SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

ABC Family had its annual Winter Wonderland event in New York last Sunday (Dec. 8) and we were on hand to talk to all of the stars on what they're up to, the holiday season and of course some scoops from their shows and past shows! ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas line-up is well into its 25-day run and we are nearing the end next week so it's the perfect time to remind you all of the upcoming returns of ABC Family's original series in January and February. On hand were: Constance Marie (Switched at Birth), Teri Polo & Sherri Saum (The Fosters), Sasha Pieterse (Pretty Little Liars), Nicole Gale Anderson & Merritt Patterson (Ravenswood), Cameron Mathison (ABC Family movie Holidaze), Britne Oldford & Brett Dier (Ravenswood), Keegan Allen (Pretty Little Liars), and Avan Jogia (Twisted). So let's get right to it! This is in a different format from our regular Seven Questions interviews, since we spoke to eleven different stars. But 7 and 11 is a good match!


Teri Polo, Constance Marie and Sherri Saum

Constance Marie (Switched at Birth)

SitcomsOnline.com: We're such big fans of yours! We loved George Lopez and your character Angie. Actually I had lunch with Masiela Lusha (Carmen from George Lopez) last month and interviewed her! Do you keep in touch with all of your George Lopez cast members?
Constance Marie: You did? Oh my God! She's a sweetheart. You know what, I keep in touch with George & Ann. The kids, I don't see much since I hang out with moms because I have a young child and I need all the help I can get. Belita I see every once in a while at the Christmas party and some of the writers I do and we just had such a wonderful family there. Valente is lightning in the bottom -- he is incredibly talented. I was so happy he got Happily Divorced because nobody else from our cast has worked in sitcoms since (George Lopez). Once you get the sitcom bug, you can't let it go. George has a new sitcom coming out and they actually shoot where we do Switched at Birth!
SitcomsOnline.com: The sitcom still does huge numbers on Nick at Nite. Are you surprised by how many new fans were born after the show ended and entered syndication?
Constance Marie: It's sad because if we had the numbers that we have in syndication, we would have stayed on the air and as it was, we didn't get much publicity as we wanted, we got moved every year and the fact it got really popular after the fact, it is really bittersweet. When the kids discovered it, they were like 'when are there gonna be more episodes?' and sadly we had already been off the air for a year already. Hopefully George's (upcoming) new show will come out and bring in the big Latino sitcom presence on TV. So we need one and it needs to be good!
SitcomsOnline.com: So give us some scoop on the return of Switched at Birth this January and what's in store for Regina?
Constance Marie: We have resolved Daphne's legal issues, which ended, you know, federal offense at the end of the season, which is not very good for her. It was good to make her character flawed and her mom and she work it out. And finally I get to be like the good girl and she gets to be the one that has the problems. I get a new career, a new job, a relationship -- a new old relationship. Um and John & Catherine, they get to have all the drama and the problems. Their relationship seriously is gonna have some serious issues and I'm involved of course in those, too. But it's pretty wonderful right now.
SitcomsOnline.com: What are the differences between Angie Lopez and Regina Vasquez?
Constance Marie: Regina is so much harder (than Angie). She's tough, she's hard. Angie was more like a cheerleader, like always trying to find the positive in life and giving everybody the benefit of the doubt almost too far. She had to put up with George, which Regina would never put up with George for not even five seconds. She's much more critical and cynical.
SitcomsOnline.com: What are your plans for Christmas this year
Constance Marie: For Christmas, I'm going to do my Christmas tree and my Christmas lights and celebrate Christmas with tofurkey!

Switched at Birth returns Monday, January 13 at 8|7c on ABC Family! And of course you can catch repeats of George Lopez every night on Nick at Nite!


Teri Polo & Sherri Saum (The Fosters)

SitcomsOnline.com: Teri! We love you! You're great on both TV and on the big screen - what do you prefer doing more?
Teri Polo: I prefer to have a job (laughs) -- on the big screen or on the small screen. I prefer a job that I really really love, which I do in The Fosters. This is the ultimate job I could ever ask for in 27 years. This is the happiest I've ever been. So that's what I prefer--The Fosters!
SitcomsOnline.com: Teri, I have to say we loved you on the sitcom I'm With Her. It should have lasted longer. Can you share some experiences from that and we can't believe it's been 10 years!
Teri Polo: Aw, thanks. Thank you! I know! Don't say that out loud (about it being 10 years). Other than being madly in love with David Sutcliffe and Rhea Seehorn was one of the funniest women I ever met in my life, it was just wonderful and my favorite part of that was the live audience. Cause I love to interact in between shooting the scenes I would go up into the stands into the audience and the producers would have heart attacks because I'm up there messing up my hair and wardrobe and getting all crazy and stuff, and they're like 'shh, you get down here and shoot that scene.' I loved that, I guess it was the instant gratification that was really fun.
SitcomsOnline.com: And what can fans anticipate on The Fosters next month?
Sherri Saum: Oh my goodness, just so much drama and there will be a lot of teen drama. We have to deal with the immediate repercussion of Callie leaving and we just told the woman we want to adopt her and she takes off, so we don't get much of a time to snuggle and be in love in our honeymoon bliss, we have to go chasing down this girl because we want her in our family and she's become a part of our family. So we have some road to cover to find her, so there's gonna be that and a lot of deeper story-telling, getting more invested into these characters. The stories that they're bringing us just topping each other, script after script, so hope you guys keep watching because it's gonna be so much fun!

The Fosters returns Monday, January 13 at 9|8c on ABC Family!

Sasha Pieterse and Keegan Allen (Pretty Little Liars)

SitcomsOnline.com: Sasha, we can't believe you're only 17! We remember you on the Family Affair revival as Buffy. Boy you started young-you're a veteran now! Share with us your experiences starting so young.
Sasha Pieterse: Oh my goodness. Actually fun fact: on Ravenswood, Luke Benward is on that show, he was in the pilot of Family Affair with me! I started when I was 4 1/2 and I've always had supportive parents that's a huge blessing, not everyone has that. So I was home-schooled, I graduated very early but I love my job and I just have really good friends and that makes a huge difference, so I've been so blessed to be where I am now. And I can't even count how many auditions I've been on (laughs). My parents have always taught me to, you know, move on to the next one and kind of stay grounded and push ahead.

SitcomsOnline.com: We didn't see Toby in the Halloween episode. What's in store for Toby in the second half of the season?
Keegan Allen: There's a lot in store. It's a really thrilling character arc that the writers have done. And we can all trust the writers at this point that they do not disappoint.
SitcomsOnline.com: And right now you're on hiatus and working on a play here in New York. How long is that running?
Keegan Allen: It's another two weeks, we close on the 21st so come and see it. It's really intense, really good piece of theater. Critics pick in New York right now and very grateful to be a part of it and it's an amazing show.

Pretty Little Liars returns Tuesday, January 7 at 8|7c on ABC Family!



Merritt Patterson and Nicole Gale Anderson

Nicole Gale Anderson, Merritt Patterson, Britne Oldford and Brett Dier (Ravenswood)

SitcomsOnline.com: Nicole, your character is so cool! It's unique that you're the female lead but your character is dead but appears as a ghost. Is it challenging and are there any positives and negatives playing a ghost?
Nicole Gale Anderson: Thank you! Oh gosh, it's been a lot of fun but it's been challenging as well I think. There's just things that I forget as an actor, like I can't touch certain things or even when I sit down. All these small things that come into play when you play a ghost. What my favorite thing of playing a ghost is that I'm able to fight the battles on the other side that they can't. And I get to battle out with other spirits and ghosts and I think one of my favorite moments shooting was that I actually get to take a lamp and hit someone in the head with it and sparks go flying and everything that I just felt like a strong friction afterwards, and I was like 'take that!'
SitcomsOnline.com: Wearing the same outfit must suck though right?
Nicole Gale Anderson: Yeah, but I mean at least it is a comfortable one, I will say that. But if I never have to wear a purple sweater again I'll be satisfied!
SitcomsOnline.com: Merritt, Ravenswood is very spooky! Give us a taste of what is coming in the second half in January for Olivia?
Merritt Patterson: There's a lot of things happening with Olivia. She's trying to get answers from Dillon and he's being very non-responsive. There's a lot of problems with her mom and brother that they kind of go through the ringer yet again. So she's struggling to deal with that, Olivia is trying to hold it together cause everyone else kind of is spinning out of control so she tries to hold that true but especially in the season finale, I don't think she can hold it together any longer.


Britne Oldford and Brett Dier

SitcomsOnline.com: So what's with this five pact? Do we get any answers soon?
Britne Oldford : You're definitely going to find more about it and that has everything to do what is going on in the town.
SitcomsOnline.com: OK, so ABC Family plays a lot of classic Christmas specials. Name some of your faves!
Merritt Patterson: Home Alone is a good one. I was just saying that The Grinch is one of my all-time favorites, too. I think I've watched that every year growing up.
Nicole Gale Anderson: I don't know if these are considered classics, but I love going the chick flick route doing like "Love Actually Is a Holiday."
SitcomsOnline.com: Can you share some of your Christmas plans to our readers?
Britne Oldford : I'm going back to my hometown and just going to be hanging with my family and we're having a huge Christmas party.
Brett Dier : I'm going skiing and I'm going to wear my Santa outfit around town. Cause I bought one at the dollar store (laughs).

Ravenswood returns Tuesday, January 7 at 9|8c on ABC Family!



Avan Jogia, Sasha Pieterse and Keegan Allen

Avan Jogia (Twisted)

SitcomsOnline.com: Twisted returns in February. What can fans expect?
Avan Jogia: There's gonna be something that kind of changes Danny for the rest of the season. It's kind of a very big thing that he does, a secret that changes the kind of person that he is.
SitcomsOnline.com: Hmm interesting. What is it like playing this Danny Desai character?
Avan Jogia: It's fun playing Danny Desai. He's a really interesting character with a lot of different facets that's it been fun for me to play.

Twisted returns Tuesday, February 11 at 9|8c on ABC Family!

Cameron Mathison (ABC Family's Holiday Movie Holidaze)

SitcomsOnline.com: The movie looks great! How is it like working with Jennie Garth again (they did Dancing with the Stars together and appeared on an episode of What I Like About You)?
Cameron Mathison: She's amazing. I love her and as a person she is very kind, genuine and down-to-earth. But as an actress she's fun to work and watch and she's very spontaneous and super funny. I really like to sit back and kind of watch and she'll have some ideas and I just love to listen to her and it's really inspiring.
SitcomsOnline.com: You and Jennie both did Dancing with the Stars - did you guys share stories or shared a dance on set of the movie?
Cameron Mathison: We definitely did not start dancing (laughs). That did not happen but we had to skate together which was the closest thing we did to dancing. I had to learn how to skate for this movie. And I would say I'm below average.
(We saw him ice skating at the Rockefeller Center ice rink and he was definitely not below average!)

Holidaze premiered Sunday, December 8 on ABC Family and can still be seen in encores this month! Catch it! That's a wrap for the 2013 ABC Family Winter Wonderland. Happy Holidays everyone!

ABC Family will once again start Christmas early and will give thanks with new holiday programming during the "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" from November 20-30, 2013. The annual "countdown" event will include the world premiere of the new movie Christmas Bounty on Tuesday, November 26 from 7:00-9:00 PM ET/PT. ABC Family will also air the network television premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Sunday, November 30 at 8:00PM ET/PT, plus the ABC Family premieres of Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown and Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown on Wednesday, November 27. A Harry Potter marathon will air on on Thanksgiving Thursday, November 28 from 1:00PM-12:00 AM ET/PT.

Other films airings during this year's "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas" include Disney•Pixar's Up, Disney•Pixar's WALL•E, The Princess and the Frog, Christmas in Boston, Mulan, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Sky High, Hook, Happy Feet, Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown, Dennis the Menace, Dennis the Menace Christmas, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Bruce Almighty, Fred Claus, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish, Richie Rich, Unlikely Angel, Snoopy, Come Home, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Nanny McPhee, I'll Be Home for Christmas, and the Harry Potter films. If you're wondering, original series Ravenswood will wrap up its first half of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 8PM following a recap marathon from 4-8PM. The series will return in 2014 after the holidays are over. Remember, the series premieres next Tuesday (Oct. 22) at a special time of 9|8c following the Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode special.

We mentioned that the Jennie Garth/Cameron Mathison movie would air during the Countdown, but now ABC Family will air that during the actual 25 Days of Christmas. Stay tuned for the actual "25 Days of Christmas" (Dec. 1-25) schedule later this week. Holiday season is already right around the corner -- wow! But first don't forget about ABC Family's 13 Nights of Halloween.

Scott Aukerman's Comedy Bang! Bang! is coming back with a bang to IFC. The fan favorite comedy series was renewed for a third season with 20 half-hour episodes, scheduled to air in two ten episode installments, in 2014. With ringleader and comedian Aukerman (co-creator/director/producer, Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis; writer/performer, Mr. Show), the show has flipped the script on the late night talk show format and propelled it into a far off galaxy. Infusing untraditional celebrity interviews and comedy sketches with a tinge of the surreal, Scott engages his guests with unfiltered, deadpan lines of questioning, accented by banter and beats provided by Reggie Watts (Conan, Jash). Each celebrity appearance is blended with mind-bending filmed shorts, random character cameos and over-the-top spoofs.

Season two featured an impressive line-up of well-known comedians and actors, including Jessica Alba, Aziz Ansari, David Cross, Jim Gaffigan, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Pee-wee Herman, Gillian Jacobs, Rashida Jones, Anna Kendrick, Andy Richter, Zoe Saldana, Andy Samberg, Jason Schwartzman, Sarah Silverman, Cobie Smulders and Casey Wilson along with many more that can be seen at www.ifc.com/comedy-bang-bang.

Dads - Tuesdays at 8:00PM ET/PT on Fox
Premieres Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 8:00PM ET/PT

by Skees

Family dysfunction from some of the minds that brought you Family Guy goes live action and multi-camera in his latest sitcom, Dads. The series follows Eli and Warner (Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi who could be having it all going well for them as they own their own video game company. The problem? They have to come home each and every night to their obnoxious and classless fathers David and Crawford (Peter Riegert and Martin Mull). They're the sort of fathers who will walk around the house nude and see nothing wrong with it. It all just becomes a part of everyday life in Dads.

Giovanni Ribisi as Warner
Seth Green as Eli
Martin Mull as Crawford
Peter Riegert as David
Brenda Song as Veronica
Tonita Castro as Edna
Vanessa Lachey as Camilla

Giovanni Ribisi (Warner) is an accomplished actor who has played in plenty of films including Boiler Room, Saving Private Ryan, The Mod Squad, Ted, and Gangster Squad. His career began, however, in sitcoms, with roles in The New Leave it to Beaver, Married... with Children, The Wonder Years, and My Two Dads. More recently, he played the recurring role of Ralph on My Name is Earl.

Seth Green (Eli) also had a start in sitcom guest starring roles, including The Facts of Life, Mr. Belvedere, The Wonder Years, among others. More recently, a lot of his work has been in the animated field, doing voices for series such as Family Guy, Robot Chicken (for which he is also co-creator), and even video game voices.

Martin Mull (Crawford, Warner's father) is a comedian who got his start in the syndicated late night soap opera spoof Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as well as spinoff Fernwood 2 Night. Younger viewers will recognize him from his semi-regular roles on Roseanne and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.

Peter Riegert (David, Eli's father) began his career on the stage, making his way to Broadway, but made a name for himself on screen with his debut in National Lampoon's Animal House. He has also had roles in series such as The Sopranos and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Brenda Song (Veronica, Eli and Warner's assistant) will be instantly recognizable to younger viewers from her role on the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and The Suite Life on Deck. Her Disney Channel credits also include the original movie Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior.

Tonita Castro (Edna, Eli's maid) has appeared in series such as Dexter, Glee, and Raising Hope. Most recently, she was a regular on the NBC series Go On.

Vanessa Lachey (Camilla, Warner's wife) has appeared in series including City Guys, 30 Rock, and CSI: NY. She has also served as correspondent for Entertainment Tonight and host of MTV's Total Request Live.

Pilot Plot:

"Pilot" (airs Tuesday, September 17 at 8:00PM ET/PT)

The pilot begins with viewers being introduced to Eli and Warner. Warner is happily married, and blessed to also have a third family member living in his home. Unfortunately, that third family member happens to be his obnoxious father who always seems to be in the way. Eli has things a bit better as he is living the single life and not having to worry about his father, who has never really been in his life anyway.

"Heckuva Job, Brownie" (airs Tuesday, September 24 at 8:00PM ET/PT)

The second episode of the series finds Eli in desperate need of creating a new idea for a video game to hit store shelves in time for the holiday season. He finds the task to be a bit difficult, so Warner and Veronica turn him to a source that had inspired him in the past: marijuana. He manages to get some brownies laced with pot, but when his father decides to have a brownie for a late night snack, the guys may have found a way to keep control of their obnoxious fathers.

Analysis:

I'm a huge fan of Seth MacFarlane's animated comedies, and I've also been reading a lot about this series over the past few months... particularly about critics universally panning it. I didn't buy into the hysteria myself and decided to wait until I actually had a chance to watch it. Now, having watched it, I have to say that I completely agree. Seth MacFarlane is a talented man, but he didn't really transfer those talents that he had for animated comedy (or even his feature film Ted) to the live-action small screen in this series, for which he is executive producer.

The first episode of the series was almost completely unwatchable. It just felt like a string of dysfunctional family comedy without any real plot. Of course, an unfortunate thing about pilots is that they are usually forced to spend a lot of time introducing the premise of the series, but this series really had a simple enough premise that it wasn't quite as necessary. But it still dragged on, and it was almost a painful 20 minutes to sit through. This isn't even to mention the criticism that the series has received from Asian anti-defamation groups regarding the portrayal of Asians in this episode, and even if that doesn't bother you, I think it is safe to say that it really wasn't anything particularly funny.

In all fairness, though, I do have to say that the second episode, "Heckuva Job, Brownie," was an improvement over the first episode. The plot about giving the dads pot brownies to mellow them out is certainly one that hasn't been overused in sitcoms. In fact, I'm not sure that any sort of plot like that has ever been used (although there is probably one to prove me wrong). It provided a bit of humor, but then again, there still wasn't a lot else going on with the episode.

One thing that I do see as a positive, though, is the return of truly dysfunctional comedy (at least in live action form) to the Fox lineup. Despite what the Fox lineup is now with series like Glee, we can't forget that it was series like Married... with Children, In Living Color, and The Simpsons (which still airs, but has become a lot less dysfunctional in recent years) that built the network. Those series were never afraid to push the limits, and sitcoms like that have been scarce in recent years. I'd like to see more series that push the limit, and this is one... I'm just not sure that it'll work out in the end. Conclusion:


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

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

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 8:00PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

Fox.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Dads Photo Gallery

Preview:

ABC Family scares up the 2013 13 Nights of Halloween celebration, with programming filled with scares and frights as you countdown to Halloween. The popular programming event, now in its 15th year, starting Saturday, October 19 and concludes on Thursday, October 31, features a brand new episode of Pretty Little Liars and the highly anticipated premiere of spin-off series Ravenswood on Oct. 22. The stunt will also include the ABC Family feature film premiere of Men in Black, the network premiere of Disney·Pixar's Toy Story OF TERROR! on Oct. 20, and a ghoulish mix of Halloween-themed programming airing for the 13 nights leading up to Halloween. The 15th annual 13 Nights of Halloween launches an all day scarefest with a mini marathon of sitcom The Middle, featuring all of the Heck family's Halloween hijinks to-date from 7:00-8:30 AM ET/PT.

Relive your favorite moments from this season's search for Red Coat in a Pretty Little Liars marathon from 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM ET/PT, featuring 9 back-to-back episodes filled with creepy text messages and even creepier gifts from "A". Then break out your Halloween finery as the Liars attend a very unusual costume party on a special brand new Halloween episode of Pretty Little Liars at 8:00 PM ET/PT. Watch Pretty Little Liars' Caleb as he steps into a new town where things are stranger than even he's ever seen in the highly anticipated premiere of new series Ravenswood at 9:00 PM ET/PT. Additionally you can catch encores of the Ravenswood premiere at 10:00 PM ET/PT and 1:00 AM ET/PT, with the Pretty Little Liars Halloween episode airing in between at 12:00 AM ET/PT. Ravenswood will then move to its regular time of 8:00 PM beginning Oct. 29, while Pretty Little Liars will return for its winter season in January. View the full ABC Family 13 Nights of Halloween line-up for 2013.