Yak Roundup: Country Star to Idol?, Modern Family Lawsuit, Cee Lo’s Adviser & More

Lots going on in the world of TV and entertainment today. In case you’ve missed some of the day’s biggest entertainment headlines, we figured we’d catch ya up to speed.

American Idol Courting Country Star Brad Paisley

| Well, it looks like Fox’s reality competition isn’t far from competing that much more with NBC’s The Voice, as the grand-daddy of singing competitions is looking to bring on a massive country star. With The Voice seeing success with Blake Shelton (in fact, his contestant won last season), Idol might want to dip into the country judge pool. Plus, when one of your most successful winners is a country star (Carrie Underwood), it might not hurt to keep that success rolling. Brad Paisley is reported to be highly considered by the powers that be. Now that Mariah Carey has been signed on and Randy Jackson is expected to be back, they do need a third star to fill the seats. Rumor has it that Idol is also looking to add a fourth judge, but there is not much available on that. Paisley does have a strong relationship with Season 4 winner Underwood, who was recently given a stamp of approval by Idol alum Kelly Clarkson.

He’s Movin’ On Up

| The man who brought George Jefferson to life is movin’ on up and relocating to a more peaceful place. Sherman Hemsley passes away Tuesday at his home in El Paso Texas. Hemsley was best known as George Jefferson, Archie Bunker’s neighbor in All in the Family, but his career spanned more than 38 iconic years. His role lead to The Jeffersons spin-off and many more successes. The world of television and entertainment will miss Hemsley and we wish his family and friends peace through this difficult time.

A Modern Family Dispute

| Earlier today, ABC’s hit sitcom, Modern Family, was slated to kick off Season 4 production with its first table read. Well, those plans were sidetracked at the last minute as contract talks kept the cast from showing up. Multiple members are renegotiating their contract details with the studio and those talks are not going smoothly. Following the footsteps of Friends, the cast, save Ed O’Neill, have joined forces in achieving a desired salary increase and filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court to void their contracts. This Emmy-nominated sitcom’s production schedule has now been kicked to the curb…temporarily.

Cee Lo’s Pussy Cat Replacement?

| Well, The Voice is getting a new “mascot” this year, if you will, but we are more concerned with the news that Cee Lo Green’s adviser for the season has been revealed. Matchbox 20’s frontman, Rob Thomas, has been filming his segments with Cee Lo in The Voice studio’s as the contestants are narrowed down and pit against each other in the battle rounds. Speaking of the battle rounds, Carson Daly recently hinted at changes in a recent interview that fans might appreciate after feeling a prolonged round in season 2. We previously reported that Michael Buble and Mary J Blige have signed on to help advise Blake and Adam, respectively. No word yet on Christina.

NBC Previews Fall Fare Early

| Per an NBC press release, NBC again will offer full-episode, pre-sampling versions of its new fall series prior to the network time-period premieres as each new primetime program. As NBC takes advantage of the Summer Olympics springboard to provide a full-episode and commercial-free network preview of the new comedies “Go On” (August 8) and “Animal Practice” (August 12), the online preview for those shows will be available over a wide spectrum for viewing immediately following their initial broadcasts beginning August 9 and 13, respectively. In addition, NBC will further maximize its Olympics platform by unveiling a special six-minute tease of the new fall drama “Revolution” on Saturday, August 4 at approximately 10:54 p.m. (ET) following the swimming competition that is expected to feature U.S. gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps. Platforms where these shows will be available include: on demand and online through cable, satellite and telco providers; NBC.com; NBC Owned and affiliate station websites (should they choose to opt in); Hulu (including Hulu’s online distribution partners); iTunes, Amazon and Xbox. Select shows will be available on the Hulu Plus subscription service as well. Also be sure to stand by tomorrow for our first Fall preview of the season – featuring NBC’s fall fare, in anticipation for these early peeks.

The Olympics Get Digital and Social

| For the first time ever, NBC Olympics.com will live stream every athletic event and sport. In all, the site will stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals, and the four NBCU cable channels that are airing the Olympics (NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo). The site will also feature the debut of the Gold Zone, an exclusive video channel offering viewers whip-around coverage of the Games’ most compelling live events. In addition, NBC Olympics has developed two new apps for the 2012 London Olympics. The NBC Olympics Live Extra app will live stream every athletic competition, each Olympic cable channel and provide multiple concurrent streams for select sports, such as gymnastics (each apparatus), track and field (each event), and tennis (up to five courts). The vast majority of content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers. The NBC Olympics app will be the home for everything else Olympics, including short-form highlights, event schedules, TV and online listings, results, athlete profiles, columns and the new Primetime Companion feature. NBC Olympics has also partnered with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Shazam to extend its coverage onto these popular social media platforms for the 2012 London Olympics. The social media partnerships allow the NBC Sports Group to communicate directly with fans of the Olympics and celebrate the Games with viewers in new and unique ways. For more details on each platforms special features, click here.

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