NBC PICKS UP FRESHMAN DRAMA 'MEDICAL INVESTIGATION' FOR THE REST OF THE 2004-05 SEASON

BURBANK, Calif. -- October 20, 2004 -- NBC has picked up the freshman drama series "Medical Investigation" (Fridays, 10-11 p.m. ET) for the rest of the 2004-05 season -- adding nine additional episodes for a full season order, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"We've had great viewer response to this show and week-to-week the audience and the ratings continue to grow," said Reilly. "We couldn't be more pleased with the show's performance and look forward to the unlimited potential it has to gain an even larger fan base as the season continues."

"Medical Investigation" is this season's #1 Friday series among adults 18-49. The freshman drama has averaged a 3.4 rating/11 share among adults 18-49 and 9.2 million viewers overall, improving the time period for NBC by 21 percent in 18-49 and 18 percent in total viewers versus results for the same nights last year.

"Medical Investigation" stars Neal McDonough (NBC's "Boomtown") and Kelli Williams ("The Practice") as members of a mobile medical team from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who are summoned in a heartbeat to scope out -- and hopefully snuff out -- outbreaks of unexplained and fearful diseases. These specialists drop out of the sky anywhere and have government carte blanche to take charge when people start dying, which requires them to medically re-construct grisly events to prevent the next epidemic, plague or contagion.

The elite team also includes Troy Winbush ("John Q.") as specialist Frank Powell, a quiet but intense medical inspector; Dr. Miles McCabe (Christopher Gorham, "Jake 2.0"), the newest and youngest member of the team; and Anna Belknap ("The Handler") as the NIH's publicity liaison Eva Rossi.

"Medical Investigation" is executive-produced by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle ("The Pretender"), Bob Cooper, Scott Vila ("The Simple Life") and Marc Buckland ("Ed"). The series is created and co-executive produced by Jason Horwitch ("The Pentagon Papers").

The series is from NBC Universal Television Studio and Paramount Network Television in association with Landscape Entertainment.