Friday, August 23, 2019
Fri-Yay: Fall Sitcom Slate Check-In: ABC; Antenna TV Acquires The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, Who's the Boss? and More

by Vincent
ABC is next up in our check-in of returning sitcom slates. ABC has been a big center of family comedies in recent years, and that mostly continues in 2019-2020. Let's jump into their line-up:
Returning sitcoms: ABC's solid block of family sitcoms are all returning, from Modern Family to The Goldbergs to The Conners to black-ish to Fresh Off the Boat. The big change, though, will be coming after this TV season, as the upcoming 11th season will be the final season of Modern Family. Just as CBS is scrambling to find its Big Bang replacement, ABC is likely doing the same thing with Modern Family - with the big caveat that ABC does have The Conners, which actually rated higher than Modern last season and is returning as the network's biggest ratings hit. Whether The Conners will be able to keep its strong Season 1 numbers now that we're fairly far removed from the Roseanne situation and hype is certainly a question, but even if it can maintain half of its Season 1 audience, it'll be a big hit for the network. Otherwise, except more of the same from the anchor sitcoms - The Goldbergs and black-ish continue to be strong tentpoles, Fresh Off the Boat is holding down the fort on Fridays, and promising sophomores Bless This Mess, Single Parents and Schooled are also back on the line-up hoping to build on their respectable Season 1 showings. The only real downgrade is American Housewife, which gets bumped to Fridays after just a so-so rated third season last year.
New sitcoms: There's only one new sitcom on ABC's fall schedule, the black-ish spin off mixed-ish, which follows Rainbow's upbringing. First spinoff grown-ish has been a fairly strong hit for Freeform, so it makes sense that ABC is continuing to build off the solid black-ish brand. Still, it's somewhat surprising to not see more new comedies, but I guess ABC is thinking "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Though ABC does have multi-camera sitcom United We Fall waiting in the wings for mid-season that could be a potential companion for The Conners.
The bottom line: ABC is probably in the best place sitcom-wise of all four networks. They have a really strong core of anchors and enough solid performers to fill two and a half entire blocks and not have any real weak spots. It says a lot that ABC felt they could essentially bring back their entire slate last season and not have to add many new pieces. Yes, there are some questions - will The Conners be as big in Season 2 as Season 1? Is anything being set up to take over for Modern Family? Can the modest sophomore hits like Bless This Mess, Single Parents and Schooled step up and become anchors in their second season the way shows like The Goldbergs and black-ish were eventually able to? Those are questions that will eventually have to be answered, but for now, things are good in sitcom land at ABC.
Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast network, announced the addition of five classic series to the network's 2020 lineup, with four sitcoms starting in January 2020 and one in Fall 2020. Antenna TV, which airs in 136 TV markets across the U.S. reaching 89% of TV households, continues to aggressively invest in programming acquisitions. Beginning in January 2020, Antenna TV will add The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, Designing Women and NewsRadio. In Fall 2020, Who's the Boss? will join the lineup. All five series come from Sony Pictures Television and originally aired in the late '70s through late '90s. Diff'rent Strokes and NewsRadio are returning to Antenna TV in new deals, while The Facts of Life, Designing Women and Who's the Boss? are brand new to Antenna TV! Both Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life are currently airing on MeTV, but will migrate over to Antenna TV by Jan. 2020. Designing Women was last seen on getTV, while NewsRadio hasn't aired since Antenna TV last aired it and Who's the Boss? is coming to a multicast network for the first time.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, April 18
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 14)
Friday, April 18
- David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical/Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Cool Kids/The Carmichael Show/Bad Teacher/Life with Bonnie/DAG) - Watch David on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Bernadette Peters (High Desert/Mozart in the Jungle/All's Fair) - Bernadette is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Woody Harrelson (Cheers) - Woody takes "The Colbert Questionert" on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Bobby Moynihan (Mr. Mayor/Me, Myself & I), Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) and Mary Eliabeth Ellis (Santa Clarita Diet/The Grinder/Perfect Couples/It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) - Bobby, Thomas and Mary are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Étoile on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is joining Drew and Ross Mathews to hit the headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh is telling Drew about the thrilling new series Happy Face based on a real life serial killer on The Drew Barrymroe Show, so check your local listings.
- Michael B. Jordan (The Assistants) and Delroy Lindo (UNPrisoned) - Michael, Delroy and others tell Sherri about their highly anticipated new film Sinners on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Joel talks about Bravo's Love Hotel on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
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