Monday, November 09, 2015
SitcomsOnline Book Club Review - Situation Momedy by Jenna von Oy; TBS Announces Jan. 17 Premiere Date for Angie Tribeca & 10 More Episodes
SitcomsOnline Book Club Review - Situation Momedy
by Skees
Jenna von Oy has had many challenges throughout her life and career as a sitcom actress, and is best known for her role on Six on the Blossom and Stevie on The Parkers. But both of those experiences are a little different than her current experiences of being a mother. In her new book, Situation Momedy, she guides mothers through her experiences, in what is described as "a first-time mom's guide to laughing your way through pregnancy and year one."
So one may wonder why von Oy decided to write a book about motherhood. She even acknowledges this herself. What qualifies a former sitcom actress to write a book about motherhood? She addresses this right away in the preface of the book, appropriately titled "The Only Thing I'm an Expert at Is Being a Novice." She acknowledges right from the beginning that she isn't the expert, but rather that her experiences of being a mother were just like those she is writing the book for: she had no clue what she was doing. Her goal is not to tell mothers "how to" be a parent, but to try to guide them through the experiences based upon she handled them.
The question that sitcom fans may be asking at this point is "what does any of this have to do with sitcoms?" Well, it's pretty simple. As the book flows from chapter to chapter, each chapter is broken into three parts: "A Scenic View of My Past," "Cradle Chronicles," and "Moral of the Story." The first part is the part that brings her past (sometimes in relation to her career, but often not) to life, where she discusses anecdotes of her past that relate to the topic of the chapter. The remaining parts of each chapter bring us to the current day and her current experiences with motherhood.
For example, the book begins with the first chapter where she discusses being "different" on the set of The Parkers in the fourth season. But it wasn't a reference to her being the only white cast member. Instead, it was a reference to her being the "child" on the cast, the only one who wasn't a parent. It discusses how she coped with that, which was surprisingly difficult for her.
As the book progresses, over a total of 22 chapters, we get walked through the entire pregnancy experience, from the difficulties of morning sickness, creating the baby registry, and getting everybody prepared, including the father. Then we are brought into the actual birth of the child and how to deal with everything that happens after that, including getting life (and your body) back to normal following birth. The later chapters focus on the experience of going through motherhood beyond those first few days. Currently, her oldest daughter is still a toddler, so as one would expect, this only goes through the earliest days of motherhood.
The book really is a very well-written book, although if you aren't a new mother (I think fathers could possibly get some out of it as well), you may have a difficult time relating to much of it. If you're looking for a book that is about her career or any experiences from Blossom or The Parkers, you won't find so much of that here, although there are some small anecdotes. For that reason, this book has a narrow audience among sitcom fans, but it has a much broader audience among new parents who just need a little soothing and understanding from a real mom, a mom who also happened to be a sitcom actress.
(3/5 stars)
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TBS has announced an airdate for its upcoming comedy Angie Tribeca, which was ordered for 10 episodes, but now 10 more have been ordered. TBS will introduce viewers to its first-ever "comedic" police procedural with a massive, international multiplatform launch on Sunday, Jan. 17, giving subscribers the opportunity to binge on the first 10 episodes of season one commercial-free through a 25-hour on-air marathon (Sunday 9pm – Monday 10pm ET/PT), as well as through TBS's VOD, digital and mobile platforms. Yep, you'll be able to watch the first ten episodes five times each during this marathon. Then on Monday, Jan. 25, TBS will begin rolling out the remaining 10 episodes. The new episodes (episodes 11-20) will launch weekly across TBS platforms each Monday at 9:30pm (ET/PT) followed by an encore (episodes 1-10) that aired during the Jan. 17 marathon at 10pm.
Real, brooding and shockingly alive, Angie Tribeca is the brainchild of Steve and Nancy Carell, who executive-produce the series through their Carousel Television. The series follows a squad of committed LAPD detectives who investigate the most serious cases, from the murder of a ventriloquist to a rash of baker suicides...but not really. OK the cat is out of the bag...Angie Tribeca is TBS's spoof of police procedurals, a comedic take on cop shows. Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation, The Office) stars in this single-camera comedy as Angie Tribeca, a ten-year veteran of the LAPD. Her fellow officers in the squad are an eccentric but brilliant group of people who investigate crime, reveal way too much personal information about themselves and refuse to rest until justice has been served...sort of. A spoof in the tradition of The Naked Gun and Airplane!, you won't be disappointed. Also starring in the series are Hayes MacArthur (Life As We Know It, Go On), Jere Burns (Justified, Dear John), Deon Cole and Andrée Vermeulen.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Sunday, December 3
Krapopolis - "Ty's Tail Tale" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Tyrannis is possessed by his deceased grandfather who rules with fear and a large scorpion tail, Shlub must fight to bring back the old Tyrannis; Hippocampus and Stupendous bring a pregnant pegasus home.
The Simpsons - "AE Bonny Romance" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Groundskeeper Willie is kidnapped to Scotland, Bart and the Simpsons follow, only to be faced with Homer's worst nightmare.
Bob's Burgers - "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A documentary film profiling world-class archer Louise Belcher is interrupted by unexpected visitors.
Family Guy - "Baking Sad" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Meg discovers her tears produce delicious cookies; Peter and the guys launch a male talk show.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 27)
Friday, December 1
- Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Watch Henry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Ms. Pat (The Ms. Pat Show) - Ms. Pat appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Angela Means (Cousin Skeeter) - Angela is a guest on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - NBC's Today catches up with Kelsey in the 9am hour.
- Brandy Norwood (Zoe Ever After/The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy chats and performs on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Patrick sits down with to chat about his book Making It So on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus tells Sherri about his coming-of-age film, How I Learned to Fly, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Chris Redd (Bust Down/Kenan/Disjointed) - Chris discusses his upcoming film Candy Cane Lane on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell/Alexa & Katie/Good Morning, Miami/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Tiffani discusses her latest cookbook, Here We Go Again: Recipes and Inspiration to Level Up Your Leftovers, and cooks on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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