“L&O:SVU” is so old that it harks back to the day when “Friends” and “Frasier” and “ER” were still part of NBC’s lineup — back when the network was a ratings force to be reckoned with.
NBC also has ordered the new Dick Wolf series “Chicago Fire” — which is about, well, Chicago, and fire, and the men and women who heroically put them out there.
The show stars Jesse Spencer, so it’s a good thing that Fox decided to put “House” out of its misery this month, because he stars in that show, too.
Plus, Wolf already had an order from NBC for a new reality series — called “Stars Earn Stripes” — that he’s producing with “The Voice” exec producer Mark Burnett and “Fear Factor” exec producer David Hurwitz.
In this series, celebrities will engage in elite training at a “secret” military training facility before attempting to complete some real exercises practiced by the five branches of the armed services and joint ops and Special Forces — exercises like staging a hostage rescue. Each week, one celebrity will get whacked. Somehow, it’ s all going to raise cash for charities that support men and women in uniform.
Burnett is quoted as having said that “ ‘Stars Earns Stripes’ is a high-energy, fun action show, but at its heart it is all about these five words: ‘Thank you for your service.’ ”
The renewal and pickup are part of a larger deal that Wolf struck with the Comcast division NBC Universal, where Wolf’s production shingle has been hung since his “Law & Order” franchise was born — only back then, it was Universal TV.
NBC, Fox orders
In addition to the Dick Wolf deals Wednesday, NBC picked up a new comedy from its late-night star Jimmy Fallon called “Guys With Kids.” It’s about a group of guys in their 30s who can’t believe they are dads; hilarity ensues.
Fallon’s new comedy is an old-fashioned, multi-camera affair, with audience and laugh track. That’s unlike the other comedies NBC has picked up: the dysfunctional first-family comedy “1600 Penn”; the gay-couple-having-baby comedy “The New Normal”; the Anne Heche-talks-to-God comedy, “Save Me”; the Matthew Perry-needs-therapy comedy, “Go On”; and the veterinarian-hates-people comedy “Animal Practice.”
NBC wants to be back in that audience-and-a-laugh-track business in a bad way, what with “The Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men” doing so well for CBS.
Meanwhile, Fox, which also will unveil its new prime-time schedule to advertisers Monday, started ordering comedies Wednesday afternoon:
●“Ned Fox Is My Manny” stars Nat Faxon as a fun slacker guy (with a tightly wound sister) who becomes manny to his niece.
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