NBC Extends Prime Suspect, CW Extends Everything

Big day.

So maybe this is what Robert Greenblatt meant about giving his shows time: NBC is ordering six extra episode scripts for Prime Suspect, following up on a similar order it made for Harry’s Law yesterday. Meanwhile, the CW picked up another nine episodes of  its three new dramas, Ringer, Hart of Dixie and The Secret Circle.

Prime Suspect seems to have inherited the magic of its creators’ previous show, Friday Night Lights, producing weak ratings and great television. But NBC is letting the show air reruns in The Playboy Club‘s old timeslot, so it looks like somebody wants the show to succeed.

Ringer, meanwhile, has okay ratings and got introduced as part of the CW’s effort to expand beyond teen soap operas. (Never mind that it’s practically become one.) The show has hinted at ramping up the intensity and finally got its ratings to stop sliding this week. Hart of Dixie and The Secret Circle were both in stronger positions than Ringer been losing viewers since they premiered, but both score better demographics than Ringer.

The CW is now close to matching NBC’s record for show pickups — since Harry’s Law and Prime Suspect just have script orders for now, NBC has technically only picked up three shows itself — and Parenthood only got two extra episodes. The CW has also (blessedly) canceled H8r already, rounding out its entire lineup of new shows.