SitcomsOnline Digest: Contract Negotiations Ahead for The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family; New Blu-Ray Releases from Mill Creek; More Family Matters on DVD in July

Saturday, July 02, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Contract Negotiations Ahead for The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family; New Blu-Ray Releases from Mill Creek; More Family Matters on DVD in July

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we are hearing about contract negotiations for two of the biggest sitcoms on TV that need to be worked out in short time, news of a Lost in Space reboot, and some new Blu-ray releases from Mill Creek. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Two of the biggest sitcoms on TV, The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, are about to start negotiations for new contracts for the cast, and while the prospects for The Big Bang Theory look very good, the Modern Family cast might be looking at somewhat shorter contracts. (Deadline)
This past season, there was an episode of The Carmichael Show that took on the Bill Cosby scandal, and as it turns out, NBC (which was in no small part built by the strength of Bill Cosby) fought against the episode. (Deadline)
Netflix has ordered ten episodes of the Lost in Space reboot. (CNN)
Gilmore Girls is coming to Netflix soon as a "reboot," but if you just want the original series, all seven seasons debuted on the service yesterday. (CBS News)
Most people probably have no idea who Stuart Nisbet is, but as it turns out, he was a character actor who guest starred in 120 different TV series (mostly in the 60s and 70s, but his last TV appearance was a 2001 episode of The Practice), and he died this week at age 82. (MeTV)
Antenna TV will be featuring some of Norman Lear's favorite episodes of his series tomorrow. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Mill Creek is continuing with their re-releases of series with some new Blu-ray releases of Universal series on October 4, including Miami Vice - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) and Knight Rider - The Complete Series (Blu-ray). That's not all, though. On the same day, they will also re-release the complete series on DVD with Miami Vice - The Complete Series (DVD) and Knight Rider - The Complete Series (DVD).
That isn't all for Mill Creek. On September 6, they will re-release Coach, beginning with Coach - Seasons One and Two (of course, we're hopeful that they'll eventually give us the entire series of it on DVD).
Warner Archive is moving forward with Family Matters, with a July 26 release of Family Matters - The Complete Seventh Season.

TUESDAY (JULY 5) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

The Rockford Files - Season One (Mill Creek) (DVD, $14.98): Mill Creek continues their re-releases of hit Universal series with this release. Also available is the release of The Rockford Files - Season Two (Mill Creek).

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Steve Harvey (Twitter), "Jump!"

Claim to Fame: Steve Harvey is, by all means, a jack of all trades. While his Miss Universe gaffe from last year may very well be one of his most well-known moments, he actually has quite an extensive background in, well, everything. He started out as a standup comedian, and hit it big in 1990 when he was named host of Showtime at the Apollo, a role that he kept for over a decade. In the mid-90s, he got his sitcom credits, first with the not-so-successful ABC sitcom Me and the Boys in 1994, but he did much better with The Steve Harvey Show (a sitcom), that ran for six seasons on The WB beginning in 1996. In 2000, he moved away from TV for a bit to host The Steve Harvey Morning Show, a very popular morning radio talk show that airs nationally, primarily on urban adult contemporary radio stations. But he returned to TV in 2010 as host of Family Feud, where he has brought the series to levels of success that it hasn't seen in decades, and in 2012, he returned with the syndicated TV talk show, The Steve Harvey Show.

Pick of the Tweets: "This is backstage at BET. His wife came and got me and said Ali wants to speak with you...I cried the entire time. (pic)" (June 4, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, November 12

The Conners - "Tempest in a Stew Pot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jackie and Becky pitch their business plan to Darlene in hopes of getting the Lunch Box back, but Darlene’s decision leads to hostility among the three. Meanwhile, Dan bans Odessa from the house, causing a rift with Harris; and Mark makes extensive Thanksgiving plans that may inevitably fall apart.

Bless This Mess - "The Visit" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Donna springs a last-minute trip to Nebraska on Mike and Rio, which she claims is to relax, but Mike and Rio soon find out she has other plans in mind when she steps into competitive mode to get them to participate in the harvest. Meanwhile, Constance’s son Brandon is driving her crazy working at the store, so she pawns him off on Rudy.

mixed-ish - "Puttin' on the Ritz" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The kids are excited to learn more about their grandad after Harrison invites the crew to family day at his country club. Although Paul thinks it’s a bad idea, he is eventually overruled. Meanwhile, Alicia attempts to fit in at the country club but ends up fighting with Denise about keeping it real.

black-ish - "Daughters for Dummies" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Dre realizes that his relationship with Diane has been distant, he plans some daddy-daughter bonding sessions, but the plans backfire when he realizes the interest is one-sided. Meanwhile, Bow covers for Junior at his ChoreBoar gig.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 11)

Tuesday, November 12

Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Catch Patrick on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Da'Vine Joy Randolph (People of Earth) - Da'Vine appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen visits The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about Frozen 2 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Laurie Metcalf (The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/Getting On/The Norm Show) - Laurie stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Jenny Slate (Married/Parks and Recreation/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Rob Schneider (Real Rob/Rob) and Esther Povitsky (Dollface/Alone Together) - Rob and Esther are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Lizzy Caplan (Party Down/The Class) - Lizzy drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Ilana Glazer (Broad City) - Ilana appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Robin Givens (Head of the Class) - Robin visits The Real, so check your local listings.
Donald Faison (The Exes/Scrubs/Clueless) - Donald appears on The Real, so check your local listings.
Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Tim Robbins (The Brink) - Tim talks about Dark Waters on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Kristin Davis (Sex and the City/Bad Teacher) - Kristin talks about Holiday in the Wild on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.