Friday, June 12, 2020

Fri-Yay: Rick and Morty Season 4; HBO Max Orders 2nd Season of Love Life

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!

Rick and Morty

by Vincent

As we enter the summer months, sitcoms on TV are increasingly rare to find, and more so now than we're entering a COVID age. So I thought I'd spend this column talking about Rick and Morty, an animated comedy that technically doesn't fit the sitcom bill, but is still one of the most popular comedic shows on TV today. Rick and Morty is Adult Swim's flagship series, a time travel, sci-fi sitcom from the minds of Justin Roiland and Community creator Dan Harmon. The series quickly grew to extreme popularity, with it becoming Adult Swim's highest-rated series of all time by its third season. And yet, the show has only produced 4 seasons and 40 episodes since being on the air in 2014, a slow rollout schedule that has somewhat complicated its' fans fervent relationship with it. Granted, TV is gradually moving towards more sporadic releases rather than the clockwork-like scheduling it adhered to for years, but this seems like a lot even for that.

Rick and Morty's fourth season was split up into two 5-episode short seasons, one airing in late 2019 and one starting in May, just finishing last week. The season overall was very solid, with some highlight episodes that could stand up with the best of the series, as well as some disappointing episodes - fairly standard for a comedy in its fourth season. But given the sporadic release schedule and how every episode now feels like an event, getting a "regular old" season feels a bit disappointing. And the show seems to be starting to recycle some of the same patterns (Rick is a jerk, kind of learns that he shouldn't be, then goes back to being a jerk again). This season also moved away from the long-term storytelling that marked much of its second and third seasons. Still, for all of these flaws, Rick and Morty remained one of the funniest and move inventive comedies, even if it's not quite as perfect as it was at the start, and still made me wish and hope we can start getting episodes on a more consistent basis.


Love Life

HBO Max announced that it has picked up its first scripted original series Love Life for a second season. Audiences love Love Life, the romantic comedy anthology series from Lionsgate Television that has quickly become one of the streaming platform's top performers out of all available content, and this is the first Max Original to earn a renewal. Season one stars Oscar® nominee Anna Kendrick, and its final four episodes are now available to stream on HBO Max. Season two will remain set in New York City but will focus on a new character’s journey – one which explores what happens when you've lived your whole life knowing who your soulmate is, only to find out years into a marriage that it's not the right fit at all. The new season will also cleverly key off characters in season one, and "Darby" (Anna Kendrick) will appear occasionally.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, February 17

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 17)

Monday, February 17

  • Pamela Anderson (Home Improvement/Stacked) - Pamela is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Rose Matafeo (Starstruck) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Thomas, Paul and Joe are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Kate Hudson (Running Point) and Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This/Central Park/The Good Place) - E! News has interviews with Kate and Kristen at 11pm on E!.
  • Anthony Michael Hall (The Goldbergs/Awkward/Claude's Crib) - Anthony appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Megan Hilty (Sean Saves the World) - Megan talks about Death Becomes Her on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/CafĂ© Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

02/16 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 17, 2025)
02/15 - SitcomsOnline Digest: CBS Sets Cast for Potential Backdoor Spinoff of The Neighborhood; Martha Stewart to Co-Host New NBC Cooking Competition
02/14 - FX's Dying for Sex Premieres in April on Hulu; BET+ Announces Lil Kev, Adult Animated Comedy
02/13 - Antenna TV and Rewind TV Celebrate Valentine's Day; The Handmaid's Tale Returns for Final Season
02/12 - Official Trailer for Hulu's Deli Boys; Doctor Odyssey Returns with a 2-Part Event
02/11 - Trailer for Shoresy Season 4; More Stars for SNL50: The Anniversary Special
02/10 - First Ever SNL Episode This Saturday on NBC; FX Renews English Teacher for Season 2
02/09 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 10, 2025)
02/08 - SitcomsOnline Digest: English Teacher Renewed at FX; MeTV Toons to Launch House of Hanna-Barbera Programming Block
02/07 - SNL50's Star-Studded Lineup; Adult Swim Presents Oh My God... Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances
02/06 - Prime Video Iliza Shlesinger Special; Kate Hudson Stars in Netflix Comedy
02/05 - Fox Midseason Tuesday Change; 2025 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Rosters
02/04 - NBC Summer Staples Return in Summer 2025; Gronk Guests on Animal Control
02/03 - The Conners Final Season Premieres March 26; Tyler Perry Gets 2nd Comedy Series for Netflix
02/02 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of February 3, 2025)
02/01 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Little House on the Prairie Reboot Headed to Netflix; George Sr. Set to Return on Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage
01/31 - Final Season of The Righteous Gemstones; Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell's Audible Original
01/30 - Netflix's New Little House on the Prairie Series Coming Soon; Sabrina Brier Gets Awesomeness TV Series
01/29 - MGM+ Orders Comedy Series; Peacock's Amanda Seyfried Series Premieres March 13
01/28 - Ellen Pompeo's Hulu Series Gets Premiere Date; The White Lotus Season 3 Launches February 16
01/27 - Hulu's Deli Boys Adds Tan France; Joel McHale Taking Over The 1% Club
01/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of January 27, 2025)
01/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: The Righteous Gemstones to End After Upcoming Season; Mid-Century Modern to Pay Tribute to Linda Lavin
01/24 - Prime Video George Lopez Special; Netflix Renews The Lincoln Lawyer for Season 4
01/23 - Tubi's New Comedy The Z-Suite Launches February 6; The White Lotus Renewed for Season 4
01/22 - Fox Announces Animation Domination 2025 Schedule; Abbott Elementary Renewed for Season 5
01/21 - Fox Renews Murder in a Small Town; O.J. Simpson Netflix Docuseries
01/20 - Rewind TV February 2025 Schedule; Shifting Gears and Abbott Elementary Score Big for Premieres
01/19 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of January 20, 2025)
01/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Frasier Reboot Canceled at Paramount+; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Coming to MeTV Toons
01/17 - Remembering Bob Uecker of Mr. Belvedere, Punky Brewster Creator David W. Duclon, and Others We Recently Lost
01/16 - Apple TV+ Prime Target Trailer; Apple Cider Vinegar Premieres in February on Netflix