'The Office,' '30 Rock' Get Renewed

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | January 15, 2009

'The Office'

Both comedies will be back in 2009-10, as will 'The Biggest Loser'

NBC's schedule will be smaller next season, but there will still be room for " The Office," "30 Rock" and "The Biggest Loser" in the post- Jay Leno world.

The network announced Thursday (Jan. 15) at the TCA press tour that it's picking up all three shows for the 2009-10 season. None of the orders is much of a surprise; "The Office" is NBC's top series among adults 18-49, "The Biggest Loser" has turned in reliable ratings against stiff competition this season and "30 Rock" is the two-time defending Emmy winner for best comedy series.

New NBC Entertainment chief Angela Bromstad also says "Heroes" is "very secure," although there's no official announcement of a renewal in the offing.

The rest of NBC's current shows, though, could be facing a tough path to renewal for the '09-'10 season. With Leno set to take over the 10 p.m. time period every weeknight, the network will have five fewer hours for its other shows. Bromstad says that while she's a fan of shows like "Chuck" and "Life," she wants both "quality and ratings" from the network's lineup going forward.

NBC is also planning to order about 10 pilots this year, Bromstad says. "We'll have to look at our pilots and the whole landscape of options" before deciding what stays and what won't make the cut. The schedule will also open up a little bit in early 2010, as "Sunday Night Football" gives way to a night of entertainment programming.

That said, Bromstad -- who formerly headed up Universal Media Studios -- also notes that she knows how tough it is to bring a quality show together. Therefore, a good show with a passionate fan base, even if it's not huge, "is not something I'd cavalierly toss aside."