Fall 2006 - NBC

First out of the gate during "upfront week" is NBC, with a major overhaul of its poorly-performing prime-time lineup.

At today's upfront presentation, NBC's Entertainment President Kevin Reilly was conciliatory in acknowledging that NBC's performance has been less-than-stellar this past season. To quote Reilly... "the last couple of seasons have not been much fun."

Here's what the peacock's new Fall lineup looks like (with new shows in bold):

MONDAY
8:00 Deal or No Deal
9:00 Heroes
10:00 Medium


TUESDAY
8:00 Friday Night Lights
9:00 Kidnapped
10:00 Law & Order: SVU


WEDNESDAY
8:00 The Biggest Loser
9:00 Twenty Good Years
9:30 30 Rock
10:00 Law & Order


THURSDAY
8:00 My Name is Earl
8:30 The Office
9:00 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
10:00 ER


FRIDAY
8:00 Deal or No Deal
9:00 Las Vegas
10:00 Law & Order: CI


SATURDAY
8:00 Dateline NBC
9:00 drama repeats
10:00 drama repeats


SUNDAY
7:00 Football Night in America
8:00 NFL Sunday Night Football


Yes, it's true - Monday Night Football is switching nights and networks; goodbye Mondays on ABC, hello Sundays on NBC (with a pregame show at 7, and game-time itself at 8). At the conclusion of football season, NBC’s lineup will consist of Dateline NBC, America’s Got Talent (the Regis Philbin-hosted talent contest from Simon Cowell which is actually debuting this Summer), The Apprentice, and Raines (featuring Jeff Goldblum as an LAPD detective who speaks with the dead).

ER will run in two 13-week blocks (with no repeats), making room at midseason for the new drama The Black Donnellys (the new Paul Haggis drama about a group of Irish brothers and their involvement in organized crime).

For midseason, NBC has licked up situation comedies, Andy Barker PI (featuring Andy Richter as a private investigator) and The Singles Table (a sitcom about a group of people who meet and become friends at a wedding after all being seated together at the wedding’s “singles table”). Also, watch for the returns of Crossing Jordan and Scrubs at midseason.

As for the new shows debuting in the Fall:

Heroes
This drama follows the lives of ordinary people who discover that they have extraordinary abilities. Although this show will be looking to appeal to fans of Lost, don't expect heroic ratings for this one.

Friday Night Lights
A sports-themed family drama, this new series follows the people of a small Texas town that's obsessed with its high-school football team... and it will undoubted be promoted ad nauseum during NBC's Sunday night football telecasts. I know that NBC is high on this series, but for me, it was just one big cloying, manipulative yawn.

Kidnapped
A serialized drama following the kidnapping of a wealthy New York family’s son. Dana Delaney and Timothy Hutton star. If you like the 24 arc-style of storytelling, then you just might enjoy Kidnapped.

Twenty Good Years
Odd-couple-ish sitcom featuring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor as mis-matched friends who decide to live every day as if it were their last. Mr. Tambor, Arrested Development this is not. Between the less-than-top-notch material and the very tough time slot, don't look for Twenty Good to last years.

30 Rock
Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin star in this sitcom set behind the scenes of a television variety show. SNL alums Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch also star. This single-camera sitcom showed a lot of potential in the pilot, with great performances and several genuine laughs... BUT - if this show is to survive, a time-slot change will likely be needed.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme return to prime-time television with this one-hour drama set behind the scenes of a late-night comedy sketch show ("Friday Night in Hollywood"), ala Saturday Night Live. Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, and Matthew Perry star. This show has the highest buzz of the season, and NBC is clearly trying to capitalize on a slight-weakening in CSI's armor. Despite the blatant Howard Beale "I'm mad as hell" ripoff in an otherwise outstanding pilot, Studio 60 looks to be a 5-star winner. Keep an eye on this one.

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More Rumors from the Upfronts...

-CBS will pick-up the new Joe Pantoliano set-in-Providence-and-based-on-Buddy Waterfront series

- If ABC moves Grey's Anatomy to Mondays, then Fox will seriously consider moving House to Sundays.

-King of Queens will get a 13-episode order from CBS, and New Christine will live for another season

- ABC may turn Saturday nights into a "sports night," with college football and NASCAR racing.

- CBS is looking harder and harder at killing its Sunday movie, and in its place running two hour-long dramas, including Thursday-night hit Without a Trace.