SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

by Vincent

This Sunday was a big one for Apple TV+, as it received its first Emmy award victory with Ted Lasso - and then received multiple more victories with Ted Lasso over the course of the night. The sports comedy series, which has easily been the most buzzed about comedy of the year, took home all but the Lead Actress category in the comedy column last night, including the big prize, Outstanding Comedy Series. In my mind, it's a very deserving award. Ted Lasso is an excellent show with lots of humor and heart and is easily the best comedy series currently airing.

It was a big night in general for streaming services. For the first time in its history, Netflix won the most Emmys of any streaming service or channel of the night, including taking home Outstanding Drama Series for The Crown and Outstanding Limited Series for The Queen's Gambit. It continued the overall trend of streaming services winning big and traditional channels losing out. Overall, it was another Emmys that proved the media landscape is rapidly changing.

The series premiere of the new comedy Ghosts will now have a one-hour debut, Oct. 7, 9:01-10:00 PM. As a result, The second season premiere of B Positve will move one week, to Thursday, Oct. 14, 9:30-10:00 PM. One other note, CBS has announced that the second season premiere of United States of Al will address current events on Oct. 7 at 8:31-9:01 PM.

Thursday, Oct. 7
8:00-8:31 PM Young Sheldon (5th Season Premiere)
8:31-9:01 PM United States of Al (2nd Season Premiere)
9:01-10:00 PM Ghosts (1-Hour Series Premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM Bull (6th Season Premiere)

Thursday, Oct. 14
8:00-8:31 PM Young Sheldon
8:31-9:01 PM United States of Al
9:01-9:30 PM Ghosts
9:30-10:00 PM B Positive (2nd Season Premiere)
10:00-11:00 PM Bull

Actor Willie Garson, who played Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City, has died. He died at his home in Los Angeles on September 21 from pancreatic cancer. Mr. Garson was 57.

Garson had a recurring role as Carl, Kevin Owens' (Rob Stone) best friend, on seven episodes of Mr. Belvedere from 1986 to 1990. Some of his other early sitcom guest appearances include Family Ties, Cheers, You Again?, The New Gidget, My Two Dads, Newhart, It's a Living (three episodes as Phil Roman), Coach, Chicken Soup, Flying Blind, A League of Their Own, Boy Meets World (four episodes), Pig Sty, Partners, Mad About You, The Single Guy and Mad About You.

He starred as Ronnie Rendall on the short-lived 1998 Fox sitcom Ask Harriet. Ronnie Rendall was Jack Cody's (Anthony Tyler Quinn) best friend and the newspaper critic for the New York Dispatch. The cast included Patrick Y. Malone, Lisa Waltz, Julie Benz, Edward Asner, Jamie Renée Smith and Damien Leake.

Garson had a recurring role as Stanford Blatch on 27 episodes of the 1998-2004 HBO romantic comedy-drama Sex and the City. Stanford Blatch is a gay talent agent from an aristocratic family. He is Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) best friend outside of the other three women (Kim Cattrall as Samantha Jones, Kristin Davis as Charlotte York and Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes). Garson reprised his role as Stanford Blatch in the films Sex and the City (2008) and Sex and the City (2010). He will appear in the upcoming HBO Max revival series And Just Like That....

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Conrad Bloom, Friends, Just Shoot Me!, Spin City, Greetings from Tucson, All About the Andersons, Yes, Dear (2004), Wizards of Waverly Place, Two and a Half Men, Wendell & Vinnie, Girl Meets World (also directed a 2015 episode) and Weird Loners. He provided various voices for three episodes of Big Mouth.

Garson had a recurring role as Henry Coffield on seven episodes of the ABC police drama NYPD Blue from 1996 to 1999. He appeared as Meyer Dickstein on the 2007 HBO drama John from Cincinnati. He starred as Mozzie on the 2009-2014 USA Network police drama White Collar. In 2013, he directed an episode of White Collar. He had a recurring role as Gerard Hirsch on nine episodes of Hawaii Five-0 from 2015 to 2020.

Some of his other drama guest appearances included Quantum Leap, thirtysomething, Twin Peaks, The X-Files, Touched by an Angel, The Practice, Melrose Place, Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Party of Five, Star Trek: Voyager, Early Edition, Stargate SG-1 (three episodes), Special Unit 2, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, Pushing Daisies, Medium, Franklin & Bash, The Mysteries of Laura, Scandal, Supergirl (three episodes) and Magnum, P.I. (2019).

He appeared in three films from the Farrelly brothers – Kingpin (1996), There's Something About Mary (1998) and Fever Pitch (2005). Some of his other film credits included Groundhog Day (1993), The Rock (1996), Being John Malkovich (1999), Fortress 2: Re-Entry (2000), Out Cold (2001), Freaky Friday (2003), Just Like Heaven (2005), Little Manhattan (2005) and Labor Pains (2009).

Mr. Garson was a talented and versatile actor. He appeared in more than 300 TV episodes and over 75 films. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment he brought us during his career. He will be sorely missed.

Share your memories on our Sex and the City message board. View photos in our galleries.

Emmy-winning director Jay Sandrich, who worked on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Soap and The Cosby Show, has died. He died from complications of dementia on September 22 in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Sandrich was 89.

He began his career as an assistant director on I Love Lucy from 1956 to 1957. He was assistant to the producer on The Andy Griffith Show from 1961 to 1963 and an associate producer from 1964 to 1965. He was an associate producer for the first season of Get Smart from 1965 to 1966. In 1967, he worked as a producer for Captain Nice.

Sandrich's early sitcom directing credits included The Danny Thomas Show, The Bill Dana Show, He & She, That Girl, Get Smart, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Here's Lucy and The Governor & J.J..

He directed 119 of the 168 episodes of the 1970-1977 CBS sitcom The Mary Tyle Moore Show. He won Emmy Awards in 1971 and 1973 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.

Sandrich directed 54 episodes of the ABC sitcom Soap from 1977 to 1980. Some of his other 1970s directing credits included The Bill Cosby Show, Nanny and the Professor, Arnie, The Good Life, Here We Go Again, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, Diana, We'll Get By, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers, The Odd Couple, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, Rhoda, Ball Four, Phyllis, The Tony Randall Show, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (1977), Welcome Back, Kotter (1976, 1977), The Betty White Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Stockard Channing in Best Friends, The Stockard Channing Show and Benson.

He directed 100 episodes of the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. He won Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series.

Some of his 1980s sitcom directing credits included Love, Sidney (1981), Night Court, Off the Rack, It's a Living, The Golden Girls, A Different World, Empty Nest and The Van Dyke Show. His 1990s and 2000s sitcom directing credits included Love & War, Thea, The Office (1995), Pearl, Ink, The Tony Danza Show, Built to Last, LateLine, The Secret Lives of Men, Style & Substance, Thanks, Three Sisters, Charlie Lawrence and Two and a Half Men.

Sandrich directed the 1980 film Seems Like Old Times, which starred Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn and Charles Grodin.

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on December 4, 2001.

Mr. Sandrich was a prolific director who worked on more than 50 sitcoms. He was a four-time Emmy winner for his work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Cosby Show. He was inducted into the Televison Hall of Fame in 2020. We thank him for work on many sitcoms during his directing career, which spanned from 1963 to 2003. He will be greatly missed.

A new multi-camera sitcom launches today. The Crew stars Kevin James as the crew chief for a NASCAR team. When the owner steps down and passes the team off to his daughter Catherine (Jillian Mueller), James has to protect himself and his crew from her attempts to modernize the team. Watch all 10 episodes of The Crew only on Netflix, beginning today, February 15. Freddie Stroma as Jake, Sarah Stiles as Beth, Gary Anthony Williams as Chuck and Dan Ahdoot as Amir also star, Paris Berelc as Jessie and Bruce McGill as Bobby guest star. See trailer:

Looking for something to binge watch during the winter abd snow? A newly remastered HD version of the classic HBO series Sex and the City is available to stream on HBO Max right now (as of Feb. 12). This new version marks the first time that the iconic HBO series will be available in 16:9 full frame aspect ratio, giving audiences a greater, extended frame for wide screen viewing. With more resolution, the series will be seen in a whole new way, offering enhanced & richer color and additional depth that was not possible in standard definition. The series was originally shot on film and mastered in standard definition as high definition capabilities were unavailable at the time of filming. Over the past year, the series was updated from scratch as film negatives from the show were meticulously scanned at 4K to create HD masters. The new HD version of Sex and the City gives HBO Max subscribers the perfect opportunity to watch or rewatch ahead of the next chapter, And Just Like That... -- which kicks-off production in New York City this spring.

HBO Max has given a series order to And Just Like That..., a new chapter of the groundbreaking HBO series, Sex and the City, from executive producer Michael Patrick King and starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis. The new Max Original series is based on the book, Sex and the City, by Candice Bushnell and the original TV series created by Darren Star. The series will follow Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte as they navigate the journey from the complicated reality of life and friendship in their 30's to the even more complicated reality of life and friendship in their 50's. The ten-episode, half-hour series is scheduled to begin production in New York late spring. Kim Catrall is the only one of the four original stars not attached to this project. No word if Kim Catrall will make any appearances or not, but she is not part of the regular cast. The original series ran on HBO from 1998-2004 and was followed by two feature films in 2008 and 2010, along with a prequel series on The CW called The Carrie Diaries from 2013-15. This series will be executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Michael Patrick King.

Nickelodeon has revealed the trailer and premiere date for the long-awaited season two debut of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows, the beloved horror anthology series based on the '90s kids' cult classic. Season one of the revival aired in October 2019. Produced by ACE Entertainment, the six-part limited series will premiere on Friday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon, with new episodes airing every Friday night. Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Curse of the Shadows follows an all-new Midnight Society group of kids who learn of the terrifying curse cast over their small seaside town, and are haunted by a mysterious creature known as the Shadowman. In the just-released trailer, viewers are introduced to the new Midnight Society members and get a glimpse at the horrors that await them in the shadows. The new members of the Midnight Society are: Luke, played by Bryce Gheisar (The Astronauts, Wonder); Jai, played by Arjun Athalye; Hanna, played by Beatrice Kitsos (Child's Play, iZombie); Gabby, played by Malia Baker (The Baby-Sitters Club); Seth, played by Dominic Mariche (The Christmas Yule Blog, A Gift to Cherish); and Connor, played by Parker Queenan (Party of Five, Andi Mack).

One of the Nickelodeon's most iconic series from the '90s, the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? delivered riveting stories of horror to young audiences, all from a kid's perspective. Are You Afraid of the Dark? is owned by DHX and was created by D.J. MacHale and Ned Kandel, who are also executive producers on the project.

Nickelodeon announced the development of a new animated project, Man of the House (working title), from Norman Lear's ACT III Productions. With creative concept by Colombian-American writer and illustrator Michael Molina (Trivia Night), Man of the House follows 11-year-old José as he helps his mother Maria watch over his two younger siblings, Maria Juliana (Maju) and Diego, while trying to form a hip-hop group with his quirky classmate and neighbor, Wilbur, that lives downstairs. Lear (All in the Family, The Jeffersons) and Brent Miller (One Day at a Time) will serve as executive producers.

The development of Norman Lear's project will be overseen by Claudia Spinelli, who has been promoted to the role of Vice President, Animation Development. Formerly Vice President of Current Series, Spinelli will oversee the development pipeline of all new animated content, while identifying potential creators, showrunners, writers and directors. She will also work closely with Nickelodeon's talent relations department and the animation community to scout new talent for animation development.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary since the debut of Sex and the City, E! will honor the divine occasion with a three-day "binge-a-thon" featuring every season and every episode ever coinciding with National Best Friend Day, beginning Friday, June 8, 2018. Kicking things off at 7pm ET/PT, E! News will have a special 30-minute Sex and the City themed episode hosted by Erin Lim and Carissa Culiner featuring flashbacks, memorable fashion and OMG moments of the iconic series that is still known as one of the pop culture emblems of the 21st century. The 94-episode marathon featuring Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) will begin Friday, June 8, 2018 at 7:30pm ET/PT and conclude Sunday, June 10th at 7pm ET/PT.

Adult Swim, basic cable's #1 network in total day with adults 18-24, 18-34, and 18-49, has greenlit Dream Corp, LLC., a new animated comedy series from creator Daniel Stessen (The Gold Sparrow) and executive produced by both American and British The Office alums, John Krasinski and Stephan Merchant, as well as Krasinski's Sunday Night partner Allyson Seeger. Dream Corp, LLC., an absurd workplace comedy set in a neglected dream therapy facility, continues Adult Swim's commitment to expanding their original programming slate with innovative animated shows like Rick and Morty and building their primetime audience.

The first Adult Swim original series to utilize the latest rotoscope technology, Dream Corp, LLC. will be an innovative standout in the current animation landscape. Each week viewers will watch as a rotating cast of desperate patients have their dreams recorded and analyzed by Dream Corp's absent-minded professor, Dr. Roberts (Jon Gries), and his team of unremarkable scientists. The new series is set to start production in Los Angeles, CA later this year. A premiere date will be announced at a later date. Stay with us.

Carrie Bradshaw is back...kind of. Sarah Jessica Parker is back on an HBO comedy, but not on Sex and the City this time. The first look photo from HBO's new comedy series Divorce, which is currently in production in New York, is now available above. Sarah Jessica Parker serves as an executive producer and stars 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. Other series regulars include Thomas Haden Church, Molly Shannon, Talia Balsam and Tracy Letts. The comedy is about 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. No word yet on a premiere date.

Team Aidan and Team Big fans get ready, as Amazon announced that the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning hit series Sex and the City is now available for Prime members to stream and download at no additional charge to their membership. As of yesterday, Prime members can watch all episodes of the iconic six-season series that follows Carrie Bradshaw, Samantha Jones, Charlotte York and Miranda Hobbes, as they navigate love, friendship and relationships in New York City. Prime members can start watching Sex and the City via the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices and mobile devices, or online at www.amazon.com/PrimeVideo--the series is also available for Prime members to download on iOS, Android and Fire devices for offline viewing.

Sex and the City joins an already robust collection of award-winning, original and popular programming available to Prime members, including Amazon Original Series such as the multi Golden Globe winning and multi Emmy-nominated dark comedy Transparent, the newly released drama Hand of God, as well as the police drama Bosch, and comedy series' Catastrophe and Mozart in the Jungle in addition to hit series like Veep, Girls, The Newsroom, The Sopranos, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, The Wire, Orphan Black, The Good Wife, The White Queen, The Americans, Under the Dome and more, in addition to blockbuster movies like Transformers: Age of Extinction, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Star Trek Into Darkness and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, among others. Prime members also have access to a wide selection of kids shows including Amazon Original Series Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street and the Annecy, Annie and multi-Emmy Award-winning Tumble Leaf, as well as popular shows from Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. including SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Team Umizoomi, and Blue's Clues.

Prime members can watch all the great movies and TV shows available as part of their membership through the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices or mobile devices or online on www.amazon.com/PrimeVideo. Customers who are not already Prime members can sign up for a free trial at Amazon.com/prime.


Television's biggest night is just a few days away and just in time for the 67th Emmy Awards, the Television Academy and long-time sponsor Audi teamed up with one of TV's favorite ex-couples in a comedic new video entitled "Kermit Gets Set Up." Watch as Kermit the Frog and the confident Miss Piggy meet up for the first time since their very-public breakup to discuss how they are going work together on their new show. The rendezvous quickly goes awry when insults start flying and the meeting turns into the ultimate Hollywood power lunch. Featuring cameos by some of this year's most popular female Emmy nominees including Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), and a hilarious appearance by Emmy-nominated Joel McHale (The Soup). Don’t forget to stick around for a surprise at the end! So without further adieu watch the video!

Late last week NBC announced it has pulled (and canceled) both of its remaining freshman Thursday comedies on the schedule. Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show will not be returning after the Winter Olympics as planned, instead NBC will now air new episodes of Hollywood Game Night on Thursday nights in the 9pm hour (following Community and Parks & Recreation) starting February 27. Sean Saves the World already had its episode cut from 18 to 15, and now the remaining two episodes are unscheduled. 13 of the 15 episodes have aired. As for The Michael J. Fox Show, 22 episodes were ordered and only 15 have aired, with seven episodes still left to air. No word on if and when NBC will burn-off either of the show's remaining episodes. If it happens, it might be on a Saturday night, in the summer or just placed on nbc.com. Both really struggled in the ratings, with The Michael J. Fox Show on Jan. 16 doing less then 2 million total viewers (1.992 million) and just a 0.59 18-49 rating, both historic lows for NBC Thursday originals. We'll let you know if they schedule these remaining episodes. Stay with us.

Production has begun on TV Land's newest sitcom pilot, Younger, starring Tony® Award winner Sutton Foster (Bunheads) Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire), Debi Mazar (Entourage) and Miriam Shor (GCB). The single-camera project, which is written, executive produced and directed by Darren Star (Sex and the City), is based on the novel Younger by Pamela Redmond Satran. Patricia Field, who worked with Star on Sex and the City, will be a costume consultant on the production. The Younger pilot follows 40-year-old Liza (Foster), a suddenly single mother who tries to get back into the working world, only to find out it’s nearly impossible to start at the bottom at her age. When a chance encounter with a 20-something guy at a bar convinces her she looks younger than she is, Liza tries to pass herself off as 26 – with the help of a makeover, courtesy of her best friend Maggie (Mazar). Armed with new confidence, she lands a job as an assistant to the temperamental Diana (Shor) and teams up with her new co-worker and fellow 20-something Kelsey (Duff) to make it in the career of her dreams.

TV Land also recently announced the series pick-up of another single-camera sitcom, Jennifer Falls, starring Jaime Pressly. The network's current original sitcoms includes hit series Hot in Cleveland, The Exes, The Soul Man and Kirstie, all multi-camera sitcoms starring pop culture icons and fan favorites including Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, Kristen Johnston, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, David Alan Basche, Kelly Stables, Cedric "The Entertainer," Niecy Nash, Wesley Jonathan, Kirstie Alley, Michael Richards, Rhea Perlman and Eric Petersen. We will let you know if and when Younger will get a series pick-up, but for now, this is just a pilot order. Stay tuned.

This Fall, INSP will be adding some more dramas to its schedule. Coming to the network this fall will be JAG, Christy, Robin Hood and Lark Rise to Candleford. The fun begins on Sunday, Sept. 29 with a JAG marathon from 12pm-2am ET. The series was airing on the Universal-owned networks, but the contract expired and now INSP has the series. The new line-up will then begin the following day on Monday, Sept. 30 at 11am. Kicking it off will be The Big Valley from 11am-1pm every Mon-Thurs, as the series moves down an hour (it was airing 12-2pm). Sitcoms Happy Days and The Brady Bunch will therefore be removed from the schedule beginning on Sept. 30 and won't be found anywhere on the line-up. The High Chaparral will remain Mon-Thurs at 1pm. The Virginian will air in this block from 11am-2pm on Fridays. Then each weekday will have a different drama from 2-8pm now, as six-hour blocks of the same show will air. On Mondays it will be Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, while on Tuesdays it is Matlock. Wednesdays will feature Little House on the Prairie, while Thursdays it is family time with The Waltons. And on Fridays, new acquisition JAG will get the marathon treatment. In INSP primetime from 8pm-12am, the line-up starts off with The Waltons at 8 every weeknight, followed by newbie JAG at 9pm. At 10pm and 11pm, Matlock makes his case with back-to-back episodes every weeknight. In late night from 12-2am, we have a rotating block of shows. Monday and Tuesday nights will feature JAG, while Wednesday and Thursday nights will showcase Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. And on Fridays, new addition Robin Hood will close the work week out.

Onto weekends, Saddle-Up Saturdays will continue. Airing from 1pm-12am, westerns rule the day with The Virginian from 1pm-4pm, The High Chaparral from 4-6pm, and The Big Valley from 6-8pm. Then in primetime, it's more westerns with The Virginian again from 8-11pm leading into Bonanza at 11pm. In late night, JAG will air from 12-2am once again. On Sundays, different marathons will air from 12pm-5pm (such as The Waltons, Matlock, Little House and Dr. Quinn). Then the new Sunday line-up begins with the Kellie Martin drama Christy airing at 5pm, followed by Lark Rise to Candleford at 6pm and Robin Hood at 7pm. JAG airs in primetime at 8pm & 9pm, into movies from 10pm-2am. Before the new series launch, they will get marathons. We mentioned JAG's launch marathon already, but the others will also get marathons. Lark Rise to Candleford gets the first taste on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 6pm-2am. The following week (Sunday, Sept. 22), Robin Hood gets the marathon from 6pm-2am. We mentioned JAG on Sept. 29, but on Sunday, Oct. 6 from 5pm-2am, Christy gets its launch marathon.

That's all for INSP this fall. We hope Happy Days and The Brady Bunch return to the schedule at some point, but at least they are available to watch on other networks if you receive those. Stay with us for continued updates on all things INSP!

TV Land has fast-tracked a project to be written by writer, producer and creator Darren Star of Sex and the City. This single camera comedy, which is based on the novel "Younger" by Pamela Redmond Satran, will follow the story of a suddenly-single New Jersey housewife and mother in her early 40s who, unable to restart her career, decides to lie about her age and successfully passes herself off as a twenty-something. Armed with a makeover and new resume, she wins a coveted position at the city's hottest publishing company. Pretending to be "younger" doesn't hurt in the bar scene, either, as guys line up like never before. Between Sex and the City, Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place, he has created some of the most iconic and beloved shows in the history of television. The series has been fast-tracked, but has not been picked-up to pilot just yet. If and when it does that, it would then have to be picked-up to series for us to see it on television. So it's a long way to go, but fast-tracking a project is a good thing.

TV Land also recently announced a pilot for a multi-camera sitcom, Jennifer Falls, starring Jaime Pressly. The network's current line-up of original sitcoms airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT and includes the hit series Hot in Cleveland, The Exes and The Soul Man. The series have received several awards and accolades including two 2013 Creative Arts Emmy(R) nominations: one for Hot in Cleveland and the other for The Exes. All of these series star pop culture icons and fan favorites including Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, Jane Leeves, Kristen Johnston, Donald Faison, Wayne Knight, David Alan Basche, Kelly Stables, Cedric "The Entertainer," Niecy Nash and Wesley Jonathan. This December, TV Land will debut its newest original series, Kirstie, which stars Kirstie Alley, Michael Richards, Rhea Perlman and Eric Petersen.