SitcomsOnline Digest: Saturday Night Live and New Girl to Pay Tribute to Prince; Morning Show Drama at Live!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: Saturday Night Live and New Girl to Pay Tribute to Prince; Morning Show Drama at Live!

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We've had (yet another) busy week with celebrity deaths, including sitcom star Doris Roberts and musician Prince (who had some TV connections that become relevant to our news this week), and we've also stumbled into some more morning show drama, this time over at Live! with Kelly and Michael. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

This has been a busy year with celebrity deaths but undoubtedly the biggest one in the media (perhaps since Michael Jackson in 2009) came this week with the unexpected death of musical artist Prince. Saturday Night Live has enough Prince material to fill an entire 90 minute special, as they will be doing tonight in their regular timeslot. Additionally, the Fox sitcom New Girl will replay the episode "Prince" next week, which (not surprisingly) featured Prince. (Hollywood Reporter)
The story was supposed to be that Michael Strahan is leaving Live! with Kelly and Michael to go full-time at Good Morning America, but the real story has ended up becoming a tale of another behind-the-scenes soap opera at a morning show that nobody wanted or expected. (Deadline)
We often forget that Netflix is working on a reboot of the series One Day at a Time, but this week, Todd Grinnell was cast as Schneider. (Deadline)
A reunion of the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond just in time for the 20th anniversary was planned for June at the ATX Television Festival, but with the death of Doris Roberts this week (and other factors), it has been scrapped. (Yahoo!)
Comcast is letting customers ditch their cable box for a Roku app, something that Time Warner Cable has had for a few years now. (CBS News)
ABC is making summer plans, which include the new sitcom Uncle Buck. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (APRIL 24) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

The Beverly Hillbillies - The Official First Season (DVD, $29.98): CBS is going slightly backwards with this release, which brings the first season (which was previously released in an authorized, though not by CBS, release from MPI as well as numerous public domain entities) to DVD.
Hot in Cleveland - Season Six (DVD, $29.98): TV Land's first successful sitcom wraps up on DVD with this release. Complete series also available.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Bronson Pinchot (Facebook, Twitter)

Claim to Fame: Bronson Pinchot got his start in several movies from the 80s, such as Beverly Hills Cop and Risky Business, but for sitcom stars, he came to fame playing the role of Balki on Perfect Strangers. He later went on to play the role of Jean-Luc in the final season of the series Step by Step. He has had other small guest roles and movie appearances in between and since then, but these days, his focus is on The Bronson Pinchot Project, a DIY Network show about restoring old homes, which happens to be one of his hobbies and passions.

Pick of the Tweets: "BRONSON PINCHOT & DEBRA MESSING A marriage made in Comedy Heaven. But not yet consummated; our scenes were dramatic!" (pic) (November 6, 2014)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, April 24

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "TV Money" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mandy tries to prove she’s financially responsible after Jim and Georgie call out her poor spending habits, and Connor’s new girlfriend needs a place to stay.

Ghosts - "I Know What You Did Thirty-Seven Summers Ago" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Sam and Jay host a fundraiser for the mayor to earn a favor for Jay’s restaurant, they learn of his bizarre connection to one of Woodstone’s ghosts. Odessa Adlon returns as Stephanie, the ghost who died on her prom night.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Thursday, April 24

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (Only Murders in the Building/High Fidelity/People of Earth/Selfie) - Catch Da'Vine on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones/The Unicorn/Vice Principals) - Walton appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie) and Greta Titelman (Fantasmas/Search Party/Los Espookys) - Sasheer and Greta are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Will Forte (The Four Seasons/HouseBroken/MacGruber/The Last Man on Earth/The Cleveland Show) - E! News has an interview with Will at 11pm on E!.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael swings by the studio on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Edi Patterson (The Righteous Gemstones/Vice Principals/Partners) - Edi chats about The Righteous Gemstones on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ernest Lee Thomas (Everybody Hates Chris/What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) and Haywood Nelson (What's Happening!!/What's Happening Now!!) - Ernest and Haywood talk about the 49th Anniversary of What's Happening!! on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Cheech Marin (Rob/The Golden Palace) and Tommy Chong (That '90s Show/That '70s Show) - Cheech and Tommy talk about Cheech & Chong's Last Movie on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) - Casey talks about The Great American Baking Show on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle is telling Drew about her show Survival of the Thickest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Dating expert Damona Hoffman is joining Drew and Valerie for a Q & A about first dates on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris tells Sherri about the new season of Watson on CBS, so check your local listings.