Fri-Yay: Will Roseanne Spin-off The Conners Succeed?; Fox Fall 2018 Premiere Dates

Friday, June 29, 2018

Fri-Yay: Will Roseanne Spin-off The Conners Succeed?; Fox Fall 2018 Premiere Dates

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!

by Vincent

This week, it was announced that ABC was going forward with a spin-off of Roseanne entitled The Conners. The series will take Roseanne's 8pm Tuesday timeslot, and while details on the exact direction of the series are sparse, one thing is for certain: it will not involve Roseanne in any way, and her character will be written or killed off in a turn of events that ABC execs described as "sudden." Whether The Conners will essentially be "Roseanne without Roseanne" or a different type of series entirely isn't clear, but given that the writing team and cast sans Roseanne appears to be identical to what would've been Roseanne Season 11, it's reasonable to expect the new series will pick up where Roseanne left off. The spin-off has been picked up for 10 episodes and could receive an extension if it performs adequately.

It will be interesting to see how the public responds to The Conners, and whether it will continue to see ratings as impressive as Roseanne's 10th season did this past spring. I'm going to guess there will once again be a lot of upfront public interest in the series, but as deplorable as Barr's recent comments might be, it's really hard for me to imagine the world of the Conners without Roseanne Conner. That said, the cast is incredibly talented and the characters are all solid and interesting, and while Roseanne's 10th season had a lot of flaws, it did a lot of interesting things with the Conners and examining how they would fit into 2010s America. I could see The Conners eventually developing into an astute working class sitcom without the baggage that Roseanne Barr brings to it. But part of me does wonder if maybe it's best if we all just left Roseanne in our rear view mirror. The Roseanne debacle has proved that sometimes, shows are better off left in the past, and that the present can taint our memories of shows that we once loved. It's possible The Conners will revive some of the bad taste left by the unfortunate ending to the Roseanne revival, but it's also possible it will be salt on the wound, and pulling a great show out of all of the uncertainty and turmoil of the post-Season 10 Roseanne going-ons is going to be an uphill battle. I'd love for The Conners to prove me wrong, but I'm fearing that it's going to be another example of a TV network messing up something that should've been left alone to begin with.

Fox

Fox has set the 2018-19 fall premiere dates for its new and returning series, which includes the return of Last Man Standing and new comedies The Cool Kids and Rel. Hit drama 9-1-1, featuring new cast member Jennifer Love Hewitt, returns with a two-night season premiere: Night One airs immediately following the NFL on Fox doubleheader on Sunday, Sept. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/live in all time zones); Night Two airs Monday, Sept. 24 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), in its regular time period, following the season premiere of The Resident (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT).

Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 25, The Gifted (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Lethal Weapon (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), featuring new cast member Seann William Scott, air.

On Wednesday, Sept. 26, Empire (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) and Star (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) return.

Thursday Night Football, with NFL Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Michael Strahan headlining the pregame show, debuts Sept. 27 (7:30 PM-CC ET live/4:30 PM-CC PT live).

On Friday, Sept. 28, the return of Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT), and new comedy The Cool Kids, starring comedy veterans David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, Vicki Lawrence and Leslie Jordan (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) premiere, followed by the season premiere of Hell's Kitchen (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), which, in a new twist, pits veteran contestants against rookies.

New multi-cam comedy Rel launches with a special preview immediately following the NFL on Fox doubleheader, Sunday Sept. 9 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/live in all time zones). On Sunday, Sept. 30, following the season premieres of The Simpsons (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT), Bob's Burgers (8:30-9:00 PM, in its new regular time period) and Family Guy (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT), Rel makes its time period premiere at 9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT.

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.