UPDATE, AUG. 2: Keep your hope alive, people: NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that she's "determined to find a place to put [the Cruel Intentions reboot]," whether it's midseason or summer, on TV or streaming. In fact, the network extended the contracts for the actors involved in the show, and Salke said "we wouldn't have held that talent if we didn't have every intention of finding an opportunity for the show."
EARLIER: Praise Katherine Merteuil, there's still hope!
After NBC announced all of the new shows it was picking up for the 2016-17 TV season, we couldn't help but notice one glaring omission: Cruel Intentions, the adaptation of the iconic film, with Sarah Michelle Gellar set to reprise her devilish role as the "Marcia f--king Brady of the Upper East Side." (Kate Levering took over Reese Witherspoon's role in the pilot.)
But before you start plotting your revenge on the network for passing on the drama, NBC boss Robert Greenblatt assured reporters on a conference call on Sunday that Cruel is still in contention.
"We're still discussing it," Greenblatt said of the buzzed about drama, highlighting the network's "embarrassment of riches" when it came to new and returning shows this fall. "There's just so many shows that we have scheduled or ordered."
However, he did admit that Cruel Intentions, which comes from the team behind Los Angeles' Cruel Intentions musical, Jordan Ross and Lindsey Rosin, and the film's original writer and director, Roger Kumble, is "a bit of an outlier for us because there's no other show quite like it in our list of genres. But we like it and we're still discussing it and trying to figure it out."
Aside from Cruel Intentions, NBC has ordered an adaptation of Taken to series, as well as two spinoffs (Chicago Justice and The Blacklist: Redemption). So why is NBC so into spinoffs and remakes? NBC's Jennifer Salke explained that in "a cluttered world" of so many TV shows, "if the right remake and spinoff comes along...there's no reason not to pick up those shows. It feels like you have awareness that already exists for those shows."
And Greenblatt went on to commend the Chicago franchise, praising creator Dick Wolf for creating four shows that can stand on their own. "While they are technically spinoffs of Chicago Fire...each show is a completely different show onto itself," he said. "While the characters live in the same city and overlap, PD is as different from Med as Justice is from Fire."
One of the Chicago shows is on the move in the fall, with Chicago Med moving to Thursdays at 9 p.m...just after ABC's hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy finishes at 8 p.m. Coincidence or strategic move?
"Whenever you move a show, it's tricky. So we looked at what we could bring into Thursday at 9 from what we already had, and Med just seems like a really solid performer and a show that really could most easily take its audience from Tuesday to Thursday," Greenblatt said. "It did occur to us that maybe there's some synergy between Grey's to Med."
In other NBC news...
The New Celebrity Apprentice: With a new host in Arnold Schwarzenegger comes a (slightly) new title for the show, which will premiere midseason, as Paul Telegdy explained, "The Apprentice has performed very well when we've had it in January in the past." Greenblatt added the network just had an "embarrassment of riches and so many great things to choose from" when it came to their fall line-up." He continued, "Production is underway and all is going well."
The Carmichael Show: Left off the schedule for now, Greenblatt explained that it's all about the amount of episodes when it comes to the beloved comedy. "I was hoping we would have it by now, but we're just going back and forth with the studio about the number of episodes of honestly, and just haven't come to terms on that," he said. "But hopefully we will...hopefully we'll resolve it soon."
Be sure to come back to E! News for more scoop on all the new shows.
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