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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, April 23

The Conners - "Exercise Bands, Money Plans, and Faraway Lands" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ahead of the deposition, Dan gets support from Jackie, Becky and Darlene. Mark is presented with an opportunity which leads to a major life decision. Meanwhile, Becky and Tyler consider the next step in their relationship – joint finances.

The Conners - "The Truck Stops Here" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Jackie prepares for a series of physical tests in an effort to rejoin the police force; Darlene confronts the insecurities in her marriage with Ben; Dan’s deposition stirs up feelings, and final farewells are made in true Conner family fashion.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Wednesday, April 23

Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Watch Jenny on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) - Casey stops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) and Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth/The Bear) - Rita and Ayo are guests on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika talks about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Bowen talks about The Wedding Banquet and Saturday Night Live with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Cheech Marin (Rob/The Golden Palace) and Tommy Chong (That '90s Show/That '70s Show) - Cheech and Tommy talk about their documentary Cheech & Chong's Last Movie with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky talks about his upcoming tour on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) - NBC's Today catches up with Anna in the 9am hour.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - NBC's Today Food has Sarah in the 10am hour.
Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal) - Anthony Mackie talks about Captain America: Brave New World on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
David Arquette (In Case of Emergency/Double Rush/Parenthood) - David and Danny A. Abeckaser discuss their film Mob Cops on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.