NBC has set its schedule for the 2014-15 midseason, filling up Thursday with dramas and moving comedies to Tuesday. The peacock also made a desperation move by pushing up summer hits The Night Shift and Undateable to February.
Thankfully for NBC, they have the Super Bowl this year, which it will use as a launching pad for the second half of the season. James Spader’s The Blacklist will return from its winter break after the game on Feb. 1, then moves to Thursdays on Feb. 5 at 9 p.m.
The Blacklist will be used as an anchor for an all-drama Thursday. Also on Feb. 5, Allegiance begins.
Allegiance stars Gavin Stenhouse as a CIA agent who specializes in Russian affairs, whose life is turned upside down when he finds out that his parents (Scott Cohen and Hope Davis) were Russian spies.
A new mini-series called The Slap will start on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. The eight-episode series is about the fallout of an adult slapping a child at a party. Zachary Quinto, Mary Louise-Parker, Uma Thurman, Thandie Newton and Peter Sarsgaard star.
Sundays will also turn into drama nights in April. A.D., Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s follow-up to the History Channel’s The Bible, will start on April 5 at 9 p.m. and runs 12 hours.
After A.D., Odyssey with Anna Friel, Peter Facinelli and Jake Robinson begins that same night. It centers on the lives of a soldier, a political activist and a corporate lawyer, who somehow get caught in the same conspiracy.
One Big Happy is a new comedy co-executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres. Elisha Cuthbert and Nick Zano star as friends who decide to start an unconventional family. Zano’s character falls for another woman, played by Kelly Brook, which throws their plans for a loop. It will start on Tuesday, March 17 at 9:30 p.m., following Undateable.
Both The Night Shift and Undateable were midseason shows last year and they were held back so long that they were dumped in the summer. However, both drew enough eyeballs to get renewed. This time, they won’t be held back for the summer though. Night Shift got the post-The Voice slot, starting on Monday, Feb. 23 at 10 p.m.
Undateable will return on March 17 at 9 p.m.
image of Zachary Quinto courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com