The funniest things happen when old friends get together.  And that was undoubtedly true when Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe) asked former Friends pal Courteney Cox (Monica) to guest in several episodes of her gut-busting Web Therapy.  The online series stars Kudrow as a self-absorbed shrink (with dubious credentials) who’s more interested in exploiting her webcam patients for profit rather than offering guidance.  Two seasons have been produced, a total of 30 short therapy sessions featuring top comedic talent.  Improv is encouraged and—as seen in the two gag reels—often leaves Lisa doubled-over in laughter.  Courteney’s arc involves an alleged missing ‘gift’ and an off-camera fiasco on The Tyra Banks Show.  Both actresses are nominated for the 2^nd annual Streamy Awards, which honor the best in webisodes:  Lisa for Best Actress in a Comedy Web Series, and Courteney for Best Guest Star.  Click here to watch both seasons and outtake reels.  Joining the Friends nominees is Tatyana Ali (Ashley on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), who’ll contend for Best Actress in a Drama for her ten episodes of Buppies.   

In other award news, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne garnered four NAACP Image Awards this past weekend:  Best Comedy Series, Best Actress (Cassi Davis), Supporting Actor (Lance Gross) and Supporting Actress (Keshia Knight Pulliam).  In addition, Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) won the Best Documentary nod for Good Hair; and The Office claimed honors for Best Writing in a Comedy Series.      

Two of television’s most vibrant comediennes will soon take the stage in Cleveland.  Telma Hopkins and Emmy-winner Jackee Harry are featured in J.D. Lawrence’s hit comedy/musical, The Clean Up Woman, which comes to The Palace Theatre at Playhouse Square for three performances, October 9-10.  Both actresses are considered “go to” comedy gold when TV shows need a strong supporting character.  Jackee is best known for her roles on 227 and The WB’s Sister, Sister, but she’s now a scene-stealer as hairdresser “Vanessa” on Everybody Hates Chris.  Telma’s career is nothing short of extraordinary.  She and Joyce Vincent are the female singers in Tony Orlando & Dawn, one of the ‘70s most successful pop groups, with 14 songs reaching the Top 40, including #1 singles Knock Three Times, Candida, and Tie a Yellow Ribbon.  Last year, the trio was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame near Youngstown.  Their popular variety series led to lengthy roles for Telma on such favorites as Bosom Buddies, Gimme a Break, Family Matters and Half & Half—where she delivers her trademark one-line zingers as “Phyllis.”  If you’re able to see the two legends in-person, let us know how you liked the show.  And remember to check ‘em out six days a week on WBNX.

Summer’s the time when fans look forward to their favorite TV shows arriving on DVD. Seven CW series have disc releases over the next ten weeks, so we’ve compiled a convenient list of dates and extras included in the box-sets. All are available for pre-order at amazon.com.

• 90210: Season 1 release on Aug. 11. Includes cast commentaries on select episodes, plus behind-the-scenes featurettes about the show’s music, fashion, sets and more.
• Gossip Girl: Season 2 release on Aug. 18. Includes nearly four hours of special features, such as unaired scenes, a gag reel, the ‘Chasing Dorota’ webisodes, and a downloadable audio-book of Gossip Girl: You Know You Love Me, read by Christina Ricci.
• Everybody Hates Chris: Season 4 release on Aug. 18. The comedy’s final season set will include commentary by creator Chris Rock, deleted scenes, featurettes and bloopers.
• Smallville: Season 8 release on Aug. 25. Available on DVD and Blu-ray. Bonus material includes cast and creator commentaries, unaired scenes, and two featurettes, Doomsday: The Making of a Monster, and Director’s Chair: Calling the Shots with Allison Mack.
• One Tree Hill: Season 6 release on Aug. 25. In addition to the unaired scenes and gag reel, the set includes commentary on two episodes by series creator Mark Schwahn and key cast members; and featurettes on recreating the 1940s (for episode 11); playing the new sport of SlamBall; shadowing first-time directors Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty; and guest singers discussing the role of music in the series, with a spotlight on the USO concert (episode 10).
• Supernatural: Season 4 release on Sep. 1. Available on DVD and Blu-ray. Anticipation is always great for this series’ gag reel—those guys just have fun at work, period. It will be accompanied by extended/unaired scenes, commentary on three key episodes by exec producers and writers, and a featurette on The Mythologies of Supernatural.
• The Game: Season 1 release on Sept. 1. This popular dramedy just completed its third and final campaign, and the show finally comes to DVD with all 21 episodes of its freshman year, plus the sixth-season episode of Girlfriends which served as a back-door pilot for The Game spinoff.
• Reaper: Both seasons are currently available on DVD.

It’s a big week for The CW, with tomorrow’s unveiling of the new Fall lineup.  Media outlets have already confirmed three of the slots will go to Melrose Place, The Vampire Diaries and The Beautiful Life…all star-laden and buzzworthy additions.  Fans of the original Melrose Place melodrama can expect much more, as the reboot opens with a bloody body floating in the courtyard pool.  More series pickups are expected to be announced in New York.  On the local front, WBNX is excited to add seven more high-profile series, a diverse mix which includes:

• The Office: A three-time Emmy nominee for Best Comedy Series (and winner in 2006), Steve Carell leads the cast of what many consider one of the funniest shows in television history. Last week the quirky sitcom celebrated its 100th episode.
• Bones: The popular forensic mystery, starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel, is still going strong, receiving a new two-year extension this week.
• Scrubs: It’s the medical comedy with nine lives—or at least nine seasons, after its post-finale renewal. Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke and a hospital staff brimming with dry humor are a welcome addition!
• Everybody Hates Chris: This CW series wrapped up two weeks ago in hilarious Sopranos-style, suddenly cutting to black with the Rock family in a local diner ready to reveal Chris’s fate. A longtime favorite of critics, EHC could easily be the next big weekday syndication hit.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: One of the rare dramas to amass well over 200 episodes, this ten-year veteran crime procedural stars Mariska Hargitay, Chris Meloni and Ice-T.
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: Well, are ya? Jeff Foxworthy brings his primetime game show hit to weekdays. It’s a half-hour format, with all new episodes.
• The Tyra Banks Show: She’s one of TV’s most engaging personalities, and Tyra takes up residence on WBNX weekdays at 3pm this fall.

Chris Rock knew precisely when he’d had enough of high school, and is taking the same approach with the sitcom based on his youth. Everybody Hates Chris will close its four-year chapter on May 8, as teen Chris (Tyler James Williams) reaches the déjà vu choice of leaving the classroom for a career in stand-up comedy, TV Guide confirms. From the moment it premiered, this ‘inner-city Wonder Years’ was hailed as one of television’s best family series. Tichina Arnold and Terry Crews shared the set with four adorable kids aged 12 and under, and the 1980s period satire offered no shortage of laughs—with great supporting roles by comic favorites Jackee Harry (227; Sister, Sister), Ernest Thomas (What’s Happening!), and Jacqueline Mazarella as naïvely-prejudiced scene-stealer “Ms. Morello.” In many ways, Chris represented The Cosby Show on the other side of the Brooklyn tracks. With 88 episodes completed, Everybody Hates Chris moves into syndication this fall, and its talented, close-knit cast—including Cleveland’s own Imani Hakim (Tanya)—will move on to new projects. Don’t miss the final three new episodes of this comedy gem which, contrary to its name…everybody loves.

It was a busy—and exciting—weekend at The CW, with several breaking news stories. Here’s a quick recap:

• Laura Leighton will reprise her role as devious schemer “Sydney” on the new Melrose Place. In fact, she’s now the landlord—so Sydney can mess with the heads of all the young tenants. Fans of the original MP assumed Sydney was killed in a car accident, but c’mon…it’s a soap opera; amazing recoveries are the norm. Laura (photo, left) is married to former costar Doug Savant, who now plays “Tom Scavo” on Desperate Housewives.
• In another link to the first Melrose Place, Shaun Sipos has been cast as the sexy, spoiled bad boy son of “Jake Hansen.” WBNX viewers might remember Shaun (photo, right) from Maybe It’s Me; others know him from The Savages.
• With The CW’s half-hour Friday comedies expected to exit at the end of this year, says The Hollywood Reporter, producers of The Game will repitch the series to the network this week as a one-hour dramedy. Does this mean the May 8 episode of Everybody Hates Chris is the series finale?
• Reaper co-creators Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters just signed a two-year, seven-figure deal with another studio, and the terms include their departure from The CW series. Could Reaper return with a new creative team?

WBNX stars and series will have a major presence at next month’s 40th annual NAACP Image Awards ceremony.  The nominations just announced include 14 alone for comedies Everybody Hates Chris, The Game and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, and more than 20 overall.  Here’s a breakdown of our honorees, in a nutshell:

Tyler Perry’s House of Payne: Outstanding Comedy; Lead Actor (LaVan Davis); Lead Actress (Cassi Davis); Supporting Actor (Lance Gross, Larramie ‘Doc’ Shaw).

Everybody Hates Chris: Outstanding Comedy; Lead Actor (Tyler James Williams, Terry Crews), Lead Actress (Tichina Arnold)

The Game: Outstanding Comedy; Lead Actress (Tia Mowry); Supporting Actress (Wendy Raquel Robinson); Outstanding Writing.

Other nominations:
Tracee Ellis Ross, Girlfriends (Lead Actress, TV comedy)
Tyra Banks (Outstanding Talk Series)
Jamie Foxx (Outstanding Male Recording Artist)
Will Smith, Seven Pounds (Outstanding Film Actor)
Queen Latifah, The Secret Life of Bees (Outstanding Film Actress)
Alfre Woodard, Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys (Outstanding Film Actress)
Tyler Perry’s movie, The Family That Preys, will also compete for Outstanding Motion Picture. 

The CW today announced a complete revision of its Sunday night lineup, and the fresh imports should excite Clevelanders, in particular.  Beginning Nov. 30, “favorite son” Drew Carey and Jericho will help to fill holes vacated by 4 Real, In Harm’s Way, Valentine and Easy Money.  And for those who miss the days of blockbuster films on Sunday night, the network will also program a series of “contemporary theatrical titles from MGM” in the 8pm slot.  Set in various Northeast Ohio suburbs, Carey’s comedy series reinforced the message “Cleveland Rocks!” to a national audience for nine years; while Jericho became possibly the first series resurrected by fandom outcry.  The acclaimed drama followed Skeet Ulrich’s small Kansas community in the aftermath of a nuclear attack that wiped out much of the country.  When the show was not renewed for a second season, vocal viewers rose up—and CBS officials later acknowledged “the campaign was the largest the network had seen” to protest a cancellation.  Seven midseason episodes were then commissioned to provide closure to the epic saga.  Here’s how the exciting new Sunday night block will look, starting next week:

Finally—Comedy Premiere Night is here! Everybody Hates Chris returns for its fourth season on a new night, with young Chris Rock (Tyler James Williams) “movin’ on up” to high school.  Problem is, he’s assigned to the building’s only segregated homeroom.  Hee!  What genius could be behind that shrewd move?  Chris’s naively politically-incorrect former teacher, Miss Morello, of course; she’s now the HS principal!  What a great way to keep the hilarious Jaqueline Mazarella in the cast beyond junior high.  The Game follows with a series of startling revelations.  Suffice to say, the football wives and playas have shaken things up!  As seen above, Esther Rolle (“Florida Evans”) was a true pioneer of today’s urban comedies.  Coming up on Dec. 11, The Wayans Bros. re-enact Good Times in a dream-sequence parody that’s not to be missed.  

There sure aren’t many primetime comedies anymore—and even fewer can be labeled ‘family’ and ‘funny.’  That’s why we can’t wait till Everybody Hates Chris returns for its fourth season, leading off our new Friday lineup in three weeks.  The cast is first-rate and the ‘80s inner-city ‘Wonder Years’-style writing is sharp.  Recently, the main cast members each grabbed a mic and a camera to give viewers separate behind-the-scenes sneak-peaks at their daily studio life.  Included in the short videos are opportunities to vie for a “s.w.a.g. bag” of collectibles and Grand Prize trip to visit the Everybody Hates Chris set. Wed., Sep. 17 is the final day to enter, so click here for your six celebrity mini-tours and fun factoids.  For instance, you might be surprised to learn that “Miss Morello,” hilariously played by Jacqueline Mazarella, is series star Tyler James Williams’ favorite character on the show.  Below, we’ve included the backstage scoop with 15-year-old Cleveland native Imani Hakim (Chris’s sister, “Tanya”).