Friday, August 28, 2020

Fri-Yay: Another Sitcom Lookback - Cheers; ABC and NBC Alter Fall 2020 Schedules

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!

Cheers

by Vincent

Since it's a slow time for new sitcoms (both because of the summer and because of the pandemic causing a shortage of new sitcom content), I thought I'd look back at another sitcom of the past that I'm rewatching and finding holds up extremely well. That sitcom is Cheers, one of the biggest sitcoms of the 20th century and also one of the most acclaimed. Cheers is a show I haven't watched in some time, so rewatching the series has really reminded me just how nearly every sitcom made after it can trace its lineage back to the bar where everyone knows your name. Not necessarily in terms of joke structure (Cheers is a very funny show, but it's more rooted in the humor of the '80s and '90s and not the more modern sitcom type humor that was developed in the '00s) but in terms of its character development. Cheers has some of the best and most subtle character development I've ever seen in a sitcom. Character development in sitcoms is trickier than dramas, because the comfort of a sitcom means everything has to (seemingly) remain the same. The humor comes from the familiar situation of the show's situation. And yet, for a sitcom to remain fresh, the best ones do try to push their characters forward, but have to do so gradually.

I think any fan of Cheers would agree the characters in Season 11 were not quite the same people as the characters at the start - they had grown and changed, but they were still recognizably their archetypes. That's because Cheers very slowly evolved its characters over the course of its run. There weren't any real shocking plot twists or huge events happening, but the day-to-day doldrums of life and evolution of their relationships gradually pushed their characters to new places. And I would argue nearly every great sitcom after it - be it Friends or The Office or Parks and Recreation or Community - evolved their characters in similar ways. Prior to Cheers, there were far less sitcoms that had their eye on the gradual character development, but it's become an important part of sitcoms going forward. And as I'm watching Cheers, I'm reminded of just how character development in a sitcom can be done right.


Supermarket Sweep

Yesterday we had some changes for CBS and Fox, now we have some changes for Fall 2020 for ABC and NBC. ABC unveiled its fall unscripted premiere dates. Details for the network's scripted series premiere dates will be shared at a later time and will likely have October/November premieres for many of its series. ABC has slotted five nights of programming for September/October, joining the previously announced Dancing with the Stars, which will launch Monday, Sept. 14 from 8-10pm. Game show favorites Celebrity Family Feud, Press Your Luck and Match Game return with the back half of their seasons, with the first half having aired on Sundays earlier this summer. They will move to Thursdays and resume on Thursday, Sept. 24 from 8-11pm until TGIT dramas are ready later this fall. A dramatic new season of The Bachelorette debuts Tuesday, October 13 from 8-10pm. An all-new season of Shark Tank kicks off on Friday, October 16 at 8pm. And finally, Sundays will be more Fun & Games with new series Supermarket Sweep hosted by Leslie Jones joining the Sunday lineup at 8pm, right after an all-new season of AFV. At 9pm, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Jimmy Kimmel returns for a second season followed by the second season of Card Sharks with Joel McHale at 10pm - all premiering Sunday, October 18 from 7-11pm. No date yet for $100,000 Pyramid with Michael Strahan, which also started production this week. Stay tuned for the scripted premiere dates.

NBC

NBC is celebrating a November to remember as America's most-loved dramas make their highly anticipated season debuts the week of Nov. 9-13, including a two-hour premiere of This Is Us (Nov. 10, 9-11pm) and all three Chicago series (Nov. 11, 8-11pm). In addition, Law & Order: SVU (Nov. 12, 9pm) will return for its record-extending 22nd season that same week, along with the eighth season of The Blacklist (Nov. 13, 8pm), starring James Spader and Megan Boone. But comedy will launch first! For scripted comedy, executive producer Martin Gero will debut his new scripted comedy Connecting ... on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 8:30pm. The series is about a group of friends trying to stay close (and sane) through video chats as they share the highs and lows of these extraordinary times. Superstore, where Cloud 9's unique family of employees work together and share nearly everything about their personal lives as well, returns for its sixth season on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 8pm. On to reality, the four-time Emmy Award-winning musical competition series The Voice, with coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, as well as host Carson Daly, will be back in its swiveling red chairs on Monday, Oct. 19 8-10pm and return for the second night of its season debut on Tuesday, Oct. 20 (8-10pm premiere, then 8-9pm). Host Jane Lynch will kick off the first episode of the worldwide global phenom Weakest Link when the show debuts Monday, Sept. 28 at 10pm. Ellen's Game of Games, one of the most fun shows on all of television, returns Tuesday, Oct. 6 for a two-hour premiere from 8-10 p.m. before shifting the following week on Oct. 13 to its normal 9-10 p.m. timeslot for a few weeks.

The Wall and American Ninja Warrior will air for three weeks starting Wednesday, Oct. 21, before the Chicago series return. Ninja will start off on Mondays, as previously announced, before moving to Wednesdays when The Voice returns. Returning series set to debut after Jan. 1 include Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Good Girls, Making It, Manifest, New Amsterdam and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. New series set to launch in 2021 include Kenan, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Mr. Mayor, That's My Jam, Small Fortune, True Story, Who Do You Think You Are? and Young Rock.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Monday, December 11

American Dad! - "A Little Extra Scratch" (TBS, 10:00PM ET/PT)
A CIA agent does anything to protect his homeland and family.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 11)

Monday, December 11

  • George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - Watch George on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Kumail Nanjiani (Bless the Harts/Silicon Valley) - Kumail appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark) - Olivia is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Kal Penn (The Santa Clauses/Sunnyside/We Are Men) - Kal guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
  • Howie Mandel (Good Grief), John Mendoza (The Second Half), Don Curry (Grace Under Fire) and Jimmie Walker (Good Times/At Ease/Bustin' Loose) - Howie, John, Don and Jimmie are guests on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
  • Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!/Friends from College/Playing House/Gary Unmarried) - Drew is on location in London to chat with the cast of Wonka including Keegan-Michael on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian talks about Bookie on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela discusses her comedy tour on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
  • Glen Powell (Scream Queens) and Sydney Sweeney (Everything Sucks!) - Glen and Syndey talk about Anyone But You on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
  • The Cast of Taxi - The View celebrates the iconic television series Taxi, welcoming stars Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Carol Kane, Tony Danza, Marilu Henner and Christopher Lloyd for an exclusive reunion marking 45 years since the beloved series premiered. The View airs on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)

Family Matters - The Complete Series Step by Step - The Complete Series ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

12/11 - 2023 Christmas Con NJ Recap; Ray Romano Gets Netflix Comedy
12/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of December 11, 2023)
12/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Norman Lear; Fox to Air M*A*S*H Retrospective
12/08 - CBS Norman Lear Tribute Special Tonight (December 8); Peacock Renews Twisted Metal
12/07 - Harlem Renewed for Season 3; Netflix Orders Drama Ransom Canyon
12/06 - Remembering TV Legend Norman Lear; Critics Choice Awards Nominees
12/05 - Who's the Boss? Now on Hulu; The CW Announces New Series Wild Cards
12/04 - The Upshaws Renewed for Season Prior to Season 5 Launch; Fox Holiday Movie with Justin Long
12/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of December 4, 2023)
12/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Bob ♥ Abishola Coming to an End; Only Murders in the Building Gets Limited Run on ABC
12/01 - Abbott Elementary Post-Oscars Airing, Only Murders on ABC; Remembering Frances Sternhagen, Marty Krofft and Others We Recently Lost
11/30 - Bob ♥ Abishola Ending After This Season; NBC Renews Rookie Dramas
11/29 - Antenna TV January 2024 Schedule; Max December Comedy Specials
11/28 - Prime Video's Hazbin Hotel; Lacey Chabert Gets Hallmark Unscripted Series
11/27 - Sundance Now Gets Original Comedy; Hallmark Original Returns for Season 2 in January
11/26 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 27, 2023)
11/25 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Kelsey Grammer Ready to Do 100 Episodes of Frasier; TBS Cancels Miracle Workers
11/24 - Fox Winter 2024 Schedule; An Evening From the Heart John Ritter Foundation NYC 2023 Event
11/23 - 2023 Thanksgiving TV Marathons
11/22 - Kerry Washington's UnPrisoned Gets Season 2; Classic Comedy Shorts Celebrate 40th Anniversary
11/21 - NBC Winter 2024 Schedule; Netflix Renews Rob Lowe Comedy
11/20 - BUZZR Celebrates Bob Barker's 100th Birthday; Ted Prequel Series on Peacock Gets Premiere Date
11/19 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 20, 2023)
11/18 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Young Sheldon Coming to an End After Seven Seasons; The CW International Sitcom Approach Not Going So Well
11/17 - ABC Winter 2024 Schedule; CBS Celebrates 98th Birthday of Dick Van Dyke
11/16 - Whoa Mama! Urkel Is Back for the Holidays!; Hulu Gets Such Brave Girls Comedy
11/15 - COZI TV's A Very COZI Christmas Schedule; Young Sheldon to End This Season on CBS
11/14 - CBS Winter 2024 Schedule; The CW Pulls 2 Comedies
11/13 - Antenna TV 2023 Holiday Marathons Schedule; Rewind TV 2023 Holiday Marathons Schedule
11/12 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of November 13, 2023)
11/11 - SitcomsOnline Digest: SAG-AFTRA Strike Finally Ends; New Digital TV Broadcast Networks Coming