TV Patrol: NBC’s Summer… Testing the Waters?

NBC has announced their summer programming with some familiar shows & a few new ones mixed in to “test the waters”. Check it out…..The 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on Sunday, Aug. 29th at 8pm instead of it’s usual airing in September. They claim they will get better ratings at this time of year, as they did in 2006. I think it has more to do with football season. NBC’s Sunday Night Football is their biggest ratings grabber. It’s always in the #1 spot. I can’t see them pre-empting football for the Emmys. I haven’t heard yet who will host. I just hope it’s not Ricky Gervais.

Of course, America’s Got Talent is back with a 2hr. premiere on Tuesday, June 1st, at 8pm. Howie Mandel, NBC’s resident OCD star, is replacing “The Hoff” as judge. Sharon Osbourne & Piers Morgan are still around & Mariah’s man, Nick Cannon, returns as host. It’s elimination show will air on Wednesdays at 9pm. Let’s just hope that America gets it right this year & we get an act that will actually sell in Las Vegas.

Last Comic Standing returns for it’s 7th season on Monday, June 7th, also with a 2hr. premiere at 8pm. The following week, it will air at it’s regular timeslot at 9pm. There will be another new host. This season it’s The Office alumni, Craig Robinson. We all know by now that the comics are chosen by agents & producers and that the guy on the street has a prayer’s chance in hell of making the cut, but hopefully we’ll get some laughs. The prize is $250,000 & their career is put on hold while they are under contract to NBC for a year.

Friday Night Lights returns for it’s 4th season, to Friday nights at 8pm, starting April 30th. NBC calls them “new broadcast episodes”. Kinda strange, don’t ya think. But the season has aired already on the DirectTV channel, thus the status change. The show plans to end after it’s 5th season, which starts production at the end of the month. Jesse Plemons, who plays Landry Clarke, announced he will not return for the final season.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent will begin airing it’s 9th season on Sunday, June 20th, at 10pm. I didn’t say “premiere” because it’s “premiere” is on Tuesday, March 30th, at 10pm on USA Network. NBC plans to re-broadcast episodes on Saturday nights.

The new comedy, 100 Questions will premiere on Thursday, May 27th, at 8:30pm. The premise goes like this…. Charlotte, played by Sophie Winkleman, is looking for love in all the wrong places & decides to join an on-line dating service. When she takes the manditory “100 compatibility questions”, she is directed to recount a humorous time in her life for each one. Does this mean there will be 100 episodes? I can’t think of 10 funny things in my life & I’m 55. What about you?

Another new show, this one a mystery/drama is Persons Unknown & it premieres on Monday, June 7th, at 10pm. It is a surreal mind-game of a series centering on a group of strangers who awaken in a deserted town with no memory of how they arrived, only to realize that there is no escape. Watched by omnipresent security cameras, their every attempt at leaving the town’s borders is thwarted by mysterious forces. The only source of information is fed randomly through remotely controlled televisions, and as mistrust begins to breed, every alliance will be tested, especially when new guests begin to arrive. Hmmmm…. where have I heard that before? I know…. just switch the deserted town to an isolated island & you have LOST! Am I right?

There will also be three summertime specials. The Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular will air on Sunday, July 4th (no kidding) at 9pm.

There will also be The Making of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on Sunday June 6th, at 7pm. This is just basically a half-hour promo for Universal Theme Park in Orlando’s new attraction.

A special made-for-TV movie, The Jenson Project will air on Friday, July 16th, at 8pm. It stars Patricia Richardson, LeVar Burton, Kelly Martin & Brady Smith as “a secret community of world-class geniuses, who do cutting edge research that they share anonymously, to help the world.” Okay, this sounds like a two-hour pilot for a new show to me. They’re just “testing the waters” on this one.

That’s it for now. did you see anything interesting or that you might be looking forward to?
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