The Olympics have cast a spell over NBC for the last two weeks, bestowing the gift of flight on a network long stuck in ratings mud. But like Wile E. Coyote suddenly discovering his jet pack has run out of fuel, a vertiginous plunge looms.

Starting Monday, NBC finds itself hoping to maintain some of the lift it gained from the Summer Games. The key to doing that is creating hit shows.

Anyone who watched substantial hours of the Olympics knows, from a fusillade of promotional ads, that the network has shows like “The New Normal,” “Revolution” and “Chicago Fire” teed up for viewing in the fall. NBC has already used the Games to introduce two new comedies, “Go On” and “Animal Practice” in commercial-free previews. “Go On” attracted a hefty 16 million viewers.

Over all, the Olympic numbers were far beyond NBC’s — or anyone else’s — expectations. The Games averaged more than 30 million viewers a night, and well more than 200 million individual viewers in all. Those numbers serve to validate NBC’s continued faith in both the Games themselves and its packaging of taped highlights in prime time.