SitcomsOnline Digest: Nashville to Head to AXS TV; Beverly Hills, 90210 to Get an Unauthorized Story; Growing Pains Season 5 to Arrive on DVD in July

Saturday, June 27, 2015

SitcomsOnline Digest: Nashville to Head to AXS TV; Beverly Hills, 90210 to Get an Unauthorized Story; Growing Pains Season 5 to Arrive on DVD in July

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's another slow summer news week, but we've got news of Nashville heading to cable, yet another unauthorized story from Lifetime, another season of Growing Pains on DVD, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Reruns of the series Nashville will be heading to cable soon on AXS TV. (Deadline)
It looks as if Lifetime is going to keep milking the "Unauthorized Stories" franchise of movies, as they are now working on an Unauthorized Beverly Hills, 90210 Story.
We've accepted for years that Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are the two hottest shows on syndication, but Family Feud has been creeping up on them both, and last week, Family Feud topped the ratings for syndicated series. (Cinema Blend)
Dick Van Patten died this week at the age of 86. (NPR)
Character actor Tony Longo, who appeared in series such as Alice and Laverne & Shirley, also died this week. (Hollywood Reporter)
With the Confederate flag being removed everywhere this week, Warner Bros has announced that they too will remove the Confederate flag from merchandise based upon the series Dukes of Hazzard. (Deadline)
TV Land continued their re-branding this week with a new logo, yet another reminder that TV Land is absolutely nothing like the network it was 19 years ago (or even five years ago). (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Fans of Growing Pains have had to wait, on average, over two years between each release (there were five years between the release of the first season and second season even). But now, only three months after the release of the fourth season, it looks like the fifth season will come sometime next month.

JUNE 30 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00UUOV8D4/ref=nosim/happydaysonline5-20

The Donna Reed Show - Season Three (DVD, $29.99): MPI comes "full circle" with their re-releases of the classic sitcom, with this completing the first five seasons of the series on MPI. Seasons six, seven, and eight remain in the hands of Sony, and we're hopeful that something can be worked out to get those released.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Laura Prepon (Twitter)

Claim to Fame: We're featuring another That '70s Show cast member again this week, and this time it is Laura Prepon. Born in 1980, her first role literally was on That '70s Show, when she was already 18. She remained on that series until it ended in 2006. It wasn't long after that until she came back to TV, with October Road in 2007. Unfortunately, it also didn't take long (two seasons, consisting of a total of 19 episodes) for that to get canceled either. She moved into guest starring roles for a little while after that before jumping into her next role in the NBC comedy Are You There Chelsea?, which, again, didn't last long. But despite those two less than successful series after That '70s Show, she came back in a big way in 2013 with what may be one of her biggest roles, as Alex Vause in the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, a role that doesn't seem like it will be ending at any time in the near future.

Pick of the Tweets: "Always love my visits with debrajorupp #that70sfamily #donnaandkitty http://instagram.com/p/qZwDWZG638/ " (July 13, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, October 23

Abbott Elementary - "Class Pet" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Janine gets a budget for class pets, but Melissa is resistant to taking on the added work and responsibility for her room’s guinea pig. An IT rep from the school district arrives to set up new computers.

Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Bullies" (Comedy Central, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Chris gets a gig DJ-ing at a drag ball and develops drag queen eyes.

Everybody Still Hates Chris - "Everybody Still Hates Career Tests" (Comedy Central, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Chris and Greg tape over a porno rented from Caruso and must replace it.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 21)

Wednesday, October 23

Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Watch Billy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Anna appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Matty Matheson (The Bear) - Matty stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - NBC's Today catches up with Olivia some time between 7-9am.
Bridget Everett (Somebody Somewhere) - Bridget talks about Somebody Somewhere on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place/Wizards of Waverly Place/How I Met Your Mother/The Pitts) - David discusses Wizards Beyond Waverly Place on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings. One or two Wizards Beyond Waverly Place cast members will be on New York Living at 10:05am.
Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about Before on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Billy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Mariska Hargitay (Can't Hurry Love) - Mariska talks about the greatest thing sheâ€™s learned since turning 60 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Dexter Darden (Saved by the Bell) - Dexter talks about Peacock's Fight Night; The Million Dollar Heist on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Essence Atkins (Poppa's House/Marlon/Mr. Box Office/Are We There Yet?/Half & Half/Smart Guy/Under One Roof) - Essence talks about Poppa's House on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.