NBC's Supernatural Line Up

Looking at struggling NBC's fall line up, which was announced today at the upfronts in New York, one would have to suppose that the philosophy the fourth-ranked network followed was "go with what you know."

Heroes was their only new hit last season and now supernatural/sci-fi themed dramas seem to be the throughline. The network has decided run with a Heroes spinoff called Heroes: Origins, ordering six episodes that will run in their hit show's time slot when it takes a haitus (on the multi-media front, Origins will also offer an online component that will let viewers decide which characters make it on the main show when it returns). Other supernatural shows include a Bionic Woman remake starring Michelle Ryan and a series called Journeymen, about a newspaper reporter in San Francisco who times travels to alter people's lives. NBC also has Chuck, featuring a computer geek with government secrets embedded in his brain.

The only new sitcom is a show called The IT Crowd, about people who work in the tech department at a large company, but it won't air until midseason. To me, that show sounds a little like The Office, which the network renewed for 30 episodes (including five hour-long segments), keeping its Thursday night comedy line up in tact. As far as the record books go, a renewed Law & Order will run for an 18th season, making it the second-longest running drama in primetime network history behind Gunsmoke.

Meanwhile, NBC's Entertaiment President Kevin Reilly says that he doesn't expect actor and potential Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson back on Law & Order next season, according to AP. As we all know, the former Tennessee senator has been making speaking appearances and blogging on issues in recent weeks (including coming out against Michael Moore's new doc about the health care Sicko) as he considers a candidacy.

NBC announces schedule, shows [Variety]
NBC going supernatural with fall season [AP]