After canceling a handful of big shows this spring, NBC just announced that four of their eight pilots for the 2026-27 season are going ahead, according to Deadline. Of the four shows picked up, two of them are new dramas with beloved stars.
After a couple of shaky years following the COVID-19 pandemic, NBC had a close-to-regular pilot season in the January-May period. Eight pilots were ordered, all of which featured established TV stars as leads as selling points. In the end, NBC picked two dramas and two comedies. The network also revealed that when we'll see those shows will be revealed when NBC announces their full schedule next week.
So which shows made the cut? Here’s a quick look!
Line of Fire
Status: Series order
First up, we have Line of Fire, which brings back TV veteran Peter Krause. It’ll be his first role since his famous departure from 911 and adds to his resume that includes Sports Night, Six Feet Under, and Parenthood.
Krause will be joined by Hope Davis, Kat Cunning, Tommy O’Brien, Taylor Bloom, and Charlie Barnett. The plotline sounds like an intriguing mix of Blue Bloods with a law enforcement family and a 24-style thriller.
We shared the synopsis of the series, via NBC:
"A family of law enforcement agents bridges personal differences and crosses professional boundaries as they tackle cases for the FBI, US Marshals, Secret Service, and Department of Justice. After a seemingly cut-and-dry case turns into a deadly conspiracy, they must use the expertise from a lifetime of protecting civilians and politicians to protect one another and bring the killer to justice … even if it means betraying their sworn code."
The Rockford Files
Status: Series order
Another TV veteran returns in David Boreanaz. The man hasn’t been off TV screens since his breakout in 1997 with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, his spin-off Angel, the long-running Fox procedural Bones, and SEAL Team.
Now, he headlines a reboot of The Rockford Files, taking on the role James Garner made iconic as an ex-con turned private eye. Michaela McManus, Felix Solis, and Jacki Weaver all co-star.
We shared the synopsis of the series, via NBC:
"A contemporary update on the classic series of the same name. Newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit, James Rockford returns to his life as a private investigator using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the crosshairs of both local police and organized crime."
NBC also picked up two comedies
On the comedy side, there’s Newlyweds, which stars real-life couple Tea Leoni and Tim Daly. The pair played husband and wife on the CBS hit Madam Secretary, which turned into a real romance and they were married in 2025. Obviously, this new show plays on their relationship with the added bonus of Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis returning to TV in a recurring role.
"A later-in-life love story about a free-spirited woman and a buttoned-up professor who marry impetuously after a whirlwind courtship."
Finally, there’s Sunset P.I., which sounds like a send-up of the private eye genre starring Jake Johnson with Jane Levy, Langston Kerman, Mary Shalaby and Keith David.
Those sound like strong additions to NBC’s roster, but what shows did they pass on?
NBC also passed on four pilots
It seems the pilots NBC skipped over involved a trio of procedurals and one comedy. First, Boreanaz’s Bones co-star Emily Deschanel would have starred in Key Witness, a spin on the procedural drama, as she plays a profiler who focuses on the victims rather than the killers.
Also passed on was What the Dead Know, which would have starred Taylor Schilling as a medical examiner helping on cases. However, TV Line indicates that the pilot isn’t dead and might be reworked.
One of the odder shows would have been Puzzled with Damon Wayans Jr. as a sports gambler who suffers a brain injury, which gives him incredible puzzle-solving abilities, so helps solve crimes. Finally, Jill & Ginger would have had sitcom veterans Jane Lynch and Katey Sagal as best friends running a therapy clinic.
Talking to TV Line, Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of NBC Entertainment and Peacock Scripted and Television Studios, claimed there were just too many promising shows to fit in for now.
“Our creative teams, led by Lisa Katz at NBC and Erin Underhill at Universal Television, delivered an exceptional pilot slate, developing eight standout projects that reflect our ambition. While we often hear the phrase embarrassment of riches, it truly applies in this case. This process allowed us to take big swings, and we landed on shows that we think can truly break through."
It is standard for many pilots to be passed over, yet in an era where networks have preferred to order shows straight to broadcast, it says something NBC had a few left over. It also shows how their schedule in 2026-27 is going to be bigger than the last few years.
Stay tuned for more information about the new shows coming to NBC!
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