NBC shows faith in Harry's Law, orders scripts

NBC's Harry's Law just might earn a stay of execution. The David E. Kelley legal drama starring Kathy Bates launched last spring to fair ratings, but has struggled since joining the network's fall schedule. Airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. against comedy hit Modern Family and reality show The X Factor, as well as veteran Criminal Minds, the most recent episode delivered 8.2 million viewers (pretty decent) and a 1.2 adults 18-49 demo rating (yikes).

Despite matching the performance of the canceled Playboy Club in the demo, NBC isn't giving up on the show. The network just ordered six scripts for the series, which currently has a 13-episode order. That's not a back-slapping full-season pickup, obviously, but it's also not what you do if you're ready to throw in the towel (you're not likely to see a script order for Charlie's Angels this week…).

Another factor is NBC's inventory. You can only cancel a show if you're ready to replace it, and NBC has other fish to fry after axing Playboy (whose slot was filled, for now, with Prime Suspect repeats) and Free Agents (Whitney repeats). The network will also have to make a decision on Prime and the soon-to-debut Grimm in the coming weeks. So for now, NBC likely wants to keep its options open.

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