Go On (TV series)

Go On
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Scott Silveri
Starring	Matthew Perry Laura Benanti Julie White Suzy Nakamura Tyler James Williams Brett Gelman Sarah Baker John Cho
Opening theme	"Moves", by The New Pornographers (in the occasionally seen extended opening only).[1]
Composer(s)	John Swihart
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Scott Silveri Todd Holland (pilot) Karey Burke
Editor(s)	Daniel Gabbe Pamela March
Cinematography	Edward J. Pei
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	21–23 minutes
Production company(s)	Silver & Gold Productions Dark Toy Entertainment Universal Television Open 4 Business Productions
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	August 8, 2012 – April 11, 2013
External links
Official website

Go On is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from August 8, 2012 to April 11, 2013. The series starred Matthew Perry as Ryan King, a sports talk radio host trying to move on from the death of his wife. Go On was created by Scott Silveri and was given a series order on April 20, 2012.^[2] A preview episode aired following the Olympics coverage on August 8. The series premiered on September 11, 2012, in its normal Tuesday timeslot at 9:00 pm Eastern/8:00 pm Central after The Voice.^[3]

On October 2, 2012, NBC ordered a full season of Go On, to contain 22 episodes.^[2] On May 10, 2013, NBC announced that the show had been canceled.^[4]

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Matthew Perry as Ryan King, a sports talk radio host who joins a support group while trying to move on from his late wife's death.
• Laura Benanti as Lauren Bennett, the group's poorly trained leader. She fancies herself "in charge" of the group's emotional well-being.
• Julie White as Anne, a lesbian prosecutor coping with the death of her partner, and stuck in the "anger" stage of grief.
• Suzy Nakamura as Yolanda Mitsawa, an anesthesiologist whose fiancé left her, and who feels that everything is "too sexual", including jazz and cats that continue to rub against her.
• Tyler James Williams as Owen Lewis, whose brother is in a coma following a skiing accident. He is extremely shy in the beginning, though he has come out of his shell quite a bit since Ryan has joined the group.^[5]
• Brett Gelman as "Mr K.", a mysterious member whose first name is Benjamin and who designed NASA's Mars Curiosity rover's sampling arm, coping with grief that the others are too afraid to ask him about.^[6]
• Sarah Baker as Sonia (episode 14 onwards; previously recurring),^[7] a member of the group, who is grieving over the death of her cat, Cinderella.
• John Cho as Steven, Ryan's boss and best friend, who forces him to seek counseling.^[8]

Recurring cast

• Allison Miller as Carrie, Ryan's assistant, on whom she has a crush. The penultimate episode of the series reveals that these feelings are mutual, and she quits her job so that they are free to carry out a relationship.
• Tonita Castro as Fausta, a member of the group, who is grieving the death of her father and brother.
• Seth Morris as Danny, a member of the group, a discharged soldier whose wife had a son with another man while he was on deployment.
• Bill Cobbs as George, a member of the group who is blind.^[9]
• Christine Woods as Janie, Ryan's deceased wife who died in a car crash due to texting while driving.
• Hayes MacArthur as Wyatt, Lauren's chiropractor fiancé.
• Piper Perabo as Simone, a popular, former member of the support group, who was dealing with an injury that made her unable to work in her dancing career. She is disliked by Lauren, and develops a romantic relationship with Ryan.
• Terrell Owens as himself. In the first episode, he was Ryan's first guest after he returned from his bereavement leave. In later episodes, he became Ryan's assistant at KBAL.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (million)
1	"Pilot"	Todd Holland	Scott Silveri	August 8, 2012	101	16.10[10]
Ryan King is a sports talk radio host who thinks he is ready to get back to work after the death of his wife. Ryan reluctantly attends a grief support group his boss Steven insisted upon. Ryan's decision to come back to work early proves to be disastrous and he realizes that maybe group therapy is what he needs right now.
2	"He Got Game, She Got Cats"	Andy Ackerman	Lesley Wake Webster	September 11, 2012	102	9.73[11]
Ryan encourages the group members to take action, starting with Sonia dumping her boyfriend Jason and getting another cat, "Fuzzy Jason," which triggers her cat-owning compulsion. George is devastated to learn his historic signed basketball is missing from its display case. And Ryan invades his personal assistant Carrie's personal time.
3	"There's No 'Ryan' In Team"	Todd Holland	Scott Silveri	September 18, 2012	103	9.28[12]
Ryan upsets the group by ignoring them in front of his colleagues, though Steven sees he is making progress and encourages Ryan to socialize with the group, who all support Ryan for his 1:23 am flinch and a ceremony provided by his gardener.
4	"Bench-Clearing Bawl"	Jamie Babbit	Liz Brixius	September 25, 2012	104	6.90[13]
Ryan has been trying to get into Jeremy Roenick's hockey games for years, but when Steven plays the dead-wife card to get an invitation Ryan doesn't know it is a sympathy gesture. Ryan agrees to help Anne by being her 'plus one' to a lesbian wedding. And Ryan has a breakdown after giving away Janie's sewing machine.
5	"Do You Believe in Ghosts...Yes!"	Michael Engler	Mathew Harawitz	October 2, 2012	105	5.82[14]
Ryan hallucinates his dead wife Janie at home, prompting him to take better care of himself. Learning that Steven was dumped a month ago, Ryan determines to be his wingman but they have more fun just hanging out as friends. The group discover that Lauren has test anxiety and support her in taking the real estate agent exam.
6	"Big League Chew"	Millicent Shelton	Dennis McNicholas	October 9, 2012	106	6.65[15]
Ryan is in denial about his compulsive eating to deal with grief. Ryan tries to help Danny let go of the fantasy world he has created in his mind to escape to when reality is too difficult to confront.
7	"Any Given Birthday"	Kevin Dowling	Jon Pollack & Scott Silveri	October 23, 2012	107	6.12[16]
Ryan has never enjoyed his birthday even though Janie would often try to make them special for him. To try to help Ryan with his first birthday since the death of his wife Yolanda sets up a scavenger hunt based on Ryan's life for the group to participate in. Ryan agrees to let Sonia look after Steven who is recovering from a colonoscopy. Anne and Mr K discover a common passion for musicals.
8	"Videogame, Set, Match"	Todd Holland	Lesley Wake Webster	November 13, 2012	108	6.09[17]
Ryan tries to take Owen under his wing but Owen's mother isn't certain Ryan is actually helping. Yolanda announces that she is ready to graduate from the group but changes her mind at the ceremony though she goes through with it because of the peer pressure to ensure Lauren doesn't see herself as a failure.
9	"Dinner Takes All"	Ken Whittingham	Story by: Liz Brixius Teleplay by: Lesley Wake Webster	November 20, 2012	110	6.20[18]
When Amy (Lauren Graham) pays a visit to her old college friends Ryan and Steven, the guys unexpectedly begin to compete for her affection. Meanwhile, Ryan invites the support group to the K-Bal offices for Thanksgiving, Lauren's qualifications are tested by Owen's mom and Anne's kids meet Ryan for the first time.
10	"Back, Back, Back... It's Gone"	Todd Holland	Dennis McNicholas	November 27, 2012	111	6.06[19]
When Ryan decides it's time to start dating again, Misty May-Treanor offers to help and invites him to play in a game of beach volleyball with her friends. Elsewhere, George outlives his doctors' predicted life expectancy for him and is ready to celebrate, and Danny develops feelings for Sonia.
11	"The World Ain't Over 'Till It's Over"	Kevin Dowling	Story by: Seth Raab & Nicholas Darrow Teleplay by: Mathew Harawitz	December 4, 2012	112	6.67[20]
When the group settles on a date for their holiday party, it happens to fall on what Mr. K believes will be the end of the world. Ryan invites Anne along on his annual trip to wine country with Steven and Lauren worries her boyfriend is ready to pop the question.
12	"Win at All Costas"	Michael Lehmann	Story by: Mathew Harawitz Teleplay by: Seth Raab & Nicholas Darrow	January 8, 2013	109	4.29[21]
When Ryan is offered an audition with his idol Bob Costas, Mr K. finds a new purpose in life.
13	"Gooooaaaallll Doll!"	Todd Holland	Lesley Wake Webster	January 15, 2013	113	4.45[22]
Ryan decides to go back to dating. And get an unexpected competition with Shaun White by a woman Hannah (Nazanin Boniadi).
14	"Comeback Player of the Year"	Eric Appel	Jon Pollack & Scott Silveri	January 22, 2013	114	3.97[23]
When Simone (Piper Perabo) - a former member of the group - returns seeking help, Ryan feels threatened and worried about his importance within the group.
15	"Pass Interference"	Jamie Babbit	Mathew Harawitz & Lesley Wake Webster	January 29, 2013	115	3.95[24]
After Ryan starts dating Simone, he is distracted by Janie's ghost who starts re-appearing during his & Simone's intimate moments. Meanwhile, the rest of the group decides to buy Lauren a wedding dress whilst relying on Owen to act as her body double.
16	"Go Deep"	Linda Mendoza	Mathew Harawitz & Lesley Wake Webster	February 19, 2013	116	3.30[25]
Terrell Owens gets a temp job at K-Bal. Ryan, Simone & Mr. K go on a meditation retreat.
17	"Ring and a Miss"	Todd Holland	Bill Callahan & Dennis McNicholas	February 26, 2013	117	3.17[26]
Ryan asks Simone to move in with him, although he finds it difficult to uphold her request to detach himself from his wedding ring.
18	"Double Down"	Michael Lehmann	Seth Raab & Nicholas Darrow	March 5, 2013	118	3.07[27]
Janie's life insurance check arrives. Ryan starts gambling again after Fausta takes him to a church bingo game. Ryan involves the rest of the group in his gambling addiction to the disapproval of Lauren. Anne dates a book store salesperson named Brittney (Annie Heise).
19	"Go for the Gold Watch"	Todd Holland	Story by: Dennis McNicholas Teleplay by: Bill Callahan & Mathew Harawitz	March 19, 2013	119	2.87[28]
Ryan overtakes El Mandril in the ratings as the top radio show in LA but the success doesn't bring him happiness. Danny's divorce papers come through, and seeing an opportunity to help a friend as well as internal happiness, Ryan tries to pair Danny up with Sonia. Mr. K's compatibility algorithm for truesoulm8.com calculates that Lauren and Steven are a 99% match. Owen and Anne team up to find more about Mr. K's background and discover that he failed the read-through for the role of Wesley on Mr. Belvedere.
20	"Matchup Problems"	Beth McCarthy-Miller	Story by: Bill Callahan Teleplay by: Jon Pollack & Scott Silveri	March 26, 2013	120	5.12[29]
Anne and Ryan compete for the affection of a widow, Talia (Courteney Cox). Yolanda goes on an Asian Christian Singles Cruise but isn't having much luck, so Lauren, via webcam, offers to be her wingman.
21	"Fast Breakup"	Eric Appel	Lesley Wake Webster & Matthew Harawitz	April 4, 2013	121	2.45[30]
Discovering that Carrie has a crush on him, Ryan uses the K-BAL's mascot suit to avoid talking to her. The women of the group, along with Mr. K, throw Lauren a bachelorette party. Ryan tries to help Lauren break up with Wyatt but is swayed by Wyatt's charms and ends up singing with him and breaking bread. Carrie quits K-BAL in order to remove any conflict of a potential workplace relationship between herself and Ryan.
22	"Urn-ed Run"	Linda Mendoza	Story by: Bill Callahan Teleplay by: Jon Pollack & Scott Silveri	April 11, 2013	122	2.67[31]
Ryan spreads Janie's ashes at a bridge as Steven sings "I Got Shoes". Mr. K digs into it and reveals that Ryan actually spread pancake mix. The group admits that they have not progressed much in their respective issues and blame Lauren's ineffectiveness. Sonia and Yolanda take pity on Lauren and create a fake deceased patient to grieve over. Mr. K and Anne steal Janie's ashes, intending to scatter them at the bridge, but after a confrontation at a gas station the urn breaks. Ryan is upset by the location but Lauren helps him understand that Janie never wanted something perfect and extravagant, a callback to the flashbacks of Ryan & Janie's wedding, but something personal. In the end, Ryan ends up scattering the remains of Janie's ashes at a batting cage, where he took her to get away from the stress of the wedding.

Development and production

NBC ordered Go On to pilot in January 2012.^[32] Matthew Perry was announced as the series' lead actor on March 1.^[2][33] Creator Scott Silveri, who worked with Perry on Friends, claims he subconsciously wrote the part for him.

On April 20, 2012, the pilot became the first of the 2012–13 American television season to gain a series order of thirteen episodes.^[2] Go On aired its pilot on August 8, 2012, during the 2012 Summer Olympics, as a "sneak preview",^[34] and was picked up for a full season of twenty-two episodes, on October 2, 2012.^[2] Episode eight was originally scheduled for October 30, 2012 but was pre-empted by coverage of Hurricane Sandy.^[35] The last two episodes were aired on Thursday unlike the other episodes which aired on Tuesday.^[36]

Reception

Critical

The series has received favorable reviews from critics. It holds a Metacritic score of 66/100, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[37] Verne Gay of Newsday gave the show a 5 star rating, noting "The cast is good, even excellent. But Perry's the one who sells Go On."^[38] David Hinckley of the New York Daily News described the show as "Maybe the best new sitcom of the fall."^[39] Hank Stuever of the Washington Post praised the directing of the show, observing "Go On moves quite breezily--much like an NBC-flavored take on premium cable dramadies such as The Big C and Enlightened. It's not as good as either of those, but it has the same happy-sad aura, with just a dash of Community-like absurdity to keep the speed limit up."^[40]

Several critics mentioned the show's resemblance to fellow NBC sitcom Community. Todd VanDerWerff of the The A.V Club said "the show's weird similarities to Community distract".^[41] Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix called the show "Community with Chandler Bing instead of the guy from The Soup."^[42] James Poniewozik of Time described its premise as being "as much as possible like Community's without actually being Community".^[43]

Ratings

Season	Timeslot (ET)	# Ep.	Premiered		Ended		TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
			Date	Premiere Viewers (in millions)	Date	Finale Viewers (in millions)
1	Tuesday 9:00 pm (Episodes 1 – 20) Thursday 9:30 pm (Episodes 21 – 22)	22[2]	August 8, 2012	16.10[10]	April 11, 2013	2.67[31]	2012–13	#74[44]	6.2[44]

Broadcast

The series aired on Global in Canada, and was simulcast with the NBC airings.^[45]

References

1. The, BestOpenings (November 3, 2012). "GO ON Extended Version Intro". Retrieved May 7, 2013.
2. Andreeva, Nellie (April 20, 2012). "NBC Picks Up Matthew Perry Comedy Pilot 'Go On' To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
3. Harnick, Chris (June 14, 2012). "NBC Fall 2012 Premiere Dates: 'Go On' Premieres Early, 'Community' Returns In October". Huffington Post. Retrieved June 14, 2012.
4. Kondolojy, Amanda (May 10, 2013). "'Go On' Canceled by NBC After One Season". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 10, 2013.
5. Andreeva, Nellie (May 7, 2012). "Paget Brewster To Star In Fox Animated Pilot 'Working Class Hero', Tyler James Williams Named Regular On NBC’s ‘Go On’". Deadline.com. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
6. "Go On - Brett Gelman - NBC". NBC.com. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
7. "Sarah Baker Upped To Regular On NBC Comedy Series ‘Go On'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
8. Masters, Megan (June 15, 2012). "Scoop: Matthew Perry's Go On Promotes John Cho to Series Regular". TVLine.com. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
9. Andreeva, Nellie (March 26, 2012). "David Lyons In JJ Abrams/Eric Kripke Pilot, NeNe Leakes In 'New Normal', More Castings". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
10. Daily Preliminary Broadcast Cable Finals Broadcast Finals (August 9, 2012). "TV Ratings Wednesday: Olympics Again Score Ratings Gold, ‘Big Brother’ Down, ‘Final Witness’ Up, ‘Go On’ Preview Strong - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
11. Kondolojy, Amanda (September 12, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' Adjusted Up; No 18-49 Adjustments for 'Go On,' 'The New Normal' or 'Parenthood'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
12. Bibel, Sara (September 19, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice' and 'Go On' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
13. Kondolojy, Amanda (September 26, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'New Girl', 'Dancing With the Stars', & 'Ben & Kate' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
14. Bibel, Sara (October 2, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'The Voice', & 'Dancing With the Stars' Special Adjusted Up; 'Go On', 'Vegas' & 'Parenthood' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
15. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'The Voice', 'Hart of Dixie', 'NCIS:LA' & 'DWTS' Adjusted Up; 'Go On' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
16. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'NCIS:LA', 'DWTS' & 'Vegas' Adjusted Up, 'Go On' 'Happy Endings', 'X Factor' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
17. Bibel, Sara. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'Parenthood' & 'NCIS' Adjusted Up; 'Go On', 'Hart of Dixie', 'Happy Endings' & 'The Mindy Project' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
18. "NCIS, The Voice lead slow Tuesday. "New Girl" hits series low.". Retrieved November 22, 2012.
19. Bibel, Sara (November 28, 2012). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS' & 'Raising Hope' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
20. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'Dancing With the Stars', 'Private Practice' & 'Parenthood' Adjusted Up; 'Go On' 'Happy Endings' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
21. Bibel, Sara. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Betty White's Off Their Rockers' & 'New Girl' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
22. Kondolojy, Amanda. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'Off Their Rockers' & 'The New Normal' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
23. Bibel, Sara. "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'Parenthood' & 'New Girl' Adjusted Up; 'The Taste', 'Hart of Dixie', & 'Emily Owens M.D.' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
24. Kondolojy, Amanda (January 30, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'NCIS', 'Raising Hope', 'New Girl' & 'Go On' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
25. Bibel, Sara (February 21, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The New Normal' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
26. Kondolojv, Amanda (February 27, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Mindly Project Adjusted Up; No Adjustment for 'Golden Boy', 'The New Normal', or 'Smash'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
27. Bibel, Sara (March 6, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'American Idol', 'NCIS', 'Smash' & 'Body of Proof' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
28. Bibel, Sara (March 20, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'New Girl', 'NCIS' &'NCIS: Los Angeles' Adjusted Up; 'Smash' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
29. Kondolojy, Amanda (March 27, 2013). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'NCIS', 'Hell's Kitchen', & 'Splash', 'Dancing with the Stars' Adjusted Up; 'The New Normal', 'Body of Proof', & 'Go On' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
30. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/05/thursday-final-ratings-the-big-bang-theory-american-idol-greys-anatomy-two-and-a-half-men-the-office-scandal-the-mindy-project-adjust/176649/
31. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/12/thursday-final-ratings-hannibal-american-idol-adjusted-up/177499/
32. Andreeva, Nellie (January 23, 2012). "2nd UPDATE: NBC Picks Up 8 Comedies Including Greg Daniels' 'Friday Night Dinner'". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
33. Ausiello, Michael (March 1, 2012). "Scoop: Matthew Perry Returning to NBC as Star of Comedy Pilot Go On". TVLine.com. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
34. Collins, Scott (August 9, 2012). "London Olympics: NBC draws crowd for Matthew Perry sitcom 'Go On'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
35. Bibel, Sara. "NBC Officially Pre-empts 'Go On' & 'New Normal' for Hurricane Coverage; Bumps Thursday Comedies for 'The Voice' Rerun". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
36. "Shows A-Z - go on on nbc". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
37. HoolaTallulah (2012-08-08). "Go On - Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-14.
38. Verne Gat. "Matthew Perry sells in NBC's 'Go On'". Newsday. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
39. David Hinkley. "'Go On' with Matthew Perry". New York: NY DailyNews. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
40. Hank Stuever (August 7, 2012). "'Go On’: The five E-Z stages of grief". Washington Post. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
41. VanDerWerff, Todd. "Go On". The A. V. Club. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
42. Sepinwall, Alan. "Review: Matthew Perry deals with grief in NBC's 'Go On'". Hitfix. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
43. Poniewozik, James (August 8, 2012). "TV Tonight: Go On". Time. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
44. Bibel, Sara (May 29, 2013). "Complete List Of 2012-13 Season TV Show Viewership: 'Sunday Night Football' Tops, Followed By 'NCIS,' 'The Big Bang Theory' & 'NCIS: Los Angeles'". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
45. Wilford, Denette (May 30, 2012). "Shaw Media Fall TV Schedule 2012–13: Big Names, Big Shows". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 8, 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Go On at the Internet Movie Database