Breaking News: Curb Your Enthusiasm to return!

For Jay, who called into my Must Hear TV segment on The Frank DeCaro Show this afternoon, asking about the return of Curb Your Enthusiasm: news hot off the Variety press says that Curb is slated to go back into production in December, to make 10 episodes which will air in 2009.
Click here for the story.

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NEW -- "Follow" Must-Hear TV!

As those of you familiar with RSS and Blogger undoubtedly already know, now there are quite a few ways you can keep getting daily helpings of Must-Hear TV dinners, delivered directly to your screen.

1) Near the upper right hand corner of the Must-Hear TV blog, you'll find a box titled Followers of Must-Hear TV. If you're a Blogger member, just click on the "Follow" link, and new posts from Must-Hear TV will be automatically mixed in to the news you receive on Blogger and/or Google Reader.

2) Directly under the Followers box is another way to subscribe to Must-Hear TV. In the box titled Get Blog Feed Subscription, simply click to subscribe to RSS feeds. The cool thing here is, you can also click to have post Comments mixed in to your news as well.

3) And if you'd prefer to receive your Must-Hear TV delivered via email (usually just after midnight), there's a box titled Get Email Subscription to Must-Hear TV where you can type in your email address. You'll be asked to verify a word image, and then will receive an email containing an activation link.

Join me for some daily fun, and let's talk... Must-Hear TV!

Radio Recap, August 6, 2008

It's time for a RADIO RECAP
"Must Hear TV" on "The Frank DeCaro Show" on Sirius OutQ 109
Wednesdays, 1-2 PM


In news from today's "Must-Hear TV" report...

• SciFi Network announced that it's running Stargate Atlantis into this fall, using the series as a lead in to its new show: Sanctuary, which stars Stargate alumna Amanda Tapping.
  
  Starting August 15, Stargate Atlantis repeats will air on Fridays at 9, followed by an original episode at 10. Then, on Friday October 3, Sanctuary premieres in that time slot (9 PM); Stargate resumes airing at 9 on October 10, with Sanctuary sliding back to 10 PM. Got all that?

• In other SciFi news, its series Eureka started season 3 with great ratings, finishing the day as the #1 show on cable for adults 25-54. With 2.8 million total viewers, the show scored its highest numbers since its series premiere on July 18, 2006.

• And in even more SciFi news: Battlestar Galactica executive producer Dave Eick told the geeks crowd at ComicCon last month that the series' remaining episodes (so far, we know 10 are planned) will have to be extra long, in order to wrap up all the show's remaining plotlines and story arcs. It's not clear whether the remaining weeks of Battlestar will be artificially "super-sized," a la NBC, or just extended for some episodes to two hours instead of one. Stay tuned!

And you callers wanted to know:

• Brian in Toledo asked why there are no sitcoms with fantasy elements on the air anymore, like The Munsters, The Addams Family or Alf. I'd say that's just because those types of shows tend to pop up in clusters -- when one works or seems to have buzz, others follow. (The Munsters and The Addams Family, as Frank pointed out, both debuted and were cancelled within weeks of each other!) I'd cite Third Rock from the Sun as a good recent example from the '90s. But you're right -- the abject failure of Cavemen may keep "high concept" sitcoms out of vogue for quite a while to come.

• Greg in Michigan wanted to know if there are any shows coming this fall with gay themes, a la Will & Grace (or even the gayest show ever, Ugly Betty.) Other than the L Word spinoff, which won't be here for a while, I don't know of any which will be that gay. But I do know that a few new series will be showcasing gay characters. Stay tuned to this blog for interviews with Chris Diamantopoulos, who plays Debra Messing's character's gay BFF Rodney on USA's series version of The Starter Wife starting in October, and with gay writer Abraham Higginbotham, whose sitcom Do Not Disturb starts on Fox in early September, complete with the hilarious Jesse Tyler Ferguson playing a gay hotel worker.

• Tom in Miami asked about the status of the rumored Noah's Arc movie. Well, Tom, it's a rumor no more -- click here on afterelton.com for a video of the show's creator Patrik-Ian Polk and star Darryl Stephens talking all about Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom.

And to answer your DVD questions:

• Tom in Miami: Gimme a Break season 1 was released on 2/14/06. Season 2 so far seems to be available only in Canada. Maybe they just like Nell Carter better than we do.

• Jim in OK: The Waltons is up to season 7 on DVD, which was released on April 29 of this year. So, only 2 more seasons to go for your collection.

• Jeremiah in Denver: all 4 seasons of Knight Rider have been out on DVD for a few years now. Just in time for you to catch NBC's remake this fall.

• Mark in FL: So far, the only way you can get the 1967-78 The Carol Burnett Show on DVD (other than the 2004 special Let's Bump Up The Lights or the 2002 reunion special/retrospective Showstoppers) is to order it by subscription from Guthy-Renker, at 1-800-720-3311. I doubt we'll ever see a major consumer release of every one of the show's 11 (!) seasons.

• Nikki in IL: Sorry, but China Beach is still not released. You're not alone in asking for it, though. In fact, you can click here to sign the petition to bring the show to DVD. (As Frank pointed out, for a while there, you could catch airings of the show on the American Life Network -- but no more).

• Greg in Minneapolis: You're not alone in your frustration, either, about the haphazard way Fox has been releasing seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. There was a huge gap of time between seasons 1 and 2 (almost 3 years), while the studio pondered whether to release further years at all. Now, since season 4 came out in 2006, they seem stalled again. Click here to sign the petition to get season 5!

Well that's it for me -- my theme music is playing me out.

Tune in next Wednesday for the next installment of...

"Must Hear TV!

Radio Recap -- July 30, 2008

It's time for a RADIO RECAP
"Must Hear TV" on "The Frank DeCaro Show" on Sirius OutQ 109
Wednesdays, 1-2 PM



In news from today's installment of "Must-Hear TV"...

• Audiences are already mad for season 2 of AMC's Mad Men. Sunday night's premiere more than doubled the season 1 average for viewers (2.0 million vs. 915,000), and also grew significantly in the all-important Adults 18-49 and 25-54 demos.



And I'm telling you if you're just tuning in to this destined-to-be-a-classic show, stick around. I've seen episode 2. And whereas episode 1 laid a lot of groundwork, there are now some juicy surprises coming already this Sunday...






• All you callers who constantly ask about this one -- and with John Barrowman as the lead, why wouldn't you? -- BBC America announced at ComicCon last week in San Diego that they will be carrying Season 3 of the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood. 5 new episodes are being produced in the UK for airing in 2009, with BBC America airing them here shortly thereafter.



I know a lot of you will be saying "Any casting news?" And "why only 5 episodes?" The answers so far appear to be "No comment" on both fronts.

• I know from witnessing it first-hand (click here for a link to my coverage of an Extreme Makeover for the Vitale family of Long Island) that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is the real deal. This show changes lives for the better, empowers neighbors to help, and has a cast of talented designers who really care. Recently, there have been news reports of winners unprepared for the tax bills accompanying their new digs, and now comes the first report I've heard of a pending foreclosure.



According to tvguide.com, the Harper family of Georgia used their new mini-mansion, built with the goodwill of 1800 of their nearest and dearest, as collateral on a $450,000 loan to prop up their construction business. When the business failed, the loan defaulted, and now for what I think is the first time, an Extreme Makeover house can be yours, second hand, at an auction beginning August 5. Doria and I had slightly differing opinions on this story (no, I love you more, Doria!). What's yours?





• Casting news for another show a lot of you are asking about: the ABC adaptation of the British drama Life on Mars. We've already talked about the series lead Jason O'Mara, playing modern-day detective Sam Tyler who is mysteriously transported back to 1973. Now from tvguide.com comes word that the show has cast one of its key female roles: Gretchen Mol, who you may know from the 2005 HBO movie The Notorious Bettie Page (a film which Frank and I like to call "The Notoriously Boring Bettie Page"), as 1973 pioneering female detective Annie.

• Extra's own little Eve Harrington, namely Mario Lopez, has pushed past current anchors Mark McGrath and Dayna Devon, and now has the show all to himself. McGrath is reportedly going back to making music with Sugar Ray, and Devon is swapping with Lopez, becoming a special correspondent rather than host. Season 15 of Extra, with Lopez alone at the helm, starts September 15.

And you callers asked...

• Brian in Toledo wondered why Fox seems to be even more trigger-happy than the other networks in cancelling decent shows. Good question! Yes, they originally goofed with Family Guy -- how cool that they were able to rectify that mistake? (Yes, Frank, I said "rectify.") To be fair, they did stick with Arrested Development through 3 seasons, and nurtured 24 when it wasn't quite yet a hit. And other networks cancel things awfully fast these days too --remember ABC, with its 1 aired episode of Emily's Reasons Why Not, or CBS, which showed Viva Laughlin exactly twice?



But it's true -- Fox has blown through an awful lot of shows which should have lasted longer. As I often posit, the News Corporation itself is kinda schizoid, with its conservative news operation and its sometimes raucous network. And so that network seems to be as well -- the development people seem to go for edgy or experimental comedies -- think Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Greg the Bunny, The Tick -- and then the scheduling people seem to chicken out. Someone from Fox please weigh in -- am I right?





• Tom in Miami asked about The Riches. At the Television Critics of America conference in Los Angeles 2 weeks ago, FX president John Landgraf was asked that very question: is the show coming back? The answer: it's not decided as of this time (this was July 15.)

• John in Texas asked about the L Word spinoff, and the news is: it's happening. According to Showtime president Robert Greenblatt at the TCA convention on Saturday, July 19, they even know which L character is about to get her own show -- but the actress doesn't even know yet! The show will go forward, with L Word producer Ilene Chaiken at the helm, after the mothership wraps production on its sixth and final season this year.

• Ray in Ossining, I have no news on when Empty Nest might be coming to DVD, and neither does my bible, http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/. But it seemed to me to have taken too long for The Golden Girls to come out on DVD, so it might be a while. And John -- as Frank said, it's hard to figure out the logic of why some things come out so slowly on DVD, and in this case why Footballers' Wives DVDs would be so far behind the UK run. Let's ask BBC America -- is it because you guys want us watching them on air first?

Well that's it for me -- my theme music is playing me out. Tune in next Wednesday for the next installment of...

"Must Hear TV!"