NBC Fall 2023 Schedule: ‘Night Court’, ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ ‘La Brea’
NBC is opening up a new fall comedy block on Tuesday nights and has pushed a couple of its drama series to midseason.
The network unveiled its fall schedule, which sees Jon Cryer’s Extended Family run after Night Court, Quantum Leap moves to Tuesday night, while Found replaces Law & Order: Organized Crime on Dick Wolf’s second night in the fall and La Brea, with its short order season, also pushed to midseason.
There are plenty of strike contingencies built into the schedule, in part as a result of NBC renewing shows early and keeping them in production ahead of the writers walking out.
Jeff Bader, President, Entertainment Program Planning Strategy, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, told Deadline that shows such as Night Court, Quantum Leap, Found, The Irrational and Extended Family will all be on the fall schedule even if there’s an extended strike “because we’re now in a continuous production model”.
“We’re in very good shape, considering the circumstances,” he added.
The network still has a number of decisions to make; it will make decisions on pilots includes comedies Non-Evil Twin and St. Denis Medical and dramas Wolf and the untitled pilot from Jenna Bans and Bill Krebs in the next month. If picked up, these could air later in the 2023/24 season for the 2024/25 season. This will obviously impact decisions on American Auto, Grand Crew and Young Rock as well.
Here is NBC’s fall schedule.
NBC FALL 2023-24 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET/PT)
MONDAY
8-10 P.M. — The Voice
10-11 P.M. — THE IRRATIONAL
TUESDAY
8-8:30 PM — Night Court
8:30-9 PM — EXTENDED FAMILY
9-10 PM — The Voice
10-11 PM — Quantum Leap
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM — Chicago Med
9-10 PM — Chicago Fire
10-11 PM — Chicago P.D.
THURSDAY
8-9 PM — Law & Order
9-10 PM— Law & Order: SVU
10-11 PM — FOUND
FRIDAY
8-9 PM – The Wall
9-11 PM — Dateline NBC
SATURDAY
7-7:30 PM — BIG TEN COUNTDOWN / Notre Dame Pregame (also live on Peacock)
7:30-11 PM — BIG TEN FOOTBALL / Notre Dame Football (also live on Peacock)
SUNDAY
7-8:20 PM — Football Night in America (also live on Peacock)
8:20-11 PM — NBC Sunday Night Football (also live on Peacock)
“The main thrust for us is that we wanted to capitalize on having a schedule that has tentpoles every night of the week, so we can be as stable as possible, and create a schedule where we have great launchpads for our three new shows that will be coming on in the fall,” said Bader. “We have a new show coming on after The Voice, a new show coming on after Night Court, which was the top new comedy of the season and then after SVU, our top drama. It was just about coming in as stable as possible and creating those launchpads.”
Those new shows include The Irrational, which stars Jesse L. Martin, launching at 10pm on Monday after The Voice, in the slot that Quantum Leap occupied last year.
The Raymond Lee-starring reboot of the classic series is moving to Tuesdays at 10pm for its second season. This is after The Voice at 9pm, which follows its midseason plan, but is an hour later than last fall, where The Voice kicked off the night followed by La Brea and the final season of New Amsterdam.
Night Court is at 8pm on Tuesday followed by Cryer’s Extended Family.
“It’s a little bit of a subtle change. First of all that Monday slot historically has been a place where we’ve launched a lot of hit dramas, going back to The Blacklist and Manifest. On Tuesday, the feeling was that starting off with comedy, it’s a little bit of a lighter night from start to end. Quantum Leap just seems to sit well there and it’s still after The Voice on either night,” Bader added.
No one will be surprised that Wednesday night remains untouched with the One Chicago trio.
However, Wolf’s other night at NBC has been shaken up slightly. Law & Order: Organized Crime moves to midseason and new drama Found moves into Thursday at 10pm after Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.
This has been in part due to Law & Order: Organized Crime being in the middle of another showrunner change. Sean Jablonski stepped down as showrunner in March with Law & Order: SVU’s David Graziano taking over for the remaining three episodes of the season. It’s not clear whether Graziano will continue to oversee the Christopher Meloni-fronted series in its fourth season, which will return for a 13-episode run and will replace Found, which stars Shanola Hampton, in midseason.
“It was sort of a win win for us because they’re in the middle of a showrunner change, so they could use the extra time and we loved Found so much that we actually moved it out of the spring this year, because we knew in the fall, we would have the opportunity to give it a guaranteed strong lead and so it just worked out well,” he added.
The Wall moves to Friday night for the second half of its fifth season, which was split into ten episode blocks. It replaces Lopez Vs. Lopez, which was renewed for its second season and will return in midseason, and Young Rock, which is on the bubble.
Midseason will be busy for the network.
In addition to Law & Order: Organized Crime, the big news is the move of La Brea, which previously aired at 9pm on Tuesdays in the fall.
Deadline revealed that sci-fi drama La Brea had been renewed for a short, six-episode run, likely its final season and the series, which stars Natalie Zea and comes from David Appelbaum, has been filming in Australia since March.
It will air at the start of 2024. “Putting together the schedule was a puzzle and it was the perfect puzzle piece to fill that gap that we have between Voice cycles on Tuesdays,” Bader said. “We think it will finish production because it’s all written and it’s being shot so that’s a [post-production] question, but we are assuming that that could be ready.”
The second half of Magnum P.I.’s fifth season will also return in midseason after NBC saved the show.
Elsewhere in midseason are the second season of Password, which Deadline revealed this morning had been pushed due to the writers strike, as well as new reality series including a new twist on Deal or No Deal and another America’s Got Talent spin-off.
Natural history series The Americas, narrated by Tom Hanks, with music from Hans Zimmer, was originally ordered in 2020 by then-NBC boss Paul Telegedy. The ten-part series, which comes from BBC Studios Natural History Unit and Universal Television Alternative Studio, will debut in 2024.
Finally, Canadian hospital drama Transplant will air its third and fourth seasons as part of this schedule.
NEW DRAMA SERIES
FOUND
(l-r) Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely, Trayce Malachi as Deron
In any given year, more than 600,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. More than half that number are people of color that the country seems to forget about. A public relations specialist, who was once herself one of those forgotten ones, and her crisis management team now make sure there is always someone looking out for the forgotten missing people. But unbeknownst to anyone, this everyday hero is hiding a chilling secret of her own. The cast includes Shanola Hampton, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kelli Williams, Brett Dalton, Gabrielle Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta and Karan Oberoi. Nkechi Okoro Carroll will write and executive produce. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Sonay Hoffman, Lindsay Dunn and Leigh Redman also executive produce. Berlanti Productions and Rock My Soul Productions produces in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
THE IRRATIONAL
(l-r) Jesse L. Martin as Alec Baker, Molly Kunz as Phoebe, Arash Demaxi as Owen
Based on the bestselling author Dan Ariely’s “Predictably Irrational,” Alec Mercer is a world-renowned leader in behavioral science who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations with his unique and unexpected approach to understanding human behavior. The cast includes Jesse L. Martin, Maahra Hill, Travina Springer, Molly Kunz and Arash DeMaxi. Arika Lisanne Mittman will write and executive produce. Mark Goffman, Samuel Baum and David Frankel also executive produce. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, will produce.
NEW COMEDY SERIES
EXTENDED FAMILY
(l-r) Donald Faison as Trip Schultz, Abigail Spencer as Julia Mariano, Jon Cryer as Jim Kearney
Jim and Julia, after an amicable divorce, decide to continue to raise their kids at the family home while taking turns on who gets to stay with them. Navigating the waters of divorce and child-sharing gets more complicated for Jim when Trey, the owner of his favorite sports team, enters the picture and wins Julia’s heart. The cast includes Jon Cryer, Donald Faison, Abigail Spencer, Sofia Capanna and Finn Sweeney. Mike O’Malley will write and executive produce. Tom Werner, Wyc Grousbeck, Emilia Fazzalari and George Geyer also executive produce. Lionsgate will produce in association with Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
NEW UNSCRIPTED SERIES
THE AMERICAS
From BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the creators of the critically acclaimed and multi-Emmy Award-winning “Planet Earth” and “Blue Planet,” in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio, comes the epic 10-part tentpole event series “The Americas.” Marking the first time acclaimed actor, producer and writer Tom Hanks will narrate an unscripted entertainment series, “The Americas” will also feature music by two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer. This incomparable project will employ revolutionary filmmaking technology that will showcase the wonders, secrets and fragilities of the Americas – Earth’s largest landmass and the only one to stretch between both poles – and reveal extraordinary, untold wildlife stories that deeply connect with millions around the world. “The Americas” is executive produced by renowned Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning wildlife producer Mike Gunton (“Life,” “Planet Earth II,” and “Dynasties”) for BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the world’s largest production unit dedicated to wildlife filmmaking, in association with Universal Television Alternative Studio, a division of Universal Studio Group.
UNTITLED AMERICA’S GOT TALENT SERIES
Building off the success of “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” and “America’s Got Talent: All-Stars” comes the next special edition of the world’s most successful TV franchise. Last year, “All-Stars” was the #1 new alternative series of the season in both the 18-49 demo and total viewers. The new series will be co-produced by Fremantle and Syco Entertainment. Simon Cowell, Sam Donnelly and Jason Raff are the executive producers.
DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND
The iconic game of “Deal or No Deal” is back and unlike anything you have ever seen before! This new format transports audiences to the Banker’s private island where he makes the rules and there are twists behind every palm tree. Hidden on the island are over 100 cases with millions of dollars split between them, which teams must retrieve so that they can play a game of Deal or No Deal against the Banker. Only one team will survive until the very last episode, where they’ll compete to beat the Banker for the biggest prize in “Deal or No Deal” history. “Deal or No Deal” first launched in the Netherlands in 2002 and has been commissioned in more than 80 territories worldwide with more than 350 productions. “Deal or No Deal Island” is produced by Endemol Shine North America and is based on the Banijay format, “Deal or No Deal.” Sharon Levy, DJ Nurre and Howie Mandel will serve as executive producers.
Source: Deadline
