SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

ION Media announced a long-term content deal with NBCUniversal Television Distribution to bring the top-rated drama Chicago P.D. to its flagship network, ION Television. From Dick Wolf's highly successful Chicago franchise, the series is a top-10 drama on broadcast television in A25-54 and A18-49 and is the #1 series in its time period (Wed/10p) in all key demos this season. The agreement gives ION seasons 1-5 (106 episodes) of Chicago P.D., which will make its network debut in early 2019, plus the option for future seasons.

ION Television will also add season 17 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to its programming lineup this fall. The series continues to be a top performer with an average of 1.24 million viewers, making ION the #1 cable network on Saturdays. The agreement extends ION's rights to Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Additionally, ION has acquired the rights to broadcast the Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent series on its D2 properties. Chicago P.D. will join ION Television's acclaimed library of hit series, including NCIS: Los Angeles, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, plus, a robust catalog of scripted original programming, including the series Private Eyes and more than 30 made-for-TV holiday movies.

ABC was up yesterday at the TCA 2018 Summer Press Tour. ABC has announced green lights for its "Sunday Fun & Games" programming block: Celebrity Family Feud for its fifth season, and The $100,000 Pyramid and To Tell the Truth for their fourth seasons. ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey made the announcement at the network's Television Critics Association press tour. The programming block has fueled many ratings victories for the network, which has ranked as the No. 1 broadcaster on each week the block has aired this summer among Adults 18-49. ABC also announced a two-hour prime-time special celebrating 90 years of Mickey Mouse. From the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, the elegant affair will feature star-studded musical performances, moving tributes and never-before-seen short films. Superstars from music, film and television will join the festivities to celebrate the birthday of the internationally beloved character on Mickey's 90th Spectacular, airing Sunday, November 4, 2018 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. EST, on The ABC Television Network.

And finally, The Goldbergs will once again pay tribute to a hit movie from the 1980s, the iconic John Hughes film Sixteen Candles, when the comedy has its sixth season premiere, Wednesday, September 26 at 8:00pm EDT, on The ABC Television Network, streaming and on demand. In the upcoming "Sixteen Candles" episode, it's Adam's 16th birthday, but his parents are too distracted by Barry and Lainey's engagement and Erica's band ambitions to remember their youngest son's big day. But the situation presents an opportunity for Adam to ask Erica to put him on the high school social map. Meanwhile, Beverly thinks she can scare Barry and Lainey straight with the reality of being adults.

Looking to create strong family-friendly viewing on Sundays beginning March 11, NBC will air its annual three-hour American Ninja Warrior: USA Vs. the World special at 7 p.m. ET/PT and conclude the night with the highly anticipated second-season premiere of Timeless. As previously announced, family viewing continues Sunday, March 18 with the second-season premiere of the hit alternative series Little Big Shots, hosted by Steve Harvey, and the debut of the Neil Patrick Harris-led gameshow Genius Junior. That will be followed by Timeless, whose 10-episode season will air each week at 10 p.m. Sundays.

ION Television announced the premiere date for its all-new original series starring Jason Priestley. Private Eyes will make its network debut Sunday, February 11, starting at 9/8c PM. The 10-episode season from Entertainment One (eOne) will air each Sunday night with back-to-back new episodes. ION will also air encore runs on Tuesdays beginning at 11/10c PM.

ION Television is the exclusive U.S. television home for current and future seasons of the drama series - the latest in a string of successful originals to join the network from eOne, including Saving Hope and The Listener. The series also joins ION's top 10-rated lineup of acclaimed programming, including Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, NCIS: Los Angeles and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

The holiday season is when time-honored traditions are celebrated, and for more families each year, that includes watching ION Television's lineup of festive movie titles. Following its most-watched holiday season ever in 2016, ION will debut the U.S. television premieres of five all-new original holiday movies beginning November 26. The "Very Merry" lineup also features more than 20 returning favorites, airing weekends in December through Christmas Day. Last year's holiday lineup registered double-digit ratings growth in key demos, with Households, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54 increasing more than 15% year over year. A Cinderella Christmas, new in 2016, was ION Television's highest rated movie in three years, delivering more than 1.7 million total viewers.

ION Television's holiday movie season kicks off Sunday, November 26, with the premiere of Snowmance at 9/8c. Among the stars headlining ION's all-new holiday movies include Ashley Newbrough, Travis Milne, Tara Reid, Haley Pullos, and Vivica A. Fox.. The full movie schedule will be announced on iontelevision.com in November.

USA's Psych: The Movie will premiere Thursday, December 7 at 8/7c. You heard that right, Psych-O's! T-minus two months. The Psych stars reunited at New York Comic Con for a panel and Q&A discussion moderated by TVLine's founder and editor-in-chief Michael Ausiello. James Roday, Maggie Lawson, Kirsten Nelson and Corbin Bernsen, alongside creator Steve Franks and executive producer Chris Henze, shared fun behind-the-scene moments, challenged fans to participate in the ultimate pineapple toss and revealed WWE Superstar John Cena's return as Ewan O'Hara (Juliet's brother). After eight extraordinary seasons of the fan-favorite series' run which included a 100th episode milestone, a plethora of nicknames and catch phrases, a two-hour musical and A-list guest stars, cast James Roday, Dulé Hill, Maggie Lawson, Kirsten Nelson, Corbin Bernsen and Tim Omundson reunite for Psych: The Movie. Fake psychic detective Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster open up their new office in San Francisco, appropriately (though perhaps awkwardly) named psychphrancisco, and are back in business solving a case after a mystery assailant targets one of their own. A comedic thrill ride follows, as the wild and unpredictable Psych team pursues the bad guys, justice ... and food!

Previously announced guest stars include Zachary Levi as Thin White Duke, Kurt Fuller as Woody the Coroner, Jazmyn Simon as Selene, Ralph Macchio as Nick Conforth, WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair as Heather Rockrear and Jimmi Simpson as Mary Lightly in his third posthumous appearance. PSYCH: THE MOVIE is co-written by creator and director Steve Franks with James Roday. It is executive produced by Franks, Roday and Hill, Chris Henze of Thruline/Tagline TV and Kelly Kulchak. The special is from Universal Cable Productions in association with Thruline/Tagline.

TBS's Wrecked returns for a brand new season on Tuesday, June 20, with a special two-Episode premiere at 10p/9c. Wrecked is TBS's hit survival comedy about a diverse group of airplane passengers stranded on an uninhabited island, a dangerous new world where they must face many threats – mostly brought on by themselves. No longer plugged into the rest of the world, the group struggles to navigate their makeshift society while also learning to live without such modern comforts as indoor plumbing, wi-fi, social media and Chipotle. The second season of Wrecked premieres Tuesday, June 20, with back-to-back episodes starting at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), exclusively on TBS.

ION Television announced a deal with global independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), signing an agreement for the all-new original series The Detail. The deal gives ION the exclusive U.S. television rights for current and future seasons of the procedural crime drama from ICF Films, eOne and Canadian broadcaster CTV. Production on the 10-episode first season is currently underway. Shenae Grimes-Beech (90210) stars as street-smart Detective Jacqueline 'Jack' Cooper, with keen investigative skills, but a messy personal life. Angela Griffin (Coronation Street) stars as Detective Stevie Hall, a sharp, quick-witted interrogator who is Jack's mentor - even while she balances the demands of work and her complicated family life. Wendy Crewson (Saving Hope) plays Staff Inspector Fiona Currie, the homicide unit's formidable boss, who works overtime to secure justice no matter what the cost.

The Detail joins ION Television's library of scripted original programs, including Private Eyes and long-running series Saving Hope, and a robust catalog of made-for-TV holiday movies. The series also joins ION's acclaimed library of hit series, including Criminal Minds, Law & Order, Burn Notice, Psych, Law & Order: SVU and Blue Bloods. And back to Private Eyes, it was announced about a month ago that ION Television partnered with global independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), for that series starring Jason Priestley. That deal makes ION the exclusive U.S. television home for current and future seasons of the drama series - the latest in a string of successful originals to join the network from eOne.

This January ION Television is going to bring in two more hours each day to its line-up. Currently ION Television airs programming from 11am-3am each day, but starting Monday, January 5, 2015, ION will expand to 9am-3am. In addition, the short-lived Criminal Minds spin-off series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior will join the line-up and air Saturdays at 9pm & 10pm beginning Jan. 10. On Mondays and Tuesdays, Flashpoint will air 9am-1pm into Criminal Minds from 1pm-11pm. Monday nights from 11pm-3am is more Flashpoint, while Tuesdays will have The Listener. Wed-Sat will have dramas from 9am-6pm, with NUMB3RS on Wednesdays, Blue Bloods on Thursdays, Rookie Blue on Fridays, and Criminal Minds on Saturdays. Then from 6pm-3am, its more drama stacks with Cold Case on Wednesdays, Blue Bloods on Thursdays, Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Fridays, and Criminal Minds on Saturdays (with Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior at 9pm & 10pm). The Listener actually also airs Saturdays from 11pm-3am. On Sundays, we have a children's E/I block from 9am-12pm then it is ION Television at the movies, with blockbuster films from 12pm-3am. There could be a Married...with Children filler in late night around 2am or 2:30am, if needed. Stay with us for any further updates.


It's Friday, so it is time for "Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows" for the coming week. This is where we list what sitcom stars are appearing on talk shows for the coming week, the stars are both current and past sitcom stars, so this is for all sitcom fans of all eras!
For the week of Dec. 22-26, 2014, we have many current sitcom stars and past sitcom stars on TV talk shows! All times listed are Eastern. So get your DVRs (or whatever you use) ready! Ready? Here is all what you need to know for the coming week!


Monday, December 22, 2014

• Steve Carell (The Office) - Watch Steve on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Martin Short (Mulaney/The Martin Short Show) - Martin appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Kelly Ripa (Hope & Faith) - Kelly stops by Watch What Happens: Live at 11pm on Bravo.
• Christine Baranski (Cybill/Welcome to New York) - Christine talks about Into the Woods on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am. She will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie is a guest on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• Donald Faison (The Exes/Scrubs) - Donald drops by The Better Show, so check your local listings.
• Don Most (Happy Days) - Don talks about his NYC show at 54 Below on Saturday, December 27 on Good Day New York on WNYW-Fox5 in New York between 7-10am.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

• Jerry Seinfeld (Seinfeld) - Catch Jerry on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Chelsea Handler (Are You There, Chelsea?) - Chelsea appears on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Ashton Kutcher (Two and a Half Men/That '70s Show) and Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) - Ashton and Jon are guests on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Nick Jonas (Jonas L.A.) - Nick talks about the series Kingdom on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.
• Jamie Foxx (The Jamie Foxx Show) - Jamie appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Chris Rock (Everybody Hates Chris) - Chris talks about Top Five on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Juliette Lewis (I Married Dora) - Juliette stops by The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother/Stark Raving Mad/Doogie Howser, M.D.) - Neil dishes on his role in Gone Girl on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.
• Jay Thomas (Cheers/Love & War/Murphy Brown) - Jay visits The Better Show, so check your local listings.
• Amy Yasbeck (Wings) - Amy chats on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.
• Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Krysten talks about Big Eyes on ABC's Good Morning America between 7-9am.
• Vivica A. Fox (Up All Night) - Vivica will be on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Tim Conway (McHale's Navy/Rango) - Tim talks about Hallmark Channel's Surprised by Love on Good Day LA in Los Angeles. Surprised by Love premieres on Saturday, January 3 at 9/8C.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

• Marisa Tomei (A Different World) - Watch Marisa on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Marcus Scribner (black-ish) - Marcus is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Melissa Joan Hart (Melissa & Joey/Sabrina, the Teenage Witch/Clarissa Explains It All) - Melissa talks about Lifetime's The Santa Con on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show at 12am on BET or on your local stations.
• Sofia Vergara (Modern Family/The Knights of Prosperity/Hot Properties) - Sofia reveals the secret to how she snagged her hunky actor boyfriend and dishes on celebrating her birthday in style with her family and co-stars on a repeat of The Meredith Vieira Show, so check your local listings.
• Patricia Heaton (The Middle/Back to You/Everybody Loves Raymond) - Tune in to see Patricia on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• Laurence Fishburne (black-ish) - Laurence appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
• Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso will be on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Cristela is a guest on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Caroline Rhea (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch) - Caroline appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Michael, so check your listings.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

• Jay Thomas (Cheers/Love & War/Murphy Brown) - Catch Jay on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation/The Office) - Rashida is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:34pm on NBC.
• Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy appears on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• John Goodman (Roseanne/The Normal in Ohio) - John is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Cristin Milioti (A to Z/How I Met Your Mother) - Tune in to see Cristin on a repeat of Conan at 11pm on TBS.
• Wanda Sykes (The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda appears on a repeat of The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
• Scott Foley (The Goodwin Games/A.U.S.A.) - Scott and the rest of the cast of Scandal are guests on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Jennie Garth (Mystery Girls/What I Like About You) and Tori Spelling (Mystery Girls) - Jennie and Tori are guests on a repeat of The Better Show, so check your local listings.
• Michael Strahan (Brothers) - Michael appears on a repeat of Rachael Ray, so check your local listings.

Friday, December 26, 2014

• Cristela Alonzo (Cristela) - Watch Cristela on a repeat of The Late Show with David Letterman at 11:35pm on CBS.
• Christine Baranski (Cybill/Welcome to New York) - Christine is a guest on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
• Allison Williams (Girls) - Allison appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
• Haley Joel Osment (Thunder Alley/The Jeff Foxworth Show) - Haley Joel is a guest on a repeat of Last Call with Carson Daly at 1:35am on NBC.
• Lena Dunham (Girls) - Lena appears on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly) - Tune in to see Melissa on a repeat of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
• Laurie Metcalf (The McCarthys/The Norm Show/Roseanne) - Laurie is a guest on a repeat of The Queen Latifah Show on your local station or at 3am on BET.
• NeNe Leakes (The New Normal) - NeNe appears on a repeat of The Real, so check your local listings.
• Holly Robinson Peete (Hangin' with Mr. Cooper/For Your Love) - Holly will be part of the Plugged In panel on Access Hollywood Live, so check your local listings.
• Tim Conway (McHale's Navy/Rango) - Tim talks about Hallmark Channel's Surprised by Love on Home & Family at 10am on Hallmark Channel. Surprised by Love premieres on Saturday, January 3 at 9/8C.

All listings are subject to change. Visit our blog and main site for daily updated listings. Leave us comments on our message board or Tweet/Facebook us to let us know what you think of this Friday feature! We do listen!

FXX of course has added The Simpsons to its line-up after the historic 12-day day marathon, but they have more to come this Fall! The Simpsons is airing in a block format, Mondays 6pm-12am, Tuesdays 8pm-12am, Thursdays 8pm-12am, Fridays 6pm-12am and Sundays 4-8pm. We mentioned that Raising Hope would join the schedule this fall, but we now know the launch date and times. The comedy will premiere on Monday, Sept. 22. It will essentially replace Arrested Development on the schedule, as that series is no where to be found out after Sept. 22. Also leaving the schedule as of October 1 will be The Hughleys, replaced by the return of Sports Night. As for Raising Hope, it will air Mondays 2pm-6pm, Tues-Thurs around 11:30am-1pm, Fridays 2-6pm and Saturdays around 8:30am-10:30am. Check listings for exact timings on a given week. In addition to Sports Night, FXX will continue to air Mad About You and Parks & Recreation in the daytime. And finally, also joining the schedule this fall starting October 1 will be In Living Color to shake-up late nights. The sketch comedy will air usually Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri in late night between 12-2am. Keep it right here for continued updates!

ION Television today announced its latest partnership with leading independent studio Entertainment One Television (eOne), reaching an agreement for new original episodes of Saving Hope. Produced by eOne and ICF Films in association with CTV, season three of the medical drama series recently began production on 18 new episodes in June. The deal, which includes rights to existing seasons one and two, makes ION the exclusive original U.S. television network for current and future seasons of the series. In Saving Hope, the Hope Zion Hospital is left in chaos when its charismatic Chief of Surgery, Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks), falls into a coma, putting his fiancé and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Erica Durance), in a state of shock. Along with newly arrived star surgeon, Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), Reid races to save Harris' life. As the action unfolds, the comatose Harris explores the hospital halls in the form of a spirit, questioning whether or not he is a figment of his own imagination. Reid, along with her fellow doctors, press on to save his life and the lives of others as they deal with the complicated and courageous decisions that are made in their daily struggle to keep hope alive. The series also stars Huse Madhavji, Julia Taylor Ross and Kristopher Turner.

ION Television's Fall 2014 schedule has been released. We told you that they would be adding Rookie Blue and Blue Bloods, but now we have complete details. First up, Blue Bloods will begin on Monday, Sept. 29 with a three-episode block every Monday from 10pm-1am. It will also air Thursdays from 6pm-1am and Fridays from 7pm-10pm. The first 13 episodes will air in the first week. As for Rookie Blue, it will launch on Wednesday, Oct. 1 from 2pm-6pm. It will also air four more episodes the next day on Thursday, Oct. 2 from 2pm-6pm. The first 8 episodes will air in the first week with an encore of the first three episodes airing on Friday, Oct. 3 from 10pm-1am. The same schedule will apply every other week, except the Wednesdays and Thursday airings will be expanded to 1pm-6pm, so ten episodes will air a week with the Friday block being a separate rotation.

Elsewhere on ION, you can still find your other favorites: Flashpoint, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Cold Case, NUMB3RS, The Listener, random airings of Married...with Children and movies. Off the line-up for now are Monk and Leverage. Earlier this year Burn Notice, Ghost Whisperer, Psych and Without a Trace were taken off and they are still not airing this fall. Stay with us for continued updates.

"The Totally Awesome Goldbergs Marathon" will air tomorrow (Wednesday, Sept. 3) at 8|7c on ABC. You voted for your favorite 80s moment and now it has been revealed. Your top four moments will air this Wednesday from 8-10pm. It all begins with Barry when him and Adam accidentally discover a "channel between the channels" that appears on television. Ha! Then Adam is obsessed with the movie The Goonies and when Beverly's mother's jewelry goes missing, he bands together Erica, Barry and his friends Emmy Mirksy, Dana Caldwell and Chad Kremp to look for the missing treasure, just like the film. At 9, it's the totally awesome '80s school dance and Adam wants to go. And finally, the classic driver's license episode. Barry receives his first driver's license, Beverly lays out the rules about using the car, including the most important... "Call me when you get there!" Tune in for all four episodes tomorrow night!

Bad Teacher - Thursdays at 9:30PM ET/PT on CBS
Premieres Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 9:30PM ET/PT

by Vincent

Bad Teacher is a comedy based on a 2011 film of the same name that revolves around a former trophy wife who becomes a teacher in the hopes of meeting another wealthy man. Written and created by Hillary Winston (Community, Happy Endings), the show will center around Meredith Davis as she attempts to become somewhat of a better person - with a little help from her friends.

Cast Details:

Ari Graynor as Meredith Davis
Kristin Davis as Ginny Taylor-Clapp
David Alan Grier as Carl Gaines
Sara Gilbert as Irene
Ryan Hansen as Joel

Ari Graynor (Meredith Davis) is known for her roles in TV series such as The Sopranos and Fringe, in stage productions such as Brooklyn Boy and The Little Dog Laughed, and in films such as Whip It and For a Good Call...

Kristin Davis (Ginny Taylor-Clapp) first rose to prominence and achieved fame for playing the role of Brooke Armstrong on Melrose Place and went on to achieve greater success as Charlotte York Goldenblatt on HBO's Sex and the City.

Ryan Hansen (Joel) known for having portrayed Dick Casablancas on Veronica Mars and Nolan in Friday the 13th. He also played Kyle Bradway on Party Down. In 2012 he appeared as a recurring character on 2 Broke Girls. Hansen also has a recurring role on the web series Burning Love.

Conclusion:


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 3.5/5
Funniness: 4/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 9:30PM ET/PT on our message board.

Related Links:

CBS.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Bad Teacher Photo Gallery

Preview:

ION Television announced its latest acquisition, adding the hit police drama series Rookie Blue from the Disney-ABC Television Group to its robust general entertainment lineup in Fall 2014. Coming off a highly successful fourth season on ABC, Rookie Blue averaged 2.4 million Adults 25-54 and nearly 7.0 million Total Viewers, growing its overall audience 13% from season 3 (National, Live + 7 Day Program Ratings). Ranking as the #3-rated summertime broadcast drama in 2013 in both Total Viewers and Adults 25-54, Rookie Blue was also the highest-rated summertime drama on Thursday nights in the key Adult demo in each of its four seasons. The Rookie Blue announcement comes on the heels of a number of key programming announcements for ION Television, including the acquisition of Blue Bloods and the co-production deal for the original series The Listener. It also joins ION’s portfolio of acclaimed series, including viewer favorites Criminal Minds, Cold Case and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as well as off-cable dramas, Burn Notice, Psych and Leverage.

Premiering its fifth season on ABC this June, Rookie Blue gives viewers a candid look at the personal and professional lives of five rookie cops from the 15 Division. After graduating from the academy, they must learn to deal with their duties as law enforcement officers while juggling the everyday problems and expectations of their family, friends and coworkers. As they work to prevent crime and solve cases, these first responders quickly learn that their training only prepares them so much for life as a rookie. Rookie Blue stars Missy Peregrym as Andy McNally, Gregory Smith as Dov Epstein, Ben Bass as Sam Swarek, Travis Milne as Chris Diaz, Enuka Okuma as Traci Nash, Charlotte Sullivan as Gail Peck, Peter Mooney as Nick Collins, Priscilla Faia as Chloe Price, Matt Gordon as Oliver Shaw, Rachael Ancheril as Marlo Cruz, Melanie Nicholls-King as Noelle Williams, Adam MacDonald as Steve Peck and Aliyah O'Brien as Holly Stewart. Joining the series in season five are Oliver Becker as Inspector John Jarvis and Matthew Owen Murray as Duncan Moore.

Breaking the mold of a typical pre-launch promotion, the cast and creators of NBC's upcoming multi-camera comedy series Undateable are hitting the road on a multi-city, cross-country comedy tour. Led by the show's co-creator and executive producer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City, Cougar Town), series stars Chris D'Elia, Brent Morin, Ron Funches and Rick Glassman - all stand-up comedians - will bring the Undateable comedy tour to venues across the country. Each performance will showcase a stand-up set from each of the actors with Bill Lawrence serving as host. This tour will give audiences a sneak peak of the comedic humor that viewers can expect when Undateable premieres later this year on NBC. A premiere date is still to come, so stay tuned on that.

A list of confirmed first-leg tour dates are released. For information on venues, additional dates or to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.nbc.com/undateable/comedy-tour. The first stop will be on Sunday, March 2, 2014 in New York City at Carolines On Broadway. As for the series itself, it is a new comedy series about a group of friends who are thisclose to finding a relationship - they just need a little help.

ION Television announced an agreement to produce new original episodes of the procedural drama The Listener. ION joins Shaftesbury, CTV and Fox International as co-producers on the drama, which started production on 13 new original episodes earlier this year. The agreement makes ION the exclusive original U.S. television network for current and future seasons of the series. The Listener joins ION's portfolio of acclaimed dramas, including Criminal Minds, Without a Trace Cold Case, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Burn Notice, Psych and Leverage. This announcement comes on the heels of ION's recent acquisition of the high profile drama Blue Bloods from CBS, which will be joining the ION schedule this fall. The Listener is the latest scripted ION Television original and joins the network following the success of the original series, Flashpoint, along with ION's made-for-TV original movies.

Starring Craig Olejnik, The Listener centers on mind-reading police consultant Toby Logan, who uses his telepathic ability to help a special law enforcement unit solve the most complicated cases. Having kept his unique power hidden for years, Toby learns to harness his skill to help others and save lives. The series also stars Ennis Esmer as Oz Bey; Lauren Lee Smith as Sergeant Michelle McCluskey; Rainbow Sun Francks as Corporal Dev Clark; Peter Stebbings as Alvin Klein; Tara Spencer-Nairn as Sandy; and Mylène Dinh-Robic as Olivia Fawcett.

Centric has rescheduled its What's Happening Now!! 22-episode marathon for Friday, Feb. 21, 2014! The marathon was previously scheduled for January 1, but Centric decided to reschedule for a later date. And now that time has come and they will air the series for the first time on Feb. 21 from 9am-8pm - an 11-hour / 22 episode stunt. The complete 22-episode first season will air of this 80's revival of What's Happening!! We guess if the marathon does well we could see more marathons of this 3-season sitcom or perhaps it even could be added to the regular line-up? If you're a fan of the show, we suggest you watch the marathon on Feb. 21 on Centric. In the series, Roger "Raj" Thomas returns to live in the old neighborhood he grew up in to start his married life accompanied by his bride Nadine, a social worker. When his mother remarried and moved out of the state, she sold them the house. Appointed caretakers to the property when Mrs. Thomas moved away, Dwayne and Shirley drive by the house and assume that someone has broken into the Thomas home when they see lights on inside, completely unaware that Raj has moved in. After everyone finds out, they get a warm welcome from friends Shirley and Dwayne, but the cold shoulder from Rerun. Tune in Friday, Feb. 21 on Centric!

A couple days ago we mentioned that ION Television has acquired reruns of Blue Bloods, now we have more news on the series airing elsewhere. CBS Corporation announced a multi-platform syndication model for Blue Bloods, licensing off-network episodes of the series to distribution partners in broadcast, cable and subscription video on demand (SVOD). For subscription video on demand (SVOD), CBS has signed a non-exclusive content licensing agreement with Hulu Plus, which will offer its subscribers the first four seasons of Blue Bloods, beginning later this year. CBS also announced a new licensing agreement with WGN America, which will present off-network episodes of Blue Bloods exclusively on basic cable, also starting later this year. And as previously announced, ION Broadcasting has acquired the exclusive weekday, primetime syndication rights and will broadcast previous seasons of Blue Bloods on its stations in Fall 2014.

Can you believe it's been 40 years of "Dyn-o-mite?" Antenna TV, Tribune's multicast broadcast network, celebrates 40 years of Good Times with the Evans family. This Saturday, February 8 marks the 40th anniversary of Good Times, Norman Lear's hit series, which made its television debut on February 8, 1974. Antenna TV will celebrate the milestone with a 12 hour (that's 24 episodes) marathon beginning at 1pm ET. Antenna TV, which airs on 84 affiliates across the U.S. reaching 70% of TV households, will air the following "dyn-o-mite" episodes of Good Times on Saturday, February 8:

1:00 PM Too Old Blues
1:30 PM Black Jesus
2:00 PM Michael Gets Suspended
2:30 PM Junior the Senior
3:00 PM Springtime in the Ghetto
3:30 PM The TV Commercial
4:00 PM Thelma's Young Man
4:30 PM The I.Q. Test
5:00 PM The Enlistment
5:30 PM The Weekend
6:00 PM The Mural
6:30 PM Sweet Daddy Williams
7:00 PM J.J. in Trouble
7:30 PM The Rent Party
8:00 PM Rich is Better than Poor...Maybe
8:30 PM The Judy Cohen Story
9:00 PM The Comedian and the Loan Shark
9:30 PM A Stormy Relationship
10:00 PM Wheels
10:30 PM Requiem for a Wino
11:00 PM Where's the Smoke
11:30 PM Entertainment, Evans Style
12:00 AM The Witness
12:30 AM End of the Rainbow
(All times Eastern)

Good Times airs weekdays at 7pm & 7:30pm ET on Antenna TV. Stay with us for continued updates on Antenna TV! On the series, Florida and James Evans struggle to raise their kids - irrepressible artist JJ, voice-of-reason Thelma, and politically active Michael - in a Chicago housing project. They have help from wisecracking neighbors, buffoonish building superintendents and friends.

ION Television announced the acquisition of the popular procedural police series Blue Bloods, reinforcing the network's commitment to offer high-caliber general entertainment programming. The content deal with CBS includes all four seasons to-date (89 episodes) of the series, plus future seasons that air on CBS. The agreement gives ION the exclusive weekday primetime rights to Blue Bloods in syndication starting fall 2014. Blue Bloods joins ION staple Criminal Minds on the ION Television schedule this fall, giving the network two of the five most-watched U.S. drama series, both in original production and enjoying strong ratings on CBS. Featuring an all-star cast - including Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan and Will Estes - Blue Bloods tells the stories of a New York law enforcement family, providing a strong creative and demographic fit for ION's audiences and advertisers. Blue Bloods joins ION's portfolio of acclaimed off-network series, including viewer favorites Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Without a Trace and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as well as off-cable dramas, Burn Notice, Psych and Leverage. And don't forget that Blue Bloods also joins local broadcast syndication on weekends this Fall. Stay with us for continued updates on ION Television and any further updates on this acquisition.

NBCUniversal has partnered with digital publisher Lion Forge Comics to develop licensed comic books based on popular TV shows from the 1980s and 90s. Under the agreement licensed through the NBCUniversal Television Consumer Products Group, Lion Forge will write, develop and publish digital comics based on five classic series. From hugely popular characters such as Crockett and Tubbs, Zack Morris and Punky Brewster to highly stylized music and clothing choices, these TV franchises have had a significant impact on pop culture. The five series are: Airwolf, Knight Rider, Miami Vice, Punky Brewster and Saved by the Bell. All of these shows are owned by NBCUniversal. Airwolf actually aired on CBS in its original run from 1984-87, while Knight Rider and Miami Vice aired on NBC in primetime. Punky Brewster aired on NBC in its first two seasons before moving to first-run syndication. The series also had a Saturday morning animated series that also aired on NBC. And finally Saved by the Bell was a staple for NBC Saturday mornings and of course spawned two follow-up series: Saved by the Bell: The College Years and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.

Well-known writers currently signed on to work on the projects include: Joelle Sellner (Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures); Jonathan London (Geekscape); Geoffrey Thorne (Leverage, Ben 10) and David Gorden (Catalyst Prime: Accel and Catalyst Prime: Quincredible). Currently, Jason Johnson (Wetworks, Godstorm) and Lion Forge's own Carl Reed and Lorenzo Lizana are on board as artists. The comics are planned for distribution in Q3 and Q4 2013, and will be available through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble's The Nook Book Store and Kobo. Lion Forge executives will participate on a panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego from 6:30–7:30pm PDT on Saturday, July 20, in Room: 26AB (SDCC), where they will discuss these and other properties in development. So more information and a possible sneak peek will likely come then. Stay with us for continued updates!

ION Television has acquired two more cable dramas to their rotation. ION will now air reruns of USA Network's Burn Notice and White Collar. Both series will join the line-up this fall. These two will join other current or former USA Network series like Psych, Monk and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. They also have aired reruns of TNT's Leverage, but currently it is not on the schedule. ION also has reruns of popular broadcast dramas like Criminal Minds, Cold Case, House and Without a Trace, along with Canadian drama Flashpoint. In addition to all of this drama-rama, ION airs many movies, WWE Main Event and filler airings of the sitcom Married...with Children. But of course the bread and butter of this network now are these TV dramas. Burn Notice is currently airing its seventh and final season on USA, while White Collar will return for season five this fall on USA. Burn Notice is also airing in syndication currently on weekends on local affiliates, while White Collar is airing on Thursday nights on MyNetwork TV. However, White Collar will be off of the MyNetwork TV schedule this fall, replaced by new addition Bones, thus the reruns of Collar will move to ION.

Meanwhile, ION Television announced the acquisition option pick-up of season seven of USA's hit series Psych. The deal with NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution adds all 16 new episodes to ION's existing library of seasons 1-6 of Psych and includes rights to future seasons. The series was just renewed for an eighth season. Stay with us for continued updates and the schedule timings for Burn Notice and White Collar as we get closer to the fall.

This Fall, ION Television will be adding quite a few new series. We have mentioned them all before that they were coming...except for one series. On Sunday, Sept. 23, House will launch on ION and it is airing every Sunday night from 8pm-1am. The rest of the new series will launch the week of October 1, including the previously unannounced series. That series is a sitcom. The sitcom is Married...with Children! The series starring Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy will premiere on ION Television on Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 11:00am & 11:30am leading into the Rocky movies marathon from 12pm-8pm. Those movies will lead into the premiere of ION's new weekly series, WWE Main Event on Wednesdays at 8pm. Married...with Children will normally air as a filler on weekend afternoons, as it doesn't have a set time period. The sitcom is replacing George Lopez as filler and will be paired with My Name is Earl from time to time. The other new series on ION this fall are: NUMB3RS every Thursday from 12pm-10pm and Saturdays from 6pm-1am and Law & Order: Criminal Intent airing every Sunday from 4pm-8pm. Psych will be leading the schedule completely.

You may have noticed we said 11am for ION. Yes, the weekday line-up will now be starting at 11am beginning Monday, Oct. 1! So ION Television is starting two hours earlier than now. The schedule will be filled with block programming. On Mondays, Without a Trace will air from 11am-4pm, followed by Criminal Minds from 4pm-1am. Each night on ION Television at 1am will now be a movie. On Tuesdays, ION will air more Criminal Minds from 11am-11pm, leading into back-to-back Flashpoint airings from 11pm-1am. The Wednesday block will start a week later since a Rocky movie marathon is airing Oct. 3, but starting Oct. 10 the schedule will kick-off with the qubo Kids block moving to the 11am hour every Wed-Fri, instead of 8-9am. Wednesdays from 12pm-6pm will be a Flashpoint block leading into Leverage at 6pm & 7pm. As mentioned, WWE Main Event will air at 8pm before ION goes back to Leverage from 9pm-1am. On Thursdays, we have the already mentioned NUMB3RS from 12pm-10pm leading into Criminal Minds from 10pm-1am. On Fridays, Without a Trace gets another daytime block airing from 12-4pm. After that, its Cold Case from 4pm-11pm. Leverage closes out Fridays from 11pm-1am.

Onto the weekends, the Saturday schedule will kick-off at 1pm with either filler airings of Married...with Children or My Name is Earl leading into movies. As mentioned, NUMB3RS will air on Saturdays from 6pm-1am. On Sundays, once again at 1pm will be either filler airings of Married...with Children or My Name is Earl leading into a movie. Law & Order: Criminal Intent will air from 4-8pm, followed by House from 8pm-1am. It's certainly a drama-filled schedule, with some sitcom filler here and there.
View the full ION Television Fall 2012 schedule. Stay with us for any further updates!

Today (Monday, September 17) marks the 40th anniversary of the 1972 launch of the iconic military medical sitcom M*A*S*H. To commemorate the occasion, The MeTV Network will air the first two episodes of the series: "Pilot" and "To Market, to Market" tonight at 7PM Eastern/6PM Central. During the rest of the week, MeTV will acknowledge the milestone with M*A*S*H facts and trivia. The MeTV Network now clears more than 83% of the country, serving 136 affiliates.
Set during the Korean War, M*A*S*H is a medical drama/black comedy following the stories of U.S. military doctors and support staff stationed overseas. In addition to treating patients and encountering combat, the team of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital endures dramatic tension often occurring between enlisted men and drafted soldiers. After an 11-season run, more than 105 million viewers tuned in for the finale in 1983, a record that held until 2010.

Elsewhere, TV Land is also celebrating the 40th anniversary with a stunt starting at 5pm today with the first episode and the series finale. And M*A*S*H stars on Murder, She Wrote continues all this week with Jamie Farr today, Loretta Swit on Tuesday, Wayne Rogers on Wednesday, and David Ogden Stiers on Thursday. Tune in Mon-Thurs mornings at 8AM/7C for the rest of September!

Our fall 2012 schedule barrage continues today with the fall schedule for WGN America! Their biggest acquisition this fall is Rules of Engagement. The ensemble comedy featuring David Spade and Patrick Warburton will launch on WGN America on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012. The sitcom will also be joining local broadcast syndication this fall, as we know (in NYC it will be airing weeknights at 6:30pm on WPIX). As for WGN America, Rules of Engagement will air Sun-Fri at 12:00am & 12:30am ET and also in primetime on Wednesdays from 8-10pm ET. Detailing the rest of the line-up, the weekday schedule from 9am-6pm will remain intact, but the 6pm hour will now have Old Christine instead of 30 Rock. Primetime remains the same, but as mentioned Rules heads to Wednesdays replacing AFV. In late night, 30 Rock will move to the 11pm hour, since it loses the 6pm hour. The sitcom will lead into Rules of Engagement at midnight, as we mentioned. WGN America will be losing the rights to South Park, but will be gaining rights to the daytime talk show The Bill Cunningham Show and encores of that series will air at 4am ET beginning Sept. 17. If you're wondering, the week of Sept. 10 will feature a week of Mad About You, returning from its hiatus, but only until Cunningham begins on the 17th.

Onto Saturdays, the late night line-up is completely revamped, as Bones and Bloopers! join the schedule. What is Bloopers? The classic Dick Clark series returns with a fresh new take on an iconic brand. Hosted now by TV and movie star Dean Cain, each half-hour is full of hilarious and spontaneous bloopers, unpredictable hidden camera segments and laugh out loud moments from the web. Bones will air Saturday nights at 11pm and 12am beginning Sept. 29, as it replaces AFV and Old Christine hours. At 1am, the new syndicated entry Bloopers! will air replacing 30 Rock. Back-to-back Old Christine will follow at 1:30am and 2am leading into the return of Cheers from 2:30am-4am. On Sundays, a second Bloopers! will air at 7pm, replacing 30 Rock. Not to fret, 30 Rock will get both weekend airings in one hour now, airing Sundays in the 11pm hour, replacing The Unit. As mentioned, Rules of Engagement is at midnight replacing Monk. Comedies now rule Sunday night as an hour each of Scrubs, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 'Til Death air from 1-4am.
View the full WGN America Fall 2012 schedule. To recap, hello to Rules of Engagement, Bill Cunningham Show, Bones, and Bloopers!, while a welcome back to Cheers and (for a week only) Mad About You, but goodbye to South Park, Monk, and The Unit. Stay with us for further updates, if anything.

It was just yesterday we told you about ION Television acquiring NUMB3RS, now ION has bought another drama! ION Television continues to strengthen its programming lineup with high-quality content, announcing the acquisition of the critically-acclaimed series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The off-network licensing rights give ION all 10 seasons (195 episodes) of the crime-drama favorite. Currently the series airs in local syndication, WGN America and on some Universal-owned cable networks like USA Network. It will likely remain on all of those when it comes to ION Television. We know for sure it will remain on WGN America (see above) and the Universal-owned cable networks.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent takes viewers into the minds of its criminals while following the psychological approaches the Major Case Squad uses to solve the crimes. Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), who channels his inner Sherlock Holmes, is an exceptionally bright homicide investigator with well-honed instincts that match up favorably with his criminal quarry. Likewise, his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), brings an independence and stylish edge to her work that meshes well with Goren. Law & Order: Criminal Intent was created by Dick Wolf and is the third installment of the Law & Order brand, which stands as the second longest-running scripted primetime series in television history. Executive producers of the series include Wolf, Warren Leight, Peter Jankowski and Norberto Barba. The series was produced by Wolf Films in association with NBCUniversal Cable & New Media Distribution. Law & Order: Criminal Intent aired for 10 seasons, first on NBC (six seasons) and followed by USA Network, concluding in 2011.
We will let you know when ION Television will schedule Law & Order: Criminal Intent, as right now it is unclear on when it will start.

Go On - Tuesdays 9:00PM ET/PT on NBC
Sneak Peek Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at 11:04PM ET/PT and
Premieres Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 9:00PM ET/PT

By Pavan

Matthew Perry (Friends, Mr. Sunshine) stars as Ryan King, a recent widower and sports talk radio host ready to get back to work after the loss of his wife. Ryan's alpha-male boss, Stephen (John Cho, FLASHFORWARD, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle), has a different plan in store for Ryan, making him attend grief counseling before returning to the air. A reluctant Ryan finds himself in a support group for "life change" where he meets an oddball cast of characters, all with their own backstories filled with varying degrees of loss. On his very first visit, Ryan convinces the group to deviate from their normal session and starts a tournament-style competition (March Sadness!) to find out whose story is the worst. Ryan's total lack of interest in "the healing process" proves distracting, and he soon butts heads with the by-the-books group leader, Lauren, played by Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti (Eli Stone, The Playboy Club). Back at work, Ryan is confronted with the fact that he hasn't really processed his grief and realizes Lauren and the other members of the group might be key in helping him move on. Starring Matthew Perry, Laura Benanti, Julie White, Suzy Nakamura, Tyler James Williams, Brett Gelman, and John Cho.


Cast Details:

* Matthew Perry as Ryan King
* Laura Benanti as Lauren
* Julie White as Anne
* Suzy Nakamura as Yolanda
* Tyler James Williams as Owen
* Brett Gelman as Mr. K
* John Cho as Steven

Matthew Perry (Ryan King) is perhaps best known for his role as Chandler on NBC's critically acclaimed comedy Friends. Since Friends concluded, Perry has continued to captivate worldwide audiences with his diverse talents in a range of projects. His versatility in both television and film makes him one of today's most accomplished and credible actors. Most recently, Perry guest starred in a multi-episode arc on The Good Wife, portraying an extremely charming Chicago lawyer with questionable ethics. He starred and served as executive producer and co-writer of Mr. Sunshine for ABC. The series was based on an idea conceived by Perry, and also starred Allison Janney, Andrea Anders, James Lesure and Nate Torrence. Additional television series include NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in a role written for him by Aaron Sorkin. He made his directorial debut with an episode of Scrubs in 2004, where he also guest starred in the episode alongside his father, John Perry, portraying his fictional father. Perry received an Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Joe Quincy on the long-running NBC drama, The West Wing. Additionally he received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for his starring role in The Ron Clark Story. And his feature film credits include 17 Again, Birds of America, Numb, The Whole Nine Yards, The Whole Ten Yards, Three to Tango, Almost Heroes, Fools Rush In and Serving Sara.

Laura Benanti (Lauren) has brought her unique abilities to comedies, dramas and musicals since she took Broadway by storm at the age of 18. She received a Tony nomination, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for her starring role in the Broadway production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown for Lincoln Center, where she also starred in Sarah Ruhl's In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play), for which she garnered critical acclaim for her heartbreaking and brave performance. On TV, most recently she starred in NBC's The Playboy Club. Other television roles include recurring roles on The Big C, NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Life on Mars, as well as her heralded portrayal of Billie on Starved, and a recurring role on Eli Stone for ABC.

Julie White (Anne) most recently co-starred in Steven Spielberg's film Office Seekers, opposite Daniel Day Lewis and Sally Field. She has been a staple in the indie film market in films such as Hello I Must Be Going, Breaking Upwards, Language of a Broken Heart, Inside Out, My Idiot Brother and Killing Karma. She has also been featured in all-three Transformers films, Michael Clayton opposite George Clooney, The Astronaut Farmer starring Billy Bob Thorton, The Nanny Diaries with Laura Linney, and many more. Her television credits include guest-starring roles on Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Six Feet Under and JAG. White also starred as a series regular in the '90s ABC comedy Grace under Fire.

Suzy Nakamura (Yolanda) began her career in the touring company of The Second City, and later opened the first two shows at The Second City Detroit. After moving to Los Angeles, she began guest starring on television, eventually landing recurring roles on The West Wing and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Nakamura has appeared in over 100 television episodes. She starred opposite Ted Danson in the ABC sitcom Help Me Help You and also on 10 Things I Hate About You. She was also a series regular on sitcoms Daddio and Imagine That. Recent guest star credits include In Plain Sight, How I Met Your Mother, Castle, The Middle, and Bones, as well as recurring roles on 8 Simple Rules, Modern Family and Men of a Certain Age.

Tyler James Williams (Owen) is perhaps best known for his starring role on the Emmy and NAACP Image Award-winning series Everybody Hates Chris for which he won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He began acting at the age of four on Sesame Street and later co-starred in the animated series Little Bill. Additional television credits include House, Law & Order: SVU and numerous appearances in sketches on Saturday Night Live. Williams can be seen next in Tyler Perry's film, We the Peeples. He also starred in the feature film Unaccompanied Minors.

Brett Gelman (Mr. K) is an Upright Citizens Brigade regular, is currently co-starring in Adult Swim's Eagleheart. He has appeared in The Other Guys, directed by Adam McKay, and both seasons of Funny or Dies Presents. Additional credits include a guest starring role on The League, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bored to Death.

John Cho (Steven) first came into the spotlight in the 1999 breakthrough hit comedy American Pie, in which he popularized the slang term "MILF," and recently reprised his role in the latest installment, American Reunion. He achieved near-household name status starring as Harold Lee in the cult comedies, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas. He completed shooting the next installment of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek franchise, reprising the role of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu. He can also be seen in Len Wiseman's upcoming remake of the classic Total Recall, as well as Identity Theft, starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy and directed by Seth Gordon, and Get a Job, starring Miles Teller, Nick Braun and Bryan Cranston and directed by Dylan Kidd. On television, Cho co-starred as Agent Demitri Noh in ABC’s drama series FlashForward and the Weitz Bros' Off Centre. In addition to numerous guest-starring roles, he recurred on the final season of Kitchen Confidential.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs Wednesday, August 8, 2012)
After taking some time to deal with the death of his wife, sportscaster Ryan King is ready to push his feelings down and get back to work. However, Ryan's boss Steven, preferring that Ryan work through his grief first, refuses to let him back on air until he gets counseling. Reluctantly, Ryan joins a support group, where his lack of interest in healing not only makes therapy interesting but also may just serve as the breath of fresh air needed to get his fellow group members back on track to health.

Guest starring in "Pilot" are Terrell Owens as himself, Bill Cobbs as George, Tonita Castro as Fausta, Seth Morris as Danny, Sarah Baker as Sonia, Matt Knudsen as Jack Madden, Kimrie Lewis-Davis as Terrell's girlfriend, Allison Miller as Carrie and Khary Payton as Don.
The episode was written by Scott Silveri, and directed by Todd Holland.

Analysis:

Matthew Perry is back on NBC but this time on a single-camera comedy. We know he recently did Mr. Sunshine for ABC, which I found to be OK at best, per our review. It had potential but never found its groove despite the stellar cast. His character on that show was a miserable mess I think. I didn't find that to be unappealing, but apparently many did. On this show, Go On, he is a sports talk radio host, while on Mr. Sunshine he ran a sports arena. The central location for that show was an arena, but on this show it is more set at a group support session with the sports radio talk show mixed in. Perry's character on this show is Ryan King, who is the host of the sports radio talk show The Ryan King Show. The pilot starts off with him returning after a month off because his wife had passed away. He thinks he is ready to go back to work, but his boss Steven is not as convinced so he orders him to take 10 group support sessions. He is of course forced to go and is unwilling to participate but when the group support session leader is running late, he sort of takes over and brings in his sports knowledge and incorporates it into the group and makes it fun. He starts a "whose thing is the worst" bracket style. One of the group members, Owen (aka Chris from Everybody Hates Chris), suggests the game to be called "March Sadness."

This is where the fun and meat of the show begins. There are ten members of the group, now including Ryan. Each member is unique. There are many standouts, like George, Owen, Mr. K, Fausta and Yolanda. There are so many members in the group that they are not all series regulars...so hopefully some of these people like George and Fausta appear in all or most episodes. I think they can do away with a few characters like Don, in fact they did drop the character after the pilot, so you won't see him anymore. Anyway, just as they were having fun with "March Sadness," the group leader, Lauren, walks in and they start their normal session. I started thinking Ryan is kind of like Perry's character on Mr. Sunshine-- a guy with no feelings, as he was unwilling to open up. I was thinking if his character on Mr. Sunshine got married and then his wife died, he would be like Ryan King. But at the end of the pilot you realize that's not true and Ryan King is much a better person than Ben from Mr. Sunshine.

I think the chemistry between Ryan and Laura really works, especially after his second session. They have a really great scene inside her car. This is something to really watch in future episodes. In the pilot, there wasn't much set in the sports talk radio studio. It will be interesting how they incorporate both sides. Right now, the sports side needs a little work while the group support session really worked well. Since his boss Steven (John Cho) was originally intended to be a guest star, maybe in future episodes there will be more at the sports talk show. John Cho is now a series regular. I did like the scene towards the end of the show where Terrell Owens is Ryan's guest on his talk show. It was pretty funny and we realize how Jane, Ryan's deceased wife, died. After that scene, we realize Ryan King is just really heartbroken and he goes back to the support group after leaving after his second session.


Conclusion:

This is not really a sports comedy. In fact it is more of a support group comedy with a lot of heart. Yep, Perry's character actually means well on this show. The title implies that he is trying to "go on" with his life. He will take steps in getting there but he does actually care. This sitcom previews tonight with the pilot episode, airing commercial-free from 11:04-11:30pm. Episode two will not air until another month, though, on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at its regular night and time of Tuesdays at 9 on NBC.

It's going to be in a tough time slot with two other comedies that already have a following (and NCIS: LA on CBS). The difference is this comedy will have a head start not only after tonight but its first two weeks in September, as New Girl returns to Fox on Sept. 25. NBC is banking on this comedy to anchor their Tuesday night, so they have expectations it will do well, especially with former NBC star Matthew Perry headlining the series. The cast on this show is really good, even if they are not as known as the Mr. Sunshine cast. These characters are more relatable and likeable. One of the support group members, Yolanda, played by Suzy Nakamura was on a similar style series called Help Me Help You. That sitcom starred Ted Danson and aired on ABC. I thought that pilot was decent but future episodes didn't really hold up as well. I don't think it had the heart of this series' pilot, though. This pilot mixes it up well between funny and emotional. Let's hope it continues to do that and better incorporates the sports radio side as well. When those two mesh, then we are going to have a great comedy and Matthew Perry will be nominated for an Emmy. Right now it is good, but it has potential to be great. So "go on" and watch Go On because you're in store for a heartwarming comedy (which I was not expecting)!


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Wednesday, August 8 on our message board.

Related Links:

NBC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Go On Photo Gallery

Preview:

ION Television has announced the addition of the popular police procedural series Numb3rs to its expanding general entertainment programming lineup. The content deal with CBS Television Distribution includes all six seasons (118 episodes) of the series and bolsters ION's solid programming foundation with another high-quality syndicated series. Numb3rs is set to premiere on ION during the 2012/13 television season. The Numb3rs deal follows another key programming addition for the network, as ION recently announced its first exclusive broadcast partnership with WWE for the original series WWE Main Event. Numb3rs also joins ION's "Positively Entertaining" lineup of hit series, including the original show Flashpoint, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, Psych, Without a Trace, George Lopez and Leverage.
Currently Numb3rs is airing on cable network TNT in the late nights and in local syndication on weekends. Come this Fall, it will be gone from both as it will air also on MyNetwork TV Primetime, as we announced. We will bring you the TNT Fall 2012 schedule very soon, so stay tuned. We will let you know when exactly Numb3rs will air on ION, so stay with us!

As we mentioned before, ION Television has gotten the rerun rights to the TNT drama Leverage, but now we have the launch date and timeslots! The drama will start Sunday, July 1, 2012 on ION Television with an 11-episode block from 4pm-3am! The series will continue to air every Sunday in the same period as well. All episodes will air in order and there will be no encores, so make sure you watch all eleven hours every Sunday night. As of now, no other timeslots are announced. Maybe the timings will change come July 15. Because the series will enter its fifth season on TNT starting July 15 at 8pm. As soon as we know, we will let you know, but as of now, July 1 and July 8 are full Sunday's of Leverage on ION Television! The series replaces a block of Flashpoint on Sunday nights.
Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker, a retrieval specialist, and their leader, former insurance investigator Nathan Ford (Academy Award Winner(R) Timothy Hutton), who use their skills to right corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.

TBS's all-new comedy series Men at Work scored 2.649 million viewers for its premiere on Thursday. 1.63 million were in adults 18-49 and 851,000 were in adults 18-34, according to cable fast national data. The premiere of Men at Work also drew 14% more adults 18-34 and 7% more adults 18-49 than the prior four weeks of The Big Bang Theory reruns in the Thursday 10 p.m. (ET/PT) timeslot. And it garnered more men 18-34 (395,000) than any previous TBS original sitcom premiere. TBS's second episode of Men at Work followed at 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT), averaging 2.29 million viewers in Live + Same Day delivery, with 778,000 viewers in adults 18-34 and 1.433 million in adults 18-49.
Created by Breckin Meyer (Road Trip, TNT's Franklin & Bash), Men at Work centers on four buddies who work together at a magazine. Danny Masterson (That '70s Show) plays the recently dumped Milo, whose friends are determined to help him get back in the dating game. James Lesure (Las Vegas) is Gibbs, a photographer and successful ladies man. Michael Cassidy (The O.C) plays Tyler, a features writer who brings a dose of style and sophistication to the group. And Adam Busch (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is Neal, a somewhat nerdy ad salesman and the only one in the group with a steady girlfriend (Meredith Hagner - Royal Pains). Men at Work airs each Thursday at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). Fans can stay up to speed on the latest Men at Work news through the show's website and Twitter.

ION Television announced it is renewing its original police drama Flashpoint for a fifth season (its second season on ION). The network is picking up 13 more episodes, set to begin shooting in February 2012. Flashpoint joined ION's primetime schedule in October 2011 after the network acquired all episodes from seasons 1-3 along with 11 season four original episodes. The production of season five contributes to ION Television's original programming goals for 2012 and beyond. Since its debut on ION, Flashpoint recorded its highest-telecast ever among the network's key demos on December 27, including households (1.5 million), A25-54 (869,000), W25-54 (566,000) and among total viewers (2.1 million).
Flashpoint (which airs Tuesdays at 10PM), a nail-biting cop drama, is an emotional journey into the tough, risk-filled lives of a group of police in the Strategic Response Unit. Members of a highly-skilled tactical team, they're trained in negotiating, profiling and getting inside the subject's head to understand the emotional breaking point (the "flashpoint") that triggered the crisis. The series stars an impressive list of talent, including Hugh Dillon as Ed Lane, team leader and lead sniper; Enrico Colantoni as Gregory Parker, team sergeant and head negotiator; Amy Jo Johnson as Julianna "Jules" Callaghan, profiler and secondary negotiator; David Paetkau as Sam Braddock, the young, hot-shot sniper; Sergio Di Zio as Mike "Spike" Scarlatti, bomb tech and communications; and Clé Bennett as Rafik "Raf" Rousseau, Team One's newest diamond-in-the-rough recruit.



The hit new sitcom Last Man Standing, starring Tim Allen, will see some guest stars pop-up in early 2012. The sitcom has booked reality diva Kim Kardashian to make a cameo on an episode to air in February. She will play herself when Allen's middle daughter Mandy on the show meets her idol in Denver (where the series is set). She last appeared on a sitcom as herself as well on an episode of How I Met Your Mother. In other guest star news, stage and television star Jamie Lynn-Sigler will also guest star on a separate episode. She will play the daughter of sporting goods store owner Ed (Hector Elizondo). While Kardashian's appearance is mainly going to be a brief cameo, the appearance of Nick Jonas last month was more of an actual guest appearance. Jonas could appear again on the series, as he is playing Allen's older daughter Kristin's ex-boyfriend.
Last Man Standing airs Tuesdays at 8:00pm on ABC and stars Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, Nancy Travis as Vanessa Baxter, Kaitlyn Dever as Eve Baxter, Molly Ephraim as Mandy Baxter, Alexandra Krosney as Kristin Baxter, Christoph Sanders as Kyle and Hector Elizondo as Ed Alzate.

So Wings has just left USA Network as we mentioned, but it has quickly found another cable home. ReelzChannel TV has picked-up the rights to air the '90 sitcom and will begin airing it on Tuesday, Jan. 3. The sitcom will air in better time periods than the filler style airings it was getting on USA Network. ReelzChannel TV will air it weekdays at 2:00pm & 2:30pm ET and it will encore in the late night at 1:00am & 1:30am ET. The sitcom joins the ReelzChannel line-up filled with other '90s style comedies. To recap their schedule, they have Spin City in the 9am hour, followed by an hour of Becker, a half-hour of 3rd Rock from the Sun at 11am, then a break for an original series, an hour of Cheers at 12 noon, then another hour of Spin City at 1pm leading into Wings at 2pm. Then at 3pm we have another hour of Cheers, followed by a triple shot of Coach from 4-5:30pm. An original series follows, then the 6pm hour has more Becker and the 7pm hour has back-to-back 3rd Rock from the Sun. Movies air in primetime at 8pm and 10pm, then sitcoms return at 12 midnight with yet another hour of Cheers leading into Wings at 1am. More originals air after that from 2-4am, then paid programming rounds out the night until 7am.
On weekends, for sitcoms we have Spin City at 10:30am, followed by an hour of Wings at 11am. Then sitcoms return in early evening with Becker at 6pm and Cheers at 7pm. Cheers also airs in late night if a movie doesn't go over, anytime after 10pm. With the addition of Wings, ReelzChannel has a nice group of similar style sitcoms that ran in the 90s. Perhaps for the future they could add more sitcoms like Night Court, Mad About You, Suddenly Susan and Caroline in the City? They would certainly fit. Anyway, for now it is just the addition of Wings to a nice sitcom line-up. Get on board for Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, Thomas Haden Church, Amy Yasbeck, Farrah Forke, and Tony Shalhoub. Stay with us for any further updates.


We told you ION Television has acquired the drama Cold Case, but now we have a start date and timeslots! The crime drama will launch on the network on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 and air at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm. The drama will air in these time periods on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. On Fridays it will air in a four episode block from 5pm-9pm and then back-to-back at 11pm & 12am. ION will be airing 15 episodes per week (with six of those on Fridays).
The drama joins a line-up of other dramas like Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, Monk, Without a Trace, Flashpoint and Psych. ION also airs sitcom George Lopez and theatrical movies. There are no other real schedule changes besides the addition of Cold Case.
Cold Case is a procedural drama about Lilly Rush (Kathryn Morris), a dedicated female detective in the Philadelphia homicide squad, who finds her niche when she's assigned to "cold cases" -- crimes that have never been solved. Previously, she used her instinctive understanding of the criminal mind on current murders. Now, she's interrogating witnesses whose lives and circumstances have since changed, making use of today's new science and finding fresh clues to solve cases that were previously unsolvable -- all of which appeals to this smart, driven detective.