SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

The Comeback Returns for Final Season on March 22; Animal Control Renewed for Season 5; Remembering Lauren Chapin of Father Knows Best and Robert Carradine of Lizzie McGuire

The third and final season of the HBO Original comedy series The Comeback, from Michael Patrick King and Lisa Kudrow, debuts Sunday, March 22 at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes of the eight-episode season will debut weekly leading up to the series finale on Sunday, May 10. 20 years after its debut, the HBO Original comedy series returns with Lisa Kudrow reprising her Emmy®-nominated role as actress Valerie Cherish.

Season 3 cast has Lisa Kudrow, Dan Bucatinsky, Laura Silverman, Damian Young and Tim Bagley, Matt Cook, Jack O’Brien, Ella Stiller, John Early, Barry Shabaka Henley, Abbi Jacobson, Tony Macht, Brittany O’Grady, Zane Phillips, Julian Stern and Andrew Scott.

Fox Entertainment has renewed its hit workplace comedy Animal Control, starring Joel McHale, for a fifth season. Airing on Fox and its streaming partner Disney+/Hulu, Animal Control is distributed worldwide by Fox Entertainment Global. In addition, the first three seasons of the series are currently streaming on Netflix, and the show has been sold in territories around the world.

Now in its fourth season, Animal Control is delivering its strongest performance to date. The Season Four premiere marked a historic series high, becoming the first broadcast comedy in more than 15 years to see a fourth season launch outperform all three prior season premieres. The episode delivered series highs across Adults 18-49, total viewers, and 7-day multiplatform viewing. In addition, through its first eight weeks on Netflix, Animal Control Seasons 1-3 have already delivered over 1 billion minutes watched, making it the platform's #1 acquired comedy series in total viewers and #3 in minutes watched, behind only Young Sheldon and Seinfeld.

Animal Control is a single-camera comedy from showrunner Tad Quill (Scrubs, The Moodys) and Joel McHale, and stars Joel McHale, Michael Rowland, Vella Lovell, Ravi V. Patel, and Grace Palmer. Animal Control follows a group of local Animal Control workers whose lives are complicated by the fact that animals are simple, but humans are not. McHale stars as Frank, an opinionated, eccentric Animal Control officer who may not have gone to college but is still the most well-read person in the room. A former cop, Frank tried to expose corruption in his department, but his efforts got him fired, which may explain why he's so cynical and curmudgeonly. He has an almost superhuman ability to understand animals. Humans...not so much.

Actress Lauren Chapin, who starred as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson in Father Knows Best, has died. She died on February 24 in Miami, Florida, from cancer. Ms. Chapin was 80.

Chapin starred as Kathy "Kitten" Anderson in the 1954-1960 CBS/NBC sitcom Father Knows Best. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield. Kathy Anderson is the youngest child. The series also starred Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, and Billy Gray. The cast reunited for a pair of TV films on NBC: Father Knows Best Reunion on May 15, 1977, and Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas on December 18, 1977.

Some of her other television credits included Lux Video Theatre (3 episodes), The Bob Hope Show, Fireside Theatre, The Ed Sullivan Show, and General Electric Theater. She played Mama Bev in the 2016-2017 web series School Bus Diaries.

She appeared uncredited in A Star Is Born (1954). She played Ace's Mom in the 1980 NBC TV movie Scout's Honor, which starred Gary Coleman.

In the early 1980s, Chapin taught natural childbirth and worked for a brokerage firm. She later owned two beauty pageant enterprises and helped manage and start the career of Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 1989, she wrote an autobiography, Father Does Know Best: The Lauren Chapin Story. She was a licensed and ordained evangelist and advocate for Israel.

Ms. Chapin did a fantastic job portraying Kathy "Kitten" Anderson for six seasons. She was awarded five Junior Emmys for Best Child Actress for the role. We thank her for the laughs and entertainment. She will be deeply missed.

A GoFundMe was created to help cover memorial expenses and fulfill her wish to have her ashes placed at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, with funds going to her daughter, Summer, to purchase the memorial and cover related costs. Organizers say Chapin did not receive ongoing residual payments from the show and are planning a private Celebration of Life followed by an unveiling at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Actor Robert Carradine, who starred as Sam McGuire in the Disney Channel comedy series Lizzie McGuire, has died. He had bipolar disorder for two decades before dying by suicide in Los Angeles on February 23. Mr. Carradine was 71.

He starred as Sam McGuire in the 2001-2004 Disney Channel comedy series Lizzie McGuire. The series stars Hilary Duff as the titular character who learns to navigate the personal and social issues of her teenage years. Sam McGuire is Lizzie's father, who sometimes struggles with the pressure of raising a teenager and is a bit slow-minded. The series also starred Lalaine, Adam Lamberg, Jake Thomas, and Hallie Todd. Carradine directed an episode in 2003. He reprised his role as Sam McGuire in The Lizzie McGuire Movie in 2003.

Carradine starred as Slim in the short-lived 1974 ABC western The Cowboys. Some of his television guest appearances included Bonanza, Kung Fu (1972), Run, Joe, Run (1975), Police Story (2 episodes), The Fall Guy, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985), The Twilight Zone (1986), Faerie Tale Theatre, The Hitchhiker, Sirens (1995), ER, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Dark Skies, The Pretender, NYPD Blue, The Practice, Fast Track (2 episodes), Vengeance Unlimited, Nash Bridges (2 episodes), Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Doubt, and Tales of the Wild West (2 episodes).

He starred as Lewis Skolnick in Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and the three sequels. Some of his other film credits included The Cowboys (1972), Cannonball (1976), Joyride (1977), Coming Home (1978), The Long Riders (1980), The Big Red One (1980), Wavelength (1983), and Max Keeble's Big Move (2001).

In January 2013, he reunited with Revenge of the Nerds co-star Curtis Armstrong to host King of the Nerds on TBS, a reality competition series.

Mr. Carradine was funny and memorable in Revenge of the Nerds and Lizzie McGuire. He had over 150 television and movie acting credits spanning a career of more than 50 years. We thank him for his work on television and in films. He will be greatly missed.

We also remember actor Eric Dane. He starred as Dr. Mark Sloan in Grey's Anatomy. He died on February 19. His death followed a 10-month battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Mr. Dane was 53.

Dane's first television appearance was as Tad Pogue in a 1993 episode of Saved by the Bell. In 1995, he played Oliver Cole in the Married... with Children episode titled "Radio Free Trumaine". In this back-door spin-off pilot (which features Bud, Steve Rhoades, and Marcy), two obnoxious college radio DJs, Mark (Andrew Kavovit) and Oliver, are expelled by Steve Rhoades for suggesting that Rhoades got his dean job through blackmail, since he had been a chauffeur only two months before (in the episode "Get the Dodge Outta Hell").

Some of his other sitcom credits included The Wonder Years (1993), Roseanne, and Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane. He voiced himself in a 2018 episode of Family Guy.

He had a recurring role as Dr. Wyatt Cooper in four episodes of the 2000-2001 ABC medical drama Gideon's Crossing. In 2002, he had a recurring role as Rob Goodwin the Fox drama The American Embassy. He had a recurring role as Jason Dean in seasons five and six (2003-2004) of The WB fantasy drama Charmed. He starred as Dr. Mark Sloan in the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy from 2006 to 2012 and in 2021. He played Captain Tom Chandler in the 2014-2018 TNT action drama The Last Ship. He starred as Cal Jacobs in the HBO drama Euphoria. In 2025, he starred as FBI Special Agent Nathan Blythe in the Amazon Prime Video crime series Countdown.

Some of his film credits included X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Marley & Me (2008), Valentine's Day (2010), Burlesque (2010), and Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024).

Mr. Dane was a solid and dependable actor. He appeared in over 50 television series and films in his career, which spanned three decades. We thank him for his work on television and in films. He will be sorely missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:40 PM

Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

Labels: Animal Control, Father Knows Best, Fox, HBO, Lizzie McGuire, Obits, The Comeback