NBC presents new shows for the fall
By Casey Gillis on May. 15, 2007
It’s an exciting week in TV land, as all five major networks are presenting their new fall schedules.
NBC and ABC presented yesterday and today, with CBS set for tomorrow and Fox and the CW Thursday.
Here’s a breakdown of what to expect on the Peacock Network come fall:
NBC - which has experienced some ratings woes as of late - only added five new dramas and one comedy to its fall schedule and made very few timeslot changes to its current roster.
Those include moving veteran “Law & Order” from Friday nights to Sundays at 8 p.m., to be followed by “Medium” at 9 p.m.
Taking its place at 10 p.m. Fridays will be, appropriately, “Friday Night Lights.“
Also, execs are moving “The Office” to 9 p.m. and “30 Rock” to 8:30 p.m., both on Thursday.
“Scrubs” was renewed for a seventh and, likely, final season.
Cancelled series include “Crossing Jordan,“ “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,“ “Black Donnellys” and game show “Identity.“ Also gone from the schedule is “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,“ which is moving over to USA.
And in an effort to build on the popularity of freshman drama “Heroes,“ they’ve announced plans for “Heroes: Origins.“ The spinoff will introduce a new character every week, one of whom will be chosen by viewers to become a cast regular in the original’s third season.
The new series include:
Journeyman (Mondays at 10 p.m.)
In what sounds like a perfect companion piece to “Heroes,“ “Journeyman” is a romantic drama about a time-traveling newspaper reporter (Kevin McKidd, last seen on HBO’s “Rome”) in San Francisco.
Chuck (Tuesdays at 9 p.m.)
From “The O.C.“ creator Josh Schwartz, this hour-long comedy is a spy thriller about a computer geek, Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, “Less Than Perfect”), who accidentally downloads the CIA’s entire server into his brain, throwing him into a life of action and intrigue.
Bionic Woman (Wednesdays at 9 p.m.)
Based on the 1970s series of the same name - which was a spinoff of “The Six Million Dollar Man” - the “Bionic Woman” in question is Jaime Sommers, who, after a horrific car accident and subsequent surgery, winds up with superhuman abilities.
Life (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.)
A straight drama about a detective (Damian Lewis, “Band of Brothers”) who has just returned to the force after being wrongly imprisoned for years on a murder charge.
Lipstick Jungle (Sundays at 10 p.m., starting in January)
Starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver (“24,“ “The Nine”) and Lindsay Price (“Beverly Hill, 90210,“ “Coupling”), this series is already being described as the second coming of “Sex and the City.“ The three women play high-powered friends who support each other through lifes ups and downs. Shields is a movie executive; Raver a fashion magazine editor-in-chief; and Price a free-spirited designer.
The IT Crowd (Timeslot TBA)
Another comedy based on a British critics’ darling, this series is a behind-the-scenes look at office techies. It stars “The Soup’s” Joel McHale and won’t appear until midseason.
COMMENTS
What about the detective show Raines starring Jeff Goldbum. It was a mid-season show this year on NBC but only ran five or six episodes. It was very good. Is it coming back?