TCA Finale - NBC Round-Up and Notable Quotes

Corporate synergy continued as all the members of the NBC Universal family - NBC, USA, Oxygen, Sci-Fi, Bravo - teamed up for presentations.

-Jay Leno's last hurrah on "The Tonight Show" will come May 29, 2009. Conan O'Brien takes over June 1. Leno pulled a Kimmel and showed up as a reporter to harass NBC co-chairs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff during their executive session. Among other things Leno asked if it was true Silverman offered him "the fifth hour of the 'Today' show" and wondered if, in the wake of the "Knight Rider" reboot, Silverman was considering bringing back "Manimal." Although it's been widely reported that Leno will likely move to ABC, Graboff dismissed that notion. "We're still talking to Jay about staying within NBC Universal beyond his deal on 'The Tonight Show.'"

-Since it's a presidential election year, "Saturday Night Live" will up its episode count from 20 to 22.There will also be three "Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursdays" half-hour specials beginning October 9.

-The new Amy Poehler, non-"Office" spin-off will likely launch in March.

-The powers that be at DirecTV recognize that major "Friday Night Lights" fans will probably find it difficult to resist file sharing sites that offer the episodes before they air on NBC. The show will premiere October 1 on the satellite provider but not come to broadcast until February. That's a long time to find out if the Panthers make it to state. Zach Gilford, who plays lovable QB Matt Saracen, offered a compromise. "I'd say if you're really such a big fan, go ahead and download it, but then, just out of good conscience, turn it on on NBC later." Deal. As far as storylines go, we know that Smash and Street are departing but executive producer Jason Katims promises emotional four episode send-offs for both. Also, Tim and Lyla will officially be a couple and Connie Britton's Tami Taylor is getting upgraded from guidance counselor to principal at Dillon High this year which may cause some problems with Coach (Kyle Chandler). And finally, Taylor Kitsch, portrayer of Tim Riggins? Absolutely as sweet and good-looking offscreen as he is on.

News on "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica," Notable Quotes, and the party report after the jump

-There is no airdate yet for the "Battlestar Galactica" prequel "Caprica." Sci-Fi also hasn't definitively decided whether or not it will go to series. The clip they showed- starring Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Paula Malcomson, and Polly Walker- looked exciting, stylish, and decidedly retro. The story will trace life on Caprica 51 years "before the fall." Creator Ron Moore says the math is fuzzy intentionally. "For those of you steeped into 'Battlestar' mythos, at the time of the miniseries, we had said that no one had seen or heard from the Cylons in 40 years and that we had said that the First Cylon War, we never nailed down exactly how many years it was, but it was a multi-year conflict. So this gives us a little more of a cushion and sort of still be expansive on exactly how long the initial war took place. And we were also locked into the idea of we wanted William Adama to be a character in this piece, albeit a boy. With his age and doing math and -- which is not one of our strengths, we came up with 51 years."

-Coolio has dreams. He wants to be the first rapper to go platinum at 50. With his Oxygen show "Coolio's Rules," premiering in October, he wants to show off his skills as a parent and a gourmet chef and become the "hip-hop [Michael] Jordan/Martha Stewart" and be able to sell frozen food, aprons, lemonade, and cutlery.

They Said

"Eddie wanted to play it. He came in and it was one of those things where he's on his knees with the shoes." -"Battlestar Galactica" creator Ron Moore on Edward James Olmos offering to play the young William Adama in the "BSG" prequel "Caprica."

"I will have to say that once you guys see our show, you all will have to admit that we have the realest family reality show ever in history so far." -Rapper Coolio on his new Oxygen series "Coolio's Rules" in which he and his family start a catering business.

"I think he's still defining himself, and he is primarily cast as heroic, which is, I think what he is, but sooner or later, everyone does something to irritate us." -"SNL" producer Lorne Michaels on the challenge of lampooning Barack Obama.

"Chuck's new cover will be in an advertising company where we all dress in very snazzy '60s-style suits and smoke." "Chuck" star Zachary Levi addressing a question about audiences migrating to "quality" shows on cable.

Mini Party Report
Before sprinting to catch the red-eye back to the Hub I buzzed the NBC Universal/USA/Sci-Fi/Oxygen/Bravo party and spotted: "Starter Wife" Debra Messing, glorious in green; "Heroes" Masi Oka, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and tiny Hayden Panettiere; a host of "SNL"-ers including Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, and Kristen Wiig; "FNL"-ers Adrianne Palicki and Aimee Teegarden; Christopher Guest repertory member John Michael Higgins, who will co-star in "Kath and Kim"; Christian Slater, star of the upcoming "My Own Worst Enemy"; Adam Baldwin of "Chuck"

This concludes my recurring guest role at "Viewer Discretion." I want to thank Matt and Joanna for being such gracious hosts. (Can I keep the robe and slippers?). Look for stories in the mothership in the coming weeks on actors and new series. I now return to my regularly scheduled blog "Sound Effects."