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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, May 7

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Little Schmoozin’ and a Nose for the News" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie’s plan to get on the news sparks a feud between Mandy and a rival weathergirl. Meanwhile, Mandy tries to use the conflict to help her career.

Ghosts - "Gate-gate" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When an emotion‑driven decision puts Woodstone at risk, Sam and Jay step up to defend what they’ve built. Meanwhile, Isaac struggles to adjust to new surroundings, only to realize that some connections are too important to leave behind.

Animal Control - "Roosters and Moles" / "Donkeys and Weasels" (Fox, 9:02PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Templeton is nominated for Animal Control officer of the year, Frank sets out to rescue 24 animals in 24 hours; Victoria and Patel try to find ways to replace pet food that was destroyed in a fire.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 4)

Thursday, May 7

Molly Gordon (The Bear/Ramy) - Catch Molly on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
John Krasinksi (The Office) - John appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny makes a special appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Lisa Kudrow (The Comeback/No Good Deed/HouseBroken/Web Therapy/Friends/Mad About You) - Lisa stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about The Comeback on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) and Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Andy Cohen interviews Casey and Andrew on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
Garcelle Beauvais (The Other Black Girl/Survival of the Thickest/The Jamie Foxx Show/Merry Happy Whatever) - NBC's Today catches up with Garcelle in the 9am hour.
Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - NBC's Today catches up with Julie in the 10am hour.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie talks about Lifetime's Love, Again on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. She is covering the news sunny-side up with Drew and Ross on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Kellee Stewart (My Boys) - Kellee shares her fertility journey on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Regina Hall (Black Monday/Grandfathered/Married/Second Generation Wayans) - Regina tells Drew all about her action-packed film One Battle After Another on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Teri Hatcher (The Odd Couple/Sunday Dinner/Karen's Song/The Love Boat) - Teri is whipping up a delicious meal in the kitchen with her Desperately Devoted Podcast Co-Hosts onscreen daughter Andrea Bowen and real-life daughter Emerson Tenney on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Fabrizio Guido (Running Point) - Fabrizio talks about Netflix's Running Point on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Jessica Hecht (Special/Red Oaks/What About Joan?/The Single Guy) - Jessica is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.