Fri-Yay: Reaction to The Good Place Ending; Antenna TV Brings Back Webster, What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!!

Friday, June 14, 2019

Fri-Yay: Reaction to The Good Place Ending; Antenna TV Brings Back Webster, What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!!

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 past week, it was announced that NBC's The Good Place will be ending after its upcoming fourth season. I had two district reactions to this news. On one hand, I'm incredibly sad that we are only getting one more season of what has been the best comedy on TV for the past few years, and one of the most creative and imaginative sitcoms of the decade. I'm a bit of a traditionalist with sitcoms - if it were up to me, every good sitcom would air 22 episodes a year and run for 6 or more seasons. I just like the comfort that sitcoms offer, even if the quality of them admittedly gets spotty as they grow long in the tooth. So the selfish part of me wanted The Good Place to stick around for years and years.

And yet, I can't help but feel that this is the right move to preserve the show's legacy. The Good Place is such a unique show, but it can only reinvent the wheel so many times. While I feel the show's quality has remained consistently high in its three seasons that have aired so far, I could also sense some sense of "well, what now?" for the first time ever in the third season. Granted, the show ended on a high note, but I'd imagine it very well could get tiring re-inventing the wheel over and over again. So I do consider it a creative win that the show is going out on top and on its own terms, and the fact that NBC is allowing a solid-rated veteran comedy to do so in a time where it desperately needs comedy hits shows how much network TV has changed recently. 10 years ago, NBC would've milked the show for all they could, but now, there's more respect paid towards shows and their creators - and if you're a fan of good TV, it's a good thing to see.

Webster and What's Happening!!

Antenna TV is making some changes to the weekend afternoon schedule beginning next weekend (Saturday, June 22, 2019) and one minor change on weekdays beginning June 24. As a result of the changes, three shows are returning from hiatus. Webster, What's Happening!! and What's Happening Now!! all return back to the lineup. Webster will air weekends at 1:00pm & 1:30pm, replacing The Hogan Family, which is still on the schedule Sunday late nights at 3:00am & 3:30am. What's Happening!! is replacing Head of the Class at 2:00pm, while spin-off What's Happening Now!! will air at 2:30pm for Head of the Class. Not to worry Head of The Class fans, the sitcom will air an hour later replacing Family Ties at 3:00pm & 3:30pm, but Family Ties will still remain weeknights at 2:30am. What's Happening!! will also return to the weekday line-up, airing weekdays at 3:30pm, replacing Soap. Not to worry Soap fans, Soap will also still remain on the schedule in its Saturday at 9pm & 9:30pm slots.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, April 19

The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Hero" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Dave earns Calvin’s respect when he thwarts a robbery at the barbershop, until the recognition goes to his head and he starts exaggerating the truth. Also, Marty invites an anxious Gemma to give his new stress-busting hobby a try.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "A Tough Old Bird" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Bob and Abishola try to help a sad and volatile Kemi who, after being dumped by Chukwuemeka, struggles with the possibility that her happiest days might be behind her.

Breeders - "No Choice" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Ally is under huge pressure, but no one seems to want to listen to her; Jim and Jackie are excited about a possible move to the coast and, much to Paul's surprise, so is he.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 19)

Monday, April 19

Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Watch Michael on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Tig Notaro (One Mississippi) - Tig appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Ron Funches (Hoops/Final Space/Powerless/Undateable) - Ron is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) - Nick will be on A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Ted Danson (Mr. Mayor/The Good Place/Help Me Help You/Becker/Cheers) - Ted appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Debi Mazar (Younger/Entourage/Working) - Debi talks about the final season of Younger on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Olivia Holt (I Didn't Do It/Kickin' It) - Olivia will be on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Michelle Buteau (First Wives Club) - Michelle appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan is a guest on The Real, so check your local listings.
John Stamos (Fuller House/Grandfathered/Jake in Progress/Full House/You Again?) - John will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Cristin Milioti (Made for Love/A to Z/How I Met Your Mother) - Cristin appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry and his wife Rebecca discuss their memoir detailing secrets of their marriage, Stronger Together, on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) - Danica discusses her new Hallmark Channel movie Matchmaker Mysteries: The Art of the Kill on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 11am ET/PT.
Ed Helms (Rutherford Falls/The Office) - Ed talks about Peacock's Rutherford Falls on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.