Full-Season Pickups Slated for NBC
By Ben Grossman -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/17/2007 11:25:00 AM
NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced full-season pickups for next season for rookie hit Heroes, as well as veterans My Name is Earl, The Office and Law & Order: SVU.
Reilly also expects 30 Rock, a show he champions, to return next season. "It’s already in a success zone; the rating of a 2.9 is not huge a risk to bring back," he says.
Reilly also announced the network will bring back seven episodes of Identity, the Penn Jillette-hosted game show it stunted for a week in December. He said the show will probably debut in March.
NBC also is working on five episodes of Thank God You’re Here, an improv comedy show hosted by David Alan Grier and featuring Dave Foley. It is from FremantleMedia North America.
An Australian format, the show features comedians thrown into improv situations. Reilly said the show is most likely slated for the spring. "This format has proven a comedic phenomenon in many countries, both on-air and online, where clips from the show are frequent popular downloads," says Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Fremantle North America.
NBC is not going forward with a Spike Lee drama it had announced last year. "We did a draft, we worked on it; it just didn’t feel like we were seeing eye to eye on it," says Reilly.
