SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Maya & Marty, the highly anticipated new comedic variety series combining the star power of Maya Rudolph and Martin Short, kicks off a stellar season with special guests Miley Cyrus, Larry David, Jimmy Fallon and Tom Hanks. From executive producer Lorne Michaels, the incomparable Maya Rudolph and Martin Short join forces for an all-new comedy show jam-packed with music, stars and the unique characters and charisma of two of the biggest icons in SNL history. Stars of stage and screen, Rudolph and Short are beloved by audiences of all ages. With Kenan Thompson (SNL, Kenan & Kel) and a dream team of surprise celebrity guests joining them each week, this dynamic duo is ready to unleash the full range of their talents and bring down the house like never before. The series will premiere tonight (Tuesday, May 31) live at 10pm ET, immediately following the two-hour premiere of summer reality series, America's Got Talent. Seven episodes have been ordered and will air live Tuesdays at 10pm.

HBO has confirmed fall debuts for the new series Westworld (drama), Divorce, Insecure and High Maintenance (all comedies). The one-hour drama series Westworld (ten episodes) is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jimmi Simpson, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Ben Barnes, Simon Quarterman, Angela Sarafyan, Luke Hemsworth and Clifton Collins, Jr.

The half-hour comedy series Divorce (ten episodes) stars Sarah Jessica Parker, who also serves as an executive producer, as Frances, a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought. The show also stars Thomas Haden Church, Molly Shannon, Talia Balsam, Tracy Letts, Sterling Jerins and Charlie Kilgore. The half-hour comedy series Insecure (eight episodes), starring Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis and Lisa Joyce, looks at the friendship of two black women and their uncomfortable experiences and racy tribulations. And finally, the half-hour comedy series High Maintenance (six episodes) follows a Brooklyn pot dealer who delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city. The show stars Ben Sinclair as "The Guy," a friendly pot dealer whose clients include an eccentric group of characters, revealing the dynamics of their lives. From the unexpected and offbeat to the predictable and mundane, the series provides a glimpse into the daily routines of the customers and how they light things up.

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're now heading into the summer and it is also Memorial Day weekend, so it should come as no surprise that the news is very light this week. However, we do have some Fuller House news, yet another sitcom star death (though this one is actually several months old and just now being revealed), and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

TUESDAY (MAY 31) HOME MEDIA RELEASES

• Suits - Season Five (DVD, $44.98): The USA Network legal drama returns to DVD with this release.

Who to Follow: Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Twitter), "Actress in show business"

Claim to Fame: Julia Louis-Dreyfus got her start on television in 1982 as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, where, at age 21, she was the youngest female cast member to join the series at that time. She later went on to star in the Family Ties spinoff Day by Day, but her big claim to fame came in 1989 with her role on Seinfeld. Following Seinfeld, she took a bit of a break from acting (and also had a short-lived series called Watching Ellie, which could be described as a failure). But since 2006, she has bounced back with two hit series back-to-back, first with The New Adventures of Old Christine and now the HBO series Veep.