As exciting as a day at "The Office"

Expressing doubt that NBC is shooting blanks this fall? Obviously you were not here yesterday, which may go down in the books as the most desperate leg of Press Tour.

Yeah, sure, the difference between boredom and excitement is what you bring to the party. But cut us some slack, because NBC sure isn't breaking anything close to news.

I suppose there's reason to celebrate NBC entertainment president Kevin Reilly's announcement that shows would start on time and end on time. Trust me when I say that's merely a case of Reilly knowing his network's limitations. Other than "My Name is Earl," I don't think there's a single fall show on NBC that's worth its time allotment, let alone any extensions.

"Surface" stars (l-r) Jay R. Ferguson, Lake Bell, Rade Sherbedegia and Carter Jenkins.

And if I sound grumpy, just remember that we're the suckers being forced to endure shows like "Surface," about a newly discovered underwater species and all the lives it affects.

We're the ones who had to listen to twin show creators Jonas and Josh Pate express themselves in voices so dippy they belong on "South Park." "It's about awe? and wonder? and, like, people always want to know, is the species good or bad?" Josh Pate said. "And my answer is always, 'Is a tiger good or bad?'"

We're the ones who were too polite to tell Dennis Hopper and Benjamin Bratt, here to promote "E-Ring, how much we aren't anticipating this show. The producers rid Bratt's character of a wife, putting Sarah Clarke out of work, and hired Kelly Rutherford. Hopper didn't do anything insane, and Bratt insisted we treat him like an actor and not a hunk of prime rib.

Understand, these people are simply being as honest as possible. But that is not why we come to Hollywood. We come to be seduced into continuing to like network television, and NBC was failing to hold up its end of the deal. If the shows are a snore, at least ensure the people representing them get a hit of laughing gas before they take to the stage. You know, give us something.

Carell

That is why I looked forward to the final panel of the day: "The Office." Steve Carell plus Rainn Wilson equals: reason to stay awake.

Wait ... not quite. Wilson tried his best; when the going got tough, he'd pipe in with nuggets like, "Dwight is revealed to be a woman. Should I have not ... ?" Oh, and Carell did a great imitation of Paul Lynde that we cannot possibly re-create here. Maybe I was too far gone to draw vitality from their attempts to be witty, but I couldn't help wishing for a "Scrubs" panel.

And why not? "Scrubs" is up for two Emmys, one for star Zach Braff and the other for best comedy series. Intelligent birdie that is it, NBC did not put "Scrubs" on the fall schedule; the network is hoping "My Name is Earl" and "The Office" will gain some traction on Tuesday nights.

Scrubs has a full 22 episode order, and will be back on the air sometime in midseason --"sooner rather than later," Reilly told us. Which we take to mean as soon one of the new shows tanks, opening up a spot for it on the schedule.

So we should expect its return, what, at some point in October? Actually, as it stands now, you'll see it in early 2006. Here's hoping we can stay conscious for that long.