SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

COZI TV Columbo Toast on New Year's Day, Brings Back McMillan and Wife, Banacek and McCloud; Better Things Final Season Premieres Feb. 28

COZI TV is offering a special toast to Columbo fans from coast-to-coast this New Year's Day – and keeping the spirits flowing on Saturdays throughout the year. The national multicast network will kick off 2022 with a Columbo marathon beginning at 8:00am ET on Saturday, January 1, 2022 and continuing throughout the day. One week later on Saturday, Jan. 8, Peter Falk returns in a new, weekly "Columbo and Company" Saturday block complete with six hours of the beloved television drama along with new episodes of McMillan and Wife, Banacek and McCloud; all part of NBC's iconic Mystery Movie "wheel" series from the early 1970s. Check local listings for details, but "Columbo and Company" will air on Saturdays from 8am-3pm and with more Columbo in Saturday primetime starting at 8pm. These dramas join previously announced sitcoms Amen (weekdays 3-4pm) and Gimme a Break! (weekdays 4-5pm) starting January 3.

Columbo made its television series debut September 15, 1971 on NBC. The series ran for a total of 10 seasons, shifting to ABC for its final three seasons, along with various specials through its time on television. Peter Falk won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the rumpled, cigar-smoking homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo homicide detective throughout its run. Directors of the series through its 10 seasons included Steven Spielberg, Ben Gazzara, and Jonathan Demme along with many celebrity guest appearances.

The acclaimed and award-winning comedy series Better Things, directed by, produced by and starring Pamela Adlon, will premiere its fifth and final season on Monday, February 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX and streaming on Hulu. The premiere event will feature the first two episodes of the fifth season, followed by a new episode each subsequent week. In its fifth and final chapter, Better Things focuses on 'the road ahead' for its unconventional, unfiltered heroine, Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), so devoted to her life as a working actor and single mother of three that she's left little time for that one elusive thing: herself. As she navigates three daughters, each coming of age; the challenges of her chosen career; and her mother's increasing signs of aging (as well as her own) - Sam embraces each moment, and each member of her family, with a fierce love, raw honesty and biting humor. As each of the Fox women come of age into the next phase of their life, they are inspired to reevaluate themselves, learn from the past and find their own direction.

Pamela Adlon stars in Better Things for which she is also an executive producer, writer and the sole director for season five. In addition to Adlon, the series stars Mikey Madison, Hannah Riley, Olivia Edward and Celia Imrie. Better Things is produced by FX Productions. The final season will also feature guest stars Lena Waithe, Ron Cephas Jones, Danny Trejo, Marty Krofft, Clive Russell, Casey Wilson, Rainbow Sun Francks, Angela Kinsey, Kevin Michael Richardson, Nelson Lee, Lennon Parham and Usman Ally, as well as the return of Diedrich Bader, Kevin Pollak, Rosalind Chao, Judy Gold, Cree Summer, Alysia Reiner, Greg Cromer, Dominic Burgess, Matthew Glave and Mario Cantone.

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

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Labels: Better Things, Columbo, Cozi TV, FX, Hulu, McCloud

SitcomsOnline Digest: Peacock Cancels A.P. Bio; VEI Announces McCloud DVD Set

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! As has been common in recent weeks, there isn't exactly any huge news, but there is a lot of little news stores, and we're here with a lot of them, including the cancellation of a Peacock series that started on NBC, an international version of an NBC hit, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

• A.P. Bio has been cancelled by Peacock after 4 seasons. (Hollywood Reporter)
• While there have been international versions of Saturday Night Live, none have ever been in English or in the United Kingdom, but that's about to change. (Deadline)
• Jeopardy! isn't any closer to finding a new host, and it'll continue to be Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik rotating for the foreseeable future. (Variety)
• Who would've thought that Freeform, the cable network that started as the Christian Broadcasting Network and used to censor mild swear words, would be the home to The Simpsons, Family Guy, and now The Office as well? (Deadline)
• ABC had another Live in Front of a Studio Audience this week, but the only thing most people are talking about is how Lisa Whelchel doesn't appear to have aged at all in the past 40 years. (Daily Mail)
• VEI has announced that McCloud - The Complete Series will be arriving on DVD soon, completing the DVD runs of all three of the original NBC Mystery Movie series. (VEI)
• Mike Nesmith of The Monkees has died at age 76. (Rolling Stone)
• Chris Cuomo was officially fired by CNN this week. (CNN)
• Brian Williams also signed off on MSNBC for the last time this week, although he voluntarily left the network. (Variety)
• getTV has some new acquisitions, including The Rockford Files. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 11 - DECEMBER 17)

• The follow-up to South Park: Post-COVID is arriving on Paramount Plus much sooner than fans anticipated, on Thursday of this week to be specific.
• It's a weekend of The Addams Family on Decades.
• NBC has a new duo of sitcoms that will have special previews this week, with American Auto on Monday and Grand Crew on Tuesday.
• Paramount Plus has launched 18 new live channels on the service that you can watch now.

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

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Labels: AP Bio, Freeform, Jeopardy, Live in Front of a Studio Audience, McCloud, Peacock, Saturday Night Live, SitcomsOnline Digest, The Monkees, The Office