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!

The Conners

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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, July 12

Mind Your Business - "Love Child" (Bounce TV, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Alfonso and Aaliyah's world is flipped upside down when their mother's secret love child comes into town, while Mia tries to figure out who is sending her gifts every hour on the hour.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Friday, July 11

  • Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Fairview/Corporate) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Aparna and Whitney are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Malachi Barton (Stuck in the Middle) and Meg Donnelly (American Housewife) - Malachi and Meg discuss Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires and perform on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. They will also be on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton talks about Black Coffee and Ice Water on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) and Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - CBS News contributor Lisa Ling talks with Margaret and Joel on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE sitdown with actress/director/author Krysten Ritter who recently released her new thriller/mystery novel Retreat, so check your local listings.
  • Maggie Q (Pivoting) - Maggie Q talks about Prime's Ballard on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Tisha Campbell (Act Your Age/Uncoupled/Outmatched/Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) and Wendy Raquel Robinson (Poppa's House/The Game/Here We Go Again/The Steve Harvey Show/Minor Adjustments) - Tisha and Wendy chat about their film Operation: Aunties on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings. They will also be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.
  • David Zayas (The Bear/Saint George) - David appears on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (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)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

07/11 - The Office Spinoff The Paper Premieres September 4; Upload Season 4 Returns August 25
07/10 - The Big Bang Theory's Stuart Spinoff Ordered by HBO Max; Long Story Short Premieres August 22 on Netflix
07/09 - New Girl Summer on Hulu; Vir Das Gets Brand New Netflix Special
07/08 - Tubi Comedy Series Demascus Premieres in August; LEGO Masters Jr. Lines Up Celebs for 4-Week Event
07/07 - Digman! Season Premiere Moved to July 23; Hulu's Reasonable Doubt Returns September 18
07/06 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of July 7, 2025)
07/05 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Comedy Central Delays South Park and Digman! Season Premieres; Jackée to Appear in Guest Role in Netflix Series
07/04 - Happy 4th of July; Antenna TV's McHale's Navy Red, White and Navy Independence Day Marathon
07/03 - The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder Season 3 Premieres August 6; South Park New Season Moves by Two Weeks
07/02 - FETV Acquires The Rookies; Hulu Renews The Bear for Season 5
07/01 - Bert Kreischer Gets Netflix Sitcom; NBC Gets Into Survival Mode This Summer
06/30 - The Comeback Makes Another...Comeback; First Look at Black Rabbit at Netflix
06/29 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 30, 2025)
06/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Comeback Returning for a Third and Final Season; South Park to Remain on HBO Max
06/27 - The White Lotus Star Teams Up with Netflix; Remembering Bobby Sherman, Lynn Hamilton, and Rick Hurst
06/26 - The CW's Fall Movie of the Week; First Look at New York Comic Con 2025
06/25 - Netflix Renews Ransom Canyon for Season 2; My Life with the Walter Boys First Look for Season 2
06/24 - Marc Maron Gets Second HBO Comedy Special; Outlander Prequel Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere
06/23 - MeTV Summer Changes, Adds Adventures of Superman; Jimmy Kimmel Live! Summer Guest Hosts
06/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 23, 2025)
06/21 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Night Court Officially Dead After Not Finding New Home; Weigel Announces New WEST Network
06/20 - Great American Media Announces New Danica McKellar Movie; Jennifer Love Hewitt ID True Crime Series
06/19 - Bad Thoughts Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix; Zarna Garg Gets Hulu Special This July
06/18 - Weigel Broadcasting Announces WEST Network with Classic TV Westerns; Hulu's Season 2 of Such Brave Girls
06/17 - Gary Coleman's Ex-Wife on A&E Series; Digman! Returns July 9 on Comedy Central
06/16 - Hulu's Chad Powers Teaser; Prime Video's Jesse Williams Series
06/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 16, 2025)
06/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: NBC Mulls Airing The Paper on Primetime Lineup; Fox Revives Baywatch Reboot Talk
06/13 - My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Renewed for 2 More Seasons; Hanna-Barbera Developing Adult Animated Series
06/12 - Comedy Superstar Jack Black Is the King of Comedy at Nickelodeon; Doc Adds Felicity Huffman
06/11 - Celebrities for Celebrity Family Feud Season 11; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Starts Production