Sitcoms of Norman Lear Book; 'Benson' Friday Night Marathon

As we mentioned some months back, a new book on the great Norman Lear is coming out. Now we have full details right from the author himself! Sean Campbell has e-mailed us and even posted on our message boards on the details of the book. The book examines how Norman Lear's television programs (All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and One Day at a Time) influenced American culture and future television for the better. This is Sean's first book, at the age of only 17, published by McFarland & Company.
Sean has one request for you buyers out there. He requests you buy the book online this Thursday (November 2) around 7-8PM ET. or at the very least, try to order it on Thursday. His goal is to spike his amazon.com ranking and make bestseller lists, which get sent all over the world. He hopes you'll spread the word to as many people as possible, and write amazon.com reviews. So, without further talk, order the book on Thursday by clicking HERE.
You can view his full message to fans and drop by his website, by clicking here.

Finally, for the third straight week, TV Land has announced it will move the Friday Night Movie encore, this time to Saturday evening. This week's movie is Airplane!, it will still premiere Friday at 10 p.m., but the immediate encore has been moved. Instead we get 7 straight episodes of Benson between 12am-4am! Great news, but why can't TV Land just announce that Benson will be on every Friday night now, instead of announcing it a few days before the night it happens? Oh well.

Sleuth! Celebrates Thanksgiving; ABC Schedules 'Show Me the Money' Premiere After 'Stars'

The Sleuth Network is keeping November full of mystery with its Thanksgiving lineup. Viewers are treated to marathons of their favorite programming throughout the holiday weekend.
Viewers can spend Thanksgiving Day in Miami with their favorite detectives, Crockett and Tubbs for an eight-hour Miami Vice Marathon beginning at 12pm (ET). There are no stale leftovers the next day on Sleuth! On Friday, November 24, audiences can relax with five hours of Joe Friday during Sleuth's LA Dragnet Marathon, starting at 12pm (ET). Immediately following will be the Miami Vice Guest Star Marathon at 5pm (ET), which will feature episodes with Bruce Willis, Annette Bening, John Leguizamo and Lou Diamond Phillips.
On Saturday, November 25, Sleuth will offer a Simon & Simon Saturday Marathon, beginning at 12pm (ET). Viewers can spend four hours with the Simon brothers' favorite four-legged clients, accompanied by a couple of dolphins.
And Sleuth's first original production, America's Top Sleuths, showcases the top sleuths ever created for television and film. Chosen by the channel's online audience and featuring interviews with Bruce Willis, Cybil Shepherd, Peter Falk, Telly Savalas, Stephen J. Cannell, Jesse Martin and many more, America's Top Sleuths airs Friday, November 24 at 9pm and 1am and Sunday, November 26 at 5pm (all times ET).

Meanwhile, ABC has moved the two-hour Barbara Walters Special from Tuesday, November 14 to Thursday, November 16 and Friday, November 17 in one-hour slots instead. Why? The 90-minute premiere of the new game show Show Me the Money hosted by William Shatner will premiere Tuesday, November 14 from 9:30-11pm, following the last dance show for Dancing with the Stars season three. Show Me the Money will regularly air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. starting November 22 on ABC.

Week 6 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 6 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 8.4/13.0; ABC: 8.2/12.8; Fox: 7.4/11.7; NBC: 6.1/9.4; The CW: 2.5/3.8.
Total Viewers: CBS: 12.97 million; ABC: 12.39 million; Fox: 11.37 million; NBC: 9.34 million; The CW: 3.92 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 4.1/10.7; CBS: 4.0/10.4; Fox: 3.6/9.9; NBC: 3.5/9.0; The CW: 1.8/4.6.

Analysis: The sixth week saw the World Series do low numbers and some of the shows were in repeats like CSI and Grey's Anatomy...and Fox is still not leading the pack. Since the World Series was only 5 games (3 games for this week) and very low rated CBS will likely win for the 6th straight week in viewers (but ABC might pull a win since CBS had Tuesday and Thursday in repeat mode) while ABC likely gets the demos for the 6th straight week (no network has started a season that way in awhile)! As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC and CBS lead a close race for the top spot so far with Fox third and NBC fourth. On Monday, CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 17.83 million and helped them win the night in viewers, but 9pm's Heroes on NBC was again strong in the 18-49 demo, with a series high 6.3/15 and a nice bump in total viewers with 14.45. NBC's Deal or No Deal lead the night off with a solid 15.83 million. NBC's Studio 60 fell more again to 7.72 million...I think we will see at most 13 episodes and that's all. ABC's The Bachelor did solid with 8.18 million, but What About Brian dropped to 5.98 million, after last week's solid 7.34 million. CBS needs work with The Class at 8:30, as the newbie did just 7.95 million, but the number one sitcom Two and a Half Men did 15.03 million, down a bit from previous week. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 20.69 million for 90 minutes and the sitcom Help Me Help You held half of that audience and did 10.59 million--slightly up from last week and is beginning to be stable. Fox's regular line-up was pre-empted as Baseball coverage (including pre-game) did 14.67 million, fans of House will have to wait until this Tuesday to see the show finally return. NBC did well with Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: SVU, but Friday Night Lights did 6.27 million, down from previous week. CBS had repeats all night long, but still were decent NCIS and The Unit, Criminal Minds averaged 10.23 million. Wednesday saw CBS and ABC battle it out, with ABC edging CBS in viewers and ABC winning in the demo. ABC won the opening hour again with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 13.3/21 rating and 20.02 million. CBS's Jericho did 10.56 million, slightly down from last week. NBC had a bad night as the NBC comedies again did terrible (see analysis). ABC's The Nine continues to disappoint. The show did its lowest numbers yet with 7.77 million. They should switch Six Degrees and The Nine this week. I do commend ABC for being patient. CBS won from 9-11pm with Criminal Minds and CSI: NY both doing over 16 million (16.77 and 17.42 million). ABC's Lost won 9pm with 17.09 million, edging CBS's Criminal Minds. The CW's America's Next Top Model did well again with 5.45 million. Fox's World Series was rained out and they aired repeats of War at Home which averaged 5.49 million, better than a new episode of NBC's 20 Good Years, which probably can't have 20 good seconds in an episode. On Thursday we saw Fox enter the race with CBS and ABC in repeat mode mainly, as Game 4 of the World Series was down historically ABC's repeat of Grey's Anatomy had 12.18 million at 9pm and in the same slot a repeat of CSI had 16.83 million. At 8 p.m. ABC continues to do well with Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did decent again with 13.14 million, slightly down from previous week; Survivor had 12.63 million (a clip show though). At 10 p.m. the full season renewed Shark was a repeat and did 10.46 million. ER was also a repeat and did 7.11 million. ABC's Six Degrees was not on this week, ABC aired another repeat of Grey's Anatomy and did 9.95 million, up from last week's Six Degrees which did 8.36 million. And game 4 of the World Series did well for Fox with 16.11 million, but not as good as previous World Series.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas doing well opposite the weak last game of the World Series, and NBC saw was down as Deal or No Deal is gone from Fridays and the new game show 1 vs. 100 started the night off slow. Law & Order at 10 came in second place holding 100% of the OK numbers for Las Vegas' season premiere. ABC saw decent numbers for the classic Charlie Brown special and Men in Trees did OK, up from last week...move this to Thursdays at 10. Fox will win the night with the World Series, but not enough for them to win in demos and viewers for the week--ashame since they had the World Series. Saturday ratings are not available yet. As for tonight, ABC will dominate, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and total viewers, as new series Brothers & Sisters is consistent. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is also solid for ABC and NBC might get high numbers for their football game, but not enough to win the night. I again expect ABC to win the week in the demo and CBS in total viewers..though it will be close if ABC does very well tonight. NBC should be fourth in everything because of Fox's baseball. What to look for this week is how House does against the last half hour of Dancing with the Stars Tuesday...it will be a fun watch.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Oct. 16-22)

• None
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.59 million this week, up from last week's 9.05 million. Should be doing a little better because King of Queens last season was more than 10 million.
  
• The Class (CBS) - Down from last week's 8.45 million to 7.95 million this week. I am sad to say that I don't think we will see a back-nine pick-up.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 15.03 million tuned in, by far the best sitcom, but down for the second straight week after going up each week to start the season. Heroes is denting it I think the last few weeks.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - Down from last week's 12.88 million to 12.1 million.
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game. All new episodes Chris started it off with 3.19 million, the highest of the block. The rest did under 3 million, ranging 2.48 to 2.93 million. Needs to do a but better, UPN Monday was much better.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Help Me Help You (ABC) - This week the show was up from previous week again. 10.59 million, 7.2/11 HH, 3.2/8 A18-49 rating. It is very consistent, and hopefully when Stars is over it can get these numbers still. If they do, we will see the show get the back-nine pick-up.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• 30 Rock (NBC) - Up from last week's 5.71 million to 6.01 million, but down big still from the premiere. Last week I said to move this to Thursdays, and NBC announced this past week they will starting November 16.
  
• 20 Good Years (NBC) - Why even watch this now? NBC already has hinted it is gone after November 8 (if not earlier). Anyway, 5.36 million watched this week.
• The War at Home (Fox) Repeats - World Series was rained out, so Fox showed us 4 episodes that did OK for them and averaged 5.46 million, peaking at 9pm with 6.11 million.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - A repeat did 7.36 million...not bad.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 6.36 million for a repeat. Will NBC's new four comedy block do well starting November 30?
  

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are repeats of Fox comedies.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Class and Help Me Help You) or just plain old terrible (such as The Game and 20 Good Years).

Mini-DVD Reviews: Baywatch Syndicated Seasons 1 and 2; The Super Mario Bros. Super Show Volume 2 (October 31)

Welcome to another edition of the Saturday mini-DVD reviews! Today we take a look at First Look Home Entertainment's Baywatch: Syndicated Seasons 1 and 2 and Shout! Factory's The Super Mario Bros. Super Show: Volume 2. Both series were very popular in the late 80s/early '90s and are two totally different shows, so we hope the audience for today's blog will be of all ages. Baywatch was of course about lifeguards saving lives on the beach in Santa Monica while The Super Mario Bros. Super Show was both live-action and animation! See my mini-DVD reviews of both sets:

Baywatch: Syndicated Seasons 1 and 2 (First Look, $34.99 each) brings the first two seasons from the syndication years on DVD on two separate five-disc sets. If you are wondering what they will do about the real season one, which aired on network television on NBC, they will put all of those episodes on each syndicated season set. So, for syndicated season one we will get the Baywatch pilot movie and on the syndicated season two set we will get the next two episodes. So, eventually we will have all the NBC episodes. You just will have to buy the syndicated seasons to get them. Well, anyway, I will cover mainly syndicated season two set since that is when this show really took off with the additions of Pamela Anderson and Nicole Eggert joining David Hasselhoff and the gang. Each episode from syndicated season one and syndicated season two are on this set except the two-part season premieres for both seasons. That is not good, but First Look has said that they don't own the rights to these episodes, Lionsgate does. I find it fishy because in the original press release these episodes were listed, but in the press release that was sent to us with this packaged review copy set, they are removed. So, we get 20 hours on each set instead of 22 hours each, plus the bonus NBC episodes. Each syndicated episode on both sets run approx. 43:40, and has the "Tonight on Baywatch" episode preview for each episode. The content is unedited I believe, but the music is missing according to the box. And you don't need the box to tell you that the opening theme has been replaced. That is not good! A theme called "All My Life" or something like that is the theme instead. I'm not sure if that is a new song made just for the DVD or if it is an existing song, but it sounds more of a theme used on a teen show (like 90210). What is even more strange is that a month back First Look sent us a promotional disc that included the last two episodes of syndicated season two and the NBC pilot, the two syndicated season two episodes HAD the original theme intact! So, what happened? This must have been a last minute thing. I am not a fan of syndicated season one, but I will talk about the episodes on syndicated season two. Some good episodes include "Pier Pressure," "Showdown at Malibu Beach High," "Masquerade," "Vacation, Parts 1 and 2," "Shattered, Parts 1 and 2," and "Fatal Exchange." The menu screen for both sets has Episodes & Set Up, with the replacement theme song in the background. We are greeted with a wave before the main menu starts and also when we select an option a wave transition is in effect. Four chapters are on each episode, and there are also scene selections. The video and audio are both very good. The extras are decent and are on disc five on both sets. On syndicated season one we have a photo gallery, the NBC pilot (which runs 95 minutes), and a featurette with the creators running 16 minutes. I will go in more detail for the extras in syndicated season two. They have a Baywatch Through the Years photo gallery, two NBC network episodes: "In Deep" (45:40) & "Heatwave" (46:15), and a How it Began featurette in which the creators (Michael Berk, Doug Schwartz, and Greg Bonann) discuss everything in detail. I am not sure if I can recommend this set for diehards. Diehards will be upset about the music replacement, the two missing two-part episodes, and the wonderful original theme. If you are a new or casual fan, then I do highly recommend to pick up this set. Syndicated season three is coming in February, that is the last season I really like, so I will review that one, too.
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(3/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Syndicated Season 1:
Amazon.com
Syndicated Season 2:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Baywatch TV.com Page


Super Mario Bros. Super Show: Volume 2 (Shout!, $29.98) brings the next 24 half hours on DVD for the very first time. Volume one was such a big success that Shout! rushed and has brought us volume two. This set is a four-disc set that has six episodes on each, plus bonus features on each disc. The episodes all run just under 22 minutes and include the live-action segments with Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells as Mario & Luigi. In between the live action, there was a cartoon. The is the main feature of the show, but most probably remember the show for the live-action segments. The live action segments featured many guest stars. On this set we see Gary Schwartz, Sgt. Slaughter, Rob Stone, Donna Douglas, Brian Bonsell, Nedra Volz, Jim Lange, Fred Travalena, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Vanna White and even Patrick Dempsey. Though, Dempsey played a tree and was not seen really. The menu screen has Play All, Episodes, Special Features, with the theme song in the background and clips in the middle. The menu is designed quite well and is easy to navigate. There are about 7 chapter stops for each episode. The video and audio are both very good, but the video is slightly grainy (especially on the animated portion). Each disc has extras. Each disc has a bonus animated episode that runs approx. 14 minutes. These do not have any live-action segments. Each disc also has a "The Worlds of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show - Art Gallery." This shows us sketches of the animated portion, with music playing in the background. Each on average is about 3-5 minutes each. Disc one also has sketches from the live-action studio, titled "Interactive Tour of the Mario Bros. Plumbing." Disc three has a cute featurette called "Fan Costume Gallery," that is a photo gallery of many fans dressed up as characters from the show. And finally disc four has a feature from one fan's perspective titled "Meeting Mario: A Fan Tale's Featurette." This runs 3 minutes and has this fan giving his story on the night (March 28, 2006) that he met Captain Lou Albano at the Jersey Gardens mall in Elizabeth, NJ. Albano was appearing there to promote the volume one DVD. I live very close to that mall; I should have went and helped that fan with directions, as he got lost and went to Newark airport, lol. I highly do recommend any fan to pick up this set. If you never saw the show, pick it up because it is very fun! Hurry today and order the DVD before the DVD sells out!
-- Reviewed by Pavan
(4/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Super Mario Bros. Super Show TV.com Page

Lifetime and Nick@Nite Schedule Notes; Mini-DVD Review: The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright

Lifetime has announced a schedule change, but it is ONLY for October 31-November 3. I think they will be testing sitcoms Still Standing and Reba a bit because the afternoon airings (12-2pm) of those shows will be moved to 7-9pm for these four days. The Golden Girls and The Nanny will take the afternoon slots on these four days. Maybe this is for more exposure for Still Standing and Reba to try and lure more of an audience? No idea, but we do know that this change is happening for four days next week. Click here to view them in a list form.
And Nick@Nite has announced that the end of the year marathon will be...The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! Yes, you will see non-stop Fresh Prince from Dec. 11-14, all night (9pm-6am) long. What else did you think it was going to be? I thought it was for sure Fresh Prince, but Roseanne would have been an option as well.

Halloween is just around the corner and we will celebrate by giving you a review of The Munsters: First Family of Fright DVD set from Image Entertainment. See below for the review. But for now don't forget to watch a 25-hour marathon of The Munsters tomorrow on TV Land! Why 25-hours? Because tomorrow Daylight Savings time ends, so don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour. So we will get an extra hour of sleep! This marathon will sort of be a farewell marathon for the show since its contract expires after October 31 (how fitting).
And don't forget to watch It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC. The show will be uncut this year! Because it is the 40th anniversary for that classic special and like all Charlie Brown holiday specials, it is a tradition for Americans to watch it every year! It's your duty! Forget the World Series for an hour. The classic special will be followed by a bonus special, the 1972 show You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, since Election Day is right around the corner, too.

Today we take a look at Image Entertainment's The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright DVD. See Shawn Eaton's mini-DVD review of The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright.

The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright (Image, $18.99) brings us lots of information on the classic TV. The Munsters, America's first family of fright, rises from the grave to bring you a stellar set of extras, on this two-disc DVD compilation from Image Entertainment. The Munsters was a sitcom that aired from 1964 to 1966, running a total of 72 episodes, that featured Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily Munster, Al Lewis as Grandpa, Butch Patrick as Eddie with Beverly Owen and Pat Priest sharing the duties of Marilyn. Debbie Watson would go on to play Marilyn in the film "Munster, Go Home." The main box art features a nice shot of The Munsters -- in color -- and in a photo frame. There are two discs in the set. The first disc contains four full-length documentaries.

Here's what is on the first disc:
* The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright (approx. 43 minutes), which is an actuality, the TV-ography, or Biography, that aired on the A&E channel and can also be found on the Season 2 box set of "The Munsters". It's a general summary of the series, from conception, to casting, until the end. A very nice documentary.
* Fred Gwynne: More Than A Munster (approx. 44 minutes), which again, is actually the A&E Biography of Fred Gwynne. This two, can also be found on the season 2 box set of "The Munsters." Topics range from his time on "Car 54, Where Are You?" to his time on "The Munsters" and his time afterwards, in which he was sadly type-casted.
* Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa (approx. 44 minutes), which is, once again, the A&E Biography of Al Lewis. This too can be found on Season 2 of "The Munsters" which is available on DVD. Topics discussed are his time on "The Munsters" as well as his time afterwards in which he was a restaurateur, a basketball scout and even a political candidate!
* Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily (approx. 44 minutes), and for the fourth time, this is just the A&E Biography of Yvonne DeCarlo. This too can be found on the Season 2 box set of "The Munsters." Topic range from her time as a movie actress in the 1940s and 1950s to her time on "The Munsters" and it's filled with television clips, rare photos and interviews with family and friends.

The second disc contains all the fantastic bonus features! This one is a MUST have for hardcore fans of "The Munsters." Here is a rundown of what's available.
* "My Fair Munster" pilot presentation. When you select this, it takes you to a sub-menu where it lists two selections: "Presentation #1" which is the first unseen pilot for "The Munsters", which is 15 minutes in length. It's basically just "The Munsters" episode "My Fair Munster" with a different cast. Beverly Owen is Marilyn, Al Lewis is Grandpa and Fred Gwynne is Herman, but with Joan Marshall as Phoebe (not Lily) and Happy Derman as Eddie. You also get to see the opening credits. "Presentation #2" is more or less the same, same pilot premise, just with Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily. It runs about 10 minutes and opening credits are there too.
* The Munsters un-aired main title sequence with Portuguese subtitles. Just the opening credits. Runs about 46 seconds. The music is about the only thing different. It's the same music heard in the first season, just a little different, and it features a less made up Butch Patrick as Eddie.
* "Seven Wonderful Nights" is a CBS special that was hosted by Buddy Ebsen back in 1964. We only see the 2 minute segment that introduces "The Munsters."
* "CBS Network Promos" is what it says: promos. There are 4 to choose from.
* "Wayne and Schuster Take an Affectionate Look at the Monsters". It's a 4 minute segment in which they talk about "The Munsters" (or "Monsters" as it is spelled on the special).
* "Marineland Carnival" is a 1 minute promo of "The Munsters" going to Marineland.
* "Big G, Little O" is a 31 second commercial featuring Butch Patrick, Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo for the Cheerios cereal.
* "Munster, Go Home" the 2 minute theatrical trailer for "The Munsters" big screen flick.
* "Munster, Go Home" TV spots. There are 4 different commercials for the movie.
* "Syndication TV Spots" is what it says. There are 5 different commercials for "The Munsters" in syndication.
* "Universal Newsreels" there are three different newsreels. The first "New Studio Center" is a tour of Studio Center and features the Munsters house. It runs about 1 minute. The second "Santa's in Town" is another 1 minute news reel. And finally, "Movie Munsters" newsreel, which runs about 50 seconds is a newsreel about the Munsters movie.
* "It's What's Happening Baby" (with Murray The "K") - a strange commercial that runs about 2 minutes in length.
* "Bonus Interviews" - A list of interviews with Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo, Butch Patrick, Beverly Owen, Pat Priest and Debbie Watson. The menu for this selection lists the name and you can select them, and you go to another sub-menu which lets you select the topic they discuss. Most of them appear to be fairly new interviews. Al Lewis' appears to be from around 2000 or so. What's interesting is seeing Yvonne DeCarlo. I don't think I've ever seen a picture of her in the recent years! She has aged well but looks completely different! I almost didn't even recognize her! Fantastic interviews. A must see!
There are chapter skips on the documentaries. The picture varies, naturally. It's mostly in great condition, but for the lost pilot and promotional footage, it's clearly grainy at times and the color is off on some things, but that's to be expected.
In conclusion, this is an awesome set that any fan of "The Munsters" should own. The bonus material is just phenomenal! A must have!

-- Reviewed by Shawn Eaton
(5/5 stars)

To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Munsters TV.com Page

'Hogan Family' Gone Again From ABC Family; NBC Brings Back 'Scrubs', Moves '30 Rock'; More ABC News

ABC Family Channel has announced last minute schedule changes starting for next week. And yes, it is sort of bad news, especially if you are a fan of The Hogan Family, like I am. Effective Monday, they will remove the show and replace it with Boy Meets World. Boy Meets World's old 1-2pm slot will now be more Family Matters and Step by Step will replace Grounded for Life at 2-3pm. Grounded for Life will be off the weekday line-up, but it will still air on weekends. The weekend schedule will also be shifted a bit--mostly time changes, such as Boy Meets World going from 11am hour to 10am hour and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch gets a two-hour block from 12pm-2pm on the weekends. Sabrina seems to be doing well. It will also keep its weekdays 4-5pm slot. I suggest you click HERE to view the full list of changes because this is not anywhere on the internet yet. TV listings will start to pick up on it in the coming days, so you will find it here first! Let's just hope Hogan Family comes back soon or better yet on DVD.

Scrubs is returning to NBC after November sweeps ends, starting Thursday, November 30 And new sitcom 30 Rock will move from Wednesdays to Thursdays starting November 16, with an expanded 40-minute "super-sized" episode, joining 40-minute episodes of My Name Is Earl and The Office.
So, beginning November 30, NBC's Thursday-night lineup will be My Name Is Earl (8-8:30 p.m. ET); The Office (8:30-9 p.m. ET); Scrubs (9-9:30 p.m. ET); and 30 Rock (9:30-10 p.m. ET). ER will continue at 10-11 p.m. (ET). So, Deal or No Deal-Thursday is off the schedule. But NBC will likely pencil it on Tuesday (my guess for Friday Night Lights) or Wednesday very soon, in addition to its Monday slot. And where does this leave struggling new sitcom 20 Good Years? It looks like it is done, but NBC hasn't said anything. NBC will air specials Wednesdays 8-9pm starting November 22 and the week before that on November 15 The Biggest Loser is airing in that slot because Medium is getting a two-hour season premiere from 9-11pm. 20 Good Years' last scheduled appearance, as of now, is on November 8 at 8:30pm, but it might be off the schedule by then because of poor ratings.

Meanwhile, ABC has announced news on another slot that was TBD. New game show Show Me the Money hosted by William Shatner (Star Trek, Boston Legal) will debut November 22 and air Wednesdays at 8 p.m., a week after Dancing with the Stars finishes its third season. ABC has yet to announce what will take the Tuesday 8-9pm 'Stars' slot, but specials are slated for three weeks (November 21, 28, and December 5). If I were to guess, ABC will use fillers for the rest of December in that slot, or possibly plug in new According to Jim/George Lopez episodes for a few weeks, because I think in January we might see the game show Set For Life hosted by Jimmy Kimmel in that slot. Still no word on the date for the hilarious new sitcom The Knights of Prosperity, but I'd guess Tuesdays at 9 in January. It would work well out of Set for Life, if it gets that slot.

More 'Benson' This Friday; 'The Office' Game; ABC Notes

Last Friday TV Land moved the Friday Night Movie encore to mid-day Saturday, so we would have a Benson Friday night mini-marathon, and again they will do the same thing this week, too! This time the Friday Night Movie encore will be moved to Thursday night. So, we will see more Benson this Friday from approx. 12:40am to 4am. et/pt. I told you, TV Land keeps pondering 'To Benson or not to Benson.' Click HERE to view the changes in a list style format.
While this is good news, fans of The Jeffersons were very pissed yesterday evening at TV Land. TV Land was scheduled to show a two-part episode titled "Florence Did It Different" at 7 and 7:30 p.m. Something very strange happened--they aired part two of that two-part episode at BOTH 7 and 7:30 p.m. Fans on our message board quickly caught that and couldn't believe this. I just hope TV Land knows they made the mistake and hopefully next time around they air part one. Click here to discuss this.

Mobile games are closing the gap to traditional computer games with the launch of a new technology that enables richer mobile experience. NBC's The Office Games has produced a flash-enhanced game for its series of six mini-games, based on Verizon Wireless' new Flash Lite for BREW(TM) technology. The new The Office Games feature cleaner graphics, enhanced sound and quicker relay times and can be played on select Get It Now(R)-enabled phones. Indiagames developed NBC's The Office Games to be played at the office or at home. With shorter play times, Verizon Wireless customers will find the intuitive array of games easy to navigate and simple to play -- perfect for a break, after a stressful meeting or on an awkward phone call. The games feature the well-loved characters from the Emmy(R) Award winning television series participating in a selection of cubical game-play including Wasteketball, Paper-Football (Hateball), Table-Top Golf, Office
Paper War, Chair-Racing and more -- everything Michael Scott would not approve of!

Finally, ABC has announced that Extreme Makeover is off the Friday line-up after just one airing this season. The show did poorly last Friday and will be replaced by encores of Grey's Anatomy starting November 3. This Friday, ABC will air the classic Halloween special It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. ABC also announced that Lost will return from its hiatus on Wednesday, February 7 for 16 straight weeks of new episodes at least. And when The Bachelor: Rome finishes its run, Supernanny will come and take the Monday 9 p.m. slot starting December 4. That's all the changes...for now.

Watch TV Episodes Free Online at Museum of Broadcast Communications Website; 'The Class' Gets 4 Additional Scripts Order

The Chicago based museum - The Museum of Broadcast Communications has lots of episodes of various TV shows up for viewing for FREE for the public! All you have to do is browse their archives by clicking here. Follow my directions... For the Index Class, choose TV, Radio, and News. Then for Media choose TV, then choose a Program Type (like Comedy/Sitcom) and finally set Online Availablity to Public and click Search. You will get 23 pages (367 results) of various sitcom episodes. Most of these are original broadcast and uncut. Some even have original commercials, such as The Cosby Show finale, Designing Women finale, and The Wonder Years finale. Tons and tons of series are available for view in addition to those three I mentioned, mostly pilot episodes, but some shows have various other episodes, too. Catch sitcom episodes of Cheers, Married with Children, Webster, Three's Company, Bob Newhart Show, Diff'rent Strokes, Soap, What's Happening!!, Family Matters, Family Ties, ALF, Night Court, Father Knows Best, Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Donna Reed Show, Gomer Pyle, Honeymooners, Burns & Allen, WKRP, Leave it to Beaver, Arrested Development, Dick Van Dyke Show, Beverly Hillbillies, Andy Griffith Show, The Jetsons, Roseanne, Mary Tyler Moore Show, That Girl, M*A*S*H, The Monkees, Growing Pains, Wings, A Different World, Doogie Howser, All in the Family, Home Improvement, Make Room for Daddy, Julia, Get Smart, Hazel, Seinfeld, Friends, Fresh Prince, Frasier, I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, The Addams Family, Bewitched, Simpsons, Good Times, The Jeffersons, 227, Sanford & Son, Mad About You, Ellen, and so many MORE! Cheers has the series premiere, the special hosted by Bob Costas on the night of the finale, and the finale itself! And the famous Archie Bunker's Place episode where Edith is being mourned is also here with a special CBS Special Presentation bumper at the start. Rare shows are also included like The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, The Goldbergs, Beulah and more! And this is just the sitcoms. You can watch TV dramas, award shows, talk shows, and TV movies even! Talk shows include episodes of Late Night with David Letterman (NBC) and TV movies like Roots. And catch the 1st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on the award show section. I had fun browsing and watching; I hope you do too! And if you're in Chicago, head on over to that museum for more fun!

CBS has ordered four additional scripts for the freshman sitcom The Class starring Jason Ritter. The Class started the season off Mondays at 8 p.m., but was dropping each week so then CBS moved it to 8:30 p.m. and the show grew in its first outing. The last two weeks however the show has dropped again in the slot. While four additional scripts is good news, The Class fans would like a full season order of course. The numbers need to get a bit better, like holding the lead-in's numbers or even building on it, like it did the first week at 8:30. In essence, watch the show if you want it to survive the season. If not, it'll be 13 and out.

Remembering 'Father Knows Best' TV Mom Jane Wyatt; 'Doris Day Show' DVD Delayed

We have lost one of the great TV moms of all-time. Jane Wyatt, the actress who for six years on Father Knows Best (starring Robert Young) was one of TV's favorite moms, has died. Wyatt died Friday in her sleep of natural causes at her Bel-Air home, according to publicist Meg McDonald. She experienced health problems since suffering a stroke at 85, but her mind was sharp until her death, her son Christopher Ward said. She was best known for her role on the family sitcom as Robert Young's TV wife, Margaret Anderson that brought the actress her lasting fame. She appeared in 207 half-hour episodes from 1954 to 1960 and won three Emmys as best actress in a dramatic series in the years 1958 to 1960. The show began as a radio sitcom in 1949; it moved to television in 1954. After its run ended, it continued in reruns on CBS and ABC for three years in primetime, a TV rarity. The show came to an end because Young, who had also played the father in the radio version, had enough. Wyatt remarked in 1965 that she was tired, too. Besides this show, she did mostly movies, but she did have some other TV works (mainly one-hour dramas) such as Star Trek, Love American Style, Here Come the Brides, Marcus Welby, Owen Marshall, Alias Smith & Jones, The Virginian, Medical Center, Quincy, St. Elsewhere, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Hotel, and even Happy Days. She will be deeply missed and here is hoping we see Father Knows Best on DVD soon. Ms. Wyatt lived a long life and was 96.

Related Links:
Internet Movie Database entry for Jane Wyatt
Father Knows Best Message Board
Father Knows Best Photo Gallery

And staying in the '50s/'60s decade, the fourth season DVD of The Doris Day Show has been delayed, MPI Home Video tells us. The set was scheduled for release on October 31, but no retailers I believe ever put it up for sale, so we asked MPI and they told us the set has been delayed until February 27, 2007. So, fans of this classic sitcom take note of this but rest assue we will get this season in the coming months. MPI is still on schedule for the Family Affair release in November.

We shall return if we have more news to share.

Week 5 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

Week 5 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 9.1/14.1; ABC: 8.7/13.5; Fox: 7.4/11.6; NBC: 6.5/10.0; The CW: 2.4/3.6.
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.43 million; ABC: 13.31 million; Fox: 11.0 million; NBC: 10.1 million; The CW: 3.73 million.
Adults 18-49: ABC: 4.7/12.0; CBS: 4.5/11.5; NBC: 3.8/9.8; Fox: 3.5/9.3; The CW: 1.7/4.3.

Analysis: The fifth week again sees the same pattern again...CBS and ABC battling it out, but this time Fox was 3rd place thanks to baseball. After tonight (Sunday), CBS will likely win for the 5th straight week in viewers while ABC likely gets the demos for the 5th straight week! As usual, Friday and Saturday numbers are not above, since final numbers are not available yet. ABC and CBS lead a close race for the top spot so far with Fox a distant third and NBC close behind Fox. On Monday, CBS's CSI: Miami won the last hour with 18.12 million and helped them win the night in viewers, but 9pm's Heroes on NBC was again strong in the 18-49 demo. NBC's Deal or No Deal had a great night with 17.47 million. NBC's Studio 60 fell more again to 7.74 million. ABC's The Bachelor was at a season high of 8.66 million helping What About Brian to a 7.34 million, out doing its season premiere and almost beating NBC in the slot in viewers and winning in 18-49. CBS needs work with The Class at 8:30, as the newbie did just 8.45 million, but the number one sitcom Two and a Half Men did 16.25 million, nearly doubling its lead-in. Tuesday, it was ABC's turn of excellence as Dancing with the Stars did 21.25 million for 90 minutes and the sitcom Help Me Help You held half of that audience and did 10.32 million--slightly up from last week. Fox's regular line-up was pre-empted as Baseball playoffs did 11.12 million, but they still miss House. NBC did well with Law & Order: CI and Law & Order: SVU, but Friday Night Lights did 6.55 million, down from the premiere's 7.17 million but up from last week's 5.87 million. CBS had a nice night with NCIS and The Unit and a repeat of Criminal Minds. Wednesday saw CBS and ABC battle it out, with ABC edging CBS in viewers and ABC winning in the demo. ABC won the opening hour again with Dancing with the Stars: The Results doing 12.5/20 rating and 19.23 million. CBS's Jericho did 10.88 million, up from last week's 10.86 million, previous week was 10.83 million, week before was 11.45 million and the premiere was 11.66 million--can anyone say steady? NBC had a bad night as the NBC comedies did terrible. ABC's The Nine continues to disappoint. The premiere did 11.91 million two weeks ago, last week it did 8.25 million...this week it did 8.21 million, so looks like it will be steady around this now. CBS won from 9-11pm with Criminal Minds and CSI: NY both doing around 16 million (16.2 and 15.99 million). ABC's Lost won 9pm with 16.31 million, just edging CBS. Criminal Minds has sure grown well. The CW's America's Next Top Model did well again with 5.15 million nearly beating the anemic second week NBC comedies. On Thursday we saw Fox enter the race with CBS and ABC, as Game 7 of the Baseball NLCS did well. ABC's Grey's Anatomy had 22.05 million at 9pm and in the same slot CSI had 20.49 million (GA won in households too 14.4 to 12.7 and A18-49 9.6 to 6.9). At 8 p.m. ABC continues to do well with Ugly Betty, as the one-hour comedy did decent again with 13.17 million, slightly down from previous week; Survivor had 15.02 million, but the one-hour comedy tied the veteran reality show in HH at 8.9/14. At 10 p.m. the full season renewed Shark did 13.71 million. ER led the hour with 13.72 million. ABC's Six Degrees did just 8.36 million, down yet again--no episode this week as ABC will air a two-hour repeat of Grey's Anatomy. And game 7 of the NLCS between the Cardinals and Mets did well with 16.53 million, denting ER and CSI it seems.
Friday (numbers not counted in our ratings), saw CBS's dramas doing well again, and NBC saw game show success as Deal or No Deal won its hour again, the new game show 1 vs. 100 won its hour in viewers at 9pm (CBS won in HH) and Law & Order at 10 came in second place. ABC saw bad numbers for the season premiere of Extreme Makeover and Men in Trees did OK. Fox saw even worse numbers with Trading Spouses, which was dead last behind the CW even. Next week 1 vs. 100 will be on its own as Deal or No Deal will not be airing. Saturday saw game one of what seems to be a low-rated World Series win the slow night. As for tonight, ABC will have no problem beating the World Series, especially Desperate Housewives. Look for ABC to win the demo tonight and total viewers, as new series Brothers & Sisters is holding up pretty well and is consistent. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a repeat for ABC, so we don't know what will happen, but I again expect ABC to win the week in the demo and CBS in total viewers. NBC should be fourth in everything because of Fox's baseball. What to look for this week is for the World Series to be probably one of the lowest rated ones ever.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of Oct. 9-15)

• None
  

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.05 million this week, down from last week's 9.09 million. Should be doing a little better.
  
• The Class (CBS) - Down from last week's 9.34 million to 8.45 million this week. It needs to pick it up to get a full season pick-up.
  
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 16.25 million this week...for the first time this season the show went down. Last week it had 16.38 million.
• New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - Up from last week's 12.88 million to 13.03 million.
• CW Monday Comedies: Chris, All of Us, Girfriends, The Game all now have moved to Mondays. All new episodes Chris started it off with 3.00 million, down from last week's repeat at 3.03 million. Girlfriends was the highest one with 3.08 million. Not a bad block, but needs to do a bit better.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Help Me Help You (ABC) - This week the show was up from previous week. 10.32 million, 6.9/11 HH, 3.1/8 A18-49 rating. Last week: 9.88 million, 6.7/10 HH rating, and a 3.0/8 A18-49 rating.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• 30 Rock (NBC) - Down big from last week's 8.13 million viewers to 5.71 million, 5.4/9 HH rating was down to 3.9/6 and 2.9/8 A18-49 rating was down to a 2.3/7. Not good. Move this to Thursdays.
  
• 20 Good Years (NBC) - The premiere was bad, the second week was even worse! 5.09 million viewers, last week it was 7.05 million for its premiere. HH rating was just a 3.5/5, last week it was a 4.7/7 and A18-49 rating was a 2.0/5, down 1/2 a point from last week (2.5/7). Goodbye!
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• My Name is Earl (NBC) - Down from last week's 9.84 million to 8.56 million. Baseball hurt it.
  
• The Office (NBC) - 8.46 million tuned in. Not bad, but baseball seemed to make a slight dent.

Friday Sitcoms
None.

Saturday Sitcoms
None.

Airing tonight (Sunday) are no sitcoms. Fox is showing baseball.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as My Name is Earl and Help Me Help You) or just plain old terrible (such as 30 Rock and 20 Good Years).

Mini-DVD Review: C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Oct. 31)

We brought you a review of C.S.I.: New York last week. Today we travel south to sunny Miami for C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season. C.S.I.: Miami stars David Caruso, Emily Procter, Adam Rodriquez, Khandi Alexander, Jonathan Tigo, Rex Linn, and Eva LaRue. Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD will release this set on October 31st.



C.S.I.: Miami - The Complete Fourth Season (Paramount Home Video/CBS DVD, $64.99)

Join lead criminalist Horatio Caine (David Caruso) and his state-of-the-art forensics team as they investigate hot and steamy Miami crimes using cold hard facts. The CSI: Miami Season 4 Complete DVD Collection features 25 episodes of riveting and shocking mysteries. The evidence leads into seedy nightclubs, privileged suburbs and explosive family secrets. The stakes are higher than ever before, because this time it's personal.

My Review: C.S.I.: Miami is my second favorite series in the C.S.I. franchise. This show has gone through more cast changes than the others. The Miami location is probably the best setting. There are more personal character arcs this season, which made the show more interesting.

This 7-disc set contains all 25 episodes of the fourth (2005-06) season. The episodes are featured in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround audio. It has a running time of 18 hours, 10 minutes. The attractive packaging features a photo of the 5 main cast members. The overall color theme of this set is orange and yellow, just like they use on the show. The inside case is in a book format that you can flip through to get to the discs. Each disc features a different photo of one of the cast members or the Miami skyline. The menus are also very stylish and easy to navigate. They have a montage a video clips, with some instrumental music playing in the background. Options are available for Episode Selection, Set Up, Previews (only on Disc 1), and Special Features. On the Set Up menu, you can choose either Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround or Spanish 2.0 Surround. Closed captioning is availble for all of the episodes. As you would expect from such a recent show, the video and audio quality is outstanding.

There is an impressive amount and variety of special features included. There are 6 audio commentaries available on the first three discs. Writer Elizabeth Devine, Director Karen Gaviola, and Department Head of Makeup and Special Makeup Effects Cheri Montesanto-Medcalf provide commentary for "From the Grave." Writer Corey Miller and Director Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Prey." Executive Producer Anthony E. Zuiker, Writer Elizabeth Devine, and Director Scott Lautanen give their comments on "Felony Flight." Producer Don Tardino, Director Matt Earl Beesly, and Director of Photography Eagle Egilsson provide the commentary for "Urban Hellraisers." Writer Ildy Madrovich and Scott Lautanen do the commentary for "Shattered." Writer Marc Dube and Director Sam Hill offer their thoughts on "Payback."

There are three entertaining and interesting featurettes on the creating of episodes that add up to around 45 minutes. "Creating Feature Television: The Concept, Script and Pre-Production of CSI: Miami" (18:58) features interviews with Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Co-Producer/Writer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Story Editor Corey Miller, Story Editor John Haynes, Supervising Producer Sunil Nayer, Co-Executive Producer Elizabeth Devine, Supervising Producer Barry O'Brien, Researcher Brad Iten, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Director Eagle Egilsson, Production Designer Fred Andrews, Art Director Roland Rosenkranz, Costume Designer Andrea Federman, and Locations Manager Brian O'Neill. They talk about how they come up with the basic story ideas, how the characters are developed, how they do research on cases and specific terms, writing and editing the script, the production and costume design, and location shooting. "Producing Feature Television: The Production of CSI: Miami" (13:54) has interviews with Co-Producer Ildy Madrovich, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Producer Don Tardino, First Assistant Director Marco Black, Unit Production Manager Sam Hill, Director Eagle Egilsson, Actor Eva LaRue, Actor Emily Procter, Actor Adam Rodriguez, Locations Manager Brian O'Neill, Visual Effects Supervisor Larry Detwiler, Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Leone, Associate Producer Eric Mirich, and Second Unit Assistant Director Natalie Van Doren. They talk about how they have a lot of meetings, new director Eagle Egilsson, how they created the spa in a home, and the visual effects for the chop shop scenes. "Finishing Feature Television: The Post-Production of CSI: Miami" (11:04) includes intervews with Supervising Producer Gina Lamar, Editor Mark C. Baldwin, Executive Producer Ann Donahue, Associate Producer Melissa Black, Supervising Sound Editor Tim Kimmel, Composers Kevin Kiner and Jeff Cardoni, and Foley Artists Joe Sabella. They talk about finishing the episodes after the principal photography has been completed. This includes the editing, looping, adding music, and foley sound effects.

Overall, this is another very nicely put together set. All of the C.S.I. sets seem to be similar and follow the same format. The special features added a lot to my knowledge of the show. So many people are involved with making an episode, and it seems like a time-consuming process. CSI: Miami is now the #1 show on Monday nights and the most-watched U.S. series around the world. My only disappointment with this set is that they didn't include the second part of the CSI Miam/NY cross-over episode. You'll have to buy
C.SI: NY - The Complete Second Season to see that one.

-- Reviewed by Todd Fuller
(4.5/5 stars)

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Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
CSI: Miami CBS.com Official Site
CSI: Miami TV.com Page

Nick@Nite Looks for Moms; 'Shark' Gets Full Season

Attention all moms!! Nick@Nite is gearing up for a third season of its reality series competition, Funniest Mom in America, beginning Tuesday, April 3 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. Real-life moms looking to try their comedic chops on those other than their kids can win a shot at this year's title. One lucky winner will win $50,000 plus the chance to host a special night of programming on Nick at Nite. Funniest Mom 3 is a six-part series which follows these moms' journey
to glory. The show follows them from auditions to regional competitions, where twelve moms advance to compete in the semi-finals. Throughout the series' six-week run, viewers will get the chance to learn more about these moms and their families as we travel with them to their hometowns and get a glimpse at their lives. For more details click HERE.

CBS has given a full-season order to Shark, its freshman drama about the professional and personal life of charismatic, self-confident defense attorney turned prosecutor Sebastian Stark (James Woods). Shark joins Heroes, Jericho, Ugly Betty, Brothers & Sisters and The Game as new series getting full seasons. The CW announced ther latter's today along with giving 7th Heaven a full season rather than 13 episodes:
The CW Network has picked up the back nine episodes of freshman comedy The Game and returning drama 7th Heaven, giving each series a full season order.

'Benson' Fans Be Happy This Friday; News On 'The Game', 'Reba', 'Boston Legal' & 'King of the Hill'

TV Land has changed its schedule for this Friday and Saturday just a bit. The Tom Cruise movie Top Gun will still air at 10pm, but the immediate encore following that has been moved to Saturday at 11:30 a.m., so TV Land has re-added Benson for this Friday night after Top Gun. 6 episodes will air until 4 a.m. This is just for this Friday. Benson will return to the mini-marathon late night line-up on December 15 when the Friday movies are over. Until then you can catch Benson Tuesdays 12 noon to 2 p.m. and late nights on Fridays at 3:30 a.m.

The CW has picked-up the new sitcom The Game for a full season. Meaning, 22 episodes will at least be produced. The Game is a spin-off of Girlfriends and airs Mondays at 9:30 p.m. In other CW news, they have axed new drama Runaway after just a few airings. The CW is expected to bring back veteran sitcom Reba shortly. It will join 7th Heaven and the encore of America's Next Top Model on Sun