Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Remembering George Segal, Pops from The Goldbergs; HBO Max Comedy Series Made for Love Drops April 1
Actor George Segal, who starred as Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me! and as Albert "Pops" Solomon on The Goldbergs, has died. He died of complications from bypass surgery in Santa Rosa, California, on March 23. Mr. Segal was 87.
Some of Segal's early television guest appearances included The Play of the Week, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The United States Steel Hour, Naked City, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Channing, The Doctors and the Nurses and Arrest and Trial.
His first television starring role was as Andy Kooper on the 1987 CBS sitcom Take Five. The short-lived series was canceled after only two episodes had aired. In the semi-autobiographical series, Andy Kooper has a midlife crisis after his wife had divorced him and her father had fired him from his public relations job. He sang with his buddies in the Lenny Goodman Quartet, a semi-pro Dixieland jazz band in which he sang and played the banjo. The series also starred Severn Darden, Derek McGrath, Bruce Jarchow, Jim Haynie, Melanie Chartoff, Todd Field and Eugene Roche.
Segal starred as Jack Gallo on the 1997-2003 NBC workplace sitcom Just Shoot Me!. The series ran for seven seasons and 148 episodes. Jack Gallo was the successful yet often oblivious owner and publisher of a New York City fashion magazine called Blush. Segal was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1999 and 2000 as well as a Satellite Award in 2002 for the role. The series also starred Laura San Giacomo, Wendie Malick, Enrico Colantoni, David Spade, Chris Hogan (1997) and Rena Sofer (2002-2003).
He starred as Alan Robbins on the 2011-2012 TV Land sitcom Retired at 35. It ran for two seasons and 20 episodes. The series follows a successful New Yorker named David (Johnathan McClain), who decides to leave the rat race and his job in the big city and visit his father (George Segal) and mother (Jessica Walter) who live in a retirement community in Florida. The series also starred Josh McDermitt, Ryan Michelle Bathe (Season 1) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Season 2).
Segal has starred as Albert "Pops" Solomon on the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs for eight seasons since 2013. "Pops" is the eccentric but lovable grandfather of a semi-autobiographical family based on that of series creator Adam F. Goldberg. He is Beverly Goldberg's (Wendi McLendon-Covey) laid-back widower father and a World War II Veteran. Segal was an accomplished banjo player and played it several times on the show. The cast includes Jeff Garlin, Sean Giambrone, Troy Gentile, Hayley Orrantia, AJ Michalka (Season 3–4; recurring 1–2 and 5–6, guest 7) and Sam Lerner (Season 5–present; recurring 2–4).
Some of his sitcom guest appearances included The Larry Sanders Show, The Naked Truth (4 episodes), Caroline in the City, Bette, The War at Home and Entourage (3 episodes). He appeared on five episodes of the sketch comedy series Tracy Takes On.... Some of his voice credits included Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, American Dad! and The Simpsons.
He starred as Daedalus Patrick Murphy on the 1988-1989 ABC crime drama Murphy's Law. He played Gordon in seven episodes of the syndicated adventure series High Tide from 1994 to 1995. Some of his television drama guest appearances included Murder, She Wrote, Burke's Law, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Private Practice, Boston Legal and Pushing Daisies.
Segal was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and won two Golden Globe Awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance in A Touch of Class (1973). Some of his other film credits included Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Where's Poppa? (1970), The Hot Rock (1972), Blume in Love (1973), California Split (1974), For the Boys (1991) and Flirting with Disaster (1996).
Mr. Segal was a talented and verstatile actor. He was very funny as Jack Gallo on Just Shoot Me! and perfectly cast as "Pops" on The Goldbergs. We thank him for the many laughs and entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be deeply missed.
Share your memories on our Just Shoot Me! and The Goldbergs message boards. View photos in our galleries.
We also remember child actor Kim Tyler. He was best known for his role as Kyle Nash on Please Don't Eat the Daisies. He died on February 10 at his home in Hollywood Heights, California, surrounded by loved ones, after a long battle with cancer. Mr. Tyler was 66.
Tyler starred as Kyle Nash, the oldest son of Joan (Patricia Crowley) and James (Jim) Nash (Mark Miller), on the 1965-1967 NBC sitcom Please Don't Eat the Daisies. The series ran for two seasons and 58 episodes. It also starred Brian Nash, Joe Fithian, Jeff Fithian, Shirley Mitchell, Harry Hickox (1965-1966), King Donovan (1966-1967), Dub Taylor (1965-1966), Ellen Corby, Bill Quinn (1966-1967) and Jean VanderPyl (1966-1967).
Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Hazel, The Andy Griffith Show (as Billy Gray in the episode "One-Punch Opie"), The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (6 episodes), The Addams Family, My Three Sons and My Favorite Martian. He appeared on episodes of The 20th Century-Fox Hour in 1956 and The Law and Mr. Jones in 1961.
His family said he was a talented musician, a proficient poker player and an amateur videographer. He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Michelle.
Mr. Tyler was very good on Please Don't Eat the Daisies. It was surprising that he didn't continue acting after the series ended. Please Don't Eat the Daisies is a wonderful series that should be shown again in syndication or be available on DVD or streaming. He will be greatly missed.
Share your memories on our Please Don't Eat the Daisies message board.
The Max Original Made for Love debuts with three episodes on Thursday, April 1. The season continues with three episodes on April 8 and concludes with two episodes on April 15. Based on the novel by Alissa Nutting, the comedy series is a darkly absurd and cynically poignant story of love and divorce following Hazel Green (Cristin Milioti), a thirty-something woman on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage to Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen), a controlling tech billionaire. Soon she discovers that her husband has implanted a monitoring device – the Made for Love chip – in her brain, allowing him to track her, watch her, and know her "emotional data" as she tries to regain her independence. Through the chip, Byron's able to watch Hazel's every move as she flees to her desert hometown to take refuge with her aging widower father Herbert (Ray Romano) and his synthetic partner, Diane. Made for Love stars Cristin Milioti, Billy Magnussen, Dan Bakkedahl, Noma Dumezweni, Augusto Aguilera, Caleb Foote and Ray Romano. The series is executive produced by Christina Lee, Alissa Nutting, Patrick Somerville, Dean Bakopoulos, Liza Chasin and SJ Clarkson. Christina Lee is showrunner and Paramount Television Studios is the studio. Stephanie Laing directed the pilot and is a Co-EP. The season was directed by Laing and Alethea Jones.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, January 14
St. Denis Medical - "50 cc's of Kindness" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron mocks Alex and Matt's attempts to resolve a conflict between two prison inmates who stabbed each other in a gang fight; Serena helps Bruce address his fear of needles; Joyce finds herself smitten by the burly prison guard.
Night Court - "Mayim Worst Enemy" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby is thrilled when Mayim Bialik appears in the courtroom, but she begins to wonder if the situation is more sinister than it seems; Dan hunts for a mystery man guilty of forgoing basic etiquette.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 13)
Tuesday, January 14
- Bill Burr (F Is for Family/Townies) - Catch Bill on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Gabriel Basso (The Big C) - Gabriel is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. NBC's Today catches up with in the 9am hour. He also talks about In Gad We Trust: A Tell-Some with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Betty Gilpin (GLOW/Nurse Jackie) - Betty is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Aidy Bryant (Shrill) - Aidy stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Marcia Gay Harden (Trophy Wife) - Marcia talks about her children's podcast, Snoriezzz, on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- The Cast of Harlem - Meagan Good, Grace Byer, Jerrie Johnson, Shoniqua Shandai and Tyler Lepley talk about the new season of Harlem on Amazon Prime on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Amanda Warren (Dickinson) - Amanda is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.
- Vella Lovell (Animal Control/Mr. Mayor) - Vella appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:10am.
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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