Friday, October 04, 2019
Fri-Yay: New Sitcoms: First Week Impressions; Pop Goes Back to Florida for Poverty Sitcom

by Vincent
Well, the first week of the 2019-2020 TV season is officially in the books, and well, let's just say...it was a week that the networks would like to have back, if they could, at least in terms of viewing audiences. Unfortunately, they can't, so networks are simply going to have to hope that things get better from here on out. Let's take a look at the sitcoms specifically and see the...well, "best" of the bunch, although there isn't much to be excited about in the ratings department.
CBS premiered their new slate of sitcoms, and none of their new shows seem to be catching fire, although none of them look like complete disasters yet either. The network's Monday block, though, is fairly mediocre-rated all around, including sophomore comedy The Neighborhood. Newbie Bob Hearts Abishola dropped from The Neighborhood's already-not-huge audience, and the eye's Thursday sitcoms didn't fare much better, losing most of the sturdy audience of Young Sheldon through-out the night. ABC's lone new sitcom, mixed-ish, fared a bit better, but still is a ways off from the dominant heights of its nights' anchor The Conners (whose premiere was around Season 1's low point, but still easily ranks as the highest-rated sitcom of the week with little competition). And ABC's returning comedies weren't exempt from the downtick most returning series saw, with even anchors like The Goldbergs and Modern Family seeing ratings lows. But the network with the most to be worried about is NBC, whose two new sitcoms Perfect Harmony and Sunnyside could already be classified as fairly major flops. Perfect Harmony's 0.5 rating shed most of lead-in Superstore's decent-enough numbers, but Sunnyside's 0.4 rating was a flat-out disaster. Needless to say, this year's new crop of sitcoms will, hopefully, be the types of shows that grow, because they're starting off in pretty low places.
Pop TV announced that it has renewed its highly praised series Florida Girls for a second season. Florida Girls, which debuted in July to rave reviews, is an unapologetically bold comedy inspired by the life of creator and star Laura Chinn (The Mick) about four friends who are making the most out of life while living below the poverty line in Clearwater, Fla. Fronted by an all-female cast, the series also stars Melanie Field (Heathers, Shrill), Patty Guggenheim (Splitting Up Together, LA to Vegas) and Laci Mosley (The Wedding Year). The first season of Florida Girls is available on the network's app, PopNow, at POPTV.com and via cable and satellite video on demand. Florida Girls is produced by Lionsgate, 3 Arts Entertainment and Jax Media, and is executive produced by Laura Chinn, Jared Miller, Tony Hernandez, Lilly Burns and 3 Arts Entertainment's Josh Lieberman and Oly Obst.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, May 30
Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.
Happy's Place - "Fish Fry Monday" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett sees Bobbie drowning in work, he devises a clever ruse to give her a much-needed day off fishing, all under the guise of reviving the tavern's Fish Fry Mondays; Isabella dives into the world of bartending with Gabby.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 26)
Friday, May 30
- Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal/The Curse) - Watch Nathan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Paula Poundstone (Home Movies) - Paula performs stand-up comedy on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Ralph swings by for a chat about Karate Kid: Legends on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) - Justina chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about Broadway's Real Women Have Curves: The Musical on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is telling Drew about the new venture she's taking on, where she's currently at with dating and more on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Don Darryl Rivera (Only Murders in the Building) - Don talks about Broadway's Aladdin on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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