The NBC television network is more than just one channel in the prime time lineup of programming.

Under the umbrella of NBC Universal, the network consists of multiple platforms, including Sprout, which I am not really sure about other than it’s geared to children.

During the month of April, NBC Universal stages a “Summer Press Day” to reach a wider circle of TV critics outside the conventional winter and summer press tours, allowing an advance peak at new programs, some of which launch even before the summer officially arrives.

One big push for NBC, the TV network as opposed to its many cable outlets, is the 13-episode “event series” that debuts on May 28, which is fittingly called “Aquarius,” a possible reference to one of the songs in the 1968 Broadway musical “Hair” and the 5th Dimension hit song in their “The Age of Aquarius” album.

Starring David Duchovny as LAPD detective Sam Hodiak (a fictional character), “Aquarius” taps into the 1967 era of free love, drug experimentation and the Vietnam War then in full effect.

At the time, Charles Manson is putting together his cult family, which will culminate two years later in the horror of the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders.

In the premiere episode, Detective Hodiak and undercover narc Brian Shafe (Grey Damon) begin the search for a missing teenage girl, Emma Karn (Emma Dumont), who has fallen under the spell of Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony).

The officers know little about Manson and what he will come to represent.

Speaking to critics, John McNamara, executive producer of “Aquarius,” observed that the series is a work of historical fiction “that weaves some things about Manson that are true, some things that are fictional, and entirely fictional characters.”

From the preview of the first two episodes, “Aquarius” is a period piece of the turbulent late 1960s, where the counter-culture clashes with authority, and even the racial tensions in South Central Los Angeles continue to simmer when Hodiak and his partner investigate a murder scene.

Executive producer McNamara claims that “Aquarius” dives deeply into every character’s psyche, noting that Manson is a character you want to understand, and that it is “a mistake when you’re making drama to just say that (Manson) is a monster and just make him a monster.”

It's too early to tell if “Aquarius” succeeds in showing why Manson did monstrous things, but actor Gethin Anthony (“Game of Thrones”) has his work cut out for him to show how the cult leader got vulnerable women and others to join his cause leading up to the notorious murders.

Watching the full run of “Aquarius” may require a combination of stamina and obsession.

On a much lighter note, NBC launches two comedies in August heavily reliant on African-American casting.

Craig Robinson, the titular character in “Mr. Robinson,” plays the lead singer and keyboardist of the funk band Nasty Delicious, who takes a day job as a substitute music teacher to make ends meet.

Mr. Robinson is a quick hit with his music students, but the officious principal (Peri Gilpin) is not too fond of the teacher’s unorthodox style, or his crush on the pretty English teacher (Meagan Good), with whom he has an unfortunate past (he stood her up on prom night).

Craig Robinson, the actor and comedian, as opposed to his namesake character, has a deadpan delivery that has served him well in films like “Hot Tub Time Machine” and “Pineapple Express.”

His starring role in “Mr. Robinson” may be the ingredient to make this series a better-than-even bet for success.

On the other hand, “The Carmichael Show” would like to think of itself as an irreverent sitcom inspired by Jerrod Carmichael’s true-life relationships with his say-anything contrarian father (David Alan Grier), therapist-in-training girlfriend, ever-hustling brother and Bible-spouting mother (Loretta Divine).

Jerrod and his girlfriend, Maxine (Amber West), are an average young couple looking to break the news to Jerrod’s parents that they are going to live together.

The premise of the show is that these two will be put to the test navigating the boundaries of romance, family and sanity.

“The Carmichael Show” has the feel of a traditional sitcom where the comedy is predictable and formulaic, regardless of the fact that the cast is entirely African-American.

The only thing put to the test may be an audience’s willingness to endure the conventional.

In recent years, NBC Universal has had great success with programs on cable with the USA Network. Coming in June, “Mr. Robot” is a psychological thriller that follows Elliot (Rami Malek), a young programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and as a vigilante hacker by night.

“Mr. Robot” puts Elliot at a crossroad when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater) of an underground hacker group recruits him to take down the CEOs of a multinational conglomerate with tentacles on the levers of power and wealth.

Also coming in June of the Syfy Channel, from the producers of “Orphan Black,” is the story of a trio of interplanetary bounty hunters in “Killjoys” as they chase deadly fugitives throughout the Quad, a distant planetary system on the brink of a bloody class war.

The Syfy Channel has a winner in the “Sharknado” franchise, and coming in July will be “Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!”

Nothing was revealed about this latest installment at the Summer Press Day, but the “Sharknado 3” tote bags and beer can koozies distributed were enough to whet the appetite.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.