Friday, April 06, 2018
Fri-Yay: Will Roseanne Inspire a New Trend?; The Last O.G. Scores for TBS
by Vincent
It's hard to overstate just how much of a rumble Roseanne has sent through the television industry. The show's ratings remained remarkably high in its second week, earning a 3.9 Adults 18-49 rating and 15.39 million total viewers, still far above the numbers of anything else on broadcast TV right now. And with this news comes news that Fox is considering a Last Man Standing revival after ABC (somewhat surprisingly) axed the series last spring. Last Man Standing's premise was intriguingly similar to the Roseanne reboot, centering around Tim Allen's character's conservative beliefs clashing with his more liberal family members. Last Man Standing never made the cultural impact that Roseanne has, though - it was a decently rated family sitcom that kept the lights on Friday nights that ABC decided to part ways with when it dismantled the Friday night family sitcom block. Still, considering the press and ratings Roseanne has received, it's not hard to see the series getting a second life if Fox decides to bring it back.
It also offers some insight into where networks might be thinking. Although it's a bit late in pilot season for Roseanne's ratings and cultural impact to really effect next year's pilots, it's clear that networks are scrambling to capture the demographic that was apparently ignited by the Roseanne revival. Don't be surprised if you see sitcoms about family members with drastically different political viewpoints filling the airwaves over the next year or two, attempting to strike the iron while it's still hot. It's the same reason you saw endless "young people in big cities" sitcoms after Friends took off, or why so many shows attempted to duplicate Seinfeld's "show about nothing" mantra, or even why so many zombie and fantasy shows popped up after the recent successes of The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. And yet, very few of these copycat shows, actually succeeded. And frankly, I'm not sure that any Roseanne copycats will either. Even if the media discussion around Roseanne centers around the show's political nature, the truth is that the actual show features less of that material, and that much of its success likely stems from the love for its original characters. It seems unlikely that Roseanne's revival would be such a big hit if it existed in a vacuum and wasn't a continuation of the massively popular original series.
Still - when you have a breakout success as huge as the Roseanne revival, there's always an inevitable impact on the television landscape afterwards. Whether it's an increase in political sitcoms, an increase in revivals, or both, it's likely this will be seen as a "moment" for sitcoms going forward (even if, frankly, shows like One Day at a Time, Superstore, and black-ish were already beating the political drum before Roseanne). Whether or not those shows succeed, of course, is a totally different story.
The Last O.G. starring Tracy Morgan, Tiffany Haddish and executive produced by Jordan Peele has claimed cable's top comedy slot with Tuesday's premiere generating 1.8M total viewers and 882K 18-49 viewers in Live + Same Day and is expected to hit a Live +7 projection of 1.252M. The series is tracking as #1 among all cable comedies this year, including premium services. This marks the biggest cable comedy premiere since 2016, the largest scripted cable comedy premiere since 2015, and the strongest TBS original debut ever. More than 6.9M total viewers (3.3M 18-49) tuned into the show over a three-night, five-telecast launch on TBS and TNT following the NCAA Final Four tournament.
The Last O.G. centers on Tray (Morgan), an ex-con released from a 15-year prison stint to a changed and unfamiliar world. Returning to his newly gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, Tray discovers that his former girlfriend Shay (Tiffany Haddish) is married to another man and has been raising Tray's twins, who he never knew existed
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Sunday, January 24
The Simpsons - "Podcast News" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Grampa is accused of a crime; Kent Brockman questions his career.
Bob's Burgers - "Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family must figure out how to keep the restaurant open after Bob's flattop breaks on the morning of the Ocean Avenue Business Association's Ocean Fest on Ocean Avenue.
The Simpsons - "Three Dreams Denied" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bart becomes a voice-over actor; Comic Book Guy is humiliated at Comic-Con; Lisa is set up for a fall.
Bob's Burgers - "Diarrhea of a Poopy Kid" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Gene can't eat Thanksgiving dinner because of a stomach flu, the family tries to cheer him up.
Bob's Burgers - "The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Linda's parents have a layover at an airport nearby, Bob and Linda attempt to turn it into their annual visit.
Family Guy - "Boys & Squirrels" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Peter injures himself and a family of squirrels in a chainsaw accident; Chris and Stewie try to nurse one of the injured rodents back to health; a chiropractor fixes Peter's injury by realigning his spine -- and restoring him to his "true height."
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 18)
Friday, January 22
- Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle) - Watch Bryan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Daveed Diggs (Central Park/black-ish) - Daveed is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Bill Hader (Barry) - Bill appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- George Lopez (Lopez/Saint George/George Lopez) - George chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about The Resident on Couch Surfing at 8am.
- Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) - Jason talks about Our Friend on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Isaiah Crews (Side Hustle) - Isaiah talks about Side Hustle on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-January)
09/01 - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 14
09/01 - What We Do in the Shadows - The Complete Second Season
09/01 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
09/15 - Mom - The Complete Seventh Season
09/15 - South Side - Season 1
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Second Season
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Third Season
09/22 - Brockmire - The Complete Fourth Season
09/22 - Man with a Plan - Season Three
09/29 - The Bob Newhart Show - The Complete Series (2020 Release)
10/13 - The Jetsons - The Complete Series (Diamond Collection)
10/13 - Our Cartoon President - Season Two
10/23 - Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Complete Collection
10/27 - The Flintstones - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/27 - Head of the Class - The Complete Second Season (WBShop.com)
11/10 - Letterkenny - Seasons 5 & 6
11/10 - The Office - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/10 - Schitt's Creek - The Complete Collection
11/17 - Carol's Second Act - The Complete Series
11/17 - Robbie - Season 1
11/24 - Corporate - Season 1
11/26 - Man with a Plan - Season Four
12/01 - The Neighborhood - Season Two
12/15 - Avenue 5 - The Complete First Season
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