NBC had a pretty decent fall last year so it would make sense that they aren’t making many changes for this upcoming fall season. A few favorites are benched until midseason but, for the most part, NBC is going by the strategy if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The biggest shift is that NBC’s breakout hit, Manifest, and the third season of the Will & Grace revival are being held until midseason. As to why they’re holding them until then, NBC Entertainment co-chairs admitted they are playing a long game:
“Manifest is very strong digitally with a huge viewer engagement and I think it will sustain,” said Paul Telegdy during NBC’s Upfronts Presentation of the longer hiatus of the Jeff Rake hit supernatural series that ended its first season in February. “The scheduling will provide the series with a continuous run and no breaks in the storyline that will keep people engaged,” added George Cheeks, noting the same plan for the Eric McCormack and Debra Messing-led sitcom that returned in September 2017 after over 11 years off the air.
There’s now a Mike Schur hour on Thursdays with more of the producer’s The Good Place and his new comedy Sunnyside. NBC is said to be putting a lot of their comedy strategy into The Good Place as it’s their standout comedy on the lineup and receiving more and more critical and awards attention as it goes on.
In a more tactical vein, the comedy-centric network has a small change on Mondays this fall with the debut of the Jimmy Smits-led legal drama Bluff City Law but Tuesday remains entirely unchanged with The Voice, the multi-season renewed This Is Us and New Amsterdam, which premiered last year. In another case of “second verse, same as the first,” Wednesdays is still all Windy City with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. in the same time slots they were in the 2018-2019 run.
Thursday has the most changes at this point for NBC with the Bradley Whitford and Anna Camp starring sitcom Perfect Harmony, then that Mike Schur hour with the fourth season of The Good Place and new comedy Sunnyside with Designated Survivor alum and former real-life White House aide Kai Penn in the 9 – 10 PM slot. About to launch a record-breaking 21st season, Law & Order: SVU stays pegged on Thursday for the second season in a row, as does Superstore, bookending the night. Friday is completely as it was with a seventh season of The Blacklist and a two-hour Dateline.
Also, if you’re wondering where Brooklyn Nine-Nine is, the comedy is also launching midseason, much as it did for its first season on NBC. As of now, the episode order for the next season is 13 episodes.
Sunday Night Football obviously isn’t going anywhere – especially after witnessing rising ratings this past season. NBC also the Summer Olympics coming out of Tokyo next year.
Check out NBC’s Full 2019-20 Fall Schedule Below:
MONDAY
8-10 P.M. — The Voice
10-11 P.M. — BLUFF CITY LAW
TUESDAY
8-9 P.M. — The Voice
9-10 P.M. — This Is Us
10-11 P.M. — New Amsterdam
WEDNESDAY
8-9 P.M. — Chicago Med
9-10 P.M. — Chicago Fire
10-11 P.M. — Chicago P.D.
THURSDAY
8-8:30 P.M. — Superstore
8:30-9 P.M. — Perfect Harmony
9-9:30 P.M. — The Good Place
9:30-10 P.M. — Sunnyside
10-11 P.M. — Law & Order: SVU
FRIDAY
8-9 P.M. – The Blacklist
9-11 P.M — Dateline NBC
SATURDAY
8-10 P.M. — Dateline Saturday Night Mystery
10-11 P.M. – Saturday Night Live (encores)
SUNDAY
7-8:20 P.M. — Football Night in America
8:20-11 P.M. — NBC Sunday Night Football