SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

SitcomsOnline Digest: Simpsons Themed Monday Night Football Alternate Telecast in December; MeTV Planning for Christmas

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're back to a slow news week as election week is upon us, and we know the broadcast networks have that to get through this week, but nonetheless, we have news about a special Monday Night Football telecast, MeTV Christmas plans, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• A Simpsons-themed Monday Night Football alternative telecast is coming to Disney+ in December. (Deadline)
• MeTV has a busy schedule ahead for Christmas. (Cord Cutters News)
• Comcast is considering selling off their cable networks to a subsidiary owned by shareholders. (Cord Cutters News)
• For election night coverage this year, there is a new option at Amazon Prime, where Brian Williams will not be left out of this election. (Deadline)
• Peacock has renewed Days of Our Lives for a 61st season. (TVLine)
• Georgie & Mandy's First Wedding has now gotten a full season pickup at CBS. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (NOVEMBER 2 - NOVEMBER 8)

• Catchy Comedy has an ALF binge this weekend.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: ALF, Amazon Prime, Comcast, Days of Our Lives, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, MeTV, SitcomsOnline Digest

Colin from Accounts Returning to Paramount+; Weakest Link Days of Our Lives Special

Paramount+ announced that it picked up a second season of the acclaimed original comedy series Colin from Accounts, exclusively for Paramount+ in the U.S. Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer return to write, executive produce and star in the new season, which is currently in production in Australia. Season one was met with critical acclaim and continues to hold a 100% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Colin from Accounts is centered on Ashley (Dyer) and Gordon (Brammall), two single(ish), complex humans who, in season one, are brought together by a nipple flash, a car accident and an injured dog. In addition to Dyer and Brammall, the cast features Emma Harvie as Megan, Helen Thomson as Lynelle, Genevieve Hegney as Chiara, Michael Logo as Brett and Tai Hara as James.

Hosted by Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch, NBC's Weakest Link returns Tuesday, April 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with the back half of season three. The series will air next day on Peacock. The games begin with a Days of our Lives special featuring cast members Lindsay Arnold, Bryan Dattilo, Galen Gering, Tina Huang, Victoria Konefal, Martha Madison, Eric Martsolf and Zach Tinker competing to earn money for charity.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Colin from Accounts, Days of Our Lives, NBC, Paramount+, Peacock, Weakest Link

SitcomsOnline Digest: Tina Fey to Star in New Netflix Series; The Good Doctor Coming to an End

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we are learning of a new Tina Fey series, the cancelation of an ABC drama, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• Tina Fey has been rather active behind the scenes since 30 Rock ended, but now she is ready to do the acting again as well, in a new Netflix comedy series, The Four Seasons. (Deadline)
• The Good Doctor is coming to an end at ABC. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Our Flag Means Death has been canceled by Max. (Variety)
• It started with HBO having a movie based upon her, but now a drama series called Miss Cleo is coming, with Sanaa Lathan in the starring role. (Deadline)
• Soap star Bill Hayes, who played on Days of Our Lives for 50 years, has died at age 98. (TV Insider)
• BUZZR is celebrating the 60th anniversary of Let's Make a Deal, starting today. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (JANUARY 13 - JANUARY 20)

• It's the 50th anniversary of Happy Days, and Catchy Comedy is celebrating that with a binge this weekend, in addition to adding it to the daily lineup starting Monday.
• It's only the 49th anniversary for The Jeffersons, but Antenna TV is having an anniversary marathon for it on Monday anyway.
• It seems enthusiasm over awards shows has died down a bit, but this weekend, we have the Emmys on Fox on Monday, as well as the Critics Choice Awards on The CW (or just CW as they seem to be rebranding themselves to) on Sunday.
• New seasons of NBC's Chicago and Law & Order franchises arrive this week.
• Season two of Chad arrives on The Roku Channel on Friday.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Days of Our Lives, Happy Days, Let's Make a Deal, Our Flag Means Death, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Good Doctor, The Jeffersons

SitcomsOnline Digest: Emmy Awards Postponed to January; Norman Lear Celebrates 101st Birthday

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we're seeing even more effects of the strikes going on, hearing of the death of a sitcom star, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• We could see this coming a month ago, but now, the Emmy Awards has officially been delayed until January (at least). (NPR)
• Norman Lear celebrated his 101st birthday this week. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Production of Days of Our Lives has been shutdown temporarily, but it has nothing to do with any strikes. (Deadline)
• The writers strike has, however, affected the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. (Yahoo!)
• Inga Swenson, known for her role of Gretchen on Benson, has died at age 90. (Variety)
• This is a little bit of a shocker here, the USA Network series Suits has broken a Nielsen streaming record for acquired programming, even outdoing series like The Office and Manifest when they were at their heights on streaming. (Deadline)
• NBCUniversal has announced some new FAST channels, though we're not quite sure how Major Dad fits into TNBC. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (JULY 29 - AUGUST 4)

• Decades has a binge of The Flip Wilson Show weekend.
• The CW has some more international programming set to debut on Monday, including Run the Burbs and Bump.
• Big Brother returns for a new season on Wednesday, slightly later than usual (to fill some holes in the fall lineup presumably).

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Benson, Days of Our Lives, Emmys, FAST, Jeopardy, Norman Lear, SitcomsOnline Digest, Suits

SitcomsOnline Digest: Night Court Season Finale Brings Back a Familiar Face; Comedy Central Renews Digman! for Second Season

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we have the renewal of a Comedy Central animated series, a first look at the new Matlock, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• Tuesday night's episode of Night Court had a surprise guest at the end of the episode, and it's going to be more than just that one appearance (don't click on the link if you haven't watched it and don't want the surprise spoiled). (TVLine)
• Comedy Central has renewed Digman! for a second season. (Deadline)
• Disney+ and Hulu are going to merge into one app, but they'll still be available as separate services. (CNET)
• We have our first look at the new Matlock series starring Kathy Bates. (Collider)
• As a writer's strike nearly shut down the last few episodes of the end of the season for Jeopardy!, Mayim Bialik was unwilling to cross the picket line, but Ken Jennings was willing to do that. (Deadline)
• Deidre Hall is celebrating her 5000th episode of Days of Our Lives. (Vibe)
• Taxi ended 40 years ago, and some of the cast members got together in New York the past week for drinks. (Yahoo!)
• Son of a Critch, a Canadian comedy from the same people who brought us Schitt's Creek, is coming to The CW this summer. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (MAY 13 - MAY 19)

• Catchy Comedy has a binge of The Odd Couple this weekend (which seems a little odd for Mother's Day).
• Meanwhile, Antenna TV does have a Mother's Day appropriate binge of One Day at a Time.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Days of Our Lives, Digman, Disney Plus, Hulu, Jeopardy, Matlock, Night Court, Odd Couple, One Day at a Time, SitcomsOnline Digest, Son of a Critch

SitcomsOnline Digest: Laverne Cox Comedy from Norman Lear Lands Freevee Series Order; Fox Looking Into Adult Animated Drama

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's feeling more like fall and the full-throated kickoff for the fall television season is almost here, but we're not there just yet (though a season premiere of one cable series is lingering out there this week). This week, we have news of a new Norman Lear comedy and some adult animated drama news for Fox. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• Sure, he is 100 years old, but still, Norman Lear has a new sitcom coming to Freevee starring Laverne Cox and George Wallace. (TVLine)
• It's not clear how this would even pan out, but as Fox is in negotiations for keeping their animated hits on the air (something that is far less certain now that they are Disney properties and not owned by Fox), the network is looking into adult animated dramas. (Deadline)
• In advance of the premiere of the Quantum Leap reboot, a special drive-thru experience is coming to Los Angeles. (Deadline)
• Deadline has a look at season premiere dates. (Deadline)
• Fans of Days of Our Lives (or really any daytime soap opera) have been used to unscheduled preemptions for breaking news for all of TV history, so it was only fitting that the last two episodes of the series to air on NBC before the series moves to Peacock on Monday were disrupted due to the death of Queen Elizabeth (which, oddly enough, means that the series started while she was queen and more or less ended as soon as she died). (People)
• Bernard Shaw, who was the chief anchor for CNN when it debuted, has died. (CNN)
• It looks as if COZI is moving a little further away from the truly vintage classic TV roots that it started with (though still not diving too far off course), as they'll be adding Monk, Bones, and Las Vegas to their lineup. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (SEPTEMBER 10 - SEPTEMBER 16)

• It's a bird, it's a plane... it's a weekend binge of The Adventures of Superman on Decades.
• Season 4 of Atlanta arrives on FX on Thursday.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Cozi TV, Days of Our Lives, Fox, Freevee, Norman Lear, Quantum Leap, SitcomsOnline Digest

SitcomsOnline Digest: Everybody Still Hates Chris Animated Series in the Works; HBO Max and Discovery+ Merging Into One

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's a very busy week this week, especially in the streaming media world, with news of the end (sort of) of one major streaming service, a popular soap opera leaving broadcast television and moving to a streaming service, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• Everybody Hates Chris was one of the last and most beloved sitcoms from UPN, and now, it is getting an animated reboot as Everybody Still Hates Chris. (Deadline)
• HBO Max and Discovery+ will be merging into one combined streaming service, and a lot of people are not thrilled that the quality of HBO Max is going to go from high quality productions to the cheapest thing that Chip and Joanna Gaines can provide. (USA Today)
• Continuing the pattern that we've been seeing for pretty much anything that isn't a cheap series starring Chip and Joanna Gaines from Warner Brothers Discovery over the past few months, HBO Max has canceled the already produced third season of Little Ellen. (Deadline)
• It's the end of an era for soap operas on NBC, as the network moves Days of Our Lives to Peacock. (Entertainment Weekly)
• Jaime Pressly has joined Welcome to Flatch as a regular for the second season. (Deadline)
• Actress Pat Carroll, known to TV fans for her roles on Laverne & Shirley and Too Close for Comfort, has died. (Hollywood Reporter)
• A third season of The Weakest Link will be coming to NBC. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (AUGUST 6 - AUGUST 12)

• Decades has a binge of The Odd Couple this weekend.
• On Tuesday, NBC introduces their revival of Password, with Jimmy Fallon as host.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Days of Our Lives, Everybody Hates Chris, Everybody Still Hates Chris, HBO Max, Odd Couple, Password, SitcomsOnline Digest, Weakest Link, Welcome to Flatch

NBC Moving Days of Our Lives to Peacock, Replacing with News Show; Selena + Chef Returns on HBO Max

NBC is evolving its daytime programming lineup with the move of Days of Our Lives to stream exclusively on Peacock and the launch of NBC News Daily in the drama's former network timeslot. Starting Sept. 12, Peacock will become the exclusive home of the fan-favorite drama Days of Our Lives. For the first time ever, all new episodes of the 58-time Emmy Award-winning drama will debut on Peacock daily with the show's robust library already available to stream for Peacock Premium subscribers. The historic move to Peacock creates the ultimate destination for daytime fans to access the library, new episodes and Peacock Original Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem in one place.

Also beginning Sept. 12, in the timeslots previously occupied by Days of Our Lives, NBC News Daily will debut across NBC stations. NBC News will provide signature world-class reporting and breaking news coverage in a first-of-its kind, live in most markets mid-day news offering. NBC News Daily, an hourlong program anchored by NBC News' team of award-winning journalists, including Kate Snow, Aaron Gilchrist, Vicky Nguyen and Morgan Radford, will provide viewers with up-to-the-minute national and international news, with the option for NBC stations to add local news. NBC News Daily will also be streamed simultaneously on NBC News NOW and Peacock. NBC owned stations will announce their specific daytime schedule soon.

The Max Original cooking show Selena + Chef, starring GrammyⓇ and EmmyⓇ nominee Selena Gomez, returns for its fourth season Thursday, August 18 with three episodes on HBO Max. The next three episodes will premiere August 25 and the final four on September 1. Selena + Chef is back! This time Selena heads to the beach with her friends and family for some summer fun. Season four takes place in a beautiful Malibu beach house where Selena will continue to learn the joys of cooking with all-star chefs. As in the first three seasons, each chef will highlight a different charity. To date, the series has raised $400,000 for 26 nonprofit organizations. Season 4 Featured Chefs: Adrienne Cheatham, Devonn Francis, Gordon Ramsay, Kristen Kish, Ludo Lefebvre, Matty Matheson, Nick DiGiovanni, Paola Velez, Priya Krishna and Rachael Ray.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Days of Our Lives, HBO Max, NBC

SitcomsOnline Digest: How I Met Your Mother Spinoff Picked Up at Hulu; Complete Series of Baywatch Arriving on DVD

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we're hearing about that How I Met Your Mother spinoff, a sitcom that is NOT going forward at ABC, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• How I Met Your Father has been ordered as a series at Hulu. (Variety)
• Half of all homes regularly use streaming media, and 25% of all viewing is now through streaming media, so Nielsen is going to start measuring ratings for this sort of a media a bit more closely. (Deadline)
• Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer may be big names, but that's not enough for ABC to pick up the comedy pilot that both were set to star in (though it's being shopped around elsewhere). (Deadline)
• It took a long time, and it happened after streaming media went widespread above the level of DVDs, but the entire series of Baywatch is finally coming to DVD. (VEI)
  
• More Jeopardy! guest hosts have been announced, including LeVar Burton (CNET)
• Days of Our Lives has stopped production for the end of the current 56th season, but it seems likely that it will be back for a 57th season. (TV Insider)
• In a post-Trump era where the dynamics of political humor have shifted, The Tonight Show is seeing a return to being at the top of the late night talk show wars. (Deadline)
• It seemed as if Fox had something that might work with their limited series The Moodys, but in their attempt to bring it back over a year later, it hasn't quite worked out and has been pulled from the lineup. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (APRIL 24 - APRIL 30) 

• We forgot to mention it last week, but Rutherford Falls, a sitcom starring Ed Helms, has debuted on Peacock.
  
• Decades has a Mission: Impossible binge this weekend.
• Let's Be Real, a comedy show featuring puppets, debuts Thursday on Fox.
  

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Baywatch, Days of Our Lives, How I Met Your Father, How I Met Your Mother, Jeopardy, SitcomsOnline Digest

Netflix Gets Katharine McPhee Multi-Cam Sitcom; Two Daytime Soaps Renewed

Netflix has ordered 10 episodes of Country Comfort, a new original multi-cam comedy series created by Caryn Lucas (The Nanny, Miss Congeniality). When her career and personal life get derailed, an aspiring young country singer named Bailey (played by Katharine McPhee) takes a job as a nanny for a rugged cowboy named Beau (played by Eddie Cibrian) and his five children. With a never-give up attitude and loads of Southern charm, this newbie-nanny is able to navigate the family dynamics and be the mother figure they've been missing. To her surprise, Bailey also gets the band she's been missing in this musically talented family who help get her back on the road to stardom.

The series stars Katharine McPhee (Waitress on Broadway, Smash, Scorpion) as Bailey and Eddie Cibrian (Take Two, RoseWood) as Beau, as well as Ricardo Hurtado (Malibu Rescue), Jamie Martin Mann, Pyper Braun, Shiloh Verrico (Here Today, Crown Vic) and Griffin McIntyre.

Days of our Lives, the longest running series on NBC, has been renewed for a record 56th season. "Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." Those words, which have drawn millions of eager viewers to their television sets for six decades, will remain a high point of the broadcast day with this renewal announcement of the multi-Daytime Emmy Award-winning series. Days of our Lives, which aired its 13,755th episode in 2019, remains a television institution. The show first premiered as a half-hour drama in 1965 and expanded to an hour 10 years later. Set in the fictitious Midwestern town of Salem, Days of our Lives airs nationally on NBC in the United States and in more than 25 countries internationally. The core families are the Bradys, Hortons and DiMeras, and the multi-layered storylines involve elements of romance, adventure, mystery, comedy and drama.

Meanwhile, The Young and the Restless, the most-watched and highest-rated daytime drama for the last 31+ years, has been renewed for four more years, through the 2023-2024 broadcast season, it was announced by CBS and Sony Pictures Television. The Young and the Restless has been a mainstay of CBS Daytime for over 47 years. In the last year, there have been many notable anniversaries on The Young and the Restless. Among them, Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman) celebrated 40 years on the show; Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott) celebrated 30 years; Joshua Morrow (Nicholas Newman) and Sharon Case (Sharon Newman) celebrated 25 years; and Bryton James (Devon Hamilton) celebrated 15 years. Next month, Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) will also celebrate his 40th anniversary.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: CBS, Country Comfort, Days of Our Lives, NBC, Netflix, Young and the Restless

SitcomsOnline Digest: Remembering Fred Silverman, the Man Who Shaped TV in the 70s; Pair of Soap Operas Renewed

• Fred Silverman, the man who effectively shaped all three broadcast television networks in the 70s and 80s and is in some way had some role in giving the green light to much of what we call the "classic TV" of this era, has died at age 82. (New York Times)  
• Beat Shazam has been renewed for a fourth season. (Variety)
• With all of the shows that get rebooted, here is one that won't be (at least not for the network that was considering it), The Game. (Deadline) 
• The soap opera genre gets another year (or four) of drama, as Days of Our Lives was renewed for another season and The Young and the Restless was renewed for another four. (Deadline)
• CBS has announced some midseason premiere dates. (SitcomsOnline)

• Decades has a binge marathon of Here Come the Brides this weekend.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine returns for a seventh season on Thursday night on NBC.
• CBS has the return of MacGyver for a new season on Friday.

Posted by Skees -- SitcomsOnline.com at 1:00 PM

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Labels: Beat Shazam, Days of Our Lives, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Game, Young and the Restless