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CBS announced the return of 23 series, renewing 80% of its top-rated lineup for the 2020-2021 broadcast season. The Network will announce its new series and 2020-2021 primetime schedule in the coming weeks as part of a virtual upfront (more below). The returning shows include top series NCIS, Young Sheldon, FBI: Most Wanted, Bob (Hearts) Abishola, and 60 Minutes. Among the additional renewals are the dramas All Rise, Blue Bloods, Bull, FBI, MacGyver, Magnum P.I., NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, S.W.A.T. and Seal Team; comedies The Neighborhood and The Unicorn; reality series Undercover Boss; and the law and justice program 48 Hours. They join the previously announced renewals of Evil, Mom, Survivor, The Amazing Race and Young Sheldon. It wasn't all good news as four series were canceled: comedies Man with a Plan, Carol's Second Act and Broke and drama Tommy.

On Tuesday, May 19 (instead of the original upfront date of May 13), ViacomCBS Upfront @Home will unveil the fall programming lineup of the CBS Television Network and original programming from CBS All Access, the premium subscription video-on-demand platform. CBS will also preview exciting opportunities from CBS Sports, including Super Bowl LV, and highlight the powerful and important work being done by CBS News. This will be the first virtual upfront of the season. NBC is slated to have a virtual upfront sometime in June (full details to come) but no word yet on ABC, Fox and The CW. In place of the original NBC upfront date on May 11, NBCUniversal will do a virtual State of the Marketplace conversation focusing on the One Platform initiative (it will not be an upfront presentation on the 11th, so no fall schedule that day, that will occur in a to be determined date in June).

This May, Comedy Central will be binge-releasing Robbie, an all-new, original, scripted comedy series from stand-up comedian and actor, Rory Scovel (I Feel Pretty, Rory Scovel Tries Stand Up For The First Time). During this unprecedented moment in history when Americans are spending the majority of their time at home, Comedy Central will be making the full season of Robbie available to binge-watch online and through the brand's various viewing platforms. The season premiere episode will first debut on Comedy Central's linear channel on Thursday, May 7 at 11:45 p.m. ET/PT, after an all-new episode of late-night franchise, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Immediately following its linear premiere, Robbie will be available to watch in its entirety via Comedy Central's YouTube channel, cc.com, the Comedy Central App, Comedy Central Video on Demand, and Comedy Central Now (via Amazon, Apple, & Roku). Robbie is a half-hour scripted series starring Rory Scovel. Robbie is a small town youth league basketball coach living in his father's shadow, until he realizes he has a son of his own who can lead him to greatness. Robbie is written by Rory Scovel and Anthony King (Broad City, Silicon Valley). Co-starring with Rory are Beau Bridges, who plays his father, Sasheer Zamata and Mary Holland. Scovel, King, and Scott Moran are executive producers. Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Betsy Koch and Owen Burke are executive producers for Gary Sanchez Productions. 

Comedy Central is working with ascendant multi-hyphenate Awkwafina, as the #1 brand in comedy ordered 10 episodes of her self-titled scripted series. Awkwafina is a half-hour scripted narrative starring writer, actor and rapper Awkwafina (Ocean's 8, Crazy Rich Asians) as a twenty-something living in Queens, striving for a larger than life existence while living with her father and grandmother. Awkwafina, Karey Dornetto (SMILF, Portlandia) and Teresa Hsiao (Family Guy, American Dad) wrote the pilot directed by Lucia Aniello (Broad City, Rough Night). The cast is rounded out by Bowen Yang as Awkwafina's more successful cousin, BD Wong as her father, and Lori Tan Chinn as her grandmother.

Looking ahead, Comedy Central has a stacked year to offer fans with a programming slate that will feature new and returning series including: the premieres of scripted half-hour series Robbie, The Other Two and South Side; sketch-comedy series Alternatino with Arturo Castro; stand-up series This Week at the Comedy Cellar and The New Negroes; new series from Jordan Klepper and Anthony Jeselnik; along with the final season of Broad City, the return of the critically acclaimed Corporate, and new seasons of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Tosh.0, Drunk History, The Jim Jefferies Show and much, much more.

Actor Ken Berry, who starred in F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama's Family, has died. He died on December 1 in Burbank, California. Mr. Berry was 85.

Berry's early television guest appearances included Talent Patrol, Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, Playboy's Penthouse and Harrigan and Son. He had a recurring role as Woody, a bellhop at a New York hotel called the Bartley House, in the CBS sitcom The Ann Sothern Show from 1960 to 1961. He appeared in seven episodes of Ensign O'Toole as Calucci / Lt. Melton from 1962 to 1963. Some of his other 1960s sitcom guest appearances included The Jim Backus Show, Peter Loves Mary, Hennesey, The Gertrude Berg Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show (two episodes), Hazel, No Time for Sergeants (three episodes), The Lucy Show and The Andy Griffith Show (four episodes as Sam Jones).

His first sitcom starring role was as Captain Wilton Parmenter in the 1965-1967 ABC sitcom F Troop. He was the gallant although laughably clumsy military governor of the territory and commander of Fort Courage. The series, which ran for two seasons, also starred Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, Melody Patterson, Frank de Kova, Don Diamond, James Hampton, Bob Steele and Joe Brooks.

He appeared in the last few episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as Sam Jones, a widowed farmer with a young son, in 1968. Berry continued to play the character in the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D., which premiered on CBS on September 23, 1968. It ran for three seasons and 78 episodes until the rural purge of 1971. The series also starred Frances Bavier (1968-1970), George Lindsay, Jack Dodson, Paul Hartman, Arlene Golonka, Buddy Foster and Alice Ghostley.

Berry had a long working relationship with Carol Burnett. He made 19 guest appearances on The Carol Burnett Show from 1968 to 1978. They appeared together in the 1972 CBS color remake of Burnett's Broadway hit, Once Upon a Mattress. He played Phillip, Eunice's brother, in the 1982 CBS TV movie Eunice, which was based on The Carol Burnett Show sketch, The Family.

He starred as Vinton Harper in Mama's Family, which was a spin-off from The Carol Burnett Show. Vinton was the youngest of Thelma Harper's three children. He was married to Naomi Oates Harper. The series aired for two seasons on NBC from 1983 to 1984 and four seasons in first-run syndication from 1986 to 1990. It starred Vicki Lawrence, Rue McClanahan (1983-1984), Dorothy Lyman, Eric Brown (1983-1984), Karin Argoud (1983-1984), Betty White (1983-1984, 1986), Allan Kayser (1986-1990) and Beverly Archer (1986-1990).

Some of his other sitcom guest appearances included Love, American Style, The Brady Bunch, The Love Boat, Gimme a Break!, Small Wonder, The Golden Girls and Maggie Winters.

He appeared in television dramas. He provided comic relief as Dr. John Kapish in 25 episodes of Dr. Kildare, which starred Richard Chamberlain, from 1961 to 1964. Some of his drama guest appearances included Michael Shayne, General Electric Theatre, Mr. Novak, Burke's Law, Combat!, The Rogues, Rawhide, 12 O'Clock High, Medical Center, Ellery Queen, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Little House on the Prairie, CHiPs and Fantasy Island.

Some of his film credits included the 1969 musical comedy Hello Down There, Guardian of the Wilderness and Disney's Herbie Rides Again and The Cat from Outer Space.

Berry was also an accomplished dancer and singer. He appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes Revue and headlined as George M. Cohan in the musical George M!. Some of his other theater credits included The Music Man, I Do! I Do!, Sugar and 1993's From the Top with Carol Burnett. In 1970, he released an album called Ken Berry RFD. He appeared in two episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1964 as dance instructor Tony Daniels. He had his own short-lived summer musical variety series called The Ken Berry "Wow" Show on ABC in 1972. He worked as a choreographer on several episodes of Mama's Family.

He was interviewed for the Archive of American Television for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on March 7, 2012.

Mr. Berry was a man of many talents as an actor, dancer and singer. He stated in interviews that he was most proud of his work on F Troop, but he made everything he appeared in much better. He just seemed like a genuine, likable man. We thank him for the many laughs and hours of entertainment that he brought us during his long career. He will be greatly missed.

Share your memories on our F Troop, Mayberry R.F.D. and Mama's Family message boards. View photos in our galleries.