Over the next couple weeks, I will be making midseason schedule suggestions.
Today I start with NBC: a network that doesn't have a ton of room available and has already announced some of its midseason schedule.
MONDAYS
8:00 (Jan) America's Got Talent: The Champions/(late Feb) The Voice
10:00 (Jan) The Enemy Within/(Apr) The Inbetween
America's Got Talent: The Champions is already announced and The Voice will of course be back at its usual time. I like the use of Talent here and I am sure NBC is going to keep Manifest here. But I think we can all see the direction Manifest is heading in. It's doing OK right now but I think it's going to keep dropping. So I'd send it elsewhere and use Talent to launch The Enemy Within. Talent will likely be higher rated than The Voice's spring run so why not use that time of year to launch a high profile drama? When it ends its likely 13 episode season, NBC can try to launch another, less high profile drama: The Inbetween.
TUESDAYS
8:00 (Jan) Ellen's Game of Games/(late Feb) The Voice
9:00 (Jan) This is Us/(mid March) The Village
10:00 New Amsterdam
I think this schedule is pretty easy to predict and I think it is what they should do as well. I know Rise didn't work as a This is Us replacement, but it was a solid attempt and I don't think that's a bad move with The Village. Let The Village air at 10pm following the last two or three episodes of the season of This is Us, then move it to 9pm. New Amsterdam has a full season and can air the whole season at 10pm.
WEDNESDAYS
(Jan)
8:00 The Titan Games
9:00 The Titan Games
10:00 Manifest
(mid Feb)
8:00 Chicago Med
9:00 Chicago Fire
10:00 Chicago PD
NBC is planning to launch The Titan Games on Wednesdays in January and put Chicago Med on hiatus. That's fine, but the #OneChicago night is working extremely well and Med has arguably been the most impressive of the three in its lead-off slot. I don't think it's fair to bench just Med. If they're going to give the Chicago shows a break, give all three of them a break. So I would double up The Titan Games and let that lead into the remaining Manifest episodes. After 5-6 weeks, they can bring back the Chicago trio to continue to air together.
THURSDAYS
8:00 Superstore
8:30 (Jan) The Good Place/(Feb) Abby's
9:00 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9:30 (Jan) Will & Grace/(Apr) A.P. Bio
10:00 Law & Order: SVU
Well, we all know that Abby's and Brooklyn Nine-Nine are coming to the night. However, Will & Grace is not cutting it at the 9pm anchor. I would give Brooklyn Nine-Nine a try at 9pm and move Will & Grace to 9:30pm, cancelling I Feel Bad. When The Good Place ends its season, Abby's can take over the 8:30pm. When Will & Grace ends its season, A.P. Bio can take its place late in the season when it won't do as much damage.
FRIDAYS
8:00 Blindspot
9:00 (Jan) Midnight, Texas/(Feb) The Blacklist
10:00 Dateline NBC
I think this is what NBC will do and it makes sense to me.
SUNDAYS
(Jan) Various Programming
(Feb)
8:00 World of Dance
10:00 Good Girls
This is NBC's plan for the spring and I don't love it or think it will do that well. But given what they have, it seems like the best option. The only other option is to leave Chicago night alone and let The Titan Games air here.
SUMMER: The Wall, Songland
CANCEL: I Feel Bad
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