SitcomsOnline.com News Blog: One in a Million

Showing posts with label One in a Million. Show all posts

Saturday, February 26, 2022

SitcomsOnline Digest: Multi-Camera Sitcom Pilot Hungry in Development at NBC; Shout! Factory Acquires Distribution Rights to ALF

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! After last week's busy week of news, it's significantly slower this week, but we've got news about a comedy pilot in development at NBC, some new life for ALF, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

The broadcast multi camera sitcom may not be completely dead at NBC, as a pilot called Hungry is in the works (with James Burrows directing the pilot). (Deadline)
Shout! Factory, which is more of an online streaming distributor than anything else now, has acquired distribution rights to ALF, but one key highlight from the news is their plan to let people see "restored footage not seen in 30 years," which we imagine implies the unedited episodes that we never got on DVD in the United States. (Deadline)
Wendy Williams won't be returning to her show anytime soon, and now it has been announced that the show will be renamed Sherri in the fall, with Sherri Shepherd as host. (CNN)
REELZ has announced some new Unknown Stories episodes for a trio of classic TV favorites. (SitcomsOnline)
Abbott Elementary is continuing to be a solid performer for ABC, a rarity for a broadcast network comedy in this era. (SitcomsOnline)

WEEKLY PLANNER (FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 4)

Fuller House comes to GAC Family on Monday night.
Decades has a Sally Field binge this weekend, with all three of her Screen Gems shows, The Flying Nun, Gidget, and The Girl with Something Extra.
You can now watch almost every episode of the forgotten 1980 sitcom One in a Million on Crackle.
Our Flag Means Death debuts on HBO Max on Thursday.
A new season of Central Park debuts on Apple TV+ on Friday.

Friday, February 25, 2022

Fri-Yay: Abbott Elementary Continues to Impress; Short-Lived Sitcom One in a Million Now on Crackle

It's time for another edition of Fri-Yay! That means we will take a look back on some sitcom happenings in recent days or weeks or other fun sitcomy stuff. It's a sitcom lover's paradise! Happy Fri-Yay!

by Vincent

I know I've written about Abbott Elementary before, but it bears repeating just how good this incredible sitcom has been. If you've yet to check it out, please do so on Tuesdays on ABC (or binge on Hulu). The show is an absolute delight, and there has been a lot of talk about the show single handedly reviving the mockumentary format - or even the network sitcom.

What makes Abbott Elementary so good? For one, the show has found a way to appeal to both sitcom lovers and young audiences. A quote from the show goes viral nearly every week on Twitter. Additionally, the show draws in a lot of weekly viewers, showing its connecting to broadcast audiences. In 2022, it's crucial for a network sitcom to straddle this line. If you don't appeal to young audiences, you fail to draw in profitable youth demographics. But if you only appeal to those young audiences, you risk not fitting in with the network landscape and getting poor ratings. It’s getting harder and harder for shows to straddle this line, but Abbott does it with ease.

One in a Million

Crackle has added a very rare short-lived sitcom to its service to stream for free. ABC's One in a Million from 1980. That time when the hysterical Shirley Hemphill of What's Happening!! had her own show and now you can finally watch it. It looks like 11 of the 13 episodes are available to stream. In the series, when a young taxi driver inherits a major corporation and becomes "Chairman of the Board" - her unschooled businessways are remarkably wise in understanding. Start with the pilot, when a millionaire bequeaths controlling stock in his corporation to cab driver Shirley Simmons, she must decide whether to take the money or run the company. The sitcom stars Shirley Hemphill, Keene Curtis, Carl Ballantine, Mel Stewart, Ann Weldon, Richard Paul and Dorothy Fielding.