It's that time again. With the winter programming breaks coming to their final days, TV networks are gearing up for a spring boost that includes returning favorites as well as entirely new series. We'll be looking at each network's newest offerings and letting you know when returning series will begin airing new episodes. Today we'll be concentrating on NBC. The peacock has been struggling as of late, especially in the wake of the Tonight Show shakeup that basically amounted to a lot of good press for Conan O'Brien and a boatload of ill will for Jay Leno and NBC. The network's strongest night is still its Thursday comedy lineup, but it's going to have to give viewers more than an hour and a half of good TV every week to stay relevant in today's highly competitive entertainment sector.

Parenthood (Monday March 1st)

NBC's first new weekday series is Parenthood, a small-screen adaptation of Ron Howard's 1989 comedy. Given that half of this show's demographic probably don't remember the original film and the other half probably won't care if the series strays from the spirit of the movie, I'd say that NBC shouldn't have to worry that their new show will be weighed down by expectations. Parenthood (the series) revolves around four adult siblings in the Braverman family as they each deal with the trials of child rearing at various stages. None of the names attached to the show are particularly exciting and given the subject matter I doubt that Parenthood will be able to match contemporaries like Modern Family in wit. Parenthood has a good chance of being bland and unambitious, but with Ron Howard in an executive producer slot it may just become a series of note.

The Marriage Ref (Thursday March 4th)

After a half hour test run, NBC's new reality series The Marriage Ref doesn't look like much of a keeper. Jerry Seinfeld's name is on it, but any association with his earlier, better work is severed by the end of the opening credits. The show is a mean-spirited attack on overtly absurd couples with ridiculous marital disputes, all subject to the arbitrary judgment of celebrity guests who seem to only be there out of contractual obligation. Like so much reality TV, The Marriage Ref seems designed to grab some quick ratings and then die, only to be replaced with an equally awful show.

100 Questions (unannounced time in March)

I hate to be so down on NBC because I remember when the network had the best programming on TV, but when they keep picking up terrible, dated shows like 100 Questions I don't really have a choice. Christopher Moynihan's new sitcom about one woman's quest for Mr. Right might have been worthwhile ten years ago, but today it just seems lame and out of touch. The high concept premise involves a gorgeous, successful woman named Charlotte who improbably consults an Internet dating service to find a man. The service gives her a 100 question personality test, with each question conjuring up a memory from Charlotte's past. Given the jokes in the preview and the fact that the writers don't seem to understand that Internet dating doesn't involve going into an office and being questioned by an actual person, I'd say 100 Questions is doomed to be an anachronism.

Day One (miniseries, March)

NBC has been beating up on post-apocalyptic drama Day One for a full year now, first cutting its episode order to 13 then rendering it down to a two-hour miniseries to air this spring. Given its pedigree, I can't say I blame them. Day One's showrunner is Jesse Alexander, one of the minds behind the unfathomable debacle known as Heroes. There's also a question of whether or not Day One could stand up to the similar but much more star-studded Flashfoward in the narrow sci-fi drama market.

The good news for NBC's few remaining fans is that The Office is coming back this Thursday after a choppy winter. For everyone else, the end of the Winter Olympics means that programming schedules should be back on track in the next week or two.