New prime-time NBC lineup includes several female-led series

Also back — all in two-hour formats — are the already-mentioned reality series “The Voice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” as well as “The Biggest Loser.” And the competition show “The Sing-Off,” which has garnered strong holiday-period ratings the past two seasons, has been promoted to weekly series status.

On Mondays, where NBC has struggled for some time, “The Sing-Off” kicks off the night, from 8 to 10 p.m., leading into “The Playboy Club,” from Grazer. Eddie Cibrian stars as a bigwig attorney in Chicago in the ’60s. He’s dating bombshell bunny Laura Benanti, who knows her bunny days are numbered; naturally, he comes to the aid of newbie bunny Amber Heard when she accidentally kills the head of a mob family. Hate when that happens.

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Pulitzer Prize winner, Peabody recipient, Medal of Freedom honoree -- Lisa de Moraes is none of these, but she is an authority on the bad direction, over-acting, and muddled plot lines being played out in the TV industry's executive suites.

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On Tuesday, “Parenthood” is back at 10 p.m.; it will follow a two-hour “Biggest Loser.”

On Wednesday, NBC will try to launch a new comedy block with two new sitcoms: “Up All Night” and “Free Agents.”

“Up All Night” stars Applegate as a hot public relations exec with a new child. Will Arnett is her supportive, stay-at-home husband, and Maya Rudolph is her crazy-boss-cum-best-friend. “SNL’s” Emily Spivey writes, and Lorne Michaels is among the exec producers.

Hank Azaria stars in “Free Agents,” based on a U.K. hit of the same name, as a newly divorced public relations exec. Kathryn Hahn is his co-worker, who can’t get over her dead fiance. One night they get drunk — you know the drill.

When asked, Greenblatt told The TV Column putting two new comedies into the 8 o’clock hour on Wednesdays is his gutsiest schedule move. NBC hasn’t had much luck with comedy of late and, even under the best of circumstances, opening up a night with new shows is challenging. On the other hand, Applegate, Michaels, Azaria, Rudolph — all what we like to call “pre-sold commodities” in the TV biz — they’ve got their followers.

“We have no illusions,” Greenblatt said of the challenge facing these Wednesday comedies. “We really needed to put more comedy on the schedule.”

At 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, however, NBC’s not taking any chances, giving the time slot to its only returning freshman scripted series from this season, “Harry’s Law.” The David E. Kelley drama stars Kathy Bates as a no-nonsense lawyer. Interestingly, it’s also the most CBS-like of NBC’s new dramas from this season: a procedural that stars an older well-known star. We hear it’s the same thing over at ABC with the Dana Delaney crime drama “Body of Proof.” Maybe CBS knows something.

Anyway, “Law & Order: SVU” is back at 10 p.m. on Wednesday after “Harry.” Mariska Hargitay has a deal to come back, and Greenblatt said he was confident they’d be able to close a deal soon to get Chris Meloni back for another season. Word that Hargitay will pass the baton to Jennifer “Love to her Friends” Hewitt this season and leave early is “just another rumor,” but he confirmed Hewitt was “somebody we’ve been circling” as they looked to add another detective to the cast this season.

“Mariska just adopted a child. . . . We’re not sure beyond this season where we’ll be with her,” he said during a phone conference call with reporters to discuss the new schedule.