View Full Version : NBC Reveals Entire 52-Week Program Strategy


mgxplyr
04-02-08, 10:07 PM
NBC issued a press release today, revealing their entire programming scheme for the next year. It issued earlier than ever to allow advertisers to create unique marketing solutions, which include writing catchy new ads to overshadow the wonderful NBC bug! :) It looks like NBC is quite excited about the upcoming year, as usual, but we'll see, hopefully in HD, if this hype is worth anything. Anyone here looking forward to any of the shows listed below in HD?

Here's an excerpt from the press release (http://futoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20080402nbc01), listing all the new and returning shows:
The roll-out of NBC's 52-week lineup begins in the Fall, as the debuting drama series "My Own Worst Enemy," starring Christian Slater, joins "Chuck" and "Heroes" on NBC's Monday lineup; "Kath & Kim," a new comedy starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair, based on the hit Australian series, teams with "The Biggest Loser: Families" on Tuesdays; and on Wednesdays, "Knight Rider" goes to series, building on the success of last February's "Knight Rider" movie, the highest-rated movie telecast on any network in three years in adults 18-49. The mid-season dramedy "Lipstick Jungle" will return in the Fall, also on Wednesdays. Drama series "Crusoe," the hit game show "Deal or No Deal" and "Life" are scheduled to join NBC's Fall Friday lineup. In addition, NBC will introduce "SNL Thursday Night Live," which will share time on Thursdays with "The Office" at 9:30-10 p.m. (ET).

Through the winter months, NBC plans to add to its Sunday lineup "Kings," (starring Golden Globe winner Ian McShane) the ambitious new drama from the producer of "Heroes," along with the returning drama "Medium" and the exciting fantasy series "Merlin." On Mondays, NBC adds "The Philanthropist," a drama concerning a renegade billionaire who uses his wealth to help people. Tuesdays introduces a brand new cycle of "The Biggest Loser: Couples." "Law & Order" returns to Wednesdays for the series unparalleled 19th season. On Thursdays, comedy reigns with the addition of a new series spinning off the NBC hit "The Office." "The Celebrity Apprentice" returns in its popular new format on Thursdays. Sundays will be highlighted by special events, including the "66th Annual Golden Globe Awards," the four-hour miniseries "The Last Templar" (starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino) and "XIII" (starring Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff).

Key launches and series events will be timed to make maximum promotional use of the big events coming up on the NBC primetime schedule, including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in August, "NBC Sunday Night Football" throughout the fall, the "Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade" in November, NFL Wild-Card playoff games and the "66th Annual Golden Globe Awards" in January as well as the Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009.

In Summer 2009, NBC is slated to introduce "The Listener," a new Thursday drama, as well as two new reality series from executive producer Thom Beers ("Ice Road Truckers") -- "America's Toughest Jobs," an action-reality series on Mondays and "Shark Taggers," an action-adventure reality series on Wednesdays. "Chopping Block" will premiere on Fridays to complement a strong slate of original summer programming. Returning shows that Summer will include "American Gladiators," "America's Got Talent," "Last Comic Standing," "Monk" and "Nashville Star."

Sophomore dramas "Chuck," "Life," and "Lipstick Jungle" will benefit from an aggressive re-launch in the Fall, and the hit "Heroes" will come back with a bang owing to a major event in the Fall.

Joining the cast of "Life" is Donal Logue ("Grounded for Life") as Captain Brian Tidwell, Crews' (Damian Lewis) and Reese's (Sarah Shahi) new boss. Tidwell is a seen-it-all New York cop whose weaknesses include the track and the ladies. He isn't going to fit in Los Angeles, and he could care less.

Specific dates for most season and series premieres and other schedule changes will be announced at a later date. In addition, NBC Digital Entertainment today announced its full slate of content for the Summer and Fall seasons (see separate release).

jimp2244
04-03-08, 08:27 AM
I am excited about this stuff. I think what NBC is doing is really cool. The only thing I didn't like there was that Life is going to be on Fridays. I really enjoy Life but being on Friday means it would be tough to watch and tough for the show to maintain a regular audience, which is not good for a show that has a "bigger" story that moves along with each episode. I'll be using the DVR, but I hope the show can survive the Friday night slot.

Marcus Carr
04-03-08, 08:39 AM
Looks like about 80% HD for the fall lineup.

MeowMeow
04-03-08, 10:51 AM
I am excited about this stuff. I think what NBC is doing is really cool. The only thing I didn't like there was that Life is going to be on Fridays. I really enjoy Life but being on Friday means it would be tough to watch and tough for the show to maintain a regular audience, which is not good for a show that has a "bigger" story that moves along with each episode. I'll be using the DVR, but I hope the show can survive the Friday night slot.

In fairness, that Life survived the cut at all is still pretty impressive. It's a weird show, and you do have to be willing to let it take you where it wants to go in order to enjoy it.

Of course, having Sarah Shahi lead the way doesn't hurt. And I hear the ladies don't feel too bad about he male lead, either.

jimp2244
04-03-08, 12:40 PM
In fairness, that Life survived the cut at all is still pretty impressive. It's a weird show, and you do have to be willing to let it take you where it wants to go in order to enjoy it.

Of course, having Sarah Shahi lead the way doesn't hurt. And I hear the ladies don't feel too bad about he male lead, either.
I agree, but I do wonder a bit what makes them think it was worth keeping if they are going to put it on Friday night, where I don't think this type of show can survive. I think the type of shows that are good for Friday night are the ones that you can watch here and there without being tied to watching every episode to get the story. Deal seems like a perfect fit for Friday nights as it's one of those shows that catches people flipping channels, and it's easy to get pulled in for one show, but you don't need to watch every episode to know what is happening (in other words, a "low barrier to entry").

vfxproducer
04-03-08, 12:44 PM
In fairness, that Life survived the cut at all is still pretty impressive. It's a weird show, and you do have to be willing to let it take you where it wants to go in order to enjoy it.

I think it was great, not weird. It's the first detetive show I've been able to watch in years. I can't stand CSI, L&O, or their ilk.

rangers28
04-03-08, 01:39 PM
"SNL: Thursday Night Live" ?? :confused: Is that supposed to be a weekly show? I think they would be better off working on their material for Saturday nights.....the show has been unwatchable lately.:(

I'm excited about Knight Rider.....let's just hope the cheese-factor is lower on the series than on the pilot. :p

No sign of Scrubs :confused: Does that mean that it is officially moved to ABC??

diy_canuck
04-03-08, 02:26 PM
Only thing that really interests me is "Chuck", "Law and Order" (although no mention of SVU or CI?), and "The Office". I may watch some of the new drama's and a few Knight Rider episodes (although not getting my hopes up).

One thing I need to ask though:

"It issued earlier than ever to allow advertisers to create unique marketing solutions, which include writing catchy new ads to overshadow the wonderful NBC bug!"

Does this mean they will have ads instead of the NBC bugs during the shows? Or just the same crappy 'ads' for their own shows?

NetworkTV
04-03-08, 02:34 PM
SInce I have no idea what the new shows will be like, the only show I'll be watching on NBC for sure is Medium.

Since none of these guys who write these articles ever put any description of what the new shows are about, I can never really decide if they sound interesting until people actually start talking about them. I'm certainly not going to look up every friggin' show just to see if it even interests me at all.

That's a real pet peeve of mine: if you're going to write about a show that hasn't premiered yet, put a line or two in about what it's about.

WayneDB123
04-03-08, 02:50 PM
"SNL: Thursday Night Live" ?? :confused: Is that supposed to be a weekly show? I think they would be better off working on their material for Saturday nights.....the show has been unwatchable lately.:(




SNL has been bad for so long I have a hard time trying to remember when it didn't suck.

Sneezy
04-03-08, 03:17 PM
SNL has been bad for so long I have a hard time trying to remember when it didn't suck.

1979

Maverickster2
04-03-08, 03:26 PM
1979

Oh, c'mon, now; I agree it's currently unwatchable, but 1979 is a bit much, no? The Dana Carvey/Phil Hartman/Mike Meyers/Chris Farley/Adam Sandler/Rob Schneider/Julia Sweeney/Chris Rock/Kevin Nealon era was pretty good and in some cases, I'd say better, actually, than the 70's stuff.

Of course, that's jmho, ymmv, my .02, etc., etc.

--Mav

scowl
04-03-08, 03:34 PM
SNL has been bad for so long I have a hard time trying to remember when it didn't suck.

Try not watching it.

mx6bfast
04-03-08, 03:58 PM
So when do we see:

Check out our Fall lineup
at futoncritic.com
7/8 pm
*Fall date*

rangers28
04-03-08, 04:00 PM
SNL has been bad for so long I have a hard time trying to remember when it didn't suck.

Yeah.....the show made a little rebound back w/ the Will Ferrell / Jimmy Fallon years, but it's just God-awful now. Seems like we're back in Anthony Michael Hall / Robert Downey, Jr. territory now. :eek:

RafaelSmith
04-03-08, 04:48 PM
Only thing that really interests me is "Chuck", "Law and Order" (although no mention of SVU or CI?), and "The Office". I may watch some of the new drama's and a few Knight Rider episodes (although not getting my hopes up).

One thing I need to ask though:

"It issued earlier than ever to allow advertisers to create unique marketing solutions, which include writing catchy new ads to overshadow the wonderful NBC bug!"

Does this mean they will have ads instead of the NBC bugs during the shows? Or just the same crappy 'ads' for their own shows?


I think it means we can expect more like we had during the Knight Rider Movie...which seemed like 2 min of Ads for every 1min of actual show.

rezzy
04-03-08, 05:03 PM
Oh, c'mon, now; I agree it's currently unwatchable, but 1979 is a bit much, no? The Dana Carvey/Phil Hartman/Mike Meyers/Chris Farley/Adam Sandler/Rob Schneider/Julia Sweeney/Chris Rock/Kevin Nealon era was pretty good and in some cases, I'd say better, actually, than the 70's stuff.Agreed; SNL was actually very decent in the mid 90's. And probably won't be good again for a long time.
:(