NBC Not Airing ‘The Blacklist’ on Wednesday Night

The Blacklist will not air Wednesday night, according to NBC’s programming schedule.

Instead of the James Spader-starring drama, the network with air a re-run of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode “Contrapasso,” which focuses on three suspects who allegedly castrated a man.

There was no specific reason given for The Blacklist’s absence, but the show will return for a new episode on Jan. 31. That new episode, entitled “The Cook (#56),” focuses on Elizabeth “Liz” Keen (Megan Boone) and Raymond “Red” Reddington (Spader) tracking down the men who killed Liz’s husband Tom (
Ryan Eggold).

Even though it’s only a week break, many fans were unaware of the off-week. Some took to Twitter to share their disappointment.

“OMG The Blacklist isn’t even on tonight. What’s going on?”, fan Leella Wyant wrote. “Well, damn. I have been excited all day.”

Another fan added, “What do you MEAN there’s no Blacklist tonight? I busted my balls tryna catch up and THIS is what I get?”

The previous episode, Jan. 17’s “Abraham Stern,” focused on Red going on a treasure hunt and Liz studying a criminal, with Nathan Lane coming on to guest star.

The episode was the show’s 100th episode, which was an opportune time for the cast to reflect on the long road that got them there and what’s next.

“For me, today is episode 11 of the fifth season. So it marks the halfway point and of course it’s episode 100. That feels like a lot of television,” Spader told Variety. … What I’m really amazed at is that after 100 episodes we have so much more story to tell. We’ve still got a ways to go until the endgame.”

Boone added, “This show, I think, has longevity because it packs in a lot of entertainment.”

The Blacklist typically airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Will Hart