SitcomsOnline Digest: MacGyver Reboot Officially Picked Up; New NBC Comedies from Tina Fey and Marlon Wayans

Saturday, May 14, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: MacGyver Reboot Officially Picked Up; New NBC Comedies from Tina Fey and Marlon Wayans

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This is that time of the year (specifically this week) where just about all of the news is about what has been cancelled, what has been renewed, and what new series we'll be seeing in the fall, so not surprisingly, most of our news this week relates to these issues. But we also have a few other things, including the passing of more sitcom stars and the retirement of a 60 Minutes correspondent. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

It seems like we've been hearing about it forever, but now it is official, CBS has picked up the reboot of MacGyver. (USA Today)
Even though they've cancelled much of their comedy slate aside from The Carmichael Show and Superstore (the first one hasn't been renewed yet but is expected to be, while the second has been renewed), NBC is making an attempt to make themselves a destination for great comedy once again, with pickups of new comedies from Tina Fey (Great News) and Marlon Wayans (Marlon). (Entertainment Weekly)
Since October 2000, one thing that you could count on is CBS having some version of CSI on the air, but don't count on that much longer, as the last piece of that legacy (and, if you ask many of the fans, one of the worst) has been cancelled. (Hollywood Reporter)
You could count on him being there Sunday nights on 60 Minutes for years, but Morley Safer is now preparing to retire. (The Daily Beast)
Tonita Castro isn't exactly a household name, but she essentially started her acting career in the past decade when she was in her 50s, and most recently landed roles on Go On and Dads. Unfortunately, she died this week at age 63. (Entertainment Weekly)
William Schallert of The Patty Duke Show died this week, and is also the third former SAG president to die in the past two months (after Ken Howard and Patty Duke). (New York Times)
There were more cancellations this week, including the somewhat surprising cancellation of the long-running Castle just days before the planned season finale and the cancellation of every new Fox comedy from the past season. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (MAY 17) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

The Facts of Life - The Final (Ninth) Season (DVD, $29.93): For those interested in having all of the "facts" on DVD, Shout! Factory wraps up the individual season releases with this release.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Greg Evigan (Twitter), "Actor, writer, producer, director, singer"

Claim to Fame: We've spent the past two weeks doing Mad About You stars as our Follow Me, and as we often do, we're using last week to pivot into this week with Paul Reiser's co-star from his earlier series My Two Dads: Greg Evigan. While Evigan may be known to (slightly) younger people from his role on that short-lived (but memorable) series, his bigger claim to fame came a decade earlier in another short-lived (but very memorable) series, BJ and the Bear. After My Two Dads, he had another role on yet another short-lived (but memorable) series, TekWar. He has never been on a series that has lasted more than three seasons, but despite that, the series that he has appeared on have been memorable ones. He still does some acting these days, most recently appearing in a Hallmark Channel film with his own daughter Briana Evigan, Once Upon a Holiday. He also has another acting daughter, Vanessa Evigan, with whom he is also appearing in movie roles.

Pick of the Tweets: "We're on our way to Hollywood Today Live! @OfficialHTL to talk about @onlygodcanmovie @VanessaEvigan and I (pic)" (April 22, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, June 24

The Simpsons - "Gone Boy" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The town puts together a search party after Bart goes missing; Sideshow Bob tries to force his whereabouts out of Millhouse.

Bob's Burgers - "Something Old, Something New, Something Bob Caters for You" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
As Bob wonders about the worth of working in the restaurant business, a couple who fell in love at the restaurant asks the Belchers to cater their wedding; when things don't go as planned, Linda tries to save the day.

Family Guy - "Foxx in the Men House" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Peter befriends the coolest guy ever and dumps Quagmire, Joe, and Cleveland.

Ghosted - "The Article" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
An article is published revealing The Bureau Underground to the public; Merv asks Leroy to interrogate his co-workers to find out who leaked the information; Ava gets closer to solving the mystery of who bugged the office.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 18)

Friday, June 22

Jodie Foster (Paper Moon/The Courtship of Eddie's Father) - Watch Jodie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) - Eric chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Raven-Symone (Raven's Home/That's So Raven/Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/The Cosby Show) - Raven-Symone appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Joel McHale (The Great Indoors/Community) - Joel visits LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Lauren Ash (Superstore/Super Fun Night) - Lauren appears on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/The Cleveland Show) - Seth is a guest on Harry, so check your local listings.
Miles Brown (black-ish) - Miles appears on a repeat of Steve, so check your local listings.
Amber Stevens West (Ghosted/The Carmichael Show) - Amber is part of the panel on a repeat of Steve, so check your local listings.
Daniella Pineda (The Detour) - Daniella talks about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Josie Bissett (The Hogan Family) - Josie talks about Hallmark Channel's Wedding March 4: Something Old, Something New on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Fran Drescher (The Nanny/Happily Divorced/Living with Fran) - Fran will be on the BUILD Series at 2pm and on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Christian is a guest on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.