Friday, December 22, 2017
Fri-Yay: Shows I'm Looking Forward to in 2018; Adult Swim Parodies Lifetime Movies
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!
by Vincent
2017 was a pretty strong year for comedies, and 2018 promises to continue what made 2017 so great - lots of 2017 favorites will be returning in 2018, and there are also some promising new series that I'll be very curious to check out in 2018. In my final column of the year, I'll be looking forward into the new year and naming which shows whose return I am most anticipating!
If there is a single show I am looking forward to the most in 2018, it would have to be The Good Place. The Good Place was my #1 favorite show of 2017, and every week I never know where the story is going to take me - all while I'm laughing and cheering for the characters I've grown to love. The Good Place really feels like it's on a roll, and I'm hoping it's a hot streak that will continue well into 2018. Additionally, its timeslot partner Superstore is on an absolute roll right now. Its third season might just be its strongest yet - it's somehow managing to combine some of the darkness of the characters' backstories with a lot of laugh-out-loud moments and top-notch comedy. It's been a while since a network comedy was able to combine some truly deep and dark material with laughs as much as NBC's Thursday night line-up currently is.
I'm also really looking forward to see what Bojack Horseman has up its sleeve in 2018. The animated horse sitcom had a surprisingly optimistic fourth season (okay, it still had some pretty dark moments...) and I've become so invested in its character and its world that I'm really interested to see where the show goes next. The same could be said for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which has turned the corner from some really dark (and amazing) places into a positive upward trend. Hopefully, these characters we've come to care about will finally get the relief they deserve.
2017 saw a lot of great comedy, and 2018 will see many of those great comedies continue. Hopefully, those comedies will continue to reach the heights they saw in 2018 and give us an equally incredible year of TV comedy.
Adult Swim will be spoofing Lifetime with a new special. Aspiring ballerina Mary Jane Stevens (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) moves to a new town with her emotionally abusive mother (Artemis Pebdani) in hopes of escaping her physically abusive father (Jimmi Simpson). But the abusive abuse doesn't stop there. She begins taking dance classes with the sensually abusive Delice Svensson (Artemis Pebdani) and finds herself DANCING FOR HER LIFE! Will she fall victim to life's thrusting fists, or will the abusee become the abuser? Mother May I Dance with Mary Jane's Fist: A Lifetone Original Movie for Adult Swim was written by and stars Ellis and Pebdani, based on their play.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Wednesday, July 15
United We Fall - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Series Premiere)
Bill and Jo juggle a typical day that starts with a parent-teacher conference and ends with a trip to the ER. After defending their parenting style, or lack thereof, to teachers, doctors and social workers, they find comfort in the fact that their kids are healthy and happy and that they’re all in this together.
United We Fall - "The Biter" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
At Chuy’s insistence, Bill and Jo finally enroll Lulu in preschool only to discover she is a biter. While they navigate incident reports and overprotective parents, Sandy explores their family history with an ancestry DNA kit.
The Conners - "Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan avoids coping with a death in the family, only to be confronted by it head-on. Ben and Darlene address Ben’s baby fever and have “the talk.” The Lunch Box is officially open for business, and Dwight gets the jitters when he has to fill in for the chef who suffers an accident.
American Housewife - "Wildflower Girls" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Katie grows concerned when Anna-Kat is invited to join Westport’s elite scout troop, The Wildflower Girls. Meanwhile, Taylor learns her Carnegie Mellon interview is scheduled with famous alumnus and Broadway star Brecken Phillips (Ian Gomez); and, Oliver befriends the school recluse, Trevor (Tenzing Norgay-Trainor).
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 13)
Wednesday, July 15
- Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Watch Kelly on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) - Constance is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
- Mark Feuerstein (9JKL/Good Morning, Miami/Conrad Bloom/Fired Up) - Mark will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Mike Epps (Survivor's Remorse/Uncle Buck) - Mike appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
- Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Marlo and her husband Phil Donahue talk about their new book What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- David Schwimmer (Intelligence/Friends) and Nick Mohammed (Intelligence) - David and Nick talk about Peacock's Intelligence on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Will Sasso (United We Fall/Less Than Perfect) and Jane Curtin (United We Fall/Crumbs/3rd Rock from the Sun/Kate & Allie) - Will and Jane talk about ABC's United We Fall on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Will and Christina Vidal (United We Fall/Taina/Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher) are guests on People Now at 1pm.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (April/May/June/July)
04/07 - Cheers - The Complete Series (2020 Release)
04/14 - Police Squad! - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/14 - The Righteous Gemstones - The Complete First Season
04/21 - Step by Step - The Complete Seventh and Final Season (WBShop.com)
05/05 - Kidding - Season 2
05/19 - The Good Place - The Final (Fourth) Season
05/19 - The Good Place - The Complete Series - Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)
05/26 - Silicon Valley - The Complete Sixth and Final Season
05/26 - Silicon Valley - The Complete Series
06/02 - Work in Progress - Season 1
06/09 - Head of the Class - The Complete First Season (WBShop.com)
06/09 - How to Be a Gentleman - The Complete Series
06/09 - Letterkenny - Seasons 3 & 4
06/09 - Modern Family - The Eleventh and Final Season
06/09 - No Activity - Season 1
06/09 - Superior Donuts - Season Two
06/23 - Bob's Burgers - The Complete 10th Season
06/23 - Fresh Off the Boat - The Complete Sixth and Final Season
06/23 - Last Man Standing - The Complete Seventh Season
06/23 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Third Season (Blu-ray)
06/30 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Seven
07/07 - Will & Grace - The Revival - Season Three - The Farewell Season
07/21 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Tenth Season
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