Fall TV Premieres: Tuesday, September 28th

The introduction of the 2010-2011 new TV Fall season premieres tonight with one returning show, The Good Wife, and a new one, No Ordinary Family.

Today's Spotlight: No Ordinary Family

Dysfunctional families will try anything to become close again: Sunday dinners; TV hour; or even therapy. For the Powells, it's a simple matter of harnessing their respective superpowers. Of course, for Jim (Michael Chiklis), Stephanie (Julie Benz) and their two teenage kids, it takes a plane crash in the Amazon for these abilities to kick in, and in tonight's sci-fi drama series premiere, police sketch-artist Jim tests the limits of his immense strength, while his scientist wife measures her amazing speed.

Tonight's premiere schedule:

8:00 pm
ABC - No Ordinary Family (new)
CBS - The Good Wife

All times are based on Eastern Time zone.

(new) = new series premiere

Fall TV Premieres: Sunday, September 26th

Well we've reached the final day of this Fall's TV premiere week, even though this does not mean that all new and returning shows have premiered their new episodes. We still have shows premiering through mid-October. Tonight's premieres include new episodes of Desperate Housewives, Dexter and Brothers & Sisters.

Today's Spotlight: Desperate Housewives

As we are welcomed back to Wisteria Lane for Desperate Housewives' seventh season, the Bolens have moved on, Orson's moving out, and Susan and Mike have already moved, although not far, because they cannot afford Wisteria Lane living.

In tonight's episode, Susan gets a job offer from their landlady (Lainie Kazan) that she really wants to refuse. Meanwhile, Paul Young (Mark Moses) is moving back in, and no one's happy about it. Plus, Lynette's barb-tossing college friend Renee (Vanessa Williams) shows up. She's just visiting, she says, but Williams has joined the regular cast. Where does that leave Gaby and (the clean-shaven) Carlos? Keeping secrets from each other.

It looks like it's going to be a very interesting season on Desperate Housewives.

Tonight's premiere schedule:

7:00 pm
ABC - America's Funniest Home Videos

7:30 pm
CBS - 60 Minutes

8:00 pm
ABC - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
FOX - The Simpsons

8:30 pm
CBS - The Amazing Race
FOX - The Cleveland Show

9:00 pm
ABC - Desperate Housewives
FOX - Family Guy
SHOWTIME - Dexter

10:00 pm
ABC - Brothers & Sisters
CBS - Undercover Boss
HBO - Bored to Death
TLC - Sister Wives

10:30 pm
HBO - Eastbown & Down

All times are based on Eastern Time zone.

Fall TV Premieres: Friday, September 24th

It's TGIF and the fifth day of the 2010/2011 Fall TV Premiere week. Several favorite series including Smallville and CSI: NY return with their season premiere, along with a new show starring Tom Selleck, Blue Bloods.

Today's Spotlight: Blue Bloods

­Blue Bloods is a drama about a multi-generational family of cops dedicated to New York City law enforcement. Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) is the New York City Police Commissioner and heads both the police force and the Reagan brood. He runs his department as diplomatically as he runs his family, even when dealing with the politics that plagued his unapologetically bold father, Henry (Len Cariou), during his stint as Chief.

The show stars: Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, Will Estes, and Len Cariou.

Tonight's premiere schedule:

8:00 pm
CBS - Medium
CW - Smallville

9:00 pm
CBS - CSI: NY
CW - Supernatural
FOX - The Good Guys
NBC - Dateline

10:00 pm
ABC - 20/20
CBS - Blue Bloods (new)

All times are based on Eastern Time zone.

(new) = new series premiere

Fall TV Premieres: Thursday, September 23rd

Well, we're now on day four of the 2010/2011 Fall TV premiere week and tonight we have the new episodes on returning favorites like Grey's Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory, and The Mentalist. Plus, we have some new shows joining the Thursday line-up including My Generation.

Today's Spotlight: My Generation

What a difference ten years can make. In 2000, a documentary crew followed a disparate group of high schoolers from Greenbelt High School in Austin, Texas as they prepared for graduation. They were then revisited ten years later as they return home to rediscover that just because they're not where they planned does not mean they sre not right where they need to be.

My Generation stars Michael Stahl-David as Steven, Kelli Garner as Dawn, Jaime King as Jacqueline, Keir O'Donnell as Kenneth, Sebastian Sozzi as the Falcon, Mechad Brooks as Rolly, Anne Son as Caroline, Daniella Alonso as Brenda and Julian Morris as Anders.

Tonight's premiere schedule:

8:00 pm
ABC - My Generation (new)
CBS - The Big Bang Theory
FOX - Bones
NBC - Community

8:30 pm
CBS - S#*! My Dad Says (new)
NBC - 30 Rock

9:00 pm
ABC - Grey;s Anatomy
CBS - CSI
FOX - Fringe
NBC - The Office

9:30 pm
NBC - Outsourced (new)

10:00 pm
ABC - Private Practice
CBS - The Mentalist

Times based on Eastern Time zone.

(new) = New Series Premiere

Fall TV Premieres: Wednesday, September 22nd

This "hump day" we have the pleasure to welcome the third day of the new 2010/2011 Fall TV season premiere week with the return the Emmy award winning "Modern Family" to ABC and the new NBC series "Undercovers".

Today's Spotlight: Modern Family

In the second-season premiere, Phil relunctantly agrees to get rid of the Dunphy station wagon, which prompts a wave of nostalgia for the old car. Meanwhile, Cameron enlights Jay's help when Mitchell tries to build a princess castle for Lily,and Manny asks a girl over to study.

Here's the schedule for tonight's premieres:

8:00 pm

ABC - The Middle

FOX - Hell's Kitchen

NBC - Undercovers (new)

8:30 pm

ABC - Better with You (new)

9:00 pm

ABC - Modern Family

CBS - Criminal Minds

NBC - Law & Order: SVU

9:30 pm

ABC - Cougar Town

10:00 pm

ABC - The Whole Truth (new)

CBS - The Defenders (new)

All times are shown based on Eastern Time zone.

(new) = New series premiere

Fall TV Premieres: Tuesday, September 21st

Here we are on day two of the official 2010/2011 Fall TV premiere week which includes the return of last year's FOX sensation "Glee", followed by the series premieres of "Raising Hope" and "Running Wilde", both also on FOX.

Today's Spotlight: Glee

Third place at Regionals just didn't cut it, and season two begins with the glee kids back in the dumps. Time to call in reinforcements. Two possibilities: transfer student Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) and exchange student Sunshine Corazon (Charice). Meanwhile, Figgins is threatening more budget cuts, and he has an ally in the new football coach, a woman name Shannon Beiste (Dot Marie Jones), who looks upon the gleeks and the Cheerios with equal disdain. Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Will Schulster (Matthew Morrison) and Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch)? We'll have to watch and see.

Today's premiere schedule:

8:00 pm
CBS - NCIS
FOX - Glee
NBC - The Biggest Loser

9:00 pm
CBS - NCIS: Los Angeles
FOX - Raising Hope

9:30 pm
FOX - Running Wilde

10:00 pm
ABC - Detroit 1-8-7

All times are based on Eastern Time zone.

Fall TV Premieres: Monday, September 20th

Today marks the official start of the 2010/2011 Fall TV season premieres. There are plenty of new and old shows premiering tonight, including the return of "Dancing with the Stars" and the updated version of "Hawaii Five-O".

FEATURED SPOTLIGHT: "Lone Star"

In the provocative premiere of FOX's "Lone Star", Bob Allen has been raising a Texas con man, drifting through life until he falls in love for real - twice. Now he wants to go straight, without losing either woman, or the worlds they live in (respectively, an oil-rich dynasty in Dall, and a tight-knit small town in Midland).

The show stars James Wolk as Robert/Bob Allen, Eloise Mumford (Lindsay), David Keith (John Allen), Adrianne Palicki (Cat), Marek Deklin (Trammell), Bryce Johnson (Drew), and Jon Voight (Clint).

"Lone Star" has been billed as FOX's newest hit on TV.

Here's a listing of what's new on TV tonight:

8:00 pm

ABC - Dancing with the Stars

CBS - How I Met Your Mother

FOX - House

NBC - Chuck

8:30 pm

CBS - Rules of Engagement

9:00 pm

CBS - Two and a Half Men

FOX - Lone Star

NBC - The Event

9:30 pm

CBS - Mike & Molly

10:00 pm

ABC - Castle

CBS - Hawaii Five-O

NBC - Chase

All times listed are based on Eastern Time zone.

Fall TV Premieres are Here!

Here’s a list of the fall premiere dates for all new and returning TV shows.

Tuesday, September 7
Sons of Anarchy, 10 p.m. (FX)

Wednesday, September 8
America’s Next Top Model, 8 p.m. (The CW)
Hellcats, 9 p.m. (The CW) NEW
Terriers, 10 p.m. (FX) NEW

Thursday, September 9
The Vampire Diaries, 8 p.m. (The CW)
Nikita, 9 p.m. (The CW) NEW

Monday, September 13
90210, 8 p.m. (The CW)
Gossip Girl, 9 p.m. (The CW)

Tuesday, September 14
One Tree Hill, 8 p.m. (The CW)
Life Unexpected, 9 p.m. (The CW)
Parenthood, 10 p.m. (NBC)

Wednesday, September 15
Survivor: Nicaragua, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Outlaw, 10 p.m. (NBC) NEW

Thursday, September 16
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 10 p.m. (FX)
The Apprentice, 10 p.m. (NBC)
The League, 10:30 p.m. (FX)

Sunday, September 19
Boardwalk Empire, 8 p.m. (HBO) NEW

Monday, September 20
Dancing With the Stars, 8 p.m. (ABC)
How I Met Your Mother, 8 p.m. (CBS)
House, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Chuck, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Rules of Engagement, 8:30 p.m. (CBS)
Two and a Half Men, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Lone Star, 9 p.m. (Fox) NEW
The Event, 9 p.m. (NBC) NEW
Mike & Molly, 9:30 p.m. (CBS) NEW
Castle, 10 p.m. (ABC)
Hawaii Five-0, 10 p.m. (CBS) NEW
Chase, 10 p.m. (NBC) NEW

Tuesday, September 21
NCIS, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Glee, 8 p.m. (Fox)
The Biggest Loser, 8 p.m. (NBC)
NCIS: Los Angeles, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Raising Hope, 9 p.m. (Fox) NEW
Running Wilde, 9:30 p.m. (Fox) NEW
Detroit 1-8-7, 10 p.m. (ABC) NEW

Wednesday, September 22
The Middle, 8 p.m. (ABC)
Hell’s Kitchen, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Undercovers, 8 p.m. (NBC) NEW
Better With You, 8:30 p.m. (ABC) NEW
Modern Family, 9 p.m. (ABC)
Criminal Minds, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Law & Order: SVU, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Cougar Town, 9:30 p.m. (ABC)
The Defenders, 10 p.m. (CBS) NEW
The Whole Truth, 10 p.m. (ABC) NEW

Thursday, September 23
My Generation, 8 p.m. (ABC) NEW
The Big Bang Theory, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Bones, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Community, 8 p.m. (NBC)
30 Rock, 8:30 p.m. (NBC)
$#*! My Dad Says, 8:30 p.m. (CBS) NEW
Grey’s Anatomy, 9 p.m. (ABC)
CSI, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Fringe, 9 p.m. (Fox)
The Office, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Outsourced, 9:30 p.m. (NBC) NEW
Private Practice, 10 p.m. (ABC)
The Mentalist, 10 p.m. (CBS)

Friday, September 24
Medium, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Smallville, 8 p.m. (The CW)
CSI: NY, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Supernatural, 9 p.m. (The CW)
The Good Guys, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Blue Bloods, 10 p.m. (CBS) NEW

Sunday, September 26
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 8 p.m. (ABC)
The Simpsons, 8 p.m. (Fox)
The Amazing Race, 8:30 p.m. (CBS)
The Cleveland Show, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Desperate Housewives, 9 p.m. (ABC)
Family Guy, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Dexter, 9 p.m. (Showtime)
Brothers & Sisters, 10 p.m. (ABC)
Undercover Boss, 10 p.m. (CBS)
Bored to Death, 10 p.m. (HBO)
Eastbound & Down, 10:30 p.m. (HBO)

Tuesday, September 28
No Ordinary Family, 9 p.m. (ABC) NEW
The Good Wife, 10 p.m. (CBS)

Wednesday, September 29
Law & Order: Los Angeles, 10 p.m. (NBC) NEW

Friday, October 1
Human Target, 8 p.m. (Fox)

Sunday, October 3
American Dad, 9:30 p.m. (Fox)
CSI: Miami, 10 p.m. (CBS)

Friday, October 15
School Pride, 8 p.m. (NBC)

Wednesday, October 27
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)

Wednesday, November 10
Lie to Me, 8 p.m. (Fox)

The CW Releases It's 2010/2011 Fall TV Line-Up

For the first time, the CW will have an all-original series lineup.

The network, launched in 2006 after the merger of the WB and UPN channels, said Wednesday that it will launch two freshman dramas in the fall along with its returning shows, which finally will give the CW a weekday schedule free of slots devoted to repeats.

The CW hopes to build off freshman hit "The Vampire Diaries" with action-drama "Nikita," and give its new cheerleader soap "Hellcats" some help from "America's Next Top Model."

During the CW's "upfront" presentation to advertisers at Madison Square Garden, executives emphasized the network's online-savvy young demos, noting that it has more Twitter followers than any other broadcaster.

The CW is the first broadcaster to sell its entire fall lineup as on-air ads bundled with online streaming ads, converging the two mediums into a single ad sales focus. All of the CW's fall shows will be available online three days after their linear airing, complete with commercials from the network's linear advertisers.

On Mondays, "90210" will be paired with "Gossip Girl," linking two shows with a high concentration of young female viewers. Tuesdays will have "One Tree Hill" and the sophomore season of "Life Unexpected." On Wednesdays, "Top Model" will lead into "Hellcats." Thursdays has "Vampire" into "Nikita." And on Fridays, the 10th and final season of "Smallville" will be joined by "Supernatural," a duo that performed well together on the network previously.

The CW plans to pick up "a few" more shows for midseason, raising the possibility that it will have more inventory next year. Between the network's use of repeat slots and not having backup programs to replace the occasional disappointment, like "Melrose Place," the CW's lineup developed ratings potholes this season that can stymie audience flow.

With returning shows "One Tree Hill" and "Life Unexpectedly" only having 13-episode orders -- "Then we'll see how they do," Ostroff said -- the network's schedule could change significantly in midseason. But as long as those changes keep original content on the air, the CW has a shot at some year-over-year growth.

CBS Unveils It's 2010/2011 Fall TV Season

CBS took the wraps off a new fall prime-time schedule that will add five new series to its popular lineup, including one based on a Twitter feed and another that mines the TV archives from the 1970s.

CBS will bring aboard three new dramas for the fall, the throwback "Hawaii Five-0," a lighthearted legal drama set in Las Vegas called "The Defenders" and "Blue Bloods" starring Tom Selleck as the patriarch of a family of New York cops.

The last of the big four U.S. broadcast networks to unveil its 2010-11 schedule, CBS is set to once more wrap up the current TV season as the most-viewed network. As a result, it introduced far fewer replacement shows than either NBC or ABC.

Along with its three dramas, CBS said on Wednesday it planned two new comedies for the fall, including "Mike & Molly," a series set in Chicago about a couple who fall in love at Overeaters Anonymous.

The stability of the 2010-11 schedule underscores what has been CBS's take on programing in recent years: If it's not broke, don't fix it.

CBS has a stable of reliable hits, including the "CSI" franchise, this season's breakout series "The Good Wife" and the long-running "Survivor," which will shift to Wednesdays from Thursdays next season.

Among the seven shows CBS jettisoned from the schedule were "The New Adventures of Old Christine," starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and "Ghost Whisperer."

"We are in a pretty good position here," CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves told a news conference. "It's about improving time periods and improving the schedule."

Along those lines, CBS will replace the "Survivor" slot on Thursday with two comedies, a clear effort to pull in younger viewers on one of the most hotly contested nights of the week.

CBS programing chief Kelly Kahl said the network "decided to take a swing" at building an hour of comedy to lead into two proven police dramas, "CSI:Crime Scene Investigation" and "The Mentalist."

The result is that CBS moved "The Big Bang Theory" -- one of the top rated comedies among young adults currently airing on Monday nights -- to the 8 p.m. time slot on Thursdays. That will be followed by the buzzed about freshman comedy "$#*! My Dad Says," starring William Shatner as an expressive father in a series based on the real life tweets of Justin Halpern.

Earlier in the week, the network secured a new two year contract for one of its most bankable stars, Charlie Sheen, after tense negotiations.

Sheen is featured in the hit show "Two and a Half Men," which will remain on Monday nights. It will be followed this fall by "Mike & Molly," from the executive behind "Two and a Half Men," and the new crime drama "Hawaii Five-O."

"I'm happy I'm not selling 'One and a Half Men' to you," said Moonves, in reference to the last-minute signing of Sheen.

ABC Releases Their 2010/2011 Fall Season Line-Up

ABC introduced a prime-time TV schedule for next season that will feature 10 new shows, overhauling a lineup that has suffered ratings declines and will soon be without the hit supernatural thriller "Lost."

The majority of ABC's new programs are dramas, ranging from gritty police show "Detroit 1-8-7" to "My Generation," which centers on a group of fictitious high-school students from Austin, Texas, who reunite a decade after graduation.

In all, ABC, a division of Walt Disney Co will premiere six new dramas in 2010-11. ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson is formally presenting the schedule to advertisers and affiliates at a planned upfront event at Lincoln Center on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, ABC's sister network, ESPN, also owned by Disney, announced at its upfront presentation that it plans to roll out its 3D network on June 11. The launch will feature the first of 25 World Cup matches ESPN 3D aims to broadcast, including games involving favorites Brazil, Germany, Italy and Spain.

It is the second year in a row that ABC will make major changes to its schedule, after rolling out 11 new shows during last year's upfronts -- the period each May when U.S. broadcast networks introduce their lineups, then start negotiating with advertisers over billions of dollars in commercial time.

While last year's crop of programing resulted in some strong ABC comedies -- including the breakout hit "Modern Family" -- many of the dramas failed to find an audience and will not return, including "Flash Forward" and "Eastwick."

The result is that ABC, even with the success of "Modern Family" and "Dancing with the Stars," is battling with NBC for last place among the major networks in the ratings race. Adding to its headaches, "Lost" will soon run its final episode.

Hoping to retain some of the "Lost" audience, ABC will introduce a new supernatural show on Tuesdays this fall called "No Ordinary Family." It tells the story of a family that survives a plane crash, and, upon returning home, finds they possess special powers.

ABC will also roll out two more crime dramas. The first, "Detroit 1-8-7," the Detroit cop show starring Michael Imperioli of "The Sopranos," will appear on Tuesday nights. "Body of Proof" is planned for Fridays and features Dana Delany, previously of "Desperate Housewives," as a crime-solving medical examiner.

"The Whole Truth," a legal drama that examines cases from two angles -- the prosecution's side and the defense's side -- will also appear on ABC's autumn lineup. At midseason, "Off the Map," a medical drama set in an isolated rain forest, will debut.

ABC will try to bolster its Wednesday comedy schedule with "Better Together," a romantic comedy about three different couples sorting through relationships.

Two other comedies are due to arrive midseason. "Happy Endings" is about a group of friends, two of whom break up just as they are about to get married, while "Mr. Sunshine" stars Matthew Perry of "Friends" as the manager of a second-rate sports arena who is facing a mid-life crisis.

Fox and NBC have already unveiled their 2010-11 schedules. CBS will announce its programing plans on Wednesday.

Fox Announces 2010-2011 Fall TV Schedule

Fox's new primetime lineup will feature more comedy and a little less American Idol, the network announced Monday. Fox will take the bold step of cutting the long-running show and will introduce three dramas and four comedies, including one that pairs Will Arnett and Keri Russell.

The show, Running Wilde, will join Glee as part of the network's new Tuesday night comedy block.

Fox has led in ratings for the past six seasons, and the new slate attempts to fill the rare holes in its lineup: The Tuesday night shows give it a new foothold in comedy, and Steven Spielberg's dino-centric Terra Nova may take the place of the departing 24 as the network's action-adventure calling card.

"With three daring new dramas, a fresh new animated series and three new live-action comedies, we're positioned to rebuild the Fox comedy brand, introduce the next generation of unique characters and deliver an even more compelling experience for our viewers next season," Fox president of entertainment Kevin Reilly said in a statement.

Fox also announced that a special episode of Glee will follow Super Bowl XLV and that the show will air in the spring on Wednesdays after Idol. The network also plans to reduce the Tuesday Idol performance shows to 90 minutes and the Wednesday results shows to 30 minutes.

New shows include:

Raising Hope: A comedy from Greg Garcia (My Name Is Earl) about a good-hearted screw-up (The Beast's Lucas Neff) who tries to raise his infant daughter with help from his unusual family. Other stars include Martha Plimpton (How To Make It In America), Garret Dillahunt (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) and Cloris Leachman.

Running Wilde: A romantic comedy from Arrested Development's Jim Vallely, Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett that stars Arnett as an immature playboy the network describes as "trying desperately to win (or buy)" the heart of his childhood sweetheart, a liberal humanitarian played by Russell.

Lonestar: A drama set in the Texas oil industry and premiering this fall stars newcomer James Wolk as a man caught between two lives and two women. It's created by Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman (Party of Five).

Terra Nova: A Steven Spielberg produced action-adventure series follows a family back to prehistoric Earth as they try to save humanity. The series has yet to be scheduled.

Ride-Along: A new cop drama from creator Shawn Ryan (The Shield) about Chicago's most notorious cops. Stars include Jason Clarke (Public Enemies), Jennifer Beals (Lie to Me) and Delroy Lindo (Kidnapped).

Mixed Signals: An ensemble comedy debuting in the spring and created by Bob Fisher (Wedding Crashers) about three longtime friends trying to balance relationships and freedom. Stars include Nelson Franklin (I Love You, Man), David Denman (The Office), Kris Marshall (Human Target), Liza Lapira (Dexter) and Alexandra Breckenridge (Family Guy).

Bob's Burgers: An animated series joining Sunday's animated block from creator Loren Bouchard (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist) about a family with a struggling burger joint.

NBC has already announced its Fall TV line-up. ABC, The CW and CBS will be announcing their's later this week.

NBC Unveils 2010-11 Primetime Schedule

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.

To make room for all of the new shows, NBC cancelled the 20-year old Law & Order, plus Mercy, Trauma, and Heroes.

See the schedule, watch exclusive video, and explore NBC's upcoming shows on NBC.com: http://www.nbc.com/upcoming-shows/.

FOX will be releasing their new Fall line-up later today, followed by ABC, CBS and The CW later this week. Stay tuned for full coverage.

Fall Season Spawned Some Winners

Though cable TV has been grabbing the spotlight in recent months, holiday cheer is spreading at the big broadcast networks.

The good news: More new shows are sticking than in recent years; just a few have been yanked because of low ratings. The bad: Another fall has come and gone without producing a blockbuster cultural phenomenon.

"There's a lot of good, not a lot of great," says CBS program planning chief Kelly Kahl. "But given where we've been, a lot of good is a good thing," he says. With last fall plagued by the lingering effects of a writers' strike, "there was a void of quality shows coming out of last season."

Overall TV usage is down slightly from last fall, when the election heightened interest and drew crowds to cable news. But the overall picture for the big broadcast networks has brightened: Combined, the five are up 3% from last fall, slowing years of steady erosion. Big growth for NFL games and the World Series also helped.

CBS' NCIS: Los Angelesand The Good Wife, paired on Tuesdays, are the top newcomers this season. Fox's Glee and ABC's Modern Family, FlashForward and V opened strongly, though ratings for the two fantasy dramas have trailed off in recent airings.

Fox won its first November sweeps race among younger viewers and is up 18% this fall.

"It's generally a stronger season," says John Rash of Minneapolis ad firm Campbell Mithun.

Only ABC's Hank, CBS' Three Rivers and CW's The Beautiful Life were canceled after a handful of airings, though ABC's Eastwick and Fox's Brothers are on their way out. "You're looking at fewer cancellations than you've seen year-to-year," says Brent Poer of ad firm MediaVest in Los Angeles, but few shows "are reaching the cultural zeitgeist" on network TV.

The new ratings math is that shows considered modest successes would have been canceled a few years ago. "It's far riskier to replace them than to stick with something you know," Poer says. Networks need "to put time and investment into some of these shows to build an audience, because there's not a lot in the pipeline to replace them," a function of cost-cutting at CW and NBC, where The Jay Leno Showis faring poorly compared with the dramas it replaced.

In past years, serialized shows such as Lost and Heroes suffered from long breaks designed to avoid excessive repeats. But the networks will again test viewer loyalty by stalling the returns of FlashForward, Lie to Me, V – and after tonight, Glee – until March or later. "It's a problem when you lose momentum," says Shari Anne Brill of ad firm Carat USA. "It's quite a bit of a wait for a show to come back."

Fall TV Premieres: Thursday Night

The Fall TV Premiere week continues tonight with three favorites returning for their new season and one series premiere. Thursday night is a night to watch great shows throughout the networks.

CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (CBS 9:00 PM): Season 10 starts with Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) returning to the hit series for five episodes. Also look out for promotions for Nick Stokes (George Eads) Dr. Ray Langston (Laurence Fishburne) as they hunt for a new serial killer, Dr. Jekyll.

FLASH FORWARD (ABC 8:00 pm): Joseph Fiennes stars as FBI agent Mark Benford in this Sci-Fi drama. The show is about what happens when Earth blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds and all the survivors of this disaster return with the ability to see their lives six months later in time.

GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC 9:00 pm): Entering it's sixth season, Grey's Anatomy focuses on Izzie (Katherine Heigl) beating cancer but she comes down with an even more debilitating malady: survivor's guilt as she becomes a wreck by the death of George (T.R. Knight).

THE MENTALIST (CBS 10:00 pm): The second season starts with the arrival of a roadblocking rival Agent Same Bosco (Terry Kinnet) gets in the way of the California Bureau of Investigation consultant Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) and snatches the case of the serial killer who murdered Jane's wife and daughter.

All hours are based on Eastern Time.

Fall TV Premieres: Tuesday Night

On this first day of Fall, we welcome back an old favorite and three new series to the Tuesday night line-up. Here are today's season and series premieres.

THE FORGOTTEN (ABC 10:00 pm): ABC enters into the case-of-the-week genre with Christian Slater as Alex the leader of a group of civilian volunteers who try to ID the remains of victims long after cops have given up. The whole story of the victim will be depicted on this show.

THE GOOD WIFE (CBS 10:00 pm): Julianna Margulies returns to TV as Alicia, the devoted wife of an imposed-upon civil sergeant (Chris Noth). In the opening sequence, the politician (Noth) holds a press conference where he responds to allegations of sexual misconduct and resigns in disgrace, while his wife (Margulies) stands by his side. This is the one to watch tonight!

NCIS (CBS 8:00 pm): The 7th season premieres with Ziva (Cote de Pablo) surviving last May's cliff-hanger. Her slowly evolving relationship with Tony (Michael Weatherly) will never be the same after her near-death experience. We also find out what happened to Gibbs' (Mark Harmon) boat.

NCIS: LOS ANGELES (CBS 9:00 pm): Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J star in this NCIS spin-off where they portray (G. Callen and Sam Hanna) as naval officers tracking high-value targets as on the "mother" show.

Fall TV Premieres: Monday Night

Today marks the official start of the 2009/2010 Fall TV Season, even though we have seen several shows premiere throughout the networks since August.

It is a busy Monday with several returning favorites and some exciting (and not too exciting) premieres. Here's a run down on what's new (or returning) to the "tube" tonight:

ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS 8:30 pm): Jenna Elfman returns to TV as Billie, a film critic who gets knocked up from a one-night stand with a younger man (Jon Foster) while she's broken up with her boss/boyfriend (Grant Show).

THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS 9:30 pm) - The 3rd season premieres with Leonard (Johnny Galecki) the experimental physicist and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) the theoretical physicist sharing their "geeky" life with their neighbor, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), the attractive blonde waitress with show-biz aspirations.

CASTLE (ABC 10:00 pm): Author Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) returns for a 2nd season as works with NYPD homicide detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) as they reopen the case of her mother's murder.

CSI: MIAMI (CBS 10:00 pm): On the 8th season opener Eddie Cibrian joins the cast as Jesse Cardoza who will replace Erick Delko (Adam Rodriguez) after his encounter with an alligator. The show will flashback to 1997 when Horatio (David Caruso) built his team.

DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC 8:00 pm): The 9th season premiere with 16 new "stars" including Donny Osmond, Debi Mazar, Macy Gray, Ashley Hamilton, Melissa Joan Hart, and Kathy Ireland.

HEROES (NBC 8:00 pm): On the 4th season premiere the heroes are freed to go back to living their normal lives including Claire (Hayden Panettiere) enrolling in college, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) returning to his paramedic duties, Hiro (Masi Oka) discovering he's seriously ill, and Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) returning to his political roots, but his inner Sylar (Zachary Quinto) slow emerges.

HOUSE (FOX 8:00 pm): The 6th season premieres with House (Hugh Laurie) being held against his will in a mental hospital by his physician (Andre Braugher).

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (CBS 8:00 pm): Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) is no less (or no more) arrogant and abrasive now that he and Robin (Cobie Smulders) are entering into a relationship as 5th season premieres.

TWO AND A HALF MEN (CBS 9:00 pm): The long running comedy starts it's 7th season with Charlie's (Charlie Sheen) ex-fiancee Mia (Emmanuelle Vaughier) reappearing in his life while he's engaged to Chelsea (Jennifer Taylor), Alan (Jon Cryer) going through a nervous breakdown after a fling with his ex-wife Judith (Marin Hinkle) and Jake (Angus T. Jones) starting to drive and date.

Struggling NBC Takes the Leno Leap

So far, so impressive. After only a handful of fall premieres, broadcasters already have two reasons to celebrate: Fox's "Glee" and the CW's "The Vampire Diaries" debuted to strong numbers last week, suggesting that perhaps the coming weeks won't be a repeat of last fall's disappointing returns.

Wednesday night's conceptually risky "Glee" (7.5 million viewers) was the network's highest-rated scripted fall series premiere in three years, and Thursday's "Vampire Diaries" (4.9 million) was the CW's most-watched series premiere.

Both scored well in the networks' internal "intent to view" tracking polls leading up to their premieres, which should give other shows that rank higher on that list some hope. Fox's animated spinoff "The Cleveland Show" is currently at the top, followed by CBS' crime-drama spinoff "NCIS: Los Angeles," NBC's comedy "Community," ABC's sci-fi drama "V" and ABC's mystery series "FlashForward."

All of NBC's new shows are on among the top 10 in the poll, which bodes well for the network's mission to climb from fourth place this fall. But fans said there were more likely to watch NBC's new dramas and comedy than the network's most crucial gamble, "The Jay Leno Show," which premieres Monday night.

How many viewers will watch Leno is the biggest guessing game in town. Most agree the talk-show host's premiere will draw a crowd (after all, Conan O'Brien taking over "The Tonight Show" attracted plenty of curiosity in May). The question is where Leno will settle during the coming weeks.

NBC has defined success as Leno doing as well or better than he performed as host of "Tonight," which would mean averaging 5.2 million viewers. But if NBC winds up with significantly lower average ratings at 10 p.m. with "Leno" and 11:35 p.m. with "Tonight" under O'Brien, will anybody outside of NBC consider the maneuvering a success?

What would be ironic is if NBC rebounded this fall thanks to its new scripted programing, while its heavily promoted, drama-replacing weeknight talk show struggled.

Fall TV Premieres: 90210 & Melrose Place

The cast of Melrose Place

Tonight we have the pleasure of welcoming the first two shows to the 2009/2010 Fall premiere season and they are both on The CW.

The CW is promoting these shows with taglines such as: "Tuesday is the new Hump Day" and "Menage a Tues". And how appropriate it is since the two shows premiering tonight are 90210 (for it's second season) and Melrose Place, it's premiere show.

Both shows are new versions of the 1990s FOX favorites Beverly Hills,90210 and Melrose Place. They have been updated to include storylines related to our current decade along with a sleuth of new cast members and characters.


Here's what The CW has to say about the new Melrose Place:

In an elegant Spanish-style apartment complex in the trendy Melrose neighborhood of Los Angeles, the lives and relationships of a diverse group of 20-somethings intertwine to form a close-knit surrogate family.

Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton, the original "Melrose Place") is the landlady, still beautiful at 40, and a central figure in the lives of all her tenants, especially handsome and rebellious David Breck (Shaun Sipos, "Shark"). Sydney started an affair with David despite her turbulent history with his estranged father, Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro, the original "Melrose Place"). Both father and son learned through experience that Sydney was not above using blackmail to control people.

Another tenant, high-powered publicist Ella Simms (Katie Cassidy, "Supernatural"), once considered Sydney her mentor, but their friendship was destroyed by betrayal, and Sydney threatened to evict Ella and ruin her career. Sydney also played a pivotal role in the career of Auggie Kirkpatrick (Colin Egglesfield, "All My Children"). After they met at an AA meeting, she became a supportive friend to Auggie and encouraged his dream to become a chef. He’s now a successful sous chef at the trendy restaurant Coal, but his relationship with Sydney has gone sour since she began drinking again.

The other tenants include Lauren Yung (Stephanie Jacobsen, "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"), a medical student in desperate need of money to pay her student loans, and Jonah Miller (Michael Rady, "Swingtown"), an aspiring filmmaker who has just proposed to his live-in girlfriend Riley Richmond (Jessica Lucas, "Cloverfield"), a first-grade teacher. The newest tenant, wide-eyed 21-year-old Violet Foster (Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, "7th Heaven"), has just arrived in LA and is horrified to find a bloody body floating in the courtyard pool. David is the leading suspect but, as the police are soon to discover, almost everyone living at Melrose Place had a reason to want the deceased out of the way.

An updated version of the popular 1990s series, Melrose Place is from CBS Television Studios with executive producers Todd Slavkin & Darren Swimmer ("Smallville"). Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") is the director and executive producer of the pilot.

NBC Unveils Fall Lineup, Including Parenthood, Two Medical Dramas & More Thursday SNLs

Peter Krause & Seth Meyers

NBC has revealed "Part 1" of its plan for the 2009-10 TV season, and it includes a second season of Parks and Recreation, a half-dozen installments of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, and four new dramas.

In addition to renewing Parks and Recreation, NBC also officially picked up Heroes for a fourth (shortened) season. Previously announced returns include The Office, 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU, Friday Night Lights, The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Apprentice.

Conspicuously missing from NBC's press release is Medium, despite one trade mag's weekend report that it would be back for a sixth season. NBC sources stated that a decision on Medium has not yet been finalized, but that the network may announce additional pickups on May 19th.

New drama series en route to the Peacock's schedule are as follows:

• Parenthood, based on the 1989 film comedy and starring Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Dax Shepard, Erika Christensen and Craig T. Nelson (as the family patriarch).

• Trauma, from Friday Night Lights producer Peter Berg and revolving around first responder paramedics. The cast includes Derek Luke, Anastasia Griffith (Damages) and Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: CI).

• Mercy, a medical drama told through the eyes of three nurses (played by Michelle Trachtenberg, Jamie Lee Kirchner and Taylor Schilling). The cast also include James Tupper, Diego Klattenhoff (Supernatural) and Guillermo Diaz (Weeds).

• Day One, an "event series" slated to air after the 2010 Winter Olympics wrap, and concerning life on earth in the wake of a global catastrophe. The cast includes Adam Campbell, Carly Pope (Popular) and Catherine Dent (The Shield).

On the comedy front, here is the new fare you can expect:

• Community, set at a community college and starring Chevy Chase and Joel McHale (The Soup).

• 100 Questions, starring Sophie Winkleman (Peep Show) as an unlucky-in-love woman who joins an online dating site.

New reality programming earning a slot on NBC's schedule include Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref, Breakthrough with Tony Robbins, and Who Do You Think You Are?, in which celebs climb their ancestral trees.

NBC's complete 2009-10 schedule will be announced on May 19th.