16 May 2010

NBC releases fall schedule

In an untraditional move, NBC has released its fall schedule on Sunday May 16 to the press before the official Upfronts begin on Monday, May 17.

After a disastrous 2009-10 TV season which saw the last place network placing all of its apples into one bag called Jay Leno, it returns for the 2010-11 season with a high amount of scripted programs.

Monday starts off with the returning CHUCK, followed by new shows THE EVENT, a conspiracy thriller that centers around a huge cover-up that even has the President (Blair Underwood) on a need-to-know basis. Meanwhile, as everyman Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancee (Sarah Roemer), he stumbles across the truth behind the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. The night concludes with CHASE, a drama about a blonde Texas-based U.S. marshal Annie Frost (Kelli Giddish) and her team who track down fugitives.

Tuesday brings the two-hour edition of THE BIGGEST LOSER followed by the returning PARENTHOOD.

Wednesday starts with UNDERCOVERS, which comes from LOST creator J.J. Abrams and follows the adventures of a retired husband and wife spy team (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who are suddenly thrust back into their former lives as CIA agents. LAW & ORDER: SVU returns for a new year, while the next series in the franchise, LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES begins.

Thursday starts with the returning COMMUNITY, 30 ROCK and THE OFFICE. They’ve added another comedy, OUTSOURCED, about an American transferred to India to supervise his Midwest novelty company’s new call center. The night finishes out with LOVE BITES, which is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series, along the lines of the classic late 1960s series LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE, but will feature two single-gal recurring characters.

Friday begins with the returning WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?, followed by DATELINE NBC. The one scripted drama returns Jimmy Smits to TV as OUTLAW, which is about a justice who quits The Supreme Court to return to private law practice.

Waiting in the wings for midseason is the superhero drama THE CAPE, and the David E. Kelly lawyer drama HARRY’S LAW starring Oscar winner Kathy Bates. Sitcoms FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, PERFECT COUPLE and THE PAUL REISER SHOW are also waiting for midseason. Both returning shows PARKS & RECREATION and THE APPRENTICE will be back sometime in early 2011.

Canceled shows include: HEROES, KINGS, THE JAY LENO SHOW, LAW & ORDER, THE LISTENER, THE PHILANTHROPIST, SOUTHLAND (which moved to TNT), MERCY and TRAUMA

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