NBC's fall lineup is the first one officially out this week as the networks roll out their schedules to big advertisers in what's called "Upfront week."
And among the surprises is that Amy Poehler's "Parks & Recreation," -- the most-improved show of the soon-to-be-completed season -- won't be back until 2011. The official reason is her pregnancy, although the cast and crew have been working to get as many episodes done as possible before she goes off on maternity leave.
"Chuck" will be back, but "Heroes" won't. Tina Fey's "30 Rock" moves to her pal Poehler's old slot, 7:30 Thursdays. "Law & Order" is wrapping up after 20 years, but it's being replaced by "Law & Order: Los Angeles."
Coming later in the season is Paul Reiser's return to NBC. "The Paul Reiser Show" will feature the "Mad About You" star playing himself as a comedian figuring out what's next for him.
While nothing's been announced, there's still talk floating around of some way to wrap up "Heroes" and "Law & Order," which will end tied with CBS' "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running drama ever with 20 seasons.
The best news here is the return of scripted programming in big numbers. No, "reality" TV isn't dead, but neither are dramas and comedies.
Here's NBC's weeknight schedule for fall (new shows are in all-capital letters).
Monday: 7 p.m. -- "Chuck," 8 p.m. -- "THE EVENT," 9 p.m. -- "CHASE."
Tuesday: 7 p.m. -- "The Biggest Loser," 9 p.m. -- "Parenthood."
Wednesday: 7 p.m. -- "UNDERCOVERS," 8 p.m. -- "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," 9 p.m. -- "LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES."
Thursday: 7 p.m. – "Community," 7:30 p.m. -- "30 Rock," 8 p.m. – "The Office," 8:30 p.m. -- "OUTSOURCED," 9 p.m. -- "LOVE BITES."
Friday: 7 p.m. -- "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "SCHOOL PRIDE," 8 p.m. -- "Dateline NBC," 9 p.m. -- "OUTLAW."
Weekends are unchanged from last fall. Saturdays are full of a changing rotation of reruns, and Sunday is given over to NFL football.
Fox comes next: Fox released its fall schedule this morning as well, with not as many changes as NBC. The biggest change is the axing of "The Wanda Sykes Show" on Saturday nights.
New shows are in all-capital letters:
Monday: 7 p.m. -- "House," 8 p.m. -- "LONESTAR."
Tuesday: 7 p.m. -- "Glee," 8 p.m. -- "RAISING HOPE," 8:30 -- "RUNNING WILDE."
Wednesday: 7 p.m. -- "Lie to Me," 8 p.m. -- "Hell's Kitchen."
Thursday: 7 p.m. -- "Bones," 8 p.m. - "Fringe."
Friday: 7 p.m. -- "Human Target," 8 p.m. – "The Good Guys."
Saturday: 7 p.m. – "Cops," 7:30 p.m., – "Cops," 8 p.m. -- "America's Most Wanted."
Sunday: 6 p.m. -- "The OT" (NFL post-game,) 7 p.m. -- "The Simpsons," 7:30 p.m. -- "The Cleveland Show," 8 p.m., "Family Guy," 8:30 p.m. "American Dad."
Another MPTV premiere: Milwaukee Public TV's "Arts Digest" premieres at 8 tonight on Channel 10. Hosted by Tom Strini and Jon Anne Willow of Third Coast Digest, the first edition of this 30-minute magazine-style show looks at a wide array of stories on Milwaukee's arts scene.
The most surprising thing about the show is that it hasn't been airing on public TV for years. It's never going to attract huge audiences, but it's another positive step in offering well-produced local programming.
Here's one of the segments from tonight's premiere, a look at The Pfister Hotel's second artist in residence, Katie Musolff:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
