Tuesday, August 05, 2014
TV Land Orders 4th Season of The Soul Man; NBC to Bring Back Welcome to Sweden
It's a day of happy news for two sitcoms. TV Land has renewed its sitcom The Soul Man, starring Cedric "The Entertainer" and Niecy Nash, for a fourth season. The series, which also co-stars Wesley Jonathan, has been picked up for 12 episodes. Last season, The Soul Man premiered with a live episode and saw great guest stars like Brandy, Martin Lawrence, B.o.B., David Alan Grier, Deion Sanders, Yvette Nicole Brown, Cedric Yarbrough and TV Land's own Betty White. Season four will premiere in 2015. The Soul Man follows R&B superstar-turned-minister Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballentine (Cedric) after he relocated from Las Vegas to St. Louis with his wife Lolli (Nash). While learning to adjust to their new humble life, they have plenty of obstacles in their way, including Boyce's brother Stamps (Jonathan), who only just moved out at the end of last season. Over the last three seasons, The Soul Man averaged a remarkable 3.19 rating among African-American Women 25-54 and a 2.65 rating with African-American Adults 25-54, posting triple digit gains over channel prime average (Nielsen, L+7, 6/20/12-5/14/14, 30 Telecasts). The series has also averaged 1.2 million viewers series to date, up +59% compared to channel prime average. It wasn't good news though for TV Land's freshman sitcom Kirstie, starring Kirstie Alley, as the network did not order a second season. The jury is still out on current freshman comedy Jennifer Falls starring Jaime Pressly.
Critically acclaimed Thursday night comedy Welcome to Sweden from Entertainment One Television has been renewed for a 10-episode second season. No premiere date has been determined, but it will likely be next summer on NBC. The series was created by Greg Poehler, with events based on his real life. The series stars Greg Poehler, Josephine Bornebusch, Lena Olin, Claes Mansson, Christopher Wagelin, and Per Svensson. This Swedish series airs on NBC in the U.S. and was picked up actually for a second season back in April on Sweden's TV4. So now America is on board, too! In the series, Bruce Evans (Greg Poehler) and Emma Wiik (Josephine Bornebusch) seem to be the perfect couple, so when she makes the life-changing decision to move back to her native Stockholm to accept a prestigious banking position after a year together, she is surprised and thrilled that he agrees to move with her. Moving halfway around the world with a new love is a huge step and Bruce, with no job, friends or real clue about what he is getting himself into, is quick to face the many unique challenges and culture clashes that living in a foreign land presents - most notably, how to win over Emma's strange and very Swedish family.
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
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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