Friday, November 15, 2019
Fri-Yay: Disney+ Launches; NBC Orders 8th Season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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
This week, Disney+ made its grand debut on TV screens (or whatever device you have) all over the country. While the service's claim to fame is likely primarily its library of Disney original movies, there is some reason to be excited as a sitcom fan, as well. If you're a fan of old-school, '90s and '00s era Disney or Disney Channel sitcoms, many of them are now available to be streamed on Disney+ -- and many did not previously have a streaming home. Additionally, every episode of The Simpsons is now available ad-free for the first time ever. It's a big deal for Simpsons fans, although it's somewhat disappointing that the service is not broadcasting the episodes in their original aspect ratio. Still, having every episode of the animated series at your fingertips easily is a great feat. As good as Simpsons World was, the ads and the buggy aspects of the FXNow platform held it down - Disney+, if they fix the original aspect ratio, is a better fit for it.
Still, it's easy to wonder what Disney+ means for the future of TV going forward. 10 million subscribers signed up on the first day, beating the service's own end-of-year estimate of 8 million in the first 24 hours after launch. Perhaps not coincidentally, the live ratings for the ABC sitcom line-up that night tanked to series lows. We know streaming is the future, but having a major new player in the streaming wars certainly nails it into the coffin. It remains to be seen how the streaming landscape will exactly take place (will HBO Max and Peacock see the same type of success? Will Netflix cool off with all of the competition?) but one thing is for sure: the future is streaming.
NBC has renewed its critically acclaimed and Golden Globe Award-winning comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine for an eighth season in 2020-21. The seventh season begins Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 at 8 p.m. ET/PT with a one-hour premiere before airing in its regularly scheduled 8:30 p.m. timeslot beginning Feb. 13. Last season Brooklyn Nine-Nine averaged a 1.2 rating and 3.2 million viewers overall in "live plus same day" Nielsens for a total-viewer increase of +15% versus the prior season on Fox. After 35 days of linear and digital delayed viewing, the show last season grew to a 3.1 rating in 18-49 and 6.4 million viewers overall, with 59% of that 18-49 rating coming from nonlinear sources - the #1 biggest digital percentage for an NBC series last season. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was also last season's #1 most-social primetime comedy series across television, earning 9 million total interactions (Source: Nielsen Social SCR , 09/24/18-05/23/19, Primetime Daypart, Linear Window, Scripted Series Only. Twitter [Organic + Owned], Facebook [owned only], Instagram [owned only].)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine stars Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Truglio, Dirk Blocker and Joel McKinnon Miller.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, April 15
Scrubs - "My Celebration" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
A chaotic day at Sacred Heart forces the doctors and interns to face burnout, life-changing decisions, and their relationships with one another.
Abbott Elementary - "Night Out" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Janine and Gregory have a night out. Meanwhile, Melissa, Barbara and Mr. Johnson have a movie night.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 13)
Wednesday, April 15
- Bob Odenkirk (The Larry Sanders Show) - Watch Bob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Zendaya (K.C. Undercover/Shake It Up) - Zendaya is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Zoe Lister-Jones (Slip/Life in Pieces/Friends with Better Lives/Whitney) - Andy Cohen interviews Zoe on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo. She also talks about Peacock's The Miniature Wife on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Ramy Youssef (#1 Happy Family USA/Ramy/See Dad Run) - Ramy is a guest on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim) - Kimberly talks about 9-1-1: Nashville on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings) and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Blair Underwood (Fatherhood/The New Adventures of Old Christine) - Blair talks about A Soldier's Wife: My Mother, the Marvelous Mrs. Marilyn A. Underwood on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) and Amy Sedaris (No Activity/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/Strangers with Candy) - Aubrey, Amy and John Waters talk about Kevin with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine/Are We There Yet?/Everybody Hates Chris) - Terry talks about Terry's Many Hats on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) - Jennie shares her new book, I Choose Me: Chasing Joy, Finding Purpose & Embracing Reinvention, and opens up about a deeper emotional truth hiding behind what people thought they knew about her, reinventing herself, and leading a movement of women who are choosing themselves on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- Andie MacDowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral/Cuckoo) - NBC's Today catches up with Andie in the 9am hour.
- Lena Dunham (Girls) - Lena talks about her new memoir Famesick on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair/Malcolm in the Middle/The Louie Show) - Bryan talks about coming back for the Malcolm in the Middle reboot, his daughter starring in The Pitt and some of his most iconic roles over the years on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and 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)
09/30 - Touché Turtle and Dum Dum - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD)
10/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/28 - St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/04 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
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