Wednesday, August 22, 2012

2012 Network Fall Preview Specials; The Office Ends This Season On NBC

It's almost that time of year again...the start of the new TV season! So let's get ready for that with annual network preview specials to inform us on what is new and returning! See our Fall 2011 preview from last year.

First up we will look at ABC. ABC's Fall 2012 preview special is titled The Chew Presents ABC's Primetime Fall Preview Special. This year ABC will air two versions -- one in primetime and one for local ABC affiliates. The primetime version will be one-hour and air on Sunday, Sept. 2 at 7pm ET. The special showcases the new fall Primetime lineup, including new late news lead-ins 666 Park Avenue and Nashville and the new Wednesday comedy, The Neighbors. The special will also feature the new Shawn Ryan drama Last Resort. The preview show will be hosted by The Chew's Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly and Daphne Oz. A half-hour version will be airing on ABC Affiliates beginning Sept. 15, so check your local listings (WABC in NYC hasn't scheduled it yet). The primetime version will be reaired on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 23 from 3-4PM ET/1-2PM PT. The special usually airs on ABC-owned cable networks as well, but as of now networks like ABC Family have not scheduled it. And also as of now, it isn't on abc.com but it is still early.

Next is CBS. The CBS Fall 2012 preview special, simply titled CBS Fall Preview Sneak Peek will be a primetime special previewing CBS's new fall lineup, to be hosted by the stars of 2 Broke Girls - Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs - will be broadcast on Monday, Sept. 10 from 8:30-9:00 PM, ET/PT nationally on the CBS Television Network following an encore of How I Met Your Mother and leading into an encore of 2 Broke Girls. The preview will feature sneak peeks of the five new additions to CBS's primetime schedule this fall: the drama series Vegas, Elementary, and Made In Jersey, and the comedy series Partners. CBS.com doesn't usually post the preview, so you'll have to watch it on-air or if you miss that, your local CBS might air it on a weekend in the daytime -- but that is not confirmed.

Moving on to NBC, the NBC Fall 2012 preview special (titled once again The NBC Primetime Preview Show) has started airing on their cable owned networks & local NBC affiliates (such as USA, Syfy, Bravo, UniHD, Chiller, mun2, MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, Sleuth, Xfinity, E! Entertainment Television, mun2, NBC2Go, on-demand and broadband) since Aug. 8 and will continue to run through Sept. 30 (in NYC it is on next on WNBC Sat Sept. 1 at 7pm). The special will be hosted by Matthew Perry and the cast of NBC's new comedy Go On. The entertainment special will focus on NBC's new shows for the fall, including the dramas Revolution and Chicago Fire, along with the new comedies Go On, The New Normal, Animal Practice and Guys With Kids.

Onto Fox, the Fox Fall 2012 preview special starts airing on local Fox affiliates soon on weekends (in NY WNYW Sun Sept. 2 at 3pm) and is simply titled Fox Fall Preview Special. It will only run on local Fox affiliates again and not on Fox in primetime. No information is available as of this writing on who is hosting and what the special features, but it will of course feature their new programs: The Mob Doctor, Ben & Kate, and The Mindy Project. No idea yet also if it will be on fox.com, but check your local Fox listings for on-air showtimes.

And finally we conclude with The CW. The CW's Fall 2012 TV preview special is called The CW Fall First Look is airing on local CW affiliates as of this past weekend (such as NY's WPIX on Sat. Sept 8 at 8pm)! No word if it will also air nationally on The CW like it did last year. Series featured will be Arrow, Beauty and the Beast, and Emily Owens M.D. The affiliate special is a half-hour, and last year's primetime version had fifteen more minutes in primetime. Watch the half-hour special right now


NBC's comedy The Office will end after the upcoming ninth season, it was announced on a conference call by Greg Daniels to reporters on Tuesday. Executive producer Greg Daniels will return as showrunner for this final hurrah, taking over from Paul Lieberstein, who is developing a potential spinoff with Rainn Wilson. Daniels ran the show for the first five seasons. Here is what he had to say:

"This year feels like the last chance to really go out together and make an artistic ending for the show that pays off a lot of the stuff that matters most to fans. This will be the last season of The Office. And we're planning a very big exciting last season. We're going to have a lot of faces coming back. There are a lot of things that I've personally been wanting to do since season two. All questions will be answered this year. We're going to see who's behind the documentary. Now that we know we have an end date we can blow things up and take some chances and it will be very freeing, creatively."

The ninth and final season of The Office premieres Thursday, Sept. 20 at 9pm ET/PT on NBC.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Thursday, June 25

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "Payback and a Partial Shebang" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Georgie’s feud with a rival store threatens his partnership with Ruben. Meanwhile, Mandy finds out Georgie’s been keeping secrets from her.

Ghosts - "St. Hetty’s Day 2: The Help" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
A St. Patrick’s Day staffing emergency gives Hetty the chance to step into an unlikely role at the restaurant as she regains her once-a-year ability to be seen and heard by the living. Meanwhile, Kyle returns to watch over the ghosts and finds himself caught in an amusing supernatural dynamic.

The Bear - "Soda" (FX, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A storm hits.

The Bear - "Lamb" (FX, 9:32PM ET/PT)
The staff prepares for the day.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 22)

Thursday, June 25

  • Olivia Rodrigo (Bizaardvark) - Catch Olivia on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Joel McHale (Animal Control/The Great Indoors/Community) - Joel appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ego Nwodim (Mr. Throwback) - Andy Cohen interviews Ego on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
  • Lexi Minetree (Elle) - Lexi talks about Elle on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
  • Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Cafe Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - The Drew Crew team is sharing their best pro tips including newest Drew Crewer Amirah Kassem sharing how to make the perfect party dish and easy ways to level up hosting on a repeat of the Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Patrick Dempsey (Fast Times) - Patrick discusses The Dempsey Center Foundation on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) and Danielle Pinnock (Ghosts/Young Sheldon) - Kerry and Danielle talk about Off Broadway's The Whoopi Monologues with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD) I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD) The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)

11/04/25 - Happy's Place - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/11/25 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fifteenth Season (DVD)
11/11/25 - Two and a Half Men - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/02/25 - Tom and Jerry - The Golden Era Anthology (1940-1958) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/16/25 - Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/16/25 - Wally Gator - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/20/26 - The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Golden Age Collection (Blu-ray)
01/27/26 - The New Fred and Barney Show - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/11/26 - Tom and Jerry - The Complete CinemaScope Collection (Blu-ray)
03/24/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Vault - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
04/11/26 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
04/21/26 - Famous Studios Champion Collection (Blu-ray) (DVD)
05/19/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (DVD)
05/19/26 - Looney Tunes Cartoons - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/14/26 - The Office - The Complete Series - Superfan Extended Episodes (Blu-ray)
07/28/26 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series - 75th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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