Fri-Yay: Where Will The Good Place Go Next?; Everything's Gonna Be Okay at Freeform

Friday, December 14, 2018

Fri-Yay: Where Will The Good Place Go Next?; Everything's Gonna Be Okay at Freeform

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

I know I've talked about The Good Place a lot on this column, but it's the most exciting sitcom - or actually, TV show in general - right now, so I often have a lot of thoughts about it. This column will contain spoilers for last week's Good Place, so if you aren't caught up you might want to stop reading.

Last week, The Good Place seemed to begin to process of doing what I've wanted it to do since the first season - question the ethics of the show's afterlife, where the criteria to get into The Good Place seems nearly impossible. The episode reveals that no one has made it into the good place in 500 years. Now, it's entirely possible the show will walk this back, but it seems to me that the show is finally posting the moral questions it's been hinting at for so long. And what better place to do that than the actual good place? Yep - the show is supposedly in the actual good place at the end of the most recent episode. It's been three years coming, but it seems to finally be happening.

This is a really exciting direction for the show, especially given that parts of this season have felt a little slow, at least by the show's standards. The show spent the large bulk of Season 3 on Earth, which allowed for some interesting character work, but lacked the inventive fun of the first two seasons. Now, though, we seem to be fully back in the afterlife, and the show is once again toying with format, plot, and experimentation the way it did in its first two seasons. As we come to the end of its third season, I can't wait to see where The Good Place goes next.

Josh Tomas

Freeform has picked up Everything's Gonna Be Okay to series with a 10-episode order. From Please Like Me creator, writer and comedian Josh Thomas, and produced by Avalon Television and Freeform, the half-hour comedy introduces Nicholas (Josh Thomas), a neurotic 25-year-old still living at home with his single dad and two teenage half-sisters, one of which has autism. He is not particularly helpful in raising his siblings, but when their dad becomes terminally ill, the girls have to cope with not only a devastating loss but also the realization that Nicholas is the one who will have to hold it all together.

Thomas created the concept, wrote and stars in the pilot and will serve as showrunner with David Martin, Jon Thoday, and Richard Allen-Turner serving as executive producers for Avalon Television. Stephanie Swedlove and Kevin Whyte also serve as executive producers. The series will star Josh Thomas, Kayla Cromer, Maeve Press and Adam Faison.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, June 19

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Typhoid Georgie" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie worries he’s letting his family down when he’s forced to stay home with a cold, and Mandy worries about how her career will affect her marriage.

Ghosts - "Alexander Hamilton and the Ruffle Kerfuffle" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jay becomes obsessed with the success of a fellow chef, Isaac serves up a cautionary tale about his own rivalry with Alexander Hamilton (Nat Faxon). Also, Elias Woodstone (Matt Walsh) returns from hell with a limited-time offer for the ghosts.

Bob's Burgers - "The Lost City of Atlantic" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Belchers have a wild night at a casino and Linda learns more about her late grandfather than she wanted to know.

Grimsburg - "Evidence Locker" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Memories are sparked when Grimsburg PD cleans an evidence locker.

The Great North - "Super Smash Lovers Adventure; Serendipi-Beef Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Honeybee and Wolf renovate the guest cabin; after an extreme experience, Ham, Judy and Moon get whole new outlooks on life; on a field trip to view Curlew's Kissin' Comets, Beef rushes to stop his kids from suffering a terrible fate.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 16)

Thursday, June 19

Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Catch Seth on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ramy Youssef (#1 Happy Family USA/Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Lionel Boyce (The Bear) - Lionel appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kurt Braunohler (Bob's Burgers) and Brendan Scannell (Bonding/Heathers) - Kurt and Brendan are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House/Hollywood Darlings/Full House) - Jodie talks about Dateless to Dangerous: My Son's Secret Life on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Owen Wilson (Stick) - Owen talks about Stick on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary) - Chris talks about Abbott Elementary on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - In a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with actress Jennie Garth, she shares her formula for fulfillment and how she created the “I Choose Me” movement on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) and Lauren Ambrose (The Return of Jezebel James) - Drew is chatting with Yellowjackets cast Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress and Lauren Ambrose about working as cast of women in their forties, supporting each other as working moms and the newest season of their thrilling show on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, they're playing a rousing round of confession session and Drew is trying to match their fun revealing facts to the right person.