The new musical in town wants to be clear that it’s nothing like “Glee.” Other than the fact that it’s a musical, this is a statement I can agree with. Tonight, at 9 p.m. CST, NBC will premiere “Smash,” its new follow-up to “The Voice.” The show has a grown-up premise, unlike its “Glee”-ful competitor.

Last April, “The Voice” premiered on NBC and became an instant hit thanks to those big red chairs. Audiences were dazzled by the strange audition process, which featured four superstar judges (Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine) turning around when they heard a voice they could just not resist.

Just as they did with “Friends” and “Cheers,” NBC is considering taking a semi-lead character from “The Office” and giving him his own vehicle.

Big changes have come to NBC’s Thursday-night comedy block, and our feelings are mixed on the lineup.

The fifth and final season of “Friday Night Lights” is premiering Friday on NBC at 8 p.m. EST. Well, ‘premiere’ isn’t actually the right word. The final season has been airing since October on DIRECTV, but now it has come to a channel that everyone can see. Obviously, “Friday Night Lights” has a unique airing situation.

Last year, the world (or at least a few million viewers) watched as a group of Puerto Rican men beat out college boys for an amazing prize: first place in NBC’s a cappella competition, “The Sing Off.” Now, we get to watch it happen all again in season two.

It’s that time of year again. What shows deserve renewals, and which have earned their place on the chopping block?

Conan kicked off the series with a pre-taped cold open: Last Season on “Conan”. Conan is on the line with an NBC executive who tells the talk show host that he has to move “The Tonight Show” to 12:05 a.m. Conan’s reaction is priceless (“Go to hell!”) and self-knowing (“What can they do to me?” he says as he reclines back in his chair), but as Conan leaves a surprisingly dingy-looking NBC parking lot, he’s shot up “Godfather”-style.
He’s put in a full-body cast. The good news is he’ll live. The bad news is he’ll never work in network television again. From there, Conan tries his hand at being a Burger King cashier, a stand-up comedian/birthday clown, and a “Mad Man” from the 60s, complete with a guest appearance from a surly Don Draper. But nothing fits.

There are some greenlit TV series that seem destined to be cancelled. “Cavemen,” the show based on the Geico commercial spokes-Neanderthals, was one of these series. Poochinski, the series in which the main character was a cop transformed into a bulldog, was another. Hopefully “Outsourced,” the new part of the NBC Thursday night comedy block, will join “Cavemen” and “Poochinski” in the Eighth Circle of Cancellation Hell.

Upon hearing that Steve Carell will be leaving “The Office” after this seventh season, I ask that you respond courteously to the fans’ requests and put the overtired sitcom to rest.