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

Thursday, December 7

Ghosts (UK) - "The Grey Lady" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT)
After a photographer accidentally captures a photo of Fanny and posts it on social media, Alison and Mike try to capitalize on the attention by offering admission to the haunted Button House.

Ghosts (UK) - "About Last Night" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a night of partying, Alison tries to figure out why the ghosts are acting so strangely as she and Mike scramble to clean up the house for a wedding planner to view.

Son of a Critch - "The Perfect Storm" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mark learns new things about his parents after a historic storm knocks out power to the Critch house; when his father's back goes out, Mike Jr. has to broadcast all night alone.

Children Ruin Everything - "Weekends" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT)
With long days at the office, Astrid cannot shake the feeling that she is missing out on key moments with their kids; Astrid convinces James that what the family needs is an adventure together.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 4)

Thursday, December 7

Halle Bailey (grown-ish) - Catch Halle on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark) - Olivia is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Daniel Radcliffe (Miracle Workers) - Daniel appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Sara Bareilles (Girls5eva) - Sara is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle) - Gael appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Michelle Pfeiffer (Delta House) - Michelle appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison and writer/director Allison Flom talk about joining forces in their new podcast, Erased: The Murder of Elma Sand, on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings. She can also be heard on the Morning Mashup on SiriusXM.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today catches up with Tony in the 9am hour.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - Kelsey talks about the reboot of Frasier on Paramount+ and opens up about the loss of his friend, Kirstie Alley, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - Dennis talks about Paramount+'s Lawmen: Bass Reeves on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Jack Cutmore-Scott (Frasier) - Jack talks about Paramount+'s Frasier on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
John Brotherton (Fuller House) - John and Erin Cahill are guests (tentative) on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.