SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

CBS 2019-20

Fall 2019

Mondays
8:00PM The Neighborhood
8:30PM Bob ♥ Abishola (NEW!)
9:00PM All Rise (NEW!)
10:00PM Bull

Tuesdays
8:00PM NCIS
9:00PM FBI
10:00PM NCIS: New Orleans

Wednesdays
8:00PM Survivor
9:00PM SEAL Team
10:00PM S.W.A.T. (new time period)

Thursdays
8:00PM Young Sheldon (new time period)
8:30PM The Unicorn (NEW!)
9:00PM Mom
9:30PM Carol's Second Act (NEW!)
10:00PM Evil (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Hawaii Five-O (new time period)
9:00PM Magnum P.I. (new time period)
10:00PM Blue Bloods

Saturdays
8:00PM Crimetime Saturday (encores)
9:00PM Crimetime Saturday (encores)
10:00PM 48 Hours

Sundays
7:00PM 60 Minutes
8:00PM God Friended Me
9:00PM NCIS: Los Angeles
10:00PM Madam Secretary

 
Unscheduled Mid-Season 2020:
COMEDY: Broke
DRAMA: FBI: Most Wanted, Tommy
REALITY:
Returning Series: Big Brother, Criminal Minds, MacGyver, Man with a Plan, The Amazing Race and Undercover Boss

NOTES: The lineup features four new comedies, four new dramas and 24 returning series. The new fall series are the comedies Bob ♥ Abishola, Carol's Second Act and The Unicorn, and the dramas All Rise and Evil. New dramas FBI: Most Wanted and Tommy and new comedy Broke will debut later in the season. Returning favorites later in the season include Big Brother, Criminal Minds, MacGyver, Man with a Plan, The Amazing Race and Undercover Boss.

Discuss CBS's 2019-20 lineup and view the full press release.

Actress, singer, and animal welfare activist Doris Day, who starred as Doris Martin in The Doris Day Show, has died. She died on May 13 in Carmel Valley Village, California, after contracting pneumonia. Ms. Day was 97.

Day starred as Doris Martin in the 1968-1973 CBS sitcom The Doris Day Show. The series ran for 5 seasons and 128 episodes. Doris Martin was a widow with two young sons, Billy (Philip Brown) and Toby (Todd Starke, credited as Tod Starke in the series). She moved her family from New York City to her father's rural ranch in Cotina in Mill Valley, California. She worked as a secretary at Today's World magazine in San Francisco. The cast in the first three seasons included Denver Pyle (1968-1970), Fran Ryan (1968), James Hampton (1968-1969), Naomi Stevens (1968-1969), Rose Marie (1969-1971), McLean Stevenson (1969-1971), Paul Smith (1969-1971), Kaye Ballard (1970-1971) and Bernie Kopell (1970-1971). Day performed the series theme song Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1969 for the role.

The format of the series changed drastically in the fourth season. Doris Martin continued to work for Today's World. She was now a carefree, single full-time staff writer. Her children and most of the characters from the previous seasons never appeared or were mentioned again. The cast in seasons four and five included John Dehner (1971-1973) as her new editor Cy Bennett, Jackie Joseph (1971-1973) as Jackie Parker, Doris' friend and Cy's secretary, and Peter Lawford (1971-1973) as Dr. Peter Lawrence, a boyfriend of Doris. Day also served as an executive producer on the series for the 1972-1973 season.

Day appeared in 39 feature films released between 1948 and 1968. She made her feature film debut in Romance on the High Seas in 1948. In 1953, she starred in the hit musical Calamity Jane. Her song Secret Love won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Some of her other film credits included I'll See You in My Dreams, Love Me or Leave Me, The Man Who Knew Too Much (she sang Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be) which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song), Pillow Talk (Academy Award-nominated for Best Actress), Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Move Over Darling, The Thrill of It All, Do Not Disturb, Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? and With Six You Get Eggroll.

She began her career as a big band singer in 1939. Her first hit recording was Sentimental Journey with Les Brown & His Band of Renown in 1945. She recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967 during her solo career. Her 29th studio album, My Heart, was released in 2011. She received three Grammy Hall of Fame Awards, in 1998, 1999 and 2012, for her recordings of Sentimental Journey, Secret Love, and Que Sera, Sera, respectively. She received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and a Legend Award from the Society of Singers in 2010.

Day largely retired from acting after The Doris Day Show ended in 1973. She hosted her own television talk show Doris Day's Best Friends on CBN in 1985-1986.

She was well known for her work as an animal welfare activist for many years. She founded the Doris Day Pet Foundation 1978, which is now the Doris Day Animal Foundation (DDAF). She formed the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) in 1987. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work in the entertainment industry and for her work on the behalf of animals.

Ms. Day was a woman of many talents as an actress, singer and animal welfare activist. She was a real sweetheart and a true Hollywood legend. We thank her for the many hours of entertainment she brought us during her career. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our The Doris Day Show message board. View photos in our galleries.

DECADES TV Network will honor the life and career of late Hollywood legend Doris Day with a weekend binge of The Doris Day Show. Starting Saturday, May 25 at 1:00PM ET, DECADES will present 68 episodes of the beloved sitcom airing back to back through Monday, May 27 at 7:00AM ET.

Remembered for its ever-changing premise and cast, the cheery series served as the legend's last major on screen performance. Originally formatted as a rural, family-centric sitcom with Day in the role of a widowed mother of two young sons, the series changed abruptly in Season 4 as Day took on the role of a single, career woman in an attempt to keep up with changing audience sensibilities of the early 1970s.

Viewers can see the complete schedule and find out where to watch by visiting www.decades.com .

We have news on another tribute marathon. DECADES TV Network will honor the he life and career of the late actress Peggy Lipton with a weekend binge of The Mod Squad. Starting Saturday, May 18 at 1:00PM ET, DECADES will present 42 episodes of the groundbreaking series airing back to back through Monday, May 20 at 7:00AM ET.

In 1968, Lipton, a former teen model, landed the role of street-savvy Julia Barnes on The Mod Squad and was catapulted into stardom, becoming the "It Girl" of the early 1970s with her authentic vibrancy, fresh take on the character, and of course, her signature long blond hair and hippie-chic style. Also starring Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III, The Mod Squad is remembered for being a modern riff on the police drama genre, attempting to reach a new, young audience who was turning off their parents' TV in favor of current movies, music and social movements. The formula of a young, interracial cast of outsiders taking on the establishment worked, and the show was a hit. At the time executive producer Aaron Spelling was quoted, "We're telling it like it is. Somebody has to help adults understand young people. They've got so many hang-ups and nobody seems to care. Love is the answer. Those hippies are right. Those kids are so totally involved with life, they've involved me."

Over five seasons, the series tackled hard-hitting, socially relevant issues in a new and more realistic way for TV, ranging from drugs and domestic violence, to police brutality and even complex aspects of the Vietnam War. Lipton earned four Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in 1971.

In 1974, Lipton married prolific music producer Quincy Jones and soon gave birth to two daughters, Kidada and Rashida Jones. Following their 1989 divorce, Lipton returned to the small screen in the role of Norma Jennings in cult hit Twin Peaks. Lipton's most recent credits include films When in Rome and A Dog's Purpose and appearances on TV series Alias, Crash, House of Lies and the Twin Peaks 2017 revival.

Viewers can see the complete schedule and find out where to watch by visiting www.decades.com .

Emmy-winning actor and comedian Tim Conway, who starred in McHale's Navy and The Carol Burnett Show, has died. He died from complications of normal pressure hydrocephalus on May 14 in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Conway was 85.

Conway's first television starring role was as Ensign Charles Beaumont Parker in the 1962-1966 ABC sitcom McHale's Navy. Ensign Charles Parker was the bumbling, naive Executive Officer of the World War II PT-73. The series also starred Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn, Carl Ballantine, Gary Vinson, Bob Hastings, Billy Sands, Edson Stroll, Jane Dulo (1962-1964), Gavin MacLeod (1962-1964), John Wright (1964-1966) and Yoshio Yoda. Conway wrote the story for one episode in 1963. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor for the role in 1963. He also appeared in the 1964 film McHale's Navy and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force in 1965.

He next starred in the short-lived 1967 ABC western sitcom Rango. Rango was an incompetent Texas Ranger who was assigned to Deep Wells Ranger Station, the quietest post in the state. The series also starred Guy Marks and Norman Alden.

Conway reunited with Joe Flynn in the short-lived 1970 CBS sitcom The Tim Conway Show. He played Spud Barrett, the well-meaning but bumbling chief pilot – in fact, the only pilot – and part-owner of Triple A Airlines, a charter airline based at Crawford Airfield in Los Angeles, California. The series also starred Anne Seymour, Johnnie Collins III, Emily Banks, Fabian Dean and Dennis Robertson.

Conway was a frequent guest on the CBS variety/sketch comedy series The Carol Burnett Show for the show's first eight seasons from 1967 to 1975. He became a regular on the series starting with the 1975-1976 season. His memorable characters included The Oldest Man and Mr. Tudball. He won four Emmy Awards for his work on the series: three for his performances in 1973, 1977 and 1978 and one for writing for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy-Variety or Music Series in 1978. The popular series also starred Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman (1967-1977), Lyle Waggoner (1967-1974) and Vicki Lawrence. Conway returned for the short-lived 1979 ABC variety/sketch comedy series Carol Burnett & Company.

He hosted the short-lived 1970 CBS variety/sketch comedy series The Tim Conway Comedy Hour. He guest starred in Turn-On, which aired for a single episode on ABC on February 5, 1969. He made guest appearances in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in 1970 and 1971. Conway starred in variety/sketch comedy series The Tim Conway Show, which ran for two seasons on CBS from 1980 to 1981. He starred in the 1990 ABC comedy reality series Tim Conway's Funny America. In 2003, he starred as Mr. Henderson in The WB short-lived sketch comedy series On the Spot.

Conway starred as Ace Crawford in the short-lived 1983 CBS sitcom Ace Crawford, Private Eye. Ace Crawford was a trench-coated private detective who always solves the case and catches the bad guy, despite his constant bumbling. The series also starred Joe Regalbuto, Billy Barty, Shera Danese, Bill Henderson and Dick Christie. Conway created and produced the series.

He had a recurring role as Tom Warner in seven episodes of the CBS sitcom Yes, Dear from 2001 to 2005. Vicki Lawrence played his wife, Natalie Warner. He received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Kenny in a 1996 episode of Coach titled The Gardener and for his role as Bucky Bright in the 2008 30 Rock episode titled Subway Hero. Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Newhart, The Golden Palace, Cybill, Married with Children (as Ephraim Wanker in four episodes), The Larry Sanders Show, Cosby, Suddenly Susan, The Drew Carey Show, Mad About You and Hot in Cleveland.

Conway was also known for his voice work. He was the voice of Barnacle Boy in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. Some of his other voice credits included The Simpsons, Hercules, Lloyd in Space, The Wild Thornberrys, What's New, Scooby-Doo?, The Proud Family, Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!, and Dragons: Riders of Berk.

He co-starred with Don Knotts in the films The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The Prize Fighter and The Private Eyes. Some of his other feature film credits included The World's Greatest Athlete, Gus, The Shaggy D.A., The Billion Dollar Hobo, The Longshot, Dear God and Air Bud: Golden Receiver. He starred as the title character in the Dorf series of comedy films.

Mr. Conway was a comedic genius. He was so funny in McHale's Navy and The Carol Burnett Show. He made everything he appeared in much funnier and better. We thank him for the many laughs and hours of entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our McHale's Navy message board. View photos in our galleries.

To celebrate the comedic genius of Tim Conway, MeTV is proud to present select episodes of The Carol Burnett Show that spotlight his iconic characters and trademark brand of humor. Though Conway is one of the faces most associated with the pioneering 1967–78 sketch comedy series, he did not become a regular on The Carol Burnett Show until the 1975–76 season. Up to that point, Conway was merely a frequent guest and friend of the show. By then, he had already crafted and introduced the world to hilarious characters like Mr. Tudball and the Oldest Man.

Tune in Monday through Friday next week, May 20–24, to revisit these side-splitting comedy sketches as MeTV Remembers Tim Conway. These special episodes of The Carol Burnett Show will air in the show's regular time slot, weeknights at 11PM | 10C.

Here are the Conway gems you will see.

Monday, May 20
11PM | 10C
"Guest Steve Lawrence"
Season 4, episode 3
Mr. Tudball (Tim Conway) tries to teach Mrs. Wiggins how to use an intercom.

Tuesday, May 21
11PM | 10C
"Guest Bernadette Peters"
Season 6, episode 21
In a reprise of his famous Dentist sketch, Tim has another mishap with novocaine.

Wednesday, May 22
11PM | 10C
"Guest Tim Conway"
Season 3, episode 7
Harvey Korman gets his grandfather clock fixed by the Oldest Man (Conway).

Thursday, May 23
11PM | 10C
"Guest Jim Nabors"
Season 3, episode 15
The Queen and King try to give their Hollow soldier (Conway) a blue pony.

Friday, May 24
11PM | 10C
"Guests Tim Conway and Valerie Harper"
Season 1, episode 16
Harvey's house is on fire, and the Oldest Man comes to his rescue.

In memory of beloved funny man Tim Conway, who died Tuesday at age 85, getTV will air four episodes of Married with Children featuring Conway on Sunday, May 19 beginning at 12 Midnight ET. Conway portrayed farmer Ephraim Wanker, father of Peg Bundy (Katey Sagal) in the four episodes from the long-running comedy series’ 10th season (1995-1996): Guess Who’s Coming to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner; Bearly Men; Love Conquers Al; and The Joke’s on Al.

Antenna TV will have a McHale's Navy marathon (26 episodes) on Sunday from 9AM to 10PM. Conway's August 10, 1979, appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson will follow.

The classic sitcom Room 222 is now on ASPiRE, airing every weekday morning at 7:00am & 7:30am. The sitcom is leading into another classic late '60s comedy, Julia, from 8-9am. ASPiRE also airs The Flip Wilson Show, Soul Food and The Mod Squad. In Room 222, Pete Dixon is a dedicated and popular history teacher who fights the good fight on the side of his students. Joining him in his idealistic approach to education are guidance counselor Liz McIntyre and student teacher Alice Johnson. Experienced and slightly world-weary principal Seymour Kaufman provides a balance to the youthful idealism of the 60s cultural revolution but at the end of the day everyone is on the side of the students.

Actor Mike Minor, who starred as Steve Elliott in Petticoat Junction, has died. He died in New York City on January 28. Mr. Minor was 75.

Minor appeared as Steve Elliott in over 100 episodes of Petticoat Junction from 1966-1970. He joined the cast in the second episode of the fourth season. His character was a pilot who crashed his airplane in Hooterville when he is distracted by the sight of the Bradley sisters swimming in the Hooterville Cannonball's water tower. After being nursed back to health by the Bradley girls, he became romantically involved with Betty Jo (Linda Kaye Henning). The characters were married in in the fifth season. They had a daughter, Kathy Jo Elliott, in the sixth season. Minor was married to Linda Kaye Henning in real life from 1968-1973. He was interviewed for the "The History of Hooterville" and the "Paul Henning & The Hillbillies" DVD special features in 2005.

His sitcom guest appearances included eight episodes of My Three Sons (he was the son of executive producer Don Fedderson) and eight episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. Some of his other television guest appearances included The Lieutenant, CHiPs, Vega$ and L.A. Law. He performed the theme song, "Primrose Lane," on the first season of Henry Fonda'a The Smith Family in 1971.

He was later known for his work on daytime television. He appeared as Brandon Kingsley on All My Children from 1980-1981 and as Dr. Royal Dunning on Another World from 1983-1984. He also had brief roles on The Edge of Night and As the World Turns.

Survivors include his wife, Marilyn Minor, and a son, John, with his first wife Monyeen Rae Martini.

Mr. Minor was a talented actor and a fine singer. His singing skills were showcased in many Petticoat Junction episodes. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our Petticoat Junction message board. View photos in our galleries.

The MeTV Network will be running a tribute to Mike Minor the rest of this week, during the regular Petticoat Junction airing at 6:30am. Here's the list of episodes airing:

Tuesday: How Bugged Was My Valley
Wednesday: Love Rears Its Ugly Head
Thursday: Steve, The Apple Polisher
Friday: Steve's Ol' Buddy

ASPiRE has acquired all five seasons (124 episodes) of cool crime drama series The Mod Squad. The series will debut Monday, January 4, launching "Mod Squad Mondays" from 2 to 8pm EST. All three members of The Mod Squad were on probation when they were recruited for a special "Youth Squad" to infiltrate the counterculture and ferret out criminals. The series stars Michael Cole (Mr. Brooks) as Pete Cochran, Peggy Lipton (Psych) as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III (Lee Daniels' The Butler, American Gangster) as Linc Hayes and the late Tige Andrews as Captain Adam Greer. Cole, Lipton and Williams were billed as the hippest cops on TV. The series premiered on ABC in 1968 and earned six Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe nominations (including one win). A 1970 episode, "Mother of Sorrow," was ranked #95 on TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time."

ASPiRE also announced it has acquired all five seasons (74 episodes) of the critically acclaimed family drama series Soul Food. The award-winning series reunites the Joseph family and a talented, eclectic ensemble cast starring Malinda Williams (UP's A Baby for Christmas, Girlfriend's Getaway) as Tracy "Bird" Van Adams, Vanessa Williams (UP's Raising Izzie), as Maxine Chadway, Nicole Ari Parker (Rosewood, Murder in the First) as Teri Joseph, Rockmond Dunbar (Sons of Anarchy, The Mentalist) as Kenny Chadway, Darrin Dewitt Henson (UP's In the Meantime) as Lem Van Adams, Boris Kodjoe (Real Husbands of Hollywood, The Last Man on Earth) as Damon Carter and Aaron Meeks (Crossing Jordan) as Ahmad Chadway. Soul Food will premiere on ASPiRE with a three day New Years weekend marathon beginning at noon EST on Friday, January 1.

ASPiRE will support the premiere of Soul Food with a multi-level social media campaign that will include a family photo contest, pop-up facts and trivia about the series, Facebook ads, #FoodfortheSoul countdown menus, a special pre-holiday email blast, "Soul Food Sunday Recipes" shared weekly on the network's social media platforms, and a Soul Food countdown clock and quiz on ASPiRE.tv.

Syfy will take viewers into a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity during its 21st annual New Year's Eve The Twilight Zone marathon, which will air all 156 episodes of Rod Serling's legendary TV series in chronological order and in HD for the first time ever on the channel. The 87-hour marathon will begin Wednesday, December 30 at 7PM (ET/PT), concluding Sunday, January 3 at 12PM. The only interruption will be the telecast of WWE SmackDown(R) on Thursday, December 31 from 8-10PM. Among The Twilight Zone fan favorites will be Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (starring William Shatner); The Encounter (starring George Takei); Time Enough At Last; Living Doll; To Serve Man and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.

Welcome to Digital Digest! As we mentioned last week, we're working on revamping this weekly feature into something new, and we hope to have that very soon! In the meantime, we're back with our abridged version of Digital Digest with all of your news, a preview of Tuesday's releases, and our Follow Me feature. Let's get going!


DIGITAL NEWS

Warner Archive seems to be one of our few sources of "good news" on the classic TV front lately, typically delivering the news on the date that the product ships... and this week, the "good news" from them came in the form of a new release of the series The FBI. On Tuesday, Warner Archive released The FBI - The Complete Sixth Season as an online exclusive. As has become a typical practice for the studio, of course, the MOD product has been released in a "limited" pressed DVD edition, so these are not DVD-R copies of this release. We hope to have a review of this release soon as part of our regular reviews.

Canadian studio VEI has been bringing us some great complete series releases in the past few years of abandoned series, and for the past year, they've been talking about releases of Diagnosis Murder and The Mod Squad. Of course, VEI has also never really been able to give much in terms of a firm release date on anything (likely due to being a smaller studio that has to deal with a lot of outside production), but this week, they finally announced that both of these releases will be ready to ship next week! On Tuesday, fans will see Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series. Both releases are also available to order on amazon.com, however the releases purchased on there are not expected to ship for another month, and come at a much higher price.

Speaking of earlier releases, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is coming to DVD in December, as we all know. But Shout! Factory is letting fans get those DVDs a month earlier if they order them directly from the Shout! Factory website. Expected to ship on or before November 5, you can get in on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman - The Complete Series a month before everybody else does.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW



Tuesday (October 22) is a light release date, with a trio of "best of" releases from MPI. The releases include The Doris Day Show - Best of Collection, Family Affair - Best of Collection, and The Mothers-in-Law - Best of Collection. Also, as we previously mentioned, VEI will begin shipping Diagnosis Murder - The Complete Series and The Mod Squad - The Complete Series on Tuesday.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Patricia Heaton (Twitter), "Actress, Wife and Mother to four incredible boys..."
Claim to Fame: Patricia Heaton started out as a stage actress and slowly evolved into television when she picked up a role on thirtysomething, where she appeared for six episodes. She followed up with roles in three very short-lived sitcoms, with stars including Linda Lavin and Delta Burke, but her big break came in 1996 when she was cast as Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. After that, she went on to the (mostly panned) Fox sitcom Back to You in 2007, but her fortunes increased once again when she was cast in the starring role on the ABC series The Middle, a role that she has comfortable held since 2009. While she is no stranger to controversy on Twitter
Pick of the Tweets: "I love that you can watch TV while you iron (yesterday it was Jane Eyre) and not feel like a couch potato." (July 16, 2013)

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

Welcome to Digital Digest! We're quickly approaching the fall TV season, but before we get there, we've still got a busy few of hits from last season coming to DVD, and today, we review one of those with our review of Revenge - The Complete Second Season. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

Complete series sets are becoming the "in" thing now (in fact, we counted eighteen significant ones coming between now and the end of the year, and that isn't even counting ones that have yet to be announced), and Lionsgate isn't going to be left out. In fact, they have three on the way, all on November 5. First up are releases of Saved by the Bell and Boy Meets World. Also, they'll have a Blu-ray release of Weeds. All of these releases will include new special features that were not on the previous releases. It appears that none of these are available to pre-order just yet.

On the other hand, there are a few other releases that ARE available to pre-order that haven't exactly been announced, and also seem to lack firm release dates! In the past week, pre-order listings went up for The Mod Squad and Diagnosis Murder on amazon.com. Neither of these are the complete series releases that are still in the works, but rather half season releases. Among the releases for The Mod Squad are The Mod Squad - Season 3, Volume 1; The Mod Squad - Season 3, Volume 2; The Mod Squad - Season 4, Volume 1; and The Mod Squad - Season 4, Volume 2. For Diagnosis Murder, we have Diagnosis Murder - The Fourth Season, Part 1; Diagnosis Murder - The Fourth Season, Part 2; Diagnosis Murder - The Fifth Season, Part 1; Diagnosis Murder - The Fifth Season, Part 2. Dates are given for these releases on the listings, some of which have already passed even... but none of these are actually out yet. These releases are coming from VEI, which has a tendency to not exactly give firm release dates, but in any event, we would expect these before the end of the year.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 20) has one sitcom release, with Warner Home Video's release of Mike & Molly - The Complete Third Season. For those interested in dramas, ABC has Revenge - The Complete Second Season and NBC has Parenthood - Season Four. We have a review of Revenge today in Digital Digest.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: Revenge - The Complete Second Season (ABC Studios, $45.99)
by Pavan

It's her next move! Emily Thorne's enemies may be the same, but her mission now takes on a suspenseful twist. In the second season of ABC's smash hit series, new faces from the past will complicate the already tangled web of deceit and divert Emily from her path to vengeance. Relive every biting and brilliant episode of ABC's Revenge: The Complete Second Season, complete with all 22 action-filled episodes and never-before-seen bonus features that will lure fans even deeper into the drama. This season, Emily will stop at nothing to uncover the secrets of her father's murder, but the web of deceit is larger than she ever imagined. Now, with her mother (guest star Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the picture, even more will be revealed. Watch the sparks fly as Daniel and Ashley begin a torrid romance, while stunning events change the face of Amanda and Jack's relationship, and new faces mean more trouble for Emily and Victoria, while a mysterious man from Emily's past adds to her complications. Feel the power of television's most seductive series, when this season arrives on DVD!

The second season stars Emily VanCamp as Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke, Madeleine Stowe as Victoria Grayson, Josh Bowman as Daniel Grayson, Henry Czerny as Conrad Grayson, Gabriel Mann as Nolan Ross, Ashley Madekwe as Ashley Davenport, Nick Wechsler as Jack Porter, Connor Paolo as Declan Porter, Barry Sloane as Aiden Mathis and Christa B. Allen as Charlotte Grayson. However, there are many recurring stars such as James Tupper as David H. Clarke, Margarita Levieva as Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne, Roger Bart as Leo "Mason" Treadwell, Dilshad Vadsaria as Padma Lahari, J.R. Bourne as Kenny Ryan, Michael Trucco as Nate Ryan, Wendy Crewson as Helen Crowley, Jennifer Jason Leigh as Kara Wallace Clarke, Emily Alyn Lind as young Amanda Clarke, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Satoshi Takeda. Special guests include Collins Pennie as Eli James, Adrienne Barbeau as Marion Harper, Jessica Tuck as Allison Stoddard, Todd Grinnell as Dr. Thomas, E.J. Bonilla as Marco Romero, Juju Chang, and James Morrison as Gordon Murphy.

Season 2 might have had a sophomore slump in between but it started and ended with a bang. If you gave up on it because of the slump, shame on you. But now you can catch-up and see the dramatic season finale, which will hook you back in for sure. The series moved from Wednesdays at 10pm to a new night and time of Sundays at 9pm. The move started off very well and the show was doing better than season one, but then airing against major events in the winter hurt the series for its second half of the season. Once again, now is the time to catch-up before it returns on Sept. 29! Emily VanCamp is great and easy on the eyes while Madeline Stowe should have been nominated for an Emmy. Every episode has to be seen in order, but I will try to pick the most memorable episodes. WARNING: Don't read the descriptions if you have yet to finish this season! In the season premiere "Destiny," in the wake of last summer's events in the Hamptons and with the ante even higher, what will Emily's next move be...will she be able to manage her heart and keep her emotions from getting in the way of her resolve to avenge her father? In "Confidence," the Graysons are back in the spotlight and at the center of a media storm once again, while Emily's past continues to haunt her. In "Illusion," the ties that bind Victoria and Conrad are tested as they reaffirm their loyalties and commitment to each other, while the all-too-knowing Mason Treadwell digs deeper as Emily and Amanda struggle to keep their pasts a secret.

Skipping to "Union," emotions run deep when Jack and Amanda's wedding reminds Emily of what could have been, while hings for Daniel get complicated at Grayson Global, and Conrad begins a new chapter. In the very next episode "Sacrifice," even with threats on their family closing in, the Graysons are in rare form as they put on a bold showing at their annual Labor Day bash, while Jack and Amanda sail off on their honeymoon but the seas prove to be deadly, and this time Emily can't control the outcome. In "Masquerade," Hamptonites celebrate Halloween with a glamorous masquerade ball hosted by the Graysons, which is a perfect setting for Emily to drag out Victoria's skeletons, while Jack steps up his revenge plan and finds an unexpected ally, and Aiden makes a bold move with a gruesome conclusion. In "Engagement," Emily plots her next move in her new role as Daniel's fiancee, while Aiden struggles with the re-engagement, while Jack learns more than he bargained for, and desperate times call for desperate measures as Conrad's gubernatorial numbers slip after Victoria's big reveal on Nightline. In part one of the season finale, "Truth," a series of dangerous events has been set in motion and it all comes to a head in one catastrophic moment that will change everyone's lives forever. And in the conclusion, which is probably the best episode of the season, the devastation leads to a heartbreaking death that will send shockwaves down the shoreline and force Emily to take a hard look at the truth and the path of revenge she has embarked on.

Episodes are usually around 43 minutes and unedited, as they should be. There are a few that are shorter but that's how they were originally. Runtimes are below:

Disc 1
1. "Destiny" - 43:05
2. "Resurrection" - 42:50
3. "Confidence" - 42:57
4. "Intuition" - 43:03
5. "Forgiveness" - 43:00

Disc 2
6. "Illusion" - 43:07
7. "Penance" - 43:02
8. "Lineage" - 43:01
9. "Revelations" - 43:04
10. "Power" - 43:04

Disc 3
11. "Sabotage" - 43:00
12. "Collusion" - 43:01
13. "Union" - 42:59
14. "Sacrifice" - 42:58

Disc 4
15. "Retribution" - 43:02
16. "Illumination" - 42:24
17. "Victory" - 42:16
18. "Masquerade" - 42:55

Disc 5
19. "Identity" - 42:40
20. "Engagement" - 43:00
21. "Truth, Part One" - 40:36
22. "Truth, Part Two" - 42:59

The DVD comes in a case held by an outer thin box, similar to the first season set and other ABC Studios sets. The thin outer box is in a maroon red color with some black coloring and has a very cool shot Emily in her "thorn" black dress overlooking the ocean in grey and we have headshots of Jack, Charlotte, Conrad, Victoria, Daniel, Ashley, and Nolan. The series logo is on the top and the complete second season mention is above it. The back of the thin outer box has info on the set and series, with a nice quote from TVLine.com. We have four very cool episodic photos along with a nice shot of Emily in a nice dress with Nolan and Daniel surrounding her. There is also a box showcasing the bonus features as well. When we remove the outer box, we get to the case. The case has the same artwork as the thin box, both cover and back, so everything is the exact same. Inside the case we have a nice cast photo on the panels itself. There is also a disc-by-disc breakdown below the cast photo on the panels listing episode titles per disc. We have an insert placed on the left side, with ads for the upcoming book Schooled in Revenge, The Infinity Infinity Collection from Helzberg Diamonds, the Double Infinity perfume available only at Kohl's and an ad for Scandal. As for the discs themselves, disc one is on a little plastic holder that you can flip like a page in a book. Disc two is on the back of that little plastic holder. Discs three and four are the same way in a second little plastic holder, while disc five is on the right panel itself. All five discs are in the grey ocean style background with the series logo and a character. Disc one holds episodes 1-5 with an image of Emily, disc two holds episodes 6-10 with a shot of Victoria & Conrad, disc three holds episodes 11-14 with a shot of Daniel & Ashley, disc four holds episodes 15-18 with a shot of Nolan & Jack and disc five holds episodes 19-22 with a shot of Declan & Charlotte. Each disc has bonus features, but more on that soon!

The menu design is very Hamptons-y once again! We start off with the double infinity logo then we see a wide shot of Emily's house on the Hampton's beach, just like season one. We also have background music from the show playing and background sounds from the beach once again--very cool. Before the main menu, we have auto trailers. On disc one we have trailers for ABC TV DVDs coming this summer, Castle Season 5 and Once Upon a Time Season 2. Back to the main menu, the options are: Play All, Episode Selection, Bonus Features (or Deleted Scenes), Set Up and Sneak Peeks. Sneak Peeks is only on disc five and has an ABC Image promo and Mary Poppins. Set Up gives us the option for subtitles in English, French, Thai, Chinese, Espanol, and Portuguese. You can also register your DVD here. Bonus Features lists what is available on that particular disc (and sometimes the disc only has deleted scenes, so the label is Deleted Scenes), while Episode Selection gives us an episode number and title. There is different artwork on each submenu along with different background music from the series. All this is sort of similar to the first season DVD and other ABC Studio DVDs.

Video and audio quality are both outstanding, similar to other recent ABC TV DVDs and the first season DVD of this series. We have Digital Dolby 5.1 surround sound and it is perfect. For the video, we are in widescreen (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. It is excellent quality but that is expected for newer/current series. As I keep saying, if anything goes wrong with audio/video for current series, then there is a major problem. Each episode has 7 chapter stops, so it is easy to jump through an episode if you are looking for something in particular. Jump your way through to see all of Emily's nice outfits! We also hear the closing theme once again, as on ABC there are next week's promos playing over the credits. Unless you watch on ABC.com, you never hear it. In general, nothing out of the ordinary here but it is all perfectly done.

There are special features on this set as well and they are once again addicting, too! We have bonus features on every disc, so I always like that. Each disc has deleted scenes from the episodes on the particular disc. I like that layout as we don't have to go to one disc to see them all. Disc one has nine deleted scenes (episode 202: 0:30; episode 203: 1:50, 0:55, and 2:18; episode 204: 0:44 and episode 205: 1:44, 2:23, 1:00 and 1:05). Moving on to disc two, we have three more deleted scenes (episode 207: 1:04 and 0:40; and episode 210: 1:07). Disc two also has audio commentary on the episode "Illusions" (#206) from executive producers Sunil Nayar & Melissa Loy along with writer/co-executive producer Michael Foley. On the first season DVD we only had one audio commentary, but we have more on this set! Disc three has deleted scenes as well with nine more deleted scenes (episode 211: 0:23; episode 212 0:47; episode 213: 0:40, 1:22 and 0:20; and episode 214: 1:33, 1:00, 1:17, and 0:15). This disc also has audio commentary from the episode "Sacrifice" (#214) from executive producer/writer Mark B. Perry, writer/executive story editor Joe Fazzio, and stars Nick Wechsler & Margarita Levieva. This was so fun and interesting to listen to on such a great episode! Disc four has five more deleted scenes (episode 215: 1:16; episode 216: 2:04; episode 217: 0:35 and 0:44; and episode 218: 1:21). And finally we have ten more deleted scenes on disc five (episode 219: 0:40; episode 220: 1:41, 1:28, 1:09, and 2:14; episode 221: 0:47; and episode 222: 0:23, 1:25, 0:49 and 0:41). If you're counting at home, we have a total of 36 deleted scenes! WOW! That's down from the 38 we had on season one, but still it's a VERY good amount!

Moving on to more from disc five, that is where the bulk of the special features are. We have one final audio commentary on the season finale episode "Truth, Part Two" (#222). Commenting are creator/executive producer and writer of the episode Mike Kelley and series star Emily VanCamp. These two did the commentary on the pilot episode and were great to listen to then and they are on this pivotal episode as well. We covered the deleted scenes above, so we will cover the rest of the special features. First up, we have "Schooled in Revenge" (3:12). This is a sneak peek at the pages of the upcoming book, where a new class of revenge seekers are schooled by Takeda! The next featurette is "The Sound of Revenge" (14:51), where fans will get an intimate feel for composer iZLER's entire process, from inspiration to culmination, of creating the score for Revenge with a special look at how the epochal episode "Sacrifice" was scored. We see Emily VanCamp, Joe Fazzio, Stefan Schwartz (director), Mike Kelley, Joshua Winget and Philip Klein all on the way! It's like a documentary! Next we have "Haute Hamptons: Dression Miss Davenport" (8:21). The first season DVD showcased Emily VanCamp and Madeleine Stowe, now on season two it is all about Ashley Madekwe. Step into Ashley Davenport's shoes as costume designer Jill Ohanneson shows off the character's trendy chic style with a few key pieces from her wardrobe. And finally we have "Bloopers" (2:52). Join in on laughs with these unseen moments from the sophomore season. It's almost exactly the same length as the first season's blooper reel!

This is another nicely done set for one of most addicting series on television. All the episodes are great (of course every episode isn't perfect, what show has that anyway?) and I think season three will be even better because the second season ended with a bang! As for the DVD, it is well done and similar to the first season DVD. We don't get as many special features as the first season, but we did get more audio commentary this time. We have great audio/video, menus, packaging and special features. We essentially have everything...featurettes (though this wasn't as great this time), deleted scenes, audio commentary and bloopers! 36 deleted scenes is amazing and almost on par with the first season. ABC Studios knows how to make good DVDs, especially for their current series. This show is just good fun and has an attractive cast for both men and women, so everyone has a reason to watch. If you gave up or stopped due to the little slump or even the sporadic scheduling, you can now catch-up in time for the third season premiere. The third season will have better scheduling, too. With the first half airing from September to December and then the series returns after the Oscars for its second half from March-May. Watch it LIVE! Stowe should have been nominated for an Emmy I think and Emily VanCamp is so good and will get even better. I really recommend you order this DVD, if you watched every episode or not. Catch up, start up or recap yourself before the third season premiere on ABC beginning Sept. 29! Order the second season DVD fellow revengers, because Nolan Ross' one-liners are worth it alone!

(4.5/5 stars)

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FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Josh Saviano (Twitter), "Yesterday, I was a child actor. Today I am a father, husband and corporate attorney. Tomorrow...???"
Claim to Fame: Josh Saviano was best known for playing Paul Pfieffer in the ABC series The Wonder Years. That was essentially the highlight of his acting career, and once that series ended, he was never seen on TV ever again (which didn't help stop rumors that people still believe today about him being Marilyn Manson).
Why You Should Follow Him: First, we should clarify: he is not Marilyn Manson. After The Wonder Years ended, he went on to Yale, then went on to law school, and now he is a corporate attorney in New York City. Ultimately, that is one of those child actor success stories, and with him being a corporate attorney, I highly doubt that we'll see him even want to return to acting anytime soon. Nonetheless, he doesn't necessarily want to leave those days behind him, and still loves talking about his days playing Kevin Arnold's geeky friend on the classic series. He even interacts with a lot of his former "friends" on that show on Twitter. We like seeing success stories about former child stars, and this is one of those.
Pick of the Tweets: "How about Paul is the lawyer who watches everything collapse when Kevin insists on a pre-nup?" (March 20, 2013), in response to a fan suggesting a reunion of The Wonder Years in which Kevin and Winnie get married.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!