Friday, May 11, 2018
Fri-Yay: Fox's Comedy Bloodbath: What Does It Mean?; Fox Orders Second Multi-Camera Sitcom

by Vincent
Yesterday, Fox cancelled nearly its entire slate of comedies, including the quirky, high-concept veteran The Last Man on Earth, once promising Kaitlin Olson launching pad The Mick, and most heartbreakingly, the internet-beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This is in addition to the departing New Girl, which will wrap up its seven-year run next week. The jury is still out on freshman comedies Ghosted and LA to Vegas, but either way, it's clear this marks a big change for Fox.
Fox, as you may remember, is going through a major shake-up as its parent company 20th Century Fox was recently bought by Disney. Fox (the network) is still owned by News Corp and not Disney, but this shake-up does change the course for Fox a bit - they no longer have stake in a production company, which means any scripted series they air will be owned by another company. Many have speculated that this will result in Fox going "broader" and relying primarily on sports and live events for its primetime series. If this slate of cancellations, along with Fox's rumored revival of Last Man Standing, is indicative of the future, those people might just be right.
Still, these cancellations certainly come as a surprise - while all of these shows were low-rated, much of Fox's line-up is, and over the past several years Fox has consistently renewed shows in worse ratings shape than these 3 shows are. Despite the reputation the network had in the 2000s as a "murderer" of fan favorite shows like Arrested Development, Futurama and Firefly, the Fox of the 2010s has been almost the opposite. There is no other network, for example, where a low-rated, high-concept sitcom like The Last Man on Earth could've survived for four seasons, or where shows like New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine could see renewal after renewal despite being low-rated niche hits. And yet, all of that seems to be ending soon. It's a real shame that it had to end so abruptly, as these shows - particularly longer-running Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man on Earth, had done enough to at least earn a proper farewell, the kind that New Girl is getting this season. These shows had large, passionate fanbases and were inventive, creative shows that clearly had a lot of love put into them. To have them ripped away without warning is cruel and cold. But hey, that's the television business for you. We're living in a post-streaming world and a world of reboots, so there's always the chance a streaming show or even another network will scoop up and save at least one of these shows. But if not, we can at least be thankful for the years of great TV they provided us with.
And sticking with Fox, they have ordered another multi-camera sitcom for 2018-19: Rel. Lil Rel, a prideful, self-made success who lives by the code to "always believe in yourself and great things will come," finds that attitude put to the test when he learns his wife is having an affair with his own barber. He tries to rebuild his life post-divorce as a long-distance single father on the South Side of Chicago who's on a quest for love, respect and a new barber. Inspired by Lil Rel's real life.
The sitcom stars Lil Rel Howery as Lil Rel, Sinbad as Rel's Dad, Jess "Hilarious" Moore as Brittany, and Jordan L. Jones as Nat. The sitcom will be produced by Jerrod Carmichael, Mike Scully, Kevin Barnett, Josh Rabinowitz and Lil Rel Howery. Rel joins multi-camera sitcom The Cool Kids in the only Fox comedy orders so far.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Saturday, May 28
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 23)
Friday, May 27
- Josh Charles (Sports Night) - Watch Josh on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) - Miley appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Jenna Fischer (The Office/Splitting Up Together) and Angela Kinsey (The Office/The Hotwives of Orlando) - Jenna and Angela talk about their new book, The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There, on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- David Arquette (In Case of Emergency/Double Rush/Parenthood) - David appears on a repeat of The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
- Queen Latifah (Living Single) - Queen Latifah chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Courteney Cox (Shining Vale/Cougar Town/Friends/Family Ties) - Courteney is a guest on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
- Sherri Shepherd (Mr. Iglesias/Trial & Error/Sherri/Less Than Perfect/Suddenly Susan) - Sherri guest hosts The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
- Mayim Bialik (Call Me Kat/The Big Bang Theory/Blossom/Molloy) - Mayim appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood/The Last O.G./The Soul Man/The Steve Harvey Show) - Cedric is a guest on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Jennifer Grey (Red Oaks/It's Like, You Know...) - Jennifer talks about her new memoir, Out of the Corner: A Memoir, on a repeat of Access Daily, so check your local listings.
- Glen Powell (Scream Queens) - Glen talks about Top Gun: Maverick on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (February-May)
02/08 - Last Man Standing - The Complete Ninth Season
02/22 - Everybody Hates Chris - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
02/22 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
03/08 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Eight
03/08 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
03/15 - Head of the Class - The Complete Fourth Season
03/15 - The Proud Family - The Complete Original Series - Anniversary Collection
03/22 - The Honeymooners Specials - The Complete Collection
03/29 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-5 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
03/29 - Young Rock - Season One
04/05 - Up All Night - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/26 - The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy) - The Complete Fourth Season
04/26 - Jackie Gleason TV Treasures - 70th Anniversary Collection (including Honeymooners Rarities)
05/03 - No Activity - Season Three
05/31 - Becker - The Complete Series (2022 Release)
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