Exclusive: NBC Boss Says If Chuck Returns, It May Be on a New Night
Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski
NBC's entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman left the options wide open for Chuck's future during the network's presentation of its fall lineup — indicating that Heroes could be paired with a new drama series instead of our favorite spies on Monday nights.
"It could shake out in some way to be a similar lineup, or maybe Chuck would go in a different slot, if we brought it back," he told TVGuide.com. "We haven't locked in [the complete fall schedule], but we like Heroes on Monday. It's established an audience, and we don't want to move it."
Silverman indicated that Heroes could get moved up an hour to 8 pm, where it would be followed by Trauma, a new medical drama, which he says shares a similar "adrenaline."
It's [a matter of] evaluating what works best with what," he said, "and we don't have it all defined yet."
There's not a lot of real estate left, as NBC makes room for Jay Leno's nightly 10 p.m. prime-time show. At least one hour of The Biggest Loser will air on Tuesday, Law & Order: SVU is slotted for Wednesday, Thursday is dedicated to the net's half-hour comedies and Friday is still up in the air. Saturday is populated by new Datelines and crime-show repeats. And on the seventh day, Silverman gives us Sunday Night Football.
Since much of NBC's "infront" presentation dwelled on the synchronization of content and advertising — namely, in cross-promotions and product placement — TVGuide.com asked Silverman about the fact that Chuck sponsor Subway went on to play a central role in the fan campaign directed at saving the series.
"It's amazing," he said, "and that's the goal around those [partnerships]. That is a win-win."
Follow TV Guide on Twitter for breaking news and scoop.