Fri-Yay: Arrested Development Returns for a Funny But Hollow 5th Season; FX Orders Atlanta Season 3

Friday, June 08, 2018

Fri-Yay: Arrested Development Returns for a Funny But Hollow 5th Season; FX Orders Atlanta Season 3

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!

Arrested Development Season 5 Poster

by Vincent

Last week, Arrested Development dropped the first half of its fifth season on Netflix (the second half will be released at an unspecified later date, an interesting strategy that Netflix is also using for the fourth season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). It's been five years since the fourth season dropped on the streaming service in May 2013 - and, of course, when the fourth season was released it had been seven years since the abrupt conclusion of the series' original run on Fox. The revival of Arrested Development was one of the first Netflix original series and arguably the major flagship of Netflix's foraging into original content (along with House of Cards). In many ways, it's a great representation of this new era of peak TV. The cancellation of the original run of Arrested Development had long been one of the biggest examples of a network failing a widely beloved series, and Netflix swooping in like a savior to bring the show back after nearly a decade off the air seemed to signal a new era of TV, where a fan-beloved but slightly off-kilter sitcom could succeed and even thrive without the constraints of network television. And yet, through-out both the fourth and fifth seasons of Arrested Development, two thoughts often popped into my mind: 1) It's super cool that they were able to bring this show back, and 2) This show probably should've stayed dead.

To be fair, the fifth season of Arrested Development is not bad. It's an improvement upon the messy fourth season, which had some great moments but never quite lived up to the sum of its parts. The jokes are tighter and funnier, and the chemistry of the entire cast bouncing off of each other allows it to have more of that classic Arrested Development vibe that Season 4 was missing (the fourth season focused on each characters' separate journeys and rarely saw them in the same place at the same time, largely due to difficulties syncing the cast's schedules.) But while the show gets the rhythm and the pacing of Arrested Development right, it all just feels a little tired. The spark of the original run is only there in spurts - in many ways, it feels like the later seasons of many long-running sitcoms, where everyone is sort of on autopilot, getting through the motions of the show without ever truly aspiring for something more. That's not true of everyone - Alia Shawkat truly gives it her all in what may very well be Maebey's best season, Will Arnett does a great job handling some surprisingly emotional GOB material, and Jessica Walter's Lucille is as perfect as she's ever been - but for the most part, the fifth season of Arrested Development never makes a great case for why it needs to exist. That could change when the second half of the episodes drop, as a lot of these episodes felt like they were cleaning up the messes that the fourth season left. But as of now, it's hard to get too excited about the prospect of more Arrested Development, which is something I never thought I'd say before the Netflix revival seasons.

Atlanta

FX has ordered a third season of the critically-acclaimed and award-winning comedy series Atlanta. The premiere of Atlanta Robbin' Season, the latest chapter in the Emmy(R) Award-winning comedy series, nabbed the best ratings of any recent basic cable comedy. The first season of Atlanta won two Emmy(R) Awards as well as two Golden Globe(R) Awards and AFI, Peabody, PGA, WGA, TCA, NAACP and Critics' Choice Awards. In the recently concluded Atlanta Robbin' Season, two cousins work through the Atlanta music scene in order to better their lives and the lives of their families. "Earn Marks" (Donald Glover) is a young manager trying to get his cousin's career off the ground. "Alfred Miles" (Brian Tyree Henry) is a new hot rapper trying to understand the line between real life and street life. "Darius" (Lakeith Lee Stanfield) is Alfred's right-hand man and visionary. "Van" (Zazie Beetz) is Earn's best friend and the mother of Earn's daughter.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, November 19

The Conners - "Slappy Holidays" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Chaos ensues when Dan finally gets the entire family together for Thanksgiving dinner. Mixed feelings about the Lunch Box continue to build tension in the house, and Harris makes an unexpected move. Guest starring is Eliza Bennett as Odessa.

Bless This Mess - "Six Out of Six" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mike and Rio are at odds with each other when they consider having a kid of their own; and they soon get a taste of the parenting life when they are forced to take care of Portia’s six piglets. Meanwhile, Kay and Beau may have found common ground during the annual Euchre tournament party.

mixed-ish - "Weird Science" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rainbow’s passion for science deflates when her peers convince her that science isn’t cool. During Career Day, Rainbow code-switches and pursues journalism in order to fit in, only to find that the local news anchor attending the fair has also been hiding a part of herself. Meanwhile, Harrison works to mold a testimony from Denise who struggles to be anyone but herself, and Santamonica tries to steal the spotlight back after Johan suffers an injury.

black-ish - "O Mother Where Are Thou?" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Dre discovers that Lynette (guest star Loretta Devine) is an art aficionado like himself, the two quickly bond and become close, but he begins to feel guilty since he is spending more time with her than Ruby. Meanwhile, Junior introduces Bow to virtual reality.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Tuesday, November 19

Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Catch Michael on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Josh Gad (The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/The Mindy Project) - Anna appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Rainn Wilson (The Office) - Rainn visits A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Ron Funches (Powerless/Undateable) - Ray and Ron are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) - Thomas drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo. She will also be on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is a guest on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Helen Hunt (Mad About You/It Takes Two) and Paul Reiser (Mad About You/Red Oaks/The Paul Reiser Show/My Two Dads) - Helen and Paul are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Son of Zorn/Suburgatory) - Cheryl visits The Real, so check your local listings.
Olivia Holt (I Didn't Do It/Kickin' It) - Olivia appears on The Real, so check your local listings.
Tisha Campbell (Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) - Tisha guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings.
James Wolk (The Crazy Ones) - James stops by The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kristin Davis (Sex and the City) - Kristin is a guest on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Ashley Williams (The Jim Gaffigan Show/Good Morning, Miami) - Ashley talks about Holiday Hearts on People Now at 12pm.
The Cast of black-ish - The cast of black-ish are guests on a repeat of ABC's GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke at 1pm.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom talks about A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Tamera Mowry-Housley (Sister, Sister/Roommates) - Tamera will be on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Andrea Barber (Fuller House/Full House) - Andrea appears on the BUILD Series at 1pm.
Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - Soleil appears on the BUILD Series at 4pm.
Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena will be on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.