Upfronts Day One Highlights: Carrie, Nikita In; Whitney Out

The upfront presentations can be a bit of a double-edged sword for a TV fan. On the one hand, it’s exciting to know which shows are coming back and which new shows that have been picked up for next season. On the other, it’s intimidating how the networks choose to release their information and can make following the entire experience rather overwhelming. In the spirit of condensing information and narrowing down the clutter to a manageable level, I’ve combined all the happenings from the first day of upfront announcements into one place, separated by network.

NBC
-The network offered one renewal during day one, as veteran Parks and Recreation will live to see a sixth season.
-It will be the only fall 2012 Thursday comedy to make it to 2013-2014, though, as Up All Night was officially canceled after being dead for months. The show suffered one too many creative reboots and personnel losses for its talented cast and Lorne Michael connection to make up for.
-Also canceled by NBC, who went into house cleaning mode, were critically reviled Whitney, Jimmy Fallon-produced Guys with Kids, and political comedy 1600 Penn. As of publication, there has been no word on the fates of Community, The New Normal, Go On, and Hannibal.

FOX
-After its active day on Wednesday, FOX was mostly quiet, though it did confirm the cancellation of Kiefer Sutherland’s Touch. It also put feelers out for the possibility of a 24 limited series, though it’s too early to say whether anything will come from the idea.

ABC
-ABC didn’t offer any renewals or pilot pickups, but it said goodbye to the following pilots, eliminating them from contention: Adopted, Murder in Manhattan, Gothica, and King John.

CBS
-The network already did a majority of its renewals and cancellations earlier this season, but it finally reached a deal with the cast of Criminal Minds and renewed the show for a ninth season. The female cast members, who had been holding out for equal pay as their male co-stars, receive sizable pay bumps as a part of the negotiations.

The CW
-The CW picked up four drama pilots for next season, bringing their total to five, including Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals: period drama Reign, fantasy romance Star-Crossed (formerly Oxygen), post-apocalyptic The 100, and superpower drama The Tomorrow People.
-Therefore, the rest of their pilots are dead, including Blink, Company Town, and the network’s second attempt at adapting The Selection to television.
-The CW also made its final renewals of the season, picking up The Carrie Diaries for a 13-episode second season and Nikita for a six-episode final season.