SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

From the creator of the hit TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer sci-fi savant Joss Whedon delves into the final frontier with Firefly, which lands exclusively on the Science Channel on Sunday, March 6 at 8pm ET with the airing of the original 2-hour pilot. Immediately following, episode one of the 15 episode series will air at 10pm ET.
Firefly will dominate the airwaves every Sunday with an encore episode of the previous week airing 9pm ET to be followed by the network premiere of the next episode in the series airing at 10pm ET.
As a special treat for Firefly fans, star of Science Channel's Sci-Fi Science, and the cofounder of string field theory, Dr. Michio Kaku, will be commentating on the science behind Firefly for each episode. From terraforming, to anti-matter, Kaku will be explaining why the science fiction featured in the show really isn't that far from science fact.
When Firefly first aired in 2002 on Fox, Whedon's sci-fi western quickly became a cult favorite. Set 500 years in the future, in the aftermath of a universal civil war, the story centers on the renegade crew of a small transport spaceship led by Castle's Nathan Fillion, who directs the ragtag team through adventures into unknown parts of the galaxy, as they try to evade warring factions as well as authority agents out to get them. In addition to Fillion, the series starred Gina Torres (Alias), Adam Baldwin (Chuck), Summer Glau (Sarah Connor Chronicles), Ron Glass (Barney Miller) and Morena Baccarin (V).
Science Channel is part of Discovery Networks, which includes Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, and Discovery Health.

After just a few weeks, CSI will be reduced on USA Network. Law & Order: SVU replaces CSI on Mondays at midnight and Law & Order: CI replaces CSI on Mondays at 1am. And finally, NCIS replaces CSI on Fridays in late night beginning at 12am. So when will CSI now air? Wednesdays at 12am and Fridays 9pm-12am. It looks like the ratings are still not up to par for CSI on USA Network, which is surprising since it fits well with other reruns on the network. Stay with us for any further updates and changes, if any.

We have another TV passing to report. Len Lesser, the veteran character actor best known for his scene-stealing role as Uncle Leo on Seinfeld, has died. Lesser's family said in a statement that he died Wednesday (Feb. 16, 2011) in Burbank, CA, from cancer-related pneumonia.
He appeared in about 15 episodes as Seinfeld's uncle on the long running sitcom starting in the second season all the way to the series finale. Lesser's lengthy list of television credits included parts on Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dragnet, Love on a Rooftop, The FBI, My Favorite Martian, Honey West, Ben Casey, Get Smart, That Girl, The Munsters, The Monkees, The Rockford Files, The Bill Cosby Show, All in the Family, Kojak, Medical Center, The Bob Newhart Show, Bonanza, Ironside, Enos, Quincy, Remington Steele, Simon & Simon, Falcon Crest, Airwolf, thirtysomething, Babes, Boy Meets World, The John Larroquette Show, Caroline in the City, Mad About You, Smart Guy, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Son of the Beach, Rock Me Baby, Just Shoot Me!, Quintuplets, Cold Case, ER, 'Til Death, and Everybody Loves Raymond, which featured Lesser in a recurring role as the arm-shaking Garvin. He most recently appeared on the ABC's Castle in 2009.
He will be deeply missed. Fans will be saying "Jerry! Hellooo!" today in his memory. Mr. Lesser was 88.

From Monday, March 7 through Friday, March 11, 2011, TV Land will air All in the Family from 7:00pm-9:00pm instead of Sanford & Son. No reason for the change was given, but All in the Family already airs on TV Land in the 6pm hour every night and Tues-Fri in the 8am half-hour. The series is gaining the 8am half-hour starting March 1 and the 6pm hour on weekends starting March 5, as we previously mentioned.
This means from March 7-11, you can watch All in the Family in the evenings from 6-9pm! And if you get Antenna TV, you can watch another hour starting at 9pm. That's a whole lotta All in the Family, but the three-hour schedule on TV Land is only for a week. Could this be because it is doing well or that Sanford & Son needed a break? Only time will tell, if this goes beyond a week. Sanford & Son will only air at 8:30am on TV Land from March 7-11, but if you miss it that week in primetime, catch it on Antenna TV in the 8pm hour.
View once again the TV Land March 2011 schedule. Stay with us if anything changes and we should have April 2011 in the coming weeks as well, so stay tuned!

Nominations for the first annual The Comedy Awards were announced by Comedy Central and MTV Networks, both divisions of Viacom. The Comedy Awards is the first-ever multi-network, multi-platform, annual event dedicated to honoring and celebrating the world of comedy. Airing on Sunday, April 10, The Comedy Awards has garnered support from some of the most iconic names in comedy history.
The nominees reflect a broad range of comedic talent in film, television, stand-up, animation and digital content. 30 Rock leads the television categories with seven nominations, with The Office and Modern Family each scoring four nominations. These three hit shows are up against cult favorites, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Eastbound & Down in the Comedy Series category. Nominees were selected by the prestigious The Comedy Awards Board of Directors, which include: James Burrows, Stephen Colbert, Billy Crystal, James Dixon, Whoopi Goldberg, Brad Grey, Caroline Hirsch, Martin Lesak, Seth MacFarlane, Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, Conan O'Brien, Peter Principato, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Jay Roach, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Rory Rosegarten, Phil Rosenthal, Michael Rotenberg, George Schlatter, Sharon Sheinwold Jackson, Mitzi Shore, Jon Stewart, Lily Tomlin and Sandy Wernick.
The winners of each category will be chosen by an invitation-only voting body comprised of nearly 1000 members from the comedy community -- including writers, producers, performers and directors.
Following is the list of final nominees for the television portion:

COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock (NBC)
Eastbound & Down (HBO)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)

COMEDY ACTOR - TV
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Tracy Morgan, 30 Rock (NBC)
Danny McBride, Eastbound & Down (HBO)

COMEDY ACTRESS - TV
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (NBC)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Fox)
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (TV Land)
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live (NBC)

LATE NIGHT COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Late Show with David Letterman (CBS)

SKETCH COMEDY/ALTERNATIVE COMEDY SERIES
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim)
Funny or Die Presents (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (Adult Swim)
Tosh.0 (Comedy Central)

ANIMATED COMEDY SERIES
American Dad! (Fox)
Archer (FX)
Family Guy (Fox)
The Simpsons (Fox)
South Park (Comedy Central)

COMEDY WRITING - TV
30 Rock (NBC)
Louie (FX)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
The Simpsons (Fox)

COMEDY DIRECTING - TV
30 Rock (NBC)
Community (NBC)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Syfy has aired Mork & Mindy only a few times via a marathon since they got the rights to the series in 2008. The first marathon was in November 2008 on the day after Thanksgiving then another airing didn't occur unil July 2009. It hasn't been seen since. Now, Syfy has scheduled a few filler airings of the sitcom in March. The first filler airing will be on Sunday, March 6, 2011 in the 9am hour with the two-part episode "Mork vs. The Necrotons" airing. Then it will be seen again with three more airings on the late night schedule on Sunday, March 20, 2011 (technically Monday, March 21) from 4am-5:30am. Episodes scheduled are "Stark Raving Mork," "Mork Vs. Mindy," and "Mork Gets Mindy-itis." It looks like it is being used as a filler from time-to-time, but it isn't as frequent as say Wings or Becker on sister network USA Network. Hopefully it will be used more after this, but a regular timeslot would be better, even if it is in the late night/over night time periods. Stay with us for continued updates on Mork & Mindy sightings on Syfy...it's like watching UFO's. In addition to its airings on cable on Oxygen in Fall 2013, Glee will be airings weekends on local broadcast syndication in Fall 2013 as well. The show has been cleared on Fox stations in top markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Orlando and Baltimore. It will air either once a week or twice a week on weekends, depending on the station's needs. Reruns of Glee have already begun airing on Oxygen in marathons, which secured the cable syndication rights last year for $500,000 an episode. The Super Bowl weekend marathon brought the network record ratings, but as we first reported Glee will begin airing regularly on Oxygen in Fall 2013. Oxygen's original series The Glee Project will premiere in June.

The Hub has made some slight schedule changes to its sitcom line-up for the first time. Before we get into that, weekend mornings saw some changes begin this past Saturday (Feb. 12), with the "Huboom" block added to weekend mornings. Classic Batman airs in the 6am hour followed by classic G.I. Joe at 7am and classic Transformers at 7:30am. This block will continue to air Mon-Thurs starting at 11:30pm as well. The 6am weekend Batman airings are just encores of the 3am airings on early Saturday and Sundays. There are some other changes on weekend mornings, but that are just the animated series moving to different times like Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? moving from 9am to 10:30am.
The change that concerns us more is the sitcom change starting tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 15). Family Ties and Happy Days will be switching timeslots, so Family Ties moves to the 10pm hour with an encore now at 4am and Happy Days moves to an earlier time to the 8pm hour with an encore now at 2am. Tonight, The Hub has Valentine's Day themed episodes from 9pm-11pm of The Wonder Years, Doogie Howser and back-to-back Happy Days. Everything else remains as is, on the Mon-Thurs changes sitcom wise. Friday nights remain the same with the comedies airing from 2am-4am (Doogie Howser, Happy Days and back-to-back Batman). Saturday nights has those still plus The Wonder Years in the 1am hour still. And Sunday nights has all those plus Family Ties in the 12am hour still.

Finally, we have some sad news to report again. Betty Garrett, a veteran actress who started her career on such MGM musicals as On The Town and Take Me Out to the Ballgame, but is more known for her television work on All in the Family and Laverne & Shirley has died. Garrett died early Saturday morning (Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011) at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center of an aortic aneurysm. Just last Wednesday, Garrett went to dinner with friends and afterward taught a weekly musical comedy class at Theatre West, the nonprofit theater she helped found in North Hollywood half a century ago. Her death was first reported by KABC in Los Angeles and then a friend of Betty's confirmed it.
Garrett was best known on TV for her roles on two popular 1970s sitcoms, as landlady Edna Babish on Laverne & Shirley and as Archie Bunker's neighbor Irene Lorenzo on All in the Family. In 1975, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress on Television for All in the Family. She has also guest starred on many other series such as The Fugitive, The Love Boat, Mr. Merlin, Murder, She Wrote, The Golden Girls, Harts of the West, The Good Life, Townies, Union Square, Boston Public, Becker (for which she was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2003) and Grey's Anatomy in 2006.
We will let you know if there will be any on air tributes to her, but you can catch All in the Family Sun-Thurs at 9pm & 9:30pm and Saturdays 7pm & 7:30pm on Antenna TV, along with airings on TV Land weekdays in the 6pm hour. Coincidentally, TV Land had scheduled the start of season four (when Betty joined the series) starting this Thursday (Feb. 17), so you can catch her first episode then at 6pm. And Laverne & Shirley airs Mon-Thurs at 11:30pm on The Hub. Betty will be deeply missed, especially by her sitcom fans. Ms. Garrett was 91.

Welcome to our "big thaw" edition of Digital Digest! We're saying "big thaw" because not only is the snow and ice is starting to melt in many places (but it probably isn't gone for good), but also because our "big freeze" of not being able to bring you much news has come to an end, at least somewhat (though it still isn't a major news week, sadly). Yes, we actually have new news to share this week! And we've got double reviews for you this week, with reviews of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - 100% Complete Bull: The Complete Series and The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume Two. Let's get started!

DIGITAL NEWS

We've been covering scheduled releases of current on-going series on TV (it seems they are being announced earlier and earlier all the time), and it should be no surprise that the current season of the NBC series Community is naturally on the way. As far as "when," we'll just say that is just going to be an unannounced pop quiz for the time being (though I'd bet on September), but you can already pre-order Community - The Complete Second Season from amazon.com. It comes at a $39.99 MSRP.

You'll want to circle your calendar for May 3, because it looks like it is going to be a busy day for Lionsgate in the DVD game. Two of the series that they have already been releasing will see new seasons released on that date, including Boy Meets World - The Complete Fifth Season and According to Jim - The Complete Third Season. Both will come at a $29.98 MSRP. But that isn't all Lionsgate has in store for May 3. They also have a series debuting on DVD for the first time... The PJ's! Few details are known at this time, but you can already pre-order The PJ's - Season 1 from amazon.com. It comes at a $19.98 MSRP.


UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

There is only one sitcom set for release on Tuesday (February 15), and that is Shout! Factory's release of Spin City - Season Four. The final season of the series to star Michael J. Fox comes at a $39.97 MSRP. Unfortunately, we haven't received a review copy of this set, at least not yet. There are two other releases of note on Tuesday, including The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume 2 and The Twilight Zone - Season Three (Blu-ray Disc). We have a review of The Fugitive in today's Digital Digest.


BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

Who would have thought that a flying squirrel named Rocky and his dim-witted moose friend Bullwinkle could make a splash in popular culture? That's exactly what happened with the 1960s animated series featuring the two characters, which has run under various different names over the past five decades. Originally airing on ABC in 1959 as Rocky and His Friends, and undergoing many different title changes throughout the original run and syndication, the story stays the same: it's a squirrel and a moose doing their part to take down the evil in the world, particularly the evil from Boris and Natasha. It was even made into a feature film in 2000, although it was a total flop at the box office. Come take a trip back to Frostbite Falls by reading our review of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - 100% Complete Bull: The Complete Series.

DVD Review: Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - 100% Complete Bull: The Complete Series
by Greg Brobeck

Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends - 100% Complete Bull: The Complete Series (Classic Media, $99.99) features all 163 episodes of the long fondly remembered adventures of Moose and Squirrel and all of the supporting segments. The show debuted on ABC in 1959 as Rocky and His Friends and eventually moved to NBC as The Bullwinkle Show. The show is well remembered for its cold-war era comedy, with Rocky and Bullwinkle getting in one scrape after another, constantly being pursued by the "no-goodniks" Boris and Natasha.

Some great and hilarious Rocky and Bullwinkle storylines (which were broken up into multiple chapters) include "Jet Fuel Formula" in which our intrepid heroes accidentally discover that Bullwinkle's granny's cake recipe is in fact a powerful jet fuel, leading to several trips to the moon and lots of chasing by bad guys. Another favorite is "Wossamatta U" in which Bullwinkle somehow, hilariously, ends up being a college football star.
Other supporting segments include "Fractured Fairy Tales," wacky versions of classic fairy tales; "Aesop and Son," which are wacky versions of fables; "Peabody's Improbable History" in which a genius dog takes his boy back in time in the WABAC machine to learn mixed up history lessons; "Dudley Do-Right" about a good-intentioned but extremely dumb Canadian Mountie; "Bullwinkle's Corner" in which the dumb moose attempts to recite poetry; and "Mr. Know-it-All" in which Bullwinkle tries (usually unsuccessfully) to impart some sort of wisdom.

I grew up watching reruns on Nickelodeon and even though some of the jokes went over my head, I still got caught up in the hilarity and the adventure. And now that I'm older, more of the jokes make sense, and it's like watching them for the first time all over again. This set includes the entire series including the never before released fifth season (which will be released individually on March 29).
Every short from every program segment is included in this set. The first four seasons' discs are identical to the ones that were released individually (including those by now defunct company Sony Wonder.) With the exception of the Rocky and Bullwinkle segments themselves, they are not, however in original broadcast order. The "Fractured Fairy Tales" and "Dudley Do-Right" shorts for example are in completely random order from that they were originally broadcast. Every short is present however, some twice as some were rerun during their original broadcasts.

It's great that this entire series is finally available for purchase in any format. A few alterations have been made because of music and/or licensing issues. The main title for each episode has been changed to read Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends instead of Rocky and His Friends or The Bullwinkle Show and second season music is used for the segment openings in each episode. In the liner notes for one of the individual sets it's claimed that this was at the request of the late creator Jay Ward, but it many suspect music licensing issues instead.
Because of the large number of discs and episodes in this set, the disc-by-disc breakdown here is a bit different. Because of the large number of segments, I'm only listing which Rocky and Bullwinkle stories are on each discs, along with the location of bonus features. Each episode runs about 23 minutes.

Season 1 Disc 1:
"Jet Fuel Formula" Parts 1-14

Season 1 Disc 2:
"Jet Fuel Formula" Parts 15-28

Season 1 Disc 3:
"Jet Fuel Formula" Parts 29-40
"Box Top Robbery" Parts 1-2

Season 1 Disc 4:
"Box Top Robbery" Parts 3-12
Bonus Features:
"Dear Bullwinkle" puppet segments (7:12)
Classic TV Promo Spots (1:52)
Rocky & Bullwinkle Savings Stamp Club (5:39)
Sneak Peak - Season 2 (7:24)
Boris Badenov Master of Disguise (1:06)

Season 2 Disc 1A:
"Upsidasium" Parts 1-12

Season 2 Disc 1B:
"Upsidasium" Parts 13-26

Season 2 Disc 2A:
"Upsidasium" Parts 27-36
"Metal Munching Moon Mice" Parts 1-2

Season 2 Disc 2B:
"Metal Munching Moon Mice" Parts 3-16

Season 2 Disc 3A:
"Greenpernt Oogle" Parts 1-12
"Rue Brittania" Parts 1-2

Season 2 Disc 3B:
"Rue Brittania" Parts 3-8
"Buried Treasure" Parts 1-8

Season 2 Disc 4A:
"Buried Treasure" Parts 9-14
"Last Angry Moose" Parts 1-4
"Whaling Whale" Parts 1-4

Season 2 Disc 4B:
"Whaling Whale" Parts 5-14
Bonus Features:
Classic TV Commercials (2:17)
June Foray Interview (9:29)
Sneak Peak - Season 3 (3:54)
Moosecalls: The Best of Bullwinkle Sings (2:36)

Season 3 Disc 1:
"Missouri Mish Mash" Parts 1-18

Season 3 Disc 2:
"Missouri Mish Mash" Parts 19-26
"Lazy Jay Ranch" Parts 1-10

Season 3 Disc 3:
"Lazy Jay Ranch" Parts 11-18
"The Three Moosketeers" Parts 1-8
"Topsy Turvy World" Parts 1-2

Season 3 Disc 4:
"Topsy Turvy World" Parts 3-14
Bonus Features:
Bullwinkle Puppet Intros (6:34)
The Best of Bullwinkle Follies (2:06)
Sneak Peak - Season 4 (3:54)

Season 4 Disc 1:
"Painting Theft" Parts 1-6
"Guns of Abalone" Parts 1-4
"Treasure of Monte Zoom" Parts 1-8

Season 4 Disc 2:
"Goof Gas Attack" Parts 1-8
"Banana Formula" Parts 1-12

Season 5 Disc 1:
"Bumbling Brothers Circus" Parts 1-10
"Mucho Loma" Parts 1-6
"Pottsylvania Creeper" Parts 1-2

Season 5 Disc 2:
"Pottsylvania Creeper" Parts 3-6
"Moosylvania" Parts 1-4
"Ruby Yacht" Parts 1-6
"Bull's Testimonial Dinner" Parts 1-4

Season 5 Disc 3:
"Bull's Testimonial Dinner" Parts 3-6
"The Weather Lady" Parts 1-6
"Louse on 92nd Street" Parts 1-6
"Wossamatta U" Parts 1-4

Season 5 Disc 4:
"Wossamatta U" Parts 5-12
"Moosylvania Saved" Parts 1-4
Bonus Features:
Goof Gas Attack Outtake (8:07)

The packaging is nice, but without extreme care, can cause some damage to discs. The set comes in a cardboard box with Rocky and Bullwinkle's pictures on the outside with the words "100% Complete Bull" but as you look around to the side and back of the box, you see that the word continues with the letters "winkle." Another great tongue-in-cheek joke. The box opens to reveal first a bonus gift: a replica of a an "Exceptional Adequacy Award" ribbon that was sent to actual Bullwinkle fan club members during the original run of the show.
Next is the "Frostbite Falls Field Guide," a 70-page book detailing the history of the show, with tons of photos and replicas of fan club memorabilia. It also includes a breakdown of what is on what disc. The discs themselves come in a stylish book design. The pages turn to reveal disc contents. The discs themselves pull out of the sides of the pages and are quite a tight fit. This is the one complaint I have with this set. If great care is not taken pulling out and replacing the discs, they can easily become scratched. As with the individual season releases, seasons 1, and 3-5 are on single sided discs, and season 2 is on double sided discs.

Disc menus vary from season to season, but are very similar. The main menu features animated antics from one or more of the characters with Play All, Select Show, and Audio Setup options. Choosing Select Show then takes you to a list of the episodes on the set (just a list of numbers). Upon choosing one of those, you're taken to a chapter menu where you can choose to either watch the entire show or just one of the individual segments. Chapter marks are placed in between each segment.

The video and audio have been painstakingly restored and look amazing. Colors are vibrant and the audio is crisp and clear. Each episode, however, is briefly bugged for a couple seconds with an "R&B" logo in the corner. This is a bit annoying for fans, but as many of these shows have lapsed into the public domain, I suppose the makers of this set are trying to protect these restored versions. Audio is available in English or Spanish mono for each episode. There are unfortunately no subtitles or closed captions.

The set features a wealth of special features. Season one has a handful of Bullwinkle puppet segments from original broadcasts, some original commercials featuring the cast, a special "Savings Stamp Club" short, and a sneak peak at the next season. Season two includes more original commercials, an interview with June Foray- the voice of Rocky, and "Moosecalls: the Best of Bullwinkle Sings." Season three's bonus features include more Bullwinkle puppet introductions, a best-of clip feature, and a peek at the next season. The season four discs do not include any features. And finally, the season 5 bonus feature, which is new to this set, is a lengthy outtake reel from the episode "Goof Gas Attack." This is hilarious to listen to and provides a great peek into the behind the scenes work that went into producing this great series.

This is an amazing set for fans of Rocky and Bullwinkle. If you didn't buy any of the individual seasons as they were being released, I can wholeheartedly recommend buying this set. The only complaint I have is the tight-fitting nature of the discs, but with extra care, you can keep them from being scratched. However, I cannot recommend buying this set if you have been buying the individual seasons. There is not enough new content to warrant a double dip and the fifth season is going to be released individually.

(4.5/5 stars)

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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW

The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume Two
by skees53

Richard Kimble (David Janssen) is still on the run from the law after being able to escape death row from his wrongful conviction of killing his wife, but he can't just run forever. He is still going to help people out and take odd jobs along the way, but it is time for Kimble to finally receive appropriate justice for his wrongful conviction and to start living a normal life that isn't on the run. Could the end of the fourth and final season be that time? Let's hope that happens in The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume Two.


The Fugitive - The Fourth and Final Season, Volume Two (CBS Home Entertainment, $39.98) brings us the end Richard Kimble's (David Janssen) running and quest to prove that he is not guilty of killing his wife. The first 15 episodes of the season were previously released in November, and the 15 episodes that are presented on this set are where we finally get to see his four year journey come to an end--hopefully in a way that is favorable to him.

If you don't know the story of the series, starting here may be confusing, so this is a good time to get you caught up (although it is strongly advised that you watch at least the first season of the series to get here, because it'll make little sense otherwise). Richard Kimble, a former physician, was accused of killing his wife some years ago, and in the pilot episode of the series, he was riding on a train to make his way from his housing location in prison to go to his own execution. But luck would strike in the most disastrous way when the train derailed and he was able to escape just minutes before he was to be put to death. Now, with his newly found freedom, he has the ability to race against time to prove that he did not kill his own wife. But it is no easy task, because he has to stay on the run and help others along the way (and providing that help puts him in danger as well).

This set begins with "The Other Side of the Coin," where Kimball becomes involved when the sheriff's son plans to rob the grocery store where Kimball is working. A detective discovers who Kimble really is (while looking for somebody else) in "The One That Got Away." Kimble becomes part of a blackmail scheme when a building contractor is held responsible for the deaths of three children in "Concrete Evidence." In "The Breaking of the Habit," Kimble could be on the verge of finding the one-armed man with the help of Sister Veronica, that is until a delinquent student disrupts the plan. The one-armed man is talking in his sleep in "The Ivy Maze," and what he says may just lead to the beginning of the end for Kimble's run from the law. In "Goodbye My Love," Kimble may just be framed for yet another murder he didn't commit. Kimble and a racist murder manage to escape while being transported to a court arraignment in "Passage to Helena."
In "Death of a Very Small Killer," Kimble's recovery from pneumonia may turn into yet another blackmail scheme from the doctor. Kimble becomes involved with a radio dispatcher who happens to be a convicted embezzlement on a work-release program in "The Walls of Night." Kimble manages to run from the law yet again and into the mountains in "The Shattered Silence." Finally, the running is about to come to an end--except Kimble only has 24 hours now to clear his name--in the two part final episode, "The Judgment."

There is no shortage of guest stars in this set, which include Joseph Campanella, Beau Bridges, Anne Francis, Charles Bronson, Harold Gould, Eileen Heckart, Jack Lord, and Lloyd Haynes, among many others.

The episodes appear to be unedited, with runtimes as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "The Other Side of the Coin" (51:35)
2. "The One That Got Away" (51:36)
3. "Concrete Evidence" (51:36)
4. "The Breaking of the Habit" (51:34)

Disc 2:
5. "There Goes the Ball Game" (51:34)
6. "The Ivy Maze" (51:36)
7. "Goodbye My Love" (51:33)
8. "Passage to Heaven" (51:38)

Disc 3:
9. "The Savage Street" (51:36)
10. "Death of a Very Small Killer" (51:37)
11. "Dossier on a Diplomat" (51:35)
12. "The Walls of Night" (50:34)

Disc 4:
13. "The Shattered Silence" (51:35)
14. "The Judgment (Part 1)" (51:35)
15. "The Judgment (Part 2)" (51:24)

One thing that should be noted about the final episode is that it contains the voice tag that says "Tuesday, September 5th: the day the running stopped" as opposed to the original "Tuesday, August 29th: the day the running stopped" at the end. There is some dispute as to which is the "correct" version, as the episode aired a week later on some ABC affiliates (hence the voice tag was changed). Still, this is a very minor detail.

The set comes packaged in a Viva pack with just a single picture of Dr. Kimble on the cover. There are some episode snapshots on the back of the package, along with information about the season. The set contains four discs (standard no-artwork CBS Home Entertainment style), and there are four episodes on each disc, except for Disc 4, which only contains three episodes. There are airdates and descriptions for each episode inside the case.

The menus are very basic, with just a list of episodes (along with a Play All option and a Set Up option to run English subtitles) on each disc and a different snapshot of Kimble on each disc. Once you select an episode, it plays immediately, although there are plenty of chapters placed throughout the episode.

Like most CBS Home Entertainment products, the video and audio quality is excellent. As mentioned in the previous review of this series, the change to color for this season does allow a few minor imperfections to stand out a bit more, but it really isn't bad at all. The Dolby Digital mono audio is perfectly loud and clear. And there are English subtitles on each episode.

Disc 4 contains a single special feature, "Composer Dominic Frontiere: The Color of Music" (11:38), which is more or less just a continuation of the "Composer Dominic Frontiere: A Season of Change" featurette found on Volume 1. Frontiere again talks about the series, this time focusing a bit more on the musical background of the series. It is disappointing that there couldn't be more as far as special features, but it is good to see this, at least.

I've grown from somebody who thought this series was awful to somebody who has come to love this series in a very short time, and it really is one of those things that will reel you in and keep you in once you get started. But if you don't know the backstory (particularly the first season), the series will be a bit confusing. So you wouldn't want to start watching the series here, although this season is ESSENTIAL for anybody watching the series as it is the climactic end to the whole story. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate this set (it is perhaps the best one of the series), and fans of other similar shows are sure to enjoy this series. It is nice that it has come to an end on DVD and fans can finally see the entire story from beginning to end.

(4/5 stars)

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LOOKING AHEAD

Hopefully, this week is just the beginning of weeks of news... we hate this slow down as much as you do! But we'll be here each and every week to bring you any news that we have, no matter what. We're finally going to get into some more feature stories by the end of the month, so be sure to come back for that. Until then, keep it digital!

Mad Love - Mondays 8:30PM ET/PT on CBS
Premieres Monday, February 14, 2011 at 8:30PM ET/PT

MAD LOVE is a comedy about a quartet of New Yorkers - two who are falling in love and two who despise each other... at least for now. Ben, a lawyer, is a hopeless romantic trying to build a relationship with Kate, a beautiful, smart girl whom Ben thinks is the woman of his dreams. Larry, Ben's unrefined best friend and co-worker, is a guy who doesn't believe in love and has a long track record as the third wheel. Connie, Kate's roommate, works as a nanny and finds Larry aggravating... or does she? Larry and Connie have a lot in common, but refuse to let their guard down long enough to see it.

Cast Details:

* Jason Biggs as Ben Parr
* Sarah Chalke as Kate Swanson
* Tyler Labine as Larry Munsch
* Judy Greer as Connie Grabowski

Jason Biggs (Ben) began his acting career at the age of 5 in national commercials as well as modeling. He won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for his role on the daytime drama, As the World Turns, and appeared on the shows Drexel's Class and "Total Security." At age 13, Biggs made his Broadway debut opposite Judd Hirsch in the critically acclaimed Broadway play, Conversations with My Father. Other theater credits include the Broadway production of The Graduate, opposite Kathleen Turner; Boy's Life, a coming-of-age comedy by Second Stage Theater in which he starred opposite Rhys Coiro; and Daniel Goldfarb's play, Modern Orthodox, in which he starred Off-Broadway opposite Craig Bierko and Molly Ringwald.
Biggs quickly became one of Hollywood's most talked-about young actors after his breakthough role in the American Pie trilogy. His film credits also include Jersey Girl, written and directed by Kevin Smith, in which he starred alongside Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler; the Woody Allen project Anything Else; the film adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel's best-selling biography Prozac Nation, opposite Christina Ricci; the romantic comedy Saving Silverman with Jack Black, Steve Zahn and Amanda Peet; the Amy Heckerling film Loser; the romantic comedy Boys and Girls, opposite Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Claire Forlani; Saul Metztein's black comedy Guy X; the Disney hit Eight Below, an adventure film in which hestarred opposite Paul Walker; Over My Dead Body, a romantic comedy with Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria; and Lionsgate's romantic comedy My Best Friend's Girl, in which he starred opposite Kate Hudson.

For nine seasons, Sarah Chalke (Kate) starred as Dr. Elliot Reid on the Emmy Award-winning series, Scrubs. A native of Ottawa, Canada, Chalke was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, and began appearing in local musical theater productions when she was 8. A few years later, she became an environmental reporter for the Canadian series, Kid Zone. Her big break came in 1993 when she was cast as daughter Becky Conner on the series Roseanne.
In 2005, Chalke starred in the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Create Fate, and completed a successful run in the Off-Broadway production of Modern Orthodox, a romantic comedy about love, dating and unlikely friendships, under the direction of James Lapine at New York's Underwood Theater. In 2006, she starred as Lifetime Television executive and breast cancer survivor Geralyn Lucas in Lifetime's Outstanding Made for Television Movie Emmy nominee, Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy. In 2007, she starred opposite Ryan Reynolds and Stuart Townsend in the Warner Independent thriller, Chaos Theory.
Recently, Chalke had a recurring role as Stella Zinmann on the Emmy Award-winning comedy series, How I Met Your Mother, on CBS. Chalke was most recently seen in Maneater, a four-hour Lifetime Original miniseries based on Gigi Levangie Grazer's New York Times #1 best-selling book, The Starter Wife. The successful miniseries was that network's highest-rated program of the year.

A native of Canada, Tyler Labine (Larry) was born in Brampton, Ontario, and moved as a child with his family to Vancouver, British Columbia. He beganhis acting career in local theater and a number of small television roles. After landing one of the lead roles on the series Breaker High and That Was Then, he appeared in film roles opposite Jean Reno in Tony Bill's Flyboys, Nathan Lane in Trixie, Cybill Shepherd in Marine Life and Tim Robbins in Antitrust.
Labine's notable film appearances include his role in My Boss's Daughter with Ashton Kutcher; working opposite David Bowie in Mr. Rice's Secret, and the feature The Zero Sum with Ewen Bremner. Recently, Labine had a starring role in the comedy, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy, with Lake Bell and Leslie Bibb. In 2009, Labine starred as Lewis Henderson in Control Alt Delete.
His television credits include series regular roles on Invasion, Reaper and Sons of Tucson, and a guest-starring rol eon Boston Legal. He also portrayed John Belushi in the TV film, Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Mork & Mindy.'

One of the busiest actresses in Hollywood, Judy Greer (Connie) recently wrapped filming the features Jeff Who Lives At Home, opposite Ed Helms and Jason Segel, as well as The Descendants, opposite George Clooney. In addition, Greer will appear in a pair of independent features that premiered at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival. In Malcolm Venville's comedy, Henry's Crime, Greer will be seen opposite Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga and James Caan. She will also be in Barry Blaustein's Peep World, opposite Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Kate Mara and Rainn Wilson.
Greer was most recently seen in Magnolia Pictures' Barry Munday, opposite Patrick Wilson, Malcolm McDowell, Chloe Sevigny and Colin Hanks; and Love and Other Drugs, with Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal for director Ed Zwick. Her additional film credits include Fox's Marmaduke; Universal's Love Happens, with Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart; Visioneers, opposite Zach Galifianakis; The Go-Getter, with Zooey Deschanel and Jena Malone; 27 Dresses, opposite Katherine Heigl and James Marsden; The TV Set, with Sigourney Weaver and David Duchovny; American Dreamz, with Hugh Grant and Mandy Moore; The Amateurs, with Jeff Bridges; Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown; M. Night Shyamalan's The Village; 13 Going On 30; writer/director Adam Goldberg's psychological drama, I Love Your Work (debuted at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival); The Hebrew Hammer (debuted at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival); Charlie Kaufman's critically-acclaimed Adaptation; The Wedding Planner; What Women Want; Danny Leiner's The Great New Wonderful (2005 Tribeca Film Festival); What Planet Are You From?; Three Kings; Jawbreaker; In Memory Of My Father; The Specials and Kissing A Fool, among others.
In addition to her role on MAD LOVE, Greer can be heard as the voice of Wendy on Nickelodeon's animated series, Glenn Martin, DDS, as well as the voice of Cheryl on the animated series, Archer. Her previous television appearances have included Miss Guided, Modern Family, House, M.D, ER, My Name Is Earl, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Californication, Arrested Development, and CBS, Love Monkey, How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory and Two and A Half Men.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Fireworks" (Airs February 14, 2011)
When Ben Parr and Kate Swanson accidentally meet at the top of the Empire State Building, they make a date for later that evening and each bring along their best friends, Larry and Connie, who instantly despise each other.
Directed by Pamela Fryman
Written by Matt Tarses
Recurring Cast: Sarah Wright as Tiffany
Guest Cast: Rachel Boston as Erin, Miguel Nunez as Carter, Laura Spencer as Alexa, Jerrika Hinton as Eva

Analysis:

Mad Love is a multi-camera ensemble comedy from Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Studios. CBS has ordered a total of 13 episodes. The show has undergone many casting changes since the pilot was first green-lit in early 2010. Minka Kelly, Ashley Austin Morris, Dan Fogler, Lizzy Caplan and Hal Williams were cast in the early stages. Tyler Labine came on board in April, replacing Fogler. Sarah Chalke joined the cast in June, replacing Kelly. Judy Greer was the last to join the cast as Connie. Hal Williams was originally supposed to be in the pilot as the elevator operator and provide the narration, but that is provided by Tyler Labine's Larry character.

In the pilot episode, "Fireworks," Larry Munsch narrates the opening sequence and asks do you believe in fairy tales. He says me neither, but says this one will be a little different because he's telling it. Ben tells Larry that he's ending it with his girlfriend Erin because there's no fireworks. Kate loses her hat in the bathroom at the top of the Empire State Building. Carter is the elevator operator. Fate happens and Kate finds Ben's red cell phone on the ledge. Ben finds Kate's hat and they exchange the items. At his office, Ben tells Larry that there were fireworks between him and Kate. Ben tries to break up with Erin. Larry meets Connie, who is a friend of Kate, at the bar. Ben invites Kate up to his apartment for a beer, while Larry is left alone with Connie. Kate and Connie leave upset and in a hurry after Erin arrives. Connie is the nanny for Tiffany's children. Ben and Erin officially break up. Kate and company go to the bar where they see Ben kissing another girl. Two weeks later, Larry meets up again with Connie at the gym. They devise a plan to get Ben and Connie back together again at the building.

The show is airing after How I Met Your Mother and while it's not a complete clone, there are quite a few similarities and connections. Both shows are set in New York City with a group of friends. There are also several scenes at a bar. Tyler Labine's character provides the narration in the opening and closing minutes. Jason Biggs' character seems similar to Ted Mosby. Pamela Fryman, who has directed the majority of the How I Met Your Mother episodes, also directs the pilot. Sarah Chalke had a recurring role on HIMYM a few seasons ago and Judy Greer has also guest starred in a single episode. Since How I Met Your Mother has become such a solid hit, you can't blame them for trying some of the same storytelling devices and tricks which have proven to work. Mad Love has an experienced and talented cast. I think that it's unique enough that it will be a nice addition to the CBS' Monday night lineup. If it becomes a solid hit, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cross-over episode maybe next season.

Conclusion:

Mad Love joins an already hilarious lineup of comedies on CBS. This is a show which could have easily been on the fall schedule. It's pretty nice when you have such a strong show to come out of the bullpen at mid-season. The strength of the show is the talent and comedy experience of the cast. This is one of the few new shows where I think every cast member is going to be familiar to many viewers. Jason Biggs is recognizable from the American Pie trilogy and many other film and TV roles. It's nice to see Sarah Chalke on a sitcom again as a lead after Scrubs ended. Judy Greer always brings the funny with some wacky characters. Tyler Labine is probably the least known cast member to audiences after appearing on some short-lived shows like the underrated Invasion, but this could be his breakout role. He's very funny in the pilot as the unrefined Larry.

There aren't tons of laugh-out-loud moments in the pilot, but it sets things up well. Pilots are not usually the strongest. They lay the groundwork and provide the necessary background and introductions for the characters. These are characters who viewers will like. If you are a fan of How I Met Your Mother, you will probably want to check out Mad Love right after it. There are some similarities, but Mad Love has its own uniqueness and charm to it. This is one of the better dating/couples sitcoms of the season. The potential is there for it to stick and become a dependable hit. It was originally scheduled to premiere a week later, but it made sense for promotional and marketing reasons for them to move it up a week to Valentine's Day. Who will fall in love? Watch the fireworks and tune in on Monday nights at 8:30/7:30c on CBS to find out!

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

-- Reviewed by Todd on 02/11/11

Discuss the show after you watch it on Monday, February 14 on our message board.

Related Links:

CBS.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Mad Love Photo Gallery

Preview:




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 (but we won't cover movie stars like Tom Hanks or John Travolta, since they won't be talking about their past sitcoms likely), so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Feb. 14-18, 2010, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, February 14, 2011

• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Watch the Latin goddess on Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
• Martin Lawrence (Martin) - Catch the funnyman on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC at 12am.
• Melissa Rauch (The Big Bang Theory) - Watch Melissa on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS at 12:37am.
• Jason Ritter (The Class) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:37am on NBC.
• Cast of Roseanne - Roseanne Barr, John Goodman and the rest of the Roseanne TV family reminisce about the popular series on The Oprah Show, check local listings

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

• Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - See Eric on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am.
• William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) - Catch The Shat on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Martin Lawrence (Martin) - Watch Martin on The Mo'nique Show on BET at 11pm.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

• Michael Rappaport (The War at Home) - Watch Michael on NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:37am.
• Martin Lawrence (Martin) - Martin visits Conan on TBS at 11pm.
• Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Watch Sarah be a guest CO-HOST on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
• Wendie Malick (Hot in Cleveland/Just Shoot Me/Big Day) - Watch Wendy on The Talk at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT on CBS.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

• Jenna Fischer (The Office) - Watch Jenna on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
• Sarah Chalke (Mad Love/Scrubs) - Watch the beautiful star on Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.

Friday, February 18, 2011

• David Spade (Rules of Engagement/Just Shoot Me/8 Simple Rules) - Catch David on the Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35am on CBS.
• Set Visit for Modern Family - ABC's Good Morning America will be on the set live sometime between 7-9am.
• Ed Helms (The Office) - Ed appears on The Rachel Ray Show, so check your listings for time and station.

Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

Last Thursday we gave details on TV Land's three sitcom pilot they are taping, this week TV Land has officially announced them. They are not picked-up to series yet, but full details on the pilots were released.
Furthering TV Land's expansion into the original sitcom landscape, the network announced that it has signed several popular television and film actors to star in its three upcoming pilots. Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), John Michael Higgins (Kath & Kim), D.W. Moffett (Friday Night Lights), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Valente Rodriguez (George Lopez) and Robert Walden (All The President's Men) will star in Happily Divorced based on Drescher's life.
Donald Faison (Scrubs), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld, Hot in Cleveland), David Alan Basche (The Starter Wife) and Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From The Sun) will headline an untitled Mark Reisman sitcom.
And Christine Taylor (Arrested Development), Barry Watson (Samantha Who?, 7th Heaven) and Sherri Shepherd (The View) will star in a comedy pilot by Terri Minsky tentatively titled Rip City. Anne Meara (The King of Queens) will guest star in Minsky's pilot. All three pilots, which were previously announced in January, will be multi-camera and will tape in front of live audiences in February.
View more on these pilots and stay with us for any details on if these pilots are picked-up to series. I could imagine at least one of these being picked-up for air.

ION Television kicked off 2011 with continued ratings growth, celebrating January as its best month ever, according to Nielsen Media Research. ION's growing mix of TV series and movies, presented under its "Positively Entertaining" consumer tagline, posted growth across key demos during the month, and, for the first time, ranked among the top 10 cable entertainment networks in A25-54, households and total viewers in the 7pm-12am sales prime time period. Shows airings weeknights from 7pm-12am are Without a Trace and Criminal Minds blocks. Movies air on weekends in this time frame.
ION Television closed out January with double-digit growth in household viewers, up 15% (1,002,000) and up 13% (1,315,000) in total viewers, compared to January 2010, representing new network highs. The network also registered record high numbers in the A18-49 demo (493,000).
Additionally in January, ION Television ranked #9 among cable entertainment networks in A25-54, households and total viewers -- marking the first time ION is positioned among the top 10 nets. January also registered ION's best week ever (1/3/11) in A18-49 (545,000) and total viewers (1,455,000).
ION's 11pm hour (Criminal Minds on weeknights/movies on weekends) also became a driving force for the network's ratings last month as viewers turned to ION as an alternative destination to late night talk and cable reality reruns -- making it the most viewed hour in the 7pm-12am daypart for the network among A25-54 and A18-49. During the 11pm hour in January, ION's rankings also saw a boost, positioning at:
· #3 in total viewers as the most watched network among all cable entertainment nets (1,669,000)
· #5 in A25-54 as the most watched network among all cable entertainment nets (690,000)
· #6 in households as the most watched network among all cable entertainment nets (1,092,000)
· #8 in A18-49 as the most watched network among all cable entertainment nets (645,000)
January's record ratings generates momentum for the general entertainment network as ION Television recently celebrated 2010 as its most watched year ever in its key demos.

Looking for new ways to celebrate Valentine's Day Weekend? Last night ABC had hilarious all-new Valentine's Day episodes The Middle, Better With You and Modern Family that did well in the ratings and tonight NBC's comedy line-up celebrates Valentine's Day and romance. ABC delivers the classic Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown on Friday at 8pm with the newer classic A Charlie Brown Valentine following. All weekend long you can fall in love all over again during Hallmark's Countdown to Valentine's Day, which includes the world premiere of the movie Accidentally in Love starring Jennie Garth on Saturday.
For more V-Day options, you should check out these 195 TV Series & Movie Marathons and Specials at TVTango that air during this coming week, including the long Valentine's Day weekend.
And more love will be discussed tomorrow during our pilot review of the upcoming CBS comedy Mad Love, which premieres on Monday--Valentine's Day!

ABC Family has released their March 2011 schedule and at the end of the month, a long-running sitcom will be leaving because its contract will expire. The '90s sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch starring Melissa Joan Hart will be leaving the schedule effective Monday, March 28. The series has been on the network for nearly five years, since October 2006. Effective March 28, What I Like About You will now air in the 8am hour replacing Sabrina. And the only other change will be the return of Grounded for Life airing in the 9am half-hour replacing What I Like About You. The rest of the regular schedule remains intact with sitcoms Boy Meets World, Full House, Still Standing, 8 Simple Rules, My Wife & Kids, and That '70s Show.
Highlights for the month of March 2011 include the series finale of ABC Family original drama Greek on Monday, March 7 at 9pm. The first season finale of drama Pretty Little Liars will air on Monday, March 21 at 8pm after a best-of marathon from 11am-8pm. ABC Family will encore the last two episodes of season three of The Secret Life of the American Teenager after all-new Pretty Little Liars episodes on March 14 and March 21 at 9pm. The Secret Life of the American Teenager will return with all-new episodes on Monday, March 28 at 8pm after a best-of marathon from 11am-8pm. Also returning will be all-new episodes of original drama Make It or Break It airing at 9pm after Secret Life. Stay with us for updates on more original series, such as the return of sitcom Melissa & Joey, which should be returning in early summer.
ABC Family also has of course movie premieres for March 2011. Disney-Pixar's Monsters, Inc. will be making its ABC Family premiere on March 6. On March 13, Beverly Hills Chihuahua (starring George Lopez, Drew Barrymore, Piper Perabo and Jamie Lee Curtis) will be making its basic cable debut at 7pm followed by the world premiere of the new movie Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 starring George Lopez, Odette Yustman, Olivia Newton-John, Christine Lakin, and Ernie Hudson at 9pm. More ABC Family movie premieres include Hairspray (2007), The Rundown, and City of Ember. And of course there will be other movies airing during the month such as Cheaper by the Dozen, Grease, Meet the Parents, Titanic, The Flintstones, Enchanted, Aladdin, Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Happy Gilmore, Back to the Future trilogy and many more!

We also have some sad news to report. Character actress Peggy Rea known for her many roles in television series, and a number of films, died at her home in Toluca Lake on Saturday (February 5, 2011). She died of complications from congestive heart failure. Among her recurring roles in television were as Olivia Walton's cousin, Rose Burton, on The Waltons, as man chasing-Lulu Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard, as Ivy Baker (the mother of Suzanne Somers' character) on the first season of Step by Step, and as Brett Butler's mom (Jean Kelly) on Grace Under Fire.
Peggy also appeared in such television programs as I Love Lucy, Family Affair, The Good Guys, Gidget, The Patty Duke Show, Hazel, Sergeant Bilko, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Adam-12, Medical Center, Ironside, The Doris Day Show, Mannix, All in the Family, Quincy M.E., Charlie's Angels, Maude, Sanford, One Day at a Time, The Odd Couple, Love American Style, Marcus Welby, M.D., Mathnet, Burke's Law, Monsters, The Golden Girls, MacGyver, and Meego.
Even though she is not a household name, she was a fan favorite on the shows she appeared in. Fans of Step by Step, Grace Under Fire, The Waltons, The Dukes of Hazzard and All in the Family will certainly miss her. She will be deeply missed. Peggy was 89.

Mr. Sunshine - Wednesdays 9:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 9:30PM ET/PT

Matthew Perry stars as Ben Donovan, a self-involved manager of a San Diego sports arena, the Sunshine Center, where curious mishaps and bizarre requests are nothing more than ordinary. Working alongside him is his boss and arena owner Crystal, attractive, powerful and highly erratic; Alice, the cute, tomboyish marketing director and Ben's friend with benefits; Alonzo, a former basketball player, handsome and unbelievably happy; Ben's assistant, Heather, pretty, sweet, but terrifying because she once lit a boyfriend on fire; and Crystal's son, Roman, sweet-faced, clueless and Ben's newest employee.


Cast Details:

* Matthew Perry as Ben
* Allison Janney as Crystal
* Andrea Anders as Alice
* James Lesure as Andy
* Nate Torrence as Roman
* Portia Doubleday as Heather

Matthew Perry (Ben) is the manager of operations at the Sunshine Center. His worldwide audience will be happy to know he is returning to series television as the star, co-writer and executive producer of Mr. Sunshine. Perry is perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on Friends, and has shown his diverse talents in a range of projects since the series concluded after ten years. In 2006 Perry returned to series television to star in Aaron Sorkin's NBC drama, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, in a role that was written for him. Earlier, in 2005, he took his talents to the athletic arena as he hosted the 2005 ESPY Awards. The broadcast earned the highest rating in the 12-year history of the ESPYs. He also received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Joe Quincy on The West Wing.

Allison Janney (Crystal) is the owner of the arena and the big boss. Displaying astonishing versatility with a wide range of roles in film, television and theater, Allison Janney has taken her place among a select group of actors who combine a leading lady's profile with a character actor's art of performance. Fans will remember her starring role as CJ Cregg in the award-winning NBC series, The West Wing, for which Janney won a remarkable four SAG and four Emmy Awards. She recently guest starred on ABC's LOST as a pivotal character in the mythlogy of the series. She has also appeared in many movies. She starred opposite Meryl Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture. Other credits include the Academy Award-winning films American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture), Finding Nemo, Over the Hedge, Our Very Own, Strangers with Candy, Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Six Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection and Big Night.

Andrea Anders (Alice) is the marketing director for the Sunshine Center. Andrea most recently starred in ABC's critically acclaimed series Better Off Ted, and is known to television audiences for her roles as Nicole Allen on the sitcom The Class and as Alex Garrett in the Friends spin-off series Joey, opposite Matt LeBlanc. Additional television credits include guest starring on Law & Order, Tru Calling, Oz, Numb3rs and appearances on the daytime dramas Guiding Light and One Life to Live. Feature film credits include the road comedy Sex Drive and The Stepford Wives. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (from University of Wisconsin) and a Master of Fine Arts degree (from Rutgers).

James Lesure (Alonzo) plays a former basketball player and friend to Ben. James gives new meaning to the term Hollywood Hunk. His magnetic charm, both on screen and stage, complement a firmly grounded personality. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal of the suave, competitive head of surveillance, Mike Cannon, on the hit series Las Vegas, opposite legendary actor James Caan. Lesure made his series debut on the comedy For Your Love as attorney Mel Ellis, co-starring actress Holly Robinson-Peete. He has also appeared in recurring roles on the hits The New Adventures of Old Christine, Lipstick Jungle, The Division and Alias. Other television credits include guest-starring roles on ABC's LOST, Sherri, Seinfeld and a notable turn as a resolute military officer on the acclaimed series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which of course starred Matthew Perry.

Nate Torrence (Roman) plays Crystal's son and he is looking for work at the arena. Torrence began breaking into television with guest star appearances on several shows, including Malcolm in the Middle, How I Met Your Mother, House and many more. In 2006 he landed the recurring role of Dylan Killington on NBC's critically acclaimed Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, opposite Mr. Sunshine star Matthew Perry. Film appearances include Get Smart, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control, My Best Friend's Girl and a major role in the Dreamworks comedy She's Out of My League. He is a master of improv and still finds time to perform sketch/improv shows in area theaters, including at The Second City Theater in Los Angeles.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs February 9, 2011)
On what would have been just a typical day at work -- trying to get rid of a hockey rink that won't melt so the circus can go on that night, looking for an elephant lost in the building and arranging an impromptu press conference to repair one of his boss's PR nightmares -- Alice ends her casual relationship with Ben to commit to another man. This happens on Ben's 40th birthday, just as he's realizing he doesn't want to be alone.

Recurring is Portia Doubleday as Heather. Guest starring are Jorge Garcia as Bobert and David Pressman as mascot. Co-starring Christopher Shea as Dan, Declan Beaty as kid, Jesse Bean as guy, Eric Winzenried as photographer, Harvey Ruffin III as executive, Rico Bueno as worker #1, Alejandro Patino as worker #2, Sam Brown as worker #3, Gene DeJoie as worker #4 and Peter Navy Tuiasosop as worker #5.
"Pilot" was written by Matthew Perry, Alex Barnow and Marc Firek and directed by Thomas Schlamme.


Analysis:

This pilot and the premise of the series in general is very unique. I'm surprised there has never been a comedy fully set at a sports arena and looking at the day-to-day operations of it. The pilot sets things up well. That is what a pilot episode should do. Usually the pilot episode is not the strongest episode, but it should catch the viewer's attention. And that's what this one does here. It is a single camera half-hour comedy starring Matthew Perry. Perry's character plays Ben, head of operations for an arena in San Diego called The Sunshine Center (actually filmed at the Forum in Los Angeles). He is the one who schedules everything and well does pretty much everything for the arena. They've got hockey games, rock concerts, the circus, lingerie football, dog shows and more...but lots can go wrong at any of these events and that is what this comedy will explore. Ben says San Diego lost their basketball team to Cincinnati because of something Alonzo did, so not sure if we'll see some basketball here.

Janney's character, Crystal, is the owner of the arena and is extremely eccentric, as proved when she makes up a hilarious song: "the blacks, the whites, the Asians and the Himalayans, too." That made me laugh...she seems to be a racist but doesn't know it. The entire team at the arena is pretty dysfunctional. The pilot has Ben turning 40 and he is sleeping with the marketing director of the arena, Alice. However, Alice is calling their "friends with benefits" relationship off. Ben doesn't seem to mind at first until he later finds out that she is about to start an actual relationship with his best friend, Alonzo, who used to be a basketball player and now works for the arena. Nothing gets Alonzo down, he is your Mr. Sunshine type of guy. Ben is not a very nice guy, but he shows signs of some humanity as we progress. The title of this comedy is Mr. Sunshine, but Ben is from that. The title is really a play at the arena name, since Ben is in charge of everything at the arena. It's a clever play at the title. Among the good things we see from Ben is trying to give Crystal's son Roman a job in the arena. He has no skills and is very strange and his mother doesn't seem to care much about him. It will be interesting to see if Ben can make something of Roman in future episodes. Ben is also trying to be more friendly to his staff, as we see in the pilot episode with the head of maintenance (played by Jorge Garcia) as Ben is trying to be more friendly towards him. But is his name really "Bobert?" Ben also has a new assistant named Heather and she is also very strange, setting people on fire in her past and now also oddly being attracted to Roman.

There are some funny bits in the pilot, but it isn't quite there yet. It has a ton of potential and I could see this comedy turning into the style ABC had with Better Off Ted, except this will be more mainstream and will have more appeal to everyone as it is set in an arena (rather than a research & development company). So my overall feeling is: it's a good set-up with much more to come.


Conclusion:

The series will be following the #1 comedy on television, Modern Family, so it will be certainly sampled. That is a good thing because this show has so much potential. It has a great setting and a great cast. It will be interesting to see how much Ben can better himself as a person as the series progresses. There should be a lot of hilarious challenges on the way. The cast isn't too big, so we will be invested in the characters immediately. One thing I found funny was when Jorge Garcia's character says Ben, as we saw Garcia's character say that name all the time on Lost (Ben Linus). That is a nice homage to Lost, I think, but probably just coincidental here. Garcia will be in a few episodes in this series.

I think the characters are all good and it will be fun to see them develop. If this comedy is even half of what Better Off Ted was, then it should be in good shape in terms of quality. Matthew Perry is good here. He may be unlikeable but you can tell he is trying to "better" himself and I think the show will get better and better, too. Andrea Anders is really stunning and Allison Janney will probably be nominated for many Emmy's for this role, I predict. You don't have to like sports to like this comedy. Events in arenas are more than just sporting events, as I'm sure you all know. Nick Jonas will be guest starring in week two as a singer. Tune in Wednesday at 9:30pm on ABC for some good arena fun because the arena staff might be dysfunctional, but that makes for good TV!


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

-- Reviewed by Pavan on 02/08/11

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, February 9 on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Mr. Sunshine Photo Gallery

Preview:



As we briefly mentioned yesterday, Frasier is coming to Hallmark in April 2011! Hallmark Channel has acquired all eleven seasons and all 264 episodes of Frasier from CBS Television Distribution. Frasier, one of the most critically-acclaimed comedy series of all-time and one of television's most successful spin-off series ever will launch on Monday, April 4, airing Monday-Friday from 9:00-11:00 pm ET/PT. This means, Cheers and Frasier will now be reunited on one network, Hallmark Channel. Frasier, a spin-off of Cheers set in Seattle, starring Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin and beloved Jack Russell Terrier "Eddie," holds the record for the most Emmy wins (37), including five consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series from 1994 to 1998.
Currently, Lifetime is airing Frasier but Lifetime will be losing the rights to the series next month. Frasier has been airing on Lifetime since March, 2006. Frasier airs weekdays 9-10am and 12am-1:30am, but starting Monday, March 7, Lifetime will move up Old Christine to 9am-10:30am from its current 10am-11:30am slot, then How I Met Your Mother moves from 11:30am to 10:30am. And the 11am hour will now have an extra Wife Swap leading into another episode at 12 noon. 1-4pm will remain as is with Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, but now 4pm will be the series American Justice, pushing Unsolved Mysteries to 5pm & 6pm. Old Christine will no longer be in the 6pm hour and another hour of Reba is added in the 7pm hour replacing How I Met Your Mother. In primetime, Reba remains in the 8pm hour. Movies/originals air from 9-11pm. In late nights, How I Met Your Mother remains in the 11pm hour, but replacing Frasier from 12am-1:30am will be an episode of Old Christine and two episodes of Will & Grace. And two more episodes of How I Met Your Mother will now air at 1:30am & 2:00am replacing Will & Grace -- all starting Monday, March 7.
View the FULL Lifetime March 2011 schedule and come on back for more on Hallmark Channel's schedule in March (with the addition of Empty Nest) and April (with the addition of Frasier) when it is announced.