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

Sunday, May 11

The Simpsons - "Full Heart, Empty Pool" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Homer and Grampa team up to create a new sport that rivals pickleball, until Homer kicks Grampa off.

Family Guy - "One Foot in Front of the Mother" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Due to a police complaint about his excessive barking, Brian has to wear a shock collar; looking to join an after-school team, Chris discovers a talent for speed walking.

Krapopolis - "Don Tyxote" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Ty gets a fancy new suit and with it, the confidence to invade Persia; Hippo is left home to defend the throne; Deliria and Shlub role-play.

The Great North - "Sunset Beeflevard Adventure" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Judy joins the cast of a dinner theater production; Wolf and Honeybee help Moon sell jerky door-to-door.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 5)

Friday, May 9

  • Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Watch Paul on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Matt Bomer (Mid-Century Modern) - Matt appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Asif Ali (Deli Boys) and Saagar Shaikh (Deli Boys) - Asif and Saagar are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Busy Philipps (Girls5eva/Vice Principals/Cougar Town/Love, Inc.) - Busy chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Christine Baranski (The Big Bang Theory/Happy Family/Welcome to New York/Cybill) - Christine talks about Nine Perfect Strangers on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
  • Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Like Family/Love, Inc.) - Holly swings by for a chat about her new film Hats Off to Love on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) and Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother/Free Spirit) - NBC's Today catches up with Sarah and Alyson in the 9am hour.
  • Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - In this a little bit extra episode Drew shares more of her conversation with Brooke at the news desk on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Rebel Wilson (Super Fun Night) - Rebel joins Sherri to talk about starring in the new film Juliet & Romeo, so check your local listings.
  • Terri J. Vaughn (She the People/Mann & Wife/Meet the Browns/All of Us/The Steve Harvey Show) - Terri talks about starring in the new Netflix series She the People on Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • Julia Sweeney (Shrill/Work in Progress/Maybe It's Me/George and Leo) and Marsha Mason (Grace and Frankie/The Middle/Sibs) - Julia and Marsha talk about My First Ex-Husband on PIX11 Morinng News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

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