SitcomsOnline Digest: New Pilots from Zach Braff and Judge Judy?; Popular Scripted Cable Series Coming to an End

Saturday, September 03, 2016

SitcomsOnline Digest: New Pilots from Zach Braff and Judge Judy?; Popular Scripted Cable Series Coming to an End

Happy Labor Day weekend, and welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we have news of new scripted pilots from Zach Braff and (seriously) Judge Judy, news of the end of two popular scripted cable series, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Zach Braff is looking to return to the sitcom world as both star and director in a new put pilot for ABC. (Deadline)
Lifetime has canceled the series Devious Maids after four seasons. (Deadline)
The cult favorite Pretty Little Liars is coming to an end as well. (ABC News)
If two hours a day of Judge Judy on your local TV station wasn't enough for you, then CBS is convinced that you'd be interested in an autobiographical drama series about her life that is in development. (New York Daily News)
Is it too soon to be talking about a revival of the NBC series Parenthood? The cast and crew of the NBC series don't think it is, and it might just become a reality if they have their way. (Variety)
Actor Gene Wilder died this week, and while his career was more memorable for his movie roles, such as his starring role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, he did occasionally appear on television. Most notably, he starred in his own series called Something Wilder on NBC in the 1990s, which included an unlikely union with Alice Cooper in one episode. (Bloody Disgusting)
Silver Spoons stayed in relative obscurity in reruns for over two decades (occasionally popping up here and there), but now, it has once again been added to another network, and this time it is FamilyNet. (SitcomsOnline)
In case you missed it, here is our interview of Josie Davis from yesterday. (SitcomsOnline)

HOME MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Shout! Factory is cranking through those release of Newhart, with Newhart - The Complete Seventh Season expected on December 13.

TUESDAY (AUGUST 30) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01HSAIOTI/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20

Coach - Seasons One and Two (DVD, $14.98): Mill Creek makes their first release of this series on DVD (which was previously released by Universal) with this two season combo pack. Season 1 and season 2 also available individually.
South Park - The Nineteenth Season (DVD, $29.99; Blu-ray, $42.99): Just in time for the upcoming debut of the 20th season of the Comedy Central series, this release comes to DVD and Blu-ray.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: Kristen Bell (Twitter), "5'1 is the new 6'2"

Claim to Fame: We're continuing our theme of "the stars of the new sitcoms" this week with Kristen Bell, who will star on NBC's newest entry (and the network's attempt to make Thursday night comedy night once, which we hope succeeds) alongside Ted Danson, called The Good Place. Bell is already rather well known to TV audiences from her title role on the series Veronica Mars and most recently she starred in the Showtime comedy House of Lies, but this marks her first regular role in a primetime broadcast network sitcom. With a sitcom veteran as her co-star and the show being created by Michael Schur (who has a solid track record of success with sitcoms, including The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine), this might be a role that she could be getting used to for a few years, but we'll never know until it debuts (in a special timeslot, before moving to the regular Thursday slot) on September 19 on NBC.

Pick of the Tweets: "#TheGoodPlace hopefuls, let's spend for good! Donate to a local charity, sponsor an orphan sloth, get those points!" (August 31, 2016)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 25

Abbott Elementary - "Student Transfer" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
After a negative teacher review, Janine gets a confidence boost when a student gets transferred from Melissa’s class into hers, but it turns out the student proves to be too much to handle. While trying to forge a friendship with an uninterested Gregory, it is revealed that Jacob is constantly getting roasted by his students. The two bond after Gregory unintentionally gives Jacob the idea to incorporate the roasts in an educational way.

black-ish - "Hoop Dreams" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Jack gets a job as the locker room attendant for the Los Angeles Lakers, and Dre and Bow feel like they need to step in before letting the job get to his head. Meanwhile, Pops and Ruby realize their daily routine has gotten boring and heed advice from Junior and Olivia.

American Auto - "Commercial" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Katherine and the team reshoot a commercial to make it more inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community.

Grand Crew - "Wine & Pie" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Noah's dad is in a funk, so he asks Fay to make his favorite pie; Sherm teaches Anthony to play chess; Wyatt introduces the crew to his brother.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 24)

Tuesday, January 25

Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Catch Kristen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Nicole Byer (Grand Crew/Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Thomas Middleditch (B Positive/Silicon Valley) - Thomas will be on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jim Belushi (According to Jim) - Jim is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Mike Schur (The Office/Creator of Parks and Recreation/Brooklyn Nine-Nine/The Good Place/Rutherford Falls) - Mike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. NBC's Today catches up with Mike in the 9am hour.
Francia Raisa (How I Met Your Father/growni-ish) - Francia appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect) - Sherri guest hosts The Wendy Williams Show.
Jay Pharoah (White Famous) - Jay guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings.
Autumn Reeser (Complete Savages/Grounded for Life) - Autumn appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Marsai Martin (black-ish)- Marsai talks about her new Discovery+ series Remix My Space! on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Kevin James (The Crew/Kevin Can Wait/The King of Queens) - Kevin talks about Home Team on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy) - Ming-Na talks about The Book of Boba Fett on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.