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

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

Tuesday, April 1

St. Denis Medical - "Anything to Push Zaluva" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ron's teasing makes Joyce question whether her friendship with a pharmaceutical rep is genuine; Alex has trouble letting Serena take on a new task; Matt finds a mentor in Bruce.

Night Court - "Hot to Trot" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Abby's friendship with her ex-boyfriend's mother leads to romantic complications; when Julianne's wealthy aunt passes away, the gang vies for a piece of her inheritance.

Tyler Perry's House of Payne - "Love At First Swipe" (BET, 9:00PM ET/PT)
C.J. and Janine receive marital advice from an unlikely source; Peanut seeks help with his newfound online lover.

Tyler Perry's Assisted Living - "Failure 2 Launch" (BET, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Assisted Living is the new situation comedy by Tyler Perry about three generations who must make a new start in the rural backwoods of Georgia.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 31)

Tuesday, April 1

Adam Scott (Ghosted/Veep/Parks and Recreation/Party Down) - Catch Adam on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Kevin Bacon (I Love Dick) - Kevin is a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Paul Rudd (The Shrink Next Door/Living with Yourself/Wild Oats) - Paul stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Ike Barinholtz (The Studio/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project/Eastbound & Down) - Ike appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC. He will also be on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) and Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Chase and Kathryn are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9:30pm on Bravo.
Will Ferrell (The Office) and Jennifer Coolidge (2 Broke Girls/Joey) - E! News has interviews with Will and Jennifer at 11pm on E!.
Román Zaragoza (Ghosts) - Román talks about Ghosts on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Jenny talks about Dying for Sex on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Michael Angarano (Laid/I'm Dying Up Here/Will & Grace) and Michael Cera (Life & Beth/Arrested Development/I Was a Sixth Grade Alien) - Michael and Michael talk about Sacramento with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Olivia Munn (Perfect Couples) - Olivia guest co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah talks about Hacks on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Tasha Smith (Survival of the Thickest/Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse/The Tom Show/Boston Common) and Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest/Fam/Disjointed/Truth Be Told/Bad Judge/Whitney) - Tasha and Tone talk about the new season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - Kathryn is dishing on her new comedy series The Studio on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Wilmer Valderrama (That '70s Show) - Wilmer and Freddy Rodriguez chat about their podcast Dos Amigos on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Brenda Song (Running Point/Dollface/Dads/The Suite Life on Deck/The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) - Brenda talks about Netflix's Running Point on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Paul Walter Hauser (The Afterparty) - Paul is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:40am.