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Just a couple weeks ahead of its upfront presentation, NBC has officially announced its first two drama series pickups for its 2017-18 season



The first, “Rise,” hails from “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood” producer/creator Jason Katims, is based on the book “Drama High” by Michael Sokolove, in addition to the life rights of Lou Volpe. It tells the story of a hard-working teacher and family man, Lou Mazzuchelli (“How I Met Your Mother” star Josh Radnor), who decides to take over his school’s middling theater department, galvanizing the entire school and small town into participating more.

The series was considered a sure-thing amongst industry insiders, after already beginning staffing and opening its writers room, and has already drawn comparisons to the first season of “Glee.” Based on a script written by Katims, it boasts an all-star cast including Radnor, “Moana” breakout star Auli’i Cravalho, Rosie Perez, Marley Shelton, Rarmian Newton (“The Family”), Amy Forsyth (The Path), Shannon Purser (“Stranger Things”), and more.

“From God and Country” marks the second pickup for NBC today, which hails from the “Homeland” producers and is described as a tense, pulse-pounding deep dive into the secret world of America’s elite undercover military heroes. Brad Anderson directed the series’ pilot episode, from a script by Dean Georgaris, with Anne Heche and Mike Vogel (“Under the Dome” both set to star in the new original series.