SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Yesterday we hinted that the Cougar Town season premiere date would be revealed and it was. We broke the news on Twitter that the series will return for its third season on Tuesday, Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day - at 8:30pm. The comedy will air Tuesdays at 8:30pm. It has a 15 episode order (down from the original 22 it was given last May) since it is launching in mid-season. The series will air repeat free from Feb. 14 to May 15. On the third season premiere episode "Ain't Love Strange," Jules (Courteney Cox) is miffed when Grayson (Josh Hopkins), who has an ulterior motive, calls her "predictable," while Ellie (Christa Miller) frets that little Stan is turning into a "devil child," or even worse, could grow up to be like Laurie (Busy Phillips) and Travis (Dan Byrd) likes his new off campus housing, until Bobby (Brian Van Holt) tries to convince him to take dog Travis in.
Cougar Town is essentially replacing Work It, which was pulled after just two episodes. Repeats of Last Man Standing are airing for the rest of January in this timeslot. It is unclear right now what is airing at 8:30pm on Feb. 7, but Cougar Town will launch the week after on Feb. 14. Show some love and watch Cougar Town on Valentine's Day! Penny can!

FX announced Sunday at the TCA Winter 2012 Press Tour that Charlie Sheen's sitcom adaptation of the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson big screen comedy Anger Management will premiere in June 2012. Previously it was announced just as "Summer 2012." He'll fill the Nicholson role of an anger management counselor. The series of course will mark Sheen's return to television following his firing from the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men last year following his erratic behavior. Sheen was on hand at the TCA winter press tour on Sunday.
FX also airs reruns of Two and a Half Men, so the new sitcom is a perfect fit for them. Ten episodes will air for sure of this new comedy and if ti does well, it will get a bulk order of about 90 episodes. There is plenty still to come on Anger Management, such as an actual premiere date and timeslot. So you'll want to stay with us, but we just had to mention that it was being introduced at the TCA winter press tour.

We were pretty busy yesterday with our scoop on Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers reuniting, so we couldn't bring you the TCA Winter 2012 Press Tour news for cable that was held this past weekend. The biggest news for us came from TV Land. TV Land has picked up its fifth original sitcom, Have Faith, starring Cedric "The Entertainer. This sitcom is not to be confused by the late '80s ABC short-lived sitcom that was produced by John Ritter. The network has ordered 12 episodes for the first season, which is tentatively set to premiere on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 10:30pm following the second half of the third season of Hot in Cleveland. The sitcom, which was created by Cedric and Hot in Cleveland creator Suzanne Martin, revolves around Cedric's character, Reverend Boyce "The Voice" Ballentine, an R&B superstar-turned-minister who takes over as preacher of his father's church. Niecy Nash (Dancing with the Stars, Reno 911) also stars as the reverend's wife, Lolli. The pilot also features John Beasley as his father, Wesley Jonathan (What I Like About You) as his younger brother, and Jazz Raycole (My Wife and Kids) as his daughter. The character of Reverend Boyce originated on a second season episode of Hot in Cleveland in which Cedric guest-starred, making this a spin-off series.



Meanwhile, Hot in Cleveland, TV Land's first original sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves, Wendie Malick and Betty White, has also been greenlit by the network for a 24-episode fourth season. A syndication deal was recently reached for"Hot in Cleveland, giving CBS Television Distribution the domestic distribution rights for the series. This season pickup would bring "Hot in Cleveland" to 80 total episodes. The series, which is currently in its third season, averages 2.5 million total viewers per episode. The winter finale will be on Wednesday, Feb. 15, before the series returns for the second half of the season on June 6.

In other TV Land news, TV Land announced that the second season of the hit original sitcom Happily Divorced will begin production today (January 17, 2012) at CBS Radford Studios and will be filmed in front of a live studio audience. The twelve new episodes of Happily Divorced will now premiere on Wednesday, March 7 at 10:00 pm ET/PT. Previously it was set to return on June 6 at 10:30pm, but TV Land has changed their minds and will now test the waters by having this sitcom lead an hour. The sitcom, which stars Fran Drescher (The Nanny) is also inspired by her real-life story, and revolves around Fran, a Los Angeles florist, who finds out after 18-years of marriage that her husband is gay. Having to live under the same roof as her ex-husband and start over in the dating world is complicated but Fran jumps head first as only Fran can with laughter ensuing.
Last season, Drescher was reunited with her Nanny cast mates, Renee Taylor and Charles Shaughnessy. According to Nielsen, the first season of Happily Divorced averaged 2.2 million viewers and was a ratings success for TV Land. TV Land will air the second season of Retired at 35 as planned starting Wednesday, March 7 at 10:30pm for ten all-new episodes. TV Land has not given any updates yet on The Exes, which premiered on Nov. 30. If it gets another season we will let you know, but you can watch that show every Wednesday at 10:30pm through Feb. 1.

Elsewhere on cable, we will have even more Niecy Nash. TLC has ordered a docu-sitcom titled Leave it to Niecy. Blending together production and storytelling elements from both the traditional sitcom genre and the world of non-scripted reality shows, Leave it to Niecy offers a new balance of real-life humor through the lens of the beloved comedy format. The eight-episode half-hour series will premiere Wednesday, March 28 at 10/9c. The docu-sitcom takes viewers into Niecy and her husband Jay Tucker's home, which includes her three kids, and her opinionated mother. Together, they balance work, life, and love to create a modern blended family. Also, CMT is joining forces with Ryan Seacrest Productions on a new reality series. The eight-episode series, Melissa and Tye: A New Reality (working title), starring television personality Melissa Rycroft (Dancing With the Stars, The Bachelor) will premiere on CMT in April. Melissa, a SitcomsOnline favorite, the former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and America's favorite bachelorette definitely has gotten the last laugh after being dumped on national TV. She found the ultimate redemption by becoming a hugely popular contestant on Dancing with the Stars, which ignited a television hosting career on series and specials such as Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, Bachelor Pad, The Insider, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. But her greatest success came when she re-connected with the "real" man of her dreams, home town boyfriend, Tye Strickland. Now married with an eleven-month old daughter, Melissa is about to embark on her biggest journey yet - moving to Los Angeles from Texas to pursue her Hollywood dreams. The series will follow the couple as they navigate the trials and tribulations of being new parents, making a long-distance relationship work and making their dreams become a reality.
Finally, the world knows Shannen Doherty (Charmed, Beverly Hills 90210) as an icon, but she's also a devoted daughter and friend and now a newlywed. In the brand-new original series, Shannen Says, premiering Tuesday, April 3 at 9pm ET/PT, WE tv reveals a woman with substance and a sense of humor as she takes viewers on the hilariously bumpy ride of planning her wedding. Eight hour-long episodes of Shannen Says follow Shannen and her groom-to-be, famed photographer Kurt Iswarienko - two busy career-focused individuals with strong and often conflicting viewpoints - as they plan for their special day. Wedding preparations are sure to be stressful enough, but they've added to the pressure by allotting only seven weeks to get it all done! Pre-wedding jitters, a career-distracted groom, family turmoil and wardrobe malfunctions should be enough to make them pull the plug - but maybe love will conquer all in Shannen Says. After being engaged for over a year, Shannen and Kurt finally set a wedding date and did we already mention it's only seven weeks away? Shannen and Kurt are new to actual wedding planning and being from very different backgrounds with loyal sets of opinionated friends and family, they have quite an undertaking ahead of them. Among the highlights on this series, Shannen's Dancing with the Stars partner Louis Van Amstel is set to help the couple with their first dance.


We broke the news on the internet on late Friday that ABC has pulled new sitcom Work It off the schedule after just two episodes. The series premiered to a 2.0 18-49 rating, which was weak but doable. However, by the second episode the series dropped to a 1.5 18-49 rating and ABC has since then pulled the series. Repeats of Last Man Standing will air at 8:30pm starting tonight for at least the next three weeks. The Tim Allen comedy will also air in its normal 8:00pm slot.
ABC has not yet announced what will air Tuesdays at 8:30pm starting Feb. 7. One option of course is to air the unscheduled third season of Cougar Town. ABC had planned to start airing the comedy in March, but it could be called on earlier than planned. The sitcom has a 15 episode order for this season. Series creator Bill Lawrence has heard that today could be the day we get an announcement on a Cougar Town premiere date, so stay with us if any info comes out. As for Work It, eleven episodes will remain to be aired. Perhaps ABC will burn them off in the summer or just put them on abc.com like they did with the remaining five episodes of Man Up ("Camping," "Fear," "Up All Night," "Letting Go," and "Be Who You're Not."). Or not air them at all ever. We'll let you know if they do end up airing them somewhere whether it be on TV or online.

Work It - Tuesdays 8:30PM ET/PT on ABC
Premieres Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 8:30PM ET/PT

By Pavan

From Friends producers Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen comes Work It, a high-concept comedy about two unrepentant guy's guys who, unable to find work, dress as women to get jobs. Not only do they pull it off, but they just might learn to be better men in the process.

Lee Standish is a quick-witted and likable family man. His best friend, Angel Ortiz, is a hotheaded ladies' man with no filter. The two of them worked at Pontiac -- Lee as a top salesman and Angel as head mechanic -- until the company went out of business. Out of work for a year, their job prospects don't look too bright. They've learned the hard way that the current recession is more of a "man-cession" and their skills aren't in high demand. Then the almost-broke Lee finds out that Coreco Pharmaceuticals is looking to hire sales reps -- female sales reps. He takes a chance and goes into the interview dressed in heels, a skirt and make-up. The transformed Lee gets hired -- as a woman. Lee wants to stay true to his agreement with Angel that, if one of them is working, then the other will be too, so he tells Angel what he has to do if he wants a job at Coreco. Angel, who is miserable working at a fast-food dump, is desperate to make a change so he decides to swallow his pride and go for it. Unfortunately he tanks his interview, but when he fixes the boss' car, he too is hired – also as a woman.

To stay employed, Lee and Angel must put aside their alpha male selves and learn to navigate their all-female workplace. Their presence at Coreco with their new female coworkers initially raises a few eyebrows, but the company's two newest sales reps find ways to put almost everyone at ease: Enthusiastic and sometimes naïve Kristin is excited when the female Lee tells her that she, too, is a single mom. Kelly, the office party girl, is thrilled to have two more friends to hit the town with. Only Grace, the somewhat icy regional sales leader, keeps a suspicious eye on Lee and Angel, convinced that there's something seriously wrong with them. To complicate matters, when Angel meets their new boss, Vanessa, he is immediately smitten with her. But there are some serious obstacles in the way of their romance: She's his boss, and -- no small detail -- she thinks he’s a woman.

For his part, Lee can't disclose his feminine secret to his wife, Connie, or to their 14-year-old daughter, Kat, so he tells them he got a job at a drug company – as himself, the man he is. Connie notices that, since Lee has begun working at Coreco, he seems to be more understanding and sensitive to her needs. The opposite is true of Connie's unemployed brother, Brian, who is also Lee and Angel's drinking buddy. Sensitive and understanding he is not, so they definitely can't reveal their secret to him. Lee and Angel quickly realize how much they have to learn to get by in their new environment. It's not just how to walk in heels and tighten up with Spanx. For the first time, they're really listening to the women in their lives and opening themselves up to a whole new realm of experiences. In the process, they’re learning that to be a better man may mean having to be a better woman.


Cast Details:

* Ben Koldyke as Lee Standish
* Amaury Nolasco as Angel Ortiz
* Bethe Locke as Connie Standish
* John Caparulo as Brian
* Rebecca Mader as Grace
* Rochelle Aytes as Vanessa
* Kate Reinders as Kelly
* Kirstin Eggers as Kristin
* Hannah Sullivan as Kat Standish

Ben Koldyke (Lee Standish) is from Chicago but before becoming an actor and writer, Koldyke had a chance meeting with Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) and was able to show him his short films. McElhenney liked what he saw and gave Koldyke his chance at stardom. His TV credits now include recurring roles on How I Met Your Mother as Don Frank, Big Love as Dale Tomasson, and he guest starred in 24 as an LAPD police officer.

Amaury Nolasco (Angel Ortiz) made the move to New York, where he studied at the American British Dramatic Arts School. He went on to guest star on several popular television shows, including CSI, ER and George Lopez, before landing his first major supporting role on the big screen hit 2 Fast 2 Furious as Orange Julius. In 2005 Nolasco solidified his Hollywood acting career with his series regular role as Fernando Sucre on the critically acclaimed show, Prison Break. Other film credits include co-starring in Michael Bay's Transformers and in David Ayer's Street Kings, opposite Keanu Reeves, Forrest Whitaker and Hugh Laurie. In addition he has appeared opposite Mark Wahlberg in Max Payne and in Armored alongside Lawrence Fishburne, Matt Dillon and Jean Reno. His most recent film, The Rum Diary, where he stars opposite starring Johnny Depp, was released in October 2011.

Beth Lacke (Connish Standish) was born in Milwaukee and in 2002 she received the Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for Actress in a Supporting Role in the play The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild at the Collaboraction Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. That same year she was flown out to test for a pilot, and decided to try for a career in television. She found work on several pilots and, while raising her son, Charlie, commuted between Chicago and Los Angeles. Lacke's television credits include the 2006 Fox sitcom Happy Hour.

John Caparulo (Brian) quickly became a crowd favorite when he began his stand-up career in the comedy clubs of Cleveland and Pittsburgh in 1997. He has made multiple appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents and, in 2007, performed alongside Bill Engvall as part of Blue Collar Comedy: The Next Generation. The following year Caparulo starred in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show, with Jon Favreau and Justin Long. He saw more success when his one-hour special, Meet Cap, premiered to great numbers on Comedy Central. When he's not touring nationwide, Caparulo can be seen alongside his pal, Chelsea Handler, as a regular on her hit show Chelsea Lately. Through his success on the show, Caparulo joined The Comedians of Chelsea Lately national tour in 2009 and 2010. In addition to his accomplishments as a comedian, Caparulo is making his mark in animation, where he voices the role of Headphone Joe in Fish Hooks. He also hosts his own radio show on Sirius/XM Blue Collar Radio, The Mad Cap Hour.

Rebecca Mader (Grace) is a talented actress of striking, unique beauty, known for her starring role on ABC's juggernaut drama Lost, as Charlotte Lewis, a brainy but tough English anthropologist. Recent television credits include starring opposite Victor Garber in the Fox series Justice, which focused on the world of high-end celebrity, their wealthy clients and their high-profile cases. She also appeared on ABC's sci-fi family series No Ordinary Family, playing a villain capable of shape-shifting. Her impressive list of television guest starring roles includes such shows as Friends with Benefits, Covert Affairs, Law & Order: LA, Third Watch, Private Practice and Conviction. Mader appeared alongside George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges and Ewan McGregor in the independent comedy, Men Who Stare at Goats. She also appeared opposite Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in the 20th Century Fox hit, The Devil Wears Prada, and appeared in Will Smith's comedy, Hitch. She starred opposite Uma Thurman in the independent feature Ceremony, and with Antonio Banderas in The Big Bang.

Rochelle Aytes (Vanessa) is known for her break-out role in Tyler Perry's hit motion picture Madea's Family Reunion and has also appeared in numerous commercials. Past television credits include co-starring roles on Fox's drama Drive with Nathan Fillion and Emma Stone, and ABC's The Forgotten opposite Christian Slater. She has been a recurring character on several series, including ABC's Desperate Housewives, Detroit 1-8-7, Dirt and House of Payne, and has guest-starred on many others, including White Collar, NCIS, ER and Las Vegas. Not limiting her talents to the small screen, Aytes has starred in several feature films, among them White Chicks and Trick 'R Treat.

Kate Reinders (Kelly) was a series regular on the sitcom Sherri and has made guest appearances on ABC's Modern Family and Ugly Betty. In features, she has appeared in such films as Certainty and Kinsey. On Broadway Reinders has appeared in Sam Mendes' revival of Gypsy and in the role of Glinda in Wicked, for which she was nominated for a 2005 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Musical.

Kirstin Eggers (Kristin) is a native of Tucson, Arizona and a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. After returning to Los Angeles, Eggers' comedy troupe, Summer of Tears, was selected to perform at HBO's 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, where they received the award for Best Sketch Comedy. Continuing her success in comedy, Eggers went on to perform her one-woman show, Fakesweet, at various comedy festivals across the country, much of which was created at the Groundlings. In addition, she is the co-creator of the smash hit live show and web series, I Made Out With Him Anyway and is now developing the television and film versions.

Hannah Sullivan (Kat) was five years old when she was given her first professional job – she sang a solo at a wedding. Two years later she began studying with South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, and performed in several productions during her seven years of theatre, including A Christmas Carol and Time Again in Oz. Now a seventeen-year-old, she regularly performs at both the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and Home Depot Center, where she has sung the national anthem for thousands of Los Angeles Galaxy fans. Sullivan combined her love for baking and helping others to create a bakery business in which the majority of the proceeds are donated to a variety of charities and organizations. At the age of 13, she raised the necessary funds to travel to Peru, where she assisted children in need. Her passion for helping children has also led her to sponsor a little girl in the Philippines.


Pilot Plot:

#1 "Pilot" (Airs January 3, 2012)
The almost-broke and unemployed Lee finds out that Coreco Pharmaceuticals is looking to hire sales reps -- female sales reps. He takes a chance and goes into the interview dressed in heels, a skirt and makeup. The transformed Lee gets hired -- as a woman. Lee wants to stay true to his agreement with Angel that, if one of them is working, then the other will be too, so he tells Angel what he has to do if he wants a job at Coreco. Angel, who is miserable working at a fast-food dump, is desperate to make a change; he decides to swallow his pride and go for it. Unfortunately he tanks his interview, but when he fixes the boss's car, he too is hired - also as a woman.

Guest starring in "Pilot" are Josh McDermitt as manager, Julia Cho as receptionist, Mylinda Royer as secretary, Garz Chan as make-up artist and Kristen Henry King as woman.
The episode was written by Ted Cohen & Andrew Reich and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller.


Analysis:

This pilot it certainly very silly, but at the same time it does have laughs. It's a traditional sitcom with a studio audience and it works best for this sitcom. The pilot starts off with the main character, Lee, losing his job. Lee has a wife and a teenage daughter, so you have a family sitcom element as well. We don't see them much together in the pilot, but I could see this dynamic playing well in future episodes. That's not the core of this show, though. The core is with Lee and his best friend Angel. He is also out of work and recently found a job at a taco place. They both worked for Pontiac, in different departments (Lee in sales and Angel as a mechanic). Lee and Angel also hang out with, Lee's wife's brother Brian. He is your typical sitcom side-kick that brings in laughs with one-liners.

The fun starts when Lee is coming out of a doctor's appointment and overhears another patient talking about how they are hiring. The only problem is that that she says they are only looking for women. Later when Lee is back at home he gets the idea of going for an interview for that job and he dresses up as a woman. Desperate times calls for desperate measures indeed! There are lots of laughs after that. Lee kinds of looks like Jack Tripper from Three's Company when he dressed up a woman to hide from the FBI. I don't think there is anything game changing here, but it will make you laugh. Just don't try to compare this to something like Modern Family or Parks & Recreation, and you'll be fine. This show knows what it is and it's about silly fun and we need sitcoms like this. Anyway, back to the story. Lee goes for his interview and impresses the very hot boss Vanessa. He gets the job and then meets his co-workers - three very hot ladies (Grace, Kelly & Kristin). They are all unique and different. Kristin is a single mom, in which Lee says he is. Kelly is the office party girl and Grace is icy regional sales leader, but it very suspicious of Lee. We will probably see these three girls mesh with Lee more than his wife & daughter on this sitcom. That's fine, because this show is workplace sitcom, even if it is not your ordinary workplace sitcom.

Lee made a deal with his best friend Angel that he would get him a job wherever he ended up. So he keeps his promise and walks into the taco place where Angel is working, as the female version of Lee. Angel doesn't recognize him of course and without giving any of the jokes away Angel decides to dress up a woman as well and try out for the interview. When Angel gets his interview he is immediately attracted to Vanessa and blows his interview. He eventually does get the job, but how he gets his job is pretty hilarious. Let's just say his mechanic skills came in handy! Now both Lee and Angel are working together dressed up as females in an all female personnel company. The laughs are certainly there when they are together! If you're looking for witty jokes, you won't get that here. It is all playful stuff. Critics won't like this show, that's a given. But the show is not out to play to them, it's out to the mainstream audience and I can tell you that this show will get more viewers than a smart comedy like Community. More people will relate and be attracted to this show because it is simple and traditional.


Conclusion:

This show is getting a bad rep in the press. That's not surprising to me. Why? Because this is not your type of sitcom that plays well with critics. According to Jim never was a critical darling and yet it lasted 8 seasons and during its heyday was one of the top sitcoms on TV in the ratings. This show is like that. It knows itself and it goes after the mainstream audience. Another area where this show is getting slammed is for being controversial as two men dressing up as woman in a female only workplace. Um hello, has anyone heard of Bosom Buddies with Tom Hanks? (I think Tom Hanks is doing fine these days, isn't he?) There was no complaints when that show aired. For all that are complaining, you need to watch this pilot. There is nothing at all controversial about it. It's just going out for simple and silly laughs. It's a sitcom. This is not a real-life portrayal of transgenders. Lee and Angel are not looking to turn into females, they are just dressing up as woman to get a job. It's silly, not controversial.

Anyway, the pilot is funny. I can't deny that. It's not going to win any Emmy Awards and nor should it. We need a sitcom or two like this to remind us of the sitcoms of the '80s and '90s because this is indeed a throwback style comedy. It's not the best sitcom of this 2011-12 season but it is not the worst either. This pilot has more laughs than some other pilots like Man Up, Free Agents, Whitney, I Hate My Teenage Daughter and How To Be A Gentleman. In fact, I know Tim Allen's Last Man Standing has now turned out to be a good family sitcom, but that started off a little slow in the first episode or two. It will be following Tim Allen's sitcom, so it should get sampled in the ratings. I think most who tune in and will actually laugh. You Lost fans will want to tune in for Rebecca Mader (Charlotte!), she is pretty funny as the mean co-worker and I could see her being more of a player in future episodes. Work It is working the laughs! Tune in and sample it. That's all I ask. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I assure it isn't mocking anyone or group.


Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

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

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, January 3 on our message board.

Related Links:

ABC.com Official Site

TV.com

epguides.com

Internet Movie Database

Wikipedia

Work It Photo Gallery

Preview:

Late on Friday ABC announced most of its midseason 2012 schedule. We already knew that The Bachelor is returning on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012 to kick-off the midseason line-up, but now we know much more. On Tuesday, Jan. 3, ABC will premiere new multi-camera sitcom Work It at 8:30pm following Tim Allen's Last Man Standing at 8pm. Work It will be replacing Man Up!, which will not be moving forward after its 13 episode order. It is unclear if all 13 will end up airing, but as of now 8 are scheduled to air with the eighth one scheduled for Dec. 6. Should ABC decide to burn the rest of them off in December, eleven episodes should air so two would still remain to be aired. We'll keep an eye on this of course and let you know. Back to midseason, also on Tuesday, Jan. 3, ABC will air a celebrity version of Wife Swap titled Celebrity Wife Swap on Tuesdays at 9pm in January. Six episodes were ordered, but as of now only 4 will air, as one week in late January will be the State of the Union. Come Tuesday, Feb. 7, ABC will premiere the much anticipated new drama The River at 9pm for seven weeks (eight episodes, so one week will be two-hours). Promos for the drama have started and have been airing all weekend, so watch that here. The drama will be keeping the timeslot warm for Dancing with the Stars: The Results when it returns Tuesday, March 27 (more info on this below).

ABC will have a winter edition of Wipeout ready to go starting Thursday, Jan. 5 at 8pm (in addition to the Deck the Balls holiday episode airing on Dec. 8). About eight episodes have been ordered, but it will be scheduled for ten weeks, so a repeat or preemption will be in there. Starting Thursday, March 15, the timeslot will be given to new drama Missing starring Ashely Judd. The new drama has an episode order for 10 episodes, so it will air for the rest of the season. Moving on to Fridays, ABC will air an all-new season of the hit reality series Shark Tank on Friday nights at 8pm starting Friday, Feb. 3, as 13 episodes were ordered (ten with Mark Cuban as a shark). We assume Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be trimmed down to an hour and will air at 9pm, but we're still confirming that. ABC also has new episodes of the popular series Primetime: What Would You Do? they can air sometime this midseason. On to Sundays, ABC has ordered an extra episode of Pan Am, so 14 episodes will air this season and it remains in contention for a second season, though we won't know its fate until upfront. The freshman drama will air through February (finale likely on Feb. 19), with new drama GCB starring Leslie Bibb and Kristin Chenoweth starting Sunday, March 4 at 10pm. ABC has ordered 10 episodes of this drama and will air it through May 6 likely, with the Desperate Housewives series finale event likely happening on May 13. Promos for this new drama has been airing randomly this fall, watch it here.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, Dancing with the Stars will return for season 14 this March. The performance show premiere will be Monday, March 19 from 8-10pm, after The Bachelor concludes its run. As always in the spring, the first results show won't be until eight days later, with the results show premiering on Tuesday, March 27 at 9pm. ABC hasn't announced yet what will air at 10pm on Tuesdays in the spring, but in a vote of confidence, sophomore drama Body of Proof has been given three more episodes, bringing its episode total to 20 for the season. The drama should finish its run though by mid-March, but then an unscheduled series should be airing. Premiere dates for the unscheduled Cougar Town, Don't Trust the B---- In Apartment 23, Scandal, Primetime: What Would You Do? and Secret Millionaire will be announced at a later date, so stay tuned. So where will these be scheduled is the question. Read my thoughts on where these series will likely be ending up. Cougar Town's third season will now be 15 episodes though rather than 22, because of so many series ABC has ordered. ABC also has the four-hour miniseries event Titanic ready to air in the spring in conjunction to the 100th anniversary of the ship's crash. And finally, ABC has a sitcom pilot they are taping next month that could be a player for them this spring. It's a new multicamera sitcom starring Kirstie Alley titled The Manzanis. Should it be picked-up, it could be paired with Tim Allen's Last Man Standing when Work It finishes up its 13 episode run.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Read more about the ABC midseason 2012 schedule that was announced and stay with us for further information as soon as we get it!




Yahoo! TV has an exclusive first look at the full premiere episode of the upcoming TV Land original sitcom The Exes before it airs! TV Land is poised to launch this new comedy starring veteran actors Donald Faison (Scrubs), Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock from the Sun) and Wayne Knight (Seinfeld) about starting over after a divorce.
The Exes centers on Stuart (David Alan Basche), a newly divorced man whose divorce attorney, Holly (Johnston), helps him move in with two other divorced guys, Phil (Faison) and Haskell (Knight). Holly's assistant, Eden (Kelly Stables), keeps an eye on Holly's work schedule -- and personal life. Oh, and did we mention Holly is also the landlord of the guys' building and lives right across the hall? Let the old-school sitcom hi-jinks ensue!
See the premiere in its entirety before it premieres ob TV Land on Wednesday, November 30 (at 10:30pm following the third season premiere of Hot in Cleveland) only on Yahoo! TV.



As we broke on Digital Digest, in a landmark deal, all-new episodes of the Emmy Award-winning comedy series Arrested Development will be coming exclusively to Netflix for its U.S. members to watch instantly, beginning in the first half of 2013. For the first time in their histories, Twentieth Century Fox Television and Imagine Television will produce original first-run entertainment content for the world's leading internet subscription service, bringing back the acclaimed series to production on all-new episodes five years after its cancellation on Fox. One of Time Magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME," the tale of the formerly wealthy, deeply eccentric Bluth clan aired for three seasons, 2003-2006, on Fox and was honored with the Emmy award for Outstanding Comedy Series after its first season on the air.
The Emmy-winning comedy had its final broadcast on February 10, 2006 and concerned Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) and his eccentric family comprised of his son George Michael (Michael Cera), his father George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), his mother Lucille (Jessica Walter), his brothers George Oscar Bluth II (Will Arnett), Buster Bluth (Tony Hale) and sister Lindsay Funke (Portia de Rossi), and Lindsay's husband Tobias (David Cross) and their daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat). Henry Winkler and Scott Baio also appeared on the series. We will have more on this as we get near 2013, but the Bluths are coming back!