NBC hits us with more information than we can possibly process in one sitting

Networks traditionally throw stuff up against a wall to see if anything will stick. NBC’s Ben Silverman is going that strategy one better – he’s taking a wall and throwing it up against a bigger wall.

NBC announced a wildly ambitious slate of programs that it will be rolling out in the next 18 months, a mélange of returning shows, new scripted shows, reality placeholders and series co-produced with foreign partners. They’ve sent out about 10 very wordy press releases and conducted a phone press conference with network Entertainment co-chairman Silverman in the past 90 minutes or so, so it’s going to take a little while to process the whole shebang, particularly since Silverman says NBC is producing twice as much original programming in a season than it a decade back, but here are some highlights:

* An “Office” spinoff is set to debut after the Super Bowl (and following a new episode of “The Office”). Details are sketchy – it doesn’t sound like they and “Office” executive producer Greg Daniels have yet figured which characters will wind up where, which will be exceedingly tricky, given that you don’t want to destroy the chemistry of the original, yet would seem to need some main characters to keep the spinoff from seeming like just a watered-down version of the original.

Still, Silverman insists, “We will not go forward and put it on the air if it’s not absolutely what we want it to be and ifi it does damage to the mothership.”

* “The Office” will again return in the fall with hourlong episodes; in October, it will be followed at 9:30 p.m. on Thursdays with political sketches from the “SNL” brain trust in anticipation of the November Presidential election. “Scrubs” is gone – from NBC, at least.

* “Friday Night Lights” is returning – it’ll first be seen on DirecTV’s Channel 101 in the fall, and then on NBC beginning in February. Silverman declared, “If I had one more person sitting next to me on a plane and tell me it was their favorite show I was going to lose my mind.” He doesn’t think DirecTV’s airing episodes first will much impact it on NBC, as DirecTV subscribers constitute only 10-15% of the network’s audience.

* “ER’s” returning for a 15th and final season – 19 episodes, no repeats, gone in February.

* As previously announced, “Chuck” (8 p.m. Monday) and “Life (10 p.m. Friday) are returning. Somewhat surprisingly, the low-rated “Lipstick Jungle” is, too, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. (“Law & Order” returns again at midseason.)

* Don’t expect many dark shows. Acknowledging the “cacophony of bad news,” Silverman talked up the idea of audiences needing to “have some fun and enjoy their lives watching our shows.”

* NBC has divvied up each evening thusly: 8 p.m., family fare; 9 p.m., “franchises;” 10 p.m., more adult fare.

* New shows debuting in the fall:

“My Own Worst Enemy,” starring Christian Slater as a guy who leads dual lives – as a button-down business shlub and as a master spy. (Monday, 10 p.m., after “Heroes”)

“Knight Rider,” the remake. “What’s wrong with the car saving the day and the good guys winning?” Silverman asks. (Wednesday, 8 p.m.)

“Crusoe,” an update of the Daniel Defoe novel. (Friday, 8 p.m.)

“Kath & Kim,” American version of a popular Australian sitcom about a randy mom (Molly Shannon) who allows her self-absorbed daughter (Selma Blair) to move back in with her following her divorce. (Tuesday, 9:30 p.m., following "The Biggest Loser")

More shows roll out in the winter and summer, but we’ll get to them and more – including a night-by-night rundown and analysis – later. (Ooh! A blog cliffhanger!)