SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Sets Summer Plans; Saturday Night Live to Live Up to Its Name From Coast to Coast

Saturday, March 18, 2017

SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Sets Summer Plans; Saturday Night Live to Live Up to Its Name From Coast to Coast

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We've got a busy news week this week as everybody is preparing for pilot season (including Amazon), we're hearing about summer plans from NBC, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

NBC has their summer plans set, which includes the debut of a new sitcom starring Marlon Wayans and the third season of The Carmichael Show. (Deadline)
Saturday Night Live is seeing ratings soar to levels it hasn't seen in decades this season, and to milk those ratings for all that they're worth, NBC is doing two big things in the next few months, including airing all of the remaining episodes for the season live in all continental US time zones beginning in April and airing a Weekend Update primetime spinoff (which has been done before) in the summer. (Vanity Fair)
Amazon's pilot season, where Prime members can see pilots of potential new series to be added to the Prime streaming service and decide which ones get picked up as a full series, kicked off yesterday. (Entertainment Weekly)
Yvette Nicole Brown has been cast in a new ABC pilot, which leaves a few questions unanswered about the fate of the yet-to-be-renewed Odd Couple. (Deadline)
John Larroquette is looking to make a comeback in a comedy for CBS, which would also star Bobby Moynihan (who would almost certainly need to leave Saturday Night Live if the series is picked up) playing the same character that Larroquette is playing at a younger age. (TV Guide)
Logo, which used to be a channel devoted to LGBT viewers and has somehow evolved into a station that airs reruns of RuPaul's Drag Race one week after they debut on VH-1 (after previously being the home for original episodes of the series) and airing more classic sitcoms than TV Land, continues to become a classic sitcom destination with the addition of One Day at a Time. (SitcomsOnline)

TUESDAY (MARCH 21) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

Master of None - Season One (DVD, $22.98): The Netflix comedy staring Aziz Ansari arrives on DVD in this release.

FOLLOW ME

Who to Follow: John Larroquette (Twitter), "An actor by trade. A clown by vocation."

Claim to Fame: John Larroquette has had an extensive sitcom career, and this week, it was announced that he is part of a CBS pilot that may be airing in the fall if the network chooses to pick it up. His first role was on the series Black Sheep Squadron, but he really shined in his second series, Night Court, where he played district attorney Dan Fielding. Following that series, he starred in the somewhat less remembered (though it did air for four seasons) sitcom The John Larroquette Show. His next role came on the not-so-successful sitcom Happy Family. In the late 2000s, he moved away from sitcoms to appear in several episodes of Boston Legal, and currently he can be seen on The Librarians.

Pick of the Tweets: "Good to have my library card renewed. #TheLibrarians rides again. Voodoo donuts for all my friends." (February 12, 2015)

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, July 25

Where Have All the Theme Songs Gone? (CNN, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Don Lemon reviews the most popular TV theme songs in history with Gary Portnoy of "Cheers", Christopher Knight from "The Brady Bunch", Fran Drescher from "The Nanny", and composer Kurt Farquhar.

History of the Sitcom - "Working for Laughs" (CNN, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Work families can be even funnier than our biological ones, since the endless array of wacky sitcom characters on the job offers hilarious insights into the state of the American workplace.

Duncanville - "Crimes and Misters Demean Her" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Jack coaches Jing's little league soccer team, but when he feels he's too easy on the kids he calls on Duncan to yell at the team to get them to win; Annie takes Kimberly to work with her after she has a falling out with her friends.

HouseBroken - "Who's Going to the Vet?" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Chief eats Jill's vibrator, he's taken to the vet and ends up leading his own version of group therapy; Tabitha goes to live with The Gray One and learns she has to sing and dance if she wants to survive.

The Simpsons - "The 7 Beer Itch" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Marge and the kids take a seaside vacation, Homer is unwittingly tempted by a British femme fatale.

The Great North - "My Fart Will Go on Adventure" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
While the family prepares for Wolf and Honeybee's wedding, an unexpected guest RSVPs.

Bob's Burgers - "Y Tu Tina También" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Tina is forced to listen to Spanish audio lessons in the library to improve her grade, she develops an unexpected crush; Louise and Gene want to dunk Mr. Frond at the Wagstaff Spring Fair.

Family Guy - "The Marrying Kind" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Stewie gets a mail order bride and experiences domestic life; Peter and Chris become addicted to free hotel breakfast buffets.

Wellington Paranormal - "She-Wolf" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Officers O'Leary and Minogue investigate what they believe are dog attacks, but stumble upon something more mysterious.

Dead Pixels - "The Chair" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Alison becomes concerned over Meg's physical downturn and tries to sway her to a healthier regime; everyone worries about Nicky.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 19)

Friday, July 23

Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kim Fields (The Upshaws/Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Watch Kim on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso/Son of Zorn/The Cleveland Show) - Jason will be on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Christine Baranski (Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Minnie Driver (Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie is a guest on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Sarah Levy (Schitt's Creek) - Sarah appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Leah Remini (Kevin Can Wait/The Exes/Family Tools/The King of Queens) - Leah is a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.