NBC Not Airing New ‘Blacklist’ Episodes Until April 4

NBC will not air an episode of The Blacklist on Wednesday night or on March 28.

Listings show that the network will instead air a repeat episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in its place at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.

Law & Order: SVU will also air a new episode in its typical time slot, so that means NBC viewers will get back-to-back episodes of SVU starting at 8 p.m. ET.

No official reason for network’s programming decision was given, but the move is not out of the ordinary. The shift is most likely due to production schedules or a scheduled programming transition down the line.

The episode of SVU that typical Blacklist viewers can enjoy is the season 19 episode “Flight Risk,” which originally aired on Jan. 17.

According to the NBC synopsis, the episode shows is the account of “when an airline pilot (Yasmine Al Massri) accuses her captain (Martin Donovan) of sexual assault, Barba (Raúl Esparza) convenes a Grand Jury to determine their employer’s complicity in the crime. Meanwhile, Fin (Ice T) takes steps to ensure Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is protected at work.”

On March 28, NBC’s entire Wednesday night schedule will be overtaken by a two-hour compilation of The Voice highlights and an hour-long tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This means The Blacklist will not return for a new episode until April 4.

The episode is titled, “Anna-Gracia Duerte” and sees one of Red’s (James Spader) associates murdered. He then sends the team to retrieve evidence that could take down Ian Garvey (Jonny Coyne). There will also be some romantic developments between Aram (Amir Arison) and Samar (Mozhan Marno).

The Blacklist is currently in the midst of its fifth season, and Spader seems to still be loving the experience.

The 58-year-old actor recently told Variety one of his favorite aspects of the show is its diverse fanbase.

“I have never worked on anything in my life that has had a broader demographic than The Blacklist. Not even close,” Spader said. “This show is watched by people who are 7 years old to 90 years old, from every single cultural and economic background and nationality. It just has been staggering.”

As for what attracts the wide cross-section of viewers, he thinks The Blacklist‘s unique blend of week-to-week action married with over-arching stories.

“I look at our series as strange bedfellows in that it’s this serialized story that’s married to a procedural,” Spader said. “Sometimes they are wonderful bedfellows and sometimes they are strange bedfellows. It think it’s one of the secrets to the success of the show. The procedural aspect of the show allows for the serialized aspect to take a rest, take a breath for a while.”

When it is not an off-week, The Blacklist airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Virginia Sherwood