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Dancing with the Stars Surging in Viewership, Especially Among Younger Viewers; Remembering Kimberly Hébert Gregory of Vice Principals

ABC's formidable Tuesday lineup notched another win this week with both Dancing with the Stars and High Potential continuing their upward trend. The shows' strong performances in week three pushed ABC to a resounding win for the night in entertainment among both Total Viewers (5.30 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.92 rating), with the network leading second place NBC by double digits in Total Viewers (+59% - 5.30 million vs. 3.33 million) and triple digits among Adults 18-49 (+197% - 0.92 rating vs. 0.31 rating).

Dancing with the Stars Season 34 continued to dazzle audiences this week with the show earning 5.82 million Total Viewers and a 1.22 rating among Adults 18-49, hitting a season high in both measures and dominating the 8-10 p.m. time period. In a record-setting turn of events, Dancing with the Stars rose for the second straight week since its season premiere for the first time in 20 years - since the show's first three weeks on air in June 2005. In addition, demonstrating strong interest in the show's festive TikTok night, Dancing with the Stars turned in the show's strongest performance among Adults 18-34 (1.38 rating) in over eight years (since 5/22/17). Dancing with the Stars earned the best Adults 18-34 rating for any entertainment series telecast in over four years (since 8/9/21 with The Bachelorette, excluding post-NFL telecasts), and scored the top entertainment telecast in the younger Adult demographic on any network since this year's Oscars(R) telecast (3/2/25), outperforming marquee live events including CBS' Golden Globe Awards (1.25 rating on 1/5/25), NBC's SNL50: The Anniversary Special (1.29 rating on 2/16/25) and CBS' MTV Video Music Awards (0.88 rating on 9/7/25).

Dancing with the Stars was the No. 1 most social television program across broadcast and cable, earning 2.7 million total social interactions and rising by double digits over last week's episode (+32% vs. 2.1 million). Continuing to break records yet again, fan voting jumped week to week, reaching a new high of 39 million votes cast (+11% vs. 35 million votes cast on 9/23).

Actress Kimberly Hébert Gregory, who starred as Dr. Belinda Brown in the HBO comedy series Vice Principals, has died. She died on October 3. Ms. Hébert Gregory was 52.

Hébert Gregory began her career in theatre before her breakthrough role as Dr. Belinda Brown in the 2016-2017 HBO dark comedy series Vice Principals. The series was created by Danny McBride and Jody Hill. At North Jackson High School, ill-tempered and dogmatic vice principal Neal Gamby (Danny McBride) has ambitions of becoming the principal. However, when the current principal steps down, he reveals that he trusts neither Neal nor his scheming and seemingly sociopathic co-vice principal Lee Russell (Walton Goggins) and instead hires outsider Dr. Belinda Brown. The cast included Georgia King, Sheaun McKinney, Busy Philipps, Shea Whigham, and Dale Dickey (season 2).

She voiced Nicole Williams in the 2018-2025 Cartoon Network animated sitcom Craig of the Creek. The series focuses on a trio of kids, collectively referred to as the "Stump Kids," led by Craig Williams (voiced by Philip Solomon), a young boy who wants to explore and map the wide and mysterious creek located in the fictional suburban town of Herkleton, Maryland. Nicole Williams is Craig's loving mother who works as a school counselor and cares deeply for her children. She also appeared in the 2023-2024 spinoff Jessica's Big Little World and the 2023 prequel film Craig Before the Creek.

Some of her sitcom and comedy guest appearances included Two and a Half Men, I Didn't Do It, The Big Bang Theory, The Soul Man, Baby Daddy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2 episodes), The Guest Book, Splitting Up Together, Dollface, Medical Police (3 episodes), Future Man (3 episodes as Mathers), No Activity (voice of Fuller in 4 episodes), and Barry.

Hébert Gregory starred as Yvette in the 2017-2018 ABC fantasy comedy-drama Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter), a down-on-his-luck man who survived a suicide attempt, is tasked by God to save the world. He's guided by Yvette.

She had a recurring role as Lucinda Miller in five episodes the Lifetime comedy-drama Devious Maids in 2014. Some of her other television guest appearances included The Black Donnellys, Gossip Girl, New Amsterdam (2008), Law & Order, Private Practice, Shameless, Grey's Anatomy, Better Call Saul (2 episodes), The Act, The Chi (2 episodes), and All Rise.

Ms. Hébert Gregory was a talented and versatile actress. She was great on Vice Principals and Kevin (Probably) Saves the World. We thank her for her work on television. She will be deeply missed.

We also remember television and film writer and producer Ron Friedman. He wrote episodes for many sitcoms in the 1960s and 1970s. He died from cardiopulmonary arrest in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, on September 15. Mr. Friedman was 93.

Friedman's sitcom writing credits included My Favorite Martian, Get Smart (2 episodes), Love on a Rooftop, Gilligan's Island (3 episodes), The Andy Griffith Show (2 episodes), Bewitched (3 episodes), The Good Guys (1969), I Dream of Jeannie (3 episodes), The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (2 episodes), The Partridge Family (3 episodes), Getting Together (2 episodes), The Good Life (2 episodes), Bridget Loves Bernie, The Odd Couple (7 episodes), Love, American Style (4 episodes), All in the Family, Barney Miller, Happy Days, That's My Mama (4 episodes), Chico and the Man (10 episodes), and The New WKRP in Cincinnati (4 episodes).

Some of his televison drama writing credits included Charlie's Angels, Vega$, Starsky & Hutch (8 episodes), The Dukes of Hazzard, B.J. and the Bear, Fantasy Island (32 episodes), and The Fall Guy (6 episodes).

He created the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero animated series and co-wrote G.I. Joe: The Movie as well in 1987. He developed the Generation 1 Transformers animated series, with him re-writing over 64 episodes. He co-wrote The Transformers: The Movie (1986), which had two initial drafts. In 1987, he created Bionic Six. He also worked with Stan Lee to create The Marvel Action Hour with Fantastic Four: The Animated Series and Iron Man: The Animated Series.

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television in 2016.

Mr. Friedman wrote over 700 hours of episodes for many television series during his career, which spanned from 1963 to 1995. In 1966, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for his written work on The Danny Kaye Show. We thank him for his work on sitcoms, dramas and animated series. He will be greatly missed.

Hall of Fame musician and songwriter Sonny Curtis wrote and performed the theme song of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He died from pneumonia at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 19. Mr. Curtis was 88.

Curtis wrote and performed The Mary Tyler Moore Show's opening theme song, "Love Is All Around", which aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. The lyrics changed between the first and second seasons, in part to reflect Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) having become settled in her new home. The later lyrics, which accompanied many more episodes at a time when the show's popularity was at a peak, are more widely known, and most covers of the song use these words. The song has been covered by artists such as Ray Conniff, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Christie Front Drive, Sammy Davis Jr., and Twin Cities-based Hüsker Dü (the latter also reproduced several scenes of the opening on location for their music video).

A different instrumental version of the song was later used for the opening of Moore's 1979 CBS sitcom-variety series The Mary Tyler Moore Hour. He composed the opening instrumental theme for the first season (1990-1991) of the CBS sitcom Evening Shade.

He was known for his collaborations with Buddy Holly. He was a member of The Crickets and continued with the band after Holly's death in 1959. His best known compositions include "Walk Right Back", a major hit in 1961 for the Everly Brothers; "I Fought the Law", notably covered by the Bobby Fuller Four, the Clash, and Green Day; "More Than I Can Say", co-written with The Crickets' drummer Jerry Allison and a hit for Leo Sayer in 1980, and "I'm No Stranger to the Rain", a #1 Country hit for Keith Whitley in 1989.

Mr. Curtis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. He died on the 55th Anniversary of the debut of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In 2010, TV Guide ranked the show's opening title sequence No. 3 on a list of TV's Top Ten credit sequences, as selected by readers. We thank him for the memorable and iconic theme song. He will be sorely missed.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: ABC, Dancing with the Stars, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Obits, Vice Principals

Three Disney Sitcoms Get 3rd Seasons; School Is in Session at HBO for 2nd Season of Comedy

A trio of popular comedy series for kids age 6-14 have received third season orders -- Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle from executive producer Linda Videtti Figueiredo, BUNK'D from executive producer Pamela Eells O'Connell and Disney XD's Walk the Prank from executive producers Adam Small and Trevor Moore. Production on each will resume in the fall. Disney Channel's single-camera comedy Stuck in the Middle stars Jenna Ortega as a middle child, Harley Diaz, in a household bustling with nine people - two parents and seven kids - each with distinctive personalities and conflicting schedules. It also stars Isaak Presley as Ethan, Ronni Hawk as Rachel, Kayla Maisonet as Georgie, Nicolas Bechtel as Lewie, Malachi Barton as "Beast," Ariana Greenblatt as Daphne, Cerina Vincent as Suzy and Joe Nieves as Tom. New episodes from season two of Stuck in the Middle will premiere weekly on Fridays beginning September 15 at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Disney Channel and VOD.

Disney Channel's live-action comedy BUNK'D follows siblings Emma, Ravi and Zuri Ross as they leave their extravagant New York City penthouse once again to return to Camp Kikiwaka, a rustic summer camp in Maine. Season three finds the Ross kids arriving at camp after several cabins were lost to fire. Upon learning that the camp's owner, Gladys, has absconded with the insurance money, the kids team up to save the camp using funds from their parents' deep pockets. Now owners and counselors, they reunite with cheerful country girl Lou to rebuild the cabins and boost morale. The sitcom stars Peyton List as Emma Ross, Karan Brar as Ravi Ross, Skai Jackson as Zuri Ross and Miranda May as Lou. During its second season, BUNK'D ranked #1 in its time period and, over the past year, has reached 61 million Total TV Viewers and amassed 25 million engagements via Disney Channel VOD and the Disney Channel App.

Walk the Prank, Disney XD's broadly appealing hit that blends scripted comedy with hidden-camera pranks, follows a team of professional pranksters, Chance and his brother Herman and their best friends Bailey and Dusty, along with Dusty's Uncle Will, who pull off good-natured pranks to capture genuine and hilarious reactions for their online hidden-camera show. Some of the most elaborate pranks from the current second season include a mind-melding robot; an alien spaceship in the woods; and a jam-packed episode guest starring several NFL favorites, including Jason Witten (Dallas Cowboys) who teams up with ESPN SportsCenter anchor Cari Champion to prank a diehard Cowboys fan. Walk the Prank stars Cody Veith as Chance, Bryce Gheisar as Herman, Jillian Shea Spaeder as Bailey, Brandon Severs as Dusty and Tobie Windham as Uncle Will. The special Walk the Prank: NFL Edition premiereed this past Saturday, (September 2), on Disney XD. Viewers can catch new episodes from season two of Walk the Prank Monday - Thursday, beginning Monday, October 2, on Disney XD, Disney XD App and VOD.

As the tumultuous school year at North Jackson High continues, a new semester brings big changes - and Gamby and Russell are about to learn that the only thing harder than gaining power is holding on to it. The darkest comedy on television returns to finish what was started when Vice Principals kicks off its nine-episode, second and final season Sunday, Sept. 17 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT, with other new episodes debuting subsequent Sundays, exclusively on HBO. Danny McBride (HBO's Eastbound & Down; This Is the End) stars as Neal Gamby and Walton Goggins (Emmy(R) nominee for Justified; Six) stars as Lee Russell in the show, which was created by McBride and Jody Hill and shot in and around Charleston, South Carolina.

Vice Principals also stars Kimberly Hébert Gregory (Devious Maids) as Dr. Belinda Brown; Georgia King (The New Normal) as English teacher Amanda Snodgrass, Gamby's on- and off-again girlfriend; Busy Phillips (Cougar Town) as Gale, Gamby's ex-wife; Shea Whigham (HBO's Boardwalk Empire) as Ray, Gale's impossibly nice husband; and Sheaun McKinney (Know Thy Enemy) as cafeteria worker Dayshawn. Joining the cast this season is Dale Dickey (Hell or High Water) as Nash, who was appointed vice principal of discipline in Gamby's absence. Guest stars on the second season include Fisher Stevens (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as a scholarly rival to Gamby for Amanda's attentions; Scott Caan (Hawaii 5-0) as a teambuilding trainer; Maya Love as Gamby's daughter, Janelle; and Susan Park (Fargo) as Russell's wife, Christine.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Bunk'd, Disney Channel, Disney XD, HBO, Stuck in the Middle, Vice Principals, Walk the Plank

Fri-Yay: The Carmichael Show Is Canceled; HBO's Vice Principals Returns in September

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

This week, it was announced that NBC has cancelled The Carmichael Show, a critically acclaimed but little watched sitcom that had aired on the network (mostly during the summer) for three seasons. The Carmichael Show's cancellation wasn't entirely a surprise - the show never gained much of an audience despite its acclaim and some valiant efforts by NBC, including slotting it behind hits like Little Big Shots and America's Got Talent. But it's still pretty upsetting, nonetheless - The Carmichael Show was a genuinely great sitcom, and although it never took off in the ratings, it may be a show whose impact will be felt for years to come. That's because The Carmichael Show, in many ways, restored respectability to the multi-camera sitcom. The multi-camera sitcom never truly died (The Big Bang Theory is the biggest sitcom hit of the decade, after all) but, for many years, it was considered to be an old and outdated form. Critics ravaged multi-camera sitcoms, and many considered the form to be "dead" artistically.

However, in the past few years, there has been a boom of multi-camera sitcoms that gain the attention of critics and television fans for their ability to use the format's strengths to their advantage, shows like The Carmichael Show, Mom, and One Day at a Time. All of these shows use the multi-camera format in much of the same way the best shows of the format from years past did - to relate to their audience in a grounded way while telling stories that are fresh, relevant, and in many ways, like nothing else you could find on TV. When used correctly, the multi-camera sitcom can really make the audience feel what it's trying to get across, and create an experience that is both classic, comforting but also capable of educating and making viewers think. (Think of how Roseanne allowed viewers to experience life in the lower middle class, or the way All in the Family brought real life issues into Americans' living rooms for the first time.) The Carmichael Show realized that, and ultimately paved the way for other shows to do the same. If you haven't checked out this underrated sitcom, I really recommend it - whether you're an old-school fan or whether you prefer snappy new sitcoms, anyone can get something from this multi-camera gem.

HBO has confirmed the debut date for the second season of the comedy series Vice Principals, which will conclude its 18-episode, two-season run with nine new episodes starting Sunday, Sept. 17 at 10:30pm ET/PT. The tumultuous school year at North Jackson High continues and a new semester brings lots of changes. Gamby and Russell are about to learn that the only thing harder than gaining power is holding on to it, as the darkest comedy on television returns to finish what was started. Danny McBride (Gamby) and Walton Goggins (Russell) star in part two of HBO's hit comedy series, created by McBride and Jody Hill and directed by David Gordon Green. McBride, Hill and Green are joined as executive producers by Jonathan Watson and Stephanie Laing. Also starring in Vice Principals are Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Georgia King, Busy Phillips, Shea Whigham and Sheaun McKinney.

Posted by Pavan -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: Fri-Yay, HBO, NBC, The Carmichael Show, Vice Principals