Here’s your round-up of TV upfront and scheduling news for the day.
• NBC has picked up two additional new series to join Anne Heche star vehicle Save Me (picked up earlier today) and Matthew Perry vehicle Go On (picked up weeks ago) on the network’s 2012-13 schedule. The first is comedy The New Normal, from producers Ryan Murphy and Ali Adler, who co-wrote the pilot script. It stars Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha as a gay couple who are trying to have a baby with the help of a surrogate mother played by Georgia King. Since it’s from Murphy, the series will almost certainly have a solid pilot, then probably feature at least one strange and horrifying serial killer clothed entirely in black. Which would be new territory for a half-hour sitcom, admittedly. The second new series is NBC’s first drama pickup, the sci-fi series Revolution, which hails from J.J. Abrams and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. The show—which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where technology has abruptly stopped working—has all the hallmarks of the kind of show that will be disappointing, both in terms of potential wasted and ratings. It’s got an intriguing premise that will inevitably be botched, a large ensemble cast with at least one ringer TV fans will be excited by (Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito), and a painfully generic cast photo. Why, it looks like this is something that was already canceled in 2006 but has returned to life to stagger back onto our television screens in confusion. At least the show also stars The Cape’s David Lyons, thereby fulfilling our lifelong dream of sending out a Cape notification. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)