SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

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

This Sunday was a big one for Apple TV+, as it received its first Emmy award victory with Ted Lasso - and then received multiple more victories with Ted Lasso over the course of the night. The sports comedy series, which has easily been the most buzzed about comedy of the year, took home all but the Lead Actress category in the comedy column last night, including the big prize, Outstanding Comedy Series. In my mind, it's a very deserving award. Ted Lasso is an excellent show with lots of humor and heart and is easily the best comedy series currently airing.

It was a big night in general for streaming services. For the first time in its history, Netflix won the most Emmys of any streaming service or channel of the night, including taking home Outstanding Drama Series for The Crown and Outstanding Limited Series for The Queen's Gambit. It continued the overall trend of streaming services winning big and traditional channels losing out. Overall, it was another Emmys that proved the media landscape is rapidly changing.

The series premiere of the new comedy Ghosts will now have a one-hour debut, Oct. 7, 9:01-10:00 PM. As a result, The second season premiere of B Positve will move one week, to Thursday, Oct. 14, 9:30-10:00 PM. One other note, CBS has announced that the second season premiere of United States of Al will address current events on Oct. 7 at 8:31-9:01 PM.

Thursday, Oct. 7
8:00-8:31 PM Young Sheldon (5th Season Premiere)
8:31-9:01 PM United States of Al (2nd Season Premiere)
9:01-10:00 PM Ghosts (1-Hour Series Premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM Bull (6th Season Premiere)

Thursday, Oct. 14
8:00-8:31 PM Young Sheldon
8:31-9:01 PM United States of Al
9:01-9:30 PM Ghosts
9:30-10:00 PM B Positive (2nd Season Premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM Bull

Actor Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City, has died. He died at his home in Los Angeles on September 21 from pancreatic cancer. Mr. Garson was 57.

Garson had a recurring role as Carl, Kevin Owens' (Rob Stone) best friend, on seven episodes of Mr. Belvedere from 1986 to 1990. Some of his other early sitcom guest appearances include Family Ties, Cheers, You Again?, The New Gidget, My Two Dads, Newhart, It's a Living (three episodes as Phil Roman), Coach, Chicken Soup, Flying Blind, A League of Their Own, Boy Meets World (four episodes), Pig Sty, Partners, Mad About You, The Single Guy and Mad About You.

He starred as Ronnie Rendall on the short-lived 1998 Fox sitcom Ask Harriet. Ronnie Rendall was Jack Cody's (Anthony Tyler Quinn) best friend and the newspaper critic for the New York Dispatch. The cast included Patrick Y. Malone, Lisa Waltz, Julie Benz, Edward Asner, Jamie Renée Smith and Damien Leake.

Garson had a recurring role as Stanford Blatch on 27 episodes of the 1998-2004 HBO romantic comedy-drama Sex and the City. Stanford Blatch is a gay talent agent from an aristocratic family. He is Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) best friend outside of the other three women (Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes). Garson reprised his role as Stanford Blatch in the films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City (2010). He will appear in the upcoming HBO Max revival series And Just Like That....

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Conrad Bloom, Friends, Just Shoot Me!, Spin City, Greetings from Tucson, All About the Andersons, Yes, Dear (2004), Wizards of Waverly Place, Two and a Half Men, Wendell & Vinnie, Girl Meets World (also directed a 2015 episode) and Weird Loners. He provided various voices for three episodes of Big Mouth.

Garson had a recurring role as Henry Coffield on seven episodes of the ABC police drama NYPD Blue from 1996 to 1999. He appeared as Meyer Dickstein on the 2007 HBO drama John from Cincinnati. He starred as Mozzie on the 2009-2014 USA Network police drama White Collar. In 2013, he directed an episode of White Collar. He had a recurring role as Gerard Hirsch on nine episodes of Hawaii Five-0 from 2015 to 2020.

Some of his other drama guest appearances included Quantum Leap, thirtysomething, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, The Practice, Melrose Place, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Party of Five, Star Trek: Voyager, Early Edition, Stargate SG-1 (three episodes), Special Unit 2, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, Pushing Daisies, Medium, Franklin & Bash, The Mysteries of Laura, Scandal, Supergirl (three episodes) and Magnum, P.I. (2019).

He appeared in three films from the Farrelly brothers – Kingpin (1996), There's Something About Mary (1998) and Fever Pitch (2005). Some of his other film credits included Groundhog Day (1993), The Rock (1996), Being John Malkovich (1999), Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000), Out Cold (2001), Freaky Friday (2003), Just Like Heaven (2005), Little Manhattan (2005) and Labor Pains (2009).

Mr. Garson was a talented and versatile actor. He appeared in more than 300 TV episodes and over 75 films. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment he brought us during his career. He will be sorely missed.

Share your memories on our Sex and the City message board. View photos in our galleries.

Emmy-winning director Jay Sandrich, who worked on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap and The Cosby Show, has died. He died from complications of dementia on September 22 in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Sandrich was 89.

He began his career as an assistant director on I Love Lucy from 1956 to 1957. He was assistant to the producer on The Andy Griffith Show from 1961 to 1963 and an associate producer from 1964 to 1965. He was an associate producer for the first season of Get Smart from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, he worked as a producer for Captain Nice.

Sandrich's early sitcom directing credits included The Danny Thomas Show, The Bill Dana Show, He & She, That Girl, Get Smart, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Here's Lucy and The Governor & J.J..

He directed 119 of the 168 episodes of the 1970-1977 CBS sitcom The Mary Tyle Moore Show. He won Emmy Awards in 1971 and 1973 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.

Sandrich directed 54 episodes of the ABC sitcom Soap from 1977 to 1980. Some of his other 1970s directing credits included The Bill Cosby Show, Nanny and the Professor, Arnie, The Good Life, Here We Go Again, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Diana, We'll Get By, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, Rhoda, Ball Four, Phyllis, The Tony Randall Show, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (1977), Welcome Back, Kotter (1976, 1977), The Betty White Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Stockard Channing in Best Friends, The Stockard Channing Show and Benson.

He directed 100 episodes of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. He won Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series.

Some of his 1980s sitcom directing credits included Love, Sidney (1981), Night Court, Off the Rack, It's a Living, The Golden Girls, A Different World, Empty Nest and The Van Dyke Show. His 1990s and 2000s sitcom directing credits included Love & War, Thea, The Office (1995), Pearl, Ink, The Tony Danza Show, Built to Last, LateLine, The Secret Lives of Men, Style & Substance, Thanks, Three Sisters, Charlie Lawrence and Two and a Half Men.

Sandrich directed the 1980 film Seems Like Old Times, which starred Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Charles Grodin.

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on December 4, 2001.

Mr. Sandrich was a prolific director who worked on more than 50 sitcoms. He was a four-time Emmy winner for his work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Cosby Show. He was inducted into the Televison Hall of Fame in 2020. We thank him for work on many sitcoms during his directing career, which spanned from 1963 to 2003. He will be greatly missed.