While NBC's upfront presentation isn't scheduled to get under way until tomorrow morning, the Peacock's top brass did answer some questions about the schedule and the new programming announced earlier today.Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, hosted a conference call with reporter this afternoon, to discuss NBC's fall schedule, its new pickups, and other programming and scheduling issues.
While I won't recap the entire call, here are a few tidbits from that call, organized by topic, from Chuck and Law & Order to Parenthood and The Event.
Chuck:"Chuck came out of the wild card and performed very well for us," said Bromstad. "We think it will come back stronger in the fall."
"Where we felt we could be consistent this year, we felt we should, which is why Chuck stayed on Mondays at 8," said Gaspin.
Chase: "Chase is very much a straight-ahead procedural but has an adrenaline rush you don't normally see in a procedural," said Bromstad.
Parenthood: "Parenthood has worked for us. There's a reason for that... It's a broad show that is really welcoming to so many viewers," said Gaspin.
Day One: "Right now, Day One is not scheduled to air," said Bromstad of the sci-fi project, which had been cut back from a full order, to a short run... to a two-hour backdoor pilot... and now into oblivion altogether.
Law & Order Franchise: "It was time to move on," said Bromstad about the Law & Order cancellation and the order of new iteration, Law & Order: Los Angeles. "It's about the future and overall health of the franchise... it's up to us to reinvent it with Dick [Wolf] in a very modern, inventive way."
Law & Order: Los Angeles pilot is being written, according to Bromstad. But nothing is ready for an official announcement and it be a few weeks after upfronts until information is actually available.
"Yes the chung-chung will still be there," said Bromstad, but it's "too early to say whether they were be characters crossover from... the mothership."
Bromstad said that they are still in talks with Dick Wolf about a way to wrap up Law & Order via a 2-hr movie or event. So, it's possible that the series finale, scheduled to air this month, won't be the end of the original flavor Law & Order, after all.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent will now only be on USA, said Bromstad.
Rockford Files: The Rockford Files is being reworked for midseason or even next fall. "We really want to get it right," said Bromstad. #NBC
Parks and Recreation:"It's very possible that #ParksandRec will get a run at 9:30 but we have not determined that," said Gaspin.
"One of the toughest decisions we had to make," said Jeff regarding delaying Parks and Recreation until midseason. "It's not an indication that we think it's not as good" as the other Thursday comedies.
The Event: "We think The Event will appeal to [#Chuck's] young, male viewers," said Jeff. #NBC
Heroes: "NBC and Tim Kring, we felt we had fulfilled the viewers' desire [re] length of the show but we are in discussions about 2-hr movie," said Bromstad. So it's still possible that Heroes will get a series ender. But don't hold your breath as Bromstad indicated that, if it happens at all, it would be for "next year."
NBC will unveil its schedule to advertisers tomorrow.
Comments
Broadcast networks get a lot of criticism but when they have a good show it's usually a lot more interesting to me than cable shows. And I'd rather invest my time in a short-lived, good show on broadcast TV than something not quite as appealing for me that will run five seasons on cable.
I just hope they'll put Tennant in a new pilot for next year. Unless it was just a really unique thing I'm not going to complain about a network passing on a legal series.