Friday, September 06, 2019
Fri-Yay: Fall Sitcom Slate Check-In: Fox; Mad About You Gets November 20 Premiere Date
by Vincent
Fox is last up in our check-in of returning sitcom slates. Fox is...well, certainly in a transitional state. The network is still rebuilding its image after Disney's merger with 20th Century Fox, which drastically altered the network's original content. So, needless to say, the sitcom slate has been a bit light recently, and that continues this season. Gone are the days of the mid-2010s, when you could make an argument that Fox had the best sitcom roster of all of network TV with shows like New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Last Man on Earth, and The Mindy Project, as well as short-lived but beloved series like Enlisted and The Mick.
Returning sitcoms: The only returning sitcoms that made Fox's fall schedule were its animated slate. The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers and Family Guy are all back, with the interesting caveat that Bob's later-seasons ratings spike has convinced Fox to move it to the 9pm anchor slot, while the declining Family Guy moves to the lead-out role at 9:30. Still, the block as a whole continues to provide solid and consistent numbers for Fox. The caveat, though, is that they're all 20th Century Fox properties - which, remember, is no longer run by the same company as the Fox network, but by Disney. It's possible Disney sees the value in moving them to a Disney property, so whether or not they're long for the Fox world remains to be seen. Shoved to mid-season is Fox's only returning live action comedy, Last Man Standing. Last Man did very well on Fridays last season, but well...it's also a 20th Century Fox property.
New sitcoms: There's only one new sitcom on Fox's fall schedule, and it's an animated comedy entitled Bless the Harts. The series follows a lower-class family living in the South and could make a good companion to The Simpsons and Bob's Burgers.
The bottom line: Fox is definitely in a transitional state right now, and that transition emphasizes reality series and sports and less scripted content, so aside from the solid block of animated comedies, sitcoms seem to be a second thought on the new Fox. We'll see if that continues going forward, but as of now, the days of FOX being a comedy haven are certainly long gone.
The Buchmans are back! Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt reprise their roles in the Sony Pictures Television-produced limited event series Mad About You on Wednesday, November 20 when the first six episodes drop ad-free exclusively on Spectrum's On Demand platform. The final six episodes will release on Wednesday, December 18. The series will explore the fertile ground of modern marriage through the eyes of the Buchmans as newly minted empty-nesters after dropping their unpredictable, hard-to-control daughter Mabel (Abby Quinn) off at college. The original sitcom ran for seven seasons from 1992-1999 and won multiple Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R) awards. All 164 original episodes are now available free on-demand for Spectrum subscribers.
Mad About You is produced by Sony Pictures Television in association with Comedy Dynamics. Peter Tolan serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer. Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser executive produce alongside Brian Volk-Weiss, Michael Pelmont and Matthew Ochacher. Danny Jacobson, who co-created the show with Reiser will serve as an executive consultant. Additional cast includes: Original cast members John Pankow and Richard Kind as Ira Buchman and Dr. Mark Devanow, and Abby Quinn as Mabel Buchman.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, December 14
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 9)
Friday, December 13
- 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 appears on repeats of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC and on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Milana Vayntrub (Other Space), Jessica Lowe (Wrecked) and Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) - Milana, Jessica and Jason are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Richard Kind (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Spin City/Mad About You) and Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - NBC's Today catches up with Richard and Fred in the 9am hour.
- Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia talks about Laid on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Christian Slater (Breaking In) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - Christian and Sarah are sitting down with Drew to talk all about working together on Dexter: Original Sin on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Lisa Kudrow (No Good Deed/HouseBroken/Web Therapy/The Comeback/Friends/Mad About You) - Lisa talks about chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Tom Selleck (The Closer) and Donnie Wahlberg (Return of the Mac) - Tom and Donnie discuss the series finale of Blue Bloods on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Nancy McKeon (The Facts of Life/Can't Hurry Love) - Nancy will be on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
09/10 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-7
09/10 - The Ropers - The Complete Series (VEI)
09/10 - Ted - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/17 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - Video Scrapbook
09/17 - Top Cat - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/24 - Friends - The Complete Series (4K UHD)
09/24 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Seventh Season (DVD) / The Complete Series (DVD) (Blu-ray)
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (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)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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