ABC might’ve cancelled their President of Entertainment a few weeks ago, but they are sticking with a bunch of his show. Today, they picked up America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, black-ish, Dancing with the Stars, Fresh Off the Boat, The Goldbergs, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Middle, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Shark Tank and Quantico.
So what is missing? Castle, The Muppets, Agent Carter, Nashville, American Crime, Last Man Standing, Dr Ken and Galavant. Of those, I expect that the Friday night comedies will be back. There was a report that ABC’s big boss Ben Sherwood likes sitcoms taped in front of a live audience and those are the two shows that fit that requirement. That and they have also done well on Friday.
What shows are you happy that will be back? Which ones do you want them to bring back?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UmzR9Xyh_0
When I read the description of The Family, I thought it was going to be awful. Then I watched the first two episodes, and I really enjoyed the show.
The Family is about family that’s life was changed not once but twice. First, when their son went missing and was presumed dead. Second, when he suddenly shows up alive ten years later.
Now Adam’s (Liam James) parents (Joan Allen and Rupert Graves) are dealing with him being back while dealing with their own problems caused because of his disappearance. Their older son (Zach Gilford) has doubts that the kid claiming to be Adam is really him. Their daughter Willa (Alison Pill) became religious and uptight after her brother disappeared.
As bad as they are all feeling it, no one is feeling it worse than their neighbor Hank (Andrew McCarthy) who was blamed for the kidnapping and murder of Adam. He has been in jail, and was released when Adam returned.
Now they all have to go on as though nothing happened, but it did. Each week, you will wonder is Adam really Adam. And if he is, then who kidnapped him?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_pCwllRxXY
Black-ish is normally a comedy, but tonight they are taking on a serious issue.
The Johnsons are all sitting in front of the television awaiting the verdict on an alleged police shooting of an African-American teenager. Dre (Anthony Anderson) and his wife (Tracee Ellis Ross) feel differently about how they should talk to their kids about it. Their older kids Zoey (Yara Shahidi) and Andre Jr (Marcus Scribner) feel differently than their parents and different than each other. The twins, Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane (Marsai Martin), are too young to really understand what is going on, and everyone debates how much they should know. Finally, Dre’s parents (Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis) have their own opinions from experience and have no problem sharing their views with their family.
During the half hour episode, they will all share their different opinions and listen to everyone else’s ideas on the situation and by the end of the episode they all come together.
It is a very powerful, intense, well-done 30 minutes of television that should not be missed because it shows so many different sides of the same story that we are all talking about. There will be laughs and there will be tears, so be prepared to go through the gamut of emotions.
I will seriously be surprised if this episode is not nominated for an Emmy because it is that incredible.
You might not know who Paul Lee is, but he was the man who has been running ABC for the last 6 years. Today, that is no longer the case and I think that they made a big mistake.
He has done more for sitcoms than all the other networks combined. He has had huge sucess with The Goldbergs, Fresh Off the Boat, Black-ish and Dr Ken. While that is the comedy side, he made TGIT a thing with the Shonda Rimes shows and was able to get Grey’s Anatomy to turn around after they killed off McDreamy. Quantico is also doing really well and one of the few new shows that didn’t benefit from a strong lead in. American Crime and How To Get Away With Murder has also got them award recognition which is something ABC has been lacking. These are just a few of his many accomplishments he has achieved during his tenure at the network.
Before he was at ABC, he was at ABC Family and he completely turned that network around with The Secret Life of an American Teenager, Baby Daddy and Pretty Little Liars. What happened when he left? They changed the name of the network to Freeform, enough said.
Those are the positives. ABC’s ratings are down, but their diversity is up. To me the fact that they have two sitcoms centered around Asian families speaks louder than anything else.
But I guess it is a money game and they want the ratings. Which is sad because I have been saying for years, he is the best network head out there. All the networks are struggling and yet their bosses all still have their jobs.
The person who should be out of a job is Ben Sherwood who was Lee’s boss. According to The New York Times he wants to turn ABC into CBS and do more procedurals. That is exactly what TV doesn’t need, we have more than enough as it is. Oh and CBS’s shows are all down this season. So maybe people are tiring of the same old who done it which can be guessed within the first 10 minutes of the show. I know I am. I like variety, and ABC had that.
Oh well, I am sure Paul Lee will wind up at another network like Fox? C’mon Fox hire him, he would be perfect for you.
Last Man Standing isn’t only a family show, they also tackle political issues. Just like All In the Family, the ABC sitcom shows all side of the political front. Mike Baxter (Tim Allen) and his youngest daughter Eve (Kaitlyn Dever) are staunch Republicans, his eldest daughter Kristin (Amanda Fuller) and her husband Ryan (Jordan Masterson) are very liberal, and his wife Vanessa (Nancy Travis) and their middle child Mandy (Molly Ephraim) are in the middle. On many episodes, they each have their political views and by the end of the episode, they have listened to all sides and made a decision that suits them. Sometimes they see things Mike’s way, OK almost all of the time they do, but it is his show!
Seriously though, as a viewer, I find it is refreshing to watch a show on television that is not just one sided. So recently, when I got to talk to Tim Allen and Nancy Travis, I asked them about being a show that tackles politics.
Not only is Allen the star, he is also the Executive Producer, so I wanted to know how important that is to him. He said, “I adore my liberal friends. I just don’t see eye to eye with them. We don’t demonize them. That is what we do here very well.” Then he explained how, “We have a very liberal writing staff, maybe one or two conservatives on it. It is fun to see liberals make fun of themselves. And in the middle of that, the conservatives sometimes say, ‘We’re not going to say that.’
“Between liberals fighting, you have a mitigating factor, because they all love each other. We’ve all learned to listen to the other side. You can admire the other side, but they are not your demon. I think the best thing about this show is it is stacked. I think all the girls are liberal leaning, except maybe Nancy, but I think what it’s caused us to do on this set is listen to each other.”
How does his Nancy feel about it? Travis said, “I love it because I think this show is very different from anything else that is on television, and thru Tim’s character, Mike Baxter, we have a point of view you really don’t see anywhere on network television. I have been interesting to try to balance that and have counterpoint voices within the show but his voice has been a very clear point of view. It is interesting how many followers we’ve gotten and how many people are interested in watching the show.
“The show is reflecting other points of view in our country that you don’t really see in the media or on other shows. There are a whole lot of people who identify with the point of view of the show.” And at the end of the day she reminded us, “It’s not trying to tiptoe or be precious about anything. It’s, Here it is! It’s funny and it’s a joke. Have a laugh. Let’s find where we’re similar.”
So have a laugh, have several of them tonight and every Friday at 8p on ABC.
