NBC has shared its 2021-2022 schedule, which sees a second season pickup of Law & Order: Organized Crime and the sixth and final season of This Is Us starting in the mid season. Dick Wolf is all over the schedule, with his Chicago dramas on Wednesdays and a Law & Order trio on Thursdays.
Mondays will have The Voice, with Ariana Grande joining Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton as a coach. New drama Ordinary Joe, about how choices made in a single moment can alter the course of life forever, follows.
Tuesdays have The Voice and new drama La Brea, about the aftermath of a massive sinkhole that opens in Los Angeles, revealing a mysterious primeval land. New Amsterdam follows.
Wednesdays have Dick Wolf dramas Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
Thursdays offer more Wolf, with Law & Order: For the Defense in the 8 p.m. slot, then Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Organized Crime. It will be season 23 of SVU.
Fridays have season nine of The Blacklist and Dateline NBC.
Sundays offer Sunday Night Football on 20 nights.
NBC will hold its comedies until the mid season, while there will be special holiday episodes of Kenan, Young Rock and Mr. Mayor.
“Our program strategy for NBC is singularly focused on driving growth by capturing audiences with can’t-miss event television and keeping them on the network with immersive scripted series,” said Frances Berwick, chairman, entertainment networks, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We are leaning into pieces of the legacy that work, but not being precious about experimenting with things that can benefit from a change.”
Berwick called Dick Wolf “one of the most prolific storytellers in television.”
Late in 2021, NBC has live musical production Annie Live!, and animated specials Trolls Holiday in Harmony and Jimmy Fallon’s Five More Sleeps ‘Til Christmas.
The mid-season will have two nights of comedies. That includes new series American Auto, from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer and starring Ana Gasteyer and Jon Barinholtz, and Grand Crew, a friends-at-a-wine-bar comedy from Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Phil Augusta Jackson and Dan Goor.
This Is Us starts in the mid-season, NBC executives saying that slot gives the show the best shot at an uninterrupted run in its final season. “We want to make sure the fans have the best viewing experience possible,” said Susan Rovner, chairman, entertainment content, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming.
Renee Zellweger true-crime series The Thing About Pam starts in the mid-season too.
American Song Contest, America’s Got Talent spinoff AGT: Extreme, The Wheel, That’s My Jam and Dick Wolf’s LA Fire and Rescue air in the mid or summer season. AGT: Extreme “will showcase the most outrageous and jaw-dropping daredevil acts,” teased NBC.
“NBC is the flagship network in our portfolio and we wanted to treat it as such, shining a light on some of our most beloved shows and introducing a broad range of dynamic new programming,” said Rovner. “Honoring our fans is a major focus this year and we’re delivering on favorites with more Law & Order and AGT as well as big send-offs for award-winning shows This Is Us and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We have all of our amazing returning shows, and we’re launching what I believe will be fan favorites of the future – strong dramas like La Brea, Ordinary Joe and The Thing About Pam, laugh-out-loud comedies American Auto and Grand Crew, and big new unscripted shows such as American Song Contest.”
Brooklyn Nine-Nine starts its final season after the Summer Olympics, premiering in August.
NBC has the Super Bowl in February.
The network will not bring back A Little Late With Lilly Singh in the 1:30 a.m. slot. Execs did not share plans for that slot, but said it won’t be a talk show.
