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
Tuesday, October 14
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)
Tuesday, October 14
- Bette Midler (Bette) - Catch Bette on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Tim Meadows (DMV/Schooled/No Activity/Son of Zorn/Mr. Box Office/The Bill Engvall Show) - Tim appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Mary Lynn Rajskub (Rob Riggle's Ski Master Academy/How to Be a Gentleman/Veronica's Closet/The Larry Sanders Show) - Mary is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
- Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) - Jeremy talks about Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Allison Janney (Mom/Mr. Sunshine) - Allison talks about The Diplomat on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings..
- Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm/Son of Zorn/Suburgatory) - Cheryl talks about Unscripted with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
- Tony Danza (Taxi/Who's the Boss?/Hudson Street/The Tony Danza Show) - Tony joins Drew and Valerie Bertinelli in the kitchen to whip up something delicious on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- David Henrie (Wizards Beyond Waverly Place/Wizards of Waverly Place/How I Met Your Mother/The Pitts) - David tells Drew about the latest season of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place and working with Selena Gomez on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
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)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
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