Friday, June 09, 2017
Fri-Yay: Surprise Sitcom Cancellations; Cozi TV's Frasier Father's Day Marathon
by Vincent
This year's Upfronts saw a lot of surprising moves made by the networks, from the sudden revival of American Idol by ABC to the cancellation-than-uncanellation of Timeless by NBC to countless befuddling schedule changes – but of particular note to sitcom fans may have been the cancellation of two long-running sitcoms that had star casts and vocal fan support, Last Man Standing and 2 Broke Girls. While nether show was a particularly huge hit, both were generally solid performers that seemed like staple series for their networks. And yet, both were unceremoniously cancelled after six seasons of service, without even a planned ending to wrap up their storylines.
The cancellation of Last Man Standing caused a mild ruckus in the media, as many conservative media pundits wondered if the show's right-leaning politics had a hand in the show's demise. And many fans of 2 Broke Girls wondered if, considering CBS renewed lower-rated series like Superior Donuts and Man With a Plan, perhaps the network simply just had a vendetta against their favorite sitcom. It makes sense that fans would jump to conclusions like these, since looking solely at ratings, there didn't seem to be much of a case giving these shows such a sudden, cruel end.
However, we've entered a strange time on network television, where live ratings are rapidly dwindling as viewers gravitate towards DVR and on demand viewing, yet the networks haven't found a way to fully profit from them yet. So they're forced to look at other forms of revenue - syndication, streaming deals, and international sales. However, the network airing a show doesn't profit from these forms of revenue – rather, the studio that produces the series does. Each network has an in-house studio which produces some of their series, which means that if a network's studio owns one of their shows, they are able to make money on all of those syndication, streaming and international sales deals. Last Man Standing and 2 Broke Girls were not owned by their network's studio, and both shows were in their sixth season, meaning that their actors were beginning to demand more money as the series grew older – therefore, the shows were growing more expensive. So these shows were getting increasingly expensive, and the only profit the network was making on them were their good-not-great live ratings. So as a result? Both shows were cancelled.
So what does this mean? It means that we can expect a lot more "surprise" cancellations (and renewals!) in the coming years, and if you're concerned about your favorite show's fate, you may need to start looking a little deeper than its ratings to figure out if it's going to survive.
COZI TV is offering a special Father's Day gift to fans, complete with 20 memorable episodes of the Emmy-award winning sitcom Frasier. The national multicast network announced a special Frasier's Day marathon, which will kick off on Sunday, June 18 at 1 PM ET (check local listings). The marathon includes 1994's "Give Him the Chair!" episode in which Frasier searches Seattle for his dad's infamous recliner, as well as 1997's Emmy-award winning "Dad Loves Sherry, the Boys Just Whine" episode in which Frasier and brother Niles discover their father is dating two women simultaneously. The marathon will also include 2002's "War of the Words" in which Frasier attempts to prep his son for the National Spelling Bee finals.
Episodes featured in the "Father's Day is Frasier's Day" marathon include:
01:00 PM: “Dinner at Eight”
01:30 PM: “Give Him the Chair!”
02:00 PM: “Burying a Grudge”
02:30 PM: “Breaking the Ice”
03:00 PM: “Chess Pains”
03:30 PM: “A Lilith Thanksgiving”
04:00 PM: “Our Father Whose Art Ain't Heaven”
04:30 PM: “Dad Loves Sherry, the Boys Just Whine”
05:00 PM: “The Unnatural”
05:30 PM: “The Gift Horse”
06:00 PM: “Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do”
06:30 PM: “Dial M for Martin”
07:00 PM: “Good Samaritan”
07:30 PM: “Our Parents, Ourselves”
08:00 PM: “A Tsar is Born”
08:30 PM: “The Apparent Trap”
09:00 PM: “The Bad Son”
09:30 PM: “Cranes Unplugged”
10:00 PM: “War of the Words”
10:30 PM: “Star Mitzvah”
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, October 23
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Fan Mail and Old-Timey Organ Music" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie’s upset when Mandy’s new role as weekend weather girl gets her more attention from the men in town, and Connor turns to Jim for help when he’s asked to play the organ at the high school baseball game.
Ghosts - "Viking Wedding" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Sam and Jay try to impress their trendy city friends while a misplaced bookcase threatens Thor’s ability to deliver an important speech. Also, Isaac rallies the ghosts to help the couple navigate a tough customer service ordeal.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 20)
Thursday, October 23
- Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) - Catch Jeremy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. He also talks about Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This/Central Park/The Good Place) - Kristen appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb) - Dave is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Regretting You on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) - Ben stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. He also talks about Stiller and Meara: Nothing Is Lost on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Tig Notaro (One Mississippi) - Tig appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Garcelle Beauvais (The Other Black Girl/Survival of the Thickest/The Jamie Foxx Show/Merry Happy Whatever) - Andy Cohen interviews Garcelle on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo. She also talks about “Taken at a Truck Stop: A Black Girl Missing Movie on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Timothy Simons (Nobody Wants This/HouseBroken/Veep) and Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) - Timothy and Jackie talk about Nobody Wants This on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Laura Benanti (Life & Beth/Younger/The Detour/Go On/Starved) - NBC's Today catches up with Laura in the 9am hour.
- Erika Alexander (Run the World/Living Single/The Cosby Show) - Erika discusses Season 3 of Invasion and her ReLiving Single podcast with Kim Coles on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Adam Pally (Mr. Throwback/Indebted/Making History/The Mindy Project/Happy Endings) - Adam talks about his new HBO special An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison joins Drew to talk about her new movie Regretting You on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Tamera Mowry-Housley (Sister, Sister/Roommates) - Tamera is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:10am.
New on DVD and 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)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
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