NBC

Watch out, Lost and Survivor: NBC is bringing the original desert island castaway to primetime, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The network has ordered 13 episodes of Robinson Crusoe, a drama series based on Daniel Defoe's classic novel, and plans to launch it this fall or midseason 2009, depending on whether there will be an actors strike in the summer. Crusoe reportedly came out of an unorthodox brainstorming idea of new NBC chief Ben Silverman, who asked his development team to generate a list of the most engaging stories ever told -- ranging from The Last of the Mohicans to Sleeping Beauty. Crusoe was at the top of that list.  read more »

NBC is suing Law & Order creator Dick Wolf over a contract provision that would give him executive producer fees if any version of his hit crime series were to be cancelled, Variety reports.  read more »

The Nevada State Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of NBC, essentially overturning a lower court’s order requiring MSNBC to include Dennis Kucinich in tonight’s Democratic debate.

“We conclude that the District court manifestly abused its discretion in determining that a contract existed between the parties,” noted the ruling.

The Politico's Michael Calderone (formerly of Media Mob fame) recently caught up with a bunch of broadcast news bigwigs in Iowa.

Along the way, NBC's Brian Williams talked up his belief in the advantage for NBC of having a sibling cable news outlet providing plenty of real estate for its anchors and correspondents to appear throughout the day.

"Williams noted that NBCs advantage for 2008 is having a cable news network, MSNBC, working round the clock — 'a game-changer,' in his words," reported Mr. Calderone.  read more »

David Letterman is winning the battle of the re-runs, the New York Post reports.

Since the writers strike began over a month ago, forcing both Mr. Letterman of CBS and his late-night rival, Jay Leno of NBC, into re-runs, Mr. Letterman's numbers are down only around 21 percent, whle Mr. Leno's are off by 40 percent. Mr. Leno still leads, but, says the Post, "Letterman hasn't been this close to Leno in years."  read more »

That was quick!  On Friday, we noted that NBC had rejected an ad from the conservative group Freedom's Watch that asked viewers to think of U.S. soldiers in Iraq over the holidays.  The network had said its decision was based on the fact that the ad contained a link to the group's Web site, which has explicitly political content, and therefore violaterd the network's prohibition on controversial issue ads.

But over the weekend -- after Newt Gingrich had taken to Fox News to urge conservatives to boycott NBC -- came word that the network had changed its mind.   In a statement released Saturday evening and reported by the Associated Press, NBC declared: ""We have reviewed and changed our ad standards guidelines and made the decision that our policy will apply to content only and not to a referenced Web site."  read more »

NBC has turned down an ad from the conservative advocacy group, Freedom's Watch, that encouraged viewers to think of the U.S. soldiers in Iraq over the holidays, the Associated Press reported today.

"NBC said it declined to air the ad because it refers to the group's Web site, which the network said was too political," reports the AP, "not because of the ad's message."

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MONDAY

It’s only been a week, but the strike has done plenty of damage. Late night TV is kaput. Saturday Night Live, too. (Poor Jonah Hill, of Superbad fame, was slated to host.) But it’s Mondays that may suffer the most. Production of 24 has been delayed, with the possibility that Fox may even hold showing the seventh season until next Fall, in order to make sure it airs uninterrupted. Don’t the networks know that if they postpone 24, the terrorists win? End the strike now. Give the writers whatever they want. Please.

In the meantime, enjoy your last episode of the Big Bang Theory for the foreseeable future. Production has shut down. And tonight’s is the last that they have in the can. Also, Billy Crystal is honored with the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for Humor (PBS, 9 PM). Plenty of comedians who you could have sworn were dead will be on hand to celebrate.

TUESDAY

“From John Langley, producer of the groundbreaking Cops”—uh oh—“comes the next big law enforcement reality series”—oh no—“Jail” (MyNetworkTV, 9:00 PM). Where does Mr. Langley come up with these ideas? It’s really just another dagger into the slow-beating heart of Tuesday nights. What else is there other than House (Fox, 9:00 PM)? And don’t say the Dancing With the Stars results show (ABC, 9:00 PM) …  read more »

NBC is planning a new Office branch! But no worries, they won't be stealing Jim or Dwight away from Scranton.

Ausiello Report at TVGuide.com has the exclusive:

Multiple sources confirm to me exclusively that the Peacock is developing an episode of The Office that would introduce several new characters who would then be spun off into a new series à la Private Practice.

However, unlike Practice, which stole Grey's regular Kate Walsh to anchor the new series, the proposed Office 2 is not expected to include any of the mother ship's core cast. In fact, producers are already casting about for a "name" to headline the potential show.

 read more »

MONDAY

Darlene’s back! Well, sort of. It didn't take long for The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 8:30 p.m.) to reunite its star Johnny Galecki with former Roseanne co-star Sara Gilbert. The erstwhile awkward TV lovers have been reunited as … awkward lovers! And just in the nick of time. The show is only several episodes old and the flustered interplay between the two supergeeks and their hot next-door neighbor, Penny, was getting a little stale. This week, they attend Penny’s Halloween party. Let’s hope Dar—ahem—Leslie is there to add a little spice. Halle Berry attempts the same on Inside the Actor’s Studio (Bravo, 8 p.m.). Watch to hear James Lipton exclaim, “Make me feel good.”

TUESDAY

The 47th Democratic National Debate (MSNBC, 9 p.m.) of the 2008 presidential election airs tonight. Will Barack Obama make good on his promise to The Times to hold Hillary’s feet to the flames? Will Hillary show up hungover from a weeklong birthday bender? Will John Edwards appear on stage with his wife in a desperate bid for attention? What will Joe Biden say? What will Dennis Kucinich extract from his pockets? Who knows? Who cares? Brian Williams moderates. (Can’t someone at NBC get him on a show with good ratings?) If you really want to watch something you feel like you’ve seen a million times, check out It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (NBC, 8 p.m.). Or watch the Spurs annihilate the Oden-less Trail Blazers in the NBA season opener (TNT, 8 p.m.).  read more »

Christina Applegate’s Samantha Who? (9:30 PM, ABC) debuts tonight, sandwiched in between Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor. She plays a woman who wakes from an eight-day coma with retrograde amnesia only to slowly come to the realization that she was a total bitch. Perhaps a little amnesia is necessary on the part of viewers, who will need to forget Surviving Christmas in order to give this show a shot. (Who am I kidding?  read more »

It's death by metashtick! Seinfeld, Fey stir up trouble by, well, acting like themselves.  read more »

Mr. Obama passed, yet again, on a high-profile chance to fuel his second-place candidacy with a badly needed sense of urgency.  read more »

On Sunday, the idea that Kerry ever considered using McCain as a running-mate seemed laughable.  read more »

The 'To Catch a Predator' segment of 'Dateline NBC' is falling victim to advertisers' sensitivity to its controversial material. In the segment, Chris Hansen ensnares men trolling Internet chat rooms looking for sex with minors. It's been a big hit for the network, driving ratings for the evening news program. But, The Times' Brian Stelter reports:   read more »

At long last, steely Dateline NBC co-anchor Stone Phillips has sold his triplex penthouse at the Oliver Cromwell, an 80-year-old Central Park West co-op. Mr. Phillips’ six-room apartment was first listed back in fall 2005 for $5.5 million.

But, according to city records, Mr. Phillips 27th-floor apartment sold for a bit less--$4,350,000--to a fashionable buyer: Fred Gehring, CEO of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.  read more »

According to Mr. Trump—a newly minted grandfather, thanks to Donald Jr. and his wife Vanessa—he wants to pursue other showbiz options without the network.

"It looks like viewers will have to wait to see what Mr. Trump plans for the future," a statement from Mr. Trump said. "But if Mr. Trump's past TV success is any indication of the future, then one can anticipate that millions of 'Apprentice' fans will be migrating to his new venture."

What does this mean?

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“The buzz was loud and clear, we struck a chord,” said president of NBC Entertainment Kevin Reilly at the network’s Upfront presentation yesterday afternoon. But: “Frankly, we need to be more better.”

Mr. Reilly was saying what the hundreds of ad executives milling around Radio City for the first day of the Upfronts already knew.  read more »

This afternoon, NBC goes before advertisers and the press to try to sell its 2007-2008 season to advertisers and the press. So this morning the network sent out the details of the season for previewing by the masses.

"We've got the class and next season we're ready to add some mass," said NBC Entertainment President Kevin Reilly, "with new shows that build on the creative accomplishments of last season and are as broad as they are good."

We take it "mass" means "more viewers," because Mr. Reilly's statement suggests what we all know: the network that was willing to take risks with some edgy material over the last couple of seasons (and had a lot of success with the critics: Friday Night Lights, Medium, Heroes) still hasn't gotten a show in the top 10 in terms of viewers.

But then, why does this season seem so of a piece with the previous ones?

Given that NBC only picked up one comedy and renewed Scrubs, it looks like comedy development, once a Must-See TV staple, is in trouble (though that's true everywhere).

Chuck sounds cute and funny, and Lipstick Jungle is a no-brainer even if working-women dramedys are a tough sell on television these days (how to avoid both cliché and dirtiness in a show like this?)

But with Journeyman, it sounds like they are ripping off their own Heroes, taking the Masi Oka character (who time travels) and building a show on that. People love the supernatural these days!

If Bionic Woman is a success we'll be seeing these woman-superhero shows all over the place on the small screen. Get Linda Carter!

And the IT Crowd–about the eccentrics who fix your computer and what life is like in the room next to the supply room--hello, Office?

Life, we assume, is made possible by the banishment of Law and Order: Criminal Intent to USA. They needed another quirky detective, but maybe not one with quite such an annoying speech pattern.

The burning question: Why won’t NBC ever cancel ER? (And why do people continue to watch it?)

Click "READ MORE" to read the full announcement.  read more »

The Nevada Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of NBC, essentially overturning a lower court's ruling requiring MSNBC to include Dennis Kucinich in tonight's debate.

"We conclude that the district manifestly abused its discretion in determining that a contract existed between the two parties," noted the ruling.