SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Hulu Spring and Summer 2024 Slate; Netflix Orders Tyler Perry Drama; Remembering Joe Flaherty

Hulu has announced its originals & exclusive Spring/Summer 2024 programming slate. The slate includes highly anticipated premieres like The Kardashians Season 5, Only Murders in the Building Season 4, Under the Bridge, and Thank You, Good Night: The Bon Jovi Story. New date announcements include Perfect Wife: The Mysterious Disappearance of Sherri Papini, Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer, Hit-Monkey, Futurama, Solar Opposites and Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge. Disney Bundle subscribers will also be able to watch these titles and more via Hulu on Disney+.

Animated comedy Hit-Monkey, which premieres July 15 for a second season, stars the voices of Leslie Jones, Ally Maki, Olivia Munn, Fred Tatasciore, and Jason Sudeikis. Futurama returns for season 12 on July 29, while season five of Solar Opposites premieres August 12. Only Murders in the Building is back in the summer but no date just yet.

Netflix announced the cast of Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black, an all-new series coming soon to Netflix. The series comes from a previously announced creative partnership with Netflix, where Perry will write, direct, and produce feature films and series under a multi-year first-look deal. The 16-episode hour-long drama is written, directed, and produced by Perry. Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black follows two women leading very different lives. While Kimmie is struggling to make a living after her mother kicked her out, and Mallory is running a successful business, they find themselves entangled in each other's lives. Taylor Polidore Williams, Amber Reign Smith, Crystle Stewart, Ricco Ross, Debbi Morgan, Richard Lawson, Steven G. Norfleet, Julian Horton, Terrell Carter, Shannon Wallace, Bryan Tanaka, Joy Rovaris, Xavier Smalls, Charles Malik Whitfield, Tamera "Tee" Kissen, Ursula O. Robinson, Ashley Versher and George Middlebrook are in the cast.

Actor, writer and comedian Joe Flaherty, who starred on Maniac Mansion, Police Academy: The Series and Freaks and Geeks, has died. He died on April 1 after a short illness in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Flaherty was 82.

Flaherty was best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV from 1976 to 1984. It aired in the U.S. on NBC from 1981 to 1983. He played characters such as Big Jim McBob (of Farm Film Report fame), Count Floyd/Floyd Robertson, and station owner/manager Guy Caballero, SCTV's cheap, tyrannical owner and president who, despite being perfectly ambulatory, uses a wheelchair to earn "respect" (i.e., sympathy) from employees and viewers. Flaherty also served as a writer. The series won two Emmy Awards in 1982 and 1983 for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program.

He starred as Fred Edison on the 1990-1993 The Family Channel sitcom Maniac Mansion. Maniac Mansion centers around the lives of the Edisons, an American family living in a large mansion in the upscale suburban neighborhood of Cedar Springs. The Edisons consist of patriarch Fred, an eccentric scientist and inventor, his level-headed wife Casey (Deborah Theaker), and their children, teenage genius Tina (Kathleen Robertson), prepubescent Ike (Avi Phillips) and precocious toddler Turner (George Buza). Also living in the Edison mansion are Casey's brother Harry Orca (John Hemphill) and his wife Idella Muckle-Orca (Mary Charlotte-Wilcox). Flaherty also wrote six episodes of the series.

Flaherty starred as Commandant Stuart Hefilfinger on the 1997-1998 CTV and first-run syndicated sitcom Police Academy: The Series, which was a spin-off from the Police Academy series of films. Commandant Hefilfinger is similar to Eric Lassard (George Gaynes) and the head of the academy. The cast included Matt Borlenghi, Rod Crawford, Toby Proctor, Jeremiah Birkett, Heather Campbell, Christine Gonzales, Tony Longo, P. J. Ochlan, Michael Winslow and Larke Miller.

He starred as Harold Weir on the 1999-2000 NBC comedy-drama Freaks and Geeks. Harold is the head of the Weir household. He is married to Jean (Becky Ann Baker) and is the father of Lindsay (Linda Cardellini) and Sam (John Francis Daley). He owns and works at A1 Sporting Goods.

Flaherty starred as Dr. Frank Troutner on the short-lived 2001 NBC sitcom Go Fish. Frank Troutner is married to Annie (Molly Cheek) and is the father of Andy "Fish" (Kieran Culkin) and Pete (Will Friedle).

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included King of Kensington, Married... with Children, Morton & Hayes (also a writer), Dinosaurs (voice for 2 episodes), Nurses, Phenom, Hardball (1994), Dream On, The Louie Show, Ellen, Even Stevens, That '70s Show, Maybe It's Me, Frasier, The King of Queens, American Dad! (voice), Family Guy (voice for 3 episodes) and Call Me Fitz.

He appeared as a Western Union postal worker who delivers Doc Brown's 70-year-old letter to Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II (1989). He starred as Donald the heckler in Happy Gilmore (1996).

Mr. Flaherty was a talented and funny actor. He was very memorable on the far too short-lived Freaks and Geeks. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment that he brought us. He will be greatly missed.

We also remember actor Ron Harper. He starred on the sitcoms Wendy and Me and The Jean Arthur Show. He died at his home in West Hills, Los Angeles on March 21. Mr. Harper was 91.

Harper starred as Jeff Conway on the 1964-1965 ABC sitcom Wendy and Me. Episodes typically revolved around Wendy Conway (Connie Stevens) pulling George Burns (as a somewhat fictionalized version of himself) into comedic situations mostly involving her husband, played by Ron Harper, and other people in the apartment building owned by Burns. The series also starred James T. Callahan, J. Pat O'Malley and Bartlett Robinson.

He starred as Paul Marshall on the short-lived 1966 CBS sitcom The Jean Arthur Show. Paul Marshall is a lawyer who works alongside his mother Patricia Marshall (Jean Arthur). The series also starred Leonard Stone and Richard Conte.

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style (2 episodes), Night Stand with Dick Dietrick (2 episodes), Boy Meets World, Malibu, CA (1999) and Two Guys and a Girl.

Harper starred as Det. Bert Kling on the 1961-1962 police drama 87th Precinct. He starred as Lt. Craig "Warden" Garrison on the 1967-1968 ABC World War II drama Garrison's Gorillas. He starred as Colonel Alan Virdon, the human commander of the crash-landed spaceship from 20th Century Earth, on the 1974 CBS science fiction series Planet of the Apes. In 1976, he starred as Uncle Jack Marshall in the third season (1976) of the NBC children's adventure television series Land of the Lost. Some of his soap opera credits included Another World as Taylor Halloway/Halliway, Loving as Charles Hartman, Capitol as Jarrett Morgan/Baxter McCandless and Generations as Peter Whitmore.

His movie credits included roles in Below Utopia (1997), The Odd Couple II (1998), Freedom Strike (1998), Glass Trap (2005) and The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007).

Mr. Harper was a talented and versatile actor. We thank him for his work on television and in films. He will be sorely missed.

Actor M. Emmet Walsh starred on The Sandy Duncan Show and made many sitcom guest appearances. He died of cardiac arrest at Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans, Vermont, on March 19. Mr. Walsh was 88.

Walsh starred as Alex Lembeck on the short-lived 1972 CBS sitcom The Sandy Duncan Show. Alex Lembeck is a motorcycle cop who appointed himself as Sandy Stockton's (Sandy Duncan) chaperone and protector. The series also starred Tom Bosley, Marian Mercer, Pam Zarit, Alfie Wise and Eric Christmas.

He appeared as Colonel Fred Patterson, Jill Taylor's (Patricia Richardson) father, in two episodes of Home Improvement in 1994. Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Arnie, Julia (2 episodes), All in the Family, The Jimmy Stewart Show, The Don Rickles Show, The Bob Newhart Show, AfterMASH, The Jackie Thomas Show, Frasier, Charlie Lawrence, 'Til Death and The Righteous Gemstones (2 episodes).

Walsh starred as Ned Platt on the 1989 NBC police drama Unsub. Some of his other television appearances included Ironside, Bonanza, Nichols (5 episodes), McMillan & Wife, The Rockford Files, The Waltons, Baretta (2 episodes), Starsky & Hutch (2 episodes), Little House on the Prairie, Amazing Stories, Tales from the Crypt, The Flash (2 episodes in 1990), Early Edition, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, Ed, The Guardian, Damages (3 episodes), Sneaky Pete (7 episodes as Tex Hopkins) and American Gigolo.

He starred as Captain Bryant in Blade Runner (1982), as private detective Loren Visser in Blood Simple (1984) and as Dr. Joseph Dolan in Fletch (1985).

Mr. Walsh was a fine character actor. He was a familiar face in over 200 films and television series in his career, which spanned seven decades. We thank him for his work on television and in films. He will be greatly missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:15 PM

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

Labels: Futurama, Hit-Monkey, Hulu, Netflix, Obits, Only Murders in the Building, Solar Opposites, Tyler Perry