SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We have a bit of a slow news week this week since it was only a three (if not two) day work week for many out there. But nonetheless, we're here with our weekly feature, with an update on the network development season, plans for The Late Late Show post-Craig Ferguson, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Sony's release of Maude - The Complete First Season is now out-of-print, but for those who still want it, Mill Creek will be re-releasing it on February 3 (it isn't available to pre-order just yet).

DECEMBER 2 HOME MEDIA RELEASES 

• Happy Days - The Sixth Season (DVD, $39.98): Richie, The Fonz, and the rest of the gang return for this release of the classic show on DVD.
• The Simpsons - The Complete Seventeenth Season (DVD, $49.98; Blu-ray, $59.99): Sideshow Bob graces the cover of the latest release of The Simpsons on home media, which brings fans the 2005-2006 season along with plenty of special features.

Who to Follow: Erin Murphy (Twitter) "Actress/ Television Host/ Writer/ Wife/ Mother of 6/ Autism Advocate/ Alpaca Rancher but BEST known for playing Tabitha on Bewitched!"

Claim to Fame: Murphy's own description of herself on Twitter is very apt, as she has done a lot of things in her life... but to most of us, she was Tabitha on Bewitched. Along with her twin sister Diane, she shared the role on the series almost from the time she was born, but it wasn't long before Erin took on the role by herself. Since that time, she has appeared in TV commercials (not as much lately), game shows, reality shows, become an advocate for causes such as autism and the NOH8 campaign, and become a mom to six children. But most of all, as one of the youngest cast members on Bewitched (which also means that she is one of only a few cast members of the series still alive), she is the one person who will allow the legacy of Bewitched to be "immortal" and continue to live on for decades to come and also has a great friendship with other child (and sometimes older) stars of TV series of the past... and is even hoping to be part of an potential future sitcom!

Pick of the Tweets: "Here's a photo from @TVGuide with the other babies who played #Tabitha before I took over! #Bewitched @MeTV @tvland " (October 29, 2014)

ABC's canceled comedy hour of Selfie and Manhattan Love Story will burn off its remaining episodes online on Hulu. Remaining episodes of Selfie are now available weekly as of Tuesday, Nov. 25 on Hulu with a Plus Subscription and also on ABC.com every Tuesday. Six episodes remain to air. Instafamous Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) has 263,000 followers who hang on to her every post, tweet and selfie. But one lonely day, she has a revelation: being friended is not the same as having actual friends. She asks marketing guru Henry (John Cho) to rebrand her self-obsessed reputation and teach her how to connect with people in the real world.

Remaining episodes of Manhattan Love Story will also be available weekly starting next week, Tuesday, Dec. 2 on Hulu with a Plus Subscription and also on ABC.com every Tuesday. Nine episodes remain to air. Have you ever wondered what your date was thinking? This romantic comedy exposes the differences between men and women through the unfiltered thoughts, and often contradictory actions, of a new couple (Analeigh Tipton/Jake McDorman) who have just begun dating. Now you can watch both series every Tuesday, but online instead.


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 Dec. 1-5, 2014, 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, November 30, 2014

• Eric Roberts (Less Than Perfect) - Eric will be featured on Oprah: Where Are They Now? at 9pm ET/PT on OWN.

Monday, December 1, 2014

• Martin Short (Mulaney/The Martin Short Show) - Watch Martin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Don Rickles (C.P.O. Sharkey/Daddy Dearest) - Mr. Warmth appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback/Friends) - Lisa visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Tom Papa (Come to Papa) - Tom is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Chris talks about Top Five on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am. He will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Nick Jonas (Jonas L.A.) - Nick appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Bob Saget (Full House/How I Met Your Mother) - Bob is a guest on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Eliza Coupe (Benched/Happy Endings) - Eliza drops by The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/The Cleveland Show) - Seth will be on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
• Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love) - Holly co-hosts Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Tori Spelling (Mystery Girls) - Tori makes homemade snow globes on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Oscar Nunez (Benched/The Office) - Oscar talks about Benched on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Jennifer is a guest on The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 2am on BET.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

• Jennifer Lawrence (The Bill Engvall Show) - Catch Jennifer on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Henry Winkler (Happy Days/Arrested Development/Monty) - Henry is a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Tone Bell (Bad Judge) - Tone appears on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
• John Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun/Twenty Good Years) - John chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/The Cleveland Show) - Seth chats and performs a holiday song on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Tori Spelling (Mystery Girls) - Tori is a guest on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Kristin Chenoweth (Kristin) - Kristin gives a huge surprise to one of her super fans on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

• Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Don Cheadle (The Golden Palace) - Don visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Mary McCormack (Welcome to the Family) - Mary appears on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) - Joseph drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric talks about Top Five on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Kristin Chenoweth (Kristin) - Kristin appears on The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela will be on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Kendall Schmidt (Big Time Rush) - Kendall performs a new holiday single on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - NeNe guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

• Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Catch Chris on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Steve Carell (The Office) - Steve stops by The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS. He will also be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Max Greenfield (New Girl/Modern Men) - Max visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Chris D'Elia (Undateable/Whitney) - Chris is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Brent Morin (Undateable) - Brent is a guest on @midnight on Comedy Central at midnight.
• Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Tune in to see Jennifer on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke talks about her new book (There Was a Little Girl: The Real Story of My Mother & Me) on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric talks about Top Five on NBC's Today in the 9am hour. He will also be on SI Now at 1pm.
• Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie and the cast of Annie will be on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
• Joel McHale (Community) - Joel will be on The Dr. Oz Show, so check your local listings.

Friday, December 5, 2014

• Jenny Slate (Married/Parks and Recreation) - Watch Jenny on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Jennifer is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Ken Jeong (Community) - Ken is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show) - Drew visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory/Blossom) - Mayim is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Chris chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• J.B. Smoove (The Millers/'Til Death/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - J.B. talks about Top Five on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Bella Thorne (Shake It Up) - Bella guest co-hosts The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Dan Bucatinsky (Marry Me/The Comeback) - Dan appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Candace Cameron Bure (Full House) - Candace makes adorable holiday snacks…including Santa brownies and reindeer pops on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Christopher Gorham (Out of Practice) - Christopher talks about the challenges of playing a blind character on Covert Affairs on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• David Walton (About a Boy/Bent/Perfect Couples) - David is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) - Kunal appears on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 2am on BET.

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!

After four airings, ABC has canceled new comedy Manhattan Love Story due to low live+same day ratings and bad DVR returns. The Tuesday series starring Analeigh Tipton and Jake McDorman had been airing at 8:30pm following fellow new comedy Selfie. ABC had already planned to preempt both Selfie and Love Story this coming Tuesday for the Halloween special The Great Halloween Fright Fight. The following Tuesday (Nov. 4), ABC will air two brand new episodes of Selfie at 8 & 8:30pm. ABC has not announced yet what will fill Love Story's timeslot come Nov. 11, but it could be a mix of new and repeats of Selfie until further notice. It is unclear how many Love Story episodes have been produced to-date, but 13 episodes were ordered and will not be completed, obviously. At least 7 have been produced as far as we know, so at least three episodes are available to burn-off should ABC ever air it again. Stay with us for continued updates.

Actress Marcia Strassman, who was best known for her role as Julie Kotter in Welcome Back, Kotter, has died. She died on October 24 of breast cancer at her home in Sherman Oaks, California. Ms. Strassman was 66.

Strassman's early television guest appearances included The Patty Duke Show and Ironside. She had a recurring role as Nurse Margie Cutler in six episodes of the first season of M*A*S*H in 1972-1973. Other guest appearances in the early 1970s included Love Story, Police Story, Marcus Welby, M.D. and City of Angels.

She landed the breakout role of Julie Kotter, Gabe Kotter's (Gabe Kaplan) wife, in Welcome Back, Kotter in 1975. The popular ABC sitcom ran for four seasons and 95 episodes from 1975-1979. It also starred John Travolta, Robert Hegyes, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, Ron Palillo and John Sylvester White. Julie and Gabe had twin girls Rachel and Robin in the third season. She worked as a secretary and later as a substitute teacher at Buchanan High after Gabe was promoted to vice-principal. Strassman was interviewed in the Truth Behind the Sitcom Scandals 5 and the E! True Hollywood Story on Welcome Back, Kotter in 2000.

Her other starring roles included the short-lived NBC sitcom Good Time Harry in 1980. She played a reporter named Carol Younger in the series which starred Ted Bessell and Eugene Roche. She co-starred as Alicia Rudd, Dennis Booker's (Richard Grieco) boss, in the 21 Jump Street spin-off series Booker on Fox in 1989-1990. She appeared as the mom Martine Beznick in the 2000-2001 Nickelodeon sitcom Noah Knows Best. In 2003, she starred as Nancy Sterngood in the Sci-Fi Channel series Tremors.

Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included The Love Boat, At Ease, E/R, I Married Dora, Phenom, Odd Man Out and Twenty Good Years. Her television drama appearances included Fantasy Island, Time Express, The Rockford Files, Magnum, P.I., Shadow Chasers, Stingray, Amazing Stories, Civil Wars, Sweet Justice, Touched by an Angel, Murder, She Wrote, Highlander, L.A. Heat and Baywatch. She had a recurring role as Meredith in Providence in 2001-2002. In 2004, she had a recurring role as Sergeant Laura Wynn in four episodes of Third Watch.

She was also well known for her role as Diane Szalinski in the the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; its 1992 sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid; and the 1994 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!, which was shown at several Disney theme parks through mid-2010.

We also remember actress and comedian Jan Hooks. She was best known for her work on Saturday Night Live for five seasons and her starring role on the final two seasons of Designing Women. She died on October 9 of cancer at her home in Woodstock, New York. Ms. Hooks was 57.

Hooks joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 1986. One of her best known characters was Candy Sweeney of "The Sweeney Sisters." Her sister Liz was played by Nora Dunn. Hooks' notable impressions included Bette Davis, Ann-Margret, Betty Ford, Nancy Reagan, Sinéad O'Connor, Jodie Foster, Tammy Faye Bakker, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kitty Dukakis, Diane Sawyer and Hillary Rodham Clinton. She continued to make cameo appearances on the show until 1994.

She left Saturday Night Live after five seasons in 1991 to join the cast of Designing Women. Creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason had asked her to join the series after Jean Smart left. Hooks starred as Carlene Dobbler in the final two seasons of the show from 1991-1993. Carlene was Charlene's (Jean Smart) dim-witted, newly divorced younger sister.

She had a recurring role as Victoria Marie "Vicki" Dubcek, the daughter of Ms. Dubcek (Elmarie Wendel) and Harry's (French Stewart) on-and-off girlfriend, in 3rd Rock from the Sun from 1996-2000. Hooks received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" for the role in 1998. She provided the voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon in The Simpsons in six episodes from 1997-2002. Her final television appearances were two episodes of 30 Rock in 2010 as Verna Maroney, the mother of Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski).

Some of her other television roles and appearances included Not Necessarily the News, Dear John, The Martin Short Show, The Dana Carvey Show, Hiller and Diller, Providence, Futurama (voice), Primetime Glick and Game Over (voice). Her film credits included Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Wildcats, Batman Returns, Coneheads, Simon Birch and Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.

We thank these talented and funny women for the laughs they brought us over the years. They will be deeply missed.

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We finally have news of the first cancellation of the season, new developments on the remake of Bewitched, news of more Mill Creek DVDs, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Mill Creek is moving ahead once again with more Married... with Children on DVD as they prepare for January 6 releases of Married... with Children - Season Seven, Married... with Children - Season Eight, and Married... with Children - Seasons Seven and Eight.
• Mill Creek also has more of The Cosby Show on the same date, with The Cosby Show - Season Five, The Cosby Show - Season Six, and The Cosby Show - Seasons Five and Six.

OCTOBER 28 HOME MEDIA RELEASES 

• WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete Series (DVD, $139.99): One of the most anticipated series ever comes to DVD, and despite a few music licensing hiccups, a significant amount of the original music is intact on this excellent release of the series (much more than what Fox included on their season 1 release). We'll have a full review of this set very soon.

Who to Follow: Dick Van Dyke (Twitter), "the barefoot prince of Malibu"

Claim to Fame: The legendary actor is, in fact, on Twitter. Of course, he started out on television in the 1950s as host of The Morning Show on CBS and quickly rose to fame, particularly in a lot of films on the 1960s. But at the same time, he also had just as much fame from his CBS sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show. The series ran for six years, and is now considered one of the greatest classic TV series of all time. After that series ended, he mostly stayed with films for a few years, until 1971 when he got a second chance with The New Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS. The second series struggled initially before picking up, but ultimately, it left the air after Carl Reiner walked away from the series in protest of a scene in an episode that CBS found to be too "family unfriendly" (despite the fact that the network was airing several sitcoms at the time that were even less family friendly). Following that, he went back into movies again and even tried his hand at a variety series, Van Dyke and Company. A third sitcom in the 80s, The Van Dyke Show, was an instant flop. He did find success again by 1993, though, with the long-running series Diagnosis Murder.

Pick of the Tweets: "Arlene is dragging me into the 21st century - This is a joint blog for my wife and I.  We are inseparable! ... http://tmblr.co/Z1FiFm1TD_kcx" (October 15, 2014)

Manhattan Love Story - Tuesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Tuesday, September 30, 2014 at 8:30PM ET/PT

by Todd

Manhattan Love Story is an innovative new romantic comedy based on a simple premise: the way to maintain relationships – with a lover, a spouse, a co-worker, a friend or a family – is by keeping a majority of thoughts to one’s self. Dana (Analeigh Tipton, Crazy, Stupid, Love) and Peter (Jake McDorman, Greek, Shameless), who navigate the complicated terrain of building and maintaining a relationship, are the heart of the story. Throughout the series, the audience will hear Dana and Peter’s inner thoughts, offering a fun and revealing look at the differences of men and women as this couple traverse the highs and lows of dating.

Cast Details:

Analeigh Tipton as Dana
Jake McDorman as Peter
Nicolas Wright as David
Jada Catta-Preta as Amy
Chloe Wepper as Chloe
Kurt Fuller as William

Analeigh Tipton (Dana) is known for her roles in the films Crazy, Stupid, Love and Warm Bodies. Her other recent and upcoming film credits include Damsels in Distress, Two Night Stand, Lucy, 4 Minute Mile and Mississippi Grind. She had a recurring role in the final season of Hung.

Jake McDorman (Peter) is best known for his role as Evan Chambers in Greek and as Mike Pratt in Shameless. He had regular roles in the sitcoms Quintuplets and Are You There, Chelsea?. His film credits include Aquamarine, Bring It On: All or Nothing and Live Free or Die Hard.

Nicolas Wright (David) co-starred in the Jenna Elfman sitcom Accidentally on Purpose in 2009. His film credits include Hatley High, Afghan Luke and White House Down.

Jada Catta-Preta (Amy) is a writer, actress and stand-up comedian. She is best known for her recurring role in Californication. Her other guest starring roles include 2 Broke Girls and Sullivan & Son.

Chloe Wepper (Chloe) makes her debut as a series regular in Manhattan Love Story. Her credits include the TV movie Counseling Crazy and a guest appearance in Criminal Minds.

Kurt Fuller (William) had lead roles in ABC's Better with You and Big Day. Some of his many television credits include Glee, Ugly Betty, CSI, Men of a Certain Age, Grey's Anatomy, House, My Name Is Earl, Monk and Drop Dead Diva. His film credits include Wayne's World, Anger Management, Midnight in Paris, Scary Movie, Ghostbusters II and Auto Focus.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" (Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 8:30PM ET/PT)

The audience is introduced to Dana and Peter: young, single and attractive making their way in the big city. Dana grew up in a small town with her sights set on New York romanticizing about the life and love it had to offer while Peter, by contrast, grew up there and feels like he has been there and done that when it comes to life in Manhattan. Dana is determined to succeed in New York in both business and love, while Peter is perfectly content to go on dating his way through it. While it is the streets of New York that offers this duo a first glimpse of each other, it’s family and friends who conspire to set them up. The audience will go along for the ride as they venture on their first date and hear exactly what they really think of each other.

Analysis:

Manhattan Love Story is a single-camera comedy produced by ABC Studios. The series was created and is written by Jeff Lowell (The Drew Carey Show, Spin City). Peter Traugott, Jeff Lowell, Robin Schwartz, Rachel Kaplan and Jon Liebman are executive producers. Michael Fresco directed the pilot.

In the "Pilot" episode, we are introduced to Peter checking out women on the streets of New York. Meanwhile, Dana looks at the purses of various women. They first catch a quick glimpse of each other. Dana talks to her college roommate Amy and her husband Peter about going to her first day of work. They want to set her up on a date with Peter, who is David's brother. After Dana and Peter check out each other's profile pictures, Dana meets her boss and co-workers. Dana and Peter text each other and talk on the phone. Their blind date gets off to a bit of a rough start. Dana mentions that she has a bucket list of locations she wants to visit and things she wants to do in New York City. After hearing about the problems of the date, Amy and David try to convince Peter to try again. Peter later helps Dana cross two items off her bucket list.

The "Pilot" episode provides a good introduction to the characters and sets up the basic premise of the show. They did a nice job of squeezing in many different locations and about 15 scenes into the episode. It's a decent episode and has a few funny moments, but there were no outrageously funny lines or moments. There is a good mix of comedy and heart, but they could definitely use more comedic situations.

They have put together a cast of relative newcomers with some experienced veterans. Analeigh Tipton is a fresh face who I remember from her scene-stealing role as the babysitter in Crazy, Stupid, Love.. She certainly could be one of the breakout stars of the fall season. Jake McDorman has appeared in a variety of television series. He does a good job of playing "the dude" and player here. The other actors really don't stand out in the pilot. Their characters need to be further developed and become more likable. The family set up is a bit complicated. The father has been married three times. The children all have different mothers. A disappointment is that Kurt Fuller, the father and the owner of the business, has only a brief scene. He was very funny in Better with You and brings a veteran comedy presence to the show. The series would benefit greatly by expanding his role in future episodes.

One of the storytelling devices of the series is that we can hear the inner thoughts of Dana and Peter. Narration in shows isn't rare these days, but they have put a unique spin on it here. I thought it was too gimmicky and overdone in the pilot episode. Tipton and McDorman have expressive faces, so I think it would work better in moderation. They did tone it down a bit in the second episode. I wouldn't want to see them eliminate it entirely, but they need to find the right balance and situations in which to use it. If they overuse it, then it could become annoying to viewers.

The series is filmed in New York. It would have been easy for them to shoot a few exterior shots in New York City and the rest in Los Angeles, but filming on the real streets and locations adds to the flavor and authenticity. It's one of the most iconic romantic cities. New York City is really like the 7th character of the show. Dana's bucket list of locations she wants to visit will allow them to go to various locations around the city. Dana and Peter visit one of the most famous tourist attractions at the end of the episode.

Conclusion:

Manhattan Love Story has a simple premise of a small-town woman dating and eventually falling in love with a New York City native. Although the pilot is watchable and has a few funny moments, there are really no laugh-out-loud lines or scenes. It's supposed to be fun to watch people fall in love. Hopefully they show more of that in future episodes. The show does have some potential and good things working in its favor. Analeigh Tipton is cute and has a fresh face. Her Dana character is very likable and somebody you want to see succeed. Tipton and McDorman have some good chemistry already in the first two episodes. Another plus is that the show is filmed in New York. If you want to film a romantic comedy, there are few better places.

The show would benefit from a few tweaks. The inner thoughts storytelling technique is too gimmicky and overused in the pilot. It gets old and annoying fairly quickly. You only get one chance to make a good first impression. The inner thoughts technique could be an immediate turn-off to some viewers. Thankfully they did tone it down a bit in the second episode airing next week. Another issue is that the talented and funny Kurt Fuller is way underutilized. The show needs more funny lines and situations. He can help deliver them.

This looks to be the year of the romantic comedy series on television. ABC has paired it with Selfie on Tuesday nights. They appear to be good matches because of their references to social media, texting and internet speak. There haven't been any successful and long-running romantic comedies in recent years other than Mike & Molly and New Girl. I think they generally work better as 90-minute films. They really don't stretch well into full series. Manhattan Love Story is airing in a challenging timeslot, so it will be difficult for them to attract a large audience. They have a good cast in place, but they will just need more time to develop the supporting characters and funnier storylines.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 2.5/5
Funniness: 2/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014 at 8:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Manhattan Love Story Photo Gallery

Preview:

ABC Family announced the network has picked up its first procedural drama Stitchers to series and has ordered a second season of new comedy series Young & Hungry. But in some sad news, the sitcom Mystery Girls has been canceled. Stitchers is a procedural drama series written by Jeffrey A. Schechter. Stitchers follows a young woman recruited into a covert government agency to be ‘stitched’ into the minds of the recently deceased using their memories to investigate murders and decipher mysteries that otherwise would have gone to the grave. The pilot was written by Jeffrey A. Schechter, who will executive produce alongside Jonathan Baruch and Rob Wolken.

Young & Hungry is an original comedy series where two worlds collide when Josh, a wealthy young entrepreneur, hires feisty Gabi to be his personal chef. Young & Hungry is produced by David Holden, Ashley Tisdale, Jessica Rhoades, Caryn Lucas and Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum in association with CBS Television Studios. Gabi Moskowitz, a San Francisco based food blogger, of BrokeAssGourmet.com, contributed to the development of this project. The show stars Emily Osment, Jonathan Sadowski, Aimee Carrero, Kym Whitley, and Rex Lee. Young & Hungry ranks as basic cable's #1 telecast in its time period in Adults 18-34, and Women 18-34, as well as other key demos. The show was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards for Choice Summer TV Show, and Choice Summer TV Star – Female for Emily Osment.