My thoughts on NBC's announcements. (#savechuck)

Well I was going to write a "Save Chuck" post-mortem post once we heard news of Chuck's fate but of course we haven't yet heard that news. What we did hear was essentially a sneak peak of some NBC's new pick-ups/renewals/fall shows/etc, a list of which can be found on the NBC site here.

The list is about what I would have expected. If you look at the site we can see plenty of shameless promotion of Jay Leno as the heralded savior of prime-time. I'll save my rant on that NBC strategy for some other day but needless to say I'm not a big Leno fan so as far as I'm concerned him being in prime-time doesn't to much for my world except suck all the oxygen out of the NBC prime-time schedule for the scripted shows I love.

After Leno the rest of the list is essentially what I would consider the safe-bets for NBC shows like Law and Order SVU, The Office, 30 Rock, don't get me wrong I enjoy all of these shows and watch them pretty regularly and I think the deserve to be back in the line up. The next group of shows in the returning category on the list are what I'd consider to be NBC's babies. Shows like Southland, Heros, and Parks and Rec for example clearly these shows are the pet shows of somebody fairly high up at NBC. Southland for example by all the reports I've read has garnered lower ratings than Chuck and it got the save so to speak...ooookay. I've heard from many a Heros fan that it's been past it's prime for a while now. As far as Parks and Rec I haven't bothered to watch the show I'm not a Pohler fan but it's clear that FOT (Friends of Tina or Lorne) can do absolutely no wrong at NBC. FOT also explains Weekend Update Thursday (really?! it wasn't that great even with an election going on!). Then of course you round out the schedule with a dose of "reality" (gag!) in the form of Donald and Biggest Looser (don't get me started on either!). This of course brings us to the new shows.

So you have two medical dramas in the form of Mercy and Trauma (what is a prime time schedule without something to compete with Grey's Anatomy after all?), Parenthood (which looks like a total yawn), Community (kinda looks like another Office or Parks and Rec-esque show clearly NBC likes the view from that bandwagon) and then Day One. For all these shows Day One looks like the ONE that I might actually consider making it a point to check out.

All of which brings us to two of my favorite shows which are conspicuously absent from the announcements: Chuck and Law and Order. Frankly I hope that NBC would never make me choose between these two shows. I've been watching Chuck from the first episode and Law and Order for as long as I have a memory of watching TV with any regularity.

It is no secret that NBC has long since lost it's patience with Law and Order however it needs two more seasons (one to tie) Gunsmoke as the longest running drama series on American TV. It's widely rumored or speculated that this record is what has kept the show alive for a good three seasons or so after NBC started wavering on it. The big question for Law and Order is where does it go now that Leno is in it's timeslot. For the VAST majority of it's existence Law and Order has occupied the Wednesday night 10pm - 11pm timeslot. NBC tried to move it to Fridays a season or two ago and the ratings tanked but rebounded slightly when it moved back to Wed. at 10pm. Problem now is Leno is on Wednesday at 10pm. I will be very interested to see how Leno does on nights were a Drama precedes him. Will audiences flip the switch from watching an intense gritty drama to Leno cracking jokes after the next commercial break? Before there was always the nightly news to switch gears a little more gradually. I've always liked Law and Order and I think it is one of the few educational and socially redeeming dramas remaining on TV, it provides an important exploration into issues of law, justice, and the courts in this country. It would be a shame to see it go in my opinion. Of course while it invented procedural crime shows that fish bowl is quite crowded at this point.

This of course leaves us to ponder the fate of my current favorite show on TV anywhere bar-none, Chuck. Is no news good news for the quirky, romantic, action-packed, drama/comedy? It's a good question I'm not sure how to feel anymore. I desperately want the show back but I feel like NBC's announcements today are a potential sign that their constant "we love the show" drum beat is more lip-service than sincere. If you love the show so much then be Sarah Walker and show us how much you love it with your actions not mere words. Perhaps NBC is pondering it's options, perhaps they release the show to the WB who owns it and it goes on to air there? (I know many have said this is unlikely.) Or perhaps they are just playing hard to get with the WB and trying to drive down the price, let's face TV is all about money these days (*cough* see the whole Leno thing *cough*).

Caught this reading one of the many articles on the announcement, from TVWeek, "Ms. Bromstad went out of her way to praise outside studios, but said it was "just the odds" that all of the network's pickups were in-house shows." Does anyone buy that? Puh-Lease. According to the professionals while there is no official word it likely means if a show didn't appear today then it won't be premiere in the Fall. If the 13 episode season rumors are true perhaps Chuck would make an entry with Law and Order in January. That seems extremely optimistic to me.

Whatever NBC is up to I hope, desperately, that it involves continuing to make a decision and that we will hear positive news on May 19th, or that the will release Chuck and it will return somewhere else (USA? SciFi? USA likes to say "Characters welcome" well Chuck has more than a few "characters"!) In the mean time I'll remain guardedly hopeful and go buy a Subway sub for lunch today. Here's hoping...Please NBC?!