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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, July 14
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Pomp and Circumstance" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tina and Gemma plan a joint graduation party for Malcolm and Grover, on part one of the hour-long seventh season finale.
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Venice" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Butlers and Johnsons help Malcolm start a new chapter in a new city that, while just across town, is worlds away from the neighborhood, on part two of the hour-long seventh season finale.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 14)
Monday, July 14
- Chris Distefano (Benders) - Chris guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) - Watch Hannah on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Shane Gillis (Tires) - Shane appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear) - Liza is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) - Jack appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Paul Feig (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/The Louie Show/The Jackie Thomas Show/Dirty Dancing) and Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Paul is a guest and Anna makes a special appearance on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Amy Sedaris (No Activity/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/Strangers with Candy) and Dan Levy (Schitt's Creek) - Amy and Dan are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.
- Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Julie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz/Sister Kate), Vanessa Morgan (The Latest Buzz) and Giacomo Gianniotti (Backpackers/Selfie) - Jason, Vanessa and Giacomo talk about the dramedy Wild Cards on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Malin Akerman (Dollface/Sin City Saints/Trophy Wife/Childrens Hospital) - Malin talks about The Hunting Wives on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) - Meg talks about Disney's Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Rosemarie DeWitt (United States of Tara) - Rosemarie and Eric Bana talk about Netflix's Untamed on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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