SitcomsOnline Digest: Premiere Dates for Fall Series; Hulu Announced Commercial-Free Option; Planned Family Guy DVD Release for September 15 Delayed?

Saturday, September 05, 2015

SitcomsOnline Digest: Premiere Dates for Fall Series; Hulu Announced Commercial-Free Option; Planned Family Guy DVD Release for September 15 Delayed?

Happy (early) Labor Day, and to SitcomsOnline Digest! The three day weekend signals the unofficial end of summer, which means that fall (and the new fall season) is just around the corner... but we're not there quite yet! In the meantime, we're here with news of premiere dates for all of the new season of (just about) everything, a new Hulu commercial-free option, and some rumors and speculations about a Family Guy DVD release planned for September 15 that has seemingly vanished into thin air. And, to top it all off, it looks like a reboot that seemed to be a sure thing has now been killed... at least when it comes to NBC airing it. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

You're probably going to want to know when the new season of each of the new and returning series begins, and Deadline has you covered with a list of all of them, with most broadcast network series debuting the week of September 21. (Deadline)
Hulu has long been mocked for the fact that it competes with commercial-free services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, yet Hulu places commercials in their series for paid subscribers. But now, there is an option to pay a higher subscription fee to view everything on the service (with the exception of a few ABC series, as well as Grimm, and New Girl) without ads. (CNET)
The Carmichael Show managed to see an a rare increase in ratings from week 1 to week 2 on NBC, and seems to be sort of a hit (at least by NBC summer sitcom standards)... but with only two more episodes (both airing next week) remaining to measure the ratings, the question that remains is whether or not they would be willing to give it another season to truly test it out. (TV By the Numbers)
Throughout the summer, late night talk shows on the broadcast networks have been limited to two guys named Jimmy, but on Tuesday night, CBS puts a new (yet already established from cable TV) in the mix: Stephen Colbert. So will it be a big hit in the competition against two guys named Jimmy? (Yahoo)
NBC's reboot of Coach seemed to be a sure thing when it was announced, but now NBC has abruptly pulled the plug... which likely means that it will show up on Netflix or some other similar service. (Deadline)
Antenna TV's fall season starts September 14, and while there aren't a whole lot of big changes (aside from new time slots for almost everything), it does include Family Ties, and two much rarer sitcoms: It's About Time and My Mother the Car. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Sometimes, DVD releases tend to fall off of the schedule for unexplained reasons, and we've recently discovered one that may possibly be raising some questions, particularly since it was perhaps THE series to first demonstrate the (now fading) power and dominance of TV-on-DVD (in fact, it weren't for the popularity of the DVDs, the series probably would have ended when it was canceled in 2002): Family Guy - Season Thirteen. It was scheduled for release on September 15, and pre-orders were being taken at one point in time on amazon.com, but they no longer are. While we don't know exactly what happened here, it appears that the date may have been moved to December 8, if we are to believe a pre-order listing from Target (which appears to be the only website currently accepting pre-orders). We aren't completely sure what is going on here, but our best guess is that Fox wanted something to replace the void being left with the lack of Simpsons releases (which invariable came out every December). We'll update when we know more!
Olive Films promised fans of King of the Hill that they would complete the series by the end of this year, and they weren't kidding. The studio now has King of the Hill - The Complete 13th Season scheduled for October 20, but that isn't all, they will also be releasing it on Blu-ray.
VEI announced several big releases earlier this year, and they seem to be diving head first into complete series (and attempting to get them all out by the end of this year). This week, they gave some details on their complete series release of Barnaby Jones, due to arrive in November.
Hotel - The Complete Series will also be arriving from VEI on October 20.

SEPTEMBER 8 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Two (DVD, $44.98): The Andy Samberg sitcom returns to DVD with this release of the second season of the series.
The Goldbergs - The Complete Second Season (DVD, $45.99): With the third season coming up, Sony gives fans this release of last season

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Loretta Devine (Twitter), "actress,singer,poet,creator ,lover,step mom.just Me"

Claim to Fame: Loretta Devine's first claim to fame was in a Broadway musical in 1978, which was literally called A Broadway Musical, which was such a flop that it ended after only one performance. It was a bad way to start a career, for sure, but in all fairness, Jackée Harry also got her start in that very same musical. She had some minor movie roles after that, and she also appeared on A Different World and even starred in her own sitcom for a brief period of time. In the late 90s, she found movie success in a pair of major Whitney Houston blockbuster films, Waiting to Exhale and The Preacher's Wife. But she returned to TV, where she finally found more success, in 2000 in her role as Marla Hendricks, a very unstable (but caring and effective) teacher on Boston Public. In fact, she was one of the few cast members to actually appear in the entire series. Currently, she appears in the NBC series The Carmichael Show, which will air the last two episodes of the season (and perhaps the series, since we don't know the fate of the series yet) on Wednesday.

Pick of the Tweets: "Thanks everyone for watching the Carmichael show our ratings for week two are way way up . Blessed" (September 3, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, November 22

Happy's Place - "Happy's House" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Bobbie agrees to take Isabella to Happy's house in search of a connection to their late father, leading Bobbie to worry about what they may find; Gabby hopes to strike it rich by searching through Happy's penny collection looking for a rarity.

Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Orlando" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Rosie's spoiled nephew Orlando visits, Mayan sets out to expose Rosie's cultural gender bias; George wants to teach Chance the value of hard work, but, instead, helps him create a toxic work environment.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Whacking the Mole" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Abishola has a romantic dream about Bob, she tries to suppress her feelings for him and pays the price.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Ralph Lauren and Fish" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob and Abishola finally go on a proper date, which is interrupted by Dottie's medical emergency.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Tough Like a Laundromat Washing Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob hires Abishola to take care of Dottie in his home while she recovers; Dottie has a hard time dealing with her limitations and takes it out on Abishola.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Useless Potheads" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Abishola only helping part-time, Bob, Douglas and Christina struggle to take care of Dottie.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - "Wiz-Taken Identity" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Billie struggles with a spell, Roman says he could do it if he was a wizard: to prove him wrong, Billie uses a Power Glass to transfer her powers to Roman.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - " Ain't Gnome Party Like a Wizard Party" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Justin embraces mortality to live with his family; his new challenge arises when Alex introduces Billie, a wizard-in-training, seeking Justin's mentorship.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Friday, November 22

Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ariana Grande (Sam & Cat/Victorious) - Ariana appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Lopez vs Lopez/Search Party/Corporate) - Andy, Thomas and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her new book Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Drew is joined by the hilarious Andrew to celebrate all things Thanksgiving on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie tells Sherri about her new Apple TV+ psychological thriller Before on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Candace Cameron Bure (Fuller House/Full House) - Candace will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.