This Week in Sitcom History – May 29th-June 3rd

May 29th, 1983: David Rounds’s Final Role Before Groundbreaking Obituary

William G. Schilling & David Rounds in Alice (1983)

The season seven episode of Alice, “Mel’s Cousin Wendy?,” aired on May 29th, 1983. It featured the final TV appearance of actor David Rounds before he passed away from cancer in December of that year. His obituary in The New York Times on December 10th, 1983 was the first ever to mention a same-sex partner as a surviving family member.

May 31st, 1992: Night Court Airs Additional Episode After Ending

Glenn Shadix, Marsha Warfield, Kathleen Doyle, & John Larroquette in Night Court (1992)

The series finale of Night Court, “Opportunity Knock Knocks,” aired on May 13th, 1992, but it wasn’t the last episode broadcast. The network had previously held back “The 1992 Boat Show” and confused viewers by airing it on May 31st.

June 2nd, 1976: Fay Finale Fails to Flourish

Audra Lindley, Joe Silver, & Lee Grant in Fay (1975)

The final episode of the short-lived sitcom, Fay, “Not Another Mother’s Day,” aired on June 2nd, 1976. The show was originally canceled in October of 1975, and star Lee Grant famously expressed her dissatisfaction by trashing the network on The Tonight Show. She referred to the head of NBC, Marvin Antonowsky, as “The Mad Programmer,” and flipped the network the bird on the air (apparently her finger was covered by a censor bar). The network gave Fay another chance by airing two more episodes in May and June of the following year, but the ratings weren’t high enough to justify continuing the series.