NBC is aiming to keep rolling into the 2017-2018 television season with the strength it created with this season of television. The network is also hoping they can use that status as an open door for bringing back the shine to Thursday night with “Must See TV.” To do that, NBC is betting on the return of a classic and the continued success of a new obsession.
You won’t see many reboots or new series when you look at NBC’s lineup for next season. Familiarity and proven success seem to be key, particularly when it comes to shows like This Is Us, The Blacklist, and the returning Will And Grace. The classic sitcom’s revival will land right back on Thursdays, leading the charge of the new “Must See” lineup alongside This Is Us and new sitcom Great News — executive produced by Tina Fey and with a definite 30 Rock vibe to it. Meanwhile, The Good Place moves to Tuesdays alongside Superstore to boost that early week comedy lineup and hopefully bring some more interesting twists along the way.
This strategy of not fixing what isn’t broken was the theme at the network’s upfront and echoed in the statement by NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt:
“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 Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. “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.”
They were also quick to tout the Super Bowl making its way to NBC in 2018, using it to show confidence in This Is Us by giving it the key post-big game spot on the schedule. Check out the full schedule below:
Monday: The Brave (new series, formerly For God And Country) at 10 p.m., The Voice returns with Jennifer Hudson and Miley Cyrus.
Tuesday: Superstore, The Good Place, The Voice, and Chicago Fire
Wednesday: The Blacklist, Law And Order: SVU, Chicago P.D.
Thursday: This Is Us, Will And Grace (revival), Law And Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Friday: Blindspot, Taken, Dateline NBC
Sunday: Sunday Night Football, with Little Big Shots, Ellen’s Game Of Games, and Jennifer Lopez in Shades Of Blue following football season
Midseason: Rise (new series from Friday Night Lights executive producer Jason Katims and Hamilton producer Jeffrey Sellers), Good Girls (new from Scandal‘s Jenna Bans), Reverie (new series), Chicago Med, A.P. Bio with Patton Oswalt and Glenn Howerton of Always Sunny fame, Champions from Mindy Kaling, Chris Hardwick’s The Awesome Show, Genius Junior with Neil Patrick Harris, and The Handmade Project from Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman.
