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, July 9

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Volunteers" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don’t go as planned.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Months after the Gang visited, Abbott's Principal Ava walks viewers through some of the unseen footage of the Gang's volunteerism and reveals their true intentions.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Frank Is in a Coma" (FXX and FX, 9:33PM ET/PT)
The five stages of grief set in for Dee as Frank lies on his deathbed; the Guys plot their new path forward by pitching their business ventures to Philadelphia's elite.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Wednesday, July 9

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Salma Hayek Pinault (The Sinbad Show) - Watch Salma on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Richie Moriarty (Ghosts), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Richie, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela chats about her film Superman on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Anna and Justin discuss their film Nuked on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Simon talks about Peacock's Poker Face on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.