Fri-Yay: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ending After 8 Seasons; HBO Max Orders Comedy from Issa Rae

Friday, February 12, 2021

Fri-Yay: Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ending After 8 Seasons; HBO Max Orders Comedy from Issa Rae

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

Well, it's official: Brooklyn Nine-Nine will be ending after its 8th season. In a way, this news isn't surprising, considering NBC seems to be moving in a new direction with its comedy series - Superstore was previously announced as ending, and the two shows had very similar vibes and ratings. Additionally, unlike when Fox abruptly cancelled the show after Season 5, the shows' creators seem to be amically ending the series along with the network, feeling that the show has run its course. Both creatively and commercially, it's an understandable decision. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was still a great show, but it was clear that it was starting to lose some ideas for its main characters, with each character beginning to reach a natural endpoint. And after a solid-rated Season 6, the ratings dropped in Season 7. Plus, after the turmoil of 2020, it's questionable whether or not people still want to laugh at a sitcom about police officers.

Still, Brooklyn Nine-Nine ending means one less network sitcom in a world that's already getting a bit short on them. With both Superstore and Brooklyn Nine-Nine gone soon, the future is a question mark for acclaimed and fan beloved network comedies. Will anything step up to take their place? There are some solid new sitcoms on broadcast TV still, but none really rise to the level that either of those two hit. Mr. Mayor shows promise, but isn't there yet - and will it even be a part of NBC's new regime? Still, I'm interested to see where Brooklyn Nine-Nine takes its characters in its final season. Will it address the policing controversies of 2020? How will things end up for the characters? Hopefully, all of those questions will be answered in the final run of 10 episodes, which has been delayed until the 2021-2022 season (the pandemic means Brooklyn Nine-nine will sit the 2020-2021 TV season out completely.)

Issa Rae

HBO Max has given an eight-episode order to the half-hour comedy series Rap Sh*t (working title) from Issa Rae (HBO's Insecure and A Black Lady Sketch Show), with Syreeta Singleton (Insecure, Central Park) serving as executive producer and showrunner, and hip hop duo Yung Miami and JT of City Girls serving as co-executive producers. Rap Sh*t (wt) follows two estranged high school friends from Miami who reunite to form a rap group. Rap Sh*t (wt) will be executive produced by Issa Rae and Montrel McKay (A Black Lady Sketch Show, Road Trippp) for HOORAE, as well as Jonathan Berry (Insecure) and Dave Becky (Master of None, Russian Dolls) for 3 Arts Entertainment, along with showrunner Syreeta Singleton, with Rae also writing the pilot. Hip hop duo Yung Miami and JT of City Girls serve as co-executive producers, along with Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre "P" Thomas for Quality Control Films and Sara Rastogi for HOORAE. Rae's audio content company Raedio will handle music supervision for the series. Casting is currently underway. Production is scheduled to begin this summer.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Sunday, December 22

Bob's Burgers - "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When the power goes out two days before Christmas, The Belchers must spend the holiday at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge.

Krapopolis - "Krapocalypse" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Tyrannis is stuck in a time loop trying to save the city.

The Simpsons - "The Man Who Flew Too Much" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The new and improved Pin Pals travel to Capital City for their first ever state bowling championship.

Universal Basic Guys - "The Devil You Know" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Mark insists on teaching his son Darren how to throw a handmade boomerang that was gifted to Darren by his father; the two soon find themselves on a trek deep into the Jersey woods; David is the recipient of a sex doll that he swears he didn't order.

The Great North - "The Lies Aquatic Adventure" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
While Beef is away, the Tobin fishing boat goes missing; the Tobin siblings wildly speculate on what could have happened.

Krapopolis - "National Lampoon's The Odyssey!" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The family takes a vacation to Storgos for Shlub's mother's birthday.

Bob Hearts Abishola - "Full-Frontal Dottie" (The CW, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Excited by her physical therapy progress, Dottie insists she is ready to return to MaxDot, much to Bob, Douglas and Christina's dismay.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 16)

Friday, December 20

Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Watch Jason on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Sharon Horgan (Bad Sisters/HouseBroken/Catastrophe) - Sharon is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Dwayne Johnson (Young Rock) - Dwayne appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Colton Dunn (Superstore) and Diona Reasonover (Clipped) - Colton and Diona are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - NBC's Today catches up with Zachary in the 9am hour.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy talks about Mufasa: The Lion King on NBC's Today in the 10am hour. He can also be heard on The Morning Mash Up on SiriusXM.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry talks about The Six Triple Eight on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am and on Sherri, so check your local listings.
James Marsden (30 Rock) and Ben Schwartz (The Afterparty/Space Force/Parks and Recreation) - James and Ben talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jamie Lee Curtis (The Sticky/Anything But Love/Operation Petticoat) - Jamie Lee chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Whitney Cummings (Whitney) - Whitney talks about Max's Fast Friends on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Access Daily with Mario & Kit has the best of Henry and Kit Hoover, so check your local listings.
Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - The Talk celebrates 15 seasons with a special finale episode; friend of the show Howie Mandel makes his 21st appearance on the show when he stops by one last time with a surprise for the hosts on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.