SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Happy Labor Day! It's a holiday, so of course you turn to SitcomsOnline to see what marathons are on TV! Most of you are probably outdoors this last "unofficial" weekend of summer with your family & friends, but for those of you who are in need of some TV marathons...as usual, you've come to the right place! And after the marathons we have a book review for Danielle Fishel's (Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World) book Normally, This Would Be Cause for Concern, as part of our newly titled book review series, SitcomsOnline Book Club.

We have mentioned many of these already, but it's a good reminder if you have forgotten! First, we just recently mentioned about TV Land's Beverly Hillbillies Labor Day marathon! It's a full day of the Clampett clan from 9am-3pm! Antenna TV will have a Labor Day marathon of the "Hardest Working Stars of Antenna TV," a 24-hour marathon of work themed episodes beginning at 5am ET. Moving on, newer comedy Happy Endings will continue its Labor Day weekend marathon on Logo today from 12-5pm. We also mentioned that FX will air an all-day marathon of Mike & Molly on Labor Day beginning at 12p,, while new spin-off network FXX launches continues its 12-day The Simpsons marathon thru 12 midnight.

For stuff we have not mentioned yet: WLNY-TV (Channels 10/55) in NYC will pay tribute to the comedic genius of Robin Williams by airing 22 episodes of the classic comedy series Mork & Mindy with a marathon from 9am to 8pm. IFC will have a Batman marathon from 6am-5:30pm. Esquire will have a primetime block of Parks & Recreation from 8-11pm. TNT will solve crimes with Rizzoli & Isles on Labor Day with a marathon from 11am-9pm. ION will entertain us by airing a Criminal Minds Labor Day marathon from 11am-3am, as well as A&E from 12pm-4am. The Hallmark Channel will air a Waltons Movie marathon from 11am-9pm. USA Network has a Labor Day marathon for NCIS starting at 6am lasting through 8pm. GSN has a marathon of Minute to Win Itfrom 6pm-12am. TVGN will get ready for school with a Beverly Hills 90210 marathon from 9am-6pm. WE tv will showcase a CSI: Miami marathon from 4pm-5am. WGN America will launch Blue Bloods with a block from 11am-2pm anf then 6-11pm. And looking for Law & Order? Sundance Channel will have a Law & Order marathon from 3pm-11pm, while Cloo will have a Law & Order: Criminal Intent marathon from 6am-4pm, followed by Law & Order: SVU from 4-11pm.

View some more TV marathons for this holiday weekend from our buddies at TVTango.com!




SitcomsOnline Book Club Review - Danielle Fishel's Normally, This Would Be Cause for Concern

by Pavan

A warm and witty memoir by Danielle Fishel, the beloved star of the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World and the current follow-up series Girl Meets World. Best known for playing Topanga Lawrence on Boy Meets World, Danielle Fishel was many a tween's first crush and the quintessential girl-next-door for seven years as she joined 10 million viewers in their living rooms every Friday night on ABC from 1993 to 2000. The real Danielle is just as entertaining and down-to-earth as the character she portrayed on her hit show. But even life for a successful actress can be messy, from disastrous auditions to dating mishaps and awkward red carpet moments. Normally, This Would Be Cause for Concern hits shelves on Tuesday, September 9 and is a fun romp through Danielle's own imperfections and mild neuroses. It's a book for anyone who, like Danielle, has ever tripped and fallen down a flight of stairs in a room full of people, had a romantic moment with their significant other that was ruined by horrendous gas, or taken a Halloween photo without realizing there was a huge chunk of chocolate-covered strawberry in their teeth. Here is the real, imperfect Danielle, who knows that a good sense of humor and a positive attitude makes life so much more enjoyable. Even when you've just face-planted in front of Ben Affleck.

While reading this book, you will all realize how "real" Danielle is and you'll like her even more, if that's possible. The book is an easy 213 page read that you'll breeze by in just a few hours. She is entertaining, funny and down-to-earth. And her stories will grasp you and you'll want to just keep on reading. There are 11 chapters and each chapter there is one central theme. There are usually multiple stories per chapter, but each story fits the chapter well. Danielle has laid out the chapters perfectly and it blends well chapter after chapter. In the first chapter, the theme is the audition process. She gives audition stories on Boy Meets World, a horror movie and a soap. For Boy Meets World, us readers will find out that there was another "Topanga" before Danielle was cast but she was let go. I wonder who that was? She also gives us two audition stories from a horror movie and a soap that is comical and eventually she didn't get the parts.

The book shows us that Danielle is very close to her parents and family, especially her mother. Moving on to chapter two, we find out that Danielle is a klutz. She gives us a few stories, one from her childhood and one from her teenage years where she was rescued by Ben Affleck. Wow. You have to read the story. Let's hope Ben is reading this and surprises Danielle again! In the third chapter, we get her experiences with people and how she reacts when they call her "Topanga." She is just awesome. She has taken pictures with fans every time someone has asked, except twice. Once after a funeral and another time bright and early in the morning after she left a boot camp class. But every other time she has done it and is happy to do it. So if you see her, don't be afraid to ask her! In chapter four, she discusses more of her moments with her family. We have some great and interesting stories, like the time she got into a car accident (and Jared Leto asked her if she was OK!) and the time where she bought some bed sheets for $3,000. Hilarious! But the most interesting part of each story was how she deals with it with her parents. She has such an open relationship with them.

In chapter five, we learn that Danielle is a jock. She loves sports, especially football and basketball where she roots for the Cowboys and Lakers. In this chapter, you'll see the father-daughter relationship. In the next chapter, we learn the thought-process of Danielle's decision to go to college at age 27. It's fascinating that she wanted to go to college at age 23, but she was insecure of herself. She waited four more years and she excelled in college. You're "never too old," as the sixth chapter title says. The seventh chapter is quite interesting and I'm sure many people are interested in reading this one. She talks about her boyfriends through the years. In two of the stories, she uses fake names "Stan" and "Mike" since she didn't want to reveal their actual names. She uses a lot of humor in both stories, frankly because it is actually funny! There is also the story of Lance Bass from NSYNC. She goes into detail on how they met and what happened in between before they broke it off. We all know of course, that Lance Bass revealed years later that he is gay. After they broke up, one person close to Danielle wasn't surprised. Find out who and why!

Chapter 8 focuses on how she met her husband, Tim Belusko. They met in late 2008 in college during an English class. Like Danielle's other stories, she goes into detail. Without giving much away, it was mathematics that brought them together! It's not just Danica McKellar that is a sitcom star math whiz! The next chapter details their wedding planning, which is to be held on Oct. 19, 2013. They got engaged in May 2012 and the planning after that for the wedding is detailed here. We get more comical stories, such as a wrong wedding website link and Boy Meets World co-star Ryder Strong having his wedding also the same weekend. Hilarious but true! The chapter also of course talks about the wedding day itself and the honeymoon in Hawaii. The tenth chapter deals with Danielle's love of dogs. She talks about her dog Anna that she bought at age 18 while filming the last season of Boy Meets World. She cared for Anna when she got sick and years later she bought a second dog, Spike, who had a lot of health problems. Danielle is a very caring human being, as you will learn even more in this chapter. And you'll get more funny stories in this chapter, too, like her accidentally giving herself an insulin shot. In the final chapter, we learn of Danielle's dream of becoming a rapper and loving rap music. She also talks about wrapping a gift at Bloomingdales for Maitland Ward's wedding. Get it, rapping and wrapping? Danielle is such a good writer!

Danielle is just the perfect woman. What makes her perfect is that she isn't perfect. She is as real as can be and so relatable. The stories she shares here are so entertaining, interesting and funny. To top it off, it is very well written. Danielle should be a writer and write another book during her hiatus from Girl Meets World, which was picked-up for a second season (yay!). She is that good! I've read a lot of books by TV stars and this is one of the best ones out there. She is honest and isn't afraid of letting people know her faults. I have the urge to eat some pancakes now and do some math problems (because like Danielle, I like math) now. If you read the book, you'll know what I mean by that. I also love that she is so close to her parents and family. That tells us a lot about a person and she didn't suffer from the child star syndrome one bit. This book is a must-read, not only for fans of Danielle Fishel and Boy Meets World/Girl Meets World, but because you'll get to see that "Topanaga" is one H-E-double hockey sticks of a writer! It would be a cause for concern, if you don't pick-up this book.

We'll have details on Danielle's TV/radio appearances for next week (Sept. 8-12) this Friday right here on the blog during our weekly Sitcoms Stars on Talk Shows section. Danielle is also on a book tour from Sept. 8-15 and will be signing your copy in-person at seven different signings in NY (NYC and Long Island), NJ, Philadelphia, Chicago, Mall of America and LA! We urge you to buy a copy and if you're in these areas, go meet her and get it signed!

(4.5/5 stars)

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