Fri-Yay: GLOW Remains Delightful in Its 2nd Season; Ricky Gervais Gets After Life on Netflix

Friday, July 06, 2018

Fri-Yay: GLOW Remains Delightful in Its 2nd Season; Ricky Gervais Gets After Life on Netflix

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

GLOW

by Vincent

GLOW was one of the biggest delights of last summer, arriving in the doldrums of June to become one of the best and funniest shows of the year. With a stacked cast, an intriguing premise, excellent writing and lovable characters, it was the type of show I binged through immediately, wanting more. Now, a year later, I've finally gotten more - and it doesn't disappoint. Season 2 of GLOW is just as entertaining, fun to watch and genuinely great as the first season, and deepens its characters and world in excellent ways.

GLOW comes from the creator of Orange is the New Black, Jenji Kohan. That was obvious from the very first episode, as the show has a diverse group of female characters from very different backgrounds. But I felt the Orange connection even more strongly in Season 2, as the show delves into the backstory and personal lives of its characters even more than it did in Season 1. We really see these women for who they are beyond their stereotypical G.L.O.W characters, and it makes the show's world all the more rich and inviting. Add that to the fact that the show has largely figured out its comic rhythm, and you have an excellent, consistently strong season of television.

There are a couple of faults I found with the second season of the show - the first season was tightly structured around the filming of the G.L.O.W pilot and length everyone goes to in order to make sure it works. The second season loses a little bit of that structure by shifting to covering the show week-to-week, although in a way, that loose structure is what allows it to delve more deeply into its characters. The other major criticism I had of the season was that it focused a bit too much on Marc Maron's Sam and not enough on the ladies of GLOW, who are all incredibly interesting and deserve to be more of the center of attention. Maron is great as Sam, but his character is kind of prickly and not super likable, and not someone I've found myself sympathizing with very often. On the other hand, the women of GLOW, even when they're being unlikable, still find a way to work their way into your hearts. If GLOW gets a third season (and it seems to be do well for Netflix at least judging by the buzz around it that I've seen), I'd like to see the focus dialed even more on the cast and less on the male producers. But that's a minor gripe with an overall excellent season of television, and a great choice for summer TV marathoning.

Ricky Gervais - After Life

Casting is confirmed on After Life, the new Netflix original comedy series from Ricky Gervais. Production is also underway on After Life, a Netflix original series from Creator, Executive Producer and Director, Ricky Gervais. The series stars Ricky Gervais alongside Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey, Doctor Who), David Bradley (The Harry Potter series, Game of Thrones), Ashley Jensen (Extras), Tom Basden (Plebs, David Brent: Life On The Road), Tony Way (Edge of Tomorrow), David Earl (Cemetery Junction, Derek), Joe Wilkinson (Him and Her), Kerry Godliman (Derek), Mandeep Dhillon, Jo Hartley, Roisin Conaty and Diane Morgan (David Brent: Life On The Road). In the series, Tony (Ricky Gervais) had a perfect life. But after his wife Lisa suddenly dies, Tony changes. After contemplating taking his own life, he decides instead to live long enough to punish the world by saying and doing whatever he likes from now on. He thinks it's like a Super Power - not caring about himself or anyone else - but it turns out to be tricky when everyone is trying to save the nice guy they used to know. 6 episodes have been ordered, but no premiere date just yet. Stay tuned.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, January 23

The Goldbergs - "I Coulda Been a Lawyer" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Beverly decides their street needs another stop sign and pleads her case to the city comptroller. Barry panics when he realizes he’s neglected his college applications, but the situation only gets worse once Murray is involved. Meanwhile, Erica struggles with her career choice.

Schooled - "Tamagotchis and Bells" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Lainey and Glascott encounter an overbearing parent and enlist the help of Beverly Goldberg (Wendi McLendon-Covey). Mellor realizes he might want to start a family and be a father after CB shows him how to care for confiscated Tamagotchis.

Modern Family - "Whanex?" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While preparing a presentation for his students about their future goals, Cam (Eric Stonestreet) must also contend with a bully at the school and Jay (Ed O’Neil) is having a little technical trouble during his video conference. Meanwhile, the local mall is holding a photo shoot for its new ad campaign and Gloria tricks Phil and Joe into participating.

Single Parents - "Graham D'Amato: Hot Lunch Mentalist" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Will wants to get back together with Mia, but as their relationship progresses, he finds himself having to choose between the “normal” family he’s always wanted and the new family he’s created with Angie, Poppy, Miggy, Douglas and the kids. In order to get Will to come back to his senses about Mia, Angie kicks him off the babysitting grid and fills the spot with Dr. Mark, Douglas’ rival dermatologist, much to Douglas’ chagrin. Meanwhile, Graham is nervous to compete in the talent show and relies on Will to calm him down when he gets nervous on stage.

Schitt's Creek - "The Plant" (Pop, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Alexis and Johnny come up with a plan to impress a motel reviewer; David and Patrick look for an apartment.

grown-ish - "Girls Like You" (Freeform, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Nomi's endless string of one-night stands starts to throw off the apartment dynamic.

You're the Worst - "The One Thing We Don't Talk About" (FXX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Jimmy challenges Gretchen to tackle some of the responsibilities that come with being an adult.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 21)

Wednesday, January 23

Sam Elliott (The Ranch) - Watch Sam on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Molly Shannon (Divorce/Kath & Kim/Cracking Up) - Molly is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
Pete Holmes (Crashing) - Pete stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Danny Trejo (Saint George) - Danny appears on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
The Cast of The Good Place - Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D'Arcy Carden and Manny Jacinto are guests on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah visits Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo. She will also be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Billy Eichner (Difficult People) - Billy drops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
Cobie Smulders (Friends from College/How I Met Your Mother) - Cobie is a guest on E!'s Busy Tonight at 11pm.
Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk/American Dad!) - Patrick chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Connie Britton (Spin City/The Fighting Fitzgeralds/Lost at Home) - Connie appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Leslie Grossman (What I Like About You/10 Things I Hate About You) - Leslie is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Paul W. Downs (Broad City) - Paul talks about Broad City on New York Live on WNBC in New York at 11:30am ET.
Vivica A. Fox (Mr. Box Office/Getting Personal/Arsenio/Out All Night) - Vivica gives the scoop on her show, Face the Truth – and she's facing the truth herself with a lie detector test on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Mädchen Amick (Freddie) - Mädchen talks about Riverdale on People Now at 12pm and on the BUILD Series at 1pm.
Joey McIntyre (The McCarthys) - Joey can be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation and Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) - Amy and Natasha talk about their new show Russian Doll on NBC's Today in the 9am hour. Natasha will also be on the BUILD Series at 3pm.
Jenny McCarthy (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny talks about The Masked Singer on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.