SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! This week, we're finding that Modern Family is very close to renewal for a ninth season (though lots of details still need to be worked out), we're hearing of Arnold Schwarzenegger quitting or being fired (we don't really know) from Celebrity Apprentice, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Who to Follow: Brock Ciarlelli (Twitter), "Brad Bottig on @TheMiddle_ABC, Tuesdays, 8pm/7c! Im a big advocate for iced coffee, alternating between being the big and little spoon, and children on leashes"

Claim to Fame: Brock Ciarlelli is not at all a household name to TV viewers, but if you watch the long-running ABC sitcom The Middle, you'd know exactly who he is: he plays the role of Brad, one of Sue's friends (and a former boyfriend of hers, even though he was gay and everybody seemed to notice except Sue). As the series has progressed, his character actually did "come out" in the seventh season. It's worth pointing out, though, that acting isn't his only skill set. While playing on The Middle, he has also managed to find time on the side to begin and finish a college degree in mathematics at Chapman University. He also has sort of a side project going, as he will be appearing in the second season of the YouTube shorts called Valet, which will debut tomorrow (if you've got a half hour to spare, you can watch the first season, which did not include him, here). We have no idea what will be next for him after The Middle (which we assume he'll continue to play his recurring role on as long as the series continues, and it has already been renewed for next season), but it seems like he may have a future in comedy in some form.

Antenna TV has announced its fall 2015 schedule and it will begin on Monday, September 14, 2015. The newest addition to the weekday line-up will be the '80s sitcom Family Ties. The Michael J. Fox comedy will air weeknights at 10pm & 10:30pm and weekends at 8pm & 8:30pm. Also joining the schedule will be two short-lived comedies airing on the weekend: My Mother the Car Saturdays from 1-2pm and It's About Time Saturdays from 2-3pm. If you are not familiar with the latter series, it's a caveman series that aired from 1966-67 and is from creator Sherwood Schwartz, and used sets, props and incidental music from Schwartz's other television series in production at the time, Gilligan's Island. Leaving the schedule for now will be Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Flipper, Gidget, Here Come the Brides, McHale's Navy, The Monkees, and The Patty Duke Show. As always with Antenna TV on new schedules, there will be a lot of time changes to existing shows... Too Close for Comfort returns to weekdays, airing 5-6pm. View the full Antenna TV Fall 2015 schedule and discuss these changes.

NBC has decided it is not moving forwards in its revival of Coach. The network gave the updated sitcom a 13-episode straight-to-series order last spring and mentioned it during the upfront. The series was slated to premiere midseason 2016. NBC was not happy with the creative decisions being made by Universal Television with the series. The premiere episode was already taped. With this news, Coach may still live on. Universal Television is reportedly shopping it to other networks (perhaps original network ABC?) and streaming services (i.e. Netflix). In this new revival, NBC described it as Craig T. Nelson reprising the iconic role that earned him an Emmy in this follow-up to the beloved series that ran for nine seasons. With original creator Barry Kemp at the helm, Hayden Fox's story picks up 18 years later when the retired coach gets back in the game to assist his son, who was just hired as head coach at an Ivy League university in Pennsylvania... where they know nothing about sports. Between dealing with the eggheads on campus and his hostile daughter-in-law at home, Coach will soon learn that he's not in Minnesota anymore. Talk about a Hail Mary!