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Fall 2007 NBC TV Network Programming Schedule

 Descriptions and Analysis

New Series in blue.

Click on underlined titles for information.

Here's the link to NBC's own 2007 Schedule website.

Season Begins September 24, 2007

Midseason/On the Bench:  Baby Borrowers, The IT Crowd, Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lipstick Jungle, Medium, World Moves

Series

Returning Shows

Friday Night Lights:  The respected 2004 feature film about small town Texas high school football -- and the folks who care about it -- comes to TV.  Kyle Chandler (King Kong, Early Edition, Grey's Anatomy, Homefront, Tour of Duty) takes over Billy Bob Thornton's coach role, and Connie Britton (24, The West Wing, Spin City, Ellen, The Brothers McMullen) reprises her role as his wife.  The football team and students are played by a talented batch of young-ish actors including newcomer Zach Gilford, Adrianne Palicki (Rumor Has It, South Beach, North Shore, Supernatural), Jessie Plemons (Grey's Anatomy, The Flyboys), Minka Kelly (What I Like About You), Scott Porter (Altar Boyz, Descent), Aimee Teegarden (Hannah Montana), Gaius Charles (The Book of Daniel), and Taylor Kitsch (The Covenant, Snakes on a Plane, John Tucker Must Die).  Extremely tough competition including Dancing with the Stars and in January, American Idol, will make Friday Night Light's transition to TV a tough win, but so are those football games, eh?  Update 9/07: Second Season starts this month.

Heroes:  Smash hit!  Second Season starting this year!   

Las Vegas:  The exciting thing about this drama, set guess where, is the presence of James Caan, who's been in quite a few TV movies but this is his first time headlining a series of his own.  He's Big Ed Deline here, boss of a surveillance company, ex-CIA agent, and all tough-guy as he grabs his piece of the unique and dynamic landscape that is Las Vegas.  Can primetime TV handle two Vegas-based shows?   This one won't have quite the dead body count as CSI, but we can expect lots of high stakes gambling, crooked wannabes and beautiful ladies of the night.  Sounds like place that might suit James Caan rather well, doesn't it?  He might be almost a senior citizen, but Caan could lend a nice grizzled touch to Monday night, though he'll be up against the strongest CBS comedies and will have to fend off football in the fall.  If Las Vegas can pull it off, it will offer the only action drama in the time period, but will that be enough?  Although the city of Las Vegas would seem like such a sure thing in terms of an exciting setting, the truth is much iffier, and if this show focuses too much on the gambling aspect of the town it won't work for long.  Let's see what happens.  Caan could make this very watchable. Las Vegas also stars an attractive multi-ethnic cast including Josh Duhamel (All My Children), Vanessa Marcil (General Hospital, Beverly Hills 90210), Nikki Cox (ex-Mrs. Bobcat Goldthwait), James Lesure, Marsha Thomason (Black Knight) and actress/model Molly Sims.  Premiere Date:  9/29/03.  Updated Info 8/20:  Las Vegas will now premiere on 9/22 at 10pm, after a special two-hour Las Vegas-set Fear Factor episode.  It will go back to its 9pm slot on 9/29, and Third Watch will follow.  Review 10/7/03:  Las Vegas seems to be holding its own against CBS' powerhouse Monday comedy block so far, and that's a bit of good luck for this stylish and snazzy drama.  The model for this show is more Hotel than FX's cancelled comedy/drama Lucky, with of course a pedal to the metal nod to Vegas' Dan Tana, and that's not a bad bunch of influences.  There are just enough gambling-specific storylines to justify the setting, but not so much that the whole thing bogs down in the arcanum of running a casino.  The rest of the time there's a lot of sexually-related adventuring, with plenty of gorgeous girls -- even quite a few intelligent ones, too -- around, and then a bunch of other silly stuff involving casino guests; here's where the show even sometimes feels a little like The Love Boat.  It's all part of the fast-paced whirl of light and color that keeps Las Vegas whooshing along, and the cast is more than up to keeping up with the action.  James Caan is great as Ed Deline, and it was a treat to see Cheryl Ladd in the pilot as his ex-wife (not sure if she'll be back, though).  The younger contingent is uniformly attractive and capable, too, and the whole Las Vegas package is a great big neon-flashing come-on for a willing audience.  If this can fend off the competition that's still to come, namely Fox's Skin, chances are pretty good that Las Vegas could beat the odds and end up a success.  Update 10/15/03:  NBC has given Las Vegas its full 22 episode season order, the first pick-up for the network this season.  Update 10/21/03:  NBC will run Las Vegas encores in the Saturday 8 - 9pm slot during November sweeps, with various Law & Order franchise episodes airing from 9 - 11pm.  Update 1/30/04:  Las Vegas has been given an early 22-episode order for the 2004/2005 season.  Update 9/05:  Still going strong.  Update 7/06:  Back again for the 2006/2007 season! 

My Name is Earl:   One of hip director Kevin Smith's favorite actors, Jason Lee (Dogma, Mallrats, the awful Dreamcatchers -- but don't hold that against him) gets his chance at sitcom success in this highly-anticipated series about a hapless loser who wins a lottery, discovers the concept of Karma, and determines to change his life around, making amends to those he screwed over in the past.  Lee -- who has an amazing second life as a kewl pro skateboarding impresario -- has a likeable screen persona and handsome-but-not-too-handsome looks that could translate very well to the weekly series grind, and we know he can do comedy.  Fellow Smith-fave Ethan Suplee (Boy Meets World, The Butterfly Effect) plays Earl's loyal brother, Jaime Pressley (Ringmaster, Joe Dirt) Earl's scheming sexy ex-wife, and Nadine Velazquez (The Bold and the Beautiful) is a sensible gal pal along for the fun.  Some of us may recall the way-out-of-proportion backlash against UPN's innocuous and I thought goofily charming lowbrow comedy The Mullets a few seasons ago; it's fascinating to see the same lower-middle-class milieu getting the thumbs up this year.  Tastes change, and NBC's no doubt hoping Earl can become a winner and perhaps a contender in the future for a berth on their seriously floundering Thursday comedy night.  Jason Lee is reason enough to hope this one makes it.  Premieres September 20th.  Update 10/12:  My Name is Earl's early performance success has encouraged NBC to give it a full-season pick-up order.  Good work!

The Office: 

30 Rock: Veteran SNL performer and writer Tina Fey (Mean Girls) exec-produces and stars in NBC's second TV-as-workplace entry this season in this sitcom about the hyper and (hopefully) hilarious goings-on backstage at a late-night comedy series.  Ms. Fey plays a single, career-girl writer; Tracy Morgan (SNL, Little Man, Martin), Jane Krakowski (Ally McBeal), Rachel Dratch (SNL, King of Queens), Scott Adsit and Jack McBrayer (both Second City prodigies), provide the rest of the comic provenance.  Actor Alec Baldwin, who's proven himself adept at both drama and comedy, co-stars as the pompous network suit riding their backs.  NBC's got it covered; with Studio 60 examining the angst of big-time TV comedy, 30 Rock takes on the comedy of comedy.  Great credentials could make a great show here; too bad it isn't stacked up next to NBC's other successful comedy entries My Name is Earl or The Office, but 30 Rock will have to make a go with newbie 20 Good Years as its lead-in, at least until some schedule changes.          

Midseason/On The Bench