SitcomsOnline Digest: Casting in Place for Punky Brewster Reboot; Happy Days Cartoon Spinoffs to Arrive on DVD

Saturday, November 02, 2019

SitcomsOnline Digest: Casting in Place for Punky Brewster Reboot; Happy Days Cartoon Spinoffs to Arrive on DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we have casting news for the reboot of Punky Brewster, we're hearing news of a major acquisition by HBO Max, and we are also hearing news of some animated spinoffs of a pair of classic sitcoms coming to DVD. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Casting has been rounded out for the Peacock reboot of Punky Brewster. (Deadline)
South Park hasn't given up on mocking China at all. (Deadline)
Speaking of South Park, HBO Max has gotten the prized streaming rights to the series, for $500 million. (Engadget)
If you remember the 90s, then you remember the game Minesweeper. Now it's being considered for a game show format. (Deadline)
Bernard Slade, who created The Partridge Family and was a key figure in many classic sitcoms from Screen Gems in the 60s and 70s, has died at age 89. (New York Times)
ABC has picked up full seasons of some of their series. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

TVShowsOnDVD has reported that a pair of animated spinoffs of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley are coming to DVD in MOD form, with The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang and Laverne & Shirley in the Army set for release on Tuesday. Neither seem to be available to order just yet.

WEEKLY PLANNER (NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8)

Decades is celebrating Carl Reiner (who will be accepting an award from The Paley Center for Media in a few weeks) this weekend as they present some of his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show as well as other shows.
This sort of slipped past us last week, but TV One is bringing back part of TGIF as they are now airing Family Matters every Friday night at 8, before it settles into a regular daily timeslot on November 11.
ABC has The Little Mermaid Live! on Tuesday night.
It isn't exactly as Christmas-y as what Hallmark and Lifetime have going on, but Freeform has started their Kickoff to Christmas, which will lead in to the more Christmas-y 25 Days of Christmas programming.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, December 26

Ghosts - "The Christmas: Spirit One" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In part one of a special one-hour #Ghostsmas episode, Jay’s sister, Bela (Punam Patel), visits Woodstone Mansion and brings along an adoring male friend, inspiring Sam to spark a romance between them in the spirit of the holiday rom-coms she loves. Meanwhile, the ghosts have conjured up a very different holiday plan for Trevor and Bela. Also, Isaac has an awkward encounter with Nigel that forces him to look back on events in his life.

Ghosts - "The Christmas: Spirit Two" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
In part two of a special one-hour #Ghostsmas episode, Sam and Thorfinn get caught in the crossfire as the scheme Jay’s sister, Bela (Punam Patel), and the ghosts have conjured up goes awry. Also, Isaac’s marriage to Beatrice sheds light on how apprehensive he has been in communicating his feelings to Nigel.

Ghosts - "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 1" / "A Very Arondekar Christmas Part 2" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
A leaky water heater mishap threatens to ruin holiday plans as Sam and Jay prepare to host Jay’s hard-to-please dad, Mahesh (Bernard White), difficult-to-impress mom, Champa (Sakina Jaffrey), and sister Bela (Punam Patel), on a one-hour GHOSTSMAS special.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 23)

Thursday, December 26

Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Catch Jenny on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Paul Feig (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/The Louie Show/The Jackie Thomas Show/Dirty Dancing) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Luke Wilson (No Good Deed/Englightened) - Luke is joining Drew for a round of "Behind-the-Scenes" with tidbits from his roles in movies like Legally Blonde on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. He's also telling her about his role in the thrilling new show, No Good Deed.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney is chatting with Drew about joining her on Hollywood Squares, going back to work in comedy after becoming a mother, and hosting her new trivia show about Friends on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle appears on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Sanaa Lathan (Family Guy/The Cleveland Show/LateLine) - Sanaa and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor talk about the enduring power of friendship in their new Hulu film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Carol Kane (Taxi/All Is Forgiven/Amerian Dreamer/Pearl/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) - Carol chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl) - Lamorne sits down for an interview on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous/Champaign ILL) - Jay talks about his new virtual reality series Soapstone Comedy Presents on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.