Smallscreen News

Three new shows to grace NBC's schedule

By April MacIntyre May 7, 2010, 18:43 GMT

03/07/2010 - Jason Ritter - 20th Annual Night of 100 Stars Awards Gala - Arrivals - Beverly Hills Hotel - Beverly Hills, CA, USA © Glenn Harris / PR Photos

Three new shows will grace NBC's schedule for 2010-2011.

A dramatic thriller "The Event," the comedy "Outsourced" and the romantic anthology series "Love Bites" are the new kids on the peacock block.

The announcement was made today by Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

"Each of these three series reflects a unique point of view and distinct style of quality that fits perfectly with NBC’s dedication to rebuilding the schedule," said Bromstad. "These series showcase excellent writing and casting, and represent the kind of scripted programming our network and studio are committed to producing."

Premise

"The Event"

A "high-octane conspiracy thriller" that follows "everyman" Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, "The Class"), as he investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, "Disturbia"), and stumbles in on one of the biggest cover-ups in U.S. history.

Sean's quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including: newly elected U.S. President Martinez (Blair Underwood) Sophia (Laura Innes), who is the leader of a mysterious group of detainees; and Sean’s shadowy father-in-law (Scott Patterson).

Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.

Ian Anthony Dale ("Daybreak") and Emmy winner Željko Ivanek (“Damages”) also star in the ensemble drama.

“Outsourced”

Fish out of water tala as the Midwest meets the exotic East in a culture clash.

The series centers on the all-American company Mid America Novelties that sells whoopee cushions, foam fingers and wallets made of bacon -- and whose call center has suddenly been outsourced to India.

Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport) is the new company’s manager who learns that he’s being transferred to India to run the operation.

Todd delivers a crash course in all things American if they are to understand the U.S. product line and ramp up sales from halfway around the world. But as strange as America seems to his eclectic sales team, Todd soon realizes that figuring out India will be more than a full-time job. Rizwan Manji, Sacha Dhawan, Rebecca Hazlewood, Parvesh Cheena and Anisha Nagarajan also star as members of Dempsy’s off-shore team; Diedrich Bader and Jessica Gower additionally star.

“Love Bites”

From Emmy Award-winning writer-producer Cindy Chupack (“Sex and the City”), is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology series featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin.

Becki Newton stars as Annie and Jordana Spiro stars as Frannie, the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married. Annie is an infectiously bubbly optimist and Frannie is an always-a-bridesmaid realist. Their story will anchor the series, while other romantically-challenged characters will come and go each week.

The pilot's guest cast includes Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”), Greg Grunberg (“Heroes”), Craig Robinson (“The Office”), Jason Lewis (“Sex and the City”), Lindsay Price (“Lipstick Jungle”), Larry Wilmore (“The Daily Show”), Charlyne Yi (“Knocked Up”), Pamela Adlon (“Californication”), Stacy Galina (“Hidden Hills”), Brian Hallisay (“Privileged”), Kyle Howard (“My Boys”) and Steve Howey (“Bride Wars”).