NBC's New Reality Has a Familiar Tinge

By Lisa de Moraes
Thursday, December 4, 2008

In what might be a broadcast-TV first, NBC appears to have run out of shows.

Two one-hour series that the network had set for its midseason schedule -- "The Philanthropist" and "Merlin" -- are nowhere to be found: Now it appears that the former might not debut until next season and the latter not until the summer.

To fill the rather large hole, NBC announced yesterday that it would supersize "Celebrity Apprentice" into a weekly two-hour show. And instead of airing Thursdays at 10 after "ER" buys the farm, as originally announced, the show will instead air Sundays from 9 to 11 p.m., starting March 1.

Because midseason "Merlin" -- which NBC said would air Sundays at 8 -- is not to be, the network will instead air two-hour "Datelines" Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m.

We'll give you a minute to contemplate two hours of Ann Curry, followed by two hours of Donald Trump.

Trade mag TV Week noted that "supersizing" "Celebrity Apprentice" is a great way for NBCUniversal2.0 to cut the broadcast network's programming costs. That's because adding an hour of an already-produced reality series is ever so much cheaper than airing a one-hour "CA" followed by another one-hour show -- scripted or not.

"CA" creator Mark Burnett told the mag that The Donald is particularly pumped about his extra on-air time, though we would expect no less. That, Burnett explains, is because the boardroom scenes, in which Trump verbally pummels the show's contestants and then sacks one of them, can sometimes go on for hours. But regardless, the boardroom scene has always been whacked down to nine minutes of screen time.

We'll give you a minute to contemplate boardroom scenes with Donald Trump going on for hours.

A two-hour "Celebrity Apprentice" on Sundays squeezes out the return of "Medium," which NBC had announced was going to come back midseason on Sunday nights at 9.

That's okay, because it's returning instead to its old Monday 10 p.m. time slot. And that's because the midseason Monday 10 p.m. show that NBC announced way back in April, "The Philanthropist," is not ready to air.

In fact, it has only just started shooting, NBC's scheduling chief Mitch Metcalf told the trade publication Hollywood Reporter, although he assures the Reporter that the cast has "come together" and "it's a great script."

"We're going to take a look at 'The Philanthropist,' " Metcalf told the paper.

We should hope so, given that the network announced that it ordered it way back in the spring and that it would debut right around now.

"Medium" will return Feb. 2, airing after "Chuck" at 8 and "Heroes" at 9. But in January, NBC will fill Monday nights with another two-hour reality series, "Superstars of Dance," followed by Ryan Seacrest's new reality series, "Momma's Boys," which will come in at a shockingly slim one hour each week.

Tuesdays also feature a two-hour reality series, "Biggest Loser: Couples," starting Jan. 6, followed by "Law & Order: SVU" at 10.

On Wednesdays, NBC will save money by airing reruns of those "Law & Order: SVU" episodes -- which might be even cheaper than supersizing "Law & Order: SVU" -- in between "Knight Rider" at 8 and "Law & Order" at 10.

Thursdays remains "My Name Is Earl," "Kath & Kim," "The Office," "30 Rock" and "ER" until the 15-season-old doc drama goes toes up March 12, after which new "Kings" is unveiled March 19 as the show to take over for "ER."

Fridays, NBC will save money by airing a new prank reality series/unscripted comedy series called "Howie Do It," which will star and be executive-produced by "Deal or No Deal" star Howie Mandel. And NBC is reportedly sharing production costs on this project with a Canadian network. "Howie Do It" will be followed by reruns of this season's "Friday Night Lights," for which NBC had sold first-play rights to DirecTV, followed by a third hour of "Dateline."

And, on Saturdays, you can't beat "NBC Rerun Theatre" for cost savings.

In other NBC cost-savings news, the angel of death visited the New York offices yesterday, cutting about 30 people in various divisions, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who asked to remain anonymous because of kids in college.

* * *

CNN is showing the door to its respected aerospace expert Miles O'Brien and several producers, as the cable news network dismantles its science and technology unit.

O'Brien, a 16-year CNN veteran, has been the chief technology and environment correspondent after a stint co-hosting the net's ayem talker "American Morning" in April 2007. But even during that ill-fated morning infotainment gig, as well as before and after, O'Brien always gave CNN a huge leg up on its competition when it came to covering the aerospace industry and aviation stories.

O'Brien made CNN shine covering John Glenn's return to space in 1998 and the demise of NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks, O'Brien used his experience as an instrument-rated pilot with several hundred hours of flight time in a dozen types of aircraft to provide viewers simulated walk-through coverage of the hijacked flights.

He led the network's coverage of the Columbia space shuttle explosion in 2003, offering viewers (as CNN notes in his bio) "exclusive information and uniquely insightful context based on his years of professional experience with and study of NASA and space exploration."

Two years later, O'Brien said he had been on the verge of getting a thumbs-up from NASA to be the first American journalist in space, until Columbia disintegrated on that return flight.

Also using his background as a pilot, O'Brien reported extensively on numerous crash investigations, and the accidents that took the lives of John F. Kennedy Jr., Payne Stewart and Sen. Paul Wellstone.

A CNN rep told The TV Column that John Zarella and Sean Callebs have been covering the aerospace industry for CNN for a while. With all due respect to those two men: Paleeze.