Fri-Yay: CBS’s Ghosts Is the Most Interesting New Comedy of the Year; Insecure to Hold Festival for Final Season

Friday, October 08, 2021

Fri-Yay: CBS’s Ghosts Is the Most Interesting New Comedy of the Year; Insecure to Hold Festival for Final 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!

Ghosts

by Vincent

Typically, CBS sitcoms and "critical acclaim" aren't really two things that go together. While CBS is known for their broad hits, they don't typically go for the critically adored or fan beloved angle, and don't stray too far from the tried and true formula. However, Ghosts, which premiereed last night, could be an exception. The show has solid Metacritic reviews - the best of any new sitcom this year and possibly even new series. It also has a very interesting premise, the kind you don't see much on broadcast TV anymore. In the premise, Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) believe that their dreams have come true in receiving a beautiful country house, only to find that it is falling apart and inhabited by a number of deceased previous residents.

It's no secret that the broadcast sitcom is having a tough time right now. With critical darlings and fan favorites like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore coming to an end, and few new sitcoms making a splash, it's about time for a new show to make waves. Let's hope Ghosts is that sitcom.

Insecure Fest

In celebration of the final season of the hit comedy Insecure, HBO will host its fifth and final Insecure Fest block party for the series. On Saturday, Oct. 23, at 4 p.m. PT in Los Angeles, Insecure Fest will be hosted by Crissle West and Francheska Medina of the InsecuriTEA Podcast. The event, inspired by key Insecure themes of music and community, will also include surprise musical performances. Insecure Fest will give attendees the chance to view an exclusive screening of the season 5 premiere episode and experience a retrospective photo installation that pays homage to the series. Throughout the day, food will be served by local Black-owned vendors including Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen - Slauson. Guests will also have the opportunity to experience an interactive preview of Insecure: The Come Up Game, a rap-based mobile game where users navigate the messy business of adulting with Issa, Molly, Kelli, Tiffany, Lawrence and Chad as their guides. Insecure: The Come Up Game, will debut in the App and Android Store during season 5. COVID protocols will be in place for festival attendees.

Starring NAACP Image Award winner and six-time Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award nominee Issa Rae, the series continues to follow our favorite characters as they evaluate their relationships, both new and old, in an effort to figure out who and what comes with them in this next phase of their lives. The fifth season also stars series regulars Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Kendrick Sampson and Courtney Taylor. The final season premieres exclusively on HBO on Sunday, Oct.24, at 10 p.m. ET/PT and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Tuesday, January 18

Abbott Elementary - "New Tech" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When a new computer program is introduced at Abbott, Janine is excited to finally help Barbara out with something. However, Barbara is reluctant to accept change and finds herself in a tricky situation when she decides to lie about her students’ results rather than admit defeat. Elsewhere, Melissa surprises Jacob when she offers up a friend to assist with his lesson on unions, but she ends up teaching Jacob an important lesson herself.

black-ish - "Bow-Mo" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Dre calls into a radio show and gets humiliated in front of Diane and tries to redeem himself. Meanwhile, Bow tries to bond with a group of young female doctors and learns a hard truth.

American Auto - "Millbank, Iowa" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The group travels to Iowa for the opening of a new factory.

Grand Crew - "Wine & Hip Hop" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Sherm tags along as Nicky sells a house to a famous rapper; Noah and his date get into a fender bender; Anthony deals with dating while vegan.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Payneful Suffering" (BET, 8:00PM ET/PT)
As the family prepares for Janine's return, everyone and everything goes awry.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Forgive and Forget" (BET, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Reginald seeks forgiveness from his estranged son.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 17)

Tuesday, January 18

Rob Lowe (The Grinder/Parks and Recreation) - Catch Rob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Francia Raisa (How I Met Your Father/growni-ish) - Francia is a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. He also talks about After Life on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hilary Duff (How I Met Your Father/Younger/Lizzie McGuire) - Hilary will be on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. She also talks about How I Met Your Father on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
Adam DeVine (Workaholics/Modern Family) - Adam is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie talks about her new book Enough Already on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour and on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Ana Gasteyer (American Auto/People of Earth/Suburgatory) - Ana appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Steve Harvey (The Steve Harvey Show) - Steve is a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Kym Whitley (Young & Hungry/Animal Practice/Sparks) and Finesse Mitchell (Outmatched/A.N.T. Farm) - Kym and Finesse guest host The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Alyssa Milano (Who's the Boss?/Romantically Challenged) - Alyssa talks about Netflix's Brazen on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Rose McIver (Ghosts/Woke) - Rose is a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jason Biggs (Outmatched/Mad Love/Drexell's Class) - Jason and his wife Jenny Mollen are guests on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg (Two and a Half Men/Jenny) - Jenny chats about The Masked Singer on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - Tony talks about The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.