First Impulse: What the networks are doing this fall: NBC

I used to be an NBC partisan. It sounds silly now to be a partisan for any broadcast network--I can understand the passion of the multitudes of rabid Soundtrack Channel (god love them, I just noticed their official website is a Wordpress blog) fans that are out there--but I just felt NBC was tops for sports, entertainment, and even news. Growing up, I just liked the look of NBC, and maybe it was something as simple as the signal strength of my local affiliate, but I did favor the Peacock.

Now, though, I'm almost inclined to think if a show is good enough for NBC, it must be crap. There have been a few things that resonated with me in recent years, most notably "Community" and maybe the first seasons of "Friday Night Lights," "Chuck," and "Heroes," but other than that, NBC to me has meant football and a bunch of critically overrated comedies and weak dramas. So to me, once I learned "Community" was getting a third season pickup, the rest of the fall schedule held no suspense for me, nor any particular interest.

Then I actually SAW the 2011 fall schedule, and what stood out was this is a struggling network that will devote 4 hours of precious primetime space each week to "The Sing-Off" and "The Biggest Loser." I get that reality is cheap and NBC needs all the eyeballs it can get from returning shows, but, man, 4 hours? Weren't we supposed to get all sorts of quality dramas again as soon as "The Jay Leno Show" got the big boot?

I think a telling aspect of NBC's slate of new shows is that several weeks after the announcement, the most buzzed about program is still the one that didn't make it: "Wonder Woman." Maybe "Grimm" or "The Playboy Club" will get some attention, though in the case of the latter, it'll likely be from the misguided notion that A) there will be nudity and B) it will be as good as "Mad Men," and people will tune in, find quick disappointment, and tune back out.

For me, the strategy in dealing with NBC is simple: Watch NFL (if there is NFL this season), watch "Community," hope something else comes along.