ABC got busy putting the pieces of its 2006-07 schedule together Wednesday, handing series orders to the dramas "The Nine," "Six Degrees" and "Day Break" and comedies "In Case of Emergency," "Help Me Help You" and "Notes From the Underbelly."

NBC, which will kick off the broadcast networks' upfront week Monday, was widely expected to make the bulk of its series pickups Wednesday but did not. Pilots that are expected to get a formal series greenlight today or Friday include the dramas "Friday Night Lights," "Heroes" and "Raines" and the untitled Tina Fey comedy.

The comedies "20 Good Years," "Community Service" and "The Singles Table" are understood to be in contention for the remaining NBC comedy slots. Sources said NBC is passing on "Andy Barker, P.I.," Conan O'Brien's single-camera gumshoe comedy starring Andy Richter, and the project will be shopped to Fox.

Similarly, the single-camera half-hour "Him and Us," starring Kim Cattrall, is believed to be a no-go at ABC and may be shopped elsewhere.

David Arquette, Greg Germann and Jonathan Silverman lead the ensemble cast of the Touchstone TV-produced "Emergency," which follows a group of high school friends who reunite when their lives face comic crises. The project originally was picked up with a series commitment.

In Regency TV's "Help," Ted Danson plays a troubled celebrity shrink who hides his own problems from the patients in his group therapy sessions.

"Underbelly" is a single-camera comedy from Warner Bros. TV and the Tannenbaum Co. that examines how a married couple's lives change in anticipation of their first child.

On the drama side, "Break," from Touchstone TV, stars Taye Diggs as a cop trying to discover who framed him for murder.

"Nine," from WBTV, traces the aftermath of the hostages in a bank robbery; Chi McBride and Kim Raver co-star.

Touchstone TV's "Six Degrees" chronicles the connection between six strangers brought together through a mysterious web of coincidences.

ABC is expected to pick up a few more series, with dramas "Traveler," "Secrets of a Small Town," "Ugly Betty," "Drift," "Men in Trees" and "Brothers & Sisters" battling it out for the remaining one-hour slots and the untitled Burnett/Beckerman and Hunt/Lake half-hours in the running on the comedy side.

If the network's hot medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" makes the move to Monday 9 p.m. as speculated, "Six Degrees" and "Secrets of a Small Town" are rumored as possible companions to launch behind it.

From the network's returning series, the comedies "According to Jim" and "George Lopez" are said to be looking good to come back, with "Freddie" also a possibility. Things look grimmer on the drama side for "What About Brian" and "Invasion." If "Invasion" is not picked up at ABC, the sci-fi drama might be taken to the CW, sources said.

A lot of pieces on ABC's schedule will depend on whether the network opts for a Thursday/Friday or Wednesday/Thursday pattern for "Dancing With the Stars," with "Day Break" rumored for a possible Thursday berth and "Traveler" said to be in consideration for a midseason run in the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot.

Over at NBC, the network has canceled its midseason comedy "Teachers."

While NBC has yet to officially pick up its new series, a speculative fall schedule already was making the rounds Wednesday.

The rumored schedule has "ER" staying put on Thursdays at 10 p.m., though a possible move of the veteran medical drama to Tuesday or Wednesday to make room for a new series, possibly "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," has been widely speculated.

The speculative NBC schedule has the untitled Tina Fey comedy and "Community Service" joining "My Name Is Earl" and "The Office" on Thursday and "Studio 60" going to Monday, along with "The Black Donnellys," and "Medium" moving to Friday.

The new drama "Heroes" is rumored to lead NBC's Tuesday lineup, while "Kidnapped" could join the current Wednesday bookends "Deal or No Deal" and "Law & Order."

Legal drama "Shark" continues to look sharp at CBS with "Smith," the untitled Carol Mendelsohn project, "Jericho," the untitled Peter Ocko project and "Company Town" also in contention.

Meanwhile, the freshman drama "Close to Home" is said to be looking good to return next season.

Comedy-wise, "The Class" is still considered the front-runner, with "Inseparable," the untitled Tom Hertz project and "The Big Bang Theory" in the mix.

Fox, which already picked up three dramas -- "Primary," "Vanished" and "American Crime" -- is said to be mulling a possible pickup for another, with "Damages," "Beyond" and "Southern Comfort" in the running.

On the comedy side, "The Winner" is all but set to join previously picked up " 'Til Death."

CBS' drama pilot "Ultra" is said to be in serious consideration for a pickup at the CW, which is said to be not very pleased with its drama pilots.

This bodes well for the chances of UPN's "Veronica Mars" and WB Network's "One Tree Hill" and "Everwood" to make the move to the CW.

"Flirt" is still considered hot on the comedy side.

Andrew Wallenstein contributed to this report.