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

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!

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

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.