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

Friday, February 21, 2020

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

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

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.

Bigger

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

Wednesday, March 19

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Audit" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Ava and the teachers must band together to hide the golf-course contraband.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 17)

Wednesday, March 19

Lauren Graham (The Z-Suite/M.Y.O.B./Conrad Bloom/Townies/Good Company) - Watch Lauren on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Danielle Brooks (Close Enough) - Danielle appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Dove Cameron (Schmigadoon!/Liv and Maddie) - Dove appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Drew is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Paula Pell (Girls5eva/Mapleworth Murders/A.P. Bio) - Paula appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Danny Pudi (Going Dutch/Mythic Quest/Powerless/Community), Jessie Ennis (Mythic Quest) and Ashly Burch (Final Space) - Danny, Jessie and Ashly are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Anthony Carrigan (Barry) - Anthony appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen), Ben Stiller (Arrested Development) and Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Nick, Ben and Quinta are guests on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
Tyler Lepley (Harlem) - Tyler talks about Tyler Perry’s Duplicity on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John talks about Bob Trevino Likes It on ABC News Live Prime at 7pm.
Daniel Stern (Shrill/Danny/Dilert/The Wonder Years) - Daniel talks about Home and Alone on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh talks about Happy Face on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - NBC's Today catches up with Dennis in the 9am hour.
Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley is joining Drew and telling her about why he hates when people wear sweatpants and his 2025 goal of cleaning less on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jessica Hecht (Red Oaks/What About Joan?/The Single Guy) - Jessica is a guest on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:05am.
Drew Sidora (Mind Your Business/The Game/That's So Raven) - Drew appears on New York Living on WPIX in New York at 10:30am.