NBC's New Lineup: Paramedics, Nurses, Community College and Lots 'o Leno

NBC has just wrapped its sessions for the day, and since there's 45 minutes to kill before tonight's party, I'll attempt a brief recap of what went down.

New network primetime president Angela Bromstad and exec vice-president of alternative programming Paul Telegdy opened the day, and didn't have much to say about anything, regardless of what question was asked. Although Bromstad did elicit unintended laughter while answering a question about her predecessor, Ben Silverman. "Well, I think that Ben — I think
that this has always been Ben’s plan."

The audience laughs, presumably at the notion that Silverman's master plan was to swoop in, drive the network down to a fourth-place laughingstock, and then swoop out like some evil supervillain chuckling, "Looks like my work is done, Bwaahahaha!"

But she clarified: "I think — sorry, I didn’t mean to elicit — but I think it has always been Ben’s plan to transition back to his entrepreneurial roots, so I don’t think he was looking to
be at NBC for a long-term thing."

Really? Funny how that nugget of information didn't emerge until AFTER he left.

Telegdny was asked about his take on the news of Paula Abdul's departure from "American Idol," whether he'd want to offer her a gig on an NBC reality show.

"Paula’s an exceptional piece of talent that I’ve been lucky enough to meet a couple of times," he said. "We’ve got no specific plans for her, but I read the breaking news last night and wouldn’t rule anything out."

The day continued with a session for "Community," a promising new comedy featuring "The Soup's" Joel McHale and Chevy Chase. This was followed by sessions for "Trauma," a new medical drama, and "Mercy," another new medical drama. Sandwiched in between were sessions for a USA drama called "White Collar" and a couple of Sci Fi shows — sorry, SyFy, as they've rebranded themselves — a trippy take on "Alice in Wonderland" and yet another "Stargate" spin-off.

The final session of the day was the one we were all waiting for, with Jay Leno, whose move from late-night to primetime could prove to be a brilliant programming idea or an utter disaster.

Jay took a question about how it felt to be put in a position to rescue the entire network. His reply was succinct: "Screw NBC!" He's just there to do his show, not save the network.

OK, time to get ready for the party, which will feature an eclectic array of NBC stars.