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
Friday, July 26
The Conners - "Keep on Truckin'" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After a sudden turn of events, the Conners are forced to face the daily struggles of life in Lanford in a way they never have before.
The Conners - "Tangled Up in Blue" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Darlene gets one surprise after another when David introduces his girlfriend at a parent-teacher conference and mentions that Mark & Harris will be spending the weekend with them.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 22)
Friday, July 26
- Nick Jonas (Jonas) - Watch Nick on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Michael appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Burning Love/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Corporate) - Sasheer, Joe and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. NBC's Today catches up with Jennie in the 10am hour.
- Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus talks about his coming-of-age film How I Learned to Fly on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Delroy Lindo (UnPrisoned) - Delroy talks about UnPrisoned on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Dylan Sprouse (The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody/Grace Under Fire) - Dylan talks about Lionsgate's The Duel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
05/21 - Frasier (2023) - Season One
06/11 - The Jeffersons - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
06/11 - Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete Series (2024 Release)
07/05 - Letterkenny - Season 12 (Final Season)
07/30 - Ted Lasso - The Richmond Way (The Complete Series) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K Ultra HD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season / The Complete Series
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
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