NBC's New Schedule

This is the time of the year that all the major TV networks reveal their plans for the upcoming fall season. Having just gotten back from Cartoon Network's (I heart my job sometimes) Upfronts (which is when networks present their upcoming schedule to advertisers), I can tell you that I'm excited about TV being back in full swing in general. One of my favorite networks, NBC, unveiled its new schedule yesterday, and they have a really interesting season coming up.

Highlights:
* The Office is getting a spin-off. New cast, new locations, same executive producer Greg Daniels. It will premiere in the winter. I don't like this at all. I trust Greg will bring the same quirky humor to this series as he has done for the original American version, but eh.

* Speaking of the Office, a special episode will air right after the Super Bowl XLIII next February, followed by a new episode of the spin-off.

* Live from New York, it's.... Thursday Night Live??? SNL Thursday Night Live is a 4-week series that will air in the fall, leading up to the elections.

* Friday Night Lights (one of the best shows on TV) is returning for a third season. The only catch: the 13 new episodes will air on DirectTV first starting October 1, then air on NBC starting Feb '09.

* Heroes fans rejoice! Season 3 will return Sept 15 with a three hour special-- 1 hour clip-show, and 2 hour season premiere.

* Scrubs is gone from NBC, but rumor has it that it is moving to ABC. Stay tuned for that.

Here is the complete schedule:

Fall 2008:
Monday: Chuck, Heroes, My Own Worst Enemy
Tuesday: The Biggest Loser: Families, Kath & Kim, Law & Order: SVU
Wednesday: Knight Rider, Deal or No Deal, Lipstick Jungle
Thursday: My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, The Office, ER
Friday: Crusoe, Deal or No Deal, Life
Saturday: Dateline, Knight Rider [r], L&O: SVU [r]
Sunday: Football Night in America, NFL Sunday Night Football

Winter / Spring 2008-09:
Monday: Chuck, Heroes, The Philanthropist
Tuesday: The Biggest Loser: Families, Kath & Kim, Law & Order: SVU
Wednesday: Knight Rider, Deal or No Deal, Law & Order
Thursday: My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, The Office Spinoff, ER/Celebrity Apprentice
Friday: Deal or No Deal, Friday Night Lights, Life
Saturday: Dateline, L&O: SVU [r], Law & Order [r]
Sunday: Dateline, Merlin, Medium, Kings