NBC is putting its chips on a Jake Johnson single-camera comedy and a David Boreanaz-led reboot of The Rockford Files as frontrunners for series orders in its fall lineup—a combination that tells you everything about where network television is in 2026.
The Johnson project, Sunset P.I., reunites the New Girl star with the kind of hangout comedy that used to be NBC's bread and butter. Boreanaz's Rockford Files reboot, meanwhile, is exactly what it sounds like: a nostalgic IP play banking on baby boomer name recognition.
Look, Jake Johnson is immensely likable, and David Boreanaz has proven he can anchor procedurals—Bones and SEAL Team both had long runs. But there's something melancholic about NBC, the network that once gave us Seinfeld, The Office, and 30 Rock, now leaning on a comedy star from a decade ago and a reboot of a show that went off the air in 1980.
This is pilot season in the streaming era: risk-averse, IP-dependent, and hoping for modest success rather than swinging for greatness. Networks can't afford to take chances anymore, so they play it safe—and safe rarely produces must-see TV.
That said, I'd watch Johnson read a phone book, so Sunset P.I. gets the benefit of the doubt. As for The Rockford Files? Ask me again when I see a trailer.
