SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

• ABC's The Middle has been popular on TV, but not so much on DVD, which is likely why Warner has moved the DVD releases to Warner Archive beginning with Tuesday's The Middle - The Complete Fifth Season. It's not all bad news, though, because initial quantities of the release will be on pressed DVDs (i.e. not DVD-R), which means that they will be of the same quality as DVDs purchased at general retailers.
• MPI is moving ahead with The Donna Reed Show in their December 2 release of The Donna Reed Show - Season 2. This season was previously released by another studio, but contained some edited episodes; MPI promises better results this time. There is still no word on when or if we'll see the final three seasons on DVD.
• It looks as if Mork & Mindy will be completed on DVD on December 9, as CBS plans to release Mork & Mindy - The Complete Series and Mork & Mindy - The Fourth Season on that date.

• The Dick Van Dyke Show - Classic Christmas Episodes (DVD, $9.98):  RLJ Entertainment puts together a single disc release containing two classic episodes of the series.
• Flying Nun - The Complete First and Second Seasons (DVD, $14.98): Mill Creek is back with another re-release of this classic Sony series.
• The Middle - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD, $29.95): The hit ABC series returns to DVD, but this time at Warner Archive; however, initial quantities will be on traditional DVD media as opposed to DVD-R.
• The Office - The Complete Series (DVD, $199.98): Fans of the NBC series can now return to work at Dunder Mifflin with this release of the long-running sitcom.
• The Wonder Years - Season One (DVD, $19.95): All six episodes of the debut season of the classic sitcom arrive on DVD, in perhaps was once the most-wanted series on DVD of all time; The Wonder Years - The Complete Series is also shipping now from StarVista, and we'll have a review of this excellent set within the next few days.

Sister, Sister is coming to The Hub this March! The '90s sitcom starring Tia & Tamera Mowry will join the lineup on Monday, March 3, 2014 and will air weeknights at 7pm & 7:30pm ET with an encore at 3:00am & 3:30am ET. The sitcom will join the likes of other sitcoms on The Hub: Step by Step, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Family Ties and ALF. No sitcoms will be removed with this addition, so that is good news. The 7pm hour will replace Family Game Night, while the 2am encore replaces the Step by Step encore, which slides to 3am. Not to worry, the 10pm-12am block of back-to-back Step by Step and single episodes of Sabrina and Family Ties will remain intact. They will encore 3-5am, with ALF in the 5am hour still.

Sister, Sister will still continue to air on UP on Saturday mornings. The series has also been seen on Style in 2012 and prior to that the series aired on Centric. Now the series will be on both UP and The Hub come March. Like the twins, you'll be seeing double! Stay with us for continued updates.




Fill 'er up! The Ewings, television's first family of bad, will celebrate the season three premiere of TNT's hit series Dallas the only way they know how: big and bold. The Ewings are set to take over a gas station, slashing prices for one day only. The flagship station – with a location that will be kept secret until Monday, Feb. 24, at 8am (ET) – will be branded Ewing Energies. Dallas fans will learn about the one-day event through a multi-media campaign. Season three of Dallas will launch next Monday, Feb. 24, at 9pm ET/PT. The Ewings like to do everything on a Texas-sized scale, so their gas prices will undercut the competition while supplies last. The Dallas gas station takeover campaign will feature a New York Times ad announcing the price cut, radio promotions, billboards, wrapped oil tankers and special video messages by John Ross Ewing (played by Josh Henderson) on Facebook. The Ewings have thought of everyone, too. For those not near the flagship station, TNT will run a sweepstakes via the Dallas Facebook page, where fans have the chance to win a custom Black Gold Card with a $50 balance.

TNT's hit series Dallas follows the internal and external conflicts facing the wealthy Ewing family. The drama stars Jesse Metcalfe, Josh Henderson, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo, Brenda Strong, Mitch Pileggi and Emma Bell, with Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray. Season three of Dallas will also see the addition of Juan Pablo Di Pace as a regular cast member and the return of guest stars Ken Kercheval, Judith Light, Kuno Becker and Marlene Forte. In addition, AnnaLynne McCord is set to guest-star in several episodes.

It may be April Fool's Day, but we're not foolin' because Logo is adding more sitcoms! The Viacom shuffle is continuing with more borrowing of shows. In the latest round of shuffling, Roseanne is headed to Logo. Currently, Roseanne is on Viacom-owned networks CMT and TV Land, but the CMT airings will be moving to Logo effective immediately. This means that CMT will now only have Reba as a sitcom, since Yes, Dear has been gone too, as it moved to Nick Jr. recently (and still airs late nights on sister network Nick at Nite). Roseanne will remain airing on TV Land in weekend play like it has been airing. Logo will actually begin the series beginning today (Monday, April 1) - no foolin'! It will air from 4-6pm and air most weekdays in the afternoon along with some weekend airings. Also coming to Logo will be The Golden Girls! That series just started a few weeks ago on TV Land and has thrived in the ratings (already being expanded to weekdays 6-9pm instead of the planned 7-9pm). Now Viacom will add more airings of it on another sister network, with it airing on Logo as well. The Golden Girls premieres Saturday, April 13 with a weekend marathon beginning 1pm (following a block of Roseanne) and ending at 1am. As for regular airings, The Golden Girls will be asked to air on most weekdays in the early evening/primetime timeslots, along with weekend play in those dayparts.

While we get two new sitcoms on Logo, one sitcom that was airing will be heavily reduced. In fact, it just has one scheduled airing in the near future. Bewitched, which was added back in October on Logo, will now be heavily reduced big time. As of now, only one airing is scheduled on Thursday, April 11 at 6pm, following a block of Roseanne. Hopefully we will see more Bewitched soon, and we will let you know if it comes back into more regular airings like it has been airing since October. Elsewhere in Viacom land, TV Land has made a few minor schedule changes that concern a show we just mentioned. As just mentioned, The Golden Girls has been expanded on weekdays from 6-9pm, so The Cosby Show 6-7pm hour is off and the series will air on weeknights from approx. 3:30am-5am now (in addition to its weekend blocks during the day). And finally, Viacom-owned TV Land will add even more The Golden Girls on weekends with Saturdays 4-10am being added effective this coming Saturday (April 6). The series will replace Three's Company, which goes on hiatus again. The sitcom was doing very well in the ratings, especially in the younger demo of 18-49, but the series is nearing its end on its current contract (which expires at the end of August), so they're trying to save some more plays on episodes. We hope Jack Tripper and the rest of the company return soon, like they always do. Stay with us for continued updates on Logo, TV Land and other Viacom-owned networks!

Our friend Chris Mann has just posted two more episodes of his retro podcast "Reimagine That!" and you'll want to hear this! In fact, we're even mentioned on the second episode with Chris relaying some of our recent Seven Questions interviews, including Amy Davidson, Haywood Nelson and Beverly Archer (don't forget to read our interview we just posted last week with Nicole Eggert). We thank him and we strive to be as good as him in his flawless podcast, produced by him and the great Linda Kay. In his latest episodes, he heads back to Dallas with a star from the original series. In the first of her two-part exclusive Retroality.TV interview, child star-turned-Dallas diva Morgan Brittany tells "Reimagine That!" host Chris Mann about the possibility of returning to Southfork -- in TNT's hot revival of the legendary soap -- as primetime's original queen of mean, Katherine Wentworth. Morgan discusses various ways she could re-enter the Dallas scene, and reveals how she developed the wicked Wentworth during her original stint on the CBS hit. After a successful run as a child actor in the 1950s and 60s -- she worked with the likes of Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Natalie Wood, a young Ron Howard and Alfred Hitchcock -- the former Suzanne Cupito shares what drove her to abandon that name and identity in favor of reinventing herself in the 1970s as Morgan Brittany. And in part two, she tells host Chris Mann how her hardships as a child actress and her family's breadwinner shaped her as a woman who not only would survive Hollywood (including Dallas' ill-fated dream season) but also hold her own as a conservative political columnist and host. And she's juggled multiple careers while raising two children with longtime husband and stuntman Jack Gill. Their son, Cody, is a musician and their daughter, Katie, is an actress (most recently seen playing Christie Brinkley's daughter in NBC's Parks and Recreation).

Wow, you'll hear all that good stuff and more! Chris also gives an update on his upcoming projects, including an updated version of his Three's Company book Come and Knock On Our Door and a book on the late, great John Ritter. And as always, dream weaver Yvonne Ryba does the "Reawakenings" segment and analyzes two more dreams. So head on over to Reimagine That! and listen away to episodes 17 and 18!

Legendary actor Larry Hagman, best known for playing Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie and J.R. Ewing in Dallas, has died. He died on November 23 at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas from complications of throat cancer. Mr. Hagman was 81.

Hagman's television career began with guest appearances in Decoy, Goodyear Playhouse, Studio One in Hollywood, Search for Tomorrow, Kraft Theatre, Harbormaster, Sea Hunt, The Defenders and The Rogues. He appeared in the daytime soap opera The Edge of Night as Ed Gibson for two years from 1961-1963. In 1965, he landed the role of befuddled astronaut Air Force Captain (later Major) Anthony "Tony" Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie. The series was about a 2000-year-old genie named Jeannie who falls in love and later marries her master. The popular NBC sitcom, co-starring Barbara Eden, Bill Daily and Hayden Rorke, ran for five seasons and 139 episodes. Hagman didn't appear in the two television reunion movies: I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later in 1985 or I Still Dream of Jeannie in 1991. He said that five years of the series was enough for him. He did reunite with Eden several times on The Donny and Marie Show, Larry King Live and at the TV Land Awards in 2004.

His next sitcom role was in the The Good Life. The short-lived 1971-1972 NBC series, which co-starred Donna Mills, was about a middle-class American couple who decide to work as the live-in butler and cook for a wealthy family. In 1973, he starred with Diane Baker, Dick Gauthier and Leslie Graves in the ABC sitcom Here We Go Again. The series about the post-divorce life of two couples ran for 13 episodes. Some of his many other television guest appearances included Love, American Style, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Dan August, The Name of the Game, Medical Story, Police Woman, McCloud, Police Story, Lucas Tanner, Marcus Welby, M.D., Harry O, Ellery Queen, The Streets of San Francisco, Barnaby Jones, McMillan and Wife and The Rockford Files. In 1997, he starred in the short-lived CBS drama Orleans. In 2011, he appeared in two episodes of Desperate Housewives as the husband of Lynette Scavo's mother. He also directed episodes of I Dream of Jeannie, The Good Life, Dallas and In the Heat of the Night.

Hagman's signature role came in 1977 when he was offered the role of ruthless oil baron J.R. Ewing in Dallas. The popular primetime soap opera ran for 14 seasons and 357 episodes from 1978-1991 on CBS. He was the only actor to appear in all 357 episodes of the series. In the 1980 third season cliffhanger finale, there was a big mystery of who shot J.R. two times. The November 1980 episode where the assailant was identified was watched by an estimated 80 million viewers that set a ratings record at the time. Hagman received two Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1980 and 1981. He didn't win, but the show did receive four Emmy Awards. He also received four Golden Globe Awards nominations from 1981 to 1985. Hagman made five guest appearances as J.R. Ewing on the Dallas spin-off series Knots Landing in 1980-1982. He also returned for the two Dallas television reunion movies: 1996's J.R. Returns and 1998's War of the Ewings. In 2012, he starred in the TNT revival series Dallas, which continued the story of the Ewing family. Hagman had completed 6 of 15 episodes for the upcoming second season. His death will be incorporated into the storyline. The second season is scheduled to premiere on January 28, 2013.

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with him on December 7, 2004, to discuss his life and career. Survivors include his wife, Maj; daughter, Heidi; and son, Preston. Mr. Hagman was a true television icon and legend. J.R. Ewing was a character you loved to hate. He played one of the all-time greatest television villains to perfection. We thank him for all of the entertainment he brought us over the years. He will be greatly missed.

Several networks will be airing tributes this week. Me-TV is still in planning mode, but they will air the following episodes:

Monday, November 26, 11am CST - The Rockford Files "Forced Retirement" (1977)
Tuesday, November 27, 1:30am CST - Night Gallery "The Housekeeper"
Wednesday, November 28, 1:30am CST - Night Gallery "The Dead Man"

Me-Too in Chicago will have an I Dream of Jeannie marathon on Saturday, December 1 from 12pm-4pm CST. We'll post the episodes listing when it becomes available. Stay with us for news on any other tributes.

What are your favorite Larry Hagman memories? Discuss them on our I Dream of Jeannie or Dallas message boards. View photos in our I Dream of Jeannie, The Good Life, Here We Go Again and Dallas photo galleries.

Sirius XM Radio announced that iconic comedic actress Betty White will sit down with SiriusXM listeners for a special Q&A session/broadcast event hosted by legendary entertainer Regis Philbin, who is her longtime friend and a recurring star on her hit TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland. The special SiriusXM's Town Hall with Betty White will take place at SiriusXM's New York City studios in celebration of the fourth season of Hot in Cleveland, which premieres November 28 at 10:00 pm ET/PT on TV Land. White will answer a variety of questions from an intimate studio audience of SiriusXM listeners about her life, work and the award-winning cable series.

SiriusXM's Town Hall with Betty White will air on Wednesday, November 28 at 10:00 am ET (12 hours before the premiere of Hot in Cleveland on TV Land) on SiriusXM Stars channel 107. Encore presentations will air on SiriusXM Stars on Friday, November 30 at 7:00 pm; Saturday, December 1 at 6:00 pm and Sunday, December 2 at 11:00 am (all times ET). SiriusXM's Town Hall with Betty White will also air on SiriusXM OutQ channel 108 on November 30 at 10:00 am.
SiriusXM's Town Hall with Betty White is part of SiriusXM's Town Hall series -- intimate gatherings with iconic entertainers sitting down with a studio audience of SiriusXM listeners. Previous SiriusXM "Town Hall" specials have featured Bruce Springsteen, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Carol Burnett, Tom Petty, KISS, Coldplay, Ringo Starr, Roger Waters, the surviving members of Nirvana, Renée Fleming, Gregg Allman, Usher, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and Tony Hawk. "SiriusXM's Town Hall with Betty White" will be available on SiriusXM On Demand after it airs on SiriusXM Stars for subscribers listening via the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for smartphones and other mobile devices or online at SiriusXM.com.
Visit www.siriusxm.com/ondemand and www.siriusxm.com/siriusxmstars for more information.

The new Dallas premieres tomorrow night on TNT with a two-episode premiere starting at 9/8c, but fans craving the original series or new fans curious to see the classic series after watching the revival will have a chance to watch the classic series! Cable network CMT, which has previously aired a few marathons of the classic, will salute the classic series by airing a marathon of the original series the day after the premiere of the updated reboot. CMT will air the first five episodes of the classic Dallas from 12pm-5pm on Thursday, June 14. They also have plans to air additional episodes next week, as of now Tuesday at 6 and 7PM (but they could expand that).
Dallas had it all. Beautiful women, expensive cars, and men playing Monopoly with real buildings. It had the best trans-season cliffhanger in history that had the whole world asking "Who shot J.R.?" Dallas is an important part of American History, if not world history. Tune in to the new series on Wednesday at 9/8c on TNT and then relive the first five episodes of the classic series on CMT on Thursday from 12-5pm ET! The new Dallas stars Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster, Julie Gonzalo and Brenda Strong, and they will be joined by iconic stars from the original series Patrick Duffy, Linda Gray and Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.