Raleigh is getting all kinds of attention from network TV shows lately.

A few weeks ago, NBC announced that a new singing competition show called "And the Winner Is..." will be looking for talent at the Longbranch in Raleigh on Decemeber 8. Now, NBC's "America's Got Talent," a competition reality show judged by an ever-changing roster of celebrities, will follow them to town.

Talent scouts for "America's Got Talent" will be in Raleigh on December 15 in search of contestants for their eighth season.

It's what we've all been hoping and praying for: ANOTHER SINGING COMPETITION SHOW ON TV! Well, NBC has you covered, America. You're welcome.

"And the Winner Is" will debut on NBC next year, but in the meantime, they need contestants -- and they are coming to Raleigh to look for some. Producers will hold an open casting call at The Longbranch (608 Creekside Drive) on Saturday, December 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

They are looking for individuals or groups of all ages performing from all musical genres: country, rock, pop, hip hop, whatever. They guarantee they will see the first 500 people in line. 

Chicago Fire

Wednesdays at 10 on NBC

Dick Wolf has made his fortune and fame dramatizing the stories and lives of police officers. Now, as executive producer, he's exploring another kind of public servant.

"Chicago Fire" is a drama about the heroic people who work in Firehouse 51: the firefighters, the rescue squad and the paramedics. Sadly, the show doesn't reinvent the genre the way the original "Law & Order" did or even advance the genre the way "Southland" did. But it's a solid show with potential.

Revolution

Mondays, 10 p.m. on NBC

Clearly these gloomy times have creative types thinking about the end of the world as we know it because we've seen a bunch of apocalyptical-type shows recently from "Terra Nova" to "Jericho" to "Walking Dead" and "Falling Skies."

Add "Revolution" to that pile. The ambitious drama opens with the loss of not just electricity, but all power -- there are not only no lights, no cellphones, no computers, planes fall out of the sky. In short, modern technology is useless. Fifteen years after the blackout, big cities are no more and America is a series of agrarian towns ruled over by a ruthless militia.

The New Normal
Tuesdays at 9:30 on NBC

The year is 2012 and yet, there are still groups out there protesting a sitcom about two gay men trying to have a baby.

A sitcom.

"The New Normal," debuting Monday at 10 p.m. on NBC, follows the efforts of a committed gay couple having a baby through a surrogate. A couple of weeks ago, a Mormon Church-owned NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah, refused to air the show, calling it "inappropriate." And the group One Million Moms organized a movement to bombard NBC executives and advertisers with complaints over the show, without even seeing it, saying that the sitcom's goal is to "desensitize America and our children."

After reading all that, I'd planned to watch "The New Normal" out of spite. Lucky for me, it's actually pretty funny and has tons of heart.

This week, we get the Democratic National Conventional, which starts on Tuesday in Charlotte.

Unlike the Republican convention, which was scheduled to run Monday through Thursday last week, the DNC only runs three days, Tuesday through Thursday. Broadcast networks will mostly handle the Democratic convetion the same way they handled the RNC: Coverage on morning news shows and on their nightly news programs, but just one hour of primetime coverage each night starting at 10 p.m. (only NBC deviates from this standard -- see below).

PBS (UNC-TV locally) will devote three hours of primetime to the convention each night, but no daytime hours. Cable news shows will be almost around-the-clock for the Charlotte action.  

As with the Republican show in Tampa last week, much of the TV coverage will start ahead of time on Sunday's political discussion shows.  



Here's a brief breakdown of what everyone will offer:

Tonight, immediately after the Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, NBC will debut its heavily promoted new sitcom "Animal Practice" (air time listed as 10:38 10:58).

It's about the goings-on at a veterinary office in New York. Dr. George Coleman (Justin Kirk, "Weeds") is the resident vet who finds out that his ex-girlfriend (JoAnna Garcia-Swisher, "Better With You") has inherited the practice and will now be running it.

But here's everything you really need to know about this show: it has a monkey. A monkey that wears scrubs!!

Gather 'round for some exciting news, little Grimm-lins: Season 1 of NBC's hit monster series "Grimm" is released tomorrow on DVD, and we're giving away two copies of the deluxe Blu-ray/DVD combo.

This five-disc set contains all 22 episodes of the series, which stars David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt, a Grimm family descendant with special monster-spotting abilities. You'll also get bonus material to take you inside the world of "Grimm": an in-depth interactive creature guide, a "Making Monsters" featurette about the show's special effects artists, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.

"Grimm" collector cards also come with this special edition packaging.

"But what do I have to do to win this fabulous prize?" you ask.

It's easy! Just send me an email by midnight Thursday (August 9) and your name is automatically in the drawing. Go ahead and include your mailing address with your entry.

To entertain you until "Grimm" day arrives, check out these special bonus clips:

How can you watch the 2012 Summer Olympic games? Pretty much any way you want.

Much of the action will be available on good ole over-the-air NBC, but if you're really into the Olympic games, you've never needed a cable or satellite subscription quite so much. NBCUniversal is putting all of their muscle into the summer games, offering multiplatform coverage through collaborations with cable and satellite providers (meaning you'll also need those subscriptions to watch online). This way, NBC can deliver content over multiple television channels (both live and on-demand) as well as live streaming on NBC's Olympics website, on mobile devices and tablets.

The cable channels NBCUniversal brings to the table are NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus), MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and Telemundo. In addition, there are two HD specialty channels featuring non-stop basketball and soccer, the NBCOlympics.com website, and NBC Olympics Live Extra apps for mobile phones and tablets.

Poor Ann Curry. Her tearful goodbye on this morning's "Today" show was heartfelt and incredibly sad. Saddest part: “For all of you who saw me as a groundbreaker, I’m sorry I couldn’t carry the ball over the finish line, but man I did try!"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy