Fri-Yay: Corporate Is Solid on Comedy Central; Netflix Gets Weekly Talk Show

Friday, March 02, 2018

Fri-Yay: Corporate Is Solid on Comedy Central; Netflix Gets Weekly Talk Show

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

One of the new sitcoms that I've been enjoying the most is Comedy Central's Corporate, a dark satire of Corporate America that has some of the most pitch black humor I've ever seen on television. A warning, though: if you're not a fan of humor that sometimes...pushes the envelope a little bit, Corporate might not be for you. It's an absolutely scathing takedown of corporations in modern American society, and one of the more painfully accurate portrayals of what it's like to be a soulless worker of a giant company on TV. In many ways, it reminds me of Better off Ted, a short-lived "cult classic" sitcom from the late 2000s that served as a fairly biting satire of working in a corporate office and some of the more ridiculous antics of office middle management types.

However, Corporate goes even darker than Better off Ted. Its main characters freely admit that they hate their lives and "kind of want to die" most of the time. Almost nothing goes right for any of the characters of the series - essentially no one is happy, even the company's ultra-rich CEO, who comes into meetings perpetually angry and always wanting more money. It's the kind of show where I almost can't watch too many episodes in a row because its tone is so bleak, and yet, it's also a show that has me laughing consistently. Corporate isn't for everyone, but if you like dark and irreverent satire, it's absolutely worth a show - and it was just renewed for a second season.

Hasan Minhaj

Hasan Minhaj is set to host his own weekly talk show on Netflix that will debut later this year. Netflix has committed to a 32 episode order, making Minhaj the first Indian-American host of a weekly comedy talk show. Minhaj's comedy show will explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity. Each week, Minhaj will bring his unique comedic voice and storytelling skill to investigate the larger trends shaping our fragmented world. Last year, Minhaj earned rave reviews for his one-hour Netflix comedy special Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, and for his performance hosting the 2017 White House Correspondents' Dinner. He joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he was Jon's last hire, in November 2014 as a correspondent and continued on in that role after Trevor Noah took over as host the following year. He will remain with The Daily Show through the end of July, before beginning work on this new project.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 22

Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.

Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.

The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.

Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.

The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.

Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)

Friday, December 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.