SitcomsOnline Digest: Rocko's Modern Life Movie Greenlit at Nickelodeon; Hulu to End Free Streaming

Saturday, August 13, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Rocko's Modern Life Movie Greenlit at Nickelodeon; Hulu to End Free Streaming

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It has been a busy week of news with Nickelodeon announcing a Rocko's Modern Life TV movie, Hulu announcing some major changes to their service, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Nickelodeon has given the green light to a one hour TV movie based upon one of the biggest cult favorite Nicktoons, Rocko's Modern Life. (Entertainment Weekly)
Hulu, which was a pioneer in online streaming when they began offering free ad-supported streaming of TV series almost a decade, announced this week that they will be shifting exclusively to a paid subscription service later this month, though some content (including recent episodes of broadcast network TV series) will remain available through partner deals. (Washington Post)
The producers of How I Met Your Mother have come together once again to develop a new comedy for CBS. (Variety)
This week, it was announced that neither Jay Pharoah nor Taran Killam will be back on Saturday Night Live in the next season, but not all is lost, as both have separate Showtime pilots in the works. (Yahoo!)
Chuck Lorre got off rather easy when Charlie Sheen left Two and a Half Men, it seems, as Thomas Gibson was fired from Criminal Minds this week following an incident in which he kicked a producer. (BBC News)
Barry Jenner, best known for his roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Knot's Landing, died this week. (Deadline)
In honor of the 10th anniversary of The CW, a trio of sitcoms that aired in those early days will be added to CW Seed. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (AUGUST 16) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Lou Grant - The Complete Second Season (DVD, $26.99): The spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Show moves forward on DVD in this release.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Daryl Bartley (Twitter), "CG Artist, Avatar, Power Rangers, Child Actor, Small Wonder, Warren, Dad Jokes"

Claim to Fame: Daryl Bartley was a child actor didn't exactly get a lot of screen time as a child actor, but is very much memorable. He had appearances on Simon & Simon and Buffalo Bill, but his biggest and most memorable role was Small Wonder, where he played Warren Enright, Jamie's friend who always had a crush on Vicki. While his character was one of the more memorable ones on the series, he didn't even make a lot of appearances. He only appeared in six episodes. Luckily for him, though, the child acting phase was just the beginning of bigger and better things. While he is no longer an actor and has not done any TV roles (at least according to IMDb) since his last Small Wonder appearance in 1987 (almost 30 years ago), he found a bigger and better career working in CGI animation and visual effects, and his work can be seen on some of the biggest films in theaters today, such as Twilight, Avatar, Life of Pi, and many others.

Pick of the Tweets: "Spontaneous outburst from my wife while watching Good Wife - "Men are stupid, they're just so stupid"" (July 17, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, October 20

The Goldbergs - "An Itch Like No Other" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
With Beverly’s encouragement, Mr. Glascott moves in next door to the Goldbergs and slowly goes from friendly neighbor to cluelessly intrusive. Adam and Murray become increasingly disgruntled while Beverly comes up with a plan to occupy Mr. Glascott’s time with a new friend, Mr. Woodburn. Meanwhile, Barry lands in urgent care with a case of poison ivy in a compromising area – his rear end. Erica and Geoff are called to task to take care of Barry and his ridiculous demands – inadvertently testing their parenting skills and patience with one another.

The Wonder Years - "The Lock In" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Dean is reluctant to attend the annual church lock-in until Kim tells him it’s where she got her first kiss. He enlists his friends to help him pair up with Keisa, but his plans are thwarted when he instead gets paired up with the pastor’s daughter, Charlene.

The Conners - "Trucking Live in Front of a Fully Vaccinated Studio Audience -- East Coast" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Lights, Camera, Action: “The Conners” is going live for both the East and West Coast broadcasts of the season four premiere episode. This iconic TV family continues to deal with the current pandemic while navigating breakups and newfound sobriety, all while planning an upcoming wedding.

Home Economics - "Giant Jenga, $120" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Tom spirals when Connor dates a woman who broke his heart at summer camp. Then, family game night becomes an all-or-nothing competition between Marina and Denise.

Superstar - "Robin Williams" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT)
The new episode recounts his life through Robin Williams’ own voice, describing “the spark of madness” which defined his life. From his early days in the San Francisco Bay Area comedy scene to his meteoric rise on “Mork & Mindy,” the one-hour special explores the experiences that made Williams into a one-of-a-kind talent and reveals what gave voice to the characters in his mind. It also chronicles the creative force driving critically acclaimed films like “Good Will Hunting” and “Dead Poets Society,” as well as fan favorites such as “Aladdin.” The special explores his personal struggles, including substance abuse and depression, and his battle with Lewy Body Dementia before his tragic death in 2014. “Superstar: Robin Williams” features interviews with famous comedians and actors who knew and admired Williams, including Margaret Cho, Howie Mandel, Lewis Black, Jimmie Walker, Paula Poundstone, Gina Hecht and Pauly Shore, as well as Barry Levinson, director of multiple films starring Williams including “Good Morning, Vietnam.” The program also contains interviews with Williams from the ABC News archives, in which he opens up about his life and the highs and lows of his distinguished career.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 18)

Wednesday, October 20

Rami Malek (The War at Home) - Watch Rami on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Issa Rae (Insecure) - Issa appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Billy Bob Thornton (Hearts Afire) - Billy Bob is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Foxx (Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick is a guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Trevor Noah at 11pm.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah guest hosts The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Debra Messing (Will & Grace/Ned & Stacey) - Debra talks about her latest project: how self-care can change the world on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Ron Howard (Arrested Development/Happy Days/The Andy Griffith Show) and Clint Howard (Gung Ho) - Ron and Clint discuss their new book, The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family, on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Amy Sedaris (No Activity/BoJack Horseman/Strangers with Candy) - It's a TV exclusive with sister and brother duo Amy and David Sedaris appearing together for the first time on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jeremy Sisto (Suburgatory) - Jeremy talks about FBI on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
David Eigenberg (Sex and the City) - David talks about NBC's Chicago Fire on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick talks about Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.