Fourth-Place Peacock Goes Light on New Shows

NBC offered surprising few new plays for its 2007-08 season, with only one new comedy, five new dramas and a slew of cancellations. The network has been bringing up the rear in a generally bearish market, but signaled it would continue to push shows with critical acclaim but middling commercial success, among them 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights.

The Office got a 30-episode order, as did lineup ace Heroes, including a six-episode spinoff. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Donald Trump's strident reality show The Apprentice were conspicuously absent. NBC's entertainment president says the network won't repeat last year's mistake of front-loading its fall, "so we don't fall apart in the spring." (More NBC stories.)