Upfronts: NBC

The TV silly season kicks off in earnest today, as NBC starts off the week of network upfronts where the hope is that advertisers, excited by the announcement of the planned 2012-13 prime time lineup, will snap up ad space. I don't get the sense that there'll be a lot of snapping for the Peacock.

What's back? What's not? The biggest surprises for me were the return of Whitney and the cancellation of Harry's Law. The former is a modest performer at best. which the latter was able to hold its own (if not rule) on Sunday nights. But as is so often the case, a show that performs modestly but pulls in younger viewers will get more of a break than one that skews older.

There are a bunch of reality/competition programs (The Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, Who Do You Think You Are?, The Sing-Off) that are not yet scheduled. But Fashion Star, which has not impressed, is back.

Kind of sad to see that Awake didn't make the cut, as I enjoyed its inventive approach, but hardly unexpected. And given the direction NBC is going in, I'd feel pretty badly if you're involved with Are You There, Chelsea?, Bent, or Best Friends Forever.

What's new? And the reason for feeling badly is that NBC is littering the schedule with comedy, strewing sitcoms over four nights of the week. The odds were in your favor if you could get a sitcom on the network, really. There's also likely some concern about replacing some of the older sitcoms, as we'll see as we go day by day:

Monday opens with The Voice, which has now proven itself enough to the network that they can run it into the ground. After two hours of singing, we turn to the latest J.J. Abrams offering, Revolution, which follows what happens if we all of a sudden no longer had electricity. It sounds a bit like the Emberverse series of sci-fi/fantasy novels by S. M. Stirling, just with less bloodshed and Wiccans, or like The Walking Dead without zombies (to which I'd say: why?). Still, I tend to give Abrams a chance (kind of liked Alcatraz).

Tuesday bring us another hour of The Voice, followed by two new sitcoms, Go On and The New Normal. Depending on your age, these will feel pretty familiar, as Go On is pretty much a reboot of Dear John and The New Normal a rip-off of Modern Family. The former starts Matthew Perry, while the latter comes from Ryan Murphy, who brought us Glee. So there's at least an outside chance that these won't suck. The night ends with Parenthood, which I'd kind of forgotten was still on.

Wednesday starts with Animal Practice, which is about a gifted but unorthodox veteranarian who works at an animal hospital now run by his ex-girlfriend, who knows business but not animals. Strange premise, I have to say, but I suppose there's an unchecked box somewhere that an animal-based office/rom-com fills. The other show is Guys With Kids, which is the billionth sitcom premised on guys trying to stay guyish while doing girlie things, like raising kids. The press release promises a scene of guys wearing Baby Bjorns to the bar, which seems about right for a show created by Jimmy Fallon.

After the 232rd season of Law & Order: SVU, we get Chicago Fire, also from Dick Wolf. As you might guess, it's about the men and women who staff a fire house in Chicago. Jesse Spencer - Chase from House - stars. Even with the Wolf pedigree I'm dubious, as firefighting shows never really work out (or perhaps I should say network firefighter shows thanks to Rescue Me).

Thursday offers a veteran line-up of 30 Rock, Up All Night, The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Rock Center. It's the last season for 30 Rock (though there was some loose talk by the NBC Entertainment head that it wasn't), could be the last season for The Office as well as the pace picks up on a Dwight-themed spinoff. Unsure why Rock Center gets the plum 10 pm spot here. Guessing it's counter-programming.

Friday starts with what is easily the biggest surprise on their schedule - Whitney. There's nothing about the show that screams renewal - ratings were easily as tepid as the other returning sitcoms, and it has none of the critical appeal of the others - but here it is. It's paired with Community, and while it's great to have that show back at all, it has to hurt to be on Friday and following what I would consider a lesser show. Even worse, Dan Harmon may be leaving, at least in part due to a falling out with Chevy Chase. Personally, I think you keep Harmon and send Chase packing, but it's obviously not that easy.

Grimm returns at 9 - the first of what will be many genre shows on Friday - and Dateline rolls along at 10.

Saturday is reruns and burn-offs. Enjoy.

Sunday is still Football Night in America, at least until January. Once the NFL wraps we get Dateline to start the night, the double whammy of Fashion Star and The Apprentice to take up the 8 and 9 o'clock hours, and then what might be the most interesting new offering at 10, Do No Harm. It's a modern version of the Jekyll and Hyde story, which strikes me as a little dark and serious for Sunday nights (at least on network).  Personally, I'd put this show on Thursday, move Rock Center to Tuesdays and put Parenthood here, assuming they could all start at the new days and times. Of course, Do No Harm might suck and leave a big hole on Thursdays. OK, bigger hole.

Elsewhere at midseason I'd keep an eye out for Hannibal, a drama about the famed Carthaginian general and statesman. OK, it's a TV version of the Hannibal Lecter story, but wouldn't it be great if it was a historical drama in the style of Rome? Instead, we get this attempt to grab at Dexter's audience.

Among the midseason sitcoms worth noting are Next Caller, starring Dane Cook as some sort of shock jock who gets paired with (and I quote the press release) a "chipper NPR feminist." Ugh. There's also 1600 Penn, a family sitcom where the dad just happens to be the President. Bill Pullman stars, and I think I'd rather see Houston get vaporized under his watch again than see this.

To sum up, NBC's continued attempt to rebuild doesn't do much for me. Rebuilding around comedy is an idea only as good as the shows, and I don't think they're strong enough, especially if Whitney is one of the shows you're going to war with.