After a flurry of moves throughout the week, NBC celebrated Mother’s Day by announcing its full fall 2014 schedule. The peacock network’s most drastic move was giving The Blacklist with James Spader a slot on Thursday and announcing that Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation will indeed end after seven seasons.
Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment, expressed optimism for the upcoming 2014-2015 season, although the current season yielded few new hits for the network. “We had a stellar year in scripted programming development that resulted in the unprecedented number of new original series joining the line-up during the coming year, which spans from September 2014-September 2015,” Greenblatt said. “I’m inordinately proud of NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke and Paul Telegdy, President of Alternative and Late Night Programming, for delivering such a high volume of new quality programming to augment a line-up that has begun to show strong signs of solidification.”
Greenblatt added that reinvigorating Thursday is a top priority for the network, although Thursday has been lackluster in the ratings for decades there. The hope is that the network’s biggest new hit of the 2013-2014 season, The Blacklist, grows on Thursdays, rather than disappears without The Voice as a lead-in. After The Blacklist moves to Thursdays, Katherine Heigl’s State of Affairs gets the prime post-Voice spot.
The other key news from NBC is the confirmation of its event series. These limited series include A.D.: Beyond The Bible; Aquarius with David Duchovny; and Heroes Reborn. A.D. will premiere on Easter Sunday.
Salke particularly hopes that THursday night act as counterprogramming when CBS starts airing Thursday NFL games. “Comedy is very important to this network, which is why we are launching new series on Tuesdays following ‘The Voice’ and on Thursdays in the fall as CBS frees up some of the comedy audience when it turns to NFL football,” Salke noted.
NBC also confirmed that Parenthood will also be back for another season.
Here is the full schedule, with new shows in bold.
Monday
8-10: The Voice
10-11: The Blacklist/State of Affairs (on Nov. 17)
Tuesday - The Voice results, plus sitcoms and Chicago Fire
8-9: The Voice
9-9:30: Marry Me
9-30-10: About A Boy
10-11: Chicago Fire
Wednesday - A night full of drama
8-9: The Mysteries of Laura
9-10: Law & order: SVU
10-11: Chicago P.D.
Thursday - Parenthood will start the season here, with new sitcoms after The Biggest Loser. When Parenthood wraps, The Blacklist moves here.
8-9: The Biggest Loser
9-9:30: The Bad Judge
9:30-10: A To Z
10-11: Parenthood
Friday - Grimm keeps its time after Deadline, while DC’s Constantine follows. It’s an all supernatural night.
8-9: Dateline
9-10: Grimm
10-11: Constantine
Saturday - repeats
Sunday- NFL coverage
In addition to the new shows scheduled for fall premieres, NBC has also picked up Allegiance and Odyssey on the drama side. Mission Control, Mr. Robinson, One Big Happy and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt are comedies that have also been picked up. These shows will likely premiere during midseason or if any of the fall shows get pulled early.