SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

by Vincent

Last night, NBC's Superstore came to an end. The show has been one of the best network sitcoms of the past decade, and in my mind, one of the most underrated sitcoms of all-time. It's a hilarious show with an excellent ensemble that tackled working class issues that no other show has even come close to tackling, and it deserves to be mentioned in the same conversation as The Office, Community, 30 Rock, The Good Place or any of the other beloved NBC comedies of modern times. The show is also going out with a great season - even though losing America Ferrera and dealing with the issues of the COVID-19 pandemic don't sound like they would make a great Superstore season, they really have. The way Superstore depicts its employees' dealing with the pandemic has made for some great dark and true-to-life humor, and continued its amazing turn of taking serious issues and making funny, thoughtful TV.

At the time I'm writing this, I haven't watched the show's series finale yet. But in some ways, I'm dreading the show's end, just because Superstore has been such a consistent delight these past six years, and I'm not ready for the show to end just yet. With Superstore leaving, it'll leave a huge hole in the network TV landscape, and I truly hope that the show has a revival on streaming the way The Office and Parks and Recreation did - as many people as possible deserve to watch this truly incredible series. So farewell, Superstore, and thanks for all of the laughs and real moments you've given us.

Emmy-winning actress Jessica Walter, who starred as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development, has died. She died in her sleep at her home in Manhattan, New York, on March 24. Ms. Walter was 80.

Walter's early television guest appearances included Flipper, The Fugitive, The F.B.I., Name of the Game, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Alias Smith and Jones, Mannix, Banacek, Barnaby Jones, The Magician, Columbo, Hawaii Five-0 and Ironside. She won an Emmy Award in 1975 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her work in the NBC police drama Amy Prentiss. Amy Prentiss was a relatively young investigator who becomes the first female Chief of Detectives for the San Francisco Police Department following the previous chief's death. The series was a spin-off of Ironside.

She had a recurring role as Claudia Bradford in eight episodes the 1984-1985 ABC sitcom Three's a Crowd. Claudia Bradford was Vicky Bradford's (Mary Cadorette) mother and James Bradford's (Robert Mandan) ex-wife. The Three's Company spin-off also starred John Ritter and Alan Campbell.

Walter provided the voice of Fran Sinclair on the 1991-1994 ABC sitcom Dinosaurs. Fran Sinclair was a ten-ton allosaurus who was the mother and homemaker of the Sinclair family. The cast providing voices included Stuart Pankin, Jason Willinger, Sally Struthers, Kevin Clash, Florence Stanley, Sam McMurray and Sherman Hemsley.

Walter starred as Celia Calloway on the 1998-2000 Lifetime sitcom Oh Baby. Celia was the bossy mother of Tracy Calloway (Cynthia Stevenson). The series also starred Joanna Gleason, Matt Champagne, Dina Spybey, Doug Ballard, Jack Coleman, Patrick Kerr and Don McMarcus.

She starred as the scheming alcoholic socialite matriarch Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. Lucille is the wife of George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) and the mother of Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman). Walter received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series for the role in 2005. The series aired on Fox for three seasons from 2003 to 2005 before being revived by Netflix for seasons four (2013) and five (2018-2019). It also stars Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross and Ron Howard (narrator).

Walter starred as Elaine Robbins on the 2011-2012 TV Land sitcom Retired at 35. It ran for two seasons and 20 episodes. The series follows a successful New Yorker named David (Johnathan McClain), who decides to leave the rat race and his job in the big city and visit his father (George Segal) and mother (Jessica Walter) who live in a retirement community in Florida. The series also starred Josh McDermitt, Ryan Michelle Bathe (Season 1) and Marissa Jaret Winokur (Season 2).

She starred as Maggie Doyle on the 2014 TV Land sitcom Jennifer Falls. The series follows Jennifer Doyle (Jaime Pressly), a single mother who, after losing her high salary job, has to move back in with her mother, Maggie. It also starred Missi Pyle, Ethlan Suplee, Nora Kirkpatrick and Dylan Gelula.

Walter provided the voice of Malory Hunter on the FX/FXX animated series Archer for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020. Malory Hunter is the mother Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin). The show has been renewed for season 12. Others providing voices include Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Adam Reed, Aisha Tyler and Lucky Yates.

Some of her sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style, Aloha Paradise, Joanie Loves Chachi, The Love Boat, Coach (5 episodes as Susan Miller), You Wish, Just Shoot Me! (as Eve Gallo, the mother of Maya (Laura San Giacomo) and the ex-wife of magazine publisher Jack Gallo (George Segal)), Rules of Engagement, Happy Hour, The Big Bang Theory, The Odd Couple (2016), Difficult People and American Housewife.

She had a supporting role as Phyllis Koster, the wife of David Koster (William Shatner), on the short-lived 1965 CBS police drama For the People. She had a recurring role as Melanie McIntyre, Trapper John's (Pernell Roberts) former wife on the CBS medical drama Trapper John, M.D. from 1979 to 1985. In 1982, she appeared as Anne McPherson on the NBC drama The Round Table. She played Ava Marshall on the short-lived 1983 NBC primetime soap opera Bare Essence. She starred as Connie Lo Verde on the 1988 NBC drama Aaron's Way. She was a regular as Tabitha Wilson on the first half of the first season of 90210 from 2008 to 2009.

Some of her other drama television guest appearances in the 1970s and 1980s included McCloud, The Streets of San Francisco, McMillan and Wife, Wonder Woman, Quincy, M.E., Knots Landing, Matt Houston, Hotel, Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote. Her later guest appearances included Babylon 5, Law & Order, One Life to Live (6 episodes), Jack & Jill, Touched by an Angel, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Saving Grace, Gravity, NCIS and Good Girls.

Her film credits included Play Misty for Me (1971), Grand Prix (1966), The Group (1966), Going Ape! (1981), Spring Fever (1983), The Flamingo Kid (1984) and PCU (1994).

Ms. Walter was a brilliant actress. She was so funny and memorable as Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development. She made everything she appeared in much better. We thank her for the many laughs and entertainment she brought us during her long career. She will be deeply missed.

Share your memories on our Arrested Development messsage board. View photos in our galleries.

Character actor Richard Gilliland, who appeared as J.D. Shackelford on Designing Women, has died. He died on March 18 following a short illness in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Gilliland was 71.

Gilliland starred as Lt. Nick Holden in the first season (1977-1978) of the ABC sitcom Operation Petticoat. Lt. Nick Holden was a wheeler-dealer supply officer. The first season also starred John Astin, Melinda Naud, Yvonne Wilder, Dorrie Thomson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bond Gideon, Richard Brestoff and Jim Varney.

He starred as Tom Stafford on the short-lived 1989 CBS sitcom Heartland. The series was about an old-fashioned farmer named B. L. McCutcheon (Brian Keith) moves in with his daughter (Katie Layman), son-in-law (Richard Gilliland) and their family. The series also starred Jason Kristofer, Devin Ratray and Daisy Keith.

Gilliand starred as Keith Barrow on the short-lived 1983 ABC sitcom Just Our Luck. Keith Barrow was a mild-mannered TV weatherman for KPOX-TV who frees a hip, fun-loving 3,000-year-old genie named Shabu (T.K. Carter) after being imprisoned in his bottle for nearly two centuries. The series also starred Ellen Maxted, Rod McCary, Richard Schaal, Hamilton Camp and Leonard Simon.

He had a recurring role as J.D. Shackelford on 14 episodes of the CBS sitcom Designing Women from 1986 to 1991. J.D. Shackelford was Mary Jo Shively's (Annie Potts) boyfriend who worked as a talent scout for the Atlanta Braves. Gilliland married Jean Smart (Charlene Frazier-Stillfield) in 1987. The series also starred Dixie Carter, Delta Burke (1986-1991), Meschach Taylor, Julia Duffy (Season 6), Jan Hooks (Seasons 6-7) and Judith Ivey (Season 7).

Some of his sitcom guest appearances included The Love Boat, Mary, Night Court, Valerie, Davis Rules and Becker.

He had a recurring role as Jeffrey Milgrom in seven episodes of thirtysomething from 1989 to 1990. Some of his television drama guest appearances from the 1970 and 1980s included The Streets of San Francisco, Medical Center, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Blue Knight, McMillan and Wife (as Sgt. Steve DiMaggio), Trapper John, M.D., The Waltons, Fantasy Island, Hotel, St. Elsewhere, Hunter, Hearbeat and Jake and the Fatman.

Some of his later guest appearances included Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, Winnetka Road, Touched by an Angel, Dark Skies, Early Edition, The Practice, Party of Five, Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia, Crossing Jordan, 24, Dexter, Desperate Housewives, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds and Imposters.

Mr. Gilliland was a talented and versatile character actor. He was a familiar face on many sitcoms and other television series over the years. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our Designing Women message board. View photos in our galleries.

We have good news and bad news for summer sitcom burn-offs of canceled fresh sitcoms. Well technically not canceled (but 99.9% likely it is), Ghosted returns to Fox on Sunday (June 10) and will air at 8:30pm and 9:30pm before moving to Sundays at 9:30pm for a month beginning June 17. Nine episodes have aired so far this season, with the last airing in January, but we now will have seven episodes airing this summer. The single-camera comedy is an action-comedy about the unlikely partnership between two down-on-their-luck polar opposites tasked with an even more unlikely mission: saving the human race from aliens. The series stars Adam Scott as Max Jennifer, Craig Robinson as Leroy Wright, Ally Walker as Captain Ava LaFrey, Adeel Akhtar as Dr. Barry Shaw, and Amber Stevens West as Annie.

One other sitcom is not even going to get the burn-off treatment anymore. Former freshman CBS sitcom Living Biblically will not be returning to the Monday line-up this summer after all. Five episodes remain to still be aired, but CBS has pulled them again. The sitcom hasn't aired since April when it got pulled from the line-up. Instead, CBS will air reruns of NCIS: New Orleans in the 9pm hour on Mondays. The sitcom stars Jay R. Ferguson as Chip Curry, a modern-day man at a crossroads in his life who decides to live strictly in accordance with the Bible. As he begins his sincere spiritual journey toward a more moral life with the help of his wife and friends, Chip wonders if he'll be able to take a page - or every page - out of the Good Book, and if the effect will be of Biblical proportions. Lindsey Kraft, Ian Gomez, David Krumholtz, Tony Rock and Camryn Manheim also star.

Actor Robert Mandan, who starred as Chester Tate in Soap and as James Bradford in Three's a Crowd, has died. He died in Los Angeles on April 29 following a long illness. Mr. Mandan was 86.

Mandan's early roles included the NBC soap operas From These Roots as David Allen from 1958 to 1961 and as Sam Reynolds in Search from Tomorrow from 1966 to 1970. He starred as Deputy Commissioner Ed Rawlings in the short-lived 1975 ABC police drama Caribe, which was set in Miami.

Some of his early sitcom guest appearances included a 1972 episode of Sanford and Son as an auctioneer, as attorney Mr. Morrison in a 1973 episode of All in the Family and as Maude's gay friend, Barry, in a 1974 episode of Maude. He appeared in two other episodes of Maude as different characters. Other early guest appearances included Barney Miller, One Day at a Time and Phyllis.

He starred as Chester Tate, the womanizing businessman husband of Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond), in Soap from 1977-1981. Tate was a wealthy stock broker with an affinity for extramarital affairs. Chester and Jessica separated in Season 3 and divorced in Season 4. The ABC sitcom also starred Diana Canova (1977-1980), Jennifer Salt, Jimmy Baio, Robert Guillaume (1977-1979), Arthur Peterson, Cathryn Damon, Richard Mulligan, Billy Crystal, Ted Wass, Robert Urich, Jay Johnson, Sal Viscuso (1978-1979), Dinah Manoff (1978-1979), Donnelly Rhodes (1978-1981) and Roscoe Lee Browne (1980-1981).

Mandan starred as Col. Lawrence Fielding in the second and third seasons of the 1981-1983 CBS sitcom Private Benjamin, which was based on the movie of the same name. Col. Lawrence Fielding was the pompous, well-meaning, but ineffectual, head of the camp. The series starred Lorna Patterson, Eileen Brennan, Hal Williams, Ann Ryerson (1981-1982), Joan Roberts (1981), Joyce Little (1981), Lisa Raggio, Lucy Webb (1981-1982), Francesca Roberts (1981), Damita Jo Freeman (1981-1983), Joel Brooks (1982) and Wendie Jo Sperber (1982-1983).

He appeared as James Bradford, the father of Vicky Bradford (Mary Cadorette), in the final episodes of Three's Company. He continued the role in the spin-off series Three's a Crowd, which aired for one season on ABC in 1984-1985. James Bradford owned the building that included Jack's Bistro and Jack's and Vicky's apartment. It also starred John Ritter as Jack Tripper and Alan Campbell as E.Z. Taylor. Jessica Walter had a recurring role as Claudia Bradford, Vicky's mother and James' ex-wife.

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Too Close for Comfort, The Facts of Life (as Bruce Gaines who marries Mrs. Garrett), The Love Boat, Mama's Family, The Golden Girls, My Two Dads, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, Delta, Married with Children and Weird Science. He reunited with Katherine Helmond as Reed Hamilton in two episodes of Who's the Boss? in 1991 and 1992.

Survivors include his wife Sherry Dixon, a licensed primal psychotherapist.

Mr. Mandan was very funny in all of his sitcom roles. We thank him for the laughs and entertainment he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.

We also remember actor Hugh Dane. He was best known for his recurring role as Hank the security guard in The Office. He died on May 16. Mr. Dane was 75.

Dane appeared in 22 episodes as Hank Tate, the no-nonsense security guard, in The Office from 2005 to 2013. The NBC sitcom starred Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B. J. Novak, Ed Helms, Melora Hardin, David Denman, Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Kate Flannery, Angela Kinsey, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Creed Bratton, Craig Robinson, Ellie Kemper, Zach Woods, Amy Ryan, Catherine Tate, Clark Duke and Jake Lacy.

He had a recurring role as Fred in nine episodes of the Fox sitcom Roc from 1991 to 1994. Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Where I Live, Boy Meets World, Friends, Buddies, Sister, Sister, Malcolm & Eddie, Becker, The Steve Harvey Show, Everybody Hates Chris, New Girl, Girl Meets World, The Carmichael Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Mayor.

His film credits included Restraining Order, Joy Ride, Reflections: A Story of Redemption, Ralph & Stanley, Beautiful Dreamer, For Heaven's Sake, StarStruck, Little Fockers and Bridesmaids.

Mr. Dane was a talented and funny actor. We thank him for the laughs he brought us on The Office and his other appearances. He will be deeply missed.

Come and knock on our door! Three's Company and Too Close for Comfort will re-join Antenna TV's schedule beginning Monday, April 7, 2014. The sitcoms have not aired on the network since the end of December 2012 and have been reacquired from DLT Entertainment. The new multi-year year deal includes rights to the Three's Company spin-offs The Ropers and Three's a Crowd, which will be placed in the Three's Company rotation like before. Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast network, which airs on 84 affiliates across the U.S. reaching 70% of TV households, will add Too Close for Comfort to the lineup weekdays 9-10am ET and 1-2am ET, being paired with Three's Company airing 10-11am ET and 12-1am ET. On weekends, Three's Company will air Saturday 7-8pm ET and Sunday nights from 12-1am ET.

Three's Company and Too Close for Comfort join Antenna TV's lineup of classic favorites such as I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best, Bachelor Father, Hazel, The Partridge Family, Sanford and Son, Maude, Diff'rent Strokes, WKRP in Cincinnati, All in the Family, Good Times, The Three Stooges, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, The Jack Benny Program, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Gidget, The Flying Nun, It Takes a Thief and Antenna TV Theater, a movie block featuring MGM and Sony movies. We will have the full Antenna TV line-up starting April 7 once the network makes it official! Stay tuned!




About a Boy - Tuesdays at 9:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Special Premiere Saturday, February 22, 2014 following The Olympics at approx. 11:05PM ET/PT

by Vincent

Based on a film of the same name, About a Boy follows Will Freeman (David Walton) after being granted a life of free tie, free love, and freedom from financial woes after he writes a hit song. But when single mom Fiona (Minnie Driver) and her 11-year-old son Marcus (Benjamin Stockham) move next door, his life is turned upside down.

Cast Details: