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NBC ANNOUNCES AMBITIOUS
LINEUP OF PROGRAMMING DOMINATED BY NEW SCRIPTED SERIES FOR 2009-2010 PRIMETIME
SEASON THAT EXTENDS THE NETWORKS QUALITY BRAND.
{sidebar id=1}NBC unveiled today a strong
lineup of broad and diverse quality programming for the 2009-2010 television
season announcing the pickups of six new series featuring four new dramas
including "Trauma," "Parenthood," "Mercy" and the event series "Day One," as
well as two new comedies including "Community" and "100 Questions." Four
returning series pickups were also announced today including "Heroes,"
"Southland," "Parks and Recreation" and the addition of six new episodes of
"Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday" skewering todays top stories in
live half-hour primetime shows.
The new and returning series will launch
next season and the epic event series "Day One" is slated to premiere out of the
2010 Winter Olympic Games.
"The Jay Leno Show" will be broadcast
Monday-Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET beginning in the fall. Previously announced series
pickups include "The Office," "30 Rock," "The Biggest Loser," "The Celebrity
Apprentice," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Friday Night Lights," and
new alternative series "The Marriage Ref," "Breakthrough With Tony Robbins" and
"Who Do You Think You Are?"
Additional series pickups will be announced
May 19, when NBC announces its 2009-2010 schedule.
NBC unveiled pickups
for the upcoming broadcast season in the first of a series of presentations
today and tomorrow to key advertisers from Studio 8Hthe home of NBCs "Saturday
Night Live"at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Presentations will
continue in Chicago on May 7 and Los Angeles on May 12.
"We are thrilled
to be announcing such an awesome slate of new series that build on our existing
quality brand and deliver emotional, human stories," said Ben Silverman,
Co-Chairman, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. "NBC will strive to
make viewers feel and our shows represent the full range of human emotion from
laughter to tears. We cant wait to share these concepts with our audience and
our advertising partners."
"These new series will showcase fresh talent
and bold, original concepts that are extremely well executed," said Angela
Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.
"We are grateful to the producers, casts and crews -- and our team -- who have
delivered incredibly compelling and entertaining new series."
In
response to an evolving media marketplace and the changing needs of advertisers,
NBC has created a more innovative, client-centric approach to its traditional
Upfront with a series of one-on-one client presentations, which began today in
New York City. These presentations are interactive and, unlike other networks
Upfront presentations, will include a Q & A with advertisers and NBC sales
and entertainment executives.
NBC will also host advertisers and
affiliates at a "Night of Comedy" featuring appearances by some of its biggest
comedy stars including Jay Leno, Conan OBrien, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Rainn
Wilson and Tracy Morgan on Tuesday, May 19 in New York City.
Detailed
new series descriptions are listed below. For photography, log on to
www.nbcumv.com. For additional press materials including EPK and new series
promotional trailers, please see companion media advisory.
2009-2010 NEW
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
New Dramas
PARENTHOOD
From the executive producers of the
box-office hit "Parenthood" -- Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Oscar winners for "A
Beautiful Mind"), and writer/executive producer Jason Katims ("Friday Night
Lights") -- this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the
colorful and imperfect Braverman family -- four grown siblings sharing the
headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes
Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia,
Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos. When Sarah Braverman (Tierney,
"ER"), a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and
siblings in Berkeley, Calif. after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting
her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Mae Whitman, "In Treatment") and Drew (Miles
Heizer, "ER"), she is greeted by her opinionated father, Zeek (Nelson, "Family
Stone," "Coach"), and strong mother, Camille (Bedelia, "Heart Like a Wheel"),
who are privately dealing with their own marital issues. As Sarah is reunited
with her siblings -- sister, Julia (Christensen, "Traffic"), and brothers Crosby
(Shepard, "Baby Mama") and Adam (Krause, "Six Feet Under") -- all struggling
with issues of their own, its clear that the Braverman reunion is just what
they need to face the everyday challenges of modern family life. "Parenthood" is
a production from Imagine Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. Emmy winner
Thomas Schlamme ("The West Wing") directs the pilot.
TRAUMA
Executive producer Peter Berg (NBCs "Friday
Night Lights") delivers "Trauma," the first high-octane medical drama series to
live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot
to the heart, "Trauma" is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most
dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When
emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the
scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From
the heights of the citys Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San
Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives
-- and give meaning to their own existence in the process. Starring in "Trauma"
are Derek Luke ("Notorious"), Cliff Curtis ("10,000 B.C"), Anastasia Griffith
("Damages"), Aimee Garcia ("George Lopez"), Kevin Rankin ("Friday Night Lights")
and Jamey Sheridan ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent"). "Trauma" is a
production of Universal Media Studios and Film 44. Berg, Sarah Aubrey ("Bad
Santa," "Friday Night Lights"), Dario Scardapane and Jeffrey Reiner ("Friday
Night Lights") serve as executive producers. The pilot was written by Scardapane
and directed by Reiner.
MERCY
"Mercy," a new medical drama with a unique point
of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the
eyes of those who know it best -- its nurses. Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor
Schilling, "Dark Matter") returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq -- and
she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with
fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, "Rescue Me") and Chloe Payne
(Michelle Trachtenberg, "Gossip Girl"), Callahan navigates through the daily
traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out
in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper ("Men in Trees") as Dr.
Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica's life; Diego
Klattenhoff ("Supernatural") as Mike Callahan, Veronicas husband; and Guillermo
Diaz ("Weeds") as Nurse Angel Lopez. "Mercy" is a production from Universal
Media Studios and Berman Braun. Joining writer/executive producers Liz Heldens
(NBCs "Friday Night Lights") and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts ("Pushing
Daisies," "Pepper Dennis") are executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun.
Emmy Award winner Adam Bernstein (NBCs "30 Rock," "Rescue Me") is the director.
DAY ONE
From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander
("Heroes," "Lost," "Alias") and director Alex Graves ("Fringe," "Journeyman"),
"Day One" tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that
has devastated the world's infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate
aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors -- played by
Adam Campbell ("Date Movie"), Catherine Dent ("The Shield"), Julie Gonzalo ("Eli
Stone"), David Lyons ("ER"), Derek Mio ("Greek"), Carly Pope ("24"), Thekla
Reuten ("Sleeper Cell") and Addison Timlin ("Cashmere Mafia") -- strives to
rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their
uncertain future. The group, all residents of one apartment building in suburban
Van Nuys, Calif., embarks on a quest for survival and discovers that hope is
found in small victories -- and heroes are born every day. "Day One" is a
Universal Media Studios production.
New Comedies
100 QUESTIONS (fka "100 Questions for Charlotte Payne")
Emmy winner James Burrows ("Will & Grace," "Friends") directs "100
Questions," a new comedy series written and executive-produced by Christopher
Moynihan ("For Your Consideration") that provides hilarious answers to 100
questions about love. Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, "Peep Show") is looking
for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals -- but she has yet to meet
Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help
from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, "The Ex List") who requires her to
take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions arent easy for Charlotte
to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in
her life with friends Leslie (Elizabeth Ho, "Womens Murder Club"), Jill (Joy
Suprano, NBCs "Law & Order"), Mike (Christopher Moynihan "For Your
Consideration") and Wayne (David Walton "Quarterlife"). The test becomes a
journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly
wants in a relationship. Ron West ("Psych"), Kelly Kulchak ("Psych") and
Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") join Moynihan as executive producers. The
series is produced by Universal Media Studios and Tagline.
COMMUNITY
From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and
Anthony Russo ("Arrested Development") comes "Community," a smart comedy series
about higher education -- and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale
Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives,
and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed
halls, "Community" focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a
fast-talkin lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, "The Soup"), who
form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do
about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian
Jacobs ("The Book of Daniel"); Yvette Nicole Brown ("Rules of Engagement");
Danny Pudi ("Greek"); Alison Brie ("Mad Men"); and comedy legend Chevy Chase
("Saturday Night Live"). "Community" is a Krasnoff Foster Entertainment,
Harmonious Claptrap and Russo Brothers production in association with Sony
Pictures Television and Universal Media Studios. Russ Krasnoff ("The Soloist"),
Dan Harmon ("The Sarah Silverman Program"), Joe Russo ("Arrested Development"),
Anthony Russo ("Arrested Development") and Gary Foster ("The Soloist") serve as
executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo directed the pilot that was written
by Dan Harmon.
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