SitcomsOnline Digest: Yahoo! Screen Shuts Down, Effectively Cancelling Community (Again); NBC Announces New Pilots

Saturday, January 09, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Yahoo! Screen Shuts Down, Effectively Cancelling Community (Again); NBC Announces New Pilots

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! Not surprisingly, with everybody back at work this week (including in the entertainment industry), there is lots of news to catch up on from the slow holiday weeks of news, including the shutdown of an online streaming service (though one that wasn't really making a big splash to begin with), new hope for sitcoms on NBC, new additions to Hulu, and much more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Community has managed to survive six seasons (though no movie... yet), but it can't seem to catch a break. After being on the verge of cancellation just about every season on NBC, it finally was cancelled and moved to Yahoo! Screen for the sixth season, except now, Yahoo! Screen has been shut down, effectively cancelling the series... again. (/FILM)
NBC may be falling short in the comedy realm lately, but they're not giving up, as they've picked up four new pilots from producers with a track record of success. (Hollywood Reporter)
Hulu has announced a new deal with Sony that will bring Dawson's Creek, Party of Five, and more to the service, though so far, the only sitcom announced is Happy Endings (which has actually already debuted on the service). (Hollywood Reporter)
TBS, which has been sort of redefining itself lately, has ordered a comedy pilot starring Wyatt Cenac, with Conan O'Brien and Greg Daniels producing. (Variety)
We still have another month before Fuller House debuts on Netflix, but everybody is excited over new photos from the series that have surfaced online. (Entertainment Weekly)
ABC is eager to make primetime a game show destination again (at least for the summer), as they've renewed Celebrity Family Feud and plan to introduce a Michael Strahan hosted version of $100,000 Pyramid. (Deadline)
Pat Harrington, Jr., best known for his role of Schneider on One Day at a Time, has died, and Antenna TV is airing a marathon of the series today. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (JANUARY 12) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Hill Street Blues - The Final Season (DVD, $34.93): The final season of the classic police drama arrives on DVD for those who skipped on the complete series release.
The Wonder Years - Season Four (DVD, $39.98): Time Life continues the series on DVD with this release, for those who did not pick up the previously released complete series set.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Patricia Richardson (Twitter, Facebook), "in transition"

Claim to Fame: Last week, we featured Tim Allen as our Follow Me, and this week, we move on to his Home Improvement co-star, Patricia Richardson. For eight seasons, she played Jill Taylor, the wife of Tim Allen's character on the series. Before Home Improvement, she mostly appeared in guest roles, beginning in 1981 with an episode of Love, Sidney, and continuing on with Kate & Allie, The Cosby Show, The Equalizer, and more. She had a brief starring role on the series FM in 1989, but that was cancelled rather quickly. Since Home Improvement ended, she has had roles in Strong Medicine and The West Wing, and now, most recently she appeared on an episode of Tim Allen's new series, Last Man Standing... and the good news is that there is a little more of that to come.

Pick of the Tweets: "How about as a Christmas present to my fans and Tim's fans and HI and LMS fans I tell you I'm going to do another episode of LMS in 2016?" (December 17, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, January 22

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Will and a Dead Man’s Wife" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie’s not ready for his mother to start dating again. Meanwhile, Jim and Audrey struggle to make their wills.

Ghosts - "Kyle" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sam and Jay’s relationship is tested when Kyle (Ben Feldman), a handsome living who shares Sam’s ability to see ghosts, arrives at Woodstone B&B.

Animal Control - "Dragons and Dognappers" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rob Gronkowski returns and asks the team for help rehoming a zebra; Emily and Shred's first date goes awry when they unexpectedly run into Daisy and Patel on their night out; Frank must defend Templeton when Templeton is accused of dognapping.

Going Dutch - "Farmer's Mark-tet Offensive" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
After a messy breakup, the Colonel and Katja find themselves going to war between the town and the base; Capt. Maggie tries to de-escalate the tension between the two ex-lovers and negotiate a truce.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 19)

Thursday, January 22

Mike Epps (The Upshaws/Uncle Buck/Survivor's Remorse) - Catch Mike on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. NBC's Today catches up with Anthony in the 10am hour.
Sean Hayes (Will & Grace/The Millers/Sean Saves the World) - Sean is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jessica Williams (Shrinking/Love Life/Just for Kicks) - Jessica talks about Shrinking on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael talks about Shrinking on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Craig Robinson (Killing It/Ghosted/Mr. Robinson/The Office/Lucky) - Craig talks about Broadway' All Out on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Deon Cole (grown-ish/Angie Tribeca/black-ish) - Deon joins Sherri to discuss hosting this year's NAACP Image Awards on BET on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Heidi Gardner (Shrinking) - Heidi tells Sherri about her star turn in the new Broadway comedy All Out: Comedy About Ambition on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kyle MacLachlan (Carol's Second Act/Sex and the City) - Kyle tells Drew about the latest season of his thrilling hit show Fallout and plays a round of memory bank dishing on his biggest moments and roles revealing which Sex and the City character he identifies most with on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jackson White (Mrs. Fletcher) - Jackson tells Drew about the newest season of the hit show Tell Me Lies, how he started dating co-star Grace Van Patten, growing up on set with his actress mom and more on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - Howie talks about Netflix's Best Guess Live on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.