Friday, March 19, 2021
Fri-Yay: Evaluating the 2020-2021 Freshman Sitcom Class; Damon Wayans Jr. to Star in TBS Pilot Kill the Orange-Faced Bear

by Vincent
Believe it or not, in just a few short months we will be at the end of the 2020-2021 TV season. It's certainly been a non-traditional season, and while the TV season has long been a window of time that's evaportated someone in the advent of cable and streaming services, it feels even less relevant in the time of COVID, where most shows were delayed and some shows, indeed, still haven't returned. Still, it seems like a good time to evaluate the freshman class of sitcoms. And, frankly, it's a fairly uninspiring class. Some of it could be blamed on COVID causing less pilots to be finished in time to be picked up to series. Still, the new sitcoms on broadcast TV this fall don't inspire a lot of long-term confidence.
The buzziest new shows belong to NBC, as Young Rock and Kenan both come from established names. Unsurprisingly, Young Rock in particular has drummed up the most interest of any new sitcom - and yet still, the show's ratings and buzz have fallen quite a bit from where they premiered several weeks ago. Other freshman series include Call Your Mother on ABC and Call Me Kat on FOX. Call Me Kat attracted some eyeballs early on, but like Young Rock, those ratings have largely faded. And Call Your Mother has not done particularly well, either, and has attracted very little critical acclaim or buzz.
Overall, it's yet another disappointing year for broadcast TV sitcoms. With broadcast television increasingly relying more and more on unscripted hits to weather the tide of falling TV ratings, we are desperately in need for a well-made sitcom to steer the changing tides.

TBS announced that it has cast Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings, Let's Be Cops), Jessy Hodges (Indebted, Barry), Alex Karpovsky (Homecoming, Girls), and Nate Torrence (Hello Ladies, Weird Loners) in its upcoming scripted comedy pilot, Kill the Orange-Faced Bear. The pilot is scheduled to begin shooting in Portland in May. Kill the Orange-Faced Bear is a comedy pilot about one man's epic revenge journey after a bear eats his girlfriend. Damon Wayans Jr. will play Hank, the charming, funny and grieving man who's hell-bent on tracking down the bear who attacked his girlfriend on a camping trip. We'll follow his side of the story as well as the bear's, who is just trying to move on from the incident and navigate the other idiot bears in her life. Jessy Hodges will play Stacy, Hank's late girlfriend, as well Jamie, her twin sister with a confusing secret. Alex Karpovsky is Ronnie, an oddball park ranger who has a score to settle with Hank. Nate Torrance is Murray, Hank's best friend and boyfriend to Jamie, who is just trying to keep everyone together.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Sunday, October 26
Krapopolis - "Ty Died" (Fox, 7:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ty is tired of his family thinking he's not important enough to be assassinated.
The Simpsons - "Treehouse of Horror XXXV" (Fox, 7:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Giant monsters created by political rage threaten to tear the town apart; a Victorian Mr. Burns is jump-scared on Thanksgiving by the ghosts of his abused workers; Homer bonds with a pair of extra-terrestrial jeans.
The Simpsons - "Men Behaving Manly" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Springfield's men are in crisis.
Universal Basic Guys - "Down the Shore" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
The Hoagies go down the shore; Tammy tries to make amends with her estranged sister.
Krapopolis - "There's Something About Viscera" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Shlub's Endless Wine, Cheese, and Pita Festival causes a famine; Stupendous and Deliria have a girls weekend.
Bob's Burgers - "The Skids in the Hall" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Louise and Gene try to help Tina clear her name after she is fired as a hall monitor.
Electric Bloom - "How We (Sorta) Got Our First Big Break: Part One" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The girls get a potentially life-changing audition, but get asked to perform at a wedding at the exact same time; what do they do?
Electric Bloom - "How We (Sorta) Got Our First Big Break: Part Two" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Electric Bloom gets the opportunity of a lifetime, to meet with a famous music producer; the experience is not at all what they expected.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 20)
Sunday, October 26
- Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Catch Glen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
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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