Despite its controversial decision to cede its 10 p.m. weekday hours to a Jay Leno-hosted talk show, NBC remains very much in the drama business, announcing four new hourlong pickups at what it billed as its “infront” presentation to advertisers Monday.
The new dramas include “Trauma,” a San Francisco-set series about emergency first-responders from producer Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”) and Universal Media Studios; “Parenthood,” a TV adaptation executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and starring Peter Krause, Maura Tierney and Craig T. Nelson; medical drama “Mercy” from Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun; and the post-apocalyptic “Day One” from “Heroes” Jesse Alexander (“Heroes”). The latter is set for a mid-season bow coinciding with NBC’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Also announced at the fourth-place network’s New York presentation Monday were the pickups of two comedies: “Community,” a single-camera series starring Joel McHale (“The Soup”) and Chevy Chase; and “100 Questions,” a youth-oriented series about a women seeking love through online dating from James Burrows (“Will & Grace,” “Friends”).
“These new series will showcase fresh talent and bold, original concepts that are extremely well executed,” said Angela Bromstad, president of primetime entertainment for NBC, at the presentation.
In addition to the new shows, NBC also announced pickups for returning series. After a disappointing third campaign, “Heroes” will be back on the network’s Monday-night schedule next season. Meanwhile, recently launched series including offbeat drama “Southland” and Amy Poehler comedy “Parks and Recreation” will also return on Thursday nights. So will “Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday,” Lauren Michael’s “SNL” half-hour spin-off, which performed well in the weeks leading up to last year’s election.
Breaking with tradition at a challenging economic time for television, NBC presented its wares to advertisers and media ahead of the upfront market, the spring negotiating period during which advertisers purchase the bulk of TV time for the coming season.
For the second straight year, NBC held what it called an “infront,” jumping the gun on rivals CBS, ABC and Fox, which will deliver their presentations two weeks from now.
According to NBC Entertainment/Universal Media Studios co-chair Ben Silverman, doing things early allows the network to form a “deeper engagement” with its marketing partners during a year in which the total broadcast TV upfront could be down as much as $2 billion.
However, there were still plenty of details left unannounced, pending a follow-up presentation to advertisers May 19. Besides fully sketched out scheduling details, also left up in the air were the fates of several established series.
Already picked up were “The Office,” “30 Rock,” and “Law & Order: SVU.” Meanwhile, confirmed goners include the zen-themed crime drama, “Life.”
The network is still pondering the returns of “Chuck,” “Medium” and the “Law & Order” flagship show, which will match “Gunsmoke” for longevity should it get picked up for another season.
Also still to be determined is whether still-unsigned “SVU” stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay will be returning to the show.
“We have an offer on the table and we’re waiting for them to sign it,” said Marc Graboff, NBC co-chairman.
