Fri-Yay: Live in Front of a Studio Audience Recap; Mario Lopez Produced Sitcom Coming to Netflix

Friday, May 24, 2019

Fri-Yay: Live in Front of a Studio Audience Recap; Mario Lopez Produced Sitcom Coming to 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!

All in the Family & The Jffersons Live in Front of a Studio Audience

All in the Family & The Jffersons Live in Front of a Studio Audience

by Vincent

On Wednesday night, ABC aired its first iteration of Live in Front of a Studio Audience, a Jimmy Kimmel-produced special where a few handful of actors recreated classic episodes of All in the Family and The Jeffersons. It was a really interesting idea for a TV network, one that honors the network's past and roots (something that we all know TV networks don't always do). The series featured A-List cast members: Marisa Tomei as Edith, Woody Harrelson as Archie, Ike Barinholtz as Archie's son-in-law and Ellie Kemper as Archie's daughter. The Jeffersons featured Wanda Sykes as Louise, Jamie Foxx as George, among others such as Will Ferrell, Kerry Washington, Anthony Anderson and Amber Stevens West. The episodes weren't necessarily perfect - Jamie Foxx flubbed a few lines (and joked about it quickly after), and any fan of these classic sitcoms would surely tell you they didn't hold a candle up to the original. But for a true sitcom fan, this was really a treat.

The ratings for the special were also pretty huge, earning 10.42 million total viewers (and a 1.8 Adults 18-49 rating) in Live+SD performance - ABC's highest Wednesday total viewers audience on the final night of a May sweep in 12 years. This means it performed even better than ABC's smash hit Modern Family did in its prime in total viewers. Live TV events have proven to be a bonafide way to score some ratings points, as in a DVR and streaming-dominated age, it's important for viewers to feel they need to see something live when measuring live ratings. And as much as networks are figuring out how to profit off of streaming numbers, live ratings are still easily the most important figures when determining a show (and network)'s value. So my guess is that we will see another Live in Front of a Studio Audience (take your guesses on which sitcoms will be next!), and perhaps similar events, on other networks. This is a good thing, and it's a way to keep the sitcom tradition alive in the post-streaming world.

Paula Chavez and Jencarlos Canela

Sticking with traditional sitcom news, Netflix has ordered 16 episodes of The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, a new multi-cam comedy series co-created by Mario Lopez and Seth Kurland. In the sitcom, when Ashley Garcia — the world's only 15-and-a-half-year-old robotics engineer and rocket scientist — gets the chance to work for NASA, she moves across the country to live with her fun-loving Uncle Victor, a pro football player turned high school coach who’s never met a responsibility he can't shirk. Starring newcomer Paulina Chavez stars as Ashley and singer and actor Jencarlos Canela (Telenovela, Grand Hotel) stars as Victor. The series will be ran by Seth Kurland (Speechless, Melissa & Joey, Friends). The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia joins Netflix's growing slate of live action series featuring kids and families, which includes No Good Nick from David H. Steinberg and Keetgi Kogan, Alexa & Katie from Heather Wordham (two seasons streaming now, with a third on the way), as well as upcoming series Malibu Rescue from Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, Family Reunion from Meg DeLoatch, Team Kaylie from Tracy Bitterolf and Pamela Eells O'Connell, and The Baby-Sitters Club from Walden Media and Michael De Luca.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, June 19

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Typhoid Georgie" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie worries he’s letting his family down when he’s forced to stay home with a cold, and Mandy worries about how her career will affect her marriage.

Ghosts - "Alexander Hamilton and the Ruffle Kerfuffle" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jay becomes obsessed with the success of a fellow chef, Isaac serves up a cautionary tale about his own rivalry with Alexander Hamilton (Nat Faxon). Also, Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh) returns from hell with a limited-time offer for the ghosts.

Bob's Burgers - "The Lost City of Atlantic" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Belchers have a wild night at a casino and Linda learns more about her late grandfather than she wanted to know.

Grimsburg - "Evidence Locker" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Memories are sparked when Grimsburg PD cleans an evidence locker.

The Great North - "Super Smash Lovers Adventure" / "Serendipi-Beef Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Honeybee and Wolf renovate the guest cabin; after an extreme experience, Ham, Judy and Moon get whole new outlooks on life; on a field trip to view Curlew's Kissin' Comets, Beef rushes to stop his kids from suffering a terrible fate.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 16)

Thursday, June 19

Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Catch Seth on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ramy Youssef (#1 Happy Family USA/Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Lionel Boyce (The Bear) - Lionel appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kurt Braunohler (Bob's Burgers) and Brendan Scannell (Bonding/Heathers) - Kurt and Brendan are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House/Hollywood Darlings/Full House) - Jodie talks about Dateless to Dangerous: My Son's Secret Life on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Owen Wilson (Stick) - Owen talks about Stick on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) - Chris talks about Abbott Elementary on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - In a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with actress Jennie Garth, she shares her formula for fulfillment and how she created the “I Choose Me” movement on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) and Lauren Ambrose (The Return of Jezebel James) - Drew is chatting with Yellowjackets cast Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress and Lauren Ambrose about working as cast of women in their forties, supporting each other as working moms and the newest season of their thrilling show on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, they're playing a rousing round of confession session and Drew is trying to match their fun revealing facts to the right person.