So close.

The Stanley Cup and all its silver glory was in the house Wednesday, at Staples Center ready to get a nice post-game spin around the rink. Alas, the Los Angeles Kings couldn’t close the deal, losing 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils and will head back east for game five Saturday night.

For those who were preoccupied and didn’t know who won and turned on the 6 o'clock edition of ESPN’s "SportsCenter" this morning to find out, they wouldn’t have known for a long time either.

It wasn’t until about 35 minutes past the hour, and at least 15-20 items on its on-screen ticker, before ESPN offered a segment on the game. That’s unacceptable.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports either has terrible editorial judgment or is spiteful in that it didn’t win the NHL rights that were captured by NBC.

Granted, I’m not going to think for a nanosecond that hockey is more popular than the NBA, but the cabler couldn’t have at least done a short piece on the game early in the telecast — maybe somewhere in-between an analysis on a problematic hangnail for a San Antonio Spurs player or what LeBron James might be having for lunch to prepare him for Game 6?

And, to make matters worse, even if you are in the opinion that a slew of basketball stories should be reported before one hockey mention, ESPN does a Tim Tebow report about his coming to the New York Jets and how that will affect quarterback Mark Sanchez.

It’s June, people! Maybe the calendar is different in Bristol, Conn., than the rest of the country, but to offer another Tebow story, when 1,724 of them have been done before, prior to a Stanley Cup Finals story is nonsensical.

Last I checked, the teams in the finals are in Los Angeles and the New York metropolitan area, so it’s not exactly Phoenix vs. Tampa Bay. We’re actually fairly big markets, in case anyone is looking it up.

Whether ESPN is burying hockey because they lost on the contract to NBC is purely speculative, and there is an absolute right for them to concentrate on sports in which they have live rights deals, but let’s hope they are not putting business decisions in light of the public good. And that public does actually know what a hockey puck is.

While ranting, I’m also not particularly happy with NBC either. Again, a business deal got in the way of common sense when local Peacock L.A. station KNBC couldn’t air the Kings game Monday or last night. Instead, the game was shown on cabler NBC Sports Network. Longtime KNBC sports anchor Fred Roggin said he worked for days to try and shift the game, but to no avail.

Two problems here: If you’re NBC and the NHL — a collaboration that is in the first stages of a 10-year-deal — and trying to build your sport, airing it on NBC Sports Network in a town that, for the first time in ages, wanted to watch hockey in masse isn’t a smart idea. Yes, pre-existing advertising and carriage deals were made, but those could have been worked out and exceptions made.

I can’t tell you how many casual hockey fans, who rarely go to the games or watch them, said to me over the last few days: "I wanted to watch the Kings game but couldn’t find it. Where is NBC Sports Network?"

But, if neither party would budge and move to the game over to KNBC, how could the NHL or NBC or even the cable carriers and satcasters not taken out an ad in the Los Angeles Times or other publications and online and alerting fans what channel the game is on? For example, no viewer is going to casually scroll to channel 603 on DirecTV to find the game.

So to those long-suffering Kings fans, and even those who are finding room on the bandwagon, it looks like we’re in this on our own.

Via Funny or Die.

At The Vote, "Mad Men" actor Jared Harris reflects on Lane Price and "Mad Men."

Leave it to Ben Stiller to school the Internet on creating original programming for digital platforms. He's one of the executive producers of "Burning Love," the new Yahoo series launching Monday that is that rarest of things: an online-only production worth telling people to watch.

"Burning" is a note-for-note pitch-perfect satire of the ABC dating show "The Bachelor" that had me howling several times in each of the three episodes available on Yahoo at launch (new episodes roll out every Monday and Thursday through July).

Unfortunately for digital-content ventures, it is incredibly difficult to be funny beyond a one-off viral sensation the likes of which Funny Or Die knows how to produce. So when someone comes along and clears that bar, it's noteworthy.

The reason "Burning" can do this is Yahoo paid to put real talent on both sides of the camera. The ugly truth of why digital original programming is typically lackluster is that it's mostly the domain of folks who don't have the experience of creatives who already proved their mettle in film and TV. It's no coincidence that "Burning" has solid Hollywood auspices like Stiller, star/director Ken Marino, and Paramount Pictures.

There's also an insane amount of talent on screen including Malin Akerman, Michael Ian Black, Kristen Bell, Ken Jeong and Adam Scott--just to name a few (keep an ear on the voice coming from the woman inside the panda outfit). When you put together that kind of roster and production values, it screams to the viewer: 'This is something you have to watch.' Not like most original programming online, which looks like it was slapped together with scotch tape, bubble gum and Ileana Douglas.

Sure, the "Bachelor" is a pretty moldy target for humor but "Burning" does so many other things right that it needs to be shouted about from a mountaintop (or a Variety blog behind a paywall).

Don was wrong. About a third of the way into “Commissions and Fees,” Don tells Lane that he’ll get over getting quietly sacked from Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce over the “13-day loan” he finagled for himself.

“The next thing will be better because it always is,” Don tells Lane, distraught after realizing that Don isn’t going to change his mind about forcing his resignation. “I’ve started over a lot, Lane. This is the worst part.”

For Lane, the worst was just around the corner. Even suicide didn’t come easy to him, in a devilishly comic twist on the Jaguar storyline (unreliable to the end!) that I’m sure will cause some gnashing of teeth at Jag parent company Tata Motors on Monday. Don was right when it came to speaking about his own experience, but he was wrong for Lane. The contrast only reinforced what a survivor Don is, as was underscored later in the episode by his “think big” challenge to Roger.

It was no accident that there were two references to Easter in this episode — the resurrection. We’re seeing it in progress with Joan, who’s exerting herself as a partner even in the face of unavoidably awkward moments. And we’re seeing it big-time in Don as his drive to win revs up (undoubtedly spurred on by the blow of losing Peggy to a competitor). The Jaguar win only whets his appetite. It’s just as he tells the major domo of Dow Chemical (oh how I love Ray Wise in anything), “Happiness is just a moment before you want more happiness.” Don’s convincing in his three-minute pitch because he means what he says.

Although it became easy to see Lane’s suicide coming in this episode, they way it was handled, plus the slam-bang action of the other storylines, made this one hell of a penultimate episode. There was a lot that could have gone wrong, or hokey, or ooey gooey in this episode but it worked because it was the “Mad Men” troupe at its best, from the cast to writers Andre and Maria Jacquemetton to helmer Christopher Manley.

NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Dawson, the wisecracking British entertainer who was among the schemers in the 1960s sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" and a decade later began kissing thousands of female contestants as host of the game show "Family Feud" has died. He was 79.

Dawson, also known to TV fans as the Cockney POW Cpl. Peter Newkirk on "Hogan's Heroes," died Saturday night from complications related to esophageal cancer at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Gary said.

The game show, which initially ran from 1976 to 1985, pitted families who tried to guess the most popular answers to poll questions such as "What do people give up when they go on a diet?"

Dawson won a daytime Emmy Award in 1978 as best game show host. Tom Shales of The Washington Post called him "the fastest, brightest and most beguilingly caustic interlocutor since the late great Groucho bantered and parried on 'You Be Your Life.'" The show was so popular it was released as both daytime and syndicated evening versions.

He was known for kissing each woman contestant, and at the time the show bowed out in 1985, executive producer Howard Felsher estimated that Dawson had kissed "somewhere in the vicinity of 20,000."

"I kissed them for luck and love, that's all," Dawson said at the time.

It was on "Feud" that Dawson met contestant Gretchen Johnson, who appeared on the show teamed with members of her family. After dating for a decade, she and Dawson wed in 1991. They had a daughter, Shannon.

Dawson reprised his game show character in a much darker mood in the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger film "The Running Man," playing the host of a deadly TV show set in a totalitarian future, where convicts try to escape as their executioners stalk them. "Saturday Night Live" mocked him in the 1970s, with Bill Murray portraying him as leering and nasty, even slapping one contestant (John Belushi) for getting too fresh.

The British-born actor already had gained fame as the fast-talking Newkirk in "Hogan's Heroes," the CBS comedy that starred Bob Crane and mined laughs from a Nazi POW camp whose prisoners hoodwink their captors and run the place themselves.

Despite its unlikely premise, the show made the ratings top 10 in its first season, 1965-66, and ran until 1971.

"We ran six years," Dawson once quipped, "a year longer than Hitler."

Both "Hogan's Heroes" and "Family Feud" have had a second life in recent years, the former on DVD reissues and the latter on GSN, formerly known as the Game Show Network.

On Dawson's last "Family Feud" in 1985, the studio audience honored him with a standing ovation, and he responded: "Please sit down. I have to do at least 30 minutes of fun and laughter and you make me want to cry."

"I've had the most incredible luck in my career," he told viewers.

"I never dreamed I would have a job in which so many people could touch me and I could touch them," he said. That triggered an unexpected laugh.

Producers brought out "The New Family Feud," starring comedian Ray Combs, in 1988. Six years later, Dawson replaced Combs at the helm, but that lasted only one season. Steve Harvey is the current host.

Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm in 1932 in Gosport, England. When he was 14 he joined the Merchant Marines, serving three years.

He first got into show business as a stand-up comedian, playing clubs in London's West End including the legendary Stork Room. It was there, in the late 1950s, he met blond bombshellDiana Dors, the film star who became known as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe. They married in 1959. The couple divorced in the late 1960s.

Dawson landed roles in TV comedy and variety shows in the early 1960s, including "The Steve Allen Show" and "The Dick Van Dyke Show." Then his performance as a military prisoner in the 1965 film "King Rat" led to his being cast in "Hogan's Heroes," which truly made him a star to American audiences.

He became a frequent celebrity contestant on game shows, which led to hosting jobs on both daytime and prime-time versions of "The Match Game."

While still hosting "The Match Game," he began on "Family Feud," where his popularity grew to such levels that he was mentioned as a frontrunner to win the "Tonight Show" host chair to succeed Johnny Carson, who at the time was considering retirement. Though Carson stayed put, Dawson appeared as a guest host.

Dawson is survived by his widow, Gretchen, their daughter Shannon, two sons, Mark and Gary, from his first marriage, and four grandchildren.

Andy Samberg is following Kristen Wiig out the door at "Saturday Night Live," the comedian confirmed to The New York Times on Friday. And while Wiig seems to have a bright future at least in the short term on the film side, the road ahead for Samberg is much less certain.

It's too bad that Samberg didn't get the kind of send-off that Wiig did in the "SNL" season finale. Like Wiig, the sheer longevity of his run on the show--seven years--merited on-air acknowledgment. We can only presume it wasn't any kind of personal slight and more of a reflection of the uncertainty over his fate as terms of his contract hadn't yet been finalized.

It's easy to lose sight of the relative importance of any individual performer on "SNL" given the turnover there, but his legacy can't be understated. Samberg carved out for himself something of a shadow world unto himself within the "SNL" umbrella. His "Digital Short" segment was a fixture of nearly every episode from the inaugural "Lazy Sunday" skit that practically put YouTube on the map to a side career in the music industry he paved via hilarious music videos cranked out through his Lonely Island troupe.

He brought a zany aesthetic all his own that stood both apart and together within "SNL," one that can't easily be replicated by just finding the right replacement cast member (though no doubt executive producer Lorne Michaels will try).

Michaels has to be sweating right now as he goes into a crucial season--"SNL" always gets a brighter spotlight during an election year--without two of his biggest talents. That's got to improve the hand of Jason Sudeikis, a third cast veteran said to be on the fence about continuing. His importance in the short term may be even more significant than Wiig or Samberg because he plays Mitt Romney. That should mean they'll keep him around until the end of the year at the very least, but there may be one too many zeroes at the end of his agent's ask to guarantee his return.

Maybe Sudeikis will stay on even longer because "SNL" has a scary track record when it comes to seeing even some of its brightest lights dim once they take leave of the show. Think Dana Carvey or Chris Kattan. Insert shudder here.

As with those gents, it is the distinctiveness of Samberg's talent that complicates his post-"SNL" future. He is a square peg that doesn't fit into the round holes Hollywood has slotted for stars who used the NBC late-night show as a springboard like Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler. It doesn't help matters that his next big test comes later this June opposite Sandler, whose boxoffice record has gone from gold to mold, in "That's My Boy." When you cast a guy like Samberg as a straight man for Sandler to play off of, even in success that's not the right showcase for this comedian.

But Samberg wasn't going to sit around at "SNL" forever. Hopefully he will find some more appropriate film vehicles that fit his style. Otherwise, don't be surprised to find him back on TV. Word to the wise to NBC's rivals: This is the kind of guy you can launch your own sketch show around. Give it a try.

Here's more on the future of SNL sans Wiig

If the first-season finale of the Fox series "Touch" has left a yawning chasm in your life, fear not. Executive producer Tim Kring has launched spinoff of sorts on May 31 in "Daybreak," a digital series done with AT&T as sponsor. Series extends the mythos of the dodecahedron introduced toward the tail end of "Touch's" season to tell a whole new story as action- and tech-heavy as the Fox show (but with none of the cast). "Daybreak" brings in fresh talent like Ryan Eggold ("90210") who might seem like the star, but the true talent on display is the HTC One X handset AT&T is promoting here via some high-end product integration. First episode, all of 9 minutes, is above, with five more to unspool in the coming weeks. There's also all sorts of ancillary content goodies pinned all over the website, which can be found at Daybreak2012.com.

Of all the people CNN could conceivably bring aboard, Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain probably wasn't too high on anyone's short list. But this is the first hire the all-news network has made in a good long while that feels like an inspired choice.

As CNN's continued primetime ratings troubles indicate, this network is badly in need of a better talent mix in front of the camera. While Bourdain is slated to take his act to the cabler's weekend schedule, there should be "No Reservations" in Atlanta about having him contribute elsewhere, perhaps even beyond the food and travel subjects that are his primary areas of expertise.

Why not have him wander away from the restaurants to cover human-interest stories that aren't in his wheelhouse per se? He's clearly smart enough to stretch his intellect, and his irreverent manner will lure viewers far more effectiuvely than the endless parade of seemingly interchangeable empty suits that populate too many hours on CNN.

Now that doesn't mean Bourdain should go toe to toe with Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room." Taking a sober, neutral approach to politics is central to CNN's brand. But the brash attitude that MSNBC and Fox News Channel have incorporated into their political coverage in recent years is what CNN needs to infuse in as many beats outside politics without diluting the objectivity of its own coverage.

But to distill the opinionated style that is so clearly clicking with audiences on rival channels and import it to other coverage arenas--that's a growth area where CNN can differentiate itself from the competition. And Bourdain has the outsized personality to make such a strategy work. His well-stamped passport also matches up nicely with CNN's global focus.

The more CNN strays from its traditional recipe for bland programming, the better off it will be.

By Cynthia Littleton

It took two days, two viewings and a trip to the beach where I mostly contemplated the Tao of Joan before I could make any sense of “The Other Woman.”

I didn’t think any “Mad Men” episode this season would be able to top Roger Sterling’s jaunty LSD journey in “Far Away Places.” But I should’ve had more faith.

The darkness of this episode, written by Semi Chellas and Matthew Weiner and beautifully directed by Phil Abraham, was unrelenting. It’s a testament to how much the audience loves and is rooting for Joan that her degradation hurt so much— and that she allowed it to happen by her own choice made it all the more cutting. After much consideration, I believe it was in character for Joan, who’s always used her sexuality and cup size as a weapon, or at least an asset, to make her way. (Notable that the sicko car dealer describes Joan to Ken and Pete as “built like a B-52.”) Her capitulation underscores that as we’ve always known, underneath her steely, sexy, confident exterior is a very insecure little girl looking for someone to take care of her. It’s not by accident that we learned this season that Joan’s father abandoned the family, or at least her mother.

None of this lets Joan off the hook. She made a horrible decision that she’s going to have to live with for the rest of her life — and probably think about every time she looks her “partners” in the eye.

Ahhhhhh! AutoHop is here! Run for your liiiiiiives!!!

Dish Network's new multi-room DVR, which comes complete with functionality allowing viewers to remove commercials from broadcast networks shows the day after they air, struck nothing short of terror in the heart of Moody's analyst Neil Begley on Friday. He offers a vision of the future that's downright dystopian in a research note that dares to imagine a world in which AutoHop--which three broadcast networks filed lawsuits over on Thursday--becomes ubiquitous ((shudder)).

Here's how Begley sees it: "Firstly, advertisers would lose a reliable source of branding and marketing for their products which is difficult to dependably replicate to mass audiences by other advertising means including the Internet."

Alarmist much?

The analyst believes decreased visibility for TV spots will prompt a withdrawal of marketing dollars from Madison Avenue. Drained of ad revenue, the TV channels would demand higher retransmission fees from the MSOs, who would inevitably force their customers to pay more for their multichannel bills. That would lead them to cancel their subscriptions in droves.

So when do the killer bees come?

But wait, there's more: Any ad-dependent channel that miraculously doesn't come under the thumb of AutoHop would face extinction. And all viewers "may choose to wait a day" to watch TV, which only compounds the negative impact on advertising.

But Hollywood does have some options before crumbling into the Pacific Ocean: "Networks can successfully saturate that programming with product placements...or make the advertisements more entertaining such that viewers opt not to skip them."

Oh, that's all the TV industry has to do? Time to stop intentionally making boring commercials, people!

Before Dish chairman Charlie Ergen unleashes the apocalypse, Begley might want to consider this will all end before it begins at a negotiating table. The TV nets will ease up on their retrans requests, for instance, or pay-TV subs will be able to pay extra to watch ad-free. But that might spoil the analyst's new career as a cross between Ken Auletta and Stephen King.

The latest edition of the struggling ongoing series "Save Our Show" takes us to fans of NBC's "Awake," who have set up the Save 'Awake' website, Facebook page and Twitter hashtag, not to mention putting together the above video.

A series of public events are set for Friday, the day after the series finale airs, at different network headquarters in the hopes that one of them can be convinced to pick up the program, which NBC canceled after one season.

Though fans might have been heartened by the move of "Cougar Town" from ABC to TBS, a similar revival for "Awake" would be a shock.

By Cynthia Littleton

There was a Pedro Almodovar touch to this episode. It was titled “Christmas Waltz” but might as well have been “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”

Model planes and new china went flying, Don and Joan went on a mini-bender that yielded some of the best dialogue of the season, and Paul Kinsey reemerged after three seasons, more deluded than ever. So much to love in this seg, written by Victor Levin and Matthew Weiner and sharply directed by Michael Uppendahl.

Clearly there was also a strong undercurrent theme dealing with faith, which was hammered home at the end by the sign that Don Draper has found his religion again in the Madison Avenue parish. The closing scene provided a great Don Draper speech, proving that speeches aren’t necessarily a bad thing so long as they’re in character (and well written). Plus, it had the extra benefit of showing up applause-starved Pete Campbell, who’s been awfully huffy with his senior partners lately.

Layne Price has probably signed his ticket out of the agency by forging that check. He’s violated his faith as a CPA and will lose credibility with Joan et al once the check and the $50,000 bump in the agency’s line of credit is discovered. The Sterling Cooper Draper Price banker took it on faith from Layne’s assurance that the agency could afford the credit bump. Now with Mohawk Airlines pulling its billings, they’re going to be in an even deeper hole. Good thing Don didn’t crash that XKE!

The speculation that Kristen Wiig was leaving "Saturday Night Live" was confirmed in the series' season finale when the episode culminated in a musical sendoff expressly for her. That "SNL" didn't tee up some heavily publicized, drawn-out goodbye to Wiig says a lot about how much class she has. This, after all, is a cast member that "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels has deemed one of the best performers the show has ever had, which is a pretty high compliment to pay given the caliber of talent that has passed through Studio 8H.

And yet as I argued in this space almost exactly a year ago, it's high time Wiig left. Michaels overused her so flagrantly over the last 3-4 years that her many recurring characters blurred together into one entity that came across more fatiguing than funny. That's no reflection on Wiig as a person or a talent; all the more reason she should jump with both feet into a movie career that's gotten off to a great start with megahit "Bridesmaids."

But with the presidential election coming in November, Wiig is leaving at an absolutely critical time for "SNL." The series was at its satirical best during the 2008 race, so there's pressure for "SNL" to return to form. Michaels needs to have an acute sense of what he has on his deep bench, so here's an unsolicited cast evaluation.

The biggest question mark is whether both Jason Sudeikis and Andy Samberg will be returning; the latter cast member only fueled speculation he has one foot out the door with a digital short in the finale that suggested it was his last effort. However, Michaels has said no further decisions will be made on who's in or out of the cast until the summer.

It's hard to believe he'll let Sudeikis go considering he's playing Mitt Romney (same goes for Fred Armisen, who shows no signs of exiting "SNL"). Sudeikis has a budding movie career of his own to tend to, but "SNL" will surely find a way to keep him around. His Romney impression isn't exactly memorable, but the fact that he can find a way to make such a bland personality even remotely entertaining is a tremendous credit to Sudeikis.

As for Samberg, he's probably been a bigger player on "SNL" than Sudeikis. But that may be more curse than blessing considering Samberg has yet to prove he can build a career for himself outside of sketch comedy. It doesn't look like his upcoming movie with Adam Sandler is going to change that. My gut says he'll move on, but just what he'll do is a mystery. Launching his own sketch-comedy franchise, as he's done to some degree with the musical-parody troupe Lonely Island, may be a viable route.

But even if both men stay around, neither is really the replacement for Wiig as the star. That designation belongs to Bill Hader, who gets stronger every year and is peaking at just the right time. In many ways, this season felt like the baton was being passed from Wiig to Hader, who also has perhaps the only "SNL" character to his credit that could sustain one of those usually awful Michaels-produced movies with Stefan, New York City's worst tour guide.

Another, less noticed emergence this season that needs to be noted is that of Taran Killam, a second-year player who stepped up in a way that elevated him from not-ready-for-primetime status to the show's nucleus. It's a subtle rise that isn't quite the breakout of a Will Ferrell, but it's going to be interesting to see if he can keep the trajectory going in coming seasons.

A less auspicious sophomore season was had by Jay Pharoah. As an impressionist, he is beyond brilliant; in every other regard he has barely inched forward. Again, it's less about judging innate talent and more about how that talent is managed. It doesn't seem Michaels knows what to do with him, which is a shame.

At least Pharoah doesn't have the disadvantage of trying to get out from under Wiig's shadow, which has singlehandedly suppressed the fortunes of every other woman in the cast. But that makes the coming season exciting, to see how that dynamic will change in Wiig's absence. Abby Elliott and Nasim Pedrad have been on the show for years and yet they've been so under-utilized over that time that it's like the audience hasn't really gotten to see what they can do yet. Vanessa Bayer hasn't quite lived up to the heat she generated in her freshman year in 2010-11 but still bears watching, as does Kate McKinnon, a rookie who has been around for just a few months but has impressed over that time.

It would be great to see all four of these women take it to the next level in the post-Wiig era.

Perhaps the only person who was surprised by the termination of "Community" showrunner and creator Dan Harmon last Friday was Dan Harmon.

"Why’d Sony want me gone?" he wonders aloud on his personal Tumblr. "I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have."

Well, then everything makes sense now. He apparently had no knowledge about the concerns NBC and Sony Pictures Television harbored about the increasingly oddball humor narrowing the audience for the series. Nor was he cognizant of misgivings regarding his leadership style, which became public fodder last month when a feud with cast member Chevy Chase was unearthed in embarrasing detail.

We may never know whether it was creative misdirection or managerial inadequacy or both that led Sony to replace Harmon with veteran producers Moses Port and David Guarascio. Nor will we ever know whether the recent rash of producer departures from "Community" was a demonstration of allegiance to Harmon or a vote of no confidence in the future of the show.

But this much is clear: This won't end well.

While there's plenty of TV shows that survive and even thrive when the original showrunners are replaced, this isn't a typical instance.  That's because whether you love or hate "Community," the creative voice that Harmon supplied to the series is deeply, undeniably idiosyncratic. Yet that's really more of an insult than a compliment because in marching in such lockstep to the beat of his own drummer, Harmon has likely robbed "Community" of the broader audience that could have prevented its current existential crisis in the first place.

"Community" now finds itself in the TV equivalent of a medically induced coma: a 13-episode order on a Friday-night time slot with "Whitney" as its lead-in. And in the unlikely event that the new producers do manage to engineer a ratings renaissance, the best that could be hoped for is "Community" being pushed around from one competitive time slot to the next, where it can be a tackling dummy for hotter shows on other networks.

If there's any hope in rejuvenating "Community," the trick may be in not veering too far or quickly from the tone of the three prior seasons, problematic as it was. Too drastic an adjustment will scare off the base the series attracted in the first place.

"Community" is famous--infamous, really--for a rabid cult following as fervent as it is tiny, and therein lies the problem. When the intensity of the fan base is disproportionate to their numbers, a series becomes beholden to a population too small to sustain the qualities they've come to appreciate. Changing those qualities even slightly to court broader appeal threatens to alienate the diehard few.

And yet that's exactly what Port/Guarascio must do, which makes this a no-win situation. They will make a martyr out Harmon, whose importance to the series will be romanticized no matter how essential he actually was. They are going to revolt against the new regime because that is what cult followings do to anything that smacks of creative interference from the "suits." It's hard to believe "Community" fans haven't already launched some clever campaign demanding the rehiring of Harmon, likemailing Harmon-icas by the thousands to 30 Rockefeller Center.

A good way to engineer some gamechanging, well, change, without it seeming inorganic is to bring in a major new character with name-brand recognition that will bring a whole new segment of fans in curious to see what impact the actor would have, similar to how Ashton Kutcher gave "Two and a Half Men" a jolt last season. What not to do is the kind of half-assed half-measure that was John Goodman's casting this past season, awkwardly wedging in someone for a sprinkling of seemingly random episodes with marginal impact on the storylines.

I say this as a fan of the show, though in the context of "Community," fan is a poor choice of words. I caught "Community" fever last season only to become increasingly disenchanted by how hit-or-miss it became in 2011-12. What few episodes worked only seemed all the more frustrating given the infrequency of the show's former brilliance. What's worse, the inadequacy seemed driven by a tone that can only be described as defiantly weird, a flopsweaty self-consciousness that screamed in too many scenes, 'Look how much effort we're expending trying to flout the conventions of TV storytelling!"

Ultimately, the ugly truth is the new "Community" caretakers have to risk alienating the fan base to give the series broader appeal. As for Harmon, fear not for him; he is too talented not to work again. But if his agent is smart, he or she will point him in the direction of cable, where finding a niche audience isn't considered a sin.

Overnight, Dan Harmon wrote a blog post that followed the news that he would not be back to be the showrunner for NBC comedy "Community" in its fourth season. Here's an excerpt:

... A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know.  Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community, with two seasoned fellows that I’m sure are quite nice - actually, I have it on good authority they’re quite nice, because they once created a show and cast my good friend Jeff Davis on it, so how bad can they be.

Why’d Sony want me gone?  I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have.  They literally haven’t called me since the season four pickup, so their reasons for replacing me are clearly none of my business.  Community is their property, I only own ten percent of it, and I kind of don’t want to hear what their complaints are because I’m sure it would hurt my feelings even more now that I’d be listening for free.

I do want to correct a couple points of spin, now that I’m free to do so:

The important one is this quote from Bob Greenblatt in which he says he’s sure I’m going to be involved somehow, something like that.  That’s a misquote.  I think he meant to say he’s sure cookies are yummy, because he’s never called me once in the entire duration of his employment at NBC.  He didn’t call me to say he was starting to work there, he didn’t call me to say I was no longer working there and he definitely didn’t call to ask if I was going to be involved.  I’m not saying it’s wrong for him to have bigger fish to fry, I’m just saying, NBC is not a credible source of All News Dan Harmon.

You may have read that I am technically “signed on,” by default, to be an executive consulting something or other - which is a relatively standard protective clause for a creator in my position.  Guys like me can’t actually just be shot and left in a ditch by Skynet, we’re still allowed to have a title on the things we create and “help out,” like, I guess sharpening pencils and stuff.  

However, if I actually chose to go to the office, I wouldn’t have any power there.  Nobody would have to do anything I said, ever.  I would be “offering” thoughts on other people’s scripts, not allowed to rewrite them, not allowed to ask anyone else to rewrite them, not allowed to say whether a single joke was funny or go near the edit bay, etc.  It’s….not really the way the previous episodes got done.  I was what you might call a….hands on producer.  Are my….periods giving this enough….pointedness?  I’m not saying you can’t make a good version of Community without me, but I am definitely saying that you can’t make my version of it unless I have the option of saying “it has to be like this or I quit” roughly 8 times a day. ...

You can read the entire post here. In addition, Alan Sepinwall of HitFix.com has some worthwhile commentary on "Community" without Harmon.

USA has unveiled a preview clip for Greg Berlanti miniseries "Political Animals," starring Sigourney Weaver as the U.S. Secretary of State, Ciaran Hinds as her ex-husband and former U.S. president, James Wolk ("Lone Star") as their randy son and Carla Gugino as a Washington journalist. Don't worry about getting dirty, because this one has plenty of soap ...

"Sometimes it gets a little bit lost in the conversation, but it's a very important part of our story this year," USA Network co-president Jeff Wachtel told Stuart Levine of Variety today, adding that "Political Animals" is "bigger in scope and more provocative in tone than most of what we've done before."

With the Big Four broadcasters done with their upfront presentations this week, each can now take a hard look at where they've placed their bets across the time periods to see how they match up. These schedules aren't set in stone, so there's plenty of time before September rolls around to make some changes that could very well end up saving a show or three.

Looking across primetime, each of the four could make at least one move to protect their assets before it's too late. 

ABC: Perhaps the most unusual scheduling coincidence of 2012-13 was the three sets of comedies between ABC, Fox and NBC that found themselves fighting each other Tuesday 9-10 p.m. That's one too many, especially because all six series are really cut from the same cloth, steeped in saucy humor. While NBC might seem to be the first to blink here because of the state of its schedule, "Go On" and "The New Normal" may be in better position than ABC to go up against Fox's "New Girl" and "The Mindy Project" because having "The Voice" results show lead-in could give NBC a boost in this competitive hour. The same might be true for ABC's pairing of "Happy Endings" (pictured above) and "The B in Apartment in 23" after the "Dancing With the Stars" results show, but here's an idea that could help the Alphabet. Given programming chief Paul Lee's stated intent on positioning these comedies as the most irreverent on TV, why not push them to 10 p.m.? ABC has tried this before with different comedies and failed, but this time the late time period could help convey just how risque these shows are, plus they'd have no comedy competition. Then move "Dancing" back to 9 p.m. to give those shows that lead-in and move "Private Practice" from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. The drama only has 13 episodes left, so why not just let that hour absorb the body blow of facing both "The Voice" and "NCIS"?

NBC: With an astonishing four comedy blocks in place in the fall, it's a good bet that the Peacock will beat a hasty retreat on at least one of them. And yet it may be the most solid of the four that could use a change: Thursday, NBC's longtime four-comedy stronghold. With CBS keeping comedy out of 9-10 p.m., at least for now, and neither "Person of Interest" nor "Grey's Anatomy" at peak performance," 9:30 p.m. should be a more hospitable place for the network to put one of its new half-hours after "The Office," one of the few scripted launch pads NBC still has. Better that than "Parks & Recreation," which might be better off waiting until after "30 Rock" has run through its final 13 episodes to take over the 8 p.m. time period. It's not like 9:30 p.m. has much pressure on it anyway given having "Rock Center with Brian Williams" at 10 p.m. doesn't require a strong lead-in; NBC is basically taking a pass on that hour if that's where a newsmagazine is being scheduled. So NBC should find a new single-camera comedy with tonal similarities to "Office" and give it a fighting chance at 9:30 p.m.

CBS: With its period setting and character-driven intrigue, the new drama "Vegas" might seem well-positioned on Tuesday at 10 p.m. given soft competition from NBC's "Parenthood" and ABC's "Private Practice," not to mention a good counterprogramming play given it is a male-skewing series facing off against female-skewing competition. But the problem here is one of audience flow--CBS has two of its most formulaic procedurals, "NCIS" and "NCIS:LA," stacked from 8-10 p.m. The viewers of these shows don't seem the type to hang around for something with the kind of style and nuance "Vegas" will offer. A better fit for Tuesday at 10 p.m. is "The Mentalist," which was shipped off Thursday to Sunday at 10 p.m. after "The Good Wife," another series that stands out amid CBS's sea of procedurals for its more substantive, character-driven heft. So wouldn't "Wife," even if female-skewing, be a more compatible match for "Vegas" than "Mentalist"?

FOX: Monday was brutal for Fox last season, and this season isn't going to get any easier. And yet a promising new drama at 9 p.m., "Mob Doctor," is expected to face off against CBS' hit comedies, "Dancing" and "Voice?" That's ridiculous. Fox needs to play pure defense on this night, and "Bones" at 8 p.m. is the right idea. But extend that strategy to 9 p.m. by switching "Mob" with "Fringe," which has 13 episodes left and a fervid cult following that would watch the show even if it was on at 4 a.m. Planting "Mob" on Friday would give it a fighting chance on a less competitive night. It could also help neutralize a CBS launch in the same time slot featuring another female-skewing drama, "Made in Jersey."

The CW is going all-doctor on Tuesdays, following "Hart of Dixie" with "Emily Owens, M.D.," starring Mamie Gummer. The clip above makes the premise obvious: You can take a rivalry out of high school, but you can't take high school out of a rivalry — you can just add life-or-death stakes to it all. (I dare say that one thought that crossed my mind was, "What if 'Saved by the Bell: The Post-Grad Years' were done as a drama?")

Aja Naomi King will play Owens' nemesis, Cassandra, while Justin Hartley plays heartthrob Will. Jennie Snyder Urman (“90210,” “Lipstick Jungle”) exec produces with Dan Jinks and Bharat Nalluri.

Slated on the CW's schedule after top hit "The Vampire Diaries" on Thursdays is the network's reboot of "Beauty and the Beast," starring "Smallville" alum Kristin Kreuk opposite Jay Ryan. The clip above, essentially a flashback, shows how exceedingly dark the show is willing to go.

Kreuk's character, Catherine Chandler, is a homicide detective, allowing "Beauty" to incorporate a weekly procedural element into the series. 

The only new CW show to get a leadoff 8 p.m. timeslot, on Wednesdays leading into "Supernatural," "Arrow" stars Stephen Amell in this new comicbook-adaptation as Oliver Queen, set just after he returns home from a five-year disappearance on a remote island. Looking at the clip above, you can see how Amell literally gives a strong performance.

Colin Donnell, Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson and Paul Blackthorne co-star, with Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg and David Nutter exec producing.

TV has had mixed success with 20th-century period pieces in the past few years: "Mad Men," "Swingtown," "Magic City," "Pan Am" and "The Playboy Club," for example, have run the gamut of creative and popular success. CBS will take the next stab at 10 p.m. Tuesdays with "Vegas."

I liked a previous working title, "Vegas Rising," better than the current moniker, which is both blander and creates an identity crisis for those of us who remember the Robert Urich series from decades past. Nevertheless, "Vegas" definitely stands as the most intriguing new CBS show, thanks to its based-on-a-true-story subject, set in the desert oasis in the 1960s, and the intensity that gangster Michael Chiklis brings to his clashes with rancher-lawman Dennis Quaid. Jason O'Mara and Carrie-Anne Moss only add to the promise of the cast. 

Nicholas Pileggi ("Goodfellas," "Casino") is exec producing with Greg Walker, Cathy Konrad, Arthur Sarkissian and James Mangold, the director of "Cop Land" and "Walk the Line." Mangold directed the pilot.

The lone new comedy on CBS' fall schedule, "Partners" explores the relationship quadrangle between two lifelong friends — one straight (David Krumholtz of "Numbers"), the other gay (Michael Urie of "Ugly Betty") — and their significant others, Sophia Bush and Brandon Routh. It comes from exec producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick of "Will and Grace."

At first glance, "Partners" appears to play broad enough to appeal to mainstream audiences without wallowing in crudity the way, say, "2 Broke Girls" does.

What would happen if Marisa Tomei's "My Cousin Vinny" character got a new wardrobe and became a lawyer herself? You might get CBS' "Made in Jersey," starring Janet Montgomery (who happens to be British in real life, but that's acting for you.)

Montgomery could bring more crackle to CBS' lineup than her half-namesake, Poppy Montgomery, did in CBS' one-and-done "Unforgettable." Dana Calvo created the series, which is exec produced by Jamie Tarses, Kevin Falls, Julia Franz and Mark Waters.

Undaunted by ... or inspired by ... or completely independent of PBS' "Sherlock," CBS will launch its own Sherlock Holmes adaptation, "Elementary," at 10 p.m. Thursdays after "Person of Interest."

Changing the time and place of Arthur Conan Doyle's protagonist to present-day New York and the gender of sidekick Watson to one that can be played by Lucy Liu, "Elementary" looks to have Jonny Lee Miller emphasize the serious quirk of Sherlock Holmes in a procedural seemingly made for Eye auds.

One thought: With Aidan Quinn playing a supporting role on "Elementary," a year after he appeared on NBC's short-lived "Prime Suspect," why not bring another U.K.-to-U.S. detective, Maria Bello's Jane Timoney, to solve some crimes with Holmes? That pair could really crackle ...

By RICK KISSELL

Much of the spring’s pre-upfront sked chatter focused on whether CBS would expand its comedy presence on Thursday. But when the net ordered just two new comedies (along with four new dramas), it became more likely that it would keep things status quo on the important night.

And sure enough the net did just that, sticking with its two-comedy, two-drama template on Thursday. And by moving vet laffer “Two and a Half Men” to the post-“Big Bang Theory” slot on Thursday, CBS instantly became a stronger player in the night’s opening hour. The move will give “Person of Interest” a stronger lead-in, which in turn should help the net’s big drama hope of fall, “Elementary.”

While some may wonder why “Two and a Half Men” got the Thursday 8:30 slot, CBS was probably frustrated at leaving so many ratings points on the table at 8:30 with clunkers like “Bleep My Dad Says” and “How to be a Gentleman,” while at the same time liking its new dramas more than any of its new comedies. And even if “Men” goes away after this upcoming season, it will have done its job if it can provide enough of a boost to establish the young “Person of Interest” and “Elementary” as the Eye’s next great crime-solving combo.

CBS appears poised for a strong Thursday, but it may have left itself a bit vulnerable on Monday, where “Partners” will probably have a tough time matching the performance of “2 Broke Girls” at 8:30. But if the crude-com can perform at about or above the level of “Two and a Half Men” in its new, more appropriate 9 o’clock slot, it’s a fairly low-risk move.

Monday 9:30 p.m. comedy “Mike & Molly” was a popular choice of schedule-guessers to shift to another night, but in the end CBS probably liked what it had in the blue collar comedy’s performance in the timeslot, especially the way the show meshed well with the demographics of “Hawaii Five-0” behind it at 10.

Tuesday returns mostly intact, with the “NCIS” duo followed at 10 by “Vegas” (pictured above). There was some thought that CBS would slide a new drama between the two “NCIS” shows, but again why mess with a good thing when the hour you really want to improve is 10 o’clock? And “Vegas” is not a cookie-cutter CBS crime drama, so it probably wasn’t going to hold onto as much of the “NCIS” audience as “NCIS: Los Angeles.” CBS probably also likes knowing that it has a show, which should generate a lot of buzz and attract a sizable male audience, up against not-so-tough, female-skewing vets “Parenthood” and “Private Practice.”

Wednesday is one night that figured to stay put, and it does, while Friday will see some changes with “CSI: NY” moving down to 8 o’clock, and the new legal drama “Made in Jersey” replacing it at 9. Followed at 10 by New York cop drama “Blue Bloods,” this lineup should fare well among the 35-plus audience — especially in the tri-State area — but it’s hard to see the net leading the night in demos as it has in recent years.

Sunday is seeing minimal change, as the net knows that late starts for the lineup due to football make it difficult for a new show to take root. The 7-10 p.m. shows remain the same, with one crime vet (“The Mentalist”) replacing another (the cancelled “CSI: Miami”) at 10. “Mentalist” seems to be coming to the night with a little more momentum than “CSI: Miami,” so there’s a chance the net could grow in the final hour. “Good Wife” could benefit from the departure of “Desperate Housewives” on ABC, though the Alphabet figures to remain a femme force in the hour with “Revenge.”

CBS also would seem to be set for midseason, with Greg Berlanti cop drama “Golden Boy” a flexible hour that can fit in any number of timeslots, including on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or Sunday. And the buddy comedy “Friend Me” can play on either Monday or Thursday.

Once again, the CBS moves and overall strategy make sense, and the net appears headed for another solid season — with nice growth potential on Thursday and a chance for gains on Tuesday and perhaps Sunday as well.

Widowed by the mob? You can find out what that's like in ABC midseason drama "Red Widow," starring Radha Mitchell. Melissa Rosenberg ("Twilight") is exec producing.

This sudsy ABC drama starring Alyssa Milano with Yunjin Kim of "Lost" won't premiere for nearly a year, so those of you looking to get another primetime soap on, be patient. K.J. Steinberg ("The Nine") is exec producing.

One of a few fall series that look like feature films in disguise, "Zero Hour" brings Anthony Edwards of "ER" back to TV as a diehard skeptic forced to confront a mystery of inexplicable proportions. Its premiere is scheduled for midseason.

Inside of four years ago, Kyle Bornheimer starred in CBS comedy "Worst Week," launching his run of short-lived comedies on different networks that continued through NBC's "Perfect Couples" and ABC's "Romantically Challenged." Bornheimer will give it another go with his fourth regular sitcom role in five seasons.

This time, he's repeating a stop with ABC, in this adaptation of a British comedy in which he plays a ne'er-do-well who takes over the handyman biz of his father (J.K. Simmons.) Hijinx, as they say, ensues.

"How To Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)" will come to ABC at midseason with such proven talents in its cast as Sarah Chalke, Elizabeth Perkins, Brad Garrett and Orlando Jones. It also comes with a title that smacks of CBS' bombed-out "How To Be a Gentleman" from last season. Which forces will prevail is unclear.

Watch Call the Midwife Preview on PBS. See more from pbs.

Let's take a break from ABC's doings and check in with PBS, which announced several fall premiere dates today, including British import "Call the Midwife."

"Midwife," a six-part series that will run on Sundays beginning Sept. 30, is set in London's East End of the 1950s. It's a hit in the U.K., where it premiered in January and soon received a second-season order. Jessica Raine stars, while Heidi Thomas ("Cranford") wrote the script adaptation.

Love the Drake? Hate the Drake? That's the choice that awaits you in "666 Park Avenue," ABC's serialized horror movie set for 10 p.m. Sundays after "Revenge."

The Drake is a residential building teeming with supernatural elements and run by "Lost" alum Terry O'Quinn, adapting John Locke into a devilish sort with "Ugly Betty" grad Vanessa Williams by his side. Rachael Taylor (from last year's failed "Charlie's Angels" reboot) and Dave Annable ("Brothers and Sisters") play the innocent couple sucked into the damned-if-you-do lifestyle at the Drake ...

In an 8 p.m. Thursday timeslot that has given ABC fits, the Alphabet net will next try intense drama "Last Resort," from an exec producer team led by Shawn Ryan ("The Shield," "Terriers") and Karl Gajdusek. Andre Braugher is the commander of a nuclear sub that goes rogue for the (apparent) right reasons and ends up at an island that might have been the runner-up in casting for the lead in "Lost" — perhaps not the only thing "Last Resort" has in common with that bygone hit.

The rest of the ensemble includes Scott Speedman, Daisy Betts, Dichen Lachman, Daniel Lissing, Sahr Ngaujah, Camille de Pazzis, Autumn Reeser and Jessy Schram. ABC has promised more than it could deliver on Thursdays at 8 for years, but Ryan is as good a contender as anyone to bring home a winner.

In the vein of Friday family comedies of years past on ABC, the broad "Malibu Country" heads to 8:30 p.m., teaming up with Tim Allen's relocated "Last Man Standing" with Tim Allen. Reba McEntire stars in "Malibu" as a displaced country music singer, raising the question of whether ABC might ever consider a crossover episode with new drama "Nashville."

The secret weapon for "Malibu Country" might well be Lily Tomlin, who plays Reba's mom. Sara Rue co-stars as the neighbor (as opposed to "The Neighbors").

I asked in the office if "The Neighbors" is the strangest ABC show ever, and someone countered with "Caveman." I'm still not sure I'm wrong.  Lenny Venito and Jami Gertz star as parents who move into a neighborhood that they soon realize is populated by friendly aliens named after retired athletes. Yep.

If it's just crazy enough to work, you can thank 'Crazy, Stupid, Love" writer Dan Fogelman, who is exec producing "Neighbors" with Aaron Kaplan, Chris Koch, Jeff Morton. ABC certainly thinks it'll fly, giving it the coveted 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays timeslot after "Modern Family," the same slot that just launched "Don't Trust the B."

Seemingly huge in scope, "Nashville" takes on the country music scene and politics and wraps it up in a soapy bow. Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere play rival singers of different generations in an ensemble that also includes Powers Boothe, Charles Esten, Eric Close, Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson, Sam Palladio and Robert Wisdom.

Exec producers Callie Khouri ("Thelma and Louise"), R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan will be the latest to try to mix together music and melodrama in network primetime. "Nashville" takes the 10 p.m. Wednesday slot vacated by "Revenge," which is moving to Sunday.

From the exec producers of "How I Met Your Mother," here is "How I Met Your Father's Inheritance."

Yeah, "The Goodwin Games" has a high-concept set-up — three adult children competing for their late father's $23 million estate — but promises to inject some straightforward heart and life-lessoning by the end. "Goodwin" features Scott Foley, Becki Newton and Jake Lacy as the children of guest star Beau Bridges, with the three Cs of "Mother" (Carter Bays, Craig Thomas and Chris Harris) forming the exec producer team.

Dark, with a side order of dark. From a broadcast standpoint, anyway, that looks like the tone of Fox midseason drama "The Following," starring Kevin Bacon as an FBI agent with a history of pursuing a serial killer (James Purefoy of "Rome") — who himself is in the process of building a network of psychotic allies. Natalie Zea ("Justified") plays the killer's ex-wife.

Fox will run the first season of 15 episodes, the latest project from exec producer Kevin Williamson, in consecutive weeks, likely starting in January. Keep your nightlight on ...

Sandwiched between "Raising Hope" and "New Girl" at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays on Fox's fall schedule, "Ben and Kate" is a logical bridge between the two comedies. Settling somewhere between the down-home quality of "Hope" and the urban hipsteria of "Girl," "Ben and Kate" offers Oscar-winning "The Descendants" co-writer Nat Faxon onscreen opposite Dakota Johnson ("The Five Year Engagement"), as an odd couple brother and sister with a shared interest in the daughter of Johnson's character, played by Maggie Jones. Lucy Punch ("You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger") and Echo Kellum co-star.

For me, even more so than usual with these preview clips, I felt a need to see more. The appeal of the characters varied in different moments, and I'm definitely curious to see which prevails. Based on the early promise of "The Mindy Project," Fox might have the real-deal four-comedy Tuesday that entertainment prexy Kevin Reilly has long dreamed of.

Set for 9 p.m. Mondays this fall, "The Mob Doctor," from exec producers Josh Berman and Robert Wright, has an arresting preview trailer featuring Jordana Spiro ("My Boys"), William Forsythe ("Boardwalk Empire") and Michael Rapaport ("Boston Public") and Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights").

When it comes to serialized dramas, I hate when people ask after a promising pilot how the premise will be sustained over a number of episodes. Simply stated, I like to think that the producers have asked the same question — if they've hook me at the start, I don't want to assume they're then going to let me go. Consequently, I'm going to resist the temptation of wondering how many times a doctor indebted to the mob can be called on that debt. Spiro is already more interesting in these few minutes than her "My Boys" character ever was, so that's a start.

The first thing to realize about Fox's fall sitcom "The Mindy Project" is that Mindy Kaling is not playing Kelly Kapoor of "The Office." While they might have been raised on the same pop culture, Kaling's new incarnation is more earnest and real. And pretty charming on first appearance.

The writing has sharp promise, and the supporting cast, including Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Anna Camp, Dana DeLorenzo, Zoe Jarman (with "Office"-mate Ed Helms as a guest), also looks up to the task. Airing after "New Girl" at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays, "The Mindy Project" looks like a player.

By RICK KISSELL

Of all the networks, Fox’s schedule is usually the easiest to predict, and that was true again this year. After all, with just 15 hours of programming and the net’s tendency to devote entire nights to a single idea, it is somewhat locked in.

The only real mystery was whether Fox thought it had the goods to expand to four comedies on Tuesday, and it apparently does. Mindy Kaling newbie “The Mindy Project” has been the net’s most buzzed-about project all development season, so it belongs behind “New Girl,” giving the net what should be a stronger, more compatible combo than it had this year. “New Girl” will probably have to work harder this fall, though, as transplanted “Raising Hope” and rookie “Ben & Kate” don’t figure to be as strong as “Glee” — and they likely will be battling with ABC’s own comedy pair in the hour for third place behind “NCIS” and “The Voice.”

It’s a bit disappointing that “The X Factor” is again eating up all of Wednesday, which means good ratings for the net but as the expense of using the real estate to launch a new comedy behind it. And on Thursday, the “X Factor” results show will lead into “Glee” on its new night. The move of “Glee” makes sense because as a musical-based comedy, it feels right here; also, a significant change in cast as some students graduate seems like a good time to relaunch the show. While “Glee” should benefit from the “X Factor” lead-in, it will face tough competition for young women from ABC’s still-potent “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Monday will return “Bones” to its 8 p.m. slot, followed by new medical-themed drama “Mob Doctor,” which takes over for outgoing doctor vet “House.” “Mob Doctor” should benefit from being the only Big Four drama in the hour, giving it as good a shot as it can ask for — even if “Bones” isn’t a substantial lead-in. Still, it’s hard to see Fox challenging CBS or NBC as the broadcast leaders from 8 to 10. The midseason scheduling of Kevin Bacon thriller “The Following,” likely in the 9 o’clock hour that was home to “24” for many years, makes a lot of sense and gives the net a promotional focus for its postseason NFL action.

If the net was going to bring back “Touch,” a Friday slot was probably the best — and only — option. It should do decently, especially as likely the only Big Four drama in the hour. “Fringe” is “Fringe,” and will again draw a small but loyal aud at 9 o’clock, but could benefit slightly from a decent drama lead-in.

Saturday, which suffered this season with the loss of “America’s Most Wanted,” should be improved with more sports action in the fall. And Sunday returns pretty much intact, with its two-hour block solid male counter-programming to NBC’s football.

Bottom line: The lineup of scripted series makes sense, but the net’s fall fortunes will again have more to do with how “X Factor” and postseason baseball fare.

By Cynthia Littleton

“Dark Shadows” was a devilishly dark and darkly comic episode of “Mad Men” even if it didn’t seem so at first blush. Bonus points to Matthew Weiner and Co. for thinking waaaay ahead and having a seg with references to the original “Dark Shadows” ABC soap air on the weekend that the Johnny Depp-Tim Burton remake opened.

I got a kick out of the episode, written by Erin Levy and directed by Scott Hornbacher, in large part because we got a few flashes of the Betty of old: scheming, childish and borderline cruel. Even though I love to criticize the character, the scenes of Betty in action made me realize I’d kinda missed her. I thought in general the theme of this episode was in fact dark shadows cast by past misdeeds, or people getting their just desserts (or not, in Betty’s case).

Betty gets it like a shaving cream pie in the face when she steps in to Don’s groovy new, romance-filled life with his thin new wife. Megan looks like an extra from “That Girl” while Betty is still “Father Knows Best.” And we learn later in the episode that Don is well aware that she’s packed on the pounds (when he complains about her sticking her “fat nose” into his new life).

We see Jane Siegel Sterling getting her continued comeuppance for being plotting so hard to snare a married, wealthy man. Now that she’s about to be divorced, she’s lost her edge, as proven by the fact that she didn’t pounce on the prime opportunity, Manischewitz the Younger, who was undressing her with his eyes in the restaurant.

In a scenario no one would have predicted two seasons ago, Roger completely has the upper hand, and he exploits it. The laugh-out-loud line of the seg was Jane complaining about Roger trying to snow her with things she said while on LSD, like a promise to remarry quickly to save him alimony payments. Oh, he’s a dog that Roger Sterling. We all know his scheming around the office with the copywriters and mounting his own solo forays to new clients is going to come back to bite him. But it’s fun to see Bert getting into it on the sly too. The old guys are trying to battle back, armed with anti-Semitism. One of the great cringe-worthy lines of the season, from Roger, probing the specifics of the Manischewitz account: “How Jewish are they? “Fiddler on the Roof” – are they audience or cast?”

If "Community" premieres in the fall without Dan Harmon at the helm, does "Community" really premiere in the fall?

As Andrew Wallenstein of Variety reports, Harmon's role with the NBC sitcom, whose fourth season will take it to Fridays for the first time, is unclear at this time –– though Harmon's feud with series co-star Chevy Chase does not appear to be the reason.

"I expect Dan's voice to be a part of the show somehow, I'm just not sure if that means he's running it day to day or consulting on it," NBC entertainment prexy Bob Greenblatt said today.

Few TV programs are as indelibly tied to their showrunner as "Community" is to Harmon. There are other combos, such as Matthew Weiner and "Mad Men," Vince Gilligan and "Breaking Bad," but on the comedy side, "Community" is perhaps more unique than any other broadcast network offering. The only halfhour shows that might be harder to imagine without their creators are cable do-it-all projects such as Louis C.K.'s "Louie" on FX or Lena Dunham's "Girls"on HBO.

Adding to the chasm is that two "Community" lieutentants, Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, are moving on to an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, and two more -– Anthony Russo and Joe Russo -- have a new sitcom, "Animal Practice," to focus on. While changes occur at the top rung of TV shows all the time, this isn't like a new season of "Law and Order." No matter where "Community" heads, if it heads there with Harmon in a significantly diminished role, the core viewers will always be wondering if it's the real deal. And of course, without its core viewers, "Community" practically has no viewers at all.

TV negotitations being what they are, perhaps this will end up being only a ripple. After the dust settles, Harmon re-ups in some capacity of sufficient influence, and the next big challenge for "Community" becomes a familiar one: trying to survive beyond its 13th episode of the next season. (The final three episodes of the current season, by the way, all air this coming Thursday.)

But should Harmon's role with the show be ceremonial at best, the outcome will be a smallscreen existential crisis worthy of a "Community" meta-plotline: Ceci n'est pas une "Community."

For all of CBS's usual talk of stability, the network more often than not makes at least one unexpected, dramatic schedule shift each fall, the kind that have brought everything from "Without A Trace" to "The Good Wife" to new nights. Yet there's such strength spread throughout its sked this season, it's difficult to conceive of why they would make one of their trademark switcheroos (see the proposed schedule listing below; read up on its series orders here).

CBS has an enviable dilemma on Mondays and Thursday: too much comedy wealth and another night that makes for the perfect place to spread that wealth. The question is, which series should be shipped off to Thursday to help "Big Bang Theory" transform 8-10 p.m. to a four-comedy lineup.

Complicating this task is that Monday is home to two still-very vital veterans in "How I Met Your Mother" and "Two and a Half Men," neither of which will likely remain on air for more than another season or so. Which is why 9:30 p.m. entry "Mike & Molly" should have Thursday stamped on its passport, opening 9:30 p.m. for new comedy "Partners" and keeping "2 Broke Girls" in place at 8:30 p.m.

With "Molly" opening Thursday, comedy's biggest hit "Big Bang Theory" can make its expected move to 9:30 p.m., where it will be paired with "Friend Me." "Rules of Engagement" will stay at 8:30 p.m. but if the night catches fire look for CBS to sub it out for something new in the midseason. "Person of Interest" gets bumped to 10 p.m., which means "Mentalist" needs to find a new home.

How about Friday at 8 p.m.? After CBS flopped last year in that time period with "A Gifted Man," there's no reason to try something new on a night that can be difficult to launch new programming. That's why "CSI: NY" and "Blue Bloods" should stay in place the rest of the night.

Expect the same stasis on Wednesday, which might be a good place to introduce a new drama in the midseason. Look for CBS to hold back "Golden Boy" and "Made in Jersey," but roll the dice in the fall on its two other drama orders.

Innovative hour "Vegas Rising" is made to order for Sunday at 9 p.m., the only night CBS has conditioned its audiences to expect anything besides a formulaic procedural as they did with "Wife," which needs to move to 10 p.m. if "Rising" is to maximize the amount of sampling necessary to get traction.

Same thinking applies to Tuesday at 9 p.m., where CBS should gamble on breaking up the "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA" tandem, if only to move the latter back an  hour to make room for "Elementary." For a network that has few holes to fill, this might be as audacious a move as CBS needs to make, which isn't very audacious at all.

Analysis: How Fox should tackle its 2012-13 schedule

Analysis: How NBC should rebuild its 2012-13 schedule

Analysis: How ABC should approach its 2012-13 schedule

MONDAY

8 p.m. "How I Met Your Mother"

8:30 p.m. "Two Broke Girls"

9 p.m. "Two and a Half Men"

9:30 p.m. "Partners" (new)

10 p.m. "Hawaii Five-0"

TUESDAY

8 p.m. "NCIS"

9 p.m. "Elementary" (new)

10 p.m. "NCIS: LA"

WEDNESDAY

8 p.m. "Survivor"

9 p.m. "Criminal Minds"

10 p.m. "CSI"

THURSDAY

8 p.m. "Mike & Molly"

8:30 p.m. "Rules of Engagement"

9 p.m. "Big Bang Theory"

9:30 p.m. "Friend Me" (new)

10 p.m. "Person of Interest"

FRIDAY

8 p.m. ""The Mentalist"

9 p.m. "CSI: NY"

10 p.m. "Blue Bloods"

SUNDAY

7 p.m. "60 Minutes"

8 p.m. Amazing Race"

9 p.m. "Vegas Rising" (new)

10 p.m. "The Good Wife"

By RICK KISSELL

Well, a few things make some sense for NBC's fall schedule (like the Tuesday flow of “New Normal” into “Parenthood” and keeping “The Biggest Loser” off the fall lineup). Also, for a network struggling in comedy, it’s probably smart to pair new comedies into a promotable hour -- something a then-comedy-challenged ABC did with success on Wednesday a few years ago.

The pairing of “Community” and “Grimm” could work on Friday because they are cult shows with core young-male followings, and this may be a spot on the sked that can maximize the ratings for each. “Whitney” leading off the night is strange, but most likely NBC didn’t want to go with a new comedy at 8, and by putting “Whitney” here as something of a placeholder, it can then shift it to plug a comedy hole elsewhere at midseason – much like CBS this season when it announced “Rules of Engagement” as a Saturday series but ended up calling on it to help out on Thursdays just a few weeks into the season.

“Revolution” on Monday at 10 isn’t a bad choice, because at least it will get both considerable football promotion one night earlier as well as the best lead-in the net has in the final half-hour of “The Voice.” But competition will be brutal opposite male-friendly “Hawaii Five-0” and either “Castle” or a new drama on ABC. Also, this coming season will feature the strongest “Monday Night Football” schedule granted to ESPN since it took over the package, making it even more difficult to lure men away to a new drama.

Otherwise, while I have a great deal of respect for NBC’s Thursday legacy, the net clearly looks to be throwing in the towel on the night. With the possible exception of the fading-fast-but-still-decent “The Office,” it’s hard to imagine a combination of returning series that the net could have put into the Thursday blender to spit out a lower-rated average. This schedule looks very defensive and has a placeholder feel. Let’s hope after the Peacock assesses the lineups of the other networks on Thursday, it makes some changes here. Because if not, Univision will likely challenge NBC for fourth on Thursdays this fall.

And the net continues to needlessly butt heads with like-minded programming on other networks. Forget the fact that its female-skewing reality series “The Voice” is going up against ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” on Monday; at least in this case, NBC has the goods. But why, for example, is it putting comedies in both the Tuesday 9 o’clock and Wednesday 8 o’clock hours that are already home to at least one other network’s comedies? Tuesday at 9, home to presumed Fox comedies and presumed older-skewing fare on ABC and CBS, was crying out for a young-skewing drama like “Revolution.” And Wednesday at 8, one of the only hours on the midweek scheduled that was pretty much guaranteed to not feature a drama on ABC, CBS or Fox, should be where the net took one of its big drama swings. “Do No Harm” (pictured above), perhaps? And if NBC is determined to keep “Dateline” on Friday, why must it put it at 10 opposite “20/20,” which has only been an ABC Friday fixture in the hour for 25 years?

Bottom-line two-word sked analysis of NBC: Stubborn and frustrating.

An ensemble featuring Eamonn Walker ("Oz") and David Eigenberg ("Sex and the City") populates "Chicago Fire," a self-explanatory drama that will take the 10 p.m. Wednesday position for NBC this fall and try to take the place of FX's "Rescue Me" in our hearts.

"Law & Order" kingpin Dick Wolf and "3:10 to Yuma" writers Derek Haas and Michael Brandt will be among the exec producers metaphorically driving the big red truck.

Filled with TV names from the past including Anthony Anderson, Jesse Bradford, Zach Cregger, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Tempestt Bledsoe, "Guys with Kids" is a broad parenting comedy with Jimmy Fallon and "Saturday Night Live"/"The Office" alum Charlie Grandy as exec producers. It's set for 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays after "Animal Practice."

Call me crazy, but I feel NBC already took its swing at this territory with "Up All Night," which has made it to a second season. As a parent and a lover of comedy, I just don't know ...

"Weeds" vet(eran) Justin Kirk stars as an unorthodox New York vet(erinarian) in "Animal Practice," although frankly I don't know how orthodox any veterinarians are. Tyler Labine, Bobby Lee and Kym Whitley co-star. 

Set to lead off Wednesdays at 8 p.m. this fall from NBC, it comes from Joe and Anthony Russo of "Arrested Development" and "Community," which automatically means it deserves a look, though I didn't find much promising from a creative or ratings standpoint in the first two clips NBC provided.