SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

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

The summer is usually a pretty slow time for sitcom news, but sitcom fans have an interesting treat starting this Sunday. CNN is airing an 8-part series History of the Sitcom, which is from the same producers who did the similar series The Story of Late Night. The show will walk viewers through 60 years of sitcoms on TV, from The Dick Van Dyke Show to The Brady Bunch to The Office. According to CNN's own description of the event, the show will "explores the genre through multiple lenses, including themes of family and sex." The first two episodes will air back-to-back on Sunday.

It will be interesting to see how the show deals with the many changing faces of the sitcom through the years. In recent years, the genre of "sitcom" has become more open-ended. For years, it meant a series with a live audience or a laugh track, but obviously that has changed in the past 20 years, to the point where most sitcoms now are single-camera and ditch the laugh track. The show will also talk about modern comedies like Insecure or Master of None, which may not fit the typical "sitcom" feel but still often comedy and interesting viewpoints to their viewers. If you're interested in the evolution of the sitcom, CNN's History of the Sitcom seems like a good choice for you.

Critically-acclaimed Peacock Original comedy series Rutherford Falls from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, has been renewed for a second season. Rutherford Falls represents a breakthrough moment in Native representation in comedy television both in front of and behind the camera. The series is a comedy about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads - quite literally - when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call. The series stars Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover), Jana Schmieding, Michael Greyeyes (I Know This Much Is True), Jesse Leigh (Heathers) and Dustin Milligan (Schitt's Creek).

Rutherford Falls is one of the largest Indigenous writer's rooms on television with five Native writers staffed on the series including co-creator and executive producer Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo), Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), Tai Leclaire(Kanien'kehá:ka [Mohawk Nation]/Mi'kmaq), Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux), and Tazbah Chavez (Bishop Paiute/Diné/San Carlos Apache). Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux) and Michael Greyeyes ([Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation - Treaty Six Territory in Saskatchewan]) star in the series.

Actress Suzzanne Douglas, who was best known for her role as matriarch Jerri Peterson on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood, has died. She died on July 6 at her home on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. She had been suffering from pancreatic cancer in the two years leading up to her death. Ms. Douglas was 64.

Douglas starred as Jerri Peterson on The WB sitcom The Parent' Hood, which aired from 1995 to 1999. The series is about the Petersons, an upper-middle-class black family in Harlem, New York City. Jerri Peterson is a law student and mother of four kids. It ran for five seasons and 90 episodes. The series also starred Robert Townsend, Kenny Blank (seasons 1-3), Reagan Gomez-Preston, Curtis Williams, Ashli Adams, Bobby McGee (season 1), Carol Woods (season 1), Faizon Love (seasons 2-4), Tyrone Dorzell Burton (seasons 4-5) and Kelly Perine (season 5).

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included The Cosby Show as Rebecca Shorter in 1990, The Parkers in 1999 and 2000 (2 episodes as Constance McFarland) and Are We There Yet? in 2011.

She starred as Yvette Carruthers on the 1990-1991 Fox dramedy Against the Law. She played Grace Cuffe on the 2019 Netflix crime drama miniseries When They See Us. Some of her other drama credits included Guiding Light, A Man Called Hawk, I'll Fly Away (3 episodes), Angel Street, Touched by an Angel (2 episodes), NYPD Blue, Promised Land (4 episodes), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Good Wife, Bones and Bull.

Douglas starred with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1989 film Taps. She played Cissy Houston in the 2015 Lifetime TV movie Whitney. Some of her other film credits included The Inkwell (1994), Jason's Lyric (1994) and How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998).

Ms. Douglas was a talented and versatile actress. She was very funny as the mother on The Parent 'Hood. We thank her for the laughs and entertainment. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our The Parent 'Hood message board. View photos in our galleries.

The highly anticipated action comedy series MacGruber has been picked up to series. Based on the iconic SNL parody sketch, Peacock has ordered eight half-hour episodes. Will Forte will reprise his iconic role as MacGruber and also write and executive produce. The Peacock series is an adaptation of the 2010 feature film and cult favorite of the same title, which will also feature the original creative team behind the camera. After rotting in prison for over a decade, America's ultimate hero and uber patriot MacGruber (Will Forte) is finally released. His mission: to take down a mysterious villain from his past - Brigadier Commander Enos Queeth. With the entire world in the crosshairs, MacGruber must race against time to defeat the forces of evil -- only to find that evil... may be lurking within.

Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Emmy nominee and Broadway star Sara Bareilles is set to lead the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock produced series Girls5eva. When a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90's gets sampled by a young rapper, its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot. They may be grown women balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, aging parents, and shoulder pain, but can't they also be Girls5eva? Bareilles will star as Dawn, former member of the short-lived 90s girl group Girls5eva, who is now a bit restless in life managing her family's small Italian restaurant in Queens. When the opportunity arises, Dawn reluctantly gets the band back together for a Girls5eva reunion and it might just be exactly what she needed.

The upcoming comedy Rutherford Falls from co-creators and executive producers Michael Schur, Ed Helms and Sierra Teller Ornelas has set its initial cast with Jana Schmieding, Michael Greyeyes, Jesse Leigh and Dustin Milligan. A small town in upstate New York and the Native American reservation it borders, are turned upside down when local legend and town namesake, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) fights the moving of a historical statue. Jana Schmieding will star as Reagan Wells, Nathan's best friend since childhood. Incredibly smart and hopelessly principled, Reagan dreams of making her tribe's modest Cultural Center into a world-renowned museum. Michael Greyeyes (I Know This Much Is True) will star as Terry Tarbell. Terry is the CEO of his tribe's mid-level casino. Shrewd and charismatic, he's also Reagan's boss and has big plans for both her and their tribe. Jesse Leigh (Heathers) will star as Bobbie Yang, Nathan's non-binary teenage intern/executive assistant. Bobbie is an outspoken and ambitious first generation American, doing everything possible to escape their tiny hometown. Dustin Milligan (Schitt's Creek) will star as Josh Cogan, A reporter/podcaster who takes an interest in the goings-on in Rutherford Falls.

Peacock has announced a new weekly topical late-night block with series anchored by Amber Ruffin and Larry Wilmore. Each show will bring even more comedy, timeliness and current news to the service. Each week The Amber Ruffin Show will showcase Amber's signature smart and silly take on the week's news. No matter what's happening in the world, Amber will respond to it with a charming mix of seriousness, nonsense, and evening gowns. The Amber Ruffin Show is a topical late-night show with just the good parts - the comedy. Peacock has ordered nine half-hour episodes which is set to launch in September. Emmy Award-winning producer, actor and comedian Larry Wilmore is bringing his distinct voice to streaming with a new weekly special series. Larry will have real discussions with high profile people from all different backgrounds including sports, politics and entertainment. Each episode will not only cover the election but will also engage in the important conversations of the week. It will be funny, sometimes serious, potentially awkward and most definitely honest. Peacock has ordered 11 episodes of the Untitled Larry Wilmore Show, which is set to launch in September.




Sticking with Peacock, they have released the trailer for the Saved by the Bell revival. It will be a single-camera comedy (the original series was a traditional multi-camera sitcom). When California governor Zack Morris gets into hot water for closing too many low-income high schools, he proposes they send the affected students to the highest performing schools in the state - including Bayside High. The influx of new students gives the over privileged Bayside kids a much needed and hilarious dose of reality. Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkley Lauren reprise their roles from the original series, with specials appearances by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tiffani Thiessen.