All eyes will be on NBC this fall, as the Peacock Network has something to prove following its highly disappointing 2013-14 fall season.
If you’ll remember, many of the network’s freshman shows failed immediately (including high-profile comedies Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show), and NBC only managed to find one hit in the James Spader crime thriller The Blacklist. Now that it’s taken the foolhardy move of cancelling Community after five seasons, NBC will have to prove that it has comedies worthy of following in that creative giant’s footsteps.
The network unveiled its fall lineup today, and it will start its roll-out with football in September and conclude with the Katherine Heigl-led State of Affairs, about a CIA agent who becomes the president’s daily briefer.
After football, The Biggest Loser will premiere on September 11th, but the first scripted series to return will be The Blacklist on September 22nd, following The Voice. The Mysteries of Laura, a drama with Debra Messing, will be the first new series to debut, arriving on September 24th before Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D.
The final, 13-episode season of Parenthood will arrive on September 25th. NBC plans to space out its new arrival, having scheduled comedy Bad Judge to begin on October 2nd. It’s pairing Bad Judge with A to Z, a comedy starring Cristin Milioti. Using two new comedies to support one another is a strategy that could work but also seems likely to fail, unless NBC is willing to give both of them a huge advertising push. Casey Wilson starrer Marry Me arrives on October 14th, paired with the second season of About a Boy.
Grimm‘s fourth season returns in time for Halloween on October 24th, followed by Constantine, one of the series we’re most excited about. A supernatural team-up could work for NBC in the same way that it has for The CW and BBC America in the past, and the pairing seems logical. That leads us to State of Affairs, the last fall premiere for NBC.
Check out the full schedule below, and let us know whether you think NBC has any hits in the works.
Thursday, Sept. 4
8:00-11:00 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Green Bay at Seattle)
Sunday, Sept. 7
7:00-8:20 FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA
8:20-11:30 SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (Indianapolis at Denver)
Thursday, Sept. 11
8:00-10:00 THE BIGGEST LOSER
Monday, Sept. 22
8:00-10:00 THE VOICE
10:00-11:00 THE BLACKLIST
Tuesday, Sept. 23
8:00-10:00 THE VOICE
10:00-11:00 CHICAGO FIRE
Wednesday, Sept. 24
8:00-9:00 THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA
9:00-10:00 LAW & ORDER: SVU
10:00-11:00 CHICAGO P.D.
Thursday, Sept. 25
10:00-11:00 PARENTHOOD
Friday, Sept. 26
9:00-11:00 DATELINE NBC
Thursday, Oct. 2
8:00-9:00 THE BIGGEST LOSER (TIME PERIOD PREMIERE)
9:00-9:30 BAD JUDGE
9:30-10:00 A TO Z
Tuesday, Oct. 14
8:00-9:00 THE VOICE (TIME PERIOD PREMIERE)
9:00-9:30 MARRY ME
9:30-10:00 ABOUT A BOY
Friday, Oct. 24
8:00-9:00 DATELINE NBC (TIME PERIOD PREMIERE)
9:00-10:00 GRIMM
10:00-11:00 CONSTANTINE
Monday, Nov. 17
10:00-11:00 STATE OF AFFAIRS
