Hello! I'm a popular drama that is actually NBC's most popular drama. I have a big name actress as my star, and my creator is renown for his strong storytelling skills and ability to attract loyal audiences.

Yet, I am constantly named by many television observers and critics that I'm most certainly out the door at NBC. why can't I get any respect?

That has to be what "Harry's Law" is asking. it stars Kathy Bates as Harry Korn, a lawyer who got bored defending patents, and decided to open her own practice ... in a shoe store. It's the kind of thing only David E. Kelley could come up with, and he did.

The second season experienced some big changes, including the departure of half the original cast and a change of scenery. but viewers have not only come back to the show, they're following it wherever it goes.

In fact, of the three scripted shows that NBC has in the top 50 -- "Harry's Law," "Smash" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" -- "Harry's Law" has not only the best ratings, but the most stable audience. That's despite the fact that NBC moved it to Sundays last month as an occasionally pre-empted lead-in to "Celebrity Apprentice."

For whatever reasons, those that have been reading the show's eulogy is married to audience demographics, you know, those portions of the audience with disposable income that advertisers tend to like. yet, while those demos are definitely important, they are not always the begin-all, end-all of what happens to a show. In fact, when it comes right down to it, networks still like to take a look at the full picture -- and sometimes that means counting all the viewers.

NBC, however, may have to take a serious look at cleaning house. While critics seem to love many of its shows, viewers are just not finding them. Even "The Voice" started out beating "American Idol" of all shows, but is now quickly falling through the top 10. and the network wants to double up on that (potentially forcing the interest to burn out well ahead of what it would've normally?)

But welcome to NBC, where good quality shows come to die without anyone noticing. hopefully that will change sometime soon. Like next year?

SAFE BET30 RockIt's part of the bottom heap of shows at NBC, but still one that creates buzz whenever the network needs it to. Plus, they have been very loyal to Tina Fey, and I have a sneaking suspicion that NBC wouldn't have so publicly courted Alec Baldwin to return if they did not intend to give the show at least one more season.

Biggest LoserPeople like it, and it's actually a money-maker for NBC. they may not let the contestants gorge on food, but damn, can those network executives gorge on the profits ...

Celebrity ApprenticeNumbers are off a whopping 22 percent this year since there is no Meat Loaf or Gary Busey. Even with Lisa Lampanelli breakdowns and Lou Ferrigno constantly promising to give "110 percent" (as long as he can be the star), it just seems to be a much more tame season. Plus, there is a chance that Donald Trump himself may be suffering from some fallout because of his political ideals, and his crazy campaign to seek out Barack Obama's birth certificate last year.

Harry's LawHere are the facts: the show is earning a 5.1 rating/8 share, according to Fast National average overnight ratings from the Nielsen Co. That's good for No. 3 (and probably No. 2 with updated numbers from recent episodes of "Off Their Rockers") at the network and No. 43 overall. NBC put "Bent" in its timeslot, and saw only a fifth of the audience show up. On Sundays, nothing has pulled in the ratings that "Harry's Law" has done in at least the past two years, and its numbers are better than they were on its old night. Oh, and it's actually beating> ABC's self-proclaimed powerhouse show "Once Upon a Time" on Sundays. So tell me about the pending cancellation of "Harry's Law" again?

Law & Order: Special Victims UnitI think NBC is still licking its wounds from canceling the mothership show a couple years back. Plus, the ratings are strong enough to have this final network vestige of a once venerable franchise stick around for at least another season. Maybe two.

Off Their RockersBetty White's senior citizen "Punk'd" show didn't return to the kind of "The Voice"-like numbers it debuted with, but it's still doing quite well. and even at 90, White remains a very hot commodity that NBC is not going to let go of that easy.

The OfficeThere will not be a role for James Spader next year, but at least there will be a next year. Numbers are down 19 percent since Steve Carell left, but maybe if it's grouped with shows that can attract better viewers, those numbers could begin to climb back up again.

Parks and RecreationLike "The Office," nearly 19 percent of the audience is gone. but it's Amy Poehler. It's smart comedy. and it just won a Peabody. Hard to then say good night.

WhitneyWhitney Cummings' other sitcom, "2 Broke Girls," has had excellent returns for CBS. with that track record (being built as we speak), there is a good chance that NBC might unleash Cummings a little more so that she can try to make "Whitney" just as popular.

Who Do You think You Are?It's a good Friday fit for NBC, plus it's up almost 5 percent from last year, and is NBC's No. 8 show. So yeah, it's coming back.

STILL BOUNCINGCommunityIt's down in the bottom bunch of sitcoms on NBC's schedule in terms of viewers, and if we had done this list a couple weeks ago, it would probably be listed in the "safe bet" above. but the fact that the creator of the show was sharing nasty voice messages from an unhappy Chevy Chase means there is probably a lot more behind-the-scenes drama than we realized. Maybe it's just not understanding Chase, which is why we listed it here. but if the problems are deeper, that along with the ratings woes will not be enough to keep "Community" lying around too much longer, and certainly not for another season.

Fashion StarThe good news about "Fashion Star" is that it may have actually saved "Parenthood" by doing worse in the timeslot than that drama. the bad news is that the ratings were bad, and maybe even the promise of improvement in the future may not be enough for NBC to look to try and develop this as a signature reality competition show. especially as long as "The Voice" keeps hanging around.

Fear FactorThis did not come anywhere near making the kind of impact anyone expected it would. yet it finished in the network's top 10, and it's not expensive to produce, so it might get the "America's Funniest Home Videos" pass.

ParenthoodA lot of returning NBC shows saw double-digit audience losses, and yet many of them are expected to come back. "Parenthood" saw just a slight decline -- less than 4 percent -- and NBC really likes this show. they feel it can really turn into something big for the network, so I say NBC orders up a "Cheers" and "Seinfeld" mulligan and give it at least another season.

Up All NightIt's a new comedy that NBC has really put some of its heart into, and it would be difficult to see the network not give it a second season, even if its numbers are floating around what "Whitney" was earning. One thing to note here is that its Wednesdays numbers were pretty good -- it averaged a 3.4/6. but it's the move to Thursdays that hurt it, where it fell to a 2.2/4 as the lead-out from "The Office." It's stumbling in the second half could almost all be pinned to that schedule move, and sometimes the network will take a blame for something like that -- especially if they like a show.

Who's Still StandingThere was really no buzz around this show, despite NBC's attempts to create some. yet, it is still in the network's top 10, and is No. 66 overall. it has to be making money for NBC, so it's probably pretty likely that it's going to come back.

ABOUT TO POPAre You there, Chelsea?This show took way too hard of a fall, and there is simply no one really talking about it. It's averaging a 2.5/4, which is outside network television's top 90, and barely in the top 100. Even worse, it has an ALI of 60.3, meaning of all the people who tuned in for at least one episode of the show, only 60 percent are returning for each new episode. That's not good at all.

AwakeGreat acting, great writing, a strong series -- all the elements that would make a show a success on CBS, but forgotten on NBC. and that's sad, too, because this was a unique concept and it would be interesting to see how it would continue. It's averaging a 3.1/5, which is just below "Grimm" that was renewed. However, "Grimm" got the benefit of the doubt because it's on Fridays. the 2.1/4 on March 29 -- two full ratings points below its premiere -- didn't help its case at all.

GONERBentYou're ranked 104th overall, and there are shows on the CW getting better numbers than you. Tell me this show is coming back ... not even on NBC. not even on NBC.

Sing-OffBefore "The Voice," this was actually a pretty popular show. but it returned with 46 percent of its audience from the year before missing, and pulling in "Playboy Club" numbers. now that NBC plans on doing two cycles of "The Voice" each season, there is no need to keep this show around anymore.

ALREADY RENEWEDGrimmSmashThe Voice

OFFICIALLY GONEChuckThe FirmFree AgentsPlayboy ClubPrime Suspect

Top NBC Shows (% last Year) -- overall -- [Audience Loyalty Index]Through March 31

1.   the Voice (+44.5)    5   9.2/14    [46.5]2.   Off Their Rockers (NA)   13   7.4/11    [100.0]3.   Harry's Law (-13.8)   43   5.1/8    [78.3]4.   Smash (NA)   45   4.9/8    [67.6]4.   Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (-11.3)   45   4.9/8    [71.8]6.   the biggest Loser (-18.5)   58   3.8/6    [72.3]6.   Celebrity Apprentice (-22.1)   58   3.8/6    [84.8]8.   who Do You think You Are? (+4.9)   64   3.6/6    [71.3]9.   Who's Still Standing? (NA)   66   3.5/6    [88.6]10.   Fear Factor (NA)   71   3.4/5    [68.3]10.   the Office (-19.0)   71   3.4/5    [75.6]10.   Parenthood (-3.7)   71   3.4/5    [76.6]

Bottom NBC Shows (% last Year) -- overall -- [ALI]Through March 31

1.   Bent (NA)   104   1.7/3    [97.1]2.   Chuck (-29.8)   99   2.2/4    [90.7]3.   Free Agents (NA)   97   2.3/4    [86.4]4.   Parks and Recreation (-17.8)   92   2.4/4    [88.3]4.   Community (-9.7)   92   2.4/4    [84.1]4.   30 Rock (-19.0)   92   2.4/4    [83.7]

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that include both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. a rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. these numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

Data collected from the Nielsen Co., as distributed by Zap2it. GenreNexus tracks non-news, non-event programming, and figures for this story reflect airing of new episodes only. for more information on the Audience Loyalty Index, click here.

<a href="http://insideblip.com/node/828/yes-virginia-harrys-law-is-returning-to-nbc.htmltag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://insideblip.com/node/828/yes-virginia-harrys-law-is-returning-to-nbc.htmlWed, 11 Apr 2012 07:48:09 GMT">Yes, Virginia, 'Harry's Law' Is Returning To NBC
Get a look at the fate of this year's NBC programming lineup