Friday, May 31, 2019
Fri-Yay: NBC Cancels AP Bio Just As It Was Finding Its Stride; Showtime Orders Work in Progress
by Vincent
Upfronts ended a few weeks ago, but there's still some renewal and cancellations that networks have yet to figure out. One of those was AP Bio, until NBC announced they decided to cancel the series this week. It's a decision that doesn't come with much surprise. AP Bio had a mediocre-rated first season, but NBC decided to give the show a second chance, as they've done before with shows that had slow starts like 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Community. While those shows wound up running for years, AP Bio's ratings actually dropped drastically in its second season, so NBC pulling the plug is not a surprise. However, it is a shame. AP Bio wasn't necessarily a great sitcom, but it was a very enjoyable one that was perhaps on the way to finding its greatness.
AP Bio started off seeming like a too-mean spin off of Community, a show that wanted to have a cable comedy-esque streak of dark comedy but didn't have the talent to pull it off. However, over the course of the first and especially into the much improved second season, the series began to find its direction by strengthening the personalities of its students out of stereotypes and pinning down into humor sense. The show, like Community, also found some heart, without feeling too preachy, and was becoming a delightfully absurdist network sitcom that actually made you care about the characters...even though the humor could sometimes be dark or even borderline mean, the show did a much better job of tiptoeing that line in its second season. It will be a shame to see it go, and that it will never take off into the great sitcom it had the potential to be.
Showtime has ordered an eight-episode season of the new half-hour comedy series Work in Progress, created by Abby McEnany and Tim Mason. McEnany stars in the series, expected to premiere later this year. Mason directed the pilot. Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix, Sense8) will co-write the first season and executive produce with McEnany and Mason. Showtime acquired the project after its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where it was an official selection of the Indie Episodic program. A funny and uniquely human comedy, Work in Progress features McEnany as a 45-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke from Chicago whose misfortune and despair unexpectedly lead her to a vibrantly transformative relationship. Chicago-based performers Theo Germaine and Karin Anglin co-star alongside Celeste Pechous, with Julia Sweeney (Saturday Night Live, Shrill) appearing in a crucial role as herself.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, January 18
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 13)
Friday, January 17
- Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Watch Jamie Lee on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Billy Crystal (The Comedians/Soap) - Billy is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Broad City/Baby Boom) - Susie chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick will be on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show/Cosby) - NBC's Today catches up with Phylica in the 10am hour.
- Zach Cherry (Duncanville/I Feel Bad/Crashing) - Zach is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
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