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

Thursday, December 1

Young Sheldon - "Four Hundred Cartons of Undeclared Cigarettes and a Niblingo" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
George Sr. bails Meemaw and Georgie out of jail. Also, Sheldon and Missy meet Mandy (Emily Osment), and Mary feels unwelcome at church.

Ghosts - "Possession" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Hetty accidentally possesses Jay’s body just as he and Sam are to about show Woodstone Mansion to a renowned wedding planner.

Welcome to Flatch - "Open House" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barb's first open house in Flatch draws all kinds of attention; Mandy displaces Father Joe as the Flatch advice giver; Kelley rises to the occasion as an up-and-coming real estate agent.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Fancy Puffenstuff" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Kat's murder mystery-themed friendsgiving dinner isn't a crowdpleaser; Phil has a romantic dilemma; Kat tries to encourage Max's career ambitions, but she worries that he has a bigger problem.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 28)

Thursday, December 1

Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Catch Don on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke makes a special guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
John Krasinski (The Office) - John is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
David Duchovny (Californication) - David appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Sarah is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Sally Field (Gidget/The Flying Nun/The Girl with Something Extra) - Sally appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy talks new book imprint on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Alfred Molina (Angie Tribeca/Laides Man) - Alfred will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Keshia Knight Pulliam (Tyler Perry's House of Payne/The Cosby Show) and Brad James (Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse) - Keshia and her husband Brad discuss how they met on set, their decision to share freezing Keshia's eggs and being reunited on their new Lifetime film, Noel in New Orleans, on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Punky Brewster/Freddie) - Freddie is a guest on E! News on E! at 11:30pm.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) and Kate Flannery (The Office) - Jane and Kate discuss their Christmas cabaret tour and participate in a holiday-themed quiz on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Tom Everett Scott (I'm Sorry) - Tom talks about NBC's Dolly Parton's Magic Mountian Christmas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.