Fri-Yay: black-ish to Debut Final Season in January; Fox's Fantasy Island Gets Holiday Special and 2nd Season

Friday, November 05, 2021

Fri-Yay: black-ish to Debut Final Season in January; Fox's Fantasy Island Gets Holiday Special and 2nd 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!

by Vincent

This week, ABC announced the premiere date for the final season of black-ish. The hallmark ABC sitcom, which premiered in 2014, will be concluding its run after eight seasons, with the final season beginning on January 4. The show remained remarakbly consistent through its run, although the recent seasons aren't quite up to the standards set by the first few seasons, it remained a very funny and entertaining series nonetheless. It also helped revitalize the career of Anthony Anderson and had Tracee Ellis Ross's fame rise to new heights.

So what should we expect out of the final season of black-ish? It will be interesting to see if the show does just another regular season or attempts to give closure to its fans. Family sitcoms typically don't have any real overarching storylines to end, but it'll certainly be nice to see where Dre and Bow and the kids wind up. Either way, it'll be the end of an era when black-ish wraps up its run in the first half of 2022.

Fantasy Island

Fox has renewed aspirational series Fantasy Island for a second season. A modern comedy-drama series, from Sony Pictures Television, Gemstone Studios and FOX Entertainment, Fantasy Island takes place at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Delving into the "what if" questions -- both big and small -- that keep us awake at night, each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who arrive with dreams and desires and depart enlightened and transformed through the magical realism of Fantasy Island. The series stars actress, singer and songwriter Roselyn Sanchez as ELENA ROARKE, a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke, who set aside her own ambitions, and the love of her life, to uphold her family's legacy. Sophisticated, insightful and always charming, Elena's calm exterior masks the challenges of the responsibilities she has assumed as steward of this mysterious island. Kiara Barnes also stars as RUBY AKUDA, a young woman with an old soul who arrived on Fantasy Island with a terminal illness and was given a new lease on life as Roarke's right hand.

But wait there's more! On Tuesday, Dec. 21 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT on Fox, Fantasy Island returns for a special two-hour holiday episode, "Welcome to the Snow Globe." A businesswoman's (guest star Lindsay Craft) fantasy of a perfect Christmas and meeting "Mr. Right" (guest star Eddie Cahill) tests Roarke in unexpected ways. Meanwhile, Mr. Jones (guest star Mackenzie Astin) faces his past, while a new Secret Santa tradition has Ruby and Javier looking to the future. If you like all the previous series, all seasons of the original 1977 Fantasy Island series and the 1998 remake are available to stream on Fox Entertainment's free-streaming platform, Tubi.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, December 9

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 8)

Tuesday, December 9

Regina Hall (Black Monday/Grandfathered/Married/Second Generation Wayans) - Catch Regina on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Lily Collins (Emily in Paris) - Lily appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She also talks about Is This Thing On? on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Amy Sedaris (No Activity/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/Strangers with Candy) - Amy appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Tony Rock (Living Biblically/Mann & Wife/All of Us) - Tony is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Andy Cohen interviews Matt on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo. He also talks about Christmas in December on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Emily in Paris) - Philippine and Emily in Paris creator and executive producer Darren Star are guests on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Mila stops by for a chat about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Taran Killam (Stumble/Single Parents) - Taran talks about ABC's High Potential on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Mark Hamill (The Texas Wheelers) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) - Mark and Tom talk about The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kery talks about Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
Toni Collette (United States of Tara) - Toni talks about Goodbye June on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Zachary Levi (Less Than Perfect/Telenovela) - Zachary tells Sherri about his new film Not Without Hope on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Minnie Driver (Emily in Paris/Speechless/About a Boy) - Minnie plays behind-the-scenes and shares moments from her biggest projects like Good Will Hunting. Plus, she tells Drew about joining the cast of Emily in Paris on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Valerie, Amirah Kassem, Mikel Welch are facing off against Drew in the annual quirky Christmas tree competition on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Marlo Thomas (That Girl) - Marlo tells Drew about her amazing work with St. Jude's Children's Hospital on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.