NBC kicks off frenzy of TV series pickups

LOS ANGELES - NBC kicked off the broadcast networks’ annual series-pickup frenzy with orders for the new dramas “The Bionic Woman,” “Chuck,” “Journeyman” and “Life,” as well as a renewal of the critical darling “Friday Night Lights.”

Additionally, sources said ABC is close to a 13-episode order for the midseason comedy “Notes From the Underbelly,” and CBS is close to bringing back the midseason comedy “Rules of Engagement” and the sophomore Julia Louis Dreyfus sitcom “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

Talks are said to continue about ABC possibly picking up eight to nine more episodes of its well-received but low-rated comedy “The Knights of Prosperity,” featuring Donal Logue and company trying to rob Ray Romano. Romano appeared at the end of the last aired episode of “Knights.” He also is featured in the remaining three episodes of the show’s first season, which have not aired.

“Bionic” is a re-imagination of the 1970s series; Michelle Ryan stars. “Chuck” stars Zachary Levi as a computer geek working as a spy.

“Journeyman” stars Kevin McKidd as a man who travels back in time to fix the lives of people in trouble. “Life” stars Damian Lewis as an ex-cop who rejoins the force after being wrongfully imprisoned.

Several other NBC pilots — including the comedy-drama “Lipstick Jungle,” possibly for midseason, and comedies “The IT Crowd” and “Lipshitz Saves the Universe” — are said to have strong supporters at the network.

The full-season pickup for “Friday Night Lights,” which struggled in the Wednesday 8 p.m. time period, follows an order for six additional scripts NBC made in April. NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly had repeatedly stated that the show would return for a second season, probably in a new time slot. The most rumored scenario has the football drama going to Fridays.

Sources said NBC’s long-running drama “Crossing Jordan” won’t return, while the jury is still out on “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Scrubs.” For two of the three, “Law & Order” and “Scrubs,” a cancellation by NBC won’t necessarily mean the end of the shows, with TNT interested in picking up the crime veteran and ABC interested in taking on the medical comedy.

The end of the road might be coming for another series that was looking for a new beginning, CW’s “Veronica Mars.” Sources indicated that the cult show, whose trailer for a fourth season set a couple of years into the feature had been warmly received by CW brass, is now back on the verge of cancellation.

A rumored CBS schedule, which made the rounds Thursday, includes an untitled Jimmy Smits drama about a family of liquor barons landing the Thursday 10 p.m. time slot, and “Shark” moving to the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour.

With its paranormal theme, “Babylon Fields” could be a good fit after “Ghost Whisperer” on Friday, while murder mystery-musical “Viva Laughlin” might kick off the network’s Wednesday crime lineup of “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY.”

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