Coming soon? (NBC photo)

There may be a slight silver lining in NBC’s decision to cancel “Southland” just week before the season premiere was due to air. “Chuck,” which was scheduled to start its third season in the spring, may be returning as soon as the end of October, according to EW.com’s Ausiello Files.

How come? Well, all of NBC’s new shows are tanking, and there’s not a whole lot left to replace them. Word is “Trauma” is on life support and will be the next series to be canceled. It costs something like $3 million an episode to shoot, and no one’s watching it. Hmmm, maybe because it’s stupid.

“Trauma’s” exit would free up an hour on Monday nights, which, now that it’s not going to be filled by “Southland,” will most likely go to “Chuck.” It might even mean more than the planned 13 episodes, since it might have to fill up more Mondays than anticipated.

Congrats, “Chuck” fans, looks like you’ll win this round.

Meanwhile, the L.A. Times is speculating that the creators of “Southland” are shopping the series to TNT. Seems like that’d make a lot of sense, especially with “Saving Grace” ending and “Dark Blue” sucking. So hold out hope, “Southland” fans.