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
Friday, October 7
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 3)
Friday, October 7
- Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary/Go On/Everybody Hates Chris) - Watch Tyler on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Mike Myers (The Pentaverate) - Mike is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Sutton Foster (Younger) - Sutton appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet) - Timothy is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) - Constance appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous) - Utkarsh is helping serve the news sunny-side up by joining Drew at the news desk on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) - Kunal appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Do Not Disturb/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Jerry and his wife Rebecca Romijn talk all about their new show The Real Love Boat on Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
- Kathy Najimy (King of the Hill/Veronica's Closet) - Kathy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Sylar Astin (Ground Floor) - Skylar talks about So Help Me Todd on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Teri Hatcher (The Odd Couple/Karen's Song/The Love Boat) - Teri talks about Mid-Love Crisis on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Tori Spelling (Mystery Girls/So Notorious) - Tori stops by to talk to Sherri about hosting MTV's new dating series Love at First Lie: Who’s a Couple and Who’s a Con? on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) - Zazie is a guest on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Whoopi Golberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi will be on Cuomo on NewsNation at 8pm.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (June-October)
06/14 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Eleventh Season
06/14 - Hacks - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/14 - Rutherford Falls - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season One / The Complete Season Two
07/19 - The Neighborhood - Season Four
07/19 - Reno 911! - The Hunt for QAnon (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/26 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Three / The Complete Season Four
08/16 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. - Canada)
08/16 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/06 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Fifth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/20 - Kim's Convenience - The Complete Series
09/27 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Five / The Complete Season Six
10/04 - Mr. Mayor - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
10/04 - The Munsters - Marineland Carnival with The Munsters TV Cast
10/18 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete First Season
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