NBC Ups Chuck, ABC Enlists de Rossi, Tamblyn, Milano
Trae Patton/NBC
Here's one piece of inside information Chuck doesn't need to keep secret: NBC has picked up an additional nine episodes of the computer-geek spy show, guaranteeing a full second season before the new run even kicks off.
"It's an incredible show of faith by NBC and so amazingly nice to get based on the work along," creator Josh Schwartz said.
The network made the decision to order nine more episodes, a full month before the second series even debuts, based on the strength of the six episodes already in the can for its premiere Sept. 29.
The series' first season was cut short last spring, when the network decided to hold out for the fall rather than have the new episodes return in the wake of the writers' strike.
"We couldn't be more excited with the creative direction Josh and his team are executing on Chuck," NBC Entertainment VP Teri Weinberg said. "This show has really hit is stride and deserves a full-season commitment to carry out the producers' vision for this unique series."
NBC isn't the only network bolstering its schedule this week.
On Monday, ABC confirmed it would pick five series orders based on the strength of their pilots, projects that count Harold Perrineau, Amber Tamblyn, Adam Goldberg, Bobby Cannavale, Portia de Rossi and Alyssa Milano among its stars.
Two comedic New York-based procedurals led the list: Castle, starring Nathan Fillion as a novelist who helps solve homicide cases, and The Unusuals, an hourlong comedy set inside a quirky precinct starring Perrineau, Tamblyn and Goldberg.
Also getting the greenlight from the Alphabet net was the romantic comedy Cupid, a remake of the late-'90s series of the same name created by Veronica Mars' Rob Thomas. While Jeremy Piven was the lead the first time around, in this incarnation Canavale stars as a man who claims to be Cupid and who is ordered to begin seeing a therapist, played by small-screen vet Sarah Paulson.
Rounding out the order were the sitcoms Better Off Ted, revolving around an office worker who tries—more than likely in vain—to work his way up the corporate ladder, which stars the new Mrs. DeGeneres, and Single With Parents, in which Milano stars as a woman struggling to juggle her personal and professional lives. Annie Potts and Beau Bridges also star.
All five series are expected to have midseason debuts.
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