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

Thursday, August 7

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage - "TV Money" (CBS, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Mandy tries to prove she’s financially responsible after Jim and Georgie call out her poor spending habits, and Connor’s new girlfriend needs a place to stay.

Ghosts - "A Star Is Dead" (CBS, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Alberta offers to help Sam prepare for an audition for a community theater production. Also, Sass finds a new reason to interfere in Jay’s dreams.

Bob's Burgers - "Mr. Safebody" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Louise's schoolmate Arnold enlists her to direct a promotional video for his new bodyguarding business; a stolen car blasting 90's alternative rock is abandoned outside of the restaurant.

The Great North - "Can't Hardly Debate Adventuree" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Aunt Dirt takes a new job at Lone Moose School; Wolf tries to impress Beef.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of August 4)

Thursday, August 7

Chris Distefano (Benders) - Chris guest hosts a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) - Catch Hannah on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Shane Gillis (Tires) - Shane appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
The Jonas Brothers (Jonas/Jonas LA) - The Jonas Brothers are guests on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Judy Greer (Kidding/Married/Mad Love/Miss Guided/Arrested Development),
Lizzy Caplan (Party Down/The Class/The Pitts), Steve Buscemi (Miracle Workers),
Tituss Burgess (Schmigadoon!/Central Park/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones/The Unicorn/Vice Principals) - The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has "Kids Pitch" with special appearances by Judy, Lizzy, Steve, Tituss, Walton and others at 11:35pm on CBS.
Jean Smart (Hacks/Samantha Who?/Center of the Universe/In-Laws/Style & Substance/Designing Women) - Jean stops by Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Molly Gordon (The Bear/Ramy) - Molly appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sasheer Zamata (Home Economics/Woke/Robbie), Tien Tran (Mr. Throwback/How I Met Your Father) and Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) - Sasheera, Tien and Paul are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
Luis Guzmán (How to Make It in America/Luis) - Luis talks about Wednesday on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
Carol Leifer (Alright Already) - Carol talks about her book How to Write a Funny Speech for a Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Graduation & Every Other Event You Didn’t Want to Go to in the First Place on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) and Rose Byrne (Platonic/Physical) - Seth and Rose talk about Platonic on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
Matt Rogers (No Good Deed/I Love That for You) - Matt co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
Alicia Silverstone (American Woman) - Alicia talks about Irish Blood on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am and in the 10am hour.
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) - Aubrey and Maisy Stella are telling Drew about their film My Old Ass on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Valerie appears on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love/Like Family/Love, Inc.) - Holly talks about Peacock's Kings Court on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.