SitcomsOnline Digest: The Muppets Headed for a Reboot; TBS to Use Unique Strategy to Debut Angie Tribeca

Saturday, November 07, 2015

SitcomsOnline Digest: The Muppets Headed for a Reboot; TBS to Use Unique Strategy to Debut Angie Tribeca

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! If you listen to the radio, you may find stations are already playing Christmas music (and don't even bother turning on Hallmark Channel if you're not ready), so it should come as no surprise that we've been getting a lot of updates on plans that networks have over the next two months. Additionally, we have even more news of reboots, and an update on The Muppets. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

It looks as if ABC's The Muppets will be undergoing some retooling now that a new showrunner is being put into place. (Vulture)
The first season of the TBS series Angie Tribeca will debut on January 17, but instead of just airing one episode a week for the first 10 weeks, they'll be dumping them all at once so that fans can binge watch, and it will even be presented commercial free. (Variety)
George Barris, the creator of the Batmobile from the TV series Batman, has died at age 89. (NPR)
The much anticipated Twin Peaks revival has had a lot of bumps in the road, and now there is another one, as it has now been pushed to 2017. (CNN)
Believe it or not, Greatest American Hero may be the next in line for a reboot. (Deadline)
MeTV has big plans to showcase classic Christmas episodes beginning November 16. (SitcomsOnline)
Not to be left out, Antenna TV has plans for special marathons and events over the November and December holidays as well. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

We reported last week that George Lopez - The Complete Sixth Season would arrive on DVD sometime in November, and now TVShowsOnDVD.com confirms that it will arrive November 24.

NOVEMBER 10 HOME MEDIA RELEASES

The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Remastered Series (DVD, $199.98): Sure, the series has been released and re-released many times on DVD, but this time, the remastered versions of the episodes are arriving on DVD (after having already appeared on Blu-ray three years ago) for the first time.
Maude - The Complete Third Season (DVD, $26.99): For those who skipped out on the complete series, here is another chance to own the third season on DVD.
WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete Final (Fourth) Season (DVD, $26.99): The final episodes of the classic sitcom arrive on DVD in this release, with most of the original music intact.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Anna Faris (Twitter), "Does this picture make me look like a dude?"

Claim to Fame: The comedy Mom returned to the CBS lineup just this past week, and with that, we present Anna Faris as our Follow Me. She stars in the series as Christy Plunket. But despite how successful Anna Faris has been in her career, television is something that she didn't really come to until Mom. She has a few voice roles in King of the Hill, and some recurring appearances on Friends and Entourage, but other than that, most of her previous work has been as a successful film actress. Oddly enough, the film actress turned sitcom actress is married to a sitcom actor who is becoming better known as a film actor: Chris Pratt.

Pick of the Tweets: "My sweet brave men need to rest sometimes and also wear eyepatches for two hours everyday @prattprattpratt" (August 25, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, July 25

Where Have All the Theme Songs Gone? (CNN, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Don Lemon reviews the most popular TV theme songs in history with Gary Portnoy of "Cheers", Christopher Knight from "The Brady Bunch", Fran Drescher from "The Nanny", and composer Kurt Farquhar.

History of the Sitcom - "Working for Laughs" (CNN, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Work families can be even funnier than our biological ones, since the endless array of wacky sitcom characters on the job offers hilarious insights into the state of the American workplace.

Duncanville - "Crimes and Misters Demean Her" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jack coaches Jing's little league soccer team, but when he feels he's too easy on the kids he calls on Duncan to yell at the team to get them to win; Annie takes Kimberly to work with her after she has a falling out with her friends.

HouseBroken - "Who's Going to the Vet?" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Chief eats Jill's vibrator, he's taken to the vet and ends up leading his own version of group therapy; Tabitha goes to live with The Gray One and learns she has to sing and dance if she wants to survive.

The Simpsons - "The 7 Beer Itch" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Marge and the kids take a seaside vacation, Homer is unwittingly tempted by a British femme fatale.

The Great North - "My Fart Will Go on Adventure" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While the family prepares for Wolf and Honeybee's wedding, an unexpected guest RSVPs.

Bob's Burgers - "Y Tu Tina También" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Tina is forced to listen to Spanish audio lessons in the library to improve her grade, she develops an unexpected crush; Louise and Gene want to dunk Mr. Frond at the Wagstaff Spring Fair.

Family Guy - "The Marrying Kind" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Stewie gets a mail order bride and experiences domestic life; Peter and Chris become addicted to free hotel breakfast buffets.

Wellington Paranormal - "She-Wolf" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Officers O'Leary and Minogue investigate what they believe are dog attacks, but stumble upon something more mysterious.

Dead Pixels - "The Chair" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Alison becomes concerned over Meg's physical downturn and tries to sway her to a healthier regime; everyone worries about Nicky.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 19)

Friday, July 23

Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kim Fields (The Upshaws/Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Watch Kim on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso/Son of Zorn/The Cleveland Show) - Jason will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Christine Baranski (Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Minnie Driver (Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Sarah Levy (Schitt's Creek) - Sarah appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens) - Leah is a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.