Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2017
NBC has shared its fall schedule in advance of its upfront presentation Monday.
The network has slotted military drama The Brave for the 10 p.m. slot on Mondays, leading out of The Voice. The Voice has added Jennifer Hudson as a coach, while Miley Cyrus returns.
Tuesday has the comedies Superstore and The Good Place, leading out of The Voice, and prime concludes with Chicago Fire.
Wednesday sees The Blacklist moving to 8 p.m, followed by Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D.
Thursday’s prime starts with comedies Will & Grace and Great News, then hit drama This Is Us at 9 p.m., and Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Brothers. Will & Grace stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally are all returning. NBC is on board for 12 episodes.
NBC plans to use ‘Must See TV’ for Thursdays in its marketing.
Friday has Blindspot, Taken and Dateline NBC.
Saturday features Saturday Night Live encores at 10.
Sunday has Sunday Night Football. Post-football, it’s Little Big Shots, Ellen DeGeneres show Ellen’s Game of Games and the return of Jennifer Lopez drama Shades of Blue.
NBC has the Super Bowl Feb. 4, which will be followed by This Is Us.
The network also has the Winter Olympics, which Robert Greenblatt, chairman, NBC entertainment, called “a tremendous platform for launching shows.”
“Coming off another stabilizing year, which included the launch of one of the great new dramas in a decade, our upcoming fall schedule is both limited in the number of new series and aggressive in rebooting Thursday night,” said Greenblatt. “To create another undeniable night of television, we’re aligning some of our most potent shows on Thursday in order to bring back ‘Must See TV.’ We are also strategically deploying strong new shows in choice time periods on other nights and nurturing our growing comedy lineup.
“To do all that you have to have the goods, and our development teams headed by Presidents Jennifer Salke and Paul Telegdy once again delivered new scripted and unscripted shows that are among the best on television. From fall to midseason to summer, we will be programming robustly so as to achieve a record amount of original programming all year long. And when you add the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, and the balance of our unprecedented sports franchises, we expect to remain the leading broadcast network by virtually every measure.”
Mid-season shows includes Jason Katims’ Rise, Jenna Bans’ Good Girls and Amblin Television’s Reverie. A.P. Bio, from Seth Meyers and Lorne Michaels, too, will air in the mid-season, as will Mindy Kaling’s Champions.
NBC is also bringing back drama Timeless, which had initially been cancelled following its first season. It will likely air late in the season. Greenblatt said NBC loved the show creatively, though it did not draw much of an audience. Seeing the viewer reaction to the cancellation, NBC execs said, “let’s figure out how to bring it back,” he said.
