Friday, May 10, 2019

Fri-Yay: Upfronts 2019: Questions for Sitcoms; getTV Celebrates All in the Family Ahead of ABC Live Special

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!

The Goldbergs

by Vincent

It's hard to believe it's that time of year again, but May is here and networks will soon be ending the 2018-2019 television season and making their schedules for the 2019-2020 season. In this column, I'll take a look at the "state of sitcoms" on each network and making some guesses about the fate of some bubble sitcoms and the direction each network will be going in.

ABC: 2019-2020 is going to be a bit of a sad one for ABC's comedy brand, as Modern Family will wrap up its run after 11 seasons. That leaves The Goldbergs and black-ish as the longest-standing veteran sitcoms, and ABC is clearly interested in continuing those stories as both have spin-offs either airing or in the works - Schooled (which premiered this spring and has been a ratings hit) and mixed-ish (the black-ish spin-off set for next season) will be centerpieces of the network's comedy schedule next year. Technically Goldbergs hasn't been renewed yet, but seems very likely to continue given its steady ratings success. The Conners (which had a huge first season) will also be returning. However, Speechless, Fresh Off the Boat and American Housewife, which have seen ratings declines this season, are shows that fans should certainly be somewhat concerned about. Overall, there's still plenty of family comedy to look forward to next year on ABC.

CBS: It'll be very interesting to see what CBS does with its comedy block next year, as its long-running, massive ratings hit The Big Bang Theory is bowing out this month after 12 years on the air. Its spin-off Young Sheldon remains a big hit, so it seems likely that CBS will revolve its comedy laurels on that show's heels. Solid tentpole sitcom Mom has also been renewed for another season. All in all, it's going to be a year of change as CBS adjusts to life after Big Bang.

Fox: Fox hit the jackpot this year when resurrecting Last Man Standing, as the series has done gangbusters on Friday nights for the network, looking even stronger than most of its ABC run. Additionally, Fox's steady and reliable animated slate of The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and Family Guy will be returning. However, it'll be interesting to see if the Disney-Fox merger effects the rest of the network's output. There are rumors floating around that the animated staples may be moved to another part of the Disney umbrella after a few seasons, since they will no longer be owned by the Fox network (which, remember, is operating independently from 20th Century Fox now, which is owned by Disney).

NBC: NBC's acclaimed line-up of The Good Place, Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine are all returning next year, which should keep fans of excellent comedy happy. However, the network didn't have a lot of success with its newbies this year (neither I Feel Bad nor Abby's made much of a ratings dent) and sophomore AP Bio also looked ugly in the ratings department this spring. NBC is likely looking for a big ratings hit, since while Superstore, Good Place and Brooklyn are all solid performers, they aren't necessarily world-beaters, and the Will & Grace revival hasn't been the smash hit NBC was likely hoping it would be.

All in all, it'll be interesting to see the networks' moves as we head into Upfront season. It's going to be a very interesting year for many networks!


All in the Family on getTV

In advance of the 90-minute primetime event Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons, airing Wednesday, May 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET on The ABC Television Network, getTV will air 30 all-time favorite episodes of the original groundbreaking 1970s comedy series every night May 13-17 beginning at 7 ET. One of television's most popular and acclaimed series, All in the Family starred Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton as Archie and Edith Bunker, with Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers as Mike and Gloria Stivic. The show originally aired from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979 and won 22 Emmy Awards out of 56 total nominations. Among the episodes airing May 13-17 on getTV are the 1971 pilot, the episode that introduced Bea Arthur as Edith's cousin Maude (who went on to have her own series), the episode guest-starring Sammy Davis Jr. in which its final scene produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show, and the 1972 two-parter flashback episode, "Mike and Gloria's Wedding."


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, July 1

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 30)

Tuesday, July 1

  • Sam Rockwell (F Is for Family) - Catch Sam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Mariska Hargitay (Can't Hurry Love) - Mariska appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation), Nico Santos (Superstore) and Pete Holmes (How We Roll/Crashing) - Billy, Nico and Pete are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Annie Murphy (Kevin Can F**k Himself/Schitt's Creek) and Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Annie and Christine talk about Nine Perfect Strangers on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) and Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Olivia and Amanda talk about Your Friends & Neighbors on a repeat of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Susan Kelechi Watson (Louie) - Susan talks about The Residence on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
  • Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear) - Liza talks about The Bear on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Zoë Kravitz (High Fidelity) - Zoë is joining Drew to talk about her directorial debut Blink Twice. She's spilling on what it was like working with fiancé Channing Tatum and her take on their viral NYC bike photo on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

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06/25 - Netflix Renews Ransom Canyon for Season 2; My Life with the Walter Boys First Look for Season 2
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06/09 - Comedian Ms. Pat Gets Season 3 of Courtroom Series; Disney Branded Television Animated Slate
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06/03 - Netflix's Nobody Wants This Returns October 23; The CW Renews All American for Final Season
06/02 - Remembering Loretta Swit of M*A*S*H, Valerie Mahaffey of Young Sheldon, and The Simpsons Composer Alf Clausen
06/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of June 2, 2025)
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