Fall TV Preview: NBC

There was a time when NBC was an unbeatable juggernaut of TV excellence. These days, the network is falling behind and making a habit of killing off the best shows on its roster. Still, it has the Thursday night comedy powerhouse that is The Office and 30 Rock, two shows that could probably carry the entire network if they had to. Here's what the peacock has slated to premiere in the 2009/2010 season.

Mercy

I hope you like medical shows, because apparently ER underwent mitosis and is now two complete different series on NBC. One of them is Mercy, a hospital show seen through the eyes of the nurses. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't trust NBC to do any better with this conceit than Showtime has with Nurse Jackie. NBC has always been about slick, pretty shows and I highly doubt that Mercy is going to pursue the down-and-dirty details required for a good show about nurses. All the same, it's nice to see Michelle Trachtenberg get a grown-up role instead of having to play another teenager. Don't expect anything revolutionary in Mercy, but it should be a reliable stock drama.

Trauma

On the much more promising end of the medical drama side of NBC's Fall schedule, Trauma actually looks like an exciting addition to the lineup. The show follows a team of first-response paramedics as they face the genuine challenges of epic accidents and other horrible stuff that unfortunately happens frequently enough to require experts in the subject. The cast of mostly fresh faces (and a few that deserve more exposure) looks promising and the production staff has proved itself on other impressive projects like Friday Night Lights. Trauma might be NBC's shot in the arm.

Community

Because apparently NBC doesn't have enough unbelievably awesome comedies, they've reinforced the bulwark with a new show called Community about a disbarred lawyer who needs to attain a college degree after his illegitimate one is uncovered. The promo video alone is funnier than most of what's on TV and the cast is very, very interesting. For one, someone finally gave The Soup host Joel McHale a show-running position like he's deserved for years now. He's joined by John Oliver of The Daily Show and Chevy Chase who seems to be on his game. Newcomer Danny Pudi should be lots of fun and the writing really seems fresh, so I'm looking forward to this one.

As for returning shows, no big surprises in that department. The Office and 30 Rock are coming back for what I'm sure will be another reliably funny season, as is Parks and Recreation. My favorite undeniably horrible show, Heroes will limp back into the spotlight in what I can only assume will be a continuation of the most inexplicable series in television history. Law and Order and its one surviving offspring SVU will return for the same reason Dick Clark will always be a part of New Year's Eve. The Biggest Loser fulfills NBC's thankfully scant reality obligation and the network still has Sunday Night Football.