SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

MeTV's Back to School with Me Stunt; Remembering Johnny Hardwick and Shelley Smith

Go "Back to School with Me" with special academic episodes Sunday, August 27! Bid goodbye to carefree summer days with a full day of shows featuring classrooms, sports, tests and teachers! Grab your pencils and pack your lunch for this full day event reliving all the fun of the going back to school, from first class to graduation. And don’t forget your homework! Make the end of summer a little easier with a full day of episodes about learning, teachers, sports and all things back-to-school on MeTV. It all starts Sunday, August 27 at 9A | 8C!

9A | 8C: Saved By The Bell: "The Last Weekend" — It's the last day at the beach resort and Zack and Stacy are hoping to spend it together. Carosi, however, doesn't approve of their romance. Meanwhile, a secret admirer is sending Slater love letters.
9:30A | 8:30C: Saved By The Bell: "The Fight" — Zach and Slater might turn back into rivals when they fall for a new girl from Idaho. Who'll be the one to have a date with her?
10A | 9C: The Flintstones: "Flintstone of Prinstone" — Fred attends night classes and is drafted to be a quarterback on the school football team.
10:30A | 9:30C: The Flintstones: "The Bowling Ballet" —Fred secretly becomes a ballet pupil in order to regain his form for a big bowling match
11A | 10C:The Flintstones: "High School Fred" — Wilma thinks Fred is about to be promoted when Mr. Slate sends Fred to school for two weeks.
11:30A | 10:30C: The Jetsons: "Elroy's Mob" — Elroy brings home the wrong report card by mistake, angering his father, which causes Elroy to run away with Astro.
12P | 11C: The Brady Bunch: "Today, I am a Freshman" —It's the beginning of another school year, and Marcia panics about becoming a freshman, going as far as pretending to be sick. However, after Mike and Carol see through her act, they insist she'd enjoy school if she were involved in extracurricular activities. Marcia then proceeds to join every group or club available. Meanwhile, Peter tries to build a model volcano on the patio.
12:30P | 11:30C: The Brady Bunch: "Getting Greg's Goat" — After he and his teammates swipe a rival school's mascot in retaliation for theirs being stolen first, Greg is tasked with watching Raquel, a goat. Things get out of control when Raquel proves to be hard to handle, easy to feed and not easy to catch.
1P | 12C: Leave It to Beaver: "Wally's Test" — An upcoming test in history, Wally's weakest subject, has Wally studying all weekend and has Larry and Eddie coming up with a plan that will give them good grades on the test.
1:30P | 12:30C: Leave It to Beaver: "Beaver's I.Q." — After learning that he's going to be taking an I.Q. test, Beaver hits the books, scared after his friends tell him that if he doesn't pass he will be sent to "dumb school."
2P | 1C: The Beverly Hillbillies: "Jethro Goes to School" — Jethro announces that Pearl has sent the family a letter. In this letter, Pearl says how she hopes her son is doing well in school. Jed realizes that Jethro should be in the fifth grade and tells him they have to find a school that day. While driving around Beverly Hills, they stop at the first school they see, Mrs. Potts’ exclusive private school.
2:30P | 1:30C: The Beverly Hillbillies: "Jethro's Graduation" — Jethro is very excited about graduating from the sixth grade. But in order to prevent embarrassment, Mrs. Potts gets help from Drysdale and Diana to get Jethro to miss his sixth grade graduation. She schemes to turn Jed and Jethro’s watches back 45 minutes.
3P | 2C: Gilligan's Island: "The Friendly Physician" — A mad scientist lands on the island and takes the castaways to his castle to perform strange experiments on them. Soon they are locked in a dungeon and trapped in the wrong bodies.
3:30P | 2:30C: Gilligan's Island: "A Man With a Net" — Lord Beasley Waterford, a famous butterfly collector, lands on the island searching for the world's rarest butterfly, the pussycat swallowtail. 4P | 3C: Mama's Family: "Mama Learns to Drive" — Fed up with having to chauffeur Mama all over town, the family decides to teach her to drive. But when Mama finally gets her license, the family is too afraid to let her use their cars!
4:30P | 3:30C: Mama's Family: "Educating Mama" — When Bubba enrolls in night school, the family convinces Mama to join him and earn her high school equivalency diploma.
5P | 4C: The Love Boat: "Isaac's Teacher" — Isaac hides from his high-school teacher; a man tries to please his seal; a wife who thinks she's dying wants to choose her successor.
6P | 5C: The Andy Griffith Show: "The Education of Ernest T. Bass" — Ernest T. is back in Mayberry to get his diploma. He is so determined that Andy convinces Helen to allow him to attend class, but Ernest T. isn't exactly classroom material.

Voice actor, comedian, writer and producer Johnny Hardwick, who was best known as the voice of Dale Gribble on King of the Hill, has died. He was found dead at his home Austin, Texas, on August 8. Mr. Hardwick was 64.

Hardwick provided the voice of Dale Gribble on the Fox animated sitcom King of the Hill. The 1997-2010 series centers on the Hills, an American family in the fictional city of Arlen, Texas, as well as their neighbors, co-workers, relatives, classmates, friends, and acquaintances. Dale Gribble is the Hills' chain-smoking, balding, conspiracy-theorist next-door neighbor and Hank's (Mike Judge) best friend. As a result of his paranoia, Dale does not trust the government or "the system". He owns his own pest control business, Dale's Dead Bug, and is also a licensed bounty hunter and President of the Arlen Gun Club. Dale is married to Nancy Hicks-Gribble (Ashley Gardner), a weather reporter and later an anchorwoman for the Channel 84 news. The cast also included Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Brittany Murphy (1997-2009), Stephen Root, Toby Huss, Jonathan Joss, Lauren Tom, Breckin Meyer, and Tom Petty.

At the time of his death, he was set to reprise the role again in the upcoming revival. It was later revealed that he had recorded "a couple" of new episodes for the revival prior to his death.

He was also its staff writer, story editor and producer from 1997 to 2002. He had three Prime Time Emmy Award nominations, and in 1999 he won an Emmy for producing King of the Hill.

Mr. Hardwick did a great job performing the memorable role of Dale Gribble. We thank him for his work on King of the Hill. He will be greatly missed.

Fashion model and actress Shelley Smith, who starred as Sara James on The Associates, has died. She suffered a cardiac arrest on August 5. She died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on August 8. Ms. Smith was 70.

Smith starred as Sara James on the 1979-1980 ABC sitcom The Associates. The series, which was based on the novel of the same name by John Jay Osborn Jr., was the first bonafide starring vehicle for Martin Short and centered on a small group of young novice lawyers who worked at a Wall Street law firm. It was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. The cast included Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joe Regalbuto, Alley Mills, and Tim Thomerson.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included The Stockard Channing Show, Angie, The Love Boat (2 episodes), Diff'rent Strokes, and Webster.

She starred as Capt. Carolyn Engel on the 1983-1984 NBC military drama For Love and Honor. Some of her other television guest appearances included Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, The Phoenix, Hart to Hart (2 episodes), Fantasy Island, Hotel, Lady Blue, The New Mike Hammer, Hunter, Magnum, P.I. (2 episodes), Simon & Simon (4 episodes), Dragnet (1989), and Murder, She Wrote (2 episodes).

Ms. Smith was a talented and lovely actress. The Associates had a great cast and was critically acclaimed, but it never found a big audience airing against One Day at a Time. It's too bad ABC didn't give it more of a chance in another time slot. We thank her for work on television. She will be deeply missed.

We also remember actor Nicolas Coster. He had a recurring role as David Warner, the father of Blair Warner, on The Facts of Life. He died on June 26 at a hospital in Florida. Mr. Coster was 89.

Coster had a recurring role as David Warner, Blair Warner's (Lisa Whelchel) father, in five episodes of The Facts of Life from 1982 to 1988. His ex-wife, Monica Warner, was played by Marj Dusay in eight episodes from 1981 to 1987.

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included No Time for Sergeants, Wendy and Me, Occasional Wife, On Our Own (1978), Husbands, Wives & Lovers (1978), Grandpa Goes to Washington, One Day at a Time, When the Whistle Blows, Police Squad!, Teachers Only (2 episodes), 9 to 5 (3 episodes), Hooperman, Who's the Boss?, Nurses, Coach, 3rd Rock from the Sun (2 episodes), and Crumbs.

Coster starred as Robert Delaney on Another World from 1970 to 1980. He played Anthony Makana in five episodes of One Life to Live. He starred as Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara from 1984 to 1993. The role earned him four Daytime Emmy nominations. He starred as Mayor Jack Madison on the digital soap The Bay from 2010 to 2019. The role won him his first Daytime Emmy in 2017. He also worked as a producer from 2010 to 2014.

He played John Eldridge in the 1965 CBS primetime serialized drama Our Private World. He starred as Chief J.E. Carson on The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo (also known as Lobo). In 1983, he starred as Dr. Morris Whitford on the short-lived ABC medical drama Ryan's Four.

Some of his other television guest appearances included The Defenders, The Green Hornet, Charlie's Angels, Little House on the Prairie, Baretta, Family, The Rockford Files, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Dallas (3 episodes), Hart to Hart, Quincy, M.E. (1982), Simon & Simon (3 episodes), Magnum, P.I. (1983), Hardcastle and McCormick, T.J. Hooker, Knight Rider (1983), L.A. Law, thirtysomething (1989), Murder, She Wrote (1989), Life Goes On, Star Trek: The Next Generation, MacGyver, Matlock, Law & Order (2 episodes), and Cold Case.

Mr. Coster was a fine character actor. He was a familiar face on many television shows during his long career. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment that he brought us on television. He will be sorely missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Andy Griffith Show, Gilligan's Island, King of the Hill, Leave it to Beaver, Mama's Family, ME-TV, Obits, Saved by the Bell, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Love Boat

MeTV January 2023 Schedule; Party Down Returns to Starz

MeTV Network will be making some schedule changes starting in January, mainly on weekends. One weekday change is that The Beverly Hillbillies will replace Gomer Pyle at 9PM. The Wild Wild West will replace Maverick on Saturdays at 10AM, while Svengoolie expands to 8 to 10:30PM on Saturdays, followed by Sventoonie. The first 2 1/2 hour Svengoolie will be The Raven (1963). Sunday afternoon Block Parties will be no more, but 10am-6pm will now feature one-hour blocks of Full House, The Flintstones/The Jetsons, The Brady Bunch, Leave it to Beaver, The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, Mama's Family and The Love Boat. View the full MeTV January 2023 schedule.

STARZ announced the long-awaited return of the hit comedy series Party Down is set to premiere on Friday, February 24 at midnight on the STARZ app, all STARZ streaming and on-demand platforms and internationally on the LIONSGATE+ premium streaming platform in the UK, Brazil and Latin America. On linear, it will debut on STARZ at 9:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S. and Canada. The third season will consist of six new episodes and to celebrate its return, a first look teaser and photo reuniting the Party Down catering crew is available.

Ten years later, most of the Party Down catering team have moved on, including actor/bartender Henry Pollard (Adam Scott, Severance, Parks and Recreation). After a surprise reunion, the gang find themselves once again stoically enduring the procession of random parties and oddball guests all over Los Angeles. Scott reprises his role alongside original cast members Ken Marino (The Other Two, Veronica Mars), Jane Lynch (Glee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Martin Starr (Knocked Up, Silicon Valley), Ryan Hansen (Bless this Mess, Veronica Mars) and Megan Mullally (Will & Grace, The Great North). Previously announced new cast members joining in on the fun include Jennifer Garner (The Adam Project, Yes Day) Tyrel Jackson Williams (Thunder Force, Brockmire) and Zoë Chao (Love Life, The Afterparty). James Marsden (Disenchanted, Dead to Me) is set to recur as a guest star.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Full House, Gilligan's Island, Gomer Pyle USMC, Leave it to Beaver, Mama's Family, ME-TV, Party Down, Starz, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Brady Bunch, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Love Boat

SitcomsOnline Digest: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Coming to an End; Chappelle's Show Returns to Netflix

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we are hearing about the end of two NBC sitcoms, a new addition to MeTV, and more. Let's get going!

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine is coming to an end after a healthy eight season run, and cast members are reacting. (Deadline) 
• A date has been set for the final episode of Superstore. (TVLine)
  
• As Tubi tries to be more and more like a real linear TV experience, they've now added live local newscasts in several cities. (Deadline)
• Suzanne Somers had an incident with a nearly naked intruder during a Facebook live stream. (Vulture)
  
• The Jetsons is coming to MeTV. (SitcomsOnline)  

WEEKLY PLANNER (FEBRUARY 13 - FEBRUARY 19)

• Chappelle's Show is back on Netflix after a dispute between the star and Comedy Central has been worked out.
• NBC has two new sitcoms, Young Rock and Kenan, on Tuesday night.
  
• Saturday Night Live is new tonight with Regina King, who has experience being on the NBC Saturday night lineup decades ago as a child on 227, as host.
• The Decades binge this weekend is Hawaii Five-O.
• Cozi has a Valentine's Day themed marathon of The Office tomorrow.
  
• Even though it's technically already aired twice, The Great North "officially" debuts tomorrow on Fox.
  

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

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Labels: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Chappelle's Show, SitcomsOnline Digest, Superstore, The Jetsons, Tubi

The Jetsons Coming to the MeTV Network; Lana Condor to Star in Netflix Comedy Series

Meet George Jetson! His boy, Elroy! You know the rest! That's right, Jane, Judy, Rosey and Astro fly into the MeTV lineup on Sunday, February 21. Head into the clouds Sunday mornings at 11:30AM | 10:30C right after The Flintstones block from 10-11:30am. The MeTV Network is proud to welcome Hanna-Barbara's futuristic family to their roster of animated gems. The Jetsons join The Flintstones, their Stone Age counterparts, on the Sunday schedule. The Jetsons originally ran in primetime for one season from 1962–63. Those 24 episodes were enough to turn the Jetsons into American icons. We stick with the Sixties classics, which introduced Jet Screamer (Howard Morris) singing "Eep, Opp, Ork, Ah-ah," not to mention Astro and Mr. Spacely. Love cartoons? Watch them seven days a week on MeTV, with Toon In With Me on weekday mornings and Saturday Morning Cartoons starting at 7AM | 6C!

Lana Condor will star in and executive produce Boo, Bitch — a live-action Netflix comedy limited series about a high school senior who, after years of playing it safe, decides to live an epic life ... only to wake up the next morning and find out she's now a ghost. More info to come. Lana has been a Netflix staple for their movies. She has starred in To All the Boys I've Loved Before and the sequel To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You in 2020 and will star in the upcoming third entry in the series, To All the Boys: Always and Forever, Lara Jean. The third film will drop on Feb. 12. Lana has also the Syfy series Deadly Class and will also appear in the upcoming HBO Max film Moonshot. Is it me or does Boo, Bitch sound sort of like the 2008 Eva Longoria movie Over Her Dead Body?

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Boo Bitch, ME-TV, Netflix, The Flintstones, The Jetsons

HBO Max Announces Lots of News and Series, Including Library Series The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Looney Tunes and More

HBO Max, WarnerMedia's new streaming platform launching in May of 2020, will offer an impressive direct-to-consumer experience with 10,000 hours of premium content for everyone, ranging from families with young children to adults of all ages. In addition to a robust slate of originals, HBO Max will feature a vast selection of titles from Warner Media's brands including library content from Warner Bros. Film and Television Studios, New Line Cinema, DC, CNN, TNT, TBS, truTV, The CW, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Looney Tunes and more, alongside key third party acquisitions. Here is a selection that will be available in our first year of launch.

Library Series
Adam Ruins Everything
Adventure Time
The Alienist
American Dynasties: The Kennedys
Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
At Home with Amy Sedaris
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
Batwoman
The Big Bang Theory
The Boondocks
The Carbonaro Effect
The Closer
CNN Decade Series (The 2000s, The Nineties, etc.)
Conan Travel Specials
Dexter's Laboratory
Doctor Who
Doom Patrol
Ellen's Game of Games
Falling Skies
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Friends
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Gossip Girl
The Honourable Woman
Impractical Jokers
The Jetsons
Little Big Shots
Looney Tunes / Merry Melodies
Mad TV
Miracle Workers
The OC
The Office (British version)
The Powerpuff Girls
Pretty Little Liars
Pride and Prejudice
Primal
Rick & Morty
Rizzoli & Isles
Robot Chicken
Samurai Jack
Sesame Street
The Smurfs
South Park
Steven Universe
This Is Life with Lisa Ling
Top Gear / BBC
United Shades of America with Kamau Bell
The West Wing
Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Among the key news items: HBO Max has secured exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. to Comedy Central's South Park. The multi-year licensing deal was completed with South Park Digital Studios, a joint venture between Viacom and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. All 23 seasons of Parker and Stone's award-winning animated satire will become available exclusively on the streamer in June 2020 followed by three brand new seasons, which will debut on HBO Max 24 hours after each episode premieres on Comedy Central. HBO Max has also secured streaming rights to Adult Swim's Emmy award-winning animated series Rick and Morty in the United States. All three seasons of Rick and Morty that have aired to date will be available to viewers on the service when HBO Max launches in the US in May 2020. Future seasons of Rick and Morty will continue to premiere on Adult Swim before streaming on HBO Max.

New original comedies are also coming. DC Super Hero High is a half-hour comedy series executive produced by Elizabeth Banks (Charlie's Angels, Pitch Perfect, Shrill), which follows a group of students experiencing the fun and drama of adolescence at a boarding school for gifted kids. These teens are just trying to navigate the pressures of high school, but none of them realize that someday they will become legendary DC Super Heroes. Rap Sh*t (working title) from Issa Rae (Insecure, A Black Lady Sketch Show) is a half-hour comedy series that follows a female rap group from outside of Miami trying to make it in the music industry. College Girls (working title), the latest series from Mindy Kaling (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Late Night, The Mindy Project, The Office), is a 13-episode half-hour, single-camera comedy following three 18-year-old freshman roommates at Evermore College in Vermont. A bundle of contradictions and hormones, these sexually active college girls are equal parts lovable and infuriating.

Conan O'Brien and Team Coco will be bringing five all-new stand-up specials to the direct-to-consumer platform launching in spring 2020. As part of O'Brien's joint venture with WarnerMedia announced last year, the specials will launch exclusively on HBO Max and will feature talent handpicked by O'Brien. O'Brien will host two specials that feature short sets from multiple up-and-coming comics while also curating one-hour-long sets from three comedians. In addition to those five specials, HBO Max has purchased the rights to a one-hour special from comedian James Veitch, also produced by Team Coco.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: College Girls, DC Super Hero, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, HBO Max, Rap Sh*t, Rick & Morty, South Park, The Big Bang Theory, The Flintstones, The Jetsons

SitcomsOnline Digest: More Reboots, Including The Jetsons as a Live Action Series?; Living Single Finally Continues on DVD

• It's another week, so why not another reboot? This time it is a little different, though, with a live-action reboot of The Jetsons being proposed for ABC. (Deadline)
• It's become very clear that this whole reboot craze has gotten out of control when a pilot is being proposed at Fox about a former 80s child actor who is trying to live a normal life when he is sucked back into that series when it is rebooted (you may want to read that a few times to make sure you understand). (Variety)
• Finally, we have something being proposed at Fox that isn't a reboot, an animated series that is being developed by Amy Poehler and The Simpsons' Mike Scully and Julie Thacker. (AV Club)
• Most of MTV's current audience is probably too young to remember Unplugged, but it will return on September 8, with Shawn Mendes featured in the first installment. (Variety)
• This could potentially be a big blow to ABC: although current series will continue on ABC, Netflix has lured Shonda Rhimes, who has been responsible for creating some of the most successful dramas for the network over the past decade, away from the ABC and over to Netflix. (New York Times)
• Fox News had a reasonably stable primetime lineup for decades, with just a few changes here and there, but it seems that something changes every few months these days, and now Laura Ingraham may be in line to get her own primetime talk show on the network. (Variety)
• Antenna TV is trying out "block scheduling" of some of their series in primetime, at least for the next two weeks. (SitcomsOnline) 

• Warner Archive has been hard at work trying to get some abandoned Warner Home Video series continued on DVD, and this week, it was announced that Living Single would continue, with Living Single - The Complete Second Season, set for a September 19 release.

• Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Four (DVD, $39.98): It's hard to believe this series has already been going for four seasons, with a fifth on the way, but the fourth one arrives on DVD in this release.

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

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Labels: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Living Single, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Jetsons

Sundance Celebrates Father's Day with Father Knows West Stunt; Remembering Michu Meszaros of ALF and Janet Waldo, the Voice of Judy Jetson

SundanceTV celebrates Father's Day with a "Father Knows West" marathon featuring beloved Westerns, including some classic Clint Eastwood films and the iconic TV series The Rifleman, on Sunday, June 19th at 6:00 AM EST/5:00 AM CST. The festivities begin at sun-up with ten back-to-back episodes of the The Rifleman, starring Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford, followed by Joe Kidd, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven. The schedule has The Rifleman from 6am-4pm, Joe Kidd, The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgivenfrom 4pm-12am. An encore of The Outlaw Josey Wales and Unforgiven will air from 12am-6am.

Hungarian-born actor and circus performer Michu Meszaros, the man inside the costume in ALF, has died. He died on June 13 at a Los Angeles hospital. He was discovered on his bathroom floor by his manager Dennis Varga in a comatose state last week. He had suffered numerous health issues since a stroke eight years ago. Mr. Meszaros was 76.

Meszaros was a member of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus beginning in 1973 as the former "smallest man in the world". He trained and presented a dog act with white Standard Poodles. He was 2 feet 9 inches tall.

He wore the full-body costume of ALF during the first season of the series. Meszaros was used where scenes of ALF walking, running, or standing were required. He can be seen in the first season intro when he walks over to be part of the photo with the Tanner family. An ALF puppet was used for the half-body shots. Series creator Paul Fusco provided the voice of ALF.

In 1991, he guest starred as Mishka in an episode of Dear John. His film credits included Waxwork, Big Top Pee-wee, Warlock: The Armageddon and Freaked. He was a stunt double for Mikey in Look Who's Talking.

Actress Janet Waldo, who provided the voice of Judy Jetson in The Jetsons, has died. She died on June 12 at her home in Encino, California. She had been diagnosed with a benign but inoperable brain tumor five years earlier, according to her family. Ms. Waldo was 96.

Waldo's early television guest appearances included I Love Lucy, The Phil Silvers Show, The Lucy Show and The Andy Griffith Show. She appeared in various roles, including five episodes as Janet, in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet from 1953-1965.

She starred as Libby Freeman in the short-lived 1964-1965 ABC sitcom Valentine's Day. Some of her later sitcom guest appearances included Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Get Smart, Petticoat Junction and Julia.

Waldo provided the voice of Judy Jetson in all versions of The Jetsons except Jetsons the Movie. The teenage daughter Judy attended Orbit High School. The series aired on ABC for one season in 1962-1963 before new episodes began airing in syndication in 1985-1987.

She provided the voice of Nancy in Shazzan. She voiced Penelope Penelope Pitstop in Wacky Races and the spin-off The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Waldo was the voice of Josie in Josie and the Pussycats. She provided the voice of Princess/Susan in Battle of the Planets.

Some of her other voice work included The Flintstones, The Atom Ant Show, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, The Addams Family, Inch High, Private Eye, Jeannie, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Alvin & the Chipmunks and The Smurfs.

We thank them for the entertainment they brought us over the years. They will be deeply missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: ALF, Obits, Sundance Channel, The Jetsons

Digital Digest: The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones DVD Review

Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly dose of all things digital relating to all of your favorite sitcoms! This week, we have a review of The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. Let's get moving from the stone age all the way into the space age!

DIGITAL NEWS

It's been a slow few weeks, but we've got a plethora of news this week! We start with current TV series, specifically current series on NBC. This week, the recently canceled series Outsourced - The Complete Series was announced for a September 13 release at a $39.99 MSRP. Just one week later, on September 20, Parks and Recreation - Season 3 will be released at the same MSRP.

The CBS series Mike & Molly gets a DVD release with Mike & Molly - The Complete First Season on September 20, but it'll also get a Blu-ray Disc release on the same date. The DVD comes at a $44.98 MSRP while the Blu-ray comes at a $54.97 MSRP.

Now over to ABC, the current series The Middle - Season 2 has a DVD release scheduled for September 27 at a $44.98 MSRP. We'll have reviews of this and all other current sitcoms when they are released, of course.

That actually isn't all for the sitcoms, though... TBS has sitcoms too, and now, Meet the Browns will finally get a DVD release. Meet the Browns - Season 1 comes August 30 at a $29.98 MSRP.

We head off from current sitcoms into classic sitcoms now, with The Lucy Show - The Official Fifth Season! Although it isn't set in stone yet, a tentative release date seems to be planned for December 6. We'll have more information on this when we know it. It is not yet available to pre-order.

Over to classic series that aren't sitcoms, Shout! Factory made some big announcements this week, with an announcement of Police Story - Season One (coming September 6 at a $39.97 MSRP) and Kojak - Season Two (coming September 27 at a $44.99 MSRP)

Have you ever wanted to watch Family Matters from your computer? Well, now, amazon.com is offering the second season of the series for online streaming! You can watch the entire season for $39.99 or individual episodes for $1.99. However, there is one problem, is it does appear that the episodes are syndicated versions.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (June 21) has only one sitcom release, with Mister Ed - The Complete Fifth Season, from Shout! Select. Shout! Factory is also releasing Rocko's Modern Life - Season One on Tuesday, as a wide retail release.

BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

In the 60s, Hanna-Barbera brought what could perhaps be considered among their most iconic series to the small screen, with The Jetsons and The Flintstones. Despite one taking place in the space age and the other taking place in the stone, the series had very similar premises, with different families living an ordinary life in a time period that nobody at that time (or even at this time) would never actually experience. In the '80s, these two series clashed together toward the end of the syndication run of new episodes of The Jetsons for a classic crossover movie, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. Here is our review of this set.

DVD Review: The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones

by Pavan

The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones (Warner Archive, $14.95) is FINALLY on DVD and it's a great cross-over movie from 1987 between two of the most beloved animated series of all-time! It's the wackiest animated adventure of all space-time when the world's favorite Modern Stone Age Family comes face to face with the First Family of the Future in a match-up that only Hanna-Barbera Studios can delightfully make possible! Thanks to Elroy's malfunctioning tie machine, the Flintstones and Rubbles are zapped into the robot-run future while the Jetsons suddenly find themselves in the dinosaur-filed past. Can our fearless families adapt? And more importantly, will they ever get back home? Find out, in a time-hopping animated feature-length romp packed with all the gags, gadgets and nonstop fun unleashed when The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.

The movie originally aired in 1987 in local syndication. If you love The Jetsons and The Flintstones, then this is a dream movie for you. Yes, the voices for these differ from the original series, as we have new voices. However, The Jetsons was revived in local syndication from 1985-87, so the new voices are the same people who were in that series. The Jetsons originally aired on ABC for one season in 1962-63. It was so popular in repeats it was revived in the mid-80s as a new series. The Flintstones aired on ABC from 1960-1966 and was popular from the start. There were many reincarnations and specials after that, so The Flintstones never really disappeared from TV when this movie aired in 1987. In fact, more TV movies and specials were created for this series after this movie aired, so back to the original point about the original series voices--it doesn't matter, because there were so many specials and movies.
Anyway, the movie runs 92:05 and is unedited of course. We have 10 chapter stops for the movie, but it is every 10 minutes rather than at the end of acts.

The DVD comes in a movie-style case. The cover art has a nice shot of Fred & Wilma in the Jetsons' car, while George, Jayne & Elroy are in the Flintstones car. Dino and Astro are outside running around. There are some characters missing, but oh well. But the back of the case has nearly everyone. We have a nice episodic image of Fred and George looking at each other, along with info on the movie & set, and three smaller episodic images. Inside the case we just have the disc on the right panel. The panels are not decorated, so it is just plain black. The disc art is the same as the cover art, but the disc art is more zoomed in.

The menu design is good and uses the same artwork as the cover art, but a bit more focused and in an oval shape. The menu is very simple as well. There is only one option: Play Movie. It's as simple as that. I wish we had options for subtitles at least, though. And maybe scene selections? There isn't music playing in the background either. It's all good though, as long as we get to watch the movie!

Video and audio quality are both good. There are some dust and debris here and there, but it looks good. This isn't re-mastered or anything, so it isn't HD quality. It's better than your VHS recordings of this movie, I'm sure. It's the best you can get anywhere.
There are no special features, which isn't really surprising since this is a made on-demand set from Warner Archive. It would have been nice to have some original promos or something, but it is what it is and I'm just happy this movie is FINALLY on DVD!

I think Warner Archive did a decent job on this set. They bring a lot of rare items that would never be released on Warner Home Video, so they focus on the main feature itself rather than bonus features or any other item. That being said, yes the packaging, menu features, the special features and even the audio/video could be better, but this isn't a general release, so expectations are lower. I hope more The Flintstones movies and specials get released by Warner Archive, as I'm a big fan of the franchise. It just seems Warner Home Video won't release those for some reason, so Warner Archive is the way to go! Get ready for two classic animated series families getting together in a wild and wooly mammoth movie treat! Fred or George? Sound off to us on Twitter and Facebook!

(3.5/5 stars)

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Warner Archive

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Main DVD Reviews Page
The Jetsons TV.com page
The Flintstones TV.com page

LOOKING AHEAD

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

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Labels: Blog DVD Reviews, Digital Digest, Family Matters, The Flintstones, The Jetsons