SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Spread the word, Upper Eastsiders -- all six seasons of Gossip Girl are coming to HBO Max on January 1. The month also brings the film premiere of Locked Down starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the second special episode of the Emmy(R)-winning drama Euphoria, the season four return of the beloved Search Party, and the two-part documentary Tiger, which illuminates the rise, fall and epic comeback of global golf icon Tiger Woods. Selena Gomez is back for seconds with a new season of Selena + Chef, and HBO Max is also serving up new episodes of Looney Tunes Cartoons, Batman Beyond and Batman the Animated Series. More classics being added in January include Pushing Daisies, What I Like About You, Babylon 5, Person of Interest, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Everwood, Eve, The Wayans Bros. and the original mini-series Roots & Stephen King's It.

Fox is announcing changes to its Sunday, January 3 lineup following the NFL on FOX Doubleheader (last regular season games) - new animated comedy The Great North will now have a special preview at 8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT, following the series premiere of Call Me Kat at 8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT. The ninth and final season premiere of Last Man Standing will now air at 9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT, following an all-new episode of The Simpsons at a special time, 9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT. The Great North special preview on Sunday, Jan. 3 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) will be ahead of its series premiere on Sunday, Feb. 14 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT), as part of the Animation Domination lineup.

As we mentioned earlier this summer, Old Christine is now airing on CMT. Now they have added two more sitcoms. It's more of the spread of Viacom love, as it is more Viacom sharing. Sister network TV Land staples Everybody Loves Raymond and Roseanne have both joined the CMT lineup (and still on TV Land, too). Roseanne is airing from 12-2pm, while Everybody Love Raymond airs from 5-6pm. Old Christine has moved to 11am-12pm now, as looks like the 4pm hour didn't work out. Reba was airing from 12-4pm, and will now be 2-5pm. Yep, both Reba and Old Christine air on TV Land, too. Last Man Standing looks like is doing well as it will continue to air in early evening and prime, now from 6-9pm instead of 5-8pm (movies air Fridays beginning at 8pm, since new episodes of the sitcom air on ABC Fridays at 8). In late night, usually it is more Last Man Standing or Roseanne from 1:30-3am. Raising Hope will continue to air 4-5am after Paid Programming. And finally, on Saturday, Sept. 10 from 12-6pm, CMT will air a marathon of Last Man Standing.

Peyton List (Disney Channel's Bunk'd) and Jacob Bertrand (Disney XD's Kirby Buckets) star in the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie The Swap, premiering Friday, October 7 at 8:00 pm EDT across Disney Channel's multiple platforms including Disney Channel, the Disney Channel app and VOD. Part of Disney Channel's Halloween-themed "Monstober" programming event, The Swap is a comedy adventure that follows two teens on a quest to reverse a mysterious event that caused them to swap lives. Ellie O'Brien (List) is trying to juggle rhythmic gymnastics and troubles with her best friend. Meanwhile, classmate Jack Malloy (Bertrand) is struggling to live up to his brothers' hockey-star legacies and his dad's high expectations and tough-love approach. When a text argument about whose life is easier gets out of hand, Ellie and Jack trigger an unexplainable real-life swap. As each tries to navigate the other's life, hilarity ensues when Ellie (as Jack) learns about brotherly bonding and hockey lingo, while Jack (as Ellie) has to decipher girl code and experiences a spa day. With a rhythmic gymnastics championship and a spot on the varsity hockey team on the line, they must figure out how to get back in their own bodies before the swap becomes permanent. As they are forced to literally walk in each other's shoes, they gain empathy for one another and learn valuable lessons about their own lives.

The Disney Channel Original Movie also stars Claire Rankin as Ellie's mom Summer; Darrin Rose as Jack's dad, "Coach" Malloy; Callan Potter and Jesse Bostick as Jack's brothers, Gunner and Stryker, respectively; Kiana Madeira as Sassy Gaines; Eliana Jones as Aspen Bishop; Devyn Nekoda as Mackenzie Wick; Kolton Stewart as Owen; and James Godfrey as Porter Gibbs.

CMT has added The New Adventures of Old Christine beginning this week. The Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom is airing weekdays at 4pm & 4:30pm in between the network's successful sitcoms Reba (12-4pm) and Last Man Standing (5-8pm), both also air on Freeform (and Hallmark also airs Last Man Standing, and Reba airs on TV Land). Roseanne kicks off the CMT sitcom line-up from 10am-12pm. The network's only other sitcom airings are two Raising Hope episodes weekday mornings from 4-5am. Back to The New Adventures of Old Christine, the sitcom also airs on sister network TV Land in late nights and has previously aired on Viacom nets NickMom and Nick at Nite. The series has also aired on Lifetime and WGN in the past. Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars in a comedy about a divorced working mom who's juggling the daily stresses of motherhood, work and dating, while maintaining a positive relationship with her ex-husband, which is easier when his pretty new girlfriend isn't around to complicate the picture. Christine Campbell has a busy life - after all, she's prone to taking NyQuil to get to sleep and leaving voicemail messages to herself in the middle of the night. She co-owns a women's 30-minute workout gym with her best friend, Barb, and manages to send her 13-year-old son, Ritchie, to a posh private school, where she endures endless encounters with two snooty, condescending stay-at-home moms, Marly and Lindsay. Her inexperienced therapist brother, Matthew, helps Christine care for Ritchie and serves as her emotional rock. Christine gets along with her ex-husband, Richard, even better than when they were married, but since Richard's been in relationship with "new" Christine" - making her the "Old Christine" - she feels the pressure to take that same leap.

Capitalizing on the Rio Olympics, NBC will air special original half-hour episodes of the network's comedy, Superstore, and reality series, The Voice, on Friday, Aug. 19 and Sunday, Aug. 21 (the night of the Closing Ceremony), respectively. Both episodes will begin at 10:30pm ET following Olympics coverage. Superstore stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman and a unique family of employees at a super-sized megastore. Ferrera is the store's most stalwart employee who holds the place together, and Feldman plays the naive dreamer determined to prove work doesn't have to be boring. Their fellow associates include a unique collection of characters played by Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos and Nichole Bloom, who are overseen by the clueless store manager played by Mark McKinney.

Following the Closing Ceremony will be the first 30 minutes of the 11th cycle of The Voice, which returns Sept. 19 in its regularly-scheduled time period. The preview will pull back the curtain on two female coaches for the first time ever as Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus will take their places in the red chairs next to Adam Levine and Blake Shelton.

The New Adventures of Old Christine is now on TV Land. The Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom was added to the schedule on Monday and is airing weeknights at approx. 2:30am and 3am. The New Adventures of Old Christine was already in the Viacom family as it has been seen previously on NickMom and Nick at Nite...now it is only on TV Land. The network made some other schedule moves, moving AFV from evenings to mornings (weekdays 9am). Family Feud has also been moved to mornings 10-11am. With these two downgrades, Reba and Gilligan's Island benefit. Reba is now airing weeknights 7-8pm, while Gilligan's Island airs 5-7pm (and continues to air 11am-12pm). Everybody Loves Raymond is now expanded in prime and airing 8-10pm. Stay with us for continued updates.

Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries are proud to host 24/7 holiday-themed lineups, showcasing the top-rated Christmas favorites, timeless classics, and a rare sneak peek at an upcoming Hallmark Channel Original holiday movie. Hallmark Channel presents the blockbuster 2015 edition of "Christmas Keepsake," a holiday extravaganza beginning Friday, July 3, 2015 at 2p.m. ET/PT until Sunday, July 12 at midnight. The 24/7 programming slate will feature the network's most beloved original holiday movies alongside fan favorites, including last year's top cable movie of the year, Christmas Under Wraps, Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle, A Royal Christmas, The Nine Lives of Christmas, and many more. The "Christmas Keepsake" event will also feature a summer preview of the ALL-NEW Original World Premiere holiday 2015 movie, Family Christmas (wt), starring Lacey Chabert! Hallmark Movies & Mysteries also gears up for its own special and most impressive lineup of holiday favorites yet, with "Gold Crown Christmas." The exclusive, 24/7 Christmas programming event will showcase timeless classics from the award-winning Hallmark Hall of Fame library and a collection of cherished holiday family films. "Gold Crown Christmas" begins Friday, July 3 at 6a.m. ET/PT and lasts through Sunday, July 12 at midnight. It's Christmas in July on the networks of Hallmark!

Nick at Nite is finally making some schedule changes. They will be borrowing the rights for The New Adventures of Old Christine from sister network NickMom. The Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom will join the Nick at Nite line-up beginning tonight (Oct. 7) and air every night at 12:00am & 12:30am. The series will also still continue to air on NickMom, with airings including every night at 11pm & 11:30pm. Back to Nick at Nite, to make room for The New Adventures of Old Christine, Nick at Nite will remove The Nanny from its line-up. That sitcom will continue to air on sister network TV Land, though. Full House will be extended from 8-11pm, with Friends only from 11pm-12am now into Old Christine. George Lopez will continue to air from 1-3am leading into overnight hours for My Wife & Kids & Yes, Dear. At 5-6am, Full House remains but the 6-7am hour will now George Lopez. As for Friends, the sitcom will be getting more plays on sister network TV Land, that's why it is only on an hour each night on Nick at Nite now. TV Land will air the sitcom weeknights from 10-11pm and some nights from 1-2am.

In the series, Christine owns a women's 30-minute workout gym, successfully juggling the daily stresses of motherhood and her business. The New Adventures of Old Christine ran for five seasons on CBS and was nominated for nine Primetime Emmy awards, winning one for Louis-Dreyfus' performance in the first season.

Home Improvement is getting a new time block on Hallmark Channel. The sitcom was airing from 12-2pm since its launch in early September but the network had planned to air the nationally syndicated talk show Better TV starting Sept. 30. So last week (Sept. 30-Oct. 3), Home Improvement was not on the schedule. Starting this week (Oct. 7) it is back and will air weekdays from 2-4pm now, replacing The Waltons. Not to worry, that show will now move to a better slot, airing four times in a row from 6-10pm (Fridays it is 6-8pm). Little House on the Prairie was airing 6-8pm but will now move to 4-6pm. And with The Waltons now airing in primetime, there is no Movie airings in prime from Mon-Thurs, but the Friday movie remains. The rest of the line-up will remain intact, including the timeslots for the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Golden Girls, Frasier, and Cheers. Stay with us for continued updates.

Home Improvement is a sitcom centered around Tim Taylor (Tim Allen), the accident-prone host of a Detroit, Michigan television program, who is raising a family alongside his wife, Jill (Patricia Richardson). Tim and Jill have three children: the oldest, Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), middle child Randy (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), and the youngest, Mark (Taran Noah Smith). Their neighbor, Wilson (Earl Hindman), is the brilliant go-to guy who often helps solve all manner of problems for Tim and Jill. Tim has two co-stars on the home improvement show Tool Time: the mild-mannered Al Borland (Richard Karn), Tim's best friend, and Tool Time Girl Heidi (Debbe Dunning).

Lifetime has announced its September schedule and there aren't many changes. Will & Grace is missing from the schedule starting Sept. 3, but as we announced a few years ago, it is coming to WE tv this fall. We'll have more on that soon, but WE tv doesn't have exclusive rights. After a movie marathon on Labor Day (Sept. 2), Lifetime's daily schedule kicks-off on Sept. 3 with back-to-back episodes of The New Adventures of Old Christine at 8am & 8:30am. Then from 9am-12pm, it's three hours of Frasier. At 12pm and 12:30pm, Lifetime will air two episodes of How I Met Your Mother. From 1pm-4pm, Grey's Anatomy is back to three episodes a day. Then at 4pm & 5pm, Wife Swap is back-to-back leading into the rotating block of shows from 6-8pm. On Mondays, Trading Spouses will air, while on Tuesdays encores of original reality series will air. On Wednesdays, Lifetime will air Unsolved Mysteries, while on Thursdays they air more Wife Swap. And on Fridays, marathons of Hoarders will air from 6pm-3am. In primetime, we have a mix of movies and original series, and the same goes true in late night with encores of those. On weekends, it is all original series originals or encores and movies. Except on Saturdays at 11am we have Unsolved Mysteries and in the late night from 4-5am an hour of Old Christine.

Highlights wise, we have original series finales and premieres. The season finale of Dance Moms is Sept. 10 at 8pm, with a reunion special the following week. The second season of Lifetime's popular series, Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition is set to come back on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 9pm. Another reality series will have its season finale as well, as Double Divas concludes its season on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 10pm. Project Runway won't conclude its season until Thursday, Oct. 14 from 9-10:30pm. Struggling reality series Supermarket Superstars will have its finale on Thursday, Sept. 26 from 10:30-11:30pm. Scripted series wise, red-hot freshman drama Devious Maids has its season finale on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 10pm. The back half of the fifth season of Drop Dead Diva will return on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 9pm leading into the new drama The Witches of East End at 10pm. And finally, original movies will air Saturdays at 8pm, as in September the stars include Kelly Rutherford, Natasha Henstridge, Peyton List, Gail O'Grady, Julie Benz, Jamie Luner, Bruce Thomas and Max Carver. Stay with us for continued updates on Lifetime and if Will & Grace returns to Lifetime.

TBS has ordered third seasons of its hit original sitcoms Sullivan & Son, starring popular comedian Steve Byrne, and Men at Work, starring Danny Masterson, Michael Cassidy, Adam Busch, Meredith Hagner and James Lesure. TBS has also ordered a second season of the hit series Deal With It, from Howie Mandel's Alevy Productions. TBS has ordered 13 episodes of Sullivan & Son, which airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) and is set to wrap up its second season Aug. 22. The series is averaging 2.4 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery this summer, including 1.3 million adults 18-49. Season three of Sullivan & Son is slated to launch in summer 2014. TBS has also ordered 10 episodes for the third season of its popular workplace sitcom Men at Work. This past spring, the second season of the series averaged 1.9 million viewers and 1.2 million adults 18-49. The third season of Men at Work is slated to launch in early 2014. And TBS has renewed Deal With It with a 10-episode order for season two. Hosted by Theo Von (Primetime in No Time, Last Comic Standing), season one of the series has averaged 2.3 million viewers in Live + 7 delivery, including 1.2 million adults 18-49. From Howie Mandel's Alevy Productions, the second season is slated to launch in 2014.

TBS's renewals come as the network prepares to launch three new series during the second half of 2013. Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black will headline the new game show Trust Me, I'm a Game Show Host. TBS will expand its late-night lineup with the The Pete Holmes Show, which will follow Conan Monday-Thursday at midnight (ET/PT), beginning Oct. 28. And in November, TBS will launch Ground Floor, the new sitcom created by Emmy(R) nominees Bill Lawrence (Cougar Town, Scrubs) and Greg Malins (2 Broke Girls, How I Met Your Mother), and starring Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect), Briga Heelan (Cougar Town) and John C. McGinley (Scrubs). Ground Floor is set to premiere Thursday, Nov. 14, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

It's a new week and our second week of looking at the fall 2013 schedules for cable TV and digital TV. Today we will take a look at WGN America's fall 2013 schedule. The newest addition to its schedule will be the off-network debut of Parks & Recreation. We announced already that the comedy was coming, but now we have the airtimes! Parks & Recreation will air in primetime on Monday nights at 9:00pm & 9:30pm and also Mon-Sat nights at 12:30am & 1:00am to add to WGN America's late night comedy block. There will be no other new additions to the schedule, but most of the other comedies will remain including How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Futurama, 'Til Death and Dharma & Greg - all airing after 11pm. Two series will be leaving the schedule, though. Scrubs and The New Adventures of Old Christine will depart, as Scrubs was a staple for many years. While the comedy airings are all in late night, some primetime blocks will remain from 8-10pm including How I Met Your Mother on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays; Rules of Engagement on Wednesdays, and now Parks & Recreation joins Mondays but 9-10pm only.

There will more drama airings of their older series as well, as Matlock, In the Heat of the Night and Walker Texas Ranger now will also air on Saturday mornings beginning at 11am. Their weekday airings remain untouched, but Walker will now just be twice on weekdays rather than three times, as Law & Order: Criminal Intent gets a second hour on weekdays. View the full WGN America Fall 2013 schedule beginning this September. Discuss what you think on that link as well!

ABC concluded the TCA summer 2013 press tour yesterday (well PBS still is left, but we are not covering PBS). Paul Lee, president, ABC Entertainment Group, announced the premiere dates for new midseason series Resurrection and The Quest, along with spring premiere dates for key returning series, now structured into split seasons to allow for fewer or no preemptions or repeats. New drama Resurrection will premiere on Sunday, March 9 at 10:00 pm ET (a week after the Oscars), taking over the timeslot for Betrayal when that show's season concludes. New alternative series The Quest will debut on Thursday, January 2 with a special two-hour premiere from 8:00-10:00 pm, ET, moving into the timeslot held by Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, following its winter finale. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland will return with its second half of its 13 episodes after The Quest finishes its run, but there is no announced date yet. Continuing the network's commitment to the split season strategy announced at this year's Upfront presentation, key returning series Grey's Anatomy, Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Revenge and Scandal will return in the spring, following their winter finales, with all new episodes that will run with few or no repeats to their season finales in May. The returning series' winter finale dates will be announced at a later time, but the spring returns have been announced with Nashville returning from its winter hiatus on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Grey's Anatomy and Scandal will return on Thursday, Feb. 27 and the ABC Sunday stapes Once Upon a Time and Revenge will return on Sunday, March 9 a week after the Oscars and leading into the new premiere of the aforementioned Resurrection.

ABC also announced their own "Shark Week." ABC's hit series Shark Tank, fresh from a TCA Award win for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming and a 2013 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Program, is eating up ABC's primetime schedule with a special "Shark Tank Week," beginning Sunday, September 8 at 8:00pm. "Shark Tank Week" will conclude on Friday, September 13 at 9:00 pm, gearing up for the Season 5 premiere the following week, on Friday, September 20 at 9:00pm ET on ABC. The Sharks thoughtfully fished out six episodes from the past four seasons. Night one will have Mark Cuban's favorite episode. Night two will have Lori Greiner's favorite episode. Tuesday will have Robert Herjavec's pick, while day four it is Barbara Corcoran turn. Day five will feature Daymond John's pick and the "Shark Tank Week" concludes wonderfully with Mr. Wonderful's (Kevin O'Leary) pick. Shark Tank became a ratings force this past season, regularly finishing as Friday night's No. 1 program on the major networks among Adults 18-49. In addition, the series grew 17% year over year to deliver its highest-rated season ever.

The panels for ABC started with the syndicated series Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which now has Cedric the Entertainer hosting. A panel for the new comedy Trophy Wife followed. The executive session with Paul Lee was up next into the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland panel. Super Fun Night was the last panel before lunch, as then critics got to see a screening of the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot during lunch! Then it was back to more panels, with upcoming Sunday drama Betrayal leading it off. Throwback comedy The Goldbergs was next in all of its 1980's glory. Another new Tuesday series was next with Lucky 7 holding its panel. New ABC Comedy Wednesday comedy Back in the Game followed leading into the highly anticipated panel for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. And finally the night concluded with the All-Star Cocktail Reception.


Finally, The Television Critics Association (TCA) has announced the winners for its 2013 TCA Awards. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, stars of Comedy Central's hit series Key & Peele, hosted the annual invitation-only event, held at the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday night in conjunction with the TCA's summer press tour. The non-televised ceremony bestowed awards in 12 categories to recipients in comedy, drama, reality, miniseries, news and youth programming. Members of the TCA, a media organization of more than 220 professional TV critics and journalists from the United States and Canada, voted AMC's celebrated Breaking Bad this season's Program of the Year and honored FX's freshman drama, The Americans, with the award for Outstanding New Program. Cable series continues to dominate awards shows, however CBS' The Big Bang Theory and NBC's Parks and Recreation both were award-winners, tying for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy.
Below is the complete list of the 2013 Television Critics Association winners.

Individual Achievement in Drama
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, BBC America)

Individual Achievement in Comedy
Louis C.K. (Louie, FX)

Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
The Central Park Five (PBS)

Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming
Shark Tank (ABC)

Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming
Bunheads (ABC Family)

Outstanding New Program
The Americans (FX)

Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
Behind the Candelabra (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement in Drama
Game of Thrones (HBO)

Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
(Tie) The Big Bang Theory (CBS) AND Parks & Recreation (NBC)

Career Achievement Award
Barbara Walters (ABC)

Heritage Award
All in the Family (CBS)

Program of the Year
Breaking Bad (AMC)

View the full list of nominated programs to see who these winners beat out.

NickMom welcomes the acclaimed family comedy series The New Adventures of Old Christine (88 episodes) to its primetime line-up under a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. The half-hour series stars Emmy(R) Award-winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld) as Christine Campbell who attempts to juggle the daily stresses of motherhood and business. The series will regularly air weeknights 11pm-12am and 1-2am (ET/PT) and weekends from 10pm-12am (ET/PT) effective immediately during the NickMom programming block on the Nick Jr. channel. The New Adventures of Old Christine will be replacing Yes, Dear on weeknights, but Yes, Dear will remain airing on weekends from 12-2am following Old Christine. Meanwhile, Old Christine will remain airing on its other cable homes of Lifetime (now just 8am on weekdays) and on WGN America (late nights 4-5am).

Recent additions to the NickMom schedule include the docu-comedy series Take Me To Your Mother starring comic Andrea Rosen. NickMom also recently picked up second seasons of the stand-up comedy series NickMom Night Out (23 episodes) hosted by The View's Sherri Shepherd, talk show Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor (20 episodes) and sitcom Instant Mom (13 episodes), the block's first original scripted comedy series, starring Tia Mowry-Hardrict. We'll give more info on the latter soon. Stay with us for continued updates on NickMom and Old Christine!

Television, film and stage actress Jean Stapleton, best known for her role as Edith Bunker in All in the Family, has died. She died, surrounded by family and friends, on May 31 in New York City of natural causes. Ms. Stapleton was 90.

Stapleton's career began in 1941 in summer stock theater at the Greenwood Playhouse in Peaks Island, Maine. She made her New York debut in the Off-Broadway play American Gothic. Her early appearances on Broadway in musicals and plays included Damn Yankees, Bells Are Ringing, Rhinoceros and Funny Girl. Stapleton's early television work included roles in Starlight Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents, Woman with a Past, The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Dr. Kildare, The Doctors and the Nurses, Naked City, The Eleventh Hour and Route 66. In 1962, she guest starred in an episode of The Defenders with her future television husband Carroll O'Connor. Her 1960s sitcom guest appearances included Dennis the Menace, Car 54, Where Are You?, My Three Sons and The Patty Duke Show.

Stapleton auditioned for the role of Edith after creator Norman Lear saw her perform with a nasal tone in Damn Yankees. Two pilots were shot for ABC in 1968 and 1969, but both were turned down. CBS developed All in the Family with the final cast of Carroll O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers. The series premiered on January 12, 1971. The highly successful series ran for 9 seasons and 208 episodes from 1971 to 1979. Stapleton appeared as Edith Bunker in all but 4 episodes of the series. O'Connor and Stapleton performed the show's opening theme song, Those Were the Days. She received eight Emmy nominations and won three times in 1971, 1972 and 1978. She also won two Golden Globes for Best Actress in 1972 and 1974. After All in the Family ended in 1979, the spin-off series Archie Bunker's Place ran for four seasons. Stapleton appeared in a recurring role in the first season before she decided to leave the series in late 1979. It was mentioned in the one-hour second season premiere episode that Edith had died of a stroke. CBS aired the All in the Family 20th Anniversary Special on February 16, 1991. Stapleton reunited with O'Connor on Donny & Marie on April 24, 2000.

After tiring of the role and leaving Archie Bunker's Place in 1979, she continued to work in television, film and plays. She appeared as a British spy named Lady Emily Farnsworth in two episodes of Scarecrow and Mrs. King in 1984. She played the Giantess and Fairy Godmother in two episodes of Faerie Tale Theatre in 1983 and 1985. In 1986, she appeared in The Love Boat. She co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg in the 1990-1991 CBS sitcom Bagdad Cafe. Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Grace Under Fire (Emmy nominated), Caroline in the City, Murphy Brown, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Style & Substance. Her television movie and film credits included Eleanor, First Lady of the World (Emmy nominated), Something's Afoot, Michael, Chance of a Lifetime (with John Ritter and Katey Sagal) and You've Got Mail.

The Archive of American Television conducted an extensive interview with her on November 28, 2000. Survivors include her two children, actor and director John Putch and actress Pamela Putch, and several grandchildren. Her husband of 26 years, William Putch, died of a heart attack in 1983.

Edith Bunker was such an amazing and iconic television character. Ms. Stapleton played the beloved character to perfection. She was a great talent. We thank her for bringing us many laughs over the years. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories of Jean Stapleton on our All in the Family message board. View photos in our All in the Family and other photo galleries. Writer Jerry Barmash has posted a nice tribute on his Tuned In blog, please read.

Antenna TV will have a 12 hour marathon of All in the Family celebrating the life of Jean Stapleton tomorrow (June 4), starting at 3pm ET. They will also be airing her guest appearance in a 1962 episode of Dennis the Menace at 2:30pm ET.

Our fall 2012 schedule barrage continues today with the fall schedule for WGN America! Their biggest acquisition this fall is Rules of Engagement. The ensemble comedy featuring David Spade and Patrick Warburton will launch on WGN America on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. The sitcom will also be joining local broadcast syndication this fall, as we know (in NYC it will be airing weeknights at 6:30pm on WPIX). As for WGN America, Rules of Engagement will air Sun-Fri at 12:00am & 12:30am ET and also in primetime on Wednesdays from 8-10pm ET. Detailing the rest of the line-up, the weekday schedule from 9am-6pm will remain intact, but the 6pm hour will now have Old Christine instead of 30 Rock. Primetime remains the same, but as mentioned Rules heads to Wednesdays replacing AFV. In late night, 30 Rock will move to the 11pm hour, since it loses the 6pm hour. The sitcom will lead into Rules of Engagement at midnight, as we mentioned. WGN America will be losing the rights to South Park, but will be gaining rights to the daytime talk show The Bill Cunningham Show and encores of that series will air at 4am ET beginning Sept. 17. If you're wondering, the week of Sept. 10 will feature a week of Mad About You, returning from its hiatus, but only until Cunningham begins on the 17th.

Onto Saturdays, the late night line-up is completely revamped, as Bones and Bloopers! join the schedule. What is Bloopers? The classic Dick Clark series returns with a fresh new take on an iconic brand. Hosted now by TV and movie star Dean Cain, each half-hour is full of hilarious and spontaneous bloopers, unpredictable hidden camera segments and laugh out loud moments from the web. Bones will air Saturday nights at 11pm and 12am beginning Sept. 29, as it replaces AFV and Old Christine hours. At 1am, the new syndicated entry Bloopers! will air replacing 30 Rock. Back-to-back Old Christine will follow at 1:30am and 2am leading into the return of Cheers from 2:30am-4am. On Sundays, a second Bloopers! will air at 7pm, replacing 30 Rock. Not to fret, 30 Rock will get both weekend airings in one hour now, airing Sundays in the 11pm hour, replacing The Unit. As mentioned, Rules of Engagement is at midnight replacing Monk. Comedies now rule Sunday night as an hour each of Scrubs, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 'Til Death air from 1-4am.
View the full WGN America Fall 2012 schedule. To recap, hello to Rules of Engagement, Bill Cunningham Show, Bones, and Bloopers!, while a welcome back to Cheers and (for a week only) Mad About You, but goodbye to South Park, Monk, and The Unit. Stay with us for further updates, if anything.

It was just yesterday we told you about ION Television acquiring NUMB3RS, now ION has bought another drama! ION Television continues to strengthen its programming lineup with high-quality content, announcing the acquisition of the critically-acclaimed series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The off-network licensing rights give ION all 10 seasons (195 episodes) of the crime-drama favorite. Currently the series airs in local syndication, WGN America and on some Universal-owned cable networks like USA Network. It will likely remain on all of those when it comes to ION Television. We know for sure it will remain on WGN America (see above) and the Universal-owned cable networks.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent takes viewers into the minds of its criminals while following the psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve the crimes. Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), who channels his inner Sherlock Holmes, is an exceptionally bright homicide investigator with well-honed instincts that match up favorably with his criminal quarry. Likewise, his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), brings an independence and stylish edge to her work that meshes well with Goren. Law & Order: Criminal Intent was created by Dick Wolf and is the third installment of the Law & Order brand, which stands as the second longest-running scripted primetime series in television history. Executive producers of the series include Wolf, Warren Leight, Peter Jankowski and Norberto Barba. The series was produced by Wolf Films in association with NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution. Law & Order: Criminal Intent aired for 10 seasons, first on NBC (six seasons) and followed by USA Network, concluding in 2011.
We will let you know when ION Television will schedule Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as right now it is unclear on when it will start.

Merry Christmas, and welcome to Digital Digest! Our scope of coverage will be INCREDIBLY light for these last two weeks of 2011 (simply because there really isn't much in regards for news this week, and there won't be next week), but we'll give it our best as usual. But we do have something new for our blog reviews this week, as we'll begin reviewing some of the complete series sets that we were unable to review in the past for various reasons (though we'll continue to do regular and complete reviews for the sets when the studios send us the releases in a timely fashion). This week, we'll take a look at Shout! Factory's October release of Barney Miller - The Complete Series. Let's get rolling!

DIGITAL NEWS

Looking for the fifth season of The New Adventures of Old Christine? Warner Archive announced on their Facebook page that they are working on an upcoming release for The New Adventures of Old Christine, but exact details and a release date aren't in the pipeline just yet, aside from the fact that it will indeed be a manufacture-on-demand product. We'll have more on this when we know more.

TV Land wrapped up the first season of the Fran Drescher sitcom Happily Divorced a few months ago, but now it is coming to DVD with the release of Happily Divorced - Season One. The two disc set is to be released on March 6 at a $22.99 MSRP.

Shout! Factory has been rather quiet on their releases for Simon & Simon for about a year and a half now, but the silence comes to an end in February with their release of Simon & Simon - Season Six. The set will be released February 21 as a Shout! Select exclusive, at a $49.99 MSRP.

A couple of weeks ago we gave you the Lifetime March 2011 schedule that will start on March 7, but now they have really changed the schedule and it will start a week earlier, TODAY (Feb. 28)! First off, Frasier is still expiring but it will air this week only. It will remain in the 9am hour this week then Grey's Anatomy will replace it starting next week (March 7). Frasier will also air in the 1am hour this week and then will be replaced by Will & Grace starting March 7. Also as a reminder, Frasier will be leaving national broadcast syndication starting the week of March 7, but local stations can still buy the show separately...it is just not available nationally anymore and is a library product now instead of regular syndication.
Back to Lifetime, the entire schedule is basically changed. Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy will now be only weekday mornings at 8am and 9am. The Friday airings will still be repurposed episodes from ABC's current episode. Then from 10am-2pm, it is now a sitcom block of back-to-back Will & Grace and triple shots of Old Christine and How I Met Your Mother. Maybe afternoon airings will be better suited for the latter two, as they have struggled. Wife Swap is now off of the schedule. From 2pm-9pm we have a mix of crime reality and reality. American Justice and Cold Case Files joins the schedule at 2pm & 3pm leading into Unsolved Mysteries at 4pm & 5pm. Then at 6pm, it is Intervention leading into thee return of Pawn Stars in the 7pm hour. The 8pm hour will be a mix of American Justice and American Pickers on Tuesday and Wednesday (movies on Monday), but on Thursday and Friday nights we have Reba. From 9-11pm will also be mixed everyday, with a movie on Monday, American Pickers/One Born Every Minute on Tuesday, original specials on Wednesday and more Reba on Thursdays & Fridays. How I Met Your Mother remains in the11pm hour, but will now lead into back-to-back The New Adventures of Old Christine instead of Frasier. Back-to-back Will & Grace will air in the 1am hour leading into a half-hour of Reba at 2am.
View the updated Lifetime March 2011 schedule.

On January 1, CMT had a 10-episode Dallas marathon. Now in a last minute schedule move, they have scheduled a 6-hour marathon for today from 12pm-6pm ET. I know this is short notice, but CMT literally made the change last minute. Airing today are the last two episodes of season three and the first four episodes of season four. You'll see the historic Who Shot J.R.? episode and the stories leading in and leading out! Tune in to CMT today from 12pm-6pm!

Mr. Sunshine - Wednesdays 9:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 9:30PM ET/PT

Matthew Perry stars as Ben Donovan, a self-involved manager of a San Diego sports arena, the Sunshine Center, where curious mishaps and bizarre requests are nothing more than ordinary. Working alongside him is his boss and arena owner Crystal, attractive, powerful and highly erratic; Alice, the cute, tomboyish marketing director and Ben's friend with benefits; Alonzo, a former basketball player, handsome and unbelievably happy; Ben's assistant, Heather, pretty, sweet, but terrifying because she once lit a boyfriend on fire; and Crystal's son, Roman, sweet-faced, clueless and Ben's newest employee.


Cast Details:

* Matthew Perry as Ben
* Allison Janney as Crystal
* Andrea Anders as Alice
* James Lesure as Andy
* Nate Torrence as Roman
* Portia Doubleday as Heather

Matthew Perry (Ben) is the manager of operations at the Sunshine Center. His worldwide audience will be happy to know he is returning to series television as the star, co-writer and executive producer of Mr. Sunshine. Perry is perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on Friends, and has shown his diverse talents in a range of projects since the series concluded after ten years. In 2006 Perry returned to series television to star in Aaron Sorkin's NBC drama, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, in a role that was written for him. Earlier, in 2005, he took his talents to the athletic arena as he hosted the 2005 ESPY Awards. The broadcast earned the highest rating in the 12-year history of the ESPYs. He also received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Joe Quincy on The West Wing.

Allison Janney (Crystal) is the owner of the arena and the big boss. Displaying astonishing versatility with a wide range of roles in film, television and theater, Allison Janney has taken her place among a select group of actors who combine a leading lady's profile with a character actor's art of performance. Fans will remember her starring role as CJ Cregg in the award-winning NBC series, The West Wing, for which Janney won a remarkable four SAG and four Emmy Awards. She recently guest starred on ABC's LOST as a pivotal character in the mythlogy of the series. She has also appeared in many movies. She starred opposite Meryl Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Other credits include the Academy Award-winning films American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture), Finding Nemo, Over the Hedge, Our Very Own, Strangers with Candy, Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Six Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection and Big Night.

Andrea Anders (Alice) is the marketing director for the Sunshine Center. Andrea most recently starred in ABC's critically acclaimed series Better Off Ted, and is known to television audiences for her roles as Nicole Allen on the sitcom The Class and as Alex Garrett in the Friends spin-off series Joey, opposite Matt LeBlanc. Additional television credits include guest starring on Law & Order, Tru Calling, Oz, Numb3rs and appearances on the daytime dramas Guiding Light and One Life to Live. Feature film credits include the road comedy Sex Drive and The Stepford Wives. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (from University of Wisconsin) and a Master of Fine Arts degree (from Rutgers).

James Lesure (Alonzo) plays a former basketball player and friend to Ben. James gives new meaning to the term Hollywood Hunk. His magnetic charm, both on screen and stage, complement a firmly grounded personality. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the suave, competitive head of surveillance, Mike Cannon, on the hit series Las Vegas, opposite legendary actor James Caan. Lesure made his series debut on the comedy For Your Love as attorney Mel Ellis, co-starring actress Holly Robinson-Peete. He has also appeared in recurring roles on the hits The New Adventures of Old Christine, Lipstick Jungle, The Division and Alias. Other television credits include guest-starring roles on ABC's LOST, Sherri, Seinfeld and a notable turn as a resolute military officer on the acclaimed series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which of course starred Matthew Perry.

Nate Torrence (Roman) plays Crystal's son and he is looking for work at the arena. Torrence began breaking into television with guest star appearances on several shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, How I Met Your Mother, House and many more. In 2006 he landed the recurring role of Dylan Killington on NBC's critically acclaimed Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, opposite Mr. Sunshine star Matthew Perry. Film appearances include Get Smart, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control, My Best Friend's Girl and a major role in the Dreamworks comedy She's Out of My League. He is a master of improv and still finds time to perform sketch/improv shows in area theaters, including at The Second City Theater in Los Angeles.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs February 9, 2011)
On what would have been just a typical day at work -- trying to get rid of a hockey rink that won't melt so the circus can go on that night, looking for an elephant lost in the building and arranging an impromptu press conference to repair one of his boss's PR nightmares -- Alice ends her casual relationship with Ben to commit to another man. This happens on Ben's 40th birthday, just as he's realizing he doesn't want to be alone.

Recurring is Portia Doubleday as Heather. Guest starring are Jorge Garcia as Bobert and David Pressman as mascot. Co-starring Christopher Shea as Dan, Declan Beaty as kid, Jesse Bean as guy, Eric Winzenried as photographer, Harvey Ruffin III as executive, Rico Bueno as worker #1, Alejandro Patino as worker #2, Sam Brown as worker #3, Gene DeJoie as worker #4 and Peter Navy Tuiasosop as worker #5.
"Pilot" was written by Matthew Perry, Alex Barnow and Marc Firek and directed by Thomas Schlamme.


Analysis:

This pilot and the premise of the series in general is very unique. I'm surprised there has never been a comedy fully set at a sports arena and looking at the day-to-day operations of it. The pilot sets things up well. That is what a pilot episode should do. Usually the pilot episode is not the strongest episode, but it should catch the viewer's attention. And that's what this one does here. It is a single camera half-hour comedy starring Matthew Perry. Perry's character plays Ben, head of operations for an arena in San Diego called The Sunshine Center (actually filmed at the Forum in Los Angeles). He is the one who schedules everything and well does pretty much everything for the arena. They've got hockey games, rock concerts, the circus, lingerie football, dog shows and more...but lots can go wrong at any of these events and that is what this comedy will explore. Ben says San Diego lost their basketball team to Cincinnati because of something Alonzo did, so not sure if we'll see some basketball here.

Janney's character, Crystal, is the owner of the arena and is extremely eccentric, as proved when she makes up a hilarious song: "the blacks, the whites, the Asians and the Himalayans, too." That made me laugh...she seems to be a racist but doesn't know it. The entire team at the arena is pretty dysfunctional. The pilot has Ben turning 40 and he is sleeping with the marketing director of the arena, Alice. However, Alice is calling their "friends with benefits" relationship off. Ben doesn't seem to mind at first until he later finds out that she is about to start an actual relationship with his best friend, Alonzo, who used to be a basketball player and now works for the arena. Nothing gets Alonzo down, he is your Mr. Sunshine type of guy. Ben is not a very nice guy, but he shows signs of some humanity as we progress. The title of this comedy is Mr. Sunshine, but Ben is from that. The title is really a play at the arena name, since Ben is in charge of everything at the arena. It's a clever play at the title. Among the good things we see from Ben is trying to give Crystal's son Roman a job in the arena. He has no skills and is very strange and his mother doesn't seem to care much about him. It will be interesting to see if Ben can make something of Roman in future episodes. Ben is also trying to be more friendly to his staff, as we see in the pilot episode with the head of maintenance (played by Jorge Garcia) as Ben is trying to be more friendly towards him. But is his name really "Bobert?" Ben also has a new assistant named Heather and she is also very strange, setting people on fire in her past and now also oddly being attracted to Roman.

There are some funny bits in the pilot, but it isn't quite there yet. It has a ton of potential and I could see this comedy turning into the style ABC had with Better Off Ted, except this will be more mainstream and will have more appeal to everyone as it is set in an arena (rather than a research & development company). So my overall feeling is: it's a good set-up with much more to come.


Conclusion:

The series will be following the #1 comedy on television, Modern Family, so it will be certainly sampled. That is a good thing because this show has so much potential. It has a great setting and a great cast. It will be interesting to see how much Ben can better himself as a person as the series progresses. There should be a lot of hilarious challenges on the way. The cast isn't too big, so we will be invested in the characters immediately. One thing I found funny was when Jorge Garcia's character says Ben, as we saw Garcia's character say that name all the time on Lost (Ben Linus). That is a nice homage to Lost, I think, but probably just coincidental here. Garcia will be in a few episodes in this series.

I think the characters are all good and it will be fun to see them develop. If this comedy is even half of what Better Off Ted was, then it should be in good shape in terms of quality. Matthew Perry is good here. He may be unlikeable but you can tell he is trying to "better" himself and I think the show will get better and better, too. Andrea Anders is really stunning and Allison Janney will probably be nominated for many Emmy's for this role, I predict. You don't have to like sports to like this comedy. Events in arenas are more than just sporting events, as I'm sure you all know. Nick Jonas will be guest starring in week two as a singer. Tune in Wednesday at 9:30pm on ABC for some good arena fun because the arena staff might be dysfunctional, but that makes for good TV!


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

-- Reviewed by Pavan on 02/08/11

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, February 9 on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Mr. Sunshine Photo Gallery

Preview:



As we briefly mentioned yesterday, Frasier is coming to Hallmark in April 2011! Hallmark Channel has acquired all eleven seasons and all 264 episodes of Frasier from CBS Television Distribution. Frasier, one of the most critically-acclaimed comedy series of all-time and one of television's most successful spin-off series ever will launch on Monday, April 4, airing Monday-Friday from 9:00-11:00 pm ET/PT. This means, Cheers and Frasier will now be reunited on one network, Hallmark Channel. Frasier, a spin-off of Cheers set in Seattle, starring Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin and beloved Jack Russell Terrier "Eddie," holds the record for the most Emmy wins (37), including five consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series from 1994 to 1998.
Currently, Lifetime is airing Frasier but Lifetime will be losing the rights to the series next month. Frasier has been airing on Lifetime since March, 2006. Frasier airs weekdays 9-10am and 12am-1:30am, but starting Monday, March 7, Lifetime will move up Old Christine to 9am-10:30am from its current 10am-11:30am slot, then How I Met Your Mother moves from 11:30am to 10:30am. And the 11am hour will now have an extra Wife Swap leading into another episode at 12 noon. 1-4pm will remain as is with Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, but now 4pm will be the series American Justice, pushing Unsolved Mysteries to 5pm & 6pm. Old Christine will no longer be in the 6pm hour and another hour of Reba is added in the 7pm hour replacing How I Met Your Mother. In primetime, Reba remains in the 8pm hour. Movies/originals air from 9-11pm. In late nights, How I Met Your Mother remains in the 11pm hour, but replacing Frasier from 12am-1:30am will be an episode of Old Christine and two episodes of Will & Grace. And two more episodes of How I Met Your Mother will now air at 1:30am & 2:00am replacing Will & Grace -- all starting Monday, March 7.
View the FULL Lifetime March 2011 schedule and come on back for more on Hallmark Channel's schedule in March (with the addition of Empty Nest) and April (with the addition of Frasier) when it is announced.

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)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
The Fugitive on TV.com


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!

If you didn't see our message board post yesterday, Lifetime is making some midday and late night changes beginning Monday (Nov. 1). Weekdays in the 11am hour will now an episode each of Old Christine and How I Met Your Mother, both replacing Wife Swap. This means Old Christine will air three times in a row in the mornings (10am-11:30am), in addition to its evening hour of 6-7pm. Wife Swap will now move to weekdays at 12 noon, replacing two Airline episodes as that series is now off the schedule. Everything else in the afternoon is the same as it is now. In late nights, we also get a change. The 12-1:30am block will now be a triple shot of Frasier, while 1:30am-2:30am will be back-to-back Will & Grace. So if you're keeping score at home, Frasier is now 9-10am weekdays and 12am-1:30am Mon-Thurs. Will & Grace is now weekdays 8-9am, 1:30am Mon-Thurs, 2:00am weekdays. And How I Met Your Mother is now weekdays 11:30am, Mon-Wed/Fri 7-8pm and 11pm-12am Mon-Thurs.


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 (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Nov. 1-5, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, November 1, 2010

• Tyler Perry (House of Payne/Meet the Browns) - The hit producer is on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS at 12:37am.
• Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Watch the hilarious star on Lopez Tonight on TBS at 11pm.
• Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Catch Melissa on the CBS daytime show The Talk at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres - They both will be on The Oprah Show, so check your listings.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

• Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show/Cosby) - Catch Phylicia on Tavis Smiley Show on PBS, so check for local times.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

• Tina Fey (30 Rock/SNL) - Catch Tina on Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at 11:35pm.
• William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) - Catch Shat on Lopez Tonight on TBS at 11pm.
• Atticus Shaffer (The Middle) - Watch the child star also on Lopez Tonight on TBS at 11pm.
• Patricia Heaton (The Middle/Everybody Loves Raymond) -Watch Patty on The Talk at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT on CBS.
• Portia de Rossi (Better Off Ted/Arrested Development) - Watch Portia on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Catch the sultry Latina star on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

• Andy Richter (Andy Richter Controls the Universe/Quintuplets/Andy Barker P.I.) - Catch Andy on an all-new Lopez Tonight at 11pm on TBS.
• Tina Fey (30 Rock/SNL) - Watch Tina on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check listings.
• Joel McHale (Community) - Watch Joel on NBC TODAY Show in the 10am hour.
• Portia de Rossi (Better Off Ted/Arrested Development) - Catch her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your listings for time and station.
• Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell) - Mario is also on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on this day.

Friday, November 5, 2010

• Tracy Morgan (30 Rock/Tracy Morgan Show) - Catch Tracy on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Jennifer Grey (It's Like You Know) - Catch Jennifer on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC at 11:35pm.
• Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show) - The legendary TV star appears on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Ken Jeong (Community) - Catch Ken on The View at 11am ET/10am CT-PT on ABC.
• Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Catch Jesse on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly so check your local station for showtime.

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!