If you were asked to name the 10 funniest sitcoms of the past 25 years, you could do a whole lot worse than: Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, Scrubs, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Community, and The Simpsons. Amazingly, all but one (The Simpsons) aired on NBC on Thursday nights.
The Must See TV- and Comedy Night Done Right-eras were a magical time for the Peacock, but over the past few years, the two-hour programming block that was almost exclusively once dedicated to comedies has been the home of The Blacklist, Hollywood Game Night, Heroes Reborn, and The Slap. NBC was out of the clever comedies that used to define the network… until 2016, when the scrappy Superstore and Michael Schur’s wickedly great The Good Place formed as solid a one-two punch as you’re going to find on network TV.
For the 2017-2018 fall season, those two shows form the base on which NBC is hoping to build its new “Must See TV” empire. Superstore and The Good Place, both of which return on September 28, lead off the night, followed by the much-anticipated return of Will and Grace at 9 p.m. EST and Tracey Wigfield’s promising Great News at 9:30. It sure beats the dark days of Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show. Here’s the full schedule.
Monday
The Voice, 8 p.m. (Returns Sept. 25)
The Brave, 10 p.m. (Premieres Sept. 25)Tuesday
The Voice, 8 p.m.
This Is Us, 9 p.m. (Returns Sept. 26)
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, 10 p.m. (Premieres Sept. 26)Wednesday
The Blacklist, 8 p.m. (Returns Oct. 4)
Law & Order: SVU, 9 p.m. (Returns Sept. 27)
Chicago P.D., 10 p.m. (Returns Sept. 27)Thursday
Superstore, 8 p.m. (Returns Sept. 28)
The Good Place, 8:30 p.m. (Returns Sept. 28)
Will & Grace, 9 p.m. (Returns Sept. 28)
Great News, 9:30 p.m. (Returns Sept. 28)
Chicago Fire, 10 p.m. (Returns Sept. 28)Friday
Blindspot, 8 p.m. (Returns Oct. 27)
Taken, 9 p.m.
Dateline, NBC 10 p.m. (Returns Sept. 29)Saturday
Dateline Saturday Night Mystery, 8 p.m.
Sunday
Football Night in America, 7 p.m.
NBC Sunday Night Football, 8:20 p.m.
