Thursday, May 11, 2017
Modern Family Renewed for 2 More Seasons; More Pre-Upfront News
We're jumping for joy because Modern Family has been picked up for TWO more amazing seasons, its 9th and 10th seasons. The 8th season wraps up next week, and in the season finale, Manny's father, Javier (guest star Benjamin Bratt), shows up for his graduation and takes him out on a wild night of celebration, and then Jay steps in to pick up the pieces. Meanwhile, the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan is getting ready for Luke and Manny's big day and dealing with the emotions that come with seeing your kids grow up and leave the nest. Modern Family anchors ABC Wednesdays at 9pm and will likely stay in that slot next season (and probably the year after, too).
Time for a speed round of pre-upfront news. ABC has canceled Last Man Standing after six seasons, in somewhat of a surprise. The series was pretty expensive, as ABC did not own it and Tim Allen's salary is steep. ABC also has announced that next season will be the last for Scandal, its seventh season. NBC has canceled freshman drama Timeless. In good news, Fox has ordered new seasons of Gotham and sitcom The Last Man on Earth, while NBC has renewed Blindspot and the three veteran Chicago series (Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med). And finally, The CW has renewed iZombie and The Originals.
Moving onto new series, The CW has picked up a few new dramas, including Black Lightning. The first African-American DC Super Hero to have his own stand-alone comic title, the series is based on the character created by Tony Isabella with Trevor Von Eeden in 1977 and stars China Anne McClain. The CW has also ordered Life Sentence, a dramedy about a young woman diagnosed with terminal cancer and when she finds out that she's not dying after all, she has to learn to live with the choices she made when she decided to live like she was dying. Lucy Hale stars. The biggest new CW series will probably be Dynasty, a reboot of Esther Shapiro and Richard Shapiro's famed 1981-1989 series about two of America's wealthiest families, the Carringtons and the Colbys, as they feud for control over their fortune and their children, among the stars are Alan Dale, Brianna Brown, Elizabeth Gillies and Grant Show. And finally, The CW has picked up Valor, a drama about a U.S. Army base that houses an elite unit of helicopter pilots trained to perform clandestine international and domestic missions.
Fox has picked up new drama The Resident. A tough, brilliant senior resident guides an idealistic young doctor through his first day, pulling back the curtain on what really happens, both good and bad, in modern-day medicine. The series stars Matt Czuchry, Bruce Greenwood and Emily VanCamp. Comedy wise, Fox has ordered two series: Ghosted and LA to Vegas. In Ghosted, a cynical skeptic (Craig Robinson), and a genius "true believer" in the paranormal (Adam Scott), are recruited by a secret government agency to look into the rampant "unexplained" activity in Los Angeles -- all while uncovering a larger mystery that could threaten the existence of the human race. And in LA to Vegas, it is an ensemble workplace comedy about an airline crew and the eccentric passengers who, every weekend, take the roundtrip flight from Burbank to Las Vegas with one goal in mind - to come back a winner. Dylan McDermott stars.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, April 23
Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Dreams" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When George's vivid dreams reveal he has feelings for Rosie, he avoids sleeping and gets distracted at work; when Chance tests at a genius-level IQ, Mayan and Quinten fear that they're a couple of dum-dums.
Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Lisa" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mayan worries when George gets into a hairy situation dating a hot hairdresser; Josué gets locked into a competition with the other man in Rosie's life: her grandson, Chance.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 22)
Tuesday, April 23
- Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Catch Wanda on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Gabriel Iglesias (Mr. Iglesias/Cristela) - Gabriel appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Esther Povitsky (Dollface/Alone Together) - Esther appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Hannah Waddingham (Krapopolis/Ted Lasso) - Hannah is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Maya Rudolph (Loot/Bless the Harts/Forever/Up All Night) - Maya appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) and Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) - Drew and Thomas are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers/Frasier) - Bebe will be on CBS Mornings some time between 7-9am.
- John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - NBC's Today catches up with John in the 9am hour.
- Zendaya (K.C. Undercover/Shake It Up) - Zendaya will be on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am.
- Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Gina Rodriguez (Not Dead Yet) - Gina talks about ABC's Dead to Me on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Jennifer Tilly (Out of Practice) - Jennifer talks about the new season of Chucky on USA & SYFY Networks on Sherri, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
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