SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Sets Summer Plans; Saturday Night Live to Live Up to Its Name From Coast to Coast

Saturday, March 18, 2017

SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Sets Summer Plans; Saturday Night Live to Live Up to Its Name From Coast to Coast

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We've got a busy news week this week as everybody is preparing for pilot season (including Amazon), we're hearing about summer plans from NBC, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

NBC has their summer plans set, which includes the debut of a new sitcom starring Marlon Wayans and the third season of The Carmichael Show. (Deadline)
Saturday Night Live is seeing ratings soar to levels it hasn't seen in decades this season, and to milk those ratings for all that they're worth, NBC is doing two big things in the next few months, including airing all of the remaining episodes for the season live in all continental US time zones beginning in April and airing a Weekend Update primetime spinoff (which has been done before) in the summer. (Vanity Fair)
Amazon's pilot season, where Prime members can see pilots of potential new series to be added to the Prime streaming service and decide which ones get picked up as a full series, kicked off yesterday. (Entertainment Weekly)
Yvette Nicole Brown has been cast in a new ABC pilot, which leaves a few questions unanswered about the fate of the yet-to-be-renewed Odd Couple. (Deadline)
John Larroquette is looking to make a comeback in a comedy for CBS, which would also star Bobby Moynihan (who would almost certainly need to leave Saturday Night Live if the series is picked up) playing the same character that Larroquette is playing at a younger age. (TV Guide)
Logo, which used to be a channel devoted to LGBT viewers and has somehow evolved into a station that airs reruns of RuPaul's Drag Race one week after they debut on VH-1 (after previously being the home for original episodes of the series) and airing more classic sitcoms than TV Land, continues to become a classic sitcom destination with the addition of One Day at a Time. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (MARCH 21) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Master of None - Season One (DVD, $22.98): The Netflix comedy staring Aziz Ansari arrives on DVD in this release.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: John Larroquette (Twitter), "An actor by trade. A clown by vocation."

Claim to Fame: John Larroquette has had an extensive sitcom career, and this week, it was announced that he is part of a CBS pilot that may be airing in the fall if the network chooses to pick it up. His first role was on the series Black Sheep Squadron, but he really shined in his second series, Night Court, where he played district attorney Dan Fielding. Following that series, he starred in the somewhat less remembered (though it did air for four seasons) sitcom The John Larroquette Show. His next role came on the not-so-successful sitcom Happy Family. In the late 2000s, he moved away from sitcoms to appear in several episodes of Boston Legal, and currently he can be seen on The Librarians.

Pick of the Tweets: "Good to have my library card renewed. #TheLibrarians rides again. Voodoo donuts for all my friends." (February 12, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, December 11

The Conners - "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Becky helps Harris keep a secret from Darlene, it opens up a can of worms that causes a rift between the two sisters. Jackie supports Peter with his Nordic history project, and Dan reunites with an old friend.

The Kids Are Alright - "Christmas 1972" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Peggy’s successful brother, Tom, drops in for Christmas, Mike immediately oozes with jealousy. Thus begins Mike’s one-sided competition with Tom, using his kids as pawns to help. After Tom gives the Clearys an extravagant Christmas gift, pride prevents Mike from taking it – putting him at odds with the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Timmy mistakenly receives $100 from his great-aunt for Christmas and contemplates whether he should do “the right thing” or keep it. Elsewhere, Eddie forgets to get Wendi a Christmas present and panic sets in.

black-ish - "Christmas in Theater Eight" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
The Johnsons have a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas and they can never agree on what to see. Dre wants to see an important film about Rosa Parks, but they all want to see the latest action-packed superhero blockbuster. Meanwhile, Junior becomes embarrassed about taking a gap year after he runs into his ex-girlfriend Megan at the theater.

Splitting Up Together - "Messy" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After Lena and Vlad’s unexpected kiss, things get more complicated as they begin their new work partnership while working with a new client. Elsewhere, Martin goes to Paige’s house for more privacy and gets a glimpse into what a more typical divorced home life is, causing him to become uneasy. Back at home, Mason and Mae go head-to-head after Mae finds out that Mason has a crush on a pretentious girl at school.

The Guest Book - "Everybody Loves Clark" (TBS, 10:30PM ET/PT)
Tommy surprises Nikki with a spontaneous wedding ceremony; both are blithely oblivious to the fact that Vivian is kidnapping their child; some familiar faces from Mt. Trace return to sort things out.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 10)

Tuesday, December 11

Ron Livingston (Loudermilk/Search Party) - Catch Ron on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi visits The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Adam Pally (Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Vanessa Hudgens (Powerless) - Vanessa stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen/The Ellen Show) - Ellen drops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Maura Tierney (NewsRadio) - Maura is a guest on E!'s Busy Tonight at 10pm.
Kathy Bates (Disjointed) - Kathy chats on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Ashton Kutcher (The Ranch/Two and a Half Men/That 70s Show) - Ashton guest co-hosts The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) and Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek) - Eugene and Catherine are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/In the House/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso and his wife Angela discuss holiday hacks on Access Live, so check your local listings.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens/Fired Up) - Leah talks about Second Act on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) - Jameela talks about The Good Place on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Dan Bucatinsky (Marry Me/Web Therapy/The Comeback) - Dan talks about Second Act on People Now at 12pm.
Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Marlo discusses the season of giving thanks and the amazing efforts of St. Jude on the BUILD Series at 2pm.