SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The MeTV Network announced their fall schedule that will begin on Labor Day - Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Not many changes are occurring though. Returning to the lineup after a short hiatus is Gilligan's Island! Gilligan and the castaways will air weekdays at 7am, replacing The Beverly Hillbillies, which will now only air Saturday mornings. The rest of the weekday schedule is exactly the same. On Saturday late nights, there will be two changes: Kolchak: The Night Stalker at 12am (replacing The Invaders) and The Invaders at 5am (replacing Planet of the Apes, which is off the lineup). On Sunday nights, The Twilight Zone half-hour episodes will air at 12am and 12:30am instead of the hour-long ones. View the full lineup here.

REELZ announced its September 2020 lineup with six new original specials and a returning original series highlighted by new stories celebrating the remarkable lives and enduring legacies of Bernie Mac and Lucille Ball. With never before heard audio recordings from Mac himself Bernie Mac: In My Own Words chronicles his rise to superstardom from early family tragedies he endured to his open mic roots and the genius that made him the king of comedy. In Lucille Ball: We Love Lucy see how the legend of laughter cemented her legacy breaking barriers in TV and building an entertainment empire that would transform Hollywood.

From the haunting stories of true crime to the radiant light of comedic brilliance September premieres continue with the previously announced Bernie Mac: In My Own Words on Sunday, September 6 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT about the life of the late legend from childhood, family and marriage to his relentless drive to make it big in comedy. The pantheon of laughter is not complete without Lucille Ball. Her raw talent, indomitable spirit and trailblazing work in Hollywood are on full display in the new original special Lucille Ball: We Love Lucy premiering Saturday, September 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT with Carol Burnett, Debra Messing and Lily Tomlin among others reflecting on her towering achievements and potent influence on entertainment. 

COZI TV is celebrating the legends of comedy with a special eight-hour, sixteen-episode "Lucy Nanny" marathon on Sunday, August 5 between 1 PM and 9 PM (check local listings). This will include eight of the most memorable episodes of Here's Lucy, followed by eight of the Lucy-est episodes of The Nanny, where Fran Drescher's inspiration – Lucille Ball – shines through. The programming event also celebrates the grand opening of New York State's newest landmark, The National Comedy Center, located in Lucille Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York. The opening events for the new museum of comedy will run from August 1 to August 5 and include performances by Drescher, along with Amy Schumer, Lily Tomlin and many original cast members of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

Drescher drew inspiration from the work of Ball and her role in Here's Lucy while working on The Nanny. Admired by fans everywhere, these two comedic queens are joining forces for a very special night on COZI TV. The marathon will feature fan-favorite episodes of Here's Lucy such as Lucy and Johnny Carson, where Lucy Carter sneaks her family into a live taping of The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson, only to win an audience contest, and with it, a free dinner at the same restaurant as Carson himself. The marathon will also feature hit episodes of The Nanny like The Whine Cellar, an unforgettable episode where Fran finds herself trapped in a wine cellar while the rest of the family celebrates Fran's mother's 50th birthday upstairs.

The marathon will also include two guest-starring appearances by Elizabeth Taylor: both her famous appearance alongside Richard Burton in Here's Lucy, as well as in The Nanny. The timings schedule is below:

Here's Lucy:
Mod, Mod Lucy (1:00 PM)
Lucy the Fixer (1:30 PM)
Lucy and Carol Burnett (2:00 PM)
Lucy and Johnny Carson (2:30 PM)
Lucy Meets the Burtons (3:00 PM)
Lucy Goes on Her Last Blind Date (3:30 PM)
Lucy Carter Meets Lucille Ball (4:00 PM)
Lucy Fights the System (4:30 PM)

The Nanny:
A Plot for Nanny (5:00 PM)
Maggie the Model (5:30 PM)
A Star is Unborn (6:00 PM)
Everybody Needs a Bubbly (6:30 PM)
The Whine Cellar (7:00 PM)
I've Got a Secret (7:30 PM)
Hurricane Fran (8:00 PM)
One False Mole and You're Dead (8:30 PM)

Freeform announced that production began on their third original holiday film, The Truth About Christmas, from MarVista Entertainment. The movie will premiere during Freeform's "25 Days of Christmas" annual programming event. The Truth About Christmas joins previously announced holiday originals Life Size 2, starring Tyra Banks and Francia Raisa, and No Sleep 'Til Christmas with Dave and Odette Annable.

Kali Hawk (New Girl) stars as Jillian, a successful political consultant, confident in her ability to put a spin on anything whose next big project is the upcoming mayoral campaign for her boyfriend, George (Damon Dayoub, Freeform's Stitchers). On the way to meet George's family for the first time during the holidays, an unusual confrontation with a toy store Santa results in a drastic change in Jillian where she can't stop herself from wildly spilling the truth. Ali Ghandour (Freeform's Alone Together) costars as George’s brother Blake, who believes you should always be true to yourself but thinks Jillian just might be losing it. Jillian must find a way to make it stop before her holidays, her job and her relationship are ruined.

Amazon announced it has greenlit two additional seasons of the critically-acclaimed comedy series, Catastrophe. Written by and starring Rob Delaney (Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.) and Sharon Horgan (Pulling), Catastrophe, produced by Avalon Television, with co-producers Birdbath Productions and Merman, is a comedy following an Irish woman and an American man who, after making a bloody mess as they struggled to fall in love in London, have embarked on a series of best-attempts to clear it up and generally do the right thing. The highly anticipated third season of Catastrophe is scheduled to premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the US in 2017, and the fourth season is expected to premiere in 2018.

The entire first and second seasons of Catastrophe are now available on Prime Video. In the second season of the show, the stakes are higher as we rejoin the now married Sharon and Rob who are struggling to stay in love-and lust-while taking their trademark mayhem into parenthood. A monstrous family (Carrie Fisher, Star Wars) and crazy friends (Ashley Jensen, Ugly Betty), also seem hell-bent on ensuring that whatever new life-journey Rob and Sharon embark on will be anything but simple. With times having changed for our turbulent lovers, and with their new arrival back home; at the start of the season we rejoin the chaos as they decide on an ill-considered party to get the introductions complete in one hit. Unfortunately for Sharon, the gathering coincides with a visit from Rob's eBay obsessed (and "card-carrying sadist") mom, a disturbing revelation about her father's health and an unfortunate incident with the family dog.

National Comedy Center, Inc., the cultural institution developing the first national visitor experience dedicated entirely to the celebration of comedy, celebrates the 25th anniversary of its annual Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, August 4–7, in Lucille Ball's hometown of Jamestown, NY. The Center broke ground last year for its forthcoming museum of comedy, which will celebrate the art form's past, present and future in all its forms. Headlining this year's festival is Daily Show host Trevor Noah, the "king of the rant" Lewis Black, and one of this country's premier comedians, Brian Regan. Festival highlights also include a discussion with the Farrelly Brothers and the critically-acclaimed Story Pirates kids-comedy troupe. Additional tribute programming planned include a roundtable discussion with daughters Kitty Bruce, Rain Pryor and Kelly Carlin, of the comedy legends Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin.

The festival features more than 50 events at a dozen venues throughout Jamestown including three late night showcases, a Stand-Up Showcase free to members of the military past and present, and a special exhibition in honor of the 65th anniversary of I Love Lucy. Tickets can be purchased at www.lucycomedyfest.com or by calling the festival box office at 716.484.0800. Lewis Black first came to the festival in 1991 and returns with his iconic 'comedic yelling and finger pointing' act on August 4, Trevor Noah will perform his acclaimed stand-up act on August 5, and coming off making history as the first comedian to perform a live Comedy Central special broadcast from Radio City Music Hall, Brian Regan will perform on August 6. Kliph Nesteroff, author of The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy, will moderate a discussion with the Farrelly Brothers. Additionally, Bobby and Peter Farrelly will be bringing the iconic Mutt Cuts van from Dumb and Dumber to this year's annual festival, which will then be incorporated into the future exhibit experience at the National Comedy Center.

The National Comedy Center, a non-profit cultural institution, recently announced the acquisition of the George Carlin Archives for its collection. The Center is a $50 million project funded by public-private partnership and to date has been awarded more than $3.5 million from New York State, Empire State Development and I Love NY™. Design of the immersive, interactive visitor experience has been provided by renowned creative firm Jack Rouse Associates and interactive specialist Local Projects, who was recently awarded a Cannes International Creativity award for its work on the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. The National Comedy Center, Inc. embodies Lucille Ball's vision for her hometown of Jamestown to become a destination for the celebration of all of the comedic arts. The organization operates the Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Museum, and for the last 25 years has produced the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival where performers included Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Joan Rivers, Ray Romano, Ellen DeGeneres, Bob Newhart, Paula Poundstone, The Smothers Brothers and 100 plus other comedic artists.

Back by popular demand, COZI TV is excited to announce the return of the COZI TV Comedy Search, produced in association with The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. This original, fun and highly-unique contest offers undiscovered talent the opportunity to take their best shot at being crowned America's newest comic champ. The Grand Prize winner of this year's COZI TV Comedy Search will receive a $5,000 cash prize, an appearance contract with COZI TV and an all-expenses paid trip to Jamestown, New York – Lucille Ball's hometown – to perform at this year's festival. New Jerseyan Glen Tickle was voted Grand Prize winner of the 2015 COZI TV Comedy Search.

Kicking off on Sunday, May 1, the on-line contest will include multiple phases of competition, including viewer voting and a celebrity judge panel, which includes comedian Kelli Carlin. Additional members of the panel will be announced in the future. Participants are encouraged to submit stand-up videos to the contest's web page housed on both COZITV.com and COZI TV's FB page through Tuesday, May 31. Submissions can be up to 5 minutes in total length, and must be "cable clean." Following a screening process, the top ten comedians will be selected and revealed on-air and on-line, where viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite four finalists until Saturday, June 25. From there, COZI TV's celebrity judges will pick a winner, who will be revealed on Wednesday, July 20.

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival (lucycomedyfest.com) runs from August 4 to 7, 2016 in Lucy's hometown of Jamestown, New York. Produced by National Comedy Center, Inc., the event is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the development of the comedic arts. The National Comedy Center, Inc. is open seven days a week, and features studio sets and memorabilia. Scheduled event headliners for the 2016 festival include Trevor Noah, Brian Regan and Lewis Black.

Netflix has announced an order for the comedy series Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. Finally, fans can make it their beeswax to see what happens to their favorite campers and counselors ten years after the original film in a new Netflix original comedy series Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. The series will include eight all-new 30-minute episodes and is set to premiere in 2017. The series will be written by Michael Showalter and David Wain and Wain will direct. Executive Producers for Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later are Michael Showalter, David Wain, Peter Principato, Jonathan Stern and Howard Bernstein. "Let's all promise that in ten years from today, we'll meet again, and we'll see what kind of people we've blossomed into." -- Ben

COZI TV is excited to announce the launch of the COZI TV Comedy Search produced in association with the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. This unique contest offers undiscovered talent the opportunity to take their best shot at being crowned America's newest comic champ. The Grand Prize winner receives a $2,500 cash prize, the chance to appear on COZI TV and an all-expenses paid trip to Jamestown, New York – Lucille Ball's hometown – to perform at this year's festival. The COZI TV Comedy Search will launch today (Friday, May 1). The on-line contest will include multiple phases of competition including viewer voting and a celebrity judge panel that includes comedians Tom Cotter, Kerri Louise, Chuck Nice and Jon Rineman. Participants are encouraged to submit audition videos to the contest’s web page on cozitv.com through Saturday, May 31. After a screening process, the top ten comedians will be selected and revealed on-air and on-line, where viewers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite four finalists until Monday, June 25. From there, COZI TV's celebrity judges will pick a winner, who will be revealed on Monday, July 20. Good luck to all of the aspiring comedians!

The Lucille Ball Comedy Festival (lucycomedyfest.com) is an annual event that showcases big stars – and up and coming comedians – in Lucy's hometown. The 2015 festival will be held July 30 – August 2 and features headliner Jerry Seinfeld. It's produced by the Lucy Desi Center for Comedy, which is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the development of the comedic arts.


It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of May 4-8, 2015, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVRs (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!


Sunday, May 3, 2015

• NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - Catch NeNe on Watch What Happens: Live at 9pm on Bravo.

Monday, May 4, 2015

• Jeff Garlin (The Goldbergs/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Watch Jeff on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie/Malibu Country) - Lily appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• John Hodgman (Married) - John is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Helen Hunt (Mad About You/It Takes Two) - Helen visits Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• Candice Bergen (Murphy Brow) - Candice stops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• T.J. Miller (Silicon Valley/The Goodwin Games/Carpoolers) - T.J. is a guest Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Peter Facinelli (Nurse Jackie) - Peter appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings. She also talks about her new film Hot Pursuit on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
• NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - NeNe breaks down the hottest headlines on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Kristin Davis (Bad Teacher/Sex and the City) - Kristin talks about Gardeners of Eden on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. She talks about dating, raising her three-year-old daughter and rumors of a third Sex and the City movie on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings. She will also be on the AOL Build Show.
• Bob Saget (How I Met Your Mother/Surviving Suburbia/Full House)- Bob appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 1am on BET.
• Natalie Desselle Reid (Eve/Built to Last) - Natalie joins the Chew Crew on ABC's The Chew at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
• Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) - Kym will be part of the Plugged In panel on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Josh Gad (The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh will be on Larry King Now at 2/5pm PT/ET on Ora.tv and Hulu.
• Brad Garrett ('Til Death/Everybody Loves Raymond) - Brad talks about his book When the Balls Drop on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
• Tamera Mowry (Sister, Sister/Roommates) - Tamera is a guest on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York sometime between 7-10am.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Catch Sofia on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Nathan Lane (Modern Family/Encore! Encore!/Charlie Lawrence) - Nathan stops by The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Julie Bowen (Modern Family) - Julie is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting (The Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules) - Kaley appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
• Eugene Cordero (Other Space) - Eugene is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Chris O'Dowd (Family Tree) - Chris visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Alan Thicke (Unusually Thicke/Growing Pains) - Alan drops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Kristin Chenoweth (Kristin) - Kristin speaks about the Broadway production On the Twentieth Century on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Lily Tomlin (Grace and Frankie/Malibu Country) - Lily talks about the Netflix series Grace and Frankie on NBC's today sometime between 7-9am and on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Wanda Sykes (The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda is a guest on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 1am on BET.
• Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley visits ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
• Brad Garrett ('Til Death/Everybody Loves Raymond) - Brad chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. He will also be on The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.
• Hana Mae Lee (Super Fun Night and Alexis Knapp (Ground Floor) - Hana and Alexis talk about Pitch Perfect 2 on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Kevin Rahm (I Hate My Teenage Daughter/Jesse) - Kevin talks about the Mad Men series finale on HuffPost Live at 4pm.
• Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) - Candace talks about her Hallmark Channel original movie Just the Way You Are, which premieres May 9 at 9pm/8c, on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and on the AOL Build Show.
• Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Sarah talks about Modern Family on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
• Brandy Norwood (The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy is a guest on NewsNation at 11am on MSNBC and on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie appears on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York at 9:10am.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

• Martin Short (Mulaney/The Martin Short Show) - Watch Martin on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Dana Carvey (One of the Boys) - Dana visits The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
• Helen Hunt (Mad About You/It Takes Two) - Helen appears on Conan at 11pm on TBS. She will also be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Alan Thicke (Unusally Thicke/Growing Pains) - Alan talks about the new season of his POP show Unusually Thicke on NBC's Today in the 9am hour, on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations, and on HuffPost Live at 2pm.
• Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie opens up about her recent engagement, her plans for the summer and more on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry co-hosts Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Suzanne Somers (Three's Company/She's the Sheriff/Step by Step) - Suzanne teaches us about hidden toxins in our daily lives and discusses her new book on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Kathryn Hahn (Happyish/Free Agents) - Kathryn talks about her role in the new comedy She's Funny That Way and shares details on starring in the Showtime series Happyish on HuffPost Live at 2:30pm and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 12:30pm ET.
• Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Jeff Garlin (The Goldbergs/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Jeff guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Brad Garrett ('Til Death/Everybody Loves Raymond) - Brad will be on Larry King Now at 2/5pm PT/ET on Ora.tv and Hulu.
• Titus Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Scmmidht) - Titus talks about Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
• Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) - Candace talks about her Hallmark Channel original movie Just the Way You Are, which premieres May 9 at 9pm/8c, on Fox & Friends at 7:30am on Fox News Channel.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

• Tina Fey (30 Rock) - Catch Tina on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) - Jane is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Helen Hunt (Mad About You/It Takes Two) - Helen stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia visits Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 1am on BET.
• Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Christopher Lloyd (Taxi) and Parker Posey (The Return of Jezebel James) - Christopher and Parker talk about Granite Flats on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
• Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) - Candace talks about her Hallmark Channel original movie Just the Way You Are, which premieres May 9 at 9pm/8c, on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live at 9am and on Varney & Co at 11am on Fox News Channel.
• Jeff Garlin (The Goldbergs/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Jeff is tentatively scheduled to appear on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York sometime between 7-10am.
• Swoosie Kurtz (Mike & Molly/Love & Money/Love, Sidney) - Swoosie is a guest on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York sometime between 7-10am.
• Ben Savage and Rowan Blanchard (Girl Meets World) - Ben and Rowan are guests on Fox & Friends on Fox News Channel sometime between 6-9am.

Friday, May 8, 2015

• Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Watch Ray on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) - Jim discusses the Broadway comedy An Act of God on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) - Candace guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also joins the Chew Crew on ABC's The Chew at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT. Her other appearances include E! News at 6:30pm and 11pm on E!, OKTV! and PopSugarNow. Her Hallmark Channel original movie Just the Way You Are premieres May 9 at 9pm/8c.
• Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symoné guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Lana Parrilla (Spin City) - Lana talks about how she gets into character to play the Evil Queen on Once Upon a Time on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Kelsey Grammer (Partners/Frasier/Cheers) - Kelsey talks about his Broadway show Finding Neverland on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.

All listings are subject to change. Visit our blog and main site for daily updated listings. Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

We're almost midway through March (already?) and winter is just about gone, but before winter goes away, we've still got two more weeks of Digital Digest for the winter season! We've got all of your regular features this week, as well as a "double feature" on our reviews, with The Lucille Ball Specials - Lucy Moves to NBC and Picker Sisters - Season One. Let's get started!


DIGITAL NEWS

It is another slow news week, but we've got a few things of interest for you. First, as we all know, MPI's long-awaited release of My Living Doll - Volume One is finally being released in a little over a week (look for our review of this in the next few days, by the way; it is a great release!), complete with eleven episodes of the series, but what about more episodes? Well, according to this, the original production company is looking for quality additional episodes for a future release. The big question is, will they actually find those other fifteen episodes? As far as we know, the "search" has been on for years, and it doesn't seem that much progress has been made in this quest thus far... but we hope that changes! By the way, it should be noted that the article linked here, as well as much of the publicity for the release of the first volume of the series, has one minor error. The release does indeed contain eleven episodes, but it is NOT the first eleven episodes, but rather a collection of eleven episodes scattered among the first twenty two episodes. Of course, we'll have all of the details in our review!

Shout! Factory has been steadily releasing Designing Women, with the series almost (but still one season to go) coming to completion on DVD next month with Designing Women - The Complete Sixth Season (which, by the way, we just received a review copy of and will have a review posted very soon), but for fans who want "just the best," Shout! Factory has a very inexpensive release in the works with Designing Women - 20 Timeless Episodes. The two disc set is to be released on June 5, but exact episode contents aren't known just yet.

Speaking of Designing Women, over a year ago, Mill Creek announced (and subsequently canceled) a release of spinoff series Women of the House, which starred Delta Burke. But is something inevitably going to come of this release? As of right now, it seems that the short answer is no; however, the long answer is that Mill Creek had indicated in the past few months on their Facebook page that a release of the series may not be totally abandoned. So we'll take a wait and see approach and hope that something develops from this!

That isn't all that you will find on the Mill Creek page on Facebook, though. They have also mentioned that additional seasons of Grounded for Life, which was not included in the upcoming batch of releases from the Carsey-Werner library, are in fact coming... but to stay tuned for exact details!


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (March 13) is, by all means, one of the most disappointing release dates we've seen in a long time. There are two (technically eight, but seven are just multiple season releases of the same series) things that we'll mention, though, the first being Picker Sisters - Season One, which we have a review of today in Digital Digest. The other releases are a ton of releases (all seven seasons, in fact) of the animated series, Bobby's World as Amazon.com CreateSpace MOD items, but you'll have to buy each season (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) separately.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW




Blog DVD Review: The Lucille Ball Specials - Lucy Moves to NBC (MPI, $14.98)
by skees53

Beginning in the early '50s, Lucille Ball began her career on CBS with I Love Lucy, and maintained a starring role (always playing Lucy) in a series on the network for several decades to follow, until the mid '70s when she reduced her role to starring in just a few occasional specials on the network. But just before the '80s, there really wasn't much else that CBS could do with Lucy, and there was another network out there that was seriously struggling and needed all the help that it could get. That network was, of course, NBC, and in 1979, Lucy made her big move to the network that was "proud as a peacock" in a deal that would put her in charge behind the scenes.

Needless to say, in the long run, the arrangement didn't quite work out. We all know Lucy as the star of three (or four depending upon how you count The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour) CBS series spanning over twenty five years, but there really isn't anybody who truly remembers her days at NBC. NBC, in fact, was on the verge of hitting their stride just a few short years later, but that stride didn't include Lucille Ball. But with high expectations of what she could have done for the network--and if it were only a few years earlier, it probably would have turned out much different--NBC brought in the queen of comedy with great fanfare, giving her an entire special to hype the big move to NBC and her getting acquainted with her new co-workers, new digs, and making her transition into a whole new decade where things weren't quite the same as her heyday of television where new territory, political tensions, the sexual revolution, and controversy were all constantly being encountered.

Lucy Moves to NBC is a star-studded feature which stars Ball of course, but also features many of the other "stars of NBC" welcoming her to the network, including Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Jack Klugman, Gene Kelly, and, oh yeah, since this was 1980, Gary Coleman, of course! The special begins with Lucy moving in to her new office and meeting her new boss, which as we would all expect, it would have been NBC president Fred Silverman. But not quite. How do you work the network's most adorable kid into the special? You make Gary Coleman her boss! Gary Coleman, introduces himself to Lucy as the serious, hard-working guy who has been in television "his entire adulthood," proposing that they use her immaturity and newcomer status to television to do the best for NBC. In this introduction, Lucy also gets to meet all of her new fellow NBC stars as well, but unlike Gary Coleman, they're not running the network. As the special progresses, Lucy encounters an old friend, Gale Gordon, and works with him to devise a new pilot for NBC, which we see in the process of development all the way through to the final product (which is somewhat odd, because the special suddenly evolves turns into the actual pilot towards the end), a musical comedy starring Donald O'Connor and Gloria DeHaven, along with Robert Alda, Ruta Lee, Doris Singleton, and "introducing" (he really didn't do a whole lot after this) Scotty Plummer. The entire special has a runtime of 1:13:36.

Normally, we don't cover special features until a bit later in our review, but they are very much integral to this release, so we will cover them now. As for the special itself, it begins with a new introduction (1:25) from Ruta Lee and Jack Klugman, as they remember the special. There is also a retrospective looking back at the special (21:59) with Jack Klugman, Ruta Lee, Hal Kanter (who has recently passed away), Doris Singleton, and others. It is a mostly positive look at both the special and the overall legacy of Lucy herself.

Lucy's move to NBC didn't actually produce any hits for the network, but it did introduce one pilot in 1981 (in addition to the one presented in the special) that was actually directed by Lucy, Bungle Abbey (27:51), a somewhat quirky (but fun) series about monks in a monastery who were not your ordinary monks, at all. The pilot stars Charlie Callas, Guy Marks, Gino Conforti, Graham Jarvis, Peter Palmer, and (of course) Gale Gordon. There is also an introduction to this pilot from Gino Conforti (1:27) where he admits the very obvious: this series would have never worked, and in fact, it was a challenge to even write enough material just for the one pilot episode, but it was still a very fun pilot to do, and I think many people will enjoy watching it. It feels a bit like a sketch from the end of an episode of Saturday Night Live that was made a bit too long, but it was a nice effort at the very least.

"Let's Talk to Lucy: Bob Hope" (9:25) is a very brief 1964 radio interview featuring Lucy interviewing Bob Hope, which is particularly appropriate for this release, as Bob Hope was one of the early big stars of NBC. I say "very brief" because Bob Hope only takes part in the first few minutes of the interview. Much of the interview features Lucy talking to her husband Gary Morton about National Children's Book Week and keeping a family strong, where she talks about keeping her husband and kids together through education and reading (notice that the "other guy" that she had been married to before is not mentioned... at all... but that is OK).

Finally, "Lucy on the Bob Hope Special" (10:37) is a segment from a Christmas special featuring Bob Hope and Lucy. There is no indication of exactly what year this aired, but it appears to be from the late '70s.

The DVD comes packaged in a standard DVD, with packaging that matches all of the other releases of The Lucille Ball Specials from MPI. The cover artwork features Lucy and Bob Hope, while the back features photos of Lucy with Jack Klugman and Johnny Carson. All of the special features are also listed on the back, along with a description of the special. The single disc has artwork that is identical to the cover artwork.

There isn't a whole lot to the menus on the DVD. The main menu has the theme music from the special playing, and gives you the option of playing the special, playing it with the special introduction, special features, and an option to turn on subtitles. Chapters are placed throughout the special.

The video and audio quality of the release is, to say the least, not all that great. Of course, it is important to consider that this was from an era where everybody seemed to cut corners everywhere to save money, but just before producers began to see the value in creating a product of higher quality... somewhat of a "lull," I guess. The transfer almost looks like a decent quality VHS transfer, but it is by no means a disaster. The audio is a bit low, but I don't think most fans will be bothered. Like just about every other MPI release out there, the release DOES contain English subtitles. It is great to see that MPI, one of the "little guys" out there, almost never neglects this important part of their releases.

I'll admit, this was probably one of the weakest points of Lucy's career (which sadly only got worse when she moved on to ABC several years later with Life with Lucy, a series which was not one of her proudest moments), but still, it is, in fact, Lucy, and an important part of her legacy. Out of all of the specials that MPI has released, this was definitely the least interesting one, but I am still glad that it made it to DVD, and I know that every Lucy fan will definitely want to see this. It helps even more that MPI didn't just slap this together just to get it out, but actually made a great release that is up to the high standards that they have set for pretty much all of their releases of anything Lucy related. If you have yet to pick up any of these specials, though, this probably is not the one that you'll want to start with. Some of the earlier ones brought back some of the Lucy style antics that fans were used to, and are likely to find more interesting. But don't get me wrong on this release. It is a great release, and fans of Lucy are definitely not going to want to pass this one up.

(4/5 stars)

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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: Picker Sisters - Season One (A&E Home Video, $19.95)
by Todd

Starring best friends and renowned interior designers Tracy Hutson and Tanya McQueen (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition), Picker Sisters reaffirms the classic saying "one person's trash is another's treasure" by following the design duo as they crisscross America in search of rare relics and materials with which to create stunning pieces for their Los Angeles home decor pop-up shop. With keen eyes for style and intuitive design instincts, Hutson and McQueen travel far and wide to find jaw-dropping bargains on any interesting materials they discover before driving back to California and transforming them into unique pieces that will fetch top dollar. Whether it's a tarnished fuel tank sitting in a junkyard, mangled barbed wire or rusty tire wheels, the Picker Sisters negotiate the right price for the belongings of some of the country's most interesting people. Once back in Los Angeles, Hutson and McQueen work with their contractor, Alan Luxmore, to realize their design vision and create beautiful furnishings for shrewd Los Angeles buyers looking to decorate their homes or offices.

Picker Sisters premiered on Lifetime on August 2, 2011. The first season ended on September 6, 2011. The series is produced by RelativityREAL for Lifetime Television. RelativityREAL's Tom Forman (Lifetime's Coming Home, creator of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) and Josh Bingham (Obsessed, The Two Coreys) serve as executive producers. Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy and Sandy Varo Jarrell of Lifetime Television also executive produce. RelativityREAL’s Brad Bishop (Find My Family) is co-executive producer.

The 2-disc set contains all 8 episodes from the first season (2011). It comes in an Amaray movie-style case. Tanya and Tracy are airbrushed on top of a pile of items on the front cover. A synopsis of the series, a listing of the show credits and the DVD specs are provided on the back of the cover. There are two tiny photos of Tanya and Tracy. A large series logo is at the top. Tanya and Tracy are pictured on the spine of the case. There's just blank space inside the case. It would have been great if they included an episode guide somewhere. The discs have the same photo of Tanya and Tracy as the cover art, although it is a bit cropped. They have the show logo and episode titles printed on them.

The main menu opens with a brief montage of video clips that you see in the opening credits of the show. Some instrumental music is played in the background. This leads to the main static menu. It features a large photo of Tanya and Tracy (the same one as the front of the packaging), with clouds in the background and the show logo at the top. There are options for Play All, Episodes and Subtitles. There's a yellow arrow next to the option you highlight that turns white upon your selection. When you choose Episodes, it takes you to another menu that has a screenshot of Tracy and Tanya from one of the episodes. A different photo is used on each disc. The episode titles are listed vertically in white text. Tracy is pictured on the subtitles menu, where you can turn on/off the English and Spanish subtitles. Chapters are placed at the appropriate places.

As you might expect from such a recent show, the video and audio quality is excellent. The scenes are mostly outdoors and look beautiful as they travel the South before heading back to California. They are presented in widescreen format. If you want high definition episodes, they can be found on Amazon.com . The total running time of the 2 discs is approximately 3 hours, 47 minutes. All of the episodes appear to be unedited, with running times of 20-41 minutes. Five of the episodes aired in a half-hour format. Three episodes aired in an one-hour format. The audio is a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. Subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

Here is the episode breakdown by disc, including the original airdates and runtimes:

Disc 1

Texas, Here We Come (8/2/11) (20:19) - Tanya and Tracy hit their home state of Texas on a quest for amazing junk. Meanwhile, the pressure's on Alan to get the store ready back in L.A. Once the girls fill their trailer with rusty treasures and an entire house-worth of wood, it's time to haul it back home for Alan to transform it all into fancy furniture and get those doors open.

The Promise of An Empty Trailer (8/2/11) (20:15) - Tracy and Tanya head to Louisiana on a mission to pick the coolest Cajun junk. A sugar cane farm and a historic sugar mill yield a bounty of raw materials that the girls can't wait to transform into gorgeous furniture and lighting fixtures. But, when they ship 1500 pounds of chain back to Alan, it's a bit more than he can handle.

Motorcycles and Meat Sauce (8/9/11) (41:39) - Tracy and Tanya brave the swamps of Mississippi and discover a slew of gems, including a vintage Harley Davidson that they hope will become a piece worthy of the coolest customer. Back in LA, Alan makes it his mission to deliver the most stunning transformations yet.

Don't Be a Pecky Head (8/16/11) (20:12) - It's back to Cajun Country where Tanya and Tracy seek out more unique pieces to transform into beautiful home decor. Back in LA, Alan struggles to understand the girls' vision when he receives a shipment of unique cypress wood. Then the girls return, and sales are picking up, but it's not always easy to let their passion projects go.

Disc 2

The Dos and Don'ts of Life on the Road (8/23/11) (41:30) - Tanya and Tracy explore the Deep South, picking their way through crane yards, boat yards, and backyards. They unearth so many fantastic industrial and vintage finds that their trailer is full after only one day. So they ship it all home to Alan and call to give him direction on how to transform it into fantastic furniture, but his misinterpretation of their vision could lead to design disaster.

Pickin' For Peanuts (8/30/11) (20:09) - Tanya and Tracy sift through the attic of an old peanut shop, the mountains of metal in a junkyard, and the hallowed halls of a defunct hospital. In LA, Alan contends with the hefty weight of the purchased pieces as he converts them into high-end furniture.

Must Love Rust (8/30/11) (20:10) - Tracy and Tanya delve back into the South and find inspiration everywhere they turn, including the eclectic garden of a sculptor and an unused grain silo. Alan doesn't flinch when the girls ship him an entire silo, but turning that silo into the chairs the girls envision becomes more of a challenge than he expected.

It's a Sign (9/6/11) (41:36) - Tracy and Tanya enjoy their final foray into the South, but push the boundaries of their budget when they find a multitude of amazing objects. A roadside sign strikes a chord and offers a rusty reminder of how far their business has come. Back at the workshop, Alan buckles down to put his stamp on the ambitious projects and deliver the goods to the girls.

The bonus material is additional footage and can be found on Disc 2. Tanya is pictured on this menu. There are 17 different scenes available. You can play them all together or individually. There's no indication which episodes these additional scenes are from. The additional footage runs nearly 30 minutes.

Meet the Sisters (1:43)
A True Business Man (1:56)
Did It Wrong (1:51)
Disagreements (2:20)
Drifting Wood (1:15)
Driving (1:08)
Gene (1:08)
Going Home Happy (2:14)
In the River (1:00)
Junk Cathedral (2:40)
Junk King (1:34)
Negotiators (1:29)
Poker Skills (1:24)
Rules of the Road (1:50)
Stove Graveyard (1:45)
The End Result (1:36)
Trespassing (2:43)

I first became a fan of American Pickers when History's sister channel Lifetime began airing it in December 2010. I think it was only natural for Lifetime to attempt their own similar show. Although it's not a spin-off, it has the same elements of American Pickers and American Restoration. If people are expecting it to be the same as American Pickers, I think they will probably be a bit disappointed. Picker Sisters airs on Lifetime, so the show is definitely more geared toward women in the 18-49 demographic. It could also appeal to men who probably won't mind watching two cute women in short shorts and boots.

The focus with this series is really not about picking items and selling them for profit. They are buying more scrap items that Mike and Fritz from American Pickers would never consider and turning them into one-of-a-kind items. I don't think Tracy and Tanya are great negotiators. They tend to overpay for items and reach their budget quickly. For what they may lack in the knowledge in the value of items, they make up for it with their style and design talents. It would be interesting if these kinds of unique items really sell for what they are asking. This type of business doesn't seem like it would very profitable with all the costs of gas, transportation and hauling costs, labor and materials, lease for the store, etc. It would never work as a three person operation like they depict on the show.

I haven't read any news on whether Picker Sisters will be returning for a second season. The show averaged around 1-1.2 million viewers and a 0.3 18-49 rating for the few episodes I found. These seem like respectable ratings, but they are a little low in the 18-49 demo. If the show doesn't return for a second season, at least there's this decent DVD release that includes nearly 30 minutes of additional footage. I think the show could use a little tweaking if it returns for a second season. All of the episodes should be in the one-hour format. The 30-minute episodes (actually about 20 minutes with commercials) feel too rushed and lack the detail of the longer episodes. They could also provide more history and background story on the items they are picking. I feel like I'm learning something when I'm watching American Pickers, but they don't use the same information boxes on Picker Sisters. There's also a little too much focus on the picking and not enough minutes devoted to the actual rebuilding process of the crazy and unique items they are creating for their store.

(3/5 stars)

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CLICK OF THE WEEK

The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club - This week, we take a little trip down to Mayberry, NC for a website that will bring you everything that you ever wanted to know--and more--about one of television's iconic series. The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club, while it is certainly a club, is more than JUST a club. The website features all of the information that you want to know about the series, but it also allows the series to "live on" into the current era.

On the website, you'll of course find the basics, such as an episode guide (which also includes a searchable database, by the way), photos, audio, a message board, cast biographies, and frequently asked questions. But the site goes much further than just that. Among the more unique features that you'll find at this website are information about upcoming events for fans of the series, a podcast (seriously, who could have ever envisioned a "podcast" in the '60s?), a thorough "bible study," fan fiction, interviews, and (even if the particular pages are a bit dated by now, as the pages reference using things like Windows 95 and AOL!) some Java games for the series. All in all, it is a fun website to visit, and is certainly one of the quintessential websites for fans of the classic series.

That's it for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Saturday has arrived once again, and you know what that means: it is time for another Digital Digest. This week, we've got all of your regular features, as well as a review of a Blu-ray release of a popular CBS crime drama, with the Blu-ray/DVD combo release of the Quintin Tarantino episode of CSI, with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Grave Danger.

It seems like it was just last week--and that is because it was just last week--that the Tyler Perry sitcom Meet the Browns - Season Four was released. So naturally, it is already time to announce the next set, and it has indeed been announced with Meet the Browns - Season Five. The set is scheduled to be released on April 27.

Lucille Ball fans will be pleased to know that MPI is set to release their final release of The Lucille Ball Specials on March 20, when they release The Lucille Ball Specials - Lucy Moves to NBC. The single disc release contains Lucille Ball's last TV special, which featured guest stars such as Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Jack Klugman, and even Gary Coleman, and as a bonus feature, you'll find a lost sitcom pilot that Lucille Ball directed for NBC in the early 80s, Bungle Abbey. We should have a review of this DVD some time next month.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

It's day two of our annual fall schedules for cable and up today will be WGN America! Earlier this summer we hinted at the acquisitions for WGN America like 'Til Death and Mad About You and the ones we already knew for a while: 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Futurama. Now it is time to tell you WHEN they will air!
Premiering first on WGN America this fall will be 'Til Death starting Monday, Sept. 12, 2011. The Brad Garrett comedy will air weeknights at 3:00am & 3:30am, replacing Paid Programming. It will also air on Saturday nights at 3:00am & 3:30am. The sitcom will also be entering broadcast syndication, so check your listings. WGN America will also add an hour of Dharma & Greg at 4:00am & 4:30am starting Sept. 12 replacing Star Trek: The Next Generation, which leaves syndication. And we mentioned in the past, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm will be leaving syndication after just one season due to low ratings, and WGN America will replace them with two-hours of AFV from 1am-3am, for the week of Sept. 12 only.

The actual fall schedule will begin a week later on Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. First up, classic TV fans will see Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie move into the 8am hour with an episode each replacing an hour of The Beverly Hillbillies, which will be leaving the schedule. The morning and afternoon dramas will remain intact with back-to-back Matlock and In The Heat of the Night from 9am-1pm, followed by a News break, then two airings of Walker, Texas Ranger at 2pm & 3pm. The 4pm hour will now be an hour of the 80s/90s comedy Cheers, replacing Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, which moved to mornings. The 5pm hour will see back-to-back episodes of new acquisition Mad About You, replacing Cheers. The 6pm hour will now have Old Christine, as it replaces Dharma & Greg, which will be moving to 4am. AFV will remain at 7pm.

In primetime, new addition 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother will fill the block from 8-10pm. 30 Rock will air for two-hours on Mondays and How I Met Your Mother will be two-hours on Thursday, due to network conflicts from NBC and CBS. After a break at 10pm for the news, the new late night line-up begins with lots of comedy. Scrubs will continue to kick-it off at 11pm, but its 11:30pm airing will now be a 30 Rock airing. The duo will air on Saturday nights as well from 11pm-12am. At midnight, WGN America will premiere It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia airing Mon-Sat from 12-1am replacing South Park, but that comedy will air later in the night. Sunny will also air Saturday nights from 1-2am, creating a 12-2am block on Saturday nights. Who needs SNL? Next, Sunny will lead into another new acquisition, the animated comedy Futurama which will air Mon-Fri from 1-2am replacing Entourage/Curb Your Enthusiasm. Bender and company will also air Saturday nights from 2-3am. South Park will move to weeknights at 2am & 2:30am replacing another hour of Entourage/Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Weekends are pretty much the same with In the Heat of the Night, Walker Texas Ranger and Law & Order: Criminal Intent pretty much covering daytime on Saturdays, but Bones will be leaving the line-up so an airing each of The Unit and America's Funniest Home Videos will air in primetime. Saturday late nights will be comedies, as we mentioned above, from 11pm-4am, followed by a movie at 4am. Sundays will have Matlock and In the Heat of the Night start it off at 9am followed by movies. Scrubs will remain in the 5pm hour, followed by Old Christine at 6pm. At 7pm, an episode of 30 Rock will air replacing How I Met Your Mother, which will still air its Sunday block but now from 7:30pm-10pm. The news follows at 10pm, with three airings of Monk remaining from 11pm-2am, followed by a movie and AFV at 5am.
View the FULL WGN America Fall 2011 schedule. Stay tuned tomorrow for another cable fall 2011 schedule and also updates from the TCA Summer 2011 press tour, which starts today.


It's a weekend long tribute to America's favorite redhead on MeTV Network! MeTV Network presents "Lucy's 100th Birthday Celebration," featuring 100 of the most popular episodes of I Love Lucy, We Love Lucy and The Lucy Show. The party starts on Friday, August 5 at 12AM ET/11PM CT, and the festivities end on Monday, August 8 at 8AM ET/7 AM CT (The selection of Lucille Ball series and episodes may vary by market, so check your local MeTV Network listings).
This tribute carries on the MeTV Network tradition of paying homage to the lives and careers of classic TV stars. Click here to watch the promo. Currently, MeTV Network is on-air and under contract in more than 50% of the country. Stations to recently launch MeTV include: WFMZ-TV in Philadelphia/Allentown, WESH-TV in Orlando, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, KCCI-TV in Des Moines and WKOW-TV in Madison, WI.

Welcome to Digital Digest, where we bring you news each and every week along with DVD/Blu-ray Disc reviews and other features! We hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving, and we have a lot of great news to be thankful for this week! Plus, we have a review of The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume One, from CBS Home Entertainment. Let's get started!

DIGITAL NEWS

This week, we start with some news that we have missed, but it is about a DVD release that is only a few weeks away! For those who have been purchasing The Lucille Ball Specials that MPI Home Video has been releasing, there is another DVD containing two of these specials coming up on December 16... that is only a few weeks away! The Lucille Ball Specials - Happy Anniversary & Goodbye/What Now, Catherine Curtis? will debut on DVD in a single disc on December 16 at a $14.98 MSRP. This was announced some time ago, but the release date was unknown at the time. Now, we know. We'll have a review of this in a few weeks!

That isn't the only DVD coming soon, though. Fans of the series The New Adventures of Old Christine will be pleased to know that The New Adventures of Old Christine - The Complete Fourth Season is coming soon, and very soon at that! On December 7, Warner Archive will be releasing the next-to-last season of the series, as an exclusive DVD-R product to their website. We don't have all of the details yet, but we are definitely glad to see the series continue on DVD, even if it isn't a wide retail release.

While we are speaking of Warner Archive, in our review of their Classic TV Christmas Collection, we noted that the episode of Perfect Strangers included in the set is a syndicated version of the episode. In response, they issued the following statement:

We thought we were releasing the Christmas DVD with the most complete original master of the Perfect Strangers episode "The Gift of the Mypiot," but apparently we included the syndicated version that is approximately two minutes shorter. Currently, we are reviewing the many master tapes we have to see if we can find the complete episode, and if we do have it, we will replace the current episode with the more complete one. The good thing about manufacturing-on-demand is that we are able to make rolling changes to our line since we are not stuck with tens of thousands of copies in a warehouse. That said, we will keep you posted with details on if we locate the correct master, and how we are rolling it out. Also- we honestly appreciate when fans point these kinds of errors out, because we are committed to releasing the best quality products we can. Thanks!

So what does this long and verbose statement mean? Simply put, in a nutshell, they thought that they had included the unedited version, and are trying to find the correct version. And if they do find it, then they will replace the edited version with the unedited version on future orders of the DVD set. Hopefully, they will find it (and perhaps be able to do something for those who have already purchased the set). There is still no word on what they plan on doing with Night Court - The Complete Fourth Season, but as of this writing, it is still unavailable to order from their website.

Mill Creek announced a few weeks ago that they would be releasing several "best of" and "volume" sets of series previously released by Shout! Factory, and in January, they will be delivering once again. January 18 will bring My Two Dads - You Can Count on Me!, Simon & Simon - The Best of Season Two, and thirtysomething - Season One, Volume One. All of these are episodes of series that have already been released, but now you can get them at a much lower price for just a few of the episodes. They all have a $14.98 MSRP, but you'll likely be able to find them in the $5-10 price range as most Mill Creek DVD sets are. And yes, they will likely come in those atrocious paper sleeves that Mill Creek has been using for all of their DVD sets.

Mill Creek will also be releasing some more series from their Stephen J. Cannell library, including 21 Jump Street - The Complete Fourth Season and Stingray - The Complete Series on the same day. This is the second time that both sets have been released, but for Stingray, this is the first time it has been released as an American release (previously, it was released for Canada by VEI). These will also have a $14.98 MSRP.

Finally, we end with two news items from CBS Home Entertainment, the first regarding the legal drama Matlock. Matlock - The Sixth Season is coming January 25 at a $49.99 MSRP. Meanwhile, the primetime soap opera that mixed catfights and caviar, Dynasty, will be coming with a new release on March 22. Presumably, this will be the first half of the fifth season of the series, unless CBS Home Entertainment changes their release model.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Get prepared for another slow week of releases on Tuesday (November 30), but at least they are both very good sets. From Universal, we have Parks & Recreation - Season Two. This is a very hilarious show, and a very good DVD set. I encourage you to read our review of the set. CBS Home Entertainment has another installment of The Lucy Show - The Official Third Season. Unfortunately, we haven't received this to review yet, but we are sure that it'll be an "all-star" DVD set as well, and will not disappoint any fan of Lucy out there. We'll have a review of it as soon as we get it on our main review page.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume One
by skees53

A man who is on the run from the law is a fugitive, but Richard Kimble (David Janssen) is no ordinary fugitive. Having escaped from death row (thanks to a train wreck) for being wrongly convicted of killing his wife, Kimble is determined to go on a journey to prove his innocence, and along the way, he runs in to others who need his help too. Check out our review of The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume One.


The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume One (CBS Home Entertainment, $39.98) is the first installment of the final season in Richard Kimble's (David Janssen) quest to prove that he is not guilty of killing his wife. The fourth season, the first (and only) one to be broadcast in color, finally brings closure to the series, but before we get there, this set contains the first 15 episodes of the journey to that closure.

There are many twists and turns in the storyline to get us here, and it all began in the first season when a fortunate train wreck helped Kimble to escape from prison. Kimble, a former physician, was on a train to go to his execution for killing his wife, a crime that he did not commit. Once the train crashes, he struggles with trying to prove his innocence, but in the meantime, he has to move from town to town to avoid the inevitable, going back to death row. The time clock is ticking and Kimble has to do whatever is possible to prove his innocence before he gets caught. Along the way, he supports himself by helping others in whatever way possible, just hoping that he doesn't get caught.

The fourth season begins with "The Last Oasis," where Kimble finds a (temporary) home at an Indian reservation, where he is offered a job as a teacher. Kimble is caught on security camera and fears that he may be caught, and in the process becomes a witness to a murder in "Death is a Door Prize." Kimble finds a quiet town in "A Clean and Quiet Town," but not all is well for him when he discovers the town is run by the mob, and they are out to get him. Kimble is accused of murder while working as an apartment building janitor in "Sharp Edge of Chivalry." In "Joshua's Kingdom," Kimble tries to uphold his duties as a doctor against a father unwilling to use medicine. Kimble has to intervene in a labor strike when the union leader may be on a hit list in "Wine is a Traitor."
Kimble helps a woman struck by a car in "Nobody Loses All the Time," but as it turns out, she happens to be the girlfriend of the man he believed framed him for murder. Kimble is arrested during a union strike in "Right in the Middle of the Season." Can Kimble kill to protect his innocence in his wife's murder? A motorcycle gang offers to help in "The Devil's Disciples." In "The Blessings of Liberty," another doctor is wanted for murder after offering illegal abortions. Kimble has an offer from a mobster to kill his pursuer in "The Evil Men Do." The set ends with "Run the Man Down," where stolen money threatens to cause more trouble for Kimble.

There are many great guest stars in this set, including Hope Lange, Lois Nettleton, Tom Skerritt, Dabney Coleman, Julie Sommars, Ed Asner, and more.

Having never seen this series prior to this review, I don't know if the episodes are unedited or not. However, most episodes on the set look fine. There were some major issues with music replacement on a previous set, and this set says that it contains music edits. However, I don't know how severe they are, and they mostly seem fine. The episodes even have their original "Next, The Fugitive, in color" tags at the beginning. Runtimes are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "The Last Oasis" (51:36)
2. "Death is a Door Prize" (51:23)
3. "A Clean and Quiet Town" (51:36)
4. "Sharp Edge of Chivalry" (51:37)

Disc 2:
5. "Ten Thousand Pieces of Silver" (51:37)
6. "Joshua's Kingdom" (51:35)
7. "Second Sight" (50:37)
8. "Wine is a Traitor" (50:36)

Disc 3:
9. "Approach with Care" (51:37)
10. "Nobody Loses All the Time" (51:36)
11. "Right in the Middle of the Season" (51:36)
12. "The Devil's Disciples" (51:35)

Disc 4:
13. "The Blessings of Liberty" (51:27)
14. "The Evil Men Do" (51:06)
15. "Run the Man Down" (51:34)

Like the previous releases, this set is in a Viva pack, with a picture of Dr. Kimble on the cover. The back has another picture of Kimble, along with several snapshots from the series, and basic information about the season. Inside the case, there are four discs (no artwork except the series logo) which contain four episodes each, except for Disc 4, which contains three episodes. There are episode descriptions and airdates for all of the episodes, as well.

As for the menus, they are VERY basic, with just various stills of Kimble, and a listing of all of the episodes on the disc, along with a Play All option and a Set Up option. Set Up allows you to turn on the English subtitles. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

The series looks and sounds great, and there are few (if any) issues with the video and audio quality. The color does allow SOME of the minor imperfections to show up (since the previous sets were of black and white episodes), but the only real issue is some minor grain and debris. The sound is very loud and clear, as well. Each episode contains English subtitles.

There is one special feature on this disc, and it can be found on Disc 4. "Composer Dominic Frontiere: A Season of Change" (10:37) is a brief featurette that talks about Dominic Frontiere, the new musical composer for this season of the series. Really, this is basically just an interview with him, where he talks about his beginnings, this series, and other series that he worked on. Still, it is nice to see that this set wasn't totally neglected for special features.

This was my first time watching the series, and at first, I thought that it was awful. And if you don't know the backstory, then it probably IS awful. But I recently picked up Season One, Volume One at Big Lots (in their $6) DVDs and watched the pilot, and with a better understanding of what is going on, I realized how great this series actually is. So, if you've never seen the series before, I would strongly recommend NOT starting with this season, but instead to start from the beginning. I think fans of this type of series will enjoy the series. It is a lot like a version of The A-Team from the 60s. So what is in store for Dr. Kimble next? Find out when CBS Home Entertainment releases the final volume of the series!

(4/5 stars)

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LOOKING AHEAD

We'll be back next week with more news and reviews! As we approach the holiday season, our news will probably slow down, although this week proves that it doesn't exactly come to a halt! Until then, keep it digital!