Showing posts with label Entourage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entourage. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 05, 2016
getTV Acquires Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall Sitcoms; Entourage Star Heads to Hallmark Movie
getTV delivers a night of laughs with an all-new Tuesday lineup featuring The Jeff Foxworthy Show and The Bill Engvall Show, airing every Tuesday starting on October 11. The weekly block will highlight three back-to-back episodes of The Jeff Foxworthy Show from 8 p.m. ET to 9:30 p.m. ET, followed by three back-to-back episodes of The Bill Engvall Show from 9:30 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. Each week kicks off with a trio of episodes of the 1995 sitcom The Jeff Foxworthy Show at 8 p.m. ET, starring beloved funnyman Jeff Foxworthy as a southern air conditioner repairman feeling hilariously out of his element in a small Indiana town. The show also features Haley Joel Osment in an early television role as Foxworthy's young son Matt, four years before his breakthrough role in The Sixth Sense. Jay Mohr, Bill Engvall, and Jerry Maguire standout Jonathan Lipnicki were added to the cast in season two.
Then, stay tuned for three episodes of the 2007 sitcom The Bill Engvall Show at 9:30 p.m. ET, starring comedian Bill Engvall as a family counselor who is rarely able to understand his own family. In addition to co-stars Tim Meadows and Nancy Travis, the series notably featured a then-17-year-old Jennifer Lawrence in one of the Oscar®-winner's earliest starring roles, stealing the show as Engvall's teenage daughter, Lauren.
Adrian Grenier (Entourage) and Amy Smart (Justified) have been cast as the leads in A Worthwhile Life, a new, original movie premiering on Hallmark Channel in 2017. Production is set to begin this month in and around Salt Lake City, Utah. Mary Landers (Smart) is a young woman whose hope for an engagement is unexpectedly upended when her fiancé tells her he is looking for someone more adventurous. On her train ride home, she trades glances with James Fielding (Grenier), a handsome stranger who appears to be the larger than life adventurer she is not. As throngs of shoppers exit the train all that is left of the mystery man is the phone he accidentally left behind. Mary endeavors to return it to him and finds herself on a journey of self-discovery. In the process she realizes that she may not be so different from the intriguing man who crossed her path after all.
Monday, July 14, 2014
TCA Summer 2014 Press Tour: NBC; Entourage Coming to VH1 Classic
The TCA Summer 2014 press tour continued this weekend and it was time for broadcast networks to take over. First up is NBC. Among the key announcements made were: renewals to a 10th season of America's Got Talent, a ninth season of Last Comic Standing and a fourth season of American Ninja Warrior, which airs in partnership with Esquire Network. These series all air in the summer. A new special is coming to NBC next May. Red Nose Day, the U.K.'s #1 television fundraising event, is finally coming to America in a spectacular star-studded special live on NBC. In collaboration with Comic Relief U.K. - the British charity behind Red Nose Day - NBC will televise a three-hour benefit in May 2015 as a celebration for the U.S. inaugural Red Nose Day event. Guest stars on the NBC broadcast, as well as the charities involved, will be announced at a later date. Then, Oscar-winning actor Christopher Walken, one of the most revered talents of his generation and a veteran of film, television and stage, will portray the iconic Captain Hook in NBC's Thursday, Dec. 4 telecast of Peter Pan Live!
As far as the panels yesterday, after the executive session there was a panel for the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards hosted by Seth Meyers. The telecast airs Monday, Aug. 25 on NBC. The first series panel was for the upcoming new drama State of Affairs starring Katherine Heigl and Alfre Woodard. After lunch, there was a panel for The Mysteries of Laura. On hand were stars Debra Messing, Laz Alonso, Janina Gavankar and Josh Lucas. The first sitcom panel went to the new comedy Marry Me starring Casey Wilson, Ken Marino, John Gemberling, Tymberlee Hill, Sarah Wright and Tim Meadows. Then the floor was to the new drama Constantine with stars Matt Ryan, Charles Halford and Harold Perrineau. Next up was the risque comedy Bad Judge starring Kate Walsh and Tone Bell and produced by Anne Heche. More comedy was next with a panel for A to Z with stars Lenora Crichlow, Ben Feldman, Christina Kirk, Cristin Milioti, and Henry Zebrowski, along with producers Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. And finally, the final panel of the day went to just showrunners of NBC's signature dramas: The Blacklist, Grimm, Parenthood, and Chicago Fire/Chicago P.D. The All-Star Party closed the day out. Up today will be NBC Cable networks, NBC Sports and NBC Television Distribution. We'll cover anything noteworthy from it.
Entourage is now going to air on another Viacom cable network. It has aired on other Viacom-owned networks like Spike TV, Comedy Central, TV Land and MTV2 but it never has taken off in the ratings. Now VH1 Classic will try airing the series. It will launch on Sunday, July 20 with a primetime marathon from 8pm-12am (with an encore from 3-7pm on July 21). The series will then regularly air Mon-Thurs at 11:30pm beginning Monday, July 21. An encore of the the previous night's episode will air Tues-Fri at 4pm beginning July 22. The series chronicles the acting career of Vincent Chase, a young A-list movie star, and his childhood friends from Queens, New York City, as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain of Los Angeles, California. The series stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Debi Mazar, Perrey Reeves, Rex Lee, Rhys Coiro, Gary Cole, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Scott Caan.
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Scrubs, Entourage Join MTV2, Sabrina Comes to Logo; Remembering Mickey Rooney
Scrubs has joined the MTV2 line-up. The Zach Braff comedy is now airing on MTV2 weekdays from 2-5pm and on Saturday mornings from 11am-2pm. As for Entourage, it will air weekend late nights beginning this Sunday (April 13) at 2am. Both Scrubs and Entourage have bounced around in the Viacom family, with networks like TV Land, Spike TV and Comedy Central airing the programs. It appears MTV2 has removed Boy Meets World and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch for now. Saved by the Bell is still airing weekdays from 9-11am, along with weekends play. Other sitcoms airing on MTV2 still include Martin, The Wayans Bros. and Smart Guy. MTV2 removed Family Matters awhile back, but that can still be seen on Viacom-owned BET. Back to Boy Meets World and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, as of now Boy Meets World is not airing on another Viacom property, but Sabrina, the Teenage Witch will be. That sitcom will now join the Logo line-up. It will begin on Thursday (April 10) and will air Thursday afternoons and in late night on Thursdays. Times will vary weekly, so check your listings. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch joins other off-network series on the line-up including Will & Grace, Roseanne, The Golden Girls, 30 Rock, Living Single, and Boston Legal. And finally, Logo seems to have delayed the launch of Designing Women. It was set to launch April 12, but now that isn't happening. Stay with us for continued updated.
Actor and entertainer Mickey Rooney, who made film and television appearances in ten decades, has died. He died surrounded by his family at his home in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on April 6. Mr. Rooney was 93.
Rooney had starring roles in three sitcoms. His first television starring role was as Mickey Mulligan in The Mickey Rooney Show (aka Hey Mulligan). He played an Irish American television studio page at the fictional International Broadcasting Company in Hollywood. The 1954-1955 NBC sitcom ran for 33 episodes. He next starred in the 1964-1965 NBC sitcom Mickey for 17 episodes. He appeared as Mickey Grady, a retired businessman, who inherits the luxury Newport Arms Hotel in Newport Beach, California, and decides to run it. His real-life son, Tim, played his 16-year-old son Timmy. Rooney won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actor in a Television Series" in 1964. His final sitcom starring role was in the 1982 NBC sitcom One of the Boys. He played Oliver Nugent, an energetic senior citizen who moves in with his college-aged grandson. The 13-episode series also starred Dana Carvey, Nathan Lane, Scatman Crothers and Meg Ryan. His sitcom guest included December Bride, The Phil Silvers Show, Hennesey, Pete and Gladys, The Lucy Show, The Love Boat, The Golden Girls, Full House and Norm.
Rooney's other main television role was as Henry Dailey in The Adventures of the Black Stallion. The Family Channel adventure series ran for 78 episodes from 1990-1993. He had previously played the role in the 1979 film The Black Stallion. Rooney received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. His other television guest appearances included Wagon Train, Checkmate, The Investigators, Naked City, The Dick Powell Theatre, The Twilight Zone, Burke's Law, Rawhide, The Fugitive, Night Gallery, Jack's Place, Murder, She Wrote, ER, Chicken Soul for the Soul and Safe Harbor. He won an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for his role in the 1981 television movie Bill. For a listing of his many film credits, visit his IMDB page.
The Archive of American Television conducted an one-hour interview with him on July 24, 2001. Survivors include his wife of 37 years, Jan Chamberlain, as well as eight surviving children, two stepchildren, nineteen grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. Mr. Rooney was a wonderful actor and a Hollywood legend. We thank him for all of the entertainment he brought us over the years. He will be greatly missed.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Comedy Central Fall 2011 Schedule; Bounce TV Launches September 26
Up next on our daily fall schedules barrage is Comedy Central. Their fall 2011 schedule will begin on Monday, Sept. 19 with the addition of new off-network acquisition 30 Rock. The series will also air on WGN American and local broadcast stations this fall, as we have already mentioned. The comedy stars Tina Fey, Jane Krakowski, Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin. Running TGS with Tracy Jordan is not easy for head writer Liz Lemon, especially when she has to deal with stars that have the combined maturity of a fourth grader, an executive constantly dispensing corporate wisdom and a personal life one could charitably describe as "depressing." Catch all of the one-liners, behind-the-scenes action and wild humor from this multiple-Emmy(R) Award-winning comedy weeknights at 7:00 and 7:30 p.m. when it has its Comedy Central debut on Monday, September 19.
Elsewhere on Comedy Central's weekday line-up, Scrubs will move to 2:00pm & 2:30pm every weekday, as it moves away from its 6pm & 6:30pm timeslots. At 3pm, Comedy Central Presents will air followed by repeats of Futurama. In the 4pm hour, the network will now air another Futurama followed by repeats of Tosh.0. At 5pm, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will start its weekday daily strip run on Comedy Central followed by repeats of South Park at 5:30pm. On Mondays, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will air at 5:30pm, though. In the 6pm hour, the network will air repeats of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, which was airing in the 7pm hour, but now 30 Rock will take over that hour. From 8pm on there is not a real set schedule but late nights will have Futurama at 2am and another episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 4:30am. Earlier in the day, among the notable items are Entourage airing weekdays at 11am. On weekends, the only thing of note is that Scrubs will air usually in midday for two hours (like 11am-1pm or 1pm-3pm), while It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will air Sunday nights from 4-5am.
Among original series and specials, Charlie Sheen's "winning" streak comes to a screeching halt as he becomes the next Comedy Central Roastee, where his warlock skills and tiger blood will not stand a chance against the insults and jabs that will be flying at him from the dais. Before the premiere of the not-to-be missed Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen on Monday, September 19 at 10:00 p.m. and viewers can tune-in at 9:45 p.m. for the Roast Pre-Show to see all of the Roasters, the Roast Master and the Roastee himself before they all take stage on the notoriously brutal dais. The following night will have the fall season premiere of the network's most-watched series, Tosh.0 (September 20 at 10:00 p.m.), followed by the second season premiere of Comedy Central's newest hit, Workaholics (September 20 at 10:30 p.m.). The week is capped off Sunday, September 25 at 9:00 p.m. by the return of Jeff Dunham and his infamous gang of characters with the World Premiere of an all-new, stand-up special, Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos. Also in September, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert provide their inimitable take of the day's news with all-new episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report all starting at 11:00 p.m.
View the full Comedy Central Fall 2011 schedule. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another fall schedule for cable!
There is another digital substation launching this fall, joining the likes of Antenna TV, MeTV, thisTV and Retro TV. We have not reported this already because the digital network will not be airing any sitcoms or scripted series, but today we will tell you what they will air. Bounce TV, the first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African-Americans is launching September 26 at 12 noon. Bounce TV will target African-Americans primarily between the ages of 25-54 with a programming mix of theatrical motion pictures, live sporting events, documentaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series, original programming and more. The network has been cleared in Atlanta, GA; Houston, TX; Cleveland/Akron, OH; Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Hartford/New Haven, CT; Norfolk, VA; Dayton, OH; West Palm Beach, FL; Birmingham, AL; Memphis, TN; Louisville, KY and Richmond, VA, among other markets on digital substations. Bounce TV will air 24 hours a day, seven days a week as a digital terrestrial network designed for carriage on the digital signals of local television stations.
The only TV series airing are Soul Train and Judge Hatchett. On weekdays, Soul Train will air at 7am and 6pm, while Judge Hatchett will air at 7:00pm & 7:30pm. Soul Train will air on weekends as well, airing 7am, 8am, 5pm and 7pm on Saturdays and 7am and 7pm on Sundays The schedule will be primarily filled with movies with some gospel programming. Let's hope they add some scripted sitcoms or dramas in the near future, as this could be a great destination to watch older African-American series not airing on television.
Elsewhere on Comedy Central's weekday line-up, Scrubs will move to 2:00pm & 2:30pm every weekday, as it moves away from its 6pm & 6:30pm timeslots. At 3pm, Comedy Central Presents will air followed by repeats of Futurama. In the 4pm hour, the network will now air another Futurama followed by repeats of Tosh.0. At 5pm, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will start its weekday daily strip run on Comedy Central followed by repeats of South Park at 5:30pm. On Mondays, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will air at 5:30pm, though. In the 6pm hour, the network will air repeats of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report, which was airing in the 7pm hour, but now 30 Rock will take over that hour. From 8pm on there is not a real set schedule but late nights will have Futurama at 2am and another episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia at 4:30am. Earlier in the day, among the notable items are Entourage airing weekdays at 11am. On weekends, the only thing of note is that Scrubs will air usually in midday for two hours (like 11am-1pm or 1pm-3pm), while It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will air Sunday nights from 4-5am.
Among original series and specials, Charlie Sheen's "winning" streak comes to a screeching halt as he becomes the next Comedy Central Roastee, where his warlock skills and tiger blood will not stand a chance against the insults and jabs that will be flying at him from the dais. Before the premiere of the not-to-be missed Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen on Monday, September 19 at 10:00 p.m. and viewers can tune-in at 9:45 p.m. for the Roast Pre-Show to see all of the Roasters, the Roast Master and the Roastee himself before they all take stage on the notoriously brutal dais. The following night will have the fall season premiere of the network's most-watched series, Tosh.0 (September 20 at 10:00 p.m.), followed by the second season premiere of Comedy Central's newest hit, Workaholics (September 20 at 10:30 p.m.). The week is capped off Sunday, September 25 at 9:00 p.m. by the return of Jeff Dunham and his infamous gang of characters with the World Premiere of an all-new, stand-up special, Jeff Dunham: Controlled Chaos. Also in September, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert provide their inimitable take of the day's news with all-new episodes of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report all starting at 11:00 p.m.
View the full Comedy Central Fall 2011 schedule. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another fall schedule for cable!
There is another digital substation launching this fall, joining the likes of Antenna TV, MeTV, thisTV and Retro TV. We have not reported this already because the digital network will not be airing any sitcoms or scripted series, but today we will tell you what they will air. Bounce TV, the first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African-Americans is launching September 26 at 12 noon. Bounce TV will target African-Americans primarily between the ages of 25-54 with a programming mix of theatrical motion pictures, live sporting events, documentaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series, original programming and more. The network has been cleared in Atlanta, GA; Houston, TX; Cleveland/Akron, OH; Charlotte, NC; Cincinnati, OH; Indianapolis, IN; Hartford/New Haven, CT; Norfolk, VA; Dayton, OH; West Palm Beach, FL; Birmingham, AL; Memphis, TN; Louisville, KY and Richmond, VA, among other markets on digital substations. Bounce TV will air 24 hours a day, seven days a week as a digital terrestrial network designed for carriage on the digital signals of local television stations.
The only TV series airing are Soul Train and Judge Hatchett. On weekdays, Soul Train will air at 7am and 6pm, while Judge Hatchett will air at 7:00pm & 7:30pm. Soul Train will air on weekends as well, airing 7am, 8am, 5pm and 7pm on Saturdays and 7am and 7pm on Sundays The schedule will be primarily filled with movies with some gospel programming. Let's hope they add some scripted sitcoms or dramas in the near future, as this could be a great destination to watch older African-American series not airing on television.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
NBC Fall Pilot Review: Outsourced - Premieres September 23; WGN America Pulls Entourage, Curb from Primetime
Outsourced - Thursdays 9:30PM ET/PT on NBC
Premieres Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 9:30PM ET/PT
Outsourced is NBC's latest "clash of the cultures" sitcom to explore how one person functions when being suddenly immersed in an unfamiliar environment. Todd Dempsey (Ben Rappaport) returns from his vacation to his office at Mid America Novelties to find that the call center his workplace has been "right-sized" in order to save the company every penny possible. Everybody has been fired, and their jobs have been replaced by employees in Mumbai, India. Well, not exactly everybody has been fired. Todd still has a job with Mid America Novelties, but now he is the lone American manager of the call center in India. But that is just the beginning of the story. Upon Todd's arrival into India, he discovers that his job is going to be much more difficult than anticipated when he finds that his employees are not exactly top-notch.
Cast Details:
* Ben Rappaport as Todd Dempsey
* Rizwan Manji as Rajiiv Gidwani
* Sacha Dhawan as Manmeet
* Rebecca Hazlewood as Asha
* Parvesh Cheena as Gupta
* Anisha Nagarajan as Madhuri
* Diedrich Bader as Charlie Davies
* Pippa Black as Tonya
Ben Rappaport (Todd) makes his television debut in his starring role in the series. A recent graduate of the Julliard School, he received the Drama Division's highest honor, the Michel and Suria Saint-Denis Prize. His credits include several Julliard performances and work with Roundabout, Ars Nova, Naked Angels, Irish Rep., The Actors Studio, and New Dramatists.
Rizwan Manji (Rajiiv) has many credits from guest starring roles in several series, including Glee, FlashForward, 24, Better Off Ted, Medium, How I Met Your Mother, and Without a Trace, among several other series. His movie credits include Charlie Wilson's War and Transformers.
Manchester-born Sacha Dhawan (Manmeet) has many credits to his name in the United Kingdom, but is new to American audiences. He is an accomplished tap-dancer who has previously appeared in British series such as Out of Sight and The Last Train.
Parvesh Cheene (Gupta) made his acting debut as Samir in the movie Barbershop and sequel Barbershop 2. He has many television credits in guest starring roles, including ER, The OC, Brothers & Sisters, and 'Til Death.
Diedrich Bader (Charlie) has many credits from films including EuroTrip, Napoleon Dynamite, Ice Age, Office Space, and more. Additionally, he has done many cartoon voices (including Batman) and also played Oswald Lee Harvey on the long-running series The Drew Carey Show.
Pilot Plot:
#1 "Pilot" (Airs September 23, 2010) - Directed by Ken Kwapis
In the pilot, Todd Dempsey returns from his vacation at Mid America Novelties to find that the call-center that he has been hired to manage in Kansas City is gone, outsourced to Mumbai, India. Upon arriving in India, he meets his assistant manager, Rajiiv (Rizwan Manji), who already has his eyes on Todd's job, in anticipating that Todd won't last long in India. Once Todd arrives in the office, he finds that his new employees are less-than-stellar, including Madhuri (Anisha Nagarajan), the call-center employee with no self-confidence, Asha (Rebecca Hazlewood), who seems to be the most in-touch with American culture (but still struggles), Gupta (Parvesh Cheena), the obnoxious co-worker, and Manmeet (Sacha Dhawan), who is deeply intrigued by Todd's explanation of American lifestyle. He also meets Charlie Davies (Diedrich Bader), who works for All American Hunter and knows what the future holds for Todd, and Tanya (Pippa Black), a young Australian woman who quickly attracts Todd's attention.
Everything appears to be a disaster at first, but as the episode progresses, the call-center employees are slowly becoming interested in the products they are selling and in American culture, even if their understanding of American culture is fatally flawed. Will they make the adjustment before Todd loses his sanity?
Analysis:
The pilot was decent, but leaves some holes that need to be filled. In particular, it felt as if too much of the attention focused on Todd's adjustment to his new job. While it makes sense that the character should be the central character of the series, the other characters often seemed to just be an afterthought and seemed to have two-dimensional personalities. The series is going to need to have some complicated plots focusing on multiple characters and bring some depth into their distinct personalities. In particular, I'm hoping to see some power struggles between Todd and Rajiiv, similar to the power struggles between Michael and Dwight on The Office.
Some of the funniest moments in the pilot came from the cultural misunderstandings of the employees in India, but the problem with this is that the call-center employees are not the "fish out of water" in the series, and instead, that role belongs to Todd. He seems to adapt to the culture a little too easily in the pilot, and the series could certainly benefit if his character was more naive about the culture in India. Still, it is important for the series to continue to include the difficulties that the employees have adapating to American culture, as they are working with American customers. There were certainly many funny elements in the pilot, but there weren't enough (if any at all) laughs regarding Todd's character.
The series has a pretty decent cast, with each cast member fitting into the profile of the character he or she is playing. One of the things that I feared before seeing the pilot is that the series would stereotype all of the Indian characters as being the same, but they actually successfully managed to create a dynamic cast with each having a distinctive personality, even if the pilot episode did not present an adequate opportunity to present those personalities. Even though the cast is made up almost entirely of unknown actors, all of them seem to be prepared to take upon their roles and have great potential for the series.
Conclusion:
All in all, this isn't a bad show, although the pilot could have been better. The series probably wouldn't have a chance on another network, but it may benefit from being paired with The Office on NBC's Thursday night lineup. Still, NBC has the series Parks and Recreation returning later in the season, and something will have to be bumped to make room for it--and this series seems to be a prime candidate for that.
The success or failure of the series will depend upon whether or not people tune in, and the somewhat weak pilot may affect that significantly. Still, the pilot isn't a total disaster, and I'm hoping that the creative staff was really intending to JUST introduce us to the cast instead of creating a complex plot involving the characters (as there really wasn't any complex plot at all). The concept for the series is one that I hope to see work out for the best, and I think that with some improvements, it may attract some fans. It won't be a huge hit for NBC, for sure, but it has potential to be a stable part of the lineup.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):
Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
-- Reviewed by skees53 on 09/23/10
Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, September 23 on our message board.
Related Links:
Preview:
So, that's a wrap for the new sitcom pilot reviews. Better With You and Raising Hope were the pilots we liked best, while Outsourced was the lowest rated for us. Stay tuned later this season for more pilot reviews which includes Matthew Perry's Mr. Sunshine for ABC.
Moving on to news, WGN America will make some schedule changes to its primetime/late night line-up beginning on Monday (Sept. 27). It looks like Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm didn't do well in primetime in the ratings and they will be moved to late nights only. Starting Monday, they will now air in the 1am ET hour leading into the already scheduled late night airings at 2am ET. Replacing them in primetime will be two episodes of How I Met Your Mother in the 9pm ET hour, as that series will no longer airing in the 11pm ET hour, with Scrubs returning to that hour now. Replacing Scrubs at midnight ET will be South Park, which moves up an hour (from 1am ET). One note, How I Met You Mother won't air in the 9pm hour on Mondays, because of CBS network obligations, so Old Christine will air in the 9pm ET hour then, in addition to its regular weekdays 8pm ET hour. Old Christine will not air now in the 7pm hour on Fridays, so Dharma & Greg is all five days now in the 7pm ET hour. The 9pm move is better news for Mother, as it was airing at 11pm where Lifetime also airs it. Now you don't have to choose what network you want to watch it at 11pm.
There are some schedule changes to weekends, too. Saturdays will also see changes in primetime and late night. Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm will be replaced on Saturdays at 9pm ET also, this time by America's Funniest Home Videos. After the news at 10pm ET, How I Met Your Mother remains in the 11pm hour on Saturdays, so it will air Tues-Fri at 9pm and Saturdays at 11pm. But the Saturday late night line-up has changed, with South Park moved up to 12am ET instead of Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Instead Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm will now air in the 1am ET hour and another hour at 2am ET. So, Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm airs Mon-Sat in the 1am and 2am ET hours now. Another hour of South Park bookends Saturdays at 3am ET.
On Sundays, Just Shoot Me! will now air on the schedule after all, airing in the Sundays at 6pm ET hour after Scrubs. Dharma & Greg is no longer planned in this hour now on Sundays. Be on the look out for Just Shoot Me! airing as a filler as well (such as when there is no WGN News at 10pm ET).
View the FULL and updated WGN America Fall 2010 schedule. And stay tuned for any special stunts and marathon that WGN America always plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Spike TV Fall 2010 Schedule - Hawaii Five-0 Marathon; TBS Orders 90 More Episodes of Are We There Yet?
It's time for another edition of the fall cable schedules barrage! Today we will take a look at Spike TV! Right before the fall schedule begins they will have a week-long marathon of the classic police drama Hawaii Five-0 from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3! We knew about this already from the TCA tour, but now the full details are in. In celebration of the new Hawaii Five-0 series premiering on CBS on Sept. 20, Spike TV will dig into the archives and air the original first season of the classic TV series Hawaii Five-0 starring Jack Lord! Hawaii Five-0 aired for 12 seasons from 1968-80 on CBS, now relive the first season all over again on Spike TV! The episodes will air from 9am-6pm each weekday the week of Aug. 30. Spike TV will air episodes 3-24, as they won't air the two-hour pilot movie ("Cocoon") and the season finale ("The Big Kahuna").
Let's hope it does well on Spike TV so they can air it on their daily schedule, as it has been years since Hawaii Five-0 aired nationally on cable. Maybe sister network TV Land could run it daily? If Five-0 goes anything beyond this week, we'll certainly let you know, so stay tuned!
As for the regular Spike TV fall schedule starting Sept. 7, it is pretty much the same as it is now with an hour of Married...with Children kicking it off in the 9am hour, followed by three airings of Walker Texas Ranger from 10am-1pm. Then CSI: NY airs at 1pm leading into a block of CSI from 2pm-7pm. Other notable programming includes Entourage on Fridays from 9pm-12am, CSI Mon-Wed at 1am, Star Trek: Voyager Mon-Wed at 2am, The Shield on Thursdays at 2am, and Unsolved Mysteries returns to the schedule airing Mon-Wed at 3am. So, yes, it will be on both Lifetime and Spike TV.
Weekends will have a mix of marathons or movies, with Married...with Children remaining Sundays 9am-11am. Spike TV will make more changes in October, as Entourage will be eligible to air five days a week! The comedy will air weekdays in the 6pm hour starting Oct. 4, replacing an hour of CSI. They will also air it during the 12am hour on Monday nights and expand the Friday airings to 6pm-12am (instead of 9pm-12am). Some minor changes to late night will also happen with Star Trek: Voyager moving up to 1am and Spike's Most Amazing Videos airs at 2am.
Book 'em Danno! View the FULL Spike TV Fall 2010 schedule and highlights and stay tuned tomorrow as we give an update to the WGN America fall schedule because they have acquired another new sitcom to air in the fall!
TBS has ordered an additional 90 episodes of the hit sitcom Are We There Yet? following this summer's highly successful 10-episode run. The series, which stars Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) and Essence Atkins (Half & Half), is produced by Revolution Studios and Cube Vision and distributed by Debmar-Mercury. Revolution's Joe Roth and Vince Totino and Cube Vision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez serve as executive producers, along with award-winning show-runner Ali LeRoi. In addition to executive producing, Ice Cube plays a recurring guest starring role.
In Are We There Yet?, Crews and Atkins play Nick and Suzanne, a newly married couple whose blended family faces the challenges of everyday life. Teala Dunn and Coy Stewart co-star as Lindsey and Kevin, Nick and Suzanne's 14 and 10-year-old children. Keesha Sharp is Suzanne's best friend, who has a taste for men and the finer things in life. Comedian Christian Finnegan plays Nick's best friend and owner of a sports memorabilia store. Ice Cube plays a recurring guest starring role as Suzanne's brother.
Are We There Yet? premiered Wednesday, June 2 as part of TBS's enormously popular Wednesday lineup of original sitcoms that has House of Payne and Meet the Browns. The series went on to rank among ad-supported cable's Top 10 new series for the quarter, averaging 2.8 million viewers and 1.5 million adults 18-49. Are We There Yet? also scored as the #1 show on all of television in delivery of African-American adults 18-34 and 18-49 for the second quarter.
Let's hope it does well on Spike TV so they can air it on their daily schedule, as it has been years since Hawaii Five-0 aired nationally on cable. Maybe sister network TV Land could run it daily? If Five-0 goes anything beyond this week, we'll certainly let you know, so stay tuned!
As for the regular Spike TV fall schedule starting Sept. 7, it is pretty much the same as it is now with an hour of Married...with Children kicking it off in the 9am hour, followed by three airings of Walker Texas Ranger from 10am-1pm. Then CSI: NY airs at 1pm leading into a block of CSI from 2pm-7pm. Other notable programming includes Entourage on Fridays from 9pm-12am, CSI Mon-Wed at 1am, Star Trek: Voyager Mon-Wed at 2am, The Shield on Thursdays at 2am, and Unsolved Mysteries returns to the schedule airing Mon-Wed at 3am. So, yes, it will be on both Lifetime and Spike TV.
Weekends will have a mix of marathons or movies, with Married...with Children remaining Sundays 9am-11am. Spike TV will make more changes in October, as Entourage will be eligible to air five days a week! The comedy will air weekdays in the 6pm hour starting Oct. 4, replacing an hour of CSI. They will also air it during the 12am hour on Monday nights and expand the Friday airings to 6pm-12am (instead of 9pm-12am). Some minor changes to late night will also happen with Star Trek: Voyager moving up to 1am and Spike's Most Amazing Videos airs at 2am.
Book 'em Danno! View the FULL Spike TV Fall 2010 schedule and highlights and stay tuned tomorrow as we give an update to the WGN America fall schedule because they have acquired another new sitcom to air in the fall!
TBS has ordered an additional 90 episodes of the hit sitcom Are We There Yet? following this summer's highly successful 10-episode run. The series, which stars Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) and Essence Atkins (Half & Half), is produced by Revolution Studios and Cube Vision and distributed by Debmar-Mercury. Revolution's Joe Roth and Vince Totino and Cube Vision's Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez serve as executive producers, along with award-winning show-runner Ali LeRoi. In addition to executive producing, Ice Cube plays a recurring guest starring role.
In Are We There Yet?, Crews and Atkins play Nick and Suzanne, a newly married couple whose blended family faces the challenges of everyday life. Teala Dunn and Coy Stewart co-star as Lindsey and Kevin, Nick and Suzanne's 14 and 10-year-old children. Keesha Sharp is Suzanne's best friend, who has a taste for men and the finer things in life. Comedian Christian Finnegan plays Nick's best friend and owner of a sports memorabilia store. Ice Cube plays a recurring guest starring role as Suzanne's brother.
Are We There Yet? premiered Wednesday, June 2 as part of TBS's enormously popular Wednesday lineup of original sitcoms that has House of Payne and Meet the Browns. The series went on to rank among ad-supported cable's Top 10 new series for the quarter, averaging 2.8 million viewers and 1.5 million adults 18-49. Are We There Yet? also scored as the #1 show on all of television in delivery of African-American adults 18-34 and 18-49 for the second quarter.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
WGN America Fall 2010 Schedule; TCA Summer 2010 Press Tour: CBS
Sorry for the late post today, but it has been very busy today due to the TCA and to top it off, we are bringing you WGN America's Fall 2010 schedule! WGN America is adding plenty of new sitcoms and dramas to its line-up beginning in September. Joining the weekday schedule, as previously announced, are contemporary comedies Curb Your Enthusiasm, How I Met Your Mother, Old Christine, & Entourage. But today we have the timeslots for them! Curb Your Enthusiasm launches with a mini-marathon on Sunday, Sept. 12 from 8-10pm ET and 11pm-2am ET. The series will then settle into its Mon-Sat 9pm ET timeslot and encores at 2:30am ET on weeknights. The series will also air Saturday nights at 12:30am ET, in addition to 9pm. The other series won't get a pre-marathon but are heavily featured on the primetime schedule. Entourage will be paired with Curb, with it airing Mon-Sat at 9:30pm ET and weeknight encores at 2am ET. It will also air on Saturday nights at 12am ET, in addition to its 9:30pm ET slot.
Old Christine will air weeknights at 8:00pm & 8:30pm ET, except on Thursdays for WWE Superstars. As a result, that preemption will air in the Friday 7pm ET hour leading into the regularly scheduled airings. Old Christine will also air on Sunday nights in the 7pm ET hour. And How I Met Your Mother will air Tues-Sat at 11:00pm & 11:30pm ET and it will also air Sunday nights from 8-10pm ET.
Classic series wise, joining the weekday schedule will be Walker, Texas Ranger airing weekdays at 2pm and 3pm ET, as The Beverly Hillbillies moves into the 9am ET hour and I Dream of Jeannie heads to 4pm ET. Bewitched and Cheers also move up an hour to 5pm and 6pm ET, as Becker's contract has expired and will not be renewed. Also expiring is The Cosby Show. So, yes, this means with TV Land/Nick at Nite also not renewing, The Cosby Show will be out of a cable home for now come this fall. Wonder if any network will pick it up? 7th Heaven will be leaving the daily schedule come this September, as will Outta Sight Retro Night on Sundays, as the contracts to Newhart and Barney Miller are expiring. Retro night had a great run but ratings had softened in recent months. WGN America will instead use Scrubs at 5pm ET and new addition of Just Shoot Me! at 6pm ET to lead into the new contemporary sitcom block on Sunday nights.
As for weekends, WGN America will be losing Boston Legal, however The Unit and Monk are being added to join Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Bones. The Unit will be used with those two on Saturday afternoons, while Monk will air on Sunday nights from 11pm-2am ET. WGN America will also air classic series on weekend mornings with dramas (In the Heat of the Night, Matlock and Walker Texas Ranger) on Saturdays and an hour of Bewitched on Sundays. Saturday nights will have the new contemporary comedies, like every other night.
Also of note, on and off sitcom Coach will get a marathon airing on Outta Sight Retro Night on Sunday, Aug. 29 from 5pm-10pm ET and 11pm-4am ET to kick-off college football weekend! There are no plans to put it on the regular schedule again, though. This is the last night for Outta Sight Retro Night, with the last regular line-up airing a week prior (Aug. 22). There is also an Addams Family sighting on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 5:30pm ET after baseball. It is just filler, but hopefully it gets to air. Movies will follow.
To recap, Walker Texas Ranger, Curb Your Enthusiasm, How I Met Your Mother, Old Christine, Entourage, Just Shoot Me!, Monk, The Unit all join the schedule while Newhart, Barney Miller, Reno 911, Chappelle's Show, 7th Heaven, Cosby Show, Becker, Boston Legal, Bob & Tom Show, Singstation, Toni On!, Smash Cuts, Hollywood & Dine, Cultivating Life all leave the line-up.
View the FULL WGN America Fall 2010 schedule and highlights. And stay tuned tomorrow for another Fall 2010 schedule as our annual cable fall schedules barrage continues!
Today is the first day of the TCA Summer 2010 Press Tour and CBS is up first. We are not at the press tour, but our friend Mike of TVTango.com is there and is providing live blogging updates for everyone! You even get to submit a question and he will try to ask for you. Sounds cool right?
Anyway, CBS started the morning off right by having a selection of favorite breakfast items with showgirls and slot machines for added fun in honor of the new Wednesday drama The Defenders. Then the sessions started with Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment taking quesitons. Among the highlights from this session were: Nina commented on the resignation of ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson: My first thought was "Dammit, Steve got out of doing a press tour." CBS has given a name to the new CBS Daytime talk show set to replace soap As the World Turns this October. The talk show will be called The Talk. As a result of the talk show, Julie Chen (one of the co-hosts on this new talk show) will continue in a consulting capacity on The Early Show. Nina on pulling The Bridge from Saturday nights: The show wasn't delivering the numbers we needed. Generally, our Summer strategies work. We'll look at doing Canadian shows in future. I haven't decided yet. As for Two and a Half Men and Charlie Sheen: We have no indication that there will be any delay on the delivery of episodes as planned. Nina's comments on the move of Big Bang Theory to Thursdays: It was difficult, but not in the sense that you don't have complete faith and belief in the show...the time felt right. The show is enjoying an extraordinary amount of support and love. This was a great opportunity to move it into a strategic place. We don't expect it to do the numbers it did on Mondays quite yet. CBS is planning to air episodes of the original 1970's Hawaii Five-0 on one of their sister cable networks, Spike TV in September. More info on that will come soon.
Then The Big Bang Theory was up next at the panel. On hand were stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, and executive producers Prod Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady. After that the new sitcom Mike & Molly was up next and on hand were stars Billy Gardell, Melissa McCarthy, Reno Wilson, Katy Mixon, Nyambi Nyambi, Swoosie Kurtz and executive producer Chuck Lorre and creator Mark Roberts. The next panel before was the upcoming new CBS Daytime talk show (tentatively titled The Talk) with co-hosts Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur. And the final panel before lunch was Hawaii Five-0 with stars Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Alex Kurtzman, and executive producer Peter Lenkov.
After a lunch break with boxed lunches, the new drama The Defenders was up at the panel. On hand were stars Jim Belushi, Jerry O'Connell, Jurnee Smollett, Tanya Fischer, executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, co-creator Kevin Kennedy, co-creator Niels Mueller, executive producer Harry Gantz, executive producer Joe Gantz and show runner Greg Walker. Then next at the panel was new Friday drama Blue Bloods. On hand were stars Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, and executive producers Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green. And finally the last panel was the new sitcom S#*! My Dad Says with the star William Shatner and executive producers David Kohan & Max Mutchnick and co-executive producer Justin Halpern.
Then when everything is over today, CBS asks to join them under the summer sky with stars, producers and executives from CBS, Showtime, The CW and CBS Television Distribution at "The Tent," 9900 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, directly across from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where you can eat, drink and party outside in a fun festive setting.
Stay tuned tomorrow for The CW's turn at the TCA Summer 2010 Press Tour!
Old Christine will air weeknights at 8:00pm & 8:30pm ET, except on Thursdays for WWE Superstars. As a result, that preemption will air in the Friday 7pm ET hour leading into the regularly scheduled airings. Old Christine will also air on Sunday nights in the 7pm ET hour. And How I Met Your Mother will air Tues-Sat at 11:00pm & 11:30pm ET and it will also air Sunday nights from 8-10pm ET.
Classic series wise, joining the weekday schedule will be Walker, Texas Ranger airing weekdays at 2pm and 3pm ET, as The Beverly Hillbillies moves into the 9am ET hour and I Dream of Jeannie heads to 4pm ET. Bewitched and Cheers also move up an hour to 5pm and 6pm ET, as Becker's contract has expired and will not be renewed. Also expiring is The Cosby Show. So, yes, this means with TV Land/Nick at Nite also not renewing, The Cosby Show will be out of a cable home for now come this fall. Wonder if any network will pick it up? 7th Heaven will be leaving the daily schedule come this September, as will Outta Sight Retro Night on Sundays, as the contracts to Newhart and Barney Miller are expiring. Retro night had a great run but ratings had softened in recent months. WGN America will instead use Scrubs at 5pm ET and new addition of Just Shoot Me! at 6pm ET to lead into the new contemporary sitcom block on Sunday nights.
As for weekends, WGN America will be losing Boston Legal, however The Unit and Monk are being added to join Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Bones. The Unit will be used with those two on Saturday afternoons, while Monk will air on Sunday nights from 11pm-2am ET. WGN America will also air classic series on weekend mornings with dramas (In the Heat of the Night, Matlock and Walker Texas Ranger) on Saturdays and an hour of Bewitched on Sundays. Saturday nights will have the new contemporary comedies, like every other night.
Also of note, on and off sitcom Coach will get a marathon airing on Outta Sight Retro Night on Sunday, Aug. 29 from 5pm-10pm ET and 11pm-4am ET to kick-off college football weekend! There are no plans to put it on the regular schedule again, though. This is the last night for Outta Sight Retro Night, with the last regular line-up airing a week prior (Aug. 22). There is also an Addams Family sighting on Sunday, Sept. 5 at 5:30pm ET after baseball. It is just filler, but hopefully it gets to air. Movies will follow.
To recap, Walker Texas Ranger, Curb Your Enthusiasm, How I Met Your Mother, Old Christine, Entourage, Just Shoot Me!, Monk, The Unit all join the schedule while Newhart, Barney Miller, Reno 911, Chappelle's Show, 7th Heaven, Cosby Show, Becker, Boston Legal, Bob & Tom Show, Singstation, Toni On!, Smash Cuts, Hollywood & Dine, Cultivating Life all leave the line-up.
View the FULL WGN America Fall 2010 schedule and highlights. And stay tuned tomorrow for another Fall 2010 schedule as our annual cable fall schedules barrage continues!
Today is the first day of the TCA Summer 2010 Press Tour and CBS is up first. We are not at the press tour, but our friend Mike of TVTango.com is there and is providing live blogging updates for everyone! You even get to submit a question and he will try to ask for you. Sounds cool right?
Anyway, CBS started the morning off right by having a selection of favorite breakfast items with showgirls and slot machines for added fun in honor of the new Wednesday drama The Defenders. Then the sessions started with Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment taking quesitons. Among the highlights from this session were: Nina commented on the resignation of ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson: My first thought was "Dammit, Steve got out of doing a press tour." CBS has given a name to the new CBS Daytime talk show set to replace soap As the World Turns this October. The talk show will be called The Talk. As a result of the talk show, Julie Chen (one of the co-hosts on this new talk show) will continue in a consulting capacity on The Early Show. Nina on pulling The Bridge from Saturday nights: The show wasn't delivering the numbers we needed. Generally, our Summer strategies work. We'll look at doing Canadian shows in future. I haven't decided yet. As for Two and a Half Men and Charlie Sheen: We have no indication that there will be any delay on the delivery of episodes as planned. Nina's comments on the move of Big Bang Theory to Thursdays: It was difficult, but not in the sense that you don't have complete faith and belief in the show...the time felt right. The show is enjoying an extraordinary amount of support and love. This was a great opportunity to move it into a strategic place. We don't expect it to do the numbers it did on Mondays quite yet. CBS is planning to air episodes of the original 1970's Hawaii Five-0 on one of their sister cable networks, Spike TV in September. More info on that will come soon.
Then The Big Bang Theory was up next at the panel. On hand were stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, and executive producers Prod Chuck Lorre & Bill Prady. After that the new sitcom Mike & Molly was up next and on hand were stars Billy Gardell, Melissa McCarthy, Reno Wilson, Katy Mixon, Nyambi Nyambi, Swoosie Kurtz and executive producer Chuck Lorre and creator Mark Roberts. The next panel before was the upcoming new CBS Daytime talk show (tentatively titled The Talk) with co-hosts Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur. And the final panel before lunch was Hawaii Five-0 with stars Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Alex Kurtzman, and executive producer Peter Lenkov.
After a lunch break with boxed lunches, the new drama The Defenders was up at the panel. On hand were stars Jim Belushi, Jerry O'Connell, Jurnee Smollett, Tanya Fischer, executive producer Carol Mendelsohn, co-creator Kevin Kennedy, co-creator Niels Mueller, executive producer Harry Gantz, executive producer Joe Gantz and show runner Greg Walker. Then next at the panel was new Friday drama Blue Bloods. On hand were stars Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, and executive producers Mitchell Burgess & Robin Green. And finally the last panel was the new sitcom S#*! My Dad Says with the star William Shatner and executive producers David Kohan & Max Mutchnick and co-executive producer Justin Halpern.
Then when everything is over today, CBS asks to join them under the summer sky with stars, producers and executives from CBS, Showtime, The CW and CBS Television Distribution at "The Tent," 9900 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, directly across from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where you can eat, drink and party outside in a fun festive setting.
Stay tuned tomorrow for The CW's turn at the TCA Summer 2010 Press Tour!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Digital Digest: Entourage - The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Review
DIGITAL NEWS
On Thursday we told you Shout! Factory has licensed the DVD rights for All in the Family from Sony Pictures. This means the last two seasons will FINALLY be released at last! We have now have an official release date as well for the seventh season! Shout! Factory has set a October 5 release date. The three-disc DVD ($29.93 MSRP) is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Package art is also available but no info on if there are special features yet. Hopefully Shout! acquires more titles from Sony that seem to have been abandonned like The Jeffersons, Archie Bunker's Place, Diff'rent Strokes, Maude, and so many more. Warner Home Video has changed the date for The Big Bang Theory - The Complete Third Season to Sept. 14. It will be released on both DVD ($ MSRP)and Blu-ray ($ MSRP). Package art is not availble yet. Pre-order today!
Drama wise, we got dates for rookies NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife. CBS Paramount has announced a Sept. 14 release date for The Good Wife and an Aug. 31 release date for NCIS: Los Angeles. The Good Wife - The First Season is priced at $62.99 MSRP, while NCIS: Los Angeles - The First Season is also priced at $62.99 MSRP. Package art is available! CBS DVD has also announced Criminal Minds - Season 5 for Sept. 7 with an MSRP of $62.99 also.
To take advantage of Simon Baker on the hit series The Mentalist, CBS DVD will release the second season of Baker's previous show, The Guardian. Warner Home Video is releasing The Mentalist on Sept. 21, as we already know, but now CBS DVD will release The Guardian - The Second Season on Sept. 7. MSRP is slated for $49.98. The first season was released last fall.
Meanwhile, Warner Home Video will delay He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown by two weeks and will now release it on Sept. 21. The DVD will retail at $19.98 MSRP. Pre-order today!
For more information on titles that we won't cover with full or blog DVD reviews, you can head on over to the news section of TVShowsOnDVD.com for all of the latest details.
UPCOMING WEEK PREVIEW
Tuesday (June 29) will only have a couple of sitcoms in store. Shout! Factory will release the complete series of Leave it to Beaver! Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series is out on June 29 with every single season of the Cleaver clan. Look for our review soon, as we still need the complete set but we have the bonus features disc and it is outstanding. Also out on Tuesday is Shout! Factory's Mad About You with The Complete Fourth Season. We have reviewed it already. Read our review for more details. And there is a season four DVD of The Real McCoys coming from Infinity Entertainment.
BLOG FEATURE REVIEW
It's time for a special Blu-ray review of Entourage: The Complete Sixth Season! This is our second Blu-ray review ever, so it is pretty special. For Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle, life in Hollywood's fast lanecan be an intoxicating roller-coaster of a ride. After hitting some speed bumps the last couple of years, Vince's career is in high gear after his role in a new Martin Scorsese film. But now that Vince is back on top, is it finally time for the entourage to step out of his shadow? See our review of this Blu-ray release below!
Blu-ray Review: Entourage - The Complete Sixth Season
by Seth
Entourage: The Complete Sixth Season (HBO, $49.98 Blu-ray/$39.98 DVD) is now on Blu-ray and DVD! This review will focus on the Blu-ray edition. As I'm in a household that doesn't subscribe to any of the so-called "premium" channels at the present moment, this Blu-ray set marks my first exposure to the series (and our normal Entourage reviewer, skees53, is unavailable at the moment).
If you're like me and either new to the show through exposure by this review -- essentially the show is a comedic drama focused around Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) and the various people involved with his career -- his entourage. The series follows the lives of the whole group, usually as first triggered by events in the career of Vince. If any long-term fans feel I've missed the point, I apologize, but I'm brand new to this series and so the intricacies of the plot are something I haven't had the opportunity to experience in full.
By this sixth season, Vince's career is back on the upswing, leading to quite a few interesting events in the lives of those around him. I'm not going to spoil anything -- many of you already know full well what occurs over the course of the season, while new fans who may be checking this out for the first time? Well, I don't want to ruin your surprise. Many shows have difficulty captivating new viewers by their sixth season, but this show does a surprisingly good job of hooking me in despite my previous unawareness of the series.
A show focused on celebrity is going to feature people in guest starring capacities that's quite authentic. For example, Jay Leno appears in the season premiere when Vince goes on the pre-Conan Tonight Show to promote his new project. The season's second episode features actress Jami Gertz, recognizable to sitcom fan from her work on shows like Still Standing, Square Pegs, and even The Facts of Life. The third episode features an appearance by rapper 50 Cent. David Schwimmer, still beloved from his tenure on Friends, appears in the season's fourth episode. Elsewhere this season you'll find appearances by: Mark Wahlberg, Bob Saget, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Jeffrey Tambor, NBA players LeBron James and Steve Nash, Zac Efron, Malcolm McDowell, ex-Superman Dean Cain, Married... with Children-alum David Faustino, Matt Damon, and U2 front-man Bono. That's really just a sample -- if you pay close attention you're sure to notice even more guest spots. In a series driven by celebrity, there's going to be more cameos, guest star spots, and the occasional "I need work" bits than you'd find in 120 episodes of a normal series.
Now, you may be asking yourself, "Self - all that's nice, but is everything intact in the set?" To that enriching little piece of internal dialog, I can only say "I don't know." Remember when I said I've NEVER seen this show prior to this review? I don't have the FIRST clue what's supposed to be here. I did take a look at the runtimes: While they're wickedly all over the place, given the network it airs on and the relative creative freedom it allows its programs, I wouldn't be surprised if these ARE the proper runtimes. Nonetheless, for your convenience:
Disc 1:
Drive: 27:18
Amongst Friends: 26:25
One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car: 25:03
Runnin' on E: 29:14
Disc 2:
Fore: 22:31
Murphy's Lie: 28:09
No More Drama: 25:12
The Sorkin Notes: 244:37
Disc 3:
Security Briefs: 24:07
Berried Alive: 27:44
Scared Straight: 28:41
Give a Little Bit: 37:48
Despite dealing with the newest and, let's face it, greatest technology available in Blu-ray Disc, the packaging itself is actually a bit of a throwback nowadays. Aside from the shorter box height (to achieve consistency with normal Blu-ray packaging), the Blu-ray set is otherwise a plain, ordinary Digipak. It seems like it's been forever since I've seen one of these. I missed you, old friend. Artwork is extremely well done, with the primary cast seated at a table all enjoying some fine drinks. One thing I've always despised is cover art where the cast was spliced together with individual photos, so to see cover art where they were clearly in the same place at the same time is quite nice.
I've never used the forthcoming adjective before, so first a set-up. The only other Blu-ray I've watched start to finish is the film Independence Day. As my Blu-ray player is first and foremost for me a video game console that tends to be what it's primarily used for. So to see a TELEVISION series on Blu-ray for the first time: The video is nearly pants-wettingly good. The location and exterior shoots look absolutely stunning, and even the indoor stuff appears quite good. Audio is also quite nice. One of the neat things about Blu-ray I'm still adjusting to? The ability to pop-up a mini menu at any time during an episode without having to actually exit the episode itself. Audio is available in English and French DTS 5.1, while Spanish is a slightly more limited 2-channel track. Subtitles, available either through your subtitles button or through any of the menus (including the pop-up one) include: French, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, and English SDH. Video is available in full 1080p for those whose sets and players support it, otherwise it'll down-convert to whatever resolution your screen best supports. Chapter stops are available at the conclusion of each act.
Then you have the bonus features. Not only is there a full feature detailing the full production process for the sixth season called "Life at the Top," but you also get to watch the cast race a bunch of Ferraris (woo!), get to listen to three commentary tracks (keep an ear out for Bob Saget...), plus a set of fake outtakes for a PSA for ONEXONE, all of which play a role in the season's final episode.
This is the first TV show on Blu-ray I've gotten to review, and, quite simply, I'm blown away. The video and audio are absolutely mind-blowing, and the technological advances over a standard definition DVD are simply staggering. There's plenty enough special features to be of interest, however, the set doesn't come close to overkill in that regard. Overkill IS something nice to have in the Features department, so that might well be one area to consider improvement. Otherwise, this set is visually stunning and really makes me A.) look forward to more TV on Blu-ray, and B.) look forward to the seventh season premiere - airing on HBO tomorrow, Sunday June 27. For those of you questioning the merit of this set? STRONGLY recommended. It's 12 episodes of quality entertainment and the price isn't significantly more than what you'd pay for a single movie with a fourth of the content.
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this Blu-ray, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
To purchase the DVD version, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com
Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Entourage TV.com Page
LOOKING AHEAD
Come on back right here next week for more news and reviews. You'll have to come on back next week to see what the review here will be! And don't forget to read our full DVD reviews, as we will put up reviews for American Dad! and Family Guy. Until next time, keep it digital pardner! Yeeha!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Hallmark Adds Another I Love Lucy Marathon, More Changes; Spike TV Gets Original Comedy, Moves Entourage
For now, view the episode info for the Hallmark Channel President's Day Marathon for I Love Lucy!
Spike TV expands its comedic slate with Players, a series created by and starring one of the founders of the acclaimed improvisational comedy troupe, the Upright Citizens Brigade, Matt Walsh. Players follows two brothers (Walsh and Ian Roberts) with conflicting personalities trying to run a successful sports bar. Spike TV's new original half-hour comedy premieres Tuesday, March 2 at 10:30 PM, ET/PT. 10 episodes have been ordered. The series will air after the original comedy Blue Mountain State. That series is a hilarious football-centric comedy that follows three incoming freshman in a big-time, mid-western college football program.
Players stars Walsh as Bruce Fitzgerald, a free-spirited, fun-loving, guy's guy who is living out his fantasy of owning a sports bar that allows him to bet on games, drink for free and date the cocktail waitresses. His older, uptight brother, Ken (Ian Roberts), tries to keep the focus on turning a profit while avoiding lawsuits and health code violations. The series also features Krista (Danielle Schneider), the promiscuous waitress who has an affinity for B-list athletes and married men, Barb (June Diane Raphael), the insecure and neurotic waitress who falls in love with Bruce, Hickey (Jack McGee), a retired cop who got Bruce out of a gambling debt and was rewarded with a job where, instead of actually working, he spends most of his time bidding on sports memorabilia on eBay, and Calvin (James Pumphrey), the young, simple-minded bartender who lives in the store room and is an aspiring sports model who idolizes Bruce.
In other Spike TV news, reruns of HBO's Entourage has moved from Tuesday to Sundays from 10pm-12am. It seems it wasn't doing too well in the ratings.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Spike TV Launch Date for Entourage Reruns; 36th Annual People's Choice Awards Winners
The Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award-winning series Entourage will begin its basic cable run on Spike TV this Tuesday, January 12 with back-to-back episodes starting at 9pm, et/pt. The series will televise in this timeslot through October, and will feature two premiere episodes each week. After that, it will be available for five-days-a-week play. It will be then shared with WGN America and local broadcast syndication starting in Fall 2010.
Spike TV will have encores of the two episodes later in the night at 11pm & 11:30pm as well. Whenever Comedy Central announces a date, we'll let you know. It could be this fall though.
Stay with us in the coming weeks for NATPE (Jan. 25-27), where we will find out what will be offered in syndication this fall (2010).
The 36th Annual People's Choice Awards were held last night. Here are the winners for the television portion:
FAVORITE TV DRAMA
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (CBS)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
House (Fox)
LOST (ABC)
NCIS (CBS)
WINNER: House (Fox)
FAVORITE TV COMEDY
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Two and a Half Men (CBS)
The Office (NBC)
WINNER: The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTOR
Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy, ABC)
Hugh Laurie (House, Fox)
Kiefer Sutherland (24, Fox)
Mark Harmon (NCIS, CBS)
Matthew Fox (LOST, ABC)
WINNER: Hugh Laurie (House, Fox)
FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTOR
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, NBC)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory, CBS)
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, CBS)
Steve Carell (The Office, NBC)
Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men, CBS)
WINNER: Steve Carell (The Office, NBC)
FAVORITE TV DRAMA ACTRESS
Anna Paquin (True Blood, HBO)
Blake Lively (Gossip Girl, The CW)
Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer, CBS)
Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, ABC)
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU, NBC)
WINNER: Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, ABC)
FAVORITE TV COMEDY ACTRESS
Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother, CBS)
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, ABC)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation, NBC)
Eva Longoria Parker (Desperate Housewives, ABC)
Tina Fey (30 Rock, NBC)
WINNER: Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother, CBS)
FAVORITE TV OBSESSIONDexter
Gossip Girl, The CW
The Hills, MTV
The Secret Life of the American Teenager, ABC Family
True Blood, HBO
WINNER: True Blood, HBO
FAVORITE COMPETITION
American Idol (Fox)
Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox)
Survivor: Samoa (CBS)
WINNER: American Idol (Fox)
FAVORITE SCI-FI / FANTASY SHOW (Mobile Voting Category)
Heroes (NBC)
LOST (ABC)
Supernatural (The CW)
Vampire Diaries (The CW)
True Blood (HBO)
WINNER: Supernatural (The CW)
FAVORITE TALK SHOW (Mobile Voting Category)
Chelsea Lately (E!)
The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Syndicated, Warner Bros.)
The Oprah Winfrey Show (Syndicated, CBS Television Distribution)
Live with Regis & Kelly (Syndicated, ABC Studios)
WINNER: The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Syndicated, Warner Bros.)
FAVORITE ANIMAL SHOW
Animal Cops
Dog Town
Dog Whisperer
It's Me or the Dog
Rescue Ink Unleashed
WINNER: Dog Whisperer
FAVORITE NEW TV DRAMA
Eastwick, ABC
FLASHFORWARD, ABC
Melrose Place, The CW
Mercy, NBC
the forgotten, ABC
The Good Wife, CBS
The Vampire Diaries, The CW
Three Rivers, CBS
NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS
V, ABC
WINNER: The Vampire Diaries, The CW
FAVORITE NEW TV COMEDY
Accidentally on Purpose, CBS
Brothers, Fox
Community, NBC
Cougar Town, ABC
Glee, Fox
Hank, ABC
The Cleveland Show, Fox
The Middle, ABC
Modern Family, ABC
WINNER: Glee, Fox
Thursday, October 08, 2009
WGN America Long Term Pick-Ups, Munsters/Addams Family Halloween Marathon; CBS Orders Full Seasons of NCIS LA, Good Wife
But they still will have classic TV! In fact this Halloween, WGN America will have marathons of The Munsters and Addams Family! The Munsters marathon will air on Friday, October 30 from 4pm-12am ET (1pm-9pm PT). That's 16 classic episodes! And on Halloween itself (Saturday, October 31) spends the day with The Addams Family with a marathon from 3pm-12am ET (12pm-9pm PT). That's an hour more than The Munsters as we get 18 classic episodes!
View the episode info for each marathon.
CBS has given full season orders to NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife, the top two new series of the 2009-2010 season thus far in total viewers. NCIS: Los Angeles the number one new program of the season in total viewers and ranked second among all primetime programs, is averaging 17.47 million viewers, 4.1/11 in adults 18-49 and 5.6/13 in adults 25-54 over its three broadcasts so far. NCIS: Los Angeles has won its Tuesday (9:00-10:00 PM) time period in viewers and adults 25-54 every week this season and placed first in adults 18-49 twice.
The Good Wife, the number two new series of the season in total viewers, is averaging 13.70 million viewers, 3.0/8 in adults 18-49 and 4.2/11 in adults 25-54, winning its Tuesday (10:00-11:00 PM) time period in all key measures each telecast thus far.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Blog DVD Review: Entourage - The Complete Fifth Season (6/30)
Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season (HBO, $39.98) brings us twelve more episodes of the hit HBO dramedy in a three-disc DVD collection. For those that have never seen Entourage, it starts out simple enough, with Vince Chase (Adrien Grenier) going from Queens, NY and heading to Hollywood to try to make it big as an actor, but he comes to Hollywood with a few friends, including Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Eric (Kevin Connelly) and brother Drama (Kevin Dillon). Together, they form his "entourage" that helps him try to make it big in Hollywood, and he definitely needs that entourage because as he finds out, making it in Hollywood isn't as easy as it may look. The series is loosely based upon the life of Mark Wahlberg, and how he struggled to make it as an actor in Hollywood.
The fifth season begins with the episode "Fantasy Island," where reviews begin to come in for the film that Vince was working on at the end of season four--and they aren't pretty. So he decides to hide out in Mexico for a while. Vince develops some insecurity about himself when a former girlfriend gives him up to another girl in "Unlike a Virgin." Vince is desperate for money and will do anything to get it in "The All Out Fall Out." Fran Drescher makes a guest appearance. Ari sees Vince getting another break in "Fire Sale," but in the meantime, Drama is going to make a guest appearance on The View. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Sherri Shepherd, and Whoopi Goldberg all play their respective roles. Vince has to make a big decision about his career in "Tree Trippers," so why not head to a National Park to think about it? How low can Turtle go? Low enough to be an assistant to a C-list actor, Drama to be specific, in "Redemption."
Vince gets to do a fashion shoot with a supermodel in "Gotta Look Up to Get Down." Turtle is flying first-class, and on top of that, next to Jamie-Lynn Sigler, in "First Class Jerk." It is showtime for Vince, well at least showtime to start his new film, in "Pie." Seth Green appears as himself (and Eric's arch nemesis) in "Seth Green Day." There is a bit of disagreement on the set of Vince's newest film in "Play'n With Fire." Finally, season five ends with "Return to Queens Blvd.," where the guys return home to New York City, and get some advice and ideas before they head back to their new home in Hollywood.
The packaging is the fairly standard digipak that has been used for all previous Entourage releases, although just like season 4, it isn't as fancy of a digipak as what was used before. Still, it does the job and has very nice and professional artwork. Inside, we have the three discs, with the series logo on a plain black background. There are four episodes on each disc.
The menus on the set are very nicely done, but a little involve when it comes to navigating them. The main menu has music and videos from the episodes playing, and gives options of Episode Index, Languages, and Special Features. When you select Episode Index, you get a list of episodes, as well as a Play All option. When you select an episode, you get a screen that has an episode snapshot, a lengthy description, and options to show a recap of the previous episode, a preview of the episode you are about to watch, and an option to play the episode. There are no scene selection menus, but chapters are scattered throughout each episode at reasonable places (remember, as this is a premium cable series, there are no commercial break points).
The video and audio quality on this set is, to the say the least, superb. HBO never really sacrifices much on quality, and this set is a good example of that. The video and audio are very clear, with the video being presented in the original aspect ratio (16:9) and audio being presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. There are also French and Spanish audio tracks, as well as English, Spanish, and French subtitles on the set. And furthermore, the episodes are all closed-captioned. They have literally covered every corner! The episodes are most definitely unedited, with each episode running around 28 minutes (which, by the way, suggests that the edits for this series in syndication will be incredibly painful).
For those that have never seen the series before, you can get to know the series and find out what you have missed out on in the previous seasons by checking out the season recap on Disc 1. There is a recap for each season that tells all of the major events of each season of the series. Each season recap runs about a minute and 30 seconds, although there are actually two separate recaps for season 3 (season 3 was a longer than normal season). There are also previews for each individual episode on the set. There are three episodes on the set with audio commentaries, with all of them being from the four main cast members as well as producer Ally Musika. They are very fun and interesting to listen to, as they are very candid and obviously have a very fresh memory of these episodes. They really do seem to enjoy doing the series, which is a lot like the way that the guys are supposed to appear on the show--enjoying being in Hollywood with Vince. The commentaries can be found on "Tree Trippers," "Play'n With Fire," and "Return to Queens Blvd." Finally, on Disc 3, there is "The Celebrity Factor" (9:39), where the producers and actors talk about all of the guest stars that the series attracts. There are way too many to list all of them, but many of them make cameo appearances (or sometimes more prominent ones) as themselves on the series to give the series the real feeling of being in Hollywood rather than looking like some scripted series with fake famous celebrities. You never know who is going to show up on any given episode.
Honestly, I think that this is the best season yet of the series, and those that have never seen the series that believe that they may be interested in it may want to start here. By now, the characters and plots have been developed fairly well, and the series has hit a very strong point. Could it get stronger from here? Absolutely, but these are the best episodes that I have seen of the series so far. I remember watching the first season and having trouble figuring out what was so great about the series, but I can see how it has grown and developed now into what is one of the best series on television. Premium cable programming has gotten very impressive lately, and this is a great example of why that is.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
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Monday, June 08, 2009
Malcolm in the Middle Coming to Nick at Nite in July 2009; Old Christine Reruns Join Entourage, Curb in Fall 2010 Syndication
Malcolm in the Middle will still remain on cable on FX, where it has been airing since fall 2007. FX has a 5-year deal, that runs though fall 2012. There has to be a time restriction for FX and Nick at Nite now. FX airs the show currently in the weekdays 7am hour and various times in the afternoons, mostly 3-4pm. So, if I were to guess, FX has rights from 7am-7pm, with Nick at Nite 7pm-7am? Just a guess, but it makes sense. The show is also on local broadcast syndication. It has been airing on local channels since fall 2004, but its term is up this fall (2009), so it seems it will leave locals this fall. View the press release and discuss this news! We will have more on Malcolm in the Middle soon, including how this will affect the full Nick at Nite schedule starting in July. Stay tuned!
In other Nick at Nite news, they added a very last minute The Nanny marathon last night (Sunday, June 7), from 11pm-6am ET/PT and a special airing at 9:30pm as well. The show will also get a marathon next Sunday (June 14) from 9pm-4am, in case you didn't see it last night. It seems to me The Nanny is a surprise hit for the network.
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution has cleared reruns of sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine on local TV stations reaching more than 70 percent of the country, including the Tribune stations in New York and Los Angeles, for a Fall 2010 syndication launch.
The New Adventures of Old Christine, which CBS just picked up for a fifth season, was picked up by Tribune-owned WPIX in New York and KTLA in Los Angeles and by Weigel-owned WCIU in Chicago. In addition, the show has been sold to other markets owned by the CBS, Sinclair, Fox, Local TV, Hearst, Raycom, Meredith, Acme, Titan, Roberts, Gannett, Capitol, Grant and Cox station groups. Old Christine will air as a double-run daily strip with two weekend broadcasts at the most on these stations.
As previously mentioned, Warner Bros. has also sold reruns of Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm for a fall 2010 syndication launch as well. Entourage reruns will also air on cable on Viacom's Spike TV and Comedy Central before the syndication launch, in January 2010 as we mentioned.
Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm have also added several more station groups to their clearances, including CBS, Sinclair, Fox, Local TV, Hearst, Raycom, Meredith, Acme, Titan, Roberts, Gannett, Capitol, Grant and Cox. Both shows already were cleared on the Tribune stations in 17 markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Both shows will air as daily strips with one weekend run at most on these stations. And now Entourage also "reportedly" has a run on Tribune's WGN America cable network starting in Fall 2010 as well, according to B&C. So by Fall 2010, Entourage will be in broadcast syndication, Spike TV/Comedy Central, and possibly WGN America. Curb is still looking for a cable home, as is Old Christine.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Tribune Stations Land Entourage, Curb for Fall 2010 Local Syndication; ABC Picks-Up Modern Family, More Updates
Under terms of the three-year pact, Tribune has licensed all seven seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm and all six seasons so far of Entourage for broadcast on all of Tribune's owned-and-operated stations in 17 markets, including New York (WPIX-TV), Los Angeles (KTLA-TV) and Chicago (WGN-TV), among others. Both series will be presented in strip form on the Tribune Broadcasting stations, with episodes airing Monday-Friday, along with one weekend telecast, beginning in fall 2010.
As mentioned earlier this week, Spike TV has bought the cable rerun rights for Entourage starting in January 2010, so it will have a nine-month head start on cable. Curb Your Enthusiasm is also being shopped around for cable repeats.
ABC has made its first pickup for the fall season, a sitcom. Modern Family, the single camera mocumentary about about three suburban couples -- a traditional one, a gay one and a multi-ethnic one. ABC has ordered 13 episodes from 20th Television and the show stars Ed O'Neill (Married with Children), Sofia Vergara (Knights of Prosperity), Julie Bowen (Lost) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The Class). The show has tested very well in focus groups and screenings. ABC also has unofficially picked-up drama Flash Forward, as teasers have aired during Lost the last two weeks to generate some buzz.
In other ABC updates, Surviving Suburbia will be preempted for a second week in a row for a two-hour Dancing with the Stars this coming Monday (May 11). That was scheduled to be its last Monday airing anyway, as the show will move to Wednesdays at 9:30pm starting May 27.
Meanwhile, the final episodes of According to Jim will run into the summer thanks to all the preemptions by President Obama. On Tuesday, May 26 and Tuesday, June 2, According to Jim will air its final four episodes (8-9pm both weeks), including the finale on June 2 at 8:30pm with a parade of guest stars. But before that there are two new episodes airing this Tuesday (May 12).
Stay tuned all next week for our predictions of the fall schedules for NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and The CW. First up will be NBC, which we will cover likely on Sunday and the rest will follow in that order every other day. And the following week of course is upfront week and we will get the actual schedules and you can compare to see what we got right and wrong! Big and fun time of year!
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
CW Sunday to Cease in the Fall; Spike/Comedy Central Acquires Entourage Reruns; Remembering Dom DeLuise
The CW will now focus on Monday through Fridays. The CW has not had any success on Sundays since its inception. This past fall, The CW attempted another solution, allowing Media Rights Capital (MRC) to provide Sunday's primetime lineup and help with ad sales, but the programming, which included Easy Money and Valentine, flopped. Currently, Sunday nights have been filled with reruns of CBS' canceled series Jericho and theatrical movies.
Spike TV has acquired all 78 produced episodes, the upcoming sixth season as well as rights to future seasons of the show for about $600,000 an episode. The Hollywood-centered comedy about young actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his posse will launch on Spike in January, after the show's sixth season wraps on HBO. Spike also has the right to carve a window for a second network, which likely will be sister cabler Comedy Central. This is Spike's second acquisition of an HBO program in the past month. The basic cable channel also picked up HBO's Emmy-winning miniseries Band of Brothers for a premiere in the third quarter.
Prolific actor, comedian, film director, television producer, chef, and author Dom DeLuise died peacefully surrounded by his wife and three sons on Monday evening at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. He was 75. The cause of death was not released by the family. He had been hospitalized and was suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems following a long battle with cancer.
Deluise appeared in many movies and TV shows, Broadway plays and provided his voice to characters for numerous animated features in a career that spanned over 45 years. Mel Brooks cast him in many of his movies, including The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World Part I, Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Spaceballs as the voice of Pizza the Hutt. In the 1970s and 1980s, he frequently co-starred with Burt Reynolds in the films The Cannonball Run and Cannonball II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He lent his voice to animated features such as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven and Oliver & Company. He was a frequent guest on game shows and hosted Candid Camera from 1991-1992.
His early sitcom appearances included The Munsters, Please Don't Eat the Daisies and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. In 1973, he starred in the short-lived Lotsa Luck as bachelor Stanley Belmont who was the custodian of a New York City bus company's lost-and-found department. The cast included Kathleen Freeman, Wynn Irwin, Beverly Sanders and Jack Knight. In 1987-1988, he starred in the first-run syndication sitcom The Dom DeLuise Show with George Wallace, Maureen Murphy, Angela Aames and Michael Chambers. He appeared with his sons--Peter, Michael and David DeLuise--in a 1997 episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. They had previously appeared together in a 1994 episode of seaQuest DSV.
In later years he began a second career as a popular chef and cookbook author. He always had a love of food and authored 1988's Eat This — It Will Make You Feel Better! and 1997's Eat This Too! It'll Also Make You Feel Good. He also wrote seven books for children, including 1993's Charlie the Caterpillar. In recent years he was a regular contributor to a syndicated home improvement radio show, On The House with The Carey Brothers, giving listeners tips on culinary topics.
DeLuise is survived by his wife and actress Carol Arthur, actor sons Peter, Michael and David, his sister, Anne, and grandchildren Riley, Dylan and Jake. Donations can be made to his favorite charities: The Elixir Fund, The Lily Sanctuary, The Hydrocephalus Foundation, Inc. and The Pearl S. Buck Foundation. You can read more information on his official site. We will miss his warm smile and always remember the times he has made us laugh. Mr. DeLuise was 75. You can post your memories here.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: Entourage Season 4 (Aug. 26)
Entourage: The Complete Fourth Season (HBO, $39.98) continues the ongoing story of Vince Chase "chasing" his dreams to make it big in Hollywood, thanks to (but most often in spite of) his faithful group of friends, his entourage, Eric, Drama, and Turtle.
We start the season with "Welcome to the Jungle," where we go behind-the-scenes (not from our perspective, but the perspective of the characters of the show) of the Vince’s movie for this season, Medellin. In "Sorry, Harvey," Ari gets into some trouble and lands in jail for what he does with a top-secret script... oops! The series addresses the modern issue of things that shouldn’t be on YouTube ending up on there in "The Dream Team" and "The WeHo Ho." Finally, he guys learn a lesson in reality in the film business in "The Cannes Kids." There are many well-known guest stars this season, including Gary Busey, Snoop Dogg, Sydney Pollack, Kanye West, and more.
The audio and video on the set is superb, with the video being presented in the 16:9 aspect ratio and audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. But there are also Spanish and French audio tracks, as well as English, Spanish, and French subtitles. The episodes are spanned over three discs, but the outside packaging is slightly different this time. While it looks similar, the big change is that the sturdier hard cardboard packaging has been replaced with a less expensive standard box. It isn't a big deal, though.
The set is loaded with special features, beginning with commentaries. The commentaries are by Doug Ellin, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Adrian Grenier. These can be found on "Welcome to the Jungle," "The Day Fu*kers," and "The Cannes Kids." "The Making of Medellin" goes behind-the-scenes into the making of the very movie that Vince is starring in this season. "Medellin Trailer," of course, is a trailer for the fictitious movie. "U.S. Comedy Arts Festival Panel" is a nice and long conversation with the cast members at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. This lasts a whole fifty minutes, and is very insightful and entertaining. Finally, although the packaging doesn't mention it, there are recaps and previews for every episode on the set, which are basically like short promos. I like to watch them before I watch any episode.
As always, we have a pretty good DVD set here, and fans are sure to be happy with what is here. We have another great season of episodes with great special features. I'm usually not a fan of these premium cable series, although this is one of the few that I find enjoyable and far better than many other series on television today. It is surprising that this series isn't also being released on Blu-Ray Disc as well, although I'm sure that will come at some point in the future.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
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Saturday, April 14, 2007
Mini-DVD Review: Entourage Season 3 Part 1 (April 3); Book Review: My First Five Husbands... By Rue McClanahan (April 10)
Entourage: Season 3, Part 1 (HBO, $39.98) contains the twelve episodes of the hit HBO comedy series that aired in the summer of 2006 on HBO (apparently the third season is still going on right now according to HBO, beginning with the new episodes that started earlier this week). A little introduction may be needed for those that don't have HBO or those that (like me) wouldn't normally watch an original series that airs on a cable channel: it is a series about a guy named Vince (played by Adrian Grenier) that is about to make it big in showbiz and moves to Hollywood in hopes that he will make it to the top. But he doesn't going to Hollywood all alone, he is bringing his childhood friends--his "entourage" (including his friends Eric and Turtle, and his half-brother who also aspires to be an actor, but just isn't that good, Drama)--to help him through it all. The whole series is loosely based upon the life of Mark Wahlberg, who is more infamously known as Marky Mark. The whole premise of the series is quite simple really.
Season Three, Part 1, as previously mentioned, contains 12 episode which, despite only being part of a season, is about the same number of episodes that was contained on each of the first two season sets), beginning with "Aquamom," where Vince's "Aquaman" movie is about to premiere--but who will he go down the red carpet with at the premiere?
Los Angeles is having rolling blackouts in "One Day In the Valley," could this affect the box office numbers for Vince's movie? In "Three's Company," Vince's star power goes to his head and he demands more money to do the "Aquaman 2" movie... and Eric's girlfriend wants him to have a threesome. But will his girlfriend regret that threesome? Maybe so if she knew what Eric was thinking in "Strange Days." The season (or partial season) ends with Ari (Vince's agent) possibly getting canned in "Sorry, Ari." There are many guest stars to be found within the episodes including Martin Landau, Seth Green, Penny Marshall, James Woods, and more (as an unrelated side note, check out season 2 to see Bob Saget in a way that is nothing like Danny Tanner!).
The audio and video quality of the set is superb, with the episodes being presented in widescreen format with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. The set isn't hefty in bonus features, but it does contain commentaries on three episodes ("One Day in the Valley," "Vegas Baby, Vegas!," and "Sorry, Ari") as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette for the "Vegas Baby, Vegas!" episode. The set itself comes in a nice and sturdy digipak (no outer case, but with the sturdy manner in which this is designed, it doesn't need one) on three discs. So what else can I say? Get your entourage together and head out to Hollywood (or just go to wherever you would get your DVDs from) and pick up this set!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Related links:
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My First Five Husbands... and the Ones Who Got Away (Broadway, $24.95) is Rue McClanahan's autobiography--talking about her life so far chronologically in terms of her husbands and love interests that she has had along the way. The book is presented in a very personal, almost conversational tone, with Rue talking about the good guys and the bad guys she has met along the way--and there are so many of them that it is no surprise that she played Blanche on The Golden Girls.
The book starts out with her childhood and her mother (whom she actually called "Mother" for reasons she explains in the book). She then moves on to talk about when she finally got into showbiz, in the 1950s, where she began to take on some minor roles here and there on the stage in New York City. But of course, where the book really gets interesting is where she gets in to the 1970s, where she begins to become a television star. She talks about her lucky day being the day that she choked on the "luckiest chicken bone" when they decided to kill off her character Aunt Fran on Mama's Family--little did I know that she disliked that role so much! Of course, knowing what happened after being killed off on Mama's Family (getting the role on The Golden Girls), it is understandable why her character being killed off on Mama's Family was a lucky thing for her. Chapter 21 is perhaps the most interesting one in the book, where she talks all about the beginnings of The Golden Girls.
Along the way, we meet her many boyfriends that she has had along the way and all of her first five husbands (there is even a chapter for pretty much all of them) and we find out why none of the marriages ever exactly worked out as planned. She doesn't spare any details on why the marriages didn't work--and I would think some of the ex-husbands wouldn't be too thrilled about what she says, as she even talks about what life is like in bed! But she does stay open and honest the entire way through. Now, on her sixth husband, she is convinced that she has finally found the one--and only time will tell if she is right this time.
The book gives a very interesting perspective into McClanahan's life, though for those that know her best through her work on television, much of the first eighteen chapters will seem unfamiliar. All-in-all, it is a decent book that is a pretty easy read, though sitcom fans may be totally unfamiliar with everything she talks about early on (she even somewhat acknowledges this herself, although she doesn't seem to mind being known as Blanche). But on the other hand, it does give those that know her through her sitcoms a perspective on what her life was like before, and how she ultimately got to where she is today (you can't neglect the back story in any autobiography). Any true fan of Rue McClanahan--one that is interested in more than just her days as Blanche Devereaux--would enjoy this book.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4.5/5 stars)To purchase this Book, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, September 13
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 9)
Friday, September 13
- Brian Tyree Henry (HouseBroken/Atlanta) - Watch Brian on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Dax Shepard (Bless This Mess) - Dax appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Al Franken (LateLine) - Al is a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher at 10pm on HBO.
- Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - Kelsey will be on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
- Sanaa Lathan (Family Guy/The Cleveland Show/LateLine) - Sanaa and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor talk about the enduring power of friendship in their new Hulu film The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Dana Delany (The Comedians) - Dana discusses her television series Tulsa King on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Josie Davis (Charles in Charge) - Josie will be on Good Day LA on FOX 11 in Los Angeles at 11:30am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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