SitcomsOnline Digest: Disney to Acquire Much of Fox; Roseanne Debut Date Set for ABC

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)

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.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, July 7

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: All in the Family and Good Times - (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
“Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’,” the holiday-inspired live event that captivated audiences back in December, is set to rebroadcast on ABC, TUESDAY, JULY 7 (8:00-9:30 p.m. EDT). Produced by Sony Pictures Television, “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’” recreates installments of Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin’s Emmy® Award-winning series “All in the Family” and groundbreaking sitcom “Good Times,” created by Mike Evans, Eric Monte and developed by Lear.

All-star cast members taking on the famed “All in the Family” roles include Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz reprising their iconic roles as Archie and Edith Bunker, Gloria Stivic and Meathead, along with Kevin Bacon as Pinkie Peterson, Jesse Eisenberg as David Brewster and Justina Machado as Teresa Bettencourt.

A lineup of all-star talent tackling “Good Times” roles include Viola Davis and Andre Braugher as Florida Evans and James Evans, Jay Pharoah as J.J Evans, Asante Blackk as Michael Evans, Corinne Foxx as Thelma Evans and Tiffany Haddish as Willona Woods. Jharrel Jerome also stars as Jimmy Pearson, while ABC’s Anthony Anderson and the legendary Patti LaBelle join forces for a show-stopping musical performance.

black-ish - "Boss Daddy" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dre’s torn at the office between looking out for Junior as his dad or letting him make his own mistakes. Meanwhile, Jack loses a friendship after trying to look cool in front of the basketball team.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 6)

Tuesday, July 7

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
D.L. Hughley (The Hughleys) - Catch D.L. on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Demi Lovato (Sonny with a Chance) - Demi appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) - Ray appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Lauren Ash (Superstore/Super Fun Night) - Lauren is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Ben Feldman (Superstore/A to Z/Living with Fran) - Ben appears on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Rob Lowe (The Grinder/Parks and Recreation) - Rob is a guest on Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Yvette Nicole Brown (The Mayor/The Odd Couple/Community) - Yvette chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Denise Richards (Blue Mountain State) - Denise appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Jada Pinkett Smith (A Different World) - Jada is a guest on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Ron Funches (Final Space/Powerless/Undateable) - Ron appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect) - Sherri is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) - Kym will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Paul Reiser (The Kominsky Method/Mad About You/Red Oaks/My Two Dads) - Paul appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jim Carrey (Kidding/The Duck Factory) - Jim talks about Memoirs and Misinformation on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom is a guest on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Kristen Bell (The Good Place) - Kristen talks about The World Needs More Purple People on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.