NBC is the biggest loser

The Saga of "Southland" will continue for a third season.

You may recall that the police drama premiered on NBC a year ago to generally good reviews and so-so ratings. It was the kind of high-quality drama that once made NBC the No. 1 TV network.

And NBC was pleased enough with the show to order a second season.

Then, six episodes into production of that second season, NBC suddenly canceled "Southland." This is the kind of move that has made NBC the No. 4 network.

TNT — a corporate sibling of Warner Bros. TV, which produced "Southland" — aired the seven-episode first season and the six-episode second season. Again, ratings were so-so, but good enough for TNT to order a 10-episode third season

Being that this is TNT and not NBC, odds are that those 10 "Southland" episodes will actually air. And on TNT.

A show switching networks is hardly unprecedented. It doesn't happen a lot — particularly between two broadcast networks — but it does happen from time to time.

And it's rare for such a move to prove to be wildly successful. Most of the shows that switch from one network to another don't last for more than one more season.

But mistakes have been made. And NBC has made some big ones.

The most infamous came in 1996 when NBC canceled "JAG" after a single season. That show moved to CBS for nine very successful seasons.

Worse yet (if you're NBC), "NCIS" spun off from "JAG" and has been a hit on CBS for seven seasons. And the new "NCIS Los Angeles" is an out-of-the-box hit.

Given the current state of NBC, network executives would kill to get two shows like that on their schedule.

NBC also made one of the biggest blunders of all time when it canceled "Baywatch" in 1990 after a single season. It went into syndication where it became a worldwide hit for the next decade.

Among the other shows that left NBC and survived more than a season on other networks are:

"Father Dowling Mysteries (1989-91) — one NBC/two ABC; "In the Heat of the Night" (1988-95) ?— four seasons NBC/two CBS; "Matlock" (1986-95) — six NBC/three ABC; "Scrubs" (2001-10) — seven NBC/two ABC);

NBC did manage to eke two abbreviated, low-rated seasons out of the sitcom "The Naked Truth" in 1997-98 after it spent a season on ABC.

ONE MORE YEAR: The list of shows that only survived one season after switching networks includes: