NBC Unveils Fall Schedule, Bumps Parks and Recreation to Midseason, Slots Undercovers on Wednesdays, Mondays Now Action Evening
NBC this afternoon announced its plans for fall, ahead of its official upfront tomorrow, unveiling a schedule that includes several new scripted series, including dramas Undercovers, Chase, The Event, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Outlaw, Outsourced, Love Bites, Harry's Law, and The Cape, comedies Friends With Benefits, Perfect Couples, and The Paul Reiser Show, and reality series School Pride and America's Next Great Restaurant.
Having already made the bulk of their pickup announcements over the last two weeks, the word from the Peacock wasn't all that surprising in terms of new content, though the vast majority of the ordered series will sit on the shelf until midseason, with only Law & Order: Los Angeles, Undercovers, The Chase, The Event, Outsourced, Love Bites, and Outlaw earning spots on the fall sked.
What is surprising was that NBC would shift Law & Order: Special Victims Unit out of the 10 pm hour and would hold critical darling Parks and Recreation until midseason, rearranging the Thursday night comedy lineup to bump 30 Rock behind Community at 8:30 and giving new comedy Outsourced the post-Office slot at 9:30 pm, despite having gone into production on Parks and Rec's third season straightaway to accommodate Amy Poehler's pregnancy.
NBC also defied expectations by positioning J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims' new espionage dramedy Undercovers on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET/PT, rather than on Mondays, as had been the conventional thinking. (Though it's worth noting that the move splits up action-comedies Chuck and Undercovers, both produced by Warner Bros. Television, rather than stacking the similarly-themed programs on the same night.)
And Chuck will stay put on Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT, where it will hold onto its timeslot come this fall. While NBC has only reportedly ordered thirteen episodes of the action-comedy, it's possible that the Peacock will revisit the episodic order later on in the game once it sees the numbers for the first part of Season Four.
“This new schedule brings NBC back to basics with its commitment to quality scripted programming,” said Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment. “Our new shows are distinctive and feature a combination of the biggest talent, the brightest new stars and the strongest auspices in television. With this new schedule, we're poised to take the next step toward our long-term goals with a lineup that has stabilized and has been building solid momentum through the second half of the season.”
“Our team has been working tirelessly to achieve our ambitious goals and we are so pleased to see that these new series demonstrate tremendous upside for NBC,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios. “We feel that this development season introduces shows that will become part of the great programming legacy of our network.”
UPDATED: NBC's full fall schedule can be found below, along with the official press release from the network and photos and descriptions for the new fall and midseason series.... and now video as well.
NBC's Fall 2010 Schedule
(New series noted in bold.)
(New series noted in bold.)
MONDAY
8-9 pm: Chuck
9-10 pm: THE EVENT
10-11 pm: CHASE
TUESDAY
8-10 pm: The Biggest Loser
10-11 pm: Parenthood
WEDNESDAY
8-9 pm: UNDERCOVERS
9-10 pm: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10-11 pm: LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES
THURSDAY
8-8:30 pm: Community
8:30-9 pm: 30 Rock
9-9:30 pm: The Office
9:30-10 pm: OUTSOURCED
10-11 pm: LOVE BITES
FRIDAY
8-9 pm: Who Do You Think You Are?/SCHOOL PRIDE
9-10 pm: Dateline NBC
10-11 pm: OUTLAW
SATURDAY
8-11 pm: Drama Repeats
SUNDAY
7-8:15 pm: Football Night in America
8:15-11:30 pm: NBC Sunday Night Football
SUNDAY (beginning March 2011)
7-8 pm: Dateline NBC
8-9 pm: Minute to Win It
9-11 pm: The Celebrity Apprentice
New Series: Undercovers, Chase, The Event, Law & Order: Los Angeles, School Pride, Outlaw, Outsourced, Love Bites, The Cape, Friends With Benefits, Perfect Couples, Harry's Law, The Paul Reiser Show, America's Next Great Restaurant
Renewed: 30 Rock, The Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, Chuck, Community, Football Night in America, Friday Night Lights, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Marriage Ref, Minute to Win It, The Office, Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, The Sing-Off, Sunday Night Football, Who Do You Think You Are?
Cancelled: Heroes, The Jay Leno Show, Law & Order, Mercy, Trauma
Scheduling Changes: Parks and Recreation, The Marriage Ref, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Midseason Launches: The Cape, Friends With Benefits,
Perfect Couples, Harry's Law, The Paul Reiser Show, America's Next Great Restaurant
The New Fall Schedule Features All-Drama Lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and All Comedies on Thursdays, Plus Unscripted Programming into Compatible Dramas on Tuesdays and Fridays
New Comedies Include “Friends With Benefits,” “Outsourced,” “Perfect Couples," “Love Bites” and “The Paul Reiser Show”
New Dramas Are “Undercovers,” “The Event,” “Chase,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” “Outlaw,” “The Cape” and “Harry’s Law”; And New Alternative Show “School Pride”
NEW YORK CITY -- May 16, 2010 - NBC announced today its 2010-11 primetime schedule that is highlighted by five new comedies, seven new drama series and one new alternative program, including shows from such innovative hit-makers as J.J. Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer and David E. Kelley, among others.
The high-quality series include new comedies such as “Outsourced," "Love Bites," “Perfect Couples," "Friends With Benefits" and “The Paul Reiser Show." The new dramas are “The Cape,” “Harry’s Law,” “Outlaw,” “Undercovers,” “The Event,” “Chase” and “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”
The schedule features all-drama lineups on Mondays and Wednesdays and five comedies on Thursdays. Tuesdays will continue to combine the similar appeal of "The Biggest Loser" with "Parenthood," and Fridays will team "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the new series “School Pride” with "Dateline NBC" and the new legal drama "Outlaw."
NBC will also broadcast a 35th anniversary “Saturday Night Live” special that will celebrate the iconic late-night series’ long and eventful run on NBC since 1975.
The announcements were made by Jeff Gaspin, Chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, and Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.
“This new schedule brings NBC back to basics with its commitment to quality scripted programming,” said Gaspin. “Our new shows are distinctive and feature a combination of the biggest talent, the brightest new stars and the strongest auspices in television. With this new schedule, we're poised to take the next step toward our long-term goals with a lineup that has stabilized and has been building solid momentum through the second half of the season.”
“Our team has been working tirelessly to achieve our ambitious goals and we are so pleased to see that these new series demonstrate tremendous upside for NBC,” said Bromstad. “We feel that this development season introduces shows that will become part of the great programming legacy of our network.”
On Mondays (all times ET), NBC leads off with “Chuck” from 8-9 p.m., followed by two new and intense hour-long dramas - “The Event” (9-10 p.m.) and “Chase” (10-11 p.m.). Then on Tuesdays, NBC returns with its powerful stories from the hit alternative series “The Biggest Loser” (8-10 p.m.) and finishes the night with the acclaimed family drama “Parenthood” (10-11 p.m.).
NBC's Wednesday night features three hours of drama programming beginning with the new series “Undercovers” from J.J. Abrams (8-9 p.m.), “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9-10 p.m.) and the new “Law & Order: Los Angeles” at 10-11 p.m. concludes the night.
Primetime Thursdays feature wall-to-wall comedy as this season’s freshman sensation “Community” continues at 8-8:30 p.m. followed by the Emmy Award-winning “30 Rock” (8:30-9 p.m.). The Emmy-winning “The Office” continues 9-9:30 p.m. and will be followed by the new comedy “Outsourced” (9:30-10 p.m.). Now NBC’s comedy fans get an extra round of laughs when the new, hour-long comedy “Love Bites” debuts at 10-11 p.m. “Parks and Recreation” will return to Thursdays later in the season to give the night more original programming.
Fridays come alive with a fresh mix of reality, news and a new scripted drama as the popular “Who Do You Think You Are?” returns at 8-9 p.m. where it shares the time period with “School Pride” -- a new, proactive and inspiring series about rebuilding a community’s schools. “Dateline NBC” continues at 9-10 p.m. with its compelling personal stories. The workweek ends with “Outlaw,” a new courtroom drama featuring Emmy winner Jimmy Smits as a former U.S. Supreme Court justice.
The wildly successful “NBC Sunday Night Football” reigns supreme again on Sundays (8:15-11:30 p.m.) preceded by “Football Night in America” (7-8:15 p.m.).
Sundays beginning March 2011, the popular competition series "Minute to Win It" returns (8-9 p.m.) followed by "The Celebrity Apprentice" (9-11 p.m.)
The new series “The Cape,” “Friends With Benefits,” “Perfect Couples,” “Harry’s Law" and “The Paul Reiser Show" will premiere later in the season along with a new version of “The Apprentice” “The Marriage Ref” and the new series “America’s Next Great Restaurant” -- starring acclaimed celebrity chef/restaurateur Bobby Flay.
Series Descriptions:
New Dramas
‘THE CAPE’ – "The Cape" is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons ("ER") as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, "Life on Mars") and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, "Flash Forward"). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes "The Cape" his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain ("The Tudors") as billionaire Peter Fleming -- The Cape's nemesis -- who moonlights as the twisted killer: Chess; Keith David ("Death at a Funeral") as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape, Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees") as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday. "The Cape" is a Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun production from executive producer/creator Thomas Wheeler (“Empire”), executive producer/director Simon West (“Con Air”), the executive producing team of Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun (NBC’s “Mercy), and executive producer Gene Stein (“Accidentally on Purpose”). 
‘OUTLAW’ -- Starring Emmy Award winner Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue," "The West Wing"), "Outlaw" is a new drama from executive producer John Eisendrath ("Alias," "Felicity," "Playmakers"). Cyrus Garza (Smits) is a U.S. Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits the high-level position. A playboy and a gambler, Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed. Now that he’s quit the bench and returned to private practice, he’s determined to represent “the little guy” and use his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today’s biggest legal cases -- and he's making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way. Jesse Bradford ("The West Wing"), Carly Pope ("24"), Ellen Woglom ("Californication") and David Ramsey ("Dexter") also star. “Outlaw” is a Universal Media Studios production along with Conaco productions. Eisendrath is executive producer along with Terry George ("Hotel Rwanda," "Reservation Road"), Conan O'Brien, Jeff Ross and David Kissinger ("Andy Barker, P.I."). "Outlaw" is written by Eisendrath and directed by George.
‘HARRY’S LAW’ – Emmy Award-winning creator David E. Kelley (“The Practice,” “Boston Legal”) brings his unique storytelling to “Harry’s Law,” a series about fate and the people it brings together, starring Academy Award winner Kathy Bates (“Misery,” “About Schmidt”). Harriet (Bates), Matthew (Ben Chaplin, “Me and Orson Wells”) and Malcolm (Aml Ameen, “Kidulthood”) couldn’t be any more different. Harriet is a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer who, having just been fired from her cushy job, is completely disillusioned with her success and looking for a fresh start. Her world unexpectedly collides with Malcolm’s -- a young man trying to figure out life. When he finds out Harriet is a lawyer, he begs her to represent him in an upcoming criminal case. Matthew, a dreamer at heart and also recently fired from his job as a high school teacher, is introduced to Harriet through Malcolm, a previous student of his. When these three cross paths, they realize they’re all looking for a fresh start. Now, the most unlikely of people are starting a law practice in the most unlikely of places--a rundown shoe store. “Harry’s Law” also stars Brittany Snow (“Hairspray”) as Harriet’s assistant, Jenna Backstrom and Beatrice Rosen (“Dark Knight”) as Eve, a high school French teacher. “Harry’s Law” is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with David E. Kelley Productions and Warner Bros. Television. David E. Kelley (“Boston Legal,” “The Practice”) and Bill D’Elia (“Boston Legal,” “The Practice”) serve as executive producers. D’Elia also is the director.
‘LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES’ – The new “Law & Order: Los Angeles” is a procedural crime drama that will follow the theme and storylines similar to the “Law & Order”-brand series on the streets of Los Angeles. The series, from executive producer Dick Wolf and Blake Masters “(“Brotherhood”), is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Media Studios. Casting and pre-production work are continuing.New Comedy Series
‘PERFECT COUPLES’ -- “Perfect Couples” depicts the misadventures of three engaging couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal relationship -- and how to maintain it through humorous trial-and-error. The series explores their heroic journey in search of the perfect relationship without destroying each other in the process. Dave (Kyle Howard, “My Boys”) and Julia (Christine Woods, “Flash Forward”) are the relatable, normal couple, but Julia's hope of remaining the cool, low-maintenance chick is tested by Dave’s attempts to keep both his wife and his needy best friend Vance (David Walton, “Heist”) equally happy. Vance, along with the neurotic Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), are the high-passion, high-drama couple who bring out the best and worst in each other. The third duo features Rex (Hayes MacArthur, “She’s Out of My League”), a reformed party guy, and, and his wife, Leigh (Olivia Munn, “Attack of the Show”), who considers herself as the group’s mother hen. Believing that they are relationship experts, Rex and Leigh have attended every class and seminar on relationships -- and regard themselves as the “perfect couple.” Jon Pollack (“30 Rock”) and Scott Silveri (“Friends”) are the executive producers while Andy Ackerman (“Seinfeld,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is the director. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios.
‘OUTSOURCED’ – “Outsourced” is a comedy where the Midwest meets the exotic East in a hilarious culture clash. The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon -- and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India. Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport, off-Broadway's “The Gingerbread House”) is the new company’s manager who learns that he’s being transferred to India to run the operation. Overwhelmed, Todd discovers that his new staff needs a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job. Rizwan Manji (“Privileged”), Sacha Dhawan (BBC’s “Five Days II”), Rebecca Hazlewood (BBC’s “Doctors”), Parvesh Cheena (“Help Me Help You”), and Anisha Nagarajan (Broadway’s “Bombay Dreams”) also star as members of Dempsy’s off-shore team; Diedrich Bader (“The Drew Carey Show”) and Jessica Gower (Network Ten’s “The Secret Life of Us”) additionally star. “Outsourced” is produced by Universal Media Studios. Robert Borden (“The Drew Carey Show” and “George Lopez”) is executive producer/writer. Ken Kwapis (“The Office”) developed the project through his company, In Cahoots, and serves as executive producer/director. Alex Beattie serves as co-executive producer. 
‘THE PAUL REISER SHOW’ -- “The Paul Reiser Show” is a new single camera comedy from Emmy and Golden Globe nominated comedian-author-producer-actor Paul Reiser (“Mad About You”) and writer-producer Jonathan Shapiro (“Life”). The show stars Paul Reiser as…Paul Reiser. It's been a few years since Paul's hit TV series went off the air. Since then, he's been enjoying the quiet life at home with his lovely wife and kids and generally minding his own business. Lately, however, Paul has been thinking that it's time he did something new, something meaningful. As to what that next thing might be, he has no idea. In his quest to figure it out, Paul is helped and hindered by his new "friends." Like most men his age, Paul didn't choose these friends. They're the husbands of his wife's friends, the dads of kids that his boys go to school with. Thrown together by circumstance, Paul and his friends form an unlikely comradeship -- and a horrible basketball team. In addition to Reiser, Ben Shenkman (“Angels in America”) stars as Jonathan, Omid Djalili (“The Infidel”) as Habib, Duane Martin (“All of Us”) as Fernando, Andrew Daly (“MADtv”) as Brad, Amy Landecker (“A Serious Man”) as Claire, Brock Waidmann as Zeke and Koby Rouviere (“Greenberg”) as Gabe. The pilot is executive produced and written by Reiser and Shapiro, produced by Craig Knizek (“Mad About You”), Merri Howard (“Cold Case”) and Peter Safran (“Heist”), and directed by Bryan Gordon (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”). “The Paul Reiser Show” is a production of Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Nuance Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
‘FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS’ -- From Oscar and Emmy winner Brian Grazer (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Arrested Development”), “Friends With Benefits” is a half-hour comedy revolving around a group of twenty-something singles as they navigate the difficult, and often confusing, world of dating. Ben Weymouth (Ryan Hansen, “Party Down”) is on the hunt for the perfect woman who meets his unique set of standards, while his best friend, Sara Maxwell (Danneel Harris, “One Tree Hill”), is just looking for a man to settle down with and raise a family. Ben and Sara have fallen into the habit of turning to each other for moral and physical support as they wait for Mr. and Ms. Right to arrive. Their friend Aaron (Fran Kranz, “Dollhouse”), a romantic at heart, doesn’t approve of Ben and Sara's complicated friendship, but he, along with womanizer Hoon (Ian Reed Kesler) and straight shooter Riley (Jessica Lucas, “Cloverfield”), are all distracted with their own dating trials and tribulations. David Nevins (“Lie to Me,” “Arrested Development”) joins Grazer as executive producer for Imagine Television. Also serving as executive producers are David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”), who directs the pilot, writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (“(500) Days of Summer”), and Jeff Kleeman. “Friends With Benefits” is a production of 20th Century Fox Television, Imagine Television and Big Kid Pictures.New One-hour Comedy Series
‘LOVE BITES’ – From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Cindy Chupack (“Sex and the City”), “Love Bites” is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin. Becki Newton (“Ugly Betty”) stars as Annie and Jordana Spiro (“My Boys”) stars as Frannie, the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married. Annie is an infectiously bubbly optimist and Frannie is an always-a-bridesmaid realist. Their story will anchor the series, while other romantically-challenged characters will come and go each week. The pilot's guest cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”), Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”), Craig Robinson (“The Office”), Jason Lewis (“Sex and the City”), Lindsay Price (“Lipstick Jungle”), Larry Wilmore (“The Daily Show”), Charlyne Yi (“Knocked Up”), Pamela Adlon (“Californication”), Stacy Galina (“Hidden Hills”), Brian Hallisay (“Privileged”), Kyle Howard (“My Boys”) and Steve Howey (“Bride Wars”). “Love Bites” is a production of Universal Media Studios and Working Title Television, which is a new division of Working Title Films (the U.K. production company behind box office hits including “Love Actually,” “Bridget Jones's Diary” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral”). Chupack is creator, executive producer and writer. Emmy Award-winning producer-director Marc Buckland (“My Name Is Earl”) also is executive producer and directs the pilot. Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan and Shelley McCrory from Working Title Television are executive producers. “Love Bites” is Working Title Television’s first U.S. commission. New Alternative Series
‘SCHOOL PRIDE’ – From executive producers Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Denise Cramsey ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "True Beauty"), “School Pride" is a proactive, alternative series that tells the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. While transforming the school, the community also restores its sense of value and school pride. The cameras follow students, teachers and parents as they roll up their sleeves and rebuild their own schools, concluding with the unveiling of a brand new, completely transformed school. They are motivated by a quartet of community organizers and personalities -- SWAT Commander Tom Stroup, interior designer Susie Castillo (“House of Payne”), comedian and former substitute teacher Kym Whitley (“Til Death”) and political correspondent Jacob Soboroff ("AMC News”). Together, the team of experts will lead the community through the makeover process. Months later, cameras will revisit the school to discover the lasting effects of the transformation -- a renewed sense of school pride and an increase in student achievement scores. "School Pride" is produced by Horizon Alternative Television.