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

Friday, November 22

Happy's Place - "Happy's House" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Bobbie agrees to take Isabella to Happy's house in search of a connection to their late father, leading Bobbie to worry about what they may find; Gabby hopes to strike it rich by searching through Happy's penny collection looking for a rarity.

Lopez vs Lopez - "Lopez vs Orlando" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Rosie's spoiled nephew Orlando visits, Mayan sets out to expose Rosie's cultural gender bias; George wants to teach Chance the value of hard work, but, instead, helps him create a toxic work environment.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Whacking the Mole" (The CW, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Abishola has a romantic dream about Bob, she tries to suppress her feelings for him and pays the price.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Ralph Lauren and Fish" (The CW, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob and Abishola finally go on a proper date, which is interrupted by Dottie's medical emergency.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Tough Like a Laundromat Washing Machine" (The CW, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bob hires Abishola to take care of Dottie in his home while she recovers; Dottie has a hard time dealing with her limitations and takes it out on Abishola.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Useless Potheads" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
With Abishola only helping part-time, Bob, Douglas and Christina struggle to take care of Dottie.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - "Wiz-Taken Identity" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Billie struggles with a spell, Roman says he could do it if he was a wizard: to prove him wrong, Billie uses a Power Glass to transfer her powers to Roman.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place - " Ain't Gnome Party Like a Wizard Party" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Justin embraces mortality to live with his family; his new challenge arises when Alex introduces Billie, a wizard-in-training, seeking Justin's mentorship.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Friday, November 22

Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Watch Kerry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Jimmy O. Yang (Interior Chinatown/Space Force/Silicon Valley) - Jimmy is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ariana Grande (Sam & Cat/Victorious) - Ariana appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Andy Richter (Andy Barker, P.I./Quintuplets/Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Aparna Nancherla (Lopez vs Lopez/Search Party/Corporate) - Andy, Thomas and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke talks about her new book Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) - Drew is joined by the hilarious Andrew to celebrate all things Thanksgiving on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie tells Sherri about her new Apple TV+ psychological thriller Before on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Candace Cameron Bure (Fuller House/Full House) - Candace will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:15am.