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Mini-DVD Review: NCIS - The Third Season (April 24)

Welcome to another Saturday edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we we take a look at CBS DVD's Third Season of Navy NCIS. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of NCIS - The third Season and:

NCIS - The Third Season (CBS, $64.99) is yet another in a recent string of aggravating CBS DVD releases, this time of the wonderful third season of the hit CBS series. This is when *I* really got into the series -- I had watched the episode some beforehand, however, my college roommate at the time (Jacob) loved the series, and so I watched it with him, and it grew to be a favorite of *mine* as well. One of the things I’ve always loved about this show -- a trait expanded upon further as time has gone on, is that the show is more about the characters than the actual crime scene stuff. A lot of other crime series fail to focus on the characters, and while this makes them great for syndication (see: Law & Order, CSI), they bore me. NCIS is different -- the crime story is only a component of the more important character drama.
This season marks a real change for the show. At the very end of the past season, Ari Haswari, continuing his vendetta against Gibbs (Gibbs being the original target), kills Kate. Needing a replacement for her on the team and on the cast, they bring in Cote de Pablo, playing easily one of my favorite characters on the show, Ziva David -- a Mossad agent and Ari’s former control officer. Also debuting is the new NCIS director Jenny Shepard (played by Lauren Holly), who is a former love interest of Gibbs and a character that would come to serve as a wonderful counterpart and foil to Gibbs on the show.
The first two episodes of the show are devoted to finding -- and killing Ari. Sasha Alexander continues to play Kate -- this time as her ghost -- for these first two episodes...this is a great couple of episodes you just have to see to believe. Absolutely quality television that was what ultimately sold me on the show. In another personal favorite, Ziva and DiNozzo pose as married assassins, and find out who wants who killed. In the next episode, for some reason, every piece of evidence collected for a murder seems to point to...DiNozzo. In Model Behavior, the gang investigates the death of a model that is killed while taping a reality show on a Marine base. In Boxed In, Ziva and DiNozzo are investigating a naval stockyard for illegal weapons, and come under fire. They are forced to take cover in a container, and are subsequently locked in. A few more episodes pass and we’re to the season finale, Hiatus, in which a bomb explodes as Gibbs contacts an undercover agent on a foreign ship, killing the agent and placing Gibbs in a coma. Gibbs does still have some flashbacks while out. Tony then becomes the head of NCIS as the team investigates a crew member of the ship whose gone missing and may have something to do with things. Shepard, in part 2, contacts Gibbs’ first partner, trying to help a now awake but amnesiac Gibbs regain his memory -- as only Gibbs knows of an impending terrorist attack.
I had to trim that section, as I really do enjoy pretty much the entire season start to finish -- those were just some of *my* personal favorites, your mileage may vary. Now for the part I find significantly more unpleasant, and something that the majority of other reviewers at Sitcoms Online have already had to rant about. On the back of the box is the dreaded words “Some episodes may be edited from their original network versions.” However, I didn’t even have to check the runtimes before I noticed the first consequence of the Paramount-to-CBS DVD changeover -- the menus have gone from the wonderful S1/S2 menus to plain and generic menus. Each menu features a generic science-type background with cast members posing in front, and all three-menu options in static text to the right. This is just pathetic. In addition, clicking on episode selection just brings up a text list of episodes. One of the few redeeming features is that there are still special features. That redeems this set. However, I’ll get to that in a minute. Video quality is nice -- widescreen is perfectly preserved. Audio is a wonderful Dolby Digital 5.1.
As I mention, the dreaded text is on the back of the box. I have the 3rd season in original broadcast, and will provide that list of runtimes to the forums in a day or two. It’s possible these could be music errors, which if true will mean I can’t provide a list of edits for a couple of days. Check the forums, the Sitcoms Online News Blog, or my personal blog in a few days. The DVD runtimes vs. the copies available in the iTunes music store have the DVD usually a few seconds (between 1-8 seconds) ahead of the iTunes episodes. Two of them are exact and two of them iTunes have a slight higher run time. Now I’m just confused. Did they adjust dialogue? Did they adjust camera angles? Was there music replacement? Unfortunately, there’s no way to know the answer due to deadline constraints without spending the additional $40 to buy the iTunes copies – presuming they’re not edited themselves – to find out. I’ll attempt to discover what edits exist – if anything – in the coming days. Heck, it’s possible the changes are additions, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Still, if that text is there, there *has* to be something, otherwise they’ve done nothing to aggravate fans.
After over 1000 words, and I still haven’t even discussed the special features. With CBS DVD’s recent track record, I was worried about a lack of them, but they’re here. Features are split evenly over the discs. Audio commentaries from cast and crew, plus the following features: The Real NCIS Declassified, Hit the Head Montage, The Women of NCIS, NCIS - Season of Change, and The Round Table. Three of the features are obvious what they’re about, the other two don’t really tell much.
On the surface, this set only getting a mini-review seems obvious – it’s not a sitcom, and the previous two sets were straightforward. But with the CBS DVD changeover and all the recent controversy their sets have caused, in addition to the glut of special features and the quality of the season itself, this just wasn’t enough space to adequately describe this interesting set. But that’s the thing with editing down something – you cause the audience to lose certain things that – sometimes they’re just padding, but sometimes by editing you cut out important material, something CBS DVD/Paramount has GOT to learn, otherwise they’re wasting everyone’s time and money by even doing TV DVDs.
NCIS is one of the better CBS DVD sets since the changeover – even better when you factor out Odd Couple S1, which is certainly a special case. Still, the concept of edits bothers me – even if I couldn’t find them immediately, and the shoddy menus compared to before is just inexcusable. That said, there’s nothing – unlike most other recent CBS DVD releases – that prevents this from being a perfectly watchable and enjoyable show and release. RECOMMENDED.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4/5 stars)

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ABC Family Upfront: That '70s Show Coming in 2008, More AFV Episodes Bought; ABC Delays 'Trees' Until 2007-08

ABC Family Channel today outlined their plans for summer and fall of 2007 as well as exciting new online initiatives. Scheduled to debut this summer is the second season of ABC Family’s highest rated original series Kyle XY (Mondays at 8 starting June 11 for 13 episodes), the angel mythology continues when Fallen (August 3, 4 and 5) returns with four new hours, and new series Greek (July for 10 episodes) and the animated series Slacker Cats (August) join the lineup. In addition to the summer series, ABC Family has ordered a fourth season of Wildfire (January 2008 for 13 episodes) and a second season of Lincoln Heights (September for 10 episodes). ABC Family's 10th annual 25 Days of Christmas programming event, will feature over two hundred hours of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family from December 1- 25. In addition to classic holiday favorites like Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, this year's holiday event will also feature two original movie premieres, Snow Globe (working title) and Holiday in Handcuffs starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez, as well as the basic cable premiere of The Incredibles. 25 Days of Christmas will launch with the first ever Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas which adds eleven additional days of holiday programming and a third original holiday movie.
ABC Family has acquired the Tom Bergeron hosted episodes of an American television institution, America’s Funniest Home Videos which premieres this October and has also acquired reruns of the popular comedy That 70’s Show premiering in 2008. Another keystone event for the network is 13 Nights of Halloween which includes a new original movie, Nature of the Beast, a classic story of boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy turns into werewolf, starring Eric Mabius (Ugly Betty) and Eddie Kaye Thomas.

Rookie drama Men in Trees will NOT return now on May 10 and 17 at 10pm. ABC will hold all the remaining episodes (five of them) for next season. Instead ABC has slotted sneak preview of new drama Traveler on Thursday, May 10, 2007 at 10:01PM ET/PT. Traveler will air regularly on Wednesdays at 10 this summer starting May 30.
A Lost Clip Show is scheduled to air on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 10:04 PM ET/PT immediately following the intense Grey's Anatomy season finale!
The Lost Clip Show is also still scheduled to air on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 from 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT.

Slight Change for ION on April 27; CBS Sitcom Summer Line-Up; GSN Honors the Late Kitty Carlisle

ION Television has made a slight change on Friday, April 27. This will be only for this day only, but the special A Concert for America will air at 8pm, followed by four episodes of The Wonder Years from 9-11pm. Mama's Family & Diagnosis Murder will not air on this date only. So what is A Concert for America? Singers, including Mary J. Blige, Kenny Chesney and Sting, raise awareness for the JC Penney Afterschool Fund that helps establish programs for kids who are left alone after the school day ends. Other performers include Andrea Bocelli; Jon Bon Jovi; Chris Botti; Kenny Chesney; Peter Cincotti; Sara Evans; John Legend; Martina McBride; Renee Olstead; Alejandro Sanz; and 3 Doors Down. Hosted by Phil and Robin McGraw.
No wonder they pre-empted Diagnosis Murder. Wonder Years would be more compatible to air after this special.

We mentioned yesterday that CBS will air new animated comedy Creature Comforts for the summer on Mondays at 8. So, this means encores of How I Met Your Mother will air at 9:30 in between Two and a Half Men and CSI: Miami encores. Maybe this means Mother will be renewed after all. 8:30 will be Old Christine, if you were wondering. No word if Rules of Engagement will encore in the summer yet, but you can catch back-to-back encores of the soon to conclude King of Queens on Wednesdays at 8-9pm all summer long!

GSN is honoring the life of Kitty Carlisle Hart, the beloved stage and film actress who appeared on TV game shows in six decades, in a special tribute late Sunday night April 22. Carlisle Hart, who died Wednesday at the age of 96 from pneumonia, was a frequent guest on To Tell The Truth beginning in the 50's and GSN is showcasing two landmark episodes of her work on that show. She was the only guest who appeared in every version of To Tell The Truth from its original format to its last in 2001. GSN is airing Carlisle's first appearance at 3am from 1957 and a special episode that featured Carlisle's son as one of the guest imposters at 3:30am from 1973.

Cosby Show Kids to Host Nick at Nite Marathon; CBS Summer Update

Nick at Nite will not make last second changes to its weekend line-up this week (at least not yet). Well, except the Murphy Brown Saturday night (early Sunday morning) airing at 5:30am has been replaced by Full House for this week. In addition, a rebroadcast of the TV Land Awards will air Sunday from 11pm-12:30am, but we knew that. A last minute Cosby Show stunt has been booked for all of next week. Nick at Nite invites viewers to spend a week with their favorite television family on Huxta-palooza, a week-long marathon hosted by the Huxtable children as they present their favorite episodes and moments from The Cosby Show. From Monday, April 23 – Sunday, April 29, actors Keisha Knight-Pulliam, Malcom Jamaal Warner, Tempestt Bledsoe, Lisa Bonet, and Sabrina Le Beauf will each host their own night featuring their favorite six episodes. Huxta-palooza will feature never-before-seen interviews with the Cosby kids as the stars comment on their characters’ greatest meltdowns, triumphs, best fashion moments and more.
Airs Sun-Thurs from 9-3am and Fri-Sat from 10pm-4am. Full House will air in the 3am hour, Growing Pains in the 4am hour, a rotation of Designing Women/Murphy Brown in the 5am half-hour and Full House at 5:30am. That is for next week ONLY.

CBS has announced premiere dates for two summer series. Pirate Master, the next epic adventure reality series from Emmy Award-winning producer Mark Burnett, will premiere Thursday, May 31 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS.
Pirate Master will send 16 modern-day pirates on a high seas adventure where they will live as buccaneers and travel around the Caribbean island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million. Over the course of 33 days, these pirates will live aboard a massive 179 foot, square-rigged barque which carries 12,500 square feet of sail.
Creature Comforts, the American version of the hit British television series will premiere Monday, June 4 from 8:00-8:30 PM, ET/PT on CBS. Based on the original Academy Award-winning short film of the same name created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations, Ltd., the half-hour stop-motion animated series employs a unique format that culls excerpts from real person interviews and places them in the mouths of a wide variety of animated animals to produce humorous, charming and insightful commentaries on everyday life.

TV Land Changes May 2007 Schedule; Nick at Nite Schedules AFV for May

TV Land has edited their May line-up and mostly everything is moving to new timeslots. The new schedule will start on April 30 and will bring back All in the Family and The Cosby Show to regular airings, and also What's Happening Now!! will finally air as a regular (weekdays at 7am). Among the changes include a sitcom block from 7-9am with What's Happening Now!!, Sanford & Son, All in the Family and The Jeffersons. A note on What's Happening Now!!, they seem to be airing the 12 episodes that they have already aired in a marathon. So once the 12 episodes finish, they start again with the same 12. I hope they decide to air every episode...maybe this is a test. Gunsmoke has been removed from the weekday line-up, but will still air on the weekends. Sunday's encores will however air Monday mornings. The other notable changes include: Andy Griffith Show's four airings are all in early evening now at 5-6pm and 7-8pm, rather than 8-9pm and 1-2am. Good Times coming back in prime-time (8-9pm Mon-Thurs, 9-10pm Fri-Sun). Instead of M*A*S*H from 9-10pm and 12-1am, TV Land has decided to air a M*A*S*H block from 10pm-12am, so there is no breaks. Thus, Sanford & Son which was at 10-11pm will slide to 9-10pm and Three's Company was 11p-12a will move to 12-1am. Late nights will have encores and also Cosby Show from 2-3am. Star Trek has been cut to just 4 times a week in its 5a and 6a slots. See the full schedule starting April 30 by clicking HERE.

As we reported already, the Bob Saget years of America's Funniest Home Videos is coming to Nick at Nite on April 30. The timeslot originally was weeknights at 8:30pm. That has been changed to Sun-Thurs at 9pm and Fri-Sat at 10pm, replacing one episode of Full House each day. Full House will still air immediately following AFV.
The first week though, April 30-May 6, you can catch the show back-to-back all week-long (Sun-Thurs 9-10pm and Fri-Sat 10-11pm) to celebrate the show joining the network.

'Fresh Prince' Comes to TBS in May, 'Sister, Sister' to WGN in the Fall; TV Land Awards Preview, Includes Spoof 'Ugly Betty...White'

If you think airing on Viacom stations Nick at Nite and The N were not enough, now starting May 1 you can catch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on TBS in the daytime. TBS will bring back the show and share the show with Nick at Nite/The N. TBS will air it weekdays at 2 & 2:30 p.m. ET starting May 1.
This means nearly all of Nick at Nite's shows are shared with other cable networks (Full House - ABC Family, Cosby Show - TBS/WGN, Roseanne - Oxygen). Even the shows that are not airing much like A Different World and Mad About You are shared (both with Oxygen). Murphy Brown and Designing Women are the only Nick at Nite shows that are not shared with another cable network (well, Growing Pains was on ION, but ION is really a broadcast channel, so it technically isn't shared).

Beginning this fall, Sister, Sister will join Superstation WGN. All six seasons of the half-hour comedy have been acquired for a three-year run.
It will air back-to-back episodes this fall on weekdays beginning at 5pm ET. Sister, Sister will be paired with The Cosby Show, leading into a comedy block of Funniest Pets & People, and America's Funniest Videos. No word yet on what will become of Moesha, but it will most likely air before Cosby Show.
Additionally, an episode of Sister, Sister is scheduled to air on Saturdays along with Even Stevens and Lizzie McGuire, which also appeal to young viewers.

The 5th TV Land Awards will premiere on April 22, but the awards show taped this past Saturday. It looks like it will be a fun-fest. Kelly Ripa was the host and I hear she did great. She might be the best host since the first awards host, which was the late John Ritter. It was an unforgettable evening as celebrities from television, music and film bestowed special tribute awards tonight to some of television's most iconic series and stars at the fifth annual TV Land Awards. The honorees included Lucille Ball (Legacy of Laughter Award), The Brady Bunch (Pop Culture Award), Roots (Anniversary Award), Hee Haw (Entertainer Award), Taxi (Medallion Award) and Heroes (Future Classic Award).
Some highlights:
Legendary actress and comedienne Carol Burnett and Emmy Award-winning actress Kirstie Alley presented Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr. with the Legacy of Laughter Award in honor of their mother, Lucille Ball. Actresses Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips of One Day at a Time presented the cast of The Brady Bunch with the Pop Culture Award. Grammy Award-winning country superstar Willie Nelson performed hits "On The Road Again" and "City of New Orleans" in a tribute to Hee Haw. Academy Award-winning actors Forest Whitaker and Morgan Freeman presented the cast of Roots with the Anniversary Award celebrating the epic 30th Anniversary. The cast of Taxi -- Danny DeVito, Jeff Conaway, Tony Danza, Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Randall Carver and creator James L. Brooks -- were presented with The Medallion Award by actress Sharon Stone. Actor Luke Wilson presented Heroes creator and executive producer Tim Kring with this year's Future Classic Award along with executive producers Dennis Hammer and Allan Arkush and cast members Masi Oka, Leonard Roberts, Noah Gray-Cabey, Zachary Quinto, Santiago Cabrera and Jack Coleman.
Other memorable moments included:
A hilarious videotaped intro where host Kelly Ripa reenacted the show opens to several memorable sitcoms including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, That Girl, and Laverne & Shirley. The package ended with Kelly flying above the live audience and making her entrance as "Sister Bertrille" from The Flying Nun.
TV's most beloved TV stars spoofed one of television's most popular shows, Ugly Betty, in a parody entitled Ugly Betty - White. The parody starred Betty White with cameos by Erik Estrada, Joan Collins, George Hamilton, Charo and Peter Scolari.
And a performance at the end of the show by The Brady Bunch's "The Silver Platters," as Maureen McCormick and Barry Williams were joined by host Kelly Ripa -- singing the unforgettable songs "Keep On" and "It's A Sunshine Day."
For more highlights, click HERE. And don't forget to watch the awards on TV Land on Sunday, April 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT

Week 30: How the Sitcoms Did; 'Happy Days' S2 DVD Is Terrible

We don't have final four day network averages through Thursday, thus we won't give the final averages for the first four nights and an analysis. We do have How the Sitcoms Did, and final numbers for all sitcoms:

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of April 2-8)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes - Two repeats did 2.06 and 2.67 million.
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 4.95 million, down two million from last week's repeat.
• King of the Hill (Fox) - A repeat did 4.69 million...nice retention from lead-in.
• Family Guy (Fox) - 5.47 million for an encore, not bad, but down from last week's repeat by more than a million.
• American Dad (Fox) - 4.98 million for a repeat beat the 8pm hour repeats.

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A new episode did just 7.64 million, down a lot from normal numbers, but up a bit from the last new episode on March 19 (7.27 million).
• Old Christine (CBS) - A new episode built from the lead-in a bit and did 7.69 million.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A new episode built from the lead-in a bit and did 13.46 million, down from its average of new episodes but up from the last new episode on March 19 (11.68).
• King of Queens (CBS) - The series returned and built on the lead-in in Households! In viewers it did 13.41 million.
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. Repeat of Chris started it off with 1.98 million, actually the lowest of the block. All of Us did 2.0 million, Girlfriends did 2.19 million and The Game did 2.15 million.

Tuesday Sitcoms

None.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 2 all-new episodes did decent, both did 6.36 million. 8pm was up from last week's 5.99 million, but 8:30 was down from last week's 6.53 million.
• According to Jim (ABC) - A repeat did just 5.05 million. This week it moves to 8pm with new episodes the rest of the way!
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - Just 3.77 million for the final airing..
• 'Til Death (Fox) - A two episode finale from 8-9pm was way down from post-Idol numbers. 7.05 and 8.64 million. 8.64 million is pre-Idol tune-in...inflated numbers.

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - The show returns after a long break and did just 6.67 million and a 3.0 A18-149 rating. What happened?
• The Office (NBC) - 7.71 million and a 4.1 18-49 rating built on Earl on BOTH!
• 30 Rock (NBC) - Lost nearly 3 million from lead-in. 5.07 million. This won't be an Office like success story likely.
• Scrubs (NBC) - Held almost all of the lead-in's ratings did 5.05 million and built on 18-49 from a 2.6 to 2.7 rating.

Friday Sitcoms None. Saturday Sitcoms None. Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox comedies. Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, The Office and 'Til Death 8:30 were impressive for the week (pathetic week). Everything else was OK (such as George Lopez, My Name is Earl) or just plain old terrible (such as 30 Rock and In Case of Emergency). We first reported that the Happy Days opening theme "Rock Around the Clock" was replaced on the season two DVD by the "Happy Days" theme that started in season three and we also reported that music has also been replaced, but after we reviewed the set, it was even WORSE than we thought. Nearly all of the music is replaced. The season had over 50 popular songs and we only get about 5 of them, and they are not the major ones. Even "Blueberry Hill" is replaced on all episodes but just one. And the one where it is intact it is only briefly heard. What has CBS DVD done to this set? If the music issue is not enough, the video quality is very bad. We can see a lot of debris and flashing white dots on the film. Some scenes are likely edited out where music was played because the runtimes seem low on a few. Todd and I went through all the episodes for the music search and we came up with a good list on what is intact and what isn't. The what isn't list is much much bigger. Click HERE to read the review. It is right up there with WKRP in the DVD Wall of Shame. CBS DVD also didn't do a great job with the second season of Laverne & Shirley. Laverne is slightly better than Happy Days, but still bad. Mork & Mindy is the best and most complete of the three, as it used the least amount of music. Read those reviews: Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy.

Mini-DVD Review: Entourage Season 3 Part 1 (April 3); Book Review: My First Five Husbands... By Rue McClanahan (April 10)

Welcome to another edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we take a look at HBO's Entourage: Season 3, Part 1. Entourage of course is the popular HBO series that is about a guy named Vince (played by Adrian Grenier) that is about to make it big in showbiz and moves to Hollywood in hopes that he will make it to the top. Also, we have a special book review of My First Five Husbands from sitcom star Rue McClanahan (The Golden Girls) See skees53's mini-DVD review of Entourage: Season 3, Part 1 and the book review of My First Five Husbands:

Entourage: Season 3, Part 1 (HBO, $39.98) contains the twelve episodes of the hit HBO comedy series that aired in the summer of 2006 on HBO (apparently the third season is still going on right now according to HBO, beginning with the new episodes that started earlier this week). A little introduction may be needed for those that don't have HBO or those that (like me) wouldn't normally watch an original series that airs on a cable channel: it is a series about a guy named Vince (played by Adrian Grenier) that is about to make it big in showbiz and moves to Hollywood in hopes that he will make it to the top. But he doesn't going to Hollywood all alone, he is bringing his childhood friends--his "entourage" (including his friends Eric and Turtle, and his half-brother who also aspires to be an actor, but just isn't that good, Drama)--to help him through it all. The whole series is loosely based upon the life of Mark Wahlberg, who is more infamously known as Marky Mark. The whole premise of the series is quite simple really.
Season Three, Part 1, as previously mentioned, contains 12 episode which, despite only being part of a season, is about the same number of episodes that was contained on each of the first two season sets), beginning with "Aquamom," where Vince's "Aquaman" movie is about to premiere--but who will he go down the red carpet with at the premiere?
Los Angeles is having rolling blackouts in "One Day In the Valley," could this affect the box office numbers for Vince's movie? In "Three's Company," Vince's star power goes to his head and he demands more money to do the "Aquaman 2" movie... and Eric's girlfriend wants him to have a threesome. But will his girlfriend regret that threesome? Maybe so if she knew what Eric was thinking in "Strange Days." The season (or partial season) ends with Ari (Vince's agent) possibly getting canned in "Sorry, Ari." There are many guest stars to be found within the episodes including Martin Landau, Seth Green, Penny Marshall, James Woods, and more (as an unrelated side note, check out season 2 to see Bob Saget in a way that is nothing like Danny Tanner!).
The audio and video quality of the set is superb, with the episodes being presented in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The set isn't hefty in bonus features, but it does contain commentaries on three episodes ("One Day in the Valley," "Vegas Baby, Vegas!," and "Sorry, Ari") as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette for the "Vegas Baby, Vegas!" episode. The set itself comes in a nice and sturdy digipak (no outer case, but with the sturdy manner in which this is designed, it doesn't need one) on three discs. So what else can I say? Get your entourage together and head out to Hollywood (or just go to wherever you would get your DVDs from) and pick up this set!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)

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My First Five Husbands... and the Ones Who Got Away (Broadway, $24.95) is Rue McClanahan's autobiography--talking about her life so far chronologically in terms of her husbands and love interests that she has had along the way. The book is presented in a very personal, almost conversational tone, with Rue talking about the good guys and the bad guys she has met along the way--and there are so many of them that it is no surprise that she played Blanche on The Golden Girls.
The book starts out with her childhood and her mother (whom she actually called "Mother" for reasons she explains in the book). She then moves on to talk about when she finally got into showbiz, in the 1950s, where she began to take on some minor roles here and there on the stage in New York City. But of course, where the book really gets interesting is where she gets in to the 1970s, where she begins to become a television star. She talks about her lucky day being the day that she choked on the "luckiest chicken bone" when they decided to kill off her character Aunt Fran on Mama's Family--little did I know that she disliked that role so much! Of course, knowing what happened after being killed off on Mama's Family (getting the role on The Golden Girls), it is understandable why her character being killed off on Mama's Family was a lucky thing for her. Chapter 21 is perhaps the most interesting one in the book, where she talks all about the beginnings of The Golden Girls.
Along the way, we meet her many boyfriends that she has had along the way and all of her first five husbands (there is even a chapter for pretty much all of them) and we find out why none of the marriages ever exactly worked out as planned. She doesn't spare any details on why the marriages didn't work--and I would think some of the ex-husbands wouldn't be too thrilled about what she says, as she even talks about what life is like in bed! But she does stay open and honest the entire way through. Now, on her sixth husband, she is convinced that she has finally found the one--and only time will tell if she is right this time.
The book gives a very interesting perspective into McClanahan's life, though for those that know her best through her work on television, much of the first eighteen chapters will seem unfamiliar. All-in-all, it is a decent book that is a pretty easy read, though sitcom fans may be totally unfamiliar with everything she talks about early on (she even somewhat acknowledges this herself, although she doesn't seem to mind being known as Blanche). But on the other hand, it does give those that know her through her sitcoms a perspective on what her life was like before, and how she ultimately got to where she is today (you can't neglect the back story in any autobiography). Any true fan of Rue McClanahan--one that is interested in more than just her days as Blanche Devereaux--would enjoy this book.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)

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ABC Pulls 'Emergency's' Last Airing; Other Updates; NBC Summer Update

ABC has pulled the last airing of In Case of Emergency for April 18. ABC has aired 12 episodes so far and a 13th will not air. The last episode they aired on April 11 was the actual season finale, so we did see how it ends, they just decided not to air one episode. Repeats of Lost will air in the 9pm hour a week earlier than planned now. The repeats of Lost will lead-in to all-new episode of Lost 10. If you missed this week's Lost, you must watch it this Wednesday at 9...it was GREAT! According to Jim will settle into its new timeslot of Wednesdays at 8pm starting this Wednesday followed by Notes from the Underbelly which premiered to decent numbers last night on a special premiere night and time. George Lopez will move to Tuesdays from 8 to 9 p.m. It was scheduled to move on Tuesday, April 17, but ABC has decided to air another Dancing with the Stars Recap Show leading into the Live Results Show of Dancing with the Stars. So, George will move on April 24 for three weeks (April 24, May 1 and May 8) of new episodes airing back-to-back. Look for guest stars galore with Mario Lopez, Oscar de la Hoya, and Jerry Springer returns.

Meanwhile, Disney-ABC Television Group announced that it will add the remaining unaired episodes of new drama Six Degrees to ABC.com's broadband player.
The first unaired episode of Six Degrees will be added to ABC.com on Friday, April 27, with a new episode added every Friday for four consecutive weeks (five episodes total). Look for sitcom star Bronson Pinchot (Perfect Strangers) to appear in an episode.

NBC announced the premieres for its original alternative programs in Summer 2007 that feature the return of last summer's hit America's Got Talent (with new host Jerry Springer) on May 29 (9-11pm, regular airings Tuesdays 8-9pm) as well as an updated edition of the hit series Last Comic Standing (with new host Bill Bellamy) on June 13 (9-11pm, regular airings 9-10pm) and the launch of Age of Love reality dating series (with host Mark Consuelos) on June 18 (10-11pm). In addition, NBC will reprise the popular weight-loss series The Biggest Loser (with new host Alison Sweeney from NBC's Days of our Lives) in late summer.

TV Land June 2007 Highlights; Remembering Two People in the Sitcom World

TV Land has released its June highlights and it has no regular schedule changes but there are plenty of marathons and specials. First off, for some reason they have one-time-only airings of What's Happening Now!! (4:30a on June 5) and Cheers (4a on June 7). They are not scheduled for any other slots. The Friday night movies continue in June with Pleasantville, Arthur and Parenthood.
Ain't we lucky we got them? Even if it's for a couple of hours.
Tune in for a weekend of laughter and love as the Evan's show how to take care of family. That's right a Good Times Special Episodes marathon on June 2 and 3 from 11p-2a.
Celebrate Father's Day frontier-style with Bonanza! Watch Ben Cartwright and his boys as they bond through various trials and tribulations with a 4 hour TV Land marathon from noon to 4pm. Then at 8pm, tune in for a special presentation of Parenthood, starring one of film's favorite dads, Steve Martin.
Finally, there will be another mini-marathon of The Cosby Show on June 23 from 11p-2a with an encore on June 24 from 8-11p.
For complete details, click HERE.

After awhile of no deaths in the sitcom world, we have come across two big ones. Character actor Roscoe Lee Browne passed away Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a long battle with cancer. Browne is an Emmy & Tony Award Winning Actor who is best probably known for his sitcom work. He has guest starred on series like Barney Miller and The Cosby Show, both of which he earned Emmy nominations (in fact he won for Cosby Show). Audiences probably remember him most for his regular role as Saunders (the butler who replaced Benson) on the last two seasons of Soap. He also guest starred on an episode of Benson, but not as Saunders. Or they might remember his role with Archie Bunker in the elevator on an episode of All in the Family. He also guest starred as the original teacher, the one who substitute Mr. Moore (Howard Hessemen) replaced on Head of the Class.
Roscoe was truly a great veteran actor and he certainly will be missed. Mr. Browne was 81.

We also mourn the loss of the co-creator of Taxi today. Stan Daniels, an Emmy-winning TV writer and producer who worked on two of the most acclaimed comedies of the 1970s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi, has died. Daniels died of heart failure April 6, according to Mount Sinai Memorial Park. Daniels won eight Emmys during his long television career, including three as co-creator and executive producer of Taxi and three as a writer on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He directed episodes of the 80s comedy Dear John as well. His great work behind the camera will be dearly missed. Mr. Daniels was 72.

Notes from the Underbelly, a new sitcom, debuts tonight at 10/9 central, only on ABC!

ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Notes from the Underbelly - Premieres April 12; More 'Fresh' This Weekend on Nick at Nite

Notes from the Underbelly - Regular Airings Wednesdays at 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Thursday, April 12th at 10 and 10:30PM ET/PT

Director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld and producers Kim and Eric Tannenbaum ("Two and a Half Men") bring a comic take on life's greatest adventure -- parenthood. This ensemble comedy proves that surviving the politics of pregnancy and maintaining your relationships with family and friends can be just as demanding as raising a child.

Andrew (Peter Cambor) and Lauren (Jennifer Westfeldt, "Kissing Jessica Stein") have just found out they're going to have a baby, and they're having a difficult time following rule number one -- keeping it a secret. Suddenly switching to decaf, becoming a teetotaler at cocktail parties, and going to the OBGYN are all difficult to keep from family and close friends.

Surrounding Andrew and Lauren as they embark on their journey is a close-knit circle of friends -- all of whom have varying opinions, experience and advice on starting a family. Julie (Melanie Paxson) and Eric (Sunkrish Bala), also in the family way for the first time, are the overly excited, slightly obnoxious expectant parents that Andrew and Lauren never want to become. Lauren's best friend, Cooper (Rachael Harris), is a divorce attorney and career woman who is skeptical of marriage altogether, and will do her best to keep Lauren from becoming another member of the "mommy cult." Andrew's buddy, Danny (Michael Weaver), is an immature child in his own right, whose chief concern is meeting hot women. Can Andrew and Lauren juggle the freedom and spontaneity of their old lives and the responsibility of their new ones? Will they be able to straddle the worlds of their carefree single friends and the ever-changing world of their married ones?

Andrew will narrate each episode, giving his wry and often sarcastic interpretation of the events that are going on around him. Lauren may be getting the stretch marks, but Andrew has to pretend that he doesn't notice them. Through it all, Andrew and Lauren come to learn that what's best for the child could be the easiest part... maintaining your relationships with family and friends might be the real challenge.

Based on Risa Green's novel of the same name, "Notes from the Underbelly" was created by Stacy Traub ("Kitchen Confidential.") Traub, Barry Sonnenfeld, Kim Tannenbaum and Eric Tannenbaum serve as executive producers. The series is from The Tannenbaum Company, Hill Three Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Cast: Jennifer Westfeldt as Lauren, Peter Cambor as Andrew, Michael Weaver as
Danny, Rachael Harris as Cooper, Melanie Paxson as Julie, and Sunkrish Bala as Eric

Read our review of the pilot and two other episodes here.

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Notes from the Underbelly Photo Gallery


Turning to the news, yes, it is that time of the week again where Nick at Nite announces that they have changed their regular weekend line-up for the coming weekend. This time it will be three days of Fresh Prince with very early morning airings of Cosby Show, Growing Pains, Full House and Murphy Brown. to see the schedule for these three days click HERE. Hope you all enjoy all this Fresh Prince they keep airing. No Roseanne at least this weekend.

Posted by Todd -- SitcomsOnline.com at 3:25 PM

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Labels: ABC, Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Full House, Growing Pains, Murphy Brown, Nick at Nite, Notes from the Underbelly, Pilot Reviews

ION Television May Highlights; Pick Your Favorite 'Queens' Episode for Week of May 7

ION Television has released its May schedule and highlights and there are no changes, as of now. They just made changes in April, so I wasn't expecting any changes. I think we will see changes in June or July next, when the weekend primetime RHI programming starts. Could that mean they will expand to more hours by then? Personally I'm hoping for at least 3-11PM on weekdays. They could do a nice family sitcom block from 3-5PM, followed by a family drama at 5 and then sitcoms and Diagnosis Murder from 6-11PM. Just my take. Anyway, as for May, there are no changes but the weekend movies include the classic '80s movie Short Circuit and a few golden classics such as Jet Pilot from 1957 and Cheyenne Autumn from 1964. ION has also edited the movies a bit for April adding the original Ocean's Eleven from 1960 for this Sunday (April 15).
To see the ION May highlights, click HERE.

The King of Queens returned last night for its 200th episode and its final 7 episodes before leaving the air on May 14. In anticipation for the finale, Sony Pictures is asking to pick your top 5 episodes of all-time to air during the week of May 7 in national syndication.
For the first time ever, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) -- with the help of the 208 affiliates in 98% of the country carrying the highly-rated sitcom in syndication -- will ask fans to vote for their favorite "The King of Queens Viewers Choice" episodes and have their selections subsequently air in national syndication.
Beginning Monday, April 16, through Friday, April 27, "The King of Queens Viewers Choice" episodes will be posted on Yahoo! TV. For reference, twelve of the most popular episodes from the past eight seasons, along with brief descriptions and clips, will be displayed to make the process of voting more entertaining. In addition, The King of Queens stations' websites will be directly connected with the SPT's www.thekingofqueens.com site, giving voters yet another method to cast their ballot. On Monday, April 30, at the conclusion of the internet polling from all internet sources, the votes from each venue will be tabulated, and the "top five" list will be created.
In addition, viewers will also have a chance to "see where it all began" when stations across the country broadcast the pilot episode on May 14, the same day as the nine-year network series finale broadcasts on CBS.
So your top 5 will air each day the week of May 7. Also, you can win prizes for participating. To find out the complete details including the list of episodes to choose from, the prizes, and more, click HERE.

If we have more news we will come back, as it is still early. Stay tuned tomorrow for our pilot review of Notes from the Underbelly, premiering Thursday at 10 on ABC, with airings Wednesdays at 8:30 following the premiere.

'Barker' Pulled from NBC Thursday; 'Strokes' Back on Comcast's Tube Time

New sitcom Andy Barker, P.I., which has been airing on NBC Thursdays at 9:30, will be pulled effective immediately and replaced by Scrubs. NBC plans to air the last scheduled episode on Saturday, April 14 at 8 followed by the sixth episode which was supposed to be an online only episode, but now NBC will just burn it off on-air. So how does it look for a season two for this show? A zero chance. Looks like a strike three for Andy Richter, as this is his third sitcom that has failed (Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Quintuplets, Andy Barker). If NBC just pulled it and decided to bring it back and launch it later, it would have seemed like it had a chance at least to come back, but after banishing its last airings on a Saturday, it looks even worse. How will the ratings be? If it gets 3 million, I'll be surprised. If it gets a 1.0 18-49 rating, I'll be surprised. And those numbers are bad. Such a sad state for sitcoms these days (ratings wise)...

Comcast's On-Demand channel TubeTime has returned classic '80s sitcom Diff'rent Strokes to its service. Instead of going in order, this time the show is categorized into three categories: Classic Episodes, Very Special Episodes, and Janet Jackson Episodes. Among the classic episodes are the pilot, "The Spanking," "Arnold's Hero," and "Birds & Bees." The Very Special Episodes are the classic multiple part episodes that the show is famous for, some include: "The Bank Job," "The Bicycle Man", and "The Wedding." And the Janet Jackson episodes include: "First Love," "The Music Man," and "The Houseguest." Now some are not available yet, as new episodes are added each week, so keep checking the Comcast website by clicking HERE.
Let's hope we get Season 3 on DVD sometime soon. I hope by the end of the summer.

Week 29: How the Sitcoms Did

Due to Good Friday/Easter (Happy Easter everyone!) we don't have final numbers for Thursday, thus we won't give the final averages for the first four nights and an analysis. We do have How the Sitcoms Did, but Thursday's numbers are preliminary.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 26-April 1)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes - 3.39 million for a repeat and just 3.65 million for a new episode...but up slightly from previous week (both the repeat and new one).
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 6.63 million, almost more than last week's 6.97 million, which was a new episode.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) - 6.39 million for a new episode, up from last week's 6.08 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 6.75 million for an encore.
  
• American Dad (Fox) - 5.94 million for a new episode, down from last week because the lead-in was a repeat.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did just 5.58 million, down from last week's repeat even.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at a special time of 8:30pm did 6.86 million, down big from usual repeat levels, but higher than the normal 8:30pm show repeats.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. Repeat of Chris started it off with 1.79 million, the highest of the block. All of Us did 1.68 million, Girlfriends did 1.63 million and The Game built on it and did 1.76 million. Repeats should be at least 2 million...
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Tuesday repeat did 4.3 million, not great, but whatever.
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - Tuesday repeat did 4.18 million as ABC put it against Idol.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - 2 all-new episodes did decent, 5.99 and 6.53 million...guest stars galore!
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - New episode did just 5.43 million (though up from last week), but not that bad head to head with Idol.
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - 4.81 million, slightly up from last week....just 2 more to go.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 13.95 million from Idol's 26.1 million...is nothing to write home about, but at least it is consistent the last few weeks, but both went down a bit.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) - A super-sized episode was down from normal numbers, just a prelim 4.3 rating and a 3.1 18-49 prelim rating. I think it needs Earl...8pm is too early for this show.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - It came back with a super-sized episode, but still not going well in the ratings, fell off from the lead-in to its normal numbers.
  
• Scrubs (NBC) - Moved to 9:30 starting tonight and did a bit worse than usual, just a prelim 3.3 rating and a prelim 2.4 18-49 number.
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC) - The last airing probably on Thursday ever, as the show did just a 2.6 prelim rating and a terrible 1.8 18-49 prelim rating. Word is the final airing will be next Saturday instead of Thursday.
  
• My Name is Earl. (NBC) - A special repeat at a special time of 10:30pm held all of Barker's numbers.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 2 repeats did 2.9 and 3.0 prelim ratings.
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, and George Lopez 8:30 were impressive for the week (pathetic week). Everything else was OK (such as According to Jim, The Office) or just plain old terrible (such as Scrubs and Andy Barker, P.I.).

Mini-DVD Review: Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (April 17)

Welcome to another Saturday edition of mini-DVD reviews! Today we have we take a look at Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The Larry Sanders Show of course was the cable comedy that took spoof of a talk show. The show is hilarious and had great guest stars. See Seth Thrasher's mini-DVD review of Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show:

Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show (Sony, $49.95) is a "Best of" compilation of 24 of the best episodes of The Larry Sanders Show, plus more special/extra features on the set than I think I have seen in every other Sony set I have ever reviewed, combined. The show stars comedian Garry Shandling as Larry Sanders, the vain and neurotic host of a Tonight Show-esque talk show entitled The Larry Sanders Show. The comedy would run on HBO for 6 years (1992–1998), then would enjoy a few years in syndication – where *I* was first exposed to this wonderful show.
This set is a sort of "appeasement" -- some factor, probably sales figures, caused Sony to decide not to release season sets of the show, so they threw together a couple dozen episodes and features to try to at least give the fans *something*. This is, however, a problem, as the people who this set is targeted toward definitely prefer season sets, and aren't just happy with "best of" releases. I myself used to have this "all or nothing" mentality as well, but I realized one day that I'm probably NEVER going to see complete season/series sets of several of my favorite shows on DVD, ever. While in some cases it's just the studios thinking with their wallets, as is the apparent case with Larry Sanders not getting season sets -- in several cases, including The Price is Right, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, etc., -- there are just too many episodes. Realizing that fact helped me come to appreciate *any* DVD release -– at least of newly-released episodes –- that gets put out, even if it's not the way I want it. It may not be exactly what fans were hoping for, but do you see even a best of set for a show as widely popular as, say, Family Matters? I think not.
Also impressing me with this set is the absolute glut of special features. Most episodes included have deleted scenes. FOUR episodes have audio commentary -- a feature I'm used to only seeing on Seinfeld and NewsRadio. There are video interviews with stacks and stacks of people, including Alec Baldwin, Ellen Degeneres, David Duchovny, and more. The final disc has even MORE, including a feature-length documentary, "The Making of the Larry Sanders Show," more interviews, Rip Torn and Jeffrey Tambor visiting Garry in his living room, etc.
The episodes themselves look fairly nice, if a bit compressed. The colors for the most part are bright and solid, without being overpowering. The audio is fine -- no problems or defects, the vocals are crisp and clear -- it is all good. My one and only problem with this set are the menus. For all the effort that went into every last facet of this release, the menus are abhorrent. The options appear as a text list -- a platinum color in front of a black background -- and that's it. It doesn't fit the style of the rest of the release, and looks remarkably simple. This is the only detraction form the release, though.
There are going to be some folks who are quite displeased the show is not getting a full series set, at least not immediately. Nothing I can say, aside from gushing into next Wednesday's blog entry about the special features, is going to change your minds -- but DO consider this set. What is here is wonderful, truly wonderful, and strong sales numbers -- or some kind-hearted folks at Sony -- could lead us to seeing the rest of the series on DVD down the run after all.

-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher
(4/5 stars)

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Anchor Bay Works on Fans Favorites DVD for 'Company', Lifetime Real Women Drops Two Favorites in June

Anchor Bay will continue to release Three's Company on DVD even though they have finished the series in complete season sets. So far we have gotten a best of set featuring John Ritter's favorite episodes and coming in May we have Joyce DeWitt's favorite episodes, handpicked by her. Remember when the official Three's Company website, ThreesCompany.com, was asking fans to vote for their favorite seven episodes some months back (If you don't, click HERE to refresh your memory)? Well now can reveal why they were doing that! Anchor Bay Entertainment will release a special "Fans' Favorites" DVD set. The episodes are handpicked by YOU. The episodes have not been revealed yet, but your top 7 or so will be on it. No word yet on when it will be released and if any extras will be on it. Fans hoping to have complete series sets for both spin-offs The Ropers & Three's a Crowd, must persuade Anchor Bay or any other studio to pick up the rights. DLT Entertainment, the owner of the series, is trying very hard to put it on DVD, but so far no company is showing interest. Please show your case to Anchor Bay and other studios and also thank DLT for trying and keep telling them to keep trying. E-mail them: Anchor Bay: TVonDVD@anchorbayent.com and DLT: 3sco@dltentertainment.com Besides Anchor Bay, I think studios like Shout! or S'more would be interested. E-mail them: Shout: info@shoutfactory.com and S'more: info@smoreent.com It's not really that much work. Believe me, you will make a difference. Lifetime Real Women (one of Lifetime's spin-off channels) currently airs a Laverne & Shirley block everyday from 3-5pm. Well, starting June 4 that is not happening anymore. So, if you haven't started taping the episodes, do it now as you still have two months before this change happens. The sitcom will be replaced by Strong Medicine, Missing and The Division from 3-5pm. Any Day Now will move from 6pm to 2pm, as Wild Card takes the 6pm slot. Providence fans don't have to worry as the show will remain at 7pm, but 10pm will be replaced by Angela's Eyes. And besides Laverne & Shirley, another show will be dumped. Unsolved Mysteries, which is airing weekdays at 11pm will be replaced by another Strong Medicine. The Friday and Saturday 4-6am block of Unsolved Mysteries will be replaced by Intimate Portrait. Start taping the next two months!

Nick at Nite Sked Change; More TV Land Awards Details; WGN Adds 'Chappelle's', More for Fall 2007

Once again Nick at Nite will not air their regular schedule this Saturday and Sunday. The last few weeks they have aired nothing but Fresh Prince. This week it will be a mix of Roseanne and Fresh Prince all night long. Roseanne from 10p-1a & 4-6a on Saturday and 9p-1a & 4-6a on Sunday and Fresh Prince 1-4a on both nights. It is likely they will do this each weekend, but for now it is just for this weekend.
They have also schedule Designing Women to the late Thursday (early Friday) 5:30 a.m. slot starting April 12. Murphy Brown will air at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday nights (early Sundays), as well. Since Nick at Nite likes to change their weekend schedule to all Fresh/Roseanne, Murphy will probably never air. As always, this is subject to change, especially with this network. View it in list form if you prefer that.

TV Land announced today that it will salute Lucille Ball, Roots, The Brady Bunch, Taxi and Hee Haw among others at the Fifth Annual TV Land Awards hosted by Kelly Ripa (taping on Saturday, April 14). The gala premieres on TV Land on Sunday, April 22nd at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be rebroadcast on TV Land's sister network, Nick at Nite that same night beginning at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
Legendary comedienne Carol Burnett will bestow the Legacy of Laughter Award on Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz, Jr. on behalf of their mother, Lucille Ball for her groundbreaking career and body of work including her enduring sitcom I Love Lucy. The cast of The Brady Bunch will be reunited on stage to accept the Pop Culture Award. The landmark mini-series Roots, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, will be honored for its place in television history. The Entertainer Award will be given to Hee Haw, one of television's longest running country music series. Taxi, which launched and furthered the careers of several Hollywood notables, will be awarded the Medallion Award for keeping the meter running for all these years.
TV Land will also present awards in several other categories, including the 2006 Future Classic Award - which TV Land unveiled in 1998 and is presented annually to the one new show from the previous calendar year that best exemplifies the qualities of an emerging television classic.
To view the full release with more information, including a list of attendees thus far, click HERE.

Beginning this fall, Chapelle's Show, will join Superstation WGN. Chapelle's Show features comedian Dave Chappelle as the host of this cutting-edge sketch-comedy. The first three seasons of the half-hour show have been acquired for a two-year run.
It will begin airing nationally on Superstation in Late Fringe, where it will run as part of a late night comedy block that includes new addition Reno 911, successful comedies like Scrubs and Becker, and newcomer Corner Gas, Canada's #1 sitcom premiering on Superstation WGN this fall.

NBC, Fox, ABC, CW Notes, Includes '30 Rock' Renewal for 07-08 Season; Interview with Maureen 'Marcia Brady' McCormick

We have more schedule notes to tell you, but before I start on that, NBC has renewed rookie sitcom 30 Rock for the 2007-08 season, despite not that good ratings. The show is a critical hit and stars Tina Fey. The show returns Thursday, April 5, with a special super-sized episode from 8:40 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. ET before moving to its new 9:00 p.m. Thursday slot the following week.
Sticking with NBC, we mentioned a few days ago that they would cut The Black Donnellys short and will remove starting on April 23, but after this week's bad ratings, NBC has pulled it effective immediately. A second hour of the new NBC improv series Thank God You're Here will air instead. April 16 is still TBD, but if Thank God does well, NBC is likely to air that again.
And Fox has also pulled a show they promised to air until after its April 20 airing. Friday drama The Wedding Bells will be pulled two weeks earlier than expected. The show will be replaced by encores of Bones starting April 20. A movie will air next Friday. This Friday will be the last for this short lived drama. Meanwhile, Fox will bring back Trading Spouses to Thursdays at 9 starting April 12. April 12 & 19 will be encores and the season finale will be a two-part episode on April 26 and May 3.
The CW is saying that 7th Heaven will have its series finale on Sunday, May 13 at 8 p.m. This looks like it actually will be the series finale as the ratings haven't been that good on Sundays. 7th Heaven aired Mondays at 8 for years prior to this season. Over 7 million tuned in to last year's finale, which was labeled a series finale until The CW made a last minute renewal.
The CW's mid-season drama Hidden Palms finally has a date, but it will launch in the summer. The CW has slotted it for Wednesday, May 30 at 8 p.m. One Tree Hill will follow at 9 p.m. and will be new for the first three weeks Palms airs. The CW is expected to air eight episodes of Palms. The show focuses on Johnny Miller, a teen who is struggling to come to terms with two tragedies in the strange and artificial atmosphere of Palm Springs. The show is produced by Kevin Williamson.
Finally, ABC has confirmed to us that the final two Thursdays of the season following all-new Grey's Anatomy episodes will be the return of Men in Trees. Trees has five episodes left, but ABC will only air two of them (May 10 and May 17 at 10), and hold the other three over for next season likely.

For those of you who are Three's Company fans like myself, know all about the great Chris Mann. Mann of course wrote the wonderful book Come and Knock on Our Door, and Mann continues to write. He just did an article/interview for TV Guide. He interviewed Marcia Brady herself--Maureen McCormick! Maureen will be featured in the new season of Celebrity Fit Club, premiering on VH-1 on Sunday, April 22. Maureen will also be reunited with her fellow Brady Bunch gang in the 5th TV Land Awards airing also on April 22 (tapes on April 14), accepting the Pop Culture Award. Mann talks to Maureen about all of that, turning 50, her overcome of bulimia and much more! Click HERE to view this great piece! The Brady Bunch Complete Series DVD is on sale, but before you buy it, don't forget to read our review.
Mann will have another interview with Maureen in the May issue of Get Active! magazine, available nationally at Bally Total Fitness and several other health and fitness clubs. That story, will probably also will be posted on GetActiveMagazine.com sometime next month, will have more details of her Celebrity Fit Club experience and her inspiring personal transformation, as well as her fond memories of her mother. Mann also asked her if people still say, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" to her and she said, "Oh, yeah! All the time!"

ABC Changes 'Underbelly' Regular Slot Again, Pulls 'Degrees'; Fox Halts 'Wedding'; CBS Salutes Bob Barker in Primetime

ABC has once again altered the timeslot for yet to premiere new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly. Notes will still premiere with back-to-back episodes on Thursday, April 12 following a Grey's Anatomy special, but after that the show will move to Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. starting April 18. It will follow According to Jim. Jim is expected to air at 8 and 9 (new and a repeat) on April 18, with the season finale of In Case of Emergency wrapping up at 9:30 on April 18. Jim will be moving to 8pm because starting April 25, Lost encores from the previous week will air at 9 p.m. leading into an all-new episode. George Lopez will be airing new episodes in back-to-back slots on Wednesday, April 4 & 11 and also on Tuesday, April 17 (its new night). Guest stars all over the place with Barbara Eden, Jerry Springer, and Mario Lopez. Andy Garcia also directed one of the episodes. George will move and stay in the Tuesday 8-9pm slot for the rest of the season. For more on the Wednesday sitcom schedule and this Tuesday note, click HERE.
October Road was slated to only air four episodes this season, but since it has done very well, ABC will air the last two episodes of its season order April 19 and April 26 following all-new episodes of Grey's Anatomy! No idea yet what will air after Grey's on May 10 and 17, but May 3 will be the backdoor spin-off pilot for Grey's Anatomy starring Kate Walsh, Taye Diggs, and Tim Daly.
Finally, ABC is pulling Six Degrees from the Friday line-up effective this Friday after a series low last week. The show has just aired two episodes since returning from hiatus. The show heated up in the episode this past Friday, but unfortunately the temperature didn't rise in 'degrees' in the ratings. No word yet if and when the remaining episodes will air or if it will air on abc.com. Repeats of Wife Swap will temporary air at 9 on Fridays. And no word yet if Men in Trees will return. All bets are that the remaining five episodes for Trees will be held over until next season.

David E. Kelly Drama The Wedding Bells is halting production after just seven episodes produced. Which means the show will at most air for another three weeks. The show has been going down in the ratings each Friday at 9 for Fox. The last episode will air (if it actually airs) April 20 (the last Friday before May sweeps starts).

Emmy Award winner Bob Barker will be honored with two final primetime specials this May on CBS, paying tribute to his 50 years in show business and his upcoming retirement after 35 years of hosting The Price Is Right, the longest-running game show in television history. The specials will be broadcast Wednesday, May 16 and Thursday, May 17 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on CBS.
On Wednesday, May 16, CBS will present The Price is Right Million Dollar Spectacular, Barker's final appearance in prime time hosting the show he has led since 1972. In this special primetime edition, contestants will have the opportunity to win bigger prizes and the chance to spin the wheel for $1 million.
On Thursday, May 17, Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television will include Barker's reminiscences about his 50 year career on television and his 35 years on The Price Is Right, in addition to highlighting some classic games from the long-running show.
CBS will air 15-second viewer tributes to retiring host Bob Barker. Viewer tributes will air during the Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television" special.
The user-generated video tributes are a continuation of CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" campaign, where viewers post their 15-second messages on YouTube, and CBS Interactive then chooses the best viewer-videos to be broadcast on the Network.
Viewers can submit their 15-second taped message now on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/group/15seconds. The videos need to be a 15-second tribute to Bob Barker. Every two weeks, CBS Interactive will select five videos from the "15 Seconds on CBS" YouTube Group and post them on CBS.com. From those "favorites," CBS Interactive will select the videos for broadcast. Viewers submitting videos must be 16 years of age or older and must abide by YouTube's Community Guidelines at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines. No profanity or nudity will be accepted. Rules and details regarding CBS Interactive's "15 Seconds" community campaign can be found on CBS.com at http://www.cbs.com/originals/15_seconds.
Bob Barker's last The Price is Right regular episode will air in June only on CBS daytime!

Jeannie and Springer on 'George Lopez' This Week; CBS Announces Season Finale Dates; NBC Pull 'Donnellys' Early

ABC will now air two new episodes of George Lopez this Wednesday rather than repeats. Both episodes will feature a special guest star. The first episode has Barbara Eden from I Dream of Jeannie at 8:00 followed by Jerry Springer at 8:30. These two episodes were scheduled for April 25 but ABC has decided to air them this week instead leading into a baseball themed episode of According to Jim and a new In Case of Emergency.
Eden's episode plot line: Much to Benny's dismay, George and Angie hire a maid (guest starring Barbara Eden as Ruth) who quickly cooks and cleans her way into George's heart.
Springer's episode plot line: When the love of Benny's life (guest starring Jerry Springer as Wayne Hill) returns to town, George builds a web of lies to keep them from reuniting.

CBS has announced season finale dates for most of its series. CBS in May will feature the unpredictable finales of the network's hit series along with a royal farewell to long-running sitcom The King of Queens when the comedy ends its nine-year, 200-plus episode run with a special one-hour finale.
Also in May, the winner of Survivor: Fiji will be crowned in a special two-hour broadcast on a special night (Sunday), and the final three teams dash to the finish line and the $1 million prize in The Amazing Race: All Stars.
Also of note, hit drama Without a Trace will air its season finale in its old home Thursday at 10 on May 10!
For the CBS season finale dates, click HERE.

NBC has announced it has scheduled new reality series The Real Wedding Crashers, from Ashton Kutcher and inspired by the movie Wedding Crashers, Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting April 23 for 6 weeks. The show will air following the return of Heroes on April 23.
In the six outrageous, one-hour episodes, wedding couples team up with five "crashers" to create the most memorable wedding weekend their guests will never forget! The crash team consists of five quick-thinking, hilarious improv performers who've made it their mission to infiltrate a wedding, going undercover as wedding staff and guests to save them from run-of-the-mill boredom. The bride and groom are in on the fun as they assist the "crashers" to take on outrageous characters and personalities to pull off some fun and outlandish pranks.
Because of this move The Black Donnellys will be either homeless or moved to another night and time. Personally, I think it will be homeless. So far only five have aired and 3 more expected to air including tonight. I think about 5 will be left unaired unless NBC reschedules.

Week 28 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 28 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: Fox: 8.8/14.0; CBS: 7.3/11.9; ABC: 6.9/11.3; NBC: 5.0/8.2; The CW: 2.0/3.1; MNT: 0.7/1.1.
Total Viewers: Fox: 14.61 million; CBS: 11.25 million; ABC: 10.55 million; NBC: 7.56 million; The CW: 2.9 million; MNT: 0.97 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox: 5.8/15.8; ABC: 3.4/9.4; CBS: 3.3/9.0; NBC: 2.7/7.3; The CW: 1.3/3.5; MNT: 0.4/1.1.

Analysis: The 28th week saw the second week of ABC's Dancing with the Stars continue to do very well on Mondays and the first results show scored big. Fox did well like usual with American Idol, but Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, dipped to a series low for the third straight week. Through the first four nights, Fox has the lead, followed by CBS and ABC battling for second place in HH, viewers and 18-49. NBC will be 4th place in all categories. They sure miss Sunday Night Football. As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. Tonight has ABC airing all-new episodes (but Housewives is a recap special), and CBS is all new. Fox's comedies are a mix of new and repeats and NBC's reality is a mix of old and new. Expect ABC to win because CBS is pre-empting Cold Case for a two-hour Amazing Race.
On Monday Dancing with the Stars continued to tale over Mondays for ABC. 20.42 million watched the two-hour season episode. CBS's CSI: Miami was a repeat but it did well at 10pm with 13.12 million at 10pm and NBC's Deal or No Deal was down against Stars, but still solid with 10.98 and 12.18 for a repeat and a new episode. Is NBC really treating this like Millionaire? They keep airing it and repeats now too. CBS's sitcoms were all repeats tonight. 8-9pm sitcoms were hurt the most for CBS, doing 5.61 and 5.66 million for repeat episodes. Two and a Half Men repeat rose from those numbers and did 10.37 million, with a repeat of Rules of Engagement following and not holding the lead-in's numbers like it has been doing, just 7.99 million. Fox was not that affected by Stars, but both Prison Break & 24 were down from usual numbers (and slightly from last week), they did 8.24 and 11.78 million. ABC and NBC did bad at 10pm, ABC did just 6.79 million for the season finale of What About Brian and NBC's Black Donnelleys continues to go down each week, with just 5.43 million. The CW's comedies are still under performing on this night as they still can't get 3 million. All four were close to each other though.
Tuesday was Fox's night. American Idol did 28.18 million at 8 and House returned with 20.8 million (down from what it does usually after Idol). ABC was on the map thanks to Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 17.93 million at 9, with a special performance recap special doing 9.62 million. A special preview of The Great American Dream Vote bombed with just 5.88 million at 10. Boston Legal returns this Tuesday and will likely double that. NBC aired new episodes of both Law & Order spin-offs doing 8.85 and 12.86 million from 9-11pm, with Dateline kicking the night off with just 5.84 million. CBS was a rare fourth with repeats of NCIS, The Unit from 8-10 (10.84 and 7.34 million), and a repeat of Shark aired at 10 with 7.59 million. The CW aired a repeat of Gilmore Girls (1.91 million) and a new Pussycat Dolls (2.67 million).
Wednesday again Fox got the boost from its one show wonder American Idol, doing 26.89 million for its 9pm half-hour followed by the sitcom 'Til Death losing almost 1/2 that with 14.46 million. Bones opened the night off for Fox with a respectable 10.58 million. CBS was second for the night with Jericho doing just 8.52 million but repeats of Criminal Minds and CSI: NY followed and did good with 10.98 and 10.69 million. ABC's followed with Great American Dream Vote's first and last airing in its regular timeslot doing just4.54 million (down 1.5 million+ from normal programming in this slot), a new According to Jim & a new In Case of Emergency followed doing a below average 4.48 and 4.31 million and an all-new Lost, did also below average thanks to the terrible lead-ins, doing 11.52 million, but it won the hour in viewers and 18-49. NBC saw Friday Night Lights do just 5.68 million, Crossing Jordan followed with just 7.02 million, though up from last week. A new Medium followed with just 7.66 million. The CW was on the map thanks to America's Next Top Model doing a decent 5.32 million...not bad at all, followed by an encore of Tuesday's Pussycat Dolls doing 3.1 million.
On Thursday we saw CBS dominate, as ABC was in repeats from 8-10. CBS's Survivor: Fiji returned after a few weeks off on Thursdays with a below than normal 13.71 million. CSI and Shark followed with 22.71 and 14.49 million, first in both hours. ABC's Grey's Anatomy was a repeat at 9pm with 9.46. A repeat of Ugly Betty opened the night off with 7.41 million. Fox's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? hit another series low but has probably leveled off with 10.59 million. ABC's third episode of the impressive October Road closed the night off with 8.24 million (down from its first two airings but that is because there was no new episode of Grey's Anatomy), much better than Men in Trees. Fox closed the night with repeats of Family Guy doing just 4.34 and 4.32 million. NBC aired encores of The Office and an all-new episode of Andy Barker, P.I. (doing a pathetic 4.16 million). And CW aired repeats of its Thursday dramas doing 2.81 and 2.24 million.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS win the night with its dramas. NBC was a distant second with the disappointing Identity and Raines. ABC had a more dismal than usual Friday with a repeat Grey's Anatomy doing below normal and the second episode return of Six Degrees did worse than last week but 20/20 built on that and did a bit better, but way off from last week. The CW did decent for its WWE coverage and Fox didn't do so well with Wedding Bells at 9 but a House repeat at 8 started off well. Overall a blah night that needs a makeover next fall.
Saturday ratings are not available yet. As for tonight, ABC will win with its normal line-up. ABC's is all-new (DH is a recap special though) and should win at least in 18-49 and maybe total viewers since CBS's Cold Case is not on. As for this week in general, look for Dancing with the Stars to continue to do well even opposite the NCAA Championship game!

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 19-25)

• The War at Home (Fox) 2 episodes -2.78 million for a repeat and just 3.56 million for a new episode...but up slightly from previous week
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A new episode did 6.97 million, below normal and very low 3.3 18-49 for a new episode.
  
• King of the Hill (Fox) - Just 6.08 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 7.97 million and a better 4.2 18-49 rating.
• American Dad (Fox) - 6.64 million, not bad and a decent 3.4 18-49 rating.
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did just 5.61 million.
  
• Old Christine (CBS) - 5.66 million for a repeat, it did build from lead-in a bit.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 10.37 million for a repeat, slightly below the normal repeat numbers.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 7.99 million for a repeat, not bad, but not too great out of the lead-in.
  
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. New episode of Chris started it off with 2.68 million, up from last week but NOT the highest of the block, as All of Us also did 2.68 million, Girlfriends did 2.58 million and The Game did 2.37 million. Consistent, but needs to be doing 3 to 3.5 million at least...
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• None
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Will return this week with 2 new episodes! Guest stars Barbara Eden and Jerry Springer.
  
• According to Jim (ABC) - New episode did just 4.48 million, thanks to the terrible lead-in and again head to head with Idol.
  
• In Case of Emergency (ABC) - 4.31 million, below normal.
  
• 'Til Death (Fox) - 14.46 million from Idol's 26.89 million...is nothing to write home about, but at least it is consistent the last few weeks.

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Office (NBC) - A marathon of repeats from 8-11, except 9:30 did: 4.77, 5.04, 5.77, 4.34 and 4.24 million. Not great numbers but it was going up until 9:30 then NBC aired Barker then after that it went down.
  
• Andy Barker, P.I. (NBC) - 4.16 million for third week. It hasn't leveled off yet, which means it could go down even more this week. Last week it did 5.33 million.
  
• Family Guy (Fox) - 2 repeats did 4.34 and 4.32 million, which means 9:30 beat Barker on NBC!
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are new episodes of Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, 'Til Death, and Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as Old Christine, The Office-thon) or just plain old terrible (such as In Case of Emergency and Andy Barker, P.I.).