Friday, January 31, 2020
Fri-Yay: The Good Place Officially Ends; Starz Picks Up Comedy with Amber Stevens West
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
Yesterday, The Good Place ended its four year run on NBC. While I haven't seen the finale yet at the time of writing this blog post, I have a lot to say about the season up to this point and particularly about last week's amazing penultimate episode.
The Good Place has always been a very philosophical series, but it honestly really surprised me with how deep it got last week in its discussion of the afterlife and "Heaven" (or the good place.) The show essentially argued that human life is shaped by the knowledge that we're going to die, so the "good" place is really not so good after all - without that strive to do great, it becomes a big pile of mush. Frankly, part of me wishes this concept had been explored a little longer. I could've done a whole season watching the good place crew fix...well, the good place. But nevertheless, I'm happy the show appears to be going out high and on its own terms. The show has always remained an absolute mind-bending delight, stretching the sitcom form as wide as it could possibly go. Now I'm interested to see if any series steps up in its place. I certainly hope so - the show is leaving behind a big gap in its absence. There's really no series with the level of humor and insight that The Good Place has right now. Still, I'm beyond overjoyed that the series was able to make it this long at all, so cheers to The Good Place and the end of one of TV's very best sitcoms.
Starz announced it has given an eight-episode series order for Run the World. The half-hour comedy is created and written by Leigh Davenport (The Perfect Find, untitled Wendy Williams biopic) who will executive produce with showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser (Lionsgate's Dear White People, Living Single) and Lionsgate Television, where Bowser's SisterLee Productions is under an overall deal. Millicent Shelton (black-ish, P-Valley) directed the pilot. Run the World is the story of a group of Black, vibrant, fiercely loyal best friends who work, live and play in Harlem as they strive for world domination. At its core, it's an unapologetically female show about enviable friendship and not only surviving - but thriving together.
The previously announced cast include Amber Stevens West (The Carmichael Show, Happy Together) as "Whitney," Andrea Bordeaux (NCIS: Los Angeles) as "Ella," Bresha Webb (A Fall from Grace, Marlon) as "Renee," Corbin Reid (Valor) as "Sondi" and Stephen Bishop (Moneyball, Imposters) as "Matthew."
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Wednesday, July 15
United We Fall - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Series Premiere)
Bill and Jo juggle a typical day that starts with a parent-teacher conference and ends with a trip to the ER. After defending their parenting style, or lack thereof, to teachers, doctors and social workers, they find comfort in the fact that their kids are healthy and happy and that they’re all in this together.
United We Fall - "The Biter" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
At Chuy’s insistence, Bill and Jo finally enroll Lulu in preschool only to discover she is a biter. While they navigate incident reports and overprotective parents, Sandy explores their family history with an ancestry DNA kit.
The Conners - "Brothers, Babies and Breakdowns" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Dan avoids coping with a death in the family, only to be confronted by it head-on. Ben and Darlene address Ben’s baby fever and have “the talk.” The Lunch Box is officially open for business, and Dwight gets the jitters when he has to fill in for the chef who suffers an accident.
American Housewife - "Wildflower Girls" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Katie grows concerned when Anna-Kat is invited to join Westport’s elite scout troop, The Wildflower Girls. Meanwhile, Taylor learns her Carnegie Mellon interview is scheduled with famous alumnus and Broadway star Brecken Phillips (Ian Gomez); and, Oliver befriends the school recluse, Trevor (Tenzing Norgay-Trainor).
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 13)
Wednesday, July 15
- Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Watch Kelly on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) - Constance is a guest on a repeat of A Little Late with Lilly Singh at 1:35am on NBC.
- Mark Feuerstein (9JKL/Good Morning, Miami/Conrad Bloom/Fired Up) - Mark will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Mike Epps (Survivor's Remorse/Uncle Buck) - Mike appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
- Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Marlo and her husband Phil Donahue talk about their new book What Makes a Marriage Last: 40 Celebrated Couples Share with Us the Secrets to a Happy Life on a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
- David Schwimmer (Intelligence/Friends) and Nick Mohammed (Intelligence) - David and Nick talk about Peacock's Intelligence on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Will Sasso (United We Fall/Less Than Perfect) and Jane Curtin (United We Fall/Crumbs/3rd Rock from the Sun/Kate & Allie) - Will and Jane talk about ABC's United We Fall on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Will and Christina Vidal (United We Fall/Taina/Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher) are guests on People Now at 1pm.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (April/May/June/July)
04/07 - Cheers - The Complete Series (2020 Release)
04/14 - Police Squad! - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
04/14 - The Righteous Gemstones - The Complete First Season
04/21 - Step by Step - The Complete Seventh and Final Season (WBShop.com)
05/05 - Kidding - Season 2
05/19 - The Good Place - The Final (Fourth) Season
05/19 - The Good Place - The Complete Series - Collector's Edition (Blu-ray)
05/26 - Silicon Valley - The Complete Sixth and Final Season
05/26 - Silicon Valley - The Complete Series
06/02 - Work in Progress - Season 1
06/09 - Head of the Class - The Complete First Season (WBShop.com)
06/09 - How to Be a Gentleman - The Complete Series
06/09 - Letterkenny - Seasons 3 & 4
06/09 - Modern Family - The Eleventh and Final Season
06/09 - No Activity - Season 1
06/09 - Superior Donuts - Season Two
06/23 - Bob's Burgers - The Complete 10th Season
06/23 - Fresh Off the Boat - The Complete Sixth and Final Season
06/23 - Last Man Standing - The Complete Seventh Season
06/23 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Third Season (Blu-ray)
06/30 - Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season Seven
07/07 - Will & Grace - The Revival - Season Three - The Farewell Season
07/21 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Tenth Season
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