NBC Bulks Up With 9 New Series, ‘Heroes’ Spinoff

Also new this fall is the drama “Bionic Woman,” a re-imagination of the classic from David Eick (”Battlestar Galactica”) and Jason Smilovic (”Kidnapped”). “Bionic Woman” stars Michelle Ryan (”EastEnders”) as a young woman whose life is radically altered and empowered after a car crash. Additionally, “Life” features a complex police detective (Damian Lewis, “Band of Brothers”) who’s given a second chance on the force after serving years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Brooke Shields returns to primetime television in the new dramedy “Lipstick Jungle,” from bestselling author Candace Bushnell (”Sex and the City”). The series involves the lives of three high-powered friends (Shields, Kim Raver, “24,” and Lindsay Price, “Beverly Hills, 90210”) who are determined to achieve their dreams and to do it on their own terms. “Lipstick Jungle” is set to debut in January 2008 on Sundays.

The latest new comedy from NBC is “The IT Crowd,” based on the acclaimed British series that takes a behind-the-scenes peek at the misunderstood techies (Joel McHale, “The Soup,” and Richard Ayoade, “The IT Crowd” — U.K.) who toil in the Information Technology department of a large, impersonal corporation. “The IT Crowd” is scheduled to join the NBC schedule during the course of the 2007-08 season.

The “Heroes” phenomenon is about to get even bigger. NBC will offer 30 combined episodes of “Heroes” and a spin-off called “Origins,” which will introduce a new character each week — one of whom will be chosen by viewers through the “Heroes” website on NBC.com to become a cast regular on “Heroes” the following season. The 24 regular episodes of “Heroes” will be supplemented with six “Origins” episodes.

Jerry Seinfeld, star of the classic NBC mega-hit “Seinfeld,” returns to the network to create and star in 20 unique live-action comedy “minisodes” inspired by his experiences creating the upcoming DreamWorks animated feature film “Bee Movie,” in theaters November 2. The 20 comedy shorts will give viewers a glimpse at Seinfeld’s behind-the-scenes antics during production of the movie. The “minisodes” will run on NBC’s primetime schedule this Fall, as well as on NBC.com.

Drama series renewals include “Friday Night Lights” (now shifting to Friday nights), “ER,” and “Law & Order” for its historic 18th season. “Law & Order: SVU” will also return — and in a groundbreaking move, “Law & Order: CI” will air original episodes on sister network USA, with a second airing on NBC. “Medium” will also make its return to NBC in January.

NBC’s acclaimed Thursday “Comedy Night Done Right” lineup will lead off with “My Name is Earl” at 8 p.m. (ET), followed by “30 Rock” at 8:30 p.m., “The Office” at 9 p.m. and “Scrubs” at 9:30.

Fridays on NBC will be known as “Game Night,” a rotation of game shows that features “1 vs 100” (hosted by Bob Saget) for eight weeks, followed by six weeks of the new variety competition series “The Singing Bee” in the fall. The program is a competition that challenges contestants to accurately sing the lyrics to popular songs — even when the band stops playing. Smash hits “Deal or No Deal” and “The Biggest Loser” will also return, as well as “Sunday Night Football.”

Later in the fall, NBC plans to introduce the unscripted series, “World Moves,” a talent competition program from executive producer Randy Jackson (”American Idol”) that features dance teams from around the world auditioning for their shot to come to Los Angeles and compete for a global championship and an international touring contract.

8-9 p.m. “Deal or No Deal” 9-10 p.m. “Heroes”10-11 p.m. “JOURNEYMAN”

TUESDAY8-9 p.m. “The Biggest Loser”9-10 p.m. “CHUCK”10-11 p.m. “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

WEDNESDAY8-9 p.m. “Deal or No Deal” 9-10 p.m. “BIONIC WOMAN” 10-11 p.m. “LIFE”

THURSDAY8-8:30 p.m. “My Name Is Earl” 8:30-9 p.m. “30 Rock”9-9:30 p.m. “The Office” 9:30-10 p.m. “Scrubs”10-11 p.m. “ER”

FRIDAY8-9 p.m. “1 vs 100”/”THE SINGING BEE” 9-10 p.m. “Las Vegas” 10-11 p.m. “Friday Night Lights”SATURDAY8-9 p.m. “Dateline NBC”9-11 p.m. Drama Series Encores

SUNDAY (Fall 2007)7-8 p.m. “Football Night in America” 8-11 p.m. “NBC Sunday Night Football”

SUNDAY (January 2008)7-8 p.m. “Dateline NBC”8-9 p.m. “Law & Order”9-10 p.m. “Medium”10-11 p.m. “LIPSTICK JUNGLE”