The upcoming 2021-2022 TV season is beginning to take shape! On Monday, NBC became the first broadcast network to unveil the fall 2021 TV schedule, revealing some major changes for TV lovers. For the first time in at least 50 years, the network will not be including even a single sitcom on its fall lineup, instead, packing the upcoming season with plenty of dramas.
The week will kick off on Monday nights with Season 21 of The Voice airing at 8 p.m. ET. As was recently announced, the network is changing things up a bit for the upcoming TV season, choosing to air just a single cycle of the singing competition rather than both a fall and spring cycle. The Voice will then be followed at 10 p.m. by the new James Wolk-starring series Ordinary Joe. Tuesday’s will see the second night of The Voice airing at 8 p.m., followed by genre thriller LA Brea at 9 p.m. and New Amsterdam at 10 p.m. Wednesdays, meanwhile, will remain dedicated to the Chicago Universe, with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. filling the 8 p.m., 9 p.m., and 10 p.m. time slots respectively.
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But perhaps the biggest change will be on Thursdays. Previously the day for laughs with the network’s comedies, Thursday nights will now be filled entirely with Dick Wolf dramas. The night will kick off at 8 p.m. ET with the latest Law & Order spinoff series, Law & Order: For the Defense, which will be followed at 9 p.m. ET by Law & Order: SVU. The night will wrap up with Law & Order: Organized Crime beginning at 10 p.m. ET According to TVLine, “Wolf now owns almost 30% of NBC’s schedule.”
The network’s Friday TV slate will see The Blacklist airing new episodes at 8 p.m. ET followed by Dateline NBC at 9 p.m. ET. Saturday’s lineup will include drama encores airing at 8 p.m. ET, Dateline Saturday Night Mystery at 9 p.m. ET, and SNL encores at 10 p.m. ET. The network will wrap up its week on Sundays with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. followed by Sunday Night Football at 8 p.m.
While the fall TV lineup notably lacks any and all comedies, it does not mean NBC is moving away from those laugh-inducing shows. Explaining their absence to reporters, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Susan Rovner, chairman entertainment content for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, noted that “in recent years our comedies haven’t performed as well in the fall.” As such, the network is “doubling down in midseason with two big nights of comedy,” returning shows Kenan, Mr. Mayor, and Young Rock and the first-year series American Auto and Grand Crew set to join the schedule in early 2022.
Also missing from the schedule are the series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Manifest, Debris, and Good Girls. These series are considered bubble series, with an NBC spokesperson confirming to TVLine that final renewal decisions will be made in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s 10-episode final season is set to premiere this summer, and This Is Us‘ sixth and final season is slated to premiere sometime at midseason.
