SitcomsOnline Digest: Pilot Casting Updates for Potential Sitcoms Based Upon Uncle Buck and Problem Child; New Facts of Life and Hart to Hart DVD Releases from Shout!

Saturday, March 07, 2015

SitcomsOnline Digest: Pilot Casting Updates for Potential Sitcoms Based Upon Uncle Buck and Problem Child; New Facts of Life and Hart to Hart DVD Releases from Shout!

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got casting updates for sitcom pilots based upon movies from a quarter century ago, news of some new Shout! Factory releases, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Mike Epps has been cast for the title role in the possible sitcom based upon the movie Uncle Buck. (Entertainment Weekly)
Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard has been cast in the male lead role in the comedy in development based upon the movie Problem Child. (Deadline)
TV Land has undergone many changes over the years, but it appears that most of the changes have not been good for the network. This week, Viacom announced several layoffs, and it appears that TV Land suffered the most. (LA Times)
Judge Judy recently signed a new contract extending her show all the way through the year 2020. (CNN)
Netflix has been becoming a major player in the original series realm lately, and now they've announced some additional premiere dates for some of those original series for 2015. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Shout! Factory isn't leaving those who didn't buy The Facts of Life - The Complete Series out in the cold, as The Facts of Life - Season Six will arrive on DVD on June 9.
Shout! Factory will also be wrapping up a series on June 9, with their release of Hart to Hart - The Final Season.

MARCH 10 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (DVD, $59.98): The classic spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show starring Jim Nabors comes to DVD once again as a complete series.
Petticoat Junction - Family Favorite Episodes (DVD, $12.98): A best-of release of the classic series arrives on DVD from CBS.
Quincy, M.E. - The Final Season (DVD, $39.97): Nearly a decade after the very first release of the Jack Klugman series on DVD, Shout! Factory finally wraps it up with the eighth and final season.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Retta (Twitter), "I cuss a lot, got an itchy block finger & not afraid to use it. #Unemployed P.S. I live tweet my fave shows: #UveBeenWarned (Did I mention I'm unemployed?)"

Claim to Fame: As her own description of herself indicates, Retta is unemployed... but that is only a new development in the past few weeks. Born Marietta Sirleaf, the standup comedian is best known for playing the role of Donna on the NBC series Parks and Recreation. She has also appeared in guest roles on series such as It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Moesha, and even The Jenny Jones Show (though not for one of the more outrageous shows, but rather showing off her standup comedian skills). Also worth noting is that she even has an aunt who is a prominent political figure... in fact, her aunt is the president of Liberia.

Pick of the Tweets: ""When Beyoncé wants to get inspired, she looks up Donna quotes on Tumblr." http://www.vulture.com/2015/02/parks-and-rec-recap-season-7-episode-7-microwave.html?mid=twitter_vulture … #GoodLookinOut @Vulture" (February 4, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, August 19

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Climb" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Gemma decides to fire a teacher at her school, she’s unprepared for the aftermath. Also, Calvin gets a surprise when he faces off with his newspaper carrier.

The Big Bang Theory - "The D&D Vortex" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the gang finds out Wil Wheaton hosts a celebrity Dungeons and Dragons game involving William Shatner, Joe Manganiello, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kevin Smith, deception and betrayal are the path to make it to the one open seat.

The Big Bang Theory - "The Conference Valuation" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Penny and Bernadette go to San Diego for a pharmaceutical sales convention, Wolowitz is in charge of the kids. Also, Sheldon finds a book on experimenting on kids, and the guys plus Amy make a day of it.

Mom - "Jell-O Shots and the Truth About Santa" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bonnie pushes Christy to mend her relationship with Violet (Sadie Calvano), and Adam prepares for the grand opening of his bar.

I Ship It - "Somewhere Magical" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Ella seizes the opportunity to work as a personal assistant to a writer for "Superstition," her favorite TV show; Ella's fantasies begin to collide with reality in unexpected ways, in both her creative life and love life.

In The Cut - "Lucky Charmed" (Bounce TV, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Jay buys Cheryl a necklace for her birthday, not knowing it was stolen; when the police want it back, Jay must devise a plan to return it before she finds out.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 19)

Monday, August 19

Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People) - Watch Billy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Dax is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place/Barry), Henry Winkler (Barry/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) and Bill Hader (Barry) - D'Arcy, Henry and Bill are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Bryton James (Family Matters) - Bryton appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll) - Charlie is a guest on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Bella Thorne (Shake It Up) - Bella appears on a repeat of ABC's Strahan & Sara at 1pm.
Donald Faison (The Exes/Scrubs/Clueless) - Donald talks about Emergence on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Melissa Peterman (Reba/Working Class/Baby Daddy) - Melissa guest co-hosts Access Live, so check your local listings.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti opens up about her 22-year battle with diabetes on a repeat of The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.