Friday, February 25, 2022
Fri-Yay: Abbott Elementary Continues to Impress; Short-Lived Sitcom One in a Million Now on Crackle
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
I know I've written about Abbott Elementary before, but it bears repeating just how good this incredible sitcom has been. If you've yet to check it out, please do so on Tuesdays on ABC (or binge on Hulu). The show is an absolute delight, and there has been a lot of talk about the show single handedly reviving the mockumentary format - or even the network sitcom.
What makes Abbott Elementary so good? For one, the show has found a way to appeal to both sitcom lovers and young audiences. A quote from the show goes viral nearly every week on Twitter. Additionally, the show draws in a lot of weekly viewers, showing its connecting to broadcast audiences. In 2022, it's crucial for a network sitcom to straddle this line. If you don't appeal to young audiences, you fail to draw in profitable youth demographics. But if you only appeal to those young audiences, you risk not fitting in with the network landscape and getting poor ratings. It’s getting harder and harder for shows to straddle this line, but Abbott does it with ease.
Crackle has added a very rare short-lived sitcom to its service to stream for free. ABC's One in a Million from 1980. That time when the hysterical Shirley Hemphill of What's Happening!! had her own show and now you can finally watch it. It looks like 11 of the 13 episodes are available to stream. In the series, when a young taxi driver inherits a major corporation and becomes "Chairman of the Board" - her unschooled businessways are remarkably wise in understanding. Start with the pilot, when a millionaire bequeaths controlling stock in his corporation to cab driver Shirley Simmons, she must decide whether to take the money or run the company. The sitcom stars Shirley Hemphill, Keene Curtis, Carl Ballantine, Mel Stewart, Ann Weldon, Richard Paul and Dorothy Fielding.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Thursday, September 18
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 15)
Thursday, September 18
- Jason Bateman (Arrested Development/George and Leo/Chicago Sons/Simon/The Hogan Family/It's Your Move/Silver Spoons) - Jason appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He also talks about Black Rabbit on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
- Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Milana Vayntrub (Other Space) - Anna and Milana are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Michael Urie (Shrinking/Krapopolis/Partners) - Michael appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Emayatzy Corinealdi (Ballers) Emayatzy talks about Reasonable Doubt on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek/Greg the Bunny/Hiller and Diller) - Eugene talks about The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings) and on The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Michael Chiklis (Daddio) - Michael talks about The Senior on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly/Crowded/Drake & Josh) - NBC's Today catches up with Miranda in the 9am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Valerie is at the news desk to talk about the hottest headlines on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Rob Reiner (All in the Family/Morton & Hayes) - Rob is chatting with Drew about his iconic career and his new movie Spinal Tap II on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Martin Starr (Silicon Valley/Party Down/Freaks and Geeks) - Martin is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (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)
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