• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 3, 2008

The final season of "ER" and a spinoff of hit comedy "The Office" are two highlights on NBC's schedule over the next year. Also on tap is a remake of the series "Knight Rider," a new comedy with former "Saturday Night Live" star Molly Shannon and an effort to turn the nightly 8 p.m. slot into a "family hour." And this October, "SNL" will offer three election-spoof specials in prime time.

As part of what it called an "Infront," NBC unveiled its schedule through August 2009 on Wednesday--partly to give it more runway to work with advertisers to "customize" opportunities for them to link with the programming. "More time means more collaboration," said NBC Universal's head of ad sales Mike Pilot.

The network has traditionally offered its schedule a month later, in May, in a lengthy presentation in Radio City Music Hall before the upfront selling begins. This time, it's holding multiple presentations to advertisers in smaller settings, starting in New York this week.

"ER," the last vestige of the NBC "Must See TV" period of Thursday-night dominance, will conclude its 15-year run next winter. Between 19 and 22 new episodes will run straight through with no repeats in its Thursday at 10 slot. The network said Noah Wyle--who has appeared on 249 episodes since the 1994 launch--will return, but did not elaborate.

NBC did not reveal details of "The Office" spinoff, which looks to follow at least some of the "Cheers"-to-"Frasier" template with compelling--although not headlining--characters perhaps taking leading roles in the new show. "Office" executive producer Greg Daniels will hold the same role in the new show, and NBC indicated that it is giving him wide latitude in which direction to go in.

The spinoff should get massive sampling for its debut. A half-hour episode of "The Office" will follow the Super Bowl on NBC in February, with the spinoff to come right after. It will then move to the Thursday at 9:30 slot, right behind its forerunner.

While it seemed somewhat ambitious, NBC indeed unveiled separate schedules Wednesday for this summer, this fall, next winter and on through the summer of 2009. NBC's co-head of entertainment, Ben Silverman, did say the network may "call an audible" and alter lineups as events--and surely ratings--warrant.

Much has been made of comments made by NBC Universal's top executive Jeff Zucker a year and a half ago that the network would look to slash costs by avoiding the more expensive scripted series in the 8 p.m. hour. But NBC's schedule this fall has dramas and comedies in the lead-off hour on four of five weeknights.

Silverman said NBC's strategy involves striating the prime-time real estate into a "family" hour at 8 p.m., "blockbusters" at 9 and adult-oriented programming aimed primarily at the 25-to-54 demo at 10. The 10 p.m. move, Silverman said, is due partly to the 25-to-54 demo being the primary target of the late local news that follows--something that is sure to hearten affiliates who have expressed frustration with NBC's declining recent ratings.

The "family hour" (8 p.m.) this fall includes the return of "Chuck" on Mondays and "The Biggest Loser" on Tuesdays; then "Knight Rider" on Wednesdays; and the comedy duo of "My Name is Earl" and "30 Rock" on Thursdays. On Friday, NBC is launching "Crusoe," a drama based on the Daniel DeFoe novel about a man stranded on an island for 28 years following a shipwreck.

Last summer, Silverman's co-head of entertainment, Marc Graboff, suggested to Fortune that costs have become so prohibitive that networks that have dropped original scripted programming on Saturdays may need to do so on Fridays. "Now, nobody programs Saturday. Maybe that will happen with Friday," he told the magazine, adding that a network simply "can't afford to pay for 19 hours a week of original high-quality programming" anymore.

But Silverman said conversations with advertisers who said they need audiences on Fridays to pitch cars, films and retail offerings leading into Saturday helped prompt NBC to offer original scripted series on the night. "We are not ceding ground on Friday night," he said. He also indicated if advertisers provide support, NBC would consider jettisoning repeats on Saturdays.

On Fridays this fall, NBC will have two dramas: "Crusoe" at 8 p.m. and the second season of "Life" at 10. "Deal or No Deal" comes at 9.

"Heroes" returns on Mondays at 8 p.m., where it will look to provide a strong lead-in to "My Own Worst Enemy." The drama stars Christian Slater as two men in one body: a run-of-the-mill suburbanite and an operative "trained to kill with his teeth."

A fourth new fall show comes in comedy "Kath & Kim," airing on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. and slotted between "The Biggest Loser" and "Law & Order: SVU." Here, NBC is seeking to do what it did with "The Office": import a hit comedy from overseas and create a successful tailored American version. Based on an Australian hit, "Kath & Kim" stars former "SNL" headliner Molly Shannon as a recently divorced woman looking for love and Selma Blair who plays her self-absorbed and newly single daughter.

On Thursdays in the 9 p.m. hour, NBC will start the fall with several one-hour episodes of "The Office"--then offer three "SNL" live election specials at 9:30 starting Oct. 16.

NBC will, of course, use the Beijing Olympics in August to heavily promote its fall schedule.

NBC's winter schedule includes a return of "The Celebrity Apprentice" in the Thursday at 10 p.m. slot after "ER" signs off. "Law & Order" returns on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. And "Friday Night Lights" joins the schedule on Fridays at 9, and after its third season will be available exclusively to DirecTV customers in the fall.

New series "The Philanthropist"--about "a renegade billionaire" who reacts to the death of his only child by going on dangerous aid missions--will take over the post-"Heroes" 10 p.m. spot on Mondays.

Then in the summer of 2009, NBC will take a page from cable's action-reality genre as the executive producer behind History's "Ice Road Truckers" and Discovery's "Deadliest Catch" provides "America's Toughest Jobs" and "Shark Taggers." Also coming is "Chopping Block," a reality competition in the food genre from the producers of "Hell's Kitchen."

Silverman also said NBC is not content to sit by as cable has success with top dramas such as "The Closer" and "Army Wives" in the summer, so it will offer "The Listener," about a young paramedic who's a mind-reader.

What follows are the complete, fall, winter and summer 2009 schedules:

FALL 2008

*New programs in upper case

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "Chuck"
9-10 p.m. "Heroes"
10-11 p.m. "MY OWN WORST ENEMY"

TUESDAY
8-9:30 p.m. "The Biggest Loser: Families"
9:30-10 p.m. "KATH & KIM"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. "KNIGHT RIDER"
9-10 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
10-11 p.m. "Lipstick Jungle"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "My Name Is Earl"
8:30-9 p.m. "30 Rock"
9-9:30 p.m. "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m. "The Office"/"SNL THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE"
10-11 p.m. "ER"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "CRUSOE"
9-10 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
10-11 p.m. "Life"

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. "Dateline NBC"
9-10 p.m. "KNIGHT RIDER" (Encores)
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8:20 p.m. "Football Night in America"
8:20-11 p.m. "NBC Sunday Night Football"

WINTER 2009

*New programs in upper case

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "Chuck"
9-10 p.m. "Heroes"
10-11 p.m. "THE PHILANTHROPIST"

TUESDAY
8-9:30 p.m. "The Biggest Loser: Couples"
9:30-10 p.m. "KATH & KIM"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. "KNIGHT RIDER"
9-10 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "My Name Is Earl"
8:30-9 p.m. "30 Rock"
9-9:30 p.m. "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m. "THE OFFICE" SPINOFF
10-11 p.m. "ER"/"The Celebrity Apprentice"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m. "Friday Night Lights"
10-11 p.m. "Life"

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. "Dateline NBC"
9-10 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Encores)
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order" (Encores)

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. Specials/"Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. Specials/"MERLIN"
9-10 p.m. Specials/"Medium"
10-11 p.m. Specials/"KINGS"

SUMMER 2009

*New programs in upper case

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. "American Gladiators"
9-10 p.m. "AMERICA'S TOUGHEST JOBS"
10-11 p.m. "Dateline NBC"

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. "Most Outrageous Moments"
9-10 p.m. "America's Got Talent"
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Encores)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. "SHARK TAGGERS"
9-10 p.m. "America's Got Talent" (Results Show)
10-11 p.m. "Law & Order" (Encores)

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. "The Office" (Encores)
8:30- 9 p.m. "THE OFFICE" SPINOFF (Encores)
9-10 p.m. "Last Comic Standing"
10-11 p.m. "THE LISTENER"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. "CHOPPING BLOCK"
9-11 p.m. "Dateline NBC"

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. Drama Encores
9-10 p.m. Drama Encores
10-11 p.m. Drama Encores

SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. "Monk"
9-10 p.m. "Nashville Star"
10-11 p.m. "KINGS" (Encores)