - The Complete Series and Starsky & Hutch - The Complete Series.
For those who aren't necessarily interested in making the big investment into one of the Batman complete series releases, Warner Home Video will also be releasing Batman - The Complete First Season on November 11.
We mentioned in the past that MPI has plans to right some of the wrongs done with The Donna Reed Show on DVD, and part of the plan appears to be to re-release the first three seasons on DVD, beginning with The Donna Reed Show - Season One on September 30.

AUGUST 5 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00K31RCCA/ref=nosim/happydaysonline5-20

Dennis the Menace - Lights! Camera! Menace! (DVD, $12.98): The animated version of the comic book page character comes to DVD once again with 32 "new" episodes, almost all of which available on DVD for the very first time.
Mad About You - Seasons 1 and 2 (DVD, $14.98): A Mill Creek re-release of a set previously released by Sony (also available in configurations of just the first season or second season).
The Nanny - Seasons 1 and 2 (DVD, $14.98): Another Mill Creek re-release of a set previously released by Sony (also available in configurations of just the first season or second season).
Perry Mason Movie Collection - Volume 3 (DVD, $59.99): This six movie collection brings more the 80s and 90s movies based upon the classic series to DVD, leaving only twelve more of the movies unreleased (eight of which starred Raymond Burr).

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Bill Lawrence (Twitter), "UNDATEABLE, Cougar Town, Scrubs, Spin City, Clone High, Ground Floor, Surviving Jack, finds himself boyishly handsome, is not boyishly handsome"

Claim to Fame: You may not know his name, but you know his work. You may not know his first work, though, which was as a writer on the short-lived Head of the Class spinoff, Billy (it never dawned on me that the series even had a spinoff), but shortly thereafter, he went on to write for series such as Boy Meets World, Friends, and The Nanny. But it was in 1996 where he really made a name for himself, when he created the series Spin City. He followed up on that success with the series Scrubs. His most recent work has been as co-creator of Cougar Town, and executive producer of Undateable, which was recently renewed for a second season.

Pick of the Tweets: "For some of us, every day is national Tequila day." (July 25, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 30

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang Goes to a Dog Track" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank attempts to win big with an old business associate at a West Virginia dog track; Dennis and Dee lose more than their shirts to gambling addiction; Mac and Charlie learn about a simpler way of life.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 28)

Wednesday, July 30

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Pamela appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) - Marc is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about comedy special Marc Maron: Panicked on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) and Alison Brie (Community/GLOW) - Dave and Alison on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm. They also talk about Together on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about The Gilded Age on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Sam talks about The Bad Guys 2 on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
James Van Der Beek (Friends with Better Lives/Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - NBC's Today catches up with James in the 9am hour.
Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand) - Liza talks about The Naked Gun on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Manny Jacinto (The Good Place) - Manny talks about Freakier Friday on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie opens up about her healthy lifestyle journey and prioritizing mental health on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Joey Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Blossom/Brotherly Love/Run of the House/Melissa & Joey), Matthew Lawrence (Gimme a Break!/Drexell's Class/Walter & Emily/Brotherly Love/Boy Meets World) and Andy Lawrence (Tom/Brotherly Love/Oliver Beene) - The Lawrence brothers talk about their Brotherly Love Podcast Live event in Las Vegas on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.