Friday, December 22, 2017
Fri-Yay: Shows I'm Looking Forward to in 2018; Adult Swim Parodies Lifetime Movies
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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Tuesday, September 16
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 15)
Tuesday, September 16
- Rob Lowe (Unstable/The Grinder/Parks and Recreation/A New Kind of Family) - Catch Rob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Marlon Wayans (Marlon/The Wayans Bros.) - Marlon is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about Him on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness), Drew Tarver (Running Point/Bless the Harts/The Other Two), Mary Holland (The Big Door Prize/Hoops/Robbie/Blunt Talk), and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Melanie, Drew, Mary, and Morris are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jay Duplass (Search Party/Transparent/The Mindy Project) - Jay appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi stops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
- Judy Reyes (Scrubs) - Judy talks about High Potential on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Brett Goldstein (Shrinking/Ted Lasso) - Brett talks about All of You on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) - Eugene talks about The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
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)
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