SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It has been yet another busy week with deaths of classic TV stars, news of the upcoming death of a relatively new cable network, and also a bit of good news with some new series for Antenna TV. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

• Warner Archive is moving ahead with Family Matters, bringing Family Matters - The Complete Eighth Season (the last one to air on ABC before the series moved to CBS for the ninth) to DVD on September 20.

TUESDAY (AUGUST 23) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Three (DVD, $39.98): The third season of the Andy Samberg sitcom on Fox arrives in this release.
• Superstore - Season One (DVD, $29.98): The first season of the NBC comedy arrives in this release.
• The Wonder Years - The Complete Series (DVD, $119.95): In case you skipped the deluxe version that came packaged in the metal locker and was only available directly from Time Life, this complete series now arrives at retailers.

Who to Follow: Jason Hervey (Twitter), "Executive Producer/Actor/Co-Founder of Bischoff Hervey Entertainment Television (BHE TV) AKA brother from hell on the Emmy Award Winning series The Wonder Years"

Claim to Fame: We're (sort of) continuing a theme of actors who played memorable characters in 80s sitcoms, but were never part of the regular cast this week with Jason Hervey, even though Hervey did go on to an actual regular role in the late 80s on The Wonder Years. Jason Hervey's career began with a few guest roles here and there, most notably in the final season of Diff'rent Strokes, where he played Charlie in nine final season episodes. Of course, his best known role came from The Wonder Years, where he was much more than just a minor supporting character. Today, he does much more work on the production side of television, and much like his friend Scott Baio, seems to have some very strong pro-Donald Trump political opinions... just so you know before viewing his Twitter page.

Calling all lovers! This Valentine's Day, Pivot is bringing you a special gift: a mystical marathon with the most lovable, yet daring, vampire slayer there is--Buffy. Airing on Sunday, February 14, starting at 9:00am ET, Participant Media's television network, Pivot, will air a "I Heart Buffy," 13-hour marathon featuring the complicated love story of one of pop culture's most beloved couples. Whether you're snuggled up with your sweetheart or celebrating with friends, be sure to enjoy some quality time with Buffy and her gang as they slay the forces of evil all day long. From Buffy and Spike's first meeting to planning their big day, this marathon features episodes about their love story. Take a bite out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer starting at 9:00am ET this Valentine's Day only on Pivot.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, which ran for seven seasons from 1997-2003, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. Chosen to battle vampires, demons and other forces of darkness, Buffy is aided by a Watcher who guides and teaches her as she surrounds herself with a circle of friends called the "Scooby Gang."

ABC has given a series order to Big Fan. The half-hour weekly comedic game show will be hosted by Andy Richter (Andy Richter Controls the Universe). Late-night television host, writer, and producer Jimmy Kimmel teams with Banijay Studios North America to produce. Big Fan is based on the hilarious "Who Knows...?" the celebrity vs. super-fan game segment that originally aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The segment became a viral video success when pop star Katy Perry went up against one of her biggest fans in this hilarious challenge. Each episode of the half-hour, studio-based game show will feature one celebrity and three of his or her biggest super fans. The super fans will go head-to-head to see who knows more about the episode's featured celebrity. The succeeding super fan will move on to the final round in an ultimate showdown, celebrity vs. super fan, to see who knows most about the celebrity. If the super fan wins, their prize is a priceless experience with the celebrity they admire most. No premiere date as been set, so stay tuned for that.

Pivot (which launched Aug. 1), Participant Media's TV network targeting Millennials (18-34), announced it has acquired all episodes of scripted series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (20th Century Fox) and Veronica Mars (Warner Bros.). These critically acclaimed shows have resonated with audiences around the world and are widely lauded for their positive portrayal of women and universal themes. They will join the programming roster as a "Buffy and Veronica Power Hours" block, celebrating the iconic, smart and powerful women at the center of each show. The block will feature back-to-back episodes Mondays through Fridays at 10:00PM ET/9:00PM CT and 11:00PM ET/10:00PM CT beginning January 13, 2014 joining other series on the schedule like Friday Night Lights and Farscape. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, which ran for six seasons from 1997-2003 with 144 episodes, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers. Chosen to battle vampires, demons and other forces of darkness, Buffy is aided by a Watcher who guides and teaches her as she surrounds herself with a circle of friends called the "Scooby Gang." The series was created by Joss Whedon, under Mutant Enemy Productions, and with later with co-executive producers Jane Espenson, David Fury, David Greenwalt, Doug Petrie, Marti Noxon and David Solomon.

The award-winning series Veronica Mars, which aired from 2004-2007 with 64 episodes, stars Kristen Bell as a student who progresses from high school to college while moonlighting as a private investigator under the tutelage of her detective father. In each episode, Veronica solves a different stand-alone case while working to solve a more complex mystery. The series will be made into a feature movie and will be out soon. The Kickstarter campaign for the Veronica Mars movie raised $5.5 million from more than 90,000 contributors. The series was created by award-winning screenwriter Rob Thomas; produced by Warner Bros. Television, Silver Pictures Television, Stu Segall Productions, Inc. and Rob Thomas Productions. Stay with us for continued updates on both series and Pivot in general.

TV Guide Magazine highlights the highs and lows of television in the annual year-end "Cheers & Jeers" issue, which hits newsstands tomorrow (December 19). The 2013 cover and calendar insert were designed by iconic artist Peter Max, who has shared a 4-decade long relationship with TV Guide Magazine. The cover reflects the vibrancy and style for which Max is famous, adorned by television's most recognizable faces. Max also designed TV Guide Magazine covers in 1988, 1992 and 2001. TV Guide Magazine introduces two new and exciting distinctions in the year-end edition: TV Star of the Year, awarded to Scandal star Kerry Washington and Producer of the Year, awarded to Mark Burnett, whose hit series The Voice drew top ratings in 2013. Washington received Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her role as Olivia Pope, making 2013 a break out year for the actress. Burnett's Survivor was just renewed for seasons 29 and 30. His epic 10-part miniseries The Bible drew 13.1 million viewers for History Channel and Friday night staple Shark Tank regularly wins the night in the ratings.

In a year of amazing TV moments from Breaking Bad's series finale to Miley Cyrus' antics at the VMAs to Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra, TV Guide Magazine's Cheers & Jeers covered it all. As a salute to the best and worst of the year's television, Cheers & Jeers is one of the magazine's most popular annual editions. Always a fan favorite is Senior Critic Matt Roush's Top 10 shows of the year. This year Roush championed both old (Breaking Bad) and new (Orange is the New Black) in his list. 2013 also marked the 60th Anniversary of TV Guide Magazine. To celebrate, special "Top 60" lists have been published throughout the year. As a final nod to this milestone anniversary, TV Guide Magazine editors ranked the 60 Best TV Series of all time, with HBO's The Sopranos coming in at #1. Seinfeld sits in second place. I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Twilight Zone, The Wire, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H*, Breaking Bad and The Simpsons round out the top 10.

With Fall 2013 looming we are gearing up for syndication timeslots for sitcoms and cable network fall schedules, but looking ahead to fall 2014 Raising Hope has locked a cable deal for syndication. The sitcom will not get an exclusive cable home, but instead it will be shared with three cable networks. Yes, three! Raising Hope will be seen on CMT, WGN America and the upcoming FXX, all in fall 2014. The sitcom will of course enter regular local broadcast syndication in fall 2014 as well, but surprisingly no news yet of any clearances. That is strange since fellow fall 2014 entrees Mike & Molly and Hot in Cleveland are nearly complete with their clearances. Also entering syndication in fall 2014 will be Anger Management starring Charlie Sheen. Back to Raising Hope, the Fox sitcom also currently is available on Hulu and Hulu Plus, and its first two seasons are available on Netflix. Episodes are available for purchase on Amazon as well.

The fourth season launches on Fox on a new night and time, Fridays at 9pm beginning November 8. So when the upcoming season is completed, it will be heading to syndication with likely about 88-90 episodes if the series produces 22 episodes in season four (which likely it will). Raising Hope is the critically acclaimed comedy created by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia and executive-produced by Mike Mariano that follows the continuing comic adventures of the Chance family as they raise an adorable toddler named Hope. Lucas Neff, Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward, Gregg Binkley and Cloris Leachman star. Stay with us for continued updates on the series on CMT, WGN America and FXX, along with any clearances details of it in broadcast syndication. Stay tuned.

Pivot, Participant Media's new cable network targeting Millennials (18-34), announced plans to kick off on August 1 with the premiere of its live midnight talk show, TakePart Live (TPL). Five nights a week, the TakePart team decodes the headlines, dissects the daily memes and engages in irreverent and spirited conversations with a wide range of guests and with the audience itself. In addition to original series, pivot will also feature reruns of series such as the Emmy-winning football drama Friday Night Lights and the sci-fi series Farscape. In addition, Little Mosque, the internationally acclaimed and long-running Canadian series, will make its U.S. TV debut on August 5 at 7pm. The long-running and critically acclaimed series takes a satirical look at a Muslim community living in Canada who has rented the town's Anglican church to start a local mosque. The series has been seen in over 90 countries, except for the U.S. until now.

The new cable network also unveiled launch dates for its primetime originals including the September 14 back-to-back debuts of Meghan McCain's genre-bending docu-talk series, Raising McCain and real-life docu-series, Jersey Strong. And coming January 18, 2014 will be a new take on the variety show hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (titled hitRECord on TV) who directs countless artists from his global open-source online community – hitRECord – to create short films, live performances, music, animation, conversation and more! Each episode focuses on a different theme as Joe invites and encourages anybody with an Internet connection to join him and contribute. That's all we have that is notable for this network, but should they air any sitcom acquisitions, we will certainly let you know. So stay with us.