Tuesday, November 15, 2011

CBS Midseason Winter 2012 Schedule, Includes New Comedy; NBC Midseason Winter 2012 Schedule, Includes Return of 30 Rock


Midseason is on the horizon and today we have the winter portion (Jan-Mar) for CBS and NBC to give you. CBS has announced midseason 2012 premiere dates for the new comedy ¡Rob! and the return of reality series Undercover Boss. Both series will start airing in January, 2012. ¡Rob!, a new comedy starring Rob Schneider as a lifelong bachelor who just married into a tight-knit Mexican-American family, premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 at 8:30PM, ET/PT following The Big Bang Theory on Thursday nights. ¡Rob! also stars Cheech Marin, Claudia Bassols, Diana Maria Riva, Eugenio Derbez and Lupe Ontiveros. The new comedy has an episode order for eight episodes. Veteran comedy Rules of Engagement will return to its Thursday at 8:30 PM, ET/PT time period later this season, but its episode order has been cut from 18 to 13 (it is actually 15 because the sitcom had two leftover episodes from last season). The sitcom will air its fifth episode of the season this Thursday and perhaps another one will air in December before it goes on a hiatus for eight weeks starting Jan. 12. If all goes well, you will see it return sometime in March at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Undercover Boss returns with its third season premiere on Sunday, Jan. 15 at a new earlier time of 8:00 PM, ET/PT. Each week, Undercover Boss follows a different executive as they leave the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their companies. It is unclear how many weeks the series will run in this timeslot, as The Amazing Race will return in this timeslot at mid-season with a premiere that will be announced at a later date. Other than that, CBS has not announced any other changes. Still to be scheduled is new cop series The 2-2, which is likely for March or later in the spring. CBS also has not announced what will air Wednesdays at 8:00 PM, ET/PT in January before Survivor returns sometime in February, but it will likely be encores. And finally CBS has ordered three additional episodes of struggling Friday drama series A Gifted Man. The series will now air 16 episodes this season. My inclining is that it will be on the bubble for a second season until the day of upfront. Anyway, view and discuss the early changes to CBS midseason 2012.


30 Rock

We have another early midseason schedule for you, covering January-March 2012 for NBC! NBC announced its new mid-season 2012 schedule which features the premieres of four new series in Smash (Monday, February 6), The Firm (two-hour premiere Sunday, January 8, time slot premiere Thursday, January 12), Fashion Star (Tuesday, March 13) and Are You There, Chelsea? (Wednesday, January 11). The new lineup also includes the return of The Voice, 30 Rock, The Celebrity Apprentice and Who Do You Think You Are? Newcomer Prime Suspect and third year comedy Community will go on hiatus, but will return later in the season. In addition, there are day and time period changes for Whitney, Up All Night, Rock Center with Brian Williams and Harry's Law.

Let's detail it night-by-night. On Mondays, last spring's hit vocal competition series The Voice returns even louder with an hour-long season debut following Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5 at approx. 10pm ET/7pm PT and then resumes in its regular day and time on Monday, February 6 from 8-10 p.m. ET. Following The Voice is the much-anticipated musical drama Smash which premieres Monday, February 6 at 10 p.m. ET for 15 weeks. On Tuesdays, Fashion Star - the new reality competition series hosted and executive-produced by Elle Macpherson - will premiere with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, March 13 from 9-11 p.m. ET and resume on Tuesday, March 20 airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET. The Biggest Loser will open a new edition on Tuesday, January 3 from 8-10 p.m. ET followed by Parenthood at 10 p.m. ET, but it concludes its season on Tuesday, February 28 with its season finale. On Wednesdays, the freshman comedy Whitney" moves into a new day (Wednesday) and time (8:00 p.m.) beginning Wednesday, January 11 followed by the series debut of the new comedy Are You There, Chelsea? at 8:30 p.m. ET also on Wednesday, January 11. NBC will move Rock Center with Brian Williams to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET, starting Wednesday, February 8 as it has its last Monday telecast on Jan. 30. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remains at 10 p.m. (ET).

For Thursdays, the new drama The Firm moves into the Thursday lineup at 10 p.m. ET beginning Thursday, January 12 following its special two-hour premiere the previous Sunday (January 8) from 9-11 p.m. ET. The first-season comedy Up All Night will also move to Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, January 12 which is also the night that multiple Emmy Award-winning 30 Rock returns for its season debut at an earlier time of 8 p.m. ET, with an expected episode order of a full season. Parks and Recreation and The Office remain in the same time periods at 8:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. ET. Moving on to Fridays, the returning series Who Do You Think You Are? makes its season debut on Friday, February 3 at 8 p.m. ET, as Chuck will have its two-hour series finale on Friday, January 27 from 8-10 p.m. ET. Newcomer Grimm and Dateline NBC remain in the respective time periods from 9 to 11 p.m. Saturdays will feature encores of Harry's Law, The Firm and Law & Order: SVU. And finally on Sundays, The Celebrity Apprentice returns on Sunday, February 12 from 9-11 p.m. ET. Dateline NBC begins on Sundays from 7-9 p.m. ET, on January 8, but then Harry's Law moves to the 8 p.m. (ET) time period on March 4, so Dateline NBC will be cut just to the 7 p.m. (ET) hour starting on March 4.

That's a whole lotta changes, but more is still to come. Still missing from the mid-season schedule for NBC are new drama Awake, new comedies Bent & BFFs, and practical joke series Betty White's Off the Rockers. As mentioned, Community will return later in the spring to complete its 22 episode order (10 are scheduled to have aired by the end of 2011, so 12 will be ready to go later this season). We urge you to view and discuss the NBC midseason 2012 schedule for Jan-Mar.

Sitcom Recap:
New sitcoms - Are You There, Chelsea? (TBD episodes, NBC Wednesdays at 8:30pm starting Jan. 11) and ¡Rob! (8 episodes, CBS Thursdays at 8:30pm starting Jan. 12)
Returning - 30 Rock (TBD episodes, NBC Thursdays at 8:00pm starting Jan. 12)
Moving - Whitney (NBC Wednesdays at 8:30pm starting Jan. 11) and Up All Night (NBC Thursdays at 9:30pm starting Jan. 12)
Hiatus - Rules of Engagement (CBS) and Community (NBC) - both expected back in Spring


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Monday, January 20

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)

Monday, January 20

  • Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Watch Don on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • David Alan Grier (St. Denis Medical/Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!/The Cool Kids/The Carmichael Show/Bad Teacher/Life with Bonnie/DAG) - David appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Christian Slater (Breaking In) - Christian is a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Zosia Mamet (Laid/Girls) - Zosia stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Mekki Leeper (St. Denis Medical/Jury Duty/The Sex Lives of College Girls) - Mekki appears on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
  • Rosie Perez (Human Resources/Search Party) - Rosie is reminiscing with Drew on the film they worked on together on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, Rosie shares which famous rapper filled in as a last-minute date to an awards show when she got stood up.
  • Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Quinta talks about the current season of Abbott Elementary on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - A Tam Fam DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE on Tamron Hall (repeat) with 90s TV star Jaleel White. In his new memoir, Growing Up Urkel, Jaleel talks about his iconic role as Steve Urkel on Family Matters and the impact it’s had on his career. Plus, life with his new wife and daughter.
  • Gabriel Iglesias (The Santa Clauses/Mr. Iglesias/Cristela) - Gabriel talks about Netflix's Legend of Fluffy on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) - Rita debuts her limited-edition tribute Barbie on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series

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