NBC Nabs Mysteries "Monk" and "Psych," Puts Stake in "The Watch"

NBC has announced that it will repurpose USA dramedys Monk and Psych, bringing them to network television next year following a run on their cable home.

"These two tremendously popular USA series are a great fit with NBC's current programming strategy and brand," said NBC Entertainment Co-Chairman Ben Silverman. "This is another example of how the NBC Universal family is finding terrific synergies as we share our creative assets."

New episodes of Psych and Monk will air on USA in January and will then be broadcast on Sunday nights on NBC starting in March. (No timeslot for either has yet been announced.)

"The USA audience has embraced Monk and Psych from the get-go, making them two of the biggest hits in cable history," said Bonnie Hammer, president of USA and SCI-FI. "We're thrilled to share them with NBC viewers who may be missing a couple of the best shows on television."

Ahem.

Yes, it's a canny diversion to inject some much-needed scripted blood into the network's strike-altered lineup, even if it's second-run programming that recently just ran on a sister network.

Talks are said to also be underway, however preliminary, into bringing fellow USA drama Burn Notice to NBC as well; however such discussions would have to involve Fox Television Studios (the studio behind Burn Notice) rather than just happen internally at NBC Universal.

Will this ploy help keep audiences tuned to NBC during a protracted strike? Or would they be better off repurposing programs that didn't air so close to the second window?

In other NBC-related news, the network has, according to sources, passed on drama pilot The Watch, which had also been known by the rather imposing moniker of Backyards and Bullets.

Written by Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, The Watch revolved around a neighborhood watch group in the suburbs that turns to vigilante murders in order to keep their little berg safe. The cast of the drama pilot included Billy Burke, Jessalyn Gilsig, Matthew St. Patrick, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Kristin Lehman, among others.

Still, studio Sony TV Pictures says that it will extend the options on The Watch's actors and shop the pilot to other networks. Working in its favor is the fact that, given the scope and length of the WGA strike at this point, other networks might be more willing to explore picking up a completed pilot than they would in other development seasons.

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Frosty the Snowman/Frosty Returns (CBS); Clash of the Choirs (NBC; 8-10 pm); Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (CW); Duel (ABC); Back to You/'Til Death (FOX)

9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); Gossip Girl (CW); Private Practice (ABC); Kitchen Nightmares (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Journeyman (NBC); A Holiday Celebration at Ford's Theatre (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

10 pm: Journeyman.

It does appear that this is the end of the road for Dan Vassar as NBC has quietly allowed its option on ordering a back nine to expire. On tonight's (series?) finale ("Perfidia"), Dan meets a man claiming to be a time traveler whom he helps reunite with a lost love; Livia arrives in the present just before her wedding in the past; Dan attempts to get some answers from Elliott Langley.