New Comedy! Who's taping what?

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Here's a few of the new shows premiering this fall:

20 Good Years
Think The Odd Couple with veteran funny old guys John Lithgow (Third Rock From the Sun) and Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development). John Lithgow is John Mason, a surgeon, divorced twice and forced into early retirement. Jeffrey Tambor is Jeffrey Pyne, a judge and a widower who agonizes over every decision. The two play lifelong but mismatched friends in New York. Approaching 60 and realizing they won't live forever, they decide to live their remaining decades to the fullest.

Also appearing in 20 Good Years are Heather Burns (Bewitched) as John's pregnant daughter Stella, and Jake Sandvig (The Story of Us) as Hugh, Jeffrey's slacker son.

Writers are Marsh McCall and Michael Leeson (The Cosby Show). The pilot was directed by Terry Hughes (Friends) directed the pilot. Executive producers are Tom Werner (Roseanne), Eric Gold (Outsourced) Jimmy Miller (Kicking & Screaming) and Marsh McCall (Modern Men). Wednesdays, 9:00 ET.


30 Rock
Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch and Tracy Morgan all work on a sketch comedy show for a demanding network boss. Sound familiar? The Saturday Night Live alums are starring in this new NBC sitcom alongside popular SNL host Alec Baldwin. The show will revolve around the backstage hijinks.

Tina Fey is Liz Lemon, who has her dream job as the head writer of a NYC-based, live TV variety show. Alec Baldwin is the domineering new network president that messes with her show. He bullies Liz into talking Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan), a paranoid and unpredictable movie star, into joining the show's cast. Rachel Dratch plays Jenne DeCarlo, an actress with a bad stomach. Also appearing are Scott Adsit (Kicking and Screaming) as Pete Hornberger and Jack MacBrayer (who played a waiter at the Bluth's country club on Arrested Development) as Kenneth. Lorne Michaels of SNL is an executive producer on the new sitcom. Wednesdays, 9:30 ET.

NBC has also picked up a drama with a similar plot, Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, starring Friends alum Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet.


The Singles Table
Friends was a big hit, so why not try it again? This time around, five singles in their 20s all meet when they are seated together at a wedding. The friends this time around are Ivan (John Cho, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle), Eli (Conor Dubin, Close to Home), Adam (Jarrad Paul, The Shaggy Dog) and Stephanie (Rhea Seehorn, Modern Men).

The five meet when they are stuck together at Table 18, in part because they are all single, and due to their various tenuous relationships with either the bride or the groom. Through wit, emotion and a bit of retrospect, each vows to improve their lives in the future. The sitcom is written by Bill Martin and Mike Schiff (Grounded for Life, 3rd Rock from the Sun). The pilot was directed by Adam Bernstein (Scrubs). Possible midseason replacement.


Andy Barker, P.I.
Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O'Brien) is a hard-working accountant whoe business isn't exactly taking off. When he is mistaken for the detective who used to occupy his office, Lew Staziak (Harve Presnell, Fargo) he pulls a Laura Holt and becomes a private investigator.

Also appearing are Amy Farrington as Andy's supportive wife, Jen (Amy Farrington of The New Adventures of Old Christine), Andy's office neighbors Simon (Tony Hale, Buster from Arrested Development), Wally (Marshall Manesh of How I Met Your Mother, Will & Grace and Scrubs) and Jessica (Ion Overman of The L Word) join him in the dicey investigation. Conan O'Brien pitched in to write the pilot, along with Jonathan Groff (Ed). The pilot was directed by Jason Ensler (The West Wing). NBC ordered only six episodes of this sitcom, and will likely save it for midseason.


The Knights of Prosperity (was: Let's Rob Mick Jagger)
This sitcom had the most most advance buzz, thanks to Mick Jagger's appearance in the pilot. A down-on-his-luck night janitor, Eugene, catches a special about Mick Jagger on TV. Inspired, he recruits a band of misfits to plan the ultimate heist. Viewing themselves as "new-age Robin Hoods," no one in the gang has so much as shoplifted a candy bar, but that doesn't stop them from plotting their crime.

Donal Logue (Grounded for Life) is the janitor, Eugene.

Mick Jagger appears in a cameo. Also appearing are Maz Jobrani (Life on a Stick) as Gary, Sofia Vergara (Four Brothers) as Esperanza Villalobos, Kevin Michael Richardson (The Boondocks) as Rockefeller Butts, Lenny Venito (NYPD Blue) as Francis "Squatch" Scuacieri and Josh Grisetti as Louis Plunk. The producers are Jon Beckerman and Rob Burnett of Late Show with David Letterman and Ed. Tuesdays, 9 ET.


Big Day
It's billed as 24 meets Father of the Bride. The whole season focuses on one couple's wedding day, when everything can (and does) go wrong. Danny and Alice's big day is marked with unexpected events. The maid of honor sleeps with the best man, then accidentally drinks his contact lenses. The father of the bride wants to stop the wedding. And the mother of the bride has to decide what side salad to serve.

Marla Sokoloff (Desperate Housewives) is the bride and Josh Cooke ( Four Kings) is the groom. Also appearing are Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Kurt Fuller (Desperate Housewives). Thursdays, 8 ET.


Notes from the Underbelly
A young couple discovers they're expecting. Between trying to keep it a secret, then fielding oft-unwanted advice and help from friends and family, they're finding it to be quite a (comic) adjustment.

The show is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events) and produced by the Two and a Half Men team of Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. Peter Cambor (Up to the Roof) is Andrew and Jennifer Westfeldt (Numb3rs) is Lauren. Also appearing are Melanie Paxson (Cupid) as Julie, Rachael Harris (The West Wing) as Cooper, Michael Weaver (Monk) as Danny and Sunkrish Bala (Barbershop) as Eric. Thursdays, 8:30 ET.


Betty the Ugly
When you think comedy, you think -- Salma Hayek? Well, maybe not right away, but she is one of the executive producers of this new hour-long comedy, adapted from a show on Telemundo.

Betty Suarez doesn't fit in with her coworkers, because she's a normal girl. Hired by a publisher to be his son's assistant because she is plain -- so he might not sleep with her -- the plump, unstylish girl from Queens finds herself working at a fashion magazine. She's sweet, she's hardworking, she has a lot of good ideas, all qualities that aren't valued in her new world. Her new boss has no idea what he's doing, and will come to need her help. They're both surrounded by the razor-thin, superficial and sharklike inhabitants of the high fashion world.

America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) is Betty Suarez and Eric Mabius (The O.C., The L Word) as her boss, Daniel Meade. Also in the cast are Ana Ortiz (Boston Legal) as Hilda, Vanessa Williams (Chicago Hope) as Wilhelmina Slater, Tony Plana (24) as Ignacio, Ashley Jensen as Christina, Becki Newton (Charmed) as Amanda, Mark Indelicato as Justin and Alan Dale (The O.C.) as Bradford Meade. Salma Hayek is an executive producer along with Silvio Horta (Jake 2.0), Ben Silverman (The Office) and Jose Tamez (The Maldonado Miracle). Fridays, 8 ET.


Help Me Help You
Ted Danson is Dr. Bill Hoffman, who leads group therapy sessions with some messed-up folks. The sitcom follows the lessons learned by the members of the group, and how they try to apply those lessons in real life. Of course, their leader, Dr. Hoffman is a but crazy himself, and more than a little self-obsessed, hiding behind his celebrity author image.
Appearing along with Ted Danson (Cheers) are Charlie Finn (The Dukes of Hazzard) as Dave, Jim Rash (That '70s Show) as Jonathan, Suzy Nakamura (Dodgeball) as Inger, Darlene Hunt (I Heart Huckabees) as Darlene, Jere Burns (Good Morning Miami) as Michael and Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) as Anne.

The writing team, Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield, previously worked on the fan favorite Undeclared. Midseason replacement.


In Case of Emergency
Three twenty-something friends from high school reunite through a series of emergencies, and find things have changed a lot since their high school days. Sherman, a diet guru, goes ballistic after finding out his wife has left him, and hijacks a pastry truck. Harry goes for a massage, and discovers the masseuse is their high school valedictorian. And Jason, a financial wiz facing indictment, tries to commit suicide and shoots himself in the foot.

Jonathan Silverman (The Single Guy) is Harry, David Arquette (Scream) is Jason, and Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) is Sherman. Also appearing are Kelly Hu (CSI:NY) as the valedictorian, Kelly Lee, Lori Loughlin (Full House) as Dr. Joanna Lupone, and Nicholas Roget-King (Yours, Mine and Ours) as Dylan. Midseason replacement.


The Class
A group of twenty-something friends who met in the third grade reunite twenty years later at a party. The sitcom will look back at how each friend ended up where they are now in life, and how much they have in common now, as their lives become intertwined.

The ensemble show stars Jason Ritter (Joan of Arcadia), Heather Goldenhersh (The Merchant of Venice), Lizzy Caplan (Related), Jon Bernthal (Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman), Sean Maguire (Eve), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Putnam County Spelling Bee), Lucy Punch (Ella Enchanted) and Andrea Anders (Joey).

The show was created by David Crane, one of the co-creators of Friends, and Jeffrey Klarik (Mad About You). Mondays at 8:30 ET, after How I Met Your Mother.


Rules of Engagement
Puddy of Seinfeld (Patrick Warburton) takes another shot at sitcoms with this half-season comedy that centers around relationships in New York City. Starts in January


The Game
This spin-off of Girlfriends will go behind the scenes of an NFL team. Melanie is the girlfriend of the third-string wide receiver of the San Diego Sabers, Derwin. The game doesn't only refer to the football action; Melanie has to learn the game the wives and girlfriends of the team play, as she jockeys for position with agents, managers, endorsements and merchandising deals.

Tia Mowry (Love, Inc., Sister, Sister) is Melanie and Aldis Hodge (Girlfriends, Half & Half) is Derwin.

The Game also features Coby Bell (Third Watch) as Jason, Hosea Chanchez (Everwood) as Malik, and Wendy Raquel Robinson (All of Us, The Steve Harvey Show) as Tasha.
Executive producers are Kelsey Grammer (Frasier, Girlfriends, Medium), Mara Brock-Akil (Girlfriends, Moesha, The Jamie Foxx Show) and Steve Stark (Medium, The In-Laws).