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It's almost that time of year again...the start of the new TV season! So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2011 preview from last year.

First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2012 preview special is titled The Chew Presents ABC's Primetime Fall Preview Special. This year ABC will air two versions -- one in primetime and one for local ABC affiliates. The primetime version will be one-hour and air on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 7pm ET. The special showcases the new fall Primetime lineup, including new late news lead-ins 666 Park Avenue and Nashville and the new Wednesday comedy, The Neighbors. The special will also feature the new Shawn Ryan drama Last Resort. The preview show will be hosted by The Chew's Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly and Daphne Oz. A half-hour version will be airing on ABC Affiliates beginning Sept. 15, so check your local listings (WABC in NYC hasn't scheduled it yet). The primetime version will be reaired on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 23 from 3-4PM ET/1-2PM PT. The special usually airs on ABC-owned cable networks as well, but as of now networks like ABC Family have not scheduled it. And also as of now, it isn't on abc.com but it is still early.

Next is CBS. The CBS Fall 2012 preview special, simply titled CBS Fall Preview Sneak Peek will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of 2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs - will be broadcast on Monday, Sept. 10 from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT nationally on the CBS Television Network following an encore of How I Met Your Mother and leading into an encore of 2 Broke Girls. The preview will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series Vegas, Elementary, and Made In Jersey, and the comedy series Partners. CBS.com doesn't usually post the preview, so you'll have to watch it on-air or if you miss that, your local CBS might air it on a weekend in the daytime -- but that is not confirmed.

Moving on to NBC, the NBC Fall 2012 preview special (titled once again The NBC Primetime Preview Show) has started airing on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates (such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, Xfinity, E! Entertainment Television, mun2, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband) since Aug. 8 and will continue to run through Sept. 30 (in NYC it is on next on WNBC Sat Sept. 1 at 7pm). The special will be hosted by Matthew Perry and the cast of NBC's new comedy Go On. The entertainment special will focus on NBC's new shows for the fall, including the dramas Revolution and Chicago Fire, along with the new comedies Go On, The New Normal, Animal Practice and Guys With Kids.

Onto Fox, the Fox Fall 2012 preview special starts airing on local Fox affiliates soon on weekends (in NY WNYW Sun Sept. 2 at 3pm) and is simply titled Fox Fall Preview Special. It will only run on local Fox affiliates again and not on Fox in primetime. No information is available as of this writing on who is hosting and what the special features, but it will of course feature their new programs: The Mob Doctor, Ben & Kate, and The Mindy Project. No idea yet also if it will be on fox.com, but check your local Fox listings for on-air showtimes.

And finally we conclude with The CW. The CW's Fall 2012 TV preview special is called The CW Fall First Look is airing on local CW affiliates as of this past weekend (such as NY's WPIX on Sat. Sept 8 at 8pm)! No word if it will also air nationally on The CW like it did last year. Series featured will be Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, and Emily Owens M.D. The affiliate special is a half-hour, and last year's primetime version had fifteen more minutes in primetime. Watch the half-hour special right now

NBC's comedy The Office will end after the upcoming ninth season, it was announced on a conference call by Greg Daniels to reporters on Tuesday. Executive producer Greg Daniels will return as showrunner for this final hurrah, taking over from Paul Lieberstein, who is developing a potential spinoff with Rainn Wilson. Daniels ran the show for the first five seasons. Here is what he had to say:

"This year feels like the last chance to really go out together and make an artistic ending for the show that pays off a lot of the stuff that matters most to fans. This will be the last season of The Office. And we're planning a very big exciting last season. We're going to have a lot of faces coming back. There are a lot of things that I've personally been wanting to do since season two. All questions will be answered this year. We're going to see who's behind the documentary. Now that we know we have an end date we can blow things up and take some chances and it will be very freeing, creatively."

The ninth and final season of The Office premieres Thursday, Sept. 20 at 9pm ET/PT on NBC.

We mentioned back in July that Antenna TV would be adding Barney Miller and Benson to their fall schedule in September. Today we have some updates and their complete fall lineup, which is effective Tuesday, September 4. Antenna TV, which airs on 65 affiliates across the U.S. reaching 60% of TV households, will continue to include vintage favorites such as Leave it to Beaver, All in the Family, Three's Company, Maude, Good Times and Sanford and Son.

Barney Miller and Benson will be airing on Sunday nights starting September 9. Barney Miller, with Hal Linden heading up an ensemble cast, originally aired on ABC from 1975 to 1982 and will air on Antenna TV Sundays at 8-9pm ET/5-6pm PT. Benson, with Robert Guillaume in the lead role, aired from 1979 to 1986 on ABC, as a spin-off from Soap. Antenna TV will air the series as back-to-back hours on Sunday nights, with Soap remaining at 11pm-12am ET/8-9pm PT and Benson following at midnight-1am ET/9-10pm PT. Unfortunately, there will only be the two airings of the new acquisitions on Sundays.

There will be many time slot changes on the weekday schedule (all times listed below are Eastern). First, there's some bad news to mention. Too Close for Comfort is leaving the schedule entirely. The Ted Knight comedy has aired on the network since its launch in January 2011. Adam-12 replaces it at at 11am-12pm. Dragnet moves up to 12pm-1pm. Hazel will be moving up an hour to 1-2pm. Father Knows Best is back on in the weekday afternoons at 2-3pm. Dennis the Menace and Leave it to Beaver will remain at 3-5pm. Next, c'mon get happy as The Partridge Family returns to weekdays at 5-6pm. All in the Family moves up to the 6-7pm hour.

Then we get into primetime and overnight. The 11am-6pm lineup runs Monday-Thursday, as the Black & White Friday Night block moves up an hour to 6pm. Starting with the Monday-Thursday schedule, Three's Company moves up earlier in primetime at 7-8pm. And then there's Maude, which returns to weekdays in primetime at 8-9pm. Good Times moves back a couple of hours to 9-10pm. Sanford and Son moves to 10-11pm. There will be even more Three's Company at 11pm-midnight, as it replaces Too Close for Comfort. The schedule after midnight remains the same with Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Burns and Allen Show, The Jack Benny Program and Antenna TV Theater. The Black & White Friday Night schedule now begins at 6-7pm with Burns and Allen. It will be followed by double episodes of Jack Benny, Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, Leave it to Beaver, Dennis the Menace and McHale's Navy. Antenna TV Theater moves up to the 1am hour, so Hazel will no longer be on late Friday nights.

On to weekends, starting with Saturdays beginning September 8, Antenna TV Theater will now run until 9am, so that means Here Come the Brides, Iron Horse and Adventures of Tin Tin are leaving the schedule. Totally Tuned In returns from hiatus at 9am. From 10am-1pm on Saturdays will still be E/I programming. The Three Stooges kick off the afternoon schedule at 1-2pm. Adam-12 moves up a couple of hours to 2-3pm. It will be followed by double episodes of Dragnet, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, The Flying Nun, and Gidget (which replaces S.W.A.T. at 7pm). There will now be a three-hour block of It's a Thief from 8-11pm, so Suspense Theater is off the schedule. It will be followed by two-hour blocks of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Three Stooges and the '70s/'80s British comedy The Benny Hill Show.

On to Sundays, this lineup will start on September 9. Antenna TV Theater will now run until 1pm, so all of the black & white sitcoms will no longer be on Sunday mornings. Bummer! That was a nice block of good ole' classic tv. The Three Stooges leads off the afternoon schedule at 1-2pm. It will be followed by double episodes of Adam-12, Dragnet, The Monkees, The Partridge Family, The Flying Nun and Gidget. Barney Miller replaces NewsRadio in primetime at 8-9pm. The two-hour block of WKRP in Cincinnati remains at 9-11pm. Super '70s continues with Soap in the 11pm hour. Benson replaces Three's Company at midnight. There's more '70s action from 1-5am. The double episodes of All in the Family, Maude and Good Times remain at the same times, but Leave it to Beaver is being replaced by Sanford and Son at 4-5am. Leave it to Beaver is still getting plenty of the business weekdays, even though it's gone from the weekends.

So there you have it, the new Antenna TV schedule! It has something for everyone. Two new classic sitcoms from the '70s and '80s, many new time slots, and some shows are expanded (such as Three's Company)! Shows leaving the schedule include Too Close for Comfort, Here Come the Brides, Iron Horse, Adventures of Tin Tin, S.W.A.T., and NewsRadio. View the full Antenna TV Fall 2012 schedule in a list form. What do you think of these changes? Discuss them on our message board. And stay with us for continued updates.

We've never covered the announcement of a Survivor cast before, but there's some exciting news to report today. A former sitcom star will be competing for the first time ever! Lisa Whelchel, who played Blair Warner on The Facts of Life from 1979-1988, has been named as one of the 18 castaways of Survivor: Philippines. She has been a superfan of the show since the first episode. Last October, she started a viral campaign on her Twitter feed by posting a video asking for support to help her get on the show. She got her wish to compete this season.

The 25th season of the Emmy Award-winning series will premiere with a special 90-minute edition on Wednesday, September 19 at 8:00pm ET/PT on CBS. They have announced 15 of the 18 castaways who will compete for a million dollars. Three of the 18 castaways, to be revealed later this week, are former players who were medically evacuated from the game and are returning to finish what they started. Former MLB player and National League MVP (and star of ABC's 2009 edition of The Superstars) Jeff Kent will also be among the contestants. View the full cast here.

Can she outwit, outplay and outlast the others to be Sole Survivor? We're sure she can come up with another one of her brilliant ideas. We'll be rooting for her. Go Lisa!

A few weeks ago, we revealed the TBS fall schedule for the last two weeks of September. There will be a few minor changes coming to the lineup starting October 1 for days where there are no games being aired for the MLB Playoffs. There won't be anything new added to the lineup in October, nor will there be anything leaving the lineup. For the most part, the schedule changes involve My Name is Earl moving to other timeslots and shuffling of a few other program.

The weekday changes begin at 7am, where an episode of My Name is Earl will air, followed by an hour of Home Improvement at 7:30am. According to Jim also still gets a full hour, but it'll be a half hour earlier at 8:30am. Are We There Yet?, which will begin airing weekdays this fall, moves from 12:30pm to 9:30am, and is followed by an hour of Tyler Perry sitcoms with Meet the Browns at 10am and House of Payne at 10:30am. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will still have three airings on weekdays, but now they'll all be back-to-back with three episodes beginning at 11am. At 12:30pm, American Dad! will have a full hour, which will be followed by two hours of Everybody Loves Raymond, which will start at 1:30pm instead of 2pm. This leaves 3:30pm for an extra airing of Seinfeld. The lineup for the rest of the day on weekdays remains the same through 2am, where an hour of My Name is Earl replaces an hour of Seinfeld.

Saturday mornings will see some changes beginning at 7am. In September, there is a two and a half hour block of My Name is Earl scheduled beginning at 7am, but in October, 7am will change to a single episode of My Name is Earl, followed by According to Jim at 7:30am, Are We There Yet? at 8am, Meet the Browns at 8:30am, House of Payne at 9am, and another episode of According to Jim at 9:30am. Seinfeld, which currently airs for a full hour at 7pm on Saturdays, will be replaced with an extra hour of King of Queens, which will now air for two full hours beginning at 6pm every Saturday. Finally, Sundays remain pretty much the same, but the two hours of Tyler Perry sitcoms at 6am will be replaced with an hour of Married... with Children at 6am and an hour of Home Improvement at 7am.

You can read more on the TBS October lineup and see the full lineup on our message boards. Of course, we'll keep you updated on any changes if there are any.



On Friday, we featured a story on the impressive ratings for the ABC Family original series Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy... so it should be no surprise that the network announced new seasons for both series on Friday afternoon. After launching a successful Wednesday night comedy block with Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy, cable TV’s #1 telecasts in their half-hours across the network’s core Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Millennial demos, ABC Family has ordered a third season of Melissa & Joey and a second season of Baby Daddy.

Melissa & Joey stars Melissa Joan Hart as Mel, a successful Congresswoman in Toledo who unexpectedly gains custody of her niece and nephew after her sister is sent off to prison after a financial scheme gone horribly wrong. Needing all the help she can get, she hires unemployed Joe (Joey Lawrence) to be her "manny" to move into her house and take care of all of the domestic matters. The multi-camera comedy executive-produced by Bob Young and David Kendall, Paula Hart, Melissa Joan Hart, Joey Lawrence and John Ziffren. Baby Daddy follows Ben (Jean-Luc Bilodeau), a young man in his early 20s living the life of a bachelor as a bartender in New York City with his buddy, Tucker (Tahj Mowry), and his brother, Danny (Derek Theler), a professional hockey player. Everything is going fine for the guys until a baby girl is unexpectedly dropped on their doorstep by one of Ben's ex-girlfriends. With a little help from his friends and family, Ben decides to raise her the best that he possibly can. Baby Daddy is a multi-camera comedy created and executive-produced by Dan Berendsen.

Additionally, ABC Family has announced that will also produce a second season of the award-winning hit series Switched at Birth, and they have ordered additional episodes of the critically-acclaimed series Bunheads. 

We're in the dog days of summer and we will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 2.99 million and a 1.4 rating, on par with last week's episode at 8:30pm. Not too bad vs. the Olympics.
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 7:30pm posted 1.94 million and a 0.9 rating, up from the previous week. A repeat at 8:30pm did 2.9 million and a 1.5 rating.
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - preempted.
• Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at 9pm did 3.6 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was up from last week and not bad against the Olympics.
• American Dad! (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 7pm did 1.79 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, which was up from the previous week. A repeat at 9:30pm posted 3.29 million and a 1.6 rating.
• Animal Practice (NBC) Sneak Peek - The pilot episode aired after the Olympics at 10:58pm-11:20pm and was sampled by 12.8 million and did a 4.1 18-49 rating. It was down quite a bit from the premiere of Go On (which did 16.1 million and a 5.6 18-49 rating), but they still retained 47% of the Olympics audiece. It doesn't count in the weekly ratings. NBC re-airs both pilots this Tuesday beginning at 10pm.

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 3.95 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, both up with the Olympics ending.
• 2 Broke Girls (CBS) 2 airings - A repeat of this comedy at 8:30pm did 4.26 million and a 1.2 rating, both up from last week. The 9pm repeat followed and posted 4.530 million and a 1.3 rating, up in viewers and one tenth in 18-49.
• Mike & Molly (CBS) - 5.01 million and a 1.4 rating for a repeat at 9:30pm, which was up over 1.2 viewers and three tenths in 18-49.

• The Middle (ABC) - Tuesday repeats will air for the rest of the summer, in addition to its regular Wednesday airings. The 8pm repeat did 3.24 million and a 0.8 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
• Last Man Standing (ABC) - A repeat of this sitcom followed with 2.65 million and a 0.8 rating, up two tenths from last week.
• Happy Endings (ABC) - Repeats started on Tuesdays this week. A repeat at 9pm did 1.79 million and a 0.6 rating, which seems a little low.
• Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 (ABC) - A repeat at 9:30pm posted 1.63 million and a 0.6 rating. It will be interesting to see how these two perform this season without a big Modern Family lead-in.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• The Middle (ABC) - A repeat at 8pm did 3.76 million and a 1.1 rating, up quite a bit in viewers and two tenths in 18-49 from previous week.
• Suburgatory (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 8:30 posted 2.93 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, both up from last week without the Olympics. Their first repat airing at 9:30pm generated 2.87 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating. They should receive a nice bump this season airing after Modern Family.
• Up All Night (NBC) - preempted.
• Modern Family (ABC) - A repeat at 9pm did 3.61 million and a 1.3 rating, both up from last week's airings.

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat at 8 did 8.03 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, both up big with the Olympics ending.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 6.65 million and a 1.8 rating, up over 2 million viewers and six tenths in 18-49.
• The Office (NBC) - It returned after the Olympics with a repeat at 8pm doing 2.37 million and a 0.7 rating, which seems a little low.
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - A repeat at 8:30pm followed with 1.88 million and 0.7 rating.

Friday Sitcoms

• Whitney (NBC) - preempted.
• Community (NBC) - preempted.

Saturday Sitcoms

• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - preempted.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Fox Animation Domination from 7-10pm. Once Upon a Time returns with a repeat on ABC at 8pm. The two-hour season finale of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition follows at 9pm. CBS has a new Big Brother at 9pm. NBC offers a NFL preseason matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers at 8pm.

Summing it up. The sneak peek of Animal Practice and repeats of Family Guy-last Sun, Mike & Molly, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, The Middle, Suburgatory and Modern Family) or just plain old terrible (such as repeats of Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 - both ABC sitcoms need to do much better on their new night).

Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable this summer, with ABC Family's sophomore season of Melissa & Joey at 8pm all-new this Wednesday. What an underrated family comedy it is. New comedy Baby Daddy starring Chelsea Kane airs at 8:30pm with episode 8 (already?). Both continue to deliver on ABC Family. As we mentioned on Twitter, both series have been renewed for new seasons coming in spring 2013! Look for our blog story tomorrow. TBS has episode seven of new sitcom Sullivan & Son this Thursday at 10pm. It's Cheers meets Sanford & Son, if that makes sense. Also on Wednesdays is TV Land's Hot in Cleveland spin-off series The Soul Man starring Cedric the Entertainer at 10pm followed by a new episode of The Exes at 10:30pm. TV Land has moved Retired at 35 to Wednesdays at 11pm. FX and Charlie Sheen come together in Anger Management airing Thursdays at 9:30pm. Even on digital TV, Bounce TV airs new comedy Family Time starring Omar Gooding, but it had its season finale on July 23...look for repeats on Bounce TV. All of these are multi-camera comedies, too! New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer blues!

DIGITAL NEWS

Anybody who knows this website will know that, while we are fans of just about every sitcom out there, there is one particular show which is a huge favorite of this website... and no, it isn't one of the critically acclaimed series or one that can be seen on multiple TV stations multiple times a day, but rather a sitcom that aired in the late '70s and '80s about a non-traditional type of family. Of course, we're talking about Diff'rent Strokes! And Shout! Factory is on the verge of releasing more episodes of this series on DVD on November 20, with their release of Diff'rent Strokes - The Complete Fourth Season. The three-disc set will come at a $29.93 MSRP.

It is very rare that we finish up a sitcom that was abandoned over five years ago, but it looks as if we will with My Favorite Martian. It has been known for some time that MPI was planning a release for the third season, but we had not gotten a release date for it... until now. My Favorite Martian - The Complete Third Season will be released on October 30 at a $39.98 MSRP.

Mill Creek is moving ahead with more of That '70s Show on Blu-ray in October when they release That '70s Show - Season Two (Blu-ray). The four-disc set (which oddly enough is one more disc than the series contained on DVD) will be released on October 16 at a $24.98 MSRP.

Several years ago, Virgil Entertainment announced plans to release the '70s Saturday morning sitcom Big John, Little John. Unfortunately, there were many issues that popped up with the release and it was delayed several times, until eventually it just sort of faded off of the schedule. Now, it appears that Big John, Little John - The Complete Series is back on the schedule on October 2... but not from Virgil. Instead, it will be VCI Entertainment handling the release.

Shout! Factory is releasing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 1, Volume 1 on Tuesday, but fans of the series won't have to wait long for the remainder of the first season. On November 20, Shout! continues with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 1, Volume 2.

Finally, eOne is releasing The Abbott and Costello Show on DVD yet again... but this time in individual seasons. The first season of the series will be available on October 2 and a $39.98 MSRP. Of course, The Abbott and Costello Show - The Complete Series is still readily available on DVD.

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 21) brings Mike & Molly - The Complete Second Season to DVD. We hope to have a review of this set soon. Shout! Factory has Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Season 1, Volume 1 (review). CBS has more of Perry Mason with Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1 (review). Finally, ABC has Revenge - The Complete First Season, which we will review next weekend.

BLOG DVD REVIEW

Blog DVD Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Complete Final Season (Season 10) (Lionsgate, $14.99)

by Pavan

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BLOG FEATURE REVIEW



Blog DVD Review: The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show (Warner Archive, $24.95)
by skees53

Heathcliff returns to DVD--and actually steps back a little in time--with Warner Archive's release of The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show! Let's give a little bit of history here. In the '80s, DIC created the popular and memorable animated series Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, based upon the comic strip by George Gately. That series has seen many DVD releases over the years and has been the one to gain most of the syndication exposure. But before that series, Ruby-Spears (a studio created by the two creators of Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?) gave Heathcliff a shot with a series called The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show. Like many other animated series of the era, though, Heathcliff didn't get his own show. He had to share the half hour with another character, in this one, Dingbat... a vampire dog who runs Odd Jobs, Inc., which will do any odd job out there. It only made it through one season before being replaced by the similar Heathcliff and Marmaduke (an established comic strip, or really comic panel, dog), but now Warner Archive has all 13 episodes of the first version of Heathcliff on DVD.

With thirteen episodes, each containing four segments, that means that there are a total of 52 different segments in this set... far too many to go into great detail on any of them (and they're less than six minutes a piece anyway, so none of them really have time to develop much of a plot). Each episode begins with a Dingbat segment, followed by a Heathcliff segment, then there is another Dingbat segment, followed by yet another Heathcliff segment... but most likely, you'll be more interested in the Heathcliff segments (in fact, the packaging of the set focuses more on the Heathcliff aspect).

A few highlights of the Heathcliff segments involve him trying to outwit a dogcatcher in "Doggone Dogcatcher," a take on Jake and the Beanstalk in "Cat in the Beanstalk," Heathcliff doing anything and everything to "take the cake" in "Cake Flakes," Heathcliff terrorizing a milk factory in "The Great Milk Factory Fracas," Heathcliff becoming a rodeo star in "Rodeo Dough," Heathcliff using creative maneuvers to get the big fish in "The Big Fish Story," Heathcliff outsmarting a burglar in "The Watchcat," and creating more agitation for the milk man in "Milk Run Mayhem."

The Dingbat segments are much more straightforward, and each one involves the characters constantly looking for a job, always managing to get one... and always managing to wreak havoc at work. These are all pretty straightforward, and the titles of the segments (the first and third of each episode) as shown in the episode list pretty much describe their "five minute jobs."

Runtimes for the episodes are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "Health Nuts/Doggone Dogcatcher/U.F.Oafs/Feline Fugitive" (23:40)
2. "French Fried Fracas/Cat in the Beanstalk/Treasure Haunts/The Great Chase" (23:41)
3. "Window Washouts/Angling Anglers/Prized Pooch/Cake Flakes" (23:41)
4. "Detective Ding-a-Lings/Red Hot Riding Hooded Heathcliff/Showbiz Shenanigans/The Great Milk Factory Fracas" (23:40)
5. "Service Station Screwballs/Kitty a la Cart/Beach Blanket Bozos/Mystery Loves Company"(23:40)
6. "Nautical Noodnicks/Gold Digger Daze/Bungling Baby Sitters/Hives" (23:40)
7. "Batty Boo-ticians/Robinson Cruise Ho/Door to Door Sales Creeps/Lion Around the House" (23:40)
8. "Creep Crop Crack-Ups/Heathcliff and the Sleeping Beauty/Retail Ruckus/The Mouse Trapper" (23:40)
9. "Carnival Cut-Ups/Rodeo Dough/Lemans-ter Rally/Pinnochio Rides Again" (23:39)

Disc 2:
10. "High Flying Fools/Star Trick/No News is Ghoul News/The Big Fish Story" (23:39)
11. "Nutty Knights/Pumping Irony/Safari Saps/The Watch Cat" (23:40)
12. "Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow/Mascot Rumble/It's Snow Job for a Creep/Heathcliff of Sherwood Forest" (23:36)
13. "Football Flunkies/Milk Run Mayhem/Lumbering Loonies/The Great Cop'n Cat Chase" (23:36)

The set has very basic packaging, in a standard double disc Amaray case. There is a photo of Heathcliff having a garbage can dinner with Sonja and a very small photo of the Dingbat characters at the top of the cover art. On the back, there is a description of the series along with a few episode snapshots. Inside the case. The discs inside the case have photos of Heathcliff and the series logo on a purple background. Disc 1 contains episodes 1-9 and Disc 2 contains episodes 10-13.

There are some issues about the menus which are a true problem. The artwork on the menus is fine, with the main menu containing the a photo of Heathcliff with a paddle that has a mouse attached to it, and a photo of Dingbat and his gang at the top. The options on the main menu are Play All and Episodes. But the problem with the menus is that when you select Episodes, you can't actually choose to play any full episodes. All that you'll find on this menu are the four individual segments from each episode, and you can play them one at a time... without any opening credits or closing credits. You can, however, find these credits if you choose Play All from the main menu, as it will play each episode WITH the opening and closing credits intact. I'm not sure why they didn't include an option to just play entire episodes as originally broadcast without having to use the Play All option, but it is a bit annoying. Still, everything is included for all of the episodes, so it isn't a disaster. Chapters are placed at every segment if you select Play All from the main menu.

The video and audio quality of the set is actually not too bad. In fact, compared to some of the other Heathcliff DVD releases out there, this one... the oldest one... looks reasonably nice on DVD, though not really perfect. The quality reminds you of pretty much any other series of the same era, with most of the defects being a result of the animation technology of the era. There are other video defects here and there, but they aren't really distracting. The audio is reasonably loud and clear, presented in the original mono. There are no subtitles or closed-captions.

With this being a Warner Archive release, there are no special features.

This is a decent set for Heathcliff fans out there, but if you are looking for something more along the lines of the more popular version of Heathcliff, you may find yourself a bit lost with this series. Personally, I enjoy watching the series because it is something a bit different... but the Catillac Cats version of the series is the one that I truly remember. Perhaps if this version had lasted longer, it would have been more memorable. I really enjoyed seeing the Heathcliff segments, but I do have to say that the Dingbat segments sort of became a little too repetitive a little too fast. The characters aren't bad, but I think that they could have done more with them besides giving them new jobs to mess up twice each episode. Of course, they did change that out with Marmaduke in the following season, so that did introduce a bit of a new element. In any event, Heathcliff fans should enjoy this set... and Dingbat fans (are there even any that exist?) will enjoy the Heathcliff segments.


(4/5 stars)

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CLICK OF THE WEEK 

Home Theater Forum (www.hometheaterforum.com) - Regular readers may know our Click of the Week this week, as it has been referred to as a source for many of our news items time and time again. And there is a reason for that. The website, which is really a very broad website covering everything about home entertainment, has provided plenty of solid information and discussion about TV-on-DVD. But before we discuss that aspect of Home Theater Forum, we should talk about it a bit more broadly. This is a website for the true geeks of home entertainment, where everybody pays attention to every detail of everything when it comes to home entertainment. If you're really wanting to find out about the best equipment to make your home have the true theater experience, then you'll find everything that you need to find here.

Let's be honest, though... most of our readers here are fans of classic TV series, particularly sitcoms. So while we may be interested in that aspect for our other home entertainment needs, what will really interest fans of our website is their forum for TV-on-DVD. Here, you'll find very lively (and sometimes a bit too serious) discussion of every minor detail of every TV-on-DVD set which has ever existed. There are many incredibly knowledgable fans of the series over there, and they are eager to help fellow fans get the best experience with their home media library. You'll often find news and industry rumors (sometimes even direct from representatives of the studios) on the website... and usually it shows up here well before it shows up on other places on the internet. And of course, no such website would be complete without DVD reviews. Of course, we like to think that we do well with our DVD reviews, and we do with the objectives that we have when we cover our DVD reviews (focusing more on the content than technical details)... but it goes without saying that the technical details are important too, and fans do want to know that information. The DVD reviews on Home Theater Forum provide that for fans who are interested.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!

ABC Family saw more success from their original comedy hour this past Wednesday (Aug. 15). Climbing by double-digits week to week in target demos, Melissa & Joey ranked as Wednesday's #1 cable TV telecast at 8 o'clock for the 11th straight week in Women 18-34 (399,000) and for the 8th consecutive week in Women 18-49 (528,000), and was also the #1 cable show in the half-hour in Adults 18-34 (490,000) and Females 12-34 (582,000). It delivered a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating this week. In addition, week to week, the Melissa Joan Hart/Joey Lawrence sitcom grew by double-digits in Total Viewers (+17% - 1.28 million vs. 1.09 million), Adults 18-34 (+17% - 490,000 vs. 420,000), Viewers 12-34 (+36% - 685,000 vs. 502,000) and Females 12-34 (+31% - 582,000 vs. 444,000). So, season 2 to date, Melissa & Joey is delivering its best season to date, ranking as cable TV's #1 series in the half-hour across key measures Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Adults 18-49, Women 18-49, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34.

Surging by double-digit percent margins over its lead-in to post 3-week highs, Baby Daddy stood as cable TV's #1 telecast at 8:30 p.m. in Adults 18-34 (545,000), Women 18-34 (437,000) and Women 18-49 (606,000), and also ranked a dominant #1 in the time period in Viewers 12-34 (720,000) and Females 12-34 (601,000). Furthermore, Baby Daddy ranked as Wednesday's #1 scripted cable TV telecast in Prime in Females 12-34 and was the day's #2 scripted cable TV telecast in Women 18-34. Summer 2012 to date, the new comedy is pacing as the #1 new cable comedy in Women 18-34 and Females 12-34, and is cable TV's #2 comedy in Prime launch to date in the target demos. Baby Daddy built on its Melissa & Joey lead-in across all target demos, including by double-digit percent margins in Adults 18-34 (+11% - 545,000 vs. 490,000), Women 18-34 (+10% - 437,000 vs. 399,000), Adults 18-49 (+12% - 793,000 vs. 709,000) and Women 18-49 (+15% - 606,000 vs. 528,000).
Launch to date, Baby Daddy is tracking as ABC Family's #1 comedy of all time in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34, and ranks as cable TV's #1 show in the half-hour across all target demos: Adults 18-34, Women 18-34, Adults 18-49, Women 18-49, Viewers 12-34 and Females 12-34. Week to week, it posted impressive gains in target measures, including by 18% in Total Viewers (1.32 million vs. 1.12 million), by 28% in Adults 18-34 (545,000 vs. 425,000), by 17% in Women 18-34 (437,000 vs. 373,000), by 12% in Adults 18-49 (793,000 vs. 707,000), by 29% in Viewers 12-34 (720,000 vs. 560,000) and by 25% in Females 12-34 (601,000 vs. 480,000).
Yep, a lot of numbers...but they are doing well for basic cable sitcoms. There are only two weeks (Aug. 22 and Aug. 29) left for both series this season, tune in starting at Wednesday at 8/7c on ABC Family!

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 August 20-24, 2012, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVR's (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!

Monday, August 20, 2012

• Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) - Watch Kelsey on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Maya Rudolph (Up All Night) - Maya appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
• Jeff Foxworthy (The Jeff Foxworthy Show) - Jeff drops by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35pm on NBC.
• Tom Arnold (The Tom Show/Roseanne) - Tom visits Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 12am on ABC.
• Chris Elliott (Get a Life) - Chris is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Shia LaBeouf (Even Stevens) - Shia stops by LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
• Matt LeBlanc (Episodes/Friends) - Tune in to see Matt on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

• Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation/The Office) - Catch Rashida on a repeat of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Jeff Foxworthy (The Jeff Foxworthy Show) - Jeff continues to make the rounds on Tavis Smiley on PBS, but check listings for time.
• Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm) - Larry appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Lena Dunham (Girls) - Lena is a guest on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Joel McHale (Community) - Joel guest co-hosts a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
• Maya Rudolph (Up all Night) - Maya appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings. She will also be on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Niecy Nash (The Soul Man) - Niecy joins the Chew Crew on The Chew on ABC at 1pm ET/12pm PT/CT.
• Kirk Cameron (Growing Pains) - Kirk drops by NBC's Today between 10-11am.
• Queen Latifah (Living Single) - Queen Latifah is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

• Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Watch Lisa on a repeat of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson at 12:37am on CBS.
• Ed Helms (The Office) - Ed is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check listings.
• Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Kathy appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Kyle Massey (Cory in the House/That's So Raven) - Kyle visits ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

• Kathy Griffin (Suddenly Susan) - Catch Kathy on The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• George Lopez (George Lopez) - George appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Meredith Baxter (Family Ties) - Meredith is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Gabourey Sidibe (The Big C) - Gabourey appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love) - Tune in to see Holly on a repeat of The Nate Berkus Show, so check your local listings.

Friday, August 24, 2012

• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) - Watch Sofia on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.
• Lisa Kudrow (Friends/The Comeback) - Lisa appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Gabourey Sidibe (The Big C) - Gabourey is a guest on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly, so check your listings.

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

Today's fall schedule is really about a new block on Nick Jr. Nickelodeon is celebrating momkind one funny moment at a time with the launch of NickMom, the new primetime, ad-supported TV block bowing Oct. 1 and re-launching on the Web at www.NickMom.com. The TV comedy block will feature a mix of original long- and short-form programming, including talk shows, stand-up and sketch comedy, docu-series and more. Additionally, NickMom has greenlit 13 episodes of a new docu-comedy TV series, My 63 Moms, which will be added to the block's rotation in Q1 2013. The four-hour NickMom block will air nightly on the Nick Jr. channel from 10pm-12am (ET) and replay from 12-2am (ET).

The NickMom TV block will launch with four original series spanning sketch comedy, talk, docu-series and stand-up genres: Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, MFF: Mom Friends Forever, NickMom Night Out and What Was Carol Brady Thinking?, with additional programming rolling out in 2013. Of course our main focus will be What Was Carol Brady Thinking?. On that series, here's the story of a lovely lady - who somehow kept six kids, a husband, a housekeeper and a dog in perfect order with nary a complaint. What Was Carol Brady Thinking? (26 episodes) goes inside the mind of one of the most iconic moms of all-time through graphic overlays on top of the original The Brady Bunch series, allowing viewers to read Carol Brady's thoughts throughout each episode. This NickMom twist on the classic series is executive produced by Jim Burns (MTV Unplugged) of Top Dog Incorporated. A mother and hero to millions, Carol Brady has been considered the iconic 1970s housewife. The mother of three children from a first marriage, Carol became stepmom to three boys when she married Mike Brady; soon she was charged with the task of helping the group somehow form a family. Her interests include singing, forming bands with her children and solving family problems with incredible efficiency.
Other series of note to us is NickMom Night Out (26 episodes), a stand-up comedy series that takes moms out for a night at the comedy club from the comfort of their couches at home. Featured hosts include Tisha Campbell-Martin (LA edition), Judy Gold (NY edition), Caroline Rhea (Orlando, Fla., edition), and Bonnie McFarlane (Chicago edition). The series spotlights the chaos and hilarity that comes with being a parent. NickMom Night Out is executive produced by Bob Mittenthal (Double Dare).

Zach Braff (J.D. from Scrubs) will guest star in an upcoming episode of TV Land's hit sitcom, The Exes. Braff, best known for his work on the long-running comedy, Scrubs from ABC Studios, will be reunited with on-screen/off-screen best friend and former Scrubs co-star, Donald Faison (Turk on Scrubs). The two last appeared on television together in the hospital-set sitcom in 2010 during its ninth season. On his episode of The Exes, which airs Wednesday, August 29 at 10:30pm ET/PT, Braff will portray Chuck Feeney, a professional tennis player client of Phil's (Faison). Though notorious for being a ladies' man, Chuck turns out to be more of a "man's man." Braff can next be seen in the Disney feature Oz: The Great and Powerful, opening March 2013.

The Exes revolves around divorce attorney Holly (Kristen Johnston), who recently introduced her newly-single client Stuart (Basche) to his new roommates – ladies' man Phil (Faison) and homebody Haskell (Wayne Knight), who share an apartment which Holly owns. They're still attempting to adjust to one another's quirks and annoying habits, but Holly is there to help avert any disasters – or in some cases, cause them. Meanwhile, Holly's assistant, Eden (Kelly Stables), doesn't exactly let professionalism get in the way of prying into her boss's dating life – or lack thereof.
The Exes airs on TV Land on Wednesdays at 10:30pm ET/PT immediately following original episodes of The Soul Man at 10pm ET/PT.

We have the ABC Family September 2012 schedule. We are not calling it a fall schedule just yet because there might be some changes in October, but we're not sure if that is the case. Their new addition of course is the popular sitcom Reba, which joined in August and a story we broke. ABC Family launched the sitcom on Monday, August 6 with a marathon event from 11am-6pm and then it started airing regularly on ABC Family weekdays from 4-6pm. In September, the daytime line-up will remain intact. That means a block of Boy Meets World from 7-9:30am, leading into The 700 Club programming from 9:30-11am. Gilmore Girls remains at 11am, followed by an hour of Still Standing at 12 noon and back-to-back 8 Simple Rules at 1pm. All that will still lead into That '70s Show from 2-4pm. As mentioned, Reba is from 4-6pm, followed by either movies or original encores taking over starting at 6pm. In late night, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air will remain airing in the 12 midnight hour each weeknight.

ABC Family is light on the original series in September. The final ten episodes of the first season of Switched at Birth will start airing on Monday, Sept. 3 at 8pm. The drama will finish its 32-episode first season in early November. A marathon will lead-in that day from 7am-8pm. The next night, ABC Family will have the season finale of its reality series Beverly Hills Nannies at 9pm, following a marathon of all the episodes from 1-9pm. There will also be a Reunion Special at 10pm that night (Sept. 4). The current series airing right now will have their summer finales later this month, which includes Melissa & Joey, Baby Daddy, and Pretty Little Liars. Movie wise, ABC Family has some movie premieres in September: Pocahontas, Yours, Mine and Ours (2005) and Alice in Wonderland (1951). Movies will be airing in primetime every night in September since there will be just one original series airing all month.
Will there be changes coming in October on the regular daytime schedule for ABC Family? We will let you know, so stay with us!

Actor Ron Palillo, best known for his role as high school student Arnold Dingfelder Horshack on Welcome Back, Kotter, has died. He died on August 14 after suffering a heart attack at his home in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Mr. Palillo was 63.

Palillo's first television role was as Arnold Horshack, the class clown of the Sweathogs, on Welcome Back, Kotter. The popular sitcom ran for 4 seasons and 95 episodes on ABC from 1975-1979. It was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1976 after its first season. Palillo also appeared as Arnold Horshack on the pilot episode of the short-lived Mr. T and Tina, which starred Pat Morita, in 1976. Some of his other television guest appearances included The Love Boat, Alice, The A-Team, CHiPs, Matt Houston, Murder, She Wrote, Trapper John, M.D., and Cagney & Lacey. Palillo provided his voice in several animated series, including Laverne & Shirley in the Army in 1981, the Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour in 1982, and Rubik, the Amazing Cube in 1983. He played the role of Gary Warren on the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live for one year in 1994. In 1996, he appeared as himself in three episodes of Ellen, where he was the love interest of Ellen's friend Audrey. He reprised his Horshack role in a 1997 episode of the NBC sitcom Mr. Rhodes that also featured Robert Hegyes and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Other Welcome Back, Kotter related appearances included Family Feud, the MTV Movie Awards, Ames Department Store commercials, the E! True Hollywood Story, ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration, and the TV Land Awards. Palillo was unable to attend the 35th Anniversary Welcome Back, Kotter reunion at the 9th Annual TV Land Awards in 2011 due to emergency surgery.

Palillo had lectured in colleges and high schools in recent years. Since 2009, he worked as a teacher at G-Star School of the Arts for Motion Pictures and Broadcasting in Palm Beach, Florida. His survivors include his partner of 41 years, Joseph Gramm, as well as two brothers, Richard and Robert, and a sister, Ann. Palillo is the second Sweathog to die this year. Robert Hegyes died on January 26 after suffering a heart attack. It's sad we have lost both of them at relatively young ages. Horshack was such a funny and iconic character. Ooh-ooh-ooooh! Mister Kotter-r-r! He will be greatly missed.

No Welcome Back, Kotter tribute marathons are planned as no TV networks has rights to the sitcom. We contacted Antenna TV and MeTV Network and they cannot air it. Hopefully Warner Bros. gives us a tribute in some way, on TV or any other platform, as the character of Arnold Horshack was memorable.

What are your favorite Arnold Horshack memories? Discuss them on our Welcome, Back Kotter message board. View photos in our Welcome Back, Kotter photo gallery.

Our next fall 2012 schedule will be for TNT! The network that knows drama will be adding popular drama Castle to its line-up this Fall. Castle was originally slated to launch in June, but then they decided to wait until the fall. TNT will begin airing the series on Wednesday, September 26, 2012 in a daytime block and primetime block. The daytime block will be Wednesdays from 12pm-6pm ET and in primetime from 8-11pm ET. The series will air in order from the beginning! Castle will also be airing in local broadcast syndication this fall on weekends (in NYC Sunday nights at 12am & 1am on WABC). The series returns for its fifth season this fall on ABC Mondays (Sept. 24 at 10/9c).

As for the rest of the TNT Fall 2012 schedule, most of the daytime changes will actually begin next week (Aug. 20). Smallville moves into the 6am hour, replacing Angel. That series will be on hiatus until Sept. 24 when it returns and starts airing weekdays at 5am...more on that in a bit. Back-to-back episodes each of Charmed and Supernatural will move up an hour each, so 7-9am and 9-11am respectively. TNT will also start airing a weekday strip of original series Rizzoli & Isles at 11am. From 12-6pm, TNT will have a marathon block each day, so you won't see Las Vegas, a strip of The Closer, and 3-8 marathons anymore. The 12-6pm marathons are The Mentalist on Mon & Thurs, Bones on Tuesdays, Castle on Wednesdays beginning Sept. 26 (The Mentalist will air until then), and old faithful Law & Order on Fridays. The Mentalist will also air every weeknight at 6 & 7pm now. In primetime, the popular TNT Monday original series block continues with new episodes. On Tuesday, Bones will air from 8-10pm leading into an original series at 10. Castle will air 8-11pm on Wednesdays effective Sept. 26 (The Mentalist will again air there until then). The Mentalist will air on Thursdays in prime, with movies on Fridays. In late night, 11pm-2am will continue to be CSI: NY. At 2am, we still have original drama encores. Law & Order remains at 3am, while at 4am Smallville will start in the hour on Sept. 24 replacing the wheel of Cold Case and NUMB3RS, which will both be off the line-up. And finally at 5am, Angel will start airing in the hour on Sept. 24 as mentioned, so don't worry if you are looking for it starting next week, it will be back by Sept. 24 but at a new time.
View the entire TNT Fall 2012 line-up. The schedule we have is through September, so if there are any more changes come October, we will let you know...so stay with us!

The Cleveland ladies are back and hotter than ever! Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White return for the fourth season of TV Land's hit sitcom Hot in Cleveland, taping in front of a live studio audience starting on Friday, August 31, and premiering Wednesday, November 28 at 10pm ET/PT. TV bombshell Heather Locklear (Dynasty, Melrose Place, Spin City) and Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted) will both be in multi-episode arcs, and TV legend Regis Philbin (LIVE! with Regis & Kelly, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) returns for the season premiere. Additionally, Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and Michael McMillian (True Blood) will reprise their roles – Engel as Mamie, who has a love/hate friendship with Elka (White), and McMillian as Owen, the long-lost son that Joy (Leeves) gave up for adoption.

In last season finale's shocking cliffhanger, Melanie (Bertinelli), Victoria (Malick), Joy and Elka discovered a baby on their doorstep, with no idea as to whose it is and why they left it there. Meanwhile, Elka had just gotten together with long-time hairdresser Pierre (Regis Philbin) after discovering that he was, in fact, NOT gay, as she had long suspected. And in the season premiere, it is revealed that Pierre has an unspoken connection with the new baby. Locklear will debut as Chloe Summerlin, a former Miss Ohio who is now the founder and owner of Cleveland's number one public relations agency, which she runs with her ex-husband, Alec (Harrington). Melanie gets a job at the PR firm and sees sparks fly with Alec, not knowing that he's the ex of her no-nonsense boss.
In addition, as we know, the series has also been sold into broadcast syndication in more than 65% of the US Market by CBS Television Distribution for a 2014 debut.

Today we are bringing you MeTV Network's fall 2012 schedule. The line-up will launch on Monday, September 3, 2012 with some more classics coming to the network. The classic TV network has 132 affiliates and has clearances in 82% of the country. Joining the line-up will be Make Room for Daddy weekdays mornings at 5:30am ET, The Donna Reed Show weekday mornings at 7:30am ET, Emergency! Mon-Sat at 5:00pm ET, Remington Steele weeknights at 8:00pm ET, and Night Gallery weeknights at 1:30am ET. Returning to the schedule will be Kojak, airing weeknights at 12:30am following Perry Mason and Burke's Law late on Saturday nights at 4am ET. Also MeTV Network will present the MeTV Sunday Showcase every Sunday from 3:00pm-7:00pm. The programs will vary and the first week will be a Night Gallery marathon on Sept. 9.

With all these new series joining, this means some shows will be off the regular line-up for now. Shows not on the fall 2012 schedule are Family Affair, Cannon, The Untouchables, The Mothers-In-Law, Love American Style, Green Acres, Honey West, The Rogues, Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley. Perhaps some of these will air during the MeTV Sunday Showcase, so stay alert. "The Summer of Me" primetime marathons will conclude on Friday, Aug. 31, so the new primetime schedule on weeknights will start off with Remington Steele at 8 leading into the comedy hour of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show at 9pm. At 10, Cheers and The Bob Newhart Show will air to close out primetime.
View the FULL MeTV Network Fall 2012 schedule, so you can see where your favorite series will be. Stay with us for further updates, if there are any.

Moving on, Nick at Nite has pulled original drama Hollywood Heights from its schedule effective tonight. The drama had been airing weeknights at 9pm for the last two months. 40 episodes of its 80 episode order were fulfilled. Reruns of My Wife & Kids will take over the hour starting tonight at 9pm ET. All is not lost for Hollywood Heights though, Nick at Nite will move it to sister network TeenNick and they will air the remaining 40 episodes every weeknight at 8pm ET beginning tonight. That should last them another two months through October, ratings pending of course. The series bombed on Nick at Nite with episodes only averaging a 0.1 adults 18-49 rating. The rest of the Nick at Nite schedule will remain unchanged with George Lopez at 10, leading into a Friends block from 11pm-1am. Then more Lopez is at 1am, followed by an hour of Everybody Hates Chris at 2. At 3am, we have an episode of My Wife & Kids at 3am, leading into an hour of Yes, Dear from approx. 3:30am-4:30am. The Nanny concludes the night though 6am. The late night 2-6am line-up just mentioned is only Mon-Wed, as marathon blocks air Thurs-Sun with Yes, Dear on Thursdays, The Nanny on Fridays, George Lopez on Saturdays (1-6am), and now Friends on Sunday (11pm-6am). My Wife & Kids was on Sundays in the block from 1-6am but Friends will take over this coming Sunday and expand to 11pm-6am.

Hollywood Heights centers on Loren Tate (Brittany Underwood, One Life to Live), a shy teen whose musical aspirations inch closer to reality when she wins a songwriting contest sponsored by Eddie Duran (Cody Longo, Fame), a rock star at the top of his game. Although Loren and Eddie's budding partnership - on-stage and off - faces obstacles, their strong family bonds inspire them to keep going. Loren finds the support system she needs in her single mom, Nora (Jama Williamson, Parks and Recreation), as Nora returns to the dating scene for the first time in years. Meanwhile Eddie's unbreakable bond with his father, Max (Carlos Ponce, Couples Retreat, telenovela actor/singer) - strengthened by family tragedy - is challenged by Eddie's budding romance with a beautiful, but manipulative model and aspiring actress, Chloe Carter (Melissa Ordway, 17 Again). As Loren begins a meteoric rise on the music scene and Eddie's star begins to fade, together they learn that the road to love and stardom often carries a heavy price tag. Justin Wilczynski (Kaya) also stars as Eddie's bitter former friend, Tyler Rorke.

We're in the dog days of summer and we will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still will have our regular how the sitcoms did all summer long! Here are our summer ratings:

• The Simpsons (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 8pm did 2.62 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, on par with previous week. A second repeat followed at 8:30 with 3.0 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, up a tenth week-to-week.  Not too bad vs. the Olympics.
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A repeat at 7:30pm posted 1.5 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, down two tenths from the previous week.
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - preempted.
• Family Guy (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 2.91 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, which down two tenths from previous week but still not bad against the Olympics. A second repeat followed with a similar 3.03 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, but down a tenth week-to-week.
• American Dad! (Fox) - A repeat at 7pm did 1.36 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, which is down two tenths from the previous week.

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - A repeat did 3.24 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week. Olympics is affecting it some.
• 2 Broke Girls (CBS) 2 airings - A repeat of this comedy did 3.64 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week. The first 9pm repeat followed and posted 3.93 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, which was up a tenth from the previous week's Two and a Half Men.
• Mike & Molly (CBS) - 3.82 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat was on par with previous week.

• The Middle (ABC) - Tuesday repeats will air for the rest of the summer, in addition to its regular Wednesday airings.  The 8pm repeat did 2.59 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
• Last Man Standing (ABC) - A repeat of this sitcom followed with 2.06 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, also up a tenth from previous week.
• Happy Endings (ABC) - Repeats start this Tuesday.
• Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23 (ABC) - Repeats also start this Tuesday.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• The Middle (ABC) - A repeat at 8 did 3.08 million and a 0.9 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
• Suburgatory (ABC) - A repeat at 8:30 posted 2.4 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, on par week-to-week. The comedy will be moving to 9:30pm this Fall and will get ready by airing repeats in that slot starting this Wednesday.
• Up All Night (NBC) - preempted.
• Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat did 2.94 million and a 1.2 rating, up three tenths from previous week, which is decent against the Olympics. A second airing followed with a similar 2.75 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, up a tenth from previous week.
• Go On (NBC) Sneak Peak - The pilot episode aired from 11:06pm-11:30pm commercial free following the Olympics and was sampled to 16.1 million and a 5.6 18-49 rating. This doesn't count in primetime since it started after 11.

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat at 8 did 5.31 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, on par with the previous week, still taking a big hit vs. the Olympics.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 4.44 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, down two tenths week-to-week.
• The Office (NBC) - preempted. 
• Parks and Recreation (NBC) - preempted.
• Raising Hope (Fox) 2 airings - Two repeats aired, first the 8pm airing did just 1.82 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating. The 8:30pm repeat did worse with 1.57 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating.

Friday Sitcoms

• Whitney (NBC) - preempted, Olympics time.
• Community (NBC) - preempted, Olympics time.

Saturday Sitcoms

• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - preempted.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Fox Animation Domination from 7-10pm, along with a sneak preview of the new NBC comedy Animal Practice but now that will start at 10:58pm rather than 10:38pm. See our review from Friday.

Summing it up. Repeats of Family Guy-last Sun, Go On sneak peek were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family) or just plain old terrible (such as  repeats of Raising Hope, Last Man Standing).

Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable this summer, with ABC Family's sophomore season of Melissa & Joey at 8pm all-new this Wednesday. What an underrated family comedy it is. New comedy Baby Daddy starring Chelsea Kane airs at 8:30pm with episode 8 (already?). TBS has week five already of new sitcom Sullivan & Son this Thursday at 10pm. It's Cheers meets Sanford & Son, if that makes sense. Also on Wednesdays is TV Land's Hot in Cleveland spin-off series The Soul Man starring Cedric the Entertainer at 10pm followed by new episodes of The Exes at 10:30pm. TV Land has moved Retired at 35 to Wednesdays and is airing at 11pm. FX and Charlie Sheen come together in Anger Management airing Thursdays at 9:30pm. Even on digital TV, Bounce TV airs new comedy Family Time starring Omar Gooding, but it had its season finale on July 23...look for repeats on Bounce TV. All of these are multi-camera comedies, too! New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer blues!

Welcome to Digital Digest, your weekly source of news and reviews of all things digital in the world of sitcoms! This week, we have a review Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. Let's get going!

DIGITAL NEWS

CBS has recently picked up the once thought to be abandoned series The Streets of San Francisco and releasing it at an amazing pace lately. In fact, we saw season 3 in July and we'll see season 4 later this month... after waiting several years following the release of season 2. Now, it gets even better! The series will be completed on DVD on October 30 with the release of both volumes of the fifth season, in The Streets of San Francisco - Season 5 (Volume 1 and Volume 2). It is always great to see a series completed, but especially in record time like this.

A listing appeared on amazon.com recently which demonstrates that CBS is moving into releasing some of their much older series as MOD products, and it appears that Cannon - Season Three will be the first of these. CBS has been releasing some more recent (as in '90s and later) stuff on MOD, but this marks the first time that a much older series like this has been released as a MOD product. It is worth noting that the first two seasons, when released as a standard release, happened to be among the few CBS releases to make it to stores without having video and audio quality restored to HD quality... so we really expect the same again.

A few weeks ago, word began spreading of the second season of Fantasy Island coming from Sony as a MOD product in September. We were a bit skeptical of this announcement and didn't discuss it here (we assumed it was an error) since Shout! released Fantasy Island - The Complete Second Season (Shout!) in May, but as it turns out, it looks as if Sony will in fact be releasing their own Fantasy Island - The Complete Second Season (Sony). It is a bit strange that Sony is releasing something which they've already licensed out to Shout! (and it isn't as if Shout! has lost the rights to the series, because they are in fact releasing Fantasy Island - The Complete Third Season on October 23), but it appears that is in fact what will happen. The Sony set has different artwork from the Shout! set and contains five discs rather than six discs as the Shout! set had, so it looks like it will be a much different release. That isn't all that is different. The MOD set will come at a MSRP that is about a dollar less than the pressed set that Shout! Factory already put out... but keep in mind, a traditionally released pressed set almost always sells for a price much lower than the MSRP while the MOD prices are set by the distributor and rarely fluctuate... so the Shout! set is a better quality pressed set at a lower price. But if you really want the Sony MOD product... it is out there.

Warner Archive is going deep into their archives once again this Tuesday, as they release the first season of the original Ruby-Spears Heathcliff series. It isn't available to order yet, but the release will bring all 13 episodes of The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show to DVD.

HBO announced this week that Entourage will be coming to DVD in complete series form on November 6 with Entourage - The Complete Series (DVD). But that isn't all... they will also be offering the entire series on Blu-ray with Entourage - The Complete Series (Blu-ray). The DVD will come at a $249.99 MSRP, while the Blu-ray will come in at $299.99.

Finally, there are some new offerings on Hulu in recent weeks, but two of them are only available for Hulu+ subscribers and one is only one episode of a series that everybody wants to see more of. For the paid Hulu+ subscribers, you can now watch every episode of the two ALF cartoons, with ALF: The Animated Series and ALF Tales. There is new free content from Fox, as they've added the series Boston Public to the service... but unfortunately, that comes with a huge caveat. They've put up only one episode of the series (Chapter 4), which guest starred Joanna García-Swisher. Hopefully, though, if fans show interest in this one episode, we may see more... I know that I would certainly love to see the whole series available!

UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW

Tuesday (August 14) brings Community - The Complete Third Season to DVD. We received our review copy of this today, and will have a review posted very soon. Fans of the classic Robert Urich series Vega$ get to see the series come to an end with Vega$ - The Third Season, Volume 2 (review). Additionally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes to an end with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The Complete Final Season (Season 10). We'll have a review of this set next weekend. Finally, it isn't exactly a Tuesday release, but Time-Life will begin shipping their megaset, The Carol Burnett Show - The Ultimate Collection on Monday.

BLOG DVD REVIEW

Blog DVD Review: Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1 (CBS DVD, $49.99)

by skees53 

Here comes Perry Mason for the defense in Perry Mason - Season 7, Volume 1. The four disc set brings 15 more episodes of murder suspects who have all of the odds stacked up against them with the case put together by the DA. But never under-estimate Mason, because he will win the case... almost always (there is episode in this collection which shows otherwise, though).

The seventh season begins with "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew," where a con man tries to swindle two aging aunts out of a fortune... but things get worse once he changes his plan. Perry is defeated in "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," and the client is sentenced to death... so can he get her off the hook before it is too late? In "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox," a man may have gotten away with the perfect robbery... or so it seems. Perry finds himself embroiled in a case involving fraud, gold, and murder in "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito." Perry is involved in a murder case involving a dean of students in "The Case of the Decadent Dean." In "The Case of the Reluctant Model," an art student entangled in a case of art robbery is about to find things getting a lot worse. Infidelity leads to murder in "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse." In "The Case of the Floating Stones," a girl's search for her grandfather's missing stash of diamonds turns her into a murder suspect.

In "The Case of the Festive Felon," a matriarch leaves her riches to a private nurse... and the family attorney suddenly winds up dead. A liquor store robbery takes a fatal turn in "The Case of the Devious Delinquent." A real estate swindle turns to murder in "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang." In "The Case of the Badgered Brother," a family fight between brothers ends with one being stabbed in the back... literally. A woman tries to help her husband who she believes was wrongly convicted of murder after he is out on parole in "The Case of the Wednesday Woman," but things aren't going so well for him when he is accused of a new crime. A man suspects his boss and father-in-law of embezzlement in "The Case of the Accosted Accountant," but when the boss turns up dead, you know who the main suspect will be. In "The Case of the Capering Camera," a fashion model is accused of shooting a photographer who has been blackmailing her sister.

The runtimes for each episode are as follows:

Disc 1:
1. "The Case of the Nebulous Nephew" (50:38)
2. "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (50:44)
3. "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" (50:38)
4. "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito" (50:37)

Disc 2:
5. "The Case of the Decadent Dean" (50:39)
6. "The Case of the Reluctant Model" (50:39)
7. "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse" (50:36)
8. "The Case of the Floating Stones" (50:36)

Disc 3:
9. "The Case of the Festive Felon" (50:38)
10. "The Case of the Devious Delinquent" (50:38)
11. "The Case of the Bouncing Boomerang" (50:35)
12. "The Case of the Badgered Brother" (50:35)

Disc 4:
13. "The Case of the Wednesday Woman" (50:37)
14. "The Case of the Accosted Accountant" (50:38)
15. "The Case of the Capering Camera" (50:25)

The DVD comes packaged just like all of the previous seasons, in a standard Viva case. The cover has a color photo of Perry, along with smaller photos of other cast members above him. On the back, there are a few black and white snapshots, along with a brief description of the series and the episodes on the set. Inside, there are four discs. Discs 1-3 contain four episodes each, while Disc 4 contains three episodes. The disc artwork just has the logo from the cover art on a gray background, with all of the episodes listed on the disc. There are also episode descriptions and original airdates printed inside the case.

The menus on the set are basic and plain, as they typically have been for this series. The main menu just has a still photo of Perry, along with a listing of the episodes, and a Play All and Subtitles option. They're all pretty self-explanatory. Chapters are placed throughout each episode.

There is really nothing to complain about at all with the video and audio quality of the episodes. There IS a bit of grain and debris, but CBS has been cleaning up this series pretty well for DVD. There is occasional crackle in the audio, but it is pretty loud and clear as well. Each episode contains English subtitles.

There are no special features on this set at all. Considering that this is the thirteenth half-season release of the series with no special features, and there are only five more left to bring the series to completion, I think it is safe to say that we probably won't see any on any of the remaining season sets.

I don't really know what else to say about this series at this point. Beginning with the first DVD set released over five years ago, we've consistently had decent quality (but barebones) releases of this series, with no bumps in the road along the way. Ironically, the series was kind of the same way... it always followed a consistent formula and didn't really have any low points at any point in the series, and consistently remained a well-written and produced legal drama. Of course, I guess it may have gotten a bit old knowing that the accused is going to be innocent (and they'll be proven innocent one way or another as long as Perry Mason is on their side), but that is kind of the fun thing about this series. You know how each episode will end, you just have to follow the details to find out why it ends that way. If you've been collecting the series on DVD up to this point, there is no point in stopping here. In fact, it is likely that the remaining five half-seasons will be just as enjoyable as this (even if there are no special features), giving CBS a not guilty verdict on most charges of this being anything but another stellar release of the series... but the jury is deliberating on that whole "lack of special features" charge.

(4/5 stars)

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Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com DVD Reviews Page
Perry Mason on TV.com

CLICK OF THE WEEK 

Southern Media's News Music Search Archive (www.southernmedia-nmsa.com) - We'll admit, as we wrap up these last few weeks of our Click of the Week feature, this is probably one of the most idiosyncratic websites that we've featured here... but it is an interesting one that many people in the United States can relate to. We all watch our local news and we recognize the music and transitional effects used on the news, but there is really a lot more to these than a lot of us realize. These music packages are composed and purchased by the station, typically from one of a handful of people who make a living off of this type of thing, and often used at TV stations across the nation.

Southern Media's News Music Archive places all of the information about this music, audio files of the music (when you click on the music note next to the theme), and dates that the music was used for TV stations in nearly every market in the US. And they aren't just the most recent ones. You can go back to listen to the music packages used by your local stations in the past, in some case going back several decades. Have you ever wondered which other stations have used the same music packages? You can find that information with just a click as well. It is a bit of an unusual website, but it is nice to know that there is a place to find all of these with a "one stop" approach.

That's all for this week. Until next time, keep it digital!