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, October 24

The Middle - "Halloween VIII: Orson Murder Mystery" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
As Halloween approaches, Frankie discovers that a woman had died in the bathtub of the Heck house close to 50 years ago; Frankie and Brick become convinced that she was murdered and, much to Mike’s chagrin, attempt to track down and find the murderer. Meanwhile, Axl and Lexie become frustrated over losing their alone time when Sue insists on hanging out with them wherever they go.

Fresh Off the Boat - "It's a Plastic Pumpkin, Louis Huang" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
On Halloween, Louis is disappointed that Evan doesn’t take his childish delight in the holiday; Eddie and the gang plot to crash a cool older girl’s party; Jessica and Emery are spooked when they hear a strange man’s voice emanating from Grandma’s room, and things get even creepier when a mysterious group of costumed strangers whisk Grandma away, making them suspect the supernatural worst.

black-ish - "Advance to Go (Collect $200)" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Dre brings everyone together for a rowdy family game night and the competition is fierce. The game of choice is Monopoly and as the night progresses, alliances are formed and some are pushed to their limits. Meanwhile, Bow makes it clear how she feels about Junior’s girlfriend.

The Mayor - "City Hall-oween" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
As Halloween approaches, Mayor Courtney Rose and Police Chief Fox (Kristen Johnston) find themselves at odds on how to handle the community’s first annual spook-tacular celebration at City Hall. During the night of the bash, it dawns on Courtney that throwing a party to keep kids safe doesn’t address the bigger issues in Fort Grey and plans to work with Chief Fox going forward. Meanwhile, Dina gets into the spirit by dressing up as Congresswoman Maxine Waters, while Jermaine and T.K. set out to prank Val who has the last laugh when she outsmarts the guys at their own game.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 23)

Tuesday, October 24

Ted Danson (The Good Place/Becker/Cheers) - Catch Ted on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ricky Gervais (The Office) - Ricky appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) - Sabrina is a musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Anna Faris (Mom) - Anna drops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/The Suite Life on Deck) - Cole visits Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Cedric the Entertainer (The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Gabourey Sidibe (The Big C) - Gabourey chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) - Randall appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Rapaport (Atypical/The War at Home) - Michael drops by The Wendy Williams Show at 2am on BET or on your local stations.
Yvette Nicole Brown (The Mayor/The Odd Couple/Community) - Yvette talks about her LA road rage, her love life and more on Harry, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is in the kitchen with three super-easy slow cooker dishes – like Sloppy Joes and a Pasta Bake on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Joanna Garcia Swisher (Reba/Better with You) - Joanna talks about her show Kevin (Probably) Saves the World – and her friendship with Lea Michele on People Now at 8:30am.
Denis Leary (Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll/The Job) - Denis is a guest on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. He will also be on the AOL Build Show at 4pm.
J. B. Smoove (The Millers/'Til Death/Curb Your Enthusiasm) - J. B. is a guest on the AOL Build Show at 11am.
Debra Messing (Will & Grace) - Debra appears on Daily Pop on E! at 12pm.