UPFRONTS 2014: NBC's Official Fall Schedule

Here it is!
Past years: 2013   2012   2011

MONDAYS
8:00 The Voice (7th Edition)
10:00 The Blacklist (2nd Season)/STATE OF AFFAIRS
It is very clear that NBC's top priority for the 2014-15 season is The Blacklist over any of their new shows. NBC's biggest new scripted hit in years will start the year in the same slot it has right now: Mondays at 10pm behind The Voice (which will be featuring new coaches Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams). But in November, The Blacklist will take a little break before it gets major exposure as the Super Bowl lead-out program in February, after which it will immediately move to Thursdays as the new 9pm centerpiece there. When The Blacklist takes its break, it will be replaced by State of Affairs on Mondays starting November 17. On the plus side, Affairs gets NBC's best lead-in. On the negative side, it gets that lead-in well after the high rated blind auditions so it will probably be diluted as it is every edition towards the finale. NBC is hoping The Voice will still be strong enough in mid November to launch a hit and The Blacklist fans will find a kindred spirit in Affairs.

TUESDAYS
8:00 The Voice (7th Edition)
9:00 MARRY ME
9:30 About a Boy (2nd Season)
10:00 Chicago Fire (3rd Season)
After a solid enough year, NBC is mostly keeping the status quo on Tuesdays with a small alteration to its comedy lineup. Despite a wealth of dramas, NBC is committed to making comedies work and will continue to give them a lead-in from The Voice on Tuesdays. It will be new sitcom Marry Me starring Casey Wilson that gets the prime lead-out slot. This is the best possible place for NBC to get a new comedy hit so this shows that Marry Me is what they consider their strongest entry. Current 9pm occupant About a Boy moves to 9:30pm in what could be a difficult task for the young comedy as it has slowly been declining in the 9pm slot but maybe it'll be a good pair with Marry Me. Chicago Fire remains at 10pm and has been a solid performer even when the comedy lead-ins are low. It clearly has its own audience in a tough timeslot, and definitely needed to stay exactly where it is.

WEDNESDAYS
8:00 THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA
9:00 Law & Order: SVU (16th Season)
10:00 Chicago PD (2nd Season)
NBC is going all procedural on Wednesdays, replacing Revolution with The Mysteries of Laura. On the surface, this seems like the toughest slot for a new show but maybe it will be a tonal fit with the procedurals that follow. If it can do slightly better than Revolution (which didn't completely die), that would be a win for NBC. However, from a pessimistic view, it could also have a real tough time here and be an early cancellation possibility. The pairing of Law & Order: SVU and Chicago PD will stay intact from 9-11pm. SVU had a strong year while PD is still finding its feet. Expect more crossovers between these two shows and Chicago Fire to help boost ratings.

THURSDAYS
8:00 The Biggest Loser (16th Edition)
9:00 BAD JUDGE
9:30 A TO Z
10:00 Parenthood (6th Season)

NBC is basically using Thursdays as a holding pattern at the beginning of the season until The Blacklist's arrival in February. The Biggest Loser moves to Thursday and it has always been a reliable performer wherever it has gone. It should hold up fine against football on CBS. It also can provide an OK lead-in to two new comedies who have a lot stacked against them. We all know The Blacklist is coming so if Bad Judge or A to Z get any traction, they will not stay in these slots all year. It seems like NBC is willing to give these a chance especially with no comedies on CBS until November. However, it also doesn't seem to have a ton of faith in these two single-cam sitcoms. Parenthood snagged a last minute renewal for a sixth and final season of 13 episodes, which means it will air into January when it will end its run. When that happens and The Blacklist comes to 9pm, NBC is planning to launch new drama Allegiance at 10pm.

FRIDAYS
8:00 Dateline NBC (24th Season)
9:00 Grimm (4th Season)
10:00 CONSTANTINE
NBC is keeping its genre night on Fridays but they are aiming a little bit higher with the bigger budgeted Constantine instead of a co-production like Hannibal or Dracula. It will once again follow Dateline NBC, which does better at 8pm and away from 20/20 and Grimm, which always holds its own by NBC Friday standards. Constantine needs to do a little bit better here than the 10pm occupants have this year because of its cost and because NBC does have season three of Hannibal sitting on the bench. I bet NBC will give this exposure with a series premiere somewhere else before its Friday debut.

SATURDAYS
8:00 Encores

SUNDAYS
7:00 Football Night in America (9th Season)
8:30 Sunday Night Football
Of course. No major set plans for midseason yet except for Mark Burnett's biblical event series A.D. arriving around Easter time.

MIDSEASON: A.D., ALLEGIANCE, AQUARIUS, EMERALD CITY, HEROES: REBORN, MISSION CONTROL, MR. ROBINSON, ODYSSEY, ONE BIG HAPPY, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, Celebrity Apprentice, Hannibal, Hollywood Game Night, Parks and Recreation
NBC is leaving a ton of shows on deck for midseason. I already mentioned the plans for Allegiance. A.D., Aquarius, Emerald City, and Heroes: Reborn are all considered "event series" and will get their own type of push. The Heroes reboot is planned for summer 2015. Mission Control, Mr. Robinson, and  One Big Happy all have short episode orders which means they could be aired when something else finishes a season or if there's an early cancellation. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will probably command a nice timeslot after the Super Bowl and with the spring edition of The Voice involved. As for the returnees, Parks could be first off the bench if a new comedy fails. This will be the final season for Parks and Rec. Hollywood Game Night is filler while Celebrity Apprentice will return after a season off.

CANCELLED: American Dream Builders, Believe, Community, Crisis, Dracula, Growing Up Fisher, Ironside, The Michael J. Fox Show, Revolution, Sean Saves the World, The Sing Off, Welcome to the Family
Most of these are new shows with only Community being the real long-running show. I included The Sing Off here because I see no mention of it in NBC publicity materials. However, it still could come back for a December run.

TO SUM UP:
I think this is a good, but very conservative schedule (aside from moving The Blacklist in February). NBC has dug itself out of the grave and they were very careful with protecting existing (and young) shows like Blacklist and the Chicago twins. Normally I criticize networks for saving their best slots for veterans but it's OK here because most of NBC's veterans are very young still. In my opinion, NBC is making the best decisions these days and is consciously thinking about how each night can have a flow to it. With other moves like their live musicals, miniseries, and event series, they are preparing to have many different ways for different audiences to watch their network live, which is what matters. It may not be the strongest group of newbies and they don't have the best slots on their schedule but NBC can pick up another hit or two like they have this season, that will be a success.