NBC Announces 5 New Shows, With Familiar Names Attached

NBC began its latest rebuilding effort on Thursday by announcing that it had ordered five new series: three comedies and two dramas. These shows do not represent the network’s entire list of new entries; more series are expected to be announced on Friday.

Also, as expected, the network said it had ordered another season of the comedy “Parks and Recreation,” starring Amy Poehler. And two comedies â€" “Whitney” and “1600 Penn” â€" were canceled.

With its roster of new shows, the network will be bringing back some familiar stars like Sean Hayes (“Will and Grace”), J.K. Simmons (“Law & Order”) and David Walton (“Bent”), as well as Jason Katims, the creator of one of its top dramas, “Parenthood.”

Mr. Hayes will star in “Sean Saves the World,” a comedy about a gay father whose world changes when his teenage daughter moves in and he throws himself into parenthood.

Mr. Simmons, who is most familiar from drama (memorably as a neo-Nazi in the prison series “Oz” on HBO), will play a quirky dad as well in a comedy, “The Family Guide” â€" but he happens to be blind. He participates fully in raising his children, along with his former wife, Parker Posey (“Louie”), who happens to smoke a pipe.

The third comedy is “About a Boy,” based on the Nick Hornby novel and Hugh Grant film, and created by Mr. Katims. Mr. Walton stars as Will, the man-child who wrote one hit song and lives off the fat of the world until his neighbor (Minnie Driver) moves in next door with her 11-year-old son. The boy adopts Will as a surrogate father â€" and Will realizes that the single dad thing works well with the ladies.

One new drama, “Crisis,” seems, on paper anyway, more like the premise for a movie. Elite youngsters from top Washington families (including the president’s son) are kidnapped and used as pawns in a conspiracy. The stars include Dermot Mulroney (“My Best Friend’s Wedding”) and Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files.”)

The other new drama, “Believe,” is notable for being yet another production of J.J. Abrams (“Lost”) with a sci-fi theme. An orphan girl, 10 years old, has powers of telekinesis and levitation, and even the ability to control nature. Her protectors, known as the True Believers, turn, for some reason, to a death-row inmate to save her from the corrupt forces trying to use her for nefarious ends. Alfredo Cuarón, director of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is the executive producer.