At the official announcement of its Fall schedule, NBC introduced two brand new medical dramas, a couple of new comedies, renewals for the likes of The Office (yay!), 30 Rock (more yay!), Friday Night Lights (yup, that's a yay!) and the Celebrity Apprentice (er, not so much yay!). But a small number of shows ended up neither on the renewed or dumped list, as NBC continues to take soundings about them.

On that list were Medium and Law & Order, but it's believed in both of those cases that some final details are just being worked out before the pair get a confirmed nod. Also there was Life, which was then confirmed as dead, My Name Is Earl and Chuck. In the case of the latter two, Ben Silverman - the co-chair of Universal Media Studios and NBC - revealed that the network was discussing those particular shows with advertisers before making a final call.

The key date now is May 19th, which is when NBC will be announcing its full schedule for the fall season. That, for fans of Chuck - including ourselves - is turning out to be D-day, and while the odds aren't great, there is still a little bit of hope burning away.

It seems the power now lies in the hand of advertisers: let's hope they do the right thing...