Fri-Yay: Will Roseanne Inspire a New Trend?; The Last O.G. Scores for TBS

Friday, April 06, 2018

Fri-Yay: Will Roseanne Inspire a New Trend?; The Last O.G. Scores for TBS

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!

Roseanne - Roseanne Barr and John Goodman

Roseanne - Roseanne Barr and John Goodman

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.

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

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.