Monday, February 10, 2020
Audible Gets Comedy Series with Big Stars; Fox Gets Another Guessing Music Series
Audible Inc., the world's largest producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks, announced a new scripted Audible Original comedy series, Escape from Virtual Island, written by John Lutz, best known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Seth Meyers and 30 Rock and produced by Broadway Video Enterprises. Golden Globe-nominated actor Paul Rudd leads an all-star ensemble cast of comedic talent including Jack McBrayer, Paula Pell, Amber Ruffin, Scott Adsit, Jane Krakowski, Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson, Olivia Wilde and Henry Winkler. The audio series will debut April 2, 2020 exclusively on Audible. Escape from Virtual Island is executive produced by Broadway Video’s Britta von Schoeler and produced by Austin Breslow. Will Rogers and Ian Stearns are executive producers for Audible.
Derek Ambrose (Rudd) runs an island resort in 2038 where the wealthy come to live out their wildest fantasies in virtual reality. With the help of his assistant Beasley (McBrayer), lead computer scientist Faith (Ruffin), and head of security Ramona (Pell), the island has been running smoothly since Derek inherited it from his mother. When a high-profile guest suddenly goes missing inside a computer simulation, Derek, Faith, Beasley, and Ramona form a search party to retrieve him. Bouncing between VR environments, the team soon realizes that the computer has become self-aware and is preventing them from escaping back to the real world. Absurd adventures, including virtual visits to a British Royal Navy ship, a Wild West saloon, and a Central Park rom-com, come to life for listeners through a captivating narrative and high-caliber sound design that evokes TV for your ears.
Following the success of Heads Will Roll starring Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne, featuring Tim Gunn, Meryl Streep and Peter Dinklage, 64th Man, starring John Cena and Anna Chlumsky, and Ana Gasteyer and Maya Rudolph's Holiday Greetings from Sugar and Booze, Escape from Virtual Island is the fourth audio-only scripted original comedy series to come from the Audible and Broadway Video collaboration. The series joins a robust slate of Audible Originals, exclusive audio entertainment created by celebrated storytellers from the worlds of theater, journalism, comedy, literature and more. Audible Originals offer powerful performances created for listeners by award-winning actors, writers and comedians, spanning every genre and length.
Fox Entertainment has ordered the all-new music guessing game unscripted series I Can See Your Voice, hosted and executive-produced by comedian, actor and The Masked Singer panelist Ken Jeong. Based on the South Korean format from CJ ENM, the series will be produced by Fox Alternative Entertainment (FAE) and will premiere later this year on Fox.
Each week on the show, one contestant will have the chance to win a cash prize if he or she can tell the difference between the good and bad singers, without ever hearing them sing a note. Helping the contestant navigate through rounds of lip sync challenges, hilarious hidden clues and true-or-false evidence will be a panel of celebrity comedians/experts and a musical superstar. In the end, the singer whom the contestant picks will reveal if they are good or bad in a duet performance with the musical superstar, resulting in an amazing musical collaboration or a totally hilarious train wreck.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, January 23
Shifting Gears - "Accommodations" (ABC, 9:02PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Matt joins Riley at Carter’s high school open house, where he’s unsettled to learn about the “accommodations” made for his grandson’s anxiety. Meanwhile, Riley reconnects with Caitlin, a former classmate, and sets her up with Gabriel.
Only Murders in the Building - "Sparring Partners" (ABC, 9:33PM ET/PT)
Closing in on the killer, Mabel takes her investigative talents into the ring; Oliver and Charles duke it out over a birdcage only to end up confronting their deepest paternal struggles.
Only Murders in the Building - "I Know Who Did It" (ABC, 10:12PM ET/PT)
The question of who did it remains, along with a few more questions that have been raised.
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "An Old Mustang" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie worries that he’s leaving Connor out of his new project with Jim. Meanwhile, Mandy and Audrey struggle to decorate CeeCee’s nursery without fighting.
Ghosts - "The Primary Source" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Sam’s book publisher requires source material for her biography on Isaac, she and Jay take a field trip to find a diary he claims he hid when he was alive.
Animal Control - "Baby Kangaroos and Chickens" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria compete to win Fiona's affections at the new kennels' fundraiser; Emily gets some very bad advice from Bettany on her speech; Patel and Shred find themselves facing the world's most charming squatter.
Going Dutch - "Korfball" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Everyone in town is talking about the upcoming Korfball match between the Americans and the Dutch; the colonel refuses to lose to the Dutch and Quinn brings out her high school alter ego "The Rocket" to make her dad proud.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Thursday, January 23
- James Marsden (30 Rock) - Catch James on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Fortune Feimster (FUBAR/Kenan/Bless the Harts/Champions) - Fortune appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Denis Leary (Going Dutch/No Good Deed/Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/The Job) - Denis stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Nick appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Britt Lower (Ghosted/Man Seeking Woman/Big Lake) - Britt is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Thomas, Paul and Joe are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Al Madrigal (Lopez vs Lopez/About a Boy/Gary Unmarried/Welcome to The Captain) - Al appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Jason Biggs (Outmatched/Mad Love/Drexell's Class) - Jason and his wife Jenny Mollen are telling Drew about their new show Dinner and a Movie that features an episode focusing on 50 First Dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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