Saturday, December 30, 2023
SitcomsOnline Digest: Casting Changes for Night Court; Bunk'd Coming to an End
Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! It's a slow news week, but there are lots of things going on with programming lineups and marathons this weekend! Also, we're hearing about some Night Court casting changes and the end of a Disney Channel series. Let's get going!
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB
- Kapil Talwalkar is not returning to Night Court for season 2, which fits in with the cast instability that the original series had in earlier seasons. (Deadline)
- The Disney Channel series Bunk'd is coming to an end. (Deadline)
- Unless you're willing to pay $2.99 a month (a fee that we're sure will rise as time goes on), Prime Video will soon start including commercials. (CNET)
- The network has still not commented on the change (other than to just change the lineup and modify the logo), but the new Dabl lineup has started. (Cord Cutters News)
- We are remembering some of the sitcom (and beyond) stars that we lost in 2023. (SitcomsOnline)
WEEKLY PLANNER (DECEMBER 30 - JANUARY 6)
- Dabl has rebranded, and the lineup is now nothing but old UPN series, The Parkers, Half & Half, Moesha, Girlfriends, One on One, Sister, Sister, and The Game.
- Another new digital network, The365, debuts on Monday, and will essentially give you another old UPN series as well as the WB sitcoms of the same era (and a few other things), including Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Eve, The Parent 'Hood, Roc, All of Us, In the House, For Your Love, and Are We There Yet?
- Outlaw, yet another new digital network set to launch on Monday, features series including F Troop, Kung Fu, and The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
- Catchy Comedy is doing short-lived sitcoms this weekend, with a binge of Bridget Loves Bernie today, followed by a binge of Fish tomorrow.
- It wouldn't be a new year without a Twilight Zone marathon. Syfy has you covered today through Monday, while Heroes & Icons will take care of Monday.
- NBC has a new season of Night Court, as well as the series premiere of Extended Family, on Tuesday.
Friday, July 09, 2021
Fri-Yay: CNN's History of the Sitcom Looks Like a Treat for Sitcom Fans; Rutherford Falls Renewed for 2nd Season; Remembering Suzzanne Douglas of The Parent 'Hood

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.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Bounce Acquires Sitcoms for January 2015, Roc, Different World, Parent 'Hood, Hughleys; ABC Family Picks Up New Drama Recovery Road
Finally! In its first foray into off-network series acquisition, Bounce TV has landed the television rights to four shows in individual, multi-year licensing agreements they announced. In the deals, the nation's first-ever and rapidly-expanding broadcast television network for African Americans acquires Roc (72 episodes) and The Parent 'Hood (90 episodes) from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution (WBDTD), A Different World (144 episodes) from Carsey-Werner Distribution and The Hughleys (89 episodes) from Twentieth Television. The four popular series will be scheduled together to create a new line-up leading into prime time, with the network airing two episodes of each show back-to-back Monday-Friday starting at 5:00pm beginning Monday, January 5, 2015. It kicks off with Roc from 5:00-6:00pm, followed by The Parent 'Hood from 6:00-7:00pm. A Different World will air from 7:00-8:00pm into The Hughleys from 8:00-9:00pm. This will be the first time all four series will air on a digital multicast network.
The critically-acclaimed Roc aired originally on Fox and stars Charles S. Dutton as Baltimore garbage collector Roc Emerson and Ella Joyce as his wife, with appearances by a then-unknown Jamie Foxx. The Parent 'Hood was part of the original Wednesday night lineup that helped launch The WB network, starring Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. The multiple Emmy-nominated A Different World debuted as the #1 new show of its premiere season, staying at #1 in its time period for five consecutive seasons, with Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison leading the cast. Based on D. L. Hughley's real-life experiences, The Hughleys stars the comedian and Elise Neal as his wife who move their family from the inner to city to the Los Angeles suburbs with hilarious results. Bounce TV features programming mix of original series, theatrical motion pictures, documentaries, specials and now off-net series. Bounce TV is currently seen in 90 markets, including all of the top African American television markets, 90% of African American television homes and 73% of the total television homes in the United States.
ABC Family has picked up a new scripted drama to series Recovery Road. This announcement comes on the heels of the recently announced pick-up of the docu-series My Transparent Life, as the network continues to grow its impressive slate of original programming. Based on the popular young adult novel by Blake Nelson, Recovery Road focuses on a teenage girl dealing with addiction. Maddie has a reputation as a party girl who doesn't think she has a problem, until she's confronted one day by her school guidance counselor and is forced to choose between expulsion and rehab. Maddie makes the difficult decision to live with other recovering addicts at a rehab facility while facing the daily pressures of her teenage life.
ABC Family says casting will be announced at a later date, but their orginal announcement a few months back mentioned the series stars Samantha Logan (666 Park Avenue) as Maddie, Sebastian De Souza (Skins) as Wes, Kyla Pratt (One on One, Fat Albert) as Trish, Sharon Leal (Boston Public) as Charlotte, Alexis Carra (Mixology) as Cynthia, Justin Prentice (Malibu Country) as Dallas, Caroline Sunshine (Shake It Up) as Emily, and also guest stars Doug Savant (Desperate Housewives, Melrose Place) as Alan. We shall see if this cast remains intact or if we will see some changes to this. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
TV One March 2009 Highlights; ION Finally Airs RHI Mini-Series That Was Slated for November 23
Friday, March 14, 2008
ABC Mid-Season Pilot Review: Miss Guided - Premieres March 18; TV One April 2008
Friday, November 30, 2007
Day 26: WGA's Strike; TV One January Highlights
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
TV One Fall Schedule: Parent'hood Joins, All of Us Comes to Weekdays; Scott Baio VH1 Show to Return for 2nd Season
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, August 28
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 24)
Friday, August 28
- Glen Powell (Chad Powers/Scream Queens) - Watch Glen on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
- Donnell Rawlings (Twenties) - Donnell is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen at 11:35pm on CBS.
- LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta) - LaKeith appears on a repeat of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Laura Dern (F Is for Family/Enlightened) - Drew chats with the legendary Laura Dern on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
06/16/26 - Difficult People - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
06/30/26 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Bill Dana Show - The Complete Series (DVD)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - The Paper - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
08/25/26 - Perfect Strangers - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/08/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
09/22/26 - Bridget Loves Bernie - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
09/29/26 - The Quick Draw McGraw Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
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