NBC KICKS OFF FALL 2006-07 PRIMETIME SEASON ON SEPTEMBER 18

Season Premieres begin with All New Two-Hour "Deal or No Deal" and Drama Series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" followed by "Heroes" and "Kidnapped" Premieres

New Drama "Friday Night Lights" and Comedies "Twenty Good Years" and "30 Rock" Debut in October

BURBANK, Calif. -� July 21, 2006 �- NBC will take the field with its new Fall 2006-07 primetime season as Premiere Week kicks off on Monday, September 18 with a special two-hour "Deal or No Deal" followed by the new drama series "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." "Kidnapped" and "Heroes" will subsequently premiere through the week as most of the network's series will be launched. Five other programs, including the new "Friday Night Lights," "Twenty Good Years" and "30 Rock" will premiere later in October.

The announcements were made by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.

"NBC will have significant momentum leading into the Fall and we're going to devote the time and effort it takes to showcase each one of our new series," said Reilly. "With the foundation of 'NBC Sunday Night Football,' the successful series we added last season and our most distinctive new slate of shows in years, we're looking forward to a potent Fall season."

NBC's 2006-07 season will break out of the gate with a special two-hour version of "Deal or No Deal" � the biggest reality hit of last season -- with host Howie Mandel, from 8-10 p.m. on Monday, September 18 (the series will air on four nights during this week). At 10 p.m. on Monday, September 18 is the premiere of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," Emmy Award-winning Aaron Sorkin's and Thomas Schlamme's (NBC's "The West Wing") riveting insider's take on the backstage drama of a late-night comedy sketch show. The drama features an all-star cast that includes Matthew Perry ("Friends"), Bradley Whitford ("The West Wing"), Amanda Peet ("Syriana"), Steven Weber ("Wings"), D.L. Hughley ("The Hughleys"), Sarah Paulson ("Down with Love"), Nathan Corddry ("The Daily Show with Jon Stewart") and Timothy Busfield ("thirtysomething").

"Heroes" (Mondays, 9-10 p.m. ET), an epic ensemble drama centering on the radically changed lives of several ordinary people who find they possess extraordinary abilities, will be platformed on the following Monday lineup on September 25.

On Tuesday, September 19, NBC's crime dramas "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (9-10 p.m. ET) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10-11 p.m. ET) begin new seasons paired up on the same night. The ambitious drama "Friday Night Lights" (Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) -- inspired by the hit feature film that conveys the passions of a small Texas town for its top-ranked football team and stars Kyle Chandler ("King Kong") -- will debut on Tuesday, October 3.

Among NBC's other new dramas, "Kidnapped" (Wednesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) -- an intense, high-stakes and serialized thriller about a teenaged boy's kidnapping that stars Jeremy Sisto ("Six Feet Under") and Delroy Lindo ("The Core") -- will debut during Premiere Week on September 20. The new series will be preceded that night by a two-hour installment of "The Biggest Loser" (8-10 p.m. ET) that will run in the expanded version for two weeks before it returns to its regular (9-10 p.m. ET) slot on October 4.

As a result, NBC's two new comedies will each benefit from staggered rollout. "Twenty Good Years" (Wednesdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET) will premiere on Wednesday, October 4 with back-to-back original episodes (8-8:30 p.m. ET and 8:30-9 p.m. ET), while its other new Fall comedy, "30 Rock" (Wednesdays, 8:30-9 p.m. ET), will debut on Wednesday, October 11.

"Twenty Good Years" stars Emmy winner John Lithgow ("3rd Rock from the Sun") and Jeffrey Tambor ("Arrested Development") as mismatched buddies who realize that life doesn't last forever. "30 Rock" stars Emmy winner Tina Fey (NBC's "Saturday Night Live," "Mean Girls") as the head writer of a frenetic late-night television variety show (Fey is also the writer and an executive producer with Lorne Michaels). Alec Baldwin ("The Aviator," The Cooler") and Tracy Morgan (NBC's "Saturday Night Live") also star.

On Thursday, September 21, NBC will unveil the entire night's regular lineup with the season premieres of "My Name Is Earl" (8-8:30 p.m. ET) -- the recently Emmy Award-nominated "The Office" (8:30-9 p.m. ET), starring Emmy nominee Steve Carell -- "Deal or No Deal" (9-10 p.m. ET) and "ER" (10-11 p.m. ET).

(In addition, series executive producers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant will write an original episode of "The Office" for NBC next season).

NBC will stagger the launches of its Friday-night series, "Crossing Jordan" (8-9 p.m. ET) and "Las Vegas" (9-10 p.m. ET) until October 20 by relying on the strength of two returning franchises that have been proven performers on the night in "Deal or No Deal" (8-9 p.m. ET) and "Dateline: Internet Crime" (9-10 p.m. ET). The delayed season premieres for "Crossing Jordan" and "Las Vegas" will allow the two dramas to remain in original episodes throughout most of the season. In the meantime, the Emmy Award-winning "Law & Order" (10-11 p.m. ET) begins its 17th season on Friday, September 22.

All of NBC's Fall series will debut between September 18 and 29 except for "Friday Night Lights" (October 3), "Twenty Good Years" (October 4), "30 Rock" (October 11), and returning dramas "Crossing Jordan" and "Las Vegas" (both on Friday, October 20).

The NFL returns to NBC on Sunday, August 6 (8-11 p.m. ET) with the league's pre-season premiere, the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio (Oakland vs. Philadelphia), the day after NBC's John Madden, the most honored NFL broadcaster of all-time with 18 Emmy Awards, is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The NFL season kicks off on NBC on Thursday, September 7 (8-11 p.m. ET) as the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers host the Miami Dolphins, marked by NBC's "Football Night in America" studio analyst Jerome Bettis' return to Pittsburgh. On Sunday, September 10, "NBC Sunday Night Football" debuts with one of the most anticipated games in recent memory with brother against brother as Peyton Manning leads the Indianapolis Colts against younger sibling Eli Manning's New York Giants in New York. "NBC Sunday Night Football" is be preceded by the "Football Night in America" (7-8 p.m. ET), NBC's NFL studio show that will offer an exclusive and complete look at each Sunday in the NFL.

A calendar of NBC's Fall 2006-07 series premieres follows. New series are capitalized (except for "ER") and all times are ET:

SEPTEMBER 18
"Deal or No Deal" (special two-hour edition, 8-10 p.m.)
"STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP" (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 19
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (9-10 p.m.)
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 20
"The Biggest Loser" (8-10 p.m.)
"KIDNAPPED" (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 21
"My Name Is Earl" (8-8:30 p.m.)
"The Office" (8:30-9 p.m.)
"Deal or No Deal (9-10 p.m.)
"ER" (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 22
"Law & Order" (10-11 p.m.)

SEPTEMBER 25
"HEROES" (9-10 p.m.)

OCTOBER 3
"FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS" (8-9 p.m.)

OCTOBER 4
"TWENTY GOOD YEARS" (8-8:30 p.m. and 8:30-9 p.m.)

OCTOBER 11
"30 ROCK" (8:30-9 p.m.)

OCTOBER 20
"Crossing Jordan" (8-9 p.m.)
"Las Vegas" (9-10 p.m.)