Press tour keeps moving quickly, so after FOX wrapped things up last night, NBC moved in for two days: one devoted to the broadcast network, one to NBC Universal cable. Because the broadcast network is in such dire shape, they’re launching a whole lot of new series this fall, which means there’s no time on the schedule for any returning shows. So no quizzing the new “Community” showrunners, no getting a sense from Greg Daniels on what will become of “The Office,” no Offerman-stache, etc. But lots and lots of panels.
9-9:45 a.m.: An executive session. Where Kevin Reilly solo’ed yesterday, this one’s going to be a three-headed beast, with Robert Greenblatt flanked by entertainment president Jennifer Salke and reality boss Paul Telegdy. Fienberg will, as usual, be live-blogging.
9:45-10:45 a.m.: Writing break, as everyone works on their story about what Greenblatt and company had to say about resurrecting the network.
10:45-11:15 a.m.: “Guys with Kids,” the new sitcom about how hilarious it is when fathers try to take care of their children. It’s a big panel, with five actors (including Anthony Anderson and Cosby kid Tempestt Bledsoe) five different producers, including Jimmy Fallon via satellite.
11:30-12 p.m.: Dick Wolf’s new firefighter drama “Chicago Fire,” with Jesse Spencer, Eamonn Walker and friends. Wolf is legendary at the tour for coming to each session with a notecard in his jacket featuring some kind of prepared rant about a trend in the industry. If you happen to ask the right question, he will pull it out and read it. If not – or if you just baldly ask him to read the card (as I did once as a tour rookie) – he will not. It turns the whole thing into a game show of sorts.
12:15-12:45 p.m.: The new sitcom “Animal Practice,” in which Crystal the monkey – aka Annie’s Boobs from “Community” – is not listed among the panelists, but who will almost certainly be there and will absolutely upstage Justin Kirk, Tyler Labine, JoAnna Garcia Swisher and friends.
12:45-2 p.m.: Lunch!
2-2:30 p.m.: A stripped-down panel for “Revolution,” with only three actors – Billy Burke, Giancarlo “Chicken Man” Esposito and Tracy Spiridakos – creator Eric Kripke and producer/pilot direct Jon Favreau. A smart approach, as these are the only people we’d likely have questions for, anyway.
2:45-3:15 p.m.: The Ryan Murphy/Ali Adler sitcom “The New Normal,” in which a gay couple (Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells) want a kid and get a single mom to be their surrogate. A good chunk of the cast, including NeNe Leakes but not including Ellen Barkin, plus Adler, Murphy and Dante Di Loreto. Lots to discuss with this one, but I expect at some point, someone will ask Murphy and Di Loreto about “Glee,” and also that they will try to defer those questions until afterwards.
3:30-4 p.m.: Another very large panel for Matthew Perry’s new sitcom “Go On,” including six of his co-stars (Laura Benanti, John Cho, Tyler James Williams and more) and four producers.
4:15-4:45 p.m.: Now we shift into reality TV mode, starting off with Bill and Giuliana Rancic as the hosts of “Ready for Love.” On the NBC schedule, most panelists for each show are listed with their names, followed by either “Star” or “Executive Producer.” With this one, three of the panelists get their names, followed by “Guy.”
5-5:30 p.m.: Among the weirdest panel lineups I can remember includes Todd Palin, Terry Crews, Dean Cain, General Wesley Clark, Dick Wolf, Nick Lachey and several former special forces operatives. What could they all be doing on one stage? They’re there for “Stars Earn Stripes,” a reality show where the celebs train to perform military exercises. This will either be a fascinating panel or an absolute trainwreck.
5:30-7:30 p.m.: NBC’s press tour party, right by the hotel pool. We won’t get the guest list til later in the day, so no idea if it’ll just be the people on the panels or if that’s where we’ll get access to folks from returning NBC series.