Ted Lasso Returns July 23, Mark Your Calendars; ABC Comedies Season Finale Dates

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Ted Lasso Returns July 23, Mark Your Calendars; ABC Comedies Season Finale Dates

Apple unveiled the premiere date and teaser trailer for the highly anticipated second season of comedy sensation Ted Lasso, which will make its global debut on Friday, July 23, 2021 on Apple TV+. The broadly acclaimed, hit series has already been renewed for a third season ahead of its season two premiere. Ted Lasso recently triumphed at the 2021 Critics Choice Awards sweeping every category it was nominated in and securing wins for Best Comedy Series, Best Actor for Jason Sudeikis and Best Supporting Actress for Hannah Waddingham. Since its debut in August 2020, the beloved comedy has continued to be recognized with a multitude of awards and nominations, recently earning Jason Sudeikis a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award in the Best Comedy Actor category. The series also landed two Writers Guild Awards for Best New Series and Best Comedy Series, nominations from the Producers Guild of America for Comedy Series, as well as honors from many other guild and critics groups. "Ted Lasso" was also the only comedy series honored as an AFI Program of the Year and has regularly appeared on television critics' "Best of 2020" lists.

Apple's Ted Lasso stars Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer. Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed star alongside Sudeikis in the ensemble cast who are joined in season two by Sarah Niles. In addition to starring, Sudeikis serves as executive producer, alongside Bill Lawrence via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Content. Doozer's Jeff Ingold also serves as an executive producer with Liza Katzer as co-executive producer. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly, and is based on the pre-existing format and characters from NBC Sports.

Home Economics

ABC's Wednesday comedies will all have their season finales on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 from 8-10pm with The Goldbergs, Home Economics, The Conners and Call Your Mother. In fact, The Goldbergs and Home Economics are new every Wednesday from now to their finales. The Conners and Call Your Mother are preempted next week (April 28) for the Presidential Address to Congress and the following week on May 5 are back-to-back The Conners repeats from 9-10pm. The Goldbergs is one of the rare scripted shows this season that will have a full 22 episode season. Home Economics has 7 episodes, with The Conners having 20 and Call Your Mother having 13. As for ABC's Tuesday comedies black-ish and mixed-ish, their finales are set for Tuesday, May 18 from 9-10pm. Both will be new every week until then except on May 4 when repeats are airing. black-ish has the second most episodes for ABC comedies this season with 21 episodes, while mixed-ish has 13 episodes. ABC has not announced yet what will air on May 25 and May 26, since the comedies are not ending on the last week of the broadcast TV season. We are hoping for the next Live in Front of a Studio Audience special on one of those dates. Stay tuned!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, July 9

Shifting Gears - "Gummies" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Riley is horrified when she finds weed gummies in Carter’s pocket, prompting surprising advice from Matt. Meanwhile, Eve inadvertently lands Gabriel and Stitch in hot water after asking them to donate to a charity auction.

Shifting Gears - "Kiss" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Jimmy returns with a new job and a proposition for Riley and the kids to move into his house, Riley is torn between her past and her future. Meanwhile, Matt's feud with Eve flares up once again after she damages his car.

Abbott Elementary - "Volunteers" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Ava announces the school district is sending a group of volunteers to help out at Abbott; however, when they arrive, things don’t go as planned.

Abbott Elementary - "100th Day of School" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
During Abbott’s 100th day of school celebrations, Barbara receives a surprise from her daughter. Melissa, Jacob and Mr. Johnson join forces to conduct a search party.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "The Gang F***s Up Abbott Elementary" (FXX and FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Months after the Gang visited, Abbott's Principal Ava walks viewers through some of the unseen footage of the Gang's volunteerism and reveals their true intentions.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - "Frank Is in a Coma" (FXX and FX, 9:33PM ET/PT)
The five stages of grief set in for Dee as Frank lies on his deathbed; the Guys plot their new path forward by pitching their business ventures to Philadelphia's elite.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of July 7)

Wednesday, July 9

Anthony Anderson (black-ish/Guys with Kids/All About the Andersons) - Anthony guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Salma Hayek Pinault (The Sinbad Show) - Watch Salma on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Richie Moriarty (Ghosts), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Richie, Betsy and Punam are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika sits down with the Tam Fam to talk about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama a repeat of Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Isabela Merced (100 Things to Do Before High School/Growing Up Fisher) - Isabela chats about her film Superman on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Justin Bartha (The New Normal/Teachers) - Anna and Justin discuss their film Nuked on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory) - Simon talks about Peacock's Poker Face on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.