NBC Renews Five Dramas Including Revolution, Grimm

NBC may be having a tough year in the ratings race, but its two sci-fi / fantasy outings are going strong.

The broadcast network announced today that it is renewing five of its dramas, including both Revolution and Grimm.  Also re-upped for the 2013-14 season are Chicago Fire, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Parenthood.

All five series have been given a 22-episode order.

It will be the third season for Grimm, which has thrived on the less competitive Friday night time slot.  The show has done so well (relative to its scheduling position) that NBC has made the rare decision to move it off of the “death slot” and up to one of television’s most competitive nights.  Grimm airs a new episode tonight before moving to Tuesdays on April 30.

The show stars David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt, a Portland Police detective who can see supernatural creatures posing as normal people all around us. The last new episode drew 5.13 million viewers and a 1.5 rating for the Adults 18-49 demographic.

In its freshman season Revolution has been the network’s biggest scripted hit of the year, opening to a stellar 11.65 million viewers before settling into the 7-8 million groove for the fall.  Numbers have been down since the show returned for its spring run (following a longer-than-usual, four-month break), premiering in March with 7.03 million live viewers and falling to a series-low 5.88 million last week.  But with delayed viewing figures included, NBC says that the show is still drawing 11.8 million viewers.

The series stars Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, and Elizabeth Mitchell in the story of a world after all power went out. What was once the United States has fallen into a group of competing political territories including the Monroe Republic, led by a power-hungry despot fighting off a group of rebels.

Revolution struggled creatively out of the gate, but has made significant improvements over the course of the season to date — including upping Mitchell’s character of Rachel Matheson to a regular character and power player, and killing off the underachieving blonde plot device Danny in the mid-season opener.

NBC is also developing possible companions for its genre series, including Believe (from J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuarón) and The Sixth Gun (from LOST‘s Carlton Cuse).  Will these make it to series?  The network will formally announce its pick-ups and full fall schedule at its upfront presentation next month.

Keep it locked on SciFi Stream for more on NBC’s genre shows as we head into the home stretch of the current season!  Season finales will air in May, with the series likely returning in or around late September.