SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Jack Riley and Fyvush Finkel; New Family Matters DVDs

Saturday, August 20, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Jack Riley and Fyvush Finkel; New Family Matters DVDs

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It has been yet another busy week with deaths of classic TV stars, news of the upcoming death of a relatively new cable network, and also a bit of good news with some new series for Antenna TV. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Jack Riley, known for his roles on The Bob Newhart Show and many other sitcoms, as well as the the voice of Stu Pickles on Rugrats, died this week at age 80. (People)
Fyvush Finkel, who spent most of his career as a Yiddish theater actor but transitioned into TV thanks to David E. Kelley casting him in roles on Picket Fences and Boston Public, died this week at age 93. (New York Times)
The cable network Pivot will be pivoting toward going off the air sometime in the next year. (USA Today)
Antenna TV has a lot of new (to them, anyway) sitcoms coming along the way over the next year or two. (SitcomsOnline)
Comedy Central abruptly and somewhat unexpectedly canceled The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore this week, and it seems that it was in large part due to the inability to translate the series into clips that could go viral on YouTube. (Vox)
John McLaughlin, the host of the PBS series The McLaughlin Group, unexpectedly missed an episode for the first time in the 34 year history of the program earlier this week, and then died earlier this week. Now, the series that pioneered the modern "noisy" political talk show will end this weekend, with a special tribute to the host. (Deadline)
The Wonder Years - The Complete Series is coming to retailers soon, but we have a chance for you to win a copy of it. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Warner Archive is moving ahead with Family Matters, bringing Family Matters - The Complete Eighth Season (the last one to air on ABC before the series moved to CBS for the ninth) to DVD on September 20.

TUESDAY (AUGUST 23) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Three (DVD, $39.98): The third season of the Andy Samberg sitcom on Fox arrives in this release.
Superstore - Season One (DVD, $29.98): The first season of the NBC comedy arrives in this release.
The Wonder Years - The Complete Series (DVD, $119.95): In case you skipped the deluxe version that came packaged in the metal locker and was only available directly from Time Life, this complete series now arrives at retailers.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Jason Hervey (Twitter), "Executive Producer/Actor/Co-Founder of Bischoff Hervey Entertainment Television (BHE TV) AKA brother from hell on the Emmy Award Winning series The Wonder Years"

Claim to Fame: We're (sort of) continuing a theme of actors who played memorable characters in 80s sitcoms, but were never part of the regular cast this week with Jason Hervey, even though Hervey did go on to an actual regular role in the late 80s on The Wonder Years. Jason Hervey's career began with a few guest roles here and there, most notably in the final season of Diff'rent Strokes, where he played Charlie in nine final season episodes. Of course, his best known role came from The Wonder Years, where he was much more than just a minor supporting character. Today, he does much more work on the production side of television, and much like his friend Scott Baio, seems to have some very strong pro-Donald Trump political opinions... just so you know before viewing his Twitter page.

Pick of the Tweets: ".@thirsty_lawyer Me and my brother (aka the REAL Wayne Arnold) at our cousin David's wedding! #JenBern #Congrats" (February 27, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, February 25

The Conners - "Bad Dads and Grads" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Dan starts to bond with his younger half-brother (guest star Noel Fisher), but he can’t get over the fact that their father paid for Ed Jr.’s college education, something he refused to do for Dan. Jackie hits it off with a fun married couple (guest stars and real-life husband and wife Clark Gregg and Jennifer Grey), so much so that they “invite” her into their relationship. Harris and Mark do not react well to the news that Darlene is trying to have a baby with Ben.

Bless This Mess - "Völsung and the Beef Boy" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When faced with choosing between meat judging (his dad Beau’s preference) or playing music (his shared bond with Mike), Jacob realizes he must figure out what his passions are on his own. Meanwhile, Rio takes driving lessons from Kay, but their friendship hits a bump in the road when Kay learns that Rio has secretly been getting lessons from other townspeople.

mixed-ish - "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The Johnsons welcome an African American family that has just moved into their mostly white neighborhood. Santamonica doesn’t get along with the new neighbor’s daughter, until she gives Santamonica attitude. Meanwhile, Rainbow is excited to celebrate her one-month anniversary with Bryce, but he tells her some devastating news.

black-ish - "You Don't Know Jack" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Jack joins the robotics club and Dre worries it might be a detrimental failure for him after already being cut from the basketball team. Ruby embellishes a story for Diane’s school project.

Schitt's Creek - "The Presidential Suite" (Pop, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Johnny and Moira spend a night at the presidential suite in the new motel, while Alexis receives a surprise visitor.

Miracle Workers: Dark Ages - "Dark Ages: Holiday" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Al and Prince Chauncley struggle to deal with their families over the holidays.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 24)

Tuesday, February 25

Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Catch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about The Voice on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Juliette Lewis (Camping/I Married Dora) - Juliette drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She will also be on the BUILD Series at 3pm.
Adam Pally (Indebted/Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. He will also be on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Karen Gillan (Selfie) - Karen appears on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Tommy Davidson (Between Brothers) - Tommy is a guest on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse stops by The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Son of Zorn/Suburgatory) - Cheryl appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Leslie Odom Jr. (Big Day) - Leslie is a guest on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Chris Spencer (Significant Others) - Chris appears on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Jason Ritter (The Class) - Jason talks about Frozen 2 on E!'s Daily Pop at 12pm.