SitcomsOnline Digest: Shameless Renewed for Eighth Season; Quantum Leap DVDs to be Re-Released With Most of the Original Music Intact

Saturday, December 24, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Shameless Renewed for Eighth Season; Quantum Leap DVDs to be Re-Released With Most of the Original Music Intact

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's Christmas Eve, and while we don't have a whole lot of "presents" this week, we do have news of a new season of a Showtime favorite, and news of a pair of re-releases from Mill Creek (including one that is worth replacing your previous release if you own it). Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Fresh off of a season finale that gave Showtime their biggest audience of the year and a new salary deal for Emmy Rossum, Shameless has been renewed for an eighth season on Showtime. (Entertainment Weekly)
While Zsa Zsa Gabor was much more of a movie star than a TV star (the opposite of her sister Eva Gabor, who was better known as a TV star), she died this week at age 99. (LA Times)
Matt Lauer is set to be reunited with some of his former Today co-anchors next month with Savannah Guthrie on maternity leave, but it is probably no surprise that Ann Curry will likely not be among them. (USA Today)
Just an early heads up: Syfy will be airing their annual Twilight Zone marathon (which will be longer than usual this year, although it comes up about 30 episodes short of last years marathon of every episode) beginning December 31. (UPI)
You can find Christmas cheer almost everywhere today, and of course, that includes classic Christmas episodes of all of your favorite series. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01MSX5322/happydaysonline5-20

Mill Creek announced long ago that they would be re-releasing Quantum Leap on DVD, but perhaps the most pleasant surprise that may have gotten overlooked in that announcement is that they will also release it on Blu-ray, and best of all, the new release will include most of the original music in the episodes, which was lacking in the original Universal releases. The releases will arrive on February 7. TVShowsOnDVD.com has more on this.
Mill Creek has also announced that they'll be re-releasing 227 - The Complete First Season on February 7, though there do not seem to be any plans for releasing any of the remaining four seasons at the moment.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Jay Baruchel (Twitter), "Canadian. Lithe. Wan. Director of GOON: LAST OF THE ENFORCERS coming soon! IG:jonathanadamsaundersbaruchel"

Claim to Fame: Jay Baruchel is a Canadian actor who started out his career in TV series that were abruptly canceled. His first TV series was the Fox series Undeclared, which actually did get a chance to air every episode that was fully produced, but more storylines had been in the works for the series before it was abruptly cut short. The next series he appeared in was the CBS comedy The Stones, which starred Robert Klein and Judith Light, and managed to produce 10 episodes. But once again, it too was cut short after just three episodes and the remaining seven were never seen. His third attempt at a series was on The WB, in a legal drama called Just Legal, in which he starred alongside Don Johnson. Despite getting an actual fall premiere date and airing on a network that had lowered expectations, it too was canceled after just three episodes, though at least this time the remaining five did get a chance to be burned off later in the summer. That doesn't mean he has been a failure, though, because his latest endeavor has been successful, and is actually returning for a second season next month on FXX, the series Man Seeking Woman. Additionally, while his first three TV series didn't go so well, he has had a successful movie career

Pick of the Tweets: "I LIKE THIS SWEATER AND I THINK YOU WILL TOO." (November 29, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, September 28

The Conners - "Scenes From Two Marriages: The Parrot Doth Protest Too Much" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Jackie moves in with Neville and discovers that being newlyweds produces new problems when Neville shows up to their home with an excess of animals from his vet office. Meanwhile, Darlene and Ben have an argument as Ben points out Darlene is turning into her father.

The Golbergs - "That's a Schwartz Man" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
With both sides of the family eager for answers on Geoff and Erica’s pregnancy, they decide to keep their baby’s sex a surprise. However, a sonagram finding from Lou Schwartz might provide an unexpected discovery. Meanwhile, Adam recruits Glascott to help his mother cope with his departure for NYU; but when he later has a change of heart about heading off to college, he sources a job as the personal assistant to a special celebrity to help lessen the blow when news of his deferred enrollment is delivered to Beverly.

Abbott Elementary - "Wrong Delivery" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
After Janine gets a look at the new charter school down the street, she becomes determined to fix up Abbott and make it just as good. As Gregory goes out of his way to avoid Barbara due to an awkward situation with his personal life, and Ava takes to the school library to host a “Shark Tank”-style pitch to decide what to do with the rest of the funds from the grant.

Home Economics - "Melatonin 10 Mg Tablets, $14.99" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Tom begins publicity for his new book as Marina takes on the redesign of Gretchen’s room, which causes a lot of stress at home and in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Sarah, Denise and the kids have to crash at Connor’s house when their apartment floods, much to Lupe’s chagrin.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 26)

Wednesday, September 28

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She talks about Luckiest Girl Alive on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Ramy Youssef (Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet) - Timothy is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Max Greenfield (The Neighborhood/New Girl/Modern Men) - Max will be on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Mayim Bialik (Call Me Kat/The Big Bang Theory/Blossom) - Mayim is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Rosie O'Donnell (SMILF/Stand By Your Man/Gimme a Break!) - Rosie appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary/Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Tyler is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kim Coles (Living Single/The Geena Davis Show) - Kim talks about her new series Finding Happy on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - George and Amal Clooney are guests on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect) - Sherri appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Vanessa Lachey (Truth Be Told/Dads) - Vanessa is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Jaime Camil (Schmigadoon!/Broke) - Jaime talks about Netflix's El Rey: Vicente Fernandez on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Lio Tipton (Manhattan Love Story) - Lio appears on PIX 11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.