Combine a sputtering economy and a writer's strike which limited the number of pilots, and you have what's shaping up as a lame upfront season. NBC didn't help matters by ditching the traditional upfront presentation, going instead with smaller presentations in April they called "infronts" and by having something today called the NBC Universal Experience. I'm assuming cotton candy and pony rides are involved.
In any case, if this is any indication, NBC may have been smart to lay low. The basics:
Who's gone? - Las Vegas leads a slew of new shows (like Bionic Woman and Journeyman) and game show/reality offerings (like 1 v. 100 and The Singing Bee) into the abyss. It'll also become more clear tomorrow if Scrubs is done or finally moving to ABC.
What's back? - Everything you'd expect, plus Lipstick Jungle. ER is back for what is being called its final season. Finally.
Oh, and The Apprentice is back, too. No word on it being its last season, unfortunately.
What's new - Nothing that looks likely to get the Peacock out of fourth place. For scripted shows there's the trio of Merlin, Kings and Crusoe, all of which seem like they were stolen from Sci-Fi. None sound particularly compelling, though Merlin may pick up some cult TV fans with the casting of Colin Morgan (from Dr. Who) and Anthony Head of Buffy fame.
The most notable hour-long show is probably My Own Worst Enemy, which stars Christian Slater as a man whose two personalities - one a dull suburbanite, the other some sort of genius secret agent who can kill with his teeth - begin to cross over into each other. I'm thinking there'll be less interest in the concept than in Slater's involvement.
The other two hour-long shows are The Listener about a paramedic who can read thoughts (pass - I'll wait for Matt Parkman to get back to work on Heroes) and The Philanthropist, which is about a billionaire who uses his money and connections to directly help people. This show originally involved Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson of Homicide fame, but both have left the show due to the network moving the focus of the show away from social issues to more escapist plots. At what point do these two just stop trying to work with NBC?
For sitcoms, there are two options: an as-yet untitled spin-off of The Office and the US version of an Australian show called Kath & Kim. The former doesn't seem to actually involve any characters from The Office; it's more of a spin-off for Greg Daniels. The latter stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a mother-daugter pair who are now living together after the daughter gets divorced. Snore!
There's lots of reality junk, too, from a show that seems like it's been ripped off from BBC America's Last Restaurant Standing to a show that seems to follow the day to day exploits of Howie Mandel. That has to be a joke, right?
I will say I have some interest in Who Do You Think You Are?, which will take a new celebrity each week and look at their family tree for interesting stories. It may only appeal to geneaology nerds like me, but I'll take it over Ryan Seacrest's new show looking for momma's boys.
Prognosis? - It's hard to make this call without seeing the other networks, but I have a feeling there won't be night that NBC won't be getting its ass handed to it. Monday and Thursday look like the nights where things will go least poorly, though the post-football Fantacrap Sunday (Merlin, Medium, Kings) may be different enough to pull in some viewers.
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