SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Norman Lear; Fox to Air M*A*S*H Retrospective

Saturday, December 09, 2023

SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Norman Lear; Fox to Air MAS*H Retrospective

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we lost a sitcom producer icon, we're hearing about the cancellation of a series at ABC, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

The big news this week is that Norman Lear, who was working up until his death, has died at age 101. (CBS News)
Norman Lear died this week, and many are wondering why his series are so hard to find on streaming media. Unfortunately, Sony declined to give many answers. (Deadline)
Station 19 is coming to an end at ABC. (Deadline)
Andrea Fay Friedman, who played the role of Corky's girlfriend Amanda on the series Life Goes On and also appeared in guest roles on other series, has died at age 53. (Variety)
Fox is planning to air M*A*S*H: The Comedy That Changed Television, a two hour special of clips and interviews, on January 1. (Deadline)
Prime Video has renewed Harlem for another season. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 10 - DECEMBER 16)

If you missed it last night, the CBS special Norman Lear: A Life on Television is available on Paramount+.
MeTV is remembering Norman Lear on Sunday night with some episodes of All in the Family, Good Times, and Sanford & Son on Sunday night.
Who's the Boss? is now available to watch on Hulu.
Catchy Comedy is having a binge of The Dick Van Dyke Show this weekend, to honor his 98th birthday.

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.

Complete TV Listings

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.