Craig Robinson stars in “Mr. Robinson”

Imitation game: It was the Irish poet and author Oscar Wilde who famously opined that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life." But in today's Hollywood scene, the opposite is sometimes true.

Case in point: Craig Robinson. The star of 2013's "This Is the End" has a master's degree in education and spent some time teaching in the 1990s before getting into comedy and, ultimately, acting. He's a member of the band The Nasty Delicious, with which he performed during an episode of "The Office," and now these two non-acting worlds of his are about to collide with his acting career.

"Mr. Robinson" premieres Wednesday, Aug. 5, on NBC, and the Robinson-starring sitcom draws huge parallels to the author's real life.

Robinson plays the lead singer of the funk band The Nasty Delicious, which is still looking for its big break. To make some cash and keep the lights on, he takes what he thinks will be an easy job: a substitute music teacher at a local school. Of course, the job is anything but, especially when his less-than-orthodox methods start to clash with the school's principal (Peri Gilpin, "Frasier").

"Mr. Robinson" also stars Meagan Good ("Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues," 2013) as the school's pretty English teacher and the girl of Robinson's dreams, Brandon T. Jackson ("Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief," 2010), Tim Bagley ("Knocked Up," 2007), Spencer Grammer ("Rick and Morty") and Amandla Stenberg ("The Hunger Games," 2012).

With its inspiration drawn right out of Robinson's real-life experiences, "Mr. Robinson" really is a case of art imitating life -- his life. The new NBC sitcom premieres Wednesday, Aug. 5.

Back to the '50s: It's looking like live musicals are here to stay. The 2013 holiday season witnessed the spectacle of "The Sound of Music Live!" on NBC, which was followed up a year later by "Peter Pan Live!" Well, the big numbers that those productions brought in seem to have caught the other networks' attention, with Fox hopping on the live spectacle bandwagon with its own take on a classic musical.

"Grease Live" is in the works at Fox, and while it's not scheduled to broadcast until January 2016, it's not wasting any time signing up a musically inclined cast.

"Grease" got its start as a musical in 1971, but today it's best known for the 1978 film adaptation starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The new adaptation of the story about a pair of teenagers who've fallen madly in love will star Aaron Tveit ("Graceland") as greaser Danny Zuko, the role played by Travolta in the 1978 film, and Julianne Hough ("Rock of Ages," 2012) as sweet newcomer Sandy, the character previously played by Newton-John. Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical," 2006) will star as Rizzo, and Carlos PenaVega ("Big Time Rush") has been cast as Kenickie.

"Grease" is the story of Danny and Sandy, a pair of teenagers who meet on the beach while Australian Sandy is enjoying a vacation in America. They part ways at the end of the summer, only to reunite a few weeks later after Sandy moves to the United States and winds up attending the same high school as Danny. In front of his friends, though, this Danny is very different than the sweet, gentle boy that she thought she knew.

It's a classic story of the 1950s that's being given new life in one of TV's new golden eggs: the live spectacle. "Grease Live" is heading to Fox in January 2016.

It's in the blood: ABC's newest prime-time soap is filling out its cast. "Blood and Oil" is scheduled to premiere on the alphabet network Sept. 27, and the list of cast members is rapidly filling up.

Invoking shades of "Dallas," "Blood and Oil" is a drama that revolves around the town of Williston, North Dakota, after the discovery of massive reserves of oil.

Latest to sign on is Adan Canto ("X-Men: Days of Future Past," 2014), and he's joining a large and diverse cast for the highly anticipated drama. Don Johnson ("Miami Vice") headlines as a wealthy and powerful tycoon who practically owns the town, while Amber Valletta ("Transporter 2," 2005) stars as his beautiful socialite wife.

Chace Crawford ("Gossip Girl") and Rebecca Rittenhouse ("Red Band Society") star as the main drivers of the story, an attractive young couple who've just moved to Williston and get swept up in the politicking and the undercurrents of the new boom town.

"Blood and Oil" has been in development for some time: ABC first picked it up back in 2011, under the title "Boom." Now with a new name, "Blood and Oil" is finally almost ready for the light of day.