This afternoon NBC has announced premiere dates for its busy midseason schedule which will include returning drama The Night Shift; returning comedy Undateable; new dramas Allegiance and Odyssey; new comedy One Big Happy; and miniseries A.D. and The Slap.
Kicking off the schedule at the start of February is the already announced post-Super Bowl episode of The Blacklist on Sunday, February 1. The hit drama then shifts to its new time slot beginning Thursday, February 5 at 9/8c. The Blacklist will then serve as a lead-in for new espionage thriller Allegiance from writer-director George Nolfi, also debuting Feb. 5 at 10/9c.
The 8-episode miniseries The Slap, written by Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, will premiere on Thursday, February 12 at 8/7c.
NBC is also giving a huge vote of confidence to returning drama The Night Shift in moving it from summer to their midseason schedule and giving it the plum post-Voice slot on Monday, beginning February 23 at 10/9c.
Also moving from summer to midseason is the hit comedy Undateable - which is also get a Voice-sized lead-in. The comedy will return for its second season on Tuesday, March 17 at 9/8c. following The Voice. Undateable will then lead into the premiere of new comedy One Big Happy from writer Liz Feldman at 9:30/8:30c. also launching Tuesday, March 17. The two multi-cam sitcoms replace Marry Me and About a Boy which will return later in the season.
On Easter Sunday, April 5, NBC will debut two of its highly anticipated series - miniseries A.D. at 9/8c. and drama Odyssey at 10/9c.
"The Super Bowl gives us a great opportunity on a promotional level to reset the table for midseason. The Blacklist, which will premiere with a new episode on Super Bowl Sunday and then move to Thursday nights later that week, is a big priority. That will give us the chance to create a first-class night of drama with the addition of both Allegiance at 10 p.m. and our 8 p.m. event series The Slap, which has an incredible cast and is a terrific way to start the night," said Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment. "We also think very highly of two extraordinary dramas set to launch on Easter Sunday, both of which are events in their own right: A.D. and Odyssey."
Added NBC President Jennifer Salke: "On the comedy front, we have two strong multi-cam series with blue-chip producers that we are going to put behind The Voice on Tuesdays in March - Bill Lawrence's Undateable, which was a nice success for us, and Ellen DeGeneres' One Big Happy."
