NBC announced its fall lineup this afternoon in New York City. Highlights:
1. The long-rumored spinoff to The Office, will premiere after the 2009 Super Bowl.
2. Friday Night Lights will return for a third season as part of what NBC called a "unique" partnership with DirecTV. (Translation: NBC needs cash.) The satellite TV service has exclusive rights to FNL’s 13 new episodes, which will begin airing October 1. Here’s the bad news: If you don’t have DirecTV, those eps won’t air on NBC until the spring.
3. ER will be back for its 15th, and final, season, and so will Noah Wyle.
The announcements were part of NBC’s new strategy to be “in front” of its competitors by presenting a “52-week super-season” of “quality programming” to advertisers and journalists in lieu of the usual May upfront extravaganza. Network co-chair Ben Silverman described the network’s slate as “inspirational, heroic, entertaining, escapist, engaging, real heroes and super heroes.” Time will tell. Here’s how the next year or so will shake out:
Returning Fall 2008
Chuck, The Biggest Loser: Families, Law & Order: SVU, Deal or No Deal, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, ER, and Life. Heroes will premiere Sept. 15 as a three-hour special, and Lipstick Jungle is back, Silverman says, because "the women of America have spoken."
New Fall 2008
My Own Worst Enemy. Drama. Christian Slater (pictured) plays a guy with two personalities: one named Henry with a dry-toast life and Edward, a trained killer. Think “Jekyll & Hyde meets The Bourne Identity.” Silverman said he had to really push to land Slater for the role: “I took his mother out to lunch," he said.
Kath & Kim. Comedy. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair star as a brassy and dysfunctional mother-daughter living it up in suburbia. The show originated in Australia. “It’s part of our own trilogy," Silverman said. "Ugly Betty we found in Colombia; The Office we found in London."
Knight Rider. Drama. Remake of ’80s series featuring a guy and his tricked-out car.
SNL Thursday Night Live. Comedy. To capitalize on the November presidential election, SNL will expand its “Weekend Update” coverage for three, live, half-hour shows, beginning Oct. 16.
New Winter 2009
The Philanthropist. Drama. About a renegade do-gooder.
The Office spinoff. Comedy. No details yet, but we hope it entails Dwight Shrute getting into fisticuffs with an assistant [to the] regional manager at another Dunder & Mifflin branch.
Merlin. Fantasy. Set in a 21st century Camelot.
Kings. Drama. Starring Ian McShane (Deadwood), directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend). Silverman calls it an exploration for the David vs. Goliath struggle. (We’re rooting for the little guy, right?)
New Summer 2009
America’s Toughest Jobs. Reality. Self-explanatory.
Shark Taggers. Reality. Marine biologists tag sharks (duh) with transmitters.
The Listener. Drama. A 24-year-old helps solve crimes by reading people’s minds.
Chopping Block. Reality. Competition show from the producers of Hell’s Kitchen. Couples elbow their way to opening their own restaurant in Manhattan — if they can survive getting grilled by rock-star chef Marco Pierre White.
Returning Fall 2008
Chuck, The Biggest Loser: Families, Law & Order: SVU, Deal or No Deal, My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, ER, and Life. Heroes will premiere Sept. 15 as a three-hour special, and Lipstick Jungle is back, Silverman says, because "the women of America have spoken."
New Fall 2008
My Own Worst Enemy. Drama. Christian Slater (pictured) plays a guy with two personalities: one named Henry with a dry-toast life and Edward, a trained killer. Think “Jekyll & Hyde meets The Bourne Identity.” Silverman said he had to really push to land Slater for the role: “I took his mother out to lunch," he said.
Kath & Kim. Comedy. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair star as a brassy and dysfunctional mother-daughter living it up in suburbia. The show originated in Australia. “It’s part of our own trilogy," Silverman said. "Ugly Betty we found in Colombia; The Office we found in London."
Knight Rider. Drama. Remake of ’80s series featuring a guy and his tricked-out car.
SNL Thursday Night Live. Comedy. To capitalize on the November presidential election, SNL will expand its “Weekend Update” coverage for three, live, half-hour shows, beginning Oct. 16.
New Winter 2009
The Philanthropist. Drama. About a renegade do-gooder.
The Office spinoff. Comedy. No details yet, but we hope it entails Dwight Shrute getting into fisticuffs with an assistant [to the] regional manager at another Dunder & Mifflin branch.
Merlin. Fantasy. Set in a 21st century Camelot.
Kings. Drama. Starring Ian McShane (Deadwood), directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend). Silverman calls it an exploration for the David vs. Goliath struggle. (We’re rooting for the little guy, right?)
New Summer 2009
America’s Toughest Jobs. Reality. Self-explanatory.
Shark Taggers. Reality. Marine biologists tag sharks (duh) with transmitters.
The Listener. Drama. A 24-year-old helps solve crimes by reading people’s minds.
Chopping Block. Reality. Competition show from the producers of Hell’s Kitchen. Couples elbow their way to opening their own restaurant in Manhattan — if they can survive getting grilled by rock-star chef Marco Pierre White.
Comments (1-30) of 75 Add your comment
YAY!!!!! Clear Eyes, Full Hearts–back for another season!
As with turning good tv shows into movies, what is the point of a spinoff of “The Office”? I’m estimating a run of 4 shows, even if there is cross-over casting. I would’ve at least gave Bionic Woman another earnest effort with a full season to develop it.
BRING BACK JOURNEYMAN!!! i hate you nbc.
*&$*(#&*?! where’s my Journeyman! Maybe Sci Fi will pick it up.
At least FNL is coming back in some form. Thank you, NBC. For giving one of the best shows on tv some love.
No Journeyman?!?! Unbelievable.
hey you forgot to tell readers that they frickin canceled scrubs basically!! A really great show that deserved a better timeslot when it began.
BRING BACK JOURNEYMAN! (Yes I’m shouting!)
NO OFFICE SPIN-OFF. I don’t want to lose any characters! Esp. not Dwight! Why can’t they wait til after?
It’s nice to see that Law & Order: SVU will be back with the same OLD cast. Whatever happened to the Law & Order tradition of switching out cast members? Hargitay, Meloni, Florek, and Ice-T need to go.
It’s nice to see that Law & Order: SVU will be back with the same OLD cast. Whatever happened to the Law & Order tradition of switching out cast members? Hargitay, Meloni, Florek, and Ice-T need to go.
Also why in the world would that awful Knight Rider get greenlit for a full season? Why not bring back an overhauled Bionic Woman with Katie Sackoff playing the lead role? Corruption, money, and politics rear their ugly heads again.
Booo to The Office spin-off!!! What’s the point??? What would they do? I like all the characters where they are. The variety of characters is what makes it work!
I assume Ken Tucker has DirecTV and so will be doing FNL recaplets in the fall? So I guess I’ll be missing out on those. Also, I think the Office spinoff is already dead in the water – I don’t know any viewer who thinks it’s a good idea. NBC should euthanize ER and keep the revitalized L&O: Original Flavor. Linus Roache is composed entirely of awesome.
FNL is back!! Thanks NBC.
Are you sure you got the name of the Office spin-off right? First, the company on the OG Office is Dunder Mifflin, not Dunder & Mifflin. Second, Dunder & Miffinities doesn’t make any sense.
so…no more scrubs? didn’t i hear something about another network picking it up. cbs?
FNL coming back-Good Bionic Woman not given a better chance-Bad The original L&O not coming back-WTF!!!!!
woohooo FNL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Umm, not to be picky, but the name of the country is Colombia, not Columbia. Anyhoo — happy about FNL, sad about Journeyman. Shark taggers? Really?
I really hope that they do a good job with Kath & Kim and don’t turn it into some bland US sitcom. The Australian version was such a massive hit and so funny and original, they had better do a GREAT job with it!!
Bleh, I can’t believe they renewed Life over Journeyman…I don’t understand Life’s appeal. Glad to see Chuck back though! Love Adam Baldwin
I LOVE FNL- and I’m glad they’ve found a way to keep it on the air. But for Christ’s sakes- 13 episodes does not a season make. This isn’t the Sopranos.
Thank you NBC (and direct TV)!. Even if it doesn’t come back for a 4th season, we can still get some closure with these characters!
Thank you NBC (and direct TV)!. I love Friday Night Lights!
Even if it doesn’t come back for a 4th season, we can still get some closure with these characters!
Yeah Chuck!!!! the ONLY NBC show I watch
Oh joy, more L&O(yawn), more mindless Earl, and a couple of new copycat reality shows. So, just how did ‘Life’ get renewed over ‘Journeyman’? Apparently the higher-ups at NBC don’t actually watch this stuff.
SCRUBS was picked up by another channel (ABC I think).
The Slater show and the aussie comedy sound promising. As for the rest: meh.
I originally heard that we wouldn’t lose any characters to “The Office” spinoff. That BETTER still be the case.