For the third time in the past 28 years, ABC, and America, has said goodbye to the Conner family. Spun off from the revival of Roseanne in 2018 after Roseanne Barr’s tweets got her fired, The Conners killed off her character offscreen and showed the family trying to move on. Seven seasons later, the show wrapped up its run, giving us 17 seasons of programming across the three iterations.
Tag / Roseanne
Midseason Review – Wednesdays
We have reached the halfway point of our look back at my thoughts on the offerings for the new fall season. Here’s what Wednesdays had on tap for the fall.
7:00
Legends of Tomorrow – Season seven moves to Wednesdays, which I look forward to tackling as soon as I start and finish season six.
Yep, still a season behind on this one. I’m sure I’ll catch up one of these days.
8:00
The Conners – How this made four seasons, I will never know.
You know, it isn’t bad, but it’s not really good either? I wonder if this has any audience that didn’t watch Roseanne back in the day?
8:30
Home Economics – After an entertaining-enough first season as a mid-season replacement, we’ll see if they can keep it up now that they’re running with the big boys.
I’m still enjoying this. Hopefully others are as well, and it sticks around for a while.
And now the new entries:
Pam and Tommy – Hulu brings us this series detailing the relationship between Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.
2018 New Fall Season – Tuesdays
Continuing our look at the new fall season, here are the offerings that I may find myself interested in for Tuesdays.
7:00
The Conners – Following last spring’s Twitter meltdown by Roseanne Barr and the cancellation of the reboot of Roseanne, the show moves on without her. Will it be worth watching? I’m honestly not sure.
The Flash – The gang returns for the fifth season.
The Gifted – The series about Marvel’s mutants returns for a second season. I still need to finish the first.
8:00
Black-ish – For its fifth season, the show moves on without creator Kenya Barris.
FBI – Missy Peregrym and Jeremy Sisto are FBI agents trying to keep New York safe.
This Is Us – The emotionally manipulative hit is back for a third season, assuming I ever go back and finish the previous one.
Black Lightning – The Pierce family returns for their second season, which I will be happy to watch once I get done with season one.
8:30
Splitting Up Together – After a successful run last spring, the show, starring Oliver Hudson and Jenna Fischer, returns for another go-around.
9:00
The Rookie – Castle alum Nathan Fillion re-teams with his former EP for this tale about the oldest rookie police officer in the LAPD.
ABC Upfronts
ABC is shaking up their lineup this fall, with changes on every night save Monday and Thursday. The week gets off to a familiar start with Dancing With The Stars, followed by The Good Doctor. Roseanne returns for another season to kick off Tuesday nights, followed by The Kids Are Alright, about a traditional Irish-Catholic family navigating the turbulent 70s, then black-ish and Splitting Up Together staying put. The night ends with The Rookie, bringing Nathan Fillion back to the network in a familiar setting.
Wednesday starts the same, with The Goldbergs, American Housewife, and Modern Family starting the night, followed by Single Parents, a comedy about, well, single parents starring Taran Killam and Leighton Meester. The night is capped off by A Million Little Things, about a group of Boston friends who re-examine their lives when one of them dies. Thursdays stay exactly the same, with the three Shondaland shows remaining in place. A revamped Friday kicks off with the re-located Fresh Off The Boat and Speechless, followed by Child Support and 20/20. Sunday goes all reality, with a junior edition of DWTS sandwiched between America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank. The night ends with The Alec Baldwin Show, the first prime time talk show since the unfortunate attempt to keep Jay Leno happy while Conan O’Brien hosted The Tonight Show.
Agents of SHIELD will return in summer of 2019, and American Idol and For The People will return at some point. Also on the bench for mid-season are The Fix, a legal drama from Marcia Clark starring Robin Tunney, Grand Hotel, from executive producer Eva Longoria, and Whiskey Cavalier, about a partnership of FBI and CIA agents played by Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan. The one comedy is Schooled, a spin-off of The Goldbergs.
Cancelled shows never to be seen again are Alex Inc., The Crossing, Deception, Designated Survivor, Downward Dog, The Great American Baking Show, Kevin (Probably) Saves The World, Inhumans, The Mayor, The Middle, Once Upon A Time, Quantico, Scandal, Somewhere Between, Still Star-Crossed, and Ten Days In The Valley.
Midseason Review – Tuesdays
Continuing our look back at my thoughts on the new fall season, with the offerings that I found myself interested in for Tuesdays.
7:00
The Flash – Barry returns from the speed force a changed man for the fourth season of the show.
The supporting cast has been pared down a bit, leading to easier-to-follow subplots.
8:00
Black-ish – For its fourth season, the show moves out from Modern Family‘s shadow and gets to lead off its own hour.
With Yara Shahidi moving on to Grown-ish and a new baby to take her place, the show has a slightly different tone, but still brings the funny more often than not.
This Is Us – The one breakout hit from last season returns to emotionally manipulate us once again.
The emotional manipulation continues, but the show seems to overestimate the audience’s attachment to the mystery of how Jess Mariano died.
DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow – With time shattered at the end of last season, the team has to put things right.
Somehow, I missed recording the second episode of the season, and it isn’t streaming anywhere at the moment, so I’ve only watched the season premier and the crossover episode.
8:30
The Mayor – A rapper runs for mayor to gain publicity for his mixtape and accidentally wins. With Yvette Nicole Brown on board, I’ll give it a shot.
This was a fun little show, but has already been pulled from the schedule and isn’t likely to ever return.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Season 5 starts with Jake and Rosa in prison, framed for crimes they didn’t commit.
More of the same from the gang at the Nine-Nine.
9:00
Kevin (Probably) Saves The World – Jason Ritter returns to television in this show about a layabout who learns its up to him to save the world.
I caught up on the show over my Christmas vacation and, while not challenging in any way, it is somewhat enjoyable.
Now let’s look at the new shows premiering in the spring on Tuesdays:
Black Lightning – The latest foray in to the DC universe from the CW brings one of the few black heroes to television.
Another Period – The Comedy Central show about the Kardashians of the early 20th century returns for its 3rd season.
Roseanne – 21 years after its final episode, the former #1 hit returns as the latest revival. Who knows if it will be any good, but it is certainly worth a look.
Book 8 (of 52) – TV (The Book)
TV (The Book): Two Experts Pick The Greatest American Shows Of All Time – Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz
Lamenting the lack of serious television criticism in book form, like there has been for years for film, former newspapermen Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz team up to rank the 100 greatest American television shows of all time, giving their explanation on why each one deserves its spot in the American cultural landscape. Aside from The Simpsons, which has been on the air for 50 years or so and took home the top spot after much deliberation, currently airing shows were not eligible for consideration.
Separated into 4 categories, The Inner Circle, No-Doubt-About-It Classics, Groundbreakers and Workhorses, and Outlier Classics, the list runs the gamut from television’s earliest days, with classics like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners, to today’s (well, yesterday’s) biggest hits. As we are living in the golden age of Peak TV, the majority of the list is certainly from the past 20 years or so.
My television watching has had me watch all or a good portion of 24 of these classic series, either in first run or syndication. Those shows are:
The Simpsons
Cheers
Seinfeld
MASH
Louie
The X-Files
Lost
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
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