NBC picks up 12 new series for next season (AP)

NEW YORK – NBC is betting on the Playboy club, Chelsea Handler and a raft of romantic comedies among the dozen new series it has ordered in its latest attempt to come back from a long slump that has made it television's fourth-place broadcast network.

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The network outlined its fall plans on Sunday, opening a hectic week in which broadcasters unveil their fall schedules to advertisers in hopes they will make multimillion dollar commitments to buy commercials. It was the first new schedule formulated by NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt, appointed when Comcast took over NBC Universal. NBC ordered six new dramas and six new comedies, with half of them on the fall schedule and the rest planned for later debuts. "The Playboy Club," a 1960s-era drama set in Chicago's bunny world, will spice up NBC's Monday lineup. Two new comedies will also debut in the fall on Wednesday nights with Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Hank Azaria among the featured stars.

NBC picks up 12 new series for next season (AP)