SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

• Saturday Night Live returns for a new season tonight, and we have a feeling they're going to have a lot of catching up to do with current events.
• It's a honeymoon weekend on Catchy Comedy with a binge of The Honeymooners. 

• MeTV Toons is celebrating the 65th anniversary of The Flintstones with a special marathon tomorrow.
• Catchy Comedy has a binge of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Hot in Cleveland tomorrow, and of the debut of Hot in Cleveland on the weeknight lineup.
• Antenna TV has a marathon of The Ropers tomorrow, followed by one of Archie Bunker's Place on Monday.

The TCA Winter 2020 Press Tour continued this weekend with NBC on Saturday and CBS on Sunday. Let's get the round-up updates going! Starting with NBC, from Nahnatchka Khan and Dwayne Johnson, NBC has given an 11-episode series order to Young Rock, a single-cam comedy inspired by Johnson himself. The series will be executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan, Dwayne Johnson, Jeff Chiang, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz and Jennifer Carreras. The show will be produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions. The pilot was co-written by Khan and Chiang. Johnson will appear in each episode as the focus and inspiration of the series will be about his formative years. Jimmy Fallon is set to host That's My Jam, a new comedy variety event series inspired by the wildly popular, celebrity-fueled musical segments made famous on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. What is sure to be a high-energy hourlong party, That's My Jam will premiere out of the Tokyo Olympics and mark Fallon's first venture in primetime. NBC has ordered an epic 10-part global event series The New World from BBC Studios Natural History Unit, which is set to air in 2024. For the first time ever, The New World will scale across North America, Central America and South America to explore the vast landscapes, remote wilderness and mysterious creatures that inhabit the region.

In renewal news, NBC's hit drama series New Amsterdam has been renewed for three years, through the 2022-23 season. NBC has renewed its highly successful first-ever holiday special event series Ellen's Greatest Night of Giveaways for a new holiday season. NBC has renewed its hit crafts-making series Making It, hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, for a third season. And finally, Award-winning comedy icons Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are returning to the Golden Globes as co-hosts for the 2021 telecast. Fey and Poehler were critically applauded when they hosted the Globes from 2013-15, receiving universal praise for their witty on-stage banter and effortless rapport with one another. Fey, along with Robert Carlock, is co-creator and an executive producer of NBC's upcoming Universal Television-produced untitled comedy series starring Ted Danson as L.A.'s mayor. Holly Hunter also stars.

Moving on to CBS, they announced it has given a series commitment to Clarice, a new drama project written and executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. It's 1993, a year after the events of The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C. CBS' top-rated daytime game show The Price Is Right hosted by Drew Carey will return to primetime with three new celebrity-themed The Price Is Right at Night specials to be broadcast in spring 2020. Building on the momentum of December's two holiday primetime specials that featured David Boreanaz and the cast of SEAL Team and actor Seth Rogen, the spring specials will also feature celebrities being called to "come on down" to the iconic stage to play for charity. Survivor celebrates its upcoming 40th season with a new one-hour special, Survivor at 40: Greatest Moments and Players, to be broadcast Wednesday, Feb. 5 from 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. The milestone 40th edition of Survivor, hosted by Emmy Award winner Jeff Probst, premieres with a special two-hour episode one week later, on Wednesday, Feb. 12 from 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/P on the CBS Television Network.

CBS All Access, CBS' digital subscription video on-demand and live streaming service, also released lots of news. CBS All Access announced plans for three new original children's series from DreamWorks Animation's Classic Media. Beginning Friday, Jan. 17, subscribers will be able to stream all-new editions of Lassie, George of the Jungle and Mr. Magoo. They also announced the second season renewal of its upcoming original series Star Trek: Picard. Season one of Star Trek: Picard premieres on CBS All Access in the U.S. on Thursday, Jan. 23. Also announced was the first round of casting for season two of its original anthology series The Twilight Zone will include Morena Baccarin, Colman Domingo, Ethan Embry, Jenna Elfman, Tavi Gevinson, Tony Hale, Abbie Hern, Gillian Jacobs, Sophia Macy, Joel McHale, Chris Meloni, Billy Porter, Jimmi Simpson and Daniel Sunjata. Each will appear in an episode of the upcoming 10-episode second season, slated to premiere exclusively on CBS All Access in 2020.

CBS All Access announced a new series order for the animated comedy The Harper House, created by Brad Neely, who will also serve as executive producer alongside Katie Krentz. The series will follow an overconfident female head-of-a-household as she struggles to regain a higher status for herself, and for her family of oddballs, after losing her job and moving from the rich side to the poor side of an Arkansas small town. To save money, they've moved into their inherited Victorian fixer upper, the historic Harper House. They also announced plans for a new animated variety series, Tooning Out the News. A CBS Television Studios production, the series is executive produced by Stephen Colbert and Chris Licht of CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and RJ Fried and Tim Luecke from SHOWTIME's Our Cartoon President. This series will provide short daily segments leading up to a weekly full episodes featuring a cast of animated characters mocking news of the day, and interviewing real-world guests and newsmakers.

by Vincent

We live in the age of Peak TV, meaning that there's more television on more platforms than ever before. Yes, everyone is making original programming these days, from cable networks to streaming services and even to social media sites. That means great programming can come from some very unlikely places - and one of the biggest provider of quality sitcoms lately has been from Pop TV, formerly known as the TV Guide Network. Yes, the channel whose main purpose was once to tell you what was on the other channels may be on its way to becoming a home of great, high-quality sitcoms.

Right now, Pop TV's effort is spearheaded by Schitt's Creek, which is a family sitcom that has gradually become a fan favorite and accumulated a fan-base due to its quick wit, strong writing and excellent cast performances. The hype has been gradually building over the past few years, to the point that the series was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series this year. It's enough to make Pop TV powerful enough that people are certainly paying attention to it - and that may even increase with the acquisition of One Day at a Time, another fan and critically beloved series that will be airing on the network next fall. Additionally, Pop TV's Florida Girls is another series that has garnered critical attention this summer. The new comedy series, created by Laura Shinn, is a low-key comedy series about working class women in Florida, and yet it also has some of the snappiest comedy writing on television right now. It's another testament to the fact that great comedy could be found anywhere - even, and maybe especially, on the former TV Guide Network.

In a late-night first, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is getting into the gridiron groove with five telecasts that will follow the fall's most exciting sports event, NBC's Sunday Night Football. The first post-Sunday Night Football show will air Sept. 8 at approx. 12:05am ET following a prime AFC match-up when the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Foxborough, Mass., to take on the World Champion New England Patriots (and late local news). On the west coat, the specials will air at 10:00pm PT. Guests for the first telecast will include Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan, who will share a clip of their new film, Just Mercy. In addition, Kelly Clarkson will appear to discuss her latest project, the daytime series The Kelly Clarkson Show, and singer Kane Brown will perform. The other four "Tonight Show" Sunday telecasts are Oct. 6, 20, 27 and Dec. 1. The Tonight Show will air all five nights following late local news. Check local listings for specific times/markets.

Additionally, the show will broadcast an entire week live on Sept. 23-27, which is the opening week of the new fall season. Fallon recently hosted two live shows from its home studio at 30 Rock after the first Democratic presidential primary debates on June 26 and 27. Prior to that, live telecasts aired following Super Bowl LII and Super Bowl XLIX.

ABC Entertainment has picked up fan-favorite game shows Press Your Luck and Card Sharks for a return to television. The Fremantle-produced game shows will go into production this spring with exciting updates that everyone in the family will enjoy. Hosts and premiere dates will be announced soon. Press Your Luck is a game of wits, strategy and even higher stakes as contestants try to avoid the iconic and devilish WHAMMY for a chance at life-changing cash and prizes. During each game, three contestants compete against each other answering questions to earn spins on the Big Board. Contestants then use their spins to win cash and prizes while trying to avoid the WHAMMY, who could take all of their winnings and leave them with nothing. The winning contestant moves on to the All-New Bonus Round to face the WHAMMY in a final battle for the chance to win a fortune. John Quinn is the showrunner for "Press Your Luck," in addition to serving as an executive producer, along with Fremantle's Jennifer Mullin.

Card Sharks is a game where one turn of a playing card can make you a winner or a loser! The road to glory and riches begins with two players who face off in a head-to-head elimination game with the goal of one player making it to the grand prize winning deck. The anticipation builds as each contestant has to decide if the odds are worth the risk of losing it all and making it to the big game. Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a life-changing cash prize. "Card Sharks" showrunner and executive producer is Scott St. John. Jack Martin and Jennifer Mullin are also executive producers. Press Your Luck and Card Sharks will air in summer 2019 on The ABC Television Network. These game shows join other ABC Summer Fun & Games series $100,000 Pyramid, Celebrity Family Feud, Match Game and To Tell the Truth. The fate is unknown for a third season of The Gong Show.

It turns out Jimmy Fallon's viral smash "Wheel of Musical Impressions" was only the beginning. Drawing inspiration from the wildly popular, celebrity-fueled musical segments made famous on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, NBC has hit play on a 10-episode order for the new unscripted series That's My Jam. Executive produced by Jimmy Fallon, the hourlong competition series will be infused with Fallon's one-of-a-kind comedic style, feel-good energy, and a carousel of his classic and brand-new music-based games, featuring a new group of celebrities each week. Fallon is the late night pioneer in viral celebrity games and moments. With over 20 million YouTube subscribers, his musical games, sketches, and challenges have made an indelible mark on late night TV. From "Wheel of Musical Impressions" and "Musical Genre Challenge" to "History of Rap," viewers around the globe love watching their favorite celebrities take part in some of these unforgettable music-infused moments. The format was brought to Universal Television Alternative Studio by Fallon, longtime Tonight Show producer Jim Juvonen and writer Josh Knapp. Jeff Apploff will serve as showrunner.

FremantleMedia North America's digital multicast network, BUZZR, will be celebrating two birthday events. First up, a mini-marathon of To Tell the Truth to honor the late Mark Goodson's birthday, which was his favorite show, will air tonight (Thursday, Jan. 14) starting at 8pm ET and will feature Goodson himself in the episodes. Mr. Goodson would have been 101. Then on Sunday, January 17, Betty White is turning 94! And she is still active as ever, but BUZZR will air a marathon of game shows featuring Betty White from 8pm-2am. Happy Birthday to Betty White and the late Mark Goodson!

BUZZR, which launched on June 1, 2015 and is continually adding new episodes from its vault of content, is a time capsule – an unending celebration where viewers can play along to some of FremantleMedia North America's vast portfolio of more than 40,000 iconic game show episodes, which are shown around the clock. Featured titles include Family Feud, where you won't want to miss the outrageously fun Richard Dawson kissing every female contestant; What's My Line, featuring cultural icons becoming time-stamped contestants/panelists like a 29 year-old whip-smart Betty White, and a young Muhammad Ali; as well as famed titles To Tell the Truth, Match Game, Password, Beat the Clock, Blockbusters and Card Sharks.

After a hugely successful trip to the West Coast last year, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is heading back to Los Angeles from Feb. 15-19. The Tonight Show will once again be telecast from Stage One at Universal Studios with a huge array of A-list celebrity guests, including Will Ferrell, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera and Zach Galifianakis. Others will be announced at a later date. There will also be games, musical highlights and plenty of surprises. In addition, Fallon will be going primetime with The Tonight Show Valentine's Day Anniversary Special, set for Sunday, Feb. 14 from 9-11 p.m. The special will celebrate the show's second anniversary with a compilation of some of Fallon's best Tonight Show moments, including celebrity interviews, musical impressions and comedy sketches.

NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises has unveiled Seeso, a new streaming comedy channel, the first of its kind offering from NBCUniversal. Set to debut in January 2016, the ad-free subscription service will be available at www.seeso.com and on streaming platforms, connected devices and other distribution partners for $3.99 per month. Seeso strives to combine the immediacy of TV viewing with the best in OTT technology, creating a unique user experience. The streaming channel will offer a variety of SVOD innovations, including an autoplay function which provides immediate viewing satisfaction. Additionally, a hunt while you watch function will allow viewers to continue watching while they look for what to watch next; and the free-forever front porch, which enables viewers to enjoy a subset of Seeso content – no credit card required – by entering only an email address. Targeting comedy super fans, Seeso will offer subscribers a stream of comedy programming updated with new content every day, new episodes of exclusive, original comedy each and every week, live-streamed stand-up every month, and curated acquired series and films throughout the year. Additionally, Seeso staff and guest comedy nerds will handpick on demand playlists of recommended content each month.

Seeso will feature weekly programming including more than 20 exclusive, original series from comedy illuminati in the first year. Original shows include HarmonQuest, a comedy epic, combining live action and animation from Community and Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon; The UCB Show from hosts, creators, and Upright Citizens Brigade founders Amy Poehler, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser; reality show spoof Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ from executive producers Scott Aukerman, Ben Garant, Tom Lennon and Kulap Vilaysack; workplace comedy Thingstarter, and dating game improv show Dave & Ethan: Lovemakers, both from Broadway Video's Above Average Productions; stand-up series Night Train with Wyatt Cenac; stand-up series Take My Wife from creators and hosts Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher; travel show parody Hidden America with Johan Ray; comedy series Live From The Barrel House and The Comedy Show Show from Rooftop Comedy; a musical comedy about mismatched housemates – one human, one puppet - Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane; dark family comedy Flowers,”starring Julian Barratt and Olivia Colman; among numerous others.

Beyond its originals, Seeso will curate an "artisanal selection" of great comedy, featuring for the first time ever on SVOD and exclusively on Seeso, Monty Python's Flying Circus, remastered to HD for the first time, along with the Python films, and the complete collection of Python documentaries and specials. Seeso's curated library also includes the entire collection of The Kids in the Hall, also remastered to HD for the first time; complete collections of NBC late night hits The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Saturday Night Live – including new episodes of each show available next day; and the entire series of NBC's hit The Office, the original BBC version of The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, The Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, Nathan Barley, The Young Ones, and hundreds of hours of television and films, specifically chosen to fit the Seeso filter of right brain comedy.

FX has ordered the first season of Atlanta, a half-hour series created by and starring Donald Glover. Actor, writer and musician Glover will serve as Executive Producer, along with Paul Simms (Girls, Flight of the Conchords, NewsRadio) and Dianne McGunigle of MGMT Entertainment. Atlanta will be produced by FX Productions and air on FX in 2016. Glover is an award-winning actor and writer best known for playing "Troy" on the sitcom Community. As a writer on NBC's 30 Rock, Glover received a WGA Award for best Comedy Series in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Atlanta will also star Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Lee Stanfield and Zazie Beetz. Atlanta revolves around two cousins on their way up through the Atlanta rap scene.

• Though the remastered episodes appeared on Blu-ray three years ago, those who just want the DVDs can look forward to seeing The Dick Van Dyke - The Complete Remastered Series on November 10.
• TVShowsOnDVD.com is reporting that the complete series of The Wonder Years will hit retailers on October 6, with both the limited edition locker packaging and a standard packaging.
• It looks like Warner Archive is eager to just complete George Lopez as quickly as possible, with George Lopez - The Complete Fifth Season scheduled for August 18. It is also worth noting that the Warner Archive releases, unlike the earlier seasons which were released by Warner Home Video, include the original theme song.

"Here's Johnny!" Tribune Broadcasting today announced a multi-year agreement with Carson Entertainment Group to broadcast Johnny Carson on Antenna TV, Tribune Broadcasting's multicast network, beginning January 1, 2016. Antenna TV airs in 102 markets across the United States, reaching 78% of all television households. Antenna TV, available in all of the country's Top 20 TV markets, will tuck America in each weeknight, with a 60-minute classic Carson episode airing at 11pm ET/8pm PT, with a rebroadcast at 2am ET/11pm PT. On weekends, Antenna TV will run 90-minute episodes at 10pm ET/7pm PT, with a rebroadcast at 1:30am/ET 10:30pm PT. This is the first time the Carson episodes will air in a strip since he went off the air in 1992. These will NOT be clip shows, as they will be full length episodes!

Twenty-three years after retiring from The Tonight Show -- and a decade after his death -- Johnny Carson remains TV's most popular late-night talk show host, the gold-standard for late-night television. In his three decades as host, he interviewed some 25,000 guests; celebrities like David Letterman, Jay Leno, Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey; and comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Allen and Drew Carey, all of whom got their start on Carson's stage. Antenna TV will unlock the vaults to bring viewers the most popular full-length episodes from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, which have not aired on television since, including Jackie Gleason's only appearance on the show, a joint appearance by Don Rickles and Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Myrtle the Potato Chip Lady and Barney Odum and his tree-climbing dog. You'll also see stars of Antenna TV like John Ritter (Three's Company). Beginning January 1, 2016, "Carnac the Magnificent," "Art Fern," "Aunt Blabby" and all of Carson's classic characters will return to late night television via Antenna TV. We will have much more info on this to come, but this is HUGE news and it will be great to see interviews with these stars again!

Adult Swim has announced that they are ordering more intergalactic adventures with the season three pickup of the original hit animated comedy series, Rick and Morty. New episodes of the series air Sundays at 11:30pm ET/PT. The series' season two premiere on Sunday, July 26, ranked #1 in its time period among all key adults and men and charted triple-digit delivery gains over its prior season premiere (P18-24 +154%, P18-34 +117%, P18-49 +121%). The television audience continued to grow in the series' second week, charting week-over-week gains of up to 27% among all key demos. The season two premiere of Rick and Morty fueled Adult Swim's video streams in July'15, with an overall total of 29.7M streams, up +12% month-to-month. (Source: Nielsen Media Research Data, Omniture and YouTube Analytics)

Created and executive produced by Dan Harmon (Community) and Justin Roiland (Adventure Time), the half-hour animated series airing on Sundays at 11:30pm ET/PT follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his inherently timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe. In season two, Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) is still living with his daughter Beth's (Sarah Chalke) family and causing more trouble than ever. This season the rest of the family, his son-in-law Jerry (Chris Parnell), grand-daughter Summer (Spencer Grammer) and grand-son Morty (Justin Roiland) are dragged into Rick's intergalactic adventures, as he faces new threats and mysteries of his secret past are revealed. Can the family survive Rick's insanity and all the chaos the universe throws at them?

• Shout! Factory is moving ahead with individual season releases of Welcome Back, Kotter on May 26 with Welcome Back, Kotter- The Complete Third Season.
• Meanwhile, Shout! Factory is also finishing up Mister Ed on DVD, with Mister Ed - The Final Season on May 12.

• Hart to Hart - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD, $39.97): Shout! Factory continues with the classic action series on DVD.
• Mama's Family - The Complete Sixth Season (DVD, $29.98): StarVista wraps up this classic Vicki Lawrence series on DVD, for those who prefer individual seasons over a release of the entire series.
• Nurse Jackie - Season Six (DVD, $29.98; Blu-ray, $29.97): The Showtime series about the pill-popping (but highly functional) nurse returns to DVD with the next-to-last season.