Thursday, December 01, 2022
Apple TV+ Announces Premiere Date for Shrinking; Disney Producing Animated Sitcom

Apple TV+ unveiled the premiere date and a first look at Shrinking, the new 10-episode comedy starring Jason Segel, and written by Emmy Award winning Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence, Emmy Award-winning Ted Lasso star, writer and co-executive producer Brett Goldstein and Segel. Also starring Harrison Ford in one of his first major television roles, Shrinking will premiere globally with the first two episodes on Friday, January 27, on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday. Shrinking follows a grieving therapist (played by Segel) who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people's lives ... including his own. In addition to Segel and Ford, Shrinking stars Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie and Lukita Maxwell.
The new series is produced by Warner Bros. Television, where Lawrence is under an overall deal, and Lawrence's Doozer Productions. Lawrence, Segel, Goldstein, Neil Goldman, James Ponsoldt, Randall Winston, Jeff Ingold and Liza Katzer serve as executive producers. Lawrence, Segel and Goldstein created the series and wrote the first episode, which was directed by Ponsoldt. Shrinking marks the second collaboration for Apple TV+ and Segel, following his starring role in Apple Original film The Sky is Everywhere. The series also marks the third partnership for Apple, Lawrence and Warner Bros. Television, alongside global phenomenon Ted Lasso, and upcoming drama series Bad Monkey. Goldstein currently stars and serves as writer and co-executive producer on Ted Lasso, which was recently honored with the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Comedy series for the second year in a row, as well as a back-to-back win in Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Goldstein. The series will join a growing offering of hit and award-winning comedy series on Apple TV+ including Ted Lasso, Mythic Quest, Schmigadoon!, Physical, The Afterparty, Central Park, Bad Sisters, Trying and more.
Intercats, an animated sitcom set in a cat workplace, is in development at Disney Branded Television with multiple Emmy Award-winning Baobab Studios and acclaimed screenwriter Pamela Ribon (recipient of the Cristal Award at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and writer of two of Disney's Academy Award(R)-nominated and Annie Award-winning films, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Moana, and Sony Animation Studio's Smurfs: The Lost Village). Ribon has also begun her own first-look agreement with Disney Branded Television's animation studio, Disney Television Animation, which is working closely with Baobab Studios (The Witchverse) on the development of Intercats.
Eric Darnell (writer and director of Baba Yaga, Madagascar and Antz and Baobab's co-founder and chief creative officer) is the creator and is executive-producing Intercats. Gary Marsh is also an executive producer. Jony Chandra (Nimona, Spies in Disguise) will direct. Told through the big reflective eyes of cats, Intercats is a four-quadrant animated workplace comedy about the cats who produce the hysterical cat videos that go viral on the Internet. It features a ragtag team of cats aspiring to get what all cats want: their independence. But, to do so, they must first learn to navigate their own internal relationships and build upon their success as the premiere studio for viral cat videos. Intercats reflects the heroic lengths we will all go to find and secure our own place in the world.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, October 17
Vampirina: Teenage Vampire - "First Vampire Friend" (Disney Channel, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Vee's fritzing knocks out a fang, an unexpected chain of events draws her and Britney closer- just as Elijah and Sophie race to fix the situation.
Vampirina: Teenage Vampire - "First Parents Day" (Disney Channel, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Parents Day sneaks up on Vee and Elijah, they struggle to keep their parents from meeting; Demi learns how to disguise his ghostly form.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of October 13)
Friday, October 17
- Charlie Hunnam (Undeclared) - Watch Charlie on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Chelsea Frei (The Paper/The Moodys) - Chelsea appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Maz Jobrani (Superior Donuts/The Knights of Prosperity/Better Off Ted) - Maz is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 12:37am on CBS.
- Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error/Kristin) - Kristin talks about Queen of Versailles on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Zachary Quinto (Big Mouth/So Notorious) - Zachary talks about Brilliant Minds on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Tony Shalhoub (We Are Men/Stark Raving Mad/Wings) - NBC's Today catches up with Tony in the 9am hour.
- Aziz Ansari (Master of None/Parks and Recreation) - Aziz talks about Good Fortune on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about Crushmore: Essays on Love, Loss, and Coming-of-Age with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Mira Sorvino (Shining Vale) - Mira joins Sherri to talk about starring in Chicago the Musical on Broadway on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela stops by Sherri's Laugh Lounge on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about podcast Podcrushed on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger (FUBAR) - Real Time with Bill Maher features a one-on-one interview with Arnold on HBO at 10pm.
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)
10/07 - Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - The Complete First Season
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