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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, March 31

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Signature Service Loyalty Rewards Program" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Malcom receives an unexpected call from USC’s athletic director about a baseball head coach vacancy. Meanwhile, Calvin and Marty start a new signature loyalty rewards program at The Fuse Box.

Poppa's House - "Say Wha?!" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Junior’s fundraising effort for his film takes a dramatic turn when he discovers Poppa’s flea market purchase is worth a fortune. Vivica A. Fox guest stars as “Judge SayWha.”

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Monday, March 31

Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - Watch Jennifer on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Jay Ellis (Running Point/Insecure/The Game) - Jay talks about Running Point and Freaky Tales on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Sara Gilbert (The Conners/Bad Teacher/The Big Bang Theory/The Class/Roseanne) - Sara chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about The Conners on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle talks about Survival of the Thickest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) - Michael talks about Sacramento on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross to hit the headlines in an all-new Drew's News on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.