Fri-Yay: The Disappearing Art of the Holiday Episode; The Simpsons Turns 30 Years Old with Specials on Fox and FXX

Friday, December 07, 2018

Fri-Yay: The Disappearing Art of the Holiday Episode; The Simpsons Turns 30 Years Old with Specials on Fox and FXX

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!

Superstore

by Vincent

As sitcoms move more towards cable and streaming, one "art" that I fear is becoming a bit lost is holiday episodes. Truthfully, one of the more exciting aspects of a sitcom used to be how you could spend the entire year with your favorite characters. They would be with you as you celebrated Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and even through each season. This, of course, is when each sitcom would run for the whole year. Now that sitcoms are becoming more and more like the rest of TV, moving towards shorter, more contained seasons, the holiday episode has gone to the wayside in some respects.

Granted, some sitcoms - especially network sitcoms - still do holiday episodes each year, and do them well. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Halloween episodes are a staple. Superstore depicts the retail craziness of the holiday season brilliantly. However, there are so many great shows that we'll never really see a holiday episode of, or at least, not on an annual basis like we once did. It's just one of the many ways that sitcoms have changed as television itself has changed as a medium. Granted, many of these changes are for the positive, and in general I think it benefits TV to move towards this direction. However, I'll miss the traditions like holiday specials. Some shows have gotten around this - for example, BoJack Horseman dropped a surprise Christmas episode in the December after its first season. It'd be cool if more shows were able to do that - if not, then I guess it's just another TV tradition that will one day be of the past.

Simpsons Roasing on an Open Fire

FXX and Fox have joined forces to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Simpsons with two special events this month. On Sunday, December 16, FXX will air a 15-hour marathon featuring episodes specifically curated for this special programming event by executive producer Al Jean. The 30-episode marathon begins at 9 a.m. ET/PT and ends at midnight on FXX, cable's exclusive home for The Simpsons. One week later, Fox will air a special encore of The Simpsons first-ever full-length episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," on Sunday, December 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. In this encore of the 1989 Christmas special, Homer (Dan Castellaneta) tries to earn extra money to buy Christmas presents for the family, and everything he does goes wrong. Fortunately, he is rescued by Santa's Little Helper. All-new episodes from the 30th season of The Simpsons air Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, September 25

Son of a Critch - "Particip-action" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Mark is forced to participate in the school's Sports Day; Fox fights for her mother's attention and attempts to break the school record for gold medals.

Run the Burbs - "Li Xi" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT)
As they celebrate Vietnamese Lunar New Year, Andrew worries about his parents' relationship; Camille pitches her business to Andrew's mother; the kids get into trouble with their business startup.

Children Ruin Everything - "Dignity" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Following embarrassing run-ins with her boss and co-workers, Astrid feels on the back foot and disconnected from her younger co-workers; Astrid realizes her best move might be to attend a drink night with the rest of her team.

American Dad! - "Productive Panic" (TBS, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Francine becomes an overnight sensation when a famous art dealer discovers her homemade pottery.

Breeders - "No Matter What: Part Two" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Jackie's health is continuing to worsen; Paul helps out a distressed Luke but finds himself in more conflict with Ally; at Baby Jay's naming party, Ava declares her love, and Paul makes an offer that will take him and Ally back in time.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 25)

Monday, September 25

Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
D'Arcy Carden (The Good Place/Barry) - D'Arcy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Idris Elba (Turn Up Charlie) - Idris appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jon Lovitz (Mr. Box Office/NewsRadio/Foley Square) - Jon is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) and Mark Consuelos (Alpha House/Hope & Faith) - E! News has interviews with Kelly and Mark at 11pm on E!.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Guys with Kids/Entourage) - Jamie-Lynn appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 3:30am on Bravo.
Kerry Washington (Unprisoned) - Kerry talks about her new book Thicker than Water: A Memoir on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Punkie Johnson (After Life) - Punkie talks about her podcast Love Thang with Punkie Johnson on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her Big Boss album and tour on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.