Things were looking pretty good for NBC last fall. It had the season's biggest new hit in "Heroes," critical favorites in "Friday Night Lights" and "30 Rock" and a big sports franchise in "Sunday Night Football." Thursday comedies "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" were holding their own on a brutally competitive night.
Then the calendar turned, the NFL season ended, and that momentum pretty well went away -- as did network boss Kevin Reilly, who was shown the door just after season's end. He left behind a schedule that is relatively light on new series: NBC will unveil just four shows, all dramas, this fall. New network head Ben Silverman's job will be to make a couple of those hits, while trying to get people other than critics to watch and enjoy the likes of "Lights" and "30 Rock."
It's a tall order, but Silverman at least has some good blocks with which to build. There's not a clunker among any of the new shows.
