He hasn't even made his debut on the show yet (he starts tonight at 8 on NBC), but Isaiah Washington says that NBC has already said they might want to spinoff his Bionic Woman character because "there's been some relative excitement about my presence."

First of all, who the hell talks like that about themselves? There's been excitement about his presence? Um, OK. Second, Washington is only slated to do five episodes so far, and I think that if NBC really thought he was great then they would want to sign him to a full-time contract on Bionic Woman before taking the chance of spinning him off on his own show.

(S01E01)"I guess that makes me your landlord." - Jonas Bledsoe, explaining to Jamie Sommers who he is and all the money he spent on her

Sometimes I really hate first episodes of TV shows. They have to have so much exposition and explain everything and set everything up so fast. In the first 15 minutes of Bionic Woman, the following occurs: we meet the evil killer bionic woman, who is killed by one of her cohorts after a rampage; we're introduced to Jamie and her job as a bartender; we meet her kid sister and see them argue about their absent father; we meet her boyfriend the professor/scientist; and we find out that Jamie is pregnant.

OK, so the networks have given their upfronts and they've sent out the screener DVDs. These are the pilot episodes of the new fall shows, in not-quite-completed form. Things could still change before they hit the networks this fall, but they give a good general sense of what the shows are about and what they're like.

Today Joel and I start with previews of some new NBC shows: Bionic Woman, Life, Chuck, and Journeyman. More networks and other shows coming soon!

(Photos courtesy NBC.com)