SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Welcome to SitcomsOnline Digest! We're already in to Thanksgiving week, and after Thursday, it's going to be all Christmas everywhere! But before that, let's take a moment to sit back and breathe and enjoy these last few moments of fall, as this week, we're hearing about a new comedy from ABC featuring a man known as the "Liberal Redneck," a crossover for The Big Bang Theory, and more. Let's get going!

HIGHLIGHTS FROM SITCOMSONLINE.COM AND AROUND THE WEB

Next week is the big week in the TV world--the network upfronts! And as usual, the week prior to the upfronts, we preview on what we think the networks will do! NBC and Fox are up first next Monday (May 14). We will preview NBC today and Fox tomorrow. So let's get right to it!

NBC is still looking for a series hit besides The Voice. That show returned with a bang in February after the Super Bowl but it slowly went down big, but still is NBC's top series by far.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com NBC 2012-13 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Go On (comedy) and Hannibal (drama).
Already Renewed Returning Series: Sunday Night Football, Smash & Grimm.
Likely Returning Series: Parenthood, The Biggest Loser, The Voice, Law & Order: SVU, The Office, Community, Parks & Recreation, Celebrity Apprentice, Off Their Rockers, 30 Rock and of course Dateline.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Are You There Chelsea, Awake, Bent, Best Friends Forever, Escape Routes, Fear Factor, Fashion Star, The Firm, Prime Suspect, Chuck, Whitney, Up All Night, The Sing-Off, Who's Still Standing, Free Agents, Playboy Club, Harry's Law, and Rock Center.
Likely New Series Pick-Ups (our picks): 1600 Penn (comedy for fall), Downwardly Mobile (comedy for fall), Guys With Kids comedy for fall), Revolution (drama for fall), County (drama for fall), Chicago Fire (drama for fall), Notorious (drama for mid-season), Save Me (comedy for mid-season), and Friday Night Dinner (comedy for mid-season).

OUR FALL 2012 PREDICTION:

Mondays
8:00PM The Voice
10:00PM Smash

Tuesdays
8:00PM Downwardly Mobile (NEW!)
8:30PM Guys With Kids (NEW!)
9:00PM Revolution (NEW!) / The Voice Results
10:00PM Parenthood

Wednesdays
8:00PM Community
8:30PM 30 Rock
9:00PM County (NEW!)
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Thursdays
8:00PM 1600 Penn (NEW!)
8:30PM The Office
9:00PM Go On (NEW!)
9:30PM Parks & Recreation
10:00PM Chicago Fire (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Dateline
9:00PM Grimm
10:00PM Hannibal (NEW!)

Saturdays
8:00-11:00PM Repeats

Sundays
7:00PM Football Night in America
8:00PM Sunday Night Football

COMMENTS: NBC once again needs major revamping and I still don't think they have any pilots that can do that. Comedy is certainly the way to go, as their drama pilots look to be weak. They still need to prove it will work on air as even buzz-worthy pilots have fizzed. It is all about scheduling and promotion and NBC has been very poor at that since about 2004. Once again they will have the Summer Olympics this summer and NBC will use that as a platform to launch new series. NBC has already picked-up new comedy Go On starring Matthew Perry and I think it will launch early after the Olympics sometime in August. Let's go over day-by-day on what I think will happen. Mondays will have a fall version of The Voice and it will be interesting to see who will return. It might be overkill to air a singing competition show like this twice a year, but NBC really needs it. At 10pm, while not doing that great, Smash is back for a second season and will likely stay put to grow the show. On Tuesdays, The Biggest Loser is likely going to switch to one edition a year, and it will probably return in early 2013 instead of this fall. NBC should air multi-camera comedies to start the night off. Perhaps the return of Roseanne and John Goodman in their new comedy followed by Jimmy Fallon produced comedy to open the night off? At 9pm, NBC could air new JJ Abrams drama Revolution right after the Olympics are over and run it through mid or late October before starting The Voice Results at 9pm. Parenthood is likely sticking at 10pm for probably half a season.
Wednesdays right now is a hot mess again, save for SVU. Perhaps two comedies to start the night off is the way to go in the fall. The final seasons of Community and 30 Rock maybe?  The young-skewing comedies could lead into a new young drama like County, which is a medical drama. NBC is likely bringing back SVU at 10pm for maybe the last time? On Thursdays, the comedies are very low rated or declining like The Office. This night needs some new comedy blood. Perhaps more family flare? 1600 Penn could be a good option to lead-off. The Office is not really an anchor anymore, so it could slide down to 8:30pm, giving the new Matthew Perry sports comedy Go On a chance at 9pm. At 9:30pm, Parks & Recreation would follow for at least the fall. Perhaps the Dick Wolf drama Chicago Fire would air at 10pm and it would be promoted a lot the night before on Dick Wolf's SVU. Fridays will likely have Grimm air at 9pm. Perhaps Dateline could move to 8pm, so NBC could try a drama out of the surprise success (in Friday terms) of Grimm? Hannibal would be a good option for them at 10pm. And Saturdays is just repeats, like always.
Rounding out the fall schedule is of course NBC's fall savior Sunday Night Football and this sport keeps getting more popular every year. What would NBC do if they didn't have the NFL? Anyway even with The Voice and the Super Bowl NBC is nearly in fourth place as they have a tenth of a rating point lead right now over ABC for third place. Will that last over the next few weeks of this current season? Who knows. For next season, NBC STILL needs to find SOME other hits to even compete with CBS, Fox and ABC. There is no Super Bowl for them next season to save their season. Go with family fare comedies or comedies in general and perhaps NBC will see a bit of a rise next season.

Remember, next Monday (May 14) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's plans for the 2012-13 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks. I love this time of year!
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!
Stay tuned tomorrow for our prediction for Fox!



Veteran character actor George Lindsey, best known for his role as Goober Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D. and Hee Haw, has died. Lindsey died early Sunday morning (May 6) in Nashville, TN, after a brief illness. Mr. Lindsey was 83.

Lindsey appeared as the grinning Goober Pyle on television for nearly 30 years. He got his big break in television in 1964 when he guest starred as the slow-witted but kindly Goober Beasley in the fifth season of The Andy Griffith Show. The character's name was later changed to Goober Pyle. It was established that he was the cousin of Gomer Pyle played by Jim Nabors. Jim Nabors and George Lindsey appeared in only one episode of The Andy Griffith Show together: Fun Girls. When Jim Nabors left to do the spin-off series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. in 1964, the beanie-wearing Goober became a regular character. Lindsey appeared in 86 episodes of the show from 1964 until 1968 when it left the air. In 1965, he appeared in an episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. called A Visit from Cousin Goober. He continued to appear as the character in 44 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. from 1968-1971. In 1971, he appeared in an episode of The New Andy Griffith Show on CBS. From 1972-1992 he appeared as Goober Pyle in 44 episodes of the country music variety program Hee Haw. His other Goober Pyle portrayals included the 1978 television movie Goober & the Truckers Paradise and the 1986 television reunion movie Return to Mayberry.

He had a number of other television and film roles during his career. His television guest appearances included The Rifleman, The Great Adventure, Twilight Zone, The Tycoon, Daniel Boone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Gunsmoke, Banacek, Love, American Style, Movin' On, M*A*S*H, Fantasy Island, CHiPs and NewsRadio. Lindsey's film roles included Cannonball Run II and Take This Job and Shove It. He voiced characters in the Walt Disney animated films The Aristocats, Robin Hood and The Rescuers.

Lindsey was born in Fairfield, AL and raised in Jasper, AL. He helped raise over $1,000,000 for the Alabama Special Olympics during a 17-year period by hosting an annual celebrity golf tournament in Montgomery, AL. He established and perpetuated the George Lindsey Academic Scholarships at University of North Alabama. In 1992, the University of North Alabama awarded him an honorary doctorate. Goober Pyle was such a likable character who made everyone laugh. Mr. Lindsey was a fine actor and an even better man for his kindness and generosity over the years. He will be deeply missed.

What are your favorite Goober Pyle moments? Share them on our Andy Griffith Show message board. View some George Lindsey photos in our photo galleries.

For Chicago viewers only:

Me-Too is airing a tribute to George Lindsey all this week at 12 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with episodes of The Andy Griffith Show that feature stories around Goober.

Mr. Lindsey was best-known as the grinning gas station employee in The Andy Griffith Show from 1964 to 1968, as well as in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as the title character's cousin in the Andy Griffith spin-off TV series.

Below are titles of the episodes featured in this week's tribute to George Lindsey during the regularly scheduled broadcast times and dates of The Andy Griffith Show on Me-Too.

Monday, May 7
12:00 p.m. Eat Your Heart Out
10:30 p.m. Fun Girls

Tuesday, May 8
12:00 p.m. Goober's Replacement
10:30 p.m. Goober Takes a Car Apart

Wednesday, May 9
12:00 p.m. Mind Over Matter
10:30 p.m. Andy & Helen Have Their Day

Thursday, May 10
12:00 p.m. Goober Makes History
10:30 p.m. Goober & The Art of Love

Friday, May 11
12:00 p.m. Goober the Executive
10:30 p.m. The Lucky Letter

Viewers can watch Me-Too on WCIU-TV 26.4, Xfinity 247/358, RCN 22, WOW 171 and AT&T U-verse 48.