NBC Wants More "Laura"

This morning, NBC announced the first full-season pickup from among its new fall series.  Debra Messing's The Mysteries of Laura has been scoring in the ratings since its debut on September 17, and has helped the network build a female-centric night of crimefighting and action, leading into Mariska Hargitay's veteran Law & Order: SVU and Sophia Bush in Chicago Fire.  See announcement from NBC below.

NBC ORDERS FULL SEASON OF ‘THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA’

Debra Messing Starrer Improves 8 P.M. Wednesday Timeslot by 58% Vs. Last Season

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Oct. 28, 2014 — NBC has given a full-season 22-episode order to its 8 p.m. Wednesday drama “The Mysteries of Laura.”

Emmy Award winner Debra Messing stars as NYPD homicide Det. Laura Diamond, who manages to balance her time between being a police officer and that of a harried mom with two unruly young boys.

“Debra has effortlessly infused Laura with a relatability that is captivating audiences,” said Jennifer Salke, President, NBC Entertainment. “We can’t wait to see how Laura will continue to evolve throughout the entire season.”

Through its first six telecasts, “The Mysteries of Laura” has averaged a 1.8 rating, 6 share in adults 18-49 and 10.4 million viewers overall in “most current” figures from Nielsen Media Research. In “live plus same day” results, “The Mysteries of Laura” has improved the Wednesday 8-9 p.m. ET/PT hour by +58% or 3.3 million persons versus NBC’s results in the hour one year earlier.

“The Mysteries of Laura” is the only new drama on the Big 4 networks so far this season to remain with 0.2 of a rating point in 18-49 of its regular-slot debut through its next four telecasts in L+SD results.

The series also stars Josh Lucas, Laz Alonso, Janina Gavankar and Max Jenkins.

Writer Jeff Rake (“Boston Legal”) and director McG (“Supernatural”) serve as executive producers with Greg Berlanti (“Brothers & Sisters”), Aaron Kaplan (“The Neighbors”), Todd Lituchy and Sarah Schechter. “The Mysteries of Laura” is a production of Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions and Kapital Entertainment.

Two New Must-Reads

On today's Frank DeCaro Show on OutQ (Sirius 109, XM 98), author Randee Dawn discussed her new book, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The Unofficial Companion. And I can tell you, for any fan of show -- and of the yummilicious pairing of Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni -- the book is a must-read.

Dawn and her co-author Susan Green spent a week on the show's NYC set, and saw firsthand how an episode goes from script to screen. The book contains synopses of all 224 episodes in the show's first 10 seasons, covering right up through this past June. (As someone who has written 2 books about sitcoms, one six seasons' worth and one seven, I can tell you that covering 10 years of an hourlong show is a lot of work!) There are also bios, ratings and awards info, web links, and anything else you'd want to know about this most personal show in producer Dick Wolf's vast empire. (And the book, by the way, has Wolf's seal of approval -- he even wrote the foreword.)

And a few weeks back, Brady Bunch star Susan Olsen appeared on the show, promoting a new book she has co-authored with Ted Nichelson and the amazing "Bradyologist" Lisa Sutton, about a chapter of Brady life not everyone out there might know about: the ill-conceived but campy and hilarious-for-all-the-wrong-reasons follow-up series, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.

The book, Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, is chock full of fun, behind-the-scenes photos and factoids about a show which you just will have to see to believe. Closeted Robert Reed, now playing not just America's favorite dad, but a singing and dancing architect to boot? All the Brady members (except with Geri Reischl as a new Jan) -- often including Alice -- tap-dancing around an indoor pool in spangled '70s getups? Who doesn't want to see that?!

(2 of the 8 produced episodes of this unsurprisingly unsuccessful 1976-77 series are available on DVD.)

And this just in from Lisa Sutton: this coming Sunday, October 4, meet the authors (and perhaps some special guest Bradys!) at the West Hollywood Book Fair. A panel discussion and book signing starts at 11:15 in the People, Places & Politics Pavilion.