Saturday, October 21, 2006
Mini-DVD Review: C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 31)
C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD, $64.99)
Join lead criminalist Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and his state-of-the-art forensics team as they investigate hot and steamy Miami crimes using cold hard facts. The CSI: Miami Season 4 Complete DVD Collection features 25 episodes of riveting and shocking mysteries. The evidence leads into seedy nightclubs, privileged suburbs and explosive family secrets. The stakes are higher than ever before, because this time it's personal.
My Review: C.S.I.: Miami is my second favorite series in the C.S.I. franchise. This show has gone through more cast changes than the others. The Miami location is probably the best setting. There are more personal character arcs this season, which made the show more interesting.
This 7-disc set contains all 25 episodes of the fourth (2005-06) season. The episodes are featured in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. It has a running time of 18 hours, 10 minutes. The attractive packaging features a photo of the 5 main cast members. The overall color theme of this set is orange and yellow, just like they use on the show. The inside case is in a book format that you can flip through to get to the discs. Each disc features a different photo of one of the cast members or the Miami skyline. The menus are also very stylish and easy to navigate. They have a montage a video clips, with some instrumental music playing in the background. Options are available for Episode Selection, Set Up, Previews (only on Disc 1), and Special Features. On the Set Up menu, you can choose either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Spanish 2.0 Surround. Closed captioning is availble for all of the episodes. As you would expect from such a recent show, the video and audio quality is outstanding.
There is an impressive amount and variety of special features included. There are 6 audio commentaries available on the first three discs. Writer Elizabeth Devine, Director Karen Gaviola, and Department Head of Makeup and Special Makeup Effects Cheri Montesanto-Medcalf provide commentary for "From the Grave." Writer Corey Miller and Director Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Prey." Executive Producer Anthony E. Zuiker, Writer Elizabeth Devine, and Director Scott Lautanen give their comments on "Felony Flight." Producer Don Tardino, Director Matt Earl Beesly, and Director of Photography Eagle Egilsson provide the commentary for "Urban Hellraisers." Writer Ildy Madrovich and Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Shattered." Writer Marc Dube and Director Sam Hill offer their thoughts on "Payback."
There are three entertaining and interesting featurettes on the creating of episodes that add up to around 45 minutes. "Creating Feature Television: The Concept, Script and Pre-Production of CSI: Miami" (18:58) features interviews with Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Co-Producer/Writer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Story Editor Corey Miller, Story Editor John Haynes, Supervising Producer Sunil Nayer, Co-Executive Producer Elizabeth Devine, Supervising Producer Barry O'Brien, Researcher Brad Iten, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Director Eagle Egilsson, Production Designer Fred Andrews, Art Director Roland Rosenkranz, Costume Designer Andrea Federman, and Locations Manager Brian O'Neill. They talk about how they come up with the basic story ideas, how the characters are developed, how they do research on cases and specific terms, writing and editing the script, the production and costume design, and location shooting. "Producing Feature Television: The Production of CSI: Miami" (13:54) has interviews with Co-Producer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Unit Production Manager Sam Hill, Director Eagle Egilsson, Actor Eva LaRue, Actor Emily Procter, Actor Adam Rodriguez, Locations Manager Brian O'Neill, Visual Effects Supervisor Larry Detwiler, Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Leone, Associate Producer Eric Mirich, and Second Unit Assistant Director Natalie Van Doren. They talk about how they have a lot of meetings, new director Eagle Egilsson, how they created the spa in a home, and the visual effects for the chop shop scenes. "Finishing Feature Television: The Post-Production of CSI: Miami" (11:04) includes intervews with Supervising Producer Gina Lamar, Editor Mark C. Baldwin, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Associate Producer Melissa Black, Supervising Sound Editor Tim Kimmel, Composers Kevin Kiner and Jeff Cardoni, and Foley Artists Joe Sabella. They talk about finishing the episodes after the principal photography has been completed. This includes the editing, looping, adding music, and foley sound effects.
Overall, this is another very nicely put together set. All of the C.S.I. sets seem to be similar and follow the same format. The special features added a lot to my knowledge of the show. So many people are involved with making an episode, and it seems like a time-consuming process. CSI: Miami is now the #1 show on Monday nights and the most-watched U.S. series around the world. My only disappointment with this set is that they didn't include the second part of the CSI Miam/NY cross-over episode. You'll have to buy
C.SI: NY - The Complete Second Season to see that one.
-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
CSI: Miami CBS.com Official Site
CSI: Miami TV.com Page
Friday, October 20, 2006
Nick@Nite Looks for Moms; 'Shark' Gets Full Season
to glory. The show follows them from auditions to regional competitions, where twelve moms advance to compete in the semi-finals. Throughout the series' six-week run, viewers will get the chance to learn more about these moms and their families as we travel with them to their hometowns and get a glimpse at their lives. For more details click HERE.
CBS has given a full-season order to Shark, its freshman drama about the professional and personal life of charismatic, self-confident defense attorney turned prosecutor Sebastian Stark (James Woods). Shark joins Heroes, Jericho, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters and The Game as new series getting full seasons. The CW announced ther latter's today along with giving 7th Heaven a full season rather than 13 episodes:
The CW Network has picked up the back nine episodes of freshman comedy The Game and returning drama 7th Heaven, giving each series a full season order.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
'Benson' Fans Be Happy This Friday; News On 'The Game', 'Reba', 'Boston Legal' & 'King of the Hill'
The CW has picked-up the new sitcom The Game for a full season. Meaning, 22 episodes will at least be produced. The Game is a spin-off of Girlfriends and airs Mondays at 9:30 p.m. In other CW news, they have axed new drama Runaway after just a few airings. The CW is expected to bring back veteran sitcom Reba shortly. It will join 7th Heaven and the encore of America's Next Top Model on Sundays. We will let you know as soon as they announce it.
ABC has scheduled a special November sweeps 2-part episode of the well written comedy-drama Boston Legal. It is so good that ABC has scheduled part one on Sunday, November 26 at 10:01 p.m. following Desperate Housewives! Part two will air in its regular Tuesday at 10 p.m. slot on November 28. Click HERE for details.
NBC meanwhile has quietly placed a new episode of struggling new drama Friday Night Lights on Monday, October 30 at 10 p.m. replacing another struggling new drama Studio 60, which was scheduled to have its pilot encored that night anyway. Friday Night Lights will just be a one time only airing on Monday at 10. The episode that will air that night will be repeated the next night on its regular night and time (Tuesdays at 8).
Finally, Hank Hill and the gang return for some beer-drinking, barbecuing and Texas-sized laughs for the 11th season of King of the Hill, premiering Sunday, January 21, 2007 at 7:30 p.m ET/PT on FOX. In the season premiere episode, Bobby's pet snake slithers down the toilet and Hank turns to Animal Control for help. Unfortunately, the Animal Control team takes advantage of the situation and creates a snake-in-the-city frenzy, putting Arlen in a state of panic. With the control team hissing, it's up to Dale to eliminate Arlen's reptile problem and help Animal Control rediscover their love for their jobs.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
TV Land December 2006 Highlights; New Ratings Feature
I know you all love our weekly ratings report we give on Sundays. Now I will give full numbers for each night on our message boards! All will be final numbers, so I will post them two days or so later. Like I just posted Monday's numbers today (Wednesday). Click here to see the final numbers for Monday, October 16. You will see each program's household rating, total viewers, A18-49 rating and A25-54 rating. I will not link these full ratings post on the blog every day, so you will just have to visit our message boards. It will be posted in the General Sitcoms board. So, if you have not registered, register today! It is one of the top message boards out there on the internet. And we will continue of course with our ratings report and analysis on the blog every Sunday. So see you then and every other day!
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
NBC Delays 'Vegas' Season Premiere By 1 Week; ABC Picks Up New Mid-Season Drama
ABC has announced it has picked-up an additional drama to its mid-season slate. The show is called October Road. It was a pilot that was not picked-up for this season but ABC told them to wait a bit because they liked what they saw and if it were needed, they would call on it. They have also done to another drama called Secrets of a Small Town, but that has not been officially picked-up yet, but is very likely to be soon. October Road centers on a young, acclaimed novelist at a crossroads in life when he returns to his hometown to teach at the local university and face the family and friends he left behind. The series will begin shooting this fall as a joint production between Touchstone Television and GroupM Entertainment. We will advise you of a premiere date and time shortly, as soon as ABC announces it.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Full Season For 'Brothers & Sisters'; Help Us Find Similar Sitcom Plots In Our SitcomsOnline.com Interactive Feature
The series is the second highest rated new show among adults 18-49 (behind Heroes) and the second highest rated show in viewers (behind another ABC newbie Ugly Betty).
Hopefully we see some sitcom full season pick-ups, but none so far have blasted off.
Today we are asking help from YOU! We are developing a SitcomsOnline.com Interactive feature for this blog that from time to time we will ask you guys for some help. Today I have come up with the topic of "similar sitcom episodes." Ever noticed that many sitcoms usually have same plots as other sitcoms? There are numerous examples, which makes the world of the sitcom so fascinating. Ever noticed how many sitcoms have camping episodes? Sanford & Son, Brady Bunch, Three's Company to name just a few are some that went camping. How about more specific plots--like joining a cult and finding out the leader of the cult is a con-artist like in What's Happening!!, Three's Company, Charles in Charge and others. Or all the goodies sitcom stars bake in various baking episodes such as the bibibokas episode of Perfect Strangers, the lemon tarts episode of Family Matters, the pie episode of Three's Company, and so many more. Other cool topics: stealing the school mascot (which is usually a goat), nude modeling, amnesia, fires, trapped somewhere, crashing a car you're not supposed to be even driving, and so much more! So, I have come up with a list of topics and listed some episodes I thought of off the top of my head and many people have added on episodes already and even added more categories. You too can help! Click HERE to help us. Please read all the posts so you know what has been said. Come on and show off your sitcom knowledge to us!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Week 4 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did
Households: CBS: 9.5/14.8; ABC: 8.7/13.5; NBC: 6.8/10.7; Fox: 5.6/8.8; The CW: 2.4/3.7.
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.83 million; ABC: 13.09 million; NBC: 10.5 million; Fox: 8.01 million; The CW: 3.77 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 4.6/12.0; ABC: 4.5/11.8; NBC: 3.9/10.1; Fox: 2.5/6.9; The CW: 1.7/4.4.
Analysis: The fourth week again sees the same pattern again...CBS and ABC battling it out. After tonight (Sunday), CBS will win for the 4th straight week in viewers while ABC gets the demos for the fourth straight week! Imagine if The Nine or Six Degrees were holding at least 70% of their lead-in's numbers? ABC might be winning in viewers, too. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC and CBS lead the pack so far with NBC third...the same pattern from the first weeks of the season. On Monday, CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 17.6 million and helped them win the night in viewers, but 9pm's Heroes on NBC went up in the demos from last week to a 5.9/14 rating in A18-49, just like its premiere...no wonder it was picked-up for the rest of the season. NBC's Studio 60 fell more again to 8.66 million. ABC's The Bachelor was up from the premiere last week to 7.93 million helping What About Brian with its season premiere of 7 million. CBS also saw better results in the 8pm hour for its comedies and the number one sitcom Two and a Half Men has gone up each week in viewers. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 20.01 million for 90 minutes and the third episode of new sitcom Help Me Help You held half of that audience and did 9.88 million--on par really from last week. Fox's regular line-up was pre-empted as Baseball playoffs did just 8.59 million..they missed House. NBC did well with Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: SVU, but Friday Night Lights dropped from last week's premiere of 7.17 million to just 5.87 million at 8. Cancelation clock is ticking. CBS had a nice night with NCIS and The Unit and a repeat of CSI did much better than the canceled Smith at 10pm. Wednesday saw CBS and ABC battle it out, with CBS actually edging ABC in viewers and ABC winning in the demo. ABC won the opening hour again with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 12.3/19 rating and 18.21 million. CBS's Jericho did 10.86 million, up from last week's 10.83 million, previous week was 11.45 million and the premiere was 11.66 million--it looks to be steady (and renewed for the full season). NBC had a better Wednesday than last week, as Kidnapped is gone. Dateline replaced it and did 8.41 million and the NBC comedies premiered OK, but 20 Good Years was concerning (see sitcom analysis). ABC's The Nine had a freefall effect. The premiere did 11.91 million, but the second week it only did 8.25 million...ABC needs to move this ASAP, I suggest Thursdays at 10 and Six Degrees moves to this slot...it won't do much, but I think the move will be better than what they are both doing in their current slots. CBS won from 9-11pm with Criminal Minds and CSI: NY both doing over 16 million (16.73 and 17.97 million). ABC's Lost won 9pm with 16.89 million, just edging CBS. Criminal Minds has sure grown well. The CW's America's Next Top Model did well again...so far the only bright spot for the new network. On Thursday we saw a two-network race between CBS and ABC. ABC's red-hot drama Grey's Anatomy had 22.88 million at 9pm and in the same slot CSI had 21.85 million (GA won in households too 14.6 to 13.5 and A18-49 9.4 to 7.5). At 8 p.m. ABC continues to do well with Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did decent again with 13.95 million, slightly down from previous week and the show joins Jericho and Heroes as being picked-up for 22 episodes this season; Survivor had 15.84 million, but the one-hour comedy tied the veteran reality show in HH at 9.4/15. At 10 p.m. Shark is beginning to be consistent, it did 14.15 million--but still this is no Trace. ER led the hour with 14.57 million. ABC's Six Degrees did just 8.69 million, down yet again--very concerning. Will a move or cancelation come soon? This hour is anyone's game right now, so ABC can really try one of their mid-season shows in this slot in January and do well hopefully.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas doing well again, and NBC saw game show success as Deal or No Deal won its hour again, the premiere of the new game show 1 vs. 100 won its hour at 9pm and Law & Order did OK at 10 coming in second place. ABC saw a slight rise from last week for Men in Trees, but A18-49 needs to be better. Next week 1 vs. 100 will be on its own as Deal or No Deal will not be airing. and ABC premieres the first of four Extreme Makeover specials. Who will come out on top? Or will CBS sneak in? Saturday ratings are not available yet, but CBS's drama repeats & 48 Hours won each hour and NBC's NASCAR coverage won in the demos. Baseball and College Football didn't do well for Fox and ABC. As for tonight, ABC will have no problem beating the NFL on NBC again, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and total viewers, as new series Brothers & Sisters is holding up pretty well and is consistent. Without a Trace looks like it will win at 10, but there might be another NFL runover for CBS meaning shows could start 30-40 minutes than usual in the east coast.
I again expect ABC to win the week in the demo and CBS in total viewers, as ABC didn't compete with regional coverage on Saturday's football...national games do better. NBC should be third in everything again. I was right about NBC's new sitcoms premiering OK, they did nothing big, and 30 Rock did much better than 20 Good Years.
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Oct. 2-8)
- CW Sunday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game all did poorly again in its second and final airing on Sundays. 2.36 to 2.85 million was the range. Chris did the worst actually.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Now leading off the night and CBS saw much better results at 8PM! 9.09 million tuned in, down from what it did last week at 8:30, but up from what The Class did at 8pm last week. Dougle digits (10 million) should come soon...hopefully.
- The Class (CBS) - 9.34 million tuned in to the new 8:30 slot. This is a much better showing. It built on the lead-in in everything. CBS should have started the season this way!
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.09 million, 15.28 million, 15.8 million so far. And now the fourth week went even more up to 16.38 million. This is very good. Can it go up again tomorrow?
- New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - Last week's 13.59 million was a surprise, this week it went slightly down to 12.88 million.
- CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game all now have moved to Mondays. This week was repeats, though. Chris started it off with an improved 3.03 million, but the rest of the night went down each half hour. Tomorrow should be a better test when they are all-new.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Help Me Help You (ABC) - This week the show was almost on par from previous week. 9.88 million, 6.7/10 HH rating, and a 3.0/8 A18-49 rating. Last week: 10.08 million, 6.8/10 HH rating, and a 3.0/8 A18-49 rating, compared to premiere week's 11.48 million, 7.7/12 HH rating and a 3.5/9 A18-49 rating. Weeks two and three were very stable. So, I think this is what we can expect every week now.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - The premiere of this critically acclaimed comedy got off to a modest start with 8.13 million viewers, 5.4/9 HH rating but a concerning 2.9/8 A18-49 rating. This show was meant to do very well in that demo. Hopefully it is stable and doesn't drop off big this week.
- 20 Good Years (NBC) - NBC had this sitcom leading off the night originally...good thing they changed that. This generic sitcom did just 7.05 million for its premiere, down more than a million viewers from the lead-in. HH rating was just a 4.7/7 and A18-49 rating was a 2.5/7. Don't get used to this one.
Thursday Sitcoms
- My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down slightly from last week's 9.89 million to 9.84 million. Not bad, but the show was doing way better last year on Tuesdays.
- The Office (NBC) - Like the lead-in, down slightly from last week's 8.89 million to this week's 8.83 million. Consistent.
None.
Saturday Sitcoms
Airing tonight (Sunday) are no sitcoms. Fox is showing baseball and The CW have moved their comedies to Mondays.
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, The Class, My Name is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as 30 Rock and Help Me Help You) or just plain old terrible (such as CW sitcoms on Sunday and 20 Good Years).
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Mini-DVD Review: C.S.I.: NY - The Complete Second Season (Oct. 17)
C.S.I.: NY - The Complete Second Season (Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD, $64.99)
Perfect for the city that never sleeps, this complete DVD collection includes every shard of brutal evidence, every unsolved murder, and every dangerous secret of CSI: NY Season 2. Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and his forensics team face the shocking loss of one of its members, followed by a provocative new addition to the force, Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap). The stakes get even higher when a Miami serial killer strikes in Manhattan and CSI: Miami's Horation Caine (David Caruso) joins the riveting manhunt. Start spreading the news: CSI: NY Season 2 is unforgettable.
My Review: Although I am a big fan of C.S.I. and C.S.I. Miami, I didn't enjoy the first season of C.S.I. New York as much. The show was very dark and cold and filmed in a hard blue light. Starting with the second season, they started to lighten the mood a bit. It worked and made it a more interesting show to watch. The show is still gritty and bloody but not as depressing.
This 6-disc set contains all 24 episodes of the second (2005-06) season. The episodes are featured in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. It has a running time of 17 hours, 19 minutes. Notable season 2 guest stars include Joel Brooks, Lori Petty, Michael Gross, Kelly Hu, Mia Sara, Wayne Knight (Hello, Newman), Rance Howard, Joel Gretsch, Dick Enberg, Eugene Robert Glazer, Michael DeLuise, and Kid Rock. The attractive packaging features a photo of Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes, with a embossed, holofoil outer slipcase.
The inside case is in a book format that you can flip through to get to the discs.
Each disc features a different photo of one of the cast members. The menus are also very stylish and easy to navigate. They have a montage a video clips, with some instrumental music playing in the background. Options are available for Episode Selection, Set Up, Previews (only on Disc 1), and Special Features. On the Set Up menu, you can choose either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Spanish 2.0 Surround. Closed captioning is availble for all of the episodes. As you would expect from such a recent show, the video and audio quality is outstanding. One of these days, I'll get myself a high definition TV to see what I'm missing.
There is an impressive amount and variety of special features included. There are 5 audio commentaries available on the first three discs. Director David Von Acken and Editor Bill Zabala provide commentary for "Summer in the City." Story Editor/Writer Zachary Reiter and Director Scott Lautanen comment on "Grand Murder at Central Station." Co-creator and Executive Producer Anthony E. Zuiker and Writer Elizabeth Devine discuss "Manhattan Manhunt." Story Editor/Writer Zachary Reiter and Director Duane Clark do the commentary for "Bad Beat." Co-Executive Producer Peter M. Lemkov and Director James Whitmore Jr. shared their thoughts on "Trapped." There are five entertaining and interesting featurettes that add up to around 40 minutes.
"Top of the Heap: The Cast and Crew Look at Season 2" (10:02) includes interviews with Co-Creator/Executive Producer Anthony E. Zuiker, Actor/Producer Gary Sinise, and Actors Melina Kanakaredes, Carmine Giovinazzo, Anna Belknap (who is cute as a button), Hill Harper, and Eddie Cahill. They talk about the changes that were made and how things were lightened up in season 2 to make the show more entertaining. Although the show is set in New York, the bulk of the show is shot in Burbank.
"Rolling with Jamalot" (7:43) includes interviews with Anthony E. Zuiker, Director Jonathan Glassner, Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes, Stunt Coordinator Norman Howell, LA Derby Dolls Sondra Frame (aka "Tara Armour") and Redjenn Schilling (aka "Red Jenn"), and Eddie Cahill. This was the roller derby episode. They talk about how they shot it in a 17,000 seat stadium, with a limited number of extras. They also show how they did the shots on the roller derby track.
"A New Look From the 35th Floor - CSI: NY Set Tour" (8:28) - Anthony E. Zuiker provides a tour of the new season 2 set. He is very energetic and funny as he shows Mac Taylor's office, the audio/visual lab room, trace labs, break room, the bullpen/Stella's office, coroner's lab, and autopsy room. The set cost them millions of dollars and looks very authenic to me. "Behind-the Scenes "Heroes" (7:34) includes interviews with Writer/Supervising Producer Eli Talbert, Vanessa Ferlito, Gary Sinise, Executive Producer Pam Veasey, and Anthony Zuiker. This episode featured the return of Vanessa Ferlito as Aiden Burns. The b-story was about Fleet Week. They shot some scenes on the Intrepid. "Season 2 Ends with a Bang" (6:28) includes interviews with Melina Kanakaredes, Pam Veasey, Gary Sinise, Anna Belknap, Techincal Advisor Bill Haynes, Anthony E. Zuker, and Supervising Producer/Writer Timothy J. Lea. This featurette deals with the final 2 episodes of the season. They talk about the blowing up the building and about Mac Taylor's military background and the flashbacks.
Overall, this is a very nicely packaged set that any fan of the series will enjoy. The special features were well-produced and interesting. CSI: NY will never be my favorite CSI series, but I've grown to like it and look forward to the new episodes on Wednesday nights. My only disappointment with this set is that they didn't include the first part of the CSI Miami/NY cross-over episode. You'll have to buy CSI: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season to see that one.
-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
CSI: NY CBS.com Official Site
CSI: NY TV.com Page
Friday, October 13, 2006
In2TV Month Seven Episodes for Sitcoms
Alice
"The Indian Taker"
Alice and the gang at Mel's Diner meet an old Indian who claims the diner has been built on his ancestral burial grounds and who has returned there to die.
"86 the Waitress"
Labor relations become severely strained at Mel's Diner when he hires a man to work as a waiter -- at more money than he's paying Alice, Flo and Vera -- so the girls quit and leave Mel high and dry.
"Single Belles"
Alice, Flo and Vera go to a new singles' bar in hopes of meeting "Mr. Wonderful," who turns out to be a rat.
"Sixty Minutes Man"
Alice and the gang at the diner discover that one of their regular customers may be a notorious gangster and fugitive for the last 30 years -- who is now wanted by the FBI as a witness.
"That Old Black Magic"
At Alice's or a brunch, Mel injures his back and has to stay there for two weeks, so the girls bring his poker game to him -- with hilarious results.
Bless This House - NEW!
"Pilot"
The Claytons consider buying a house.
"A Woman's Work is Never Done"
Alice is fired from her job when her boss discovers she interviewed for another job.
"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
It's a bad day for the Claytons when the car is stolen and Danny asks to go to the movies with her boyfriend alone.
"I Am Not My Sister's Keeper"
Burt can't stand his sister's new boyfriend.
"Where There's Smoke, You're Fired"
Frustrated by her job, Alice starts smoking again and ends up catching Danny with a pack of cigarettes.
"The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions"
Burt forgets to pick Sean up at school so he buys him a puppy to assuage his guilty conscience.
"A Fight a Day Keeps the Doctor Away"
When the Claytons decide to get a new life insurance policy, Burt is convinced he won't pass the physical.
"Fish and Guests Stink After Three Days"
The Claytons prepare to move into their new house.
"The Postman Always Moves Twice"
Before moving to the new house, the Claytons get back at their landlord by trashing the apartment.
"Neither a Borrower Nor a Landlord Be"
A deranged neighbor forces the Claytons to rent out their new home.
F Troop
"The New I.G."
The peaceful Hekawis win a battle at last, after a bloodthirsty major orders them massacred.
"Spy, Counterspy, Counter Counter Spy"
Chosen by army brass to test a top-secret bulletproof vest, F Troop is infiltrated by spies.
"The Courtship of Wrangler Jane"
Parmenter must decide between bachelorhood and the hand of Wrangler Jane.
"Bring on the Dancing Girls"
O'Rourke and Agarn meet their match in a larcenous con man, who takes over operation of their beloved saloon.
"V is for Vampire"
Count Sforza from Transylvania looks like a vampire and acts like one, too--and that is enough to panic F Troop.
Gilligan's Island
"Angel on the Island"
Mr. Howell produces a Broadway play starring Ginger and Gilligan, and it's a blockbuster on the island.
"Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk"
Gilligan believes the castaways will be rescued in time for Christmas.
"Three Million Dollars, More or Less"
Gilligan becomes a millionaire.
"Water, Water Everywhere"
The castaways resort to hilarious devices to capture and ration water.
"So Sorry, My Island Now"
The castaways are captured by a Japanese soldier who thinks WWII is still being fought.
Growing Pains
"The Awful Truth"
When Ben must research his family's history for a school project, he uncovers evidence that both his mother and father have been divorced.
"In Vino Veritas"
Luke stays at the Seavers' until he gets a new host family. Worried that they won't like him, Luke lies about his past. He gets along well with everyone until Maggie and Jason realize a lot of their wine bottles are missing.
"The Young and the Homeless"
Luke decides to leave, making Mike jeopardize his soap-opera role.
"The Big Fix"
Ben uses and hurts the vacuum cleaner Maggie's supposed to test for her column. She doesn't know what he did, so when it runs poorly, she prepares to blast the company for misleading advertising. Meanwhile, Luke lies about his life to a girl he wants to
"The Truck Stops Here"
Luke's dad's back acts up, so Mike and Jason take over his tour.
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
"Halloween"
Mark and Tyler spend Halloween in a haunted house.
"Ghost in the Machine"
Geneva and Vanessa move out and Mark's friends move in.
"Christmas '95"
Mark loses patience with the commercialization of Christmas, so the roommates head to a Christmas tree farm to regain the spirit of the season.
"Rivals"
A basketball rivalry between Oakbridge and another school goes out of control.
"Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"
When Mark and Vanessa try to break up, they discover their feelings for each other are more complicated than they'd imagined.
Head of the Class
"Revenge of the Liberal"
When Dennis is selected as representative for Fillmore High School to discuss political issues on arch conservative Lawrence P. Whitney's television show, he sees his chance to show off his talent as a gagman and comic.
"Will the Real Arvid Engen Please Stand Up?"
Arvid's beautiful pen pal Nancy is coming to visit, and Arvid wants to exchange identities with Eric because he sent Nancy Eric's picture.
"On the Road Again"
When Dr . Samuel and his wife separate, Charlie Moore is willing to let Samuel stay at his place, but when he stays too long, Charlie begins to panic.
"Fatal Distraction"
While working on a class project together, Eric becomes concerned that Maria is obsessed with him just when Simone has finally consented to a date. Will life mimic the movies?
"Cello Fever"
Dennis hurriedly looks for a temporary wife in order to collect on a real estate developer's free gift for married couples, while Janice threatens to sue her music teacher.
Jamie Foxx Show
"Forever Your Girl"
Jamie falls for a hotel guest in town searching for her biological father.
"Change of Heart"
Fancy and Silas's relationship goes on the rocks.
"Fire and Desire: Part 1"
While dealing with her relationship with Silas, Fancy now has to deal with her jealousy of Jamie and Cherise.
"Fire and Desire: Part 2"
While the heroic Jamie and Cherise revel in the spotlight, Fancy burns with jealousy.
"Always Follow Your Heart"
Fancy tells Jamie how she feels about him and they get togeather.
Kirk
"Helloween"
Kirk and his siblings discover that trick-or-treating in New York is nothing like it was growing up in Ohio.
"The Odd Couple"
Elizabeth moves in temporarily with Kirk and the kids after her apartment had a fire. She drives everyone crazy with her compulsive cleaning.
"Baby, You Can Drive My Car"
Corey's friend wins a free limo ride around New York City, but Kirk is reluctant to let Corey participate.
"Operation: Kirk"
Russell has tonsillitis and Kirk reassures him that the operation to remove his tonsils is a piece of cake. Kirk changes his tune, however, when he is diagnosed with tonsillitis as well.
"Witness for the Persecution"
Phoebe's Argentinian penpal Mercedes visits, and causes a car accident for which Corey is blamed. Meanwhile, Sally consults a video dating service.
New York Daze
"Foreign Affair"
Photographing a dog and contestants on a game show.
Off Centre
"The Back-up"
Mike had always secretly planned on dating his friend Melonee (JENNA FISCHER) if he were ever to end his relationship with Liz. However, Euan spoils that scheme by having sex with Melonee first.
"Mike & Liz & Chau & Jordan"
Euan lies about his age and pretends to be older in order to be taken seriously by a sexy older woman, Gretchen (TANYA ROBERTS - That '70s Show, Charlie's Angels television series).
"Diddler on the Roof"
Euan gets involved in the drama of MTV's The Real World when he dates an insipid cast member, J'Sandra (CLAIRE COFFEE), and fears she will denigrate him to millions of women if he ends the relationship.
"Cockfight"
Euan and Status Quo meet a gorgeous woman in a bar and compete for her attention. When they realize that she has a twin, their competition escalates to see who can bed them both.
"The De-Flower Half-Hour"
When Euan's date, Lindsay (NORA ZEHETNER), announces to everyone that she wants Euan to deflower her when she turns 18 at midnight, Euan, Mike, Chau, Status and Liz recall their own first sexual encounters.
"Why Chau Lives Alone"
When Euan and Mike become tense from being together too much, Mike stays with Liz for awhile. Therefore, Euan invites Chau to stay in Mike's room, and the two new roommates make the perfect couple--until Chau's outrageous behavior exasperates even Mike.
"Mission Im-Posse-Ble"
Mike and Euan convince Status Quo to get rid of his obsequious "posse" and allow them to accompany him to swanky parties instead. KENAN THOMPSON (Good Burger, All That) guest stars as MC French, one of Status Quo's celebrity friends.
"Faking the Band"
Euan, Mike and Chau pretend to be in a band in order to attract women. Their big scam even includes a fake CD-release party. However, at a sham performance, Chau shocks everyone when he goes onstage and actually plays in the style of the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
"Hear No Evil, See No Package"
When Chau and Mike exercise at Euan's posh gym, Mike is mortified by the overt nudity. Meanwhile, Liz begs Euan not to seduce her hearing-impaired friend, Rebecca (SHOSHANNAH STERN), who, unbeknownst to Liz, has a bad habit of saying appalling things.
"The Unkindest Cut"
Mike and Chau mock Euan because he has a foreskin. This prompts Euan to consult a urologist, Dr. Barry Wasserman (EUGENE LEVY - "Best in Show," "American Pie" movies), who has a bizarre sense of penis humor, for circumcision.
Perfect Strangers
"Seven Card Studs" 23:32
Larry comes up with a plan for Balki to win back the money he lost at Mr. Gorpley's poker game.
"Good Skate" 23:23
Larry incurs the wrath of the Gabuggis, the Myposian furies, when he lies about his roller skating skills to impress Jennifer.
"Lie-Ability" 23:22
Larry plans to defraud an insurance company after a minor car accident so he can help his sister with her tuition.
"The Newsletter" 23:22
Balki is editor of the office newsletter and Larry gives him advice on how to get the dirt.
"Fright Night" 23:08
A ghost shows up in the Appleton's new house.
Welcome Back, Kotter
"Beau's Jest"
A new Sweathog joins the ranks and he pulls a practical joke on Epstein, the king of practical jokes.
"Don't Come Up and See Me Sometime"
When Barbarino gets his own apartment he decides he doesn't want the other Sweathogs to visit.
"Once Upon A Ledge"
A new girl at Buchanan High contemplates suicide after having a hard time making friends.
"The Sweatmobile"
The Sweathogs buy a car off of Barbarino's Uncle Lou that turns out to be a lemon.
"Barbarino's Boo Boo"
Hospital orderly Barbarino loses Woodman when he checks into the hospital for a routine procedure.
New shows: Nightmare Room and Bless This House.
Special Themed Episodes:
Freaks & Creeps - Perfect Strangers, F Troop, Growing Pains, Beetljuice, Jesse, Freddy's Nightmares, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper, Kirk, Pinky & the Brain, and The People's Court
I Love Leo - See four episodes of Growing Pains featuring Leonardo DiCaprio.
New Halloween Channel:
Episodes of Night Vision, Nightmore Room, Dark Realm, Freddy's Nightmares, and Halloween Films & Specials:
The Horror of Dracula
The first Hammer Dracula film which, according to Leonard Maltin, may indeed be their finest. The infamous vampire is given a new, elegant and ruthless persona as he descends upon England.
House of Wax (1952)
A museum fire turns a handsome man into a human monster who steals the bodies of his victims from the morgue to create life-like wax images.
The Mummy (1959)
When three English archaeologists find the tomb of an Egyptian high priestess -- buried nearly four thousand years before -- they discover a guard who had been buried alive with her.
Frankenstein Must be Destroyed
Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing, Star Wars) is once again up to his experiments on the border between life and death, but his actions this time show that he is the true monster. Attempting to preserve the medical knowledge of a brilliant but insane surgeon, Frankenstein performs a brain transplant, an operation that leads to disaster and, ultimately, his own doom.
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride First Look
Behind-the-scenes look at Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, featuring interview commentary with their casts and crews, including Johnny Depp and Tim Burton himself.
Bugs Bunny's Howl-O-Ween Special
Bugs takes on ghosts, ghouls and goblins in this "trick-or-treat" holiday tale combining new animation with excerpts from old movie cartoons.
Casper's Halloween
The friendly ghost is back, and this time he's out to help a group of poor inner-city orphans enjoy the Halloween festivities.
Flintstones Meet Rockula & Frankenstone
The Flintstones and Rubbles get decked out in crazy outfits hoping to be prize-winners on Monty Marble's "Make a Deal or Don't." Both couples win a romantic trip to Count Rockula's castle in Rocksylvania.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Network Notes, Includes 'Medium' Returning; The N Acquires 'One on One'
Meanwhile, CBS has decided to premiere its new drama 3 Lbs. on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 10 p.m., replacing the now-canceled Smith. The medical drama will be toplined by Stanley Tucci. Separately, CBS is giving an extra vote of confidence to sophomore drama The Unit. Just days after ordering a full season of the show, CBS has tacked on an extra episode to its order. That means studio 20th Century Fox will produce 23 episodes of the military-themed drama.
And at ABC they will bring back Extreme Makeover (original version) for a series of four specials on Fridays at 8 p.m. on October 20, November 3, 10 and 17. Other notes: The Bachelor: Rome season finale has been booked for Monday, November 27 from 9 to 11 p.m. ET/PT. The week before from 9 to 10 p.m. ABC will have The Women Tell All special for that show. ABC has announced some holiday programming, too. Shrek 2 will air the day after Thanksgiving (Friday, November 24) from 8 to 10 p.m. A Charlie Brown Christmas will air Tuesday, November 28 from 8 to 9 p.m. (which means it will be the lead-in to the new ABC sitcom Big Day), Santa Claus is Comin' to Town will air Tuesday, December 5 from 8 to 9 p.m. and on Christmas Day (Monday, December 25) The Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl will air from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT. Remember, this is just the ones announced so far. I'm sure we will see more stuff, like A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. No word yet on when the Dancing with the Stars finale will air. My bet is Sunday, November 19 from 8 to 10 p.m.
The November 2006 sweeps period is from Thursday, November 2 - Wednesday, November 29, 2006, if anyone was wondering.
The N, the nighttime network for teens, has acquired the hit sitcom One on One from CBS Television Distribution Group. The series debuted in syndication on broadcast stations last month and now will get a cable run, too.
Hot off the heels of its successful five-year run on UPN (2001-2006), The N has acquired the entire 113 episode library of the series that launched the career of Kyla Pratt (The Proud Family, Love & Basketball). Guest stars on the series include: Brandy, Eve, Jenny McCarthy, Romeo, Ruben Studdard, Haylie Duff, Chris Brown, Emmanuel Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Omarion, and Charlie Murphy, among others. The series will make its debut on cable during The N's "Fresh One Weekend," a marathon of the best episodes of One on One and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The marathon will kick off with an evening of 12, back-to back One on One premiere episodes beginning Friday, October 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. (ET). The "Fresh One Weekend" marathon will run from Friday, October 27 through Sunday, October 29.
One on One will air regularly on The N Monday through Thursday with back-to-back episodes at 7:00 and 11:00 p.m. (ET) beginning Monday, October 30. The N has seen success with sitcoms such as Fresh Prince, Moesha, Sabrina, and Clueless over the years. Degrassi: The Next Generation has been their top draw. They have not seen much sucess with the dramas they have acquired, like Summerland and Dawson's Creek, which both have now been moved after 12 midnight.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
i Network November Sees 'Growing Pains'; TV Land Picks Up 'High School Reunion' For All-New Episodes
And as a reminder, don't forget Amen launches in the Mon-Thurs 7 & 7:30 p.m. slot on October 27 while Welcome Back, Kotter takes 7 & 7:30 p.m. on Fridays starting THIS Friday. We will of course keep you up to date on any changes and additions! Come on back!
TV Land has announced it has picked up High School Reunion for all-new episodes. TV Land has revived the reality series, which ran for three seasons on the WB, greenlighting six new episodes from executive producer Mike Fleiss (The Bachelor), Variety reports. Hour-long series takes a group of former classmates and brings them together several years after graduation to participate in a reunion in a fantasy location. Production begins early next year for a premiere in the third or fourth quarter. While on the WB, the series focused on a 10-year reunion of alumni in their late 20s and early 30s. As such, the show played especially well to the younger 18-34 and 12-34 demos coveted by the WB. For TV Land, the series will host 20-year+ reunions in order to better appeal to the cabler's older demos.
Honestly, this is a very strange pick-up to me. They should make classic TV reunions, not real people's high school reunions. Just my take.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Nick@Nite December Highlights; Wonderful New 'Perfect Strangers' Website!
Come on back in the coming days for highlights for TV Land December, which will include a DVD release marathon for That Girl and the 7th Annual Merry-thon (featuring 24 hours of Christmas episodes).
Finally, we leave you today with a look at a new and fantastic website on the classic sitcom Perfect Strangers. Perfect Strangers Online: P.S. I Love You! The wonderful Linda Kay brings us a rare and fun look (with lots of great information) on the 1986-1993 ABC sitcom. If you want to know about the show (or more about it), I suggest you visit her website. If there is one person who knows this show, it is her. She ran the official newsletter for the show back in its original run. I have copies of most of her newsletters and they are so fantastic in detail. She now brings her vast knowledge into the internet era, with video clips, news and so much information that you can travel back and forth to Mypos and still be reading the website! I'm not being ridicioulous either! So, head on over to her website to say P.S. I Love You!
Monday, October 09, 2006
NBC Sitcom Pilot Review: Twenty Good Years - Premieres October 11th
Twenty Good Years - Wednesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres October 11th at 8:30PM ET/PT
This high-energy, young-at-heart comedy follows the journey of two New Yorkers who come to the realization that life doesn't last forever.
Mismatched buddies John Mason (Emmy Award winner John Lithgow, "3rd Rock from the Sun"), an impulsive, admittedly self-absorbed, thrice-divorced surgeon recently forced into retirement, and Jeffrey Pyne (Critically acclaimed multi Emmy-nominee Jeffrey Tambor, "Arrested Development"), a widower judge who over thinks every situation, are polar opposites in every way. The one area where they seem to find common ground is the supposition that they have about 20 good years left.
With that in mind, both men vow to live each day as if it were their last, despite the consequences, or what their friends, family and peers might think. After all, when age meets anarchy, there's no time for regrets.
"Twenty Good Years" also stars Heather Burns ("Bewitched") as John's pregnant daughter Stella along with Jake Sandvig ("The Story of Us") as Jeffrey's unmotivated son Hugh.
"Twenty Good Years" is produced by Werner-Gold-Miller and Marsh McCall Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. Tom Werner (“The Cosby Show,” “Roseanne”), Eric Gold ("Scary Movie," “Scary Movie 2”), Jimmy Miller and Marsh McCall are the executive producers.
Cast: John Lithgow as John Mason, Jeffrey Tambor as Jeffrey Pyne, Heather Burns as Stella, Jake Sandvig as Hugh
Read our review of the pilot episode here.
Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday on our message board.
Related Links:
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Week 3 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did
Households: CBS: 9.1/14.4; ABC: 8.8/13.8; NBC: 6.5/10.2; Fox: 5.2/8.2; The CW: 2.4/3.8.
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.3 million; ABC: 13.34 million; NBC: 9.95 million; Fox: 7.7 million; The CW: 3.78 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 4.6/12.3; CBS: 4.5/11.9; NBC: 3.7/9.9; Fox: 2.6/7.2; The CW: 1.6/4.3.
Analysis: The third week again has CBS and ABC battling it out. And it looks like it will come down to tonight (Sunday) on who will win the week...yet AGAIN! As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC and CBS lead the pack so far with NBC third...the same pattern from the first weeks of the season. On Monday, CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 17.9 million and helped them win the night in viewers, but 9pm's Heroes on NBC held up well in week two with a 5.5/13 rating in A18-49, just slightly down from the premiere. NBC's Studio 60 fell more, and was in third place in its slot with 8.85 million--NBC might be calling on Medium soon. ABC premiered another installment of The Bachelor and did decent for them doing 7.53 million for its two-hour premiere. Will the season premiere of What About Brian beat Studio 60 tomorrow? We shall see. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 18.38 million for 90 minutes and the second episode of new sitcom Help Me Help You held some of that audience and did 10.08 million--should be better, though. Fox's regular line-up was pre-empted as Baseball playoffs did just 8.36 million..they missed House. NBC did well with Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: SVU, but Friday Night Lights premiered to just 7.17 million at 8. Meanwhile, CBS continues to falter Tuesdays at 10 (they do great 8-10pm though) as Smith was at fourth place for the hour with 8.38 million...and now the show is canceled, look for crime repeats to take over this week. Wednesday saw ABC win in viewers this week as Lost is back and did 18.82 million and a very good 11.1/17 HH rating! ABC also won the opening hour again with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 11.6/18 rating and 17.49 million (up almost 2 million from last week...Nick Lachey as a special guest helped). CBS's Jericho did 10.83 million, down from last week's 11.45 million and the premiere's 11.66 million--if it drops more, CBS should be concerned just a bit, but it looks to be steady. NBC had another Wednesday to forget as their night was just at 5.59 million, worse than previous week's 6.84 million, and premiere week's 7.31 million--Kidnapped will be gone this week after the dreadful performance of 5.15 million. ABC's The Nine premiered OK doing 11.91 million, hopefully it continues that and builds because this show is going to get much better than the already praised pilot. CBS competed well from 9-11pm with Criminal Minds and CSI: NY both doing over 15 million (15.19 and 15.73 million). The CW's America's Next Top Model did well again...so far the only bright spot for the new network. On Thursday we saw a two-network race between CBS and ABC. ABC's red-hot drama Grey's Anatomy had 22.8 million at 9pm and in the same slot CSI had 21.51 million (GA won in households too 14.9 to 13.5 and A18-49 9.4 to 7.3). At 8 p.m. it looks like ABC found a hit in the new series Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did decent again with 14.26 million, slightly down from premiere's 16.32 million, Survivor had 15.83 million to last week's 16.84 million. The one-hour comedy beat the veteran reality show in HH again: 9.6/15 to 9.4/15. At 10 p.m. Shark was down from last week's 14.64 million to 13.75 million--this is no Trace. ER led the hour with 14.68 million. ABC's Six Degrees did 9.11 million, down from last week's 10.15 million and the premiere's 12.56 million--very concerning, but ABC will be patient as there might be a crossover very soon with the show that airs before it ;)
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas do well again, and NBC saw Deal or No Deal win its hour and Law & Order did OK at 10. ABC saw a slight rise from last week (but still not in the mid 5's like it did before) for Men in Trees, but A18-49 was not good. Saturday ratings are not available yet, but expect ABC's College Football coverage or NBC's special two-hour Dateline to win the night. Last Sunday CBS was delayed by about 35 minutes on their shows, hurting them a bit. Can it do better this week? ABC will have no problem beating the NFL on NBC again, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and total viewers, as new series Brothers & Sisters is holding up pretty well. Without a Trace looks like it will win at 10, but the new ABC drama is competing more than people thought it would.
I again expect ABC to win the week in demos and maybe even in total viewers this week, CBS will battle though...should be close. NBC should be third in everything again. The Nine didn't break-out as well as I thought, but hopefully it builds...it is perfect after Lost. Look for NBC's new sitcoms to premiere OK this week, nothing big, but 30 Rock will do much better than 20 Good Years.
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Sept. 25-Oct. 1)
- The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes- Two encores at 7 and 8 did not do much, 7pm only had 3.08 million and a 1.9 HH rating; repeat at 8pm perked up a bit to 7.65 million and a 4.5 HH rating, with a 3.7 A18-39 rating.
- 'Til Death (Fox) 2 episodes - Two repeats at 7:30 and 8:30 did not do well, with the first only doing 3.67 million, but up from lead-in and 8:30 was down from the lead-in to 6.31 million.
- Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat did 6.97 million.
- The War at Home (Fox) -This out of place sitcom was all-new and only did 5.59 million.
- CW Sunday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game all stumbled out of the gate. Doing only 2.3 to 2.74 million. They will be moving to Monday starting tomorrow.
Monday Sitcoms
- The Class (CBS) - The sitcom's 3rd episode saw it go down even more. 7.88 million, 2.7/8 A18-49 rating and just a 5.4/9 HH rating. Last week: 8.48 million. 5.6/9 HH rating and 2.9/8 A18-49 rating. This sitcom will be moved to 8:30pm starting tomorrow.
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Up from last week's 9.14 million to 9.32 million, 3.4/9 A18-49 rating was up to 3.6/9, and a 5.8/9 HH rating was up to a 6.1/9. How well will it do tomorrow at 8pm? Can it help The Class?
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.09 million, 15.28 million for first episodes of the season, so for the third episode it continued the pattern with 15.8 million.
- New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - This show is slowly getting better in the ratings. 12.01 million, 12.19 and for the third installment it had a big jump to 13.59 million. Clearly a winner this week.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Help Me Help You (ABC) - This week the show did 10.08 million, 6.8/10 HH rating, and a 3.0/8 A18-49 rating, compared to last week's 11.48 million, 7.7/12 HH rating and a 3.5/9 A18-49 rating. The show needs to not drop again and stay steady around 11-12 million.
None.
Thursday Sitcoms
- My Name is Earl (NBC) - Fox didn't have a competing sitcom, so this week this sitcom did its best of the season doing 9.89 million...much better!
- The Office (NBC) - Up from last week and did 8.89 million.
None.
Saturday Sitcoms
Airing tonight (Sunday) is the second (and final) week of the CW Sunday sitcom block from 7-9pm Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends, & The Game. The Fox sitcom block this week is pre-empted due to Baseball. We will have the numbers for these next week.
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office and The Class) or just plain old terrible (such as CW sitcom premieres).
Saturday, October 07, 2006
NBC Sitcom Pilot Review: 30 Rock - Premieres October 11th; Mini-DVD Review: Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 17)
30 Rock - Wednesdays at 8:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres October 11th at 8:00PM ET/PT
Emmy Award winner Tina Fey (NBC’s "Saturday Night Live," "Mean Girls") writes, executive-produces and stars as Liz Lemon in NBC’s "30 Rock," a workplace comedy where the workplace exists behind-the-scenes of a live variety show. The show is told through the comedic voice of Fey and features Alec Baldwin ("The Aviator,” “The Cooler” ) as Jack Donaghy, the brash new network executive who has turned the show upside down with his meddling ways.
The single Lemon is living every comedy writer's dream - head writer on a demanding, live TV program in New York City. Her life is jolted when Donaghy interferes with her show, and bullies Lemon into convincing Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan, "Saturday Night Live," "The Longest Yard") -- a wild and unpredictable movie star -- to join the cast. Now Lemon must manage the unmanageable so that the show -- and her dream -- can go on.
Also rounding out the cast in the half hour comedy are: Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal" as Jenna Maroney), Scott Adsit (“Kicking and Screaming” as Pete Hornberger,) the variety show’s producer, Jack McBrayer (“Arrested Development” as Kenneth the Page,) the over-eager NBC Page -- a highly sought-after entry level position with the network, and Rachel Dratch (“Saturday Night Live” in multiple roles).
"30 Rock" is executive produced by Lorne Michaels.
Cast: Tina Fey as Liz Lemon, Alec Baldwin as Jack Donaghy, Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, Jane Krakowski as Jenna Maroney, Scott Adsit as Pete Hornberger, Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page, Rachel Dratch (various roles)
Read our review of the pilot episode here.
Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday on our message board.
Related Links:
Look for our review of the other new NBC sitcom, Twenty Good Years, on Monday.
And welcome to another edition of Saturday mini-DVD reviews! Today we take a look at Sony Picture Home Entertainment's Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season. The classic '70s series comes to an end on DVD in this final season. See skees53's mini-DVD review of Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season.
Starsky & Hutch: The Complete Fourth Season (Sony, $49.95) contains all 22 episodes of the final season of the classic detective action-drama on a five disc set. Starsky and Hutch were the two coolest detectives of the 1970s cruising around their fictional city (Was it Los Angeles? We'll never know!) in their ever-so-famous Ford Gran Torino getting the scum off of the street, one episode at a time. The fourth season includes the duo getting involved in cases of rape, moonshiners, contract killers, counterfeiting (by Starsky's own brother???), and possibly even the duo going into voluntary retirement. And for the loyal fans of Starsky & Hutch, the season also includes what may be the most infamous episode of the show: "Dandruff," where Starsky and Hutch go undercover as hairdressers to catch a diamond thief. Clearly the writers were running out of stories! Sadly, Sony has skimped on the special features once again for this season, but it should come as a relief to consumers that the episodes in the set all appear to be unedited and that the video and audio quality is superb, perhaps even better than the quality from previous releases. The set is packaged in a very thick five-panel digipak with five episodes on each disc, except for Disc 5 which contains only two episodes. Even though this was obviously not the best season of Starsky & Hutch, this is still a great DVD set with some good episodes!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Starsky & Hutch TV.com Page
Friday, October 06, 2006
Network Notes: The CW, Fox Lineup Changes, ABC Schedules 'Big Day', NBC Renews 'Heroes', Cancelation Watch; Classic Warner Sitcoms Re-done in Russia!
Meanwhile Fox has announced that after the Baseball season is over they will change just about every night in someway. Mondays will see Prison Break remain at 8 p.m. and new drama Justice move from Wednesdays at 9 to Mondays at 9. Vanished, which was airing in that Monday at 9 slot will get the death slot of Fridays at 8, replacing Nanny 911 which goes to the bench. On Tuesdays, Fox will swap the slots for both Standoff and House, which could be good or could not be good. On Wednesdays, Bones remains at 8 and a new quiz show called The Rich List will at 9 starting November 1. Thursdays will see Happy Hour return at 8:30 p.m. (I bet just for a week or two then it will be put to sleep for good) and The O.C. returns for another season at 9 p.m. Click here for the changes in a list format.
Big Day, a new romantic comedy about life in the wild wedding lane, will premiere Tuesday, November 28 (9:00 p.m., ET) on ABC. For more information on the series, click here.
NBC has given a full-season order for 2006-07 to Heroes (Mondays, 9-10 p.m. ET) - the critically acclaimed and #1 new series this Fall in adults 18-49 (tied with ABC's "Brothers & Sisters").
CBS and NBC is not expected to have Smith and Kidnapped on their line-ups next week, as both have struggled. NBC is expected to air the full order of 13 episodes of Kidnapped at some point this season.
Warner Bros. International Television (WBITV) has struck format deals with Russian broadcasters for locally produced versions of classic U.S. hit comedy series Suddenly Susan, Perfect Strangers, Step by Step and Full House.
* Perfect Strangers: WBITV has partnered with production company AMEDIA to produce 50 episodes of this comedy, which debuted September 25 on Ren TV in Russia, to stellar ratings. In the Russian version, mismatched roommates Larry and Balki have become Ivan (played by Artem Semakin) and Andrei (Anton Eldarov). Andrei arrives from his remote ex-Soviet republic and moves straight into the flat of his Moscow cousin, Ivan, where cultures clash between the two dissimilar characters.
* Suddenly Susan: In conjunction with CTC in Russia, WBITV is in the midst of casting for an adaptation of the comedy which starred Brooke Shields in the U.S. CTC has committed to producing 40 episodes of the series. Pre-production has just begun, with casting underway.
* Step by Step and Full House: WBITV is about to begin production on both of these series, also with Russias CTC. Forty episodes of Step by Step and 20 of Full House have been ordered.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Nick@Nite Nixes Last Night of 'Designing Women' Marathon Tonight; Tyra Banks Talks to Former Child Stars; TV Land and Yahoo! TV Team Up For 'Fool'
UPDATE: Sister station TV Land has added more weekly encores for I Pity the Fool. They have also added a weekend marathon of Sanford & Son the weekend of October 14-15. Full details are in the October update.
Former child stars are coming on Tyra tomorrow. Actors Dustin Diamond (Saved by the Bell), Danielle Fishel (Boy Meets World), Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire), Jaimee Foxworth (Family Matters) and Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills, 90210) set the record straight on rumors, scandals and shocking developments in their lives. Don't miss the action tomorrow (Friday), check local listings for time and channel in your area. In NY, it airs at 5 p.m. on WWOR.
TV Land and Yahoo! TV announced that the premiere installment of the network's original series I Pity The Fool, starring Mr. T, will debut exclusively on Yahoo! TV (http://tv.yahoo.com) on Thursday, October 5, a week before its on-air debut on TV Land. The show will be available in its entirety on Yahoo! for six days. I Pity The Fool, produced by Lionsgate, in association with Left/Right Films and Remag Guerilla, premieres on TV Land on October 11 at 10pm (ET/PT). Full details here.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
ABC Postpones 'Knights of Prosperity' Premiere; CBS Swaps 'Class', 'Mother', Renews 'Christine'
Further information regarding Tuesday night programming will be announced by ABC soon.
Variety is reporting that CBS will swap slots for The Class and How I Met Your Mother, in order to boost The Class. The Class will now air 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Mother will lead-off Mondays at 8 p.m.
CBS also is close to giving The New Adventures of Old Christine a full 22 episode order, rather than just 13. Details will come later today.
It is very early on Wednesday (12 midnight!), so we will be sure to come back with more news (and probably updates on the ABC Tuesday situation). Come on back!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
WB Issues 'Mama's Family' DVD Statement, 'Martin' S1 DVD in 2007; 'Gimme a Break' S2 Canada DVD Question
Speaking of Warner, one of their sitcoms is coming to DVD, but they are not releasing it, but their sister company HBO will. HBO will release Martin S1! The hit '90s sitcom starring Martin Lawrence. TVShowsonDVD.com also has that story for us.
Also, we reported that the S2 DVD of Gimme a Break! from VEI (in Canada) has been delayed until early 2007...while this is still the case, buyers on Amazon.ca have gotten an e-mail saying the product has shipped. This is very strange and I'm not sure what is happening. Other retailers are also reporting a Jan. 2007 street date for this set. VEI themselves told us that this set is delayed until then. So it remains to be seen what Amazon.ca is doing. We'll keep you posted.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Listen to Tony Dow and Alan Young Interviews
We really recommend you to listen to these interviews and every other interview this cool website does. So, listen to Tony and Alan in episode 9, by clicking here. And you can view past interviews, like Harry Anderson and James Noble, in the reruns section.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Week 2 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did
Households: CBS: 9.3/14.6; ABC: 8.3/13.1; NBC: 6.5/10.3; Fox: 4.9/7.6; The CW: 2.4/3.7.
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.64 million; ABC: 12.55 million; NBC: 10.00 million; Fox: 7.74 million; The CW: 3.69 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 4.6/12.3; ABC: 4.3/11.5; NBC: 3.8/10.0; Fox: 3.1/8.1; The CW: 1.6/4.2.
Analysis: The second week again has CBS and ABC battling it out. And it looks like it will come down to tonight (Sunday) on who will win the week...AGAIN! Will the NFL on NBC be a factor tonight, since it was not last week? Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, but those are slow nights. ABC's Grey's Anatomy and CBS's CSI battled again on Thursday at 9pm and this time CSI won in viewers--barely. ABC and CBS lead the pack so far with NBC third. On Monday, CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 17.79 million and helped them win the night in viewers, but Heroes on NBC premiered well and did a 5.9/14 rating in A18-49. NBC's Studio 60 fell more, and did 10.83 million--NBC might be calling on Medium soon. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 17.91 million for two-hours and the premiere of sitcom Help Me Help You held some of that audience and did 11.48 million. Fox's House did well with 14.52 million. Wednesday saw CBS win in viewers, as the dramas from 9-11pm won their hours yet again. ABC won the opening hour with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 15.81 million. CBS's Jericho did 11.45 million, dropping just slightly from last week's 11.66 million. NBC had another Wednesday to forget as their night was just at 6.84 million, even worse than last week's 7.31 million--Kidnapped will be gone soon. The CW's America's Next Top Model did well again. On Thursday we saw a two-network race between CBS and ABC. ABC's red-hot drama Grey's Anatomy had 23.48 million and CSI had 23.77 million (GA won in households 15.0 to 14.3 and A18-49 9.5 to 8.0 though). At 8 p.m. it looks like ABC found a hit in the new series Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did 16.32 million and almost beat Survivor's 16.84 million, though it did beat it in HH's with a 10.8/17 rating to 9.6/15 rating. At 10 p.m. Shark was slightly up from last week and did 14.64 million beating ER's 14.36 million. ABC's Six Degrees did 10.15 million, down from the premiere's 12.56 million. Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas do well, and NBC saw Deal or No Deal and Law & Order do decently. ABC saw a slight dip for Men in Trees. Saturday ratings are not available yet, but expect ABC's College Football coverage to be the top draw. Last Sunday CBS beat NBC's NFL coverage. Can it do it this week, too? ABC will have no problem beating the NFL, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and maybe total viewers, but that depends on how much new series Brothers & Sisters holds up. Without a Trace looks like a sure winner at 10. I again expect ABC to win the week in demos and CBS in total viewers, with ABC a solid second. NBC should be third in everything. I had all bets on Ugly Betty on Thursdays and I was right, it looks to be a big hit! This week look for ABC's The Nine to break-out.
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Sept. 18-24)
- The Simpsons (Fox) - Up from last week with 9.72 million and a nice 4.8/12 A18-49 rating.
- American Dad (Fox) - Also up from last week, and did 8.36 million and a decent 4.3/10 A18-49 rating.
- Family Guy (Fox) - Up from last week in both measures: 9.66 million and 4.7/11 A18-49 rating.
- The War at Home (Fox) - Everything else was up, but this wasn't...only 6.61 million and just a 3.3/7 A18-49 rating for this out of place sitcom.
Monday Sitcoms
- The Class (CBS) - Down 2 million from its series premiere with 8.48 million. 5.6/9 HH rating and 2.9/8 A18-49 rating. This is concerning. Last week: 6.9/11 HH rating, 10.48 million viewers, and a so-so 3.6/10 A18-49 rating.
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Slightly down from last week's season premiere with 9.14 million, 3.4/9 A18-49 rating, and a 5.8/9 HH rating. Last week: A18-49 with a 3.8/10, and held 100% of the lead-in's viewers with 10.48 million. HH rating of 6.8/10. They should switch these two shows.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Up from the season premiere's 15.09 million to 15.28 million.
- New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 12.19 million, up from the 12.01 million who tuned in for the season premiere last week. A18-49 rating was a 3.8/9--that should be a bit higher, since the lead-in was at a 4.8/12.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Help Me Help You (ABC) - Had a nice lead-in and didn't hold much of it, but still did decent enough. 11.48 million tuned in, 7.7/12 HH rating and a so-so 3.5/9 A18-49 rating. ABC will be happy if it continues like this for the next few weeks.
None.
Thursday Sitcoms
- My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down from last week's 8.86 million and a 3.8/11 A18-49 rating to 8.12 million and a 3.4/10 A18-49 rating. NBC should have kept it on Tuesdays.
- The Office (NBC) - Last week this sitcom did so well and built on the lead-in in viewers, but not this week. 7.78 million tuned in and it did build on from the lead-in in A18-49 with a 3.8/10. Last week: 9.11 million and a 4.3/11 A18-49 rating.
- 'Til Death (Fox) - Down more from last week in viewers with 5.72 million, but slightly up in A18-49 with a 2.4/7 rating. Last week: 5.78 million and a pathetic 2.2/7 A18-49 rating. A repeat followed at 8:30 and went down to 5.43 million and a 2.3/6 A18-49 rating...better than Happy Hour.
None.
Saturday Sitcoms
- The Class (CBS) - First two episodes encored from 8-9pm. Ratings TBD.
Airing tonight (Sunday) is the new CW sitcom block from 7-9pm Everybody Hates Chris, All of Us, Girlfriends, & The Game. The Fox sitcom block this week os full of repeats The Simpsons, 'Til Death, The Simpsons, 'Til Death, Family Guy and an all-new The War at Home from 7-10pm. We will have the numbers for these next week.
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office and Help Me Help You) or just plain old terrible (such as 'Til Death).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, November 3
Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Not Afraid" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Determined to face his fears alone, Philip returns to school; his family's covert intervention nearly lands them in jail, forcing everyone to confront trust, boundaries and unconditional love.
Lot Patrol - "" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
A squad of security guards patrol a Hollywood studio, wrangling unhinged actors, rogue crew members, and their own dysfunctional lives.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 2)
Tuesday, November 3
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Jane Leeves (Hot in Cleveland/Frasier/Throb) - Andy Cohen interviews Jane on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry talks about Hexed and Detective Duck: The Mystery of the Flash Flood on ABC's GMA3 at 1pm.
- Emma Roberts (Scream Queens/Unfabulous) - Emma drops by for a chat about FX's American Horror Story on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Justine Lupe (Nobody Wants This/Cristela) - Justine talks about Nobody Wants This on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- David Zayas (The Bear) and Dominic Fumusa (Nurse Jackie) - David and Dominic will be on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Awkwafina (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Awkwafina talks about The Unlikely Chef on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour.
- Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer talks about NCIS on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This/HouseBroken/Veep) - Timothy can be heard on the Morning Mashup on SiriusXM.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/20/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts
Sitcoms Online Main Page
Contact Us