A meeting between NBC executives and advertisers today has given the public its first glimpse at the network's schedule for next year, and the biggest news is undoubtedly the confirmation that a long-rumored spin-off of The Office has been greenlit. In next year's plum post-Super Bowl slot, NBC plans to premiere the as-yet-untitled show following a special Office episode; the spin-off will then follow in the 9:30 p.m. ET slot every Thursday. No details on the plot have been released yet, but given Rainn Wilson's vehement denials in the past, we think we're still probably safe from having to endure a weekly half-hour of That's Our Dwight!. (Please please please.)
Other noteworthy news from the NBC presentation:
– Friday Night Lights is definitely coming back, but not until the winter, when NBC's focus will switch to "quality fare." (As opposed to the rest of the year when it's "crap for yokels who don't know any better"?)
– Two new shows will be based on established literary characters: Merlin and Crusoe—yes, that Crusoe.
– Beginning in October, Saturday Night Live will air a month-long series of primetime specials called SNL Thursday Night Live, a half-hour of political sketches geared toward the election.
– Christian Slater is apparently still getting work, taking on a starring role on the new My Own Worst Enemy, a spy drama that will follow Chuck and Heroes.
– The immortal beast known as Scrubs is an NBC property no more, adding credence to those rumors that it will be moving to ABC.
– Speaking of immortal, defying all logic, Knight Rider lives, taking on new showrunner Gary Scott Thompson, best known as the creator of Las Vegas and screenwriter of The Fast And The Furious. Naturally, Universal Media Studios president Katherine Pope described the new direction of Knight Rider as "The Fast And The Furious meets Las Vegas". Um…yay?