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Hacks Returns May 12 on HBO Max; IMDb TV Rebrands as Freevee; Remembering Gilbert Gottfried

HBO Max and Universal Television announced the Emmy®-winning and critically-acclaimed Max Original comedy series Hacks will debut its second season Thursday, May 12 with two episodes. The eight-episode season continues with two new episodes a week, concluding June 2. The dark mentorship between legendary Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her young, entitled writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) continues to evolve as the two travel across the country workshopping Deborah’s new stand-up act.

Jean Smart, an Emmy®, SAG Awards® and Critics Choice Awards winner for her performance in season one of the series, will return along with Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins and Jane Adams, who were all nominated for Emmys for the first season. Returning cast members Christopher McDonald, Kaitlin Olson, Paul W. Downs, Poppy Liu, Rose Abdoo, Mark Indelicato, Meg Stalter, Angela E. Gibbs, Luenell, Johnny Sibilly, Joe Mande, Ally Maki and Lorenza Izzo also star. New recurring guest stars Laurie Metcalf, Martha Kelly, Ming-Na Wen and Susie Essman, and guest stars Margaret Cho and Devon Sawa join in the new season.

Amazon's free streaming service announced a rebrand to Amazon Freevee, the new name for IMDb TV, beginning April 27. Over the last two years, the ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service experienced rapid growth - tripling monthly active users - driven by rapid distribution across living room devices and mobile, an increasing slate of Originals, an always updating library of highly sought movies and TV shows, and over 60 FAST channels. Following a successful launch in the UK last September, Freevee will continue its international expansion with a launch in Germany later this year.

Freevee will grow its Originals slate by 70% in 2022, including the spinoff of the longest-running Original series for Prime Video, Bosch: Legacy, premiering May 6; a new home-design series, Hollywood Houselift with Jeff Lewis; Greg Garcia's comedy series Sprung; the Australian crime drama Troppo; and High School, a scripted series adapted for television by Clea DuVall, produced by Plan B, and based on the New York Times best-selling memoir by Grammy-nominated, platinum recording artists Tegan and Sara Quin. Amazon's free streaming service will announce additional greenlights at its NewFronts presentation on May 2.

Additionally, the free streaming service will add exclusive Original movies to its already robust slate, starting with a greenlight order for the workplace rom-com Love Accidentally, starring Brenda Song and Aaron O'Connell. In Love Accidentally, Alexa (Song) and Jason (O'Connell) are competing for a promotion at their advertising firm when each of their significant others breaks up with them. Thinking she has texted a friend, Alexa mistakenly sends Jason a brokenhearted message. The two spark up an anonymous relationship via text with neither aware of who the other really is. When the truth comes out, will they be able to put their rivalry aside and let true love prevail? Love Accidentally also features Denise Richards and Maxwell Caulfield, while Barry Barnholtz, Zelma Kiwi, and Jeffrey Schenck serve as executive producers.

Actor and comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who guest starred on more than 20 sitcoms, has died. He died on April 12 in Manhattan from recurrent ventricular tachycardia, complicated by type II myotonic dystrophy. Mr. Gottfried was 67.

Gottfried had a recurring role as Lewis Blanchard, Carlton Blanchard's (William Hickey) equally irritating nephew, on three episodes of Wings from 1994 to 1995. Some of his other 1980s and 1990s sitcom guest appearances included The Cosby Show, Night Court (3 episodes as Oscar Brown), A Different World (2 episodes), Herman's Head, Living Single, The Parent 'Hood, Married with Children, Mad About You, Hope & Gloria, In the House, Clueless, Jenny, The Tom Show and Cosby. He played Bert Banner in the 1994 TV movie Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas, which was series finale for Saved by the Bell: The College Years.

Some of his later sitcom guest appearances included Son of the Beach (2 episodes as Noccus Johnstein), Becker, Greg the Bunny (2 episodes), Hannah Montana, 30 Rock (voice), 'Til Death (2 episodes), Anger Management, Deadbeat, The Jim Gaffigan Show (2 episodes), Episodes and Crashing.

In 1987, he starred as Norman on the Cinemax sitcom pilot Norman's Corner. It was co-written by Larry David prior to creating Seinfeld. It was the first sitcom pilot to be shot in HD.

Gottfried was a cast member for 12 episodes on the sixth season (1980-1981) of Saturday Night Live. He was a regular on the late night talk show Thicke of the Night in 1983. He was the Saturday night host of USA Network's USA Up All Night from 1989 to 1998.

He was a regular on the Tom Bergeron era of Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004. Some of his other television guest appearances included Superboy (2 episodes), Silk Stalkings, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2 episodes).

Gottfried was known for speaking in a loud and grating voice, which was not his natural speaking voice. He was the voice of parrot Iago in the Aladdin animated films and series. He was the voice of Digit LeBoid on the PBS Kids series Cyberchase. Some of his other voice credits included Problem Child, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1998), Dilbert, Fairly OddParents, House of Mouse, Justice League Action, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (as Kraang Subprime), Family Guy (2 episodes) and Smiling Friends. He provided the voice of the duck in the Aflac commercials from 2000 to 2011.

He starred as accountant Sidney Bernstein in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). He played adoption agent Igor Peabody in Problem Child (1990) and Problem Child 2 (1991). In 2014, he played Abraham Lincoln in A Million Ways to Die in the West. The documentary Gilbert (2017) explored his life and career.

Survivors include his wife, Dara Kravitz, and their two children, Lily and Max.

Mr. Gottfried was a strange and funny actor and comedian. His late night talk show appearances were always entertaining. We thank him for the many laughs and entertainment that he brought us during his career. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our message board. View photos in our galleries.

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

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Labels: Freevee, Hacks, HBO Max, IMDb, Obits

SitcomsOnline Digest: IMDb TV Orders Comedy from Creator of The Good Place; ABC Gives Full Season Orders to The Wonder Years and Home Economics

Happy Halloween and welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! The news this week is even slower (there is a lot to watch though!), but this week we're hearing about a new comedy for IMDb TV from the creator of The Good Place, two full season pickups at ABC, a new animated comedy for Fox (but it won't debut for another two years), and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• IMDb TV has ordered Primo, a comedy series from Shea Serrano and Michael Schur. (Variety)
• The Wonder Years and Home Economics have both gotten full season orders at ABC. (Variety)
• Jon Hamm has been cast to star (and also fill the role of executive producer) in Grimsburg, which will be Fox's next new animated comedy, but don't look for it to debut until 2023. (Deadline)
• It's a little out of the realm of the stuff we usually cover here, but there is now a trailer available for Netflix's Tiger King 2. (People)
• Casting details for the Peacock comedy Killing It, starring Craig Robinson, have been revealed. (Deadline)
• We're learning about the first of several planned South Park specials that will debut on Paramount+, the first of which we'll see in a little under a month. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 5)

• As usual, Cozi TV will celebrate Halloween with a marathon of The Munsters, but as a twist they'll also have the feature film Munster Go Home included in that lineup this year.
• Of course, if you like the show that The Munsters is always compared to, you can always catch The Addams Family 24/7 on the dedicated channel on Pluto TV.
• Antenna TV used to feature marathons of Bewitched and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch for Halloween, but this year, they'll only have Bewitched on Sunday while new sister channel Rewind TV will feature Sabrina, the Teenage Witch all weekend long.
• The HBO Max Head of the Class reboot debuts on Thursday.
• If you're looking for a new animated adult comedy series to watch, there is Fairfax on Amazon Prime Video.
  
• Judge Judy is back, with Judy Justice, which will debut Monday on IMDb TV.

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

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Labels: Grimsburg, Home Economics, IMDb, Killing It, Primo, SitcomsOnline Digest, Wonder Years (2021)

ABC Revises Summer Premieres and Finales, Announces Drama Finale Dates; IMDb TV Gets Greg Garcia Comedy

ABC has revised premiere dates for some of its Summer Fun & Games series. Press Your Luck and The $100,000 Pyramid will now both premiere two weeks earlier on Wednesday, May 26 from 8-10pm, rather than Wed. June 9. Card Sharks will now premiere a week later on Wednesday, June 16 at 10pm, rather than the previously planned June 9. And finally, The Ultimate Surfer will now premiere a week later on Monday, August 23 at 10pm rather than Aug. 16. The series will air for a month on Mondays and Tuesdays at 10pm following Bachelor in Paradise, which premieres a week earlier on Aug. 16. The Celebrity Dating Game, which still premieres June 14, will now have its season finale on Aug. 16 at 10pm. The Bachelorette finale is likely a three-hour event on Aug. 9.

ABC has also announced its drama finales. The Rookie has its season finale on Sunday, May 16 at 10pm, while Big Sky wraps its first season on Tuesday, May 18 at 10pm. The rest of the dramas will wrap in June. Station 19 and Grey's Anatomy will end their seasons on Thursday, June 3 from 8-10pm, while Rebel will wrap a week later on June 10 with a two-hour finale. The Good Doctor will end its 20 episode season on Monday, June 7 at 10pm following The Bachelorette premiere. And finally, A Million Little Things will have its season finale from 9-11pm on Wednesday, June 9. We already announced that ABC's Tuesday and Wednesday comedies will have their finales on May 18 and May 19. Reality wise, Pooch Perfect, Shark Tank, AFV and American Idol will all wrap between May 18-23. And finally, ABC is bringing more Disney magical moments into homes with the return of The Wonderful World of Disney film series on Monday nights from 8-10pm beginning May 3. Throughout the entire month, ABC will air iconic titles currently available to stream on Disney+, beginning with the broadcast debuts of both Disney and Pixar's Finding Dory and Academy Award(R)-nominated Disney and Pixar's Incredibles 2, followed by Walt Disney Animation Studios' Tangled and The Princess and the Frog, and Academy Award-winning Disney and Pixar's Monsters, Inc.

IMDb TV, Amazon's premium free streaming service, announced it has ordered Sprung, a new single-camera comedy series from Emmy Award-winning writer Greg Garcia. Starring Garret Dillahunt, Sprung centers on an unlikely group of formerly incarcerated people, who band together to use their criminal expertise for good. From Amazon Studios, Sprung follows Jack (Dillahunt), a convicted criminal who is determined to change course and reclaim his lost years after serving over two decades in prison. With no place to live post-release, and a global pandemic bringing the world to a virtual standstill, Jack moves in with his former cellmate Rooster (Phillip Garcia), Rooster's mom Barb (Illeana Douglas), and Jack's former prison girlfriend Gloria. Bound by their marred past and unusual living circumstances, they decide to start righting some of society's wrongs, targeting those people selfishly taking advantage of others during the pandemic. Starting May 1, Garcia's Emmy Award-winning series My Name is Earl joins the extensive and always updating library of hit movies and television shows on IMDb TV.

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

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Labels: $100000 Pyramid, ABC, Card Sharks, Grey's Anatomy, IMDb, My Name is Earl, Press Your Luck, Sprung, Station 19, The Good Doctor, The Rookie

Norman Lear Sets Two Series for IMDb TV; Nick Jonas to Pull Double Duty on SNL This Saturday

TV legend Norman Lear is still going strong at 98 years old. He has two series in development at IMDb Tv. The first is a comedy starring George Wallace and Laverne Cox called Clean Slate, which was originally developed for Peacock last year, but now IMDb will be developing it. In the series, old school car wash owner, Henry (George Wallace), is thrilled that his estranged child is returning to Alabama after 17 years. However, Henry has a lot of soul searching to do when the child he thought was a son returns as the determined, proud, trans woman, Desiree (Laverne Cox). The other project is drama series Loteria, which is based on the card game, follows two estranged teen siblings who set off on an adventure across Mexico to collect 16 magical Lotería cards, unearthing the power of their history and culture in the hope of reuniting their family. Both series are from Norman Lear's Act III Productions and Sony Pictures Television. Stay tuned for much more information on these series.

Nick Jonas will pull double duty when he takes the stage for his Saturday Night Live hosting debut and second solo musical guest appearance on Feb. 27. Jonas will perform his newly announced single, Spaceman, due out Feb 25. Spaceman arrives as Jonas returns as a coach on NBC's The Voice, which premieres March 1, and also appears in the upcoming Lionsgate film Chaos Walking, arriving March 5. Saturday Night Live is produced in association with Broadway Video. The creator and executive producer is Lorne Michaels.