NBC upfront

Here's the highlight, for me, of NBC's upfront today: As I was leaving the midtown Hilton in New York City (which sat in for Radio City Music Hall, where the network usually holds its upfront), I was riding down an escalator while one Mr. Jerry Seinfeld was going up on the one right beside me.

Seinfeld ... Seinfeld, Jerry, a mere couple of feet away! I choose to pretend that 'The Marriage Ref' never happened, so he remains, for me, the star of the all-time greatest TV show. And, regarding today's network upfront, he was one of the rare celebrities to be seen around the ol' Hilton -- at least, on stage.

In years past, NBC, like the other networks, has peppered its upfront presentations with celebs, even if it was to do nothing more than trot them across the stage with the rest of their series casts. But today, there was the line-up of sportscasters from NBC's 'Sunday Night Football' and an awkward little segment in which the host of 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' tried to improvise commercial jingles.

NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like Life and Medium, and My Name is Earl. The fact that they're replacing these shows with not one but two medical shows, isn't exactly a confidence booster. NBC hasn't sent screeners of all their pilots yet, hence the "Part 1" in the title. But I have gotten a taste of both their comedy and drama offerings with Community, a comedy starring The Soup's Joel McHale, and Trauma, one of the aforementioned medical dramas.

Going into this, I didn't have high hopes for Trauma, and while I wanted to like Community, I had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be the vehicle that would change Joel McHale from cute host of a basic cable show to primetime star. Now, after seeing both of them, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by one.

While they haven't yet made an announcement about other on-the-bubble shows, including Medium, Law & Order, and of course, Chuck, NBC's Ben Silverman has confirmed that Life has indeed been canceled. Life is just the latest victim of the Writers' Strike curse: ABC's Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Dirty Sexy Money are among some of the other series that had their freshman seasons interrupted by the strike that began in November of 07, and won't live to see a third season.

Other second season shows, including the aforementioned Chuck, along with ABC's Samantha Who? and FOX's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are currently on the bubble. The CW's Gossip Girl is one of the few shows that premiered during the 07-08 season that is definitely going to make it to the 09-10 one.

The strike spooked the networks and advertisers, and we're obviously feeling the effects now, over a year after it ended. What it boils down to is a lot of great shows are suffering-- and Ben Silverman is a dick.

Actually, NBC already had its upfront over a month ago. This is a "spotlight event," a Part 2, if you will (a walk-thru set up at 30 Rock for advertisers and the media), but they did make some interesting announcements today.

This biggest announcement (though hardly a surprise at this point) was that Jimmy Fallon will take over on Late Night when Conan O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno. This will happen next year.

Here are some of the other announcements made at today's even and a recap of the new shows and the shows that have been canceled. And in this post, I promise not to fail you, rainbow chicken.

NBC unveiled their new schedule today, weeks ahead of all of the other networks, and here are some highlights of their "52-week schedule".

New shows: My Own Worst Enemy, with Christian Slater as a spy (Monday at 10); the island adventure series Crusoe (Friday at 8); the Molly Shannon sitcom Kath & Kim (Tuesday at 9:30); and the remake of Knight Rider (Wednesday at 8). The new drama The Philanthropist will air in the My Own Worst Enemy's time slot in the winter. Two other dramas will also debut in the winter: Kings (with Ian McShane) and Merlin, as will the reality show America's Toughest Jobs.

Returning: 30 Rock, Medium, The Office, Celebrity Apprentice, Life, Chuck, Heroes, Dateline, Deal Or No Deal, My Name Is Earl, America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, Nashville Star, The Biggest Loser, American Gladiators, SNL, ER, Law and Order, and Law and Order: SVU.

Gone: Scrubs (probably moving to ABC), Bionic Woman, Amnesia, 1 vs. 100, Journeyman.

Next week is network upfront time, when ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC announce their new fall schedules. We'll have full coverage at TV Squad (of course) and I'm handling NBC, because I just know that Studio 60 is coming back, regardless of the fact they've torn down the sets and the cast has gone on to other things. Ahem.

There's already some news for NBC ahead of their upfront. They've told four shows that they can begin staffing: The Bionic Woman, Chuck, Life, and Journeyman. So expect to see those shows on your TV sets this fall. Returning series announced so far include Heroes, ER, Medium, The Office, Law and Order: SVU, and 30 Rock.

In other news, even if NBC decides to cancel Law and Order and/or Law and Order: CI, they might find life some place else: TNT. Which is a logical place for them to go (or USA).

That's what some industry insiders are saying. NBC announced this week that the show was going into the Thursday at 9pm slot (after My Name Is Earl and The Office and before ER), but after ABC announced that Grey's Anatomy is moving to the same time slot, NBC might move it to another night to get away from that hit show. What would go into that Thursday at 9 slot? Scrubs, which isn't supposed to come back til later in the season.

Some are speculating Monday for Aaron Sorkin's new show. What do you think?

[via TV Tattle]