Friday, September 23, 2011
The Munsters and The Addams Family On Boomerang; Sitcom Stars On Talk Shows (Week of September 26, 2011)
October is right around the corner and that always means Halloween is on the horizon. To countdown, Boomerang, Cartoon Network's 24-hour animated spin-off network, will be airing episodes of the classic '60s sitcoms The Munsters and The Addams Family every weekday starting Monday, Oct. 3, 2011! This will mark the first time a non-animated series has aired on the network. But since they are doing this, they are also going to air the '90s animated series The Addams Family in October! The animated series will air weekdays at 11:30am, while the live-action The Addams Family will air weeknights at 7:30pm. As for The Munsters, Herman and family will air weekdays at 2pm and 7pm. On weekends, there will be a four episode stunt each weekend from 6-8pm. On Saturdays, The Munsters will air, while the '90s animated series The Addams Family will air on Sundays.
There will be a Columbus Day marathon of the animated The Addams Family on Monday, Oct. 10 from 6am-10:30am, followed by The Munsters from 10:30am-5:30pm. And of course on Halloween, there will be a marathon of each series starting with the animated The Addams Family from 6-9am. The Munsters will air from 1-3pm and The Addams Family sitcom will air from 7:30pm-10:30pm. Movies and other series marathons (like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) air the rest of the time.
Will these series air past October 31? We will let you know, but as of now it is for the month of October only. So enjoy it while you can! Herman vs. Gomez!
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of September 26-30, 2011, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, September 26, 2011
There will be a Columbus Day marathon of the animated The Addams Family on Monday, Oct. 10 from 6am-10:30am, followed by The Munsters from 10:30am-5:30pm. And of course on Halloween, there will be a marathon of each series starting with the animated The Addams Family from 6-9am. The Munsters will air from 1-3pm and The Addams Family sitcom will air from 7:30pm-10:30pm. Movies and other series marathons (like Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) air the rest of the time.
Will these series air past October 31? We will let you know, but as of now it is for the month of October only. So enjoy it while you can! Herman vs. Gomez!
It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of September 26-30, 2011, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!
Monday, September 26, 2011
- Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Watch Whitney on Chelsea Lately on E! at 11pm.
- Elisha Cuthbert (Happy Endings) - Catch the lovely Elisha on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. The second season premiere of Happy Endings airs on ABC on Wednesday at 9:30pm.
- Billy Gardell (Mike & Molly) - Billy stops by The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT. Mike & Molly returns on Monday at 9:30pm.
- Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) - The Emmy winner Melissa is a guest on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings. Congratulations to her!
- Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope/The Facts of Life/The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Cloris appears on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
- Wanda Sykes (The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda visits The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
- Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch) - Florence chats on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) - Catch Joseph on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
- Mary Lynn Rajskub (How to Be a Gentleman) - Watch Mary on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS. How to Be a Gentleman premieres on Thursday at 8:30pm on CBS.
- Casey Wilson (Happy Endings) - Casey visits Conan at 11pm on TBS. Happy Endings returns on Wednesday.
- Thomas Gibson (Dharma & Greg) - Thomas appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Tia & Tamera Mowry (Sister, Sister/The Game) - The Mowry sisters are guests on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations. Their reality show, Tia & Tamera, airs on the Style Network.
- Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Watch Nick on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Ed Helms (The Office) - Tune in to see Ed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation/The Office) - Rashida drops by the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) - Joseph continues to make the rounds on Tavis Smiley on PBS, but check listings for time.
- John Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun/Twenty Good Years) - John appears on The Colbert Report at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
- Jean Smart (Designing Women/Samantha Who?) - Jean visits The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Ted Danson (Cheers/Becker) - The new star of CSI is a guest on LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
- Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory/8 Simple Rules) - Catch the lovely Kaley on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) - Melissa continues to make the rounds on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon at 12:37am on NBC.
- Cloris Leachman (Raising Hope/The Facts of Life/The Mary Tyler Moore Show) - Cloris appears on The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
- Steve Harvey (The Steve Harvey Show) - Tune in to see Steve on a repeat of The Mo'nique Show at 3am on BET.
- Judy Greer (Two and a Half Men/Mad Love/Arrested Development) - Watch Judy on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jimmie "J.J." Walker and Bern Nadette Stanis (Good Times) -"Where Are They Now" reunites the Good Times stars on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. Dyn-o-mite!
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke visits LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, so check your listings.
- David Spade (Rules of Engagement/8 Simple Rules/Just Shoot Me) - David appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
MeTV Network Fall 2011 Schedule; Remembering Writer and Producer Jeffrey Hodes
It's time for another fall schedule! MeTV Network adds classic programming from NBCUniversal Television Distribution to the fall schedule and network library, joining acquisitions from Twentieth Television, CBS Television Distribution, and independent producers and distributors. MeTV continues to define classic television with key acquisitions from the NBCUniversal library including three iconic detective series: The Rockford Files, Kojak and Columbo. Many of these NBCUniversal series will begin airing on MeTV as early as Monday, September 26, 2011 when the network's fall schedule launches, while others will premiere over the next several years, helping to insure a long-term variety on the MeTV schedule. Additional fall premieres include the original Star Trek and Batman series, Bosom Buddies, Cheers, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Rogues, Lost in Space, The Fugitive, Route 66, Naked City, Peter Gunn, and Love American Style. In addition, favorites Daniel Boone and The Rifleman have been acquired through the Peter Rodgers Organization and the original Laurel & Hardy shorts and features have been acquired through RHI Entertainment Distribution; both titles will premiere this fall on Me-TV.
With the new additions, some series will be leaving the schedule. The series leaving are Streets of San Francisco, The Honeymooners, and Stagecoach West. Breaking down the schedule, we will start with weekdays. Comedies air from 5am-9am including Gomer Pyle, Family Affair & My Three Sons, leading into dramas and westerns from 9am-7pm, which include the new evening block of Kojak at 4pm, The Rockford Files at 5pm, and The Rifleman at 6pm. Sitcoms take over from 7pm-11pm, which remain the same except the 10pm hour now has Cheers and Taxi. More dramas will air from 11pm-5am and will remain as it is now, with programs such as The Twilight Zone. Moving on to Saturdays, westerns start it off from 5am-8am, then a mandatory E/I series break from 8am-11am, before the westerns return from 11am-7pm, as The Rifleman joins the western line-up at 6pm. The Saturday night sitcom line-up, which was the same as weekdays, will now be removed for an adventure themed night with Batman, Lost in Space and Star Trek from 7pm-10pm. Svengoolie remains at 10pm, leading into new addition Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at 12 midnight. Saturday nights are closed out by sitcoms from 1am-4am, like Get Smart. At 4am, rarely seen series The Rogues will air. And finally on Sundays, comedy takes over for westerns from 5am-8am with series like The Phil Silvers Show and Laurel & Hardy. Then it is the mandatory E/I series break from 8am-11am, leading into The Brady Bunch Brunch from 11am-1pm, which will remain. Sitcoms continue from 1pm-5pm with series like Happy Days and new addition Bosom Buddies. Me-TV still loves Lucy, but now I Love Lucy is 5-7pm instead of 4-7pm. M*A*S*H remains at 7, but then a new Sunday primetime replaces sitcoms with the addition of Columbo from 8-10pm and Thriller at 11pm. Comedies are no longer airing from 11pm-2am on Sunday nights either, as dramas like The Fugitive will air. New addition Route 66 will air at 3am.
In addition, MeTV viewers will find Leave it to Beaver, Dragnet, Adam-12, Boris Karloff's Thriller, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Wagon Train, (both the original 60 minute and 90 minute versions) enhancing the MeTV schedule over the course of the next few years. Also to air on the network will be 1970's favorite Emergency! as well as Raymond Burr's other series, Ironside. As we know, competing digital network Antenna TV will add Leave it to Beaver, Dragnet, Adam-12 and Hitchcock this October, but MeTV will not get the rights to these series until a few more years. We will have more on those series when they are scheduled!
For now, view the MeTV Fall 2011 schedule and discuss the schedule!
Finally, we have some sad news to report. Comedy writer and producer Jeffrey Hodes has died. He died suddenly from cancer-treatment related complications on September 14. Hodes had cancer but was in remission and was getting ready for a bone marrow transplant when he developed breathing problems. An MRI showed blood in his brain. After a day in intensive care, he was taken off life support. Mr. Hodes was in his 40s.
Hodes and his wife and writing partner, Nastaran Dibai, worked together on a number of sitcoms over the years. Their writing credits included Flesh 'n' Blood, Living Single, The Preston Episodes, The Nanny, Jesse, 3rd Rock from the Sun, According to Jim, Hope & Faith, Rita Rocks and the first season finale of Happily Divorced. They served as producers on Living Single, The Nanny, Jesse, 3rd Rock from the Sun, According to Jim and Happily Divorced. The pair helped develop a comedy project for ABC last year with Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos. Mr. Hodes is survived by his wife and their young daughter. He will be missed.
With the new additions, some series will be leaving the schedule. The series leaving are Streets of San Francisco, The Honeymooners, and Stagecoach West. Breaking down the schedule, we will start with weekdays. Comedies air from 5am-9am including Gomer Pyle, Family Affair & My Three Sons, leading into dramas and westerns from 9am-7pm, which include the new evening block of Kojak at 4pm, The Rockford Files at 5pm, and The Rifleman at 6pm. Sitcoms take over from 7pm-11pm, which remain the same except the 10pm hour now has Cheers and Taxi. More dramas will air from 11pm-5am and will remain as it is now, with programs such as The Twilight Zone. Moving on to Saturdays, westerns start it off from 5am-8am, then a mandatory E/I series break from 8am-11am, before the westerns return from 11am-7pm, as The Rifleman joins the western line-up at 6pm. The Saturday night sitcom line-up, which was the same as weekdays, will now be removed for an adventure themed night with Batman, Lost in Space and Star Trek from 7pm-10pm. Svengoolie remains at 10pm, leading into new addition Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at 12 midnight. Saturday nights are closed out by sitcoms from 1am-4am, like Get Smart. At 4am, rarely seen series The Rogues will air. And finally on Sundays, comedy takes over for westerns from 5am-8am with series like The Phil Silvers Show and Laurel & Hardy. Then it is the mandatory E/I series break from 8am-11am, leading into The Brady Bunch Brunch from 11am-1pm, which will remain. Sitcoms continue from 1pm-5pm with series like Happy Days and new addition Bosom Buddies. Me-TV still loves Lucy, but now I Love Lucy is 5-7pm instead of 4-7pm. M*A*S*H remains at 7, but then a new Sunday primetime replaces sitcoms with the addition of Columbo from 8-10pm and Thriller at 11pm. Comedies are no longer airing from 11pm-2am on Sunday nights either, as dramas like The Fugitive will air. New addition Route 66 will air at 3am.
In addition, MeTV viewers will find Leave it to Beaver, Dragnet, Adam-12, Boris Karloff's Thriller, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Wagon Train, (both the original 60 minute and 90 minute versions) enhancing the MeTV schedule over the course of the next few years. Also to air on the network will be 1970's favorite Emergency! as well as Raymond Burr's other series, Ironside. As we know, competing digital network Antenna TV will add Leave it to Beaver, Dragnet, Adam-12 and Hitchcock this October, but MeTV will not get the rights to these series until a few more years. We will have more on those series when they are scheduled!
For now, view the MeTV Fall 2011 schedule and discuss the schedule!
Finally, we have some sad news to report. Comedy writer and producer Jeffrey Hodes has died. He died suddenly from cancer-treatment related complications on September 14. Hodes had cancer but was in remission and was getting ready for a bone marrow transplant when he developed breathing problems. An MRI showed blood in his brain. After a day in intensive care, he was taken off life support. Mr. Hodes was in his 40s.
Hodes and his wife and writing partner, Nastaran Dibai, worked together on a number of sitcoms over the years. Their writing credits included Flesh 'n' Blood, Living Single, The Preston Episodes, The Nanny, Jesse, 3rd Rock from the Sun, According to Jim, Hope & Faith, Rita Rocks and the first season finale of Happily Divorced. They served as producers on Living Single, The Nanny, Jesse, 3rd Rock from the Sun, According to Jim and Happily Divorced. The pair helped develop a comedy project for ABC last year with Kelly Ripa and her husband Mark Consuelos. Mr. Hodes is survived by his wife and their young daughter. He will be missed.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
NBC Fall Pilot Review: Whitney - Premieres September 22; Designing Women, Cybill, Dharma & Greg Coming to TV Guide Network Fall 2011 Schedule
Whitney - Thursdays 9:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 9:30PM ET/PT
Whitney is a hilarious look at modern-day love, which centers around Whitney (Whitney Cummings, Chelsea Lately) and Alex (Chris D'Elia, Glory Daze), a happily unmarried couple. Together for three years, the duo is in no rush to get hitched, which seems to get a mixed response from their friends.
Whitney's close circle of opinionated girlfriends include Lily (Zoe Lister-Jones) who is sweet, upbeat, and ready to get married, and Roxanne (Rhea Seehorn, The Starter Wife) a divorcee who is not afraid to speak her mind, but has not given up on love completely. When they get together, they often discuss their varying relationships and how to deal with everyday life and seemingly have fun at the same time.
Completing their close-knit group is Neal (Maulik Pancholy, 30 Rock) a real contemporary renaissance man—sensitive, cool, and knows a little bit about everything – and happens to be dating Lily. On the other end of the spectrum is Whitney and Alex's next-door neighbor Mark (Dan O'Brien, How I Met Your Mother), a police officer and total bachelor who claims to be the ultimate player but likes to talk a good game.
At the end of the day, Whitney and Alex realize that while their relationship might not be perfect on paper, they really do love each other – and that works for them.
Cast Details:
• Whitney Cummings as Whitney Cummings
• Chris D'Elia as Alex Miller
• Maulik Pancholy as Neal
• Rhea Seehorn as Roxanne
• Zoe Lister-Jones as Lilly
• Daniel G. O'Brien as Mark
• Jane Kaczmarek as Patti Morris, Whitney's mother (recurring guest star)
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) is the title star and executive producer of Whitney. A Los Angeles-based comedian, actor, writer and producer, Cummings also co-created and co-wrote, along with Michael Patrick King, the comedy Two Broke Girls, starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs. Last year, Cummings' hour-long Comedy Central stand-up special, Money Shot, was nominated for an American Comedy Award. As a comedian, Cummings appears regularly on E!'s Chelsea Lately and Comedy Central's Comedy Central Roasts. She got her start starring on MTV's Punk'd.
Comedian Chris D'Elia, (Alex Miller) East Coast-born and West Coast-raised, found himself in Los Angeles, performing every night of the week and quickly becoming a regular at all the Hollywood clubs. His silly, physical humor is what sets him apart from other comedians. D'Elia was recently a series regular in the TBS hour-long series Glory Daze, where he played a college frat-boy burnout. He also has been featured on Lopez Tonight and Showtime's Live Nude Comedy. In addition, D'Elia can be seen in the 2011 half-hour comedy showcase, Comedy Central Presents.
Zoe Lister-Jones (Lily) is a Brooklyn-born actor, writer and producer. Her film Breaking Upwards, which she co-wrote, produced and starred in with director Daryl Wein, was released theatrically by IFC in 2010. For television, Lister-Jones reprised her role as Kim on the live-action Adult Swim series Delocated for Seasons 1 and 2 and guest starred on HBO's Bored to Death and The Good Wife. On Broadway, Lister-Jones received excellent reviews for The Little Dog Laughed.
Maulik Pancholy (Neal) has established himself as one of Hollywood's most distinctive, versatile and impressive performers. Pancholy is best known for his recurring role on the critically acclaimed, Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning NBC comedy "30 Rock." Pancholy stars as Jonathan, the loyal assistant to Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). In 2009, Pancholy shared the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He also shared the SAG Award nomination with the cast for this same category in 2008 and in 2011.
Daniel G. O'Brien (Mark) has worked extensively in theater in New York City with The Atlantic Theater Company, MCC, The Present Company, The Flea Theater and The Vineyard Theater, among others. In the UK, O'Brien has performed at the Camden People's Theater in London and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, garnering a Scotsman Fringe First Award for his work. With his wife and playwright-in-residence, Julie Shavers, he has directed and produced four plays, most recently Silver Bullet Trailer, which was developed with the Royal Court Theater and Present Company and performed at The Ohio Theater in New York.
Rhea Seehorn (Roxanne) grew up in Virginia and graduated from college with a degree in drama and visual arts. Theatrically trained, she further developed her craft in Washington D.C., performing on many stages including Arena Stage and the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, where she is a member of the acting company. Seehorn then moved to Manhattan, performing with Playwrights Horizons. She made her Broadway debut as an understudy in Neil Simon's 45 Seconds from Broadway. Shortly thereafter, she was cast as a series regular on I'm with Her opposite Teri Polo, David Sutcliffe and Danny Comden. Since relocating to Los Angeles, she has had series regular and recurring roles in The Starter Wife, Head Cases, Trust Me, The Dollhouse, Burn Notice and a supporting role in the Disney feature Shaggy Dog opposite Tim Allen.
Pilot Plot:
"Pilot" - When Whitney and Alex, a happily unmarried couple, attend one of their friends' weddings, Whitney realizes that she and Alex are dangerously close to relationship boredom after three years together. Determined not to let that happen, Whitney consults her close circle of opinionated girlfriends Lily and Roxanne. Snapping into action she tries to seduce Alex in a sexy costume, but someone winds up in the emergency room.
Written by Whitney Cummings
Directed by Andy Ackerman
Analysis:
Whitney is a multi-camera sitcom, one of the few to debut in recent years. Television seems to be moving more toward single-camera comedy, and while many of them are funny, it's nice to see an old-fashioned multi-camera one. The show is co-produced and created by star Whitney Cummings, who gained fame as a regular on Punk'd and a frequent panelist on Chelsea Lately. As the host of that show, Chelsea Handler, often chose comedians that shared her type of comedy, a lot of parallels can be drawn between her and Whitney Cummings. Cummings' brash comedy tends to focus on relationships, sex, and the differences between men and women.
Romance, relationships, and sex are the main topics of the show, with women in all sorts of different relationships depicted. Whitney and her boyfriend Alex are not married, and happy to be in that situation. Whitney's friend Lily is desperate to get married, and her other friend Roxanne is recently divorced but not giving up yet. Her mother, Patti, has been divorced three times and has completely given up on men. The plot of the pilot episode is believable, though the wedding scene seemed to do nothing for the plot except introduce all of the characters. Cummings humor is quite brash at times, and while some may find that a turn-off, I honestly found it quite funny. She knows how to do sex jokes without them being distasteful. Whitney and Alex are the main subjects of the show as they deal with the crazy relationships around them.
In the pilot, after attending a friend's wedding (and making a fool of herself by eating wedding cupcakes before the bride and groom "cut" the cupcake-cake), she decides her relationship with Alex is growing stale. So after enlisting advice from her friends, she ends up at a sex shop, and buys a nurse outfit to surprise Alex on their third anniversary. Things go horribly wrong, and Alex ends up hitting his head on the kitchen counter, giving himself a concussion... making Whitney realize how much she really does love him. I liked the plot and thought it had definite funny moments, but the cast somehow feels a bit too large. I realize that they're trying to show relationships from all angles, but I found myself having a hard time keeping up with who's who. The mother character played by the always-hilarious Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) was only in one scene, and I felt like she should have been used more in the pilot. I understand her role was originally played by Beverly D'Angelo, and all her scenes were reshot.
Conclusion:
Whitney Cummings is a funny comedian, and her take on relationships and sex is quite funny. There aren't a lot of shows on the air right now that have women in such brash, leading roles. Whitney is placed in the middle of NBC's Thursday night comedy lineup, but I'm not sure that is exactly the right place for it. While it is a very funny show, I'm not sure it's "Must-See TV," and I'm not sure how well it will fit in with the other shows that are (and three single-camera series). Hopefully, being scheduled after The Office will help in the ratings. For now, the show will be reaired the following night at 8:30PM for a few weeks, so maybe that will bring in some extra eyes as well.
I still feel like the cast is too large and it's hard to keep up with the characters. Ladies' man Mark isn't a very likeable character, but perhaps that's what they are going for, and I feel like Jane Kaczmarek should be given more of a starring role in the show. Nonetheless, I hope the show does well, and I hope people like the over-the-top strong comedy of Whitney Cummings.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
-- Reviewed by Greg Brobeck on 09/21/11
Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, September 21 on our message board.
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Preview:
More sitcoms are coming to the TV Guide Network this Fall! We can call this TV Guide Fall 2011 schedule part two! We already told you that Ned & Stacey, Veronica's Closet and Samantha Who? have joined the network, but now three more sitcoms are being added -- and these are more long-running series! Effective Monday, October 3, 2011, Designing Women, Cybill and Dharma & Greg will join the weekday line-up. Designing Women will air weekdays at 1:00pm & 1:30pm, followed by Cybill at 2:00pm & 2:30pm. Ugly Betty will move again, this time to 3pm & 4pm, leading into an hour of Dharma & Greg at 5pm. The 6-8pm line-up of shorter-lived sitcoms we mentioned already, will remain on the schedule. However, the 11am-1pm encores will no longer be airing, as TV Guide Network has acquired the cable rights to new first-run syndicated talk show Last Shot with Judge Gunn and will be airing weekdays in the 12 noon hour. The encores of Samantha Who, Ned & Stacey and Veronica's Closet (in this order) will now air 12am-2am.
Like the shorter-lived sitcoms, these comedies also star women such as Delta Burke, Annie Potts, Cybill Shepherd, and Jenna Elfman. Designing Women will get a two-hour block on Saturday, Oct. 1 from 3-5pm to kick things off, with the first four episodes airing, so tune in for that! Georgia on my mind!
Discuss these new additions to the TV Guide Network Fall 2011 schedule.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Antenna TV Fall 2011 Schedule Updated With Beaver, Bachelor Father & More; Remembering Frances Bay
When we kicked off out look at the fall 2011 schedules in late July, we started with Antenna TV's Fall 2011 schedule. Now they have changed the schedule and the start date. The schedule was originally supposed to start yesterday (Monday, Sept. 19), but now the classic line-up will start on Saturday, October 1 with many more classics being added! The original schedule had some time changes and the addition of NewsRadio to the line-up on Sunday nights. NewsRadio is still on track to air on Sunday nights, but that's not all that is joining the line-up now! Antenna TV brings a new round of classic programs to television viewers nationwide this fall with the additions of series like Leave it to Beaver, Dragnet and Adam-12. The enhancements to Antenna TV come as the Tribune Broadcasting multicast broadcast network marks clearances in more than 50% of the U.S. with additional new affiliates including stations in Detroit and Orlando. Other new programs on the Antenna TV lineup starting October 1 are McHale's Navy, Bachelor Father, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Jack Benny, S.W.A.T., Suspense Theater, and It Takes a Thief. And of course, the network continues to feature longstanding classics such as Father Knows Best, Dennis the Menace, Good Times, Three's Company, All in the Family, Maude and Sanford and Son.
Going over the new and improved fall 2011 schedule, we will start with weekdays. Movies will now air only from 5am-1pm. The weekday schedule begins on Monday, Oct. 3 and will start now at 1pm with series programming with the perfect combo of Dragnet and Adam-12 in the 1pm hour. The comedy series McHale's Navy will follow in the 2pm hour. Then from 3-5pm, it is a block of fathers with an hour of Bachelor Father at 3pm and Father Knows Best at 4pm. That block will lead into similar-themed series Dennis the Menace at 5pm and new addition Leave it to Beaver at 6pm. That's a match made in heaven! Good Times remains in the 7pm hour leading into primetime. Primetime will now kick-off with Three's Company in the 8pm hour, but that will be Mon-Thurs. Too Close for Comfort will air on Friday nights in the 8pm hour. Three Stooges will no longer air in primetime on Friday nights from 8-11pm, instead it will air in the overnight black & white block from 3-5am on Friday nights. Back to weeknights, the 9pm hour will continue to be All in the Family, now on Fridays as well. Spin-off series Maude will now move from the 8pm hour to the 10pm hour every weeknight. Airing in the 11pm hour will now be Sanford & Son, replacing Mad About You, which is the only series leaving the line-up even with all these new additions. The encore of Three's Company remains in the 12am hour every Mon-Thurs, with Too Close for Comfort on Friday nights. From 1am-5am, the line-up will air Sunday nights through Thursday nights with an hour of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, followed by an hour each of black & white classics Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, and Hazel. Friday nights will feature Benny Hill from 1am-3am, followed by The Three Stooges from 3-5am, as these will be the only airings now for these two series. Only other note for weekdays is that Married...with Children will no longer air Mon-Thurs from 10-11pm. But it will still on on the air. Keep reading.
Moving on to weekends starting Oct. 1, Saturdays will have Movies start off at 5am, then the animated Totally Tooned In is in the 9am hour leading into E/I programming from 10am-1pm. The planned 1pm movie will remain, but the 3pm movie is no longer planned as an hour each of Gidget and The Flying Nun will air instead on both Saturdays and Sundays. Also on both days will be The Monkees at 5pm and The Partridge Family at 6pm. These four series were originally go to air one time each in the late nights on Mon-Thurs, but now will remain on weekends. On Saturdays, 7pm will begin a crime block with S.W.A.T. at 7pm, leading into back-to-back Adam-12 and Dragnet from 8-10pm. Back-to-back episodes of the hour-long drama It Takes a Thief will air at 10pm & 11pm. Saturday nights will now feature Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 12am-3am. Benny Hill and Three Stooges will no longer air on Saturday nights either. Saturday nights close out with the series Suspense Theater at 3am and 4am.
Sundays will start with movies at 5am leading into the current block of Circus Boy, Rin Tin Tin, Iron Horse and Here Come the Brides from 9am-1pm. The planned 1pm movie will remain, but the 3pm movie will no longer happened as we mentioned on Saturdays. Sundays from 3pm-7pm will be the same as the new Saturday line-up. Sundays at 7pm will now feature Too Close for Comfort leading into a newer comedy block from 8-11pm with an hour each of The Nanny, NewsRadio and Married...with Children. The latter will now only air on Sunday nights in the 10pm hour. Soap will now be cut down to an hour, airing in the 11pm hour leading into the encore of Too Close for Comfort. And 1am-5am will be the same as Mon-Thurs nights, as we mentioned.
View the UPDATED Antenna TV Fall 2011 schedule. So there you have it! What a line-up this is. It has something for everyone and lots of new series being added. We also have some exclusive news! Antenna TV is planning holiday marathons of TV classics this holiday season beginning with Halloween! An Alfred Hitchcock Presents all-day and night Halloween (Oct 31) marathon is planned. Then on Thanksgiving Day they will be airing an all-day Three's Company marathon. On Christmas Eve and Day, Antenna TV will be airing all of their series that has Christmas episodes ranging from Burns and Allen, All in the Family, Three's Company, The Nanny and more! Antenna TV is also working on marathons for New Year's Eve and Day, so stay tuned for that, as that is still quite some time away. We will have more on these marathons with exact timings, closer to the holidays.
As for new clearances, Adell Broadcasting's WADL-TV in Detroit and Cox Broadcasting's WRDQ-TV in Orlando are two of the newest affiliates joining Antenna TV. Other recent additions include three Media General stations: WNCN-TV (Raleigh-Durham), WJTV-TV (Jackson, MS) and WBTW-TV (Myrtle Beach) and Sarkes Tarzian station KTVN-TV in Reno, NV. Stay with us as Antenna TV adds more stations and if any more programming changes happen. We are your go to source for anything classic TV!
We have some sad news to report. Character actress Frances Bay, best-known for playing quirky, elderly women on film and television, has died. Bay died at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California on September 15, 2011, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. She had been ill with various infections. Ms. Bay was 92.
Bay made appearances in more than 150 films and television shows in a career that she began in her mid-50s. Her first film appearance was a small part in the 1978 comedy Foul Play. One of her first major television roles was as Grandma Nussbaum, the grandmother of Fonzie, on Happy Days. Another memorable role for her was as Mabel Choate on Seinfeld. In the famous episode titled The Rye, she is mugged by Jerry for her loaf of marbled rye bread. She would return in The Cadillac and the series finale. Her many other sitcom appearances included The Jeffersons, Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Newhart, ALF, Who's the Boss?, Empty Nest, The Hughleys and Hannah Montana. She was still active as of last season with appearances on The Middle as the silent Aunt Ginny. Some of her drama television appearances included Hart to Hart, The Dukes of Hazzard, Flamingo Road, Cagney & Lacey, T.J. Hooker, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Hunter, Matlock, Twin Peaks, Charmed and Grey's Anatomy. Her film roles included The Karate Kid, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Big Top Pee-wee, In the Mouth of Madness and Happy Gilmore.
She was born in Manville, Alberta, Canada. In 2008, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. She has no immediate survivors. Her husband, Charles, died in 2002. Their son, Josh, died at the age of 23. She was a sweet and funny lady and will be deeply missed.
Going over the new and improved fall 2011 schedule, we will start with weekdays. Movies will now air only from 5am-1pm. The weekday schedule begins on Monday, Oct. 3 and will start now at 1pm with series programming with the perfect combo of Dragnet and Adam-12 in the 1pm hour. The comedy series McHale's Navy will follow in the 2pm hour. Then from 3-5pm, it is a block of fathers with an hour of Bachelor Father at 3pm and Father Knows Best at 4pm. That block will lead into similar-themed series Dennis the Menace at 5pm and new addition Leave it to Beaver at 6pm. That's a match made in heaven! Good Times remains in the 7pm hour leading into primetime. Primetime will now kick-off with Three's Company in the 8pm hour, but that will be Mon-Thurs. Too Close for Comfort will air on Friday nights in the 8pm hour. Three Stooges will no longer air in primetime on Friday nights from 8-11pm, instead it will air in the overnight black & white block from 3-5am on Friday nights. Back to weeknights, the 9pm hour will continue to be All in the Family, now on Fridays as well. Spin-off series Maude will now move from the 8pm hour to the 10pm hour every weeknight. Airing in the 11pm hour will now be Sanford & Son, replacing Mad About You, which is the only series leaving the line-up even with all these new additions. The encore of Three's Company remains in the 12am hour every Mon-Thurs, with Too Close for Comfort on Friday nights. From 1am-5am, the line-up will air Sunday nights through Thursday nights with an hour of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, followed by an hour each of black & white classics Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, and Hazel. Friday nights will feature Benny Hill from 1am-3am, followed by The Three Stooges from 3-5am, as these will be the only airings now for these two series. Only other note for weekdays is that Married...with Children will no longer air Mon-Thurs from 10-11pm. But it will still on on the air. Keep reading.
Moving on to weekends starting Oct. 1, Saturdays will have Movies start off at 5am, then the animated Totally Tooned In is in the 9am hour leading into E/I programming from 10am-1pm. The planned 1pm movie will remain, but the 3pm movie is no longer planned as an hour each of Gidget and The Flying Nun will air instead on both Saturdays and Sundays. Also on both days will be The Monkees at 5pm and The Partridge Family at 6pm. These four series were originally go to air one time each in the late nights on Mon-Thurs, but now will remain on weekends. On Saturdays, 7pm will begin a crime block with S.W.A.T. at 7pm, leading into back-to-back Adam-12 and Dragnet from 8-10pm. Back-to-back episodes of the hour-long drama It Takes a Thief will air at 10pm & 11pm. Saturday nights will now feature Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 12am-3am. Benny Hill and Three Stooges will no longer air on Saturday nights either. Saturday nights close out with the series Suspense Theater at 3am and 4am.
Sundays will start with movies at 5am leading into the current block of Circus Boy, Rin Tin Tin, Iron Horse and Here Come the Brides from 9am-1pm. The planned 1pm movie will remain, but the 3pm movie will no longer happened as we mentioned on Saturdays. Sundays from 3pm-7pm will be the same as the new Saturday line-up. Sundays at 7pm will now feature Too Close for Comfort leading into a newer comedy block from 8-11pm with an hour each of The Nanny, NewsRadio and Married...with Children. The latter will now only air on Sunday nights in the 10pm hour. Soap will now be cut down to an hour, airing in the 11pm hour leading into the encore of Too Close for Comfort. And 1am-5am will be the same as Mon-Thurs nights, as we mentioned.
View the UPDATED Antenna TV Fall 2011 schedule. So there you have it! What a line-up this is. It has something for everyone and lots of new series being added. We also have some exclusive news! Antenna TV is planning holiday marathons of TV classics this holiday season beginning with Halloween! An Alfred Hitchcock Presents all-day and night Halloween (Oct 31) marathon is planned. Then on Thanksgiving Day they will be airing an all-day Three's Company marathon. On Christmas Eve and Day, Antenna TV will be airing all of their series that has Christmas episodes ranging from Burns and Allen, All in the Family, Three's Company, The Nanny and more! Antenna TV is also working on marathons for New Year's Eve and Day, so stay tuned for that, as that is still quite some time away. We will have more on these marathons with exact timings, closer to the holidays.
As for new clearances, Adell Broadcasting's WADL-TV in Detroit and Cox Broadcasting's WRDQ-TV in Orlando are two of the newest affiliates joining Antenna TV. Other recent additions include three Media General stations: WNCN-TV (Raleigh-Durham), WJTV-TV (Jackson, MS) and WBTW-TV (Myrtle Beach) and Sarkes Tarzian station KTVN-TV in Reno, NV. Stay with us as Antenna TV adds more stations and if any more programming changes happen. We are your go to source for anything classic TV!
We have some sad news to report. Character actress Frances Bay, best-known for playing quirky, elderly women on film and television, has died. Bay died at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California on September 15, 2011, after being diagnosed with pneumonia. She had been ill with various infections. Ms. Bay was 92.
Bay made appearances in more than 150 films and television shows in a career that she began in her mid-50s. Her first film appearance was a small part in the 1978 comedy Foul Play. One of her first major television roles was as Grandma Nussbaum, the grandmother of Fonzie, on Happy Days. Another memorable role for her was as Mabel Choate on Seinfeld. In the famous episode titled The Rye, she is mugged by Jerry for her loaf of marbled rye bread. She would return in The Cadillac and the series finale. Her many other sitcom appearances included The Jeffersons, Family Ties, Cheers, The Golden Girls, Newhart, ALF, Who's the Boss?, Empty Nest, The Hughleys and Hannah Montana. She was still active as of last season with appearances on The Middle as the silent Aunt Ginny. Some of her drama television appearances included Hart to Hart, The Dukes of Hazzard, Flamingo Road, Cagney & Lacey, T.J. Hooker, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Hunter, Matlock, Twin Peaks, Charmed and Grey's Anatomy. Her film roles included The Karate Kid, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Big Top Pee-wee, In the Mouth of Madness and Happy Gilmore.
She was born in Manville, Alberta, Canada. In 2008, she was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. She has no immediate survivors. Her husband, Charles, died in 2002. Their son, Josh, died at the age of 23. She was a sweet and funny lady and will be deeply missed.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Fox Fall Pilot Review: New Girl - Premieres September 20; 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Award Winners
New Girl - Tuesdays 9:00PM ET/PT on Fox
Premieres Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 9:00PM ET/PT
A new comedy series from executive producer and writer Liz Meriwether (No Strings Attached), New Girl features a young ensemble cast that takes a fresh look at modern relationships.
After a bad break-up, Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) needs a new place to live. An online search leads her to a great loft...and three single guys she's never met before. But Jess moves in, and through her unique sense of self and the support of her new roommates, she learns to move on.
Of her three new male roommates, Nick (Jake Johnson) is the most grounded...and also the most jaded. A law school dropout, he spends most of his time hiding under his hoodie and tending bar. Schmidt (Max Greenfield) is a hustling young professional who's pretty proud of his own abs. Winston(Lamorne Morris), is an intensely competitive former athlete who doesn't know what to do next-but whatever he does, he wants to win it.
In the pilot episode, Jess also meets Coach (guest star Damon Wayans Jr.), a personal trainer with a bit of an anger problem, who's subletting a room.
Rounding out the group is Jess' childhood best friend, Cece (Hannah Simone), a model with a killer deadpan. As their relationships progress, these five realize they need each other more than they thought they would and end up forming a charmingly dysfunctional - or strangely functional - family.
Cast Details:
• Zooey Deschanel as Jess Day
• Jake Johnson as Nick
• Max Greenfield as Schmidt
• Lamorne Morris as Winston (beginning with the second episode)
• Damon Wayans Jr. as Coach (pilot episode only)
• Hannah Simone as Cece
Zooey Deschanel (Jess Day) is an entertainer in every sense of the word, bringing the classical leading lady back to the modern audience with her old-fashioned charm. Her starring roles in (500) Days of Summer opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Yes Man opposite Jim Carrey cemented her mainstream presence. This summer, Deschanel co-starred in My Idiot Brother opposite Paul Rudd and Elizabeth Banks, and wrote and performed original music for Disney's Winnie the Pooh.
After making her feature film debut in 1999 in Lawrence Kasdan's Mumford, Deschanel's breakout performance was in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. She earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Lead Actress for All the Real Girls and lent her voice talents to the animated feature Surf's Up. Deschanel played the lead in the hit Emmy® Award-nominated mini-series Tin Man. Her additional credits include The Good Girl, Eulogy, the holiday classic Elf, Failure To Launch, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Bridge to Terabithia, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Live Free or Die, Flakes, Gigantic, The Go-Getter, The Good Life, Winter Passing, The Happening, Abandon, Big Trouble and Your Highness.
Jake Johnson (Nick) is in his second collaboration with executive producer/writer Liz Meriwether after the feature film comedy No Strings Attached. Johnson's credits include Paper Heart opposite Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi and Ceremony with Uma Thurman. He recently wrapped production on the feature film adaptation of 21 Jump Street opposite Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and the comedies Ass Backwards and Safety Not Guaranteed with Kristen Bell and Aubrey Plaza. Johnson will next be heard in the upcoming animated Fox series Allen Gregory as the voice of "Joel Zadak."
Max Greenfield's (Schmidt) breakout role was in the 2004 indie film Cross Bronx, which won awards at the Tribeca, Cinevagas and Urban World Film Festivals. Greenfield's first series regular lead role was on the comedy series Modern Men, although he is best known for his recurring roles as "Leo D'Amato" on Veronica Mars, "Nick Pepper" on Ugly Betty and most recently as "Michael" on Greek.
His television credits include Raising the Bar, Castle, Lie to Me, No Ordinary Family, Hot in Cleveland and Happy Endings. He has also appeared on Gilmore Girls, Boston Public, Sleeper Cell, The O.C. and Melrose Place. Greenfield also starred in the feature film When Do We Eat.
Lamorne Morris (Winston) hails from Chicago and attended the College of DuPage in Illinois, where he studied acting on a Chris Farley Memorial Scholarship. In 2003, he started performing at The Second City and Improv Olympic. In 2006, he moved to New York to work for BET and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and The Pit. He moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to pursue film and television. His credits include The Assistants and The Middle, as well as numerous national commercials.
Hannah Simone (Cece) makes her television series acting debut on New Girl. She most recently served as the host of WCG: Ultimate Gamer, a reality show set in the gaming world. Simone started in the entertainment business at age nine as an actress gracing stages around the world. Her stage career led her to host a cable home-design show before joining Canada's largest music channel, MuchMusic. She served as the host for Much News Weekly and The New Music, as well as hosting live red-carpet events such as the MuchMusic Video Awards and television specials such as MuchTalks: Climate Change and MuchTalks: AIDS. She recently completed work on Sati Shaves Her Head, a short film directed by Tejal Shah based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Pilot Plot:
"Pilot" - In the debut episode, Jess Day (Deschanel) discovers her long-term boyfriend is cheating on her and decides to move into a loft apartment with three male roommates – prickly bartender Nick (Jake Johnson), womanizer Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and intense personal trainer Coach (guest-star Damon Wayans, Jr.). The guys, alongside Jess’ childhood best friend Cece (Hannah Simone), try to help Jess get back on her feet and into the dating world.
Written by Liz Meriwether
Directed by Jake Kasdan
Guest Stars: Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Caroline, Gillian Vigman as Kim, Ian Wolterstorf as Spencer, Ashton Swinford as Spencer Girl, David Neher as Benjamin, Andy Scott Harris as Goraning Boy, Hayley Marie Norman as Hot Hostess, Lauren Dair Owens as Young Jess, Steve Bannos as Cab Driver, Porter Kelly as Woman on Bike
Analysis:
New Girl is a single-camera ensemble comedy. There's no laugh track added. The show is produced by Chernin Entertainment in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The series is created, produced and written by Liz Meriwether. Jake Kasdan directed the pilot and will continue to direct future episodes of the series. Zooey Deschanel performs the theme song that is written by Michael Andrews, Liz Meriwether, David Finkel, Brett Faer and Zooey Deschanel. Damon Wayans, Jr. appears as Coach in the pilot episode only. Due to the renewal and his commitment to Happy Endings, a new character will be brought in for the second episode. Lamorne Morris will play Winston Bishop, who will be returning from a professional basketball career in Croatia.
In the pilot episode, Jess meets three single guys and decides to move into their apartment loft. There's a flashback scene from two weeks ago where Jess is talking to her friend Cece on the phone. Jess discovers that her boyfriend Spencer is cheating on her and answers a Craigslist ad for a new apartment. The guys ask her some questions and she tells them a little about herself. Jess cries while watching Dirty Dancing. They later go to a bar and Jess meets Peter who asks her out. The guys talk to Jess' model friend, Cece, while Jess gets ready for her date. Nick meets Caroline at the party and asks her why he dumped him. After learning that Jess has been stood up on her date, the guys leave the party to go and console her. In a funny closing scene, everybody joins in for a song.
Zooey Deschanel makes this show very watchable. She's so adorable and funny. If it were any other actress in the role, I don't think I would have as much interest. The pilot is pretty decent, but it feels a bit rushed. They have to cover a lot of ground in around 24 minutes, so there's not really much backstory given for the characters. It sets up the basic premise and introduces us to the characters. This single-camera comedy is shot much like a movie. There are many different scenes at various locations. Several flashback cutaway scenes are used to nice effect, including one with a young Jess. There's also a number of songs used in the pilot, including Time of Your Life from Dirty Dancing several times. Ludwing Goransson provides a nice comedic and tender musical score.
Conclusion:
Zooey Deschanel is perfectly adorkable (both adorable and dorky) in her first lead television role. I've been a fan of her from films such as (500) Days of Summer and Yes Man. It's not always an easy move from films to the small screen, but she makes a very smooth transition. She has great comedic timing, facial expressions and cute mannerisms. Besides being a fine actress, she's also a talented singer. She puts her voice to nice use with the show's theme song and her character sings several times in the pilot. Hopefully her singing will be a big part of the show.
There's a lot to like about the pilot. It doesn't have the rapid fire amount of jokes as a traditional multi-camera comedy, but there are some funny moments and the cast seems to have good chemistry. The show is well cast and the trio of guys make for a nice ensemble. It's a bit unfortunate that they are losing Damon Wayans Jr. after the pilot. He had some funny scenes in the pilot with his Coach character and his anger problems. Lamorne Morris will be brought in for the second episode as Winston, so hopefully they won't lose a beat with him as a replacement. Justin Long will also have a recurring role as a love interest for Jess in future episodes.
New Girl has a great time slot after Glee and should do well in the ratings, especially in the 18-49 demo. I think it's a much better fit after Glee than Raising Hope was last season. Zooey Deschanel is already a pretty big film star, so it would not be a huge surprise if she's this season's breakout TV star.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 3/5
Overall: 3.5/5
-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller on 09/19/11
Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, September 20 on our message board.
Related Links:
Preview:
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards air tonight on Fox at 8/7c. As always, here are our picks on who will win. Come on back tomorrow to see who the winners were and how many we got right!
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Glee (Fox)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
The Office (NBC)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
WINNER: Modern Family. No surprise and well deserving! Got this right.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
WINNER: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory. Another no surprise and well deserving! Got this right as well.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTRESS
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Laura Linney, The Big C (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope (Fox)
WINNER: Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly. The first surprise, as we predicted Poehler.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Chris Colfer, Glee (Fox)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
WINNER: Ty Burrell, Modern Family. Well deserving! And we got this one right, Phil Dunphy, yo!
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (TV Land)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (NBC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Kristin Wiig, SNL (NBC)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Fox)
WINNER: Julie Bowen, Modern Family. We picked Vergara, but Bowen was my second option. Both were well deserving. Very happy for the beautiful Julie Bowen!
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
WINNER: Mad Men, AMC. Got this one right, too.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified (FX)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
WINNER: Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights, DirecTV. We picked Hamm, but Chandler isn't really surprising since this series just ended.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTRESS
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Mireille Enos, The Killing (AMC)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
WINNER: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife. Another correct one for us. This was sealed probably since last year. Emmy voters love this show.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Walton Goggins, Justified (FX)
Josh Charles, The Good Wife (CBS)
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age (TNT)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife (CBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
WINNER: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones. Yeah...got this one right, too.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Michelle Forbes, The Killing (AMC)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Margo Martindale, Justified (FX)
WINNER: Margo Martindale, Justified. We didn't expect this one, so sort of surprising but this category was wide open.
View the full list of winners.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Final Summer Week Sitcom Ratings; Our 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Picks
Summer officially ends after tonight! We will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis next Sunday, so today is our last summer report of how the sitcoms did in summer:
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Summer Week 15, week of Sept. 5-11)
Monday Sitcoms
Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, last week's The Simpsons and Family Guy, and the premiere of Up All Night were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as a repeat of The Office and the premiere of Free Agents) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of Raising Hope and Community).[Source: Nielsen NTI Ratings. View Travis Yanan's Ratings Website].
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards air tonight on Fox at 8/7c. As always, here are our picks on who will win. Come on back tomorrow to see who the winners were and how many we got right!
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Glee (Fox)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
The Office (NBC)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
OUR PICK: Modern Family. It is clearly the best comedy and should win for the second consecutive season. Glee is not a half-hour comedy.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
OUR PICK: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory. Knowing the Emmys, they will also consider Alec Baldwin. Perhaps Carell could get it, too.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTRESS
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Laura Linney, The Big C (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope (Fox)
OUR PICK: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation. This is wide-open I think.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Chris Colfer, Glee (Fox)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
OUR PICK: Ty Burrell, Modern Family. Someone from Modern Family will win and I feel Ty deserves it the most. Ed O'Neill could win too, after not being nominated last year.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (TV Land)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (NBC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Kristin Wiig, SNL (NBC)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Fox)
OUR PICK: Sofia Vergara, Modern Family. Vergara stepped it up big time in season two. She is most deserving. Betty White is a wild card here, she is great but I don't think she should win. Lynch and Bowen are deserving, too, especially Bowen.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
OUR PICK: Mad Men, AMC. The Emmy team loves this show. I could see the two HBO series winning, too.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified (FX)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
OUR PICK: Jon Hamm, Mad Men, AMC. Cable usually rules in drama.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTRESS
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Mireille Enos, The Killing (AMC)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
OUR PICK: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife. She will win it, unless Moss wins.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Walton Goggins, Justified (FX)
Josh Charles, The Good Wife (CBS)
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age (TNT)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife (CBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
OUR PICK: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones. This is wide-open and anyone can win it.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Michelle Forbes, The Killing (AMC)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Margo Martindale, Justified (FX)
OUR PICK: Christine Baranski, The Good Wife. This is another tough one.
View the full list of nominations. The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airs LIVE tonight (Sunday, Sept. 18) at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Fox. Come on back for the winners!
Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Summer Week 15, week of Sept. 5-11)
- American Dad! (Fox) - preempted.
- Bob's Burgers (Fox) - preempted.
- The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat did 5.3 million and a 2.4 18-49 rating, which was was higher than previous week thanks to the NFL lead-in.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - preempted.
- Family Guy (Fox) - A one-hour repeat from 8:30-9:38pm did 4.04 million and a 1.9 18-49 rating, which was up from the previous week.
Monday Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 2 airings - 3.3 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat at 8:39pm, thanks to a US Open overrun, was down a lick from the previous week. A second repeat followed at 9:09pm and delivered 3.7 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, also off a bit from previous week.
- Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 4.4 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9:39pm is down week-to-week.
- Mike & Molly (CBS) - 4.09 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat at 10:10pm was also down from the previous week. Looks like the U.S. Open overrun really messed things up.
- Raising Hope (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did just 1.83 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, down some from previous week. A repeat at 9:30pm did 1.92 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week.
- The Middle (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 8pm did 4.31 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, on par really with the previous week. A second repeat followed with 4.38 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating, off a bit week-to-week.
- Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 4.9 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, off some from the previous week but still a good summer showing for sitcoms. A repeat at 9:30pm followed and did 4.65 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, on par with previous week
- Up All Night (NBC) - The series premiere following the season finale of America's Got Talent was certainly sampled with 10.95 million and a 3.7 18-49 rating at 10pm. It will be interesting how much of that it can hang on to this week in its normal timeslot of 8pm. I'm guessing a 2.0, as the reception to the pilot wasn't too good.
- Free Agents (NBC) - The series premiere of this comedy followed and it lost a good chunk of the lead-in's ratings, which is a terrible sign for this series. The premiere did 6.12 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, which in any other week would be pretty low. Not good for a premiere.
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS) 2 airings - A repeat did 8.22 million and a 2.3 18-49 rating, which was way up from the previous week. A second repeat followed and did better with 8.78 million anda 2.6 18-49 rating. The season premiere is this week and should do well.
- Community (NBC) - Just 2.05 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating for a repeat.
- Up All Night (NBC) - A repeat of the previous night's premiere did 2.51 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating. More sampling.
- The Office (NBC) - A repeat did 3.11 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, its best numbers in months.
- Free Agents (NBC) - 2.38 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat of the premiere from the previous night. Could be better, but just sampling.
Friday Sitcoms
- American Dad! (Fox) - prelim ratings show only 1.59 million and a prelim 0.8 18-49 rating, which is on par week-to-week.
- The Cleveland Show (Fox) - prelim ratings for this show were even lower with a prelim 1.68 million and a prelim 0.7 18-49 rating, also on par week-to-week.
- Up All Night (NBC) - Yet another airing of the premiere did a prelim 2.32 million and a prelim 0.6 18-49 rating. More sampling, but NBC will be airing second runs of the series for the next few Fridays. That could hamper its Wednesday airings a bit.
- Free Agents (NBC) - A third run of the premiere did only a prelim 1.76 million and a prelim 0.4 18-49 rating. This series won't be encoring anymore.
Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, last week's The Simpsons and Family Guy, and the premiere of Up All Night were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as a repeat of The Office and the premiere of Free Agents) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of Raising Hope and Community).[Source: Nielsen NTI Ratings. View Travis Yanan's Ratings Website].
The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards air tonight on Fox at 8/7c. As always, here are our picks on who will win. Come on back tomorrow to see who the winners were and how many we got right!
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Glee (Fox)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
The Office (NBC)
Modern Family (ABC)
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
OUR PICK: Modern Family. It is clearly the best comedy and should win for the second consecutive season. Glee is not a half-hour comedy.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)
Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA Network)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
OUR PICK: Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory. Knowing the Emmys, they will also consider Alec Baldwin. Perhaps Carell could get it, too.
OUTSTANDING LEAD COMEDY ACTRESS
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Laura Linney, The Big C (Showtime)
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation (NBC)
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly (CBS)
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope (Fox)
OUR PICK: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation. This is wide-open I think.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family (ABC)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family (ABC)
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family (ABC)
Chris Colfer, Glee (Fox)
Ty Burrell, Modern Family (ABC)
OUR PICK: Ty Burrell, Modern Family. Someone from Modern Family will win and I feel Ty deserves it the most. Ed O'Neill could win too, after not being nominated last year.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Betty White, Hot in Cleveland (TV Land)
Julie Bowen, Modern Family (ABC)
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock (NBC)
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family (ABC)
Kristin Wiig, SNL (NBC)
Jane Lynch, Glee (Fox)
OUR PICK: Sofia Vergara, Modern Family. Vergara stepped it up big time in season two. She is most deserving. Betty White is a wild card here, she is great but I don't think she should win. Lynch and Bowen are deserving, too, especially Bowen.
OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
Mad Men (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
OUR PICK: Mad Men, AMC. The Emmy team loves this show. I could see the two HBO series winning, too.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTOR
Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Timothy Olyphant, Justified (FX)
Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)
Jon Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)
OUR PICK: Jon Hamm, Mad Men, AMC. Cable usually rules in drama.
OUTSTANDING LEAD DRAMA ACTRESS
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men (AMC)
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law (NBC)
Mireille Enos, The Killing (AMC)
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife (CBS)
OUR PICK: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife. She will win it, unless Moss wins.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Walton Goggins, Justified (FX)
Josh Charles, The Good Wife (CBS)
Andre Braugher, Men of a Certain Age (TNT)
John Slattery, Mad Men (AMC)
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife (CBS)
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
OUR PICK: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones. This is wide-open and anyone can win it.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Michelle Forbes, The Killing (AMC)
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife (CBS)
Christine Hendricks, Mad Men (AMC)
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife (CBS)
Margo Martindale, Justified (FX)
OUR PICK: Christine Baranski, The Good Wife. This is another tough one.
View the full list of nominations. The 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards airs LIVE tonight (Sunday, Sept. 18) at 8pm ET/5pm PT on Fox. Come on back for the winners!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Digital Digest: Castle - The Complete Third Season DVD Review; Body of Proof - The Complete First Season DVD Review
It may seem hard to believe, but this is the last weekend of summer, which means one big thing for us: welcome to the last Digital Digest of the summer! Fall is always full of changes for everything in the world around us, but in the world of sitcoms, it means that we start getting new seasons of our favorite broadcast network sitcoms, and even more of last season's sitcoms on digital media. And of course, there are always old classics to revisit! This week, we'll be reviewing some more ABC dramas, with Body of Proof - The Complete First Season and Castle - The Complete Third Season. Here we go!
Last Saturday, TVShowsOnDVD.com brought some special news about some December releases from Shout! Factory. First, on December 6, we'll get to see more of Designing Women, with Designing Women - The Complete Fifth Season. Then, the very next week, on December 13, we'll get to see the end of the sitcom Spin City, with Spin City - The Complete Sixth Season! As always, it is great to see a series coming to completion on DVD.
The Lucy Show has been released on DVD at a rather steady pace, and more is coming in December! On December 6, we have The Lucy Show - The Official Fifth Season coming to DVD. But the news gets a little better... according to TVShowsOnDVD.com, the set will include the special "Lucy in London"! It had been originally unofficially reported that this hour-long special would likely not be included due to some rights issues, but it is great to see that it has been resolved.
Fans of The Office have been very satisfied ("that's what she said"... sorry!) with the DVD releases of the series in the United States, and we've even been able to see the UK version of the series on DVD in the US. The Office (UK) - Special 10th Anniversary Edition comes to DVD November 22 and collects all twelve (hey, it is a British series!) and plenty of special features on a four disc set. While all of the episodes have already been released on DVD, this new package is an even nicer version that what we saw before.
Fans of The Office have been very satisfied ("that's what she said"... sorry!) with the DVD releases of the series in the United States, and we've even been able to see the UK version of the series on DVD in the US. The Office (UK) - Special 10th Anniversary Edition comes to DVD November 22 and collects all twelve (hey, it is a British series!) and plenty of special features on a four disc set. While all of the episodes have already been released on DVD, this new package is an even nicer version that what we saw before.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (September 20) is a very busy day for releases, particularly for the 2010-2011 season of current series. For sitcoms, we have Happy Endings - The Complete First Season, Mike & Molly - The Complete First Season (DVD/Blu-ray), Modern Family - The Complete Second Season (DVD/Blu-ray), and Raising Hope - The Complete First Season. Also on Tuesday, we get to see the HBO series How to Make it in America - The Complete First Season (DVD/Blu-ray). And classic TV isn't being left out of the party: we've also got The Dick Van Dyke Show - 50th Anniversary Edition: Fan Favorites (read our review) and the classic series Hawaii Five-O - The Eleventh Season (read our review). And for fans of comedy above the border, we've got The Red Green Show - The Geezer Years (review coming next week in Digital Digest). But wait! We're still not done! We've also got Body of Proof - The Complete First Season and Castle - The Complete Third Season. We have reviews of both of these this week in Digital Digest. Clearly, no matter what your taste is in television, there is something for you out there this Tuesday!
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
When a mystery novelist kills off the main character in his book series and a copycat murder occurs, the novelist is sure to be questioned. That is how the ABC series Castle starts off, but when it is realized that Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) can also be a valuable asset during the interrogation process, the questioning turns into a relationship that proves to be very useful. Here is our review of Castle - The Complete Third Season.
DVD Review: Castle - The Complete Third Season
by Pavan
Castle - The Complete Third Season (ABC Studios, $45.99) brings the thrilling third season of the witty crime series starring Nathan Fillion on DVD with all 24 episodes! Famous mystery novelist Richard Castle and NYPD Detective Kate Beckett return for the suspenseful third season of ABC's brilliantly funny series, Castle. Enjoy every inspired idea and flirtatious moment as this fiery duo solve the strangest homicides New York has to offer. It's the most entertaining season yet as Castle's wildly funny storytelling skills work their way into every case. Between his mixed-up partnership with Beckett and his relationships with his diva mother and his clever daughter, Alexis, Castle is always on his toes. Crime fighting has never been this much fun! Get on the beat and relive every wild and witty moment in this 5-disc DVD set.
The series will return to its Mondays at 10PM timeslot on ABC this coming season following Dancing with the Stars once again. The series stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett, Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito, Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Dr. Lanie Parish, Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery, Molly Quinn as Alexis Castle, and Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers. Among the recurring stars are Michael Connelly and James Patterson as themselves, Arye Gross as Medical Examiner Dr. Sidney Perlmutter, Ken Baumann as Ashley, and Victor Webster as Dr. Josh Davidson. Among the guests this year are Bre Blair, Lee Tergesen, Michael Mosley, Mary Page Keller, John Pyper-Ferguson, Ever Carradine, Lyle Lovett, Lance Henriksen, Sam Page, Juliana Dever, Laura Prepon, Brett Cullen, Gilles Marini, Max Martini, Adrian Pasdar, Corbin Bernsen, Rebecca Budig, Cameron Mathison, Tina Majorino, Jane Seymour, Bruce Davison, Jay Paulson, Peter Onorati, D.B. Sweeney, Jason George, Michael McKean, Teri Polo, and Jason Beghe as Royce.
This third season is just as thrilling as the second season. I don't like most crime shows of today, but this one is a throwback to the ones of the past and focuses on characters than more about the case. I like that! And the back and forth banter between Castle and Beckett is sexy and is heating! Will they or won't they? As far as memorable episodes, we have the season premiere "A Deadly Affair," where Beckett hasn't heard from Castle since he left for the Hamptons months ago to finish writing his second Nikki Heat novel, "Naked Heat," but Beckett and her team burst into an apartment on a murderer's trail, only to be surprised when they find Castle standing over a dead woman's body holding a gun. In "Under the Gun," while investigating the murder of a bail bondsman, Beckett and Castle run into Beckett's first Training Officer, Mike Royce, now working as a bounty hunter and chasing their murder suspect on a warrant for missing his court appearance. In "Anatomy of a Murder," when a County Hospital doctor's body is discovered in someone else's casket, Castle and Beckett dive into the complex relationships in the hospital and the doctor's life to uncover the killer. On the edge of your seat episode, "3XK," when a woman's dead body shows signs of an old killer's handy work, Castle and Beckett discover that the Triple Killer, a murderer who vanished four years prior, may have returned.
In "Nikki Heat," Natalie Rhodes (Laura Prepon), playing Nikki Heat in the film adaptation of Heat Wave, joins Castle and Beckett in their next investigation of a high class match-maker, Stacy Collins, but Natalie goes to extremes during her "character research," making herself into the exact image of Beckett, much to Castle's delight and Beckett's dismay, while Ryan tries to find the best way to propose to Jenny. On the thrilling episode "Knockdown," when the detective who investigated Beckett's mother's murder is shot before Beckett's eyes before he can give her new evidence in the case, Beckett's old wounds are reopened and the investigation of the detective's death leads the team to an old scheme which may provide the answer to why Beckett's mother was murdered and who ordered it. In the first part of a two-part episode, "Set Up," Castle and Beckett Investigate the murder of a New York taxi driver who was shot to death, and his taxi stripped of its parts, but as they search for his killer, they are led to a storage with trace amounts of radioactive material and evidence that there may be a terrorist group building a dirty bomb so Beckett and the squad must cooperate with a ruthless Homeland Security agent Mark Fallon (Adrian Pasdar), but Castle senses that they have been set up. On the conclusion, "Countdown," Castle and Beckett remain trapped in the frozen storage container while the NYPD and the Department of Homeland Security continue to search for the dirty bomb, but can they find the bomb, and defuse it in time? In the episode "To Love and Die in L.A.," against orders, Beckett travels to Los Angeles while investigating the murder of her training officer Michael Royce, and Castle questions Beckett's motives. On one of the best season finales in memory, "Knockout," an assassin, with knowledge of the details behind Beckett's mother's murder, escapes from custody during his trial leaving Castle and Beckett to track him down and a secret is revealed about Captain Montgomery's past and the identity of the third cop leading into a stunning conclusion to the season.
The episodes run usually 42-43 minutes...unedited of course with all the great music intact. See the runtimes below:
Disc 1
1. "A Deadly Affair" 42:39
2. "He's Dead, She's Dead" 42:58
3. "Under the Gun" 43:00
4. "Punked" 42:39
5. "Anatomy of Murder" 42:44
Disc 2
6. "3XK" 43:02
7. "Almost Famous" 41:30
8. "Murder Must Fowl" 42:41
9. "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind" 42:23
10. "Last Call" 42:40
Disc 3
11. "Nikki Heat" 42:03
12. "Poof! You're Dead" 42:56
13. "Knockdown" 43:04
14. "Lucky Stiff" 42:55
15. "The Final Nail" 42:55
Disc 4
16. "Set Up, Part 1" 42:58
17. "Countdown, Part 2" 42:59
18. "One Life to Lose" 42:39
19. "Law & Murder" 42:41
20. "Slice of Death" 42:52
Disc 5
21. "The Dead Pool" 42:58
22. "To Love and Die in L.A." 42:50
23. "Pretty Dead" 42:13
24. "Knockout" 43:01
Packaging has a thin outer box that you can remove from the top or bottom to get to the case inside, just like the previous sets. Both the thin outer box and case have the same artwork for both the front and back. The cover has a nice full body photos of Castle and Beckett at night in New York City as they are each sitting on a chair...handcuffed. The show logo is present in white lettering towards the bottom. The tagline "Solving murder has never been so much fun," appears below that. The back has a dark blue background with information on the set, three episodic screen shots from episodes and also a nice gallery photo of Castle & Beckett. There is also a red box section detailing the bonus features box with technical specifications also.
Opening the case, on the left side we see some inserts which includes an ad for the ABC Store with items like a black Castle t-shirt. On both the left and right panels we have nice artwork of episodic photos along with a disc-by-disc breakdown of episode titles. I wish there were shots of Beckett's sexy dressed from the episodes "Almost Famous" and "Lucky Stiff," along with the swimsuit bikini shot from "To Love and Die in L.A." OK, I'll continue now. The discs are on plastic holders, like the previous set, that you can flip a page in a book. Plastic holder one holds disc one on the front side and disc two on the back side. Plastic holder two holds disc three on the front side and disc four on the back side. Disc five is on the right panel itself. Disc artwork is very nice and has that dark blue background, matching the set's color scheme. Disc one has episodes 1-5 with artwork of Richard Castle. Disc two has episodes 6-10 and has artwork of Kate Beckett. Disc three has episodes 11-15 and has artwork of Alexis & Martha. Disc four has episodes 16-20 and has artwork of Ryan, Esposito, Captain Montgomery, and Lanie. And disc five has episodes 21-24 plus bonus features and has artwork of both Castle and Beckett. This is similar to the previous set.
The menu screen starts with the opening credits from the series with the theme music, then we get to the main menu where we see moving video images with the closing theme playing in the background, similar to the previous sets. The options on the main menu are Play All, Episode Selection, Set Up, Bonus Features, and Sneak Peeks. But before the main menu screen comes on disc one, we get some auto sneak peeks: ABC on DVD, The Lion King, and AfricanCats. Sneak Peeks option is only found on disc five on the main menu and has previews of The Chew, ABC Fall 2011, Body of Proof, Prep & Landing, Real Steel, and Pirates of the Caribbean. These also auto play before the main menu on disc five. Set Up section has the option of subtitles in English, French or Spanish and how you can register your DVD. The Episodes option gives us the episode number, title and a screenshot. Bonus Features option has all the extras listed and this is on every disc, rather than just disc five. All of the sub-menus have different background music from the show. Catchy!
The video is digitally mastered and is in widescreen and looks very good! The audio is great and sounds very good, as it is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Both the audio and video is similar to the previous sets. This is from 2010-2011, so it had better be good. There is nothing to complain at all here...it is perfect! Perfection here. There are about 7 or 8 chapter stops per episode. We also get the 30 second series opening preview that was used for about the first half of this season. We get to hear the closing theme as well, whistles and all! All of Stana Katic's "previously on Castle" teasers that were used in a few episodes are intact.
Moving on the bonus features. We get audio commentaries this time, as on the last set we didn't get any. But first, on disc one in the episodes menu we have a "Starter Kit" for the series as you can catch up in 4:30. Moving on to the actual extras, we have deleted scenes and audio commentary on disc one. We have a deleted scene for the season premiere "A Deadly Affair" (0:52), where we are shown the actual scene that aired followed by the director's cut. I wish they kept that director's cut, you'll have to see why! We also have audio commentary for "Deadly Affair" from showrunner Andrew W. Marlow, executive producer Rob Bowman, and star Nathan Fillion. This is very informative and they also talk about the director's cut of that "reduced" scene. On to disc two, we have actual deleted scenes on this disc: "3XK" (0:44), "Almost Famous" (1:37 and 0:47), and "Murder Must Fowl" (0:43). We also have an audio commentary on the thrilling episode "3XK" from director Bill Roe, writer David Amann, and stars Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas! These guys are just as fun as the guys from the other audio commentary! For disc three, we have more deleted scenes: "Nikki Heat" (0:16 and 0:48) and "Knockdown ("0:43 and 2:10). Disc four has two more deleted scenes: ""Set Up" (0:43) and an extended sexy intro for the scene featuring Rebecca Budig and Corbin Bernsen from the soap-themed episode "One Life to Lose" (0:35).
On to disc five, where the bulk of the extras are, we have a cool featurette titled "Murder They Wrote" (22:03). It is a roundtable discussion between different types of writers: TV writers Andrew Marlowe & Rob Bowman, novelist Michael Connelly, and graphic artist novelist Brian Michael Bendis. Nathan Fillion makes a special guest appearance as well to talk about what it is like playing a writer on TV. Next we have "Castle Goes Hollywood" (7:58). Find out what it was like doing an episode set in L.A. when the series actually tapes in L.A. but is set in NY. Interviewed are Andrew Marlowe, Nathan Fillion, Rich Sickler (first AD), George Shockley (location manager), John Terlesky (director), Stana Katic, Luke Reichle (costume designer), Rob Bowman, Gene Simmons, Laurie Zaks (executive producer), Alexi Hawley (co-producer/writer), Alfred Sole (production designer), Edward Morrison (hair), and Sarah Vaughn (make-up for Stana Katic). Next, we have some "Misdemeanors: Bloopers & Outtakes" (4:13)...yes, bloopers! See all the goofs and play on the set, as get more bloopers this time! We also have deleted scenes from the episodes "To Love & Die in L.A." (0:35) and "Knockout" (0:39 and 0:17). Up next, we have "Murder Boards" (3:23), as we learn who writes the murder boards up on the show. They are so detailed! Kurt DeFilipps is the man behind the murder board! And finally we have a music video from the episode "Lucky Stiff" where we see Castle and Becket (in that sexy dress) go inside a night club to make an arrest. The music video is called "Get On the Floor" (2:14).
What a season! Nearly every episode is memorable! I recommend this series and set once again...it is an ABC Studios DVD, so it is good and filled with special features. This series really got cooking last season, from start to finish. Season two was when it started to break out, and it continues and gets better in season three! This DVD is awesome as we get of course all 24 great episodes from the third season, great packaging, and great extras. I don't understand why the DVD is coming out on Sept. 20, when the third season launches a day before on Sept. 19. They have done this for the third time. ABC did re-air the show this summer on Sundays briefly before moving back to Mondays in August. So I hope you saw them all, if not, for sure get this DVD. Everyone needs to be watching this show and I think it will get even better this season as we will see the conclusion to what happened on the third season finale. That was the best season finale on TV last season. You don't have to 'move that ass and get on the floor' to buy this set, just click below and say "I really am running the hits, aren't I", like Rick Castle!
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
When a person dies, sometimes the greatest mystery of life has yet to begin. There are often questions as to how they died or why they died, and in the ABC series Body of Proof, Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) uses her medical expertise to try to answer these mysteries every single day. Here is our review of Body of Proof - The Complete First Season.
DVD Review: Body of Proof - The Complete First Season
by Pavan
Body of Proof - The Complete First Season (ABC Studios, $29.99) brings the first 9 episodes of the new medical examiner crime drama on a 2-disc DVD set! The series produced 13 episodes, but ABC is holding the remaining four episodes for the second season, so if the series is picked-up for a full 22-episode season, it will have at least 26 all-new episodes this season. The series stars Dana Delany as Dr. Megan Hunt, a medical examiner. The series debuted last spring to critical acclaim for Dana Delany and the rest of its talented cast, as well as for the show's taut writing, and it finished the season as TV's most-watched new series of 2010-11. In fact, it is ABC's most-watched series in the time slot in 10 years (NYPD Blue). Brilliant and driven neurosurgeon Dr. Megan Hunt had it all, or so she thought. As the first female Head of Neurosurgery at a prominent Philadelphia university hospital, she never appreciated how the demands of her profession were taking a toll on her personal life until her husband divorced her and she lost custody of their then seven-year-old daughter. Still reeling from this emotional trauma, Megan soon suffered a physical one, a car accident that left her with a condition called paresthesia -- random attacks of numbness and cramping of her hands. Tragically, this condition failed to manifest itself until Megan's first trip back to the operating room. She lost control of her instruments and her patient died on the table. Megan's life as a neurosurgeon was over.
The series airs Tuesdays at 10PM on ABC and stars Dana Delany stars as Dr. Megan Hunt, Jeri Ryan as Dr. Kate Murphey, John Carroll Lynch as Detective Bud Morris, Nicholas Bishop as Peter Dunlop, Sonja Sohn as Detective Samantha Baker, Geoffrey Arend as Dr. Ethan Gross, Windell D. Middlebrooks as Dr. Curtis Brumfield and Mary Mouser as Lacey Fleming. Recurring is Jeffrey Nordling as Todd Fleming.
Guest stars include Tony Plana, Christina Hendricks, Marc Blucas, Joanna Cassidy, and Jill Eikenberry.
The series is off to a good start. It still needs to find its footing, I think, but I see loads of potential with this show, like I did with Castle's first season. It doesn't have the younger cast of that series, but Dana Delany, Jeri Ryan and Nicholas Bishop will draw viewers after Dancing with the Stars: The Results. The series could potentially win its timeslot this fall in total viewers, with CBS's The Good Wife moving to Sundays. Anyway, as for the first season, it starts off with the "Pilot" where we are introduced to Dr. Megan Hunt, a former neurosurgeon and now a medical examiner and she and her partner investigate the death of Angela Swanson, a young woman found dead while jogging. In "Talking Heads," after a homeless man comes across the dismembered remains of a body in a field, Dr. Megan Hunt must use the available limbs to find her killer, while Lacey has chosen her mother's job to do a video project on for school, much to her mother's dismay. In "Dead Man Walking," the mysterious death of a beautiful woman keeps Ethan and Curtis guessing and when Ethan gets fixated on the woman's twin sister (Christina Hendricks), so Curtis starts to question Ethan's motives, while Megan must find out if a patient at the hospital where she used to work as a neurosurgeon died of murder or malpractice. In "All in the Family," a perfect neighborhood in the Philadelphia suburbs is shaken when a stay-at-home dad is found stabbed to death in his home, as Megan unravels the mystery of his death and who killed him, she recalls how she learned of her own father's death, while Peter helps Megan juggle her biggest challenge yet, taking charge of the Saturday carpool with her hard-to-impress daughter, Lacey, and her girlfriends and in a shocker Kate takes on a consulting role in a pro bono case with Megan's ex-husband, Todd Fleming. On the season finale, "Broken Home," when a young philanthropic socialite dies, Megan suspects that foul play is involved and the investigation is then interrupted by Kate's personal life.
The episodes run usually around 43 minutes, all unedited of course. They are very consistent. There are about 6 or 7 chapter stops per episode. See the runtimes for each episode below:
Disc one
1. "Pilot" 43:00
2. "Letting Go" 43:01
3. "Helping Hand" 43:00
4. "Talking Heads" 44:01
5. "Dead Man Walking" 43:02
Disc two
6. "Society Hill" 43:00
7. "All in the Family" 42:38
8. "Buried Secrets" 42:59
9. "Broken Home" 43:00
Packaging has a nice thing cover holding a case and has shot of Dr. Megan Hunt looking over a dead body on the front cover...the back cover has information on the series & set and has five episodic photos featuring nearly everyone from the cast. There is also a section detailing the special features in a darker colored box with technical specifications also. Inside the box is the case. The front of the case has the same artwork as the outer box, and the same goes true for the back of the case. Opening the case, we get a few inserts on the left side and also a disc-by-disc breakdown and a nice cast photo that are on both panels. We don't get an episode booklet since the episodes are listed on the panels. Disc one is in a little plastic holder that you can flip like a page on a book, but oddly disc two is on the right panel itself. It should have been on the backside of the little plastic holder, I think. Not a big deal, I guess. Both discs are in a red/peach style color and has artwork of a few characters per disc. Disc one has episodes 1-5 with artwork of Megan and the two detectives. Disc two has episodes 6-9 + bonus features and has artwork of the hospital staff (Kate, Peter, Curtis and Ethan). After you remove the second disc, you see the nice cast photo on the panels itself like I mentioned...very cool.
The menu screen starts by showing us with a white background and a shot of r. Megan Hunt before video clips are playing in the background. It is nicely designed. Background music from the show is playing in the background. On disc one before the main menu we have auto trailers for DVDs of ABC on DVD, Lion King and African Cats. The options on the main menu are Play All, Episode Selection, Bonus Features, Set Up, and Sneak Peeks. Sneak Peeks is just on two and has trailers for the new ABC 2011 series Castle, The Chew, Prep & Landing, Real Steel and Pirates of the Caribbean. Set Up section has the option of subtitles in English, French, Spanish, or Portuguese and how to register your DVD. The Bonus Features option is on disc two only. The Episodes option gives us the episode number and title to choose along with a screenshot from the episode.
The video is digitally mastered and is in widescreen and looks very good! It's HD-like, even though it isn't Blu-ray. I have a DVD player that upconverts to HD, so who needs a Blu-ray player? Ha. The audio is great and sounds very good, as it is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This is from the 2010-11 season and aired from March-May, so it has to be good. We also get to hear the nice closing theme, as on ABC there are promos at the end of the episode. And as mentioned, we get 7 chapter stops, though some only have six (like the pilot).
Moving on to the bonus features. Only disc two has features. We have two featurettes! The first one is "Examining the Proof" (10:20) and we get an inside look on how the medical cases are delivered. There is a lot of background information and consulting done! They try hard! Interviewed are executive producers Matthew Gross, Sunil Nayar, star Dana Delany, Dr. Kristen Van DeWalker (medical advisor), Christopher Murphey (executive producer), Dr. Elizabeth LaPosata (medical advisor), Jeri Ryan, Audra Avery (set designer), Steven Wolff (production designer), Windell D. Middlebrooks, John Ruggieri (SPFX coordinator), Joseph Rossi (department head, SPFX make-up), John Carroll Lynch, Geoffrey Arend, Nic Bishop and Sonja Sohn. Next we have a lighter featurette titled "If Looks Could Kill" (5:32), as this discusses the wardrobe on the series from costume designer Roberta Haze. She is interviewed along with Matthew Gross, Dana Delany, Sunil Nayar, Jeri Ryan, Marcel Chevalier (assistant costume designer), Christopher Murphey, Nic Bishop, Windell D. Middlebrooks, and Geoffrey Arend. The final real extra is "Body of Goofs" (3:39), as we are treated to bloopers and outtakes from the first season. John Carroll Lynch is funny. And finally we have a promo for season two: "New Evidence: A Sneak Peek at Season 2" (0:47).
I highly recommend this series and set to start your collection. I have a feeling it will break out this season in quality and ratings. Dana Delay is always great and the cast around her already has good chemistry, especially Windell D. Middlebrooks and Geoffrey Arend. While the first season's quality of episodes is decent, it could be better. The special features are good for a series with just 9 episodes aired so far. I wish we had some deleted scenes and audio commentaries, though, but other than that, there is nothing to gripe about. It's a good show that will just get better. We hope to see this show and Dana Delany on TV for years to come! Tune in for the season premiere on Tuesday at 10/9c on ABC (the same day this DVD comes out). Super duper!
(4/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Body of Proof on TV.com
CLICK OF THE WEEK
TVparty (www.tvparty.com) - Some of the greatest TV websites out there are true classics, and TVparty is one of them. When the website began, an astonishing 16 years ago (who even used the internet back then???), it was one of the premiere websites in classic TV. These days, as we have become more reliant on a handful of blogs, YouTube, and social networking for all of our internet needs, people don't seem to talk as much about the website as much as they used to. But if you go to the site, you'll see why they definitely should.
TVparty is one of the best websites out there for content and commentary on classic TV culture. "Hosted" by Billy Ingram, a pop culture expert who often makes media appearances, the website goes far beyond the basics and mundane of classic TV; instead, it is an in-depth analysis of classic TV. You'll find interviews, long lost video clips (which never seem to make it to DVD, even on sets loaded with special features), and new thoughts on things that were believed to be "said and done." For example, many years ago, cigarette advertising was allowed on television in the United States, and TVparty has a very thorough page dedicated to classic cigarette advertisements. You can even see the infamous video of Fred and Barney of The Flintstones smoking cigarettes from the original run of the series, which would make any arguments over using the characters to promote a sugary cereal like Fruity Pebbles these days seem ridiculous. And the website is definitely not a graveyard website. It is constantly being updated, as can be seen in the website's blog. TVparty is definitely one party that you should visit today!
That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!
That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!
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