NBC holds comedies, goes big on Wolf drama

NBC has lined up three Law & Order franchise series

US broadcast network NBC’s initial fall slate for 2021 has pushed back on comedies until midseason and instead includes six dramas from producer Dick Wolf.

Wolf’s programmes dominate two evenings in the schedule, with three shows in the Chicago franchise airing on Wednesday nights and three Law & Order spin-offs, including the recently ordered Law & Order: For the Defense, broadcasting on Thursdays.

Returning comedy shows Kenan, Mr Mayor and Young Rock will not be broadcast until early 2022, joining two new comedy series American Auto and Grand Crew on the line-up.

From Justin Spitzer, creator of Superstore, American Auto is a workplace comedy set in the automobile industry in Detroit, while Universal Television-produced Grand Crew follows a group of your friends navigating the ups and downs of love and life in LA.

Other new commissions include dramas Ordinary Joe, which follows a college graduate as he explores three different life paths, and La Brea, a series about the survivors of a sinkhole in LA.

In the unscripted space, the network has greenlit daredevil reality show AGT: Extreme from Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and Fremantle; American Song Content, a live entertainment show based on the Eurovision Song Contest; That’s My Jam, an hour-long music and comedy variety series hosted by Jimmy Fallon; and docuseries LA Fire and Rescue.

It has also ordered gameshow The Wheel, produced by UK comedian Michael McIntyre and Dan Baldwin, genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? and house swap series Home Sweet Home.

Meanwhile, music competition series The Voice, which features judges including singers John Legend and Kelly Clarkson, has been scaled back to one season for the first time since 2012.

The final series of romantic family drama This is Us will air in January, while the last run of police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine will begin in August.

NBC’s fall schedule
(New shows in caps)

MONDAY
20.00-22.00 The Voice
22.00-23.00 ORDINARY JOE
TUESDAY
20.00-21.00 The Voice
21.00-22.00 LA BREA
22.00-23.00 New Amsterdam
WEDNESDAY
20.00-21.00 Chicago Med
21.00-22.00 Chicago Fire
22.00-23.00 Chicago PD
THURSDAY
20.00-21.00 LAW & ORDER: FOR THE DEFENSE
21.00-22.00 Law & Order: SVU
22.00-23.00 Law & Order: Organized Crime
FRIDAY
20.00-21.00 The Blacklist
21.00-23.00 Dateline NBC
SATURDAY
20.00-21.00 Drama Encores
21.00-22.00 Dateline Weekend Mystery
22.00-23.00 SNL Vintage
SUNDAY
19.00-20.20 Football Night in America
20.20-23.00 NBC Sunday Night Football