QUICK HITS: NBC Midseason Schedule Suggestion

Here are my midseason thoughts for NBC! They have the Olympics in mid February and will/should use it to launch several new shows.

MONDAYS
(Jan)
8:00 Genius Junior
9:00 The Handmade Project
10:00 The Brave

(late Feb)
8:00 The Voice
10:00 Reverie
We all know The Voice will come back after the Olympics. I would punt a bit on the night until the Olympics by airing some unscripted shows and letting The Brave finish out its run. When The Voice returns, I would pair it with Reverie. I'm not convinced that show will work but it's definitely worth a shot in a slot that I think can still make an impact, especially if it gets a lot of Olympics promotion.

TUESDAYS
8:00 (Jan)The Wall/(late Feb) The Voice
9:00 (Jan) This is Us/(Mar) Rise
10:00 Chicago Med
I would bring The Wall back to Tuesdays in January, where it did decently last season. This is Us doesn't need The Voice to be successful so it can continue along with Chicago Med, which is premiering November 21. Then after the Olympics, I would premiere Rise at 10pm following This is Us for a week of two before This is Us ends for the season. After that, I would slide the promising Rise to 9pm. I think that's the best way to handle a new show that has a lot of buzz. Unless NBC is planning Rise for Mondays at 10pm, any other scenario would be wrong in my opinion.

WEDNESDAYS
8:00 The Blacklist
9:00 Law & Order: SVU
10:00 Chicago PD
I would leave Wednesdays alone for the season. This is a solid lineup that can keep things steady through the whole season. With some big time shows to premiere after the Olympics, they don't need to do new things every night.

THURSDAYS
(Jan)
8:00 Superstore
8:30 The Good Place
9:00 Will & Grace
9:30 A.P. Bio
10:00 Chicago Fire

(Mar)
8:00 Superstore
8:30 A.P. Bio
9:00 Good Girls
10:00 Chicago Fire
First of all, I know NBC won't do it but it's time to pull the plug on the Great News experiment. I know NBC loves the show but it is not getting any interest and NBC is wasting the Will & Grace lead-in. So I would put it on hiatus (or de facto cancel it) and let A.P. Bio air in the 9:30pm slot. Then after the Olympics and the end of the season for Will & Grace and The Good Place, I would slide A.P. Bio up an hour (unless it's an instant bomb, then they have Champions) and try the new Good Girls at 9pm. Superstore and Chicago Fire should stay where they are.

FRIDAYS
8:00 (Jan) Timeless/(Apr) Taken
9:00 Blindspot
10:00 Dateline NBC
I'm sure NBC is saving Timeless for summer, but I think it's worth a shot on Fridays so I would air it at 8pm and eventually air Taken there. I would slide Blindspot to 9pm and relegate Dateline NBC to 10pm.

SUNDAYS
(Jan) Various Programming

(Mar)
7:00 Dateline NBC
8:00 Little Big Shots
9:00 Ellen's Game of Games
10:00 Shades of Blue
This is NBC's March plan for Sundays and I'm good with it. I think it's a solid lineup.

ENDING: Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders

HIATUS: Great News

SAVE FOR SUMMER: The Awesome Show, Champions, Trial & Error