SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

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

This week, Hulu renewed Ramy for a second season. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the series, it's a comedy in the style of Master of None or Louie revolving around a young Muslim man living in New Jersey. The series was created by Ramy Youssef as a semi-autobiographical look at his own life growing up as a Muslim man and entering the entertainment industry. It premiered to widespread critical acclaim, and was promptly given a second season renewal by the streaming network.

Ramy is a really smart, funny, and well-crafted comedy, and now that a second season has already been confirmed I'd definitely recommend checking it out. It tells a really original and fresh point of view, which is something I'm noticing is becoming a bit of a trend with Hulu comedies. Between Shrill and Ramy, as well as the surprisingly addictive Future Man, Hulu seems like the place for originally-crafted and author-focused comedy right now, and I'd definitely say the streaming service has figured out a format that works for it. I'm eager to see if Hulu can continue this trend, and happy it seems to be giving all of these series a chance to find audiences.

The Johnsons will be back for Season 6 of black-ish, as The ABC Television Network announced it is picking up the acclaimed comedy for the 2019-2020 season. In addition, ABC will expand the award-winning black-ish franchise even further, with the network giving an early series order to mixed-ish, a spinoff about Rainbow Johnson's experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the '80s. The back-door pilot episode "Becoming Bow" of mixed-ish airing inside black-ish, originally scheduled to air May 7, will now be held for next season (2019-20). Bless This Mess original episode "The Predators," will now air in the 9:00 p.m. time slot that night, followed by a repeat from earlier this season at 9:30pm, so black-ish is preempted.

In mixed-ish, Rainbow Johnson recounts her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the '80s and the constant dilemmas they had to face over whether to assimilate or stay true to themselves. Bow's parents Paul and Alicia decide to move from a hippie commune to the suburbs to better provide for their family. As her parents struggle with the challenges of their new life, Bow and her siblings navigate a mainstream school in which they're perceived as neither black nor white. This family's experiences illuminate the challenges of finding one's own identity when the rest of the world can’t decide where you belong. The series stars Arica Himmel as Bow Johnson, Tika Sumpter as Alicia Johnson, Christina Anthony as Denise, Mykal-Michelle Harris as Santamonica Johnson and Ethan Childress as Johan Johnson.