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 9

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Volunteers" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don’t go as planned.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Months after the Gang visited, Abbott's Principal Ava walks viewers through some of the unseen footage of the Gang's volunteerism and reveals their true intentions.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Frank Is in a Coma" (FXX and FX, 9:33PM ET/PT)
The five stages of grief set in for Dee as Frank lies on his deathbed; the Guys plot their new path forward by pitching their business ventures to Philadelphia's elite.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Wednesday, July 9

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Salma Hayek Pinault (The Sinbad Show) - Watch Salma on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Richie Moriarty (Ghosts), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Richie, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela chats about her film Superman on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Anna and Justin discuss their film Nuked on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Simon talks about Peacock's Poker Face on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.