NBC announces fall line up

US network NBC has announced its fall season line up with a raft of big budget dramas and high profile comedies including the Ron Howard-produced remake of Steve Martin movie Parenthood and Day One, a drama about a global catastrophe created by Heroes exec producer Jesse Alexander.

The network has announced six pick ups – Day One, Trauma, Mercy, Parenthood, Community and 100 Questions – and has renewed Heroes, Southland and Parks and Recreation. The broadcaster is expected to announce a handful of further series orders on May 19, when it will announce the schedule.

This announcement marks a move away from the network’s strategy of international coproductions, cleverly financed deals and format remakes and back towards a line up of big budget US dramas and comedies, primarily produced by its sister studio Universal Media Studios.

Dramas:

• Trauma: A medial emergency drama following first responder paramedics based in San Francisco. It is produced by Universal Media Studios and Film 44 and is exec produced by Friday Night Lights’ Peter Berg.
• Parenthood: Remake of the Steve Martin feature that centres on the wacky and dysfunctional and Braverman family. It stars Peter Krause (Six Feet Under), Maura Tierney (ER) and Monica Potter (Along Came A Spider). It is produced by Universal Media Studios and Imagine Entertainment. Thomas Sclamme (The West Wing) directed the pilot.
• Day One: The story of life on Earth after a global catastrophe and follows a group of people looking to rebuild society and discover what happened. Created by Heroes exec producer Jesse Alexander and produced by Universal Media Studios.  
• Mercy: Medical drama from the point of view of the nurses. It stars Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Michelle Trachtenberg and is executive produced by former Paramount exec Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun, the former ABC chief who greenlit Lost. It is produced by Universal Media Studios and Berman Braun.

Comedies:

• 100 Questions: Formerly known as 100 Questions for Charlotte Payne, this is a Sex and the City-style romantic comedy starring Peep Show’s Sophie WInkelman. It is written and exec produced by For Your Consideration’s Christopher Moynihan and is produced by Tagline and Universal Media Studios.
• Community: A comedy series about higher education, which follows a band of misfits at community college. Created by Arrested Development’s Joe and Anthony Russo, it stars Chevy Chase. It is produced by Sony Pictures Television and Universal Media Studios in association with Krasnoff Foster Entertainment, Harmonious Claptrap and Russo Brothers Production.