Friday, November 02, 2018

Fri-Yay: Is the Shine Wearing Off on Reboots?; Brady Bunch Cast Reunites to Renovate Brady House

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!

Murphy Brown

by Vincent

It's no secret that the past two or three years have been chock full of sitcom reboots. Starting with Fuller House and continuing with shows like Will and Grace, Roseanne and now Murphy Brown, not to mention rebooted dramas like Gilmore Girls, The X-Files and Twin Peaks, reboot culture has been alive and well. This fall was no exception. With a rebooted Charmed and the return of Murphy Brown with its original cast, not to mention Roseanne spin-off The Conners, reboots have marched on - with no end in sight. And yet, I'd argue this fall saw the speckle wear off reboots a bit for the first time.

The biggest reason for this was the relative thud of the Murphy Brown reboot. Murphy premiered to an OK-but-not-outstanding 1.0 in the 18-49 demo. It's remained mostly steady from there, but it sheds most of lead-in Mom's audience and is barely outperforming marginal rookie Happy Together. It's certainly not up to the levels of say, the big Will and Grace and Roseanne reboots last year. But speaking of those shows...Will & Grace itself has gone from rock solid hit to marginal performer itself, averaging a 0.9 in the 18-49 demo this season (it premiered to over a 3.0, and averaged in the high 1's for most of last season.) Its performing similarly to other NBC comedies Superstore and The Good Place - all shows are solid tentpoles, but not exactly huge ratings hits. And, of course, Roseanne's reboot scored sky high ratings but ended disastrously after Roseanne Barr posted racist comments on Twitter, although spin-off The Conners continues to perform fairly well (if not at Roseanne reboot levels.) Drama-wise, the Charmed reboot on The CW got off to a decent start, but has been slowly losing audience each week. Reboots, for now, are still reliable performers, but the hype does seem to be wearing off of them. Now, perhaps part of this is the overall decline of broadcast ratings this fall (it's been a really terrible fall for broadcast TV, with nearly everything down double digits) but given the drama and backlash over the Roseanne reboot and the general "meh" reception to Will and Grace and Murphy Brown this season, it does have me wondering if this trend is built to last.


The Brady Bunch

It was a sunshine day at The Brady Bunch house in Los Angeles as six of the legendary sitcom's original cast members came together for the first time in nearly 15 years to kick-off a full-scale overhaul of the world-famous home and begin production on HGTV's newest renovation series, A Very Brady Renovation (w.t.). TV siblings Barry Williams (Greg), Maureen McCormick (Marcia), Christopher Knight (Peter), Eve Plumb (Jan), Mike Lookinland (Bobby) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) gathered with Jonathan and Drew Scott (Property Brothers), Mina Starsiak and Karen E Laine (Good Bones), siblings Leanne and Steve Ford (Restored by the Fords), Jasmine Roth (Hidden Potential) and Lara Spencer (Flea Market Flip) for an on-camera walk-through of the home. As one of the biggest programming events that HGTV has ever undertaken, the renovation of The Brady Bunch house will feature additional surprise celebrity guests. It is scheduled to premiere in September 2019.

Stirring up social media buzz from fans and A-listers alike, the upcoming series will showcase the famous house as it gets a '70s-inspired rehab that's sure to have everyone saying, "far out!" The Brady Bunch, a popular family sitcom that ran for five seasons in the early 1970s, is widely recognized as a hallmark of American television. Its success led to multiple spin-off series, specials and feature films.




Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, June 20

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 16)

Friday, June 20

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR) - Watch Arnold on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) - Aimee appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) and Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Nick and Andrew are guests on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Dakota Johnson (Ben and Kate) - Dakota appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Tawny Newsome (Space Force) - Tawny is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke discusses her new film The Pickup and her new album on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
  • Mario Cantone (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Mario chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry is a guest on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


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)
07/08 - 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

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
06/10 - Warner Bros. Discovery Separates Company; Peacock's Jennifer Garner Series Adds to Cast
06/09 - Comedian Ms. Pat Gets Season 3 of Courtroom Series; Disney Branded Television Animated Slate
06/08 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 9, 2025)
06/07 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Cancels Alert: Missing Persons Unit and The Cleaning Lady; Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune Headed to Streaming
06/06 - Hulu's First Look at Amanda Knox Drama; Prime Video Lands Spy Thriller
06/05 - Disney's Electric Bloom Gets Premiere Date; Conan to Guest on NBC's Late Night
06/04 - Netflix Announces Haunted Hotel with Comedic Voices; Prime Video Unveils Trailer for Thriller
06/03 - Netflix's Nobody Wants This Returns October 23; The CW Renews All American for Final Season
06/02 - Remembering Loretta Swit of M*A*S*H, Valerie Mahaffey of Young Sheldon, and The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen
06/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 2, 2025)
05/31 - SitcomsOnline Digest: New King of the Hill Reboot Details; CBS Makes Late Night Changes
05/30 - FX's Adults Pilot Available on Social Platforms; BET and BET+ Premiere New Tyler Perry Series in June
05/29 - Netflix's New Chuck Lorre Sitcom Leanne; Apple TV+ Season 4 Premiere of The Morning Show
05/28 - Max Renews Hacks for Season 5; Byron Allen Coming Back to CBS Late Night
05/27 - Antenna TV Summer 2025 Schedule; Rewind TV Summer 2025 Schedule
05/26 - Memorial Day 2025 TV Sitcom Marathons
05/25 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of May 26, 2025)
05/24 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Zach Braff Joins Scrubs Reboot; 7th Heaven Reboot in the Works
05/23 - Discovery Channel's Shark Week with Tom Bergeron; Apple TV+ Season 2 of Hit Series
05/22 - TV Legend Henry Winkler's New HISTORY Series; The CW Renews Family Law
05/21 - Remembering George Wendt of Cheers; Platonic Season 2 First Look
05/20 - The CW Renews Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble; Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life on Netflix May 26