Saturday, May 06, 2023
SitcomsOnline Digest: First Week of Writers' Strike Already Sees Early Casualties; Fox Cancels Call Me Kat
Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's the first week of a writers' strike, so get ready for some disruptions to your TV viewing experiences while the negotiations go down (actually, many have already begun). We also have some renewal and cancellation news, including a rather surprising move of a Fox show heading to ABC (no, it's not an animated comedy). Let's get going!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB
- Rumors of an impending strike had been floating for several months, so perhaps we shouldn't be totally surprised (though if you weren't following the story closely it may have been), but we now have another writers' strike that is going to shutdown production of new episodes of TV series. (CBS News)
- One of the first casualties of the writers strike is the remainder of the season for Saturday Night Live, for which all three episodes have been scrapped. (Screen Rant)
- Call Me Kat? No, you can call it cancelled, as the Fox sitcom has been cancelled after three seasons. (Variety)
- Deadline has a look at all the shows that have been cancelled in 2023, and it's not a short list either. (Deadline)
- This one is a little out of the blue: Fox has cancelled 9-1-1, but ABC has decided to pick it up. (Vibe)
- The Conners may be coming to an end after the upcoming sixth season, although even if it does, it has had a rather long and successful life for a reboot series. (Deadline)
- Dancing with the Stars is moving back to ABC. (SitcomsOnline)
WEEKLY PLANNER (MAY 6 - MAY 12)
- Last weekend, Catchy Comedy had a binge of Happy Days; this weekend, it is Laverne & Shirley.
- ABC, through their ABC News division, begins a four documentary part series celebrating game shows, with The Game Show Show, starting on Wednesday.
- The MTV Movie and TV Awards airs tomorrow night, but it'll be a little different due to the writers' strike.
- The final season of Children Ruin Everything debuts Friday on Roku.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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