SitcomsOnline Digest: Dallas, Jennifer Falls Get the Axe; Rush Hour and Big Pilots; Season 5 DVDs of The Middle to Warner Archive

Saturday, October 04, 2014

SitcomsOnline Digest: Dallas, Jennifer Falls Get the Axe; Rush Hour and Big Pilots; Season 5 DVDs of The Middle to Warner Archive

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got some news about some cable original series being canceled, new pilots at the major network based upon movies from decades ago, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

After three seasons (which could be considered successful by the standards of a revival series), TNT's Dallas has been canceled. (Hollywood Reporter)
Meanwhile, over at TV Land, it looks like Jennifer Falls has met the same fate as Dallas. (Entertainment Weekly)
Deadline has a nice interview with Norman Lear in advance of his upcoming memoir, Even This I Get to Experience. (Deadline)
CBS has given a pilot production commitment to an action drama series based upon the 1998 movie Rush Hour, with Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City, and Cougar Town) and Blake McCormick (Cougar Town and King of The Hill) filling the executive producer roles of the potential series. (CBS)
If a Rush Hour series seems a bit odd in 2014, this idea seems even stranger: Fox is looking at a comedy based upon the Tom Hanks movie Big. (NY Daily News)
Halloween is still a month away, but Antenna TV is already planning their 28 hour marathon of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

ABC's The Middle has been popular on TV, but not so much on DVD, which is likely why Warner has moved the DVD releases to Warner Archive beginning with Tuesday's The Middle - The Complete Fifth Season. It's not all bad news, though, because initial quantities of the release will be on pressed DVDs (i.e. not DVD-R), which means that they will be of the same quality as DVDs purchased at general retailers.
MPI is moving ahead with The Donna Reed Show in their December 2 release of The Donna Reed Show - Season 2. This season was previously released by another studio, but contained some edited episodes; MPI promises better results this time. There is still no word on when or if we'll see the final three seasons on DVD.
It looks as if Mork & Mindy will be completed on DVD on December 9, as CBS plans to release Mork & Mindy - The Complete Series and Mork & Mindy - The Fourth Season on that date.

OCTOBER 7 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

https://www.jdoqocy.com/click-3821628-10768631?url=http://www.wbshop.com/product/code/1000532061.do

The Dick Van Dyke Show - Classic Christmas Episodes (DVD, $9.98): RLJ Entertainment puts together a single disc release containing two classic episodes of the series.
Flying Nun - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD, $14.98): Mill Creek is back with another re-release of this classic Sony series.
The Middle - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD, $29.95): The hit ABC series returns to DVD, but this time at Warner Archive; however, initial quantities will be on traditional DVD media as opposed to DVD-R.
The Office - The Complete Series (DVD, $199.98): Fans of the NBC series can now return to work at Dunder Mifflin with this release of the long-running sitcom.
The Wonder Years - Season One (DVD, $19.95): All six episodes of the debut season of the classic sitcom arrive on DVD, in perhaps was once the most-wanted series on DVD of all time; The Wonder Years - The Complete Series is also shipping now from StarVista, and we'll have a review of this excellent set within the next few days.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Tyler Ritter (Twitter), "Actor, husband, McCarthy, and finally catching on to the world of twitter--one bio draft at a time."

Claim to Fame: Lately, we've been spotlighting the Twitter feeds of the stars of some of the newest TV series for this fall. This week, we talk about one of the stars of a series that will debut a bit later this fall, Tyler Ritter of The McCarthys (which debuts on October 30 on CBS). Ritter has had appearances on series such as Grey's Anatomy and Modern Family, but this series marks his debut as a regular on any series. Oh, and if the name Ritter doesn't familiar, it should: he's the son of the late John Ritter and even looks like his father.

Pick of the Tweets: "So yes--this is Tyler Ritter's handle, not Mr. T's. We get mistaken for each other all the time which I'm cool with. He's probably not.." (July 20, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, July 7

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times - (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
“Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’,” the holiday-inspired live event that captivated audiences back in December, is set to rebroadcast on ABC, TUESDAY, JULY 7 (8:00-9:30 p.m. EDT). Produced by Sony Pictures Television, “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’” recreates installments of Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s Emmy® Award-winning series “All in the Family” and groundbreaking sitcom “Good Times,” created by Mike Evans, Eric Monte and developed by Lear.

All-star cast members taking on the famed “All in the Family” roles include Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz reprising their iconic roles as Archie and Edith Bunker, Gloria Stivic and Meathead, along with Kevin Bacon as Pinkie Peterson, Jesse Eisenberg as David Brewster and Justina Machado as Teresa Bettencourt.

A lineup of all-star talent tackling “Good Times” roles include Viola Davis and Andre Braugher as Florida Evans and James Evans, Jay Pharoah as J.J Evans, Asante Blackk as Michael Evans, Corinne Foxx as Thelma Evans and Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods. Jharrel Jerome also stars as Jimmy Pearson, while ABC’s Anthony Anderson and the legendary Patti LaBelle join forces for a show-stopping musical performance.

black-ish - "Boss Daddy" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dre’s torn at the office between looking out for Junior as his dad or letting him make his own mistakes. Meanwhile, Jack loses a friendship after trying to look cool in front of the basketball team.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 6)

Tuesday, July 7

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
D.L. Hughley (The Hughleys) - Catch D.L. on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Ray appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Lauren Ash (Superstore/Super Fun Night) - Lauren is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Ben Feldman (Superstore/A to Z/Living with Fran) - Ben appears on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Rob Lowe (The Grinder/Parks and Recreation) - Rob is a guest on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Yvette Nicole Brown (The Mayor/The Odd Couple/Community) - Yvette chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Denise Richards (Blue Mountain State) - Denise appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Jada Pinkett Smith (A Different World) - Jada is a guest on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Ron Funches (Final Space/Powerless/Undateable) - Ron appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect) - Sherri is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) - Kym will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Paul Reiser (The Kominsky Method/Mad About You/Red Oaks/My Two Dads) - Paul appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jim Carrey (Kidding/The Duck Factory) - Jim talks about Memoirs and Misinformation on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom is a guest on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen talks about The World Needs More Purple People on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.