NBC-palooza!

It's the winter Television Critics Association press tour, which means it's time for the networks to make all their mid-season announcements. NBC had quite a bit of news, and we'll start with the best: Heroes will be back next season! Sure, it was a given, but it's always nice to have confirmation (as fans of Veronica Mars or Scrubs will tell you). Heroes is also getting another episode added on to this season's order - good news, but unusual enough that I have to wonder if the producers asked the network for it. Maybe they needed another episode to cram everything in? Whatever, as long as it means more Hiro.

NBC also provided some hope for fans of good, but bubble-y, shows like Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock, and Studio 60, with president Kevin Reilly saying he will "stick with quality" (more encouraging than another comment of his: "[A]t least some of those shows will be back next season"). A network that prides itself on quality, even when it's low-rated? Are we in the Sorkin-verse? Or perhaps they don't want to be the network that canceled all of its new shows except for the one hit. I'm sorry I'm being so cynical here, but years as a Scrubs fan have taught me not to trust NBC.

Finally, Today continues its quest to slowly take over the entire NBC schedule - it'll be creeping into a fourth hour in September. It will still only have 15 minutes of actual news content.