Anticipation and Disappointment in NBC’s 2011-12 Primetime Schedule

NBC has announced its fall schedule for the 2011-12 season, and while there are some interesting new contenders in the lineup, a few high profile pilots will never see the light of day. The network is debuting six new dramas and six new comedies from such notables as Steven Spielberg, Lorne Michaels, Brian Grazer, Tom Werner, John Grisham and Peter Berg.

The network made news last week with its decision to kill David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman, but today also comes news that Ronald D. Moore’s (Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek) 17th Precinct failed to make the cut; perhaps surprising given the series high concept idea, Moore’s pedigree…and a sizeable number of Galactica veterans in the cast. To our knowledge, this marks Moore’s first network pitch of an original series concept, and coincidentally, his first rejection. Previous projects to which he’s been attached as a writer/producer have all been either established properties, or based on established properties.

Also rejected by the network were A Mann’s World, Brave New World, Family Practice, I Hate That I Love You, Lovelives, Metro, My Life As An Experiment and Reconstruction.

Meanwhile, the peacock has cancelled The Event, Outsourced and Law and Order: Los Angeles. There have been rumors of The Event moving to another network, but it seems unlikely. If you’re a fan of the series, the last episode of its first season will air May 23.

At the same time, NBC has confirmed several new dramatic series, a few of which may catch your eye:

Awake: This sci-fi drama — previously titled REM — is being compared to Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) stars as a policeman who wakes up in two alternate universes at the same time. Kyle Killen (Lone Star) wrote the pilot.

Playboy Club: Set in the 1960s in the iconic magazine’s first nightclub, this skein from Academy Award-winning executive producer Brian Grazer is the network’s answer to Mad Men. It’s the early ‘60s, and the legendary Playboy Club in Chicago is the door to all of your fantasies — and the key is the most sought-after status symbol of its kind. Inside the seductive world of the bunny, the epitome of beauty and service, the clientele rubs shoulders with the decade’s biggest mobsters, politicos and entertainers. Nick Dalton (CSI: Miami) is one of the city’s top attorneys and the ultimate playboy, rubbing elbows with everyone in the city’s power structure. With mysterious ties to the mob, Nick comes to the aid of Maureen (Amber Heard), the stunning and innocent new bunny who accidentally kills the leader of the Bianchi crime family. Tru Calling‘s Chad Hodge is initially aboard as a writer.

 

Grimm: The first of several new supernatural police procedurals to get a season order, Grimm follows a group of policemen who investigate fantastical crimes and happenings inspired by the dark brothers’ fairy tails. David Giuntoli, Silas Weir Mitchell (Prison Break), Sasha Roiz (Caprica) star. (It’s possible that NBC may have seen 17th Precinct as too close in tone to Grimm.)

 

 

Prime Suspect: Yet another UK import gets an Americanized version, this time a crime procedural (we definitely don’t have enough of those on television). Chief players in this series are Brian O’Byrne (FlashForward) and Maria Bello (Grown Ups). It will remain to be seen if the US version can replicate the high tension of its UK progenitor. Peter Berg is aboard as a director.

 

 

The Firm: Based on the blockbuster feature film and best-selling novel by world-renowned author John Grisham (“The Pelican Brief”, “The Client”), The Firm continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel. Grisham will be aboard as an executive producer.

Smash: What happens when Steven Spielberg decides to producer a Glee-like show? Smash, of course. Debra Messing stars in a series that sets its singing and dancing against the neon lights of Broadway.