Rueben's Ramblings

NBC made their upfront presentation to the New York advertisers yesterday, announcing their plans for programming for the fall, featuring the new shows The Playboy Club, Prime Suspect and Grimm (for which I reported on in both February and in early April).

In addition, they will air the new series Awake, Smash and The Firm during mid-season, which will, most likely, be in early 2012.

Here are details on the new shows for the fall:

Grimm is a dark, fantastical cop drama featuring characters inspired by Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The pilot stars David Giuntoli, Russell Hornsby (Lincoln Heights), Silas Weir Mitchell (Prison Break) and Sasha Roiz (Caprica).

Here is the trailer for Grimm.

The drama pilot – The Playboy Club – is, of course, set at the Playboy Club in Chicago in 1963 and explores the lives of working-class Playboy bunnies and the men who loved them. The cast includes Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch), Amber Heard (Zombieland), Jenna Dewan Tatum (Step Up), David Krumholtz (Numb3rs) and Naturi Naughton (Fame).

Here is the trailer for The Playboy Club.

Prime Suspect is an adaptation of the British miniseries that centers on a tough female detective (Maria Bello) who has to make her bones in a tough New York precinct dominated by men. The cast includes Aidan Quinn (Legend of the Fall), Kirk Acevedo (Fringe), Tim Griffin (Star Trek), Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) and Brian O’Bryne (FlashForward).

Here is the trailer for Prime Suspect.

And here are the details on the shows expected to air in mid-season:

Awake (formerly REM) is the new drama about a police detective (Jason Isaacs from Brotherhood and the Harry Potter franchise) who is involved in a traumatic car accident, waking in two fractured realities. Among the cast are Wilmer Valderrama (That 70’s Show), Cherry Jones (24), Steve Harris (The Practice and Friday Night Lights), B.D. Wong (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), Laura Allen (Terriers), Michael McManus (The Vampire Diaries) and Dylan Minnette (Lost).

Here is the trailer for Awake.

Smash is a Glee-esque copy-cat about a group of people who come together to put on a Broadway show about Marilyn Monroe. The cast includes Debra Messing (Will & Grace), Anjelica Houston (Ever After), Jack Davenport (FlashForward), Katharine McPhee (former American Idol runner-up) and Broadway star Megan Hilty.

Here is the trailer for Smash.

The Firm is based on the blockbuster feature film and best-selling novel by world-renowned author John Grisham. The series continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel. As a young associate, McDeere brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm of Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which operated as a front for the Chicago mob — and his life was never the same. After a difficult decade, which included a stay in the Federal Witness Protection program, Mitch and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future — only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.

NOTE: No cast has been announced yet; therefore, there is no video available.