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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday, November 19

The Conners - "Slappy Holidays" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Chaos ensues when Dan finally gets the entire family together for Thanksgiving dinner. Mixed feelings about the Lunch Box continue to build tension in the house, and Harris makes an unexpected move. Guest starring is Eliza Bennett as Odessa.

Bless This Mess - "Six Out of Six" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mike and Rio are at odds with each other when they consider having a kid of their own; and they soon get a taste of the parenting life when they are forced to take care of Portia’s six piglets. Meanwhile, Kay and Beau may have found common ground during the annual Euchre tournament party.

mixed-ish - "Weird Science" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Rainbow’s passion for science deflates when her peers convince her that science isn’t cool. During Career Day, Rainbow code-switches and pursues journalism in order to fit in, only to find that the local news anchor attending the fair has also been hiding a part of herself. Meanwhile, Harrison works to mold a testimony from Denise who struggles to be anyone but herself, and Santamonica tries to steal the spotlight back after Johan suffers an injury.

black-ish - "O Mother Where Are Thou?" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
When Dre discovers that Lynette (guest star Loretta Devine) is an art aficionado like himself, the two quickly bond and become close, but he begins to feel guilty since he is spending more time with her than Ruby. Meanwhile, Junior introduces Bow to virtual reality.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 18)

Tuesday, November 19

Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Catch Michael on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Josh Gad (The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh stops by The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/The Mindy Project) - Anna appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Rainn Wilson (The Office) - Rainn visits A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Ron Funches (Powerless/Undateable) - Ray and Ron are panelists on Lights Out with David Spade at 11:30pm on Comedy Central.
Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) - Thomas drops by Conan at 11pm on TBS.
Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo. She will also be on The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is a guest on a repeat of LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Helen Hunt (Mad About You/It Takes Two) and Paul Reiser (Mad About You/Red Oaks/The Paul Reiser Show/My Two Dads) - Helen and Paul are guests on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Son of Zorn/Suburgatory) - Cheryl visits The Real, so check your local listings.
Olivia Holt (I Didn't Do It/Kickin' It) - Olivia appears on The Real, so check your local listings.
Tisha Campbell (Dr. Ken/Rita Rocks/My Wife and Kids/Martin) - Tisha guest co-hosts The Real, so check your local listings.
James Wolk (The Crazy Ones) - James stops by The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kristin Davis (Sex and the City) - Kristin is a guest on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Ashley Williams (The Jim Gaffigan Show/Good Morning, Miami) - Ashley talks about Holiday Hearts on People Now at 12pm.
The Cast of black-ish - The cast of black-ish are guests on a repeat of ABC's GMA 3: Strahan, Sara & Keke at 1pm.
Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies) - Tom talks about A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Tamera Mowry-Housley (Sister, Sister/Roommates) - Tamera will be on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Nicole Byer (Loosely Exactly Nicole) - Nicole is a guest on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Andrea Barber (Fuller House/Full House) - Andrea appears on the BUILD Series at 1pm.
Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - Soleil appears on the BUILD Series at 4pm.
Lena Waithe (Master of None) - Lena will be on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.