SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

NBC has shifted the launch of its new midseason drama Council of Dads. The series will premiere Tuesday, March 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT immediately following the season finale of This Is Us. The show will then now return in its new timeslot beginning Thursday, April 30 at 8 p.m. through July 9. The network's hit drama New Amsterdam will air March 10 and 17 in its normal 10 p.m. timeslot, which was originally planned as Council of Dad airings. Council of Dad stars Sarah Wayne Callies, Clive Standen, Tom Everett Scott, J. August Richards, Blue Chapman, Emjay Anthony, Michele Weaver, Thalia Tran, Steven Silver and Michael O'Neill.

In the series, family takes on a different meaning in "Council of Dads" when Scott Perry, a loving father of five, has his entire life's plan thrown into upheaval by an unexpected health scare. He calls on a few of his most trusted friends to step in as back-up dads to help guide and support his growing family - just in case he ever can't be there to do it himself. There's Anthony, Scott's oldest and most loyal friend; Larry, his tough-love AA sponsee; and Oliver, his dedicated doctor and wife's dearest friend. Together, they discover that there's more to being a father than anyone could do alone - and more to being a family than they ever thought possible.

Two-time Emmy Award winner Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development, and creator of Archibald's Next Big Thing) has been cast to play the dual role of Mr. Benedict and his twin brother Mr. Curtain in The Mysterious Benedict Society. Hale recently wrapped Wakey, Wakey the one-man play at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and is also featured in Toy Story 4 as the voice of "Forky."

Mr. Benedict, a rumpled, affable eccentric genius, he is the head of the Mysterious Benedict Society - a group of orphans he has recruited to save the world. While Mr. Benedict is reluctant to put the children in harm's way, he feels there is no other choice. His Society is mysterious and so is Mr. Benedict himself; he is the genial, cunning mastermind. Mr. Curtain is Mr. Benedict's frustratingly sharp, well put-together (if villainous) twin brother.

Based on the best-selling novel, The Mysterious Benedict Society is the tale of four gifted orphans who are recruited by an eccentric benefactor to go on a secret mission. Placed undercover at a boarding school known as The Institute, they must foil a nefarious plot with global ramifications, while creating a new sort of family along the way.