SitcomsOnline Digest: HBO Cancels The Franchise; Alice Actress Linda Lavin Dies

Saturday, January 04, 2025

SitcomsOnline Digest: HBO Cancels The Franchise; Alice Actress Linda Lavin Dies

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're still in that slow Christmas week of news, but we still have a few headlines, including the cancellation of an HBO series and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

HBO has canceled The Franchise. (Deadline)
Remember when cable companies used to offer free preview weekends of movie channels? Apple TV+ is doing something like that this weekend. (Cord Cutters News)
Linda Lavin died earlier this week, and she had already finished 7 of the 10 episodes of the upcoming Hulu series that she had a role in, Mid-Century Modern, making it unclear how they will proceed now. (TheWrap)
Catchy Comedy has a new Saturday lineup, which features a recreation of the 1970s CBS lineup at night. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (JANUARY 4 - JANUARY 10)

You can catch an Alice marathon as a tribute to Linda Lavin this weekend on Antenna TV.
Catchy Comedy debuts a new Saturday lineup this weekend, which includes a recreation of the CBS Saturday night lineup from the 70s, today, followed by a Night Court binge tomorrow.
The crossover event that features the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Abbott Elementary airs Wednesday on ABC.
Shifting Gears also debuts Wednesday night on ABC.
CBS brings back a new version of Hollywood Squares on Thursday night.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, February 6

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "A Tire Convention and the Moral High Ground" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Georgie discovers that Jim’s annual tire convention trip isn’t what he says it is. Meanwhile, Mandy has doubts about the strength of her and Georgie’s marriage.

Ghosts - "Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Thor returns to therapy to work through his angst over being abandoned by his Viking shipmates. Also, Jay’s sister, Bela (Punam Patel), attempts to help him with the restaurant.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of February 3)

Thursday, February 6

Rob Lowe (Unstable/The Grinder/Parks and Recreation/A New Kind of Family) - Catch Rob on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kieran Culkin (Go Fish) - Kieran appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Kenan Thompson (Kenan/Kenan & Kel) - Kenan is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men/Togetherness) - Melanie stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS. She will also be on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Pete Davidson (Bupkis) - Pete appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ramona Young (Santa Clarita Diet/Man Seeking Woman/The Real O'Neals) - Ramona is a guest on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Ke Huy Quan (Head of the Class/Together We Stand) - Ke appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm. He will also be on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Ariana DeBose (Schmigadoon!) - Ariana chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Patricia Field (Sex and the City costume designer) - Emmy® Award-winning and Academy Award®-nominated costume designer Patricia Field chats about her documentary Happy Clothes, which takes us behind the scenes on iconic shows such as Sex and the City, Emily in Paris and more on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Drew and Valerie are joined by Carla Hall in the kitchen to whip up some delicious cozy food on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Amy Schumer (Life & Beth), Jillian Bell (Bless the Harts/Idiotsitter/Eastbound & Down/Workaholics) and Brianne Howey (Dollface) - The cast of the new movie Kinda Pregnant join Drew to dish on their new film on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian talks about Max's Bookie on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.