NBC (yawn) announces some changes

You kind of get the feeling that NBC is sort of the network equivalent of a jetliner.

The Peacock network is in a holding pattern, circling the field until the new air controller — Comcast — takes over and provides some directions.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Comcast's deal to take over NBC Universal is a bad thing.

It might end up being a bad thing, but at this point it might be the only hope that the NBC broadcast network has of survival.

The problem with being in this holding pattern is that estimates are that it could take up to 18 months for the Comcast-NBC Universal deal to clear regulatory hurdles.

And that's a very long time to be in a holding pattern.

Nonetheless, NBC has announced a few more schedule changes for the new year. And none of them look like they're going to vault NBC into first place.

Actually, none of them look like they're going to vault NBC into third place.

It looks more like NBC programmers are filling time — killing time? — waiting for something better to come along.

The network has announced that, post-Winter Olympics, it will premiere the long-delayed "Parenthood"; bring back "The Celebrity Apprentice"; and debut "Marriage Ref."

"Parenthood" is slated to premiere Monday, March 1, at 8 p.m. — a day after the end of the Vancouver Olympics.

(Ho-hum "Heroes" will conclude its season on Feb. 8.)

This show was originally supposed to debut back in September, but then Maura Tierney had to pull out when she was diagnosed with cancer.

She has since been replaced by Lauren Graham ("Gilmore Girls"). Graham had made a previous attempt to return to network television this season, but her pilot "Let It Go" — a comedy in which she played a self-help guru who didn't follow her own advice — was rejected by ABC.

(Reportedly, network executives were thoroughly underwhelmed because the pilot just wasn't funny. Which is always a problem when it comes to alleged comedy.)

The other addition to "Parenthood" may be far more important. Jeff Greenstein ("Desperate Housewives," "Will & Grace") came aboard as an executive producer/writer. And the original pilot was in desperate need of his talents.