Yesterday at NBC’s upfront presentations in New York, the network announced that it would add four new scripted dramas and one comedy to its fall prime-time slate. In sad but not unexpected news for Sarah Paulson fans, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was not included in lineup, and the last six episodes will be air beginning May 24 on NBC. But perhaps the news that Sarah Shahi is part of one of NBC’s newest shows, Life, will brighten your day. Here she is as Det. Dani Reese:
Life, which will air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m., is about Det. Charlie Crews (Damian Lewis) who returns to work after spending several years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Shahi’s character Dani Reese is described as “skeptical” and “demanding,” aka typical female cop stuff (not that there’s anything wrong with that!). The show also features Robin Weigert (Calamity Jane of Deadwood) as the “hard-hitting” Lt. Karen Davis.
NBC is trying to ride on its Heroes success by ordering 24 episodes for its second season, plus an additional six episodes about the origin stories of new heroes. Viewers will get to vote on which of these new characters will join the third season. Directly following Heroes on Monday nights, the new drama Journeyman “is a romantic mystery-drama about Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd, “Rome”), a San Francisco newspaper reporter and family man who inexplicably begins to travel through time and change people’s lives.” It also stars Moon Bloodgood, one of the record number of Asian and Asian-American actresses on TV this fall. The buzz is that Journeyman feels like Heroes, but I think it sounds like Quantum Leap.
The other new additions to NBC’s lineup include Chuck, a show about a computer geek who becomes a secret agent; the reimagined Bionic Woman; and The Lipstick Jungle, the NBC version of Cashmere Mafia, which doesn’t premiere till midseason.
My favorite news from NBC’s upfronts, though (in addition to the return of Tina Fey in 30 Rock), is that Friday Night Lights, the best show you’ve probably never seen, is back! They’ve scheduled it on Friday nights, which seemed to me like a stupid move that would quickly drive it into the TV graveyard, until I read the LA Times‘ take on the move: “A source at NBC also said that by moving the critically beloved show there, the network has set its expectations low. ‘A 2.5 would be fine with us,’ said the source. ” Woohoo! More of the ladies of Friday Night Lights!
Check back later today for ABC’s fall lineup.
