NBC announced its midseason schedule Monday, including the
premiere dates for four new series, an extra hour of comedy on Thursdays and
time period shifts for Law & Order:
Los Angeles, Chase, Law & Order: SVU and Parenthood.
The schedule reveals a conscious push to beef up the
troublesome 10 p.m. hour in what the network says is an effort to help its late
local news and late night comedy programs. The new David E. Kelley drama Harry's Law will premiere in the hour on
Monday, Jan. 17 before Parenthood
moves into the slot on Mar. 7. The strong Law
& Order franchise will also shift to the later hour with LOLA and SVU moving to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesday, respectively.
NBC will also extend its Thursday night comedy block into
the 10 p.m. hour starting Jan. 20, with Community
at 8 p.m., followed by new sitcom Perfect
Couples at 8:30 p.m., The Office
at 9 p.m., Parks and Recreation at
9:30 p.m., 30 Rock at 10 p.m. and Outsourced at 10:30 p.m. The network
also announced Monday it has renewed 30
Rock through the 2011-12 season.
Other new entry, action-drama The Cape,
will debut in a two-hour episode on Sunday, Jan. 9 at 9 p.m., before settling
into its regular time period of Mondays at 9 p.m. on Jan. 17 (current occupant The Event will return on Feb. 28). The
network will use the NFL wildcard doubleheader on Jan. 8 and the Golden Globe
Awards on Jan. 16 to promote that show, as well as the rest of its midseason
lineup.
NBC will also give freshman drama Chase another chance to prove itself, moving it to Wednesdays at 9
p.m. after Minute to Win It.
Rounding out the midseason schedule is the return of The Biggest Loser: Couples on Tuesday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m., Minute to Win It on Wednesday, Jan. 5
at 8 p.m., and Who Do You Think You Are? on
Friday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. Reality series The
Marriage Ref and The Celebrity
Apprentice will take over Sunday nights starting Mar. 6 and the fourth
scheduled rookie, America's Next Great
Restaurant, will premiere Wednesday, Mar. 16 at 9 p.m.
Premiere dates for the
previously announced Love Bites, Friends With Benefits and The Paul Reiser Show will be scheduled
at a later date.
The full night-by-night line-up follows:
MONDAYS
8-9 p.m. - "Chuck"
9-10 p.m. - "THE CAPE" will premiere with a two-hour
episode on Sunday, January 9 (9-11 p.m.). New episodes start in its
regular time period on January 17 (9-10 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. - "HARRY'S LAW' (beginning January 17)
9-10 p.m. - "The Event" (returns on February 28, 9-11 p.m.;
resumes in its regular time slot March 7)
10-11 p.m. -- "Parenthood" (debuts in this slot March 7
with all originals)
TUESDAYS
8-10 p.m. -- "The Biggest Loser: Couples" (beginning
January 4)
10-11 p.m. - "Parenthood" (beginning January 4 for four
episodes)
10-11 p.m. -- "Law & Order: Los Angeles" (beginning
February 8)
WEDNESDAYS
8-9 p.m. -- "Minute to Win It" (beginningJanuary 5)
9-10 p.m. -"Chase" (beginning January 12)
10-11 p.m. - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
(originals beginning January 5 with two-hour episode, 9-11 p.m. ET)
9-10 p.m. - "AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT RESTAURANT" (beginning
March 16)
THURSDAYS (all beginning January 20)
8-8:30 p.m. - "Community"
8:30-9 p.m. - "PERFECT COUPLES"
9-9:30 p.m. - "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m. - "Parks and Recreation"
10-10:30 p.m. - "30 Rock"
10:30-11 p.m. - "Outsourced"
FRIDAYS
8-9 p.m. -- "Who Do You Think You Are?" (beginning January
21)
9-11 p.m. - "Dateline NBC" (beginning January 7)
SUNDAYS
7-8 p.m. - "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m. - "The Marriage Ref" (beginning March 6)
9-11 p.m. - "The Celebrity Apprentice" (beginning March 6)
