NBC, Always Thinking of Us. But Do We Ever Call?

Yesterday's Mother's Day announcement puts the kibosh on weeks of reports that only one -- two max -- shows from the "Law" franchise, would turn up on NBC's new prime-time slate when NBC unveils its new prime-time schedule today.

To be perfectly accurate, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" is only a little pregnant -- it's coming back to NBC only in the form of reruns.

But since January, "Criminal Intent" has been the No. 1 prime-time off-network series on basic cable. So you see why USA would like to keep the series going. " 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' is perfect for USA -- smart, character-driven programming that's already a proven hit with our viewers," USA Network President Bonnie Hammer said in yesterday's announcement.

NBC announced a while back that "Law & Order: SVU" had been ordered for another season on the broadcast network. "SVU" is by far the most watched of the three crime dramas these days. Airing Tuesdays at 10 -- the mothership's former time slot -- "SVU" has clocked about 12 million viewers this season. Meanwhile, "Law & Order," shipped off to broadcast Siberia -- Fridays at 10 -- is only snagging about 9 million viewers, and "CI" -- Mondays at 10 -- posts an average of around 8.9 million.

Both Wolf on the phone call and NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker in the announcement, made mention of this "CI" arrangement changing the paradigm of prime-time TV. Zucker said, "We have reinforced NBC Universal's forward-thinking approach to new programming strategies and our willingness to embrace bold thinking." Wolf may have actually called it "tip-of-the-spear thinking." We'll get back to you when we figure that one out. And, anyway, we think USA's "Monk" re-ran on ABC for a little while a few seasons back.

Once Wolf did his "no comment, no comment, no comment!" patter, the reporters quickly lost interest in asking any more questions and began to focus on how they were going to explain to Mom why the "Law & Order" news was so big it couldn't have waited one day. Because, as all smart Mothers of the Reporters Who Cover Television know, today is NBC's day to unveil its new prime-time schedule to advertisers.

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Every year at this time, an eczema of television suits and Hollywood starlets erupts in Manhattan.

They're in town for the annual Broadcast TV Upfront Week -- a four-day orgy of optimism in which the five broadcast networks pitch the next season's prime-time slates to advertisers, in hopes the advertisers will buy time in those lineups -- up front.

Today, at Radio City Music Hall, NBC will announce it has renewed its critically acclaimed but barely watched "Friday Night Lights" and its critically acclaimed but barely watched "Scrubs," added to its previously announced pickups of its critically acclaimed but barely watched "30 Rock," "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office." Yes, NBC will be in high "First Be Best, Then Be First" gear at its dog-and-pony show. But that's what NBC has to sell to advertisers. It certainly doesn't have the viewers it once had -- the network has been posting record low prime-time ratings this spring.

On the bright side, NBC boasts the most successful new series of this season, the serialized sci-fi drama "Heroes." Not surprisingly, hoping to find the next "Heroes," the network went very high-concept, heavy on the space-time continuum, in its new-series choices. They include a remake of "The Bionic Woman," this time played by Katee Sackhoff, a.k.a. Starbuck of "Battlestar Galactica" fame.

Also ordered: "Chuck," a drama about a computer nerd who becomes a government agent after supercomputer data is somehow downloaded into his brain. That one's from Josh Schwartz of "The O.C." fame and Joseph McGinty Nichol of "Charlie's Angels" fame, who likes to be called McG.

But the new high-concept drama expected to get the coveted post-"Heroes" time slot in the fall is the time-travel "Journeyman," about a journalist who goes back in time, much to his chagrin, to fix events that didn't go so well the first time around.

NBC also has ordered a more straightforward drama called "Life," about a cop wrongfully sent to the slammer for a dozen years who is back on the force, as well as "Lipstick Jungle" from Candace Bushnell of "Sex and the City" fame, about a group of highly successful professional women in New York City.

That's just one of several "Sex and the City"-ish series that are going to be unveiled this week across the broadcast TV landscape. "Lipstick" stars Brooke Shields and Kim Raver, a.k.a. Jack Bauer's "24" gal pal.

NBC already has announced it would return "ER" to its schedule, as well as "Medium," "Law & Order: SVU" and "Las Vegas," which has signed Tom Selleck to replace James Caan in the role of the adult on the show.