NBC Gets Back in Production, Picks Up ‘Heroes,’ ‘Chuck,’ ‘Life’ for Fall

By Chris Pursell

NBC has quickly pulled the trigger on orders for the remainder of the season as well as next season, ordering “Heroes,” “Chuck” and “Life” for the fall, while slating new original episodes of “The Office,” “30 Rock,” “My Name Is Earl,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” following the strike.

Set to return later this year is “My Name Is Earl” (Thursday, 8 p.m.), which will return with a one-hour episode on Thursday, April 3. A week later, April 10, will see the return of “30 Rock,” “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “ER.”

“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (Tuesday, 10 p.m.) will return with fresh episodes on April 15. “Law & Order” (Wednesday, 10 p.m.) will return with original episodes on April 23. Meanwhile, “Medium” (Monday, 10 p.m.) continues in originals.

Decisions on other series are expected to be announced at a later date.

Turning to the 2008-09 season, the network has ordered new seasons of “Chuck,” “Life” and “Heroes,” with all three receiving relaunch campaigns next season.

“We are thrilled to be bringing back the high-energy dramas ‘Chuck’ and ‘Life’ for next season,” said Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. “Additionally, we will be saving and relaunching our No. 1 drama and most successful franchise, ‘Heroes,’ so that it will run in all original episodes in the fourth quarter.”

“These pickups are a sign of our confidence in these quality series and will allow the respective producers to get a head start on their creative arc for next season,” said Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. “As a result, they give us a lot to build on as we point to next year’s schedule.”