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NBC Tries to Rebound From Bad Year, Releases Fall Schedule Complete With Martha Stewart
May 16, 2005 (ABC News) ...NBC's 8 p.m. hour will look different on five nights next fall. Two of those new shows include Martha Stewart's rendition of "The Apprentice" (Wednesday) and "Three Wishes" with Grant (Friday)...
NBC's formula for erasing the memory of a bad ratings year includes a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about the Pentagon, Martha Stewart picking a protege and Amy Grant criss-crossing the country to make dreams come true.
The network likely to finish an unprecedented fourth place this season said it will introduce six new series in September but said its plans could change before then.
NBC's 8 p.m. hour will look different on five nights next fall. Two of those new shows include Martha Stewart's rendition of "The Apprentice" (Wednesday) and "Three Wishes" with Grant (Friday).
"The key driver in putting this together was to affect the 8 o'clock hour," said Jeff Zucker, NBC Universal Television Group president. "It's really where we fell down this year and the ability to launch things at 9 having them self-start is nearly impossible."
NBC is canceling the fourth installment of the "Law & Order" series, "Trial By Jury," which lost star Jerry Orbach to cancer shortly after production started. NBC risked alienating producer Dick Wolf because it wanted to try some new ideas, executives said.
"American Dreams," "Third Watch," "Revelations" and the Mark Burnett/Sylvester Stallone boxing series "The Contender" also will not be returning.
"The West Wing" is moving to Sunday nights, with the campaign to replace Martin Sheen as the mythical president continuing.
Taking its place on Wednesdays will be "E-Ring," the Pentagon drama starring Dennis Hopper and Benjamin Bratt. One of the busiest producers in Hollywood, Bruckheimer also is behind the "CSI" franchise on CBS.
Illustrating how TV schedules are constantly in flux, NBC promised two other new comedies would come on the air sometime next season. Two shows not on the September schedule, "Scrubs" and "Fear Factor," will also return at some point.
Executives conceded the new schedule might not make it past this week: It will be reviewed when all the other broadcast networks release their plans. NBC is the first of the six to unveil its schedule.
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