NBC Gives Full Season Order To Life

NBC has given a full-season order to detective drama Life. Damian Lewis stars as a detective who returns to his job after serving time for a crime he did not commit. Life launched last fall, but was shut down when Hollywood writers began their 100-day strike in November. It returned this past September, airing for two weeks in the prime slot following Heroes on Monday. Then NBC shifted Life to Fridays, and its ratings crashed. Now, Life is the tentpole 9 pm drama in a new Wednesday crime block. But in its debut outing last week, it ranked fourth among adults 18-49.

Life did manage to outperform its recent Friday night average, however, and picks up plenty of viewers from time-shifted DVR viewing. NBC previously gave a full-season pickup to Knight Rider and Kath & Kim. Although Kath and Kim has been relatively stable on Thursday nights, Knight Rider has fallen sharply since receiving its order, and is being retooled.