Saturday, December 16, 2017
SitcomsOnline Digest: Disney to Acquire Much of Fox; Roseanne Debut Date Set for ABC
Welcome
to SitcomsOnline Digest! We've been talking about it for almost a month, and it even looked like it was officially off for a few weeks even, but this week, Disney officially announced their plan to acquire the entertainment assets of Fox, officially making Homer Simpson a Disney character. That is far from all in this busy news week, as we're also hearing about when Roseanne will be returning to ABC, a new home for reruns of The Office, and more. Also, we are retiring our Follow Me this week for a new feature, Weekly TV Planner, where we'll give you ideas for things that you should be watching this weekend and next week, including upcoming marathons, season debuts of favorite sitcoms, debuts of old favorites on cable or digital broadcast networks, ideas for series to watch on streaming media, and sometimes just a gentle nudge to watch something that has always been there that you may have not been watching lately. Let's get going!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB
- It's official: Disney has announced a plan to buy most of then entertainment assets of Fox, which leaves a lot of people wondering what will happen to the broadcast network that uses that name and currently depends upon that studio for most of their big hits. (Deadline)
- There is some speculation that the acquisition of Fox by Disney could hit the network FX the hardest, as it doesn't fit in very well with the expectations of Disney. (Washington Post)
- Let's face it: The Simpsons has been very good at predicting the future, and this merger between Disney and Fox is no exception. (Deadline)
- Mark your calendar for March 27, as that is when Roseanne will be returning to the ABC lineup, complete with John Goodman's character Dan coming back to life. (Entertainment Weekly)
- For over a decade now, NBC has been attempting to develop an American version of the series The IT Crowd (it was envisioned as the perfect companion for their hit series The Office at the time), and it seems that they're still trying to make it happen, so let's hope that ten seasons worth of work that has so far resulting in nothing leads to some success. (Variety)
- Speaking of The Office, despite it being a cult favorite on the NBC lineup, it has been absent in syndication in recent years, but that will change in January as Comedy Central picks up reruns of the series. (Hollywood Reporter)
- Weekend Update hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost now have additional duties as head writers for Saturday Night Live. (New York Daily News)
- Not surprisingly, this week brings even more TV related fallout over sexual harassment scandals: Mario Batali of ABC's The Chew has been fired and PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley has been suspended (though not yet fired). (Variety, NPR)
- A trio of sitcoms that have been a long time staple of Antenna TV will be unstapled, but don't worry, you'll still be able to see them if you have getTV. (SitcomsOnline)
HOME MEDIA RELEASES (DECEMBER 19)

- South Park - The Complete Sixth Season (Blu-ray, $39.98): Comedy Central is bringing even more seasons of this series to Blu-ray, which will actually bring all of the old seasons to the format, with these releases. Also available: Season 7, Season 8, Season 9, Season 10, Season 11.
WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 16 - DECEMBER 22)
- Antenna TV is celebrating Christmas for four hours tonight beginning at 7:00pm EST, and within that block, you'll see some special sneak previews of Growing Pains, Murphy Brown, and The Hogan Family.
- On Decades, you can enjoy the Weekend Binge of Lost in Space, which ends at 7:00am EST on Monday.
- Saturday Night Live is known for their annual Christmas episodes, and this year, it features Kevin Hart and the Foo Fighters, so make sure to catch it tonight at 11:29pm EST/8:29pm PST on NBC.
- The broadcast networks are mostly on Christmas vacation this week with reruns, but CBS is airing mostly new episodes of their sitcoms (aside from The Big Bang Theory, which will be a rerun of the season premiere) on Monday and Thursday night this week.
- NBC will also have a little bit of new programming this week with two new episodes of Great News on Thursday.
- CBS is airing newly colorized episodes of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as the colorized Christmas episode of I Love Lucy that has previously aired, on Friday night.
- The Oprah Winfrey Network, OWN, recently added reruns of 227 to their lineup, with binge watching opportunities both today and tomorrow.
- On Hulu, you can catch up with every episode of Blossom, which was recently added to the streaming service.
Labels:
Fox,
FX,
Roseanne,
SitcomsOnline Digest,
South Park,
The Office
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Friday, April 23
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 19)
Friday, April 23
- Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Watch Anna on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Ron Funches (Hoops/Final Space/Powerless/Undateable) - Ron appears on The Real, so check your local listings.
- Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel is a guest on a repeat of The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP/Scream Queens) - Keke talks about Hit Job on Couch Surfing at 8am.
- Tisha Campell (Outmatched/Dr. Ken/My Wife and Kids/Martin) and Tichina Arnold (The Neighborhood/Survivor's Remorse/Happily Divorced/Everybody Hates Chris/Martin) - Tamron Hall celebrates the power of friendships with actresses and childhood friends Tisha Campell and Tichina Arnold, who co-starred in the classic sitcom Martin and are now working on a new talk show, so check your local lisitngs.
- Tony Hale (Veep/Arrested Development) - Tony talks about Eat Wheaties! on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (January-April)
01/22 - Corporate - Season 2
01/22 - Corporate - Season 3
02/02 - Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In - The Complete Series (2021 Retail Release)
02/16 - Fam - The Complete Series
02/23 - Betty White's Pet Set - The Complete Series
03/02 - Blue Mountain State - The Complete Series
03/02 - Happy Together - The Complete Series
03/02 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-4 (DVD) (Blu-ray)
04/20 - 'Til Death - The Complete Series
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