Saturday, April 11, 2009
Blog DVD Review: The Paper Chase - Season One
The Paper Chase - Season One (Shout!, $49.98) takes viewers through the "first years" of James T. Hart (James Stephens), a first year law school student at Harvard Law School, and his dealings with his tough as nails professor, Charles Kingsfield (John Houseman). James is a young man that grew up in a small Midwestern town and now faces a totally different world that he was never prepared for at Harvard Law School, but is determined to make it in spite of the challenges, the biggest challenge being Professor Kingsfield. As Professor Kingsfield's opening narrative for each episode says, "the study of law is something new and unfamiliar to most of you, unlike any other schooling you have ever known before. You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush and, if you survive, you'll leave thinking like a lawyer." The series was based upon the popular film and book of the same title, and ran for one season on CBS in 1978-1979, and was later revived as one of the first series on Showtime in 1983 to 1986.
Marilu Henner (Taxi) guest stars in the pilot episode, where we first meet our cast of characters, and things don't start out so well for Hart as he arrives late for Kingsfield's class. One of Hart's classmates may be in serious trouble, and decides to count on Hart to defend him from expulsion in "Great Expectations." Hart finds the perfect girlfriend but learns a secret that he'd rather not know when her father is killed (by mobsters) in "Nancy." Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) guest stars in "Da Da," where one of Hart's classmates is having a hard enough time dealing with married life, let alone the fact that his wife (Cattrall) is pregnant! The women's liberation movement hits Harvard Law when the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is on campus and asked why he has never hired a female law clerk in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
One of the classmates finds out why it is never acceptable to cheat in "An Act of Desperation." In "The Man in the Chair," the study group has a new member that is in a wheelchair and they do a lot for him--in fact, too much--which backfires. Hart tutors a black woman that was admitted to the college by affirmative action when he is short on cash in "A Matter of Honor." Hart gets to be Kingsfield's apprentice in "The Apprentice." We go into another class at the law school in "Once More with Feeling," and this professor (Robert Reed, The Brady Bunch) has some serious ethical problems. Hart is out to do better than Kingsfield did on an earlier case in "The Clay Footed Idol." Hart and Kingsfield go directly against each other in a legal case in "The Tables Down at Ernie's."
The set has the three standard double slimcases inside the slipcase. Inside each slimcase, we find two discs (for a total of six discs), which really have no artwork except for the series name on different law-related backgrounds. The back of each slimcase lists all of the episodes contained on the discs, and there is also an episode booklet that contains episode descriptions, original airdates, and even quotes from some of the episodes. The menus on the set are very basic, with the theme song playing in the background (performed by Seals and Croft of "Summer Breeze" fame, by the way), and options of Play All and Episodes. That is really about all there is to the menus. Once you select an episode, it plays immediately, with chapters placed at all of the appropriate places.
The video and audio quality of the episodes has a tendency to be a little rough at times, but it isn't terrible. The picture quality is rather clear, but there are some issues with grain and scratches, and there are some unusual color issues at the beginning of some of the episodes. The audio is somewhat dull, but adequate, presented in mono. Closed-captioning is nowhere to be found on the set. There is some variance in runtimes (running anywhere from about 46 minutes to 48 minutes), and since I've never seen the series before this DVD set, it is hard to say whether or not this is normal. However, my best guess is that this fluctuation is nothing to be concerned with, and that the episodes are probably fine.
Unlike virtually every other recent Shout! Factory release, we are left with no special features on this set. It is unfortunate, but it isn't a big deal. The series really didn't produce any prominent actors, as most of them did not really go on to bigger things after the series ended. Really, in a way, the lack of special features almost is almost fitting for a series like this--it allows the episodes to speak for themselves.
This is the first time that I've ever seen the series, and I have to admit that I found the series, much like Professor Kingsfield's demeanor, a bit difficult to approach at first. This is definitely one of those series that requires an attention span to watch the episodes. You can't just have it on in the background while you are doing something else; you have to fully focus on the series (again, just like you would if you were studying for Kingsfield's class). But there is no question that this series is a quality series with solid writing and scripts. This is not a series that I'd recommend for any classic TV fan in general, because many people out there will have a hard time understanding the series, but for fans of more "sophisticated" programming (or law school students) are certain to enjoy this series. Of course, fans of the film will also enjoy this series, as there are many similarities to the film. You will now be dismissed... but only when I permit you to do so!
Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
The Paper Chase TV.com Page
Friday, April 10, 2009
CBS Season Finale Dates, Time Shifts; ABC Family Upfront, Sister Sister Reunion on Roommates April 13
On Monday, April 20 at 10:00PM we get a special encore of The Mentalist at a special night & time. Then on Tuesday, April 21, at 8:00PM we get a special encore of The Big Bang Theory on a special night followed by a special encore of Two and a Half Men at 8:30PM on a special night & time. This means NCIS and The Mentalist will move to special times of 9PM and 10PM on this date only, but they will be encores as well, preempting a scheduled repeat of Without a Trace. Then the next night, on Wednesday, April 22 at 9:00PM will now be a repeat of Criminal Minds instead of a new one, but the scheduled new episode will now be at a special time of 10:00PM on the same night, preempting CSI: NY, which was scheduled to be all-new, too. Why are they trying all this? Not sure, could it be tests to see how they do in other timeslots?
That's not all! On Monday, May 18 at 8:00PM we get a special all-new episode of Rules of Engagement at a special time. The show will also air in its
its normal 9:30pm time on this date as well, which is the season finale. Earlier this week I was wondering where its 13th episode would be placed, now we got that answer with that special 8PM slot on May 18. And we also got our answer of what will air on Wednesday, May 20 at 8:00PM since Old Christine/Gary Unmarried would be finished by May 13. A special all-new Criminal Minds will air at a special time, which is part one of the season finale, leading into part two at its regular 9:00PM time.
OK, now lets move on to the CBS season finale dates. Cold Case has a two-part finale airing on two weeks, Sunday, May 3 and Sunday, May 10 at 9PM. Sunday, May 10 also as the season finales of The Amazing Race at 8PM and The Unit at 10PM. The next night, Monday, May 11, The Big Bang Theory wraps up its 24-episode season with a season finale at 8PM. On Wednesday, May 13, as we previously stated, Old Christine & Gary Unmarried have their season finales at 8:00PM & 8:30PM. The next night, Thursday, May 14, will be the season finale of CSI at 9PM. The next night, Friday, May 15, will have the season conclusions of all the Friday shows: Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, and NUMB3RS. On Sunday, May 17, CBS hands the night over to the finale of Survivor: Tocantins from 8-10PM, followed by the Reunion Show. On Monday, May 18, we have the season finales of How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, Rules of Engagement, and CSI: Miami from 8:30-11PM. On Tuesday, May 19
, the Tuesday crime dramas all have their finales: NCIS, The Mentalist, and Without a Trace from 8-11PM. On the final day of the season, Wednesday, May 20, we have a two-hour season finale of Criminal Minds from 8-10PM, followed by the season finale of CSI: NY at 10PM. There you have it, all the CBS finale dates in the regular season!
Earlier this week ABC Family announced their 2009 summer schedule and fall/winter premieres at its Upfront presentation in New York. The network's slate includes three new original series, returning hits, original movies and blockbuster theatrical acquisitions. The network finished 2008 as its best year on record, and the first quarter of 2009 just wrapped as the best quarter in its history.
Make It or Break It is a one-hour scripted drama, created and written by Holly Sorensen. Sorenson and Paul Stupin serve as executive producers. The pilot was directed by Steve Miner. Set in the world of competitive gymnastics, Make It or Break It follows a group of teen Olympic hopefuls as they train and prepare for their day in the spotlight. The cast includes Peri Gilpin and Candace Cameron Bure both make a return to series television in starring roles. Make It or Break It premieres Monday, June 22 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. ABC Family has ordered 10 episodes.
Then we have two new original comedies. 10 Things I Hate About You is a half-hour, single-cam comedy with director Gil Junger (who also directed the feature film of the same name) and executive producer and writer Carter Covington. Inspired by the hit movie, the Stratford sisters, Kat (Lindsey Shaw) and Bianca (Meaghan Jette Martin), are two very different people, which is evident as they start at their new high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly carefully maneuvering the minefield of high school popularity. Can each sister find happiness after getting off to a very rocky start at new school Padua High? The original series will also star Larry Miller, who reprises his film role as the girls' over-protective father, and Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory Peck) has been cast in the role of 'Patrick' (portrayed by Heath Ledger in the 1999 film). 10 Things I Hate About You premieres on Tuesday, July 7 at 8:00PM ET/PT. ABC Family has also ordered 10 episodes for this series.
Ruby & the Rockits is an ABC Studios half-hour multi-cam comedy executive-produced by Shaun Cassidy and Marsh McCall. Ruby & the Rockits follows Patrick Gallagher, a former teen idol who has chosen to lead a quiet life with his wife and two sons. But when his former Rockits band mate and brother, David, shows up unexpectedly with his new-found teenage daughter in tow, the Gallagher family's life becomes anything but normal. David, who refuses to give up his past glory days, comes to Patrick for help in raising Ruby while he continues to perform. Patrick must now put the past with David behind them in order to help raise Ruby and keep order within the rest of the Gallagher clan. The pilot was directed by Ted Wass. Alexa Vega, Katie Amanda Keane, Austin Butler, Kurt Doss , and former teen idol David Cassidy star. Ruby & the Rockits premieres on Tuesday, July 21 at 8:30PM ET/PT with a 10 episode order.
ABC Family thus far hasn't had much success with original sitcoms Roommates and Sophie, so we don't know if we will see more of those yet. Speaking of Roommates, Tim Reid guest stars this Monday, which marks a mini Sister, Sister reunion! Reid once again will play the father of Tamera Mowry, who plays Hope on the sitcom. Hope relies on more fabrications when her father shows up in "The Break-In," an all-new episode of Roommates, premiering on ABC Family on Monday, April 13 at 9:00PM ET/PT with guest star Tim Reid (Sister, Sister). Hope's father (Reid) comes to town for a surprise visit and quickly realizes that his daughter's life is in shambles and decides it is time for her to move home. In an effort to prove that her life isn't as big a mess as he thinks, she ropes Mark into pretending to be her boyfriend. She may not have a great job, but she is in "love." Can Mark use his acting skills to help Hope pull off yet another one of her lies or will Hope be on her way home with her father when all is said and done?
Additionally, three of the network's one-hour original series will mark their returns: The one number hit series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which finished the first quarter of 2009 as cable's No. 1 original series in Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34, will launch its second season on Monday, June 22, at 8:00PM ET/PT. 12 of the 24 episodes for the season will air in 12 straight weeks, with the midseason finale on Sept. 7. The critically acclaimed and NAACP Image Award-winning Lincoln Heights will premiere its fourth season on Tuesday, August 4 at 9:00PM ET/PT for 10 more episodes. And the third season of Greek will premiere on Monday, September 14 at 8:00PM ET/PT. Currently Greek is finishing up its second season order, which concludes on June 1, before 10 more episodes come in September for season three.
As far as movies go, Warner Bros. Pictures' Academy Award-winning (Best Animated Feature Film) Happy Feet will make its basic cable premiere on ABC Family in June 2009 (after making its broadcast debut on Friday, May 8 on ABC). The film features the voices of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving and Anthony LaPaglia.
The network will also present the original movie premiere of Labor Pains, starring Lindsay Lohan, on Sunday, July 19 at 8:00PM ET/PT. Chris Parnell, Cheryl Hines, Luke Kirby, Kevin Covais and Janeane Garofalo also star. Legally Blondes, will be premiering on Sunday, August 2 at 8:00PM. Actress Jenny McCarthy will star in the network's new original holiday movie, Santa Baby 2, with Paul Sorvino and Dean McDermott. The movie will premiere in December during ABC Family's 12th annual "25 Days of Christmas" programming event which will feature over 200 hours of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family from December 1- 25. In addition to Santa Baby 2, the network will feature classic holiday favorites such as Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Frosty's Winter Wonderland and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. ABC Family will also present the basic cable premieres of DisneyPIXAR's Academy Award-winning (Best Animated Feature Film) RATATOUILLE and Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause. And again this year, Christmas comes early with "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas," which adds 16 additional days of holiday programming.
There were no sitcom or off-network series acquisitions details, so looks like nothing major is coming...or it is not ready to be announced yet.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
ABC Announces First Batch of Summer 2009 Schedule; ION Ratings Go Up, Schedule Changes
Tuesdays will not change until after the NBA Finals are over. Prior to the NBA finals will be filler programming, including two burn-offs of Opportunity Knocks. Then after the NBA Finals (which airs Thursdays, Sundays, and Tuesdays from June 4-18) ends, ABC will launch The Superstars on Tuesdays at 8pm starting Tuesday, June 23. The Superstars, a fresh take on an old favorite, is based on ABC's classic "Wide World of Sports" series, The Superstars, which pitted athletes from all different sports against each other to determine the best athlete in the world. Eight celebrities are paired with eight professional male and female athletes to compete against each other in varying sporting events. Each week a team will be eliminated until one team is ultimately crowned the winner. The six-episode series will be shot entirely on location at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. The finale is set for Tuesday, July 28. As for rest of Tuesday, it is unknown still what will air from 9-11pm starting June 23. And it is unknown what will air following the run of The Superstars starting August 4. As I said, this is only the first batch details.
Moving on to Wednesdays, as we mentioned, Wipeout will have its season premiere on a new night starting Wednesday, May 27 at 8pm. And ABC has 16 episodes this season, well one aired already, as ABC aired the Wipeout Bowl (the 6th one produced) on Super Bowl Sunday. We get new obstacles and a new twist to the big balls! Cannot wait for this as this will last throughout the summer on Wednesdays at 8! Following Wipeout, for six weeks, as we mentioned we get the animated comedy The Goode Family! The Goode Family is a new animated series from he King of the Hill crew Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. With standards always changing, no matter how hard you try to be good, it's virtually impossible these days... especially for the Goode family. Gerald and Helen Goode are a couple who live by the motto WWAGD ("What Would Al Gore Do?"). We first thought the series would be aired back-to-back at 9pm & 9:30pm, but now that is not the case. It will air in the 9pm half-hour only. So we get 6 of the 13 episodes produced. Following The Goode Family will be the new night of the Bob Saget sitcom Surviving Suburbia. That sitcom launched to decent ratings on Monday at 9:30 and will air five more times in that slot (through May 11) before moving to Wednesdays at 9:30pm starting May 27 for six more episodes for an original summer run. So ABC will air at least 12 of the 13 episodes produced. I really think this sitcom has potential and ABC could use it next fall to launch new traditional comedies. Both comedies will run through Wednesday, July 1. Starting Wednesday, July 8, we get a second season of the game show I Survived a Japanese Game Show! It is an unscripted reality/game show -- actually a show within a show - that takes an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at 12 Americans who are whisked away to Japan to compete in the ultimate Japanese game show. This season we get 10 episodes, so it will last into September. It is unknown what ABC will do at 10pm, but The Unusuals has five episodes remaining in its first season episode order if they want to air originals of that. The series launched last night to good ratings. The series will air for four more straight weeks through May 6, before the Lost two-episode season finale on May 13. So five episodes will for sure air out of its ten episode order. If ABC chooses to air the remaining five in the summer, it would air from May 27 through June 24, for five straight weeks. That would give ABC an entire night of originals on Wednesdays from 8-11pm. If that is the case with The Unusuals, they have not announced what would air Wednesdays at 10pm starting July 1. Or they could hold those episodes for next fall, if the series returns.
There has been nothing announced for Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. We have specials and stuff, though. Thursday, May 28 will be The Scripps National Spelling Bee from 8-10pm, as we told you. And Sunday, May 24 is the first part of the miniseries Diamonds from 9-11pm, also as we told you. It concludes on Tuesday, May from 9-11pm. ABC has another miniseries in the works called Impact.
Finally, Saturdays at 10pm is a rotating wheel to burn-off remaining episodes of canceled series. Pushing Daisies returns to the schedule from Saturday, May 30 through Saturday, June 13 at 10:00pm for its final three episodes. Then Eli Stone returns on Saturday, June 20 through Saturday, July 11 at 10:00pm for its final four episodes. Then finally Dirty Sexy Money returns on Saturday, July 18 through August 8 at 10:00pm for its final four episodes (which includes the unaired Thanksgiving episode!). It'll be weird seeing the Thanksgiving episode first since they aired three other episodes after that.
Well there you have it, the first batch of ABC summer. Of course more timeslots needs to be announced and we will let you know as soon as we hear what they are! Will Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? return in August for its 10th anniversary? We shall see!
First quarter 2009 has been a record breaking time for ION Television, with double digit growth in primetime viewership among households as well as in the key adults 25-54 demo. ION has delivered more adults 25-54 than at any other time in its history and ION's top five most watched episodes ever in households (HH) all aired during the first three months of this year. ION's extraordinary growth is a continued reflection of the success of its strategy to build viewership through its acquisitions of critically acclaimed off-network series in primetime.
Primetime delivery for households was up 26%, while adults 25-54 rose 44%, year over year. Also during this time period, viewership for adults 25-54 exhibited double digit growth across every hour in primetime: The 8:00 PM hour was up 20%, the 9:00 PM hour grew 49% and the 10:00 PM hour rose 62%.
ION's primetime off-network series continue to deliver. NCIS and Boston Legal have both grown significantly since their launch in fourth quarter 2008. In fact, NCIS delivered ION's top five most watched episodes ever (HH), reinforcing ION's mission in attracting more viewers than ever. NCIS averaged over one million total viewers in first quarter 2009, up 27% among households and up 31% among adults 25-54. Boston Legal's first quarter 2009 performance has grown 18% among households and 17% among adults 25-54.
ION's ratings gains provide the network with considerable momentum as it prepares its programming schedule for the 2009-10 season and beyond. That schedule will feature 12 originally produced movies a year, the new first-run series Durham County, The Border and The Guard; and the newly acquired off-network hits Ghost Whisperer and Criminal Minds.
Speaking of ION Television, they have just announced some changes to April. They are not major changes, though. All of the RHI movies have been pulled for the rest of April. So this Saturday (April 11) from 6-11pm we will get a M*A*S*H marathon instead. Other replacements include a Boston Legal block on Friday, April 17 from 8-11pm, big screen movies and more M*A*S*H. We already told you for May, the RHI movies would be leaving, so now it is earlier than planned. The Lonesome Dove four part mini-series is still slated to air the weekend of May 2-3, then after that there is no more RHI movies scheduled. More mainstream big screen movies will air. Check out the revised April schedule so you know what is on a particular day.
Stay tuned tomorrow for ABC Family upfront update!
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
NBC Mid-Season Preview: Parks and Recreation - Premieres April 9; NBC Pulls Kings; TV Land Renews High School Reunion
Parks and Recreation - Thursdays 8:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 8:30PM ET/PT
From Emmy Award-winning executive producers Greg Daniels (NBC's The Office, King of the Hill) and Michael Schur (NBC's The Office, Saturday Night Live) comes a new mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government. The new half-hour comedy will examine the mundane but necessary ways that people interact with their government, and ask why it's frequently so complicated -- as everyone knows from standing in line at the DMV, applying for home construction permits, or trying to get the city to fix a pothole.
The documentary cameras follow Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler, NBC's Saturday Night Live, Baby Mama) a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. In an attempt to beautify her town -- and advance her career -- Leslie takes on what should be a fairly simple project: help local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones, NBC's The Office, Unhitched) turn an abandoned construction pit into a community park. Opposing them are defensive bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, real estate developers, and single-issue fanatics -- whose weapons are lawsuits, the jumble of city codes, and the very democratic process that Leslie loves so much.
Leslie is alternately helped and undermined by her colleague, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari, Human Giant, Scrubs), who cheerfully exploits his government position for personal gain. She is also thwarted by her boss Ron Swanson, who is philosophically opposed to government in any form.
Helping Leslie and Ann navigate the Pawnee bureaucracy is charismatic city planner Mark Brendanawicz, whose outlook has been soured by 15 years of public service.
If they can pull it off, Leslie hopes that she also will have inspired her uninterested college intern April (Aubrey Plaza, Mayne Street) and April's whole generation - all the while moving one step closer to her ultimate goal: becoming the first female president of the United States.
Parks and Recreation is a production of Deedle-Dee Productions and Universal Media Studios. Along with Daniels and Schur, Howard Klein also serves as executive producer for the series.
Cast Details:
* Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope
* Aziz Ansari as Tom Haverford
* Rashida Jones as Ann Perkins
* Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson
* Aubrey Plaza as April Ludgate
* Paul Schneider as Mark Brendanawicz
Emmy Award nominee Amy Poehler stars as mid-level bureaucrat Leslie Knope on the new NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. The new series is a half-hour mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government.
The year 2008 was a very busy year for Poehler. Between her seventh season of NBC's Saturday Night Live (and her fourth as the co-anchor of Weekend Update), a trio of films and a new animated project for Nickelodeon, she was very active. Poehler received her first Emmy nomination in 2008 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Saturday Night Live. Due to a change in eligibility, this is an unprecedented nomination, making her the first performer in SNL history to land a spot in this category.
Poehler could be seen starring opposite Tina Fey in Universal Pictures' hit comedy film Baby Mama and also lent her voice to the animated film Horton Hears a Who! with Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. Poehler had a starring role in the ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory, alongside Will Ferrell, Will Arnett and Jon Heder, and she also provided the voice to the boxoffice smash hit Shrek the Third as Snow White. Her other feature credits include the hit comedy Mean Girls, Mr. Woodcock, Southland Tales, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, The Ex, Wet Hot American Summer and Envy.
Poehler has made memorable appearances on television ranging from NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien (as recurring character Stacey, Andy Richter's little sister), Arrested Development, Wonder Showzen and Undeclared. She also was a voice on O'Grady and The Simpsons.
Aziz Ansari (Tom Haverford) is poised for 2009 to be his breakout year with a new television series, a trio of films, and a headlining comedy tour. Before the new series premieres, Ansari will appear in a handful of features. He recently began production on Judd Apatow's upcoming comedy Funny People, opposite Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill, and also has roles in I Love You, Man with Paul Rudd, and opposite Rogen and Anna Faris in Observe and Report.
Ansari is best known for his role on MTV's hit sketch comedy series, Human Giant. The series is based around comedy sketches performed by Ansari, along with Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer. Many of their sketches have become Internet sensations and have popularized the trio with young people all across the U.S. Last year, Ansari also had a memorable guest-starring role on Flight of the Conchords, in which he portrayed a racist fruit vendor. He can also be seen in a multi-episode arc on Scrubs.
Rashida Jones (Ann Perkins) can be seen in the feature film I Love You, Man for writer-director John Hamburg, starring opposite Paul Rudd and Jason Segal. She recently completed her starring roles in the independent features Life in Flight (with Patrick Wilson and Amy Smart), and Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (with Max Minghella) -- both set for release later this year. Her past film credits include Little Black Book, opposite Holly Hunter, Kathy Bates and Brittany Murphy.
Jones caught attention of audiences and the industry alike when she portrayed the ambitious saleswoman, Karen Filippelli, in NBC's Emmy Award-winning comedy NBC's The Office, opposite Steve Carell. She also starred as Kate on Unhitched a half-hour comedy from the Farrelly brothers. Her previous television credits include David E. Kelley's Boston Public as Louisa Fenn and Jorge Zamacoma's Wanted as Detective Carla Merced. She also appeared in Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, If These Walls Could Talk II, The Chappelle Show and the British television series NY-LON. Jones was also a weekly correspondent on the talk show Vibe TV.
Nick Offerman (Ron Swanson) received his B.F.A. in theater from the University of Illinois and has performed at Chicago’s famed Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters. He was a series regular on American Body Shop and has appeared on 24, Deadwood, Will & Grace, Monk, The West Wing, CSI: NY and NYPD Blue. He recurred on George Lopez as Randy.
His feature credits include Wristcutters, Patriotville, The Go Getter, Sin City, and Miss Congeniality 2. Nick can next be seen in the feature films Men Who Stare at Goats with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor and All Good Things with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst.
Aubrey Plaza (April Ludgate) is originally from Wilmington, Del., and is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is an actor, writer and comedian. She has been performing improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater since 2004. She also recently began performing stand-up and has appeared at the Laugh Factory and The Improv.
Plaza stars in the upcoming comedy features Funny People, directed by Judd Apatow, and Derrick Comedy's Mystery Team which debuted at Sundance. She can also be seen in the hit online series The Jeanne Tate Show, and ESPN's Mayne Street. Plaza will next star in the Universal feature Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, directed by Edgar Wright.
Paul Schneider (Mark Brendanawicz) will next be seen in Bright Star directed by Jane Campion as well as Sam Mendes Away We Go opposite John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. Schneider was lauded for his performance in Lars and the Real Girl opposite Ryan Gosling as well as The Assassination of Jesse James with Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. His directorial debut Pretty Bird starred Billy Crudup and Paul Giamatti and screened in competition in Sundance in 2008. He has also received critical acclaim for his work in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, All the Real Girls and The Family Stone.
Pilot Plot:
#1 - SERIES PREMIERE--MAKE MY PIT A PARK - From Emmy Award-winning executive producers of The Office comes a new mockumentary that looks at the exciting world of local government. The documentary cameras follow Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) a mid-level bureaucrat in the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana. In an attempt to beautify her town Leslie takes on what should be a fairly simple project: help local nurse Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) turn an abandoned construction pit into a community park. Leslie is alternately helped and undermined by her colleague, Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari), who cheerfully exploits his government position for personal gain. She is also thwarted by her boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) who is philosophically opposed to government in any form. Helping Leslie and Ann navigate the Pawnee bureaucracy is charismatic city planner Mark Brendanawicz (Paul Schneider), whose outlook has been soured by 15 years of public service. If they can pull it off, Leslie hopes that she also will have inspired her uninterested college intern April (Aubrey Plaza) and April’s whole generation – all the while moving one step closer to her ultimate goal: becoming the first female president of the United States.
#2 - REPORTER - LESLIE HAS TROUBLE WITH A REPORTER - When Leslie (Amy Poehler) invites a reporter to do a story on her park project, she and her committee have trouble staying on message. Leslie calls in Mark (Paul Schneider) to help save the story, but he only makes the situation worse. Meanwhile, Tom (Aziz Ansari) kisses up to his boss (Nick Offerman). Rashida Jones and Aubrey Plaza also star.
Analysis:
Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain any screener copies in time for review. The show looks pretty funny from the promos and 5-minute preview they've posted online. I've always liked Amy Poehler and Rashida Jones, so I will be tuning in to watch the premiere. I'm not too familiar with the rest of the cast. NBC is set to air 6 episodes.
Here are some external reviews:
The Hollywood Reporter
Entertainment Weekly
Variety
Newsday
San Francisco Chronicle
Zap2it
More on Google News
Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, April 9 on our message board.
Related Links:
Sorry we couldn't give you our take on the pilot. If we somehow get the pilot before airing, we will edit it in and let you know. Thanks for the preview, Todd! Anyway, back to the news...NBC has pulled Kings from the Sunday line-up. NBC will dethrone to Kings to Saturdays at 8PM effective Saturday, April 18. Kings will not air this week. NBC will replace Kings' Sundays at 8PM airings with an expanded Dateline from 7-9PM. Kings is just the latest NBC bomb. NBC says they will air all the episodes, so that should last it into June. Kings lasted only 4 weeks on Sundays.
TV Land announced that it has picked up its successful reality series High School Reunion for a third season. Over 1 million people have been watching the current season, which airs its final episode tonight (April 8) at 10pm ET/PT. Now viewers can tune in as Las Vegas' Chaparral High School's Class of 1989 will experience a reunion like no other. Set on the garden isle of Kauai, the classmates of Chaparral -- some of whom haven't seen each other in over twenty years -- will have the unique opportunity to finally settle a score, find new love or rekindle an old flame and reconnect during this luxurious getaway. High School Reunion is produced for TV Land by Mike Fleiss through his NEXT Entertainment production company in association with Warner Horizon Television. High School Reunion is set to debut its third season on TV Land, with eight episodes, in the third quarter of 2009, on TV Land during TV Land PRIME, the network's primetime destination block.
Season two of High School Reunion has been averaging 883,000 total viewers with a median age of 45. Among A25-54, it has been posting a 0.5 rating and 554,000viewers 25-54 and among A40-54 a 0.6 rating and 343,000 viewers among 40-54.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
CBS Schedules Wednesday Rules of Engagement Airing; The CW's Two Summer Series
So why is CBS doing this? It could be a test to see if Rules of Engagement can anchor an hour on its own and to see if it works with Old Christine. Or it could be because they are just lining episodes up so all episodes of the sitcoms, all fit in. Old Christine has a 22 episode order, while Gary Unmarried has 20...so both will now be in sync to have their season finales on May 13, but we are not sure how many Rules of Engagement episodes they have ordered. 12 are scheduled from what we can see, so possibly only 12, with the season finale on May 18. OR if they have 13 episodes, they could schedule the season finale on the last night of the season on Wednesday, May 20 at 8pm (since the Wednesday comedies will finish the week before)? We shall see.
The CW announced today that it will launch two original series for the summer: the reality relationship series Hitched or Ditched and the docu-series set in Washington, D.C., Blonde Charity Mafia. Hitched or Ditched premieres Tuesday, May 26 from 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, following the season finale of Reaper from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET. Encore presentations will air Wednesdays from9:00-10:00 p.m. ET, beginning May 27. The six-episode run will continue until the season finale on Tuesday, June 30. The series is a one-hour reality show focusing on couples who are in long-term relationships but have not yet taken that big leap into marriage. The show is produced by RDF USA in association with Next Entertainment. The executive producers are Mike Fleiss, Chris Coelen, Greg Goldman, Mike Duffy and Jason Ehrlich. Mike Fleiss is having series left and right. The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, High School Reunion, and the upcoming The Cougar for TV Land and More to Love for Fox. So Fleiss this summer will have The Bachelorette on ABC Mondays from end of May to mid-July, Hitched or Ditched on The CW Tuesdays from end of May to end of June, More to Love on Fox Tuesdays starting at the end of July, and The Cougar on TV Land Wednesdays from mid-April to early June. Wow that is a lot of shows and The Bachelor's latest season just ended in early March and High School Reunion's latest season is about to end this week!
The half-hour episodes of Blonde Charity Mafia will premiere with two back-to-back episodes on Tuesday, July 7 from 9:00-9:30 and 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET. Beginning July 14, an encore of the previous week's episode will air at 9:00 p.m., followed by an original episode at 9:30 p.m. The six episodes will conclude with a season finale on Tuesday, August 4. The series is a docu-series about the lives of Washington, D.C.'s most influential 20-something Alpha Girls. The series is from Capital Hills Productions, Inc. with executive producers Patty Ivins and Julie Pizzi.
Monday, April 06, 2009
ABC To Air Animated Comedy The Goode Family in Summer with Wipeout; Fox and NBC Updates
Then on Wednesday, May 27, ABC will launch the second season of last summer's big hit Wipeout! It's back with all the big balls and more for 16 episodes this summer! Wipeout will lead into new animated comedy The Goode Family airing back-to-back in the 9pm hour. The series has 13 episodes to air. The 10pm hour will likely be new episodes of The Unusuals, as that series (which launches this Wednesday) will have only 5 episodes airing of its 10 in the regular season, so the final 5 could air in the summer following Wipeout and Goode Family. As previously announced, Thursday, May 28 will be The Scripps National Spelling Bee from 8-10pm. Saturday, May 30 will see the return of Pushing Daisies! The series has three episodes left and will likely be stripped for the next two weeks as well in the Saturdays at 10pm timeslot concluding the series. ABC could also air the final three episodes of Dirty Sexy Money and the final four of Eli Stone as well in the slot thereafter. We'll let you know for sure when we do. Sunday, May 31 could see game 7 of the NBA Western Conference Finals in primetime, if it is necessary. The 2009 NBA Finals will air from June 4-18 on Thursdays, Sundays and Tuesdays for up to seven games, if necessary. A second year of the half-hour series Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night will lead into all of the games once again. We don't have any other June details or late summer news, so stay tuned for that. Lots of stuff still to come, such as the second season of I Survived a Japanese Game Show and new stuff such as Wide World of Sports Superstars, with possibly the 10th anniversary return of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this August!
In other ABC updates, they will air a clip show of Lost on Wednesday, May 13 at 8pm leading into the two-episode season finale from 9-11pm, while ABC will air a performance recap show of Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday, May 19 at 8pm leading into the two-hour grand finale from 9-11pm.
Fox has given Bones two special nights. Because of the all preemption by American Idol and President Obama, Bones will have to air on two special nights to catch up on its episode order. The first special night will be Wednesday, April 15 at 8pm, preempting Lie to Me, which has also had its share of preemptions. The second special night will be Monday, April 20 at 8pm, replacing a scheduled House repeat. So, yes that will be three new episodes of Bones in a matter of 5 days, as it will still air and be all-new on its regular night and time of Thursday, April 16.
We gave you the Fox summer 2009 schedule before, but they have added a new series and moved the premiere of one by a week. New medical drama Mental now premiering Friday, May 29 at 9:00 pm ET/PT. Mental follows Dr. Jack Gallagher (Chris Vance), a dynamic, young psychiatrist who serves as Director of Mental Health Services at a Los Angeles hospital. It was previously scheduled to launch on May 22, but now a House repeat will air instead. In other summer updates, More to Love, the inspirational new dating competition out to prove that love comes in all shapes and sizes, is set to premiere Tuesday, July 28 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on Fox. Executive-produced by Mike Fleiss, the unscripted series follows a single average guy with a big waist and an even bigger heart as he romances several confident and secure plus-size women. The series will follow episodes of Hell's Kitchen.
Meanwhile NBC has pulled Law & Order: Criminal Intent Wednesday repeats after one airing effective this week. The repeats had replaced the recently pulled Chopping Block. Instead now NBC will air repeats of the original Law & Order. After the Life season (or series?) finale this Wednesday, repeats of Law & Order: SVU take over starting the following week (April 15). So, the night will be turned into an all Law & Order series night, with repeats of the original at 8 and repeats of SVU at 9, leading into new episode of the original at 10pm. This could be a test for the fall to see how Law & Order and Law & Order SVU do from 8-10pm, back-to-back, even though they will be repeats right now.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Week 28 Ratings and Analysis; How the Sitcoms Did
Households: Fox 8.3/12.9; CBS 7.7/12.3; ABC 5.8/9.3; NBC 5.7/9.1; The CW 1.8/2.8; MNT 0.9/1.3.
Total Viewers: Fox 14.13 million; CBS 12.44 million; ABC 9.02 million; NBC 8.9 million; The CW 2.67 million; MNT 1.34 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox 5.0/13.3; CBS 3.4/8.9; NBC 3.2/8.5; ABC 2.6/6.9; The CW 1.2/3.3; MNT 0.5/1.2.
Analysis: Week 28 sees CBS and Fox battle it out so far this week, as ABC's big Thursday guns were not on. Through the first four days, Fox is on top in all categories, with CBS in second everywhere, ABC is third in HH/viewers, with NBC just behind them in fourth. NBC is third though in 18-49 thanks to the ER series finale.
Last week, CBS won in week 27 in HH/viewers, but Fox once again took 18-49 but by a closer margin, over NCAA-fueled second place CBS. ABC was second for the week in HH, with Fox a close third, but it was the other way around in viewers. ABC was third in 18-49, while NBC was back in a distant fourth of course in everything.
Monday it was all ABC as Dancing with the Stars continues to dominate. ABC aired a two-hour episode of Dancing with the Stars at an impressive 20.48 million, up some from the previous week. After that, ABC aired a new episode of crime-romance drama Castle doing 9.09 million...on par really from previous week. That was a good plot and another good one for tomorrow involving a frozen body. CBS did decent starting with all-new episodes of its comedies, The Big Bang Theory did a solid 9.74 million, followed by How I Met Your Mother doing 9.2 million, up nearly two million from previous week when it aired at 8pm and on its own. #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men did 14.56 million, clearly the best of the sitcoms. A new Rules of Engagement followed and did 11.02 million, up nearly two million week-to-week when its lead-in was a repeat. At 10pm a new CSI: Miami did 13.46 million, which was down a tad from previous week. Fox started with a new episode of House and did 12.51 million, then Fox had an all-new 24 doing 11.26 million, up a million from previous week when its lead-in was a repeat. NBC was next with its sluggish Monday. A new Chuck did 5.72 million, down from previous week. The downfall of Heroes continues as this show did just 6.42 million, down just a bit from previous week in HH/viewers, but it was up a bit in 18-49 at least. Medium followed with 7.27 million for a new episode, up from previous week. The CW was next with a new episode of Gossip Girl doing 2.45 million, up some from previous week as ABC Family's Secret Life is no longer against it. A new episode of One Tree Hill did 2.36 million, down a tad from previous week.
Tuesday it was Fox on top. Fox started with an 86 minute American Idol doing just 24.41 million, then at 9:26pm to 10:02pm Fox aired the special Osbournes: Reloaded at just 8.4 million. Fringe returns this week and needs to do better or it cold be in trouble. CBS started with a new NCIS doing 17.23 million, down a bit from previous week when it aired at a special 9pm time. A new episode of The Mentalist was next and did a great 16.96 million, but that was down from previous week when it aired in a special 10pm slot. Without a Trace was next at 12.53 million. ABC was next and started with encores of the first two episodes of Better Off Ted doing only 3.18 million. Dancing with the Stars: The Results was next at 9pm doing 13.51 million, down from previous week as it faced Idol. No more Idol now until the finale vs. Dancing's Results. ABC followed by airing the series premiere of Cupid doing 7.22 million...needs to do better than that, but with a better Dancing lead-in in the coming weeks, it should do better. It's a simple lot...Cupid tries to hook up a new couple each week, so this isn't serialized folks! NBC was next with a two-hour The Biggest Loser doing 8.78 million, down over a million from previous week when it aired from 9-11pm and no Idol. NBC finished the night with a new Law & Order: SVU at 10pm doing 9.37 million...which is nothing what it used to do. The CW aired a new episode of Reaper and did 2.37 million, down some from previous week's season high, and the return of 90210 on a new time did 2.04 million, that is not good news! It needs to do better than that.
Wednesday saw you Fox dominate. Fox was lead by the results show of American Idol at 9pm doing 24.34 million. New Fox drama Lie to Me started the night off at 8pm doing 9.18 million, not bad but seems lower than usual. CBS started with the April Fool's special I Get That A Lot at a surprising 10.35 million, much more than the usual Old Christine and Gary Unmarried, so those shows need to pick it up. A repeat of Criminal Minds followed and did 10.03 million. CSI: NY followed with repeat as well doing 10.06 million. Both seemed to be at below repeat levels. ABC was next with a new Scrubs and a new episode of the new Better Off Ted doing 4.97 and 4.67 million...both seemed to be affected by the April Fool's special as that skewed the audience these do. A new episode of Lost followed at 9pm doing 9.57 million, up from previous week And the series finale of Life on Mars at 10pm did 5.64 million, it improved from previous week once again. That was a good sign going up each week the last few weeks. NBC opened the night with a repeat of Law & Order: Criminal Intent doing 5.03 million, a new showing of Life followed and did an improved 5.7 million, up from previous week. Law & Order followed at 10pm with a repeat and did 6.34 million. The CW was on the map with America's Next Top Model doing a nice 3.97 million, up over a million from previous week as there was no Idol meddling...The CW followed with an encore of...what else...90210 at 1.09 million, up from previous week. That was an encore from the previous night.
Thursday saw NBC with the win as the series finale of ER took home the night. When was the last time NBC finished first besides the Super Bowl? NBC started with a retrospective special of ER doing a solid 10.63 million at 8pm. My Name is Earl was preempted. Then the ER two-hour send-off aired and did 16.38 million, which is up six million from previous week. Great numbers. Though this doesn't compare at all with other big series finales at all, which has to be disappointing. The Office and 30 Rock were preempted. CBS was next with the return of Survivor: Tocantis at a below normal 11.27 million. CSI celebrated its 200th episode with series lows of 14.63 million and only a 3.8 18-49 rating. And the finale (series maybe?) of Eleventh Hour closed the night at 10.37 million. Fox started with Bones at 9.25 million, which off a bit from usual but expected. An all-new Hell's Kitchen followed at 9pm did 6.95 million, off from previous week obviously. ABC started with a new In the Motherhood doing 5.01 million, down a lot from the premiere. Not a good sign. An all-new Samantha Who? was next and did 4.7 million, down two million from previous week. A repeat of Grey's Anatomy was next and did 4.9 million! Too bad we have to wait until April 23 for the final batch of episodes of the season. A repeat of Private Practice followed and did 3.74 million at 10pm. Smallville was all-new on The CW and did a solid 3.85 million, up a bit from previous week, followed by a new Supernatural at 3.27 million, up some from previous week.
Now, as usual final numbers for Friday and Saturday are not available, but CBS won Friday with Ghost Whisperer, Flashpoint, NUMBERS, though two of those were repeats. ABC finished second for the night helped by 20/20. Sarah Connor Chronicles and the new Dollhouse did terrible for Fox, and NBC was not much better with Friday Night Lights. Why is that on the air?
Saturday numbers were above normal again as CBS won with some NCAA Final Four, as we now have the final two of North Carolina and Michigan State battling for the title on Monday!
Tonight CBS also should win. CBS has a new 60 Minutes followed by the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. ABC will have all repeats of AFV, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters, so they will be out of the battle. NBC has Dateline at 7pm, followed by big-time dud Kings, and a two-hour Celebrity Apprentice, which could do a season high tonight with limited competition. Fox has a mainly repeat lineup of its animated comedies again...except The Simpsons is new at 8pm.
As for the week, CBS should win the week in HH/viewers. Fox in 18-49 likely but CBS could take it thanks to NCAA. Fox will be second in HH/viewers, while ABC or NBC could take third in HH/viewers, but I think NBC will take third in 18-49 for the week much thanks to the ER finale, leaving ABC in fourth thanks to no Thursday and Sunday new showings. As for the coming week...ABC premieres new comedy Surviving Suburbia tomorrow at 9:30pm, hope you saw our review on Friday. And on Wednesday ABC premieres new cop show The Unusuals, which is very good. Fox returns Fringe tomorrow at 8pm. Thursday NBC premieres new comedy Parks and Recreation at 8:30pm, which we hope to have a review up by Wednesday. Tomorrow also is the championship game of the NCAA Tournament!
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of March 23-29, Week 27)
- The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - 6.62 million for an all-new episode...up from previous week. A repeat did better at 8:30 doing 6.63 million.
- King of the Hill (Fox) - A repeat at 7:30 only did 2.96 million, but better than the previous week.
- Family Guy (Fox) - A new episode did 8.12 million, up week-to-week.
- American Dad! (Fox) 2 episodes - 6.02 million...up some from previous week. Earlier in the night a repeat at 7 did just 2.4 million, but it was better than previous week.
Week 28:
Monday Sitcoms
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 9.74 million for a new episode, this show is clearly a self-starter.
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.2 million for a new showing is two million better when CBS tried to self-start this show the previous week...and didn't work.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.56 million for new episode is of course #1 for sitcoms.
- Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 11.02 million for a new episode...up from previous week when its lead-in was a repeat.
Tuesday Sitcoms
- Better Off Ted (ABC) 2 encores - First two episodes encored at 8pm doing just 3.18 million.
- Old Christine (CBS) - preempted.
- Gary Unmarried (CBS) - preempted.
- Scrubs (ABC) - New showing did 4.97 million, down some from previous week.
- Better Off Ted (ABC) - 4.67 million for a new episode...up a bit week-to-week!
Thursday Sitcoms
- My Name is Earl (NBC) - preempted
- In the Motherhood (ABC) - Second episode did just 5.01 million, it was way down from the premiere and needs to do better.
- Samantha Who? (ABC) - 4.7 million, down two million from previous week.
- The Office (NBC) - preempted.
- 30 Rock (NBC) - preempted.
Friday Sitcoms
- Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 1.79 million...down a bit from previous week's prelim numbers.
- The Game (The CW) - A new episode did a prelim 1.86 million. Down some from previous week's prelim numbers.
Saturday Sitcoms
- None.
Airing tonight (Sunday) are a mix of new and repeats of Fox animated comedies from 7-10pm!
Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, were impressive for the week. Nothing else was OK as we had a lot of just plain old terrible (such as Samantha Who?, Better Off Ted).
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Blog DVD Review: Dynasty - The Fourth Season, Volume One (4/7)
Dynasty - The Fourth Season, Volume One (CBS DVD, $35.98) brings us the first 14 episodes of the fourth season of the mega-hit ABC '80s series Dynasty on a 3-disc set! John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins continue to heat up the show as the season begins where season three left off...I won't give it away, but the keyword is fire! This is the season where it reached its highest state thus far...it was #3 in the ratings for the season. Seasons 3-6 all were in the time of the height of the popularity, with season five hitting number one. The series lasted 9 seasons on ABC, from 1981-89. We get the first half of the fourth season (1983-84) on this volume one set of the fourth season. Again, I don't understand why they are splitting the seasons in half. The show only had 27 episodes for season four...it's not like it was over 30 or 35. Anyway, Michael Nader joins the cast this season as Farnsworth 'Dex' Dexter, Alexis' new suitor. Among the other storylines wee see this season is a wedding vows renewal for Blake and Krystle!
Each episode on this set is between 46-47 minutes on average, with most of the episodes just below 47 minutes. Nearly every CBS DVD has a disclaimer on the back of the box saying, "Some episodes maybe be edited from their original network versions." So there is a chance something could be edited, but I didn't see anything, as the runtimes were fairly consistent, lowest was 46:35 and highest was 47:05. There are 6 chapter stops each for every episode, counting the opening and closing credits stops. The video is on par with the previous season and it looks good. Just some debris here and there on the opening credits, like flashing black dots, but it is still good quality. The audio is decent, a nice sounding mono...that is crisp and clear. No problems here at all.
Packaging once again is a snap case holding three discs inside, sort of similar to the two third season volumes. Again the discs don't overlap each other, which is great. Discs one and two are in the white plastic little holder, while disc three is on the right panel of the case. That little holder is cheap, but I guess it works. The cover art of the case has a nice shot of Krystle, Blake and Alexis, with the Dynasty logo below them. We have a nice purple style color scheme for this volume. The back of the case has synopsis of the show, the set, and technical information. A nice shot of the cast and some screen shots are also present. Back inside, there is a disc-by-disc breakdown on the left and right panel for every episode on this set. We get episode title, original airdate, and a long synopsis of each episode. Don't be reading it before watching the episode now! Artwork on the discs is just plain again. It is plain silver for each one. Dynasty logo and whatever disc number it is on the disc, and episode titles are listed. Discs one and two hold five episodes each, while the third disc holds four episodes.
CBS DVD is terrible in menus, as you all know. Each menu has different artwork but it is so plain. The episodes are listed right on the main menu once again. Set Up option is also available below the list of episodes. In Set Up, we can have English or Espanol languages and subtitles. Main menu artwork has three shots of the same image. Disc 1's main menu has three shots of the main three stars (Blake, Alexis, and Krystle), disc two has three shots of Krystle, and disc three has three shots of Alexis. No theme music or any music in the background once again. Before the main menu on disc one, there is an option for previews...we get previews such as 90210 and Melrose Place. But you can skip to the main menu.
We get no special features at all, just like the season three volumes. The second season had a little family tree thing, which was something at least. We get nothing here. The first season was done by 20th Century Fox, and they did a decent job with some featurettes and commentaries, but CBS DVD is doing nothing...which is typical. How about promos like they do with The Love Boat,(which is also Aaron Spelling)?
Despite the splitting of the season again and no extras, I still highly do recommend any fan of the show to pick-up this set, because the episodes are so good and addictive. This is the mother of all primetime soaps and I just love it! If you have the first three seasons, then you have to get this to continue your collection of course. If you haven't gotten those yet, what are you waiting for? It won't make sense buying this set for your first buy of this series, as the episodes are heavily serialized and you'll be so lost. One thing CBS DVD does well is that they work pretty fast with most of their releases, so you better hurry before the second half of season four comes out soon. Why do we have to wait to complete a season, is beyond me. It is even worse that this show is very serialized so it makes people not want to wait to just finish a season. I've made it obvious already I don't like the splitting up the seasons into volumes, but CBS DVD seems to do that with a lot of their hour shows like The Love Boat, Perry Mason and so on. It is too bad, because it should only really be done if it is like over 35 episodes. I think they are just trying to get more money, come on $35.98 for 14 episodes and NO extras? Still, I urge fans to buy it so we keep getting more sets. CBS DVD is at least consistent. They are very predictable as the sets are nearly identical to each other. But like I said last time, complain to CBS DVD for the lack of extras and splitting the seasons in half. I'd buy all 27 season four episodes for say, $59.99. By splitting them, they are just tricking us in paying like $70 MSRP for a season. Then with two volumes for one season, we are wasting shelf space on our shelves. Sorry to keep complaining about it, but there isn't really anything new to say here. New episodes are about the only new thing here and I'm going to give away storylines to you all. But new episodes is what counts the most, right? Anyway, juice up some scandals and betrayal of this show right on your couch, by ordering this DVD! You don't need to live in a mansion!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
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Friday, April 03, 2009
ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Surviving Suburbia - Premieres April 6; Lifetime TV Acquires Cybill
Surviving Suburbia - Mondays 9:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Monday, April 6, 2009 at 9:30PM ET/PT
In the family-centered tradition of Roseanne and Home Improvement, Surviving Suburbia opens the curtain to follow Bob Saget (How I Met Your Mother, Full House) and Cynthia Stevenson (Men in Trees, Dead Like Me) as Steve and Anne Patterson, a seemingly normal couple who have been married for 20 years, have two children and a cookie cutter house in the idyllic suburbs. But Steve maintains a rather cynical point of view on family, friends, neighbors, society -- pretty much everyone and everything -- as he tries to survive suburban life.
Surviving Suburbia takes a contemporary look at family life and the reasons one might have to question the system -- How does exchanging keys with a neighbor for emergencies result in house sitting? Why do kids' classroom projects inevitably become the parents' responsibility? When did we start needing mediators to handle disagreements between adults? - all of which goes to prove that it's never just another sunny day in the suburbs.
Also starring in the half-hour comedy series are Jared Kusnitz and G Hannelius as the Patterson kids, Henry and Courtney, plus Jere Burns (Good Morning Miami, Something So Right) as Dr. Jim. Dan Cortese (What I Like About You) and Lorna Scott (Criminal Minds, The OC) are recurring guest stars as Onno and Monica, respectively.
Cast Details:
* Bob Saget as Steve Patterson
* Cynthia Stevenson as Anne Patterson
* Jere Burns as Dr. Jim
* G. Hannelius as Courtney Patterson
* Jared Kusnitz as Henry Patterson
* Dan Cortese as Onno
* Lorna Scott as Monica
Bob Saget (Steve Patterson) is known worldwide for his many television roles and for setting a precedent by simultaneously starring in two Top 10 primetime series, the long-running sitcom Full House and as host of ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos for eight years. He's also familiar to a more 'adult' audience through his edgy standup comedy, theater and film work. In August 2008 Saget was honored with The Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget, one of the highest rated shows for all of 2008 on Comedy Central. In the past two years, Saget has made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award winning play, The Drowsy Chaperone, hosted the quiz show 1 vs. 100, starred in his own HBO special, That Ain't Right, and kicked off a national theater tour. In the past few years he has also played a murderer on Law & Order: SVU, poked fun at his own image on Entourage, guest-starred on Huff, and had a hit music video from MTV, "Rollin' With Saget," in which he starred with friends Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone.
Cynthia Stevenson (Anne Patterson) was born in Piedmont, CA but grew up in Bellevue, WA and Vancouver, BC. After attending American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, followed by Drama Studio London at Berkley, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Her work in improv and in theatre landed her an agent and an immediate job doing 26 episodes of a sketch comedy TV show entitled Off The Wall. After doing guest parts on the sitcoms The Famous Teddy Z, Newhart and Cheers, Stevenson was cast as the lead in the sitcom talk show My Talk Show. That proved to be her big break, as director Robert Altman noticed and cast her in his Oscar nominated film The Player. Series regular roles on such shows as Bob and Hope & Gloria followed. Additionally Stevenson played the lead on the cable series Oh Baby, then she moved to Vancouver and starred in Dead Like Me. Her feature roster also includes such films as Agent Cody Banks, Agent Cody Banks 2, Neverwas, Case 39 and the Disney Air Bud comedies. She was a series regular on ABC's series MEN IN TREES, had a recurring role on According to Jim and starred in the TV Christmas movie, Will You Merry Me. She can also be seen in the recent and upcoming films Dead Like Me: The Movie, Reunion, I Love You Beth Cooper and Jennifer's Body.
Jared Kusnitz (Henry Patterson) teams him once again with Jere Burns, with whom Kusnitz starred in the indie film Otis, also starring Illeana Douglas and Daniel Stern and written by Emmy Award winning writer Erik Jendresen (Band of Brothers). In February 2009, Kusnitz was nominated for a Zombie Dead Letter Award in the category of Best Actor for his performance as Jimmy Dunn in the film Dance of the Dead, which also garnered eight nods in other categories, including Best Movie. Kusnitz's skill and comedic timing inspired writer Joe Ballarini to rewrite the script with the unlikely hero, Dunn, as the lead.
G Hannelius (Courtney Patterson) was born in Boston, MA but moved with her parents to southern Maine when she was still very young. At the age of seven she landed the title role in Madeline's Rescue at The Children's Theatre of Maine. When the family relocated to Los Angeles in 2008, Hannelius promptly booked commercials for Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn, Little Caesar's Pizza, Dairy Queen and a regional spot as the spokeskid for The Aquarium of the Pacific, which caught the attention of a more than a few casting directors. A notice seeking "the representative for the little girl in the Aquarium commercial" led to an opportunity to read for the lead role in ABC's new sitcom, Surviving Suburbia, with co-stars Bob Saget and Cynthia Stevenson. Hannelius recently worked a guest lead role in an episode of the Disney Channel comedy, Sonny with a Chance, and fulfilled her cherished dream to work with Miley Cyrus when she booked a role as a zealous fan on the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana. She is also part of the promotional campaign for Leo Little's Big Show, co-hosting spots on the Disney Channel.
Jere Burns (Dr. Jim) was born and raised in Cambridge, MA. He graduated from UMass, Amherst and attended the MFA program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. His New York theatre credits include The New York Shakespeare Festival, The Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Culture Project and, most recently, Hairspray at The Neil Simon. On television Burns is a veteran of eight series, including Dear John, Something So Right, Help Me Help You, and Good Morning Miami. He has also appeared in numerous made for television movies and independent and feature films.
Dan Cortese (Onno) has both acting and hosting credits in television. He burst onto the small screen hosting MTV Sports, then hosted My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad. His acting credits include such sitcoms as Joey, Veronica's Closet, What I Like About You, Seinfeld and Rock Me Baby.
Pilot Plot:
#1 (PROD #106) "Hero" (Airs Monday, April 6, 2009)
Steve reluctantly agrees to house sit for Onno (recurring guest star Dan Cortese) and ends up starting a fire that he later claims to have stopped. Steve gets caught up in being praised as a hero by his daughter and his neighbors, until his conscience gets the better of him.
Special Guest Star: Dan Cortese as Onno. Guest Cast: Paul Nobrega as Guy and Michael Christian Alexander as paramedic.
"Hero" was written by Don Beck and directed by Emile Levisetti.
Analysis:
I received for review the first episode airing, which is titled "Hero." This is actually the sixth episode produced. Originally this sitcom was supposed to be for The CW's Sunday night block, which was produced by Media Rights Capital. But due to low ratings, The CW canceled that block in the fall, thus giving this series no home as it was set to launch in January. But fortunately for Surviving Suburbia, ABC picked up the show in February and announced it would air it after Dancing with the Stars starting in April! 13 episodes have already been taped, but likely only 6 will air for now on ABC as they won't have room for all 13 this season. So there you have it, the history of the show in a nutshell.
Now to the actual analysis...Bob Saget returns to ABC! The first episode they are airing has some very funny moments and I could certainly see this being a promising series with many laughs. This is for sure a throwback to traditional family sitcoms such as Home Improvement. Bob Saget plays Steve Patterson, a husband and father. He is certainly not squeaky clean and perfect like he was on Full House. On this show, he gets into a lot of messes. This show is certainly his vehicle, as on Full House it was more of an ensemble and later turned into "the Olsen twins show with John Stamos." Bob does get to play a father once again to a little girl. This time the little girl is not as annoying as Michelle on Full House (sorry I know there are MANY fans of that show, but it clearly was very sappy to me). The daughter (Courtney) on this show is very adorable (yes, so was Michelle) and pretty smart. She is funny, too. Bob's character, Steve, connects with her very well.
In the first episode airing, Courtney announces for her project she is writing that Zach Efron is her "hero." Later Steve's neighbor Onno comes by as he is going on a trip, so he asks Steve to take care of his house and gives him the key to the house. Steve and his friend Dr. Jim go to the house and accidentally set the curtain on fire! Steve puts out the fire and is credited as a hero, yet no one knows he was the one that started the fire! Anyway, then daughter Courtney changes her hero project to her dad. Steve now feels bad because he didn't deserve it. What will happen? You'll have to tune in.
So what works and doesn't? Obviously the connection between Steve and daughter Courtney is very much there. Right now there is not much connection between Steve and his son Henry, but I see potential as we go on. Henry seems to be 17 or so, while the daughter has to be 10 or less. The chemistry between Steve and Anne is somewhat there, but I need to see more episodes. It gets better between them as the episode goes on, though. Dr. Jim is going to be a classic character. He is the classic sitcom "buddy." He could be on the same page as Larry from Three's Company and more recently Andy on According to Jim. He is just a fun character that gives many laughs. Dan Cortese's character Onno, didn't have much to do in this episode and I didn't see Lorna Scott's character Monica in this episode. And finally, Bob Saget shines in this. He is very funny and better like this than Danny Tanner. The only gripe I have about him here is that it seems Bob is not standing straight at any time. He looks like Big Bird as he is 6'4". Maybe he has a neck or a back problem?
Conclusion:
Well this is certainly a traditional comedy. Comedies of this type are what we need right now. This is ABC's first stab at launching a traditional comedy since believe it or not Crumbs back in January 2006. In the fall of that season (fall 2005) they launched Freddie and Hot Properties, while airing returning series such as According to Jim, Rodney, George Lopez, and Less than Perfect. After that season only Jim and George remained, and then after that just Jim. So the timing seems to be very right for Surviving Suburbia to launch and succeed, as viewers like these types of comedies. CBS's Monday comedies have seen ratings climb this season, as they are the only traditional comedies airing on network TV right now. You won't see this show win any awards like Samantha Who or 30 Rock, but I'm sure this show will outright do much better than single camera sitcoms in the ratings.
The premiere episode is decent. It is not perfect at all, but Bob is good in it. Many fans and TV fans will be tuning in for sure to see Bob return to TV comedy. The promos for the show have been hilarious and most of the stuff in the promos are not for this first episode that is airing. So that is promising that the show will deliver laughs in future episodes. The first one they are airing is not the greatest episode probably of this show, but I see lots of potential and viewers should stick around to see them all. ABC says they have added a new into to this episode with the family watching and talking about Dancing with the Stars. That was not in the version I saw, but can't wait to see that. Hopefully they don't edit anything out, because the version I saw starts with Steve talking to his daughter. Tune in Monday at 9:30pm on ABC because we need the traditional sitcom to come back!
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 04/03/09
Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, April 6 on our message board.
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Finally, we end today with some news! As promised, I will reveal what sitcom Lifetime TV has acquired! They have acquired the Cybill Shepherd '90s sitcom Cybill! The show will launch on Monday, May 4, airing weekdays at 8am & 8:30am and 2am ET/PT. The morning airings will replace Still Standing, which will still remain in the 6pm hour, and the late night airing will replace encores of original sitcom Rita Rocks. Cybill aired for four seasons from 1995-1998 on CBS.
Cybill was last seen on cable on Oxygen earlier this decade for a few years. Cybill Shepherd is starring on the Lifetime sitcom pilot Alligator Point, a comedy about an eccentric group of Floridians who find refuge in the southern hospitality of Mae's Oyster Bar. So with the pick-up of Cybill, maybe that sitcom will be ordered to series? Kelsey Grammer is producing the pilot. We will let you know if it gets picked-up.
Other schedule changes for Lifetime in May 2009 is original series Cook Yourself Thin replacing the third Wife Swap airing. That will air weekdays at 5:00pm & 5:30pm starting Monday, May 4. 20 episodes have been ordered. Based on the hit British series and popular cookbook, Cook Yourself Thin encourages women to lose weight by changing their eating habits. So after that series concludes, Cybill will also air in the early evenings, airing at 5:00pm & 5:30pm starting Tuesday, May 26. It will also air in its other timeslots as well.
Rita Rocks will return with new episodes sometime this summer, while new episodes of Army Wives begins Sunday, June 7 at 10pm for its third season (18 episodes).
Thursday, April 02, 2009
ION Television May 2009 Adds Reba; Nick at Nite Ratings Climb; Charles in Charge on NBC.com
The addition of Reba, will cause some shifting. The Drew Carey Show has been removed, as Quantum Leap, M*A*S*H, and Family Feud move back an hour each from 4pm-7pm to make room for Reba at 7:00pm & 7:30pm. ER has also been removed, as Reba will take over Mondays in the 8pm hour as well. Also, after the weekend of May 2-3, starting May 9, RHI Entertainment movies and miniseries will no longer air! We're not sure yet if this is the last of the RHI programming, since the deal expires soon, but the last scheduled programming is May 2-3 with the four-part, eight-hour miniseries Lonesome Dove. Big screen movies will replace RHI the following weekend, May 9-10.
Among the big screen movie premieres this month are American President, Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 3, The Hunt for Red October, Presumed Innocent, The Mask, Angel Eyes, and The Fugitive! The big screen movie encores this month are Octopussy and Rocky IV.
View the complete schedule and highlights for ION Television May 2009!
Stay tuned tomorrow as we announce what sitcom is joining Lifetime in May. And I promise you, it isn't something airing elsewhere! We will also have our review of upcoming new sitcom for ABC starring Bob Saget called Surviving Suburbia tomorrow on the blog. Big Friday!
Nick at Nite scored its most-watched quarter ever in first quarter 2009 (Nielsen Media Research 12/29/08-3/29/09) with Adults 18-49 and Men 18-49. Driven by hit family programming like George Lopez, Nick at Nite produced double-digit gains among A18-49 and W18-49 this quarter, and has delivered 16 consecutive months of year-over-year growth in delivery. Nick at Nite closes the first quarter of 2009 as the number-one cable network with W18-49 in total day, and the number-two network with A18-49.
The first quarter for 2009 marked Nick at Nite's most-watched quarter ever with A18-49 and M18-49, averaging a 0.6 rating (690,000 viewers) among A18-49 (up 20%) and a 0.4 rating (254,000 viewers) among M18-49. Nick at Nite ranks as the number-one basic cable network for W18-49 in total day for the first quarter of 2009, averaging a 0.8 rating (436,000 viewers) among W18-49, up 14% over last year. The network is number two in total day with A18-49 in the quarter as well. The network delivered 1.5 million total viewers on average, up 5% in viewers over the same time last year. In primetime, Nick at Nite averaged a 0.7 overall rating and 1.7 million total viewers for the quarter. George Lopez is the network's highest-rated program and has experienced growth of 40% in rating since its launch in September 2007. George Lopez averaged a 0.7 A18-49 rating and 791,000 viewers among A18-49 in the first quarter of 2009. "Whappppah!" "I got this," indeed George!
For fans of Charles in Charge (and Scott Baio), the first season of the popular sitcom (with an amazing theme song) from 1984-85 is now available for enjoyment on NBC.com at any time! You can see the first season in its entirety featuring all 23 episodes. Charles in Charge has been added in the vintage section called "Video Rewind" joining other vintage series such as The A-Team, Simon & Simon, Alfred Hitchcok Hour, and Emergency! Charles in Charge is the first vintage sitcom to be added in the Video Rewind, though! Hopefully we get more Universal-owned sitcoms added to Video Rewind soon such as Amen, Out of this World, Still the Beaver, Harry and the Hendersons, and Bachelor Father. Those would be great because they are not on DVD, while Charles in Charge is. Even though they are on DVD, Gimme a Break and Kate & Allie would be good to have on here, too.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
TV One May 2009 Says That's My Mama; Rickles To Be Honored at TV Land; Ape-Reel Fool's on Boomerang; Sitcom Hint
Beginning at 1pm on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10), the classic sitcom That's My Mama comes to the TV One airwaves with an all-day marathon. The classic sitcom which starred Theresa Merritt in the title role as Eloise "Mama" Curtis took place in Washington D.C. and centered around Clifton Curtis, Mama's son and young barber, he had inherited the family barbershop from his late father, Oscar Curtis. Mama wanted the best for her son and that meant a woman in his life, so she often tried finding him a mate even though he enjoyed bachelor life. The series also stars Clifton Davis and Jester Hairston (who both went on to star in another TV One favorite Amen), Ted Lange (who went on to star in The Love Boat), Lynn Moody (Roots), and Theodore Wilson (Sweet Daddy from TV One's Good Times). The marathon ends at 7pm...but after an original special at 7pm, we get more sitcom mom fun! Concluding the Mothers Day festivities, TV One airs a "Mothers Day Comedy Marathon" beginning at 8pm consisting of Mothers Day themed episodes of TV One sitcom favorites Living Single, Half & Half, and The Hughleys. It's good to see The Hughleys get some play, as the series has been off the regular schedule. The marathon runs until 1am, but encores until 6am. That's My Mama is not scheduled to join the regular line-up in May...hopefully it will at a later date. The Mama marathon is an hour shorter than the originally planned Easter marathon, though.
On Saturday, May 16 beginning at 12pm, TV One says Happy Birthday to a superstar as they offer their annual birthday tribute to Grammy Award winning entertainer Janet Jackson by airing an all-day marathon of "Good Times: The Janet Years," featuring episodes when a young Janet played the Evans neighbor, Penny who after being abused by a violent mother was eventually adopted by Willona. The marathon runs until 8pm, with select episodes encoring from 12am-6am.
TV One goes retro for Memorial Day weekend beginning on Saturday, May 23 with series, movies, and marathons that will take viewers on a trip back in time for a weekend full of laughs, romance, danger, and action. Movies will kick off on Saturday. Then on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 1pm to 7pm, TV One presents an action-packed marathon of the '80s crime drama series A Man Called Hawk starring Avery Brooks in the title role of the tough talking and street fighting Hawk. Keeping the retro theme going on Sunday, May 24 beginning at 8pm, TV One pays homage to actor/comedian John Witherspoon (who is the roastee at a TV One Celebrity Roast premiering the next night) with the airing of episodes of sitcoms Martin and Living Single as well as the Robert Townsend Tinseltown parody Hollywood Shuffle. On Memorial Day itself (Monday, May 25), beginning at 10am, closing out retro-weekend on TV One is a marathon of '70s sitcom Sanford & Son starring the late Redd Foxx as cantankerous junk dealer Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son Lamont who run a junk business in a Los Angeles Watts neighborhood. The marathon runs until 9pm and select episodes encore from 1am-6am.
As for regular schedule changes, beginning on Monday, May 4 and continuing until further notice, the TV One weeknight overnight sitcom block has changed and will now air the following line-up: 3:00am Half & Half (replacing Living Single), 3:30am Martin (replacing Living Single), 4:00am Half & Half and 4:30am Martin (replacing Half & Half).
It's April Fool's Day, so what better way to celebrate this day then to give you news about Don Rickles! Multi-talented Don Rickles, the world's most beloved "outrageous comic," actor and author will be bestowed the Legend Award at The 2009 TV Land Awards. The Legend Award is presented to an entertainer or a television show that has stood the test of time and ranks among the most memorable and celebrated in television and movie history. The 2009 TV Land Awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris will tape on Sunday, April 19 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City to air on TV Land during a special presentation of TV Land PRIME on Sunday, April 26 at 8pm ET/PT. Previous recipients of the Legend Award include The Carol Burnett Show, Cheers, Garry Marshall, The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
TV Land previously announced additional honorees for this year's show including Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Legacy of Laughter Award), Married with Children (Innovator Award), M*A*S*H (Impact Award), Home Improvement (Fan Favorite Award), Magnum P.I. (Hero Award), Two and a Half Men (Future Classic Award) and Knots Landing (30th Anniversary Award).
View more on the awards and Don Rickles.
Spend a primate-packed day with Boomerang as the commercial-free network celebrates "Ape-Reel Fool's Day" today! The big star of the day is everyone's favorite fun-loving (and well-dressed) gorilla, Magilla. Debuting in 1964, The Magilla Gorilla Show chronicles Magilla's antics in Mr. Peeble's Pet Shop. This classic cartoon will air in three-hour blocks on Wednesday, April 1, at 9 a.m. (ET) and 5 p.m. (ET), and again overnight at 2 a.m. (ET). So, yes this story didn't publish until 1pm ET, but you have time to catch these encores!
But not all the animated apes are as amiable as Magilla, as Mojo Jojo of The Powerpuff Girls will prove. This most evil of apish villains will wreak havoc at 7 a.m. (ET), 2 p.m. (ET) and 10 p.m. (ET). Other classic cartoons--The Flinstones, Scooby Doo, Pink Panther, Dexter's Laboratory and Top Cat also will join in the fun with monkey-themed episodes and simian guest stars. On The Flintstones, a mix-up at the Bedrock pharmacy has Fred taking strange pills that don't help his allergy but turn him into an ape. Tune in today at 3pm ET and other encores like 9pm!
And no foolin' we have some sitcom acquisition news for the next two days. Stay tuned tomorrow to find out what sitcom ION Television has acquired and on Friday to find out what sitcom Lifetime has acquired. Both networks will start airing these sitcoms this May! What can they be? You'll have to join us the next two days!
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, September 11
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 7)
Friday, September 11
- Joey King (Bent) - Watch Joey on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Michelle Pfeiffer (Margo's Got Money Troubles/Delta House) - Michelle is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rhea Seehorn (Whitney/I'm with Her) - Rhea appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Steve Byrne (Sullivan & Son) - Steve is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Ginnifer Goodwin (Pivoting) - Ginnifer tells Drew about Zootopia 2 and answers questions from He's Just Not That Into You co-star Justin Long on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri talks about Angel in the Rubble on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings), on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair/Malcolm in the Middle/The Louie Show) - Bryan discusses his Dos Hombres line on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Tyler Perry (House of Payne/Love Thy Neighbor) - Tyler talks about Why Did I Get Married Again? on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/29/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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