SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

by Vincent

This past week, NBC premiered the first new sitcom since the COVID-19 pandemic began: Connecting..., a sitcom shot remotely about a group of friends meeting through video chats during quarantine. If you haven't heard of it, you might not be some: the show attracted just a bit over 1 million viewers for its premiere, low numbers even in a world where broadcast ratings continue to drop. The show will likely finish out its 8-episode order, but there's no doubt that it didn't attract much interest. Which leads me to wonder: how much will viewers want to watch the pandemic reflected back at them?

It's a fair question given many shows are planning to incorporate COVID-19 into their storylines this year, from Connecting... to Superstore to black-ish, as well as dramas like Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor. And yet, I personally think people watch TV shows as a means of escape, which includes escaping from our anxiety-ridden reality. Will viewers think the same thing? That could be part of why they didn't connect with Connecting... (despite the show actually being pretty solid, as noted in our review). As more and more shows premiere and cover COVID-19, it will be interesting to see whether viewers embrace the real life stories or whether they prefer to forget.

Antenna TV will air 70 back-to-back episodes of The Jack Benny Program starting next Saturday, October 24 to mark the program's 70th television anniversary. The 70-episode marathon will feature the best gags, guests and glares from The Jack Benny Program. First a radio program, the show's cast regularly broke the fourth wall to interact with the audience and included running jokes such as Benny's age, forever frozen at 39. The Jack Benny Program 70th anniversary marathon starts Saturday, October 24 at 10 a.m. ET and continues through 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25.

Antenna TV starts their Fall 2020 lineup on Monday, October 5 with its newest addition, Who's the Boss? airing weeknights from 5-6pm. It will replace Gimme a Break! on the weekday lineup, but that series will remain airing on weekend afternoons from 2-3pm. Growing Pains returns to the weeknight lineup airing 6-7pm, replacing Barney Miller, which will now air just Sunday nights from 3-4am. Back to Who's the Boss?, it will also air Sunday nights in primetime from 8-9pm leading into Growing Pains again from 9-10pm. Among the other schedule changes are the returns of Head of the Class (Sat 10-11am/Sun 11am-12pm) and My Two Dads (Sunday nights 4-5am), along with a second hour of Soap on Sunday mornings now from 6-8am (this means Three's a Crowd and The Ropers are off the lineup). Wings moves back to weeknights after Coach at 1am every weeknight. View the other schedule changes here.

Stunts in October are two 70th anniversary marathons and a Halloween marathon! Burns and Allen 70th Anniversary Marathon airs on Saturday, October 10 from 10AM until Sunday, October 11 at 9PM with 70 episodes of the series. The Jack Benny 70th Anniversary Marathon airs two weeks later on Saturday, October 24 from 10AM until Sunday, October 25 at 9PM, with 70 episodes of The Jack Benny Program. And the final stunt in October is the "Witch-O-Ween Bewitched Halloween Marathon" on Saturday, October 31 from 10AM to 5AM, with 40 episodes of Bewitched. Episode details for all three stunts are still to come.

November and December holiday season stunts will be announced at a later date. We do want to tease you of some returns in 2021. Both One Day at a Time (the original '70s series, of course) and The Jeffersons return to Antenna TV right at the start of 2021 on January 1. Both series premiered together on Antenna TV in spring 2015 and aired until the end of 2017. The Jeffersons then moved to MeTV in 2018 (and for now airs on sister network Decades), but now is now returning to Antenna TV! And finally, a brand new acquisition for Antenna TV sometime in 2021 will be Caroline in the City - the '90s Lea Thompson sitcom that originally aired on NBC. Much more details are to come, so stay tuned. But for now, Antenna TV's Fall 2020 schedule with Who's the Boss? starts Oct. 5.

The Television Academy celebrated the 72nd Emmy® Awards last night, recognizing excellence in primetime programming and individual achievement for the 2019-2020 television season. The 72nd Emmy® Awards were broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles on ABC, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and produced by Done+Dusted, Reginald Hudlin and KIMMELOT. The telecast featured awards in 23 Emmy categories, plus the Governors Award, presented by top talent from some of television's most acclaimed programs. Presenters and surprise guests included Anthony Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Ty Burrell, LaVerne Cox, America Ferrera, Morgan Freeman, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Ken Jeong, Mindy Kaling, Tatiana Maslany, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bob Newhart, D-Nice, Randall Park, Issa Rae, RuPaul, Jason Sudeikis, Gabrielle Union, Lena Waithe, J.J. Watt and Oprah Winfrey. Singer-songwriter and GRAMMY®-winning artist H.E.R. made her Emmy® debut with a special "In Memoriam" performance honoring all the stars we lost this year such as Regis Philbin, Diahann Carroll and Chadwick Boseman.

Among the big winners were Watchmen with 11 wins, Schitt's Creek with 9 wins, Succession with 7 wins and The Mandalorian with 7 wins. Daniel Levy of Schitt's Creek won 4 awards for Director, Executive Producer, Performer and Writer! Schitt's Creek swept the entire major comedy categories with Lead Actor, Lead Actress, Writing, Directing, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Outstanding Comedy! View the complete list of winners. 

Spend the holidays with your favorite sitcom stars as Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast broadcast network airing in 111 TV markets across the US, reaching 79% of TV households, airs holiday episodes and themed marathons throughout the holiday season. Catch Thanksgiving episodes of your favorite sitcoms like All in the Family and Too Close for Comfort on Wednesday, Nov. 25 beginning at 5pm ET through 12am ET. And on Thanksgiving itself, Antenna TV will air "The Cleaver Family Thanksgiving Day Marathon," a 27-hour Leave it to Beaver marathon starting at 12midnight ET on Thursday, November 26, 2015.

Next, snuggle up with a cup of hot cocoa and your TV remote, Antenna TV is bringing you a Christmas full of the most beloved TV shows that celebrate the holiday season. It starts off at 3pm ET on Christmas Eve (Thursday, December 24) with the 15-hour "Classic Christmas Collection," a showcase of Antenna TV's classic TV holiday episodes. Then at 6am ET on Christmas Day (Friday, December 25), gather the family around the TV to warm up next to the original "Yule Log" featuring a crackling fireplace and soothing Christmas music. The holiday favorites continue at 10am ET with more from the "Classic Christmas Collection," which includes holiday episodes spanning from the '50s through the '90s. Sitcoms airing in the marathon include holiday episodes of series not on the schedule (yet) like Webster, Dear John, Mork & Mindy and Wings!

Moving on to New Year's Eve, make a date with Antenna TV this New Year's Eve, and enjoy laughter and celebration all through the night. The party starts at 8pm ET on New Year's Eve, featuring alternating episodes of The Jack Benny Program and The Burns and Allen Show and continues for 9 hours (until 5am ET). Then the New Year means it's time for a new start and Antenna TV leads the way with a "Fresh Start" marathon from 5am-11pm ET on Friday, January 1, 2016. See how Antenna TV's classic shows started out with the airing of pilots and memorable firsts of each series, including the premiere of three new shows on Antenna TV: Johnny Carson, Mork & Mindy and Dear John. And finally...here's Johnny! Beginning January 1, Antenna TV will tuck America in each weeknight with a 60-minute classic Johnny Carson episode airing at 11 pm ET with a rebroadcast at 2 am ET. On weekends, Antenna TV will run 90-minute episodes at 10 pm ET with a rebroadcast at 1:30 am ET.

We will have more on the new Antenna TV January 2016 schedule that will have Johnny Carson, Mork & Mindy and Dear John. No word yet if Webster and Wings will join the lineup yet, but enjoy the Christmas airings this Christmas Eve and Day! Stay with us.

TBS has given a greenlight to Search Party, a dark comedy about a group of four self-absorbed 20-somethings who come together when a former college acquaintance mysteriously disappears. Led by Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), the cast of Search Party features an ensemble of young comic actors, including John Early, John Reynolds and Meredith Hagner. The pilot was written and directed by Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, whose credits include the 2014 SXSW Film Festival Grand Jury Award-winning feature film Fort Tilden and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and overseen by Michael Showalter (Hello, My Name Is Doris, Wet Hot American Summer). Tony Hernandez (Broad City, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie) and Lilly Burns (Broad City, Difficult People, Younger) will serve as executive producers, alongside Showalter, Rogers and Bliss. Plans call for Search Party to launch domestically across TBS's linear, digital and mobile platforms in 2016. Turner International's general entertainment networks will partner to present the series outside of North America.

Search Party centers on Dory (Shawkat), a fragile, frustrated, life-long doormat who's not particularly proud of her impact on the world, especially since her greatest accomplishment to date is organizing clothes to be donated to Goodwill for her wealthy employer. Dory feels stuck in a stale and disconnected relationship with her boyfriend, Drew (Reynolds), a kind of clueless, complacent, spoon-fed doofus who just really loves Christmas. She also feels removed from her closest friends, Elliott (Early), a self-diagnosed narcissist who loves adding job titles to his designer-stylist-curator multi-hyphenate lifestyle, and Portia (Hagner), an actress always struggling to balance the challenging demands of chronic insecurity and pathological self-absorption.

Search Party opens with Dory learning that Chantal, a girl she barely knew in college, has gone missing. Despite having almost no personal connection to her, Dory becomes fixated on the mystery. Dory, Drew, Elliott, and Portia are not crime solvers. They value brunch, parties, and their own loud opinions. So when Dory drags them into a bumbling, perilous pursuit to find the missing girl, they soon learn the meaning of real danger and become entangled in a sinister plot that is more than their privileged Brooklyn lifestyles ever bargained for.

Ring in the New Year with your favorite sitcom stars as Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast broadcast network, airs a series of marathons on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. On New Year's Eve (December 31, 2013), Antenna TV, which airs on 83 affiliates across the U.S. reaching 67% of TV households, will ring in 2014 with the second annual "The New Year's Eve Curtain Call with Benny and Burns & Allen" a Burns and Allen Show and a Jack Benny Program marathon beginning at 7pm ET on Tuesday, December 31 and running through 3am ET on Wednesday, January 1. Then on New Year's Day (January 1, 2014), Antenna TV will air its annual Three Stooges marathon from 3a ET-9a ET. When Antenna TV launched on January 1, 2011, the network made its debut with The Three Stooges. Antenna TV now airs a Three Stooges Marathon each year on New Year's Day to commemorate the anniversary, with 2014 celebrating the start of Antenna TV's 4th successful year on air.

Finally, on Thursday, January 2, Antenna TV will air "The Fresh Start Marathon." It will be pilot episodes of your favorite shows followed by the second episode of each show! Get a fresh start with Antenna TV from 11am ET-5am ET on Thursday, January 2. Programs include the first and second episodes of: Hazel, McHale's Navy, The Patty Duke Show, Dennis the Menace, Misted Ed, Green Acres, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes, All in the Family, Maude, Father Knows Best, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Sanford & Son. Stay with us for further information!

A couple months ago we told you about Fantasy Island starting on Cozi TV with a marathon on Dec. 8, now we have more news on that series and another show. First off, Fantasy Island got a preview marathon on Dec. 8 and it will join the Sunday night line-up regularly beginning Sunday, December 29, 2013. The series will air Sundays at 8pm & 9pm. Leading in will be Magnum P.I. at 7pm and leading out will be Bionic Woman at 10pm to form a new Sunday night block. Starting Thursday, December 26, Cozi TV will add a new western to its weekday morning line-up. Joining the schedule will be reruns of the classic James Garner western, Maverick. The series will air weekdays at 11am replacing Run For Your Life. But that's not all for Maverick! The classic western will also air on Saturday nights to form a new Saturday night western block! Maverick will air Saturday nights at 8pm & 9pm into Alias Smith & Jones at 10pm. That's all the changes for now. Maybe come January they will add one of the series they announced already that are coming soon (Starsky & Hutch and Hart to Hart). Stay with us.