TVSquad

Sure, we always talk about NBC, how they are usually fourth in the ratings and and they don't give shows a chance and they show Deal Or No Deal way too many times, but they are number one in one important area: selling ad time for this fall.

The network has already sold $1.9 billion (yes, that's with a B, as in Bionic Woman) of advance advertising sales for this fall's prime time schedule. And they did this even though they didn't do a regular upfront and didn't have pilots to show. That's $100 million more than they did last year.

Actually, NBC already had its upfront over a month ago. This is a "spotlight event," a Part 2, if you will (a walk-thru set up at 30 Rock for advertisers and the media), but they did make some interesting announcements today.

This biggest announcement (though hardly a surprise at this point) was that Jimmy Fallon will take over on Late Night when Conan O'Brien takes over for Jay Leno. This will happen next year.

Here are some of the other announcements made at today's even and a recap of the new shows and the shows that have been canceled. And in this post, I promise not to fail you, rainbow chicken.

NBC boss Ben Silverman tells TV Week that in 15 years, we won't really be using TV for anything except launching a show and to watch big "event" shows like American Idol and The Super Bowl.

I have to agree with one of the commenters at TV Week who says that if NBC wants us to go online to see the final scene of a TV show, then we're going to change the channel and watch something else. I don't want to have to work to get my entertainment. It's television; I want to sit in front of it with a cold drink and maybe some Doritos and watch something from start to finish. What's next, movies that end with a giant "GO TO IRONMANMOVIE.MARVEL.COM TO SEE THE EXCITING ENDING TO THIS FILM!"? Or maybe we can purchase a DVD of the ending as we head out the theater door?

I think that Silverman is right when he says that TV networks and shows will have to have some sort of online companion if they want to stick around. But that's nothing new, the networks and most TV shows already have all that. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Personally, I think that in 15 years we're still going to have our TV sets in our living rooms, though the computer/TV merge will be a lot better and in every home.

If you haven't heard, 30 Rock and Scrubs are switching time slots starting this Thursday. 30 Rock will now be seen at 9:30 for the rest of the season while Scrubs moves to the 8:30 slot.

A lot of people (including myself) assumed that this was because of the rent "MILF Island" episode of the show. NBC received a lot of complaints about the episode, saying it was too raunchy for the "family hour," the 8pm to 9pm time that has always (sort of) been for family viewing (NBC even touted a "family hour" when they announced their new lineup a few weeks ago). Now comes word from the network that the switch isn't happening because of the controversy. But the real reason is just as interesting.

They're moving the show to 9:30 so it has a better lead-in (The Office) and can give the show more exposure as Tina Fey's new movie Baby Mama opens. The network does say, however, that when the fall rolls around the show will be back in its regular 8:30 time slot after My Name Is Earl.

When NBC revealed their new schedule a little early yesterday, it was announced that ER will indeed be back for a 15th season. Now it has been announced that this indeed will be the last season of the long running medical drama.

This current season was supposed to be the last season of the show, but it had sort of a rejuvenation this year, which made NBC completely rework their Thursday at 10 time slot. While they tried a couple of different strategies in that time period, it turned out that the old show ER was actually the most successful.

NBC unveiled their new schedule today, weeks ahead of all of the other networks, and here are some highlights of their "52-week schedule".

New shows: My Own Worst Enemy, with Christian Slater as a spy (Monday at 10); the island adventure series Crusoe (Friday at 8); the Molly Shannon sitcom Kath & Kim (Tuesday at 9:30); and the remake of Knight Rider (Wednesday at 8). The new drama The Philanthropist will air in the My Own Worst Enemy's time slot in the winter. Two other dramas will also debut in the winter: Kings (with Ian McShane) and Merlin, as will the reality show America's Toughest Jobs.

Returning: 30 Rock, Medium, The Office, Celebrity Apprentice, Life, Chuck, Heroes, Dateline, Deal Or No Deal, My Name Is Earl, America's Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, Nashville Star, The Biggest Loser, American Gladiators, SNL, ER, Law and Order, and Law and Order: SVU.

Gone: Scrubs (probably moving to ABC), Bionic Woman, Amnesia, 1 vs. 100, Journeyman.

NBC is trying to get a head start on all of the other networks by unveiling their new fall schedule not in the traditional month of May but six weeks earlier.

The network has announced that instead of unveiling their 2008-09 schedule in May, when all of the networks give their upfront presentations, they're going to do it a press conference next week. The press conference will be held at Rockefeller Plaza and will be headed by NBC chairman Ben Silverman and Universal Media Studios chairman Marc Graboff.

Fans of the perpetually unwatched but much-loved NBC show Friday Night Lights have a reason to rejoice this morning: the show has been renewed for a third season, according to Nikki Finke.

NBC executives had been looking for a way to renew their low-rated show, mostly through cost-sharing deals with other networks. They finally found a partner: DirecTV. No details of the deal were given; all we know right now is that the satellite company and the Peacock folks will share the costs of producing the show and will both air the show across multiple platforms.

NBC is going classic, with a twist. The network has ordered 13 episodes of a new drama series based on the Daniel Defoe classic Robinson Crusoe. This is far from the first time Defoe's 1719 novel has been filmed. The most recent incarnation was a 1997 Pierce Brosnan feature. In 1964, it was the basis for a French TV series.

This version is going to be a new take on the old story of a man who sets sail from England, his ship is wrecked in a storm and he's thrown overboard winding up alone on a deserted island where he has to fen for himself. In time, he is joined by an escaped slave whom he names Friday. Ben Silverman, NBC's head honcho, described the proposed series in this way: "It's part MacGyver, part contemporary morality tale about race and personal discovery, part comedy and part Castaway meets Survivor." As envisioned, this Robinson Crusoe will need to be clever indeed. It's going to keep the time period 1650's, but when Crusoe finds Friday, he'll presumably be treating him as if it were today with regard to race relations.

In the least surprising news I've seen all week, the British tabloid Daily Mail is reporting that NBC's Bionic Woman will be canceled, "barring a last-minute miracle." The Mail's "source" tells the tab that star Michelle Ryan has returned to England "because the writing was on the wall," and is "defeated and depressed" that things didn't work out. Their source also claims that NBC Universal is pinning the blame for the show's failure on Ryan: "Their bet was that American viewers would fall in love with her looks, personality, and the character she played."

Gee, you think this "source" was a friend of Ryan's? Anyway, given the fact that a) this news hasn't shown up in any of the trades, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter (UPDATE: this article in Variety says that the show is "probably canceled," which isn't that definitive, either), and b) the British tabs never let the truth get in the way of a juicy story, you have to take this news with a whole shaker of salt. Still, it's not like people were clamoring to see Bionic Woman return after the writers' strike. So, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before Ben Silverman and the folks at NBC make this cancellation official.

Yeah, I know, we already had a Ben Silverman-centric post today, but this is going to be interesting for fans of Friday Night lights.

Radar ran into the NBC Entertainment President Ben Silverman at a party for Lipstick Jungle (I'm sure it was a great party, but that show doesn't have a chance), and they asked him if the high school football drama was going to be saved even though it doesn't get good ratings, and Silverman responded in typical Silvermanian (?) fashion.

A lot of people are worried that NBC has suddenly changed into a reality/game show channel. Not only has NBC had Deal Or No Deal, The Apprentice, 1 vs. 100, and The Biggest Loser on the schedule for a few seasons, they now also have American Gladiators, Nashville Star, a game show hosted by Dennis Miller called Amnesia, America's Favorite Mom, and My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad. And don't forget the Bernie Mac reality show Welcome to the Family. They aren't the only network to have reality/game shows, but they seem to be taking the lead in getting the most on the air (and canceling scripted shows).

Now NBC chief Ben Silverman tells The Los Angeles Times that he meant that this is just a temporary thing, because of the strike. They are still picking up scripted sitcoms and dramas and things will go back to normal after the strike is over.

Geeks and fruit lovers rejoice, NBC just announced that it is ordering an extra nine episodes of two of its new series: Chuck and Life. What that means is that both series will have a complete first season of 22 episodes each!

About 8 million viewers tune in weekly to watch geek-turned-secret-agent Chuck Bartowski solve crimes with his two handlers and to witness Detective Crews solve cases after sering time in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Will the writers strike boost DVD sales?
• Could Winona Ryder be Spock's mom in the new Star Trek movie?
• George Clooney got into a heated argument with ... Fabio?!
• NBC's "Green Week" reminds someone of something CBS did years ago with Elizabeth Taylor's perfume. [via TV Guidance]
• Ex-New York Daily News critic David Bianculli has launched a new TV blog.
• Mark Cuban thinks Bill O'Reilly is a moron.
• Meanwhile, NBC chief Ben Silverman thinks ABC chief Steve McPherson is a moron.

Production of one of the more highly anticipated shows on the NBC schedule, Heroes: Origins, has been put on hold. Apparently, due to fears of a pending writers' strike. Or, maybe not.

According to The Hollywood Reporter the Heroes spin-off will not be receiving its six-episode run, which was to begin in April of 2008. While NBC hasn't officially said that the series is canceled producers have not been given a date when it would be put on the schedule. During the network upfronts held last May it was mentioned that Origins would be spelling its older sibling during a late-season hiatus.