Friday, February 21, 2020
Fri-Yay: Single Parents Quietly Becoming ABC's Best Sitcom; BET+ Gets Bigger with Comedy

by Vincent
ABC is generally very good at developing sitcoms, but it's been a while since they've had a knock-it-out-of-the-park show. They've hit a level where they can churn out fairly decent sitcoms faster than any other network, but since the era of black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat I haven't fell in love with any of their new offerings the way I did with shows like those or The Middle. However, Single Parents has very quietly been getting better over the course of its run, to the point where I'd now call it quietly one of the best sitcoms on TV.
Single Parents is in its second season, and when it started it was a likable but ho-hum family sitcom. Over the course of its two seasons, though, the show has progressive been getting a little more interesting, exploring topics such as sexuality and family in interesting ways and also becoming funnier and more cutting with its humor. The show is created by former New Girl writer JJ Philbin (daughter of Regis), and you can feel some of that show's likable character humor with an edge creeping into Single Parents slowly but surely. Like many ABC sitcoms of recent years, it's fairly basic in structure but is taking some real creative risks that are causing it to be the type of show you definitely want to keep an eye on. Unfortunately, like many great sitcoms of recent times, the ratings aren't great - so hopefully ABC sees a developing gem and sticks with it.

BET+ announced the second season pickup of the Will Packer and Will Packer Media executive produced series, Bigger. The provocative comedy created by Felischa Marye will continue to stream exclusively on BET+. Returning series regulars include Tanisha Long (Layne Roberts), Angell Conwell (Veronica Yates), Rasheda Crockett (Tracey Davis), Chase Anthony (Deon Lewis), and Tristen Winger (Vince Carpenter). The full first season of Bigger is currently available to stream on BET+. Production specifics and the premiere date are forthcoming.
Season one of Bigger follows Layne, a single-black-woman and her close-knit group of 30-somethings as they navigate love, friendships, career ambitions, and the journey to getting BIGGER, together. When a college acquaintance suddenly dies, the group is forced to take a deeper look at their messy lives, while asking themselves - is this it or is there something bigger and better?
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Saturday, May 16
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 11)
Friday, May 15
- Goldie Hawn (Good Morning World) - Watch Goldie on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Asif Ali (Deli Boys/Wrecked/Mr. Robinson) and Saagar Shaikh (Deli Boys) - Asif and Ali are guests on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- 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.
- John Krasinski (The Office) - John talks about Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Lisa Ann Walter (Abbott Elementary/Emeril) - Lisa talks about Abbott Elementary and Lisa Ann Walter: It Was an Accident with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew and Ross are covering the headlines with pals Valerie and Nate Berkus on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Belmont Cameli (Saved by the Bell (2020-2021) - Belmont and Ella Bright talk about Off Campus on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton co-hosts NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
- Jackie Tohn (Nobody Wants This/GLOW) - NBC's Today catches up with Jackie in the 10am hour.
- Y'lan Noel (Insecure) - Y'lan talks about Netflix's Nemesis on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
11/04/25 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11/25 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02/25 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16/25 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16/25 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
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