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ABC Renews Modern Family and black-ish, Orders The Mayor and The Gospel of Kevin to Series

May 12, 2017
Uncategorized
abc, black-ish, gospel of kevin, modern family, the mayor

(via Deadline)

ABC is sticking with its bread and butter by giving Modern Family a 9th and 10th season and black-ish a 4th season. 

With that main part of the comedy brand covered, ABC will now be taking on some more high-concept comedies with The Mayor and The Gospel of Kevin that both pit unlikely, selfish lead characters into having save the people around them. To peak your interest, The Gospel of Kevin has Jason Ritter starring and The Mayor has Daveed Diggs, who you probably know from Hamilton, on board as an executive producer.

Interestingly enough, this does seem like ABC likes to have a white and black version of certain TV comedy formulas.

2017 SAG Awards Comedy Nominees: Florence Foster Jenkins and black-ish Still Going Strong

December 14, 2016
Uncategorized
black-ish, florence foster jenkins, grace and frankie, meryl streep, modern family, netflix, orange is the new black, sag, sag awards, screen actors guild, unbreakable kimmy schmidt, veep

2017 SAG Awards Comedy Nominees: Florence Foster Jenkins and black-ish Still Going Strong

*comedy nominees in italics

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Amy Adams, “Arrival”
Emily Blunt, “The Girl on the Train”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Hugh Grant, “Florence Foster Jenkins”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, “Orange is the New Black”
Jane Fonda, “Grace and Frankie”
Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Lily Tomlin, “Grace and Frankie”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Black-ish”
“Modern Family”
“Orange is the New Black”
“Veep”

The rundown of comedy nominees in this year’s awards season have many notable differences between the nominations for a few awards ceremonies that have been announced so far.

Still, Florence Foster Jenkins and black-ish seem to be holding consistently throughout as they just picked up multiple nominations for the 2017 SAG Awards. Netflix has plenty to be proud of here too, especially since they got all but one nomination in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series category.

Get the full list of 2017 SAG Awards nominees here and see who wins on January 29th on either TBS or TNT (or you’ll be able to stream it) at 5PM PST..

Full Frontal, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Black-ish Win at 2016 TCA Awards

August 7, 2016
Uncategorized
black-ish, crazy ex-girlfriend, full frontal, lily tomlin, mary tylee moore show, rachel bloom, samantha bee, tca awards, television critics association

This weekend, the Television Critics’ Association handed out their annual round of awards for what they think the best and brightest in TV is. We’re not sure how much influence this will have on the Emmys (the same goes for any other TV awards for that matter), but we do hope this bodes well for the trailblazing Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.

Below are the comedy winners for the 2016 TCA Awards:

-Individual Achievement in Comedy: Rachel Bloom (CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, The CW)
-Outstanding Achievement in News and Information: FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE (TBS)
-Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: BLACK-ISH (ABC)
-Career Achievement Award: Lily Tomlin
-Heritage Award: THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (CBS)

Here’s the full list of winners.

Master of None, Transparent, and black-ish Are Now Peabody Winners

April 22, 2016
Uncategorized
aziz ansari, black-ish, jill soloway, master of none, peabody awards, transparent

The 75th Peabody Awards definitely give a nod to diversity in comedy.

The Peabody Award Winners for the Entertainment and Children’s Programming were announced today and included Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, Jill Soloway’s landmark trans series Transparent, and a network comedy looking forward to the future in black-ish. All three series put an emphasis on giving different perspectives while spinning an award-worthy comedic tale. 

There are more winners to be announced, but you can read the rest of today’s winners here.

The Peabody Awards Will Honor Jon Stewart and David Letterman and Have Announced Finalists

April 12, 2016
Uncategorized
abc, amazon, armando iannucci, aziz ansari, black-ish, catastrophe, david letterman, fresh off teh boat, hbo, jon stewart, master of none, netflix, peabody awards, rob delaney, sharon horgan, transparent, veep

(via Deadline)

Hopefully, this means that Stewart and Letterman will be making a TV appearance several weeks from now.

The new and improved Peabody Awards are setting to honor retired late night luminaries Jon Stewart and David Letterman. In addition to that, the following comedy series have been just announced as Peabody finalists:

Black-ish
Catastrophe
Fresh Off The Boat
Master of None
Transparent
VEEP

You’ll have to wait to find out who ends up going home with a revered Peabody Award as the actual ceremony doesn’t happen until May 21st.

A Bunch of Shows Got Renewed Today Including Fresh Off The Boat, Black-Ish, The Goldbergs, The Middle, Modern Family, and Teachers

March 4, 2016
Uncategorized
abc, black-ish, fresh off the boat, modern family, teachers, the goldbergs, the middle, tv land

(via Variety/@teachersseries)

ABC seems pretty happy with their comedy slate. 

Save for The Muppets, Dr. Ken, Galavant, and Last Man Standing, ABC has announced the renewal of the rest entire comedy line-up today. That includes Modern Family for its 8th season, The Middle, also for its 8th season, Fresh Off the Boat for its 3rd season, Black-ish, also for its 3rd season, and The Goldbergs for its 4th season. 

Considering how quick the ax is brought down on series at other networks these days, this is a pretty big milestone for the broadcast network.

Also, TV Land’s freshman series Teachers will live to see a sophomore season. 

Maybe this is a sign of the tides of cancelling new comedy series is changing? We certainly hope so.

Watch THR’s Roundtable Discussion with Showrunners of Transparent, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Black-ish, Silicon Valley, Togetherness, and Modern Family

September 7, 2015
Uncategorized
abc, alec berg, amazon, black-ish, hbo, jay duplass, jill soloway, kenya barris, modern family, netflix, robert carlock, silicon valley, steve levitan, the hollywood reporter, thr, togetherness, transparent, unbreakable kimmy schmidt

You can not only get into the headspace of many today’s top comedy showrunners, but what their headspace is like when they’re all in a room together.

Jill Soloway of Transparent, Robert Carlock of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Kenya Barris of Black-ish, Alec Berg of Silicon Valley, Jay Duplass of Togetherness, and Steve Levitan of Modern Family all came together to sit and chat at The Hollywood Reporter’s fascinating roundtable discussions about their shows and how they fit into the booming and constantly evolving landscape of television.

As you’ll see, there are plenty of the reasons that each one of these shows with these folks at the helm are successful.

Watch the hour long discussion here.

The Hollywood Reporter Has Women In Comedy Roundtable Discussion With Amy Schumer, Gina Rodriguez, Lena Dunham, and More

May 28, 2015
Uncategorized
amy schumer, black-ish, ellie kemper, gina rodriguez, girls, hillary clinton, jane the virgin, kate mckinnon, lena dunham, panel, roundtable, snl, thr, tracee ellis ross, unbreakable kimmy schmidt

Women in comedy are definitely having a moment right now unlike they’ve had in decades past.

Not only are Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy power brokers, but there are more female producers, writers, and directors making female led comedy series and movies.

That being said, there is still a lot of stereotypes and prejudice that needs to be fought against. So, The Hollywood Reporter had a frank roundtable discussion with Amy Schumer, Ellie Kemper, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gina Rodriguez, Lena Dunham, and Kate McKinnon about carving out their niche in comedy.

You might just be surprised the sort of nonsense regarding women on screen that still exists in 2015 as well be proud of what the folks in this discussion have accomplished when you watch this…

…or this…

…or this…

…or this…

…and this.

What Has Happened to Comedy on Broadcast Networks? (Hint: Lots of Canceling)

November 25, 2014
Uncategorized
a to z, abc, arrested development, big bang theory, black-ish, cbs, comedy central, community, cristela, fox, franklin and bash, fx, fxx, john stamos, key & peele, last comic standing, last man on earth, louie, manhattan love story, mindy project, nbc, new girl, portlandia, selfie, sullivan and son, the-simpsons, transparent, two and a half men, unbreakable kimmy schmidt, veep

It would be a little premature to say that there’s writing on the wall, but comedy definitely seems like it is playing second fiddle (or almost no fiddle at all) to hour long dramas at NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. Comedy is currently flourishing on cable and online and, perhaps, that is where episodic comedy, wholly, is headed. 

This TV season alone, freshman comedies Selfie, A to Z, Manhattan Love Story, and Bad Judge have been canceled along with relative new comers The Millers.

Community, Arrested Development, and now The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which had a series order from NBC but didn’t even make it to air, have moved from TV networks to online streaming services.

Just yesterday, it was announced ABC also scrapped a sitcom they had already ordered to series, Members Only starring John Stamos.

Bloggers and John Mulaney alike keep talking about whether Mulaney will last on Fox. On top of all of that, there are rumors that NBC has halted production on Last Comic Standing after it already had brought it back from the dead.

We’re not saying broadcast networks have drawn a hard line on in the sand (yet) prohibiting comedy from their airwaves. Cristela, black-ish, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine have found success just starting out and the networks have a few comedy mainstays like Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and Half Men. New Girl and The Mindy Project have also seemed to fared well in their tenure at Fox. Also, cable networks TBS and TNT have recently canceled Sullivan & Son and Franklin & Bash, respectively.

Still, this last couple of years have seen an unprecedented shift of the comedy genre as an aggregate on TV from going live on air to every household with a TV on a weeknight to niche cable networks and various online entities ranging anywhere from Netflix to YouTube to Amazon. Key & Peele, Louie, Portlandia, Veep, Transparent, and Children’s Hospital are all just a few perfect examples of this new paradigm.

The future for comedy on TV and the behemoths of television does have yet to be decided. The highly anticipated Last Man on Earth from Chris Miller and Phil Lord starring Will Forte is premiering next year. Networks, like CBS, are starting to get on board with their own streaming service. 

What is clear in the current TV landscape, above all, is that the Internet isn’t going away and, because of that, viewers can watch whatever they want whenever they want to watch it. Thus, people will watch their favorite Key & Peele sketch as many as times as they can stand, binge watch The Simpsons via The Simpsons World app/site, consume as much media that exists online of their favorite comedians (i.e. web series, podcasts, stand-up clips, etc.), and do so at any time of any day in any place versus Thursdays at 8 at home,

In such an environment, it’s much harder than it used to be to launch a broad franchise sitcom that lasts 10 seasons and lives on in syndication, which has been the network TV model for comedy for decades. So, for now, as NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt poignantly remarked during Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s move to Netflix, “…we have a very drama-heavy midseason schedule.”

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