It's the time of year that causes TV helmers’ hair to fall out and struggling writers to think about getting that second mortgage - as networks attempt to wow the advertisers with their bright, new, shiny shows and consign their more audience-hungry output to the bin.
NBC have finally booted Matt Le Blanc's Friends offshoot Joey into touch, having originally abandoned the ailing comedy mid-season, it's now officially off the schedule. Despite a strong opening at the beginning of season one, the dimbo actor's LA adventures dropped somewhere in the region of 14 million viewers and shone the spotlight on NBCs free-falling ratings.

Still, it's not all bad news - continuing to carry the torch for the network are ER, The Office, My Name Is Earl, Law And Order and Scrubs but it's NBC’s new shows that are getting us juicy here at totalfilm.com. Friday Night Lights is a pinched-from-the-flick show that follows the highs and lows of high school football, while Kidnapped and The Black Donelly's are set to challenge HBO as the standard bearer for spot-on thrill-crammed crime telly.

We've already told you about the Aaron Sorkin brainchild Studio 60 On Sunset Strip, starring Le Blanc's friend Matthew Perry alongside Bradley Whitford, who played Josh Lyman in the Sorkin created West Wing. The show is a behind the scenes peek at the production of a TV show and the lives of the people who make it.

Hmm... Sorkin's golden touch and a Whitford/Perry double-act? Colour us excited. Let's hope the UK networks break out the chequebooks...