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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, April 20

The Neighorhood - "Welcome to Purse Dog" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Calvin reluctantly agrees to dog-sit a glamorous little companion, only to face an awkward twist when someone else lays claim to it. Meanwhile, a joint celebration prompts Malcolm to question whether he and Mercedes are moving too fast. Amber Stevens West guest stars as Mercedes, Malcolm's Girlfriend.

DMV - "Drive-ory Tower" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Colette tries to bridge a growing divide at the office by bringing the driving examiners and counter clerks together. Meanwhile, Vic stubbornly avoids seeing a doctor after an unusual injury, forcing Barb to get creative to help him.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 20)

Monday, April 20

Kal Penn (The Santa Clauses/Sunnyside/We Are Men) - Watch Kal on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Don is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Henry stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Hazardous History with Henry Winkler on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Aaron Tveit (Schmigadoon!) - Aaron is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
B.J. Novak (The Office) and Jim Parsons (Young Sheldon/The Big Bang Theory) - Andy Cohen interviews B.J. and Jim on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
William Stanford Harris (Abbott Elementary) - William talks about Abbott Elementary on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ramy Youssef (#1 Happy Family USA/Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Laurie Metcalf (Big Mistakes/The Conners/Roseanne/The McCarthys/The Norm Show) - Laurie talks about Big Mistakes on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie) - NBC's Today catches up with Jane in the 9am hour.
Christopher Briney (Hacks) - Christopher talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair tells Sherri about his new memoir A Soldier's Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Phoebe Dynevor (Younger) - Phoebe is telling Drew about her new movie Thrash on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Dan Bucatinsky (The Comeback/Marry Me/Web Therapy) - Dan appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.