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2|Cover story The return of a 'Friendly' face Matthew Perry stars in NBC's 'Go On' By Kyla Brewer TV Media T here's nothing quite like seeing an old friend in the summertime.Lazy days and breezy nights are per- fect for catching up and finding out what's new. Millions of fans are about to welcome back a familiar face as Matthew Perry returns to NBC in a sneak peek of the new comedy "Go On,"airing after the net- work's Olympic coverage Wednesday,Aug. 8. Perry stars as Ryan King,a sports talk radio host and recent widower who's forced to undergo grief counselling before he can re- turn to work.The new series marks a homecoming for the ac- tor,who starred as Chandler Bing in the iconic NBC comedy "Friends" through its entire 10 seasons (1994-2004). It's an unusual move to offer a sneak peek of a new fall series smack in the middle of the Olympics,but NBC executive Robert Greenblatt alluded to the possible strategy in May,when the network announced the 2012-13 prime-time slate. "We've got a lineup of new shows that will really get people to sit up and take notice,"said Greenblatt."And with the Olympics coming this summer and two nights of 'The Voice' in the fall, we've also got the tools we need to give our shows the kind of launch they deserve." With all eyes on NBC due to Olympics coverage, this sneak peek could be just the ticket to create a buzz about "Go On." Once the destination for comedy, NBC has been fighting for its share of the prime-time ratings in the past few years and could use a major hit.With the former "Friends" star at the helm,"Go On"has already been the talk of the TV industry as the struggling network aims to boost ratings with a friendly face. However, Chandler fans may be disheartened to hear that King is no Bing. Perry's new char- acter is a far cry from the affable "Friend."Fans will see a differ- ent side of the charismatic actor as he brings the fast-talking, sar- castic King to life. Having lost his wife in a car accident, the cocky sportscaster is anxious to get back to work, but his boss Stephen (John Cho) isn't so sure he's ready. Soon, a reluctant King finds himself in a support group along with a zany cast of characters coping with different kinds of loss. Instead of taking the therapy seriously, the widower quickly creates havoc and pits the sup- port group members against each other as they try to determine who has the worst sob story. Finding the funny in grief is a tall order, but if Perry can pull it off, it'll be a triumphant return for the actor who earned a 2002 Emmy nomination for his work as Chandler in "Friends."(He also snagged two more nominations for his guest-starring role in an- other NBC series,"The West Wing.") Unfortunately,Perry hasn't had much luck in the prime-time are- na since those days.Admittedly, "Friends"has been a tough act to follow. Not only did the series about six young people in New York boast killer ratings, it sparked fashion trends and even changed the North American ver- nacular with phrases such as Joey's (Matt LeBlanc) "How you doin'?" Millions of fans seem to be rooting for Perry still,and so are execs.This isn't his "second chance"at another prime-time series, it's his third.Although his 2006 TV movie "The Ron Clark Story"earned Perry both a Gold- en Globe nomination and Emmy nomination, his series work has- n't fared so well. In the fall of 2006,he had returned to NBC in Aaron Sorkin's drama "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."Despite the initially warm critical reception, the show was cancelled after just one season.Perry gave it another go with ABC's "Mr. Sunshine,"a 2011 sitcom based on his own TV Media Weekly|August 4 - 10, 2012 CHANNEL GUIDE Comcast Walton Cable- Vision `uWTTV CW Indianapolis " WRTV ABC Indianapolis $ WISH CBS Indianapolis h WTHR NBC Indianapolis r WLFI CBS Lafayette y WFYI PBS Indianapolis d WPTA ABC Ft. Wayne g WNDY MNT Indianapolis WHMB IND Indianapolis WIPB PBS Muncie R WFFT FOX Ft. Wayne G WXIN FOX Indianapolis Arts and Entertainment American Movie Classics Animal Planet [A&E] [AMC] [AP] [BET] [CMT] [CNBC] [CNN] [COM] [DISN] [E!] [ENC] [ESPN] [FAM] [FOXN] [FSN] [FX] [HALL] [HBO] [HIST] [HN] [LIFE] [MAX] [NICK] [OXY] [QVC] Black Entertainment TV [BIGTEN] Big Ten Network [BRAVO] Bravo County Music Television Consumer News & Bus. Ch. Cable News Network Comedy Central [CSPAN] CSPAN [DISC] Discovery Channel Disney Channel Entertainment TV Encore Entertainment Sports Net. [ESPN2] Entertainment Sports Net. 2 Family Channel Fox News Channel Fox Sports FX Hallmark Home Box Office History Channel CNN Headline News Lifetime Cinemax [MTV] Music Television Nickelodeon Oxygen [SHOW] [SPIKE] [STARZ] [SYFY] [TBN] [TMC] [TNT] [TOON] [TRUTV] "Go On" star Matthew Perry idea,but that too flopped and the alpha-network canned it after nine episodes. However, if his former "Friends" co-stars are any indica- tion, there's hope for Perry's "Go On." dler's best buddy, Joey Tribbiani, in the NBC sitcom,bombed with the post-"Friends" spin-off "Joey," but he's gone on to find great suc- cess in the Showtime/BBC series "Episodes,"in which he was cast as a fictional version of himself. Earlier this year, the series earned him a Golden Globe for best actor LeBlanc,who played Chan- in a comedy series. Courteney Cox ("Monica") has had a couple of prime-time hits since "Friends,"earning acco- lades for both the now-defunct FX series "Dirt"and the ABC comedy "Cougar Town." Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow,aka "Rachel"and "Pheobe"in "Friends,"have been making waves primarily on the big screen since wrapping "Friends."David Schwimmer ("Ross") has also appeared in movies in addition to directing for film and stage. "Go On"may not feature his [USA] [VH1] 4 6 7 12 8 20 10 21 11 9 39 43 30 32 67 55 59 36 34 50 14 28 38 49 70 26 27 44 52 53 54 65 700 40 35 29 730 31 37 61 Quality, Value, Convenience 18 Showtime Spike Starz Science Fiction [TBS] WTBS Atlanta [TLC] The Learning Channel The Movie Channel 750 57 650 56 Trinity Broadcasting Network 13 41 47 Turner Network Television Cartoon Network TruTV [TWC] Weather Channel USA Network Video Hits One [WGN] WGN Chicago Local Programming 785 42 45 66 25 24 33 22 3 old pals Cox and LeBlanc,but Per- ry's still in good company.The cast features not one but two Tony award winners — Laura Benanti and Julie White. Benanti stars as the support group's leader, Lau- ren, while White portrays fellow support group member Anne.The cast also includes Tyler James Williams,Suzy Nakamura and Brett Gelman. There's no doubt — "Go On" looks promising.Perry isn't the only success story behind the show, either. Series creator Scott Silveri worked as a writer and pro- 11 24 18 14 33 27 21 9 5 24 15 37 30 35 36 9 2 7 14 34 37 24 33 9 19 17 35 26 36 22 20 29 9 10 26 29 4 6 8 13 22 2 Indiana 4 6 8 Sammo ns of 13 22 20 21 7 12 10 18 3 40 41 Tipton Cable TV 4 6 8 13 2 12 3 5 10 11 35 26 Oak Hill Cable 4 6 8 13 2 32 10 40 21 12 28 15 4 6 8 13 2 22 10 55 53 12 41 30 44 34 3 32 20 35 23 28 25 33 26 38 17 27 31 36 21 39 27 16 28 22 18 30 25 23 24 3 22 38 18 47 14 28 34 21 20 3 26 33 16 39 30 19 7 16 31 24 18 29 34 14 32 15 30 29 17 31 20 42 18 32 7 33 5 16 14 27 2 7 42 19 46 5 39 16 50 14 27 48 17 29 15 35 23 31 40 9 35 4 6 8 13 20 10 40 11 166 795 252 155 650 181 525 216 202 140 230 120 302 134 619 606 178 210 734 128 176 270 203 360 502 314 368 9 145 151 560 112 250 108 325 225 124 518 180 99 ducer on "Friends" for years. In April,"Go On"earned the distinc- tion of becoming the first pilot of the 2012-13 season to be picked up for 13 episodes.Part of NBC's plan to expand its successful com- edy block to Tuesdays,"Go On"is slated to air alongside fellow freshman comedy "The New Nor- mal"and the already well-estab- lished "Parenthood." Until then,enjoy a sneak peek at the comedy that brings a friendly face back to prime time. Swayzee AT&T U-Verse

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