Friday, June 30, 2017

Fri-Yay: Get Your GLOW On; FX and FXX Set Comedy Returns in September

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!

GLOW

by Vincent

Summer has always been a slow time for TV, but that's changed a bit in recent years with streaming services and premium cable, who generally try to keep their operations running all year. Even still, there is significantly less TV to be found in the summer months, and especially less good TV. So it's a nice surprise when we have a show like Netflix's GLOW, a refreshing new half-hour comedy from Orange is the New Black producer Jenji Kohan.

GLOW has a bit of an unconventional premise. It's based on the real female wrestling television series "GLOW," which aired from 1986-1990 in syndicated TV. GLOW was a breakthrough female wrestling show that fought many odds to become a long-running, successful program, and GLOW follows the show's conception and journey to the pilot. (The first season, at least, focuses on the show's preparation for the pilot: assumingly, future seasons would follow the rest of the show.) While Netflix's GLOW is only "based" on the true story, and takes many liberties with its characters and plot (much like Kohan's other Netflix series Orange is the New Black) it retains the same scrappy underdog energy. You get the sense that the odds are low for the show's success, and the only way it can survive is if the show's cast fights hard and really believes in themselves.

In that way, GLOW sort of feels like your classic "underdog" story, and follows many of the similar beats of one. It's sort of a "Friday Night Lights, but with female wrestlers" type of show (or, I've been describing it as "Glee, except with female wrestlers, and also unlike Glee, it's good.") There hasn't really been a good "underdog" story on TV in quite a while (since maybe the first season of the aforementioned Glee?), and it's fun to settle back into those rhythms of watching characters that start off hating each other work towards a common goal that seems impossible at the start of the series but gradually seems more and more and reach. GLOW also adds enough interesting spins on the "underdog" dynamic that it doesn't feel completely "done" before, particularly in its lead character Ruth (portrayed brilliantly by Alison Brie), who is more complex, flawed, and nuanced than you might expect from a "hero" of a show like this. In fact, the entire cast is doing a great job of taking what could be stock characters and turning them into genuinely interesting people. Betty Gilpin's Debbie could be the typical "diva" lead, but instead she's someone who feels trapped in her failing marriage and uses GLOW as an escape. Marc Maron's Sam could be a typical sleazeball director, and he kind of his, but the way Maron plays him gives insight into why he's that way. And Chris Lowell does such an excellent job with his character (the show's producer, Bash) that he somehow transforms the spoiled, coked up rich boy into one of the most lovable characters on the show.

There isn't much to watch on TV right now. So there's really no reason not to check out Netflix's GLOW, which is not only "great for a summer show" - it's just great TV.


You're the Worst

FX Networks has set the premiere dates for the acclaimed comedy series You're the Worst, which returns to FXX on Wednesday, September 6, and Better Things, which comes back to FX on Thursday, September 14. From Creator/Executive Producer Stephen Falk, You're the Worst returns to FXX for its fourth season with a special one-hour premiere on Wednesday, September 6 at 10 PM ET/PT. You're the Worst is a modern look at love and happiness told through the eyes of two people who haven't been very successful with either. It's the story of Gretchen and Jimmy, fear, heartbreak, romance, sex, food, Los Angeles, Sunday Funday, friendship, and the fact that sometimes the worst people make the best partners.

Better Things

Peabody(R) Award Winner Better Things is back for its second season on FX beginning Thursday, September 14 at 10 PM ET/PT. Better Things centers on Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a single, working actor with no filter raising her three daughters, Max (Mikey Madison), Frankie (Hannah Alligood) and Duke (Olivia Edward) in Los Angeles. She's mom, dad, referee and the cops. Sam also watches out for her mother, Phil (Celia Imrie), an English expatriate, who lives across the street. Sam is flawed and fierce with her love for her daughters, and her own mother, as well. Sometimes, heaping the love on when she feels guilty. Sam's just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters' lives, have fun with a friend or two and also - just maybe - squeeze in some private time once in a while.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, June 17

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 16)

Tuesday, June 17

  • Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth/The Bear) - Catch Ayo on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR) - Arnold chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Renée Elise Goldsberry (Girls5eva) - Renée performs on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Roy Wood Jr. (Sullivan & Son) - Roy is a guest on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
  • Alan Cumming (Schmigadoon!) - Alan appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil talks about Somebody Feed Phil on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
  • Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale/God's Favorite Idiot/American Housewife/The Odd Couple/About a Boy) - Leslie guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Sam talks about The White Lotus on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary/Fam/Instant Mom/Moesha/It's a Living) - Sheryl and her husband, Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes, sit down for an EXCLUSIVE conversation about their choice to live in separate cities, which set off the internet on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Brianne Howey (Dollface) - Brianne talks about Netflix's Ginny & Georgia on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

06/16 - Hulu's Chad Powers Teaser; Prime Video's Jesse Williams Series
06/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 16, 2025)
06/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Mulls Airing The Paper on Primetime Lineup; Fox Revives Baywatch Reboot Talk
06/13 - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Renewed for 2 More Seasons; Hanna-Barbera Developing Adult Animated Series
06/12 - Comedy Superstar Jack Black Is the King of Comedy at Nickelodeon; Doc Adds Felicity Huffman
06/11 - Celebrities for Celebrity Family Feud Season 11; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Starts Production
06/10 - Warner Bros. Discovery Separates Company; Peacock's Jennifer Garner Series Adds to Cast
06/09 - Comedian Ms. Pat Gets Season 3 of Courtroom Series; Disney Branded Television Animated Slate
06/08 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 9, 2025)
06/07 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Cancels Alert: Missing Persons Unit and The Cleaning Lady; Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune Headed to Streaming
06/06 - Hulu's First Look at Amanda Knox Drama; Prime Video Lands Spy Thriller
06/05 - Disney's Electric Bloom Gets Premiere Date; Conan to Guest on NBC's Late Night
06/04 - Netflix Announces Haunted Hotel with Comedic Voices; Prime Video Unveils Trailer for Thriller
06/03 - Netflix's Nobody Wants This Returns October 23; The CW Renews All American for Final Season
06/02 - Remembering Loretta Swit of M*A*S*H, Valerie Mahaffey of Young Sheldon, and The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen
06/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 2, 2025)
05/31 - SitcomsOnline Digest: New King of the Hill Reboot Details; CBS Makes Late Night Changes
05/30 - FX's Adults Pilot Available on Social Platforms; BET and BET+ Premiere New Tyler Perry Series in June
05/29 - Netflix's New Chuck Lorre Sitcom Leanne; Apple TV+ Season 4 Premiere of The Morning Show
05/28 - Max Renews Hacks for Season 5; Byron Allen Coming Back to CBS Late Night
05/27 - Antenna TV Summer 2025 Schedule; Rewind TV Summer 2025 Schedule
05/26 - Memorial Day 2025 TV Sitcom Marathons
05/25 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 26, 2025)
05/24 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Zach Braff Joins Scrubs Reboot; 7th Heaven Reboot in the Works
05/23 - Discovery Channel's Shark Week with Tom Bergeron; Apple TV+ Season 2 of Hit Series
05/22 - TV Legend Henry Winkler's New HISTORY Series; The CW Renews Family Law
05/21 - Remembering George Wendt of Cheers; Platonic Season 2 First Look
05/20 - The CW Renews Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble; Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life on Netflix May 26
05/19 - North to Shore Festival Returns This June in NJ; S.W.A.T. Sets Spinoff Series
05/18 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 19, 2025)
05/17 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Netflix Picks Up New Dan Levy Comedy; First Look at King of the Hill Reboot Artwork
05/16 - Michael J. Fox to Guest Star on Shrinking; The CW Picks Up Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent