Friday, October 16, 2020
Fri-Yay: COVID-19 Storylines on TV, Will Viewers Watch?; Antenna TV's 70 Episode Jack Benny Marathon for 70th Anniversary

by Vincent
This past week, NBC premiered the first new sitcom since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Connecting..., a sitcom shot remotely about a group of friends meeting through video chats during quarantine. If you haven't heard of it, you might not be some: the show attracted just a bit over 1 million viewers for its premiere, low numbers even in a world where broadcast ratings continue to drop. The show will likely finish out its 8-episode order, but there's no doubt that it didn't attract much interest. Which leads me to wonder: how much will viewers want to watch the pandemic reflected back at them?
It's a fair question given many shows are planning to incorporate COVID-19 into their storylines this year, from Connecting... to Superstore to black-ish, as well as dramas like Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor. And yet, I personally think people watch TV shows as a means of escape, which includes escaping from our anxiety-ridden reality. Will viewers think the same thing? That could be part of why they didn't connect with Connecting... (despite the show actually being pretty solid, as noted in our review). As more and more shows premiere and cover COVID-19, it will be interesting to see whether viewers embrace the real life stories or whether they prefer to forget.

Antenna TV will air 70 back-to-back episodes of The Jack Benny Program starting next Saturday, October 24 to mark the program's 70th television anniversary. The 70-episode marathon will feature the best gags, guests and glares from The Jack Benny Program. First a radio program, the show's cast regularly broke the fourth wall to interact with the audience and included running jokes such as Benny's age, forever frozen at 39. The Jack Benny Program 70th anniversary marathon starts Saturday, October 24 at 10 a.m. ET and continues through 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, May 28
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Heartbreak and the Refuge of the Downtrodden" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie, Mandy and the family do their best to lift Connor’s spirits during a rough patch while Connor tries to figure out a plan for his life.
Ghosts - "T-Daddy" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Trevor’s relationship with his daughter is strained when he pushes her to follow a career in finance over poetry. Meanwhile, Jay confronts labor unrest at the restaurant.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 25)
Thursday, May 28
- Dan Levy (Big Mistakes/Schitt's Creek) - Catch Dan on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Lamorne Morris (Woke/New Girl) - Lamorne appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Chet Hanks (Running Point) - Chet is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear/Girls) - Ebon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- The Cast of Deli Boys - Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh, Poorna Jagannathan and Fred Armisen talk about Deli Boys on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. Asif and Saagar will also be on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm. NBC's Today catches up with Fred in the 9am hour. Poorna and Tan France will be on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Caroline Rhea (Sydney to the Max/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Pride & Joy) - Caroline appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Halle Berry (Living Dolls) - Halle Joins the Chat on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Hilary Duff (How I Met Your Father/Younger/Lizzie McGuire) - Drew chats with Hilary all about growing up in the spotlight, motherhood and her return to pop music with her latest album and tour on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Judith Light (Who's the Boss?/Phenom/Transparent) - Judith talks about AMC+'s The Terror: Devil in Silver on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts) - Utkarsh talks about Ghosts on a repeat of 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)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive
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