NBC Gives 'Life' More Life

By Rick Porter, Zap2It.com | November 8, 2008

Damian Lewis of 'Life'

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The network picks up nine more episodes of the drama

The ratings for " Life's" Wednesday debut this week weren't great, but they were good enough to earn the show a full season on NBC.

The network announced late Friday that it's picking up nine more episodes of the second-year cop show, which stars Damian Lewis. The move comes after the series showed signs of ratings improvement following a move from Friday to Wednesday nights.

"This unique crime drama continues to offer consistent and compelling stories each week," says Teri Weinberg, executive vice president of NBC Entertainment. "We love 'Life' and are thrilled that we get to see more of these characters and amazing new cases."

Wednesday's episode drew about 5.9 million viewers, in line with what "Life" had been averaging on Friday nights. Its performance among adults 18-49, however, improved by 33 percent, from a 1.5 average on Fridays to 2.0. The show also grew in its second half-hour coming off a weak "Knight Rider" lead-in.

The show is the second of NBC's sophomore class to earn a full-season pickup; the network picked up the back nine episodes of " Chuck" before the season started. First-year shows "Knight Rider" and "Kath & Kim" have also earned full seasons.