Fri-Yay: 2021 Emmy Nominations Heavy on New Comedies, Light on Traditional Sitcoms; That Damn Michael Che Gets a Second Season

Friday, July 23, 2021

Fri-Yay: 2021 Emmy Nominations Heavy on New Comedies, Light on Traditional Sitcoms; That Damn Michael Che Gets a Second Season

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!

2021 Emmy Nominations - Comedy Series

by Vincent

The 2021 Emmy nominations were announced last week, and there are six series up for the Outstanding Comedy Series nominations. Those series are: black-ish, Cobra Kai, Emily in Paris, Hacks, The Flight Attendant, The Kominsky Method, Pen15 and Ted Lasso. If you haven't heard of most of these shows, you may not be alone - almost all of these series are either new or haven't been nominated previously. It's a fresh group of new nominees now that previous Emmy favorites like Modern Family, The Good Place, and Schitt's Creek have ended, and other favorites like Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel did not produce episodes during the eligibility period this year. Not only is it heavy on new series, but it's light on what one might call traditional sitcoms. Really, only black-ish can be called a traditional comedy, while the other shows are more in the "dramedy" category.

Because of this, it's really hard to guess which shows will win the Outstanding Comedy Series award. Traditionally, the Emmys like to award traditional comedies over "dramadies", although that's been changing with shows like Fleabag and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel taking home the top prize in recent years. Furthermore, not a single series nominated has previously won the award (although black-ish has been nominated many times). It sort of feels like a year where the Emmys struggled to pick series to get behind - reflecting what an overall down year it's been for sitcoms. It'll be interesting to see which direction the Emmys go in, because at this point I truly have no idea.

That Damn Michael Che

HBO Max has renewed the Max Original comedy series That Damn Michael Che for a second season. The series debuted in May of this year and stars Michael Che (Saturday Night Live). Season one is available to stream now. Season one of this groundbreaking new original comedy series uses sketches and vignettes to illustrate what it feels like to experience various everyday situations including racial profiling, unemployment, falling in love and more, from Michael's perspective.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, September 10

The Hospital - "Imposter Syndrome/Scrub Money" (BET, 11:00PM ET/PT)
The worst hospital in America, run by the worst doctors and nurses imaginable.

The Hospital - "Blood Type/Home Remedy Roulette" (BET, 11:30PM ET/PT)
The worst hospital in America, run by the worst doctors and nurses imaginable.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 8)

Wednesday, September 10

Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle/The Louie Show) - Watch Bryan on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Christopher Lloyd (Taxi/Stacked) - Christopher appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Stephen Curry (Mr. Throwback) - Stephen stops by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He will also be on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am, in the 9am hour, and in the 10am hour.
Jennifer Aniston (Friends/Muddling Through/Ferris Bueller/Molloy) - Jennifer is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Josh Gad (Wolf Like Me/Avenue 5/The Comedians/1600 Penn/Back to You) - Josh appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Paramount's Adulthood on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
Sunita Mani (Government Cheese/No Activity/GLOW) - Sunita is a guest on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Lumi Pollack, Carmen Sanchez and Ruby Marino (Electric Bloom) - Lumi, Carmen and Ruby talk about Electric Bloom on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Christopher Gorham (2 Broke Girls/Out of Practice) - Christopher talks about Tempest on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Mark Duplass (Big Mouth/Togetherness/The Mindy Project/The League) - Mark talks about The Morning Show on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Christopher Guest (Family Tree/Morton & Hayes), Michael McKean (Laverne & Shirley), Harry Shearer (The Simpsons) and Rob Reiner (All in the Family/Morton & Hayes) - Christopher, Michael, Harry and Rob talk about Spinal Tap II: the End Continues on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Queen Latifah (Living Single) - NBC's Today catches up with Queen Latifah in the 10am hour.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Michael Douglas (The Kominsky Method) - Drew is chatting with father-son duo Michael and Cameron Douglas on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Fred Grandy, Ted Lange and Jill Whelan (The Love Boat) - Fred, Ted and Jill are guests on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.