Monday, November 03, 2014
NBC Cancels Bad Judge, A to Z; PBS Gets Vicious in Summer 2015
NBC announced late last week that production will not continue for new Thursday comedies Bad Judge and A to Z beyond their initial 13 episode orders. So, essentially both series have been canceled with no back nine (episode) pick-up. They will continue production until their 13th episodes are filmed. Both comedies have seen falling ratings each week for its first 5 episodes. Eight episodes will remain to be aired and if all goes well, they will air their finales on Thursday, Jan. 22 (with preempts only on Christmas Day and New Year's Day). NBC has scheduled the season finale of The Biggest Loser from 8-10pm on Jan. 29, before Monday drama The Blacklist makes it move to Thursdays at 9 starting Feb. 5 In Bad Judge, Kate Walsh starred as a judge who enjoys living on the wild side, but is one of the most respected jurists when behind the bench, while A to Z starred Ben Feldman and Cristin Milioti, and chronicled the relationship of a young couple from the first time they meet. Stay with us if NBC makes any decision not to air these episodes, but at least in the near future they are airing them.
PBS and Shine International announced that the second season of ITV's acclaimed British sitcom Vicious will be coming to PBS in Summer 2015, kicking-off a star-studded summer lineup of British programming on the U.S. network. Following a re-commission by UK broadcaster ITV, Vicious will return with Freddie (Sir Ian McKellen) and Stuart (Sir Derek Jacobi) delivering more biting remarks, snide comments and cruel asides. Joined by friends Violet (Frances de la Tour), Ash (Iwan Rheon), Penelope (Marcia Warren), Mason (Philip Voss) and a host of surprising guest characters, the boys embark on another season of humorous mishaps, misunderstandings, hideous break-ups and heart-warming make-ups. The six part series will air first on ITV in the UK, with the PBS transmission following in summer 2015.
Vicious made its U.S. debut in June 2014 to much critical acclaim, with the New York Times calling it "convulsingly funny," the New York Daily News marking it "a breath of fresh television air" and Entertainment Weekly describing it as "bitingly funny."
Saturday, November 01, 2014
SitcomsOnline Digest: Cancellations at NBC; Nash Bridges and Becker DVDs
- NBC has started their cancellation rounds this week with Thursday night comedies A to Z and Bad Judge being let go. The network is planning to allow them to finish their 13 episode order in their current time slot, at least as of right now. (Hollywood Reporter)
- The episode order for Fox's Mulaney, a series that was one of the most talked about for the season, has been cut from 16 to 13, but it isn't cancelled... yet. (Zap2It)
- It's the first week of November sweeps, and if you don't know what to watch, USA Today can give you a little help. (USA Today)
- Antenna TV is preparing a Thanksgiving feast for their viewers, with a 27 hour Dennis the Menace marathon. (SitcomsOnline)
HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
- VEI has made it official: Nash Bridges - The Complete Series will arrive on DVD on November 18.
- Becker - The Final Season is arriving soon from CBS as a MOD title, but no date is given yet.
NOVEMBER 4 HOME MEDIA RELEASES
- Hot in Cleveland - Season Five (DVD, $29.98): The TV Land original sitcom returns to DVD in this release.
- Sgt. Bilko (The Phil Silvers Show) - The Complete Series (DVD, $129.99): The classic sitcom, which seemed to be abandoned after a 50th anniversary release of a handful of episodes and a season 1 release, is finally completed on DVD, with many of the special features from the previous releases and a few new ones.
FOLLOW ME
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
NBC Fall Pilot Review: Bad Judge - Premieres Thursday, Oct. 2; Antenna TV's Hitch-O-Ween Marathon on Halloween
Bad Judge - Thursdays at 9:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9:00PM ET/PT
by Pavan
No excuses, no apologies, no compromises. Wild child Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice) knows how to have a good time, but she also happens to be one of L.A.’s toughest and most respected criminal court judges. She has a reputation for unorthodox behavior in the courtroom, including creative rulings and saying exactly what's on her mind. Her private life, on the other hand, is anything but innocent. While there’s no shortage of male admirers who would love to spend time with her, she's not ready to settle down.
Cast Details:
Tone Bell as Tedward
John Ducey as Tom Barlow
Ryan Hansen as Gary Boyd
Miguel Sandoval as Judge Hernandez
Kate Walsh (Rebecca Wright) is widely known for her starring role as Dr. Addison Montgomery on Private Practice, a spin-off of the hit show Grey's Anatomy. The enormous success of her character on Grey's led writer and creator Shonda Rhimes to create a spin-off based solely on Walsh's character. During her two seasons on Grey's Anatomy, the show received a SAG Award for best ensemble in 2007 and won the Golden Globe for best television drama series in 2007. The show also received Emmy nominations for outstanding drama series in 2006-07. Most recently, Walsh co-starred in the TV adaptation of Fargo, alongside Billy Bob Thorton and Martin Freeman. Her previous small-screen credits include CSI, Karen Cisco, The Mike O'Malley Show, Mind of a Married Man and The Drew Carey Show.
Tone Bell (Tedward) began his career in the Dallas comedy clubs before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and comedy. Shortly after his move, Bell won the Stand-up NBC Diversity talent search and signed a development deal with the network. After acting in a number of shorts, Tone went on to land a recurring role on the VH1 series Single Ladies and was soon cast in the comedy series, Whitney. Following that series, Tone continued to work on his comedy acts and made appearances on Creepy Caress and Key and Peele. Over the years Bell has been seen on Love You, Mean It with Whitney Cummings, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Mind of a Man and Chelsea Lately.
John Ducey (Tom Barlow) has appeared in more than 20 television shows. He was a series regular on Oh Grow Up, a sitcom created by Alan Ball, and had recurring roles on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and Will & Grace. Ducey also made a brief appearance on Malcolm in the Middle. Since 2003, he has also appeared on various TV comedies like According to Jim, Scrubs, Joey, Freddie, Hot Properties, My Name Is Earl, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother and Hot in Cleveland as well as Disney properties Jonas L.A. and The Suite Life Movie.
Ryan Hansen (Gary Boyd) first gained attention playing Dick Casablancas in cult fave show Veronica Mars. This past spring Hansen reprised his fan-favorite role in the feature-film revival of Veronica Mars, which premiered at SXSW. The film made headlines when a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign was launched that raised more than $5 million from fans to greenlight the movie. Some of Hansen's recent work includes a recurring arc on the comedy 2 Broke Girls as well as Yahoo! and Red Hour's popular web series Burning Love. Prior to that, Hansen starred in the NBC comedy series Friends With Benefits. He also amassed a following when he co-starred in the Starz original comedy series Party Down. He has also been seen this year in a recurring role in The League and House of Lies. Hansen was last seen on the series Bad Teacher, opposite Ari Graynor, Kristen Davis and David Alan Grier.
Miguel Sandoval (Judge Hernandez) has acted professionally for 40 years in theater, film and television. Among his 60 film credits, some favorites include Repo Man, Jurassic Park, Three Businessmen, Walker, Get Shorty, Mrs. Winterbourne, Blow, Do the Right Thing, and Clear and Present Danger. In 2015 he will appear in Sun Belt Express and Blood Father. With nearly 100 television titles to his credit, Sandoval's work includes Entourage, Alias, Law & Order, Seinfeld, Frasier, The West Wing, ER, and The X-Files. In 2010, he completed the successful seven-year run of Medium.
"Pilot" (airs Thursday, October 2 at 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh) knows how to have a good time, but she also happens to be one of L.A.'s toughest and most respected criminal court judges. She has a reputation for unorthodox behavior in the courtroom, including creative rulings and saying exactly what's on her mind. Her private life, on the other hand, is anything but innocent. While there's no shortage of male admirers who would love to spend time with her, she's not ready to settle down. Chris Parnell, Horatio Sands and Theodore Barnes guest star.
Analysis:
Kate Walsh is back on television and that's always a good thing. Is it me or does she look younger and younger every year? This is Kate's show and after you watch the pilot, you'll know that because she is just about in every scene, if not all. The pilot starts off with a bang with Kate's character Rebecca in a raunchy outfit that will have all men hooked for sure. So don't blink! This show might be aimed more for men I think than women. The show comes from the minds of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, so you know their humor is raunchy and quite funny. This pilot however, is quite not there yet in the funniness department. I know it's just the first episode but by the middle of the episode it seems like it is dragging on a bit and not that funny. Time will tell, though, if this show will turn into the funniness of their other work like the big screen films Anchorman and Talladega Nights.
One good thing going for this series is there is nothing like it on television. The supporting cast didn't really have much to do here so far, which is a shame. I think the guest stars were more featured than them, especially the kid and Chris Parnell. Kate's character is obviously the lead and she is the hook to the show. She is the "bad judge" and not bad meaning horrible, but bad meaning "she is baddddd." Like naughty. Maybe my second favorite character so far after Rebecca is her van. It's like a brown Scooby-Doo van. Odd, but it really fits Rebecca well. I can see a lot of funniness and nautyness happening inside that van in future episodes.
Conclusion:
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3/5
Funniness: 2.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5
Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at 9:00PM ET/PT on our message board.
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Preview:
Turn out the lights and turn on the TV with Antenna TV's spooktacular Halloween programming, as the Tribune Broadcasting multicast network presents its annual "Hitch-O-Ween," an Alfred Hitchcock Presents marathon on Friday, October 31. Beginning at midnight, Antenna TV will celebrate "Hitch-O-Ween" with an Alfred Hitchcock Presents marathon of 56 episodes/28 hours on Halloween. A good evening indeed!
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, October 9
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 5)
Friday, October 9
- Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Watch Jamie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ke Huy Quan (Head of the Class/Together We Stand) - Ke appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Lili Reinhart (Surviving Jack) - Lili is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) and Tommy Davidson (The Varnell Hill Show/The Proud Family/Malcolm & Eddie/Between Brothers) - Caroline and Tommy will be on a repeat of Funny You Should Ask at 12:37am on CBS.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael is interviewed on Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO at 10pm.
- Gabourey Sidibe (Difficult People/The Big C) - Gabourey chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Mikey Madison (Better Things) and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) - Drew is joined by The Social Reckoning cast members Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White and director Aaron Sorkin on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Danny Pintauro (Who's the Boss?) - Danny opens up about going viral for working as a delivery driver, the realities of being a working actor, and finding purpose beyond his childhood fame on Who’s the Boss? on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
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