Saturday, June 09, 2012
Digital Digest: Release Dates for Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and More; Pretty Little Liars - The Complete Second Season DVD Review; Ghost Story (a.k.a. Circle of Fear) - The Complete Series DVD Review
Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly place for all things digital about your favorite sitcoms! This week, in addition to our regular features, we have double reviews, with our reviews of Pretty Little Liars - The Complete Second Season, and we take a look back at a classic Screen Gems suspense series with Ghost Story (a.k.a. Circle of Fear) - The Complete Series. Let's get going!
DIGITAL NEWS
The 2011-2012 broadcast television season has somewhat come and gone (although the summer season consisting mostly of reality series is here), and of course, we are getting prepared for the onslaught of releases of the series which aired during the season on DVD, most of which will come in August or September. This week, we got a few dates for some of those releases. Sony hasn't had a whole lot to offer recently in regards to TV-on-DVD, but they are indeed keeping a steady pace with Community. And they'll be releasing Community - The Complete Third Season on August 14. The set has a nice collection of special features (making it, ironically, the sitcom which gets the best special feature treatment on DVD these days), which you can read more about here, including (once again) commentaries for each and every episode!
We continue with releases from Warner. Their releases begin on August 21 with Mike & Molly - The Complete Second Season. Unfortunately, it appears that this release will only be available on DVD, unlike season 1, which also had a Blu-ray release. On August 28, Warner will have Two and a Half Men - The Complete Ninth Season, which is the first season without Charlie (although you will get to see Kathy Bates playing his ghost in one episode!). This, too, will only be released on DVD, but that is expected, as this series has not been on Blu-ray at all so far. Next, on September 4, Warner will be releasing the premiere season of one of the breakout hits of the past season, with 2 Broke Girls - The Complete First Season (DVD/Blu-ray), which will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray. Finally, everything comes to an end with a "big bang," both figuratively and literally, on September 11, with The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo). The Blu-ray/DVD Combo is new for the series; previously, it has been available on DVD and Blu-ray, but this new Blu-ray/DVD Combo follows in the tradition of much more prominent releases which include the DVD and Blu-ray in the same set. Oh, and as a bonus, there is even an UltraViolet Digital Download in the Combo pack, which will allow you to download the episodes to your favorite devices! Everything is covered all around with this "big bang."
In 2005, Universal released Kojak - Season One, and we heard absolutely nothing about it for another six years, when Shout! took over the rights to release it late last year... and they've been on a steady pace since then! In fact, their pace has been so steady that the series will be complete on DVD on September 11, with the release of Kojak - Season Five! It is really nice to see the series come to completion as fast as it has, particularly considering that Shout! has not only been steadily releasing the seasons, but even managed to release the pilot and every post-series film on DVD in their collection of Kojak - The Complete Movie Collection. Sadly, there is no news on any of the other crime dramas which Shout! has licensed (such as Policewoman or Police Story, which were licensed from Sony), but hopefully we will hear something on those in due time.
A release date has also been set for Shout! Factory's release of the series Get a Life. On September 18, Get a Life - The Complete Series finally makes it to DVD. The set will come at a $59.97 MSRP.
Sony released the ABC series which only lasted one episode (on air) Emily's Reasons Why Not - The Complete Series last month as a MOD title, but there is a bit of question as to whether or not it really is the complete series. The set contains six episodes of the series, with the one that actually aired on ABC, and five additional unaired episodes... but it seems that there were actually six unaired episodes. It has been reported that a seventh episode, "Why Not to Look in Bridal Magazines," did, in fact, air in some countries... but this episode is not included in the set. So, is this set actually missing an episode? Assuming that the episode was in fact produced and did in fact air in other countries (we have no way of verifying that from the US, obviously, where only one episode aired), it is... but hopefully we'll find out something more definitive about this in the near future.
Finally, Hulu has made a new addition to their Hulu+ service this week, which means that you won't be able to access it unless you subscribe to the premium service, but you can now watch the first season of Here's Lucy on the service now if you are a subscriber. It is too bad Hulu no longer offers all programs for free, but at the very least, this is an opportunity to view the first season of the series (and hopefully more are on the way) if you pay the monthly fee.
We continue with releases from Warner. Their releases begin on August 21 with Mike & Molly - The Complete Second Season. Unfortunately, it appears that this release will only be available on DVD, unlike season 1, which also had a Blu-ray release. On August 28, Warner will have Two and a Half Men - The Complete Ninth Season, which is the first season without Charlie (although you will get to see Kathy Bates playing his ghost in one episode!). This, too, will only be released on DVD, but that is expected, as this series has not been on Blu-ray at all so far. Next, on September 4, Warner will be releasing the premiere season of one of the breakout hits of the past season, with 2 Broke Girls - The Complete First Season (DVD/Blu-ray), which will be available on both DVD and Blu-ray. Finally, everything comes to an end with a "big bang," both figuratively and literally, on September 11, with The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Fifth Season (DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo). The Blu-ray/DVD Combo is new for the series; previously, it has been available on DVD and Blu-ray, but this new Blu-ray/DVD Combo follows in the tradition of much more prominent releases which include the DVD and Blu-ray in the same set. Oh, and as a bonus, there is even an UltraViolet Digital Download in the Combo pack, which will allow you to download the episodes to your favorite devices! Everything is covered all around with this "big bang."
In 2005, Universal released Kojak - Season One, and we heard absolutely nothing about it for another six years, when Shout! took over the rights to release it late last year... and they've been on a steady pace since then! In fact, their pace has been so steady that the series will be complete on DVD on September 11, with the release of Kojak - Season Five! It is really nice to see the series come to completion as fast as it has, particularly considering that Shout! has not only been steadily releasing the seasons, but even managed to release the pilot and every post-series film on DVD in their collection of Kojak - The Complete Movie Collection. Sadly, there is no news on any of the other crime dramas which Shout! has licensed (such as Policewoman or Police Story, which were licensed from Sony), but hopefully we will hear something on those in due time.
A release date has also been set for Shout! Factory's release of the series Get a Life. On September 18, Get a Life - The Complete Series finally makes it to DVD. The set will come at a $59.97 MSRP.
Sony released the ABC series which only lasted one episode (on air) Emily's Reasons Why Not - The Complete Series last month as a MOD title, but there is a bit of question as to whether or not it really is the complete series. The set contains six episodes of the series, with the one that actually aired on ABC, and five additional unaired episodes... but it seems that there were actually six unaired episodes. It has been reported that a seventh episode, "Why Not to Look in Bridal Magazines," did, in fact, air in some countries... but this episode is not included in the set. So, is this set actually missing an episode? Assuming that the episode was in fact produced and did in fact air in other countries (we have no way of verifying that from the US, obviously, where only one episode aired), it is... but hopefully we'll find out something more definitive about this in the near future.
Finally, Hulu has made a new addition to their Hulu+ service this week, which means that you won't be able to access it unless you subscribe to the premium service, but you can now watch the first season of Here's Lucy on the service now if you are a subscriber. It is too bad Hulu no longer offers all programs for free, but at the very least, this is an opportunity to view the first season of the series (and hopefully more are on the way) if you pay the monthly fee.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (June 12) brings a trio of new series (although two of them have already been cancelled) from ABC's midseason schedule to DVD, with GCB - The Complete First Season, Missing - The Complete First Season, and Scandal - The Complete First Season. We'll have reviews of all of these over the next few weeks in Digital Digest. Additionally, HBO lowers the curtain one last time on the series Entourage, with Entourage - The Complete Eighth and Final Season (DVD/Blu-ray). We'll have a review of this set soon as well.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Blog DVD Review: Pretty Little Liars - The Complete Second Season (Warner, $59.98)
by Pavan
The PLL's are back on DVD and it's no secret! The popular ABC Family original drama series starring Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, and Troian Bellisario all return for 25 episodes in the addictive second season on this six-disc DVD set from Warner Horizon. All of Rosewood wants to know who killed Allison and the names Hanna, Aria, Emily and Spencer are on everyone's lips. Forced to move their friendship underground and to meet with a therapist, the girls feel utterly alone. Is no safe place from the watchful eye of "A?" With parental and romantic relationships on the rocks, the four friends consider revealing their secret, further straining their bond. But as the mystery deepens, the body count increases and the texts from "A" even more menacing, the girls need each other more than ever. The series is based on the Sara Shepards's best-selling books.
The second season stars Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin, Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis, Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery, Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz, Bianca Lawson as Maya St. Germain, Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin, and Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery. However, there are many recurring stars such as Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh, Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers, Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwall, Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis, Cody Allen Christian as Mike Montgomery, Brant Daugherty as Noel Kahn, Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings, Yani Gellman as Garrett Reynolds, Julian Morris as Wren Kingston, Nia Peeples as Pam Fields, Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman, and Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall. Keegan Allen, Tyler Blackburn, Janel Parrish have been promoted to series regulars in season three. The first half of the second season aired in summer 2011, while the second half aired in the winter of 2012, similar to the first season. For this season we got two halves of 12 episodes each, but also a flashback episode for Halloween. The series returned this past Tuesday for its third season and it leaves off where the intense and shocking second season finale left off. Tune in Tuesdays at 8/7c for the third season all-summer long on ABC Family!
Anyway, as for this set, there are many memorable episodes in this shocking and surprising season. In the season premiere, "It's Alive," with all eyes in Rosewood looking at Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer, the girls are forced to seek help. In "Blind Dates," Hanna helps Lucas score a date, while Emily deals with the aftermath of her mother spilling to everyone that she has a scholarship offer. In "The Devil You Know," Hanna learns more about Caleb's foster family, while the other Liars deal with the resolution and closure of the news about Ian. In "Picture This," Spencer zeroes in on Jason and is determined to find out what exactly has he been hiding, yet Aria can't help but see the good in him, while Hanna aids Caleb when it comes to making a decision about his family. In "Touched by an 'A'-ngel," Aria is finding it hard to believe Spencer and Emily's revelation about Jason all the while dealing with her feelings for him, as Hanna tries to play nice with her future stepsister, while "A" continues to torment Emily trying to push her to a breakdown. In the mid-season finale, "Over My Dead Body," the liars told someone about "A" and they must now pay the price, as Hannah, Aria and Spencer are sent out to do a hard task in order to keep Dr. Sullivan alive: Aria must get rid of Jackie, Hannah must stop her dad and Isabelle's wedding and Spencer must keep Toby safe and in doing so must break up with him, as Emily is the only one without a heartbreaking task and is a little worried. On the mid-season premiere, "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares," while all the Liars seem to be at odds with each other, Toby fights to win Spencer back and becomes suspicious of the antics of the supposed best friends, while the Montgomerys receive some worrisome news. In "A Hot Piece of A," the girls have never been closer to discovering "A"'s identity and ask Caleb to use his hacker abilities to help them, but the plan goes awry when Hanna doesn't see eye to eye with the girls' request and instead plans a surprise party for Caleb at the Hastings' lake house. In "CTRL: A," as Aria discovers what Holden's secret is, Caleb becomes the target of a Rosewood Police Department witch hunt after his laptop is confiscated. In "Breaking the Code," the liars may have a fifth member, as it's revealed that "A" is torturing someone outside of Ali's BFFs, while Wren becomes a much-needed support for Spencer. In "If These Dolls Could Talk," the girls suspect that Melissa might be "A", and they set up an investigation, while Aria finds a boarding school application on her Mom's desk, and Jenna takes the bandages off her eyes. And in the most shocking finale yet (season or midseason), in "unmAsked," Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna get closer to finding out who "A" is and the girls attends Rosewood's Junior League Masquerade Gala, but by the end of the episode, they discover who "A" really is and more shockers.
Episodes are usually around 43-44 minutes and unedited, as they should be. Runtimes are below:
Disc 1:
1. "It's Alive" (43:05)
2. "The Goodbye Look" (43:10)
3. "My Name Is Trouble" (44:12)
4. "Blind Dates" (42:42)
5. "The Devil You Know" (42:46)
Disc 2:
6. "Never Letting Go" (44:03)
7. "Surface Tensions" (43:36)
8. "Save The Date" (43:51)
9. "Picture This" (43:36)
10. "Touched by an 'A'-ngel" (44:12)
Disc 3:
11. "I Must Confess" (44:05)
12. "Over My Dead Body" (44:07)
13. "The First Secret" - Halloween Flashback episode (44:12)
14. "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares" (43:58)
Disc 4:
15. "A Hot Piece of 'A'" (43:53)
16. "Let The Water Hold Me Down" (44:01)
17. "Blond Leading the Blind" (43:02)
18. "A Kiss Before Lying" (44:12)
Disc 5:
19. "The Naked Truth" (44:12)
20. "CTRL: A" (44:12)
21. "Breaking the Code" (43:49)
22. "Father Knows Best" (43:13)
Disc 6:
23. "Eye of the Beholder" (44:05)
24. "If These Dolls Could Talk" (44:17)
25. "unmAsked" (44:13)
The set comes in an outer box holding a keep case inside. The artwork is the same on the front side for both with artwork of the four girls in white outfits covered in mud sitting at a table with grapes. Don't get ugly, get even, as the tagline says at the bottom of the cover! The back of both the box and case have info on the series and set and another shot of the girls in outfits they would normally wear. We also have four episodic images and a list of special features. Ashley Benson is quite a catch, isn't she? When we open the case, we have some inserts again on the left side. We have an ad insert promoting all-new episodes on ABC Family this summer and an Ultra Violet code for you to watch episodes by streaming and downloading. The other insert is a nice episode booklet! It is nicely designed again and filled with great episodic photos and a great shot of the girls in '60s type outfits on the front. Wow again at Ashley Benson! We have a disc-by-disc breakdown with episode number, title, writer, director, original airdate and of course a synopsis. There is a little scissor image also if there are any deleted scenes available for that episode. The last page has a nice credit list of all the series regulars.
Anyway back to the case, we have three plastic holders that we can flip like a book in the middle and they each hold two discs, with the first disc on the front and the second disc on the back. So that covers all six discs. The disc artwork is simple. We have a purple/pink style background with some cool designs, the show logo and disc number. Simple, but effective. However, this time there is no artwork at all on the panels itself. Disappointing, as we wanted to see more cool artwork like on the first season packaging. More Ashley Benson, the better!
The menu design is good and uses the same artwork as the cover art but it is more of a wide shot and we see more, similar to the last set. It's a nice blue color scheme. Before the main menu on disc one we have a trailer for the third season on ABC Family. Unfortunately once again there is no music playing in the background on the main menu, which is disappointing as this show has a good theme. The menu options are Play All, Episodes, Deleted Scenes and Languages for discs one-five. Disc six doesn't have deleted scenes but it does have a Special Features option. The artwork for all the submenus is good. Languages features audio in English but you can have subtitles in English, French, Chinese, Espanol, or Thai. Deleted Scenes option doesn't have a submenu, so it just plays them automatically. Episodes option lists the episode numbers, episode titles, and if there is a deleted scene for that episode you can watch it by highlighting the scissor image. I think you're better off watching the deleted scenes through the episodes menu than the deleted scenes option itself so you know which episode the deleted scene was intended for. And Special Features on disc six lists all the non-deleted scenes extras that we have.
Video and audio quality are both outstanding once again. That is no surprise, but we should still be glad that everything is so crisp and clear. HD like quality, even if this isn't a Blu-ray set. So there is nothing much to say here except it is like how you watch it on ABC Family HD, especially if your DVD player upconverts. Each episode has 9 or 10 chapter stops, depending on the episode. We get to see the full closing credits, too, something that we don't see on ABC Family but if you watch the series on their website, you see these closing credits. I love how we get 43 or 44 minutes per episode, as broadcast shows are usually 42 minutes these days. We get more content on ABC Family!
There are special features and nearly all of them are on disc six. The previous five discs have deleted scenes, similar to the first set. These are always nice to see. Disc one has a deleted scene from the episode "It's Alive" (1:30). Disc two has two deleted scenes from the episode "Never Letting Go" ((0:38, 1:00) and a deleted scene from the episode "Touched by an 'A'-ngel" (0:23). On to disc three, we have two deleted scenes from the episode "I Must Confess" (0:52, 0:14) and five deleted scenes from the mid-season finale "Over My Dead Body" (0:38, 0:50, 0:30, 0:32, 0:30). For disc four we have a deleted scene for "A Hot Piece of 'A'" (0:59) and "A Kiss Before Lying" (2:02). As for disc five, we have two deleted scenes for the episode "Breaking the Code" (0:34, 0:22). And finally on disc six, we have three deleted scenes for "If These Dolls Could Talk" (1:05, 1:05, 1:35). It's 9 episodes with deleted scenes and a total of 18 deleted scenes! So, up from the 15 deleted scenes from the first season! The main special features are all on disc six. The first featurette is a fun one titled "Pretty Little Liars: Fashion's Guilty Pleasure" (12:28). We are given details on each of the main four characters' fashion: Aria's edgy Bohemian looks, Hanna's rock 'n' roll glamour, Emily's laid-back sporty style, and Spencer's prepster perfection. Commenting are Mandi Line (costume designer), Oliver Godstick (executive producer), Lucy Hale, I. Marlene King (executive producer), Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and Troian Bellisario. This is cool and informative for a DVD feature. And it's always nice to look at these young stars! Ashley Benson seemed to have a little cold in this interview, as her voice was a little raspy, but it STILL came out sexy! The next featurette is another good one titled "Pretty Little Liars: Men of Mystery" (10:18). On this we get the details on some of the men from the show (Ian Harding, Drew Van Acker, Tyler Blackburn and Keegan Allen) from brooding brows, soulful smiles, and mysterious minds, get ready for the heart-melting guys of Rosewood. Many are interviewed and they are Ian Harding, Lucy Hale, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, I. Marlene King, Oliver Godsick, Sasha Pieterse, Drew Van Acker, Tyler Blackburn, Ashley Benson, Keegan Allen, and Troian Bellisario.
I think Warner Bros. did an excellent job on this set once again. We get an extra disc, more episodes, more deleted scenes, and more informative and longer featurettes! It's just about perfect, but with just some little nitpicks here and there, such as no artwork on the panels this time inside the case and still no music on the menus. The important part is we have the episodes in great quality and we can relive these great episodes at any time and go back and find out clues from previous episodes! By the time you finish these 25 episodes, you'll know who A is...or will there be more than just an A? You'll have to watch and see! Season three has begun on ABC Family, Tuesdays at 8, so hurry and get this DVD so you can watch the third season every week all-summer! Don't let "A" stop you by buying this DVD!
The second season stars Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin, Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis, Holly Marie Combs as Ella Montgomery, Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz, Bianca Lawson as Maya St. Germain, Laura Leighton as Ashley Marin, and Chad Lowe as Byron Montgomery. However, there are many recurring stars such as Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh, Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers, Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwall, Drew Van Acker as Jason DiLaurentis, Cody Allen Christian as Mike Montgomery, Brant Daugherty as Noel Kahn, Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings, Yani Gellman as Garrett Reynolds, Julian Morris as Wren Kingston, Nia Peeples as Pam Fields, Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman, and Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall. Keegan Allen, Tyler Blackburn, Janel Parrish have been promoted to series regulars in season three. The first half of the second season aired in summer 2011, while the second half aired in the winter of 2012, similar to the first season. For this season we got two halves of 12 episodes each, but also a flashback episode for Halloween. The series returned this past Tuesday for its third season and it leaves off where the intense and shocking second season finale left off. Tune in Tuesdays at 8/7c for the third season all-summer long on ABC Family!
Anyway, as for this set, there are many memorable episodes in this shocking and surprising season. In the season premiere, "It's Alive," with all eyes in Rosewood looking at Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer, the girls are forced to seek help. In "Blind Dates," Hanna helps Lucas score a date, while Emily deals with the aftermath of her mother spilling to everyone that she has a scholarship offer. In "The Devil You Know," Hanna learns more about Caleb's foster family, while the other Liars deal with the resolution and closure of the news about Ian. In "Picture This," Spencer zeroes in on Jason and is determined to find out what exactly has he been hiding, yet Aria can't help but see the good in him, while Hanna aids Caleb when it comes to making a decision about his family. In "Touched by an 'A'-ngel," Aria is finding it hard to believe Spencer and Emily's revelation about Jason all the while dealing with her feelings for him, as Hanna tries to play nice with her future stepsister, while "A" continues to torment Emily trying to push her to a breakdown. In the mid-season finale, "Over My Dead Body," the liars told someone about "A" and they must now pay the price, as Hannah, Aria and Spencer are sent out to do a hard task in order to keep Dr. Sullivan alive: Aria must get rid of Jackie, Hannah must stop her dad and Isabelle's wedding and Spencer must keep Toby safe and in doing so must break up with him, as Emily is the only one without a heartbreaking task and is a little worried. On the mid-season premiere, "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares," while all the Liars seem to be at odds with each other, Toby fights to win Spencer back and becomes suspicious of the antics of the supposed best friends, while the Montgomerys receive some worrisome news. In "A Hot Piece of A," the girls have never been closer to discovering "A"'s identity and ask Caleb to use his hacker abilities to help them, but the plan goes awry when Hanna doesn't see eye to eye with the girls' request and instead plans a surprise party for Caleb at the Hastings' lake house. In "CTRL: A," as Aria discovers what Holden's secret is, Caleb becomes the target of a Rosewood Police Department witch hunt after his laptop is confiscated. In "Breaking the Code," the liars may have a fifth member, as it's revealed that "A" is torturing someone outside of Ali's BFFs, while Wren becomes a much-needed support for Spencer. In "If These Dolls Could Talk," the girls suspect that Melissa might be "A", and they set up an investigation, while Aria finds a boarding school application on her Mom's desk, and Jenna takes the bandages off her eyes. And in the most shocking finale yet (season or midseason), in "unmAsked," Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hanna get closer to finding out who "A" is and the girls attends Rosewood's Junior League Masquerade Gala, but by the end of the episode, they discover who "A" really is and more shockers.
Episodes are usually around 43-44 minutes and unedited, as they should be. Runtimes are below:
Disc 1:
1. "It's Alive" (43:05)
2. "The Goodbye Look" (43:10)
3. "My Name Is Trouble" (44:12)
4. "Blind Dates" (42:42)
5. "The Devil You Know" (42:46)
Disc 2:
6. "Never Letting Go" (44:03)
7. "Surface Tensions" (43:36)
8. "Save The Date" (43:51)
9. "Picture This" (43:36)
10. "Touched by an 'A'-ngel" (44:12)
Disc 3:
11. "I Must Confess" (44:05)
12. "Over My Dead Body" (44:07)
13. "The First Secret" - Halloween Flashback episode (44:12)
14. "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares" (43:58)
Disc 4:
15. "A Hot Piece of 'A'" (43:53)
16. "Let The Water Hold Me Down" (44:01)
17. "Blond Leading the Blind" (43:02)
18. "A Kiss Before Lying" (44:12)
Disc 5:
19. "The Naked Truth" (44:12)
20. "CTRL: A" (44:12)
21. "Breaking the Code" (43:49)
22. "Father Knows Best" (43:13)
Disc 6:
23. "Eye of the Beholder" (44:05)
24. "If These Dolls Could Talk" (44:17)
25. "unmAsked" (44:13)
The set comes in an outer box holding a keep case inside. The artwork is the same on the front side for both with artwork of the four girls in white outfits covered in mud sitting at a table with grapes. Don't get ugly, get even, as the tagline says at the bottom of the cover! The back of both the box and case have info on the series and set and another shot of the girls in outfits they would normally wear. We also have four episodic images and a list of special features. Ashley Benson is quite a catch, isn't she? When we open the case, we have some inserts again on the left side. We have an ad insert promoting all-new episodes on ABC Family this summer and an Ultra Violet code for you to watch episodes by streaming and downloading. The other insert is a nice episode booklet! It is nicely designed again and filled with great episodic photos and a great shot of the girls in '60s type outfits on the front. Wow again at Ashley Benson! We have a disc-by-disc breakdown with episode number, title, writer, director, original airdate and of course a synopsis. There is a little scissor image also if there are any deleted scenes available for that episode. The last page has a nice credit list of all the series regulars.
Anyway back to the case, we have three plastic holders that we can flip like a book in the middle and they each hold two discs, with the first disc on the front and the second disc on the back. So that covers all six discs. The disc artwork is simple. We have a purple/pink style background with some cool designs, the show logo and disc number. Simple, but effective. However, this time there is no artwork at all on the panels itself. Disappointing, as we wanted to see more cool artwork like on the first season packaging. More Ashley Benson, the better!
The menu design is good and uses the same artwork as the cover art but it is more of a wide shot and we see more, similar to the last set. It's a nice blue color scheme. Before the main menu on disc one we have a trailer for the third season on ABC Family. Unfortunately once again there is no music playing in the background on the main menu, which is disappointing as this show has a good theme. The menu options are Play All, Episodes, Deleted Scenes and Languages for discs one-five. Disc six doesn't have deleted scenes but it does have a Special Features option. The artwork for all the submenus is good. Languages features audio in English but you can have subtitles in English, French, Chinese, Espanol, or Thai. Deleted Scenes option doesn't have a submenu, so it just plays them automatically. Episodes option lists the episode numbers, episode titles, and if there is a deleted scene for that episode you can watch it by highlighting the scissor image. I think you're better off watching the deleted scenes through the episodes menu than the deleted scenes option itself so you know which episode the deleted scene was intended for. And Special Features on disc six lists all the non-deleted scenes extras that we have.
Video and audio quality are both outstanding once again. That is no surprise, but we should still be glad that everything is so crisp and clear. HD like quality, even if this isn't a Blu-ray set. So there is nothing much to say here except it is like how you watch it on ABC Family HD, especially if your DVD player upconverts. Each episode has 9 or 10 chapter stops, depending on the episode. We get to see the full closing credits, too, something that we don't see on ABC Family but if you watch the series on their website, you see these closing credits. I love how we get 43 or 44 minutes per episode, as broadcast shows are usually 42 minutes these days. We get more content on ABC Family!
There are special features and nearly all of them are on disc six. The previous five discs have deleted scenes, similar to the first set. These are always nice to see. Disc one has a deleted scene from the episode "It's Alive" (1:30). Disc two has two deleted scenes from the episode "Never Letting Go" ((0:38, 1:00) and a deleted scene from the episode "Touched by an 'A'-ngel" (0:23). On to disc three, we have two deleted scenes from the episode "I Must Confess" (0:52, 0:14) and five deleted scenes from the mid-season finale "Over My Dead Body" (0:38, 0:50, 0:30, 0:32, 0:30). For disc four we have a deleted scene for "A Hot Piece of 'A'" (0:59) and "A Kiss Before Lying" (2:02). As for disc five, we have two deleted scenes for the episode "Breaking the Code" (0:34, 0:22). And finally on disc six, we have three deleted scenes for "If These Dolls Could Talk" (1:05, 1:05, 1:35). It's 9 episodes with deleted scenes and a total of 18 deleted scenes! So, up from the 15 deleted scenes from the first season! The main special features are all on disc six. The first featurette is a fun one titled "Pretty Little Liars: Fashion's Guilty Pleasure" (12:28). We are given details on each of the main four characters' fashion: Aria's edgy Bohemian looks, Hanna's rock 'n' roll glamour, Emily's laid-back sporty style, and Spencer's prepster perfection. Commenting are Mandi Line (costume designer), Oliver Godstick (executive producer), Lucy Hale, I. Marlene King (executive producer), Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, and Troian Bellisario. This is cool and informative for a DVD feature. And it's always nice to look at these young stars! Ashley Benson seemed to have a little cold in this interview, as her voice was a little raspy, but it STILL came out sexy! The next featurette is another good one titled "Pretty Little Liars: Men of Mystery" (10:18). On this we get the details on some of the men from the show (Ian Harding, Drew Van Acker, Tyler Blackburn and Keegan Allen) from brooding brows, soulful smiles, and mysterious minds, get ready for the heart-melting guys of Rosewood. Many are interviewed and they are Ian Harding, Lucy Hale, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, I. Marlene King, Oliver Godsick, Sasha Pieterse, Drew Van Acker, Tyler Blackburn, Ashley Benson, Keegan Allen, and Troian Bellisario.
I think Warner Bros. did an excellent job on this set once again. We get an extra disc, more episodes, more deleted scenes, and more informative and longer featurettes! It's just about perfect, but with just some little nitpicks here and there, such as no artwork on the panels this time inside the case and still no music on the menus. The important part is we have the episodes in great quality and we can relive these great episodes at any time and go back and find out clues from previous episodes! By the time you finish these 25 episodes, you'll know who A is...or will there be more than just an A? You'll have to watch and see! Season three has begun on ABC Family, Tuesdays at 8, so hurry and get this DVD so you can watch the third season every week all-summer! Don't let "A" stop you by buying this DVD!
(4/5 stars)
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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Blog DVD Review: Ghost Story (a.k.a. Circle of Fear) - The Complete Series (Sony MOD, $55.99)
by skees53
The DVD comes packaged in a black Viva case, with an artist rendering of Sebastian Cabot as a ghost flying through the air on the cover. It is actually very nice artwork, which I'm sure was probably done during the original run of the series. There is a brief series description on the back, along with a listing of guest stars and a few episode snapshots. Inside the case, you'll find the six discs, which have only a black series logo on a white background. Each disc contains four episodes (except for Disc 6, which contains three).
(4/5 stars)
Alfred Hitchcock was a master of horror in many classic films throughout the 20th century, and in the '50s, he brought his mastery to television with his series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But he was far from the only master of horror. William Castle, while not nearly as well-known as Hitchcock (and producing very few movies which would have been called successful at the time) followed in the footsteps of Hitchcock in 1972 with his own series, Ghost Story. Produced by Screen Gems (and one of the final series to ever be produced by the iconic television studio before they officially became Columbia Pictures Television), Ghost Story was an hour long anthology series full of suspense and shudders, hosted by Winston Essex (played by Sebastian Cabot, who had previously played Mr. French on TV's Family Affair).
It was a great series, full of great stories and great guest stars, but the ratings simply weren't that good for NBC. In an effort to save the series, Castle made some changes to the series after the fourteenth episode, by retitling the series to Circle of Fear and dropping the hosting segments by Winston Essex. These changes were said to be what the studio wanted, but it wasn't enough, and nine episodes later, Ghost Story (or technically, Circle of Fear as it was known by now) was cancelled.
Since the series was cancelled in 1973, it has lived a little bit in syndication, primarily in the '80s when Columbia Pictures distributed just about every single Screen Gems program which ever existed through LBS Communications, but other than that, the series has largely sat in the vaults of Sony, until now, as Sony brings us this MOD offering of every episode of the series, beautifully remastered.
The series begins with the pilot episode, where a young family purchases a house located on the site where a young woman was unjustly hanged decades earlier. Jason Robards plays a forest ranger who can see into the future through his television in "The Dead We Leave Behind," but the program about his wife's accidental death may not be the program he wished to see. In "Bad Connection," a young woman (Karen Black) is getting warnings from her husband over the telephone... but did we mention he is dead? Carolyn Jones plays a woman who is trapped in a vacation home with its own personality in "The Summer House." In "Alter-Ego," a bored boy stuck in a wheelchair creates a double to keep him occupied, but that double creates much more trouble than expected.
Jodie Foster plays a deaf-mute girl who is used as a pawn by her grandfather to gain revenge against his family in "House of Evil." A college professor (Hal Linden) has a deep dark secret in "Elegy for a Vampire," and his students may just be the victims. In "Touch of Madness," a daughter learns that an inherited house from her mother who died in a mental institution may not be the best gift. Angie Dickinson plays a woman who is troubled by a dog who turns vicious after its master dies in "Creatures of the Canyon." The first version of the series ends with "Time of Terror," where a woman wakes up in a hotel room alone with no sign of her husband.
The second version of the series, Circle of Fear, begins with "Death's Head," where Janet Leigh plays the wife of a lawyer who is more interested in her husband's partner... but this is a horror series, so there is definitely a lot more to it than one may suspect. Martin Sheen plays a construction worker who finds a toy wooden horse which becomes something a little different in "Dark Vengeance." Susan Dey and Leif Garrett both guest star in "Doorway to Death," where a family moves in to a new apartment in San Francisco where there is, oddly enough, a cabin in the woods upstairs with an ax murderer. John Astin and Patty Duke play a couple in "The Graveyard Shift," where their unborn child appears to be threatened by ghosts (oddly enough, this episode aired three months before their child Mackenzie Astin was born... hmm...). It is great to be in organ donor, but in "Spare Parts," a man who believes his wife murdered him keeps those thoughts in his donated organs... and the recipients want revenge! The series ends with "The Phantom of Herald Square," where a woman is charmed by a man (David Soul), but also finds herself terrorized by an older man... and they may be more connected than she thinks.
The episodes on the set are reportedly unedited, and as can be seen from the runtimes, that is likely the case for most of them. There is, however, one notable issue on the pilot episode, "Ghost Story." The episode is just completely missing the closing credits. The reasoning behind this is unknown (UPDATE: A reader, Lee, has informed me that this episode originally aired on NBC as half of a "movie" with a completely unrelated second half, and that the closing credits were most likely not included because they included references to both parts), but it is worth noting that the pilot episode was not exactly the first episode of the only season of the series, but in fact, it aired separately in March 1972. The series did not begin airing regularly until September 1972. So, this may have something to do with why there aren't any closing credits. Also, every episode has the original Screen Gems logo at the end... except for the pilot, which, for some odd reason, as the Screen Gems logo at the BEGINNING of the episode. Runtimes for all episodes are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. "Ghost Story" (47:46)
2. "The Dead We Leave Behind" (51:14)
3. "The Concrete Captain" (51:25)
4. "At the Cradle Foot" (51:15)
Disc 2:
5. "Bad Connection" (51:11)
6. "The Summer House" (51:11)
7. "Alter Ego" (50:54)
8. "Half a Death" (51:13)
Disc 3:
9. "House of Evil" (51:11)
10. "Cry of the Cat" (51:13)
11. "Elegy for a Vampire" (50:15)
12. "Touch of Madness" (51:11)
Disc 4:
13. "Creatures of the Canyon" (51:19)
14. "Time of Terror" (50:39)
15. "Death's Head" (50:12)
16. "Dark Vengeance" (50:12)
Disc 5:
17. "Earth, Air, Fire, and Water" (50:13)
18. "Doorway to Death" (49:11)
19. "Legion of Demons" (50:13)
20. "Graveyard Shift" (50:11)
Disc 6:
21. "Spare Parts" (49:44)
22. "The Ghost of Potter's Field" (50:12)
23. "The Phantom of Herald Square" (50:11)
It was a great series, full of great stories and great guest stars, but the ratings simply weren't that good for NBC. In an effort to save the series, Castle made some changes to the series after the fourteenth episode, by retitling the series to Circle of Fear and dropping the hosting segments by Winston Essex. These changes were said to be what the studio wanted, but it wasn't enough, and nine episodes later, Ghost Story (or technically, Circle of Fear as it was known by now) was cancelled.
Since the series was cancelled in 1973, it has lived a little bit in syndication, primarily in the '80s when Columbia Pictures distributed just about every single Screen Gems program which ever existed through LBS Communications, but other than that, the series has largely sat in the vaults of Sony, until now, as Sony brings us this MOD offering of every episode of the series, beautifully remastered.
The series begins with the pilot episode, where a young family purchases a house located on the site where a young woman was unjustly hanged decades earlier. Jason Robards plays a forest ranger who can see into the future through his television in "The Dead We Leave Behind," but the program about his wife's accidental death may not be the program he wished to see. In "Bad Connection," a young woman (Karen Black) is getting warnings from her husband over the telephone... but did we mention he is dead? Carolyn Jones plays a woman who is trapped in a vacation home with its own personality in "The Summer House." In "Alter-Ego," a bored boy stuck in a wheelchair creates a double to keep him occupied, but that double creates much more trouble than expected.
Jodie Foster plays a deaf-mute girl who is used as a pawn by her grandfather to gain revenge against his family in "House of Evil." A college professor (Hal Linden) has a deep dark secret in "Elegy for a Vampire," and his students may just be the victims. In "Touch of Madness," a daughter learns that an inherited house from her mother who died in a mental institution may not be the best gift. Angie Dickinson plays a woman who is troubled by a dog who turns vicious after its master dies in "Creatures of the Canyon." The first version of the series ends with "Time of Terror," where a woman wakes up in a hotel room alone with no sign of her husband.
The second version of the series, Circle of Fear, begins with "Death's Head," where Janet Leigh plays the wife of a lawyer who is more interested in her husband's partner... but this is a horror series, so there is definitely a lot more to it than one may suspect. Martin Sheen plays a construction worker who finds a toy wooden horse which becomes something a little different in "Dark Vengeance." Susan Dey and Leif Garrett both guest star in "Doorway to Death," where a family moves in to a new apartment in San Francisco where there is, oddly enough, a cabin in the woods upstairs with an ax murderer. John Astin and Patty Duke play a couple in "The Graveyard Shift," where their unborn child appears to be threatened by ghosts (oddly enough, this episode aired three months before their child Mackenzie Astin was born... hmm...). It is great to be in organ donor, but in "Spare Parts," a man who believes his wife murdered him keeps those thoughts in his donated organs... and the recipients want revenge! The series ends with "The Phantom of Herald Square," where a woman is charmed by a man (David Soul), but also finds herself terrorized by an older man... and they may be more connected than she thinks.
The episodes on the set are reportedly unedited, and as can be seen from the runtimes, that is likely the case for most of them. There is, however, one notable issue on the pilot episode, "Ghost Story." The episode is just completely missing the closing credits. The reasoning behind this is unknown (UPDATE: A reader, Lee, has informed me that this episode originally aired on NBC as half of a "movie" with a completely unrelated second half, and that the closing credits were most likely not included because they included references to both parts), but it is worth noting that the pilot episode was not exactly the first episode of the only season of the series, but in fact, it aired separately in March 1972. The series did not begin airing regularly until September 1972. So, this may have something to do with why there aren't any closing credits. Also, every episode has the original Screen Gems logo at the end... except for the pilot, which, for some odd reason, as the Screen Gems logo at the BEGINNING of the episode. Runtimes for all episodes are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. "Ghost Story" (47:46)
2. "The Dead We Leave Behind" (51:14)
3. "The Concrete Captain" (51:25)
4. "At the Cradle Foot" (51:15)
Disc 2:
5. "Bad Connection" (51:11)
6. "The Summer House" (51:11)
7. "Alter Ego" (50:54)
8. "Half a Death" (51:13)
Disc 3:
9. "House of Evil" (51:11)
10. "Cry of the Cat" (51:13)
11. "Elegy for a Vampire" (50:15)
12. "Touch of Madness" (51:11)
Disc 4:
13. "Creatures of the Canyon" (51:19)
14. "Time of Terror" (50:39)
15. "Death's Head" (50:12)
16. "Dark Vengeance" (50:12)
Disc 5:
17. "Earth, Air, Fire, and Water" (50:13)
18. "Doorway to Death" (49:11)
19. "Legion of Demons" (50:13)
20. "Graveyard Shift" (50:11)
Disc 6:
21. "Spare Parts" (49:44)
22. "The Ghost of Potter's Field" (50:12)
23. "The Phantom of Herald Square" (50:11)
The DVD comes packaged in a black Viva case, with an artist rendering of Sebastian Cabot as a ghost flying through the air on the cover. It is actually very nice artwork, which I'm sure was probably done during the original run of the series. There is a brief series description on the back, along with a listing of guest stars and a few episode snapshots. Inside the case, you'll find the six discs, which have only a black series logo on a white background. Each disc contains four episodes (except for Disc 6, which contains three).
The menus on the set are the typical bland Sony MOD menus, which just list the episode titles on the main menu and a Play All option with a bunch of old TVs in the background. They really should at least create something which doesn't intentionally look generic. There are no chapters within the episodes.
Honestly, considering how little airplay this series has gotten over the years, I expected the absolute worst quality for the video and audio... but that is not the case, at all! These episodes look fantastic, as if Sony has not only put forth some effort, but in fact substantial effort into cleaning up these episodes. Every episode (aside from perhaps the pilot) looks very crisp and clear. In fact, I could find very little of the typical grain and debris which I thought would be everywhere. The audio is a very loud and clear mono track, which is sufficient for the set. Unfortunately, the episodes are neither closed-captioned nor subtitled.
The set contains no special features, which is what we have come to expect for these MOD titles... particularly ones from Sony.
The set contains no special features, which is what we have come to expect for these MOD titles... particularly ones from Sony.
I am very pleased with the episodes on this set, and the quality of the episodes. It is just a shame, though, that Sony had to relegate this to a MOD title. This is a series that seems to have quite a following, and under different circumstances, it could have included some very nice special features and probably even had decent sales. Still, it is great that we even got this series at all, and I doubt that anybody would find anything to complain about with the episodes on the set. It certainly is no Alfred Hitchcock Presents or The Twilight Zone, but it is still a great show in its own right, and fans of series like this will want to have it in their collection alongside those. But remember, none of it is real, because there is no such thing as ghosts, and "I don't believe in ghosts... do you?"
(4/5 stars)
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CLICK OF THE WEEK
TV Tropes (www.tvtropes.com) - Remember that show that had the cool car? How about that show with the excessive bromance? And who could forget that time when that character on the show was facing a serious problem which would manifest itself over years, yet we only knew of it for one (and only one) episode? All of that probably sounds a bit confusing, as you are probably thinking to yourself "what show?" Well, in fact, all of these characteristics, and untold hundreds of others, are common to many series, and can be referred to (among many other things) as tropes. TV Tropes is one of the most amazingly complete websites which I've ever seen on this, providing a plethora of complete, insightful, and interesting to read tropes for as many TV series as humanly possible.
The website is not the easiest website to navigate. In fact, when I first discovered it, I only found it while searching for information on a TV series on Google and finding one of their pages in the process. But the easiest way to find your way on this site is to use the search box provided on the top of the main page to type in which series you want to look up. As our example, we use a classic sitcom favorite which has been in the news for more than one reason this week (and neither reason has been positive news), Happy Days. You can find several tropes on this page, such as The Danza, where a character uses the same name as their real name (named after Tony Danza, who always played Tony). For Happy Days, we have Marion playing Marion and Al playing Al. There are other familiar tropes, such as Locked in a Freezer, Dawson Casting, and of course, one of the most famous one which is actually named after the series, Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. You can find plenty of tropes like these for many series on this wonderful, insightful, and often even funny website, our Click of the Week.
The website is not the easiest website to navigate. In fact, when I first discovered it, I only found it while searching for information on a TV series on Google and finding one of their pages in the process. But the easiest way to find your way on this site is to use the search box provided on the top of the main page to type in which series you want to look up. As our example, we use a classic sitcom favorite which has been in the news for more than one reason this week (and neither reason has been positive news), Happy Days. You can find several tropes on this page, such as The Danza, where a character uses the same name as their real name (named after Tony Danza, who always played Tony). For Happy Days, we have Marion playing Marion and Al playing Al. There are other familiar tropes, such as Locked in a Freezer, Dawson Casting, and of course, one of the most famous one which is actually named after the series, Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. You can find plenty of tropes like these for many series on this wonderful, insightful, and often even funny website, our Click of the Week.
That's it for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!
Friday, June 08, 2012
MeTV Summer 2012 Schedule Has Green Acres, The Mothers-in-Law; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 11, 2012)
Every weeknight this summer MeTV is different! From television's pioneers to groovy cats and campy classics, MeTV delivers a colorful assortment of action and drama, comedy and adventure all summer long. The "Summer of Me" starts Monday, June 18 and runs through September 3 and even has two new sitcom additions: Green Acres and The Mothers-in-Law! Check out the new primetime "Summer of Me" block schedule:
Mary & Dick & Bob & Ralph Mondays
8:00pm - The Mary Tyler Moore Show
8:30pm - The Dick Van Dyke Show
9:00pm - The Bob Newhart Show
9:30pm - The Honeymooners
Groovy Tuesdays
8:00pm - The Brady Bunch
8:30pm - The Mothers-in-Law
9:00pm - That Girl
9:30pm - Love, American Style
Hillbillies & Hooterville Wednesdays
8:00pm and 8:30pm - The Beverly Hillbillies
9:00pm and 9:30pm - Green Acres
Summer Camp Thursdays
8:00pm and 8:30pm - Batman
9:00pm and 9:30pm - Get Smart
Comedy Classic Fridays
8:00pm and 9:00pm - The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
MeTV's two newest acquisitions will receive multiple airings every week. Green Acres will have two episodes aired Wednesdays at 9:00pm, as mentioned above, and two more episodes on Saturdays at 6:00pm & 6:30pm. The Mothers-in-Law will have one episode aired on Tuesdays at 8:30pm in "Summer of Me" and two more episodes on Sundays at 2:00pm & 2:30pm. As for the rest of the schedule, Hogan's Heroes moves to weekdays at 5:00pm and 5:30pm, while Kojak is leaving the schedule completely. View the full schedule (effective Monday, June 18) here. Discuss the schedule here.
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of June 11-15, 2012, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, June 11, 2012
- Eric Andre (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Watch Eric on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
- Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack appears on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Jerry O'Connell (Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly on Monday and Tuesday, so check your listings.
- David Spade (Rules of Engagement/8 Simple Rules/Just Shoot Me) - David is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Tom Arnold (Roseanne/The Jackie Thomas Show/The Tom Show) - Tom guest co-hosts The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) - Patrick visits NBC's Today between 7-9am. The new Dallas premieres on TNT on June 13.
- Tyler James Williams (Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Tyler stops by The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) - Catch Patrick on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with other Dallas cast members at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Raven-Symoné (That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven drops by LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) - Melissa appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny is a guest on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Lena Dunham (Girls) - Watch Lena on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
- Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory/Roseanne) - Johnny visits Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) - Yvette guest co-hosts a repeat of The Nate Berkus Show, so check your local listings.
- Jada Pinkett Smith (A Different World) - Catch Jada on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
- Don Rickles (C.P.O. Sharkey/Daddy Dearest) - Mr. Warmth appears on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Max Greenfield (New Girl/Modern Men) - Max is a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia appears on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Christina Applegate (Up All Night/Samantha Who?/Married with Children) - Christina stops by LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope) - Watch Martha on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Joel McHale (Community) - Joel guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Laura Linney (The Big C) - Laura visits LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
Thursday, June 07, 2012
FX Orders New Comedy Legit; 2012 TCA Awards Nominations
FX has placed an order for 13 episodes of a new scripted comedy series Legit, starring Australian comedian Jim Jefferies. Co-created by Peter O'Fallon and Jefferies, Legit is about a comedian, Jim (Jefferies) and his misguided attempts to become legitimate in life. He is encouraged in his quest by his best friend Steve (Dan Bakkedahl), and Steve's brother Billy (D.J. Qualls). O'Fallon (The Riches), Jefferies and Rick Cleveland (Nurse Jackie, Mad Men) serve as Executive Producers. Lisa Blum of New Wave Entertainment is also an executive producer. The pilot episode was directed by O'Fallon. The series is produced by FX Productions. The series is scheduled to debut in January of 2013. The comedy will be a single-camera comedy.
FX's original comedy roster includes It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Archer, Louie, Wilfred, Brand X with Russell Brand, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, and the upcoming multi-camera sitcom Anger Management starring Charlie Sheen, which premieres Thursday, June 28 at 9pm.
FX's original comedy roster includes It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Archer, Louie, Wilfred, Brand X with Russell Brand, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, and the upcoming multi-camera sitcom Anger Management starring Charlie Sheen, which premieres Thursday, June 28 at 9pm.
The Television Critics Association (TCA) has announced nominations for its 2012 TCA Awards. The 2012 TCA Awards recognizes outstanding television programming in the 2011-2012 season, honoring both actors and producers in a variety of categories including news and information, youth, drama and comedy achievements. The nominations for current programming are spread across all four broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox — PBS, and 13 cable networks. HBO leads the way with eight nominations; AMC has six; NBC and PBS each have five; and CBS and FX each have four.
The winners of the 28th Annual TCA Awards will be announced at the invitation-only presentation, Saturday, July 28, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, as part of the group's bi-annual industry conference. In addition to recognizing the year's finest programming, the TCA Awards bestows a Heritage Award trophy to one long-standing program that has culturally or socially impacted society. This year, the TCA members have nominated some of TV's most memorable series with NBC's Saturday Night Live, ABC's Lost, NBC's Cheers, NBC's Star Trek and ABC's Twin Peaks as nominees in this eminent category.
The organization also presents a Career Achievement Award to an individual who has influenced television through his work on the small screen. Nominees include TV host/producer Dick Clark (American Bandstand), late-night talk show host David Letterman (Late Show with David Letterman), actor William Shatner (Star Trek), actor Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show) and TV host Regis Philbin (Regis and Kelly).
Below is the complete list of the 2012 Television Critics Association nominees.
Individual Achievement in Drama
1. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, AMC)
2. Claire Danes (Homeland, Showtime)
3. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, HBO)
4. Jon Hamm (Mad Men, AMC)
5. Jessica Lange (American Horror Story, FX)
Individual Achievement in Comedy
1. Louis C.K. (Louie, FX)
2. Lena Dunham (Girls, HBO)
3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep, HBO)
4. Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, CBS)
5. Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in News and Information
1. Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN)
2. The Daily Show (Comedy Central)
3. Frontline (PBS)
4. 60 Minutes (CBS)
5. The Rachel Maddow Show (MSNBC)
Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming
1. iCarly (Nickelodeon)
2. Phineas and Ferb (Disney)
3. Sesame Street (PBS)
4. Switched at Birth (ABC Family)
5. Yo Gabba Gabba (Nick Jr.)
Outstanding New Program
1. Girls (HBO)
2. Homeland (Showtime)
3. New Girl (Fox)
4. Revenge (ABC)
5. Smash (NBC)
Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials
1. Downton Abbey: Masterpiece (PBS)
2. Game Change (HBO)
3. Hatfields & McCoys (History)
4. Hemingway & Gellhorn (HBO)
5. Sherlock: Masterpiece (PBS)
Outstanding Achievement in Drama
1. Breaking Bad (AMC)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. Homeland (Showtime)
4. Justified (FX)
5. Mad Men (AMC)
Outstanding Achievement in Comedy
1. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
2. Community (NBC)
3. Louie (FX)
4. Modern Family (ABC)
5. Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Career Achievement Award
1. Dick Clark (American Bandstand)
2. Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show/Matlock)
3. David Letterman (Late Show With David Letterman)
4. Regis Philbin (LIVE! with Regis & Kelly/Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?)
5. William Shatner (Star Trek/Boston Legal)
Heritage Award
1. Cheers (NBC)
2. LOST (ABC)
3. Saturday Night Live (NBC)
4. Star Trek (NBC)
5. Twin Peaks (ABC)
Program of the Year
1. Breaking Bad (AMC)
2. Game of Thrones (HBO)
3. Homeland (Showtime)
4. Mad Men (AMC)
5. Downton Abbey: Masterpiece (PBS)
Stay tuned during our TCA Summer 2012 press tour coverage for the complete winners.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Lois & Clark Has Solid Debut On The Hub; 2nd Annual Critics Choice Awards Nominations
The Hub's new primetime acquisition of '90s drama Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman is a "super" hit in the ratings! In a special 6-hour marathon introducing the Hub TV premiere of Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman on Sunday (8pm-2am ET) earned year-to-year delivery gains among Women 18-49 (+57%, 22,000), Adults 18-49 (+182%, 62,000), Total Viewers (+142%, 157,000) and Households (+119%, 118,000). In the Sunday 10pm timeslot, Lois & Clark: The Adventures of Superman delivered year-to-year delivery gains among Kids 6-11 (+145%, 27,000), Kids 2-11 (+300%, 44,000), Women 18-49 (+867%, 29,000), Adults 18-49 (+833%, 84,000), Total Viewers (+781%, 229,000) and Households (+605%, 148,000). 229,000 total viewers is not bad for The Hub. The new acquisition will air every Sunday night in this same block from 8-11pm ET with an immediate encore from 11pm-2am. I watched the first three episodes on The Hub on Sunday and I'm hooked all over again (and I have watched every episode on ABC in the original run, in syndication on TNT/TBS and own all seasons on DVD!). The series features the daring exploits of the legendary Superman in an exciting, action-packed hour-long series featuring iconic comic book characters Clark Kent (Dean Cain), his superhuman alter ego and Lois Lane (Teri Hatcher) in the most unrequited romance of all-time.
The Hub also introduced '80s sitcom ALF on Monday, as it airs Mon-Thurs at 8:30pm leading into summer sitcom marathons from 9-11pm. If and when they announce the premiere week ratings for ALF, we will certainly let you know how that alien life form did!
We have the nominations for the 2nd Annual Critics Choice Television Awards. The ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Monday, June 18 at a gala awards dinner. NBC was the most nominated broadcast network with 14 nominations (up from the 12 last year) followed closely by ABC with 13 (down from the 16 last year) and Fox with 12. HBO led nominations for cable networks with 12, followed by AMC and FX with 11 nominations each. NBC's Community was the most nominated series with six. The following is the comedy portion nominations (click the link below to see more nominations):
Best Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Community (NBC)
Girls (HBO)
Modern Family (ABC)
New Girl (Fox)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Don Cheadle (House of Lies, Showtime)
Louis C.K. (Louie, FX)
Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO)
Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope, Fox)
Joel McHale (Community, NBC)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, CBS)
Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Zooey Deschanel (New Girl, Fox)
Lena Dunham (Girls, HBO)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep, HBO)
Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope, Fox)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Ashley Richards (Awkward, MTV)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell (Modern Family, ABC)
Max Greenfield (New Girl, Fox)
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Danny Pudi (Community, NBC)
Jim Rash (Community, NBC)
Damon Wayans, Jr. (Happy Endings, ABC)
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen (Modern Family, ABC)
Alison Brie (Community, NBC)
Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory, ABC)
Gillian Jacobs (Community, NBC)
Eden Sher (The Middle, ABC)
Casey Wilson (Happy Endings, ABC)
Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Becky Ann Baker (Girls, HBO)
Bobby Cannavale (Modern Family, ABC)
Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Justin Long (New Girl, Fox)
Paul Rudd (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Peter Scolari (Girls, HBO)
See a full list of nominations from other TV genres. And visit their official website for more details on these awards and who votes.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
MeTV, GSN Pay Tribute to Richard Dawson With Marathons; Just My Show Interviews CHiPs Star Larry Wilcox
MeTV Network is celebrating the life and career of Richard Dawson with a Hogan's Heroes special on Saturday, June 9. The episodes feature Dawson's character, Corporal Peter Newkirk, as he navigates the perils of war with his fellow POWs. The two episodes will air back-to-back at 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on its regular night and times on MeTV Network. Too bad we don't get more than two episodes, but this is at least something! Last night, Richard Dawson was remembered on MeTV with an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show at 8:30pm with the episode "Racy Tracy Rattigan," where he played British actor Tracy Rattigan.
GSN (Game Show Network) announced that the network will pay tribute to iconic television host and actor Richard Dawson with a special tribute and a marathon of Dawson's most iconic episodes as host of Family Feud and as a panelist on Match Game. Dawson passed away in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 2, 2012, as we reported. The remembrance of Dawson will air through Thursday during the network's broadcasts of Family Feud and Match Game. The Richard Dawson marathon will air on Thursday, June 7, from 7:00pm-11:00pm (ET). Both series regularly air back-to-back weekday mornings at 8:00am & 8:30am.
As for the special marathon on Thursday, we will see four classic Feud half-hour episodes and two classic Match Games half-hour episodes from 7-10pm. At 10pm, GSN will air the first episode of the return of Richard Dawson on the new one-hour Family Feud in 1994, when he replaced the late Ray Combs.
Our good friend Eric of the Just My Show podcast has released his new episode. Special guest Larry Wilcox from CHiPs is on the show to celebrate the classic motorcycle cop series' 35th anniversary! Larry Wilcox of course played Erik Estrada's strait-laced partner, Officer Jonathan "Jon" Baker. Get the real story behind the show's scary motorcycle stunts, his relationship with series co-star Erik Estrada and the big upcoming CHiPs anniversary event this Fall. With a special appearance by Seven Mary Three's Casey Daniel. Plus, Arsenio Hall's comeback, the remote control and much more in the latest edition of New News About Old Stuff. CHiPs aired on NBC from 1977-1983.
So without further adieu, listen to the Larry Wilcox podcast!
Monday, June 04, 2012
Season 2 Premiere of Melissa & Joey Returns Big; Remembering Richard Dawson and Kathryn Joosten
In its season 2 launch last Wednesday (May 30), ABC Family's original comedy Melissa & Joey ranked as cable's #1 program at 8 o’clock across its target females demos, Women 18-34 (409,000 viewers/1.2 rating), Women 18-49 (626,000 viewers/1.0 rating) and Females 12-34 (522,000 viewers/1.2 rating), and was the #2 cable program in the half-hour in Adults 18-34 (507,000 viewers/0.8 rating) and Viewers 12-34 (632,000 viewers/0.7 rating), behind only ESPN's highly rated NBA Playoff coverage, posting hefty gains over year-ago time period levels.
Compared to its season 1B average, which aired last summer from June 29 to Sept. 14, Melissa & Joey's season 2 premiere surged by double-digit percentages in target demos, including by 14% in Total Viewers (1.21 million vs. 1.06 million), by 22% in Adults 18-34 (507,000 vs. 414,000), by 41% in Women 18-34 (409,000 vs. 290,000), by 36% in Adults 18-49 (832,000 vs. 610,000), by 43% in Women 18-49 (626,000 vs. 437,000) and by 22% in Females 12-34 (522,000 vs. 429,000). Compared to its summer premiere last year (June 29), the sitcom was up a tenth in adults 18-49 (0.6 to a 0.7 adults 18-49 rating). Melissa & Joey also soared over year-ago comparable time period levels (6/1/11 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), including by more than double in Adults 18-34 (+116% - 507,000 vs. 235,000), Women 18-34 (+166% - 409,000 vs. 154,000), Women 18-49 (+123% - 626,000 vs. 281,000) and Females 12-34 (+125% - 522,000 vs. 232,000).
In the sitcom, Mel (Melissa Joan Hart), local politician and a former wild child, and Joe (Joey Lawrence), her down-on-his-luck "manny," continue to work together to raise Mel's teenaged niece Lennox (Taylor Spreitler) and nephew Ryder (Nick J. Robinson). The sitcom is compared to past sitcoms such as Who's the Boss? and Charles in Charge. Back-to-back episodes will air once again this Wednesday (June 6) at 8:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. Come June 20, the sitcom will air regularly Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. as new sitcom Baby Daddy starring Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Derek Theler, Tahj Mowry, Chelsea Kane and Melissa Peterman will air at 8:30 p.m. We've seen two episodes for review of that comedy and is well done and funny, so make sure you tune in!
Moving on, we have two very sad news that happened this weekend. TV legend Richard Dawson and multiple Emmy-winner Kathryn Joosten both passed away. Next, Todd has the story and details the careers of these two memorable TV icons.
English-born American actor, comedian, game show panelist and host Richard Dawson has died. He was best known for his role as Corporal Peter Newkirk on the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, being a panelist on Match Game on CBS from 1973-1978, and being the original host of Family Feud from 1976-1985 and 1994-1995. Dawson died from complications of esophageal cancer on June 2, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Mr. Dawson was 79.
One of Dawson's early television appearances (as Dick Dawson) was as dapper entertainer "Racy Tracy" Rattigan in a 1963 episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Some of his other guest appearances included The Outer Limits, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Mr. Terrific, McCloud, Love, American Style, The Odd Couple, McMillan & Wife, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Angie and Mama's Family. In 1965, he landed the role as Cpl. Peter Newkirk. The popular war-related sitcom ran on CBS for six seasons from 1965-1971. His character with a cockney accent was known for phrases like "righto" and addressing Col. Hogan as "gov'nor." After Hogan's Heroes was cancelled, he was a regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In from 1971-1973. He was also a regular as Richard Richardson on the final season of the CBS sitcom The New Dick Van Dyke Show in 1973-1974. Dawson appeared in several films, including The Longest Day, King Rat, The Devil's Brigade and The Running Man as the memorable game show host and villain Damon Killian.
Dawson became best known to television audiences as a game show panelist and host. In 1972-73, he appeared as a panelist on the syndicated I've Got a Secret. After a year of that show, he was signed to be a regular on Match Game '73, which he stayed with until 1978. In 1974, he hosted the syndicated Masquerade Party. It featured regular panelists Bill Bixby, Lee Meriwether and Nipsey Russell. He was next hired to host Family Feud. It debuted on ABC's daytime schedule on July 12, 1976. Dawson would win a Daytime in 1978 for Best Game Show Host. The show became a huge hit during the daytime and also found success in syndication at night. He became known as The Kissing Bandit for kissing the show's female contestants. His "Survey says..." line became a national catchphrase. Dawson hosted both versions of Family Feud, until they were cancelled in 1985. In 1994-95, he returned to host the syndicated version of the show. He retired from show business in 1995, but he did return to narrate TV's Funniest Game Show Moments on Fox in 2000.
The Archive of American Television has a lengthy interview with him from December 1, 2010. Dawson is survived by his wife Gretchen Johnson and their daughter Shannon, as well as sons Mark and Gary from his first marriage to British actress Diana Dors. He also had five grandchildren: Lindsay Dors Dawson, Tyler Emm Dawson, Emma Rose Dawson, Walter "Melons" Dawson, and Lauren Dawson. We loved him as the host of Family Feud. It was appointment TV for many families during the height of its popularity. Those primetime specials with the casts of Three's Company, Barney Miller, The Jeffersons, WKRP in Cincinnati and Welcome Back, Kotter were classics. There have been many hosts of Family Feud over the years, but there was only one Richard Dawson. He was an amazing talent and true original. He will be deeply missed.
We'll keep you posted on any GSN or other tributes. What are your favorite Richard Dawson memories? Discuss them on our Hogan's Heroes or Game Shows message board.
Character actress Kathryn Joosten, best known as the crotchety, nosy neighbor Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives and the president's secretary on The West Wing, has died. Joosten died of lung cancer on the morning of June 2 in Los Angeles. Ms. Joosten was 72.
Joosten's first career was as a psychiatric nurse in Chicago. At the age of 42, she started acting in community theater. Next, she worked as a street performer at Disney in Orlando. In 1995, she decided to move to Hollywood. Many television guest appearances and recurring roles would follow. Her sitcom guest appearances included Family Matters, Grace Under Fire, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld, Frasier, Just Shoot Me!, Home Improvement, Dharma & Greg, The Drew Carey Show, Scrubs and My Name Is Earl. In 1999, she landed the role of Mrs. Landingham, personal secretary to President Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen), in NBC's The West Wing. She appeared in thirty episodes during the first two seasons of the series before her character was killed off in a car crash. Her success on The West Wing led to many more roles in dramas, such as Ally McBeal, Providence, The X-Files, The Division, Judging Amy, Gilmore Girls, The Closer and Grey's Anatomy. She made five appearances as Ida Warren on General Hospital from 2002-03. Another recurring role was as Old Lady God in eight episodes of Joan of Arcadia.
In 2005, she began her longest-running role as Karen McCluskey on ABC's Desperate Housewives. She appeared in 89 episodes from the pilot until the series finale. Joosten appeared as a guest star during the first five seasons. She started to receive "also starring" and "starring" credits at the start of the sixth season. Joosten received three "Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series" Emmy nominations for the role in 2005, 2008 and 2010. She won in 2005 and 2008. Joosten was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001. She was a strong advocate of lung cancer awareness and research. Joosten asked creator Marc Cherry that her character Karen suffer long cancer to call attention to the disease. She died twenty days after her character died of lung cancer in the series finale.
The Archive of American Television conducted an interview with her on May 9, 2012. She is survived by her two sons, Jonathan and Timothy, their wives Jeremy and Karissa, and two grandchildren, Jon Henry and Evan. Ms. Joosten got a bit of a late start in acting at the age of 42, but she made the most of it with many notable television roles. We loved her on Desperate Housewives. She played such a fun and memorable character who added so much to the show and stole many scenes with her humor. It was very courageous of her to bring her battle with lung cancer to the public and to the show to bring more awareness to the disease. She will be deeply missed.
What are your favorite Kathryn Joosten roles? Discuss them on our message board.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Summer Week 1 Sitcom Ratings; New Sitcoms On Cable This Summer
Summer has now started with this past week being the first full week of the summer season. We will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of May 21-27)
Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of Modern Family, The Middle) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of The Office and new airings of Best Friends Forever).
Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable this summer, with the season finale of Hot in Cleveland this Wednesday at 10pm with special guests Regis Philbin and David Spade followed by the first half of season two finale of Happily Divorced starring Fran Drescher at 10:30pm only on TV Land. BET has the season finales of The Game and Let's Stay Together this Tuesday starting at 10pm. Also its week two of ABC Family's sophomore season of Melissa & Joey with back-to-back all-new episode at 8 and 8:30pm. What an underrated family comedy it is. New comedy Baby Daddy starring Chelsea Kane will air at 8:30pm starting June 20! We've seen two episodes and it is pretty funny, so tune in! TBS airs Men at Work Thursdays at 10pm, with Sullivan & Son coming in late July. Also premiering soon is TV Land's Hot in Cleveland spin-off series The Soul Man starring Cedric the Entertainer on Wednesday, June 20 at 10pm followed by the season two premiere of The Exes at 10:30pm. TV Land will also air season two of Retired at 35 on Tuesdays starting June 26 at 10pm. FX and Charlie Sheen will come together in a new sitcom titled Anger Management airing Thursdays at 9pm starting June 28. Even on digital TV, Bounce TV will launch new comedy Family Time starring Omar Gooding on Monday, June 18 at 8pm. All of these are multi-camera comedies, too! New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer blues!
Summer Week 1 (May 28-June 3) How the Sitcoms Did
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of May 21-27)
- The Simpsons (Fox) - preempted for NASCAR.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - preempted for NASCAR.
- Bob's Burgers (Fox) - preempted for NASCAR.
- Family Guy (Fox) - preempted for NASCAR.
- American Dad! (Fox) - preempted for NASCAR.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 3.74 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, down two tenths from previous week. It was Memorial Day though.
- 2 Broke Girls (CBS) - A repeat of this comedy did 4.18 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, but down a good half point from previous week. Should go back up tomorrow most likely.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat did 5.89 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, down an alarming seven tenths from previous week's repeat. Since it was Memorial Day, not much to worry about. This show will be on the move this Fall to Thursdays anyway.
- Mike & Molly (CBS) - 5.42 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating for a repeat was down four tenths from previous week.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Last Man Standing (ABC) - preempted.
- Cougar Town (ABC) - The one-hour ABC finale did 3.42 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, up from its last new hour two weeks prior. Should do decent for TBS next season.
- New Girl (Fox) 4 airings - Fox went a marathon route with four episodes from 8-10pm. The first airing at 8 did 2.48 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating. In fact, each half-hour did a 1.0 18-49 rating. Total viewers from 8:30-10pm was 2.25 million, 2.12 million and 2.09 million. Pretty steady for the night, even though it was low.
- The Middle (ABC) - The first summer repeat of the season did 4.81 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, off a tenth from the first repeat last summer.
- Suburgatory (ABC) - Its first summer repeat ever did 3.67 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, holding 100% of its lead-in's ratings. Although it was down four tenths from a second Middle encore from the first summer Wednesday last season.
- Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - Its first repeat of the summer did 4.43 million and a 1.5 rating, off seven tenths from last summer's first repeat. Though last summer it had a stronger lead-in and aired back-to-back from 9-10pm. And History did air the conclusion of the high-rated Hatfields & McCoys mini-series, so that could have been a factor. A second repeat at 10:30pm did 2.65 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, holding its 10pm lead-in.
- Happy Endings (ABC) - A repeat at 9:30pm posted 2.78 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating.
- Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 (ABC) - A repeat at 10 did 2.73 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for its first ever repeat. And it held 100% of its lead-in.
Thursday Sitcoms
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat at 8 did 8.79 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, on par with the previous week. Nice. Should stay above a 2 all summer.
- Rules of Engagement (CBS) - A repeat did 6.43 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, up a tenth week-to-week. However, this was the last Thursday airing, as 2 Broke Girls takes over this week for a month.
- Community (NBC) - preempted.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - preempted
- The Office (NBC) 2 airings - A repeat at 8 did just 2.25 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, but actually up a tenth week-to-week. Another repeat followed at 8:30 doing an embarrassing 2.08 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week.
- Parks and Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
- Best Friends Forever (NBC) 2 airings - NBC aired the series finale of this series and it got hammered. At 8pm it did a prelim 2.39 million and a prelim 0.6 18-49 rating, off two tenths from its last airing in April. A second airing did no better with a prelim 2.04 million and a prelim 0.6 18-49 rating. Repeats of Whitney and Community take over this week. That could be just as bad.
- Rules of Engagement (CBS) - A Saturday repeat at 8 did just a prelim 2.0 million and a prelim 0.5 18-49 rating, but that was higher than previous week's How To Be A Gentleman in the time period.
- How to Be a Gentleman (CBS) - A new burn-off episode at 8:30 did a prelim 1.84 million and a prelim 0.4 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week thanks to a better lead-in than itself.
Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of Modern Family, The Middle) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of The Office and new airings of Best Friends Forever).
Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable this summer, with the season finale of Hot in Cleveland this Wednesday at 10pm with special guests Regis Philbin and David Spade followed by the first half of season two finale of Happily Divorced starring Fran Drescher at 10:30pm only on TV Land. BET has the season finales of The Game and Let's Stay Together this Tuesday starting at 10pm. Also its week two of ABC Family's sophomore season of Melissa & Joey with back-to-back all-new episode at 8 and 8:30pm. What an underrated family comedy it is. New comedy Baby Daddy starring Chelsea Kane will air at 8:30pm starting June 20! We've seen two episodes and it is pretty funny, so tune in! TBS airs Men at Work Thursdays at 10pm, with Sullivan & Son coming in late July. Also premiering soon is TV Land's Hot in Cleveland spin-off series The Soul Man starring Cedric the Entertainer on Wednesday, June 20 at 10pm followed by the season two premiere of The Exes at 10:30pm. TV Land will also air season two of Retired at 35 on Tuesdays starting June 26 at 10pm. FX and Charlie Sheen will come together in a new sitcom titled Anger Management airing Thursdays at 9pm starting June 28. Even on digital TV, Bounce TV will launch new comedy Family Time starring Omar Gooding on Monday, June 18 at 8pm. All of these are multi-camera comedies, too! New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer blues!
Saturday, June 02, 2012
Digital Digest: '70s Sitcom Alice Coming to DVD From Warner Archive?; The River - The Complete First Season DVD Review
Welcome to Digital Digest! It's the first week of June, so summer is all but officially here, but unlike the broadcast TV networks, we aren't here to give you summer repeats. Instead, we've got a whole summer full of news, reviews, and more all summer long! This week, we've got a review of The River - The Complete First Season. Let's get going!
(4/5 stars)
DIGITAL NEWS
We always like to follow the Warner Archive Facebook page because they always give a lot of interesting hints on upcoming releases. The classic '70 sitcom Alice (which actually ran well into the mid-'80s), a Warner property that fans have been wanting for years now, has thus far only seen a single disc Television Favorites release which is now out-of-print and leaving fans clamoring for more, although a glimmer of hope has been offered with the addition of the first season being available to purchase to view on your computer from Amazon Instant Video. But late last week, a fan asked about this series on the Facebook page, which elicited this response from Warner Archive:
UPDATE: Just minutes before today's Digital Digest, an even bigger (and more definite) clue to a potential release of Alice on DVD was posted on Warner Archive's Facebook page. This "packaged mystery" clue was posted on Thursday to give a hint of something coming soon from Warner Archive, and Warner Archive has been steadily giving away some hints as to what it could be, to which one poster responded with Alice, and Warner Archive gave this response to that person:
We've still got a little over a month until CBS Home Entertainment's July 3 release of The Streets of San Francisco - Season 3 (Volume 1/Volume 2), but you won't have to wait much longer for the fourth season. In fact, The Streets of San Francisco - Season 4 (Volume 1/Volume 2) will be coming on August 28! The sets aren't available to pre-order yet, but most likely, they will be very soon. That will leave only the fifth season to be released, and as of right now, there is no scheduled release for that... but given this release schedule, I would expect it to follow soon enough.
That isn't the only August release from CBS, though. On August 21, CBS has Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. For those doing the math, that will be the "lucky 13th" release of the series, leaving only five more releases of the series to get it to completion. It doesn't appear that CBS intends to release more than one volume of this series on the same day (as they have started doing with other series), but at least it is getting out, slowly but surely.
We mentioned a few weeks ago that Sony's MOD offering of Charlie's Angels - The Complete Series (not the original classic series, but the 2011 series which became one of the biggest flops of the past season) was coming to DVD, and now there is a date... and it is very soon. In fact, it'll be shipping starting on June 5, which is this coming Tuesday.
Finally, there is some addition to Hulu this week which we find worth mentioning, with the newly added Garfield and Friends! It isn't the entire series, but 30 of the first 31 episodes are now available to stream for free on the website (the final episode of the first season is missing as of right now). This is definitely worth checking out, as the DVDs of the series are now out-of-print and cannot be easily found.
"Things are looking good for ALICE. Stay tuned!"That wording is very interesting, and seems to suggest that something may finally materialize on DVD (at least a MOD offering) from Warner Archive! The message is a bit different from what Warner Archive has stated in the past, including indicating that they'd like to do it, but there are source material issues. Given that this is our first real indication of a glimmer of hope, I wouldn't expect the series to appear anytime very soon, but it sounds like we've at least got something hopeful on the radar.
UPDATE: Just minutes before today's Digital Digest, an even bigger (and more definite) clue to a potential release of Alice on DVD was posted on Warner Archive's Facebook page. This "packaged mystery" clue was posted on Thursday to give a hint of something coming soon from Warner Archive, and Warner Archive has been steadily giving away some hints as to what it could be, to which one poster responded with Alice, and Warner Archive gave this response to that person:
"Speaking of good guesses...!"We'll keep you updated on what seems to be an indication that we will be seeing this classic series on DVD soon!
We've still got a little over a month until CBS Home Entertainment's July 3 release of The Streets of San Francisco - Season 3 (Volume 1/Volume 2), but you won't have to wait much longer for the fourth season. In fact, The Streets of San Francisco - Season 4 (Volume 1/Volume 2) will be coming on August 28! The sets aren't available to pre-order yet, but most likely, they will be very soon. That will leave only the fifth season to be released, and as of right now, there is no scheduled release for that... but given this release schedule, I would expect it to follow soon enough.
That isn't the only August release from CBS, though. On August 21, CBS has Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. For those doing the math, that will be the "lucky 13th" release of the series, leaving only five more releases of the series to get it to completion. It doesn't appear that CBS intends to release more than one volume of this series on the same day (as they have started doing with other series), but at least it is getting out, slowly but surely.
We mentioned a few weeks ago that Sony's MOD offering of Charlie's Angels - The Complete Series (not the original classic series, but the 2011 series which became one of the biggest flops of the past season) was coming to DVD, and now there is a date... and it is very soon. In fact, it'll be shipping starting on June 5, which is this coming Tuesday.
Finally, there is some addition to Hulu this week which we find worth mentioning, with the newly added Garfield and Friends! It isn't the entire series, but 30 of the first 31 episodes are now available to stream for free on the website (the final episode of the first season is missing as of right now). This is definitely worth checking out, as the DVDs of the series are now out-of-print and cannot be easily found.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (June 5) has one sitcom release, with Shout! Factory's release of Designing Women - 20 Timeless Episodes. You can read our review of this set here. Image has their release of Twilight Zone - The Complete Series (Blu-ray), which contains every single episode of the classic series in the high-definition format. Also from Image comes the release of the rare '80s series Rags to Riches, with Rags to Riches - The Complete Series.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
Blog DVD Review: The River - The Complete First Season (ABC Studios, $29.95)
by Pavan
From Oren Peli, the director of Paranormal Activity, and executive producer Stephen Spielberg comes The River, the most terrifying TV series in memory. It has a chilling legend and lore and it is brought to life in this heart-pounding eight episodes. The paranormal thriller follows the story of world-famous wildlife expert and TV personality Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), host of the beloved series "The Undiscovered Country." After Cole goes missing deep in the Amazon, his family, friends and crew set out on a haunting and treacherous adventure to find him. After Dr. Cole's emergency beacon goes off, they go to find the ship (The Magus). Led by his wife Tess (Leslie Hope), and estranged son Lincoln (Joe Anderson), the rescue mission will lead them deep into the unexplored regions on the Amazon River - a place where nature is cruel, magic is real and nothing is what it seems. So uncover the ancient secrets of the Bouina in the first season of ABC's The River on this two-disc DVD! There's magic out there!
The series stars Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Emmet Cole, Joe Anderson as Lincoln Cole, Leslie Hope as Tess Cole, Eloise Mumford as Lena Landry, Paul Blackthorne as Clark Quietly, Thomas Kretschmann as Capt. Kurt Brynildson, Daniel Zacapa as Emilio Valenzuela, Shaun Parkes as Andres Jude (A.J.) Poulain and Paulina Gaitán as Jahel Valenzuela, Emilio's daughter. Scott Michael Foster recurs as Jonas.
The first season has 8 episodes and we get them all on this DVD. It's like a mini-series and is action-packed. You obviously need to watch them in order. ABC has not picked up a second season, but there was talk of reviving it on Netflix. Unfortunately, there hasn't been any more out of those talks yet. Watching this first season is still worth the time, as there is a conclusion to the story set-up in the pilot. The finale does bring a new chapter, so if we do get a second season on Netflix or a cable network, it will continue from there. Anyway, among the memorable episodes is the premiere "Magus," where everything begins and is set-up. ABC aired the series as a two-hour premiere, so episode two "Marbeley," is part of the premiere. In that episode, which I think is the better hour, Jahel becomes possessed by Emmet Cole's spirit, while Tess becomes undeterred from her goal of finding clues to her husband's whereabouts and the team then discovers a tree draped in spooky children's dolls, as an old legend reminds them that the tree of dolls is an offering site to "La Dajara, the abandoned one", as mentioned by Lena, in this case a spirit of a girl who drowned in the river. Jumping to hour five, "Peaches," The Magus finds itself stranded and in need of some parts, when another ship comes to their rescue, but the new ship's crew of environmentalists are far more dangerous than they appear, despite seeming friendly. Skipping to hour seven, "The Experiment," beginning where the previous episode ends, Emmet Cole's last known location - the research facility, the Magus crew not only discovers that it is abandoned, but also that there has been illegal research and experiments occurring, with the inhabitants of the forest being used as test subjects. In the shocking and thrilling finale, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," after Lincoln is shot dead by a member of the Magus, Jahel disobeys her father by calling upon the river's spirit for help. We get all 8 unedited episodes on this DVD. Runtimes for each episode follow:
Disc One
1. Magus (43:33)
2. Marbeley (42:50)
3. Los Ciegos (42:04)
4. A Better Man (42:40)
5. Peaches (41:21)
Disc Two
6. Doctor Emmet Cole (42:56)
7. The Experiment (42:56)
8. Row, Row, Row Your Boat (43:03)
The DVD comes in a case held by an outer thin box. The thin outer box is in green (fitting!) and has an eye looking through big green with leaves the series logo below and the complete first season mention. The back of the thin outer box has info on the set and series, with a nice quote from the Time.com. We have a nice background photo of a spooky doll, along with five episodic images. Below all that, there is box showcasing the bonus features as well. When we remove the outer box, we get to the case. The case has the same artwork as the thin box, so everything is the exact same. Inside the case we have a cool cast photo on the panels itself. There is also a disc-by-disc breakdown below the cast photo on the panels listing episode titles per disc. As for the discs themselves, disc one is on a little plastic holder that you can flip like a page in a book. Disc two is on the right panel itself, though. It should have been on the back of the plastic holder, I think. Both discs are in the green design with the series logo and a nice design in the background that is different for each disc. Disc one holds episodes 1-5, while disc two holds episodes 6-8. There is also an insert booklet showcasing other ABC TV DVDs that are coming soon like Scandal and Revenge, and it is placed on the left panel.
The menu design is great! We first have the series logo, then it jumps to a wide shot of the Amazon River, then we see clips from the series playing in the background as we have background music from the show playing. Before the main menu, we have auto trailers. On disc one we have trailers for ABC TV DVDs coming this summer and fall, Castle Season 4, and the upcoming theatrical Frankenweenie. Disc two has trailers for movies The Avengers, John Carter and Who Framed Roger Rabbit 25th Anniversary Blu-ray. Back to the main menu, the options are: Play All, Episode Selection, Bonus Features, Set Up and Sneak Peeks. Sneak Peeks is only on disc two and has the same trailers as the auto trailers on disc two. Set Up gives us the option for subtitles in English, French, Espanol, and Portuguese. Bonus Features list what is available on the disc, while Episode Selection gives us a a screenshot from each episode on the disc, along with episode number and title. More on the bonus features below.
Video and audio quality are both outstanding. We have Digital Dolby 5.1 surround sound and it is perfect. For the video, we are in widescreen (1.78:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. It is excellent quality but that is expected for newer/current series. If anything goes wrong with audio/video for current series, then there is a major problem. Too bad ABC Studios is not releasing a Blu-ray version of this series, as it would be magical to watch in Blu-ray! Each episode has 8 chapter stops, so it is easy to jump through an episode if you are looking for something in particular.
There are some special features on this set as well! The first disc has an audio commentary for the premiere episode "Magus." Commenting are executive producer-writer Michael Green, executive producer Zack Estrin and director-producer Jaume Collet-Serra. They are pretty funny and gush over Collet-Serra's sensual accent! Then the rest of the special features are on disc two. First up, another audio commentary, this time for the season finale "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with Michael Green and Zack Estrin returning, but instead of Collet-Serra, we have Emmet Cole himself--Bruce Greenwood! We learn a lot here and their thoughts on the ending and conclusion of this chapter. Next up is by the far the best feature on this set, the featurette "The Magic Out There" (18:06). We take a gripping journey into the heart of darkness with the creators, cast and crew in the behind-the-scenes look at the making of this epic series and explore the documentary-style feel of the show, and its eerie, terrifying visual effects. It's a very good and informative featurette and has interviews with Zack Estrin, Oren Peli (creator), Michael Green, Justin Falvey (executive producer), Jason Blum (executive producer), Joe Anderson, Paul Blackthorne, Daniel Zacapa, Paulina Gaitan, Eloise Mumford, Bruce Greenwood, Scott Michael Foster, Shaun Parkes, Eric Austin (laserbreak pilot), Chase Hartan (production designer), Sarah McGrail (visual effects producer), and Stephan Fleet (visual effects supervisor). And lastly, we have 13 deleted scenes that delve further into the mystery and awe of this series. Seven of the eight episodes have deleted scenes totaling just over 16 minutes. Six deleted scenes are for the premiere episode itself: "Magus" (2:21, 2:17, 0:47, 1:50, 0:30, and 0:40). The rest of the episodes have a deleted scene or two: "Marbeley" (0:49), "Los Ciegos" (0:41), "A Better Man" (0:51), "Doctor Emmet Cole" (2:49), "The Experiment" (0:27, 0:28) and "Row, Row, Your Boat" (0:48). So the only episode without any deleted scenes is "Peaches."
This is a nicely done set for a nicely made show. It was something different that network TV had never seen, so kudos to the cast and crew for giving us something unique. I wish it did better in the ratings, but we all know that is never an exact science. As for the DVD, it is well done. We get great audio/video, menus, packaging and special features. I think the features are adequate for something with 8 episodes. My only real gripe was for disc two placement in the packaging, but that is not a big deal. ABC Studios knows how to make good DVDs, especially for their current series. Let's hope someone resurrects this series for a second season so we can see the second chapter. I think Eloise Mumford is an up and coming star, so we need more of her! Click on our Amazon link to buy this series, as you don't have to travel on the Magus to the Amazon River to buy this series! There's magic right here on this review on this blog! It's a great DVD for a great show!
(4/5 stars)
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CLICK OF THE WEEK
David and Maddie (www.davidandmaddie.com) - For those who are unenlightened, you may need a little bit of light... or Moonlighting... to know the meaning of the two names David and Maddie. For those who are unfamiliar, David and Maddie were the names of the characters played by Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd on the classic '80s detective series Moonlighting. The series ran in the later half of the '80s on ABC, and it was a groundbreaking series which meshed comedy, drama, and romance all in one. The series had many production issues (including going way too far over budget, not finishing episodes in time, and more) over the years, leading to a five season run which yielded only 66 episodes. But the series lives on in the hearts of many, many fans who viewed the series during the original run and still love the series to this day.
David and Maddie is one of the best websites out there for the series, full of content which goes well beyond just the mere basics of the series. Among the content, you'll find a very thorough episode guide with all of the details and analysis for each and every episode of the series, an expansive gallery of publicity photos and magazine cover photos, information about the DVDs and reviews of the DVDs (yes, our own reviews are included!), interviews, and even a discussion about the 3D episode of the series which was planned... but scrapped due to (you guessed it) production problems and a writer's strike. So this week, you'll want to "moonlight" with David and Maddie, our Click of the Week.
David and Maddie is one of the best websites out there for the series, full of content which goes well beyond just the mere basics of the series. Among the content, you'll find a very thorough episode guide with all of the details and analysis for each and every episode of the series, an expansive gallery of publicity photos and magazine cover photos, information about the DVDs and reviews of the DVDs (yes, our own reviews are included!), interviews, and even a discussion about the 3D episode of the series which was planned... but scrapped due to (you guessed it) production problems and a writer's strike. So this week, you'll want to "moonlight" with David and Maddie, our Click of the Week.
That's it for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!
Friday, June 01, 2012
Antenna TV's Father's Day Fest With Father Knows Best Marathon; Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 4, 2012)
This Father's Day, Antenna TV will honor dad with "Father's Day Fest with Father Knows Best" on Sunday, June 17, 2012 from 7am to midnight ET. Antenna TV, which airs on 61 affiliates across the U.S. reaching 58% of TV households, will celebrate Father's Day with a 17-hour marathon of Father Knows Best. Yep, a 17 hour marathon on the 17th! Some of the classic episodes include "Lesson in Citizenship," "Proud Father," "Father is a Dope," "The Grass Is Greener," "Swiss Family Anderson" and "Jim's Big Surprise." There are no encores, so it's 34 episodes in a row non-stop for 17 hours! The series aired on CBS and then later NBC from 1954-1960 and starred Robert Young as James "Jim" Anderson, Jane Wyatt as Margaret Anderson, Elinor Donahue as Betty "Princess" Anderson, Billy Gray as James "Bud" Anderson and Lauren Chapin as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson. The series was set in the typical Midwestern community of Springfield, where Jim Anderson was an agent for the General Insurance Company. Every evening he would come home from work, take off his sport jacket, put on his comfortable sweater, and deal with the everyday problems of a growing family. The series regularly airs on Antenna TV Friday nights at 7:00pm & 7:30pm and Sunday mornings at 7:00am & 7:30am.
View the full episode schedule for the Father's Know Best marathon on Antenna TV! Stay tuned in the coming weeks and we will reveal the marathon for Antenna TV on the 4th of July! Start your guesses on what it could be!
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of June 4-8, 2012, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, June 4, 2012
- Jennifer Aniston (Friends) - Watch Jennifer on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
- Jessica St. Clair (Best Friends Forever/In the Motherhood) - Jessica appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) - Margaret is a guest on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations. She will also be on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
- Jim Gaffigan (My Boys/Welcome to New York) - Jim visits The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Betty White (Hot in Cleveland/The Golden Girls/The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - The legendary Ms. White stops by The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Catch Neil on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny drops by NBC's Today between 7-9am and 10-11am. She will later be on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Breckin Meyer (Married to the Kellys/Inside Schwartz) - Tune in to see Breckin on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Kim Coles (Living Single) - Kim visits The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) - Watch Sean on a repeat of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Lena Dunham (Girls) - Lena appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey visits Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
- Breckin Meyer (Married to the Kellys/Inside Schwartz) - Breckin stops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
- Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly on Wednesday and Thursday, so check your listings.
- Jada Pinkett Smith (A Different World) - Jada is a guest on NBC's Today between 7-9am.
- Cheryl Hines (Suburgatory/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Cheryl appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Just Shoot Me) - Wendie drops by The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell) - Tiffani is a guest on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
- Jason Alexander (Seinfeld/Listen Up!) - Catch Jason on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Chris visits NBC's Today between 7-9am. He will later be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Patrick Duffy (Step by Step) - Watch Patrick on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Chris is a guest on LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
- Tia and Tamera Mowry (Sister, Sister/The Game) - Tia and Tamera appear on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT. Tia is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, September 3
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Bus Bench and Faith out the Wazoo" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Audrey and Mary’s (Zoe Perry) feud rears its head when Georgie needs their help with the tire store, and Jim’s forced to confront his age after a visit to the DMV.
Ghosts - "Up the Creek" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Woodstone’s future is put in jeopardy, Sam and Jay join forces with the ghosts to protect the mansion by securing its place in history, on part one of the two-part fifth season finale.
Adults - "Talia" (FX and FXX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Anton learns that his sister is starting a family, while Issa begins thinking about her own fertility. Written by Shaun Menchel; Directed by Maggie Carey.
Adults - "Raccoon" (FX and FXX, 9:32PM ET/PT)
Issa and Paul Baker host Acid Night. Written by Sanaz Toossi; Directed by Oz Rodriguez.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 31)
Thursday, September 3
- Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark) - Catch Olivia on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/The Ellen Show/Welcome to New York) - Jim is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rickey Smiley (The Rickey Smiley Show) - Rickey appears on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
- Stephen Root (Barry/Ladies Man/NewsRadio) - Stephen is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) and Steve Zahn (Chad Powers/The Righteous Gemstones) - Glen and Steve talk about Chad Powers on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Steve and Frankie Rodriguez will be on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Sophia Bush (Partners) - Sophia guest co-hosts a repeat of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - NBC's Today has the Best of Fun & Games with "Queen of Quips" with Michelle in the 10am hour.
- Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) and Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - NBC's Today has the Best of Fun & Games with "Beat the Box" with Casey, Andrew and Prue Leith in the 10am hour.
- Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere/Nightcap) - Jeff talks about Apple TV's Widow's Bay on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
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