Fri-Yay: Fox Cancels Bless the Harts, Leaving Questions About Animated Block; Variety and Lifetime Presents Power of Women Comedians

Friday, April 09, 2021

Fri-Yay: Fox Cancels Bless the Harts, Leaving Questions About Animated Block; Variety and Lifetime Presents Power of Women Comedians

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

It's not May just yet, but we're already getting some renewals and cancelations as networks begin looking towards the 2021-2022 TV season. And the most recent cancelation was Bless the Harts, the sophomore Fox comedy series that has been occupying the much-maligned 7:30 slot this spring. Bless the Harts was a so-so ratings performer last year but won a second season renewal as it managed to maintain a decent enough audience, and Fox is likely looking for possible future animated anchors in the case that long-running The Simpsons, Family Guy and Bob's Burgers decide to end their run. Fox's Animated block is still a valuable piece of network TV real estate, drawing decent young male viewership and being very popular in cable syndication.

Still, it seems Bless the Harts will not be part of that block any longer. While the series never quite became what I'd call "great," it was enjoyable enough with some flashes of promise. Fox seems to be much more confident in The Great North, a freshman comedy series from Bob's Burgers creator Loren Bouchard. Bouchard now produces two of Fox's animated sitcoms, and perhaps Fox is trying to turn him into what Seth MacFarlane was for the network back in the 2000s and early 2010s, when he had Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show all in the animated block. It's too bad Bless the Harts couldn't stick around longer and pave the way of the animated block's future, but it'll be interesting to see if there's any more shifts in one of the last reliable blocks of network comedy left on TV.

Lifetime Presents Variety's Power of Women The Comedians

Variety and Lifetime announced the one-hour special Lifetime Presents Variety's Power of Women The Comedians which will premiere on Monday, May 10 at 8PM ET/PT on Lifetime. The special will be timed to Variety's Power of Women issue, which hits newsstands on Wednesday, May 5. The honorees will all appear on the cover of the issue. Additional content from the special will air on Variety.com and social media channels. The special will honor the comedic impact of Emmy nominated Writer, Actor and Producer Mindy Kaling, Multiple Emmy Award-Winning Actor and Saturday Night Live legend Maya Rudolph, Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe-Winning Actor and Producer Julia Louis-Dreyfus, SAG Award-Winning and Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated Actor Sofía Vergara, BAFTA Award-Winning Actor, Writer, Director and Producer Michaela Coel, and Emmy Award-winning Saturday Night Live Actor Kate McKinnon. Each honoree will be interviewed by a close family member or friend - including Aidy Bryant, Bowen Yang, Nastasha Lyonne, Luis Balaguer, and Charlie Hall.

Previous Power of Women honorees include Cate Blanchett, Patti LuPone, Janelle Monae, Brie Larson, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Aniston, Laverne Cox, Jennifer Garner, Tiffany Haddish, Gigi Hadid, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Nicole Kidman, Blake Lively, Helen Mirren and Natalie Portman, among others.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, September 29

Young Sheldon - "Four Hundred Cartons of Undeclared Cigarettes and a Niblingo" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
George Sr. bails Meemaw and Georgie out of jail. Also, Sheldon and Missy meet Mandy (Emily Osment), and Mary feels unwelcome at church.

Ghosts - "Spies" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Sam enlists the Ghosts to help secure a good review from an overly critical couple staying at the B&B. Also, Isaac tries to integrate Nigel into his friend group.

Welcome to Flatch - "Welcome to (Barb) Flatch" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Kelley is changing diapers; Cheryl and Joe are raising baby chickens; Shrub is courting Beth; Barb Flatch makes a triumphant return to her hometown to shake things up.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Ken Jennings" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Kat is seated next to "Jeopardy!" contestant Ken Jennings on her flight home; Kat discovers some significant changes have been made to the cafe by Randi and Phil; Max has returned home from his time in Nashville.

Atlanta - "Light Skinned-ed" (FX, 10:00PM ET/PT)
My family is so crazy we need our own reality TV show. How you still got beef from the 70's? Whew. And y'all need to stop flirting with people's daddy.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 26)

Thursday, September 29

George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - Catch George on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Billy Eichner (Friends from College/Difficult People/Parks and Recreation) - Billy appears on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. Billy appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Kelly is a guest on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso will be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Jim Rash (Community/Help Me Help You/Thanks/Katie Joplin) - Jim appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
MC Lyte (Partners in Rhyme/Half & Half) - MC shares her journey from rapper and entrepreneur to actress in the new sitcom Partners in Rhyme on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Nick stops by to chat about his new stand-up comedy special, Little Big Boy, on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jurnee Smollett (Wanda at Large/On Our Own) - Jurnee talks about her new film Lou on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Drew Carey (The Drew Carey Show/The Good Life) - Drew talks about The Price Is Right Anniversary on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That.../Divorce/Sex and the City/Square Pegs), Bette Midler (Bette) and Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill/Veronica's Closet) - Sarah, Bette and Kathy talk about Hocus Pocus 2 on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.