'Heroes', 'Office', 'Earl', 'SVU' earn new seasons

NBC has dished out early renewals to four of its top-rated shows.

The news guarantees third and fourth seasons for Thursday night comedies The Office and My Name Is Earl respectively. Both series have registered a more than 20% gain in the 18-49 demo across the season-to-date.

Also part of the pickup is Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which will return for its ninth season in 2007-08. The series - the best rated of the Law & Order franchise - maintains its timeslot lead in the 18-49 demo by a margin of 50%.

The announcement also confirms a second season for Heroes, the number one new series of the current season.

"These four series represent some of the best of what we consider to be the NBC brand of quality shows," said Kevin Reilly, president of NBC Entertainment. "It is a pleasure to give them an early renewal to develop more stories for next year since we know they will remain both critical and commercial successes for a long time to come."