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SitcomsOnline Digest: ABC Declares Rating Victories for 22-23 Season; Australian Version of The Office in the Works

 Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're in the summer season, and you know what that means--news is light! Nonetheless, we have more ratings news, news of an Australian version of The Office that we won't get to see in the United States (at least not initially), and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• We mentioned last week that CBS was the most watched network in the 2022-2023 season, but ABC had some victories of their own as well when you only consider primetime non-sports programming. (Deadline)
• It's possible that it's 20 years too late, or maybe it's just about time, but Prime Video Australia has ordered an Australian version of The Office with a female lead, but don't expect to see it in the United States as it will be streaming in every country except the United States. (Variety)
• A season premiere date for the fourth season of Miracle Workers has been set, that is, assuming TBS doesn't cancel it first. (TVLine)
• A trailer for the third season of The Righteous Gemstones has been released. (Deadline)
• George Maharis, best known for his role on Route 66, has died at age 94. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Amazon has released a special "cast commentary" edition of their hit Freevee series Jury Duty. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (JUNE 3 - JUNE 9)

• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia returns for a 16th season on FXX on Wednesday.
• Catchy Comedy has a Mama's Family binge this weekend.
• MeTV is getting into wedding season with marriage themed episodes of series on Sunday.
• A new season of Cruel Summer arrives on Freeform on Monday.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: ABC, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Miracle Workers, Route 66, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Office, The Righteous Gemstones

SitcomsOnline Digest: First Look at United States of Al; Simpsons Renewed for Two More Seasons

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• We have a first look at United States of Al, an upcoming CBS sitcom from Chuck Lorre. (Deadline)
• Despite the fact that there has been talking of The Simpsons coming to an end "any time soon" since the late 90s (the latest being that current syndicator, Disney, could make more money off of it being canceled due to some contractual loopholes), it has been renewed for two more seasons at least. (Variety)
• The finale of WandaVision crashed Disney+. (Hollywood Reporter)
• The Spongebob Squarepants character Patrick is getting his own spinoff. (TVLine)
• Fox's Animation Domination lineup is spreading to a second night for the summer. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (MARCH 6 - MARCH 12) 

• Decades is taking a road trip (for an early spring break?) down Route 66 this weekend for their binge.
• Good Girls returns to NBC for a fourth season on Sunday night.
• Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy return with new episodes and a crossover event Thursday on ABC.
  

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Route 66, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Simpsons, United States of Al, WandaVision

SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Looking at "Musical Funeral Home Soap" Series; Grace Under Fire DVD Date Announced

• While it may be an unusually new idea in a world of reboots, NBC has decided that they want to do a series described as a "musical funeral home soap," which we're guessing would be a lot like Glee with a lot of dead people. (A.V. Club) 
• The Odd Couple will be adding Teri Hatcher to the cast as a recurring character once it returns later in the upcoming season. (Hollywood Reporter) 
• The CW has been on the air for almost a decade now, but the future of the network is going to going to depend upon a lot of factors which will be addressed soon. (Deadline)
• The new late night war has put Stephen Colbert up against Jimmy Fallon, but the new competition isn't really hurting Fallon much so far. (Deadline) 
• Martin Milner, star of Route 66 and Adam-12, died this week at the age of 83. (ABC News)
• Merv Adelson, co-founder of Lorimar Television (the studio that brought series such as Eight is Enough, The Waltons, and Dallas to television, and later sitcoms like Full House and ALF), died this week at the age of 85. (New York Times) 

• The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Eighth Season (DVD, $44.98; Blu-ray, $49.99): The hit CBS sitcom that shows no sign of stopping anytime soon keeps moving ahead on DVD (and Blu-ray) with this release.
• black-ish - The Complete First Season (DVD, $29.99): The ABC sitcom arrives on DVD as an amazon.com exclusive on September 18.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:00 PM

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Labels: Adam-12, Grace Under Fire, NBC, Odd Couple, Route 66, SitcomsOnline Digest

SitcomsOnline Digest: Scripted Comedy Under Development at TruTV; CBS Eyes End of Two and a Half Men and Beginning of The Odd Couple; Maude Complete Series Coming to DVD

• TruTV is stepping away from reality a bit, as they have ordered their first scripted comedy pilot, Those Who Can't. If the name sounds familiar, that is because it was previously featured as a pilot on Amazon Prime. (Deadline)
• Mark your calendars for February 19, as that is the date that CBS will say goodbye to Two and a Half Men and say hello to their reboot of The Odd Couple starring Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon. (Variety)
• Marry Me hasn't exactly been a a huge success story for NBC, but Sony is sure that it will be in other countries, as they have already licensed the comedy to air in 74 territories representing six continents. (CBS News)
• With so many other remakes of classic series, why not Route 66? That is another idea being thrown out there now. (TV Guide)
• It looks as if the final season of Parks & Recreation is going to be more of a "burn off" than a "send off," as NBC has scheduled it to air two new episodes each week on a Tuesday night for seven weeks rather than a more traditional schedule starting January 13. (SitcomsOnline)

DECEMBER 9 HOME MEDIA RELEASES 

• Family Guy - Volume 13
• The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (DVD, $229.99): Fans of the classic series will finally get to "move on up" with this "deee-luxe set" from Shout! Factory.
• Mister Ed - The Complete Series (DVD, $139.99): The classic sitcom about a talking horse is completed on DVD with this release.
• Mork & Mindy - The Complete Series (DVD, $129.99): The classic Robin Williams sitcom is finally wrapped up on DVD with this release (also available is Mork & Mindy - The Fourth Season).

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:00 PM

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Labels: Marry Me, Maude, Odd Couple, Route 66, SitcomsOnline Digest, Two and a Half Men, WKRP in Cincinnati

Digital Digest: Family Ties, The Office, and More in August; Route 66 - The Complete Fourth Season DVD Review

by skees53

It's been a while since we've taken a journey along Route 66, but last time, we saw some changes in that journey. The series still follows two guys as they travel across the country in their Corvette, finding odd jobs and new friendships along the way. But at the end of the third season, George Maharis (who played Buz) left the show and was replaced by Glenn Corbett in the role of Linc Case. But the journey is far from over. In Route 66 - The Complete Fourth Season, fans can enjoy the final 23 episodes of this classic anthology series, and see where the journey takes Tod (Martin Milner) and Linc as they finish up their journey along Route 66.

The season begins with "Two Strangers and an Old Enemy," where a former World War II air ace and his plane are suddenly missing. Tom Bosley and Joan Crawford guest star in "Same Picture, Different Frame," where Linc has to protect a summer camp counselor. William Shatner and Audra Lindley guest star in "Build Your Houses with Their Backs to the Sea." In "And Make Thunder His Tribute," Linc and Tod get involved in a farming family dispute in Minnesota. Tod and Linc's car break down in "I Wouldn't Start From Here," but they find help from a farmer who has no modern conveniences. A very young Stefanie Powers plays a reporter in "A Cage in Search of a Bird."

Jean Stapleton guest stars in "93 Per Cent in Smiling," where a neighbor's baby son turns up missing. In "Child of a Night," Tod and Linc attempt to fulfill a dying man's wish: to deliver $38,000 to the child of a woman he met 25 years ago. Linc violently attacks a man for seemingly no reason in "Like This, It Means Father... Like This - Bitter... Like This - Tiger...," but as it turns out, there is a reason, and it has to do with Vietnam. Linc has to fill in for the role of a boxer in "Cries of Persons Close to One." In "Who in His Right Mind Needs a Nice Girl," a shy librarian is attracted to a drifter, but he has a huge secret that would probably make her regret being with him. A teenager accidentally kills his only friend in "Follow the White Dove with the Broken Wing," and things are about to get bad for Tod and Linc as well. The route comes to an end for both Tod and Linc in the two part series finale, "Where There's a Will, There's a Way."

Disc 1:
1. "Two Strangers and an Old Enemy" (50:11)
2. "Sam Picture, Different Frame" (50:09)
3. "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!" (50:18)
4. "Where are the Sounds of Celli Brahms?" (49:44)
5. "Build Your Houses With Their Backs to the Sea" (50:15)

Disc 2:
6. "And Make His Tribute" (50:15)

7. "The Stone Guest" (50:15)

8. "I Wouldn't Start from Here" (50:09)

9. "I'm Here to Kill a King" (50:12)

10. "A Cage in Search of a Bird" (49:41)

Disc 3:

11. "A Long Way from St. Louie" (49:52)

12. "Come Home Greta Inger Gruenschaffen" (50:04)

13. "93 Per Cent in Smiling" (50:20)

14. "Child of a Night" (50:10)

15. "Is it True There are Proxies at the Bottom of Landfair Lake?" (50:14)

Disc 4:

16. "Like This, It Means Father... Like This - Bitter... Like This - Tiger..." (49:13)

17. "Kiss the Monster - Make Him Sleep" (50:12)

18. "Cries of Persons Close to One" (50:19)

19. "Who in His Right Mind Needs a Nice Girl" (49:16)

Disc 5:

20. "This is Going to Hurt Me More Than it Hurts You" (49:12)

21. "Follow the White Dove with the Broken Wing" (49:55)

22. "Where There's a Will, There's a Way (Part 1)" (50:14)

23. "Where There's a Will, There's a Way (Part 2)" (50:15)

Like most recent Shout! Factory releases, this set comes in a standard Viva case. There is a portrait of Tod and Linc, as well as the Corvette, on the cover, and a listing of episodes on the back of the case. Inside the case, you'll find the five discs, with a black and white photo of the inside of the Corvette as the background artwork underneath the discs.

The menus on the set are nothing too special, but they do the job. Basically, the menu just lists the episodes on the disc and a play all option, with the highway in the background photo. The theme song also plays on the menu screen. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

The video and audio quality for these sets has been very much hit or miss along the way, but I think it is pretty safe to say that it has been "hit" for this season. Some of the very early season 1 episodes had some weird cropping issues done by the previous studio that released the series, not Shout! Factory. Since the other studio never released this season, it was really in Shout! Factory's hands to prepare this season for DVD, and they did an excellent job on quality. The episodes are not closed-captioned.

There are no special features on the standalone release of the fourth season, although you can find some in the complete series release of the series.

I really enjoyed this season of the series... in fact, I wouldn't even say that the series went "downhill" in this season as shows often do. I thought that it was pretty interesting how this season seemed to begin signaling changes that were coming ahead in American culture and society. In particular, this was probably one of the first series, especially in this season, to actually acknowledge that something was going on in Vietnam, particularly indicated by the episode where a Vietnam veteran (Linc) attacks one of his fellow soldiers whom he felt was responsible for the death of two other soldiers. It really makes me wonder how the series would have handled the wave of protests and dissidence that really didn't even start until about a year after the series ended.

I'll just be perfectly honest in my assessment of this set. First, I should acknowledge that even though I am reviewing the fourth season, the set that I actually own is Route 66 - The Complete Series, which includes a nearly identical fourth season set (same packaging, episodes, and disc authoring... the only difference is that the complete series version of the fourth season includes a bonus disc). If you already own the Route 66 DVD sets that were released by Infinity, then I don't see any problem with buying the Shout! Factory set to complete your collection. But if you own none of the previous releases of the series, skip this standalone season four release and head straight to the complete series release. You'll have a much nicer collection, and it really isn't a very expensive set. In either case, you'll find that Shout! Factory did a pretty good job (aside from complaints about some of the season 1 episodes), and you can enjoy the journey across the country from beginning to end.

(4/5 stars)

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Route 66 on TV.com

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 2:00 PM

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Labels: Blog DVD Reviews, Digital Digest, Route 66