Fri-Yay: ABC's Abbott Elementary Is a Solid and Promising New Sitcom; Fast Foodies Brings More Comedic Guests for Season 2

Friday, January 07, 2022

Fri-Yay: ABC's Abbott Elementary Is a Solid and Promising New Sitcom; Fast Foodies Brings More Comedic Guests for Season 2

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 premiered Abbott Elementary, one of the more anticipated comedies of the year for me. I watched the premiere last night after the show's pretty extensive marketing campaign (and solid ratings so far for the preview episode in December and even higher this week for its premiere), and I thought it was a really promising new comedy with an interesting premise. While it's far from perfect, it was refreshing to see a workplace comedy surrounded around a school, something we haven't seen depicted as often as some other workplaces like offices, TV shows or police forces.

Abbott Elementary is a "mockumentary," in the vein of The Office, Modern Family and Parks and Rec. It's a sitcom format that was huge in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but hasn't gotten as much play lately, so it's an interesting stylistic choice, and one that does play for a lot of laughs. The characters are also funny, although it will be interesting to see them graduate beyond roles such as "desperate white ally" or "incompetent principal." All in all, Abbott Elementary is a very promising new show and I'm really excited to see where it goes next.

Fast Foodies

truTV is bringing new mouthwatering delights for the second season of the hit cooking reality series, Fast Foodies, returning on Thursday, January 27 to truTV at 10PM. The 12-episode season brings a raucous slew of fresh celebrity guests with fast food cravings. New guests in the deliciously fun cooking competition series include Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street), Keith and Kenneth Lucas (Just for Laughs), Adam Pally (Happy Endings),”), Jon Gabrus (Game Over, Man!) Horatio Sanz (Saturday Night Live) and returning fan-favorite foodie Joel McHale (Community). Previously announced guests included Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), NBA legend Baron Davis, Nikki Glaser (FBOY ISLAND), Chris Jericho (AEW), Reggie Watts (The Late Late Show with James Corden), Natasha Leggero (The Honeymoon Stand Up Special), Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) and more.

In Fast Foodies, Top Chef winners Kristen Kish, Jeremy Ford and Iron Chef winner Justin Sutherland compete to perfectly recreate and then skillfully reimagine a celebrity guest’s favorite fast-food dish. These culinary masters come prepared to showcase their love of pop culture, fast-food legends and their expert skills to win the "Chompionship Trophy." The inaugural season reached over 20 million viewers across linear and digital platform to date and featured Joel McHale, James Van Der Beek (Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23), Andy Richter (Conan), Amanda Seales (Insecure), Ron Funches (Top Secret Videos), Charlotte McKinney (Fantasy Island), Kevin Heffernan & Steve Lemme (Tacoma FD), Fortune Feimster (Sweet & Salty), GaTa (Dave), and Bobby Lee (Splitting Up Together).

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, December 26

Happy's Place - "Promises, Promises" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett continues his nightly check-ins with Bobbie to ensure her safety, Isabella pays the price as she's kept up by their loud late-night chats, prompting her to tell Bobbie to advance their relationship or at least take it out of the house.

Stumble - "Media Day" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Courteney decides to use media day as a way to recruit new cheerleaders and to push her team to get right back on that mat; DiMarcus proves that not all Buttons are meant to be pushed.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of December 22)

Friday, December 26

Mila Kunis (Family Guy/That '70s Show) - Watch Mila on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Zooey Deschanel (Physical/New Girl) - Zooey appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Laura is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Rose appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Jamie Kaler (My Boys) - Jamie is a guest on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show/The New Dick Van Dyke Show/The Van Dyke Show) - Dick discusses his new book with ABC News' Chris Connelly on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patti LaBelle (Out All Night) - Patti cooks on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Lacey Chabert (Still the King/Baby Daddy/Family Guy) - Lacey talks about Loist in Paradise on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl) - Ryan appears on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Sarah Paulson (Leap of Faith) - Sarah is a guest on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Phil Rosenthal (Creator of Everybody Loves Raymond) - Phil appears on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Mo'Nique (The Parkers) - Tamron Hall (repeat) has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE with Mo'Nique about her weight-loss journey and the launch of her new fitness brand, Mo'Niques Movement, as well as the emotional moment with her husband that changed it all, so check your local listings.
Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Star Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - NBC's Today has Cocktails and Mocktails with Neil and David Burtka on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Mario tells Sherri about his new holiday film The Christmas Spark on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
Woody Harrelson (Cheers), Dave Franco (The Afterparty/Scrubs/Do Not Disturb), Isla Fisher (Wolf Like Me) and Ariana Greenblatt (Stuck in the Middle) - The Now You See Me: Now You Don't cast including Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher Jesse Eisenberg, Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa join Drew to dish all about the third installment of the hit franchise on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.