NBC midseason sends 'Community' to Thursdays, 'Smash' to Tuesdays
'Biggest Loser,' '1600 Penn,' 'Deception,' 'Celebrity Apprentice' also get homes
High-Five! "Community" has a premiere date!
Credit: NBC
As all the "Community" cool kids are saying: It looks like February 7 is October 19.
NBC announced on Tuesday (October 30) that beloved cult favorite "Community" will be back on the schedule in February, part of a slew of midseason programming updates.
The rush of midseason announcements also included premiere information for "Smash," "The Biggest Loser," "1600 Penn," "Ready for Love," "The Celebrity Apprentice: All-Stars," the fourth season of "The Voice" and the retitled new drama "Deception."
We're going to start, though, with "Community," which has already gotten the bulk of the social media attention. The comedy's fourth season will launch on Thursdays at 8 p.m. starting on February 8, fulfilling the frequently repeated pundit prophesy that it would never air in the Friday home that it was shunted off to in May.
Thursdays will be undergoing a slew of changes in the spring. "Community" will, of course, be taking the place of "30 Rock" after that Emmy-winning favorite wraps its final season. Before that, though, the White House comedy "1600 Penn" will premiere in the 9:30 slot on January 10. That show, which features Bill Pullman, Jenna Elfman and Josh Gad, will be taking the place of "Parks and Recreation," which will move to 8:30 starting on January 17. NBC announced earlier this week that current Thursday comedy "Up All Night" will take a midseason hiatus before returning as a redeveloped multi-camera comedy.
Let's backtrack in the schedule for the other highlights.
NBC's current Monday offerings will take a midseason break, with "The Voice" premiering its fourth season -- with Usher and Shakira filling in for CeeLo and Christina Aguilera as coaches -- and "Revolution" resuming its first season on March 25. In their place, NBC will premiere "Deception" (formerly titled "Infamous"), starring Meagan Good, on Monday, January 7. "Deception" will air after two hours of "The Biggest Loser," which will actually have its two-hour premiere on Sunday, January 6.
Tuesdays will also get a shakeup with "The Voice" departing til March 26. "Betty White's Off Their Rockers" will premiere with back-to-back episodes on January 8 at 8 p.m. and will remain in that hour until "The Voice" returns. The second season of the heavily revamped "Smash" will have a two-hour premiere on February 5 at 9 p.m. and will settle into its new Tuesday 10 p.m. slot the following week.
And what about Sundays?
"Celebrity Apprentice: All-Stars" will premiere on March from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will air four weeks of two-hour episodes before going into its regular slot at 10 p.m. on March 31. That night will also be the premiere of the Eva Longoria-produced "Ready for Love."
Even with this busy schedule overhaul, NBC still has many shows on the shelf waiting for homes including the dramas "Hannibal" and "Do No Harm," plus the comedy "Save Me."
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJobin00
October 30, 2012 at 3:36PM EST Reply to CommentDaniel,
So Revolution is going to have new episodes up until some time in December, then its going to go away for 3/4 months until the end of March?
That sounds like a complete momentum killer.
Other Scott I think Revolution has all the momentum it needs with the Voice airing in front of it.
October 30, 2012 at 3:41PM ESTIt might actually do the show worse to air new episodes without the Voice lead-in, as the Voice people who are caught up to this point and don't come back without it may suddenly find themselves episodes behind and decide to stop watching.
dan Jobin00 - End of November, actually, I believe. And what? You don't think that pulling a heavily serialized drama for nearly four solid months early in its first season is a good path to nurturing long-term success? Surely NBC has earned all of our confidence and trust, right?
October 30, 2012 at 3:41PM EST-Daniel
Jobin00 Other Scott,
October 30, 2012 at 3:49PM ESTWhy wouldn't NBC use the 2nd half of the year to see if Revolution (their only hit in forever) can stand alone on its own?
If NBC is going to bring it back the for another season, they aren't going to give it the post-Voice slot.
Daniel,
Didn't they do the long haitus with THE EVENT?
If this is NBCs plan with serialized dramas that good/medicore/awful they should really just give up on greenlighting them to begin with.
dan Jobin00 - NBC did a comparably lengthy hiatus with "The Event," but part of that was to allow the show to regroup, since it had already fallen off a cliff both in terms of ratings and creatively. "Revolution," barring a totally unexpected November swoon, hasn't suffered unreasonable ratings decline. So it's weirder...
October 30, 2012 at 3:54PM EST-Daniel
Interrogation Bear What is the winter like in North Carolina? Revolution may take a longer break in production to avoid bad weather in January and February.
October 30, 2012 at 4:00PM ESTJobin00 Agree, I thought the long haitus was response to the fact that the Event was terrible, only they already gave it a full season order.
October 30, 2012 at 4:00PM ESTleemats
October 30, 2012 at 3:44PM EST Reply to CommentWell, I guess that's good news for Community in that it won't air in the Friday death slot. But bad news for fans in that, with it premiering so late in the year, we probably won't get any additional eps beyond the 13 already ordered. Dan, based on what you know, is there any way we'll get more than 13?
dan LeeMats - More than 13 this season? Nah. I'd say there's no chance of that. 13 episodes is 3+ months of TV, which gets you to May. NBC won't need more than that.
October 30, 2012 at 3:50PM EST-Daniel
leemats That's what I figured. Thanks.
October 30, 2012 at 3:55PM ESTI guess the DVD set will only be 2 discs and cheaper. Maybe.
Jobin00 I'd still say Community has a shot to stick around beyond this season.
October 30, 2012 at 3:56PM ESTNBC has to bring back SOME comedies for next year.
The only comedies that look like sure bets for next year are Go On and New Normal.
30 Rock, The Office are both done (as is the Dwight spin off). And Up All Night is getting a stay of execution.
Whitney is going to fail too.
NBC will do what it always does, begrudgingly bring back Community and/or Parks and Rec, because they will have too many other failures, and the new shows they replace them with will just get worse ratings anyway (better the devil you know).
leemats Yes, I think there's a chance for a season 5. Although I'm not sure if Greendale will be part of it. But I was hoping for a 22 or 24 episode season 4.
October 30, 2012 at 4:01PM ESTbritzki My only hope is that they haven't shot all 13 episodes yet so they can plan to shoot one as a multi-camera sitcom. Can you imagine this meta-show spoofing and parodying NBC's latest attempt to save their comedies? Could be brilliant!
October 31, 2012 at 11:18AM ESTleemats @BRITZKI - That's a good idea. Especially if they actually shot it in front of an audience and included lots of meta-commentary.
October 31, 2012 at 11:59AM ESTInterrogation Bear
October 30, 2012 at 4:06PM EST Reply to CommentI remember NBC ordering a series about Dracula and the pirate-adventure Crossbones, both international co-productions. I thought they were supposed to air this season.
dan Interrogation Bear - The Dracula show and "Crossbones" were both very much TBD in terms of premieres and I don't think there was ever a realistic chance that either was going to be ready for this season. "Dracula" feels took high profile to be wasted in summer, but "Crossbones" might be summer-suitable? Dunno...
October 30, 2012 at 4:31PM EST-Daniel
fresser28
October 30, 2012 at 4:47PM EST Reply to CommentWhat is this power that Jenna Elfman has over the networks? Hasn't it been well established that she's a show-killer? Actually, Pullman is a bit of one too, as much as it pains me to admit it.
CinemaPsycho Dharma and Greg ran for several seasons. That buys you several more chances. And she's playing the wife in this one, not the lead.
October 31, 2012 at 2:01AM ESTbriguyx
October 30, 2012 at 8:25PM EST Reply to CommentHow is "Community" going up against "Big Bang Theory" not a death slot?
jcr
October 30, 2012 at 8:40PM EST Reply to CommentAt some point NBC needs to see if a show can stand up on its own without The Voice to carry it. Revolution's ratings are good enough that I think NBC shoulda given it the chance, rather thanthis ridic 4 mth break.
I'm glad Smash is on Tues. I think it deserves a decent slot and I hope it can be more the show the pilot promised this season. And basically Karen and Derek needs to happen! :)
Dan, are Go On and New Normal gonna fill the 9-10 slots?
coolsid
October 30, 2012 at 9:04PM EST Reply to CommentRevolution has currently only finished 6 out of a total of 22 episode order. If they aired nothing new between November and March end, would'nt the season finale kind of end up airing outside the May sweeps period? Very wierd choice to be doing for the biggest new show of the fall.
Jaxemer11
October 31, 2012 at 3:01AM EST Reply to CommentUp All Night as a multi-cam? That sounds brilliant. I guess it works for CBS.
eye
October 31, 2012 at 10:59AM EST Reply to CommentAs we know, a show having something episodes during a 39 week season means that there will have to be 4 months off total no matter what. In theory, having the second half go uninterrupted is a good idea, as opposed to the on one week, off the next one or two schedule that some shows do. Of course that has been proven to be a risky thing to do so we'll see how that goes here.