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!

Abbott Elementary

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

Sunday, March 29

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 23)

Sunday, March 29

  • Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Andy Cohen interviews Chelsea on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 10pm on Bravo.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD) St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

07/22 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
08/26 - The Huckleberry Hound Show - The Complete Original Series (Blu-ray)
09/30 - Touché Turtle and Dum Dum - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season (DVD)
10/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/28 - St. Denis Medical - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/04 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

03/29 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 30, 2026)
03/28 - SitcomsOnline Digest: More Casting News for Reboot of A Different World; Amy Poehler Produced Comedy in Development at Netflix
03/27 - The Ms. Pat Show Renewed for Season 6; SisterS Returns April 22 on AMC+, Acorn TV and IFC TV
03/26 - Great Entertainment Television to Honor Chuck Norris; ABC's R.J. Decker Gets Time Slot Upgrade
03/25 - Netflix Announces Details of Nobody Wants This Season 3; Paramount+ Renews School Spirits for Season 4
03/24 - Hacks Returns for Final Season on April 9; America Says Is Back for Sixth Season on Game Show Network
03/23 - The Roast of Kevin Hart LIVE on Netflix; HBO Renews Late-Night Series
03/22 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 23, 2026)
03/21 - SitcomsOnline Digest: CBS Sets Plans for Final Episode of The Neighborhood; ABC Pulls The Bachelorette
03/20 - TBS Orders Season 13 of Impractical Jokers; HBO's Josh Johnson Comedy Special
03/19 - Netflix Casts Scooby-Doo Live-Action Series; Darren Star's Next Comedy Series Uncorked
03/18 - Saturday Night Live UK to Launch This Weekend; Hulu Renews Paradise for Season 3
03/17 - Netflix Renews Free Bert for Season 2; The Neighborhood: A Farewell Special in April
03/16 - Color Theories by Julio Torres on HBO; Lifetime's Ripped from the Headlines Spring Slate with Two New Movies
03/15 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 16, 2026)
03/14 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Family Guy's Stewie Griffin Getting Spinoff; NBCUniversal Cancels Several Daytime Shows, Including Last of the Daytime "Trash Talk"
03/13 - NBC Summer 2026 Schedule; Malcolm in the Middle Revival Series Trailer
03/12 - Season 9 of Rick and Morty This May; Fox Entertainment Studios Lines Up Frankie Quiñones for Comedy Series
03/11 - Antenna TV's Hazel 65th Anniversary Marathon; Kountry Wayne Prime Video Comedy Special
03/10 - XO, Kitty Season 3 Trailer Released for April 2 Launch; The Drew Barrymore Show Talker Gets 2 Season Renewal
03/09 - Beef Returns April 16 on Netflix; Remembering Jennifer Runyon of Charles in Charge
03/08 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 9, 2026)
03/07 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Scrubs Returns to Big Ratings; New Garfield Series Coming to Paramount+
03/06 - The Four Seasons Returns on May 28; More Details on I Suck at Girls
03/05 - COZI TV Pairs Up Al Bundy and Hondo at Last; ABC Renews Abbott Elementary for Season 6
03/04 - ABC's Scrubs Returns Big; Netflix's Little House on the Prairie Renewed for Season 2
03/03 - Prime Video's Kevin Premieres April 20; Fox Renews Best Medicine
03/02 - Running Point Returns April 23 on Netflix; A Different World Sequel Starts Production
03/01 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 2, 2026)