NBC's Early Jump on Next Season
Friday Night Lights by Bill Records/NBC Photo
Grain-(or pillar)-of-salt time. NBC has decided to do what they call an "in-front" presentation, a way-earlier-than-upfront-week announcement of next season's year-round strategy, which includes lineups for fall, winter and as far ahead as next summer. (As one reporter on a conference call pointed out, those with not-so-long memories can remember how well this strategy worked out for Fox a few years back.) Still, even if we can be reasonably certain that the best-laid plans of mice and Ben (Silverman) will undergo significant adjustments along the way, there's quite a bit to chew on here. For a full rundown of NBC's 2008-09 game plan, start
here.
First off, glee all around that
Friday Night Lights lives on, with a 13-episode third season to premiere on NBC next winter (back on Fridays), following an exclusive run on DirectTV that begins in October. Ben Silverman says only about 10-15 percent of NBC's audience subscribes to the service, as opposed to the 90 percent overlap that would occur if NBC was sharing the show with a basic-cable outlet. He's convinced that with this sharing deal, the show can remain profitable for all parties. It certainly works for me, although it will be tough for many fans to wait for the NBC replays.
Mondays sound promising with the return of
Chuck and
Heroes, followed by the split-personality thriller
My Own Worst Enemy, starring Christian Slater as the Jekyll/Hyde suburban dad who's somehow also a master spy/assassin, and what happens when those worlds collide.
Heroes, sitting out the rest of this season because of the disruption of the strike, will kick off Sept. 15 with a three-hour "event" of a clip show followed by a two-hour premiere.
Thursdays are also in good shape, although I've never been a fan of expanded hour-long
Office episodes, which is how next season will begin. (In October for several weeks, the second half-hour will be taken over by prime-time
Saturday Night Live political specials, an inspired idea.) As for the
Office spin-off that will be launched after the Super Bowl and then air in tandem with the original series: I'm not one for prejudging, and all
Office fans should hope for the best. But given that the series itself is in part a lampoon of corporate hubris, it's hard to view this announcement without at least a pinch of fearful skepticism. Looks like the show will be a mix of new characters with at least one of the original ensemble (but who?) brought in to launch it. I have faith in Greg Daniels, but questions about him being spread too thin are inevitable.
Fridays in the fall will hinge on how universal the appeal is of
Crusoe (a family adventure based on the original desert-island classic), and how well last season's steadily improving
Life (with the always-entertaining Donal Logue joining the quirky ensemble) fares against CBS'
Numbers. Too bad NBC can't stick a "Law & Order" in front of the title of this one.
After football season ends in the new year, and NBC stunts on Sundays with a couple of adventure miniseries, the night's lineup becomes a very mixed bag. It starts with a
Merlin fantasy series from the BBC about the early days of the wizard and the boy who would be King Arthur (with
Buffy's Anthony Head in the ensemble). That's followed by
Medium, and the night will end with a modern-day David & Goliath allegory,
Kings, starring
Deadwood's Ian McShane. Until we see any of this, there's no way we can pass judgment. But it's hard to imagine the masses abandoning ABC's Sunday lineup for any of this (although you never know where or when the next
Lost will emerge).
As for NBC's summer plans: Puh-leeze. Let's get through this year's first, shall we?
I'll be waiting to see if all these announcements hold up through the official upfront week in mid-May, when the rest of the networks weigh in with
their official plans. In presenting his new schedule to reporters, Ben Silverman used the words "inspirational," "heroic," "escapist" and "engaging." (All of which, I guess, are meant to apply to Wednesday's new
Knight Rider remake.) If any of these plans help lift the peacock from its doldrums, he may not have to eat those words.
