Thursday, October 16, 2014

Sitcom Alum Neil Patrick Harris to Host 2015 Oscars; Yahoo! Orders Another Comedy, This Time From Bridesmaids Producer

Neil Patrick Harris

Award-winning star of stage and screen Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th Oscars(R), show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced. This will be Harris' first time hosting the ceremony. The show will air live on ABC on Oscar(R) Sunday, February 22, 2015. A triple-threat performer, Harris has enjoyed a successful career in entertainment. He can currently be seen starring opposite Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in David Fincher's critically-acclaimed feature film, Gone Girl. Harris garnered multiple Emmy(R) and Golden Globe award nominations for his role as Barney Stinson on the hit television series, How I Met Your Mother, and he won an Emmy for his guest-starring role on Glee in 2010. He also recently starred in the title role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, earning the 2014 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. Harris served as host of the 61st and 65th Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as the 63rd, 65th, 66th and 67th Tony Awards, for which he won four Emmys. Most recently, Harris added the title of author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his autobiography from Crown Publishing, Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography.

The last two Oscars telecasts, which were produced by Zadan and Meron, received a major spike in the ratings. The 86th Oscars was TV's most-watched entertainment event in 10 years and attracted the biggest viewership since 2000, with more than 45 million viewers. The show resulted in dramatic gains in younger demos and social media conversation, with more than one billion impressions generated on Twitter and 25 million interactions happening on Facebook on Oscar Sunday. Additionally, the star-studded "selfie" became the most retweeted photo of all time with 32.8 million views to-date. The Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre(R) at Hollywood & Highland Center(R) in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 4:00 pm, PT/7:00 pm, ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.


Other Space

First a Malin Akerman comedy, now Yahoo! has another comedy coming. Yahoo! has confirmed that production has begun on Other Space, a new half-hour comedy series slated for release on Yahoo! in Spring 2015. Created by the multi-talented, three time Emmy Nominee, Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat, Freaks and Geeks, and the upcoming Spy ), Other Space is a journey in unknown space set in the early 22nd century, when the human race has mapped most of the known universe, failed to find alien life, and frankly gotten a little tired of the whole thing. Feig, who wrote the pilot, will executive produce the eight episode series with Owen Ellickson. Academy Award winner Luke Matheny. Lucia Aniello, primetime Emmy Award Winner Rob Cohen, The Nix Brothers and Matt Sohn will direct the series along with Feig who is slated to direct the finale. Other Space will feature a group of young, fresh actors cast by longtime Feig collaborator Allison Jones. Playing the ship's crew - a collection of over-matched rookies, feuding siblings, burned-out veterans and obsolete robots include Karan Soni (Betas), Eugene Cordero (House of Lies), Milana Vayntrub (Silicon Valley), Conor Leslie (Klondike), Neil Casey (Broad City, The League), Bess Rous (Murder in the First), and the reunion of Trace Beaulieu and Joel Hodgson of Mystery Science Theater fame.


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.

Complete TV Listings


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

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

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


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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01/03 - Antenna TV Pays Tribute to Linda Lavin with Alice Marathon; Catchy Comedy Recreates Classic CBS Saturday Night Lineup from the 1970s
01/02 - Abbott Elementary and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Crossover Event; The Night Agent Returns January 23 on Netflix
01/01 - Happy New Year; Antenna TV's New Year's Day Fresh Start Marathon; ABC's Shifting Gears Official Trailer
12/31 - In Memoriam: Remembering the Sitcom Stars We Lost in 2024
12/30 - Remembering Linda Lavin of Alice; Hulu Releases Chad Powers Teaser
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12/26 - Cobra Kai Final Episodes in February on Netflix; HBO Slates 13th Bill Maher Comedy Special
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