SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Attention all units! This is a CHARGE! ALERT! CHiPs is coming to CHARGE starting Tuesday, September 4! at 6pm. CHiPs stars Larry Wilcox, Erik Estrada and Robert Pine. The series originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. CHiPs followed the lives of two motorcycle police officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP), Erik Estrada as macho, rambunctious Officer Francis ("Frank") Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello and Larry Wilcox as his straitlaced partner, Officer Jonathan ("Jon") Andrew Baker. With Ponch the more trouble-prone of the pair, and Jon generally the more level-headed one trying to keep him out of trouble with the duo's gruff yet fatherly commanding officer Sergeant Joseph Getraer (Robert Pine), the two were Highway Patrolmen of the Central Los Angeles office of the California Highway Patrol (CHP, hence the name CHiPs). Among the series CHARGE! airs include American Gladiators, Gladiators, LAPD, and The Avengers. CHARGE! is a new free broadcast network featuring action programming including movies, series and sports entertainment. Watch action stars, every-day heroes and insane athletes engaged in battles, chases, showdowns and so much more. CHARGE! Ready for Action.

Netflix just ordered another comedy series. Mrs. Fletcher is a dual coming-of-age story, exploring the impact of internet porn and social media on the lives of an empty nest mother and her college freshman son. Based on the New York Times bestselling novel Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta. Kathryn Hahn stars as Eve Fletcher, a divorced woman who drops her only child off at college and returns home to a very empty nest, hoping to reinvent her life and find the happiness and sexual fulfillment that's eluded her. Jackson White plays Brendan Fletcher, Eve's son, a popular (though sometimes clueless) jock and aspiring frat boy who finds college a little more complicated than he expected.

Casey Wilson will play Jane Rosen, a married mother of academically gifted twins - she's Eve's close friend, a reliable source of emotional support and unsolicited advice. Owen Teague is Julian Spitzer, a high school classmate of Brendan's, a smart but underachieving skater who's stuck in his hometown after graduation, trying to figure out what happens next. Jen Richards plays Margo Fairchild, a transgender woman who teaches Eve's community college writing course. Margo is confident and charismatic in the classroom, but sometimes anxious in social situations.

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we've got news of a new cast addition on a CBS sitcom that'll make something new look a lot more like something old, we're hearing about a cancellation of an original series at WGN America that signals larger changes that are likely in the horizon, and NBC is making some changes to their fall lineup that will make Thursday nights look a lot more familiar again. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Who to Follow: Sharon Gless (Twitter)

Claim to Fame: We're going back in time just a little bit (though not completely, because she hasn't retired from acting) with Sharon Gless, who is probably best known for her role of Christine Cagney on the series Cagney & Lacey. Actually, she was not the first or even the second person to play that role. Originally, in the pilot movie, Loretta Swit (of M*A*S*H fame) played the role, and was replaced by Meg Foster once it became a series. The series was cancelled after the first season, but after some negotiating about retooling the show (including a demand that Meg Foster be replaced because the network executives felt that she wasn't "feminine" enough), it was brought back for a second season with Gless in the role. And when she took on that role, the series thrived, although there were still bumps and cancellation threats almost every season. Her career is actually far more extensive than Cagney & Lacey, though, as she also had a recurring role on Marcus Welby, M.D., a regular role on Switch, and then went on to do lots of made-for-TV movies throughout the 80s and 90s in addition to her role on Cagney & Lacey. By the late 90s, of course, made-for-TV movies sort of went out of style, but that didn't stop her from making it back into series roles, including regular roles on both Queer as Folk and Burn Notice. Despite that extensive career, her "sitcom" career is limited to one guest star role on The Bob Newhart Show, so we imagine that she must really prefer dramas. In any event, it wouldn't be surprising to see her pop up again in another role, and we hope to see just that... or maybe even just one sitcom guest appearance to see her in a different light.

We told you that MacGyver is coming on Dec. 19, but now we have the full MeTV Winter 2017 schedule that begins in January. From the return of one of television's most iconic series to brand-new action and adventure, criminal investigations and even supernatural situations, the MeTV winter 2017 schedule — starting Monday, January 2, 2017 — promises to thaw out those wintertime blues. All he needs is his Swiss Army knife, a roll of duct tape and maybe a paperclip or two. Angus MacGyver brings his bad-guy-busting ingenuity to our schedule twice every weekday. And Mac joins the schedule early: Starting December 19, catch MacGyver weekdays at 5PM | 4C and weeknights at 9PM | 8C. Gee Whiz! One of television's most iconic series returns and moved to MeTV - Leave It to Beaver comes to weekdays at 8AM | 7C and 8:30AM | 7:30C. The hunks of the California Highway Patrol are cruising back into action on CHiPs. And like MacGyver, Ponch and Jon join the schedule early: Starting December 19, watch the motorcycle-riding officers keep law and order in sunny Los Angeles weekdays at 4PM | 3C.

The original, 30-minute episodes of Gunsmoke return, weekdays at 1PM | 12C & 1:30PM | 12:30C. These black-and-white episodes, which originally ran from 1955 to 1961, compose the series' first six seasons. Also, a fresh batch of Columbo movies comes to Sunday nights at 8PM | 7C. See Peter Falk as the sleuth during his ABC years, which comprises made-for-TV movies produced between 1989 and 2003. He may not be a gunslinger, but he's unstoppable in a fistfight. James Garner stars as Bret Maverick, an Old West anti-hero who's a good guy at heart. Tune in for Maverick on Saturdays at 10AM | 9C. Late night crime doesn't stand a chance — Mannix, Ironside and 77 Sunset Strip slap the cuffs on criminals weeknights starting at 2AM | 1C. And finally, Carl Kolchak investigates the bizarre and supernatural Sunday nights at 10PM | 9C. See the intrepid newspaper man face off against a myriad of monsters on Kolchak: The Night Stalker.




The special premiere of new comedy The Mick will air Sunday, Jan. 1 in all time zones immediately following NFL doubleheader game coverage and The OT, at 8:00 PM ET and 5:00 PM PT, on Fox. The episode then will encore that same night in the Pacific time zone at 8:00 PM and the Mountain time zone at 7:00 PM. The series will make its time period premiere with an all-new episode Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8:31 PM ET/PT. The Mick is a comedy about an unapologetic degenerate (Kaitlin Olson, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) who suddenly finds herself stuck raising her spoiled niece and nephews (Sofia Black-D'Elia, Thomas Barbusca, Jack Stanton) in affluent Greenwich, CT. It's pretty much everything she never wanted. Regardless, she's determined to rise to the occasion and transform these little monsters into honest, hard-working, decent members of society - something she knows absolutely nothing about. The series also stars Carla Jimenez and Scott MacArthur.

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! Thanksgiving week has arrived, so it is a short work week ahead for some people and plenty of food and marathons of your favorite sitcoms will arrive this weekend. But before that, we've got our regular news, including news of a remake of Lost in Space, an upcoming Saturday Night Live episode hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Warner Home Video, like all of the other major studios, has mostly gotten out of the classic TV on DVD business in recent years (although they have been slightly better than the other studios by releasing such series online through Warner Archive), but they will be moving ahead with CHiPs - The Complete Fourth Season on March 15.

Who to Follow: Jenna Fischer (Twitter), "New Mom. Actress. Wife. Lover of trash TV, sweatpants and sushi."

Claim to Fame: Jenna Fischer got her started in entertainment in movies, and went on to guest roles in series including Undeclared, Cold Case, That '70s Show, and Six Feet Under. But her big break came in 2005 when she was cast in the role of Pam on The Office. Her current project is the British-American series You, Me and the Apocalypse, which has already debuted on Sky1 in the United Kingdom, and will debut later this season on NBC.

The Summer of Me starts on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. And this year is even more memorable as MeTV welcomes actress Dawn Wells, Mary Ann of Gilligan's Island, who will be making special appearances all summer long! The Summer of Me sets sail weeknights at 6PM|5C with the castaway comedy of Gilligan's Island, followed at 6:30PM|5:30C by the ragtag crew of Hogan's Heroes. From 9PM to 11PM, the comedy continues with The Summer of CoMEdies! This two-hour block features four episodes of a different show each weeknight. Mondays, Zack and the gang find new adventures as roommates at California University in Saved by the Bell: The College Years. Milwaukee's best comes at you Tuesdays and Wednesdays with Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley, respectively. The Sweathogs are in class Thursdays with Welcome Back, Kotter, and Fridays are more fun with America's favorite family, The Brady Bunch. And one note, every Wednesday night starting at 9PM, The Summer of Me's Laverne & Shirley episodes feature hand-picked favorites curated by series' stars Penny Marshall (Laverne De Fazio), Cindy Williams (Shirley Feeney) and Eddie Mekka (Carmine Ragusa)!

With all the new additions to the Summer of Me schedule, some programs are going on a well-deserved summer vacation. Say goodbye--for now--to The Twilight Zone, CHiPs, The Bob Newhart Show, Taxi, Cheers and The Odd Couple. View the Summer of Me schedule to see the entire line-up!

Hulu announced that it has ordered season four - 26 new episodes - of the critically acclaimed series The Mindy Project. The series will join Hulu's Original Programming slate in a new agreement with Universal Television, as Fox will not be airing the series anymore. Hulu subscribers will also be able to stream past and future episodes of The Mindy Project exclusively on Hulu. Since its network premiere in 2012, The Mindy Project has been a top show on Hulu and has consistently remained popular with Hulu subscribers. Hulu is currently the exclusive streaming home to all past episodes of the series, which were previously acquired in a library deal with NBCUniversal announced in April 2014. A premiere date for season four of The Mindy Project will be announced at a later time. Following the premiere, Hulu will have the option to order subsequent seasons.

The Mindy Project is a single-camera comedy series created by and starring Emmy(R)-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating the tricky waters of both her personal and professional life. The series also stars Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant and Xosha Roquemore. The comedy series will join Hulu's growing slate of premium original programming including event series 11/22/63 from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams starring James Franco; comedy series Difficult People produced by Amy Poehler with stars Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner; Casual, a comedy series from Oscar(R)-nominated Director Jason Reitman; The Way, a drama series from Universal Television and Jason Katims' True Jack Productions; and the first longform project from Freddie Wong and the RocketJump team.

This Fall, Home Is Where You Will Find Me! The MeTV Network fall schedule has been officially announced! Among the new shows are The Andy Griffith Show, CHiPs, Saved by the Bell, Black Sheep Squadron, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Adventures of Superman. The launch date is Monday, September 1 - so we are just two weeks away. So let's break it down! Joining the MeTV fall schedule for the first time is The Andy Griffith Show, airing weeknights at 8PM ET, featuring two back-to-back episodes of the beloved classic comedy (Note: in many cities where The Andy Griffith Show is already on another station, so instead The MeTV Network will air Mayberry R.F.D. in its place in those markets). CHiPS will also be seen weeknights at 6PM and will patrol the early evenings. The man of steel will join the line up as Adventures of Superman will be on Saturday nights at 6PM and the Saved by the Bell classroom antics start with four back-to-back episodes beginning Sunday at 10AM. Cheyenne joins the Saturday western line up at 12PM, as well as weekday mornings at 4AM. Me Wants You! Every weekday from 7-10pm. It's a wide world of comedy, and MeTV is your native guide through all of it. From the tropics to the tundra, from the front lines to the front porch, they're bringing you the best in comedy: the zany, the thoughtful and everything in between (M*A*S*H, Andy, Hogan and Gilligan).

Elsewhere on the schedule, The Comedy Conundrum gets a few different shows to the evening line-up. Each weeknight beginning at 10PM ET, see back-to-back episodes of The Bob Newhart Show on Mondays, Taxi on Tuesdays, F Troop on Wednesdays, Welcome Back, Kotter on Thursdays and The Odd Couple on Fridays. Perry Mason returns to MeTV with the courtroom drama weekday mornings at 10AM, followed by Dragnet at 11AM. Cheers will reopen on MeTV each weeknight at 11PM. And Ironside is back with more Raymond Burr at 2AM. On weekends, MeTV's Saturday night line up gets even more out of this world with the addition of the aforementioned The Adventures of Superman at 6, launching on September 6. Saturday late night sees the return of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at 1AM, a full-hour of Night Gallery at 2AM, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour at 3AM and Thriller at 4AM. Sunday nights are mysterious on MeTV. The Spies Who Love Me! block will launch with The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which is also new to the MeTV schedule and will air at 10PM, followed by Mission: Impossible, Get Smart and The Saint. Finally, Black Sheep Squadron will take to the skies Sunday nights at 7PM.

View and discuss the official MeTV Network Fall 2014 Schedule!

The past Friday (August 15) premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie How to Build a Better Boy, headlined by Disney Channel and Disney XD sitcom stars China Anne McClain (A.N.T. Farm) and Kelli Berglund (Lab Rats), delivered 4.6 million Total Viewers, ranking as Friday's #1 cable TV telecast and the #1 TV telecast among Kids 2-11 (2.5 million/6.2 rating), Kids 6-11 (1.9 million/8.2 rating) and Tweens 9-14 (1.7 million/7.1 rating). Leading out of the movie, Girl Meets World summer finale (special time of 9:45 p.m.) delivered its #2 telecast on record, ranking as Friday's #2 cable TV telecast in Total Viewers (4.1 million) and TV's #2 telecast across Kids 2-11 (1.9 million/4.9 rating), Kids 6-11 (1.6 million/6.5 rating) and Tweens (1.5 million/6.4 rating). The episode featured a guest appearance by Lee Norris as Stuart Minkus from Boy Meets World. Don't forget Girl Meets World airs regularly every Friday night at 8:30pm and will return with new episodes this Fall starting Sept. 12.

Welcome to Digital Digest! As is typical, this is probably one of our lightest news weeks of the year, but we're here anyway with your news, a few great online deals for Black Friday weekend, and a review of CHiPs '99, the reunion movie based upon the classic series. Let's get going!

MeTV Network is celebrating the life and career of Richard Dawson with a Hogan's Heroes special on Saturday, June 9. The episodes feature Dawson's character, Corporal Peter Newkirk, as he navigates the perils of war with his fellow POWs. The two episodes will air back-to-back at 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on its regular night and times on MeTV Network. Too bad we don't get more than two episodes, but this is at least something! Last night, Richard Dawson was remembered on MeTV with an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show at 8:30pm with the episode "Racy Tracy Rattigan," where he played British actor Tracy Rattigan.
GSN (Game Show Network) announced that the network will pay tribute to iconic television host and actor Richard Dawson with a special tribute and a marathon of Dawson's most iconic episodes as host of Family Feud and as a panelist on Match Game. Dawson passed away in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 2, 2012, as we reported. The remembrance of Dawson will air through Thursday during the network's broadcasts of Family Feud and Match Game. The Richard Dawson marathon will air on Thursday, June 7, from 7:00pm-11:00pm (ET). Both series regularly air back-to-back weekday mornings at 8:00am & 8:30am.
As for the special marathon on Thursday, we will see four classic Feud half-hour episodes and two classic Match Games half-hour episodes from 7-10pm. At 10pm, GSN will air the first episode of the return of Richard Dawson on the new one-hour Family Feud in 1994, when he replaced the late Ray Combs.

Our good friend Eric of the Just My Show podcast has released his new episode. Special guest Larry Wilcox from CHiPs is on the show to celebrate the classic motorcycle cop series' 35th anniversary! Larry Wilcox of course played Erik Estrada's strait-laced partner, Officer Jonathan "Jon" Baker. Get the real story behind the show's scary motorcycle stunts, his relationship with series co-star Erik Estrada and the big upcoming CHiPs anniversary event this Fall. With a special appearance by Seven Mary Three's Casey Daniel. Plus, Arsenio Hall's comeback, the remote control and much more in the latest edition of New News About Old Stuff. CHiPs aired on NBC from 1977-1983.
So without further adieu, listen to the Larry Wilcox podcast!

Welcome back to another week of Digital Digest! This week, along with our regular news and updates, we celebrate the return of a former reviewer who is rejoining us today with a review of Respond 2's mega-set, Tonight - 4 Decades of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson! And it may not even be Halloween just yet, but we've got some Christmas DVD news for you as well! Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

There have been a few compilations of Christmas episodes released on DVD in the past few years, including the upcoming Christmas Treats DVD from CBS Home Entertainment. But we have an even bigger treat coming sometime next month from Warner Archive (Warner's manufacture-on-demand program) with their just announced Classic TV Christmas Collection! While we don't have specific details on the episodes or cost just yet, we do know that it will be released on November 9, and we also know which series will be included, and some of them have never been released on DVD! The DVD includes episodes from Veronica's Closet, Suddenly Susan, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Welcome Back, Kotter, Dr. Kildare, Mama's Family, Eight is Enough, Perfect Strangers, Alice, and CHiPs! The best part is that, with the exception of Perfect Strangers, none of these series have had any of their Christmas episodes released on DVD, so just about everything on the set should be new to DVD! It isn't available to order just yet, but should be soon. We do have artwork, which is shown below:



That isn't all for Warner Archive, though! Later in November, on November 30, they are releasing the animated spinoff of The Dukes of Hazzard, The Dukes! Details are a little murky on this release right now, but we assume that it will be a release of the entire series, consisting of 20 episodes.

In other news, Shout! Factory has plans to release a few single disc releases of series that they've already released, including Adam-12 - Season Two, Volume One; Dragnet - Season Two, Volume One; and Spin City - Season One, Volume One. They will all be released on January 11 at a low MSRP of $7.93. Each of these will contain ten episodes, which, unless that episode count is incorrect, suggests that these will not be exact copies of discs from the previous releases.

Finally, we go back to the department of current series on TV that we all knew were coming to DVD anyway, as Amazon.com puts up even more pre-order listings for the current seasons of various series on DVD. This week, NBC/Universal is in the spotlight, with pre-orders appearing for The Office - Season Seven (also on Blu-ray Disc), 30 Rock - Season Five, and Parenthood - Season Two! No release dates or other information is known just yet, but we'll have details when we get them, of course!

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

There isn't much coming out on Tuesday (October 26) in the realm of sitcoms, but there are a few other releases of note, including the 15 disc set, Tonight - 4 Decades of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, which we have a review of today in Digital Digest. Additionally, we have C.S.I.: NY - The Complete Sixth Season on the way, and The Twilight Zone - Fan Favorites, which contains nineteen popular episodes of the series.

BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

Respond2 Entertainment has compiled a once-in-a-lifetime collection of the greatest moments in Tonight Show history in one 15-disc set - Tonight: 4 Decades From The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Perfect for the Johnny Carson or Classic Television fan on the holiday list, Tonight features over 50 shows hand-selected by the original Producer as the best episodes from the show's 30-year run, covering the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's! The collectable set features over 30 hours of material that has never before been released on DVD including rescued footage from shows originally airing in the 1960's (virtually all episodes and other content from the 1960's were lost) and all-new interviews with some of Carson's most celebrated and regular guest stars including Actress Loni Anderson, Comedian David Brenner, and fan-favorite animal handler Jim Fowler! Here is our review of Tonight: 4 Decades of the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

DVD Review: Tonight: 4 Decades of the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
by Greg Brobeck

I'd like to start off this review by first saying it's great to be back writing reviews again after such a long absence (6 years!). I want to thank the staff for so cordially inviting me back. - Greg

Tonight: 4 Decades of the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (Respond2 Entertainment, $119.99) features 56 episodes of the classic late night talk/variety show hosted by the late, great Johnny Carson for 30 years, in a beautiful 15-disc set. The episodes were hand-picked by one of the show's producers and are intended to give an overview of the best of the show's three decades on the air. This includes great comedy moments with Johnny with such memorable segments as "Tea Time Movie" and "The Great Carnac" and memorable guest appearances that really make up a "who's who" of Hollywood, including the likes of Burt Reynolds, The Muppets, Muhammed Ali, Robin Williams, David Letterman, and then-Governor Bill Clinton just to name a few.

The set includes great moments, including Don Rickles continuously interrupting Frank Sinatra to throw insults, the TV debuts of greats like Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen DeGeneres, and great musical performances from everyone from the Jackson Five to Bette Midler to Luciano Pavarotti. Not to mention hilarious sketches from the Mighty Carson Art Players.

I should explain, though, what this set is and what it is not. This set is not a "greatest moments" set. You will not find such things as Ed Ames throwing a tomahawk at a chalk drawing's crotch, the potato chip lady, or Johnny's last show. All of those can be found on other great DVD sets from Respond2/Carson Entertainment, and very little of those contents seem to be duplicated here. This set is a great sampling of the best shows from Johnny's 30 hears at the helm. These episodes give a great look back at what it would have been like to settle down at 11:30 p.m. to be entertained by Carson and crew.

The episode list speaks for itself on the amount of star power on this set. However, the episodes do seem to be heavily edited from their original broadcasts on NBC. The show was originally one hour and forty-five minutes, reduced to 90 minutes, and then eventually 60 minutes, meaning without commercials each show unedited should be at least 45 minutes long with older ones being even longer. Most of the episodes here on this set were edited down to around 30 minutes, unfortunately, but still include the best parts of the episodes:

Disc 1:
1. December 31, 1965 - Woody Allen, The Muppets (31:35)
2. September 23, 1971 - Della Reese, Bob Uecker (28:26)
3. May 19, 1972 - Adelle Davis, Robert Blake, Gwen Davis (33:01)
4. September 15, 1972 - Vikki Carr, Peter Falk, Albert Brooks (30:08)

Disc 2:
5. November 13, 1972 - Mayor Lindsay, Muhammad Ali, Harry Chapin (30:54)
6. September 12, 1973 - Joan Embery, Bette Midler, David Steinberg (30:10)
7. February 20, 1974 - Joan Embery, David Brenner (33:20)
8. April 9, 1974 - The Jackson 5, Jerry Van Dyke (30:15)

Disc 3:
9. September 2, 1974 - Doris Day, Rodney Dangerfield, Burt Mustin (31:19)
10. September 26, 1974 - Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Art Carney (41:15)
11. May 6, 1975 - Luciano Pavarotti, Maude Tull (26:27)
12. September 19, 1975 - Don Rickles, Robert Blake(29:40)

Disc 4:
13. September 23, 1975 - Glen Campbell, Fernando Lamas (29:48)
12. December 9, 1975 - Carol Burnett, Burt Convy, Tom Dreesen (30:18)
13. July 28, 1976 - Burt Reynolds, Robert Blake (38:56)
14. November 12, 1976 - Frank Sinatra, Don Rickles, Olivia Newton-John (29:24)

Disc 5:
17. May 4, 1977 - Chevy Chase, Richard Pryor (37:06)
18. June 14, 1977 - Alice Cooper, Jay Leno (33:05)
19. September 9, 1977 - Sid Caesar, Eubie Blake (31:24)
20. March 24, 1978 - Donna Pyle, Milton Berle (30:21)

Disc 6:
21. May 2, 1978 - Sammy Davis Jr. (30:17)
22. February 21, 1980 - Steve Landesberg, Loni Anderson (29:59)
23. September 26, 1980 - Steve Martin, The Mighty Carson Art Players (27:53)
24. November 11, 1980 - David Letterman (28:53)

Disc 7:
25. March 4, 1981 - David Brenner (31:58)
26. March 5, 1981 - Slim Whitman (29:41)
27. March 18, 1981 - Richard Benjamin, Garry Shandling (31:27)
28. May 5, 1981 - Jimmy Buffett, Thalasa Cruso (33:13)

Disc 8:
29. October 14, 1981 - Robin Williams (27:18)
30. October 28, 1981 - Lance Burton, Reba McEntire, Dick Cavett (28:33)
31. October 30, 1981 - Michael Landon (30:06)
32. November 12, 1981 - Dom DeLuise, Jerry Seinfeld, Betty White (28:12)

Disc 9:
33. November 19, 1981 - Suzanne Pleshette, Luciano Pavarotti (27:36)
34. November 25, 1981 - Kenny Rogers (27:53)
35. August 31, 1982 - Bill Maher, Joe Garagiola (24:07)
36. December 31, 1982 - Tina Turner, Joe D'Auria & Jonathan Brown (29:39)

Disc 10:
37. January 5, 1983 - Teri Garr, B.B. King (31:34)
38. May 17, 1983 - Albert Brooks, Brooke Shields (31:33)
39. September 8, 1983 - Bill Cosby, Chuck Mangione (33:00)
40. January 4, 1984 - Dabney Coleman, Paul Rodriguez (27:55)

Disc 11:
41. May 17, 1984 - Garry Shandling, Stephane Grappelli (28:29)
42. May 24, 1984 - John Denver, Michael Davis (25:53)
43. November 20, 1984 - Robert Blake, Louie Anderson (31:39)
44. November 22, 1985 - Jim Fowler, Marty Pollio, Ruben Blades (29:32)

Disc 12:
45. December 17, 1985 - Bette Midler (29:28)
46. March 27, 1986 - Billy Crystal, Buddy Rich (31:47)
47. April 18, 1986 - David Letterman (30:00)
48. June 27, 1986 - David Letterman, Judge Wapner (26:48)

Disc 13:
49. November 26, 1986 - George Carlin, Barney Odom (& Flat Nose) (28:14)
50. January 8, 1987 - Robert Goulet, Waddie Mitchell, Baxter Black (29:07)
51. May 21, 1987 - Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres (23:47)
52. July 28, 1988 - Bill Clinton, Joe Cocker (30:05)

Disc 14:
53. July 29, 1988 - Michael Landon, k.d. Lang (28:26)
54. November 23, 1989 - Lea Johnson, Tom Wilson (28:07)
55. January 18, 1990 - Joan Embery, Art Donovan (28:59)
56. April 6, 1990 - Jeff Dunham, B.B. King (32:44)

Disc 15 - Special Features:
* Rescued Gems of the 1960s (1:03:51)
* Interviews: The Guests Remember (1:10:57)

The packaging for this set is simply gorgeous. It comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a hinged lid, with the name of the set and a picture of Carson in later days with silver hair. The lid opens up to reveal four removable fold-outs that contain the discs and a booklet. Each fold-out is similar to the outside box, except the picture of Carson is from the same era as the episodes contained therein. The only complaint I have is that some of the discs overlap, meaning you have to take one out to get to another, but this can be overlooked. The booklet has a nice history of Carson and the show with some interesting photos, and a look at some of what you can expect from the set.

The menus are very simple... perhaps too simple. You get the Tonight Show logo, a picture of Johnny, and a list that simply says "Episode 1," "Episode 2," etc. You have to refer to the booklet or the fold-out to determine which episode you want to select. There is a "Play All" button on each disc. After you select your episode, you're then taken to a generic slate giving the airdate and the guests, followed by a generic intro created for this set. The episodes themselves begin with Ed McMahon shouting "Heeeere's Johnny!"

Video and audio quality seems to be good on this set for the most part, especially considering the age of these shows. The show tapes have been kept in a secret salt mine somewhere in the Midwest and the great care taken for them shows. There does seem to be some heavy compression issues with some shows, however. Some sequences seemed very pixilated on my TV screen. Audio is fine. Most of the episodes are in their proper mono sound. Stereo television was introduced in the mid-1980s, and all episodes from that point on are in their proper stereo sound. There unfortunately are no subtitles or closed captions.

The special features are quite interesting. Carson and NBC did not begin maintaining a library of the shows until 1973, so most shows from before then have been lost to time. However, some great bits have managed to survive in clip form. The first special feature is called "Rescued Gems of the 1960s" and is just that. Nearly two hours worth of classic clips from 1960s episodes either thought long lost, or that only survived as clips. The clips are separated by chapter marks. Next is "Interviews: the Guests Remember" which is an interesting piece with frequent guests Loni Anderson, David Brenner, Jim Fowler, and Baxter Black reminiscing about their memories with Carson.

I can recommend this set to pretty much any true Carson fan or to anyone who was either alive and wants to re-experience the Carson viewing experience or wants to see what it was like. The shows contained are highly enjoyable and give a great overview of Carson's three decades as host. On the other hand, I'm not sure I could recommend it to the extremely casual Carson fan who only wants a collection of Carson's most memorable moments. For that there are a number of other great DVDs out there at a less expensive price. Heeeeere's Johnny!

(4/5 stars)

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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson TV.com page

LOOKING AHEAD

Halloween weekend is less than seven days away, and we'll have few tricks and hopefully a lot of treats for you next weekend! We will have some Halloween themed reviews coming up, and, even though we have no "sweeps" standards to be held to, we have some special November sweeps style stunts coming up! Stay tuned and keep it digital!