NBC's Heroic Renewals

Wed., Jan. 17, 2007 1:09 PM PST by Gina Serpe

Save the cheerleader, save the network.

In a batch of renewals that will likely fail to surprise even the most casual TV viewer, NBC has announced that four of its most popular—and accolade-garnering—series will return for the 2007-08 season.

NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced during the Television Critics Association press tour Wednesday that The Office, My Name Is Earl, Heroes and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit have all been granted early full-season pickups for next year.

"These four series represent some of the best of what we consider to be the NBC brand of quality shows," Reilly said. "It's a pleasure to give them an early renewal to develop more stories for next year, since we know they will remain both critical and commercial successes for a long time to come."

Sounds like Michael Scott just got the go-ahead to buy that second condo he's been eyeing.

While none of the series have drawn ratings of American Idol proportions—though in fairness, nothing has—Heroes has cracked the Nielsen top 10 more than any of its renewed brethren, though all four series have managed to carve out their own loyal prime-time niche.

The Office, with bona fide box office heavyweight Steve Carell, has averaged 8.7 million viewers so far this season, its third, and has done significant damage at major awards shows. Both the show and Carell are fail-safe nominees, with both an Emmy and a Golden Globe among them.

The karma-cleansing boys of My Name Is Earl have fared slightly better in the ratings, averaging a solid 9.5 million viewers this season. Law & Order's arguably most popular franchise, SVU, has averaged 12.9 million this season, earning it the added superlative of being the network's second-highest-rated drama.

The show that bested it: Heroes.

The ragtag group of unwitting power-holders is not only NBC's top-rated drama, averaging 15.3 million viewers, but is the number one new series of any network in the all-important 18-49-year-old demographic.

The series recently received a pair of Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama and Best Supporting Actor for the time-stopping Masi Oka but lost out on both. However, it did manage to pick up the People's Choice Award for Best New Drama.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all happy renewal news coming out of the Peacock net. According to Daily Variety, NBC also named its first casualty of the new year, announcing that it has opted not to renew the daytime sudser Passions.

The soap opera, which has been on the air for eight years, will run through its contract this June.