The peacock network held its upfront presentation this week and execs presented their new schedules to advertisers. NBC has been having a lot of trouble in the last couple of years so the network has decided to give Jay Leno a new show and air it five nights a week at 10pm. As a result, the network has five fewer primetime hours to fill with other shows.
New shows coming next season include medical series Trauma and Mercy; Day One, a show about a post-catastrophe world; a self-improvement series called Breakthrough with Tony Robbins; a reality-style show from Jerry Seinfeld about marriage called The Marriage Ref; a reality competition for a capella groups called The Sing-Off; a series about celebrity’s family trees titled Who Do You Think You Are?; a Friends-like sitcom called 100 Questions; and a comedy centered around a community college called Community. The new version of Parenthood also made NBC’s schedule.
America’s Got Talent will return this Summer. It’ll be joined by new shows like The Great American Road Trip, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, The Listener, Merlin, and The Philanthropist.
Shows that will be back next season include 30 Rock, Celebrity Apprentice, The Biggest Loser, Chuck, Dateline, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Southland, and Sunday Night Football.
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Can’t find your favorite NBC show among those lists? Well, here are more than two dozen that won’t be back next season…
America’s Toughest Jobs
A reality show in which contestants try difficult and dangerous occupations. The winner takes home the combined first year salaries of all of the sampled jobs. The series performed poorly in season one and was shuffled to Saturday nights for its final installments.
The Baby Borrowers
Based on a UK series of the same name, five young couples get a feel for what it’s like to take care of a baby for three days, then a toddler, a pre-teen, a teenager, and an elderly person. The network took a lot of flack for “borrowing” infants and didn’t even get good ratings.
Celebrity Circus
Pop culture stars are trained in circus acts and then perform for judges and home viewers to stay in the competition. Antonio Sabato, Jr. won the first season’s competition but there won’t be a second year.
Celebrity Family Feud
Al Roker (The Today Show) hosts the newest version of the classic TV game show with celebrity families competing for cash prizes that are given to charity. Six episodes were produced and aired but not enough people watched.
The Chopping Block
The Chef Ramsay-like reality show was pulled after three installments and terrible ratings. The network immediately began airing the remaining episodes online but will it back on Friday nights in mid-June.
Crusoe
Based on the classic Robinson Crusoe novel, this series never achieved good ratings and was stranded on Saturday nights. All 13 episodes aired.
Deal or No Deal
The game show was a great success initially but then the network overexposed it. Audiences became tired of it and ratings dropped off. After four years and 197 episodes, NBC has cancelled the game show. The syndicated version will continue to appear in daytime.
ER
The venerable NBC medical drama that follows doctors and patients at a Chicago hospital. The show lasted 15 seasons and lots of changes is castmembers.
Fear Itself
This series is an anthology of horror/suspense stories, directed by well-known directors like Stuart Gordon, Brad Anderson, John Landis, and Rob Schmidt. Unfortunately, the series couldn’t scare up many viewers and NBC only aired eight of the 13 produced installments.
Howie Do It
A practical jokes series, led by Howie Mandel, that lasted just a single season of 20 installments. The ratings didn’t make the network smile.
Kath & Kim
A remake of an Australian series, this sitcom revolves around a dysfunctional mother and daughter relationship. Low viewership doomed this series to a 17 episode run.
Kings
NBC had great expectations for this grandiose drama but it didn’t catch on. The final episodes will begin airing on Friday nights next month.
Knight Rider (2008)
This continuation of the 1982 David Hasselhoff series didn’t take off with enough viewers and has been cancelled after a shortened season of 17 episodes.
Last Comic Standing
A reality show competition that seeks to find the most talented stand-up comedian. The winner receives his own comedy special and a development deal with NBC. Created by Peter Engel (Saved by the Bell), Standing has been hosted by Jay Mohr, Anthony Clark, Bill Bellamy, and Fearne Cotton. The series ran for six seasons and 59 episodes.
Late Night with Conan O’Brien
The late-night talk show host is moving to the West Coast to take over The Tonight Show. O’Brien began as a veritable unknown but the show ran for 2,725 episodes and 16 seasons.
Life
The ongoing story of Detective Charlie Crew lasted just two seasons and 32 episodes. The ratings weren’t high enough for a third season, even for the struggling peacock network.
Lipstick Jungle
The series about three powerful and beautiful ladies from the big apple, lasted just two short seasons and 20 installments.
Medium
Though the show was still a decent performer for the peacock network, NBC cancelled the Patricia Arquette series after five seasons. Fortunately, CBS picked it up and will run season six on Friday nights.
Momma’s Boys
Co-executive produced by Ryan Seacrest (American Idol), this reality show centers around a group of mothers who help to choose a mate for their complacent sons. All six episodes of season one aired and there won’t be any more.
My Name Is Earl
NBC has cancelled the Jason Lee comedy about karma correction after four seasons. The show is currently being shopped to other networks and may end up on FOX.
Most Outrageous Moments
Used mostly as filler by the network, this series showcases humorous clips from television and everyday situations. A few unaired episodes will pop up in the coming months (July 21st, July 28th, August 26th, and August 28th) but no other original episodes will be produced.
My Own Worst Enemy
Christian Slater’s foray into series television was cut short after only nine episodes. Viewers were left hanging and were robbed of any resolution.
Nashville Star
A reality competition that ran for five seasons on USA Network before moving to NBC. Billy Ray Cyrus hosted the most recent run, season six. The show’s been cancelled by the peacock network and there’s been no mention of the series returning to its original cable home.
Superstars of Dance
A dance competition series that pits groups of eight international dancers against one another. Hosted by Riverdance veteran Michael Flatley, this show lasted five episodes. It won’t be coming back for season two.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
After 17 years, the late night talk show host turns over the venerable program to Conan O’Brien. Leno will be moving to his own primetime series in September 2009.
Will you miss any of these cancelled shows? Has NBC made any mistakes or have they gotten these right? See any they shouldn’t have renewed but did? Leave your comments below!
Images courtesy NBC.
my name is earl so should NOT have been cancelled. the only thing good now is heroes other than that nbc sux…no ones cares about reality tv anymore
bring back life knight rider and journeyman i mean comn u r making people nad i agree enough reality crud i live reality and yeah who cares whos doing what or dating who dont get realistic just get real! journeyman i didnt know existed till i saw it online nor did i know of southland. love life and Dont touch castle fringe or xhuch well chuck if u finish it right castle well love it but fringe No please.
Law and Order …Law and Order: Special Victims Unit has new episodes for the 2009/2010 season.
@Richard: Yes, it does.
I was really enjoying Jay Leno at 10 PM but 11:35 is too late for me……….
Senior citizen
REALLY gonna miss “Life”. Great show!
Sorry to say I was not a big fan of NBC till they began to show My Name Is Earl.It was the only pass time for me at that hour.Plus the actors they use are the best for that series.I for one think there are too many reality shows on tv.Please someone stop the non-sence.I had a glance at Medium and was good.It had a good story line from what I saw.Also I don’t know if Chuck is out or not but that show was good to watch while I was resting.If NBC doesn’t bring back Earl I hope that… Read more »
does drive ringa bell for anyone. It was a new show that only aired 3 or 4episodes last summer. It was pretty decent and kind of annoying that they stopped it
First of all Knight Rider was a cool story, everyone wishes they had that car. They should of kept the show just for that reason. Then they go and cancel Life which im pretty sure was the best show they had. Its just wrong I really wish Knight Rider had at least 3 full seasons and Life at least 5. There making very bad choices .
Maybe USA would pick up Life and put it on in the now-empty Monk slot?
Not EARL!! The best show Ever. NBC really blew it this time. Not only was it too good to cancel but the stuff replacing it is awful. The people who chose to cancel EARL either didn’t get it or took it too personally.
Life was my favorits show! The one show I either watched or recorded religeously. I think there are plenty of other shows that could stand to be canceled instead of this one!!!
What a bummer!
I had been eagerly looking forward to the fall season of Life. I was shocked and disgusted that NBC canceled it. Life was one of the few T.V. shows that was interestingly written, had a great cast and was a good mix of story-line and character development. It challenged me to think about what I was watching and note how the plot and characters built upon previous episodes to give us more insights. The last season finale was extremely well done, emotionally satisfying and thought -provoking. No offense to Jay Leno, but I won’t be watching him instead of Life.… Read more »
Please put Life back on! Do we really need more reality shows or hospital ER shows? Give us something worth watching! How about the Unit, too? No more reality shows! Who cares what these people can or cannot do? If TV gets any worse, I’m going to get my entertainment solely from renting movies!
I can’t believe how many great shows got the ax…. Friday Night Lights, Earl, The Unit, Life……and we are left with nothing but reality shows.
OH MY G-G-G-GA-GOD!!!!!!!YOU SONNAVABEACHES!!!! CRUSOE..what quality!awesome show and you batstards left me hanging!KNIGHT RIDER..c’mon!!!!!!YOU KILLED OFF THE DAD AND RUINED THE SHOW AND THEN CANCELLED IT?/////and LIFE?Thats not right to leave us hanging like this on all these shows!and Medium ?Who is running this network?The best shows get cancelled …more like who is giving these ratings?My other favorite shows cancelled The Riches,October Road,Friday Night Lights…this is insane ..I dont want to watch any other shows because they dont interest me and even if they did,I dont trust that NBC and these other networks will just leave me hanging again.Its awful!!!!Horrible… Read more »